Three months at a whack this time. Somehow May got away from me, but then again it didn’t really matter too much, since I only watched one movie in May. WHAT. I know, right? I did okay watching some movies when I was just taking care of Karina, but now I’m back at work, working from home, and taking care of Karina at the same time, and that leaves ZERO time for movies. Someday this will all even out and I will get back to watching movies. In the meantime, I’m not sure where my lack of time leaves this blog. If I were smart I’d take an official leave of absence. But I’m not smart. What I’d rather do is just do shorter, more bite-sized posts and not feel like everything has to be either an in-depth review or a long recap with a dozen capsule reviews. Sometimes I just get too ambitious and feel like I just shouldn’t bother posting anything that isn’t ambitious in some way, but I don’t really want to feel like that. So the blog may get a bit more personal and stream-of-consciousness for a while. That is, if I ever actually post at all.
Okay, introspection over. On to the movies!
What I Loved
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
My husband has been after me to watch this almost since we started dating; I had never really considered watching it, but that’s because I clearly had no idea how awesome it is. Thank goodness Jonathan understands my sense of humor and knew I’d love this. The absurdity of Pee-Wee’s existential journey to find his stolen bike is right up my alley, and pretty much all the vignettes hit immediately. I can definitely tell this is one we’ll be quoting a LOT as the years go by.
1985 USA. Director: Tim Burton. Starring: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger.
Seen April 24 on HBO.
The Stranger
Apparently this was Orson Welles’ least favorite of his own films, and I’m not really surprised – it’s far less ambitious and personal than most of his other films. Still, it’s too bad it tends to fall through the cracks, because regardless of how it stacks up against Welles’ masterpieces, it’s an extremely solid film noir, reminiscent of Hitchcock’s 1940s noirs (especially Shadow of a Doubt). Robinson is a detective searching for Nazi war criminals who have gone incognito after the war, and he thinks he’s found one in small-town America. Some great visuals and suspense, though perhaps a bit too dogmatic at times.
1946 USA. Director: Orson Welles. Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles.
Seen April 28 on Netflix Instant.
El Dorado
I love me a good western, and when I heard the credentials of this one, I knew I was in for a treat. I wasn’t disappointed. Hawks and Wayne reteam seven years after Rio Bravo with another hanging-out style western, as Wayne and rookie James Caan help out drunken sheriff Robert Mitchum against baddies. It’s a very similar vibe to Rio Bravo to be honest, and I enjoyed it just about as much.
1966 USA. Director: Howard Hawks. Starring: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan.
Seen March 6 on Netflix Instant.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Did I mention I love me a good western? I did? Oh. I’ve about run out of name-brand classic westerns on Netflix Instant, but thankfully I found this one on there. Lancaster is lawman Wyatt Earp, who’s consistently thrown together with drunkard gambler Doc Holliday (Douglas) despite their differing viewpoints on, like, being law-abiding. It all eventually leads to the titular gunfight, but getting there is actually more fun than the climax itself. The little narrative bits of song sung by Frankie Laine are a bit on the cheesy side, but I loved them, too. Douglas’ performance is a great asset, too, bringing a devil-may-care facade on top of a man struggling greatly with illness and loneliness. I figured I’d like this film, but I think it was even better than I expected.
1957 USA. Director: John Sturges. Starring: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet.
Seen April 26 on Netflix Instant.
Rewatches
Mildred Pierce (1945; Michael Curtiz) – The film that taught me that melodrama isn’t a bad word, and it still holds up. I had actually forgotten how the murder played out, so the suspense even worked the second time around (I have a notoriously bad memory for the resolution of mysteries).
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