Category Archives: Film Reviews

We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges

Yes we do. We need badges for completing the November daily blogging challenge NaBloPoMo and Nano Poblano. It gives one a sense of accomplishment and relief as well to be finishing. It was quite an experience. It seems like it was so long ago that we started. I do appreciate my badges.

But thinking of badges got me thinking of the title of another classic film. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston. It was directed by John Huston. There is a famous line in the film uttered by the leader of a gang of banditos when he was asked to show identification to verify his claim of being a Federales. Here is the film clip via John Benedetti on You Tube:

The film was adapted from the book of the same name by B. Traven.

It is a classic story of the search for gold and the how greed affects people.

Well some more good news. It is raining in Southern California! It will not make up for the long drought but it is a start.

|Nano Poblano| farewell until next time.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

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Here I go writing about one of my favorite classic movies. I watched it again recently. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir stars Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. The setting is 1900 in England. Lucy Muir is a young widow with a little daughter. She has been living with her in-laws for a year since her husband died. She makes the decision to set out on her own. She has a small income from her husband’s estate.

This was very daring for a woman in 1900 to want to live on her own. That’s what I really like about this character. She has a lot of spunk. She wants to live by the sea and finds a little cottage that has a very low rent.

The only problem with the cottage is that it is haunted by a sea-captain, Daniel Gregg, played by Rex Harrison. He is in the habit of scaring all prospective tenants in order to get them to leave him in peace.

The story is about the relationship that develops between The Ghost and Lucy. They can’t have a physical relationship but they do end up caring about each other. I don’t want to give the whole story away. I hate that when I read a review and it tells me the whole story before I see the film. I like to be surprised.

There is a commentary on the DVD that discusses more nuances of the film. It is in black and white. The cinematography, by Charles Lang, was nominated for an Oscar. There are special effects done with light that help set the tone and add to the mood. The musical score is by Bernard Herrmann. His music is very evocative of the ocean in its various moods. The view of the ocean waves hitting the shore are used during the film to suggest the emotional tone and the passage of time.

Bernard Herrmann was an American composer who worked on many films. He did scores for several Alfred Hitchcock films. His music is a great example of how the music is almost like another character in the film.

You may have guessed I like films about strong women. I like mystery and romance. This film has all three.

|Nano Poblano| among other things.

Sunday Rest

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Their_Day_of_Rest_(1919)_-_Ad_1 wikipedia

“She broke his heart with one of her biscuits.”

Here we are at Sunday and taking a day of rest again today. I was looking for an image and found the one above. This old film sounds like it would be funny even today. Carter De Haven was a comedy star of silent films and worked as director and in production with Charlie Chaplin on The Great Dictator and Modern Times. His wife, an actor as well, often worked with him. Her maiden name was Flora Parker. I found a photo of them on Wikipedia as well.

They were a handsome couple. I have watched a few of the old silent films. The actors had to rely on conveying so much with facial expression. The old black and white and their heavy make up did not always bring out their good looks. We can see from the photo they were beautiful.

Many of the old films are lost forever. It is amazing to me that the film above was made almost 100 years ago.

Happy Sunday!

|Nano Poblano|

The Pleasure of a Good Mystery

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“Conflict and character are the heart of good fiction, and good mystery has both of those in spades.” –Diana Gabaldon

The DVD of Season 2 of Endeavour arrived by UPS today along with two books I had ordered. Notice that endeavour is spelled the British way. You know my American spell check now has a little squiggly red line under that British spelling. Oh well, I don’t care how they spell it I love this series. It is part of Masterpiece Mystery! on PBS. I have already watched Season 2 this past summer. I don’t remember every part of the stories so I will still enjoy watching it again. And my husband has not seen it.

The main character’s name is Endeavour. This is his first name. My English grandmother used to tell us that they used to name children with names that gave a purpose. I love the name and what it implies. Endeavour, like some of its synonyms such as be bold, dare, be courageous, brave, strive, utmost effort, one’s all, and one’s level best, is a good description of this detective’s character.

This series is a prequel about Inspector Morse which you may remember if you are a fan of British mysteries. This is Morse as a young man just starting out in police work.

His superior is Detective Inspector Fred Thursday. No he is not like our Joe Friday. He is a mentor father-figure to Morse. They have been developing a great relationship and bond.

Endeavour is very intelligent and can sleuth out the cases before anyone else. It is a joy to follow along while he solves the mystery. He has a couple of nemeses who do not appreciate his stellar abilities. These nemeses are usually trying to get him into trouble or block his success. Though not as bad as a Professor Moriarty type nemesis.

The stories are complex and do not allow a quick resolution. That adds to the enjoyment. If you like mysteries and have not had a chance to see this series, I highly recommend it.

Do you like a mystery? Do you like British mysteries? American? or both?

Of course, I have my favorite American mystery writers like Michael Connelly and his Detective Harry Bosch. I like Henning Mankell’s Wallander books. There is a Canadian mystery writer I really like. Her name is Louise Penny and I love her Inspector Gamache.

How about you?

|Nano Poblano|

Going Home

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Can we go home again?

One of my all time favorite films is The Trip to Bountiful. It is a tour de force performance by Geraldine Page for which she received the Academy Award for Best Actress. Supporting cast members are John Heard, Rebecca De Mornay, Carlin Glynn and Richard Bradford. The screenplay is by Horton Foote based on his play The Trip to Bountiful. You might remember him because he did the screenplay for the film To Kill A Mockingbird.

One theme of this film is about the desire to return to the place where you felt most at home. The nostalgia for earlier times in our lives when we may have been happier.

Carrie Watts (Geraldine Page) is an elderly widow who is living with her son and daughter-in-law in a cramped apartment in Houston. She wants to make a visit to her family home in Bountiful, Texas once more before she dies. Her son and daughter-in-law can not or do not want to understand her need to make this one last trip.

She plots to hide her pension check and make her escape by bus or train while her son is at work and her daughter-in-law is out of the house. She has made attempts in the past but they have always caught her.

Carrie has some behaviors that really get under her daughter-in-law’s( Jessie Mae) skin. She loves to sing old hymns all day while doing housework and she is always rushing about the apartment in spite of her heart condition that brings on a few fainting spells.

The opening music for this film is an old hymn that gets me weepy every time I hear it, ” Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling. ” I am not really very religious. It is just very soulful to me. Anyone familiar with the old southern hymns will recognize many that Carrie is fond of singing.

Carrie needs to make this journey home to complete something in her life. To lay things to rest. As the film progresses we learn the story of her life.

Another theme in this film is the relationships between parents and children and how these relationships impact their lives. It is about how these relationships bind them together. And it is about how people can be bound to the land.

Have you wanted to return to an earlier time your life? Have you wanted to go back to a certain place? Would going back help to complete something in your life? Like completing a circle.

Have you even seen this film? What were your impressions of it?

|Nano Poblano|

All Quiet on the Western Front

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Today, November 11, is Veterans Day in the US. It is when we remember the veterans of our wars. It is too bad we have so many wars to remember but we can not forget the men and women who fought in them even if we hate to remember the wars.

I have noted that many of the British bloggers are remembering Armistice Day. My husband always reminds me that Veterans Day was originally remembered here for when WWI ended as well.

Just recently we watched one of our classic DVDs All Quiet on the Western Front. It was based on a book by the same title written by Erich Maria Remarque. The film was the winner of the 1930 Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. This was before my time but I have been aware of this film for quite a while.

Even though this film was made long ago it still has a universal appeal and message. The setting is WWI but it could apply to any time and place.

It is about a young man and his friends who are caught up in the nationalistic fervor of their country during WWI. They are idealistic when they enlist and go off to fight for their country. The young men quickly become disillusioned and it becomes a fight for survival. This film gives a realistic depiction of what is what like for the soldiers who fought in that war.

The message of the film is the great human waste of war and how it swallows up our youth with all their potential lost.

|Nano Poblano|

Our DVD Collection

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I love reading books and I love films.

We have quite a library of DVDs we have acquired over the years. We do not buy them as often lately. I borrow many DVDs from my local public library.

I recently purchased some great DVDs from PBS that I thought would be good additions to our collection. They were on sale so I decided to go for it. My husband and I have been watching them the past few days.

A perk of owning DVDs is that you can watch them over and over. If I haven’t watched something in a while I forget enough parts of it that I can enjoy it all over again. Or even if I remember the story, because I love them so much, I don’t care how many times I have seen them. Like re-reading a beloved book. I may even see more of the nuances that I may not have seen with the first viewing.

I like collecting older films or classics. We have a few. One reason I want to collect them is I am afraid that eventually we won’t be able to find them. That they won’t be available anymore. It is like old books that go out of print.

We just finished watching The DVD of Mark Twain by Ken Burns. Very good. It is a 2 Disc set. It covers Mark Twain’s life from beginning to end. It includes many great and funny quotes and excerpts from his books and some great photos. I really love many of his quotes and will be using them from time to time. There are interviews with some Mark Twain scholars, Hal Holbrook and Arthur Miller. It has special features that go into the making of the film and more Mark Twain quotes and photos.

The scholars, Holbrook and Miller share their knowledge, insights and impressions of Twain’s writing, motivations and personality. It is interesting to hear about the man behind the writing.

We all like to think that we are revealing our truth(s) with our blogs. Here is a quote from Mark Twain about honesty:

I think we never become really and genuinely our entire and honest selves until we are dead–and not then until we have been dead years and years. People ought to start dead, and then they would be honest so much earlier.

Do you like having your own collection of films? Have you watched this particular film about Mark Twain and what did you like about it or learn from it? Do you have some favorite classic or older films?

|Nano Poblano| among other things.

Most Famous Bond Girl and the Drive-in Movies

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My morning routine usually begins with a cup of coffee first (of course). Then, turn on lap top and check email. Then, move on to browsing through the Huffington Post. The front page has the serious news on the top and, as I scroll down, a variety of articles. Some of which I can really live without. Like those involving anything about the Kardashians, Miley Cyrus or a celebrity’s clothing problems. After checking out the front page, I might go to their spiritual section which tells you how to control your stress, be happy and get enlightened in 5-8 steps. Third stop, Post 50 with all the advice and article for those over 50.

One blogger I like a lot is Ann Brenoff. Her post today is about the actress Honor Blackman or better known as, the title of the blog says, “ Most Famous Bond Girl, Pussy Galore, [Turns, 89].”

Ann’s blog triggered some thoughts and memories for me. I remember seeing “Goldfinger” at a drive-in theater with my boyfriend when I was 16. At that time, before women’s lib and when I did not have any knowledge of women’s history, I found this character’s name offensive. I did not see her as an inspiring role model for me. Like, “Guess what mom? , I want to grow up to be like Pussy Galore.” It sounded like a porn star. While many boys probably fantasized about themselves as James Bond.

Not wanting to be unfair to Ms. Blackman, I did a little research on her career. I found she was in the original “Avengers” series and her character “Mrs. Cathy Gale” was apparently an inspiration to feminists in England. I do understand that women have not always been given strong roles in films. And I admire Ms. Blackman for going strong at 89.

“Goldfinger” also got me thinking about Drive-In movies. During the summer growing up, I stayed at my grandmother’s house in Clear Lake. The only movie theater in town was a drive-in. It would be very dark in the country at night and my cousin and I would walk to the drive-in with flashlights. On the way, we would see the flattened bodies of many dead frogs that had been attracted by the headlights of passing cars and run over. We would take a blanket with us and watch the movie sitting on the ground.

Going to the drive-in was a popular date night activity when I was a teenager. The price was reasonable for the movie and a snack and it was an opportunity for young lovers to be alone.

Drive-ins were popular with families with children as well. You could bring the whole family, including babies and toddlers, and not worry about the kids making noise.

When my kids were really little, we took them to drive-ins with us when we didn’t have a babysitter. On a trip up the coast one summer we stopped in Santa Barbara. We had our 18 month old son with us and the only way we could see a movie was to go to a drive-in with him.

If you’re curious about movie theater history, I found an interesting website.

I have some happy memories about summer and drive-in movies. How about you?