LE MILLION reminded me of the more recent, French film, DELICATESSAN.  It is a simple, yet odd little story...with random music and rhythm thrown into the mix.  It is a bit silly and nonsensical, but the enthusiasm by which the film is made and performed is a bit infectious.  The last third of the film takes place at an opera, and there is FAR too much opera going on instead of advancing the plot, but overall, this film was enjoyable.  Michel owes all of his debtors, has won the lottery, but the ticket is in the jacket his girlfriend gave to a mob boss hiding in her apartment, who in turn pawned it to a famous opera singer who is performing as a Bohemian.  I like these films where things have gone SO wrong SO quickly.  Fun.

 

As I began watching THE SEARCHERS, I was immediately focused on how AWFUL the acting is.  It is so stagey and lines are so poorly delivered, it felt like an elementary school play.  I thought to myself, this is going to be a BIG disappointment...and this movie is in the top 20 of AFI's 100 greatest films of all time.  However, I was won over, by the infectious, saturated technicolor, the wonderful direction by the legendary John Ford, the complex, racially charged story, and even John Wayne.  I think John Wayne is one of the worst actors ever...and this movie did not change my mind, but he has an oddly attractive quality that makes him enjoyable.  Not only that, but the man can do stuntwork, ride horses, and gunsling in ways that make him see ultimately authentic.  In the end...I got why people herald this film as a masterpiece.

 

THE BICYCLE THIEF is cheered as a Masterpiece by many, many critics.  They talk about the socialist undertones, the exhibition of a stratafied Italian society, and one of the best Father/Son relationships EVER in films.  Well...watching Antonio search Rome for his ticket to gainful employment is interesting, the relationship between Antonio and Bruno is sweet and compelling, and the desperation is palpable.  However, I didn't see the film as much more than a man looking for his stolen bike.  It is like a serious, Italian version of PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE.  Man loses bike.  Man wants bike.  Willing to go to great lengths to get bike.  End scene.

 

After I watched PINOCCHIO, I went to my Mom and started badgering her.  How could she let my childhood pass by without ever introducing me to this classically wonderful Disney film.  It has bright colors, wonderful animation, great music, scares, adventure, and just all-around magic.  This is by far, one of the greatest animated films ever, and it shows that Disney has been so successful over the years not ONLY because of their always being on the cusp of animation technology, but because they can tell a heartfelt story like no other studio can.  

 

I hope if they make a Buster Keaton biopic in the coming years, they hire John Hannah of the MUMMY series.  Their resemblance is uncanny.  This silent film is actually pretty impressive as it shows a riverfront town being ripped apart by a storm.  Forget the fact that the library has no books in it when the walls fall down, it is a 1928 SILENT FILM.  The constant physical comedy of Keaton is also a hoot.  Of course silent films are hard to keep interest as seen by the modern cinephile, but this film is pretty fun.

 

My bar is set pretty high when it comes to the zombie movie.  I have a good scare movie (28 DAYS LATER), a good action movie (DAWN OF THE DEAD -2004), and a good comedy (SHAUN OF THE DEAD).  1978's DAWN OF THE DEAD has no idea what genre to fit in.  Is it a comedy?  I mean...people are hitting zombies in the face with pies.  Is it action?  If it is, the action gets incredibly repetitive.  Is it social satire?  That is where it is most successful with the zombies wandering through a mall image.  Overall, it is just a mish-mash of every genre possible stuffed into a zombie movie.  It is fun to watch, but modern zombies are so much more entertaining.  

 

I can't believe I had never seen this film before.  As a rule, I usually hate slasher movies because they only exist to find newer and more graphic ways to kill stupid people.  The original HALLOWEEN is positively Hitchcockian, full of suspense and foreshadowing and with deaths that can hardly be called graphic.  I felt like I was watching JAWS while stitting through this film.  You know there is a powerful, deadly force out there...you get glimpses of it...and you are scared out of your mind in anticipation.  GREAT stuff.  There is a scare in this film where something breaks a window...it took me almost 15 minutes to calm down after that one.  I love being scared!!!

 

Darren Aronofsky is quite an original filmmaker.  The only misfire I have seen of his is THE FOUNTAIN, which was still oddly fascinating.  THE WRESTLER and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM are fantastic films.  His first film, PI, is madness...but a good madness.  Watching this man either work out the mysteries of the universe or slip into insanity is very exciting.  He is trying to find out an equation that can predict the stock market, which leads him to Jewish Mysticism, the Golden Ratio, and the madness that comes with unhinged obsession and genius.  The High contrast Black & White are a nice touch since it just adds to the insane atmosphere.  Quite original, and quite interesting.

 

This film is so "Noir" that is is almost a hilarious parody.  The main character never says anything that isn't full of despair and his voice-over is full of corny puns and metaphors that make you chuckle instead of adding weight to the story.  The woman the main character runs into never says anything that isn't curt, powerful, and acid.  She is so full of anger you wonder how she functiuons in society.  That all being said, the whole thing is actually pretty entertaining.  It never elevates to exciting or tense...but it is silly enough, and short enough, that you can find ways to enjoy yourself.

 

This is a truly riveting movie.  Peter Lorre looks like a psychotic cartoon character, and portrays a pedophile/murderer hiding out in a German City.  The police force is becoming more and more desperate, taking more and more rights from their citizens in order to catch the murderer.  With that huge police presence, the underworld becomes more agitated and tries to track him down as well so their will be some relief.  Just a great procedural with that whole Nazithing hanging over the head of filmmaker Fritz Lang.  Totally resonates today with the whole concept of what rights we are willing to give up to feel safe.  Not bad for a movie that is 78 years old.

 

This sequel is SO much better than the original.  The Bride doesn't even show up until the last 2-3 minutes, so that isn't even it.  The Monster is so much well thought out...being more sympathetic and tragic a creature.  But besides that...the whole endeavor is a bit more tounge-in-cheek and full of exagerated performances.  We actually get a scientist more crazy and eccentric than Henry Frankenstein.  hahaha.  A lot of fun...in a silly/creepy kind of way.

 

Now...THIS movie "classic" I don't get.  I was expecting to be mesmerized as I was with 1931's DRACULA, but this film was just so INCREDIBLY corny and stupid.  There is no arching storyline and the monster is nothing but a bumbling child.  How people differentiate this film from Ed Wood-stylecamp is beyond me.  When the spoof on this film, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN,actually improves on the SERIOUS part of the Frankenstein myth...then you know you failed.  Ugh.  I just don't get why this film is praised so highly.

 

This is actually the first "Spaghetti Western" I have seen, and it is certainly enjoyable.  There is hardly any plot and it is too long...but Eastwood and Wallach are fantastic to watch, Sergio Leone is more of a visual artist than a director, and Ennio Morricone's iconic theme is so brilliantly anachronistic that it elevates every single scene.  That final standoff at the cemetary is gloriously overblown.  Clocking in at 3 hrs long, it was a bit of a chore getting through it...but it had a lot to admire and enjoy.

 

This is my kind of movie.  I love the concept about the Nazi's throwing all of the master escape artists from the war into the same, "unescapable" prison compound...unwittingly hording together the best prison-break minds around.  Every second of this 3hr movie is devoted to the master plan of escape, with no fluff thrown in about the War or friendship.  Just the escape.  And it held my interest the entire time.  I was a bit surprised about the morbid final moments, but surprise is always welcome.  That theme is so catchy, I have been whistling it all day!!

 

Not quite the American cinematic masterpiece that I was expecting, but there is a lot in this classic to admire.  The WRITING is some of the best I have ever heard...and probably what single-handedly holds the movie together.  I also LOVED Brando's performance.  Lastly, the dramatic evolution of Michael from removed GI to Mafia Don is executed flawlessly.  Quite impressive.

 

This film has the same problem as Brian De Palma's 2006 film, THE BLACK DAHLIA.  It is filled with the best actors, the most amazing production design, flawless costumes, and perfect music.  The problem with this is that it makes theseperiod crime pieces feel stagey and completely artificial.  It is hyper-reastic, almost to the point of surrealism.  It is entertaining enough...but ROAD TO PERDITION did this genre so perfectly...so see that one instead.

Nothing really happens in this movie, but with Bogart's charisma and the ridiculous quartet of Robert Morely, Peter Lorre, Ivor Bernard, and Marco Tulli...BEAT THE DEVIL is a lot of fun.  I think they were all trying to figure out how to stake claim to an African Uranium deposit while stranded in Italy, but the movie is about how clueless brilliant people can be, how anxious being stranded can make people, and how interchangable love and marriage can be.  No grand scheme lke other Bogart movies; just simple, enjoyable, light-heartedness.