Saturday, August 20, 2016
First Lines: Gilda Radner - It's Always Something
Like in the romantic fairy tales I always loved, Gene Wilder and I were married by the mayor of a small village in the south of France, September 18, 1984.
Ladies Should Listen (1934)
The switchboard operator in an apartment building falls in love with a businessman (and playboy) who lives in the building, whom she has gotten to know only over the phone.
Lively, but only fairly entertaining screwball comedy; it lacks wit and sharpness and is only occasionally funny, but does showcase the talent of young Cary Grant.
Halliwell (no star): "Moderately beguiling, instantly forgettable romantic frou-frou."
Maltin**: "...flimsy comedy, no great shakes."
Friday, August 19, 2016
The Man from Planet X (1951)
As a mysterious planet hurls itself toward earth, an enigmatic extraterrestrial scout arrives on a remote Scottish island with unknown intentions.
Very low-budget sci-fi drama has some nice settings and is nicely shot with its foggy Scottish moors, but the alien is quite laughable and the story not suspenseful.
Haliwell (no star): "Early, minor, moderately pleasing fragment in the Close Encounters cycle."
Maltin**1/2: "Extremely cheap, but amtospheric; script is stilted but story is strong and somewhat unusual."
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
First Lines: Rinker Buck - Flight of Passage
My brother dumbfounded us with his plan on a Saturday afternoon in October.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
New Stuff: Where Is Out There? (100 Records That Will Flip Your Lid)
Title says it all: had to have a look into this (and was confirmed it was worth the buy).
Compulsion (1959)
Two sociopathic students Artie Straus and Judd Steiner murder a boy in a philosophical exercise to commit the flawless crime.
Solid study of an unusual crimonal case with an excellent cast, but when Orson Welles arrives late in the story he somewhat steals the show.
Halliwell*: "Rather dogged but earnest fictionalization of the Leopold-Loeb case with solid performances and production."
Maltin***1/2: "Hard-hitting version...Good characterizations, period decor, and well-edited courtroom scenes."
Monday, August 15, 2016
Call Northside 777 (1948)
A Chicago reporter re-opens a ten year old murder case.
Captivating and superbly cast crime drama, a bit long, but always holds one's interest.
Halliwell**: "Overlong semi-documentary crime thriller based on a real case. Acting and detail excellent, but the sharp edge of Boomerang is missing."
Maltin***1/2: "Absorbing drama...handled in semi-documentary style."
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