A Double Life - 1947

I have noticed something over the past few years as I have watched a lot of movies from the 19400's, 50's and 60's. Hollywood likes to hand out the accolades for actors and actresses who can pull off something very difficult on screen- playing characters which have 2 or more personalities. The Three Faces of Even, Treasure of the Sierre Madre, and this film A Double Life are great examples. Ronald Colman's performance as Tony John in this show gave him an Oscar, the film was also nominated in 4 other categories but did not win any other Oscars. Tony is an aging actor who is in love with his ex-wife, as she is in love with him. A chance comes to play the lead in Shakespeare's "Othello". Tony is hesitant because he knows he has a hard time keeping his personal life separate from his stage life during productions like this. After running the show 300 times Tony loses a sense of reality. He starts acting out scenes from the show during his real life. The show is 1.5 stars for me. Yes Ronald Colman is great but I just didn't think the movie was that great.

dont give up

Millie- I am not sure if that is how to spell your name- don't let Adam talk you out of watching white collar. I never watch TV but my wife convinced me to try white collar and I am totally hooked after finishing the first 3 seasons. Clean show. Tons of fun and humor. Stay focused and you will be thankful you stuck with it.

Cabin in the Sky (1943)

Little Joe Jackson (Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson) is a compulsive gambler, and all around no good husband, who gets killed during a bad gambling transaction. As he laid dying on his death bed he receives a visit from Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram) who is there to collect Little Joe’s soul. Petunia (Ethel Waters) is a good Christian woman, and is a faithful wife to Little Joe. She knows deep down inside he is a good person. When she sees that he has died, she pleads to the heavens to let him live, and here is where the movie gets fun. An angel appears and begins to challenge Lucifer Jr. as to who gets the soul of Little Joe. Eventually they give him six more months to fix his life or he will be damned to hell. Throughout the remainder of the film you see the influences of the devil and the angel on his shoulder. This was a telling of the story Faust, but it was done by an all African-American cast, and it was set to music. Louise Armstrong plays a minion of Lucifer Jr. (sadly the version the library had was edited and did not have the cut with his big music scenes in it), Duke Ellington and his Orchestra played a role, Lena Horne, was a love interest/temptation for Little Joe, and many other prominent actors of that era. If you like southern gospel sound, jazz, and good/simple musical numbers this show is for you. I read up a little bit on this movie and MGM did recycle shots of the tornado from the Wizard of Oz in the making of this movie. This is a sit back and enjoy movie, it is not complicated and does not take a lot of effort to concentrate on. However, at the beginning of the movie there was this warning: “The films you are about to see are a product of their time. They may reflect some of the prejudices that were commonplace in American society, especially when it came to the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. These films are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. While the following certainly does not represent Warner Bros.’ opinion in today’s society, these images do accurately reflect a part of our history that cannot and should not be ignored.” 3 ½ for me.

The Electric Horseman

I realize that you have seen this movie, but I just wnated to let you know that I give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I liked it!!

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993)

Throughout our lives we have many choices that we will make that will determine how our future will play out. Some of those decisions will lead to a tight family relationship; some will lead to prosperous professional careers, while others will lead you nowhere. I feel that the later choice was what was eating at Gilbert Grape (Johnny Depp). The oldest brother of other siblings and an obese mother stuck in the tiny town of Endora. Not only was he stuck but he was committed to his younger brother Arnie (Leonard DeCaprio) who was mentally challenged. The film focuses on the comings and goings of this small town, but also around the family preparations for Arnie’s 18th birthday party. In the week leading up to Arnie’s birthday, we get an intimate glance into Gilbert’s relationships with those around him. You have probably seen this movie so I will end my synopsis of the movie there. However, I would like to express how much this movie has changed me as a person…let me back up a little bit, this movie has reminded me of how I should be as a person, and the change took place in my life in the autumn of 1999. I was living in a tiny town called Burney in Northern California, this town was very much like Endora, and the people of that town were a picture perfect portrayal in the movie. They were comfortable with their surroundings, and felt that anything that was outside of the norm was a free for all freak show. Racism, poverty, pomposity, and judging were normal behaviors for these people and they did not even try to hide these attributes. In fact, the Elder I was serving with told me that this town reminded him of the town in Gilbert Grape; at the time I did not understand his reference but I sure do now. We as members of the human race should be looking out for those around us and not just ourselves. Every character in this film needed help in one way or another, but the forgiving hearts we not to be found anywhere…man I have gone off of the deep end on this one… I felt that each performance in this film was deserving of recognition. I think that Leonardo DeCaprio should have received an Oscar for his performance! Five Stars for me on this one.

Pickup on South Street - 1953

IThis one took me 3 nights to finish and it was only 90 min long- but that was because I was at the baseball fields for my sons playoff games each night. I need to take a break from film noir. Ebert talked this thing up like it was casablanca or something. To me it was another 2 star film noir movie. I have see so many film noir movie over the past couple of years that they are all running together in my mind- the plots seem the same, the actors seem the same, blah blah. Time for a new genra for awhile.

The Talk of the Town - 1942

What a fun show with great characters, great actors, great scripts. This one was nominated for 7 Oscars. I loved Jean Arthur in Mr. Smith goes to Washington, and she was just as good in this one. Cary Grant does his thing and is fun to watch. What I wasn't expecting is the refined and almost perfect performance put in my Ronald Coleman - who plays the professor. He was so good that I have added one of his other movies to my queue. I can't find a trailer for this movie on youtube. Nothing crazy- a simple story to follow yet the director weaves a bunch of different storylines together with small bit parts that actually makes the film work even better than just having the 3 main characters dominate the screen. 3.5 stars for me. A little slow at times or I would have given it 4 stars. I liked this movie. Just a lot of fun and laughs. The main message of the story is great too.