Juli's Cinema Spot

Need a Good Date Movie?

2007-08-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I have seen movies since last year in December. It's just that I haven't gotten around to updating this blog. Well, I guess that's obvious, isn't it. Anyway, I'm back now and promise to try and keep this blog better updated.

Last weekend my husband and I went to see Stardust, which I believe is a based on Neil Gaiman's book of the same title. It was a pretty good movie with the perfect combination of romance, fantasy, adventure, and mystery. The plotline was slightly predictable, but the movie still enjoyable. Definitely a good date movie.

I loved the music. It had a great score. The acting was good as well, though there were a couple of scenes I could have done without. All in all, I give this one a two thumbs up. Now I'm going to have to read the book.

I'm coming to you from the library today and my time's almost up. So, I'm signing off for now. Stay tuned though for future posts about the movies I took in this past summer.

See you next time. Until then...

Happy movieing.

A Night at the Movies

2006-12-29T21:06:00.000-08:00

A bit ago, my family and I returned from Ben Stiller's new movie Night at the Museum. Oh my goodness, what an hilarious movie. It's definitely one of the most creative plot ideas I've seen in a long time. I actually liked Ben Stiller for once. He was funny, and yet not annoying at all. The movie also featured other great stars like Robin Williams, Dick van Dyke, and Mickey Rooney (whom I could have sworn died about five years ago). I saw a recent interview with van Dyke who called this the best family movie to come along in years. You know what? He was right.

As I said, the plot line was very original. It had great character growth and all the right touchy, feely moments a good family flick should have. It was funny without being crass and even featured a budding romance between Teddy Roosevelt and Sacajawea. Who would have thunk. Oh, the music was great too. Even found a song to download to iTunes and add to my driving music repetoire.

So, if you're looking for a good family flick to see before ringing in the New Year, check out Night at the Museum. You won't be sorry.

Happy Movieing!!

Looking for non-stop laughs?

2006-11-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well then, get Flushed Away with this great movie, which opened this weekend. It features the voice talents of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, and Andy Serkis (one of my all time favorites) among others. Also, this movie featured the creative talents of creators of the Wallace and Gromit movies, so you know it was going to be good. And, it was. I can't remember the last time I laughed almost non-stop from beginning to end. The movie also had a great score, with music ranging from instrumentals to 70s classics. Both my husband and I gave this one a two thumbs up.

I noticed that it hit number three at the box office this weekend, so it should be around awhile. Don't miss your chance to get Flushed Away in this hilarious, yet romantic movie.

Spending time with Husband - Mission Possible

2006-05-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband and I went on a spontaneous walk down the street to our local Cold Stone Creamery. After enjoying a Starbucks Mocha Frappaccino (me) and some delicious Cold Stone ice cream (husband), we decided to catch a movie at the theatre in the same complex, since it was simply too hot to walk back home. The only one playing within a decent amount of time was Mission Impossible. It wasn't my first choice of movies to see simply because I don't want to knowingly put my hard earned movie-going money into the hands of the Church of Scientology, but husband wanted to see it and I'm usually up for a good action movie. So, Mission Impossible it was.

I have to say, it was a lot better than I expected it to be. The one thing I really liked about it was that Ethan actually married the girl before the sex scene rather than just "one last fling" before going off into mortal danger. Good morals there, so yay! There was lots of action and cool gadgets, which made my husband happy. He likes cool gadgets. I have to say, I really enjoyed this movie overall, which rather surprises me.

Loved the musical score and thought the actress playing Julia did a good job with the role. The twist at the end was also great. Looks like the summer movie season is off to a promising start. We're looking forward to next weekend with Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge coming out. Now we just have to decide which one to see on Friday and which to see on Saturday. Any thoughts from you bloggers out there?

'Til next time, happy movie-going :)

I'm Having One of Those Days

2006-05-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

You know, the kind of day when you just have to watch a certain movie and you need to watch it right now? Yes, I'm having one of those days. I really want a good conspiracy movie. To be specific, I want to watch National Treasure. It's a great movie with lots of action, adventure, a good plot, and little to no swearing. Alas, it's also a movie we don't yet own, so I'm having to settle for something else. Just don't know what yet. When you want to watch a certain movie, right now nothing else in your movie library will quite fit the bill. So what do you do when you have to watch a movie right now and you can't get your hands on it (i.e., it's not in your collection, it's not in at your library or the video store)? Vote in my poll off to the right. Now, on to the real reason for this post.

This weekend I watched a movie I'd not yet seen, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm not quite sure what I'd been expecting from this movie, but it was far better than I thought it would be. Liam Aiken (Klaus) and Emily Browning (Violet) were both really good in their performances. Both have upcoming projects, according to Internet Movie Database, which I'd really like to see. They seem like up and coming talents. Oh, and the little girls they got to play Sunny were so cute. Though, my vision of Sunny from the books didn't really match the look she had on the screen. Can't quite put my finger on why, though.

Then there was Jim Carey. In my opinion, he really brought Count Olaf to life. Jim Carey started to grow on me after I saw Liar Liar and The Majestic and I think I pretty much like anything he's been in lately. However, I digress. Carey's Count Olaf was silky, sly, and slimy. He also did a brilliant job with Stefano and Captain Sham. I think Carey's performance was my favorite, although, as I said, the kids were really good in their roles.

I was a bit creeped out by Olaf's acting troupe, as one was supposed to be. The camera shots were very well done. My favorite was the one where Olaf was reading a "Variety" type magazine in the general store. It had Lon Chaney's as the Phantom of the Opera on the cover and there was this really cool shot of Lon Chaney's picture just below Count Olaf's head as a he lowers the paper. That was an absolutely cool shot.

As this movie came out a couple of years ago, I was of course watching this on DVD. As far as DVDs go, it had your typical fare: Coming Attractions, commentaries, deleted scenes, and outtakes. There were also some of the screen tests they did for the kids and some footage of how Jim Carey created all those characters. The outtakes and deleted scenes were weird and I'm not sure they could have got the rating they did if they those scenes in. I only watched a bit of the first commentary with the director, Brad Silberling, and he had some interesting things to say about the film. Today I'll probably watch the commentary with Silberling and Daniel Handler, author of the Series of Unfortunate Events books. If I do I'll post my thoughts about it later. For now though, I'm going to sit down in my favorite reading spot with a tall glass of water and see if I can finish the book I started a couple of days ago.

Happy movieing, everyone!

Score!!

2006-02-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

I know I've been scarce here since before Christmas. Blame it on the movie companies. No good new movies=no new blog postings. Hopefully that will all change very soon. My husband and I scored big time on the DVD front this Christmas. Of course that was followed by his birthday and then mine (yesterday). We got even more movies. So, now we have enough DVDs to carry us through the upcoming dearth of good movies.

I have to say I have *the best* sister-in-law anyone could have. She sent me the t.v. show Nowhere Man, which is now out on DVD. I loved, loved, LOVED that show when it was on and can't believe it didn't generate enough fan interest to keep it on the air more than a season or two. However, now I have the DVD so I can enjoy all nineteen hours of it plus commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, and all that good stuff. Do you have any idea how hard it was to come to work today?

Of course it wasn't just the t.v. show that created such good memories of college for me. It was the fact that it was one of the nights my friends and I would crowd around the t.v. and have a fun night socializing and munching on snacks. Oh and then there was the analyzing the show afterwards. Then there were all the online friends I made when I subscribed to the listserv for the show. Even met one or two of them in real life when they stopped in the shop I was working in at Disneyland.

You know, I think there's still a Yahoo group dedicated to the show, at least I was part of one a year or so ago and some of the listserv members were on that. Perhaps now that I have the DVDs, I have to go back and see if the group is still going strong.

Sigh, now I'm all nostalgic and I have to wait until Saturday to pop in the DVD (if I want to watch it uninterrupted, that is). Ah well. A big shout out and thank you to my sister-in-law. Three days until Saturday!!

Happy DVD-ing everyone :)

Lots to blog about

2006-01-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

I see it's been since mid-November since I updated this blog and even longer for some of my others. That's what happens when you have family birthdays, Christmas, and move across county to a new apartment all within the space of two months. Things are finally settling down now and I can finally blog about all those movies I've seen lately. Now if I could just remember what all of them are. Hmmm...well, let's just jump right in, shall we?

Topping the list is Rent, which I saw with a couple of friends from work. Now, this was two months ago that I saw it, so some of the details have gone fuzzy, but I did think it was really good. For some reason I had it in my mind that everyone dies in the end rather than just one person, so it didn't end like I thought it would. Ah well, as I said, fuzzy details. This one I'm looking forward to coming out on DVD and hope it has good special features.

The next one I saw was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. My husband and I have seen this one about five times now and it gets better every time we see it. The acting was so much better and there were some great lighthearted scenes. My favorite scene has to be when they are discussing getting dates for the Yule Ball during the study hall session. I laugh so hard everytime I watch that scene. Toward the beginning there are, of course, the obligatory cheesy lines, which seem to appear in every Potter film. At least they are gotten out of the way early in the film and I can sit back and enjoy the rest of the movie. A couple of down sides to the movie, though. First is that the opening Quidditch World Cup scenes are too short. I realize that time is of the essence when making a movie, but it would have been nice to have a few more minutes with the World Cup. I also thought there should be more Death Eaters apparating in during the graveyard scene at the end. For some reason I always pictured more people in that scene than they put in the movie. On the whole though, this one is a definite two thumbs up and my husband and I can't wait unti March 7th when it's released on DVD.

December brought around The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I went to see with my dad. He read that book to me when I was little, so it was special to go see the movie with him. Like a lot of people, I thought the beginning of the movie was a bit slow. Once the children got to the Professor's house, though, the movie picked up. The whole production team did a great job of bringing Narnia to life. The kids were good in their roles and I especially thought James McAvoy did a great job as Mr. Tumnus. He was one of my favorite characters from the book, so I admit to being a bit partial to the way McAvoy portrayed him. It seemed like they tried a bit too hard in the battle scenes at the end to make it a grand epic movie on the scale of Lord of the Rings. Some of the camera shots seemed a bit cliche and it didn't really draw me in the way some battle scenes do. Overall, though, I really liked the movie and will probably buy it when the DVD hits the store.

Just this past Sunday my husband and I caught Cassanova starring Heath Ledger. Now, I am not well read on the stories/legends of Cassanova, nor on the life in and culture of Italy in the 1700s. So, I don't know how historically/literaturely accurate this movie is and I'm not sure I care in this case. I do know Heath Ledger pulled off another terrific acting job and the movie made me laugh. That made it worth the cost of a full price ticket to me. Two thumbs up and another DVD to add to my list.

This brings me to today. A couple hours ago I got home from finally getting to watch Peter Jackson's King Kong and I have to say, oh my gosh, what a phenomenal movie. If you read my blog from about a year ago, you'll remember I didn't think much of the original King Kong. Horrible acting and all that. This version blew me away. I swear it did not seem like three hours had gone by. Jackson had some great camera shots and between him and Andy Serkis, they really gave Kong lots of emotion and really made you feel for him. Brilliant acting as well, especially Jack Black and Naomi Watts. What with all the other movies out there that I'm hoping to see, I'm not sure I'll make back to see this one on the big screen again, but, you guessed it, I'm going to buy the DVD.

That's about it for this update. It was a much better holiday movie season than the summer movie season was. Here's hoping next summer will be better. My husband is traveling at the moment, so I don't know that I'll be posting an update relating to any current movies. However, I did get a number of movies for Christmas, so perhaps I can finally get around to watching some of those and I'll have another update soon.

Until then, happy movieing!

Hidden Treasure of a Movie

2005-11-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

There is a treasure of a movie hiding at your nearest library or video store. That is, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, number 30 on the AFI list. In the basic storyline, an American down on his luck entes a lottery. He wins and is now able to afford equipment to go hunting for gold with a friend of his. They are led by a guide named Howard. About thirty minutes in, I began to wonder if he was trustworthy. In fact, can any of the trust each others? To find out the answer and learn what happens next, you'll have to watch the movie.

There is lots of suspense, fights, and gunfighte. All the makings of a great action movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This one gets a two thumbs up.

Longest Hours of my Life

2005-11-19T14:35:00.000-08:00

Number 37 on the AFI list is The Best Years of Our Lives. It tells the story of three men returning from war wondering what life will be like for them now. It reminds me of a number of books I've read lately, but I digress.

The cinematography in this movie was very good. In the opening scenes, there were quite a lot of camera shots from the point of view of the guys. This lets you see their hometown from their point of view, which reveals quite a bit about the characters themselves.

The central theme of this movie seems to be that you can't go home again because something always changes once you leave. Home is never the place you left. For once we have a movie that doesn't romanticize war. Though I'm not a big war movie fan, so maybe there are others out there. Please comment and let me know.

Myrna Loy is one of my favorite actresses, so she made the movie enjoyable. We watched this movie back in August and her performance is the only one I still remember. I know AFI really liked this movie, but we found it long and drawn out. It didn't hold my attention and I found it very hard not to multitask during this movie. Thus, I'm giving this one a thumbs down.

Christmas in August

2005-11-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

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.

Double Indemnity

2005-11-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting my review of movies my husband and I watched way back in July and August. I'm staring here with Double Indemnity starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred Macmurray, directed by Billy Wilder. This one made number 38 on the list.

"Aah, the things we do for love" was the thought that occurred to me while watching this movie. It also occurred to me that we never really know what people are capable of. The human spirit, both the good deeds people do and the harsh, hard hearted things they do surprise me all the time.

It was interesting to see Fred Macmurray in a different role than the father on My Three Sons. Barbara Stanwyck also did a remarkable job as Mrs. Diedrichson. Even if you don't know what the term double indemnity is all about, you know she's up to something. It's very creepy really.

There was some cheesy dialogue now and then, but it was done in a "gotta love it" kind of way. Despite this, though, there were some great quotes by the characters. I give this one a thumbs up for a truly good storyline.

Update coming soon

2005-08-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

I was happily blogging along tonight (surfing other blogs on Blog Explosion, that is) and realized I've seen two movies now that haven't appeared on here yet. They are Sky High and Double Indemnity, which is on the AFI list. Stay tuned for my thoughts on these movies coming up in a day or two.

Cheers and Happy Movieing!

A Dandy of a Movie

2005-07-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

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 movies these days. For me this is what made the movie truly wonderful. In addition, the grand musical numbers give a clear portrayal of the theatre styles of the early 1900s - vaudeville and musical variety shows. Many funny moments, poignant moments and tributes to the American spirit combine to make this a true classic. It's a movie that will stand the test of time, thus earning a two thumbs up from both my husband and me.

Stay tuned for a review of the next movie on our list, the 1944 classic Double Indemnity.

Too Weird for Words

2005-07-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

About an hour ago my husband and I got home from seeing Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I have to say, I initially couldn't think of any words to describe this movie. It was weird beyond words, but then that's what I expect from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. All in all it was a good movie, very well done and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, where to start?

The kids did a great job acting in this movie. My favorites, in order, were: Veruca, Violet, Charlie, Augustus, and Mike. I'm a huge Johnny Depp fan, so of course, think he did a great job. Then there was Christopher Lee. While this wasn't one of his most stellar, spectacular roles, it seemed like he had a great time playing Wonka's father. In fact, the entire cast seemed like they were given the go-ahead from Burton to just "have fun with it" and it truly showed. They formed a good ensemble which shone through on the big screen. Finally, I thought it was remarkable that one actor portrayed all the Oompa Loompas.The musical numbers were well done, especially the choreography. Composer Danny Elfman did a really good job with the music, both the instrumental score and the lyrical songs.

In many talk show interviews, the statement was frequently made that this movie was a whole new movie and not a remake, but I feel I must make at least one comparison to the first Chocolate Factory movie starring Gene Wilder. People have commented that the Wilder version was scary to them. However, if I was a young child seeing this movie, I think this version would probably give me nightmares. In fact, the following scenes (written in green - highlight to read) will probably give me nightmares.

1) The scene where the musical dolls catch fire and melt. My thought on viewing this scene - before they caught fire, that is - was, "So this is what happens to Disney dolls when they get tired of singing "It's a Small World" for the ten thousandth time."

2) When Violet turns into the blueberry. What a freaky transformation to watch.

3) The squirrels attacking Veruca. Then again I tend to get freaked out by shots of furry rodents swarming all over a person. Eeks! Gives me the heebee jeebies thinking of it. (Shudder, shudder)

Despite these scenes, though, we both thought the movie was great. I don't know if I'll see it again in the theatre, but will definitely buy it on DVD. Hopefully it will come with good special features to boot.

Until next time,

Happy movieing!

"Here's Lookin' at You Kid"

2005-06-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

The other day my husband and I watched Casablanca. It came in at number 2 on AFI's list and I can see why. Citizen Kane was number 1 and this movie was definitely just as brilliant as that one. In fact, they are two of my new favorite movies. I have to ask myself, how did I go through 30 years of life without watching Casablanca?

Allow me to expound -

Acting: Some of the accents were a little off, but aside from that, the acting was so good. Sam cracked me up and there was such great acting on the part of Bogart. My favorite scene was when he confronted Ilsa. He acted that scene with such passion that you could feel his character's heartache and anger.

Plot: This storyline was much easier to follow than The Maltese Falcon. Also it was neat to see the famous scenes and hear the famous lines from this movie in their proper context. They make so much more sense now.

Musical score: Very good in terms setting the tone of key scenes. Sam's playing and choice of music really added to the scenes in Cafe Americain.

Sound effects/Special effects/Costumes (basically, everything else not yet mentioned) - The costumes for Ilsa's character were beautiful. The male characters basically either wore suits or uniforms of one sort or another, so not much to comment on there. Or maybe there is and I just don't know it. I'm not a sewer, thus am not familiar with fabrics and such.

I found it interesting that the few times people were shot or injured in some way, there was no blood. I imagine the censors of the day would have had a fit if any blood was shown. Internet Movie Database has a lot of interesting trivia for this movie. Many more interesting tidbits than I could possibly post here. Check it out, very interesting stuff.

Both my husband and I give this movie a thumbs up. If you haven't seen it yet, head to your local library and check it out. Chances are, you won't be disappointed.

Happy movieing!

Thoughts on a Falcon

2005-06-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

Last night we got around to The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart. It's number 23 on the AFI list. I was really hoping to like this movie, but alas, I have to say I didn't like it all that much. Okay, I'm ducking and covering from all the Bogart fans out there. Now, on to why it wasn't my favorite.

The acting - Most roles were either stilted, or overacted. I did like the actor who played Cairo, though. He was good, very believable.

Music - There was too much of it and it was too repetitious. It all sounded suspenseful and I can only take so much foreboding music in a movie.

Storyline - I found it too slow-moving and I got lost somewhere along the way. That was probably my fault, though, for surfing the net during the first twenty minutes of the movie.

For now I'm giving this movie a thumbs sideways and so did my husband. I don't know, I may watch it again someday to see if I like it any better.. I'm almost always willing to give a movie a second chance. After all, it did make the AFI list, so there must be something I'm missing about this movie that makes it such a classic. Can anyone enlighten me?

It Takes a Village

2005-06-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

So, here I sit watching The Village for the second time. I thought it was going to be a lot more scary than it was. I mean, monster, slasher wise. That's why I didn't see it in the theatre. After taking me to see The Mummy and due to the dreams I would have after watching Haunted History on the History channel, my husband strongly discourages me from watching movies likely to give me nightmares, lol! Hence the reason I'm am just now watching The Village.

I watched it once last week, but my husband wasn't at home, so we are watching it again tonight. It is a scary movie, but more psychologically scary. Those are the kind of movies I like, well along with grand epics, but that's digressing. Most of the acting in the movie was pretty good, but Bryce Howard's performance as Ivy Walker really stood out. I thought she was really really good. To this point I'd not seen anything she'd been in. Hope she keeps going with her acting, she's off to a great start.

The use of music was very well done. I tend to be more musical anyway, so the score really moved me in parts and made me nervous and afraid in others. Just as a musical score is supposed to do. Well done in my opinion. Sets and costumes were well done too. Before I go on to other thoughts, I'll stop here to say this one gets a two thumbs up from me and I definitely want to check out some of the other work this director has done.

**Beware, there be spoilers ahead. If you haven't seen the movie, stop now and come back when you've seen it.**

The whole aspect of a people leaving society and forming their own little town really made me stop and think about how I react to stress and hard times. Some people meet those times head on. I tend to retreat for awhile, like if I don't think about the deadlines coming up, or the hard thing that is happening, it won't come. Then, just at the last minute I get done what needs to be done.

Then too there's the line that Ivy says, "I see the world, Lucius Hunt. Just not as you see it." Ivy, being blind, would see the world in a whole different way than others who can see. That is true for each of us. We all view the world differently depending on our past and current circumstances. Again, it's something to think about. How do you see the world? How do your friends and family see it?

There is so much to think about with this movie. I'm sure I'm missing many other things. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. Until next time, happy movieing!!

The Star Wars Experience

2005-06-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

Well, after it having been out for three weeks now, we finally made it to see Revenge of the Sith and I have to say it's the best epic film I've seen since Return of the King. The main reason for that is the storytelling. I mean, if you've seen episode IV, you know who's going to survive the battle scenes in Revenge and who won't. You know where everyone starts out in Episode IV, but what you don't know is how they got there. George Lucas did a brilliant job tying up those loose ends and setting up the plots for eps IV-VI.

As with the other films the musical score was great. It brought the perfect emotion to every scene. Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, and Ewen McGregor were once again outstanding in their roles. Christensen's performance really stood out to me and made me want to check out some of the other work he's done, just to see him in a different role. So, those will be some of the next on my list of movies to watch.

While the acting was great, the special effects phenomenal, and the fight scenes exciting, it was the storytelling aspect that really made me love this movie. It definitely gets a two thumbs up from both my husband and me. That's four thumbs all together. We'd give it more if we had more thumbs.

Now I want to know what happens after Return of the Jedi. However, as Lucas has said he's not making anymore Star Wars films, I guess we'll all just have to use our imaginations.

Happy imagining all!

P.S. Stay tuned in coming days for a review of The Maltese Falcon. Now that rerun season is here, we are back to watching films off the AFI top 100 list.

Summer Season Fast Approaching

2005-05-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

There is hope on the horizon. After many months of some not so great movies, there are finally some good ones to look forward to. Well, potentially good ones anyway. In the last two weeks I've seen two movies, both of which I really liked.

The first was Sin City. I have to say that while I was expecting a high level of gruesome violence, it's another thing to actually see it played out on the screen. I don't normally do movies with that much violence, but the fact that it was an all-star cast really made me want to see it. Then too, there was the fact that it looked like it was going to be well done artistically and I do go in for artistic movies. So, I was not disappointed by this movie. When it comes out on DVD, I'll definitely watch it one more time, especially if there are good commentaries.

The other movie I saw was Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This one was a so-so movie. There were a lot of funny bits and the flight over Magrathea (I think) was really well done. In a lot of comments I read after seeing the movie people said they were annoyed by the dolphin song at the beginning. I thought that was one of the better bits of the movie. It really cracked me up, but maybe I'm just weird that way. There was one downside to the movie. I hadn't read the books in quite awhile, so there were a lot of things I didn't remember from the books. A bit more explanation of some things would have benefitted those not familiar with the storyline in the books. Those bits were hard to sit through because frankly I got bored and just wished the movie would move along already.

All in all I give Sin City a two thumbs up for being a well done movie in all areas. Hitchhiker's gets a thumbs up for the funny bits and the portrayal of characters Ford, Arthur, and Zaphod and a thumbs sideways for the boring bits and the badly acted portrayal of the character Trillian.

Tonight I'm hearkening back to a classic comedy, the 1950 version of Cheaper by the Dozen, which I've seen about 50 times and its sequel Belles on their Toes, which I haven't seen. It's been a relaxing night, but it's about time to head off for bed. I've got an early day tomorrow.

At some point I plan to see Kingdom of Heaven and I'll be back to post when I do.

Finally, at Long Last!

2005-04-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

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 when they are in the huge, cold mansion and have grown apart from each other.

The acting - This was the first Orson Wells movie I've ever seen (although I have heard his Mercury theatre dramatization of War of the Worlds. I highly reccomend that one too, especially if you can find an authentic sounding copy and listen with the lights off. It is genuinely creepy, but I digress). I have to say, he really brought Charles Kane to life and made him a character you love to hate, or feel sympathy for. Oh and how could I leave out the music? This movie has a great score.

Then of course there is the big mystery surrounding his dying word, "Rosebud." I admit I already knew the answer to that question before I saw the movie, but final scenes were still really moving for me. As you can probably already guess, I give this one a definite thumbs up. My husband...he gave it a thumbs sideways and said it wasn't a compelling story for him. Ah well.

Next on the list is The Maltese Falcon, but don't hold your breath. It's been sitting on our entertainment center for three weeks already and I can't renew from the library anymore. It has to go back. Keep checking back here, though. You never know what I might post in the meantime.

Cheers,
Juli

Hitch and the Oscars

2005-03-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Well, after quite some time I"m finally getting here to update this blog. I noticed tonight it's been since January since I wrote anything. Don't know how this post will turn out, though because my body is trying to get a cold and I'm trying to keep ahead of it. Assuming everyone hasn't given up on this blog, does anyone have tried and true methods to offer on how to keep from getting sick? I have to work the next seven days straight through and absolutely have no time to get sick. On the up side, though, I met someone at my church who likes Lord of the Rings as much as I do so now I have someone (in real life) to talk about the movies with and my husband won't have to listen to me talk LotR non-stop, lol!

Anyway, on to the update. There are two reasons for the lack of updates. First, all the shows I watch have been first run episodes, so what with keeping up with my t.v. shows, there hasn't been time to catch many movies. Second, there haven't been many movies out that I wanted to see. Until Hitch, that is. Will Smith was so great in this movie. Loved the date he took the girl on. It was so romantic. I definitely give this movie a two thumbs up and so did my husband. The only thing that ruined the movie was the person in front of us who got up and left the theatre about 10 times during the show (why she paid for a full price ticket only to catch 1/3 of the movie is beyond me) and the lady behind us who answered her cell phone during the show (grrrr...)

And now, my take on the Oscars. They were so-so this year. We missed the beginning of the show because we went out to dinner and a movie (Finding Neverland - also a two thumbs up, but then what Johnny Depp movie isn't?) The last half of the show was pretty good. I didn't like how they gave some awards out in the middle of the audience, but I guess I could live with the change of having all the nominees onstage for some awards. I missed half the movies that were nominated for Best Picture, but out of the ones I did, I thought Finding Neverland should have won. Oh well. It was a pretty dismal year for movies last year - no Lord of the Rings or other big epics so I guess the Academy did as well as they could with nominating movies. Hope this year proves to be a better year for movies.

We are now heading into a brief re-run season until May sweeps, so we may finally get around to Citizen Kane. It's in my backpack, so who knows what the next few days may bring. Keep checking!

Inspiration

2005-01-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

Every so often a movie comes along that truly inspires you every time you watch it, more than any other movie you've ever seen. You can watch it over and over and always learn something new about yourself and the world around you. It's the one movie you turn to when life hits a low point and you need someone or something to help pick you back up. I don't know what that one movie is for you, but for me I've discovered it's the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Return of the King most of all.

I don't know why these movies help to pick me up. Maybe it's watching Frodo's struggling journey that helps me realize as hard as I think things are for me, some people struggle with something much harder to deal with and they do it with great perseverance and courage. Like Frodo, they come out a different and stronger person. Makes me realize I should stop complaining and just get on with the task or tasks at hand.

Or maybe it's seeing that Frodo wasn't alone in his journey. He always had Sam, who stuck by him and encouraged him, even when Frodo tried to push him away. There were all the others who stood with him as well. When I think on that, I think of all the people in my life who whisper words of encouragement to me. They stick by me even when I tune out their words or push them away.

I just came off of working 12 days straight. Yes, you read that right, 12 days with out a day off and let me just say, by last night I was truly beat. In fact all week I've been coming home and saying to my husband, "I just don't think I can go another day." To which he always replies, "Yes you can." So, I spent today watching Return of the King and I've got several other movies lined up as well. I've got to say, I think by Tuesday (which is when I go back again) I will be able to walk into that library, plan my programs, and yes, even deal with the teens who insist on using other people's library card numbers to gain more time on the internet. Now if I could just figure out what part of "Only two people on the computer at a time" they don't understand, life will be perfect.

Have a great day all!

Hope you had a great holiday

2005-01-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

Catch any good movies this holiday season? I did. Out of all the movies on my list, I only got to see Phantom of the Opera. It was a pretty good movie, depite a couple of little things. Well, a good movie if you don't compare it to the stage show. I really liked the scenes and costumes. The girl who played Christine had an amazing voice, but Gerard Butler, who played the Phantom didn't grow on me until about the last third of the movie. Also, the movie was told from a flash back point of view, so there were some black and whilte flash forward scenes that kind of threw me off. The end of the movie, though, sent chills up my spine and left me wanting to see it again. All in all, I give it a two thumbs up.

Brian and I scored well on the DVD scene this Christmas. He got Office Space, Red Dwarf series 3, Stars Wars Trilogy, Jersey Girl, and Better off Dead. I got the ulitmate gift, the boxed set of Lord of the Rings Extended Edition. This set truly rocks and I'm not even one quarter of the way through all the special features and commentaries. Unfortunately I'm working the next seven days straight so I won't have a chance to watch anymore until Monday the 17th. I got a second set of LOTR dvds (not extended edition) from my husband, so he insisted I take them back and get something else. It's my plan to get series 4 of Red Dwarf. I'll keep you posted.

Now that the holidays are over, it's back to normal...at least for a couple of weeks, that is. Then my husband has a birthday and I have one three weeks after that. Here's to getting more movies for each of us!

Have a great night/day (whenever you're reading this).

Juli

I Wish you a Merry Christmas

2004-12-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

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 explanation was entirely acurate. Also, some of the things in the movie happened just a little too effortlessly, which required a lot of suspension of disbelief on my part and I wasn't sure I could stretch that far, lol!

Those things aside though, it was a good movie. I am somewhat into U.S. History and I've been to D.C and Pennsylvania which is where most of the movie is set. So, it was interesting to watch the movie and see the places I've visited in a new light. Plus, I love the whole idea of secret maps and buried treasure. The acting was great too. All in all, I highly reccomend this movie. It was a good action flick without all the swearing and w/out a *ton* of violence (although there was some). Oh and no love making going on either, so yaay for that too. This movie gets my thumbs up. Oh yeah, my husband gave it a thumbs up too.

I'm pretty busy this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, but I plan to carve out some time to go see the Lemony Snickett movie. Phantom comes out on the 22nd (in limited release). I just hope it opens at a theatre near me. If it does, believe me, I'll be there! Look for more reviews here in the near future.

Hope you all have a happy holiday and have fun movie-ing.

I'm so excited

2004-11-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got to watch a great movie on cable. It was Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. This is definitely one of my favorite Hitchcock films. I love the mystery and the eeriness of it (did I spell that right?). Plus, Jimmy Stewart is one of my all time favorite actors. He is sooo good in this film.

Speaking of Hitchcock, my husband and I are spending Thanksgiving on our own this year due to him having to work the day after (and of course I need to shop, lol). We are going to resurrect a tradition we started a few years ago and haven't had a chance to do the last couple of years. Namely, we are going to spend the day watching Hitchcock films. On the list so far are classics such as Rope, Dial M for Murder and Rear Window. There are others too, but I don't remember what they are. Hey, if anyone else out in blogland has any suggestions, let me know. I'm up for anything except The Birds, which freaked me out and North by Northwest, which I watched once and it caused me to fall asleep. Hope nobody thinks that's a sacrilege or anything ;)

In other exciting news, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban comes out on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll get to pick up a copy and enjoy that on Thanksgiving Day as well. I'm also looking forward to more great movies that come out in December. Now if I can just scrape together enough money to go see them. I'll keep you posted.

Have a great day all

Oh, I Give up

2004-11-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

I think we won't get around to watching Citizen Kane until next summer when it's back to reruns on t.v. However, there is a holiday movie season coming up with lots of movies that look really good. So, I'm going to take a break from the AFI list and review the movies I make to this holiday season. Let's start with The Incredibles.

We went and saw this last Friday night. It is a huge departure from the previous Pixar movies, both in style and in topic. It was a pretty okay movie and definitely worth seeing on an IMAX screen if possible. The beginning is a little slow moving and I'm not sure how well it will hold kids' attention. The last hour or so is more action packed and more "super-heroish," kind of like Spiderman meets Spy Kids only animated.

Not to put any spoilers here, but I have to say one thing. There is a part where the father loses his job and goes back to "super-heroing" behind his wife's back. He never says anything about losing his job either, just basicaly lies to his wife. Even though he apologizes at the end and the end is all about family values (sticking together, helping each other out, etc), it was still wrong of him not to tell his wife and it bothered me that kids might pick think it is okay to lie in a marriage. I hope parents out there talk with their kids about this and model honest marriages in their own homes.

That was my only beef. Don't know if I'll go see it again, though, especially with so many other good movies coming out. Stay tuned for upcoming reviews, which may include Polar Express, Series of Unfortunate Events, Finding Neverland, National Treasure, and Alexander. I make no promises on these, though, so keep checking back.

Cheers

Citizen Kane Coming Soon

2004-11-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

I know I keep promising, but we have made an official plan to watch this movie on Wednesday next. Hang in there, I promise to update soon.

Until then, cheers

You guys are so patient

2004-09-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

I promise you my husband and I have not given up on our movie watching. It's just that the new t.v. season started and we have been working really opposite schedules lately. Oh and I joined a Bible Study and Church choir. So, that also takes up two nights of our week.

I appreciate all of you who have stuck with me waiting patiently for an update. Next week we go on vacation for two weeks, so there may not be many updates then either. We will get around to Citizen Kane sooner or later though, so keep checking back. You may be pleasantly suprised to find an update or two.

Plugging a new blog

2004-09-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog tonight. It's all about quotes I've collected from books I've read. Check it out here and let me know what you think.

The next movie will be Citizen Kane just as soon as we both have a day when we are feeling up to watching such a deep and involving movie. Hopefully it won't be too long, though. Keep checking back.

I'm Baaack

2004-09-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

See, didn't I tell you I'd be right back? Okay, the second movie we watched this past weekend was Philadelphia Story starring Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart, among other big name actors. Let me tell you, those two have great chemistry together on screen. Plus, Jimmy Stewart is one of my all-time favorite actors, so this movie was definitely a hit for me. The scene where Stewart's character visits C.K. Dexter Haven while drunk, is a classic. Best line from that scene? "I have the hiccups."

Filled with blackmail, intrigue, revenge, and romance, this has all the makings of a true classic movie. I loved Dinah's character as well. The actress playing her absolutely cracked me up. Hepburn's character Tracy has some big choices to make in this movie and I was kept in suspense until the very end of the movie. I won't say anything more here, you've got to watch the movie to find out.

Brian and I both gave this one a thumb's up for the fact that it such a funny movie filled with great actors and actresses. By the way, AFI ranked this one #51 on their list.

Until next time, movie fans, happy cinema-ing.

Finally getting here to update

2004-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, some of you probably thought I'd abandoned this blog. Am I right? It hasn't been abandoned, life just got in the way of our movie watching. The next movie on our list was Grapes of Wrath and with our busy days at work, Brian and I just hadn't felt up to watching such a...dramatic, shall we say, movie. So, there sat the videotape, next to our t.v. for three weeks before we finally got around to watching it.

This was the 1940's version with Henry Fonda. Now, in all fairness, I didn't pay as close attention as I should have. I was doing some net surfing while watching and so missed out on most of the movie. Here are my comments on what I did see though (and yes, I will sit down and watch the movie again some day).

1) Until they ran into the character Muley at the Joad's old home, I didn't get the sense of desperation and "dust bowl life" like I did in the opening chapters of the book. Once they met up with this character and more scenes were set on the prairie dust bowl, the book truly came to life for me.

2) Henry Fonda was great as Tom Joad

3) The musical score helped capture the feeling of the time period for me.

Ma Joad had one line in particular that stood out to me. She said, "...Never had to lose everything I had in life..." That line really touched my heart and made me stop and think about what it must have been like for my grandparents living through the depression. Then it made me think about society today. Will this country ever go through anything like the depression again? Kids today, who are used to throwing something away when it gets a little worn or slightly broken, would they and could they come out as strong as families during the Depression if they suddenly lost everything they had in life? Part of me wonders, but then I see the places some of the kids in my library come from and I think, yeah, they are definitely survivors.

I gave this movie (number 21 on the AFI list) a thumbs up for the parts I saw. Brian gave it a thumbs down simply because it is not his type of movie. Stay tuned and I'll be right back with the review of our next movie, Phildelphia Story.

Classic Literature Becomes a Movie

2004-07-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last night we finished off the 1930s decade with Wuthering Heights starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. I read this book in high school (way back 12 years ago) and had a great English teacher. She helped us through the tedious bits and really brought the story alive for us. Thus, it was one of the best books I read in high school. I still have the copy I used in high school, but haven't read it in a long time. Still, though, from what I remember of the story, this movie seemed to be a good adaptation. Although, it did end in about the middle of the book, so from that standpoint, it could have been better.

You have to love a good romance and this is one of the classics, coming in at number 73 on the AFI list. As I said before, Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon had the lead roles of Heathcliff and Cathy. They are great stars in their own rights, but there was such great acting on everyone's part. As when I read the book, it was hard to know who to feel for the most. Cathy, Heathcliff, Isabella, or Edgar. None of them ended up with the person they loved. Well, Edgar did, but he was not loved in return. Cathy, in my opinion, stayed with Edgar for the lifestyle he could give her.

I think I felt for Cathy most. She and Heathcliff belonged together. However, she doesn't realize this until it's too late. If she had followed her heart instead of seeking name and status, she would have been happy. She and Heathcliff are bound by a tie of love that transcends this world, though. All great loves do and at the end of the movie, they are finally together forever.

My husband gave this movie a thumbs sideways because, as he says, "It just wasn't a movie that interested me." I give it a thumbs up for the great acting and because it is an ultimate portrayal of true love.

We're off to See the Wizard

2004-07-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, as I knew would happen, I've fallen way behind in updating this blog. Of course we're way behind in our movie watching, but that's beside the point. I'm here now, so I guess I should get to updating, eh?

Way back on the 17th of July my husand and I watched that immortal classic, The Wizard of Oz. It really was a trip down memory lane to watch this movie. I remember watching it on t.v. every year. That and Charlotte's Web were the two things I looked forward to every year. What I remember most about watching the movie as a child is cool transition from black and white to color. I remember that being so incredible to see. Amazingly enough, I still remembered all the words to all the songs too. This movie is definitely one of those classics that keeps entertaining over and over again. What more can I say, except, "There's no place like home." Wizard's home on the AFI list is number 6.

My husband and I both give this movie a definite thumbs up for it's delightfulness and longevity.

Next Stop, the Wild West

2004-07-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

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.

All About Mr. Smith

2004-07-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

I had my own Mr. Smith experience about seven years ago now when I vacationed in D.C with my parents. It was so neat to see all the buildings and monuments I'd studied about all those years in school. This isn't about my journey, though, it's about Jefferson Smith's journey in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

This is one of my favorite movies starring one of my favorite actors, thus it was a great way to end the 4th of July weekend. Jefferson Smith comes to Washington D.C. a naive junior senator who is put in the Senate after one of the congressmen from his state died. The only reason Jefferson Smith was appointed was because some powerful Senators felt they could control him. Davis proves them wrong though as he learns the ropes of speaking/voting in the Senate. It is a journey of self discovery, a journey that all must go through someday. Davis learns to stand up for what he believes in and to never back down. In this day and age of so many injustices, it's a lesson we can all take to heart.

Mr. Smith came in at number 29 on the list. My husband and I both gave it a thumb's up.

Gone with the Wind

2004-07-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

What do you say about a movie like this? I do love epics and like all the epics I've ever seen, this one left me completely speechless. There was so much to take in, I'm still digesting it all. I can say though that I'm now partially inspired to read the book and I would love to see this on a big screen someday. This movie is the first one we've watched in the top five of the AFI list. It came in at number 4.

This movie had all the makings of a timeless epic: sweeping cinematography, love and heart break, spectacular special effects, and brilliant acting. All the actors cast in this film truly brought the characters to life. It made me laugh, cry, and feel angry in all the right places. If I tried to list all my thoughts on Scarlett's character and her realtionships with the other characters in the film, we'd be here until the next century, so I will just say that I'd love to have a healthy debate with whoever wants to email me.

On other fronts, a couple of my favorite characters were Prissy and Mammy. Rhett, well, I really felt for his character but that's for reasons that I won't go into here in this blog. Another reason I liked this film is the great dialog. Case in point, a couple of my favorite lines:

"You should be kissed and often and by someone who knows how."
"Good heavens, woman, this is war, not a garden party."

Oh and before I give my rating, I have one more interesting theory to think about. The name of the house in which Scarlett lives is Tara, right? So you could also think of it as Terra, which is Latin for earth. I'd like to propose that is also a symbol for strength, new life and a fresh start. This would be why Scarlett always goes back there when life has taken her strength. Any thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Again, feel free to email me and we'll talk.

Now, in answer to my teaser from the previous posting, this is the first movie my husband and I disagreed on. I give Gone With the Wind a thumbs up because it is a truly great epic saga. My husband gives it a thumbs down calling it "a big soap opera," saying he didn't "care for any of the characters" and it "wasn't engaging." Ah well, you can't win 'em all.

We are currently watching our next movie, but as we were interrupted by a phone call, I'm pretty sure we'll finish just in time to head for bed. Check back tomorrow for our thoughts on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, a good movie with which to end the 4th of July weekend. Hope it was a good one for you all.

Classic Screwball Comedy

2004-07-05T18:07:00.001-07:00

For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, you're probably wondering if we've given up on our list or something. No, we haven't given up, we've just been working opposite schedules lately and it's been hard to find a night when we are home together to watch a movie. At any rate, last Saturday we finally got around to our next movie, Bringing Up Baby. It's a classic screwball comedy, although at the time it came out, not many people were excited to see it. The introduction to the movie mentioned that no one was seeing Katherine Hepburn movies at the time and the movie was basically a box office flop. There's tons more trivia on the Internet Movie Database (see the link in my sidebar). Bringing up Baby came in at spot 97 on the AFI list.

So, first of all, here's a basic introduction to the plotline in case you've not seen it yet. Talk about your rough day. Dr. David Huxley is trying to play a game of golf with the legal advisor to a wealthy lady who may make a large donation to Huxley's museum. On the course, Huxley meets Susan, a ditzy young woman, who talks a lot. She basically attaches herself to David even though he is engaged to be married. When Susan receives a leopard from her brother, David's life is suddenly not his own. What follows next is a series of truly comical events. I literally laughed hysterically every five minutes.

I highly reccommend this movie. It gets a thumbs up from both of us for fantastic acting, hilarious hijinks, a cute dog named George and of course Baby, the leopard. Stay tuned for a review of Gone With the Wind. As a teaser, here's a question for you. Will this be the first move my husband and I give conflicting "thumb ratings" to?

Happy movieing :)

True Disney Classic

2004-06-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

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 scared, I was relieved when the villain died, and I smiled at the familiar words "And they lived happily ever after." The animation is classic and I especially like the scenes where Snow White is interacting with the animals. The animals are so cute.

When Walt released his film, the United States was facing some hard times and a movie like this gave people something to hope for. The world is still facing hard times, if not harder than back when this movie was first released. This movie does its part to make your heart lighter and for a brief 67 or so minutes, helps you forget about all the bad stuff in the world. I give it a thumbs up for timelessness and for being a sweet love story. My husband also gives it a thumbs up.

The next movie on our list is only available from the library in videocassette format, so we may have to skip it and go on to one for which we can get the DVD. Stay tuned for the latest on our VCR saga.

A Sea-faring movie

2004-06-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

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 came in at number 86 on the list. I was truly touched by this movie as I have been by most sea stories I've seen or read. It really put me in mind of the book The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick (the true story of the whaleship Essex, on which Moby Dick was based). Seeing the sailors who were set adrift starving in the boats and just trying to survive from one day to the next, I tell you, it really got to me and I thought it was wonderfully portrayed.

Make up, costumes, acting, all of it, came together for a great movie. I give this one a thumbs up. As soon as he watches it, my husband will also be able to add his input. Now that I have finally seen this movie, I have a desire to learn more about the real Captain Bligh. Fortunately my "to be read" pile is getting low and I need more to read. I'll keep you posted on what I learn. 'Til then, happy reading and happy movie watching. By the way, Bounty came in at number 86 on the AFI list.

Going Out of Order

2004-06-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

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 technology in society, including sound in movies. These themes still resonate in society today.

One of the most comical moments in the movie is the opening scene where Chaplin compares commuters beginning their daily grind to sheep being herded along in a big clump. When I was living in Tacoma, WA and commuting to Seattle every day for work and school I often had that same feeling.

For me, parts of the factory scenes had a sort of "1984" feel to them. While this movie was made in 1936, and 1984 by George Orwell was not written until 1946, I see certain similarities. Mainly Chaplin's movie points out that too much technology and modernization too fast can swallow a society up. Orwell's novel points out that government, too, can be and often is, detrimental to a society. Granted, I am only basing this on what I've read about the book. Someday, if and when I read 1984, I may come back here and change my tune, but basically I see the two works warning society as a whole not to get too caught up in any one thing or it may be quashed, swallowed or otherwise broken down.

Modern Times really made me stop and think. Progress and technology do just keep moving forward no matter what and there's not a thing we can do to stop it. Indeed, would we want to if we could? Just like Chaplin, some people fear where all this modernization is taking us. There is hope though, as Chaplin's character found out when he discovered his true love. In all things there is hopefulness, sometimes one just has to look really hard to find it.

So, to all of you reading this who may fear changes, technology, modernization, and where all this is taking us, I tell you what Chaplin's character told his true love. "Buck up-never say die. We'll get along." I give this one a thumbs up for Chaplin's classic comedy and for its universality and timelessness.

It Happened One Night

2004-06-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

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 the movie was made as well as other interesting information about the actors and directors. There are theatrical trailers for It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Lost Horizon all of which are cirected by Frank Capra. Finally there are advertising stills and a radio play of the movie which one can listen to. All in all some interesting special features.

My mom first got me hooked on this movie and am I glad she did. I give this film a thumbs up for being such fun to watch and for being such a great romantic story. If I could I'd give it two all on my own. I have to reserve one thumb for my husband, though. He says it was good and also gives it a thumbs up.

That's all for tonight. Happy movie-watching all! Good night.

Gotta Love Those Marx Brothers

2004-06-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

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.

My First Thumbs Down

2004-06-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

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 the state of the art (for the time, anyway) special effects, great musical score, and well-done sound effects.

There are only two reasons I did sit through it without surfing the net as a distraction. First, I have a rule about not going online while my husband is home and awake. Second, when we started watching the movies from this list we set the rule that we had to watch all of them all the way through. Parts of the movie did pick up a bit and compelled me to watch. Despite the wonderful music score and sound effects, though, I'm giving this one a thumbs down because the acting was on the bad side and the plot didn't hold my interest.

My husband says the movie was, "Ground-breaking for its time." He gives it a thumbs mostly up for being so ground breaking. That's all he had to say, so I'm signing off for tonight.

Happy movie watching all and thanks for visitng my Cinema Spot.

Frankenstein - A Great Classic Horror

2004-06-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

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 of the monster who is just coming out of the effects of a sedative.
2) The little girl Maria shares her flowers with the monster.
The scene that got me the most though was what the villagers did to the monster. I won't say because I don't want to give the plot away, but I did almost need to run for the Kleenex box. Have one near you if you are the sensitive sort because you'll probaby need one.

Although the movie was very well made, I was slightly disappointed in the final scene. It was a bit anticlimactic in my opinion. My husband and I did not watch this one together, so thus far I can only give my thumbs up/thumbs down opinion. This one get a thumbs up from me for suspense and brilliant acting.

Hooray for Harry Potter

2004-06-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

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 movie and I can't wait to see it again. We caught the movie twice and may possibly watch it a third time in the theatre, don't know yet. There are so many other interesting movies out right now too. For now though, it's back to the movies off the AFI top 100 list. Next up, Frankenstein.

Another Chaplin classic

2004-06-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

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 romance in the tradition of the classic silent films. Up until my husband and I started watching the movies on this list, I'd never really seen a Chaplin film. Now I've seen two and I have to say he's definitely my new favorite film star. We also give this one a two thumbs up.

Tomorrow night we will be taking a break from our AFI top 100 list to go see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As we are going to a 10 p.m. show, I doubt I'll be posting a review of that one when we get home as the particular theatre we are going to is an hour away. Look for an update on Saturday though when I will post the review of Harry Potter.

First War Movie on the List

2004-06-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

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 time. All Quiet on the Western Front came in at number 54 on the AFI list.

The director was trying to make a statement about the harsh realities of war from what it was like to be in a foxhole to the fact that people back home didn't understand what it was truly like for these soldiers. The statement was clear and pointed. From a film making standpoint, the special effects (sounds of bombs falling and then exploding upon landing) were very realistic. Also, the acting was incredible, extremely well done. The haunting final scene will stay with you for a long long time. For all these reasons I give the movie a thumbs up.

Brian agrees it was very well put together and also gives the movie a thumbs up.

Stay tuned for our next movie review discussing the film City Lights starring Charlie Chaplin.

Movie Number Three

2004-05-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight's film review is The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolsen. This movie, which was number 90 on AFI's list, is also the first to feature spoken dialogue. Did you know that? I didn't until I saw picked this movie up from the library. In it Jolsen stars as a jazz singer, Jakie, who is making it big in the world of music. His father, however, doesn't approve of his son's career choice. He would rather his son follow in his footsteps as cantor in the synagogue which they attend. Jakie continues in his career and enjoys great success until the day his mother shows up at the dress rehearsal for a show in which Jakie is to appear. She tells him is father is sick - on the verge of death - and begs him to come home and lead the service of Atonement at the synagogue. Jakie must decide if his heart lies in pursuing his career or honoring his Jewish tradition.

I won't tell you the end, you'll have to watch for yourselves. I will say, however, it has a great storyline that will keep you hooked until the end. It will make you laugh, and cry and leave you with a good feeling in the end. My husband and I give this one two thumbs up for a great storyline and for the fact that it is the first movie with spoken dialogue.

The First Two Reviews

2004-05-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

This will probably be a somewhat longer post than I will usually make, unless a movie makes a huge impact on me, but I want to make sure my reviews get posted in the same order as my husband and I watch the movies. So here we go with The Birth of a Nation directed by D.W, Griffith and Gold Rush starring Charlie Chaplin.

Okay, here's the scoop on The Birth of a Nation, number 44 on AFI's list. It was a very impressive piece of filmmaking considering it was made in 1915. There was so much emotion and so much to take in that I'm definitely going to have to watch it again. The only problem was the recording we picked up from the library didn't have a musical score to go with it. That made it a bit difficult to watch as well.

My husband says Ebert and Roper each give a thumbs up or a thumbs down, so if we want to be like them this summer, we can only give two thumbs up, not four (as some friends had suggested). We give this one a thumbs up and a thumbs sideways for great filmmaking, but no musical score.

Gold Rush starring Charlie Chaplin is absolutely hilarious and well worth the 96 minutes of time you spend watching it. This one made number 74 on AFI's list. So many people come to the library where I work and ask for this film. Now I see why. There is action, danger, and true love (awww). We got the DVD version which contains both the 1925 silent version and the 1945 (?) remake. We watched the oiginal version which has been restored to look as it did when it was released instead of all grainy as many old movies appear. This one was recorded with, I believe, the original score, which is lively and great for baking a cake to (which is what I was doing while watching the film).

It was hard to tear oneself away from this movie and we highly reccomend it. This one gets two thumbs up!

Welcome to Juli's Cinema Spot

2004-05-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are avid t.v. watchers, but with all the shows in reruns for the summer, we have nothing original to watch. So, we are embarking on a fun adventure. We downloaded the Amerian Film Institute's list of the top 100 movies from the last 100 years. We are watching them in chronological order and so far have watched "The Birth of a Nation" directed by D.W. Griffith and "Gold Rush" starring Charlie Chaplin.

At some point in the next few days I will post my thoughts on these two fine movies as well as the one we are currently watching "The Jazz Singer." So, come back often as new reviews will appear frequently.