Star Trek Into Darkness

Teresa and I had both wanted to see this movie, and finally had time to see it today! It was a fun and action packed movie. Maybe not as good as the first, but still fun to watch!

Movie Review

Summary: Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time, working as a debt collector for a pittance. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a "nobody" to become a "somebody". The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.

Tonight I watched Rocky starring Sylvester Stallone. I'd seen this movie before, but did a re-watch tonight! This is a classic, feel good kind of movie and I had fun watching it again.

Movie Review

Summary: Los Angeles detective Jake Gittes is hired by a woman claiming to be a Mrs. Mulwray to spy on her husband. Shortly after Gittes is hired, the real Mrs. Mulwray appears in his office threatening to sue if he doesn't drop the case immediately. Gittes pursues the case anyway, slowly uncovering a vast conspiracy centering on water management, state and municipal corruption, land use and real estate, and involving at least one murder. 

Tonight I watched Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. This movie was full of twist and turns. You would get to a point where you thought you know what was going on, and then another detail would be added to the story. Then it had a surprising ending. All in all, this movie was very good!

Movie Review!

Summary: The ambitious Eve Harrington gets close to the great and temperamental stage artist Margo Channing and her friends Karen Richards and her husband, the play-writer Lloyd Richards; her boyfriend and director Bill Simpson; and the producer Max Fabian. Everybody, except the cynical critic Addison DeWitt, believes that Eve is only a naive, humble and simple obsessed fan of Margo and they try to help her. However, Eve is indeed a cynical and manipulative snake that uses the lives of Margo and her friends to reach her objectives in the theater business.

Tonight I watched All About Eve, starring Betty Davis. This was my first Betty Davis movie to watch and  I thoroughly enjoyed it!! It kept you guessing until the very end how things were going to turn out. I had heard this famous line before, but didn't know what it was from until tonight! Here is the clip for your enjoyment.

Movie Night!

Plot: A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smoldering settler/rancher conflict forces him to act.

I haven't seen many westerns but this was a great one. It had everything you could want, gun fights, bar flight, a little love story, and the bad guy getting what they deserve in the end. A great classic western!!

Movie Review!

 

Summary: Protagonist Alex is an "ultraviolent" youth in futuristic Britain. As with all luck, his eventually runs out and he's arrested and convicted of murder and rape. While in prison, Alex learns of an experimental program in which convicts are programed to detest violence. If he goes through the program his sentence will be reduced and he will be back on the streets sooner than expected. But Alex's ordeals are far from over once he hits the mean streets of Britain that he had a hand in creating. 

Today Teresa and I watched A Clockwork Orange, starring Malcolm McDowell. This movie started out really weird, got interesting, then ended really weird. This movie contained mostly people being beaten and abused and lots of  Beethoven music. I don't think I would recommend this movie to anyone.

Movie Night!

Summary: It's the hottest day of the year in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, and tensions are growing there, with the only local businesses being a Korean grocery and Sal's Pizzeria. Mookie, Sal's delivery boy, manages to always be at the center of the action.

This movie was okay. It has lots of bad language. I would say the f-word was used about every sentence in this movie. This whole movie centered around racism and how the heat can fuel tempers. I'm not sure who I would recommend this movie to.

Movie Night!

Summary: The Waterfront Crime Commission is about to hold public hearings on union crime and underworld infiltration. As workers are turned against each other, Terry Malloy inadvertently participates in the murder of fellow longshoreman Joey Doyle. Union boss Johnny Friendly orchestrates the murder along with other illegal dockside activities, aided by Terry's brother Charley. Terry begins to feel pangs of conscience. When Joey's sister Edie sees more in Terry than he sees in himself and Father Barry urges him on, Terry reassesses his past and begins to regain responsibility for his actions.

Tonight I watched On The Waterfront starring Marlon Brando. This is one of the best Marlon Brando movies I've seen. The movie was a little slow, but still a really great movie. This movie was mostly a guy movie, with a little romance. The ending was the best, you wanted to cry and cheer all at the same time. A great movie!

Movie Night!

 

Summary: Baron Von Trapp, a widower, runs his home near Salzburg like the ship he once commanded. That changes when Maria arrives from the convent to be the new governess of his seven children. Their romps through the hills inspire all to sing and to find joy in the smallest things -- like raindrops on window panes. With a renewed zest for life, the baron hosts a party to introduce his new fiance. Maria knows then she does not want to be a nun. She marries the baron. The happy ever after part is threatened when Austria's new German rulers want the baron back in military service.

Tonight I watch The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. I have seen this movie several times, but watched it again. Almost 50 years later, and it is still a classic musical with memorable music!

Movie Night!

Summary: Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that his presence is quite nonessential, and is considered insignificant to the other soldiers, as he has not fought for as long as the rest of them and felt the effects of combat. Chris has two non-commissioned officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two NCOs and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris himself draws towards psychological meltdown. And as he struggles for survival, he soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the conflict between the men within his platoon.

Tonight I watched Platoon. This movie had a large pool of actors, including Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon, and Willem Dafoe, just to name a few.  This movie was okay. It was a little graphic for my taste. And was a little more detailed then I would have like to see about the goings-on during the Vietnam war. But if you like war movies, this is one to watch.

Movie Review!

Summary: George and Martha are a middle aged married couple, whose charged relationship is defined by vitriolic verbal battles, which underlies what seems like an emotional dependence upon each other. This verbal abuse is fueled by an excessive consumption of alcohol. George being an associate History professor in a New Carthage university where Martha's father is the President adds an extra dimension to their relationship. Late one Saturday evening after a faculty mixer, Martha invites Nick and Honey, an ambitious young Biology professor new to the university and his mousy wife, over for a nightcap. As the evening progresses, Nick and Honey, plied with more alcohol, get caught up in George and Martha's games of needing to hurt each other and everyone around them. The ultimate abuse comes in the form of talk of George and Martha's unseen sixteen year old son, whose birthday is tomorrow.

Tonight I watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. This movie was much different then any Elizabeth Taylor movie I have ever seen, at times I almost didn't recognize her. Most of the movie showed just 4 actors in the house of George and Martha,  in the early hours of the morning. This movie was uncomfortable at times, but was a good movie.

Movie Night!

Summary: The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson, they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito. He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy. Unknown to him, the Allies have sent a mission into the jungle, led by Warden and an American, Shears, to blow up the bridge.

Tonight I watched The Bridge on the River Kwai starring William Holden and Alec Guinness. This movie is based on a true story about POW's during WWII. This movie was a little long, over two hours. But it was a very good and interesting movie. I have never seen a POW movie quite like this. And the ending was fantastic. If you enjoy war movies, this is one to watch.  

Movie Review

Summary: The story of Irish-Italian American, Henry Hill, and how he lives day-to-day life as a member of the Mafia. Based on a true story, the plot revolves around Henry and his two unstable friends Jimmy and Tommy 

as they gradually climb the ladder from petty crime to violent murders.

Goodfellas starring Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci, is probably one of the best gangster / Mafia movie I've seen. It was a bit violent at times, but that isn't surprising for a Scorsese movie. The movie is based on a true story. The ending kind of surprised me. But it was a really good movie. If you like gangster movies, this is one to watch!

Movie Night!

Summary: Ellie Andrews has just tied the knot with society aviator King Westley when she is whisked away to her father's yacht and out of King's clutches. Ellie jumps ship and eventually winds up on a bus headed back to her husband. Reluctantly she must accept the help of out-of- work reporter Peter Warne. Actually, Warne doesn't give her any choice: either she sticks with him until he gets her back to her husband, or he'll blow the whistle on Ellie to her father. Either way, Peter gets what (he thinks!) he wants .... a really juicy newspaper story.

Tonight I watched It Happened One Night starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. This was the first movie to win all 5 of the big Academy Awards, Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. This was such an extremely cute and very funny movie. Clark Gable was wonderful. If you like romantic comedies/old black and white movies, I would recommend this movie for you!

Movie Review!

Summary: Johnnie loves his train ("The General") and Annabelle Lee. When the Civil War begins he is turned down for service because he's more valuable as an engineer. Annabelle thinks it's because he's a coward. Union spies capture The General with Annabelle on board. Johnny must rescue both his loves. 

The General is a silent movie that was made in 1926. It's amazing how far movies have come. The only silent movies I've seen are Charlie Chaplin movies, and this was the first one with a different actor. You kind of have to be in the mood for a silent movie, but this one was very good. A comedy and a love story. A perfect movie!

Movie Night!

Tonight I watched The Searchers starring John Wayne. 

Summary: Ethan Edwards, returned from the Civil War to the Texas ranch of his brother, hopes to find a home with his family and to be near the woman he obviously but secretly loves. But a Comanche raid destroys these plans, and Ethan sets out, along with his 1/8 Indian nephew Martin, on a years-long journey to find the niece kidnapped by the Indians under Chief Scar. But as the quest goes on, Martin begins to realize that his uncle's hatred for the Indians is beginning to spill over onto his now-assimilated niece. Martin becomes uncertain whether Ethan plans to rescue Debbie...or kill her.

I haven't seen very many John Wayne movies or Westerns for that matter. But I really enjoyed this movie very much! It everything you could ask for, cowboys and Indians, loss and love. I would definitely recommend!!

Movie Review

Tonight I watched Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole. This movie is about: An inordinately complex man who has been labeled everything from hero, to charlatan, to sadist, Thomas Edward Lawrence blazed his way to glory in the Arabian desert, then sought anonymity as a common soldier under an assumed name. The story opens with the death of Lawrence in a motorcycle accident in Dorset at the age of 46, then flashbacks to recount his adventures: as a young intelligence officer in Cairo in 1916, he is given leave to investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks in World War I. In the desert, he organizes a guerrilla army and--for two years--leads the Arabs in harassing the Turks with desert raids, train-wrecking and camel attacks. Eventually, he leads his army northward and helps a British General destroy the power of the Ottoman Empire.

This movie was very good, just a little long for my taste. It was almost 4 hours long. It took me a little while to get into this movie. It was more of a man flick, but still very entertaining to watch!

Movie Review

Summary:

McMurphy has a criminal past and has once again gotten himself into trouble with the law. To escape labor duties in prison, McMurphy pleads insanity and is sent to a ward for the mentally unstable. Once here, McMurphy both endures and stands witness to the abuse and degradation of the oppressive Nurse Ratched, who gains superiority and power through the flaws of the other inmates. McMurphy and the other inmates band together to make a rebellious stance against the atrocious Nurse.

Today Momma. Teresa, and I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I've wanted to see this movie (and read the book) so today I finally got to see it. Jack Nicholson did a great job with this role, I thought it was very good. But had a very sad ending. I think I might try and read the book now. It's not very often I see the movie then read the book, but we'll see how it goes.

Movie Review!

Summary: (spoiler alert) 

Charmingly simple story of The Little Tramp who meets a lovely blind girl selling flowers on the sidewalk who mistakes him for a wealthy duke. When he learns that an operation may restore her sight, he sets off to earn the money she needs to have the surgery. In a series of comedy adventures that only Chaplin could pull off, he eventually succeeds, even though his efforts land him in jail. While he is there, the girl has the operation and afterwards yearns to meet her benefactor. The tear-inducing closing scene, in which she discovers that he is not a wealthy duke but only The Little Tramp, is one of the highest moments in movies.

 This was by far the best Charlie Chaplin movie I've seen. It was funny and so sweet. If you in the mood or wanting to a silent movie, this would be at the top of my list!

Movie Night!

Tonight I watched Midnight Cowboy starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. 

Summary: Texas greenhorn Joe Buck arrives in New York for the first time. Preening himself as a real 'hustler', he finds that he is the one getting 'hustled' until he teams up with a down-and-out but resilient outcast named Ratso Rizzo. The initial 'country cousin meets city cousin' relationship deepens. In their efforts to bilk a hostile world rebuffing them at every turn, this unlikely pair progress from partners in shady business to comrades. Each has found his first real friend.

This movie was so a bit strange and so sad. One of the things I didn't care for in the movie were the clippets of scenes. You really had to pay attention so you can piece together the Joe Buck character's past. Fun facts about this movie. Back when this movie came out in 1969 it was rated X (later changed to rated R). That being said, it's the only rated X movie to win a Oscar.