A Star is Born (1954)

A residual of musical month, this one was a late arrival from my library rentals so it took me a little while to get to. Not to mention this is a 3 hour film. Starring Judy Garland and James Mason the restored version that I watched had a number of pieced together scenes where we had photo stills and stock archive audio to make the film how it was originally intended. This is only the second time I've seen a film like this with Greed last month using the same method. With that film it worked though, a silent film that already has subtitle frames, stills and text aren't so bad. This one was just strange for me, I can't get lost in a film when it is being pieced together for me.

This might be one of Garland's best films though. She has an array of great performances, sadly I was a little over watching musicals when I got to this one, and 3 hours made for a lot of song and dance sequences. I thought it had a great central plot and a sad overall story, the length however was just a bit too much. There was a reason they edited all that stuff out.... because it was too long... I didn't need the stills to recreate it being too long.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047522/

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The Fall (2006)

A film styling that reminded me a lot of Pan's Labyrinth, a kid's fantasy with adult themes. A film that Ebert put in his top 10 list of the year, and one that I can't say that I loved.

The film takes place at a hospital in LA where a stuntman has hospitalized after jumping [FALLing] off a bridge on a horse (the opening sequence). A young girl is also in the hospital after FALLing while picking oranges, back in the day where their are no child labor laws... The main character Roy [Lee Pace] starts telling Alexandria [Catinca Untaru] a fantasy story about a group of men hunting down an evil man. The story is clearly Roy talking about the actor he does stunt work for and the girl he lost to this actor. Through the fantasy people start dying, all taking big falls... the central theme to the film.


All in all, it was a creative film, and I loved the narrator and girl changing the fantasy in real-time. It was a cool film, that I thought would be good for a young audience... except for all of the dead. The guy wants to commit suicide in real life with the girls help, and he is killing people off in his sadistic fantasy that he is telling this young girl. Pretty creepy, and no good target audience. It makes sense that this is the same director [Tarsem Singh] from The Cell with Jennifer Lopez.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/

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Get Low (2010)

It took a lot for me to actually give this film a chance, I don't regret the decision, but I don't feel like I found a sleeper hit either. A film that was on the Oscar radar for a while but had a delayed release and wasn't as warmly accepted as it could have been.

The film is based on a true story, and from what I could tell it wasn't over dramatized, which might be why it seemed to fall flat for me. Robert Duvall plays a hermit that receives a message that one of his friends has past. Going to his funeral he decides that his time may be coming close also, and on the trip finds that most of the townspeople are quite afraid of him. They all seem to have a story about how he became a hermit, and he decides that he wants to have a funeral before he is gone... so that he can attend.

I liked Lucas Black in this and Robert Duvall was really good. I'm not a big fan of Sissy Spacek and I can never take Bill Murray seriously. I really enjoyed a good chunk of the film, and I fear I'm spoiling a little bit when I say that the film just kind of ended for me. It was just kinda over. We heard his story, learned about him, but I didn't really care that much. I can't really suggest this one, it wasn't bad, and it might connect with other people, so I also don't want to deter anyone either.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194263/

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Wall Street (1987)

With Wall Street 2 coming out this last year I though it would be good to check out the original first. Starring Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Daryl Hannah, and Martin Sheen. Fittingly Charlie's real father Martin, also plays his father in this film.

The film is centered around Bud Fox [Charlie Sheen], a young wall street stockbroker impatient and with high expectations. He seeks out working for the highly successful Mr. Gekko [Michael Douglas], calling his secretary constantly to get a shot at an interview with him. After a little insider trading Mr. Gekko uses Bud to help make illegal moves until things start to catch up to Bud.

With Sheen's current escapades and having dealt with these brokers screwing us all a few years ago, it is hard to side with him in the slightest. I felt Oliver Stone wanted me to care for Bud in the end, but honestly I didn't. "Talk at ya" and 80's decor kept this film from being "worth watching," and I'm curious what a sequel will be like without Bud as the main character.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Growing up I read the first three books in this seven book series. This was the last one I read and chronicles the voyages of Prince Caspian. It is the least interesting book from what I remember, but it is the best film so far in the series. With less than 1/2 the votes on imdb so far than the 2nd my guess is this film didn't get enough publicity or people have given up on this series.

The director of the first two Andrew Adamson was replaced by Michael Apted, which might have been what this series needed. Peter [William Moseley] and Susan [Anna Popplewell] are now minor characters and Edmund [Skandar Keynes] and Lucy [Georgie Henley] become the main characters. Either they are better actors or the director just did better with their lines because this film was a huge improvement.

I now really look forward to the fourth film in the series, the first that I haven't read and with a better director now have me interested again.

So the film starts with Lucy and Edmund staying with their Uncle while World War II breaks out in England, they are pulled into Narnia and aboard the Dawn Treader where Caspian is searching for some lost swords. The film has a lot more religious implications than the previous ones, but it is vague enough for kids to not connect. I really enjoyed this film, maybe because it was just much better than I was expecting.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0980970/

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The Way Back (2010)

So the Russian film about escaping Siberia [The Edge: Kray] was nominated for a golden globe, and the American film with a similar concept was nominated for an Oscar.

Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe and 21) stars in a film based on true events about a small group that escape a Siberian gulag walking ~4000 miles to freedom in India. With quality performances by Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, and Saoirse Ronan, this was not a bad film at all. The nomination was not for acting through, it was for make-up and it lost the Oscar to The Wolfman, in a category where more is better it had no chance. It was more a combination of good scenery, good make-up, and good costumes; than great make-up alone.

Since you are told from the start that this is based on a true story of men actually making it to freedom it is hard to really spoil the film since the director did this for you. The amazing thing about the movie is the men's ability to survive in both extreme conditions. They start in freezing conditions and then end by crossing a desert. Personally I think I have a better chance at a desert [since I've always lived in a hot climate], and I'm pretty sure I would have 0% in Siberia.

Anyways, National Geography helped produce this film, and this is one that should be enjoyed in HD.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1023114/

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The Company Men (2010)

From one of the producers of ER and The West Wing this film is about how CEO greed affected employees at the company. With a $15 million budget and only about $5 million grossed so far, it is pretty clear that this country isn't interested in films highlighting what some many people are going through.

This might be a film in 15-20 years when looking at highlights of Ben Affleck or Tommy Lee Jones careers we will wonder why this one wasn't more popular without understanding the situation. This film starts with Affleck's character getting ready for work in an expensive home. Upon arriving to work he is laid off, and the film follows his life through the economic slump. Kevin Costner plays a very minor role as the CEO while Tommy Lee Jones plays a more significant film as a VP who was roommates with Costner's character in college. Chris Cooper had a great performance as the early 60's man too young for retirement but with no skill set to find another job.


The film is quite good. I actually started it around 10:30pm, planning on watching it in two halfs. It was so good I stayed up and watched the whole thing. If you can handle the overplayed subject matter it is worth your time.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172991/

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