Our Hospitality (1923)

Seems like I've watched a whole lot of Buster Keaton films in the last few months. It is nice to watch one long enough to develop a storyline, even if it is just average overall.

This was is about a family feud that Keaton grows up unaware of. Upon returning to the town he grew up in he finds out there is a family, two brothers and a dad, that have every intention of shooting him dead. Keaton has already struck it up with the daughter in the family and is invited over for dinner. The "Our Hospitality" is that they have enough honor to not shoot a guest in their house, which is used for some pretty good slapstick sequences as he tries to get away from the house without getting shot.

The most interesting thing about this film is the waterfall sequence because Keaton's guide wire for the stunt actually broke, nearly killing him. They even used this take for the final edit... probably because it looked so realistic!

Still a lot better Keaton films out there to watch instead of this one.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014341/

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Everybody's Fine (2009)

Robert De Niro stars in this film as a recently widowed man, who is retired, and bored out of his mind. There are elements of a dark comedy but this is primarily a [hollow] drama. He has four children who he invites home for a weekend. They all end up canceling on him so he decides to go on a road trip.

He learns that his late wife hid a lot of family problems from him and that his children are hiding their problems from him. A slow, sad movie about a family with a lot of issues. The plot is slow but the acting is really pretty darn good. Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell all turned in good performances on a movie that just wasn't that interesting. Clearly a film that Miramax wanted to see nominated for some Oscars, it had all of the acting elements and release date. There is even a christmas tree in the background, which had little to nothing to do with the film. Ironically it also has a digital camera on it was well when the movie specifically makes like of De Niro still using regular film when visiting his family...

Only nominated for a song this awards season, so go ahead and pass on this one. You will be let down if you commit an evening to it.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780511/

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Leap Year (2010)

It takes a very special movie to get a 1/10. One so bad that you question, "Who screwed this thing up?" I start to ask did the director do a bad job with a decent script? Did Amy Adams think the script was good? Was it the writers fault? Was it bad from the start and the producer shouldn't have given it a green light?

The movie follows the cookie cutter romantic comedy line. Boy won't commit to girl, she meets bad boy, they don't get along, and she falls for bad boy in the end. You see it coming from the start, there is nothing to make you believe the movie is going to improve throughout it. So you have to be careful not to be overly critical because it is just that bad...

This is Amy Adams' first real bomb. She has had some average movies, I've liked her in everything since Junebug. Matthew Goode was fantastic in The Lookout... so I really have to blame the director here, Anand Tucker does not have a good resume and I will be avoiding him from now on.

Seriously, don't watch this movie.

Vote: 1/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216492/

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The Last of the Mohicans (1920)

The 1992 version of this film got one of my rare 10/10 ratings, so I had some mildly high expectations for this film. Maybe having expectation was the mistake here.

The story is that two sisters are trying to catch up to their father, a British officer, and are being perused by French soldiers and their Indian allies. Aided by the last two surviving Mohican Indians, they attempt to take some shortcuts off the beaten trail trying to catch up to the British unit.

Not sure if I can explain why this wasn't very good. It was just boring, and like I said, my expectations going into this probably made me judge it more.

Included in the National Film Archive and not on any other top film lists, just watch the new version it was fantastic, and this original pales in comparison.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0011387/

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Within Our Gates (1920)

This is the first film ever produced by an African American. Oscar Micheaux's film Within Our Gates is a film about an African American woman who is set up in a compromising situation and out of embarrassment heads south to start a school for African American kids.

Running into racism and bigotry she has difficulty getting financial support for her school. [Since I don't expect anyone to watch this one] The woman that set her up eventually admits her plan to split her up from her fiance and they are reunited.

The continuity of the film, and the explanation through subtitles is very bad. It was hard to follow the story because it either wasn't made obvious what was going on, or the subtitles were so spread out that you didn't know what character you were following.

Remembered for being the first African American production, not for being a good film.

Vote: 3/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0011870/

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In Cold Blood (1967)

Based on the chilling book "In Cold Blood" written by Truman Capote, this chilling film told from the killers point of view is a classic. So popular in fact that Capote (2005) was a movie all about Mr. Capote's life and interviews with the killers before their execution.

The film is about two men fresh out of prison that learn from a cellmate that farmers in Kansas hold large sums of money to finance the workers. On speculation alone they decide to take no prisoners and rob a family, leaving four innocent people dead in the process. So I just ruined the film? Not really. This film isn't about the mystery of what these men are going to do, they tell us their plan from the start. The film is about how two men can be so cold blooded that they will go to a someone's home in a city they have never been in, to a home they have never even seen, and kill people they have never met without any remorse.

A horror film, because this made people start locking their doors at night. It made us all realize that someone we have never met, someone we have never seen, someone that has never been in our city before might come and kill us in the middle of the night. The sad thing is that this is based on a true story, and is something that really happens, it happened in my neighborhood growing up.

A must see film, included on the AFI 10 Top 10 for Courtroom Drama, on the National Film Registry, and once on the imdb top 250.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061809/

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National Velvet (1944)

A film starring Elizabeth Taylor when she was just 12 years old. Based in England this film is about a girl who has a love for horses and through chance wins a horse who has the potential of winning the Grand National. Mickey Rooney plays a former jockey who helps her train the horse, that's right the now 90 year old Rooney can be seen in this film at the age of 24!

This film was selected as a top 10 American Sports film by the American Film Institute and the part that made me really enjoy this film was the mother. Played by Anne Revere, who was in A Place in the Sun in 1951 but I don't remember her from that film. She is a former swimmer, the first lady to swim across the English Channel, and her support for her daughter is touching. But the thing that really got me was the speech when she told her to shoot for her dreams, a part about recognizing when your time for greatness has come, and also understanding when it is over and time to move on. Moving on can be hard and is something a lot of people, including myself, have trouble doing.

Not a bad film, the banter around the dinner table with the family dog reminded me this is still a kids movie. Another not-in-America-but-still-an-American-Film entry on the AFI list, which I'm not a fan of. Good nonetheless.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037120/

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