[6] Robert Montgomery is a care-free painter and Rosalind Russell is a socialite looking for a more rustic lifestyle. In the tradition of screwball comedy, the unlikely lovers get married and revel in their poverty. But after Montgomery’s talent catches the notice of a stuffy gallery owner (Monty Woolley), the two start living the high life… until Russell starts feeling a little deja vu. Live, …
[6] Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser vie for the affection of a beautiful Vietnamese woman against the backdrop of the French-Indochina War. Philip Noyce (Dead Calm, Patriot Games) is the second director to bring Graham Greene’s novel to the screen (after Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1958 version), and does a good job balancing the intimate character drama against the political intrigue. I like how the movie presents …
[4] A maudlin pseudo-documentary about a socially awkward girl’s quest for true love. Um, gag? Charlyne Yi, adorable in her weird Knocked Up cameo, is tediously boring here. The concept for this movie is confounding — part of it is Yi interviewing people (badly) about love, and part of it is about her real-life relationship with actor Michael Cera. But some of their scenes are …
[6] The best thing about Up in the Air, the new film from Juno director Jason Reitman, are the three performances by ever-reliable George Clooney, gorgeous Vera Farmiga, and plucky Anna Kendrick. But don’t see this movie expecting a comedy, because Juno it’s not. In fact, it’s pretty depressing, and not just because it’s about a man who fires people for a living. While it’s …
[8] You know how people often say such-and-such actor “lights up the screen?” Well, that phrase was made for Audrey Hepburn, because that’s what she does in Blake Edwards’ adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. As Holly Golightly, she plays a woman trying to reinvent herself by marrying rich. George Peppard plays an up-and-coming writer who can’t help but fall in love with …
[2] Thrashin’ is the quintessential bad ’80s movie. There’s an anemic plot involving two warring skateboarding gangs and a boy who falls in love with the sister of a rival gang member. It’s a goofy Romeo and Juliet on tiny wheels, where none of the kids have parents and most of life’s mysteries are answered with a good musical montage. Thrashin’ is really just a …
[6] A reckless west coast flyboy (Clark Gable) is forced to make an emergency landing in Kansas where he meets and falls in love with a farm girl (Myrna Loy). Test Pilot starts out a screwball comedy and disintegrates into a predictable weepy. But despite the tonal shift, this movie features very good performances from its three stars. Gable shows uncharacteristic but welcome vulnerability, while …
[5] Jean Arthur finds herself with two husbands after her first, presumed dead at sea, turns out to be very much alive. The genders are reversed, but the story is very similar to My Favorite Wife, a better film released the same year. Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, and Melvyn Douglas are usually reliable, but I didn’t care for their chemistry. I also had a hard …
[8] A lonely writer falls in love with a singing, dancing courtesan in this bawdy musical that soars on the charms of co-stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. The song numbers cannibalize lyrics from love songs over the past century, an approach you’re either going to love or hate. I think the musical sequences are the best part of Moulin Rouge!, whether it’s the Tex …
[7] Montgomery Clift stars as a Tennessee Valley Authority officer tasked with convincing a stubborn old woman to leave her family’s home before implementation of a new dam floods her property. Elia Kazan directs, reuniting with Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden) as the old woman. Much of the film was shot on location and I love the setting, captured in Cinemascope and DeLuxe color. The …
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