Thursday, January 31, 2008

Now, voyager, sail thy forth to seek and find

Da-nah-nah-NAH! Movie Review time!

The Girl Next Door (2004)
I won't get into the plot of this one, because it's not that great. It started off okay, but wasn't nearly good enough to be as long as it seemed. I'll admit it had potential, it felt almost like it could have been directed by Sofia Coppola. However, the bare breasts and handfull of juvenile jokes are not enough to make this the Teen Comedy it was (quite erroneously) marketed as. Nor are they enough to save it. Yes, the female lead (Elisha Cuthbert as Danielle) is hot, but I really only like her because she's Albertan. Emile Hirsch's portayal of Matthew was shallow and a little annoying.
(My rating - 2.5 out of 5).

Music & Lyrics (2007)
As far as rom-coms go, this was not half bad. It was funny, which I guess is important. It also wasn't too mushy, which appeals to me. The music was also fun and catchy. I was humming the tune to "Way Back Into Love" all day at work. Hugh Grant, as washed-up pop star Alex, is his usual "charmingly befuddled" self in this flick. I find he basically plays the same character in every film, but it works so I guess thats why he sticks with it. Drew Barrymore, as Sophie, is at her best since 50 First Dates (2004). And both of them are shockingly good singers.
(My Rating - 4 out of 5)

Lady Killer (1933)
Ridiculous over-acting? Check. Melodramatic music? Check. Shakey camera work, crappy cinematography and scratchy film? Check. Blatant racism, depictions of alcohol use and smoking? Check. That settles it, a perfect example of what makes these old-timey black-and-whites so effing awesome. Also a pretty good example of 30's gangster flicks. James Cagney is at his best as Dan Quiggley, a fast talking, small-time hustler with a hankerin' for pretty girls, making money, and smacking people around. Best moment? When Cagney hauls a kicking-and-screaming Mae Clark (as Myra Gale) out of his appartment by her hair. My one complaint about this film is that the leading lady (Margaret Lindsay as Lois Underwood) almost isn't leading at all. There are so many interesting and funny characters that her character is kind of buried under all the other goings-on.
(My Rating - 3.5 out of 5)

Please Believe Me (1950)
Another oldy-but-a-goody black-and-white. The ensamble cast includes Deborah Kerr and Peter Lawford (of Rat Pack and Kennedy-in-law fame). The screwball-comedy plot is simple and funny, and with some tweaking would probably even please today's audiences. To tell the truth, I was painting while I watched this so I only caught about 50% of what was on screen, but I liked what I heard.
(My Rating - 3 out of 5)

So you maybe noticed that two of these pictures are older than your parents. That's because TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is perfect background noise for working on other projects, such as the aforementioned painting. Ain't I just cultural? Watching Alexander Nevsky and painting, it just don't get more artistical. Plus, the dames in these flicks? YOWZA!

Anyways, thats all for now. Next week, a special post for Black History Month. Am I black? Nope.

P.S. The title of this post is from a poem by Walt Whitman. I got it from the 1942 film Now, Voyager starring Bette Davis. How about them eyes?

P.P.S. Still watching TCM, and Peter Lawford just knocked a dude out for taking his picture. Sweet.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In those rare moments where I think I may know a bit more about a subject than you do, you come along and prove me wrong.

Thanks for keeping me humble, Zakk.