tháng 4 2011 ~ The Larsen Film Review

Trouble in Paradise (1932)

This is going to be a really bad review, and I'm sorry for that. I have to say this film never really had my interest. I found it dull and slow, but nevertheless made it through pretty quickly. In retrospect I can't say I remember much about it... already. Maybe that is strange, but you can't tell me you haven't watched a movie so boring that you almost instantly forget it.

The movie is a romantic comedy starring Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins, the two meet while trying to con each other, they have a moment when they both figure each other out as fakes, and instantly fall in love. The premise of the film is that they work as a team pulling big con jobs all across Europe. They both join a perfume company and target the beautiful owner. Marshall makes his way up the food chain at the company to get in close contact before even eventually being in charge of financial decisions. Saying more would spoil the film, what there is of one that is.

I just couldn't get into this film, I didn't find much of anything to be funny. As a drama it was weak, and it was weak as a romance. Maybe it was more interesting 80 years ago.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023622/

Don't let the title fool you, this film is 100% English. It was just directed by a Frenchman Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, and produced in France, so it gets the international title. The film is the documentary feature winner Oscar winner from 2002, and one that a friend found for me in the Dallas library system.

The story is quite sad. A 15-year-old African American boy was picked on a Sunday morning while walking to Blockbuster to pick up a job application. The police told him that he committed a murder, asked a 60 something man to identify him as his wifes murder [from a distance while he sat in a police car], then beat a confession out of him. The film is as much about being a defense attorney as it is about an innocent boy on trial.

Patrick McGuiness, the defense attorney, is the main character in the film. We follow him around as he puts his case together, then the trial proceedings, and interaction with the family. It is almost like a REAL Law & Order episode, very well edited, and worth a watch. I'm a documentary fan, so I'm a little biased, and this doesn't get a higher rating because I like to learn when watching documentaries. It wouldn't compete against the Oscar documentary winner from the last couple years, but it very good nonetheless.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307197/

I, sort of, recognized the cast and director of this film when it was nominated for an Oscar, but it wasn't until a French co-worker spelled it out for me that I saw who was involved with this film. Directed by Rachid Bouchareb and starring Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem, and a number of repeats from the previously nominated film Days of Glory, this was another French funded war movie.

Days of Glory focuses on North Africans enlisting in the French army in World War II, and this film is about Algerian's fighting for their freedom not long after World War II. The plot starts with an uprising on the streets of Algeria, which ends in a massacre but the French army and then follows the formation of the French based Algerian resistance.

The idea behind the film and acting were very impressive. I honestly found the plot to be a little dull. We seemed to get a very small picture of the overall resistance. It almost seemed like a handful of people did it all themselves from the slums of France. I don't know what could have been changed to portray how this resistance organization really brought in a number of people, but it just seemed so much smaller than it really was. Don't get me wrong the acting was great, and I could even see this through having to read subtitles. I just don't think I'll remember this film AT ALL in 2-3 years. Nothing was memorable, and I learned nothing about the Algerian fight. The Battle of Algiers (1966) was a far superior film, and I'm sad this didn't have more "terrorist" style fighting that they even talk about taking from the Vietnamese people in the film.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229381/

This was one of the most bizarre musicals I have seen ever. It reminds me of a mix between Black Swan and the awful dream sequence in Oklahoma! The film is on a number of "Best" lists, including the 501 Must See Movies, imdb's top 250 bubbling under, and filesite lists top 100. A British film that I at least had the pleasure of watching in high definition in a spiffy remastering that recently came out.

The film is more of a fantasy ballet than a musical. The leading character's don't sing, but perform. I'm starting to realize that the musical genre encapsulates a number of "stage performance" films that aren't really musicals at all. The film centers around the redheaded Moira Shearer who plays Victoria Page, a young prima ballerina, who is under strict guidance of the company manager.

The performance of "The Red Shoes" ballet is very odd. Blurring the line between reality and fantasy the "stage" performance is impossible with a constantly changing scenery and bizarre direction. At first all I could think was "how the hell is this a possible performance?" I didn't get it, didn't like the characters, or the movie in general. Don't watch this one.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040725/

I was a little too young for this when it came out, so finding it on my new Action 101 list was pretty cool. Little did I know this was a Tom Clancy sequel to The Hunt for Red October and the first to feature Harrison Ford.

The film starts with action, has action packed highway chases, and near the end even has a suspenseful boat chase. The villains are persistent and Ford is at his best. I do like The Fugitive a little more, but this one is really good. I hate to give away plots so I'll keep this brief. While in England he foils an assassination attempt on British royalty by Irish extremists. The captured extremist is busted out of prison and comes to America to pursue Jack Ryan and his family.

An example of a great modern author with a worthy film adaptation of great series. I look forward to watching Clear and Present Danger in the near future.

Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105112/

I picked this one up at the local library a few weeks ago because it was on Leonard Maltin's top 100 of the century. It also happens to be on the National Film Registry. I would consider this a B movie, and a classic film noir with over-the-top noir style dialog.

The film starts with a young boy who loves guns. He is an excellent sharp shooter, and when he is breaks a store front window to steal a gun, he is caught and brought before a judge. His friends and family explain that he has never had any intentions to harm people or even animals, he just loves to shoot guns. There is even a disturbing scene where he takes a gun to school, and... well... the teacher just takes it away. My how things have changed in 50-60 years.

The judge send him away from family and friends to a juvenile delinquent school and the movie jumps forward to him returning home from the army. He of course spent all this time as a sharpshooter and goes to the fair with his friends where Anne is doing gun tricks. When he accepts a shooting challenge the two of them hit it off, and before you know it this femme fatale has them on the run.

A cheesy and carefree crime movie. Short and easy to watch. I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but I did. If you like this genre, check it out for something different.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042530/

One of the more current musical and part of the 501 Must See movie book. This film wasn't much of musical though, it was really about performing arts students with a few musical moments.

The film follows a group of students through school for the gifted in New York City. Starting with auditions and concluding with their graduation. We get to see the characters from their post-junior high immaturity to getting a grasp on their talents. Whether those talents are in dancing, singing, or musical instruments, all students are required to develop each and focus on one. The main characters are a sheepish Jewish girl, a boisterous hispanic boy, and a redheaded gay boy.

The famous scene using the title track involves a car driver who plays his sons music on loud speaker as the students are being dismissed. The kids run around bouncing off cars in traffic, all but starting a riot. The scenes with Coco being filmed at a sleazy "audition" and the gay boy explaining how his family treats his emotions like a sickness are the two most powerful. This isn't exactly a light-hearted movie, but overall it was better than I expected it to be.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080716/

I've made it a goal to stay on top of the silent movies when I find them, and I have to say this one was an easy watch. I actually watched the full hour restored version that came out in 1999, and it was pretty eventful and good. The original film was actually over 9 hours long, the director then edited it down to 5 1/2 hours. Another director [Rex Ingram] then cut it another 6 reels, then MGM without Erich von Stroheim's knowledge cut it down to 10 reels. So the 42 reel film was cut to 10 reels, and the other 32 were basically recycled before being saved.

So how is there a 4 hour version? Well there are a number of stilled used to reconstruct the story, and a lot of the text is 100% restored using the book "McTeague" as a reconstruction guide. This is considered one of the top ten lost films in American cinema, and from what I've seen it deserved to be held in high acclaim.

The film is about the deadly sin of Greed, and pushes examples it to an extreme. Starting with McTeague's dad and his downfall of greed, and epically following McTeague's life of marrying into fortune. When his wife is overly stingy it causes a rift in their relationship an to McTeague eventually snapping. The scenes in Death Valley at the end are some of the best in this era of film making and do a great job bringing this film to a close.

If you can handle the run time, this one is worth watching.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015881/

An epic silent war film about World War I. I found this one on archive.org. It is in the National film Registry and also in the 501-Must See Movies, under action for some reason.

My review might contain spoilers, but I've found that spoilers on silent movies actually help me. I really don't like to know what a movie is about before seeing it, so that I both have an open mind and let the director lead me rather than a review. The problem is that silent movies are very difficult to follow, even when I watch them at double speed. If I have some sort of clue were it is going it helps a lot.

So this one starts with a Argentinian cattle baron who owns a lot of land and two daughters. One daughter marries a Frenchman, the other a German. When the old man dies his daughter's families split the inheritance and move to their respective countries. When World War I breaks out the two families end up pitted on opposite sides. As you would expect the German side is ruthless and the French side is the heroic side, this was made in the USA. So where does the title come from? Well there is a subplot of how this great war is the beginning of the apocalypse, and a mystic spells all this out before the battles.

I could see how this was a pretty cool film some 90 years ago. It was difficult to get through though, long and grainy, and I couldn't get into the story very much. It took me a number of days to wrap it up.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0012190/

The 3rd and final lost post.

Based on the novel Porgy and 1935 Gershwin Opera, this was a very difficult film to get a hold of. Much like Carmen Jones, this film stars Dorothy Dandridge and was directed by Otto Preminger, it also won the Golden Globe for best musical but also managed an Oscar win. It also features Sidney Poitier in a leading role as Porgy.

The Gershwin family owns the rights to the film, and lead for a change in directors. They then regretted the change when the final product came out "to Hollywood" and have since held the rights to the film. This means they have not been interested in remastering a film they didn't like, and it has not been released on DVD to this date. So finding a decent copy was hard, and the sound quality was poor, which hurts watching musicals.

The plot is that Bess' man Crown murders a man in town, when he goes on the run she is left without anyone to support her. She is left with only the local cripple Porgy to help her out. The problem with the film is that I felt like I was watching a play, not a movie. It was very stagy with few camera angles, few set changes, and bad singing. Dubbed like other Opera's turned musical and boring songs. I hate to say that I really didn't connect at all with this film. I doubt a better copy would have done much for me, and I can see why the Gershwin Family wasn't happy with the final product. Maybe they shouldn't have changed directors...

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053182/

Moving on to the 2nd lost post.

Warner Baxter stars as a Broadway director who is afforded one last chance to make a successful show. It is not that he has had failures in the past, it is that the country is coming out of the depression and he has a history of nervous breakdowns. Bebe Daniels stars as the girl new to Broadway who is given a break, and trying to make it to the top. The film is famous and on a number of "Best" lists simply for being the "first." Not the first general musical, but the first musical that takes the audience behind the curtain. Showing how the show comes together, what auditions are like, what rehearsals are like, and traveling to shows.

I'm tired of watching films just because they are the first at something, there are a lot of sub-genres in the film industry to be a first of, and that isn't enough to call your movie good. Boring, slow, and made 90 minutes feel pretty long. Pass on this one.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024034/

It is very frustrating to see that blogger has now lost three of my posts. Re-writing reviews of films that I didn't give "Worth Watching" scores is not exactly thrilling. So pardon me being brief.

Nominated for two Oscars and winner of the Golden Globe for best musical, this is the first musical themed after an Opera that I think I have seen. It is an interesting concept, and one I don't see being copied much today, and if you aren't familiar with the music can seem just plain strange. It is no secret that all of the singing in this film is dubbed, it is pretty clear from the first song that the talking voices do not match the singing voices. The film is directed by Otto Preminger and the music is by Oscar Hammerstein II who took the songs from Bizet Opera "Carmen" and re-wrote the lyrics to fit the modern theme.

The story is about a girl on a military base who gets what she wants, men that is. Careless and carefree with how she goes about getting her guys, and quick to jump from man to man regardless of how she ditches the previous one. Starring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, I found the acting above average but nothing special, and the music bothered me. I love the music from Carmen, so it was fun to hear it re-written for this film, but the dubbing bothers me. You can't expect the actors to be able to sing opera, which is why a film like this just didn't work very well.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046828/

I just got through saying that The King and I was my favorite musical so far in musical month. This one though was the best for me all month. Not necessarily a family oriented musical like The King and I but I loved the casting here.

I'm not going to lie though, seeing Marlon Brando in a musical was a little amusing, but I'm a big Frank Sinatra fan, so seeing him in a film where is sings was fantastic. The plot is actually pretty fun and even slightly unpredictable until the last 30 minutes or so. The best part of musical month is finding where some of the great songs came from. This one has two I really liked "Luck Be A Lady" and "Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat" and the theatrical performances behind these were enjoyable to watch.

Quite simply the plot is all about gamblers. Nathan Detroit [Sinatra's character] runs the local craps game and Sky Masterson [Brando's character] is the high roller in town. When Nathan needs money he makes a bet with Sky that he can't take just any girl to Cuba for the weekend. Nathan picks a mission worker strongly opposed to gambling and sinful activities, and the plot is about Sky convincing her to go.

Fun story, good cast, good music, one of my favorites now.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048140/

I've actually had this film for some time now. My grandmother took me to see this performed live 8-10 years ago so I haven't been all that interested in seeing something that I felt I had already seen. Truth be told when I started it up I couldn't even remember what it was about, but about 10 minutes into it, it all came back to me.

A traveling salesman, Mr. Hill [Robert Preston], has a scheme going where he travels around selling band equipment to the people of a small town with the promise of teaching their kids how to play the instruments. When the equipment arrives and he is paid he runs off. With each town the scheme grows and he sells more items, first sheet music, then uniforms, etc. The problem with this latest town is that is starts to fall for the librarian, Marian [Shirley Jones], and we also learn that actually conducting a band has always been a dream of his. So in a way running away at the last minute he has been running away from himself and commitment, just as much as the people he sold the instruments to.

For a film were I knew the outcome, I found it really quite good. I watched is because it won the Golden Globe, and was surprised to see that it won an Oscar and was nominated for 5 more.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056262/

A made for tv [VH1 to be exact] documentary that I felt deserved a post about. This is one of the bands I grew up listening to, and with their latest album just being released the 2 hour film is worth a review. The film centers around Dave Grohl and his journey through his musical career.

Side Note:
I remember not getting tickets to the tour of their self-titled album release back in 1995, then begging my dad to take me to The Colour and the Shape Tour in 1996. We went to the show in mid-July at a venue that didn't have A/C. It was later recorded that it was 112 degrees inside, and I can imagine what it was like on stage. Anyways, I have a lot of memories of this band and seeing a full history was nice.

So the documentary starts primarily with Dave joining Nirvana and his side of the Kurt Cobain suicide, and the difficulties of continuing his musical career afterwards. Just like one of my other favorite bands, Nine Inch Nails where Trent Reznor performed all the parts of his first album Pretty Hate Machine, Dave in fact performed all the parts of the original Foo Fighters album himself. He then went out and found a band that had just fallen apart and recruited three of its members, as well as a former Nirvana band mate to go on tour. After the first three albums and seven years only one of those 4 members made it through.

The documentary does a great job keeping the focus on the bands growth and evolution. I really could have done without the last 30 minutes which was more of an ad for the new album and less about the band's history, but it was nice to see the band interacting and working on new music and the thought process behind that.

Overall: A very bias perfect 10/10 because I love the band, even if I didn't the first two hours is a 7 or 8 depending on if you like this music.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853563/

Yul Brynner & Deborah Kerr star in one of the best Rodgers & Hammerstein films and overall musicals of all time. Winner of 5 Oscars and 2 Golden Globes and a film for all ages.

This has been the best movie in musical month so far. Brynner was fantastic, Kerr wasn't bad, I hate to say that a number of actresses could have made that role work for them, but she was a good fit and had a good voice to back it up. Back to Brynner though, his comedic timing and over usage of "American" terms were fantastic, like the "etc., etc." he uses. It reminded me of Seinfeld using the "yada yada."

This is the kind of musical that Rodger & Hammerstein made formulaic though. With key musical voices in specific roles, and with songs consistent and well placed. To me the story had a few holes, like what was her son doing during all of this? Did he have his own room, was he in class with the King's kids? Overall I really liked it and am a little surprised this isn't in the imdb 250.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049408/

I actually didn't have a musical prepared for my ipod so I diverged for a moment to work on my Oscar nominees a little bit. This film is probably the most controversial film of the year since it was in the running for Best Picture before it was slapped with an NC-17 rating. The film was slapped with this rating because of a scene between the two lead characters involving both sex and violence. There is quite a bit of racy subject matter in the film, and you would have to be pretty lax with what you call acceptable for the R rating. I think it is fairly common for films to be on the border between R and NC-17 and are edited to meet the more acceptable rating. I just don't think you could avoid some of the scenes and have the same overall film.

The film stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. I've become very familiar with Gosling's indie films over the last few years, Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson, were both very good. Most people should be familiar with his more popular The Notebook. Williams on the other hand has had a rough several years. This project was actually put on hold for over a year after the death of her husband Heath Ledger. I didn't find her film Wendy and Lucy very good either. You do have two actors that are willing to take risks, and this is a risky film.

The plot of the film is that Dean and Cindy are married with a little girl. You can sense there is tension in their relationship from the start, and Dean acts like kind of a bum. He goofs around with his daughter, and Cindy doesn't seem to enjoy this one bit. We only advance one to two days in the film and are constantly flashing back to before they met, through their courtship, and eventual marriage.The film is very dark and I have been reflecting back on it a lot over the last several weeks since watching it. There is no easy answer to who is wrong, and why the situation turns sour. I found this film to be much more intense and memorable than Winter's Bone, but feel that The Town would have still been the best choice for the 10th Best Picture nomination.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1120985/

Howard Hawks directed almost 50 films in his day. From action, to film-noir, to westerns, to gangster films, and even musicals. This musical of his paired up Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. 60 years later it is hard to believe that this film was purchased by Fox for Betty Grable but they felt that Monroe was just as good of a sex symbol and far less expensive. Russell was actually payed much better and the bigger star at the time than Monroe, who's name will probably live longer.

So what is this film about? Monroe is a gold digger, and Russell is looking for love. They take a ship to Europe and happen to be on board with the US Olympic team (perfect for Russell's character) and with an owner of a diamond mine in South Africa (perfect for Monroe's character). The film has some ok song and dance scenes. Honestly I find Monroe's acting to be atrocious and fake, she does however manage a few witty one liners in all of her films. Like: "I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like it."

The best part of musical month is seeing famous songs being performed. This one features "Diamonds are a girls Best Friend," a Monroe performance that will always be iconic, and probably reason enough to check this one out. The film as a whole was not great, but what do you expect.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045810/

The 2nd ever winner of the Best Picture Oscar, and credited as the 2nd musical film ever made. The movie poster even boasts that is has "talking"! I can't imagine being around in a time where mixing video and audio was so new and interesting, so finding this film good was very difficult.

I don't think the actors and actresses were good, actually I found them to be pretty awful. It sounded like there were reading lines, and I imagine that not only were they reading lines, but they were some of the first to do so. There was no acting school right? So maybe it isn't fair to judge here, but I didn't find the story all that good.

The song and dance routines were pretty fun, but I have to say... there seems to be a trend in musicals were most stage performers are very nasty people. Cutthroat, crude, and rude. I don't get it. Anyways, at least it was short.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019729/

Teh 3 hours Oscar Best Picture winner starring William Powell [My Man Godfrey and The Thin Man]. The film is full of musical performances, but I have trouble labeling it a musical. It is really an epic biography about a performance manager that follows his life from promoting a weightlifter to musical talents to complete and elaborate stage shows.

I'm a big fan of Powell, probably because I've seen his very best films only, and I really like him in comedic roles. So a drama was a little hard for me because I found it dull most of the time. The problems with his marriage never really got very intense, like a film nowadays would have, and his financial troubles were taken lightheartedly as well.

It was just way too long. I couldn't find the time to commit to a film that was this dull, and it ended up taking me 4-5 days to get through. I did a pretty good job of watching it for 30-40 minutes in each sitting, but it was never compelling enough for me. I definitely wouldn't suggest it.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027698/

For musical month I have been trying to watch a lot of stuff that I should be able to say I've seen. One thing on that list is an Elvis movie. With 31 films to his credit on imdb Elvis Presley is an actor I have yet to sit and watch through an entire feature film. From what I can tell this is one of the most popular, and the pairing with Ann-Margret was something I was wanting to see also.

The plot in this film is minimal, something I expect from a television sitcom from that era. Elvis plays "Lucky" who is in Vegas for a car race, and his car doesn't even have an engine yet. A French Count and him start vying for the same girl, a swim instructor at a hotel who is going to college in Vegas. All competitions are in good fun and the dancing reminds me of what your parents think are dancing. You can't help but laugh at Ann-Margret's moves and clothing.

At only 85 minutes it is a quick watch, and never really gets painful. I'll have to watch a few more Elvis movies to tell you if this is the one to check out, because it wasn't good, I just don't know if the rest are even worse.

Vote: 5/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058725/

A must see musical for me. Born and raised in Oklahoma it was starting to get embarrassing to say that I had not seen this film. A winner of two Oscars in the 50's and full of songs I have heard many many times.

So what is the film about? Curly and Laurey like each other but not dating, when Curly takes too long to ask Laurey to the dance she let's Jed take her. Jed is the hired hand on her mother's ranch, an odd [and creepy] character that takes great offense when Curly is around.

There is a side plot with an easy girl who has a peddler and local boy both courting her. She is to daft to deny either of their advances, and the comic relief of this love triangle gets annoying fast.

The dream dance sequence ruined this film for me. What could have been a solid 7 and maybe even an 8 dropped to barely worth watching after a 20 minute sequence where the main character changed, the dialog ended, and the dancing went on, and on, and on.

A must watch, but not necessarily a worthwhile watch. I'm glad that I can now say I have seen this one.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048445/

It was somewhat of a mistake to watch this movie in musical month. It has an element of music but it is very minor. The film stars Bing Crosby so I was sure this would have quite a bit of singing. It did however win 7 Oscars and helps me get closer to seeing all of the best picture winners.

Released during World War II the theme of the movie is a young priest starting work at a dieing church. Father Fitzgibbon [Barry Fitzgerald] built the church and is now in financial distress as he is unable to keep up with the loan collectors and the church is starting to age. Father O'Malley [Bing Crosby] comes along and wins the favor of the youth, who were getting in trouble stealing chickens and by the end of the film have formed a boys choir.

The film started really good, I couldn't stop watching it and made it through the first 45 minutes easily. The plot was entertaining and I was curious to see what O'Malley would do to upgrade the conditions of the church. The movie just seemed to fall flat though, it detoured into him wanting to release his song "Going My Way," the title track rather than building the congregation. I just didn't like where it went and felt it lacked a message even though it started so well.

This could have easily been a "Worth Watching" if the last half would have gone somewhere, but I didn't get anything out of this one, and will sadly forget it eventually. A disappointing 7 Oscar winner.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036872/

Considered by some to be one of the weakest Oscar years, Gigi managed to win an incredible 9 Oscars in 1959. As well as 3 Golden Globes and a Grammy.

Starring Leslie Caron [An American in Paris and Chocolat] and Louis Jourdan. This is one of those "foreign" film in English. It takes place in Paris, and everyone speaks English with a fake French accent. I find films like this annoying in an era of film-making where they assume the world speaks only English. I diverge...

Jourdan plays a rich playboy who spends countless nights with different women on his arm, when he wants to get away from that lifestyle he goes to play cards with the young Gigi [Caron]. It starts as a platonic relationship, but after a weekend trip to the beach things start to change. A cute story, and not a bad film. I didn't find any of the song particularly special and it definitely didn't live up to winning nine Oscars.

Just ok for me, not a bad musical, but I could pass.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051658/

I'm not really sure how to classify this film. Watched because of its musical focus, but it is more of a comedy than anything. Nominated for a foreign language golden globe, the film was not really on anyone's radar for the Oscars. I'm really not sure who the panel came across this one, but it is a good example of the difference between the two awards for this genre. The Oscars focus on dramas because they strike a larger audience, while the Globes are willing to throw a comedy into the mix. I'm not sure why, because they never seem to win, and foreign comedies just don't come across as funny when you are reading subtitles.

The film starts in Russia, where Andrey Filipov is a janitor at the Bolshoi Orchestra House. Once a famous conductor, but fired for hiring Jews he has spent the last 30 years dreaming of conducting again. When a fax is sent from France asking the Orchestra to come play, he intercepts it and gets his friends together pretending to be the famous Orchestra. The plot is really fun for the first 30 minutes, but it switches from comedy, to drama, back to comedy, and I really can't keep up with what is supposed to be funny and what is supposed to be serious. There are definitely serious moments when it comes to interaction with Anne-Marie, daughter of a famous singer that Filipov used to know.

If I knew French or Russian that might have helped, which is exactly why this film isn't even considered for an Oscar. Just ok [at best] for me.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320082/

Nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes because of the song "Coming Home," but not for acting. A good movie for music/musical month but definitely not a musical. There are some good country songs by Beau [Garrett Hedlund], Kelly [Gwyneth Paltrow], and Chiles [Leighton Meester].

I was shocked to find that this movie had such a low imdb score [5.7 while writing this review] because I really liked the movie. I guess I have much different taste in music related films because I really did like Crazy Heart [6/10 with a 7.4 imdb average] and it won some significant Oscars last year.

The film centers around Paltrow's character who is a multiple Grammy winner who is currently in rehab. She is trying to prepare for a comeback while Beau and Chiles are starting their career. The interaction between Chiles and Kelly is likened to a modern All About Eve. But the better parts of the movie for me involved Tim McGraw, who to me is really starting to show he is a serious actor. I have enjoyed him in both this and The Blind Side.

Maybe not for everyone, and maybe a little sappy at times, but I found it to be much better than I was expecting going into it.

Vote: 9/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1555064/

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