Saturday, November 26, 2016
First Lines: Michael Herr - Dispatches
There was a map of Vietnam on the wall of my apartment in Saigon and some nights, coming back late to the city, I'd lie out on my bed and look at it, too tired to do anything more than just get my boots off.
Friday, November 25, 2016
Hot Spell (1958)
A housewife is doing her best to keep her family together as it's slowly falling apart, a fact she's trying to ignore.
White-knuckled family drama and tragedy almost overdoes it, but is saved thanks to the brilliant cast.
Halliwell*:
"Overwrought domestic drama slipping perilously close to farce at
times, but a good theatrical vehicle for its stars."
Maltin**: "Well-acted but dated drama...MacLaine shines as their daughter."
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
First Lines: Hannah Arendt - The Origins of Totalitarianism
Many still consider it an accident that Nazi ideology centered around antisemitism and that Nazi policy, consistently and uncompromisingly, aimed at the persecution and finally the extermination of the Jews.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Bend of the River (1952)
When a town boss confiscates homesteader's supplies after gold is discovered nearby, a tough cowboy risks his life to try and get it to them.
A standard Western adventure in near perfection: despite the hopscotch plot you get a great cast, lots of conflict and action, wonderful settings and landscapes, and the hero is redeemed in the end.
Halliwell*: "Good standard Western with pace and period feeling but not much plot sense."
Maltin***: "Compelling Western..."
Class (1983)
A young boy in private school spends one crazy night out, but soon realizes the woman he hooked up with is not who he expected.
Unashamed rip-off of The Graduate which only shows the pretensions but never delivers; the end result is just a misogynist and outdated campus comedy for male adolescents.
Halliwell (no star): "Ghastly travesty of The Graduate, which aspires to every kind of sophistication it can think of but ends nowhere."
Maltin**: "Slick but uneven mix of romance, comedy, and drama with one-dimensional characters and a lack of credibility. Some good moments lost in the shuffle."
