Pandora's Box

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 15 of 15

Die Büchse der Pandora, 1929. An unflappable flapper is surrounded by melodramatic tragedy. Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Written by Ladislaus Vajda, based on plays by Frank Wedekind. Starring Louise Brooks.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's a perfectly okay movie (which is pretty good for a silent era drama), but unremarkable.  The only thing Ebert's essay has to say about it, apart from a lengthy plot synopsis, is that Louise Brooks is in it. And I guess that's supposed to be enough to make it a great movie. She's cool and all - very ahead of her time - but, man, if this is her best role, that is unfortunate.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Red River

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 14 of 15

Red River, 1948. A ruthless rancher heads a cattle drive. Directed by Howard Hawks & Arthur Rosson. Written by Borden Chase & Charles Schnee, based on a story by Chase. Starring John Wayne & Montgomery Clift.

Concept: 3/4 (Good). Mutiny on the Chisholm Trail. (Wayne even looks a little like a naval captain in that silly shirt.)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent). 90% of it is very good. But, oh, that other 10%... yeesh.
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent). At times, it's absolutely brilliant. At other times, it's horrendously awful.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great).
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Pretty darn exciting. Even when it slows down, there's usually still a lot of interesting stuff going on. (For instance, I wonder if John Wayne realized that all of these cowboys either are or want to be having sex with each other.) There's a heap of big problems with it, though - very uneven writing.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 (Good)

Swing Time

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 13 of 15

Swing Time, 1936. Boy dancer meets girl dancer; dancing ensues. Directed by George Stevens. Written by Howard Lindsay & Allan Scott; story by Erwin S. Gelsey. Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore & Helen Broderick.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). Although, the actors make them into something much better than what's written - particularly Broderick.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good). Ebert's essay makes a point of how they never cut away during the dance numbers. Isn't that just common sense, though? I mean, what would be the point of the movie if they didn't show you the dancing? It'd be like making action movies where you can't follow the action OH WAIT. </irrelevant rant>
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great). We definitely need to see more Ginger Rogers movies.
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). Amazing levels of delightfulness.  I can't remember the last time that watching something has filled me with anywhere near this much joy.  I can't bring myself to score it higher than an 8/10, though, on account of (1) a stupid plot and (2) holy crap did Fred Astaire just put on blackface? Yes, yes he did.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Woman in the Dunes

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 12 of 15

Suna no onna, 1964. Poor villagers trap a man in a pit. Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara. Written by Kôbô Abe, based on his book. Starring Eiji Okada & Kyôko Kishida.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Like a Beckett play, minus any of the humor.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

Written on the Wind

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 11 of 15

Written on the Wind, 1956. A paranoid playboy marries the woman his best friend loves. Directed by Douglas Sirk. Written by George Zuckerman, based on a book by Robert Wilder. Starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack & Dorothy Malone.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). Seeping vat of soap opera drivel. B monster movie, minus the monster.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.2/4 (Bad)

A Woman Under the Influence

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 10 of 15

A Woman Under the Influence, 1974. A working-class housewife is mentally ill. Written & directed by John Cassavetes. Starring Peter Falk & Gena Rowlands.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's an extremely well-made film, but difficult to watch. Uncomfortable, intense, and exhausting.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.2/4 (Very good)

Days of Heaven

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 9 of 15

Days of Heaven, 1978. A girl dispassionately observes a love-triangle melodrama. Written & directed by Terrence Malick. Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard & Linda Manz.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). A moving painting. The plot is Shakespearean and biblical - and corny and predictable. I'm glad I read Ebert's essay before watching it; if I had gone in not knowing what to expect, I'd probably have been frustrated and/or confused.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

The Lady Eve

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 8 of 15

The Lady Eve, 1941. A card shark and her mark fall in love. Written & directed by Preston Sturges, based on a story by Monckton Hoffe. Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette & William Demarest.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Pleasant. A different director could have made an extremely tedious movie out of this, but Sturges' timing and pacing are excellent. It's also somewhat risqué and morally ambiguous for the period, which is interesting.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.7/4 (Good)

Gates of Heaven

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 7 of 15

Gates of Heaven, 1980. People talk about the pet cemetery business. Directed by Errol Morris.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad). Not that kind of movie.
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: n/a
Acting: n/a
Music: 3/4 (Good). No music, except when it's played on camera.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). No commentary, no explanations, no hint at what Morris is thinking - just People. Although it consists of almost nothing but talk about pet cemeteries, that's not what it's about. Here's what Ebert's essay has to say about one of the film's monologues: "William Faulkner or Mark Twain would have wept with joy to have created such words as fall from her mouth, as she tells the camera the story of her life. She paints the details in quick, vivid sketches and then contradicts every single thing she says."
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

My Darling Clementine

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 6 of 15

My Darling Clementine, 1946. Wyatt Earp becomes marshal of Tombstone to find his brother's murderers. Directed by John Ford. Written by Samuel G. Engel & Winston Miller, story by Sam Hellman, based on a book by Stuart N. Lake. Starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature & Cathy Downs.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good). It's uneven, but there are some really great lines in there.
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent). Mostly it's good bordering on great, but I was completely lost (geographically speaking) during the final shootout.
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Fonda has an unexpected cheerful energy which is quite nice.
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Thoroughly entertaining. It sure is a relief to finally have a good movie in this marathon; I was almost ready to give up on Ebert.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

Body Heat

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 5 of 15

Body Heat, 1981. An affair leads to murder. Written & directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Starring William Hurt & Kathleen Turner.

Concept: 4/4 (Great). Noir! Suspense! Crime! Thrills and chills! What could possibly go wrong?
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 1/4 (Bad). It would have been fine for most 80s movies, but come on, this is supposed to be noir. I demand visual flair!
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). Maybe it's unfair to take points off for 80s fashion. It's not their fault that they didn't think, for instance, that William Hurt's mustache was ridiculous. But again, this is noir. There are expectations to be met. The juxtaposition of 80s and 40s style might not have been so obvious back in 1981, but... it has not aged well.
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 0/4 (Terrible). The same complaints as the special effects/design point, but amplified a million times.
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). It's polished and crisp in place of grittiness. It's blunt and soft-core porn-y in place of wit and innuendo. There's no mystery. The plot twist supplies the bare minimum necessary for the genre. They don't even have the decency to give us a voice-over narration. And what good there is can hardly be seen through the glare of the 1980s.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

Pickpocket

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 4 of 15

Pickpocket, 1959. An arrogant man is obsessed with pickpocketing. Written & directed by Robert Bresson. Starring Martin LaSalle, Marika Green & Jean Pélégri.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). There's some great suspense in the beginning, but it very quickly deteriorates into pretentious crap. Bresson deliberately alienates the audience every chance he gets.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

The Exterminating Angel

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 3 of 15

El ángel exterminador, 1962. Upper class dinner guests are unable to leave a room, for no apparent reason. Written & directed by Luis Buñuel.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). It was okay for the most part, up until the very end. There's a cheap gag of a coda that's frustratingly stupid and obvious. It might have been a good movie if the characters had any depth whatsoever. But that would require admitting that people are human, which is a point of view I suspect (based on this one movie) is beyond Buñuel.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 2 of 15

Angst essen Seele auf, 1974. An interracial couple is surrounded by former Nazis. Written & directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Starring Brigitte Mira & El Hedi ben Salem.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 3/4 (Good)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). I'm fortunate that I don't relate to this movie. I don't personally experience prejudice in my day to day life. In the film, it's just taken as a given. There's no attempt by Fassbinder to explain or understand it; it's just the way things are. Intellectually, I know that people as hateful as those in the movie are real. Even today, some of them are successful, powerful politicians. But, emotionally, I find I'm unable (or maybe unwilling) to accept it. The result is that the movie feels unbelievably over-the-top to me.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

Floating Weeds

From my Second Ebert's Great Movies Marathon, part 1 of 15

Ukigusa, 1959. A traveling actor returns to the town where his now-grown son lives. Directed by Yasujirô Ozu. Written by Kôgo Noda & Ozu. Starring Ganjirô Nakamura, Machiko Kyô, Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi & Haruko Sugimura.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad). I would love the way its paced, if it were a more interesting movie. This story is too boring for such a patient approach.
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). This is my first Ozu film. My impression is that he's an excellent director and a godawful dull writer.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

VSM: Ebert's Great Movies, part 2

(Picking up from the 1st Ebert's Great Movies Marathon)

I've decided to expedite my Ebert's Great Movies watching by limiting it to just the titles I haven't seen, or haven't seen recently. Also being skipped are the titles that aren't available from Netflix. (E.T. is one of those. The hell?) So: of what's left, from the contents of the first book, sorted according to the articles' dates on his website, here are the next 15 Great Movies.

Very Slow Marathon #8 – The 2nd Ebert's Great Movies Marathon
[note: You can find this list from the sidebar, under "Very Slow Marathons."]

1. Floating Weeds, 1959
2. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, 1974
3. The Exterminating Angel, 1962
4. Pickpocket, 1959
5. Body Heat, 1981
6. My Darling Clementine, 1946
7. Gates of Heaven, 1978
8. The Lady Eve, 1941
9. Days of Heaven, 1978
10. A Woman Under the Influence, 1974
11. Written on the Wind, 1956
12. Woman in the Dunes, 1964
13. Swing Time, 1936
14. Red River, 1948
15. Pandora's Box, 1928