Next Stop, the Wild West

I was told by one of our regular library customers that I have to like this movie (Stagecoach) because it was directed by John Ford. Well, you know who you are and if you're reading this, I did like the movie. For those of you not familiar with the movie, here's a bit of a plot summary.

Five passengers, two drivers head off to their destination by stagecoach escorted by Army soldiers. Word has spread of Apache uprisings led by Geronimo. Although they are to be escorted the entire way, they discover that they will only be escorted part of the way. Along the way they face many trials and hardships, including, of course, an Apache uprising.

The movie made some great statements about class differences. The way John Wayne's character treats the character Dallas like a lady despite her background reminds me of the way Colnel Pickering treats Eliza in My Fair Lady. This movie has something for everyone: a budding romance, great musical score, lots of action and did I mention, romance? Awwww...

The final climactic scenes had me on the edge of my seat. My husband however, was not so impressed with the movie. He gave it a thumbs sideways. Me, I gave it a thumbs up for the action, adventure, and of course, the romance. By the way, this one came in at number 63 on AFI's list.

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A Dandy of a Movie

I'm referring, of course, to that wonderful movie Yankee Doodle Dandy directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. The AFI placed it at number 100 on their list. In case you're not familiar with the plot, it's the life story of actor/producer/playwright George M. Cohan. The film pioneered the flashback method of telling a story and begins with Cohan's childhood stage acting. It tells the story of he and his family as they performed plays and shows across the country as "The Four Cohans. Like all entertainers, they have their ups and downs. At one point George's arrogance causes his family to be looked down on as performers. In a somewhat sneaky move, however, Cohan gets funding from a producer and makes his stage come-back. Finally the family is once again reunited as a family act. There is much more to the film, but I'll stop here because I don't want to spoil it for you. The message about family loyalty is something you don't see much in...

I Wish you a Merry Christmas

So, are you on the lookout for a good holiday movie? Well, me too. I ended up working an extra Saturday this month, which really cut into my movie watching time. I had all these plans to see the following movies: Polar Express National Treasure Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortunate Events Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera I'm sure there were others I wanted to see, but I don't remember what those are now. Out of all the above movies Brian and I have seen National Treasure . I have to say, despite some doubts I had at the beginning it turned out to be a pretty good movie. If you are in to U.S, History, you'd probably find this a good movie. I mentioned some doubts I had at the beginning of the movie. For example, In one of the opening scenes of the movie a grandfather is explaining the history of the Masons organization to his grandson and, having just researched the masons for a library customer, I'm not sure the grandfather's ex...

Finally, at Long Last!

Well, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for. I'm finally reviewing Citizen Kane . I have to say, I loved, loved, loved this movie. I think it's one of my favorites so far and I can completely see why it made number 1 on AFI's top 100 list. Okay, here's what I loved about it: The dark and mysterious opening. I can see why it is one of the most famous cinematic moments in film history. Great camera work and transitions between the present and the past. I think one of my favorites scenes as far as camera work goes is the one toward the end of the film when Susan is leaving Kane. The camera angles and all the other cinema magic that goes into a scene like that were very effective in making Kane look like his imposing, over bearing self when entering the room and small and weak after Susan walks out of the room. The sets - awesomely designed and again very effective for setting the mood of the movie, particularly in the later years of his time with Susan wh...

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