Juli's Cinema Spot

Well, we were going to watch Mutiny on the Bounty tonight because it turns out my husband hadn't watched it yet. So, we got all set to watch it only to find out that the VCR ate the tape when I tried to rewind it. So, now, if and when we can ever get the tape out of the VCR, I'll have to take it back to the library and pay for it. Sigh. So, we decided to skip on to the next movie, which was....(insert drumroll).... Snow White and the Seven Dwarves . For obvious reasons this movie was included on AFI's top 100 list. It made number 49. Walt Disney made a lot of firsts with this movie, not the least of which was, this movie was the first animated feature film ever. A lot of people scoffed at the idea and told him it would never be a successful film. Walt proved them wrong though and created a classic in the process. I'd forgotten how good this movie is. It's hard to pick just one scene as my favorite because this movie has all the elements. I laughed, I was scar...

I finally got around to watching Mutiny on the Bounty tonight. While watching I also played around with the sidebar of this page and figured out how to put links in there. So far I only have the Internet Movie Database, but I may put some Harry Potter sites in sometime. Keep coming back, you never know what you may find when you visit my site. Okay, having pointed out the new feature of my site, on to reviewing the movie. There's a certain romace about ocean books/movies. It's that whole thing about setting out on a new voyage, facing unknown adventures and dangers. In Moby Dick, Ishmael had to face Captain Ahab and the great white whale. In this movie, the crew had to face another tyranical captain, William Bligh. Or was he tyrannical? Honestly I haven't read anything about the Bounty, so I couldn't tell you. I'll leave that to you to decide. Whether it was historically accurate or not, I've got to say the acting in this movie was brilliant .This one ca...

Tonight's movie was supposed to be Mutiny on the Bounty , but the VCR tried to eat the tape we got from the library, so we decided to skip that one and move on to the next, which was Modern Times , Charlie Chaplin's last (mostly) silent film. AFI placed this one at number 81. I found this one to be much more philosophical than others he had made. Before I get to my thoughts, I'll add here that my husband gave this one a thumbs sideways. As he said, it was okay - funny in spots, but not really captivating. In tonight's movie, Chaplin's "tramp" character is a factory worker caught up in the daily grind of a quickly modernizing world. Through a series of comical mishaps, he suffers a nervous breakdown, spends time in a mental institution, is arrested and accused of being a Communist, and finds true love. According to Internet Movie Database , Chaplin's purpose in making this movie was to "shout out" against all the modernization and technolog...

Ahh, there's nothing like a good romantic comedy and this movie, It Happened One Night was one of the first. It is number 35 on the AFI list. Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, this movie follows the couple as they are traveling across the country. He is a newspaper writer and she is the daugther of a newspaper owner and has run away from an unwanted marriage. There are so many funny moments in this movie, it's hard to know where to start. One of my favorite scenes is the night they spend together in the motel. As they are settling down for the night, Colbert's character asks Gable's, "Who are you anyway?" My other favorite scene occurrs when they are trying to hitchike and Colbert's character gets a car to stop by showing her leg. Both of these are classic scenes and so funny! We did find this one on DVD and there are some pretty cool special features. There is a mini documentary type clip in which Frank Capra Jr. gives a narrative of how...

Today we watched Duck Soup , which was a short, but sweet comedy, coming in at number 85. Many years ago an aunt of mine tried to interest my cousin and me in this movie. Neither of us were interested. I suppose it had something to do with being 16-ish and not interested in classics like this. What was I thinking? This movie is hilarious! It's full of one-liners, personal quips, sight gags, and slapstick. This is one of the first movies from our list where I can see how it influenced movies and actors to come (well aside from Johnny Depp's imitations of Chaplin in Benny and Joon ). Truly this was a landmark in film history. My husband and I agree, this movie deserves a two thumbs up for being incredibly funny. After the tediousness of King Kong , this was a refreshingly funny film and I highly reccommend setting aside your next date night to watch it.

Before I get to tonight's selection, King Kong , I have to add that my husband gave Frankenstein a thumbs sideways. He thought it was just okay, not great, and probably wouldn't watch it again any time soon. Okay, on to my thoughts of King Kong (number 43 on the list). The video we got from the library was a 60th anniversary celebration type edition and it contained a documentary prior to the film. Thus we learned a lot about the film before actually watching it. For example, we learned that many film-making techniques used today were combined for the first time on this film. The movie was high art of the day. After the documentary it was on to the movie. By 30 minutes in, I knew I was going to have a hard time making it through the whole movie. Basically the pace was tedious and there were many rather corny lines. Don't even get me started on some of the acting. Oi! These aspects made it difficult to sit through the movie. They also made it difficult to appreciate...

Today's movie was the 1931 version of Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff as the monster. AFI placed this one at number 87 on the list. Right from the very surreal opening credit sequence I knew this was going to be a chilling and haunting film. The movie opens on a funeral scene where the only sounds you hear are a bell ringing and people sobbing loudly. This was very haunting and set the mood perfectly. The character of Fritz, Doctor Frankenstein's assistant, my favorite, was wonderfully portrayed by the late actor, Dwight Frye. Colin Clive gave a chilling performance as Henry Frankenstein. Then there was the monster himself. Monsters in today's movies are pretty scary, but usually due to visual effects. Frankenstein's monster is scary due to terrific acting on the part of Boris Karloff. His haunting howls, grunts, and screams sent chills up my spine. A few scenes really stood out for me: 1) When Henry's former teacher Doctor Waldman begins a dissection o...

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting my thoughts on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban . I have to say this one is by far my favorite of the three movies out so far. Emma, Dan, and Rupert gave wonderful performances as their respective characters as did the rest of the ensemble cast. I loved the camera shots as they gave a whole different feel to the movie. Also, the little "in between" shots were great, especially the boys in Gryffindor goofing off their first night back. That scene, the one where Ron wakes up from his spider dream, and bluebirds that fly into the whomping willow just cracked me up! Having said all that though, there were some scenes I thought were a bit rushed. I also would have liked to have Professor Lupin (or Sirius) explain to Harry about why his patronus is a stag and who Padfoot, Mooney, Prongs, and Wormtail were. I thought that was pretty important to the story and was sorry to see it left out. All in all it was a great movi...

City Lights was the movie of the night. It is another Chaplin classic, very funny but moving at the same time. This one occupies number 76 on AFI's top 100 lists. In it, a romance develops between Chaplin's character and a blind flower girl. Due to a series of events, she thinks he's a wealthy man. In fact, Chaplin's character is poor. He does sort of befriend a wealthy man who only recognizes Chaplin's character as a friend when the man is drunk. This happens quite frequently as the millionaire character likes to give wild parties. Since he's actually not wealthy, Chaplin's character looks for work so he can help pay her living expenses as she and her grandmother will soon be thrown out of their house for failure to pay rent. The odd jobs Chaplin's character takes make for all kinds of hilarity. Still though, he does raise the money for her and he helps pay for an operation that will restore her sight. This movie is a perfect blend of comedy and...

As you can probably imagine, many of the movies on the AFI's top 100 movie list are war movies. Tonight was the first war movie Brian and watched from the list. We watched All Quiet on the Western Front and boy was it a hard movie to watch. The film takes place during World War I and follows a group of young German men who enlist in the army. With the first battle scene you feel how scary a battle must have been with bombs dropping on all sides and never knowing if the next one would land in your foxhole or someone else's. There was also the psychological factor of watching the soldiers either become injured, lose comrades, or die themselves. Even though war movies aren't my favorite I did like this one because it didn't glorify war as so many of them do. This one was filled with the raw emotion of loss of innocence and death. I can't say that I would watch it again just because it was such a hard movie to watch. However, I'm glad I did watch it this one tim...