The Movies I Watched in October

Anne of the Indies 1951  8/10 

The Apprentice 2024  7/10

Bastarden 2023  7/10

 Beetlejuice 1988  7/10

 

The Brothers Rico 1957  6/10

Crime in the Streets 1956  6/10 

Crime of Passion 1956  6/10

A Cry in the Night 1956  6/10

Cry Vengeance 1954  6/10 

Enchanted 2007  7/10

Furiosa. A Mad Max Saga 2024  8/10 

The Garment Jungle 1957  6/10

Getting Gilliam 2005  6/10 

The Harder They Fall 1856  7/10

Hell's Half Acre 1954  6/10

Highway Dragnet 1954  6/10

Holy Spider 2022  7/10

 

House of Bamboo 1955  6/10

The Houston Story 1956  6/10

I Died a Thousand Times 1955  6/10

Illegal 1955  7/10

In a Violent Nature 2024  6/10

The Killer is Loose 1956  6/10 

A Kiss Before Dying 1956  6/10

The Long Wait 1954  6/10

Mare of Easttown 2021  8/10

Master Gardener 2022  7/10

 

The Night Holds Terror 1955  6/10 

The Night Runner 1957  6/10

The Phenix City Story 1955  6/10

Private Hell 36 1954  6/10

Riot in Cell Block 11 1954  6/10 

Slightly Scarlet 1956  6/10

Smile 2022  6/10

Supernova 2020  6/10

Tideland 2005  7/10 

Tiger Bay 1959  7/10

 

Trap 2024  6/10

Violent Saturday 1955  6/10

Vuelven 2017  7/10

 

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.

Fairly enjoyable sci-fi spoof works only to a degree, since it's thoroughly tongue-in-cheek, so that, ironically, the more straight-faced Indepedence Day from the same year was actually more fun.

Halliwell*: "The film begins brilliantly, with a stampede of flaming cows, but then is content to recycle, at great expense, the style of 50s sci-fi films while its cast parody their more serious roles; despite its occasional antic charm, it is not as enjoyable as it ought to be."

Maltin**1/2: "Overly self-satisfied spoof of  '50s alien-invasion movies (and '50s attitudes)...Great effects and animation (of the Martian characters) but awfully broad and one-note in tone, spoofing something that's already funny in the straight-faced originals of the period. One can't completely dislike a film in which Slim Whitman figures so prominently, however."

Big Eyes (2014)

A drama about the awakening of the painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.

Adequately straightforward handling of an unusual and upsetting true story of artistic betrayal with a splendid cast.

New Stuff: Big Eyes

A gift from our friend Elvi.

From my vaults: Tim Burton

Bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton