Skip to main content

Christmas in August


I'm glad my husband and I made the rule that we aren't allowed to multitask while watching these movies because this was the first time I'd ever really sat down and watched It's a Wonderful Life in its entirety. AFI rated this one as number 11 on their top 100 list, but I definitely think it belongs in the top ten.

Jimmy Stewart, ah Jimmy Stewart. I think I mentioned at one time that Stewart is one of my favorite actors, didn't I? I can't picture anyone else as George Bailey. The dance scene at the high school and when he walks Mary home have got to be my favorite scenes in the movie.

Frank Capra called this his favorite film. It's another movie that pays tribute to the human spirit and the importance each peoson plays in the lives of their friends and families. The dvd has a neat "making of" documentar in teh special features and aa personal rememberance featuring interview clips with Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart. This movie definitely gets a two thumbs up and I can't wait for it to come on t.v. this Christmas season.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...