——It’s a Wonderful Life——

(A)

For some reason my mom finds this to be a terribly depressing film. I’m not exactly sure why though, because besides the fact that George Bailey wants to kill himself to save his family and a few moments scattered throughout the movie where George is bitter about the fact that he can’t travel the world this is a pretty positive movie. And isn’t that the point? George may not have gotten what he wanted out of life, but ultimately he got more than he ever imagined he could out of life. There are lots of great jokes scattered throughout the film, and the ending has to be one of the most joyful (and slightly insane) endings to a film ever. Here’s a man cheering over his crashed car. This is a happy man. I also like the fact that the film decides to stay away from Potter at the end. No revenge is necessary, because George has beaten down Potter time and time again. (Although I do love the SNL alternate ending where after getting all of the money the town goes over to Potter’s place and kicks the shit out of him.)

——Finding Nemo——

(A)

This is a great movie. I don’t quite have the same love for it that I do Toy Story 2, but it is still a pretty sweet story. It also benefits from not having 30 little kids screaming in the background. The first time I saw it the jokes were still funny but the quieter moments didn’t quite have the right impact. Damn little kids. Anyway, what I like most about the movie is how Marlin’s relationship with Dory helps him to become a better father, and hey, if anyone can teach you patience and understanding it is a fish with a short term memory problem.

——Dressed to Kill——

(A-)

Once again Brian De Palma proves that he’s not really the best director, but damn, when you give him a scene with no dialog he can really work wonders. The scene in the museum where Angie Dickenson flirts with a stranger is told so well without any dialog that it could work perfectly on its own as a short film. Angie gives a fantastic performance in the film, by the way, especially considering she’s only in the film for less than a half hour.

What is it with De Palma and shower scenes? The last three De Palma movies I’ve seen (Carrie, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out) have started with an actress naked in a shower when a traumatic event takes place. Femme Fatale also starts out with some nudity (in a bathroom, nonetheless). De Palma loves his boobies. The one movie I can’t think of any nudity in it is Scarface (is there? I don’t remember) which oddly seems like the movie most prone to random shots of nudity. Oh well.

Michael Caine is pretty fantastic as the transsexual murderer, although I hate Dennis Franz as the cop (I also hated him in Blow Out. Go figure.) And I really am starting to love De Palma’s over-stylized direction even if I’m not the biggest fan of his writing.

——Rio Bravo——

(A)

What exactly does the title actually refer to? I missed that part. Anyway, at the start I wasn’t really sure I’d like this John Wayne Western, but after a half hour I was totally hooked. Some of the characters that seemed like they would become really annoying turned out to be quite enjoyable, like Stumpy and the Mexican hotel owner who seemed to fit every Hispanic Speedy Gonzalas stereotype out there. This movie has a lot of really great character interaction, especially between Wayne and Dude the ex-drunk and Wayne and Angie Dickenson (there she is again!). Wayne deserves an Oscar just for his facial expressions when Angie first dares him to strip-search her. His emotions seem to shift between embarrassment, an aw shucks attitude, and the side of him that would really like to do that strip-search but can’t.

This is a great rip-roaring Western meant by Howard Hawks to be a direct response to High Noon (Hawks thought Gary Cooper was a pussy for asking the town for help. Wayne pushes any new help away at every possible chance.) It shows too, because every time Wayne gets knocked down, he just gets right back up again to kill some more bad guys. My favorite part is when they smoke the bad guys out of a house by actually throwing out dynamite and shooting it to ignite it. Now that’s hardcore.

——Cold Mountain——

(B+)

This would be a great movie if it didn’t keep repeating itself instead of moving on when it should. At two and a half hours the episodic structure doesn’t really lend itself well to repeating the same thing over and over again (quite a few characters actually repeat lines almost word for word from what was said earlier by someone else). Some things work, some things don’t. The opening Battle of the Crater is beautifully done, and Jude Law’s scene with Natalie Portman as a war widow is also wonderfully done (bringing back the age old question: Can Natalie Portman act or not?). Likewise on Nicole’s side of the world, all of Renee Zellweger’s scenes are great comic relief (in an otherwise extremely depressing movie) and her scenes with Donald Sutherland are wonderful too. Oddly enough, the worst scenes are the ones where Nicole and Jude are actually together. How the fall in love makes little to no sense, and their sex scene at the end is horribly directed, using fast editing of random shots of body parts to somehow make everything seem more romantic (and making me wonder why the hell they were having sex naked and outside of the blankets when it was freezing cold outside). Like I said though, the worst part of the movie is that it really starts to repeat itself on how horrible the war is, and after a while you just want them to shut up and stop bitching about it for a little while. It’s a pretty decent movie, but doesn’t deserve all the Oscar attention it is (probably) going to get.

——The Night of the Hunter——

(A)

Man, this movie is wild! Everything is taken to the extreme and would be laughable if it weren’t so stylized and wonderfully done. The lighting especially is amazing, and the acting not that far off. Robert Mitchem is terrifying as the preacher who marries women and then murders them, with Love and Hate written on his knuckles, more so because he’s so charming with the ladies and so terrifying with the children. The two little kids that are trying to hide the secret of where their daddy’s stolen money is hidden are great too. They have some great facial expressions.

But what I love about this movie is how goofy it is, while keeping it’s credibility. There is a great random moment where the boy’s uncle in one motion pulls a giant trout out of the water and into the boat, and then proceeds to beat it with his paddle. There are so many random insane moments like that that this movie can’t help but be a cult camp classic. A great movie, recommended!