[7] Ryan Gosling stars as Lars, a young man who begins seriously dating a life-size doll. His friends and family are instructed by a doctor to go along with it until they can figure out why he has engaged in this suspicious behavior. I love these types of movies — the ones that take ludicrous concepts, and then treat them very seriously. This is a …
[6] Writer/producer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) made his directorial debut with Dragonwyck, a gothic romance with a dash of horror/suspense. Gene Tierney plays a farm girl summoned by a distant relative to help raise his young daughter in a New York castle. The relative, played coolly by Vincent Price (before he became a horror icon) begins poisoning his …
[5] Burt Lancaster stars as a conman promising rain for dollars to struggling farmers in the drought-ridden South. He almost gets away with his latest swindle, but burgeoning feelings for one of the farmer’s daughters (Katharine Hepburn) threatens to make an honest man of him. It’s a very atypical role for Hepburn, playing a spinster desperate for a man. But she pulls it off, despite …
[5] I like the premise of this one. Cary Grant plays a beach bum who relays Japanese radio messages to the military during WWII. His life is a solitary one until a plane crashes on the island, introducing him to a school mistress (Leslie Caron) and seven little girls. As you might imagine, at first he hates this estrogen invasion, but soon comes to find …
[7] Peter Lorre gives a star-making performance as a child murderer running from both the law and the criminal underground in this stylish early ‘talkie’ from Fritz Lang (Metropolis). As much as I love both Lang and Lorre, M is a mixed bag for me. It starts off brilliantly, with the children singing and the villain’s shadowy introduction. But as the movie becomes more about …
[7] H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) travels through time to 1979 in hot pursuit of Jack the Ripper (David Warner), who’s hell-bent on continuing his murderous rampage in a whole new century. In the hands of director/screenwriter Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), Time After Time is a solid romantic romp. I like McDowell and Warner in anything, and Mary Steenburgen is fine …
[7] If you’ve only seen James Cameron’s telling of the R.M.S. Titanic’s tragic 1912 sinking, you might be surprised how much that film owes to this earlier British version directed by Hammer and Amicus alum Roy Ward Baker (Scars of Dracula, Asylum) — set pieces and shots are eerily similar. A Night to Remember is a fast-paced thriller disaster movie that refrains from easy sentiment …
[7] After his bomber crew crash behind enemy lines, Errol Flynn leads an ever-shrinking number of men out of Nazi Germany, carrying information that will help turn the tide of war. Desperate Journey often plays like a comic-book rendition of WWII, and yes, it’s Hollywood propaganda (the last line is, “Now, let’s go get those Japs!”) But it’s got Gunga Din‘s spirit of camaraderie and …
[8] It’s the Great Depression and young boys (and a few girls) are running away from home to lessen the burden on their poor families. This movie follows two boys, played by Frankie Darro and Edwin Phillips, who hop aboard train after train trying to find food and work. Along the way, they befriend a girl played by Dorothy Coonan Wellman. The three become part …
[7] SPOILER REVIEW: Sylvester Stallone returns both as star and director, this time pitted against a one-dimensional and downright evil opponent named Clubber Lang (Mr. T). Carl Weathers returns as former opponent Apollo Creed, offering his training services after the death of Mickey (Burgess Meredith). The film gains dramatic heft from Mickey’s departure, and I was glad to see supporting players Talia Shire and Burt …
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