gkeith_1 Reviews

Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003– )

I like this show.

[10/10 · 8 May 2024]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Reflections.

I like this show. It is quiet. It can be slow-moving. It can get very funny. I like the skits. The way that this show explains current events is very informative. It simplifies some of the boring reporting of other information shows.

I like this host better than some others on late-night TV. He is pleasant and peaceful, and knows how to milk the crowd to take the time to understand his slow-moving subliminal innuendoes.

This show is refreshing and of-the-moment. I can always watch it and find out the day's events in a thought-provoking and hilarious manner.

10/10.

The Daily Show (1996– )

Great show.

[10/10 · 8 May 2024]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Reflections.

I like this show. It is informative and hilarious. It cuts through the boring regular news shows. I like the correspondents. I miss Trevor. The people who have taken up the slack are very good. I like how this show lampoons certain subjects and personalities. I also like how it finds the absurdities in common everyday situations.

I miss Roy. He was also hilarious, interesting and thought-provoking. I think that he was the one who did the traffic maps, and his presentation was funny.

I especially like the women reporters and presenters. They always give a very unique slant and take on the current issues, and their feminine points of view are always impressive.

10/10.

Saturday Night Live (1975– )

Great show

[10/10 · 5 May 2024]

So wonderfully Avant-Garde. I love it. Always have. Miss some actors. Others not so much. Love the cold open. Love weekend update. Love the diversity. Current actors doing a great job. Wait for this show every week. Show not on consistently right now. Bummer.

Getting ready for season 50. Actors have lots of new material to learn every week. Seems a lot to memorize. Many of them have graduated from Second City and improv places like that, so it's no wonder that they are so adaptable. Lorne doing a great job. Long may this show last. I think that it is not for the naysayers or other ilk, who may not appreciate some of the hilariously comedic and ridiculously naughty subtleties. Kudos and congratulations, Lorne, for hopefully-upcoming 50 seasons. Yayyyyyyyy !!!!!!

10/10.

8½ (1963)

Marvelous.

[10/10 · 27 April 2024]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

I am adding this to my study of Italian films, some in college coursework and others elsewhere. I have also studied Italian language and culture.

I have seen some Fellini films in the past few years. Here is one.

I have to see it again. I had earlier heard a lot about it. It bears taking apart and dissecting all of the different parts, plus putting them back together.

There are some puzzles. Are we going into the mind of the director and the main character? Can we decipher the meaning of the whole thing? Is this a 1960s psychedelic and hallucinogenic trip?

The part of the young boys in the scenes with La Saraghina are interesting. I had also seen this actress, Eddra Gale, in the film Somewhere in Time, where she portrays a character in a play after having a dressing room encounter with hottie Christopher Reeve.

Here, La Saraghina wears a short black dress and seems to be a carefree sort of pied piper to the young boys. Her hair is long, curly and flyaway. In Somewhere in Time, there is a marked contrast. In the play within the film, her costume is a brightly colored but dowdy and matronly dress. The costuming for Eddra for both films is quite shockingly different, but both in both films she does quite interesting work. In the dressing room scene, she has a French accent (speaks French?).

All in all, this is a surreal voyage into the mind. It is a sleepy trip into yesterday, and even the film itself is yesterday -- made in the 1960s.

10/10.

Il posto (1961)

Quiet, interesting.

[10/10 · 27 April 2024]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

I have already studied some postwar 1940s Italian cinema on a collegiate level, and also some Italian crime films. So far, they show a dismal and dreary image of Italy. One is even rather comical. They are all black and white. One is The Bicycle Thief.

Neorealism 1940s post-World War Two Italian films have shown damaged cities and much poverty. People are grubbing for the smallest financial survival.

Here, in Il Posto, however, I notice marked financial improvement. The parents are hardworking and monetarily surviving, even though they are not wealthy. They can afford the nice clothing for the son to wear to the job interview and the work experience. He has money for the streetcar and the coffee.

The company itself looks prosperous, is large and divided into several areas and departments. The business seems very methodical, sensible and efficient.

So, this 1960s Italian film is further away from that war than the 1940s neorealism. This city looks prosperous. I did not notice buildings bombed out here, for example.

I read that the lead actor was nonprofessional, yet I notice that as a trained method actress myself I try to look for the emotions and feelings of the characters in films. Here, he shows shyness and good manners. He has many blank looks upon his face, as if he is in a naive learning situation from the older characters. He performs the emotions well.

He finally livens up and even laughs later on in this film. This character has finally felt safe enough to let down his hair and have a good time at the party.

In the ending, things get back to a workday environment. He now has a new desk position. We see drudges, older long-term employees. Their work looks very simple and methodical. We see someone hand-operating a mimeograph machine. The drones all know their places. The film ends.

Is this his future? Will he get promoted to something higher? Will he end up a zombie like the older employees? Will his life be dedicated to the humdrum of modern office machines?

Is this a 1960s mindlessness of being a futuristic robot? The people all seem to dress well and fairly business-like, and we can see that their society has improved since the war years. They are working in the boring jobs in order to afford to purchase the clothing. They can now afford to feed their families. No one is bombing the Italian cities anymore.

I have studied Italian language, so I could pick up some of the words spoken.

This film is also black and white. As an aside, the Italian 1940s postwar films I studied did not show color, as opposed to American postwar films which consisted of many pleasant and colorful song-and-dance musicals and happily-ever-stories.

10/10.

The Jolson Story (1946)

Marvelous.

[10/10 · 15 March 2024]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

I am giving this film a ten. It is a marvelous showing. It may be fictionalized, but I feel that it is a wonderful window into the life of a legend.

I had heard several things about this person, but they never coagulated into a logical whole. There were parts that never lined up until I saw this film. I had heard about it for quite a while, but this is my first opportunity to view it.

Jolson the character is superb, and he has a wide singing repertoire. He has the nerve and courage to improvise on stage, and gets away with his innovations. The audience and stage management are enchanted by his charms.

His parents are portrayed as kind, patient and understanding. They hear him singing in the house of another religion. They are not mortified, but seem gently at ease. They later become proud of him when he embarks upon a commercial entertainment career.

I am a degreed historian with interests in stage and cinema. I am an actress, stage makeup artist, a dancer, singer and artist-designer. I have reviewed many films for IMDb since 2002.

10/10.

The Emperor Waltz (1948)

Very good

[10/10 · 1 March 2024]

Spoilers. Observations. Reflections. Opinions.

In early 20th Century Europe, a sophisticated neurotic dog in heat pines for a mongrel male canine, even after a dogfight. Sounds like human characters in other movies, who fight and fall madly in love.

Is this Lady and The Tramp, but with a dogfight? Here, a private veterinarian obstetrician shrink says fancy dog needs to believe in her dreams. After Mr. Everydog gives her puppies, her dreams come true.

Whoa, Lassie. It's scandalous. The fancy female dog here is engaged to a royal prince dog -- complete with paparazzi upscale wedding in the royal kennels. Spoiler: Prince Charming Doggo gets stranded at the altar.

Der Bingle is the lead human. He's attracted to a bankrupt countess. She wants his American bowling-alley lifestyle, because her two uppity fiances are dim lightbulbs.

Do the unequal doggies and humans live happily ever after? Or do these two females end up with the boring fiances? Didn't Lady end up with The Tramp?

My historian side: This film was made after World War Two. It was an era of celebrating Americanism. This film shows American ingenuity prevailing over older European ideas.

I am a degreed historian who has also studied cinema and theatre at university.

The Little Minister (1921)

Excellent

[10/10 · 28 February 2024]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

The gypsies are stereotypically accused of many bad things. One gypsy is actually an aristocratic daughter dressed in clever disguise. She is charming and capricious to the new tiny of height minister.

She even appears to him in the pages of his Bible he is trying to read. Shame on her.

Her name is Lady Barbara, also known as Babbie. As a gypsy, she is kind to neighborhood residents. She is very pretty. They like her.

In this industrializing weaver town, the woven products are bringing in smaller income. They previously had been made by hand, but now machinery has made the products cheaper to produce.

I have followed this story as a stage play, plus in other films made of this story. It is interesting to see the different versions.

Halliwell is a hunk. The minister is gentlemanly but a shrimp, and he wins the heart of Babbie.

The Emperor Jones (1933)

Smashing.

[10/10 · 27 February 2024]

Spoilers. Opinions. Reflections. Observations.

Brutus Jones gets sent off to his new career by his church congregation. They are happy. It is prestigious to be a train porter.

Brutus, a Baptist, falls in with gambling and violence, and goes to prison for evil deeds. He escapes, working as a coal shoveler on a ship bound for exotic locales. He hears about an obscure island, and hilariously jumps ship and swims ashore.

He runs into an authoritarian regime, after being rescued by thugs who find him exhausted on the beach. Brutus worms his way into the dictatorship, acting aristocratic and abusive.

He "puts his religion on the shelf", blending his obnoxious personality with the island religions, superstitions and witch doctors. Brutus gets very mean and cruel. You could see this coming a mile away -- people you abused are going to pay you back.

The islanders stage a revolution, hiding in the jungle. Brutus thinks he has mastered the forest's nooks and crannies, but his subjects are descendants of peoples who have lived there for thousands of years. Brutus, you are doomed.

I have studied film censorship at university. This film is pre-code.

There is a lot of racial name-calling. I feel that the script reflected the times. This film was made during The Great Depression in 1933, when there were lots of song and dance films made -- as a contrast to Brutus' shenanigans. My degree is in History.

Captain January (1936)

Shirley and Buddy

[8/10 · 12 February 2024]

Spoilers. Observations. Reflections. Opinions.

I like tap dance. It's one of my favorite types of dance. I like the dancing here of Shirley and Buddy. Many followers of Beverly Hillbillies/Jed Clampett do not know that Buddy had an earlier career as a dancer, or that he almost became the Tin Man in the film, The Wizard of Oz.

Small observation: beginning of film, Shirley getting dressed. Undies have small hole in front. Is this boys' underwear? This looks weird and peculiar. She should have on some feminine underthings, complete with lace and softer accoutrements.

The grizzled sailors in the Codfish Ball scene remind one of the male aviators in her The Good Ship Lollipop scene in the other film. Shirley is a lone female.

I still like this film. Shirley has a great pantheon of films in a wonderful collection.

Jane Darwell cleaned up better here than in The Grapes of Wrath. I've never seen her look so good, relatively speaking. Jane was way more feminine here than she was in Mary Poppins.

The film observer and critic.

8/10.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Too horrible to watch.

[4/10 · 5 January 2024]

Spoilers. Opinions. Reflections. Observations.

This was recorded to watch later. Upon viewing, the early and lovely family scenes were quite pleasant, happy and peaceful.

Then the crooks moved in on our wonderful person. I could tell that these horrible denizens were up to no good. All of a sudden, the main subject finds himself bound up in wicked and ugly chains.

We go back to when the main character is boozed up by the nasty charlatans. They are encouraging him to have more and more alcoholic consumption. We see him later all adrift in their cruel machinations. How can they be so mean and ugly?

Aha, it's all for money, as I thought. He, a wonderful and free man, has been sold out to the racist pig slavery industry. He has been duped by evil monsters.

He then is attacked by his new captors. This is horrible to watch. I cannot watch any more. It is heart-wrenching.

The acting is so good. Everything looks so realistic. I, however, cannot deal with it. I have had to erase my recording early into this film.

I waited a long time to see this movie, but I could not finish it. I feel strongly that it deserves a 10, but I could not continue with the viewing.

Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2024 (2023 TV Special)

Quite good, fun and uplifting.

[10/10 · 2 January 2024]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

I think that this show is quite good. It is very uplifting. It has a positive attitude, and prepares us to be quite positive about the new year ahead.

It never tells us how bad the old year has been. It only looks forward to an exciting new future.

It has nice singing talent showcased, and the surrounding crowds seem to be very happy and engaged in the events on stage.

I like the music. It is very uplifting.

I like the host. Ryan is a very positive and poised individual, and very talented. I am very happy and thankful that he has kept alive the spirit and positivity of our well-loved Dick Clark.

10/10.

Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

Moving. Thoughtful.

[10/10 · 22 December 2023]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

Interesting film. If it were a book, I couldn't put it down.

Pleasant, peaceful Christmas opening, although color here could have helped. I assume it has been shown here this evening because we are in the current 2023 Christmas season.

Presents for everyone. Jolly times. One man is grumpy. What makes him so gruff? He must hate himself and everyone else. We see/hear in a snippet, later, that life has brought him some rather unpleasant times.

The rube so-called cowboy is bound to stumble. Whoa. Is this Richard Carlson later from the TV show "I Led Three Lives", from the 1950s? Yes, it is, I find from my research after this film ended.

Marie Ouspenskaya is a joy to see. It is said that she performed acting in films to fund her acting school that she operated in real life. I also enjoy seeing her in the 1942 film, "King's Row", where she portrays a wealthy grandmother.

I still don't like black and white, but I guess the post-life events here warrant a rather negative and neutral coloric interpretation.

10/10.

The House of Tomorrow (1949)

Sexist. Ignorant.

[4/10 · 19 December 2023]

Sexist. Ignorant. I thought that this would be an actual technical preview of future trends, but being a cartoon is disappointing.

The wife is only depicted as a homemaker. The mother-in-law gets at least three insults. We don't even meet her. The husband gets a sexy she-beast to look at, and the wife never even gets to see a handsome man in his bathing suit.

The husband is tired at the end of the day, but the wife is never depicted as tired after all of the housework and taking care of the child.

The wife is chained to the kitchen. She of the future is even shown after the 2050 appliance has blown up, as burned up herself and very disheveled.

This is not a clever prediction of the future. It never shows the woman having a career. She is just there to serve her husband. The mother-in-law should have hit the husband over his head with her umbrella or handbag.

4/10.

Casablanca (1942)

The enemy couldn't win.

[10/10 · 13 December 2023]

Spoilers. Observations. Reflections. Opinions.

The enemy couldn't win. You could see this with Le Marseillaise triumphing over that teutonic song entree. You could see the love of freedom, in the audience's eyes. You could see this in a scene where Bogart shoots the bad guy.

The words of the French anthem go something like this: Wake up, you citizens. We have the glory. We are strong. We are tough. Man your battle stations. We will water our farm fields with the blood of our enemies.

This is why you see the tears in the audience's faces when they sing their anthem against the song of the enemy. This is why you know that they would beat the enemy, and that the good guys would win. You could tell the outcome of the film from this hint. Yes, you could predict the end of this movie.

I hate black and white films, but in this one I will change my mind. This one is played against the background of international conflict, and apparently did better in the neutral coloring genre. Besides, in 1939 you had two color blockbusters -- one about the American South and the other one about a fantasy neighborhood way up in the clouds.

War is ugly. Black and white fits here. There are no fabulous song and fancy dance motifs here. Of course, my regular favorite films are absolutely full-color song and dance films.

Film observations: Bergman clothing sensational. Bogey dressed quite well. You could tell that there were rich people in the casino. No poor people could afford to be there.

The letters of transit were the actual stars of this film. The people were just accessories, lol.

10/10.

Awesome Interiors (1994– )

Nice show

[10/10 · 12 December 2023]

I always liked this TV show. The presenter is very nice. She is very talented and enterprising. Her designer skills are very good in the field. She always makes it easy for viewers to follow along.

I have adapted these ideas into my own designing and decorating. This show has made me unafraid to put unusual elements together. My own art background and training have further enabled me to blend my own ideas with those of this TV program.

I have been able to use bright and rich color themes. I have mixed burgundys with golds. I have plans to mix lace with velvet.

I am starting to use denim fabric for interior decorating ideas.

10/10.

Fashions of 1934 (1934)

Pre-Code bikinis

[8/10 · 1 December 2023]

These are my thoughts, reflections, opinions, spoilers:

Pre-code. Great Depression. Getting ticket buyers into the "show". Sex sells. At least in those days.

Bette I loved with her sexier attitude and bleach blonde hair, compared to other of her roles of strong, hard and seemingly degendered women. It was a joy to see her catching on to the then-current phase of blonde Venuses, like 30s superstars such as Jean Harlow or the blonde bikini-wearers in the Busby Berkeley extravaganza in this film.

Giving this film an 8. Why? Two reasons: black and white lose one point with me. Hugh Herbert no famous twiddling "hands", lose another point. Ten less two is eight. Get it? You don't have to be a math wizard to figure this out.

Teaching someone about Pre-Code: skimpy togs like 90-year-ago "bathing suits", showing a LOT of skin. Patting/slapping women on the fanny. Church ladies didn't like any of this (maybe they had terrible figures and ugly faces ??), so they uproared and convinced capitalistic Hollywood to cut down the skin flicks and prostitutional references. Not a way to get the struggling movie studios financially through the Great Depression, o keepers-of-morality?

Were hoes (the women-kind) propositioning Powell's character in this film? Was McHugh doing more than "cuddling" in the multiple closets? Yes, this is all misogynistic. Always setting up for the men's pleasure. Bette just glared at Powell's blatant womanizing, however, instead of cursing out and beating up the outrageous hussy.

Where did I see Veree Teasdale before? Oh, yes, in "Midsummer Night's Dream", where she is the reluctant bride of the king. Looks like he has just won her as spoils in battle, and now she has to pay by marrying him. It doesn't look like she enjoys this little addition to his "winner takes all" theory.

Still, I liked this aforesaid film. I am interested in fashion, so even though I thought it would be a boring movie, I forced myself to watch it. I was pleasantly surprised, and very happy that I did so, even though I watched my DVR recording at 2:00 a.m.

Fashion critique: All good. I like Powell's dashing suits. Clothes make the man, and even for a bad-guy he could pull it off well. I like Bette's nice clothes, also showing off her slim figure. I like the outfits of the models and other characters. I am totally blown away by the chorine costumes of the Berkeley extravaganza. They are wonderful.

Berkeley is always great. We can't compare this to his other films. I like his presentation here. I shall have to watch it again on my DVR, because I want to see all of those dance moves. I didn't notice much the first time about the human harps, but I will have to watch more closely upon second viewing.

All in all, I feel that this is a very charming film, even though Powell as a rake and a Mr. Teflon gets away with everything. Even Bette ends up with him in the end, lol.

8/10.

Small Town Girl (1953)

Abysmal

[4/10 · 4 July 2023]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

This film seems abysmal. It seems quite boring, so I quit watching. I erased my DVR recording early in the movie.

I remember Farley Granger from the film, "Rope" (1948?). He is a very unsavory character in that film. So, in this film I am reviewing, I have already typecast him as a sleaze and am not interested in listening to his character's whining and complaining.

I like Bobby Van's dancing, but the rest of the characters seem uninteresting.

We are going to church. Father can't sing. Daughter gets lead solo part in choir. The film ends with church (I fast-forwarded). I like church, but this is not my typical favorite song-and-dance film.

So-called Broadway star gets stuck in this town of duck-tales? Talk about post-World War Two nostalgia about small-town hayseed values.

I always love, love, love seeing Billie Burke. She seems to hold a story together with her twittering, unique sense of logic and unmistakable voice.

I like seeing her with her beautiful clothing.

I have researched her life and found that she was a Broadway actress in the early 20th Century. She was also married to Florenz Ziegfeld.

I could not finish this movie, however.

3.5 / 10.

Show Boat (1951)

Liking this show.

[10/10 · 17 June 2023]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Reflections.

I like this show. I like the dancing. I like the singing. I like the costuming. I like the flow of the story.

I especially like the dances performed by Marge and Gower Champion. They are superb. Her father owned a Los Angeles dance studio. In the later 1930s, she was a model for the lead character of Snow White in the film of the same name.

In this film, I like the characters portrayed by Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel - Magnolia and Ravenal. I feel that these actors and singers perform quite well together, and that they are believable in their parts.

I have been an IMDb film reviewer since May, 2002, over 21 years now. I have a BA Degree, including stage acting, dance, singing and theatrical critiquing. I love the histories of musical theatre and filmed musicals.

10/10.

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

Nice film.

[10/10 · 1 June 2023]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Reflections.

I always heard about this film, but never saw it until this morning: 6-1-23 Wednesday.

Big dramatic scenes. Alice Brady portraying the mother of the sons; great emotional courtroom scene. Heartfelt tears in eyes, probably glycerine tears for actors, however. Ward Bond, he of future "Wagon Train" TV fame, plays well here the actual bad guy, with a hugely emotional scene near the end. Kudos to both.

Henry Fonda great here. Pulls it all off. We even see Ann Rutledge, Mary Todd and Stephen Douglas. The whole ball of wax. We even hear about Nancy Hanks. This is a nice touch. Ford is good in his ironies and surprises.

The drunkard jurist is portrayed by Ford's older brother, it looks like. This is an hilarious show, and very laughable in a good way. I was waiting for this character to solve the case. "Hiccup!"

Meek is good, he of the later "State Fair" (1945), where he tastes the drunken mince meat pie and I think hiccups with the whiskeyed ingredients.

Efe Turner (Eddie Collins) is good as a grizzled backwoodsman, wearing what would later be called a Davy Crockett Cap. I remember Eddie as Tylo the Dog in the Shirley Temple film, "The Blue Bird" (1940). Tylo is roly-poly after he turns into a human being. He is very kind to the children.

Fonda is good with the Lincoln wisecracks.

Did I read this right? I found that Douglas was played by Milburn Stone, he of the later "Gunsmoke" TV show -- playing Doc (Holliday?).

I am happy that I was finally able to view this film.

Me: method actress -- thinking that these actors all carried off their parts well. Fonda seemed to "become" Abraham Lincoln, as we say in method acting. He had the patois down, and the 'aw shucks' homespun demeanor of the future president. 'Ol Abe with his corny jokes carried the day.

10/10.

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

There were three Russian Revolutions

[8/10 · 19 May 2023]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

There were three Russian Revolutions. The well-known one was in the autumn of 1917, as shown in this film. In real life, the Russians had left World War One to go home and deal with their local uprisings.

The other two Russian Revolutions were in 1905 and in the spring of 1917.

So, on to my observations of this film: I don't like the part where Yuri had to part from his wife and child. I like the musical score. I like the costuming and hair styling. I even liked seeing the fake snow falling! The balalaika was a beautiful shade of red.

More observations: The poetry vs. Medical doctor comparison gets rather confusing at times. The novel author Pasternak was also a poet. Did Yuri in this film recite poetry while he performed battlefield surgery? Sharif running in the snow was almost hilarious.

I was waiting for the part of the beautiful country home almost covered in snow. I had seen this film years earlier, and this scene had stayed in my memory. I like the Russian onion-dome roofs on the house.

This film has brutality, ugliness and violence. There are evil and monstrous people. I normally like happy films. My favorite films are song-and-dance movies, as you can see from my other reviews.

There is bloodshed here. I studied stage makeup in college theatre coursework. Theatre students go to a stage makeup store and buy fake blood for classes.

I have a college history degree, plus theatre studies in acting and critiquing. I have reviewed and critiqued for IMDb since May 2002, 21 years ago this month.

8/10.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

Paint Your Wagon Rip-Off

[7/10 · 19 May 2023]

Spoilers. Opinions. Reflections. Observations.

McCabe film has several things like Paint Your Wagon film of 1969, only two years earlier. I even liked McCabe film, but the PYW similarities were definitely a turn-off.

There are the prostitutes here, there is the lust for minerals, there are the starved-for-affection grizzled town men, there is a preacher. There is the mud. Sin is the word for both films.

McCabe film is R-rated; there is quite a lot of frontal nudity. There is even some foul language. I don't remember any of this from Paint Your Wagon.

There is no coach-coming-in here, but there is an insanely ridiculous rattle-trap giant steam tractor monstrosity that hauls some women coming down the street -- that just curiously carries some professional answers to the local men's starvation for "affection." Other prostitutes had to walk in the rain and mud. Mud just like in Paint Your Wagon, lol.

I am laughing my head off with all of the prostitutes, and even further at the 1902 low prices they charged and of course the fact that they only received a small percentage of the proceeds. I was hoping McCabe would want to marry Mrs. Miller for her money. The harlots in this film did not dress as well as those in Paint Your Wagon, though, who rode into town in a fancy coach, lol.

There is no Clint Eastwood here. Darn. There isn't even a Lee Marvin.

Cool part is McCabe (Beatty) manages to bring demise to all three of the major bad guys. Christie does a great job cooing to the women, not to mention getting them baths and all dolled up (problem is that they never become dolls; they are still quite plain-looking).

The women / prostitutes are quite surprising when they join in hymn-singing. That is a nice touch, even if somewhat off-key.

This film is pleasant and humorous in places. I am giving it a seven because it must be some kind of cookie cutter copy of Paint Your Wagon.

I have studied cinematic critiquing on a college level, including comparing the positives and negatives of different films.

7/10.

The Little Colonel (1935)

Charmer

[10/10 · 13 October 2022]

Spoilers. Opinions. Observations. Reflections.

This film shows post-Civil War dislikes, but times were changing. Barrymore plays crusty curmudgeon, only to be softened by smile of young child.

The dog was cute.

The children were adorable. Shirley was the leader, huffing and puffing about being in charge.

The pink party was incredible. The colors were astounding.

The bad guys were nasty, and of course they were supposed to be. Who ever heard of a nice nasty crook?

The mother was sweet. The father was brave.

The two stars exchange salutes. They have become friends as well as relatives. The grandfather is softened.

Julius Caesar (1953)

great film

[10/10 · 16 August 2022]

Great film. I gave the Mark Antony - Julius Caesar speech in College English coursework in high school. It was one of my final examinations. Marlon, you did it well.

Something like this: "But yesterday, the word of Caesar might have stood against the world. Now lies he there, and none so poor as to do him reverence."

Cinderella (1950)

Adorable movie. Hopes and dreams.

[10/10 · 18 July 2022]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Reflections.

This is a lovely film. I like the fairy godmother. Her persona, animation and voice are so soothing and hopeful.

I like the mice helping Cinderella with the dress. They are sweet.

I like the prince. He looks very nice.

Cinderella, of course, is very lovely, even in her house cleaning clothes.

This was a post-World-War-Two film, even being released during the Korean War period. People were trying to have hopes and dreams for the future, especially since they had long memories of the not-long-gone Great Depression.

I like the colors and animation in this film. The voices are superb.

I am an historian and a film reviewer.

10/10.