One Sentence Plot Summary: Romeo and Juliet, but with ballet-dancing gangs (no, really).
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
Best of: A tremendous score by Leonard Bernstein.
Worst of: Surprisingly weak vocals from the male cast. Apparently, it takes about one second to fall completely in love.
Notable: Many of the vocals are not sung by the actors, but dubbed by professional singers.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Apartment (1960) - 4 stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: A mild mannered, ambitious business man's apartmemt becomes THE place for office bigshots to bring their mistresses.
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen.
Best of: Great story, great script...engaging throughout. Shirley MacLaine was hot? Why did no one ever inform me of this odd fact before?
Worst of: The best scenes are all at the start of the film.
Notable: This was the last black and white movie to win Best Picture until Schindler's List.
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen.
Best of: Great story, great script...engaging throughout. Shirley MacLaine was hot? Why did no one ever inform me of this odd fact before?
Worst of: The best scenes are all at the start of the film.
Notable: This was the last black and white movie to win Best Picture until Schindler's List.
Ben Hur (1959) - 4 stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: John 3:16.
Starring: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Jack Hawkins, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Sam Jaffe, Hugh Griffith
Best of: The absolute definition of "epic." The chariot scene is, of course, fantastic. Epic plot, epic themes, epic personalities...a whole lot of fun.
Worst of: I actually liked all the Jesus stuff, but I'd listen to an argument about it being corny.
Notable: No one died during the chariot scene...that's just a hard to kill urban legend.
Starring: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet, Jack Hawkins, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Sam Jaffe, Hugh Griffith
Best of: The absolute definition of "epic." The chariot scene is, of course, fantastic. Epic plot, epic themes, epic personalities...a whole lot of fun.
Worst of: I actually liked all the Jesus stuff, but I'd listen to an argument about it being corny.
Notable: No one died during the chariot scene...that's just a hard to kill urban legend.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Gigi (1958) - 3 stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: A rich, parisian jerk pursues an underage girl while onlookers sing.
Starring: Leslie Caron, Louis Jordan, Maurice Chevalier
Best of: Despite being a musical, it's mostly entertainaing in a cute sort of way.
Worst of: It's still a musical. Plus, I'm pretty sure the main romantic relationship is built around pedophilia.
I'd have liked it better if: the opening number weren't called "Thank Heaven for little girls." No, really...it is.
Also nominated: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Starring: Leslie Caron, Louis Jordan, Maurice Chevalier
Best of: Despite being a musical, it's mostly entertainaing in a cute sort of way.
Worst of: It's still a musical. Plus, I'm pretty sure the main romantic relationship is built around pedophilia.
I'd have liked it better if: the opening number weren't called "Thank Heaven for little girls." No, really...it is.
Also nominated: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - 4 stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: a platoon of british soldiers refuse to give up their dignity while on work detail in a Japanese POW camp in WWII.
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Best of: Alec Guinness is phenomenal and his character's plot line is gripping.
Worst of: A bit overlong and not entirely realistic.
Notable: Screenwriters Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman were on the blacklist of people with accused Communist ties at the time the film was made, and went uncredited. The sole writing credit, and therefore the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, went to Pierre Boulle, who wrote the original French novel but did not speak English.
Also nominated: 12 Angry Men.
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Best of: Alec Guinness is phenomenal and his character's plot line is gripping.
Worst of: A bit overlong and not entirely realistic.
Notable: Screenwriters Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman were on the blacklist of people with accused Communist ties at the time the film was made, and went uncredited. The sole writing credit, and therefore the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, went to Pierre Boulle, who wrote the original French novel but did not speak English.
Also nominated: 12 Angry Men.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Around the World in 80 Days (1956) - 3 Stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: A very precise, upperclass Englishman makes a wager with several friends that he can travel around the circumference of the earth in 80 days.
Starring: David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Newton
Best of: More a typical summer blockbuster than a typical oscar winner, it offers quite a lot of lavish, light-hearted fun. The opening sequence offers a 1956 commentary on the "shrinking world" theme of the 1872 novel (including a discussion of how man may even travel to the moon some day). This is rather fun to watch given how incredibly much the world has shrunk again since 1956.
Worst of: An Indian princess is played by the very obviously non-Indian Shirley MacLaine.
Notable: The filmed used more animals and more costumes than any previous film.
Also Nominated: The Ten Commandments, The King and I.
Starring: David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Newton
Best of: More a typical summer blockbuster than a typical oscar winner, it offers quite a lot of lavish, light-hearted fun. The opening sequence offers a 1956 commentary on the "shrinking world" theme of the 1872 novel (including a discussion of how man may even travel to the moon some day). This is rather fun to watch given how incredibly much the world has shrunk again since 1956.
Worst of: An Indian princess is played by the very obviously non-Indian Shirley MacLaine.
Notable: The filmed used more animals and more costumes than any previous film.
Also Nominated: The Ten Commandments, The King and I.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Marty (1955) - 2 stars
One sentence plot summary: Lonely man goes on a date with lonely woman.
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair
Best of: Ernest Borgnine plays shy and self conscious well.
Worst of: So small scale and low key that it almost disappears. Ultimately, very forgettable.
I'd have liked it better if: it had a plot.
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair
Best of: Ernest Borgnine plays shy and self conscious well.
Worst of: So small scale and low key that it almost disappears. Ultimately, very forgettable.
I'd have liked it better if: it had a plot.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
On the Waterfront (1954) - 5 stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: A powerful union boss uses strong armed, violent tactics to retain control of a New York shipyard.
Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Best of: Marlon Brando is just brilliant.
Worst of: Leonard Bernstein's hectic score distracts from the on screen action at times.
Notable: Frank Sinatra was originally offered the leading role.
Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger
Best of: Marlon Brando is just brilliant.
Worst of: Leonard Bernstein's hectic score distracts from the on screen action at times.
Notable: Frank Sinatra was originally offered the leading role.
From Here to Eternity (1953) - 4 Stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: An unpopular soldier falls in love while serving on an Hawaii army base in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor.
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra
Best of: Strong leading performances all around and a surprising supporting role from Frank Sinatra. Also, Donna Reed was pretty darn hot.
Worst of: The Pearl Harbor attack, though not key to the plot, is still underplayed.
Notable: It has long been rumored that the "horse head" scene in The Godfather was taken from similar mob tactics to help Sinatra land his role.
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra
Best of: Strong leading performances all around and a surprising supporting role from Frank Sinatra. Also, Donna Reed was pretty darn hot.
Worst of: The Pearl Harbor attack, though not key to the plot, is still underplayed.
Notable: It has long been rumored that the "horse head" scene in The Godfather was taken from similar mob tactics to help Sinatra land his role.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) - 2 stars
One Sentence Plot Summary: We follow a traveling circus from town to town as various performers fall in and out of love with each other.
Starring: Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Gloria Grahame, Dorothy Lamour, James Stewart
Best of: It has its truly entertaining moments...mostly asurrounding its too often ignored central storyline. Also, the awesomely cheesy special effects during the train wreck scene.
Worst of: I'm not convinced Charlton Heston could act. It fills maybe an hour of its considerable length with slow, needless shots of circus performances. The movie pulls off what I previously thought impossible and offers a bland Jimmy Stewart performance. It took covering his face in full clown make-up the entire time, but they pulled it off. Also, the awesomely cheesy special effects during the train wreck scene.
I would have liked it better if: it hadn't pushed the "show must go on" theme quite so hard in the end. Really...no one is putting on a circus show hours after a disaster cripples or kills half the performers.
Starring: Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Gloria Grahame, Dorothy Lamour, James Stewart
Best of: It has its truly entertaining moments...mostly asurrounding its too often ignored central storyline. Also, the awesomely cheesy special effects during the train wreck scene.
Worst of: I'm not convinced Charlton Heston could act. It fills maybe an hour of its considerable length with slow, needless shots of circus performances. The movie pulls off what I previously thought impossible and offers a bland Jimmy Stewart performance. It took covering his face in full clown make-up the entire time, but they pulled it off. Also, the awesomely cheesy special effects during the train wreck scene.
I would have liked it better if: it hadn't pushed the "show must go on" theme quite so hard in the end. Really...no one is putting on a circus show hours after a disaster cripples or kills half the performers.
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