Archive for June, 2009

Singin’ In the Rain (1952)

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

I’m not a fan of musicals. I do have to admit, this wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. It was funny and the dance routines were really good. If you don’t mind musicals, this is worth seeing.

Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are famous silent movie stars. Unfortunately, a new innovation, the talkie, is invented. Of course no one believes anyone would fall for that crazy scheme. That is until the “Jazz Singer” is a big hit. Don and Kathy make their first talkie. A big problem arises; Kathy has a very high pitch and irritating voice. With the help of Don’s best friend, Cosmo (Donald O’Conner) and Don’s love interest, Kathy (Debbie Reynolds) they turn the horrible film into a smash musical. To sum it up, it’s a musical about making a musical.

Gene Kelly, Donald O’Conner and Debbie Reynolds were phenomenal singers and dancers. The dance routines were fantastic and the tunes were catchy. And the comedy routines made the movie worth watching.

Posted in AFI, Musical | No Comments »

Casablanca (1942)

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

Ranking #3 on the AFI film top 100 movies, Casablanca deserves to be on the list. This is a phenomenal movie. Humphrey Bogart (Rick) and Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) were at their best during this film. Of course, no one can forget Dooley Wilson as Sam and the very famous song “As Time Goes By”.

Rick runs a bar in, where else, Casablanca during World War II. The Germans have occupied France and refugees from Europe try and sometimes succeed in escaping to America through the unoccupied French Casablanca. Two unfortunate refugees are Ilsa (Rick’s x-girlfriend) and underground resistance leader Victor. The Germans want him to stay and pressure the Captain of the police to force him to stay. The only way out is to have the letters of transit stolen from two murdered Germans. Rick’s got the papers and Victor has the girl. And the Germans and French have a contest on who can sing their anthem the loudest (great scene).

The rights to for the film were bought for $20,000 and the film cost a little over $1 million to make.

I love how old black and white movies use shadows to accent the actor’s eyes. It’s a quality that is missing from newer movies. There was a colorized version of the movie in the 1980’s but was unpopular.

No sequels were made, but there were two books that continued the story (one office and one unofficial). Two TV shows and a two radio dramas were also made. But nothing is like the movie!

Signature Quotes:
• “Here’s looking at you kid.”
• “If you can play it for her, you can play it for me.”
• “We’ll always have Paris.”
• “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Directed by:
Michael Curtiz

Staring:
Humphrey Bogart
Ingrid Bergman

Posted in AFI | No Comments »

Dear Me: A Blogger’s Tale

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Using a blog to overcome her anxieties, Samantha gets her dream job and dream man. When her co-workers find out about the blog, they start to do funny and strange things to get mentioned. Throw in some romance comedy high jinks and maybe a few honest laughs make this movie bearable to watch.

To be honest the only reason I watched this movie was because Felicia Day was in it. Well, she wasn’t in it very much. The movie may have been more fun if she played the main character.

If you aren’t a big fan of Felicia Day or don’t find the romance-comedy / blogger tale twist interesting, you may just want to skip this movie. If you do have some time to kill and want a few laughs, then check it out. Also, the alternate ending is better!

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think of the review or the movie. Plus, leave any suggestions on other movies that would be good to watch!

Posted in Comedy | 3 Comments »