Grey Gardens (1975) Review - Documentary

Plot Summary - Documentary about oddly unusual mother and daughter "Big Edie" and "Little Edie", aunt and cousin of Jackie O, who live almost isolated away in "Grey Gardens", their rundown mansion in East Hampton. The two women, both Edith Bouvier Beale, are both somewhat eccentric, especially the daughter. Older Edie is approaching eighty years old, is mainly seen from her bed - covered with cats and clutter - and talking about her years as a trained singer - sometimes she breaks out in song. Little Edie, mid-fifties, never married, and distinguished for her wide variety of extremely odd headdresses she wears throughout the entire film - assembled from scarves, and more often blouses and sweaters, hooked and decorated with pins, often speaks of her lost life stuck in East Hampton for over twenty years (pretty much blaming mama), she seems full of regrets, yet it appears that it was really her own choices that lead to this all along. She often dances, sings, and flirts into the camera (and yes, even flirts briefly with the men filming the documentary - barely seen, but you hear them speak sometimes to the women). The two women often talk over each other, argue a lot, yet seem to be totally bonded. The house they live in is huge, very rundown (apparently less than it was a few years back), and is just full of cats and some raccoons too.

Review - This film is bizarre and totally fascinating, I really enjoyed watching this! I feel like the mom is just getting old and perhaps a bit cranky and demanding of her daughter - the daughter is really the one with perhaps some mental problems, yet like her too - Little Edie has such a vulnerability about her, she is a very interesting character. The film is entirely filmed in the great old house, the camera constantly focusing on the women - often in facial close-ups so you really see the emotions coming through on their faces. One part I enjoyed was seeing the women show the filmmakers old photographs of themselves, both of them were once beautiful young women living the society lifestyle - young Edie described in an old newspaper clipping as a beautiful deb that writes poetry. The women, yes, are rather strange, but you just have to love them - I enjoyed spending time with these two. Rating - 10/10 stars

Tess (1979) Film Review - Roman Polanski directed

Plot Summary - Directed by Roman Polanski - a sweeping, dark epic set in the English countryside of the 1880's, telling the tale of the downfall of a beautiful young woman named Tess (Nastassia Kinski). POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - - The village parson informs Tess's father that their family, though downtrodden and poor peasants, are actually of knightly ancestry - descendants of a titled family, the d'Urbervilles. Tess's parents decide to send daughter Tess to make favor with a local, wealthy woman by the name d'Urberville. Tess arrives and meets the handsome, roguish son Alec who is immediately drawn to her beauty - soon Tess is hired on to work at their estate's poultry farm. Turns out this rich family are not actually related, as their title was purchased. Son Alec carries Tess off into the woods one day, seduces, and pretty much rapes her - Tess leaves and returns to her family, a baby follows who shortly dies. Tess sets out on her own to work on a dairy farm where she meets the good-looking (loved by every lady who works at the dairy) Angel (Peter Firth), noble son of a preacher. Angel and Tess fall in love, but after marriage he finds out her true "background" (obviously the fact she had a baby so was not "pure" is what really bugs this guy) and runs away to Brazil, leaving her without contact despite her efforts to write to him. Tess sets out, on her own again, working various horrible, dirty jobs. What will happen between her, her husband, and the man from her past?!

Review - A compelling watch, gorgeously photographed - every scene, filmed on-location in France to duplicate the English countryside and villages, looking like a picture postcard. Nastassja Kinski is at the height of her beauty - an absolutely gorgeous young woman. Something about her reminds me of a very young Ingrid Bergman (partly the similar accents). Okay - she's meant to be an English girl and has a subtle German accent - just ignore that. I loved the costumes in this, I must say. This film won several Oscars, including costume design, cinematography, and art/set direction - no surprise there. A lovely, inspired orchestral score by Phillipe Sarde accompanies the film, a good match to the story. The story, based on the classic novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy, is pretty dark (the poor girl!) but an entertaining watch. I haven't seen this film since the early 80s, so it was almost like seeing it for the first time. A beautifully done film - loved! (USA release 1980 for this) Rating - 10/10 stars

Revolutionary Road (2008) Film Review - Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio

Plot Summary - Dark and complex drama set in the mid-1950s, following a couple (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) and their brittle personal relationship. Everyone considers Frank and April Wheeler a "special couple" - Frank and April think so too! But they feel like their life is in a rut, that they've bought into what everyone is "supposed" to do, and that is not what makes them happy - - they have a nice suburban Connecticut house, two kids, good job for dad in the city where he sits in a cubicle all day at a job he hates, takes martini lunches with co-workers, and seduces a cute young secretary with martinis, then sleeps with her - all a day's work. April comes up with an idea to spark some life into their marriage - have hubby Frank quit his job and the family move to Paris, where April plans to take a secretarial job while Frank "finds himself" - a novel concept for fifties America. The plan in the works, Frank plans to quit his job - but an unforeseen promotion and unexpected pregnancy may stand in the way of their goal.

Review - This is a great film - dark, yes, but SO well done - the acting, the 50s setting perfectly duplicated, the story so absorbing. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet give absolutely outstanding performances in this film. Liked the scene early in the film where Leonardo's character heads via train into the city - all men in hats and lots of vintage cars - cool. Boy there was a lot of smoking and martini drinking in this, by the way - liked the "Vito's Log Cabin" nightclub they went to in one scene! A superbly done film - loved the music score in this too, done by one of my most favorites - Thomas Newman, which matched this film to a tea! One of the best films from 2008, I thought. Rating - 10/10 stars

The White Sister (1923) Film Review - Lillian Gish

Plot Summary - Silent soap opera/tearjerker starring the great Lillian Gish. In Italy, in a great palace which dominates the city (along with Mt. Vesuvius) lives saintly Donna Angela (Gish) and her evil half-sister The Marchesa. While spending time in the fairy-like palace gardens, Angela dances to gypsy music and meets up with her love, the dashing Captain Giovanni Severini (Ronald Colman), over the garden walls. Soon Giovanni proclaims he is going to ask Angela's father for her hand in marriage - but unknown to Angela, her father has made arrangements to marry off Angela to the son of a Count, thus uniting two of Italy's oldest (and richest, I guess) families. POSSIBLE SPOILERS - -Plans are seriously altered though, when the father is seriously injured while "riding to hounds", and dies. The evil sister secretly burns the will (yeah, she's a bad one), so she is declared sole heir to the entire estate based on lack of a will. She then proceeds to kick her little sister out of the palace, proclaiming her own love for Giovanni and her personal hatred for Angela. Angela moves into a small house with her governess, and soon receives news that Giovanni is being sent by the War Department on an expedition to Africa. Sad news comes that the group he was leading were all massacred in the desert by Arabs. Poor, poor Angela is taken to the hospital of the White Sisters, in complete shock at her lost love who she was to marry on the day of his return. In his memory, she decides to help the world and become a nun aka "white sister". More soap to come! And what about that side plot - the older brother/professor of Giovanni is up at his observatory studying the volcano?!

Review - Okay, this was a good one - more melodrama and tears packed into one movie than you might ever desire - Lillian Gish is absolutely fantastic in this film. A long, involving silent film that I found very entertaining and nicely photographed. The scene where Lillian as Angela takes her final vows to become a nun is beautifully done. This film, as screened on TCM, featured a quite nice orchestral score done by Garth Neustadter. The film was tinted in some scenes, and looked reasonably good except for some scenes with a bit of decomposition. For Gish fans (like me!) this is a can't miss. Rating - 10/10 stars

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Film Review

Plot Summary - Odd and interesting fantasy/romance about Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), born in New Orleans as a baby who is an old man in his eighties but tiny like a baby (and looking pretty darn weird, I must say). His mother dead from child birth, Benjamin is abandoned by his father on the front porch of an old age home, where a black woman who works there adopts him as her own. Benjamin starts his life with all the ailments of an old person - at first he's got wrinkles, arthritis, rickety bones, sags and bags, balding head, and walks with a cane, but as he gradually gets older in years - he gets younger and more and more handsome physically!! A strange concept indeed - yet how intriguing! The romance - - Benjamin first meets Daisy (grown-up Daisy played by Cate Blanchett) when she is visiting her grandmother at the home - she a little girl, he a very old man, but they develop a life-long bond of friendship with love - and passion - to come, as his and her ages gradually meet in the middle, you could say.

Review - I enjoyed this close to three hour film - the film begins just after World War I and progresses to the current day. The story is related by character Daisy, now an old woman on her death bed, to her daughter (Julia Ormond) via a diary that was written by Benjamin. I enjoyed the way the period elements were done in this film - realistic costumes and time period feel helped draw me into each elapsing decade as Benjamin grows younger and younger. A few of the scenes were filmed to look like old film footage. Loved the Scott Joplin music, used in a few scenes (I love ragtime!). Rating - 10/10 stars

The Reader (2008) Film Review - Kate Winslet

Plot Summary - Well done drama about a teenager who has an affair with an older woman with a dark secret and the life-long effects this affair has the man's psyche. In 1958 Germany, fifteen-year old Michael (David Kross) is ill on the streets where he is helped by a thirty-something woman named Hanna (Kate Winslet). Struck by her, he recovers and seeks her out - and so begins an affair despite their twenty-year age difference and seemingly different social and educational levels. Rushing to see her after school, their affair is driven not just by sex and baths but by her desire to be read to by him - all the classic novels. One day she has disappeared and he doesn't see her again - until SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT: forward to 1966 where Michael is a young law student who is taking a special seminar and attends a trial in which - surprise - Hanna, once an SS guard during the Holocaust, is being prosecuted for war crimes!

Review - I found this film an intriguing watch, quite romantic and passionate in the first half, and leading into the Holocaust part of the story which comes as somewhat of a surprise (at least if you know nothing of the film's plot, which is what I try to do by keeping away from film reviews and clips until after I've seen the movie). I did question a couple of things that these characters do in this film (SPOILER SPOILER: 1. why he doesn't speak up about her illiteracy during the trial, 2. why she "gives up" on herself at the end of the film), which came across as unrealistic to me. But, in any case, I did really enjoy this and found it to be an excellent and memorable film. Kate Winslet is great, as usual, as is Ralph Fiennes who appears as the grown-up man version of Michael - but I must say, actor David Kross, who plays young Michael is fantastic in this, why no Oscar nod?! Rating - 10/10 stars

Peter Pan (1924) Film Review - Betty Bronson

Plot Summary - "A Fairy Play". Silent fantasy based on the play by J.M. Barrie. The story begins in the Darling nursery, where nurse Nana gets the three Darling children - Wendy (Mary Brian), John, and Michael - ready for bed. Nana happens to be a big dog (the family can't keep a regular servant 'cause the father is such a "fidget"). The children tucked into bed, when who should arrive at their bedroom window, which happens to be two flights up, but a moving ball of light and a boy who is looking for his shadow - Peter Pan (Betty Bronson) and his fairy friend Tinker Bell aka "Tink". Peter Pan is a little boy (played by a young woman) who doesn't want to be a man - he wants to stay a little boy and have fun forever, and so he does! Wendy and Peter become friends and he agrees to teach the three children to fly if she will go with him to the Never Never Land to be mother and tell stories to Peter and the Lost Boys. And fly they do (with the help of a little fairy dust), off to the Land full of mermaids and Redskins and pirates, arriving in the Make-Believe Forest where jealous Tink prompts the boys to shoot Wendy with an arrow. Wendy lives though, the boys build her a house, and the whole bunch engage in some fantasy play as Wendy pretends she's their mother. Meanwhile, evil and ugly Captain Hook (Ernest Torrence) holds a grudge on Peter Pan who apparently cut off Hook's hand and fed it to a crocodile. The pirates soon attack Peter, Wendy, and the lost boys, while back home the children's mom grieves and longs for the return of her own lost kids.

Review - This is an engaging fantasy, full of charm. The special effects done in this are done well enough for the time this film was made - especially the scenes featuring tiny Tinker Bell. Okay, so Nana is played by a man in a very fake looking dog suit (not to mention the other creatures in this, like the crocodile) - but I think that's all part of the fun, really. Betty Bronson is perhaps the most delightful Peter Pan ever - she's perky, she's cute, she dances and flies with oh so much charm. All the children do a great job in this film, and Anna May Wong appears much too briefly as the Indian girl, Tiger Lily. (Our Gang alert: Winston and Weston Doty, twins in very early Our Gang shorts, appear in this film.) The version I have of this is a Kino video tape, it includes a nice looking, mainly sepia tinted print and a really terrific orchestral score, composed by Philip Carli, which is a fine match to the feel of this story. Okay, I like this quote from the film - "Wendy, one girl is more use than twenty boys" - right on, Peter Pan! Do you believe in fairies - I think I do?! Tehehe Rating - 10/10 stars

So Long at the Fair (1950) Film Review - Dirk Bogarde, Jean Simmons

Plot Summary - Stylish British mystery set in Paris circa 1889. In which beautiful young Vicky (Jean Simmons) arrives in town with her brother for the Paris Exhibition. They enter the lively lobby of their hotel, check in, and are given rooms 17 and 19 (hers has a fab view of the "new" Eiffel Tower). The brother is rather a stuffed shirt, tired out he can barely be mustered to take poor sis to what appears to be the funnest spot in town, the Moulin Rouge. Vicky bumps into a very handsome stranger in the lobby on her way out that evening, who plays a part in the drama to come. The next morning she wakes up to find - um - both her brother and his room, room 19, have disappeared off the face of the earth. The seemingly shady older French couple who run the hotel tell her she checked in alone, there was no brother and never was a room 19 - hmm, what to think. Apparently trying to gaslight the poor young woman, she seeks help from all around including the British consulate and the French police. No one seems able to help her because no witnesses to her story can be found - until - a lucky straw, and here is the handsome stranger part of the story. George (Dirk Bogarde), a painter and oh so young and good-looking, happened to meet the brother and borrow money off him that first evening - Vicky hooks up with George who has tried to return the money to the brother, and George sets out to help her solve the mystery of the disappearing brother (sounds like an Agatha Christie!).

Review - Well, well, this is just a terrific film, a little gem that seems to be rarely shown - I believe I've only seen it once before and loved it. Almost Hitchcock in style, it's really fun to go along with this couple as they try to find out the truth of what the heck is going on here! Good one - and doesn't hurt that it stars two of my absolute favorites, Dirk Bogarde and Jean Simmons. Yahoooo! Rating - 10/10 stars

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) Film Review

Plot Summary - POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS: About the friendship between two eight year old German boys at the time of the Holocaust - one the son of a Nazi soldier, the other a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp. When young Bruno's family moves from Berlin to the country when his Nazi father is promoted into a new job, Bruno doesn't know what it's all about. Bruno is forbidden to leave the walled gardens around his house, but seeing a nearby "farm" with children from his bedroom window, he sneaks out one day hoping to meet someone to play with there. Approaching the barbed wire fence, Bruno meets Shmuel, a boy his age and wearing the prisoner uniform Bruno thinks of as a pair of "striped pajamas". Bruno has no clue that the farm is a concentration camp - his mom knows, but isn't aware of the full extent of what is going on at this death camp, only the dad is in full awareness of it all. Bruno continues his friendship with Shmuel as they meet at the barbed wire fence each day. I won't go into any more, so as to not spoil the film for anyone.

Review - POSSIBLE SPOILERS: One of the saddest films I've ever seen - this one will be hard to forget. The fact that all the actors are British perhaps, at first, makes it hard to think of these as Germans - but I quickly got into the idea and soon forgot the accents. The actors (Asa Butterfield as Bruno and Jack Scanlon as Shmuel) who play the two boys are both so good - little Shmuel is particularly memorable. All the acting in this is top-notch, and a haunting score by James Horner enhances the film. Rating - 10/10 stars

Libeled Lady (1936) Film Review - Harlow, Tracy, Loy, Powell

Plot Summary - Romantic comedy with a touch of screwball and featuring four great Thirties stars. When a New York newspaper is facing a libel suit for five million dollars over a false story calling one of the "richest girls in America", playgirl Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy), a "husband stealer", gung-ho newspaper man, Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy), must come up with a way to get rid of the lawsuit and save the paper. He recruits former colleague and libel expert Bill Chandler (William Powell) to help and they come up with an idea to prove Connie an actual husband stealer. So - Bill marries Warren's fiancee Gladys (Jean Harlow) - a hot-tempered blonde often sporting frilly negligee and a pair of mules - with plans to set up Connie for a fall with Gladys posing as a "wronged wife" (then later sending Gladys to Reno for a quickie divorce). Bill heads for London to travel back on the same ocean liner as Connie and her father, then attempts to befriend the pair basically by kissing up to the dad, exchanging fish stories and posing as a great angler (dad's favorite hobby) - - as it happens, Bill has never fished and has to study up in books! Bill and Connie start to fall for each other - will he go through with the frame up, will she drop the lawsuit? Hmm - just you watch.

Review - This is a great film - I've seen it a number of times before and it still makes me laugh, very amusing! With the star power of Myrna Loy, William Powell, Spencer Tracy, and Jean Harlow all together in one film, it would be hard for this one not to work. The script is well written and features lots of snappy dialogue, the story is fun to watch. Loy and Powell certainly have their usual onscreen chemistry together - and I really think Jean Harlow practically steals the show, even with all those other stars - she's over-the-top, even a bit campy in this, and she dominates every scene she's in - fun stuff. I love this movie! Rating - 10/10 stars

The Phantom of the Opera (2004) Film Review

Plot Summary - In 1870 Paris, the Opera House is haunted by the infamous "Phantom" - a disfigured man who wears a mask covering half his face and lives in the underground sewers below the Opera. The Phantom loves from a distance a beautiful teenage singer named Christine - he gives demands to those who own the Opera company via letters to give Christine the lead. Christine's singing voice has been well coached, by the voice of the Phantom himself - - she believes he is the "Angel of Music", the spirit of her deceased father. The Phantom encounters her and brings her to visit his chambers via boat - - and meanwhile, Christine is romanced by her handsome childhood sweetheart who she still loves, sparking jealousy in the heart of poor Phantom. A real Gothic love triangle is basically what's at the heart of this story.

Review - Okay, yes, I am a fan of musical theater and of Andrew Lloyd Webber - I have seen this performed on the stage here in Los Angeles. I must say this film version of the stage musical is just terrific, the costumes lavish and colorful, the art and set direction spectacular - I absolutely loved this. Of course, the whole thing is helped along by featuring a wonderful music score and vocals, which fills the majority of the production. Emmy Rossum, who plays Christine, has a lovely singing voice - Gerard Butler makes a very attractive Phantom, I must say, even with his mask off you could still see his handsome features shining through - hmm, I half thought Christine should just go for him, so what about the scars! And by the way, this film looked stunningly gorgeous on Blu-ray. I just watched this and already feel like seeing it again! Rating - 10/10 stars

Quo Vadis (1951) Film Review - Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr

Plot Summary - Epic film set in Imperial Rome at the time of Nero, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The story centers around handsome commander of the Roman Army, Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor) and his intense admiration and sometimes bumbled pursuit of the beautiful Christian girl Lygia (Deborah Kerr), a "hostage" who lives with loving, adoptive parents. Lygia is by law a ward of Nero, so Marcus arranges to have her delivered to Nero's "House of Women" to be presented to Marcus as a reward for his battles. Meanwhile, Nero sings, writes lyrics, and starts getting crazier and crazier ideas until finally deciding to burn down Rome and build it anew. But when the citizens of Rome form a mob, blaming Nero for ruining their city, he pins the blame on the Christians, has them all arrested and sent to be killed by the lions in the arena.

Review - A lavish spectacle from beginning to end, with edge of your seat storyline filmed in gorgeous Technicolor - I loved this! It's 3 hour length went by very quickly for me. Peter Ustinov gives a spectacular performance as Nero - another film wow! Rating - 10/10 stars

The Duchess (2008) Film Review - Keira Knightley

Plot Summary - Period film from the UK, based on the true story of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. The story begins in 1774 when Lady Geogiana (Keira Knightley) becomes engaged and married to the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes). Now a duchess and very important figure in England, she enters into a life with a husband who ends up being aloof and incompatible, yet forceful in the bedroom in his demands for her to give him a son. A bad marriage and years to come with only daughters, Georgiana seems to spend her time hosting drinking/gambling parties, and becomes known as a major fashion plate, with hair piled high on her head Marie Antoinette style. She befriends Lady Elizabeth "Bess" Foster, a woman with her own bad marriage and husband who has left her and taken her three sons away for good - Georgiana then invites her new friend to live at their house, an affair follows between the Duke and Bess. When Georgiana falls in love with handsome political man Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), the Duke stands in the way of a blossoming, and potentially scandalous affair.

Review - This is an extremely lavish period production, the costumes are *stunningly* gorgeous, the art direction and on-location scenery and luxurious castle settings are fabulous to see. I love Keira Knightley and I think Ralph Fiennes did a great job as the indifferent husband. The people in this story certainly lead lives that could rival most nighttime soap operas. Wow! Rating - 10/10 stars

Brideshead Revisited (2008) Film Review

Plot Summary - Lavish period film, based on the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh. The story takes place between the 1920s and into WWII, centering around young Oxford student Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) and the bond and close friendship with homosexual undertones that quickly forms between himself and a handsome, rather unusual fellow student named Lord Sebastian Flyte. One day Sebastian brings Charles home to his luxurious family estate at Brideshead, and Charles soon becomes embroiled in the goings-on of the Marchmain clan, Sebastian's very religious Catholic family. Charles becomes infatuated with Brideshead, and especially with Sebastian's beautiful sister Julia. When the three venture on a trip to Venice, Italy to visit Sebastian's father, Charles and Julia share a passionate kiss witnessed by Sebastian leading him into jealousy and alcoholism. More problems ensue caused by conflict between Charles self-proclaimed atheism and the family's strong religious beliefs, the way lead by Sebastian and Julia's powerful, overbearing mother, Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson).

Review - This is a wonderful film that I thoroughly enjoyed - such an escape into a time and place that I didn't want to leave, helped along with lush on-location scenery filmed in Oxford, Venice, Morocco, and the gorgeous English castle - Castle Howard - used as Brideshead (the same place as used in the early 80s mini-series of this story). I know the story of Brideshead Revisited pretty well from both the novel and the fabulous 1981 mini-series with Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews - which I love, love, love, by the way - miss the wonderful voice-over narration the earlier version features which includes Evelyn Waugh's words straight from the book. But this new version is great in it's own way, I loved every minute of this film - the orchestral score is a terrific accompaniment, by the way, matched well to each scene and setting. Of course, the story as told in the novel and earlier mini-series is much more complete, but I thought a pretty good job was done in condensing this into a feature-length film (okay, I would liked to have seen more of some of the characters like Anthony Blanche and what about Aloysius the teddy bear - barely seen in this). Well done. Rating - 10/10 stars

Gidget (1959) Film Review - Sandra Dee

Watched this yesterday afternoon on Turner Classic Movies.

Plot Summary - "Although she's not king-size, her finger is ring-size". Meet Francie (Sandra Dee) - she's petite, she's blonde, she's a tomboy, she's ultra cute, and as her gal pal tells us "let's face it, like most of us, she's pushing seventeen" (hehe) - but Francie finds she no longer fits in with her trio of curvaceous friends when they all go on a beach "man hunt" (well, that hideous baggy swimsuit she's wearing doesn't exactly help). After being left at the beach by the girls (who are off to another beach after being declared "jail bait"), she goes snorkeling and gets rescued via surfboard. Francie's hooked and begs Daddy that night to give her the needed cash to buy herself her own board, a "guarantee for a summer of sheer happiness" says she. Soon on her own water-logged used board and learning to surf, she's dubbed "Gidget" (girl/midget - well, not exactly politically correct) by the boys at the beach, and finds herself falling for handsome college guy/surfer Moondoggie (James Darren) who keeps acting (sort of) like he doesn't want to "get involved". After getting tangled in some kelp underwater during her beach "initiation" into the gang of guys, Gidget gets herself pampered and sung to by Moondoggie in leader Kahuna's beach shack. "The Big Kahuna" (Cliff Robertson) is a thirty-something surf bum who lives on the beach and surfs wearing tattered Hawaiian straw hat while smoking a cigar (yeah, you heard right). Gidget comes up with a plan of attack to get herself invited to a big beach Luau (aka "orgy"), hook hard-to-read Moondoggie, and hopefully get herself "the absolute ultimate", that is, Moondoggie's fraternity pin.

Review - Okay, this film is loads of fun fifties-style and one of my all-time favorites (love those old 60s beach movies, this one is pretty much the original). Sandra Dee is absolutely charming, bubbly and adorable in this, I just love her. The film includes several good songs including the Gidget theme song, plus "Cinderella" performed by a blond boy beach band, and in my one of my favorite scenes in the film, Moondoggie romantically sings "The Next Best Thing to Love" to Gidget. I have seen this film many, many times over the years and I never tire of it. Filmed in Cinemascope - man, do I dig this movie! Rating - 10/10 stars

The Dark Knight (2008) - Heath Ledger

Watched this yesterday and I'm still thinking about it - or Heath, more likely - just can't forget him!

Plot Summary - Action-packed thriller in which wealthy businessman Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) turns into Gotham City's main vigilante, his identity kept secret by bat suit as he battles criminals, speeds around in specialty vehicles (I don't recall seeing a Batmobile in this, but dug his lightning fast "Batpod" motorcycle he rides on), and drops off buildings as he morphs into his flying bat suit. Batman is out to get demented psychopath/serial killer "the Joker" (Heath Ledger) who covers his scarred face, mouth slit into a smile like the main character of the silent "The Man Who Laughs", with clown makeup, coming across as the most hideous clown ever seen on film. The Joker is out to get "the Batman", as he relates to TV cameras that "Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in, or people will die". Each day the Joker reveals another target who will be the next days killing, as Batman's identity continues to remain hidden. Evil Joker seems to have a fondness for knives and explosives, with lots of dark stuff to come. Other characters help in the pursuit including a D.A. (Aaron Eckhart) and his girlfriend (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who form a sort of love triangle with Bruce Wayne.

Review - Well, I have never seen a Batman film before (other than the Batman TV series which I used to watch sometimes when I was a kid) as I haven't normally seen many action films based around comic books, but because I love Heath Ledger *SO much* I have been looking forward to seeing this. When the film first started I was thinking, I don't know about this - it doesn't seem very good. But once it got going I really started enjoying it - Heath as the Joker is just so mesmerizing, even though he's only seen in segments here and there throughout the film, his presence always seems to be there - he completely dominates the film, a real force to be reckoned with! I found the film very exciting, it's quite dark and a bit frightening too - the last hour is pretty much edge of your seat sort of stuff, my blood's still rushing since I just finished watching this about fifteen minutes ago. The film is very fast-paced, the special effects are pretty stunning, the set design sometimes gives you a sort of claustrophobic feeling with all the huge, low-ceilinged rooms going all the way across the screen. There are many night scenes amidst city streets and tall skyscrapers - all those falls and drops off of buildings makes my palms sweat - nerve-wracking stuff! The well done orchestral score enhanced the atmosphere, adding to the dark overtone of the film. I thought this was one of Heath's best roles - he's just great, absolutely riveting. I would love to see him nominated for an Oscar for this (after seeing him again I feel a bit sad too, I am feeling a bit teary-eyed again over his loss - I miss him!). A thriller should be exciting and leave you "all shook up", so - mission accomplished. This film is really good. Rating - 10/10 stars

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Film Review

Watched this last night on Turner Classic Movies channel.

Plot Summary - Classic tale, based on a true story, of the HMS Bounty, helmed by perhaps the cruelest, hard-hearted captain ever to sail the sea, Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton), on a late 18th century voyage from England to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit trees. Men are shanghaied from taverns for the two-year voyage, others choose sailing over jail, then there's the handsome first mate, Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable), and midshipman Byam (Franchot Tone), a young officer and gentleman on his first voyage. Watch out for Bligh - the slightest wrong word or look and a man will be keelhauled, or made to go up top of the ship to the crow's nest in a huge storm - or given a hundred lashes even after death. Bligh accuses men of stealing bananas even after it's noted they were brought to his house, he later accuses Mr. Christian of stealing coconuts. The men are under-fed and brutalized and finally Mr. Christian and most of the other men (or "rabble" as Bligh calls them) finally get fed up and start a mutiny, taking over the ship and putting Bligh out on an open boat along with his few loyal men to find their way on the sea, or die trying.

Review - This one is amongst my favorite films from the thirties, I've seen it many times. Charles Laughton gives a mesmerizing performance in this, one of the great character portrayals in the history of film - every time he's on screen it's hard to look at anything else, he owns every scene. But, I was noticing how great Clark Gable is in this too, very powerful as Mr. Christian. Of course, my personal favorite thirties heartthrob, Franchot Tone, is wonderful and cute to boot here. Okay, I do seem to enjoy a good tale at sea, especially when there's a wicked captain you love to hate. And this film includes plenty of eye candy of the male variety, for those interested - Clark Gable and Franchot Tone spend quite a few minutes in this film roaming about shirtless. While in Tahiti the two of them meet two extremely beautiful, sweet-natured young island gals who romp about in sarongs and speak no English, but fall for our fellows anyway - and the men are, obviously, smitten immediately. This is a film not to be missed. Rating - 10/10 stars

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) Film Review

Plot Summary - "The faster we're carried, the less time we have to spare." - -Directed by Orson Welles, this is the story of a deteriorating family set amidst the coming of the automobile and the new faster-paced world that goes with it. The film begins in 1873 and moves forward to the turn of the last century, showing the saga of the prominent Amberson family - - the Ambersons are rich, snobby, and live in the finest house in town, the Amberson mansion. Attractive Amberson daughter Isabel rejects her beau, Eugene Morgan (Joseph Cotten), because of a silly incident that happens when he is serenading her while tipsy. Though Isabel and Eugene are in love, she for some odd reason decides to marry one big bore, Wilber Minafer. Wilber and Isabel soon have an extremely spoiled, bratty young son, George, dressed up like "Little Lord Fauntleroy" and known by the town gossips as a "princely terror" who many hope to see get his comeuppance one day. George (Tim Holt) grows up and the Ambersons give a ball - "the last of the long-remembered dances that everybody talked about". Attendee Eugene Morgan, inventor of a "horseless carriage" and a widower back in town after years away, brings his beautiful daughter Lucy (Anne Baxter) who catches George's eye (and every other young man's eye) big time. George pursues Lucy - he's rather arrogant but she seems to like him anyway, Isabel and Eugene are still in love, and Wilber's sister, a spinster named "Aunt Fanny", moons around after Eugene, her long-time secret fancy. The Amberson mansion is soon full of high melodrama, especially after the death of Wilber leaves it now open for Isabel and Eugene to re-spark that old flame together. But son George stands in the way, worried about his family's reputation. And the family comes to their downfall as they lose their wealth and home.

Review - This film is somewhat dark and somber, particularly as the film progresses, but it is superbly put together. The cinematography is done in an unusual style - many dark scenes with natural lighting leaving the rooms often very shadowy, deep focus photography, and lots of scenes done in one take with no cuts, showcasing conversations between several people in different spots in the room, tracking shots following characters as they walk. My favorite scenes - the opening montage of changing fashions and the slow-paced lifestyle of the 1800s, with a wonderful voice-over narration done by Orson Welles: as he relates, "in those days they had time for everything", sleigh rides, cotillions, all-day picnics in the woods, serenades, etc. Another scene I love - a wintry ride for the whole clan in one of Eugene's horseless carriages, everyone laughing and singing and chatting all at once, having a great old time riding in this newfangled invention. Also: the last great ball scene, full of one-take tracking shots following characters walking towards the camera or dancing away from the camera. The acting quality is expertly done by all. Yes, Agnes Moorehead gives a stellar and memorable performance as "poor Aunt Fanny", but Tim Holt is great too - the relationship between Aunt and nephew seems so real. All the characters, actually, come across as a real, somewhat dysfunctional, family - bickering, talking over each other, but having fun sometimes too. I love Joseph Cotten, he's one of my favorites - he's wonderful here too. There is much more that can be said about this "magnificent" film, but I will leave it at just this for now. I have always enjoyed this film more than Welle's "Citizen Kane", I might add. Rating - 10/10 stars

The World of Henry Orient (1964) Film Review

Plot Summary - Terrific coming-of-age tale which follows the friendship between two mischievous, dreamy fourteen-year old outsiders who meet at an exclusive girl's school then get mixed up in a rich fantasy world of their own as they run about the streets of Manhattan. Blonde, short pig-tailed "Gil" and mop-topped "Val" (normally seen in a long fur coat) find a mutual bond in braces and a hatred for the same teachers. Gil lives with her divorced mom and mom's (implied - or am I reading too much into this?!) female partner Boothy in a New York brownstone - Val, marked "unmanageable" by the schools she's been kicked out of, is left home alone and lonely by her wealthy, jet-setter parents (Angela Lansbury and Tom Bosley) who are rarely in town. The girls decide to meet in Central Park and go "Adventuring", living in a pretend world as they imagine they are someone else (beautiful, white nurses running away from bandits, to be exact), then go for a carefree romp through the park and the city streets as they jump over fire hydrants and small children shouting "Splitzing". While in the park they happen upon a man kissing a woman on a rock - the next day, they run across him again with the same woman. A short time later the girls are taken to a concert where this man happens to be the star attraction - an avant-garde pianist named Henry Orient (Peter Sellers). Val is in love! The two girls decide to make a blood pact devoted to the "study of Henry Orient", then proceed to stalk this guy around town as they talk to each other using the "mysterious language of the Orient" while sporting Chinese bamboo hats. Love-struck Val keeps a secret Henry Orient scrapbook full of clippings, magazine articles, and fake love notes from him. Henry Orient, in reality, is a womanizer who uses a fake European accent and seems to only chase about after married women and lure them to his "lair", that is, his red, white, and black apartment. He tells his latest, she of the frosted eyeshadow (Paula Prentiss), that he's going to set her poem to music (oh brother) but she runs off when she becomes concerned that the two teens are young detectives hired by her husband - heh! When Val's parents come home around the holidays, her rather bitchy mom causes trouble for the girls when she reads the scrapbook and phones Henry Orient!

Review - This film is a wonderful gem that I love, it's one of my favorites. The film has some comedy elements (as when Orient gives his radical concert), but it is also nostalgic and touching. The two actresses who play Val and Gil (Tippy Walker and Merrie Spaeth) are so great in this, they bring such a realness and enthusiastic charm to these characters - they really seem like two real teenage friends: swoony, bubble-gum chewing, getting into jams together. These two are the kind of girls I would have liked to have as friends when I was that age (and I admit I did like getting up to mischief and pranks in my junior high years, just as these two do). The film is rich in on-location scenes of New York City in the sixties, lots of street scenes and shots of a beautiful winter and summer Central Park. The direction is sometimes almost whimsical, as when the girls romp the streets near the beginning of the film and the camera romps with them - slo mo, then fast motion, upside-down and sideways - the Splitzing scene is my favorite scene in the film. The film is highlighted by a great music score done by Elmer Bernstein, with one tune in particular that runs through the film and still runs through my head as I write this - love! A few segments of the music are actually reminiscent of Bernstein's music done in "To Kill a Mockingbird". I can see how, perhaps, this film would not be for everyone - perhaps it may even fall into the category of "chick flick" as the story is totally focused from the perspective of the two girls. But for me - love it! Rating - 10/10 stars

Of Human Bondage (1934) Film Review

Plot Summary - "One Who Loves, One Who Is Loved" - - Precode soap opera starring Leslie Howard as Philip Carey, a London medical student with a club foot who becomes smitten with a low-class, rather cold young waitress named Mildred (Bette Davis). She treats him quite badly, but he just keeps asking her out, taking her to the theatre, buying her champagne - she doesn't exactly hide her distaste for him and says stuff like "If you don't take me out, someone else will" (she later calls him a "cripple"). Meanwhile cheap little Mildred is busy flirting with a rich, older customer (Alan Hale) at the restaurant where shes works. But obsessed Philip just can't get her out of his head, he fails his midterms, and he's so lovestruck he buys a ring and asks her to marry him - Mildred already has plans to marry the rival man, most likely 'cause he's in the money. Philip tries to forget her and gets himself a new girlfriend, Norah, who truly loves him. But one day Mildred comes crying back to him, pregnant and abandoned by her man, a cad who never did marry her. Believe it or not, Philip leaves Norah as he's still in love with Mildred, a user to the core - she's complete poison to him. Philip starts to become disgusted with her as he sees more and more of her behavior and Mildred's life takes off on a real downward spiral.

Review - This is an excellent film with an interesting and quite melodramatic story, based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The acting is absolutely top-notch in this - Leslie Howard perfection as the sensitive, sappy, infatuated man - and Bette Davis gives a riveting and memorable performance, she really lets her hair down and makes this film a great one. This film includes the famous scene where she says to Howard's character "I wiped my mouth" after he kissed her. Now, I really have to question why any man (or woman) would put up with the sort of treatment that he gets from the woman he is with - but, obviously, that's the point of the whole plot here. I just kept thinking "why oh why doesn't he just give her up and seek to be with someone who cares for him". He's also living on limited funds, but he continues to buys things for her and take care of her - she gives nothing back but abusive disdain. A really good film, don't miss this one. Rating - 10/10 stars