King Kong

Title: King Kong
Year: 1933
Directors: Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack
Writers: James Ashmore Creelman & Ruth Rose; story by Merian C. Cooper & Edgar Wallace
Starring: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher
Music: Max Steiner
Distinctions: currently #204 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: uh, yeah... giant monkey
Length: 100 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for characters, cinematography, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

Off-the-wall fantasy adventure-serial-type iconic kitsch fun. The music is a major film score milestone. If you compare the special effects to something like Jurassic Park or a 60's Japanese monster movie, it looks pretty good - which is a nice way of saying it looks like cartoons and puppets.

Grave of the Fireflies

Title: Hotaru no haka
Year: 1988
Director: Isao Takahata
Writer: Isao Takahata, based on the novel by Akiyuki Nosaka
Starring: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi
Music: Michio Mamiya
Distinctions: currently #196 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: Japanese orphans starve to death during World War II
Length: 89 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 2/10 (Terrible).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for concept, pacing, music and subjective rating) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

It's a very good movie. It's also just about the most depressing movie you could make.

Sherlock Jr.

Title: Sherlock Jr.
Year: 1924
Director: Buster Keaton
Writers: Clyde Bruckman, Jean C. Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell
Starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Erwin Connelly, Ward Crane
Music: Club Foot Orchestra (for video release)
Distinctions: currently #148 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a theater projectionist dreams (literally) of being a detective
Length: 45 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great)
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for characters) c. 3.5/4 (Very good)

Brilliant. There's nonstop silliness, impressive magic tricks, and most of all a bizarre, clever story. The post-modern score played by a jazz ensemble is delightful. It's also over-the-top and inappropriate, but I don't care; it adds a lot to the movie.

Our Hospitality

Title: Our Hospitality
Year: 1923
Directors: John G. Blystone & Buster Keaton
Writer: Jean C. Havez, Clyde Bruckman & Joseph A. Mitchell
Starring: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, Ralph Bushman, Craig Ward, Natalie Talmadge
Music: uncredited
Synopsis: a young man gets caught up in a family feud
Length: c. 75 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for dialog, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.2/4 (Okay).

Pretty dull. There are some nice stunts near the end, but that's about it.

Laura

Title: Laura
Year: 1944
Director: Otto Preminger
Writers: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein & Elizabeth Reinhardt, based on the novel by Vera Caspary
Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson
Music: David Raksin
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Cinematography (black-and-white); Oscar nomination for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Webb) and Best Art Direction/Interior Decoration (black-and-white); currently #242 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a murder mystery with some surprise twists
Length: 88 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for characters, dialog, cinematography, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.6/4 (Good).

It kept moving, and as a whodunnit it "keeps you guessing," as they say. But I didn't really care all that much who dunnit. Most aspects I took points off for were okay, just not exceptional.

The Celebration

Title: Festen
Year: 1998
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: Thomas Vinterberg & Mogens Rukov
Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Paprika Steen
Music: Lars Bo Jensen
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: guy publicly confronts his abusive father at his 60th birthday party
Length: 105 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for concept, cinematography, special effects/design and subjective rating) c. 2.4/4 (Okay).

Not my kind of movie, but good performances and writing kept me engaged with it. Deliberately shooting it as poorly as possible made up for any positives, though. It's shot, for no apparent reason, entirely with handheld cameras. I could handle that, but cheap cellphone-quality handheld cameras... why?

Iron Man

Title: Iron Man
Year: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, based on characters by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow
Music: Ramin Djawadi
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing; formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an amoral weapons manufacturer builds a super suit
Length: 126 minutes
How I saw it: in the theater, May 2008; on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, special effects/design and music) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

I'm kind of torn. I was crazy about this movie after seeing it in the theater. The second time around, knowing that it wasn't going anywhere took a lot of the fun out of it. It's a great origin story, but he never really gets around to any superheroing. The good guys are all great characters, but there is no villain worth mentioning. The build up to the action scenes is great, but the action itself is cartoon robots punching each other. The music... is fitting for a character with a Black Sabbath song named after him.

In the Mood for Love

Title: Fa yeung nin wa
Year: 2000 (Hong Kong), 2001 (US)
Director: Kar Wai Wong
Writer: Kar Wai Wong
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Music: Michael Galasso, and lots of non-original music
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a love story set in 1960's Hong Kong
Length: 98 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for concept, story, pacing and subjective rating) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It's interesting visually - almost uncomfortably claustrophobic. Boring, slow story, though.

Casino Royale

Title: Casino Royale
Year: 2006
Director: Martin Campbell
Writers: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Paul Haggis, based on the novel by Ian Fleming
Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench
Music: David Arnold
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: James Bond, kicking ass and playing cards
Length: 144 minutes
How I saw it: on video twice (rented from Netflix), most recently November 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for story and pacing) c. 3.0/4 (Good).

I wasn't a fan of James Bond until I saw this movie. It's hiply directed (not Hollywood Action Movie Sleek) and kind of dark. The Bond character has depth and some serious bad ass edge. And most importantly, the action sequences are relentlessly engaging. But damn if the last hour and a half aren't almost boring enough to make you forget how good the beginning is. Here's a hint to filmmakers: If an action movie is 2½ hours long, you're doing it wrong.

The Lady Vanishes

Title: The Lady Vanishes
Year: 1938
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Sidney Gilliat & Frank Launder, based on a story by Ethel Lina White
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas, Dame May Whitty
Music: Louis Levy & Charles Williams
Distinctions: currently #197 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a woman disappears from a train, and no one claims to remember her
Length: 96 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (gets points for story, characters, dialog, pacing and acting) c. 2.6/5 (Good).

It's an okay movie, but you wouldn't be missing anything if you never saw it. The whole conspiracy concept was nice in 1938, but it's been done so many times since then, both improved on and beaten to death, there's not much left in it.

Beauty and the Beast

Title: La belle et la bête
Year: 1946 (France), 1947 (US)
Director: Jean Cocteau
Writer: Jean Cocteau, story by Cocteau & Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
Starring: Jean Marais, Josette Day
Music: Georges Auric
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a girl is forced to live with a half-human monster
Length: 96 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, dialog and special effects/design) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).

There were maybe two scenes in the entire movie that had any entertainment value for me at all. The Beast was cheesy and theatrical (by modern standards), and the sets and costumes in general looked home-made, but the living furniture was too cool and creepy to not give a point for special effects/design. I was very surprised by how distant and unsympathetic the characters and story are; it's very much a post-war art film, not a romance.

Ed Wood

Title: Ed Wood
Year: 1994
Director: Tim Burton
Writer: Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski, based on a book by Rudolph Grey
Starring: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette
Music: Howard Shore
Distinctions: Oscars for best supporting actor (Landau) and makeup; currently #205 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: the hack director's relationship with a washed-up Bela Lugosi
Length: 127 minutes
How I saw it: on video several times, most recently October 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for pacing) c. 3.4/4 (Very good).

Lots of fun. Tim Burton's style comes across interestingly when he's shooting things that otherwise don't look remotely like a Tim Burton movie. The music is one of Howard Shore's only good scores. The portion of the movie between Bela Lugosi's death and the end is disproportionately long; the movie ends at the right point in the story, but there's just too much non-Bela material.

Judgment at Nuremberg

Title: Judgment at Nuremberg
Year: 1961
Director: Stanley Kramer
Writer: Abby Mann
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift
Music: Ernest Gold
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor (Schell); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Tracy), Best Supporting Actress (Garland), Best Supporting Actor (Clift), Best Cinematography (black-and-white), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (black-and-white), Best Costume Design (black-and-white) and Best Editing; currently #144 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an American tribunal for Nazi judges
Length: 186 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for pacing and music) c. 3.0/4 (Good).

Interesting, but very, very long. I like how the camera's always moving, especially the fast zooms. I'm a sucker for fast zooms. The music is a silly mess; I can't even figure out what effect it was meant to have.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Title: Wo hu cang long
Year: 2000
Director: Ang Lee
Writers: Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus & Kuo Jung Tsai, based on the book by Du Lu Wang
Starring: Yun-Fat Chow, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chen Chang
Music: Tan Dun
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Score, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Song ("A Love Before Time"), Best Costume Design and Best Editing; currently #228 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a conceited girl unlocks martial arts secrets
Length: 120 minutes
How I saw it: in the theater, c. 2001; on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for concept, story, pacing and subjective rating) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

Meh. I seem to recall the fight scenes seeming pretty damn cool back when it was new, but only 8 years later they're already dated and boring and basically just amount to slowing down the already tedious dramatic stuff. I guess it's ground-breaking and pretty, but wow I so do not care about a period rich brat's angst. Hero might have been a stylistic rip-off, but it also does every good thing this movie does, better.

Little Miss Sunshine

Title: Little Miss Sunshine
Year: 2006
Directors: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Writer: Michael Arndt
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, Steve Carell
Music: Mychael Danna & DeVotchKa (and non-original music)
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Arkin); Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress (Breslin); currently #231 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a family takes a road trip to get their seven-year-old to a beauty pageant
Length: 101 minutes
How I saw it: on video, twice (rented from Netflix), most recently October 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.3/4 (Very good).

The first time I saw it, I was amused but didn't think much of it. It was a lot funnier seeing it the second time, probably from knowing what things were building to. A simple score would have been much more effective than the standard Hip Indie Rock Soundtrack, but whatever, it's still good music.

The Devils

Title: Les diaboliques
Year: 1955
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Writer: Jérôme Géronimi, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Frédéric Grendel & René Masson, based on a novel by Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac
Starring: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
Music: Georges Van Parys
Distinctions: currently #146 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a woman's husband's mistress helps her kill her husband
Length: 116 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, story and dialog) c. 1.9/4 (Eh).

Very little actual suspense.  It had almost no visual interest, bad sound quality, and no music except over the credits (which normally I'm okay with, but this movie badly needed something to create suspense). And the "twist" ending is predictable. If there had been suspense throughout the film as there should have been, it might not have been so obvious that there would be a twist. Or if the movie wasn't agonizingly slow, you might not have to sit there with nothing better to do than figure out how it's going to end.

Patton

Title: Patton
Year: 1970
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola & Edmund H. North, based on books by Ladislas Farago and Omar N. Bradley
Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Scott), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Editing and Best Sound; Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Score and Best Visual Effects; currently #224 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: I like Netflix's blurb: "a character study masquerading as a World War II film."
Length: 170 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for music) c. 3.0/4 (Good).

Everything I can think to judge about it (except for the music, which is terrible and obnoxious) seems good, but for whatever reason I just never got into it. I do have trouble taking George C. Scott seriously in a role so similar to his Doctor Strangelove character, but if anything that should make the movie more entertaining.

Fanny and Alexander

Title: Fanny och Alexander
Year: 1982 (Sweden), 1983 (US)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Writer: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Ewa Fröling, Jan Malmsjö
Music: Daniel Bell
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Costume Design (1984); Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (1984); formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: wealthy kids get a nasty step-father
Length: 188 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for concept, story and pacing) c. 2.7/4 (Good).

I actually enjoyed this movie a little, which is a big deal considering it's exactly the sort of movie I tend to hate: European surrealism AND an epic period drama, simultaneously. So it's probably pretty good. The story is basically good, but there are some significant problems with the cut. Apparently Bergman made a TV mini-series cut, which I imagine would be much better. As it is, the story seems incomplete, relationships aren't clearly explained, sub-plots are unresolved, entire characters inexplicably disappear from the story about half-way through... Besides, if the theatrical cut is over three hours long, you might as well slice it up into several bits that can each be comfortably watched in one sitting.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Title: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Year: 2008
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Eric Roth, story by Roth and Robin Swicord, based on the story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Tilda Swinton
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Pitt), Best Supporting Actress (Henson), Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Costume Design, Best Editing and Best Sound; currently #155 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: the life of a man who ages backwards
Length: 166 minutes
How I saw it: in the theater, yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for story and dialog) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).

Nice movie. The basic plot is an unsympathetic and tedious love story. But the high quality of the performances and look of the film, along with the gimmick, is more than enough to save it.

The Lost Weekend

Title: The Lost Weekend
Year: 1945
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder, based on the novel by Charles R. Jackson
Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman
Music: Miklós Rózsa
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Milland); Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography (black-and-white), Best Score and Best Editing; currently #210 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a drunk struggles with addiction
Length: 101 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (gets points for characters, dialog, pacing, acting and music) c. 2.5/4 (Okay).

The first Billy Wilder movie that I didn't love. To be fair, I probably would have absolutely hated it if anyone else had directed. The story just isn't interesting. I didn't like any of the characters (although they're effectively realized). One thing I did like: musical saw!

Stalag 17

Title: Stalag 17
Year: 1953
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Billy Wilder & Edwin Blum, based on the play by Donald Bevan & Edmund Trzcinski
Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Peter Graves, Neville Brand, Sig Ruman
Music: Leonid Raab
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Actor (Holden); Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Strauss); currently #195 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: Americans in a WWII German POW camp regularly try to escape
Length: 120 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented form Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.5/4 (Very good).

Apparently not the basis for Hogan's Heroes.  It's a really good movie, although I'm not sure how it'd stand up to repeated viewings, since not knowing what was going to happen was a major factor. Wilder's approach seems to be to just tell the story as effectively as possible, which makes for great movies but not so much with the pretty pictures.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Title: The Day the Earth Stood Still
Year: 1951
Director: Robert Wise
Writer: Edmund H. North, based on a story by Harry Bates
Starring: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray
Music: Bernard Herrmann
Distinctions: currently #222 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an alien visitor wants humans to live in peace
Length: 92 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).

It's about as dated as a movie can get, but very well done overall. Klaatu (the lead character) is interesting and surprisingly subtle. I thought the special effects looked pretty good, although maybe I would feel otherwise if I hadn't spent all those hours watching classic Doctor Who. The music is the quintessential 50's sci-fi score - probably groundbreaking, too. The plot is roughly the same as half the sci-fi short stories ever written, but it's one of the only movies I know of that treats that plot the way the stories do. So, even though I wasn't crazy about the movie, as a fan of classic science fiction, I have a sort of reverence for it.

The Exorcist

Title: The Exorcist
Year: 1973
Director: William Friedkin
Writer: William Peter Blatty, based on his novel
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, Linda Blair
Music: Steve Boeddeker
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Burstyn), Best Supporting Actor (Miller), Best Supporting Actress (Blair), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Editing; currently #209 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a girl is possessed by a demon
Length: 122 minutes
How I saw it: in the theater ("restored" version), 2000; on video a few times, most recently September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.7/4 (Great).

After seeing it three or four times, it hasn't lost any of its intensity. I'm not a fan of horror films in general, but with this one you just have to admit it is damn effective film-making.

Glory

Title: Glory
Year: 1989
Director: Edward Zwick
Writer: Kevin Jarre, based on material by Robert Gould Shaw, Lincoln Kirstein & Peter Burchard
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman
Music: James Horner
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Washington), Best Cinematography and Best Sound; Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Editing; currently #233 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: black soldiers fighting in the Civil War
Length: 122 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for story, characters, dialog and pacing) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).

Very well-written, but not a good movie. The cinematography looks like a damn Hallmark made-for-TV movie. The music is cliche, overbearing, and often completely wrong for the scene. It must have the smallest budget ever for an epic historical drama; there are supposed to be 1,000 soldiers, but there are clearly only about thirty of them. But most importantly: Denzel Washington acting opposite Mathew Broderick? Is this a joke? If there was just bad acting, that would be tollerable; I could tune it out. But the juxtaposition of those two... it's just painful.

Bride of Frankenstein

Title: Bride of Frankenstein
Year: 1935
Director: James Whale
Writer: William Hurlbut & John L. Balderston, based on a novel by Mary Shelley
Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester
Music: Franz Waxman
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Sound Recording; formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: Dr. Frankenstein is coerced into building another monster
Length: 75 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, cinematography and music) c. 1.7/4 (Eh).

The story's an incoherent mess. Characters that should be the leads (and are played by good actors) such as Dr. Frankenstein have relatively small parts compared to characters that should be bit parts (and are played by terrible actors) such as a shrill, screaming old woman.  The music is weird and distracting... but I'm okay with that.  It looks good visually, but it bothers me that they can't make up their minds about what century it's taking place in.

Frankenstein

Title: Frankenstein
Year: 1931
Director: James Whale
Writer: Peggy Webling, John L. Balderston, Francis Edward Faragoh & Garrett Fort, based on the novel by Mary Shelley
Starring: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff
Music: Bernhard Kaun
Distinctions: currently #223 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a mad scientist creates life
Length: 71 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for dialog) c. 3.5/4 (Very good).

Now this is how to adapt a novel: just take the bits that are essential, re-write the story so they work in the new context, and end up with a short movie. Brilliant. I was unimpressed with Karloff's performance, but everyone else was surprisingly good for a movie from this period.

W.

Title: W.
Year: 2008
Director: Oliver Stone
Writer: Stanley Weiser
Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, Richard Dreyfuss
Music: Paul Cantelon (but mostly non-original music)
Synopsis: Bush's political career
Length: 129 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for concept, cinematography, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.0/4 (Indifferent).

Tedious. I have no idea what the point of this was supposed to be. There's none of the depth you'd expect from a biopic, and none of the humor you'd expect from a satire.

Shadow of the Vampire

Title: Shadow of the Vampire
Year: 2000
Director: E. Elias Merhige
Writer: Steven Katz
Starring: John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe
Music: Dan Jones
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Dafoe) and Best Makeup
Synopsis: the filming of Nosferatu, with a real vampire as Max Schreck
Length: 92 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, characters and cinematography) c. 2.7/4 (Good).

Disappointing. It's a promising concept, but not especially well written. The story kind of falls apart at the end. Malkovich and Dafoe are good (although Dafoe's performance is just an imitation of Schreck), but the rest of the acting is pretty bad.

Nosferatu

Title: Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens
Year: 1922
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writer: Henrik Galeen, based on a novel by Bram Stoker
Starring: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
Music: Dvorak (on a crappy video release)
Distinctions: currently #234 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a vampire Count moves to the city
Length: 81 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, cinematography and special effects/design) c. 1.9/4 (Eh).

Schreck's vampire is very cool and creepy. But he's only on screen for five or ten minutes, and everything else in the movie is terrible. If you do see it, I suggest not getting it from Netflix. I understand there are a lot of different versions out there, and the version we got from them had bad dialog cards (which were certainly not original), and for music they just put on Dvorak's New World symphony, which would have been terribly inappropriate and silly even if they'd bothered cutting it to match the cues, which they didn't. If you do get that version, watch it with the sound off and ignore the dialog, and the poor movie might have a chance.

Stardust Memories

Title: Stardust Memories
Year: 1980
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault
Music: vintage jazz
Synopsis: a comedic director struggles with finding meaning in his work
Length: 91 minutes
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for concept and story) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).

Woody's parody (or maybe homage is a better word) of 8½. It's pretty funny. We're lucky that we happened to watch this a few weeks after watching 8½; if we hadn't, we wouldn't have known it was parody, and a lot of it would have come across as pretentious.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Title: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Year: 1993
Director: Henry Selick
Writers: Michael McDowell & Caroline Thompson, based on a story by Tim Burton
Starring: Danny Elfman , Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara
Music: Danny Elfman
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects; formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: the people who make Halloween happen take over Christmas
How I saw it: on video a number of times (used to have on DVD), most recently September 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for acting) c. 3.3/4 (Very good).

Great animation, design and concept. The music is kind of obnoxious (and Elfman's singing performance is the main reason for taking off the acting point), but not bad for a musical.

Casino

Title: Casino
Year: 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Nicholas Pileggi & Martin Scorsese, based on Pileggi's novel
Starring: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci
Music: non-original music
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Actress (Stone); currently #198 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: epic story of the rise and fall of a gangster
How I saw it: on video, most recently September 2008 (rented from Netflix)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (gets points for characters, dialog, cinematography, acting and music) c. 2.6/4 (Good).

At first it seems like it might be a good movie. Then you realize that they're not going anywhere with it. This basic story has been done a million times, several times by Scorsese. It's a better movie than Goodfellas (which I don't like), but without the iconic moments that movie has.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Title: All Quiet on the Western Front
Year: 1930
Director: Lewis Milestone
Writers: Maxwell Anderson, George Abbott & Del Andrews, based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque
Starring: Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director; Oscar nominations for Best Writing and Best Cinematography; currently #211 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a few years of WWI from the perspective of young German soldiers
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, characters and acting) c. 2.5/4 (Okay).

I couldn't watch it again because the acting is so bad, but the battle sequences are at least as good as any other serious war movie I've seen. And making it about Germans rather than Americans or British is kind of brilliant.

Stripes

Title: Stripes
Year: 1981
Director: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg & Harold Ramis
Starring: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P.J. Soles, Sean Young
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Synopsis: a smartass slob and his friend join the army on a whim
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the Library), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 0/10 c. 1.6/4 (Eh).

Not funny. The story is the sort of thing that's just an excuse for jokes, but there aren't any.

Spartacus

Title: Spartacus
Year: 1960
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Dalton Trumbo, based on the novel by Howard Fast
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov
Music: Alex North
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Ustinov), Best Cinematography (color), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (color) and Best Costume Design (color); Oscar nominations for Best Score and Best Editing; currently #238 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: ancient Roman slave revolt
How I saw it: on video (rented from the library, I think), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (gets points for characters, dialog, special effects/design, acting and music) c. 2.5/4 (Okay).

Boring. Trumbo's adaptation is poorly crafted. There are a lot of potentially great ideas (like the "I am Spartacus" bit) ruined by clunky writing. The cinematography isn't bad, but it's bad for Kubrick. I don't like the music for the most part, but the bit leading up to the battle wins me over.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Title: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari
Year: 1920
Director: Robert Wiene
Writer: Hans Janowitz & Carl Mayer
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover
Music: Timothy Brock (for video release)
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a somnambulist wakes up -- oh, the horror!
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for pacing, cinematography, special effects/design and music) c. 2.4/4 (Okay).

Meh. Great visuals, but everything else is very badly done. I can see how it's of historical importance, but it's not something you can watch with modern standards. I'm not sure if the music is original or some sort of restoration, but it's very good.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Title: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Year: 1966
Director: Mike Nichols
Writer: Ernest Lehman, based on the play by Edward Albee
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Music: Alex North
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Actress (Taylor), Best Supporting Actress (Dennis), Best Cinematography (black-and-white), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (black-and-white) and Best Costume Design (black-and-white); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Burton), Best Supporting Actor (Segal), Best Score, Best Editing and Best Sound; currently #217 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a bitter couple play mind games with their guests
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.7/4 (Great).

Hilariously funny and tensely suspenseful, simultaneously. And, apparently, Richard Burton is awesome.

Bonnie and Clyde

Title: Bonnie and Clyde
Year: 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Writers: David Newman & Robert Benton
Starring: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons
Music: Charles Strouse
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Parsons) and Best Cinematography; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Beatty), Best Actress (Dunaway), Best Supporting Actor (Pollard), Best Supporting Actor (Hackman) and Best Costume Design; currently #213 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an account of their bank-robbing career
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for dialog, pacing, acting and music) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).

It just sort of runs down a list of events with no story arc. The action scenes are the 60's equivalent of a Michael Bay movie: tropes strung together with lots of noise. Boring and pointless.

Chaplin: The Collection: Volume 1

Titles: "Cruel, Cruel Love" / "A Film Johnnie" / "Triple Trouble"
Year: 1914, 1918
Directors: George Nichols, Mack Sennett, Charles Chaplin, Leo White
Writers: Craig Hutchinson, Charles Chaplin, Leo White
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Edgar Kennedy, Minta Durfee, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Virginia Kirtley, Edna Purviance, Leo White, Billy Armstrong
Music: random anachronistic jazz
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library), today
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 2/10 (gets points for acting and subjective rating) c. 1.5/4 (Eh).

The movies themselves get the 6/10. This video gets a 3/10 at most. There hasn't been any restoration done (and on "A Film Johnnie," the film is over exposed so much that you can't even see what's going on in places), and for music they just put on some public domain tracks without any bother to line things up, or pick appropriate music, or avoid tracks with spoken vocals. It is horrendous. So much for watching early Chaplin. Maybe some day there will be a reasonable release and I can give it another try. But these shorts don't offer anything that isn't done ten times better in his 1920's films anyway.

In Bruges

Title: In Bruges
Year: 2008
Director: Martin McDonagh
Writer: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy
Music: Carter Burwell
Distinctions: currently #203 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: two hitmen are on a forced vacation in Belgium
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 9/10 (One of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.7/4 (Great).

I don't know how to describe this movie without being misleading.  That synopsis above?  No, no good, doesn't give you any idea what to expect. Just watch it.

Magnolia

Title: Magnolia
Year: 1999
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: John C. Reilly, Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Jason Robards, Melora Walters
Music: Jon Brion (and Aimee Mann)
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Cruise) and Best Song ("Save Me"); currently #230 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: various stories intersect
How I saw it: on video a number of times (used to have on DVD), most recently August 2008
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.8/4 3.9/4 (Great).

One of the only of the "intersecting stories" films that manages to pull itself together dramatically. Each story has it's own arc, but so does the movie as a whole. It's made up of scenes that would be the climax in most movies, leading up to a moment that manages to top them all. The first time you see the movie, you could never conceivably see it coming; afterwards, you can see that the narrative demanded it.

Rosemary's Baby

Title: Rosemary's Baby
Year: 1968
Director: Roman Polanski
Writer: Roman Polanski, based on the novel by Ira Levin
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy
Music: Krzysztof Komeda
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (Gordon); Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay; currently #215 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a woman believes a Satanic conspiracy is after her unborn baby
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design) c. 3.1/4 (Very good).

Extremely effective. Suspense is constantly building. The ending is a bit of a let down, although I can't think of any way to improve it.

The Philadelphia Story

Title: The Philadelphia Story
Year: 1940
Director: George Cukor
Writer: Donald Ogden Stewart, based on the play by Philip Barry
Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Music: Franz Waxman
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Actor (Stewart) and Best Screenplay; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Hepburn) and Best Supporting Actress (Hussey); currently #228 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a tabloid spy gets involved in a rich woman's re-marriage
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for pacing, acting and subjective rating) c. 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Pretty enjoyable, but not memorable. Jimmy Stewart saves the movie (as is his way). I generally hate Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn with a passion, but they didn't bother me much in this one.

Why Worry?

Title: Why Worry?
Year: 1923
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
Writers: Sam Taylor, H.M. Walker, Tim Whelan, Ted Wilde
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, John Aasen, Wallace Howe, Jim Mason
Music: Robert Israel (for video release)
Synopsis: a hypochondriac millionaire vacations in South America during a revolution
How I saw it: “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection: Vol. 1″ (rented from Netflix), today
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for story, characters, dialog, cinematography and music) c. 2.4/4 (Okay).

Entertaining and fast-paced. It's usually amusing, but not exceptionally so. The acting is better than I've come to expect from silent films; sometimes they even get a laugh from a shot of someone's reaction to something. It's a nice movie, but you're not missing anything if you never see it.

Anatomy of a Murder

Title: Anatomy of a Murder
Year: 1959
Director: Otto Preminger
Writer: Wendell Mayes, based on the novel by John D. Voelker
Starring: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara
Music: Duke Ellington
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Stewart), Best Supporting Actor (Arthur O'Connell), Best Supporting Actor (George C. Scott), Best Cinematography (black-and-white) and Best Editing; currently #205 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a small-town lawyer defends a murder suspect
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for concept) c. 3.5/4 (Very good).

Nice movie. Somehow they managed to make a three hour legal drama that's good enough to hold my interest continuously. That is an impressive feat.

Dial M for Murder

Title: Dial M for Murder
Year: 1954
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Frederick Knott, based on his play
Starring: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings
Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Distinctions: currently #201 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a man's intricate plots to kill his wife
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for story, characters, dialog and subjective rating) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

Very well filmed. So well filmed that most people don't seem to even notice the horrible quality of the writing. It's a great plot, but it's written with zero craft. Long monologues describing things that happened off stage/camera might be lazy storytelling for a play, but in a movie? Seriously? Hey, Alfred, you want to film a play? Then adapt it! The music isn't great, but it's used quite effectively in a few places. It's a watchable movie -- nowhere near as bad as Rope. Really, it's just the one point of being obviously and awkwardly not written for the screen that ruins it. I'd almost even say it's a good movie, but when there's a fault so glaring that could have been fixed with a little effort, I just can't bring myself to do it.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Title: The Gods Must Be Crazy
Year: 1980
Director: Jamie Uys
Writer: Jamie Uys
Starring: Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo, N!xau
Music: John Boshoff
Synopsis: a Bushman sets off to throw an "evil" Coke bottle off the edge of the world
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 2/10 (gets points for concept and story) c. 1.8/4 (Eh).

Great concept. Great story. Terrible movie.

In the Heat of the Night

Title: In the Heat of the Night
Year: 1967
Director: Norman Jewison
Writer: Stirling Silliphant, based on the novel by John Ball
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger
Music: Quincy Jones (with Ray Charles)
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Steiger), Best Editing and Best Sound; Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Sound Effects; currently #239 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a black man visiting the south is arbitrarily accused of a murder
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.4/4 (Very good).

Nice movie. We were lucky enough to happen to watch it without reading any synopses first. If you somehow don't know anything about this movie, I highly recommend doing the same (my synopsis above is only of the first five minutes or so of the movie), as every summary or trailer I've seen (even one of the tag lines) completely spoils a great scene.

Big Fish

Title: Big Fish
Year: 2003
Director: Tim Burton
Writer: John August, based on the novel by Daniel Wallace
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman
Music: Danny Elfman
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Score; currently #233 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a man wants to know the truth behind his dying father's tall tales
How I saw it: in the theater, 2003; on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

Cute movie. The cinematography was fine, but they had a lot to work with. It felt low-budget (which it certainly was not). McGregor came off way too corny. It's a fun story, though.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Title: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Year: 2008
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Christopher Evan Welch
Music: non-original music
Distinctions: Oscar for best supporting actress (Cruz)
Synopsis: two girls spending the summer in Spain fall for a polyamorous artist
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for concept and story) c. 3.1/4 (Very good).

Good movie, despite being an offender of my worst pet peeve: having Something to Say rather than having a story to tell. It's entertaining and dramatic, but at the end it just kind of stops and leaves the characters where they started. I don't know why it's labeled as a comedy or dramedy; there is no attempt at getting laughs. Maybe because it's a Woody Allen movie, so people expect comedy.

The Milky Way

Title: The Milky Way
Year: 1936
Director: Leo McCarey
Writers: Grover Jones, Frank Butler & Richard Connell , based on the play by Lynn Root & Harry Clork
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Adolphe Menjou, Helen Mack, William Gargan, Dorothy Wilson
Music: stock music
Synopsis: a milkman with an uncanny ability to duck becomes a boxer
How I saw it: “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection: Vol. 1″ (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for concept, story, cinematography, acting and music) c. 2.6/4 (Good).

Not something I would necessarily call a "good movie," but it's often hilarious. Probably the funniest movie from Hollywood's "Golden Age" that I've seen.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Title: The Bourne Ultimatum
Year: 2007
Director: Paul Greengrass
Writers: Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns & George Nolfi, based on the novel by Robert Ludlum
Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Joan Allen
Music: John Powell
Distinctions: Oscars for best editing, sound and sound editing; currently #147 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: Bourne tracks down a CIA leak in the hope of finding out about his past
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for story, characters, cinematography and music) c. 2.3/4 (Okay).

All kinds of better than Supremacy; hard to believe it's the same director. There's not much of a story. They don't even bother trying at the mystery/suspense story aspects that they failed at in the first movie. Instead they leave the suspense to the action scenes, which works quite well.

The Cat's-Paw

Title: The Cat's-Paw
Year: 1934
Director: Sam Taylor
Writer: Sam Taylor, story by Clarence Budington Kelland
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Una Merkel, George Barbier
Music: Alfred Newman
Synopsis: a naive but clever man raised in China becomes mayor of a corrupt American town
How I saw it: “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection: Vol. 1″ (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, special effects/design and music) c. 2.6/4 (Good).

This was completely unexpected. It's more like a 1980's movie than something you'd expect to be made by a silent film star. The humor is situational or verbal (including some Muppet-worthy puns), not physical. What's even more surprising, it was actually a good movie. If they'd cast a "talkie" star in it, it would probably be considered a classic today.

Safety Last!

Title: Safety Last!
Year: 1923
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
Writers: Hal Roach, Sam Taylor, H.M. Walker, Tim Whelan
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Westcott Clarke
Distinctions: currently #221 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a store clerk arranges a building-scaling promotional stunt, but ends up having to perform the stunt himself
How I saw it: “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection: Vol. 1″ (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, special effects/design and subjective rating) c. 2.0/4 (Indifferent).

Not nearly as funny as I expected, but an okay movie. The actual climbing sequence is great, but unfortunately it's only a small portion of the movie. Definitely worth seeing, though.

Girl Shy

Title: Girl Shy
Year: 1924
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor
Writers: Thomas J. Gray, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan, Ted Wilde
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Daniels, Carlton Griffin
Music: Robert Israel (for video release)
Synopsis: A shy boy with no experience with women writes the book called "The Secret of Making Love"
How I saw it: “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection: Vol. 1″ (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, characters and special effects/design) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).

Slow and dull. Lloyd is likable, but that's about all this has going for it.

3 Harold Lloyd shorts

Titles: "Ask Father" / "From Hand to Mouth" / "An Eastern Westerner"
Year: 1919-1920
Directors: Alfred J. Goulding, Hal Roach
Writers: H.M. Walker, Frank Terry
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Peggy Cartwright, Noah Young
Music: Robert Israel (for video release)
How I saw it: "The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection: Vol. 1" (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for characters, dialog, cinematography, acting and music) c. 2.2/4 (Okay).

"Ask Father" is very funny slapstick, a lot like a Loony Tunes cartoon. The other two are okay, but nothing special.

Mystic River

Title: Mystic River
Year: 2003
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Brian Helgeland, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane
Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden
Music: Clint Eastwood
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Actor (Penn) and Best Supporting Actor (Robbins); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Harden); currently #235 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: three childhood friends find themselves involved in a murder investigation, one as detective, one as victim, one as suspect
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for concept, cinematography and subjective rating) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

It's not a mystery, as you might think from the synopsis; the story relies entirely on the characters, not the plot. It's very well done for what it is. But there's non-stop misery. I do not care for joyless movies.

American Gangster

Title: American Gangster
Year: 2007
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Steven Zaillian, based on an article by Mark Jacobson
Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin
Music: Marc Streitenfeld; also non-original music
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Ruby Dee) and Best Art Direction; formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an entrepreneur gangster revolutionizes the heroin industry
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for concept) c. 3.0/4 (Good).

Not my sort of thing, and far from the best gangster movie, but well done. The basic concept of the movie seems like it's been done a million times. Great performances, in spite of the guy from New Jersey who is clearly Australian.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Title: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Year: 1961
Director: Blake Edwards
Writer: George Axelrod, based on Truman Capote's novel
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard
Music: Henry Mancini
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Score and Best Song ("Moon River"); Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Hepburn) and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (color)
Synopsis: a neurotic girl forces herself into her neighbor's life
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 8/10 9/10 (One of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for concept and cinematography) c. 3.4/4 (Very good).

You've got a character who's obnoxious, and a story that only works if every other character (not to mention the audience) loves her; I don't think anyone other than Audrey Hepburn could have pulled that off. And speaking of amazing feats of Audrey Hepburn, when she sings "Moon River," it somehow sounds like a good song. Between that, the piano music over the climax, and the almost postmodern five & dime sequence, I have to love the music in this movie, even though 90% of it consists of an incessantly annoying tune.

Run, Lola, Run

Title: Lola rennt
Year: 1998 (Germany), 1999 (US)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writer: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu
Music: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: (Lola has a few minutes to get an enormous amount of money to her boyfriend)x3
How I saw it: on video, twice (rented on DVD), most recently July 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for characters, dialog, special effects/design and music) c. 2.7/4 (Good).

A clever movie, and fun to watch. The music is fitting but obnoxious.

Juno

Title: Juno
Year: 2007
Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Diablo Cody
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons
Music: Matt Messina; lots of non-original music
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Actress (Page); formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a teenage hipster gets pregnant
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for characters, dialog, pacing and acting) c. 2.5/4 (Okay).

Meh. I liked the ending, but didn't have all that much fun getting there. The story is fine, but nothing notable. It isn't funny (except for Michael Cera). The soundtrack is great, but completely wrong for the movie. A minor point of grievance that I can't keep to myself: I don't care how into retro stuff you are, if you weren't alive in the 80's, you don't know or care what a "Thunder Cat" is.

Planet of the Apes

Title: Planet of the Apes
Year: 1968
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Writers: Michael Wilson & Rod Serling, based on the novel by Pierre Boulle
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Distinctions: honorary Academy Award for Best Makeup; Oscar nominations for Best Score and Best Costume Design; currently #246 in IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: damn dirty apes
How I saw it: on video, a lot (used to have on VHS), most recently July 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 9/10 (One of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for special effects/design) c. 3.4/4 (Very good).

I love this stuff. It's the quintessential science fiction film of an era (for all the right reasons), and a damn good movie besides that. As for the special effects/design point - I don't care how groundbreaking the make up and costumes were at the time; they look like rubber masks to me.  There really isn't any way to make a live action movie about talking animals look convincing, even today.  And besides having production values only slightly better than Star Trek, I do not understand why the Ape city is modeled after Bedrock.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Title: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Year: 1969
Director: George Roy Hill
Writer: William Goldman
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross
Music: Burt Bacharach
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Score, and Best Song ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Sound; currently #148 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: two outlaws on the run from an unstoppable posse
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for music) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

It's an entertaining movie, but the tone is so light it borders on parody in places. I like how they never give a face to the pursuers - a risky move that worked out perfectly. Bicycle riding aside, there's a great Western buried underneath Bacharach's obnoxiously silly music.

Howl's Moving Castle

Title: Hauru no ugoku shiro
Year: 2004 (Japan), 2005 (US)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writer: Hayao Miyazaki, based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones
Starring: (English version) Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall; (Japanese version) Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature; currently #250 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a girl turned old by a witch falls in love with a wizard
How I saw it: in the theater, 2005; on video a few times (used to have on DVD), most recently June 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for dialog and music) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

Good movie. The dialog is corny (maybe it doesn't translate well?). The music is straight-up Anime music. The story's nothing great, but there are enough cute characters to keep it entertaining.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

Title: Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom
Year: 2003 (Korea), 2004 (US)
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Writer: Ki-duk Kim
Starring: Yeong-su Oh, Ki-duk Kim, Young-min Kim, Jae-kyeong Seo, Yeo-jin Ha, Jong-ho Kim
Music: Ji-woong Park
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: five segments of the film are five portions of a monk's life
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), June 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 3.4/4 (Very good).

Definitely worth seeing once. It could have been directed better; they didn't do much visually, although there was a lot to work with. It's a very interesting and memorable movie.

Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

Title: Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days
Year: 1989
Directors: Roger Mills, Clem Vallance
Writer: Michael Palin
Starring: Michael Palin
Music: Paddy Kingsland
Synopsis: documentary in which Palin tries to go around the world in 80 days without air travel
Episodes: 7
Network: BBC
How I saw it: online (streaming from Netflix), over the past few days
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off cinematography, acting [n/a] and music) c. 3.0/4 (Good).

Not as much fun as I might have expected, but pleasant to watch and entertaining. I'm looking forward to watching Palin's other travel shows, although I wonder if they will work as well without the race-against-the-clock gimmick.

The Cosby Show: Season Four

Title: The Cosby Show: Season Four
Year: 1987-1988
Creators: Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson & Bill Cosby
Directors: Jay Sandrich (10 episodes), Tony Singletary (7), Regge Life (6), Carl Lauten (4), Chuck Vinson (1)
Writers: Gary Kott (11 episodes), John Markus (11), Carmen Finestra (11), Janet Leahy (5), Matt Williams (3), Matt Robinson (2), Chris Auer (1)
Starring: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Sabrina LeBeauf, Geoffrey Owens, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam
Music: theme by Stu Gardner & Bill Cosby; lots of great music throughout the show
Synopsis: the day to day life of a large family in Brooklyn
Episodes: 24
Network: NBC
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), over the past few days, as well as any number of times on television
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for cinematography) c. 3.3/4 (Very good).

About the same quality as season three - it's not consistent, a few episodes are bad, but it's usually hilarious. Adding Alvin to the regular cast is a welcome change (although he's not actually in many more episodes than before).

The Cosby Show: Season Three

Title: The Cosby Show: Season Three
Year: 1986-1987
Creators: Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson & Bill Cosby
Directors: Jay Sandrich (18 episodes), Tony Singletary (6), Carl Lauten (1), Regge Life (1)
Writers: Gary Kott (6 episodes), Matt Williams (5), John Markus (5), Carmen Finestra (5), Chris Auer (2), Matt Robinson (2), Susan Fales (1), Margaret Beddow Hatch (1), Matt Geller (1), Janet Leahy (1), Elizabeth Hailey (1), Oliver Hailey (1)
Starring: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Sabrina LeBeauf, Lisa Bonet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam
Music: theme by Stu Gardner & Bill Cosby; lots of great music throughout the show
Synopsis: the day to day life of a large family in Brooklyn
Episodes: 25
Network: NBC
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), January 2009, as well as any number of times on television
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).

There are some bad episodes this season, and some stereotypical sit-cominess is starting to seep in. But overall, still hilarious.

The Cosby Show: Season Two

Title: The Cosby Show: Season Two
Year: 1985-1986
Creators: Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson & Bill Cosby
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writers: John Markus (6 episodes), Elliot Shoenman (6), Matt Williams (6), Carmen Finestra (4), Gary Kott (3), Matt Robinson (2), Ross Brown (1), Thad Mumford (1)
Starring: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Sabrina LeBeauf, Lisa Bonet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam
Music: theme by Stu Gardner & Bill Cosby; lots of great music throughout the show
Synopsis: the day to day life of a large family in Brooklyn
Episodes: 25
Network: NBC
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), December 2008, as well as any number of times on television
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites)
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design) c. 3.3/4 3.4/4 (Very good).

Not as ridiculously consistent as the first season, but usually great. The quality of the acting is significantly improved.

(link)

The Cosby Show: Season One

Title: The Cosby Show: Season One
Year: 1984-1985
Creators: Ed. Weinberger, Michael Leeson & Bill Cosby
Director: Jay Sandrich
Writers: John Markus (9 episodes), Earl Pomerantz (3), Matt Williams (3), Jerry Ross (2), Elliot Shoenman (2), Matt Robinson (2), Carmen Finestra (2), Michael Leeson (1), Ed. Weinberger (1), Michael Loman (1), Karyl Geld Miller (1), Korby Siamis (1), Winifred Hervey (1), Emily Tracy (1)
Starring: Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Lisa Bonet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam
Music: theme by Stu Gardner & Bill Cosby; lots of great music throughout the show
Synopsis: the day to day life of a large family in Brooklyn
Episodes: 24
Network: NBC
How I saw it: on video (used to have on DVD), July 2008, as well as any number of times on television
Subjective Rating: 10/10 (Favorite of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, special effects/design and acting) c. 3.2/4 3.3/4 (Very good).

Best sitcom ever. Best non-muppet comedy show, even.  Whenever I find myself watching a TV with cable, the first thing I do is find out which station is currently playing The Cosby Show (after all, at any given time, it will be on somewhere...). I've always figured this reaction of mine is just because it's a safe bet for something pleasant to watch, and better than channel surfing. But after sitting through all of season one and watching it (rather than just having it on), I was amazed by the quality. There's hardly a moment in the show, at least as far as the writing goes, where there's any room for improvement. Every single episode and story is completely original and believable. There's non-stop humor, without anyone ever getting out of character to tell a joke. About a day after watching an episode, we saw the same one on TV. And even though we'd just watched it, I was still completely sucked in an laughing as if I'd never seen it before. And there aren't any bad episodes in the entire season. I don't think I've ever seen another purely episodic show (as opposed to something serial where everything is contributing to a larger story) that I could say that about.

Life of Brian

Title: Monty Python's Life of Brian
Year: 1979
Director: Terry Jones
Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones & Michael Palin
Starring: Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin
Music: Geoffrey Burgon (and Eric Idle)
Distinctions: currently #149 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an ordinary man in Judea in 33 AD joins the anti-Roman resistance
How I saw it: on video, any number of times, most recently yesterday (rented from Netflix)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, characters and cinematography) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

Most of the humor doesn't stand up to repeated watching the way the other Python movies do, and there's too much focus on a plot (decidedly a bad direction for Monty Python), but even so it's still fun to watch.

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Title: Monty Python's Flying Circus
Year: 1969-1970, 1972-1974
Creators: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin
Director: Ian MacNaughton
Writers: Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin
Starring: Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones, Palin
Synopsis: absurd sketch comedy
Episodes: 45; three series of 13, one of 6
Network: BBC
How I saw it: most recently, on PBS, 2006 (with missed episodes rented from Netflix); also various episodes on video or online a number of times
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for story, cinematography, special effects/design and music) c. 3.0/4 (Good).

The third series probably only gets a 7 or 6 out of 10, and a 5 or 4 for the terrible fourth series. But the first two series are good enough to pull the average up higher than should be mathematically possible.

Rocky

Title: Rocky
Year: 1976
Director: John G. Avildsen
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
Music: Bill Conti
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing; Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Stallone), Best Actress (Shire), Best Supporting Actor (Young), Best Supporting Actor (Meredith), Best Song ("Gonna Fly Now") and Best Sound; currently #241 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: the heavyweight champion gives a local Philadelphia boxer a chance to fight him
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 9/10 (One of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 3.4/4 (Very good).

Damn good movie. Much to my surprise, not about boxing; that's more like the setting. The music might be iconic, but the entire soundtrack is made up of two tracks...

Doctor Zhivago

Title: Doctor Zhivago
Year: 1965
Director: David Lean
Writer: Robert Bolt, based on the novel by Boris Pasternak
Starring: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Tom Courtenay
Music: Maurice Jarre
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score, Best Cinematography (color), Best Costume Design (color) and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (color); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Courtenay), Best Editing and Best Sound; formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a love story set in the Russian revolution
How I saw it: on video (rented on VHS from the library, I think), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 2/10 (Terrible).
Objective Rating: 2/10 (gets points for special effects/design and acting) c. 1.3/4 (Bad).

I don't see the point to this movie. For all the "epic scope," not much happens. In a three and a half hour movie, there are only four or five characters with any depth, and those at about the level of an action movie. The supposedly great music is ripped-off tunes, incompetently orchestrated. I'm a little proud of myself for getting through the whole thing. I mean, I didn't expect to like it or anything, but damn, it was completely terrible.

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War

Title: Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo
Year: 2004
Director: Je-gyu Kang
Writer: Je-gyu Kang
Starring: Dong-Kun Jang, Bin Won, Eun-ju Lee, Hyeong-jin Kong, Yeong-ran Lee
Music: Dong-jun Lee
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: epic story of two brothers torn apart by the Korean War
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (gets points for concept, characters, dialog, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.4/4 (Okay).

I can hardly remember this movie. Here's what I wrote after watching it: "Imagine Titanic as a Korean war movie. The basic framework of the story is very good, but it's executed for sh**."  I'll have to take my word for it.

Umberto D.

Title: Umberto D.
Year: 1952 (Italy), 1955 (US)
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Writer: Cesare Zavattini
Starring: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari
Music: Alessandro Cicognini
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Story (1957); currently #182 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: an old guy with no money wants to kill himself, but can't because he has a dog
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).

It didn't do much for me while watching it; I didn't really get where they were going with it. But thinking about it since then, it's grown on me a lot.

Great Expectations

Title: Great Expectations
Year: 1946
Director: David Lean
Writers: Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Cecil McGivern, Ronald Neame & Kay Walsh, based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Starring: John Mills, Tony Wager, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness
Music: Walter Goehr
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Cinematography (black-and-white) and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (black-and-white); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay; currently #239 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a boy is made rich by an anonymous benefactor
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for characters, pacing and acting) c. 2.3/4 (Okay).

Perfectly good movie for what it is, but not great. Maybe I'm the only person who thinks so, but Dickens just doesn't seem to work well as movies. Typical 19th-Century speech does not play well read by actors. No one else will ever agree with me on that, will they... The music is the quintessential corny-ass romantic score.  Visually, a lot could have been done with atmosphere, but isn't. As for the story, the whole "now I'm ill and will sleep through the climax" thing kind of bugs me. Is that in the book? Come on, Dickens, you can do better than that. Or was opening the drapes supposed to be the climax?

Out of the Past

Title: Out of the Past
Year: 1947
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Writer: Daniel Mainwaring, based on his novel
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas
Music: Roy Webb
Distinctions: formerly on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: a former P.I. in hiding gets found by his enemies
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), June 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for concept, dialog, pacing and subjective rating) c. 2.3/4 (Okay).

It's entertaining enough. The dialog's extremely corny, but in a good way. The story's kind of a convoluted mess - which it should be for the genre, but they couldn't write themselves out of it at the end, which kind of defeats the purpose.