Sunrise (1927)

Here is a story that is as old as time...it is the summer time and the people from the big city have made their way to the outlying villages and beaches.  One attractive young lady has caught the eye of a local villager.  He is married and has a young child but is willing to give all of that up so that he can have a relationship with the her.  They plan to have the husband take his wife out on a boat and make her murder look like an accident.
The day comes for him to do the evil act, and when he gets to the predetermined spot to kill his wife, he just continues sailing on towards the big city.  While he and his wife are int eh big city for the day they rekindle the spark in their relationship, and he forgets his girlfriend.  On the way back home that night a storm comes up and they are both tossed overboard; he swims towards land and hails the villagers to help him search for his wife.  Eventually they find her and everyone lives happily ever after, with the girlfriend leaving back to the city never to show her face in that village again.
This movie was on AFIs top 100 movies 10th anniversary list, and I cannot figure out why.  Unless, they were going for some of the split screen shots, and blue screen technology that was being used in 1927.  Only 2 stars for me.

3 movies

I have watched 3 movies with my kids lately. Hotel Transylvania which just came out on DVD recently- we all loved it. 4 stars. Pocahontas- not sure why I have never seen this one - 2 stars. Charlotte's Web (2006)- 3 stars.

The Big Sleep - 1946

This film noir classic stars a young and skinny Lauren Bacall (she is about 18 years old in this movie) and somewhat seasoned actor Humphrey Bogart. Bogart plays Philip Marlowe a Private Dick (slang for private detective) who used to work for the DA's office but turned to private work. He is hired by a rich retired general at the start of the movie because the general wants to know why his two daughters are always hanging with the wrong crowd and why he is always getting blackmailed. Marlowe takes the case and finds himself involved with about 5 murders in a two day time period. The plot is confusing at best. The lines are terrific, and Bogart makes them even better. 3 stars

Midnight in Paris (2012)

What was I thinking????!!! I am not a Woody Allen fan at all!! I turned this movie off after 20 minutes, I could not take the anxiety that he fills his movies with. This was nominated for best picture, but not in my book.

Destination Tokyo - 1943

Cary Grant and John Garfield film about Navy life on a sub during the onset of WWII. 3.5 stars I loved the charater development in this film.

The Star - 1952

Bette Davis plays the main role in this Sunset Boulevard type show- a washed up movie star who has to come to the realization that her career is over. Natalie Wood is 14 in this show and plays Davis daughter. I liked the show - 3.5 stars. I did have a hard time putting Sterling Hayden's character with Davis- they didn't seem to go together.

Wings (1927)

I realize that you are not going to watch this movie because it is a silent film, but I felt that it deserved a review. I have watched parts of this movie on YouTube, but when I saw that I could get the DVD through Netflix I jumped on it. This movie was the first feature film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and I feel that it is deserving of the recognition. Any student of movies should watch this movie and see how camera angles and large fields of imagery were utilized in the early days of cinema. The story follows to men who enlist in the air force to fight in World War I. Jack is a hot shot who is in to cars and woman, but doesn't notice that the girl next door (Clara Bow) is in love with him. Instead Jack believes that the more well-to-do girl likes him, when in fact she likes the very wealthy David. David and Jack are enemies throughout flight school, but become very close friends during the war. They both become flying aces and are feared by the Germans. One mission David gets shot down behind enemy lines and Jack believes that he is dead, but he is not. David steals a German plane and tries to fly back to American soil, but Jack sees the German marked plan and shoots it down thinking it is the enemy, instead he comes to find out that it was actually David that he just killed. The aerial shots in this movie are amazing, and were shot with the complete cooperation of the US Air force. This is also the movie that made Clara Bow the "It" girl. Surprisingly there is nudity, and bloody violence in the movie, but it was made long before there was a rating system. I believe that this movie today would get a strong PG-13 or R rating due to the nudity. For me this was a 5 star movie and well worth the watch, but only if you like silent films.

Phffft - 1954

A Jack Lemmon, Judy Holliday, Kim Novak and Jack Carson forgetable film. 2 stars.

How to Succeed in Business Without Even Trying

wow did my wife and I love this movie. 5 stars. Loved the music and acting. I will add it to my top 100 list for sure. I was thinking about trying out for this play at Centerpoint this summer, and I really enjoyed watching this movie, I think I saw it once as a kid but I can't remember.