Track the Films You Watch (2009) - Page 37

First Auto, The (1927)
 

Roy Del Ruth

Hank Armstrong (Russell Simpson) is a lover of horses.  He breeds them, races them and cares for them more than he does his own son (Charles Emmett Mack).  Our story runs from 1895-1905 as we see the horses being put out of business by the "horseless carriage" and we see Hank fall apart as he refuses to let go and accept where the future is going.  There's a lot of nice stuff in this film, which would turn out to be the sixth movie Warner would release with sound effects and a musical accompaniment.  I personally find these effects to be quite distracting and to me they never really add much to a film except for an early part of sound history.  Another negative thing is that this silent movie has more inter-titles than any other film I can think of.  There was a time when we were reading more than watching so needless to say there was too many but this might have been done due to a tragedy that happened during filming, which I'll mention later.  Outside of those issues this is a very pleasant film that manages to be both funny, touching and quite silly at the same time.  The highlight of the movie is a scene where the rich family in town get their new car and decide to take it out for a spin.  After reading the instructions on how to drive, dad takes off and soon hell breaks loose.  We've seen this type of scene before but it's handled so well here you can't help but laugh.  Another memorable scene happens early one when Hank's favorite horse dies giving birth and he "rides" her into Heaven.  This scene could have been a disaster but it works quite well and manages to be very sweet even though I'm curious what they did to the horse to get it to remain so still.  The performances are all pretty good and that includes Simpson who is almost too good because his character is such a jerk that it's hard to gain sympathy for him.  Patsy Ruth Miller, who most will remember from THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, is also pretty good and it's fun seeing Barney Oldfield, a major name in early autos.  The tragic side to this film is that Charles Emmett Mack, a discovery of D.W. Griffith, was on his way to film the racing scenes at the end of the movie when his car was struck by a farm truck and he was decapitated.  It's quite ironic that this would happen while on the way to film the racing scenes.
 

Dixieland (1934)
 

The sixth entry in Warner's "See America First" series, which was made to show current audiences things from the past.  This entry takes a look at the years between 1850-60.  I'm not sure how much use film buffs will get out of this short but fans of history should be in for a treat.  We start off seeing a slave monument in Louisiana and then are shown a 114-year-old man who was believed to be the oldest living slave.  Seeing how he was currently living was certainly interesting as we later get to see the home where Harriett Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.  We also get a trip to the Bluegrass state with viewings of Lincoln's log cabin and the home where Stephen Foster wrote My Old Kentucky Home.  As you can tell, there's a lot to see visiting these now historic sites so this short probably works even better today than it did back in 1934.  Living in Kentucky, I've been to the places highlighted here and it's worth noting that Lincoln's cabin has now moved but Foster's home looks exactly like it did in this short.
 

National Lampoon's Movie Madness (1982)
 

Bob Giraldi, Henry Jaglom

Extremely bad and embarrassing comedy is perhaps one of the worst that the decade had to offer.  This film has three different spoof's of popular movie genres but none of them are funny.  The first has Peter Riegert (NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE) playing a lawyer who asks his wife to leave him so that he can go through some personal growth.  The second story deals with a woman who was gang raped with a stick of butter so she sets out to bring them down by making margarine the item to use.  The third film has a stupid rookie cop (Robby Benson) tries to track down a serial killer (Christopher Lloyd) who likes to leave a copy of his driver license on the body of his victims.  All three stories are incredibly bad but if I had to pick the best one I'd go with the first.  It at least has Riegert and his certain style of comedy getting a few laughs and we also have some rather strange nudity.  The second film seems to be spoofing TV shows like "Dallas" but it doesn't get any laughs.  The third film is just downright annoying because it keeps going and going and never appears to know what it's trying to do.  The major fault of this disaster has to be pointed at the screenplay, which just isn't funny.  Non of the spoofs are that far out there and one could argue that none of these items needed to be spoofed because their own films did a good job at that.  Did we really need this cop comedy when there was something like POLICE ACADEMY out there?  The performances are all fair to bad but acting isn't what people come to a film like this for.  The second and third films are without any laughs and what's really scary is that there was a fourth film spoofing disaster movies that was cut before the movie was released.  With these three shorts being so bad you can't help but wonder how bad the fourth one was for the studio to decide that was the one to leave on the cutting room floor.
 

Hell's House (1932)
 

Howard Higgin

Low-budget crime/melodrama is best remembered for the early views of Pat O'Brien and Bette Davis.  In the film, a young boy (Junior Durkin) moves to New York after the death of his mother where he quickly looks up to Matt (O'Brien).  What the boy doesn't know is that Matt is a bootlegger and he ends up taking the rap for a crime and sent to an abusive reform school.  The boy is trapped there unless Matt can grow some guts and admit that he is the one who should be behind bars.  This film beat the Warner/James Cagney drama THE MAYOR OF HELL into theaters by nearly a year so I'm curious if this is one of those small studios hearing about a major studios work and then trying to race a finished product into theaters.  The film certainly comes off that way because it has the structure of a decent drama but everything seems so rushed that they forgot to add any heart or soul.  The movie is pretty flat, especially compared to the Cagney film and its several remakes, because we really don't see too much here.  This reform school is suppose to be "hell's house" yet we hardly ever see any of the abuse or torments that the boys are going through.  O'Brien's character is underwritten pretty badly as is his girlfriend played by Davis.  The two actors are the main reason to see the film because they both come off very likable.  O'Brien gets to shine in the role of the bad guy with a heart and it's easy to see why Warner signed him up.  Davis doesn't come off as good but it's fun seeing a legend pay her dues.  Durkin also does pretty good in his role but I thought he was a lot more believable in his "country boy" state early in the film rather than the hero at the end. 
 

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

See Official Review Thread

Cole Case, The (1931)
 

Joseph Henabery
 

The second film in Warner's crime series, Dr. Crabtree (Donald Meek) and Insp. Carr (John Hamilton) are visited by a man who has been receiving notes threatening to kill him.  The latest note says he will die at eight o'clock tonight so Carr sends a couple men to his house.  Sure enough the guy is murdered under everyone's noses so the two men must find out what really happened.  I've seen about half of this series so far and the mystery here, from the S.S. Van Dine story, is about middle ground.  The story itself is mildly entertaining and the two leads do a nice job together.  I'm sure fans of the series will enjoy this more than those just being introduced.  The biggest problem is that there's way too much build up and not enough involving the actual solving of the case.  When the killer is finally revealed, after a rather obvious clue, I couldn't help but feel as if very little thought went into it.  I haven't read the Van Dine story so I'm curious how much was either cut out or just not filmed so that the film could run as a two-reeler. 
 

Clown Princes (1939)
 

George Sidney

One-reel comedy from Hal Roach and his Our Gang.  This time out, Porky is about to be kicked out of his home because of the greedy landlord.  The kids decide to put on a circus to raise the money for him but of course things don't go as planned.  This is a pretty good entry in the long-running series but I must admit that there weren't enough laughs to make the film a complete success.  The best sequence would have to be when Darla is pretending to be the lion tamer but the lions are actually dogs made up.  Some might object as there are several scenes where dogs are tied to wires in order for the "gags" to go as planned.  There's also a rather silly scene with Buckwheat playing a cannibal from Africa.  Clarence Wilson gets a few nice laughs as the landlord including drinking the penny lemonade instead of the two-cent one.
 

Silence Becomes You (2005)
 

Stephanie Sinclaire

Psychological thriller has Violet (Alicia Silverstone) luring a drifter (Joe Anderson) back to her house where she and her sister Grace (Siena Guillory) have some wicked plans.  The two sisters appear to be trapped in the house by their child spirits and the drifter might have walked into a deadly game.  The main reason for me recording this film was to see what Silverstone had been doing recently but unless you're a fan of hers then there's no real reason to watch this movie.  I kept watching and watching hoping for something to make sense but it never did and the movie just kept getting more confusing as it went along.  Even at the end of the flick I tried to make sense of what I had just watched and I still couldn't make head or tails out of it.  I could pick this thing to death with various logical issues like how the two sisters aren't working and yet have everything they do but that would be pointless because there's one goof after another.  The basic story of why the girl's need this drifter never makes any sense as it appears a big portion of the film was cut out leaving us with a big mess.  The three actors turn in decent, if not good, performances but I'm not sure you can blame them too much since the screenplay offers very little.  The thriller aspect of the film is never thriller and the erotic moments aren't any better.  As Silverstone is still sticking by her "no nudity" clause, her sex scenes border on PG-rated as she always has her clothes on, which pretty much kills anything erotic.  The complete film is a major mess from the start so it's best to stay clear or at least keep your fast-forward button near by. 
 

Komodo vs. Cobra (2005)
 

Jim Wynorski
 

Leave it to the stupid government to create a chemical that turns things large and then they decide to feed it to a komodo and a cobra.  Leave it to a group of dumb, young protesters who go to the island to uncover the truth and sure enough they are attacked and eaten one by one.  All of these leads to the final showdown between the two giant beasts.  Director Wynorski got his start under Roger Corman and many people consider him the Corman of the past thirty-years because he deals with all sorts of "B" movies.  SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE 2 and BIG BAD MAMA 2 are among my favorite cult movies but that certain charm the director can get out of a lower quality movie doesn't work here.  The movie starts off mildly fun with its silly story, bad acting and outrageous special effects but in the end it goes on way too long to really work.  At least Corman knew to keep these type of movies around the 70-minute mark but this one here clocks in at 94-minutes and by the end of the movie you can't help but feel bored.  The human characters are all stereotypes that we'd expect from this type of film and the performances are what we'd expect as well.  Michael Pare and Michelle Borth are mildly entertaining but the rest are pretty forgettable.  The special effects, CGI of course, are extremely bad but they akward enough to be entertaining in a so bad they're good way.  The final battle isn't too bad but the thirty-minutes leading up to it are incredibly slow and boring.  The dumbest thing in the film is that Pare has a .38 handgun, which never runs out of rounds.  He constantly shoots off forty or fifty rounds and never has to reload somehow.  Fans of this genre might want to check this out but others should stay far away.
 

Alaska Lifeboat (1956)
 

Herbert Morgan
 

Part of RKO's "Theater of Life" series, this one here takes a look at a doctor working off a large boat on the coasts of Alaska.  The documentary short tells us that Alaska is very important to the cash flow of the U.S. but unfortunately the people there aren't aware of personal hygiene.  The doctor takes this boat all around giving free exams and tries to teach people the importance of being clean.  In many ways this series tries to be like the John Nesbitt shorts from MGM but they don't come close in terms of entertainment.  I've seen three or four of these as Turner Classic Movies debuts a new one every few months and I really haven't been impressed at all.  This film, as well as the others, was shot silent and we get narration for all the action.  There's nothing wrong with this style as many low-budget movies used it but the problem here is that the narration is too dry and nothing on screen is overly interesting. 
 

(500) Days of Summer (2009)
 

Marc Webb
 

This romantic comedy is without question one of the best films of the year and will probably go down as one of the greatest films to grace the genre.  It's not often I fall head over hill in love with a film from this genre but this here should be put beside ANNIE HALL in terms of its great characters and dialogue.  The film tells the story of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), two oddball people who begin dating, which is great until he starts to fall in love and she doesn't.  Most Hollywood love stories are so corny and have so much sugar on them that one can't help but get choked in all the stupidity but thankfully that doesn't ring true with this independent masterpiece that manages to be thoughtful, intelligent, funny, sad and perfect nail down the ups and downs of a relationship.  ANNIE HALL is my favorite movie of all time and there's a lot of comparisons that could be made with this film.  Another favorite of mine from the past decade is Kevin Smith's CHASING AMY and once again, I think the films can be compared for their leading men who go after something they can't have.  What works so well with this story is how incredibly charming it is right from the start.  The masterful screenplay is so perfectly written that it can jump from happy to sad times and not miss a beat.  A lot of director's wouldn't be able to handle this jump and that's why so many films end up feeling uneven but director Webb handles it all perfectly well and doesn't miss a beat.  Another major plus is that the performances are so excellent that you can't help but fall in love with the characters.  Gordon-Levitt plays that "dork" type of character but he brings so much more to the role.  His comic timing is perfect but he also manages to be very believable in the more dramatic moments and this includes a rather heartbreaking scene at the end when he finally builds up the courage to ask Summer a certain question while sitting on a park bench.  Deschanel seems to have a strong cult following around her and I was never a member until this film.  She is so incredible in the role that I honestly can't sit here and think of anyone who would have been better or done more with it.  She is so flawless in building up her role into a real character because you could have written her off as the bad person but that never happens because we, unlike Tom, can understand her feelings and her reasons for being the way she is.  This is really a film about a guy who finds happiness and expects it to last forever when the second person might not be looking that far ahead.  To me the film has a lot to say about relationships, feelings and just human nature all around.  The romantic-comedy is perhaps the most worn out genre in film history but ever so often a real gem comes along and (500) DAYS OF SUMMER is that gem.
 

Hour for Lunch, An (1939)
 

Roy Rowland
 

MGM short has Robert Benchley playing host and telling us the best way to get the most done during your hour lunch break.  Benchley also plays Joe, the poor soul who makes out a list of things to do on lunch but things don't go as planned.  I've often said that Benchley is rather hit and miss with me with this one here missing the boat and almost completely.  I was pretty surprised to see that not too much is done here or even tried for that matter.  We see Benchley schedule a hair cut but there are too many people waiting.  We see him try to get something to eat but the cafe is crowded.  We see him trying to get on an elevator but too many other people are using it.  None of this is very funny but the film doesn't even appear to be trying for it to be funny.  Director Rowland keeps the film moving along at a nice pace and it's never boring but when a comedy doesn't feature any laughs then you must consider it a failure.

Man Who Came to Dinner, The (1942)
 

William Keighley
 

The famous Broadway play found itself at Warner for this classic comedy, which features Monty Woolley in the role of his career.  He plays radio lecturer Sheridan Whiteside who finds himself in Ohio where he slips on some ice and ends up taking a home over from a local family.  The hot tempered, ill-mannered Whiteside turns even worse when he learns that his secretary (Bette Davis) has fallen in love with a local reporter (Richard Travers).  Who would have thought you'd have A-list stars like Davis and Ann Sheridan in a film and both of them get completely smashed?  That's pretty much what happens here because the magnificent Woolley steals the film without a problem and one could argue that it's the supporting cast that eventually has the film run out of steam.  The opening forty-five minutes or so are downright hilarious with non-stop laughs as Woolley thows on insult after another.  I lost count of how many times I laughed but one of the best jokes has Woolley replying to a nurse after she says he can't have any chocolate.  Woolley's performance is top-notch as he delivers one of the most memorable comedy characters I've seen from the golden age of Hollywood.  Davis is pretty good in the film but I couldn't help but think her part was just expanded for the film.  There's certainly nothing wrong with seeing more Davis but the entire role came off as being beneath her even though she did fine with it.  The same could be said for Sheridan who I felt, her character at least, wasn't as well written as the Woolley one.  Jimmy Durante goes hog-wild and delivers some nice comic lines.  His stealing of some food is another highlight in the film.  I do think the film tends to go on a tad bit too long as the jokes stop flying towards the end of the movie.  With that said, this is still a must see due to the masterful work by Woolley.
 

Some more Bette Davis movies

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006)
 

Paul Jones, Mark A. Catalena
 

Extremely entertaining documentary on the life and career of legend Bette Davis features countless interviews with the actress from various shows including 60 Minutes and the Steve Allen Show.  The documentary runs 90-minutes and I feel an extra half hour would have helped things because the movie quite often jumps around from her film life to her sexual life.  We hear about all five husbands but also how many other actresses, including Joan Crawford, ended up hating her because she would sleep with their husbands or boyfriends.  I'm really not sure all of the dirt was needed but it's here.  Also on hand is discussing about how difficult she was to work with and how Jack Warner eventually had to sue her to get her to work.  We get interviews with James Woods, Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn, Gena Rowlands and Samuel Goldwyn, Jr..  Vincent Sherman is also interviewed where he discusses how difficult she made shooting their first film together and when he asked to be let go, according to him, Davis took him back to her house for a sexual night.  In the end we pretty much learn that Davis had a very rough life style and it probably ended with her being very lonely.  After a series of strokes and the heartbreak of her daughter writing a not-so-friendly book, she eventually went on a tour to great acclaim.  No matter how tough her life is, there's no doubt she left us with some great films, which is the documentaries main point to get across.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
 

Robert Aldrich
 

Classic thriller (not horror) has two legendary rivals appearing in the same film and this gimmick is the main reason to watch.  The has-been Baby Jane (Bette Davis) runs over his sister (Joan Crawford) after she becomes the biggest star in Hollywood.  Thirty years later the two are still living together but Baby Jane has decided she wants to have a comeback and keeps the crippled sister locked up in her room, slowly killing her.  This is one of those legendary films that I stayed away from for quite a while and I must say that I was rather letdown as "The End" came up.  This is certainly an entertaining film but after hearing all the hype I can't help but call it overrated.  With that said, there are a couple great things here but I personally can't overlook some rather lackluster direction and a screenplay with one major plot hole after another.  I'll start with the screenplay, which is so far fetched that it was hard for me to take any of it too serious.  As a thriller the film doesn't work because to me there wasn't any suspense due to all the plot holes.  I can't help but wonder why no one seems to ever check on the crippled sister after thirty years.  I can't help but think why the sister didn't tell her friend, the maid, to get the police or some type of help.  I can't help but wonder how no one would be suspicious of what's going on with the weird Baby Jane.  I believe in suspending some common sense for a movie but this one here asks way too much.  I also didn't believe any of the nonsense dealing with Baby Jane's comeback and the mama's boy who comes to the house and expands the running time.  I personally could have done without any of this and I think the editing running time wouldn't have hurt.  Even the ending at the beach, the crippled sister is sitting there among dozens of people and yet no one notices her?  With that out of the way, the two stars make this a classic and they're the main reason to watch this.  For years I had heard about the "ugly" Bette giving an over the top performance but I must admit that I thought she was quite straight.  Sure, she's crazy but that's what she's playing.  I didn't think she was over the top and to me she was just playing a truly nutty character who does one crazy thing after another.  The song and dance Davis gives is classic as is the scene where she begs the near dead Crawford for help.  Crawford doesn't get the flashy role but she too is very memorable as the tortured sister.  The B&W cinematography is top-notch and the music score is nice but those things aren't going to bring people to this film.  It's going to be Davis and Crawford and those two deliver the goods and made way for the "psycho old women" genre, which the couple would take part of for years to come. 

Dark Victory (1939)
 

Edmund Goulding
 

Warner tear-jerker about a socialite (Bette Davis) who falls in love with her surgeon (George Brent) not knowing that she's dying from a brain tumor.  When the young woman learns her fate it's up to her to try and come to terms with facing death.  It was funny to read that Jack Warner didn't want to buy the rights to this film because he felt it was do horrible at the box office.  You can't help but understand his position but the power of Davis certainly drew crowds into the theater way back when this was first released and her power will continue to draw people to this film.  Her performance here is without question the best I've seen from her to date and one can't picture anyone else in this role.  This is a fairly dark movie but she brings so much to her character that you can't help but be amazed at how well she handles all the ups and downs.  There are three great sequences in this film, which make it a classic.  The first happens early on when Davis first meets Brent and tries to hide her illness.  The second, and perhaps most famous one, is when she learns that the doctor and her sister (Geraldine Fitzgerald) have been lying to her and orders some "prognosis negative".  Third, is the wonderful, well drawn out ending that really packs a nice little punch because, once again, how much Davis brings to the situation.  The performance by Davis is top-notch but she's equaled by Brent who also turns in perhaps the best performance I've seen from him.  The strength he brings the character was masterful.  Fitzgerald is also good in her role as is Henry Travers as the family doctor.  Ronald Reagan doesn't fair as good and this is easy to spot during a scene where he's sitting by Davis and is suppose to be drunk.  Humphrey Bogart is completely wrong in his role as an Irishman as his accent is going in and out throughout the entire film.  He really comes off looking pretty bad here but you have to admire him for at least trying.  DARK VICTORY is bound to draw new fans each passing year as it gets a showing on TCM every few months but you can certainly understand as this is the type of film that one could show to a newbie and make them understand the power of older films.
 

Old Maid, The (1939)
 

Edmund Goulding
 

Exceptional version of the Pultzer Prize winning play has Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins making for more high-class Warner drama.  In the film, Davis gets pregnant by her cousin's (Hopkins) old flame (George Brent) so instead of facing public scorn, she opens a home for children where she raises the daughter as a stranger.  A few years later after the death of Hopkins' husband, she tells the girl that she's her mother while her real mother takes a place in the background and grows to be an old maid while watching her child grow up not knowing who she is.  I really wasn't sure what to expect out of this film, which seems to have been partially forgotten but perhaps this is due to it being released in 1939, a year with countless great films and not to mention Davis being in three other highly popular films in DARK VICTORY, JUAREZ and THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX.  This film perfectly blends the drama and makes for a very entertaining film even though some of the subject matter might hit new viewers as being old-fashioned but one much remember when this film takes place.  What I enjoyed most about the movie is that many scripts would have fallen into a good guy/bad guy range.  It would have been very easy to make Davis the sad, good girl while painting the Hopkins character as evil but the film isn't that easy.  While you can't help but feel sorry for Davis you also can understand why Hopkins wants to protect the kid in her own way.  The level of dirtiness that Hopkins sinks to will certainly make people hate her but you can also put some of that to the side when you really think about what's best for the kid.  Both Davis and Hopkins turn in excellent performances as both really sink their teeth into the roles.  The aging make up effects really don't work but I'm curious if this was because neither actress wanted to be buried under all the make up.  George Brent is impressive in his small role as is Donald Crisp as the caring doctor.  Considering what all 1939 had going for it, it's easy to see why this film has been overlooked but it's certainly worth checking out and deserve a new group of fans.
 

Deception (1946)
 

Irving Rapper
 

Moody and rather wicked drama from Warner has Bette Davis playing a woman who fears her great love (Paul Henreid) was killed in the war.  After the two run across one another, they are quickly married when an odd composer (Claude Rains) enters the picture.  Turns out Davis was the mistress to this man and will stop at nothing to keep him from telling her new husband.  This film has all sorts of polish, a great music score and an all around good atmosphere but the main reason to see this film is the performance of Rains.  I've always been a fan of his since seeing THE INVISIBLE MAN early in my life and this made me check out other works of his, which soon had me feeling he was one of the best character actors out there.  It isn't that his performance here is magnificent but it's certainly one of his most entertaining as you can't tell but see and feel that he's having a great time playing this odd nut with too much of an ego and the constant need for a power trip.  You can look in Rains eyes and just see how much fun he's having playing this wicked soul and it makes for some great entertainment.  Davis is also very impressive and this is coming after years of me reading she was over the top here.  I didn't find her over the top until the final scene when she goes a tad bit too far.  Henreid also does fine work and you can't help but feel sorry for him as the Rains character slowly tries to drive him crazy.  The screenplay itself is rather routine as we've seen this type of story before but the performances make up for this and the 112-minute running time flies by. 
 

Watcher in the Woods, The (1980)
 

John Hough
 

Disney's attempt at a horror movie had all sorts of problems during production, including various endings shot and when the film was finally released it bombed at the box office, which for some reason had the studio go back and re-edit it some more.  What's left is pretty bland stuff.  A family moves into an old, creepy house where the oldest daughter (Lynn Holly Johnson) begins to see visions of a young girl named Karen who mysteriously disappeared years earlier.  Turns out this is the daughter of the home owner (Bette Davis).  Some extremely bad performance, bad special effects and a poor screenplay make this a rather unpleasant film even though there are some redeeming qualities.  We might as well start with the bad stuff first.  The performances are beyond bad here and I times I couldn't help but wonder if they accidentally used an outtake instead of real footage.  Carroll Baker and David McCallum play the parents and I thought both overacted something terrible.  Kyle Richards plays the youngest sister and she isn't all that impressive either.  Johnson is decent in her role and carries the film just fine even though the screenplay doesn't do her too many favors.  As for Davis, she is pretty fun in the movie, although I certainly wouldn't call this one of her best performances.  She gives us a few nice facial gestures, which will have one reminded of her early days with those great eyes and dazes off into space.  The special effects from start to finish are quite laughable and the ones at the end will have you scratching your head.  The screenplay is all over the place but I'm not sure if I'd put too much blame on the writers as it's clear the film has had a lot of tampering with and this includes the multiple endings with two of them appearing on the DVD.  Outside of seeing Davis, other items that work here is a nice music score and director Hough's ability to build up some atmosphere.  The highlight of the film is a scene where the oldest daughter falls into a pond and gets trapped.  There are a few good camera shots but that's about it.  While watching the film one can't help but think of THE SHINING, which was released the same year.
 

Watch on the Rhine (1943)
 

Herman Shumlin
 

Based on the Broadway play, this film won Paul Lukas the Best Actor Oscar at that years ceremony and he's certainly the main reason to watch this.  Lukas and wife Bette Davis, along with their three children, are back in the U.S. for the first time in over eighteen years.  They go stay with Davis' mother (Lucile Watson) who is happy to have them, although the rich woman grows worrysome when she learns that the husband hasn't had a "real" job in many years.  Instead, he has been with the underground fighting fascism and might have to battle a villain in the very household.  I'm sure this Warner drama played much better in 1943 than it does today but that's to be expected.  It's important to remember that the country was in the middle of a major war so Hollywood was turning out propaganda pieces to warn those of various evils hiding in their own backyard.  In many ways this film is pretty much warning people about Nazis that could be living in their own communities and this here leads to a lot of preaching, which after a while grows a little tiresome.  Again, it's important to remember when this was made but you still have to admit that there's just way too much patriotic stuff going on.  For example, the three kids are so "perfect" that you can't help but feel how fake they are.  Each time one of them, or their parents, speak we have to have patriotic music in the background.  Each time one of the bad guys are on screen it has to take place in a dark room with just a little light.  To me this stuff was too much and a case where less would have been a lot more.  With that said, there are still some pretty intense moments in the film especially at the end when Lukas is in threat of being turned over and must try and get out of his situation.  I'm not sure my vote would have gone to Lukas for Best Actor since he was up against Bogart in CASABLANCA but he certainly deserves a lot of attention.  This is without question the best I've seen him in a role and you can't help but believe and feel everything he says here.  Apparently Davis took this role just because she believed in its message and this rings true because she really doesn't have too much to do here and is certainly overshadowed by Lukas.  The supporting cast features fine performances from Beulah Bondi, George Coulouris, Donald Woods and Henry Daniell.  Geraldine Fitzgerald is wasted in a small role and Watson comes off rather irritating in her comic approach.  
 

Whales of August, The (1989)
 

Lindsay Anderson
 

Bette Davis, Lillian Gish and Vincent Price lead this terrific cast, which served as one last shining moment for the legends with Ann Sothern and Harry Carey, Jr. having supporting roles.  The film centers on Sarah (Gish) who is taking care of her sister Libby (Davis) who is blind.  Whereas Libby is wanting to die, Sarah instead wants to live life as much as she can.  She has a gentleman caller (Price), a neighbor/friend (Sothern) and a wacky handyman (Carey, Jr.) who is always taking too long to finish his work.  If you're looking for any type of story then you're really not going to find it here.  The movie runs 90-minutes and is pretty much one dialogue scene after another and the "fun" in watching this film isn't the story but instead is just seeing these legends turning in fine performances at the end of their careers.  It's hard to believe that Gish, in her final role, was 93-years-old and yet she turns in another winning performance.  What's rather shocking is that she's able to recapture that "childlike" quality, which she used so perfectly well in so many of her classic films.  Even though she doesn't look like a child, she's able to transform the youth of her eyes and really make for an interesting role and performance.  Davis, showing obvious signs of a stroke in real life, turns in a good performance as well.  She gets some great lines and uses that terrific voice to bring them to life.  Price comes off even better as the poor man who must use the kindness of others to survive.  He brings that certain charm that only he has to the role and delivers fine work at the end of a career that had him in some rather ugly horror films.  Sothern and Carey, Jr. are also fun even though neither character is written too well.  People who need their films to be fast are going to be disappointed here but I think the film's main goal was to give its cast one final curtain call and fans of them will find this film worth viewing.
 

Moments in Music (1950)
 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science produced this documentary, which is pretty much just a short promo piece.  The music informs people, as if they didn't already know, that they can find all sorts of music types by going to the movies.  We see clips from various movies including Judy Garland in ZIEGFELD GIRL, Danny Kaye in UP IN ARMS, Bing Crosby in ROAD TO RIO and Lily Pons in CARNEGIE HALL.  Needless to say, this thing only runs around six-minutes and naturally most movie fans are going to want to see the actual films.  The clips selected here appear to be taken from the theatrical trailers, which might have been a cheap way for them to get around paying any rights.  Do the clips make one want to rush out and see the movies?  Not really, which is the biggest disappointment of this short.
 

Halloween II (2009)
 

Rob Zombie
 

Sequel to Zombie's 2007 remake starts off shortly after the events in that film as Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) has a hard time getting over the fact that all of her friends are dead.  She doesn't have too long to sit around as brother Michael Myers is back, killing and slaughtering by the orders of the ghost of his mother (Sheri Moon Zombie) but Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) is back as well to try and make up for a damning book he wrote on the earlier events.  There's no secret that I didn't care for anything in Zombie's remake and this film here proves that he needs to quit writing screenplays.  I think this film, as well as his previous ones, have shown that he can handle the director's chair but as far as writing goes he's starting to become very boring as he doesn't know how to write a story, characters or dialogue.  What does someone do when they get scared?  Say the "F" word countless times.  What does someone do when they're having fun?  Say the "F" word countless times.  What does someone do when they're sad?  Why, of course, say the "F" word countless times.  Zombie's screenplays come off like they're written by little children because he can't write dialogue that has anything more than cuss words being thrown around.  It's hard to find a single line that doesn't feature some fifth-grade level cussing.  Not only that but other logical problems come up like how Michael is able to be deep in the woods on scene but then back in town the next only to appear back in the woods for the next scene.  How on Earth does Loomis see the end events on television and yet a second later he's right there?  Not to mention a stupid flashback scene where we learn that Michael is going to be seeing his mother's ghost throughout the rest of the movie, which basically is just a stupid way for Zombie to give his wife a part.  Even if you take away all the dumb logic you are then treated to countless, graphic and at time vile violence.  It's clear Zombie believes that no one should be given pity because even characters we care for get slaughtered.  Bad characters die brutal deaths just like the nice people.  Taylor-Compton isn't too bad in her role even though it's not written too well.  McDowell is one hand to cash a paycheck but Zombie's screenplay mostly has him doing talk shows including one with Weird Al.  Brad Dourif comes off the best as Sheriff Brackett and Danielle Harris also gets to come back.  As with the first film, this one here features cameos by various people including Caroline Williams (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2).  Now, I would probably say this movie is better than the first due to some nice sequences including one early on where Zombie has a nice scene where a nurse is about to be stabbed but before getting it, we see a close up of her face as it prepares for the blow.  This was an effective scene as was one a few minutes later when Laurie is trapped inside a small shack with Myers trying to break through.  Once again Zombie's vision is perfectly clear and he moves the film along just fine but with a screenplay so bad there's really no winning in the end.  It's clear Zombie has a very good movie in his but it's not going to happen when the only thing he can write is dialogue for white trash, which appears to be the only thing he knows.
 

Gangs of the Dead (2006)
 

Duane Stinnett
 

Also known as LAST RITES, this film was re-titled and thrown on DVD and is yet another stab at the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD line with some ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 thrown in for good measure.  A group of homeless people are standing around when a meteor crashes on them and turns them into flesh eating zombies.  A black gang and a Latino gang, rivals, take shelter in a warehouse with two white cops.  The mixed group not only must battle the zombies but also each other.  There's some nice stuff here but in the end I couldn't help but be bored by this because we've seen the zombie side of things so many times.  I did think it was interesting seeing the two rival gangs having to deal with one another but this stuff didn't work as well as it could have because the screenplay mostly has them shouting things at one another and calling each other the "B" word.  The performances aren't Oscar-worthy but all the actors fill their roles fine and deliver the type of performances you'd expect.  The CGI effects are all rather obvious and that includes all the fake blood and guts being thrown around.  Zombie fans might be attracted to the (new) title but they've pretty much seen everything here in much better movies. 
 

High Dive Kids (1956)
 

This RKO/Sportscope entry is probably the best I've seen from the series, although that's not saying a great deal.  The film talks about a young woman who teaches various kids how to dive off the high board.  We see kids ranging from around the age of three all the way up to some teens.  I really wouldn't call this a good film but it was mildly entertaining thanks to the kids who are all quite impressive with their dives.  Perhaps it's because I've never done it but I enjoyed watching the various things they'd come up with even though a couple of them seemed rather dangerous like the one where they kept jumping right on top of another.  The narration is actually a big minus because it's clear he's trying to bring a Pete Smith-type humor to the film but it doesn't work.
 

Glimpses of New Scotland (1947)
 

Yet another entry in the long-running TravelTalks series from James A. FitzPatrick and MGM.  This time out we go to the eastern coast of Canada and visit Nova Scotia, Halifax.  Once there we get to see some famous apple trees, learn the history of their trading posts, see their saltwater sports and learn that the city was formed in 1749.  If you've seen at least one entry from this series then you'll know what to expect and FitzPatrick delivers the familiar goods.  The Technicolor is the main high point here as we get to see some beautiful shots and places.  This here was pretty much produced as a travel guide so that important to keep in mind while watching. 
 

Serene Siam (1937)
 

Early entry in James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalks series takes a look at Bangkok, the capital of Thailand when it was still known as Siam.  The main thing FitzPatrick tries to tell the viewers here is that the thousands of people living here are quite simple and happy to live off the land.  Coconuts, sugar cane and rice are the main draws for business as people travel via canoes to do their jobs.  We also get to see some of their folk lore being acted out in a street play, which contains some very interesting images including one where a dragon tries to steal a pearl.  This is certainly a nice entry in the series as we get to learn a great deal about the place, its people and the history, which doesn't seem to have changed much over the years.  Fans of the series will certainly enjoy this but so will new viewers.     
 

Ladies Last (1930)
 

George Stevens
 

Legendary director George Stevens made his debut in this Hal Roach comedy, another entry in the "Boy Friends" series.  This time out Dave (David Sharpe), Alabam (Grady Sutton) and Mickey (Mickey Daniels) are invited to a dance by their girlfriends who insist they wear fancy suits.  The boys refuse and decide to go on strike and stay away from the girls but soon they see other guys at the dance.  This was the third entry in the series and you can tell that the cast members are still learning their routines but for the most part I enjoyed this two-reelers.  I think Mickey steals the film as the annoying wimp who gets to act tough but ends up fighting a few fake dummies before running into a couple thieves.  I found Mickey to be quite funny here because he just comes off so strange and corny that you can't help but laugh.  Sharpe and Sutton don't get as much to do here and their line delivery is still pretty rough around the edges.  This early sound comedy suffers from the new technology but much of this can be overlooked.  The final gag dealing with fireworks in someones pants works pretty well and makes for a nice little film. 
 

High Gear (1931)
 

George Stevens
 

Mickey (Mickey Daniels) gets kicked out of the house by his father but at least he lets him take the car out for a spin.  He picks up Dave (David Sharpe) and Alabam (Grady Sutton), as well as three girls, and head out for some fun but end up running into a jerk police officer (Edgar Kennedy) and a group of thugs.  This was the fifth entry in Hal Roach's "Boy Friends" series and the first and only to be a three-reeler but to be far this here just runs five-minutes longer than the other films.  I thought for the most part all of the jokes worked very well with the middle sequence dealing with Kennedy being the best.  We get the typical jokes like the pen spitting ink in his face and the boys making a few jokes at him and while this might not be original it's still very funny here.  Another nice gag involves a trip at the end where the boys stumble into a house where some thugs are hiding.  The thugs and boys keep battling one another by throwing the other out a window and into the mud.  Again, nothing too original but it works here.  Kennedy clearly steals the film as the doomed cop but Mickey does a very good job as well.  Director Stevens seems a lot more at ease in terms of building the scenes for their laughs.