Boyhood

Boyhood, 2014. The childhood of a boy with divorced parents.

Written & directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Ellar Coltrane, with Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, & Lorelei Linklater.

Concept: A
Story: D
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: The gimmick works extremely well. Unfortunately, the ambitiousness is strictly limited to the approach of filming it; the script is nothing but an aimless pile of cliches. But watching these people age on screen is somehow enough to keep you captivated for the nearly-three-hour movie. Even though I didn't exactly like the movie, it made a strong impression on me. Hopefully they keep going and have a sequel 12 years from now. B

GPA: 2.7/4

Another Thin Man

Another Thin Man, 1939. A wealthy couple solves another mystery.

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Written by Frances Goodrich, & Albert Hackett, based on a story by Dashiell Hammett. Starring William Powell, & Myrna Loy.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: C
Enjoyment: I'd probably think it was a pretty good movie if I hadn't seen the other two or read the book. In comparison, it's not funny enough, Nick and Nora don't get enough chance to be sassy, and the story is cluttered. C

GPA: 2.5/4

"The Bookworm"

"The Bookworm" (short), 1939. A raven tries to catch a worm in a library.

Directed by Friz Freleng, & Hugh Harman. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: The raven has some nice little moments. Mostly it's pretty dull. C

GPA: 2.0/4

"Love on Tap"

"Love on Tap" (short), 1939. Managing a dance troop gets in the way of a woman's love life.

Directed by George Sidney. Written by Richard Goldstone, & Stanley Rauh. Starring Mary Howard, with Truman Bradley.

Concept: F
Story: D
Characters: F
Dialog: F
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: D
Music: D
Enjoyment: The sense of humor is so off, I can't even tell which lines are meant to be jokes. The dance numbers involve some impressive acrobatics, but are not dancing. F

GPA: 0.9/4

"Alpine Antics"

"Alpine Antics" (short), 1936. Someone tries to cheat at a downhill ski race.

Directed by Jack King. Starring Billy Bletcher, & Bernice Hansen.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: Bonus Whimsy Points for a duck riding a dachshund on skis. C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Vaguely amusing. There are gags. After watching so many early-to-mid-30's Looney Tunes lately, just the existence of gags is a very welcome change. C

GPA: 2.1/4

The Giver

The Giver, 2014. A boy from a future society where no one has emotions gets memories from the past.

Directed by Phillip Noyce. Written by Michael Mitnick, & Robert B. Weide, based on a book by Lois Lowry. Starring Brenton Thwaites, with Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgård, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, & Cameron Monaghan.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: It bothers me maybe a little too much that people who can't see color dye their clothing. C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: For the first two thirds or so it's an okay movie - a little flimsy in the suspension of disbelief department, and lacking in anything to make you care about it, but it has some promising ideas. Once the action gets going, it turns out to have nowhere to go, and the whole thing falls apart. C

GPA: 1.8/4

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 34 of 100



Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1958. A southern family deals with their relationship issues.

Directed by Richard Brooks. Written by Brooks, & James Poe, based on a play by Tennessee Williams. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, & Paul Newman, with Burl Ives.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: Ives is great. Taylor and Newman are not at their best. B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It seems unnatural and forced that any of the crucial confrontations happen at all. It's like everyone has appointed themselves to be every else's therapist. Otherwise, it does pretty well. Southern Melodrama has zero draw for me, but this held my interest. B

GPA: 2.8/4

Locke

Locke, 2014. A man's life falls apart while he drives to London.

Written & directed by Steven Knight. Starring Tom Hardy.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: A
Music: C
Enjoyment: I like when movies have fewer, longer scenes. And long conversations. Great actors getting a chance to just play a scene. (Not that I necessarily like that sort of movie more than other types of movies, but it's one of the things I like.) There's certainly no shortage of that here. It's the 12 Angry Men of character studies. B

GPA: 3.1/4

"Gold Diggers of '49"

"Gold Diggers of '49" (short), 1935. Prospectors look for gold.

Directed by Tex Avery. Starring Billy Bletcher, Joe Dougherty, & Bernice Hansen.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B
Enjoyment: Very early Avery, and he's not there yet. There are one or two Avery-ish gags, not done particularly well. Mostly, it's not funny. C

GPA: 1.9/4

The Untouchables

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 33 of 100



The Untouchables, 1987. The only honest cops in Chicago go after Al Capone.

Directed by Brian De Palma. Written by David Mamet, based on a book by Oscar Fraley & Eliot Ness. Starring Kevin Costner, with Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, & Robert De Niro.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: D
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: Points off for one terrible green screen shot. B
Acting: B
Music: D
Enjoyment: You could make a great movie out of it, with a little editing and a new score. C

GPA: 2.4/4

Dirty Harry

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 32 of 100



Dirty Harry, 1971. An asshole cop tries to catch an extortionist serial killer.

Directed by Don Siegel. Written by Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink, & Dean Riesner; story by Fink & Fink. Starring Clint Eastwood, with Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, & Andrew Robinson.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's made with enough craft to make up for the gun-nut morality. B

GPA: 2.8/4

Lucy

Lucy, 2014. A drug gives a woman god-like superpowers.

Written & directed by Luc Besson. Starring Scarlett Johansson, with Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, & Amr Waked.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: F
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Despite being credited to Besson, I'm pretty sure the screenplay was written by a stoned freshman philosophy student. It is directed by Besson, though, so it's fast paced with lots of bright colors. C

GPA: 2.0/4

After the Thin Man

After the Thin Man, 1936. Wise-cracking alcoholics solve another mystery.

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Written by Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett; story by Dashiell Hammett. Starring William Powell & Myrna Loy, with James Stewart, Elissa Landi, & Joseph Calleia.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: Why does the dog have its own scenes? C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: Powell & Loy continue to be charming, but a lot of the rest of the cast are terrible. C
Music: C
Enjoyment: It doesn't compare with the original, but that's to be expected. It's a nice enough movie, though, with sufficient Nick and Nora Being Nick and Nora to bump it up from okay to good. B

GPA: 2.9/4

"The Early Bird and the Worm"

"The Early Bird and the Worm" (short), 1936. A bird tries to catch a worm.

Directed by Rudolf Ising.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: There's not really anything in the way of humor, except for some racist characters and maybe one or two lame gags. It's a pleasant enough cartoon, though - happy and cute. C

GPA: 2.2/4

"How to Be a Detective"

"How to Be a Detective" (short), 1936. An instructional film spoof.

Directed by Felix E. Feist. Written by Robert Benchley, Robert Lees, & Frederic I. Rinaldo. Starring Benchley.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: F
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: D
Music: C
Enjoyment: In a ~10 minute film, there are four or five jokes (none of them funny), with the rest of the time being excruciatingly long set-up for the jokes. One of the best things about the invention of television is that it gave the assholes who thought this sort of thing was worthwhile to produce somewhere to dump it where it would be appropriately lost to time. D

GPA: 1.3/4

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

from my 100 Popular Movies Marathon, part 31 of 100



Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986. Three teenagers skip school for the day.

Written & directed by John Hughes. Starring Matthew Broderick, with Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, & Jennifer Grey.

Concept: C
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: It's weird that this movie is as entertaining as it is. It's a comedy without any exceptionally funny jokes. Most of its charm relies on Matthew Broderick, who is usually a charisma vacuum. The most important couple of scenes are played as serious drama, while the rest of the movie is cartoonish. But somehow it all manages to come together. B

GPA: 2.7/4

Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014. Five space criminals join together and save the galaxy.

Directed by James Gunn. Written by Gunn, & Nicole Perlman, based on a comic book by Dan Abnett, & Andy Lanning. Starring Chris Pratt, with Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, & Karen Gillan.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B
Enjoyment: Funny, and a lot of fun. It doesn't do nearly so well with action as it does with humor, but the action scenes don't ever drag on for too long without something entertaining to relieve you from them. A

GPA: 3.1/4

Star Trek: Nemesis

Star Trek: Nemesis, 2002. An alien world's new dictator is a mad clone.

Directed by Stuart Baird. Written by John Logan; story by Logan, Rick Berman, & Brent Spiner, based on a TV show by Gene Roddenberry. Starring Patrick Stewart & Tom Hardy, with Jonathan Frakes, Spiner, & Marina Sirtis.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: C
Enjoyment: There are enough good ideas in it that it might have been a good movie, with a different director and a revised script. As it is, it's just sort of like, "I don't know, here are some spaceships, and guys in capes, and I guess this isn't Star Wars?" C

GPA: 2.0/4