AFI Top 100, #67: "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962)

Movie Stats:

Released 1962 (USA)

American, in English

Director - John Frankenheimer

Stars - Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury

Plot Summary:

Returned Korean War vet and Medal of Honor winner Raymond Shaw (Harvey) has been unknowingly brainwashed by Communists. His former commander, Major Bennett Marco (Sinatra), is on a mission to stop him before he hurts anyone. Lansbury co-stars as Raymond’s mother, Eleanor Shaw Iselin, wife of a U.S. senator.

Warnings:

Fairly graphic violence; implied sexy times.

Bad Stuff:

[SPOILER sort of]

The relationship between Marco and his girlfriend Eugenie Rose (Janet Leigh) is so awkward, bizarre, and rushed (seriously, their conversations make virtually no sense) that I spent the whole movie convinced that she was secretly a Communist spy. She’s not. If the movie’s intent was to make me suspect her, then it did a good job, but I don't think that was the intent.

[SPOILER]

I hated the score.

The fight scene between Marco and Chunjin (Henry Silva), Raymond’s man servant, is laughably terrible.

Good Stuff:

The acting is soooooo good from practically everyone. I would say that Leigh is the exception while Lansbury is the standout.

It’s really intense in the best kind of way.

It takes a lot for a movie surprise me, and this one did several times. I tip my hat toward it.

The Verdict:

It’s really good. I honestly can’t say enough good things about it. Great acting, interesting story, suspense and tension all the way through, and dark in a way that I appreciated. It’s also a fascinating time capsule of anti-Communist sentiment. I was a child in the 1980s, so I experienced some of that. When I grew up, the bad guys in movies were almost always either Nazis or Communists, and I remember things like our elementary school singing teacher telling us that we had to learn the national anthem in case we ever needed to prove we weren’t Soviet agents (weird, I know). As prevalent as the “Red Scare” still was in the 80s, however, it wasn’t anything like how it was in the 50s and early 60s, so I almost felt like an anthropologist while watching this. However, I do wonder if anyone born after the fall of the USSR could relate. Overall, it’s a great film that everyone should see at least once. 

I give it 4.25 stars.

AFI Top 100, #68: "An American in Paris" (1951)

This movie was previously reviewed as part of my Best Picture Project. Below is the pertinent information about it: the movie stats, plot summary, and the rating I gave it. You can read the full text of my review HERE.

Movie Stats:

Released 1951 (UK)

American, in English (significant non-translated French & German, although you can still tell what’s happening in the scene without knowing either language)

Director – Vincente Minnelli

Stars – Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary, and Nina Foch

Plot Summary:

Jerry Mulligan (Kelly) is an American artist trying to get by in Paris. He’s good friends with an equally struggling concert pianist by the name of Adam Cook (Levant), who happens to be good friends with a French singer named Henri Baurel (Guetary). Through a convoluted series of circumstances, Jerry and Henri fall in love with the same woman, Lise Bouvier (Caron). Nina Foch also stars as Jerry’s patron Milo Roberts, who is deep in unrequited love with him.

Rating:

2 stars

Music Love: "Alleyway" by Life in Film

If you stick with this series long enough, you’ll see me talk about lyrics a lot. I prefer great lyrics and a fine voice to the actual music itself. My husband thinks I’m weird. To him, the music and the beat are paramount. He doesn’t really care if the lyrics are dumb. Perhaps this is why we have very different taste in music, not that I mind. To each their own, right?

A large part of what I like about the UK’s Life in Film is their lyrics. I came to “Alleyway” because of Sirius XM, which we got for free for a year when we leased our car. There were about five channels I listened to regularly, one of which was the alternative station. That’s where I first heard Life in Film’s catchy, upbeat single “Get Closer.” I downloaded it immediately. A few months later, I looked to see if they had anything else available and discovered their songs “Alleyway,” and “It’s What Happens Next That Matters Most.” I downloaded those as well, and pre-ordered the rest of the album.

It was a first for me. I’m not the type to pay for an album before listening to it. Heck, I’m not really the type to download a whole album at all. I usually just cherry pick the songs that I like. So that should tell you how much I love Life in Film.

In addition to their lyrics (in this song: “And what we have, no one ever gives up lightly. What time is it when the whole world stops?” and “And so we’ll break our wrists, trying to hold up the world for a few more seconds so we won’t be lonely for a while”), I also love lead singer Samuel Fry’s rich, strong vocals. His tone has a hint of a wail to it that I feel like I shouldn’t enjoy but do. I also like the uptempo beat of most of their music. In particular, I’m a sucker for uptempo songs that are actually sad, such as this one, the tale former lovers meeting and discovering, all over again, that they don’t belong together.

There’s currently no “official” video for “Alleyway.” I had to choose between linking a video with a still photo and the studio version of the song or a video with the band playing an acoustic version of it. Honestly, it was a tough choice. One of my favorite things about this song is the guitar intro, which I find rather haunting. It loses that quality in the acoustic version, but that’s the one I chose anyway because I thought my readers might like to see what the band looks like. Also, I’m impressed that Samuel Fry’s voice seems as strong outside of the studio as it is in it. 

However, I encourage you to listen to the studio version of the song. I also encourage you to buy as much of Life in Film’s music you can find because they're a band that's going places.

Solo at the Movies: "Inside Out" at AMC Loews Broadway 4

And I’m caught up!

Theater Info:

AMC Loews Broadway 4

1315 3rd St. Promenade, Santa Monica

Cost: $6.49 for a matinee showing

Movie Stats:

Released 2015 (France)

American, in English

Director - Pete Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen

Stars - Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, and many more (including Bill Hader; weird that both of my solo movies this month included him)

Plot Summary:

A look inside the life of Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), a young girl struggling with her family’s move from Minnesota to San Francisco, through the eyes of her emotions, most prominently Joy (Poehler) and Sadness (Smith). Kind co-stars as Bing Bong, Riley’s childhood imaginary friend. (Hader voices the emotion Fear.)

Warnings:

Minor violence (but it’s cartoonish, for obvious reasons).

Bad Stuff:

[SPOILER I GUESS]

I didn’t really care for how stereotypical the inside of Mom (Diane Lane) and Dad’s (Kyle MacLachlan) heads were. Mom was a lady’s talk show like "The View" and Dad’s was a war room. Gender stereotypes are so funny! (sarcasm)

[SPOILER]

Good Stuff:

A lot of it is very funny, including some surprisingly snappy dialogue. I think the following exchange (obviously aimed at the adults in the audience) was my favorite:

Fear: “Maybe it was a bear?”

Disgust: “There are no bears in San Francisco.”

Anger: “I saw a really hairy guy, he looked like a bear.”

Cue me dissolving into laughter. By the way, Louis Black as Anger? Inspired choice.

I liked the key message that all of our emotions are important to maintaining a healthy mental state.

I thought all the voice acting was really great. I feel sad for the voice actors of the world, because in recent years studios have moved to using film/TV actors for a lot of those parts, and most of them don’t have as much range as the voice actors. However, except for Black, whose voice I would know anywhere, I didn’t immediately recognize the voices of any of the actors in this, and got a few nice surprises when I watched the credits roll.*

The Verdict:

I have to admit that I had no intention of ever seeing this, despite being assured by multiple people that it was very good. “It will make you cry!”, one friend made the mistake of telling me, which is what turned me off (even though I was assured that it was a “good” cry). It just so happened that, on a day break from writing, I needed to charge the car, and decided to watch a movie at this specific theater while I was at it. The only movie playing during that particular time frame was this one.

Thank goodness for that, because this is a really great movie. It’s fresh and different. I thought that it had a lot of very innovative ideas. In addition to being quite funny, it’s also touching. My friend was right, it made me cry, but in a good way. This is the kind of movie that I can see myself owning and watching multiple times, perhaps even once a year, it’s that good. It’s probably out of theaters in most places, but when it comes around on DVD, you should rent it.

I give it 4.5 stars.

About AMC Loews Broadway 4:

Well, this seems to be a theme with LA movie theaters. This one is pretty “meh” on the outside and very nice on the inside, probably newly renovated. I assume it once held only 4 screens, but it has double that now. My screen (#1) was small but had very cushy recliner seats. You can park in one of downtown SM’s plentiful parking garages. The first 1.5 hours are free. The next hour after that is only $1, but then it goes up pretty quickly after that, so it’s best to not park there for longer than 3-4 hours. I thought concessions was a bit exorbitant, but they do have the magic soda machines. That may be the first time I’ve seen them here. One weird thing that I didn’t like about this theater is that the stalls in the bathroom are very tiny. I’m a pretty small woman and I barely squeezed into one - the door nearly hits the toilet when you open it - so I can’t imagine how someone larger than me manages it.

*My husband has an absolutely uncanny ability to recognize voices. I'm sure if he'd been with me, he would have known them all.

AFI Top 100, #69: "Shane" (1953)

Movie Stats:

Released 1953 (USA)

American, in English

Director - George Stevens

Stars - Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon De Wilde, Emile Meyer

Plot Summary:

When aimless drifter, and secret gunslinger, Shane (Ladd) decides to stay a spell with the ranching Starrett family - Joe (Heflin), Marian (Arthur), and Joey (De Wilde) - he gets embroiled in their land dispute with cattleman Rufus Ryker (Meyer).

Warnings:

Violence, some of it bloody.

Bad Stuff:

I’ll let you know when I wake up from the coma it put me in.

The acting from Arthur and De Wilde was fairly subpar. I’m not particularly shy about expressing my dislike of child actors, and De Wilde’s performance was especially egregious. Sitting through two hours of his gawping face and the way he whined, “Shane!” was agonizing.

The music and sound effects are really overbearing. They don’t accentuate scenes, they try to force you to feel certain things about them. The cracks of thunder every time something bad was about to happen was eye roll inducing.

Good Stuff:

I enjoyed Heflin’s performance, and I guess Ladd was okay.

I liked that the barroom brawl was fairly realistic, i.e. that Shane couldn’t singlehandedly beat up five guys and that they didn’t all stand around waiting for their “turn” to punch him & actually rushed him all at once.

The Verdict:

I’m very sad that there are so many westerns on this list because I’ve given up hope that I’ll like any of them. It’s not like I don’t try. I go in with an open mind. Typically, though, I’m bored within half an hour, and this film was no exception. It’s slow and dull and virtually nothing happens (one barroom brawl and one shootout notwithstanding). Also, the central conflict of the main characters is kind of stupid. I feel like, in real life, Starrett would have shot Ryker or vice versa long before the beginning of the movie, because it was the wild west and that's how people settled disputes. I recommend you find something more interesting to watch. 

I give it 2 stars.

Up with Geography: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Name:
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Capital:
Sarajevo

Continent:
Europe

Maps:

European continent. Bosnia and Herzegovina
outlined in dark ink & shaded.

Close up of Bosnia and Herzegovina &
its neighbors.

Neighbors:

Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro

Water Borders:

Adriatic Sea (but only for 12 miles)

Total Area:

19,741 square miles

Five Largest Cities:
Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla, Zenica, Mostar

Famous Geographical Point:
Dinaric Alps

Famous Person:
Selma Harrington, architect

Book Set In/About:
Death and the Dervish by Mesa Selimovic

Set in Sarajevo during the 18th century, it's the fictional account of a man trying to determine what's happened to his brother after his arrest by Turkish authorities (who at the time occupied Bosnia). Released in the 1960s, it's considered a commentary on social & political oppression in then-Yugoslavia and was wildly popular.

Movie Set In/About:
"No Man's Land (Nicija zemlja)" (2001), directed by Danis Tanovic

Set in 1993, during the height of the fighting in former Yugoslavia, it's about two soldiers from opposing sides trapped together in a trench in "no man's land."

Headline of the Day:
"'Our Everyday Life' from Bosnia Enters Oscar 2016 Race" in Focus News. 

AFI Top 100, #s 72, 71, 70

This time, I have three that I’ve previously reviewed, all of them for my Best Picture Project. Below is the pertinent information about each: the movie stats, plot summary, and the rating I gave it.

BEN-HUR - AFI #72

Movie Stats:

Released 1959 (USA)

American, in English

Director – William Wyler 

Stars – Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet

Plot Summary:

Set in ancient Judea, when Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) is betrayed by his childhood best friend Messala (Boyd), a Roman who is part of the force that has conquered Judea, he vows to return to exact his revenge. Also, there’s a bunch of stuff about Jesus Christ. Hawkins co-stars as Quintus Arrius, a Roman consul who later adopts Judah as his son, and Harareet as Esther, Judah’s love interest.

Rating:

3.5 stars

Full review HERE.

FORREST GUMP - AFI #71

Movie Stats:

Released 1994 (USA)

American, in English

Director – Robert Zemeckis

Stars – Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson

Plot Summary:

The life and times of Forrest Gump (Hanks), a man born with a slightly-below-average IQ. Field co-stars as his mother; Wright as his love interest, Jenny; Sinise as his the leader of his Vietnam-era Army platoon (and later friend), Lt. Dan Taylor; and Williamson as his best Army buddy, Bubba Blue.

Rating:

3 stars

Full review HERE.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION - AFI #70

Movie Stats:

Released 1971 (USA)

American, in English (some subtitled French, a little non-translated French)

Director – William Friedkin

Stars – Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider

Plot Summary:

When NYC cops Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Scheider) stumble upon a massive drug ring, they discover that it has a French connection.

Rating:

2.75 stars

Full review HERE.