Young Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein (1974) starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman. Directed by Mel Brooks. Frederick Frankenstein (Wilder), grandson of Victor Frankenstein, returns to Transylvania and again takes up the work of bringing the dead back to life. Once again, things go terribly, hilariously wrong. If you're familiar with the work of Mel Brooks, you know that his movies are laugh-out-loud funny, and Young Frankenstein is one of his more successful films. It's a delightfully daffy spoof of Frankenstein films, and every actor's work is spot-on -- especially Teri Garr, who gives a breakthrough performance. Shot in beautiful black-and-white, the movie captures the mood of an old monster movie, and then goes off on zany tangents. It's a great comedy, and holds up as well today as it did in 1974. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+  

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) starring James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine. Directed by John Ford. Tenderfoot lawyer Ransom Stoddard (Stewart) arrives in the old west town of Shinbone aiming to help bring civilization to the territory, but he must contend with the evil Liberty Valance (Marvin), who challenges him to a gunfight. Luckily, Stoddard has the backing of he-man Tom Doniphon (Wayne). This movie got little respect when it was first released, but is now regarded as one of the great Westerns. One of Wayne's best performances -- he really dominates the screen in every scene where he appears. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A 

You Can't Take It With You

You Can't Take It With You (1938) starring James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold. Directed by Frank Capra. Typical Capra fare has Stewart and Arthur falling in love -- but they come from contrasting households. Stewart works at his father's (Arnold) bank, while Arthur lives in a household, overseen by Barrymore, where free expression reigns supreme. The twist is that Arnold wants to buy Barrymore's property to cement a colossal business deal, but Barrymore refuses to sell. It all works out in the end, of course, but the ending seemed a bit contrived to me. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

The Searchers

The Searchers (1956) starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood. Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards, whose young niece Debbie is kidnapped by the Comanches during a raid on Edwards' brother's farmstead. Edwards, an avowed Indian hater, sets off on a mission to find Debbie (Wood) and free her from the Comanches. Widely praised movie strikes me as not that great. There are many fine sequences, the photography and action are good, but it just doesn't all come together for me. It's an epic Western, for sure, but the script seems lacking in clarity. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available.) Grade: B  

Yes Man

Yes Man (2008) starring Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel. Carl (Carrey) attends a seminar and makes a pact to start saying "Yes" to everything. When a hobo asks him for a ride, he says "Yes." When the hobo asks him for all the money in his wallet, he says "Yes." And so on. Deschanel provides the romantic interest as a motorcycle-driving singer in a weird band. The movie moves along at a nice clip for about an hour, then hits a roadblock when the characters travel to Lincoln, Nebraska. Suddenly, everything goes wrong, and the film never quite recovers. Still, it's a sweet, likable movie. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: B 

A Year of the Quiet Sun

A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984) starring Scott Wilson, Maja Komorowska. In 1946, an American serviceman in postwar Poland finds himself attracted to a Polish woman who has been widowed by the War. He tries to take her back to America with him, but she says it is hopeless. What really irritated me about this film is that it is partly in Polish and partly in English, and there are no aids to help the hard of hearing to understand the English parts (the Polish sections are subtitled in English). So I missed a lot of dialogue. That aside, it was an intense, affecting film to watch. Grade: B-

Working Girls

Working Girls (1986) starring Louise Smith. A fictional film that takes a look at the lives of "high class" prostitutes in Manhattan. Don't let the setup fool you, this is a down and dirty film. The action almost all takes place in a small apartment where a number of prostitutes hang out and receive clients. There's  plenty of bare skin for people who are inclined to enjoy that sort of thing. For me, the movie was spoiled by the fact that there are no subtitles for the hearing-impaired, and no closed captions. For that, I give the film a Grade of D-

The Yearling

The Yearling (1946) starring Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, Claude Jarman, Jr. A boy named Jody (Jarman) becomes attached to a fawn whom he adopts and names Flag. But Flag grows into a yearling, who gets into Jody's family's crops and threatens their livelihood. Eventful, richly textured movie is definitely not just for kids. Shot in beautiful Technicolor on locations in Florida. Peck won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Pa, and Jarman won a special young-actor Oscar. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A-

Yellow Sky

Yellow Sky (1948) starring Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark. In 1867, a gang of outlaws led by Peck turns up in a ghost town called Yellow Sky. Living in the town is a young women (Baxter) and her grandfather, who have a secret -- they have a gold mine up in the hills. The gang determine to steal the gold, and they fall out with each other over how to divvy up the booty. This is a serviceable Western, but a little too scattered to be first class. Its real assets are Peck and Baxter, who light up the screen with their chemistry. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available on the disc.) Grade: B  

Ziegfeld Girl

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) starring James Stewart, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr. Three young women (Turner, Garland and Lamarr) find their lives changed when they become performers in the Ziegfeld Follies. There's lots of singing and dancing, and plenty of subplots, but for my money Garland is the star of the movie. She's also the one, thanks to her singing talent, who becomes a star in the Ziegfeld Follies. It's all good clean fun for the most part, it's just too bad it was shot in black and white. Such a subject seems to call for color. If you enjoy old movies, this one might be good for a look. (English subtitles, as well as closed captions, are available on the disc.) Grade: B   

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996) starring Janeane Garofalo, Uma Thurman, Ben Chaplin. An on-air radio veterinarian (Garofalo) gets a call from a man with a charming English accent (Chaplin), and he expresses a desire to meet her. But when he asks her what she looks like, she lies and says she is a tall, willowy blonde. Out of this lie grows all of the comedy of The Truth About Cats and Dogs. It's a slender deception, and it stretches the bounds of believability out of all proportion. On the plus side, Garofalo has never been more charming than she is as the self-effacing Abby. Thurman is serviceable as the tall, willowy blonde who steps in and pretends to be Abby, and the movie touched me even though it made no sense. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are available.) Grade: B-  

Love Finds Andy Hardy

Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland. In a throwback to a more innocent time, Andy Hardy (Rooney) finds himself in a pickle -- he has two dates to the big Christmas dance. In the final reel, it's girl-next-door Betsy (Garland) who steps in and saves the day. Judy performs three songs, and is charming as heck in this movie made the year before The Wizard of Oz. Also featured is Lana Turner as one of the girls whom Andy has invited to the dance. Although some might find this movie corny, I found it lighthearted and somewhat charming. Even Mickey Rooney wasn't too terribly irritating. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) starring James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston. Cagney won an Oscar for his portrayal of George M. Cohan, the hyper-patriotic king of Broadway from the early 20th century. Many singing and dancing numbers are featured, and Cagney shows a surprising ability as a hoofer. (Subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

Yojimbo

Yojimbo (1961) starring Toshiro Mifune. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. An itinerant samurai (Mifune) wanders into a town where there are two warring gangs. He is instantly the best fighter in town, and he offers his services to both sides, playing them off against one another. This film was the inspiration for the spaghetti Western, A Fistful of Dollars. If you like Japanese films at all, this one's a gem. The photography is excellent, and Kurosawa's direction is nearly flawless. The movie is in Japanese, with English subtitles. Grade: B+  

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) starring Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film is entertaining trio of tales featuring Loren as a woman who uses sex to get what she wants. In the first part, she's a woman who must stay pregnant to avoid jail. In the second part, she's a rich bitch. In the third, she plays a prostitute who chooses a seminary student over one of her favorite customers. In all cases, Mastroianni is the man whom she uses/victimizes. I found the film to be well made (in Technicolor, no less!) and amusing from start to finish. Maybe not a great film, but a fun one. In Italian, with English subtitles. Grade: B+ 

Yes

Yes (2005) starring Joan Allen, Simon Abkarian, Sam Neill, Shirley Henderson. A married Irish woman (Allen) falls in love with a Lebanese man (Abkarian), and their affair brings to the surface feelings about class, race and nationalism. The movie's most novel quality is that it  is written in rhyming verse, and the characters must seem natural while spouting poetry. It works pretty well, and is certainly well written. I didn't really get very emotionally involved in the movie, though. It's not an easy film to watch. I give it marks for originality, but it lacks naturalism. (No subtitles in English are offered, but closed captions save the day.) Grade: B   

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Season 2, Disc 1. Tom and Dickie Smothers perform in several episodes of their groundbreaking, heavily censored, short-lived late '60s TV show. It ran on CBS, and I remember it being really funny at the time. Today, it has lost a lot of its edge, but you can get a feeling for what things were like in 1967-69, when the show was on the air. My main objection to this DVD is that it has no subtitles for the hearing-impaired, and no closed captions. For that I should give it an F, but I just can't do that to the Smothers Brothers. Grade: B+

Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever (1977) starring John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney. The movie that ignited the disco craze and made Travolta a star. Travolta plays Tony Manero, a 19-year-old in a dead-end job whose self-worth is tied up in his weekly performances on the dance floor of a local disco club. He teams up with Stephanie (Gorney) to compete in a dance contest at the club that boasts a $500 prize for the first-place finisher. But there's more to this film than dancing; there's a lot of drama about Tony's family and about the small gang that he hangs out with. It's really a pretty entertaining movie, now that disco is just a distant memory. (Subtitles in English are offered, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

The African Queen

The African Queen (1951) starring Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn. Directed by John Huston. An unlikely duo -- riverboat scamp (Bogart) and missionary woman (Hepburn) -- team up to take the boat African Queen down a river in Africa with plans to torpedo a German gunboat during World War I. It was the first time Bogart and Hepburn appeared in a movie together, and the chemistry is good. The trip down river lets them go through some difficult times together, and the ending of the film is a slam dunk. I had seen this movie once a long time ago and remembered it as being good, but I had forgotten how the ending was resolved. The film was shot in Africa, in beautiful Technicolor, and in 1951 that was quite a feat. Bogart won an Oscar for his performance. (Subtitles in English and closed captions are both available.) Grade: A-