Now, Voyager

Stars - Bette Davis (#2); Quotes - "...Don't let's ask for the moon.  We have the stars" (#46); Passions (#23)

Bette Davis has the mother of all bad mothers in this movie.  Talk about controlling and manipulative.  But, go Bette, she stands up to her mother and falls in love with Paul Henreid.

It was an okay movie, but very Harlequin romance (even the title, which comes from a Walt Whitman poem).  I like Claude Rains, though.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZhEcRrMA-M

Lady and the Tramp

Passions (#95)

I don't like talking animal movies.  In fact, I didn't see Lady and the Tramp in its entirety until recently.  It's just never appealed to me. 

It still doesn't.  Although I suppose if you like animals you might think it's cute.

But Bella Notte is one of the most boring songs ever written.  Why would you put it in the middle of a kids movie?  I think that's where I fell asleep the first time I attempted to watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD4EBrDjzwc

Ghost

Stars - Whoopi Goldberg (Current); Songs - Unchained Melody (#27); Passions (#19)

I made it through 20 years of my life without seeing Ghost, and I don't think I missed anything.  It was ok - better than I thought it would be, although admittedly my expectations were low.

The plot was lame - you knew right away who Patrick Swayze's killer was and why he was going to kill him.  Demi Moore can't act.  And Unchained Melody is one of the most boring songs ever.  And then, it couldn't decide what kind of movie it wanted to be.  Most of the time it was supposed to be this great romantic drama.  But a few times the "ghost" thing came off as a failed attempt at a horror movie, with bits so out of place they were laughable.  And other times it seemed more like something out of Scooby Doo.  Go figure.  I'm guessing Whoopi got her Oscar by being the one saving grace of the movie.

I have to admit I liked this part though, where Sam (who is a ghost and therefore has all the time in eternity) tries to annoy Oda Mae into listening to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZxIAN6don4

The Band Wagon

Stars - Fred Astaire (#5); Songs - That's Entertainment (#45); Musicals (#17)

Washed-up movie star Fred Astaire tries to make a comeback on Broadway.

Cyd Charisse is beautiful (although her name is Cyd).  Astaire is funny looking.  But they definitely can dance.

One thing though - why do musicals of this era always have to have the big boring ballet number?

(start this clip at 0:45)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSksuNR7i9k


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDNgFGdrxYk

Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Top 100 (#26/39); Laughs (#3); Quotes - "...You can't fight in here!  This is the War Room!" (#64)

Maybe I would have liked this movie if

1) I was a guy
2) I liked war movies
3) I liked spoofs
4) I watched it during the height of the Cold War

But none of the above applies to me.  Therefore, I just thought it was stupid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cBZiXdZtnY

Gunga Din

Stars - Cary Grant (#2); Cheers (#74)

It might come as a surprise to you that Cary Grant was not 38 in this movie.  He was 35.

It might also come as a surprise to you that nobody says "Such is so, Gunga Din."  It's not in the poem, either.  So why does Mom say it all the time?

And I'm not sure how this clip relates, but when I looked for Gunga Din clips, this came up -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp8CNj9qBI&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL4C3B9EE0B5A77B1A

Sophie's Choice

Top 100 (#91 - Revised)

Absolutely heartbreaking.  Meryl Streep is excellent, and so is Kevin Kline.  Peter McNicol is alright, too, although he's never been my favorite actor.  The movie focuses more on the friendship between the three characters rather than on Sophie's past, but eventually her story comes out, and it's heartwrenching.

If you don't want a major spoiler, don't watch the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Dxx3_iF14

Picnic

Stars - William Holden (#25); Passions (#59)

1) The poster looks like a Harlequin novel.  The movie isn't actually that smutty.

2) Pretty girl Madge falls for bad boy Hal, even though her mother wants her to marry All-American boy Alan. 

3) Madge doesn't like that everybody refers to her as the pretty one.  But at least she's pretty; it kind of almost makes up for the fact that her name is Madge.

4) Madge's teenage sister Millie doesn't like being referred to as the smart one.  But at least she's not named Madge.

5) The movie had the feel of a play.

6) It also had great lines like "Baby, I'm a bum.  Ya don't need an x-ray machine to see through me."

7) I don't really care for William Holden.  I don't know why.  I just don't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8vUTm64h0

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Stars - James Stewart (#3); Songs - "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera Sera)" (#48)

A man's son disappears while his family is on vacation.  One of Hitchcock's better films, if you ask me.  It made more sense than Vertigo and didn't have the campiness of The Birds.  I liked it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0ltYApM_tk

The Goodbye Girl

Stars - Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason (Current); Passions (#81)

It wasn't bad.  I definitely like Neil Simon better than Woody Allen.  But the story about a divorced woman who finds love again made me feel bad for the kid caught in the middle.  Children need stability.  And just when she'd start feeling comfortable with one of her mom's boyfriends, he'd leave.  Tough stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzDiybj4C4

Bullitt

Thrills (#36); Stars - Jacqueline Bisset (Current - Not Rated)

Steve McQueen is a cop assigned to protect a key witness.  So there's cop stuff.  And shooting.  And a cranky lawyer.  And a car chase.  And more shooting.  And that's the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wD64vlMxLA

Babe

Cheers (#80)

Okay, so maybe if I liked talking animal movies, this might be a cute one to see with my family.  But even if I liked talking animal movies - heck, even if I loved them - I'd still say it's not worth an Academy Award nomination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pExCByqi0NU

The Jerk

Laughs (#89)

Sigh...why do people think these kinds of Jim Carrey-esque characters are funny?  I much preferred Steve Martin in Father of the Bride and Cheaper by the Dozen.

Plus also, I don't know why this movie is called The Jerk.  The guy's an idiot, not a jerk.  There's a difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkg4W-k3eUA