Aguirre: The Wrath of God

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) starring Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Del Negro, Helena Rojo. Directed by Werner Herzog. In the 1560s, a mad group of Spaniards set out from Peru, after conquering the Incas, to seek El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. A man named Aguirre (Kinski) takes over part of the expedition and sets off on his own with a cohort to seek to conquer all of South America (although he has no idea how large it is). The expedition, of course, is doomed, and this movie can be watched as an example of the dangers of pride and ambition. It's a tense film, and you may leave it with a feeling of doom. It's in German, with English subtitles. Grade: B+  

The Agony and the Ecstasy

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) starring Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento. From Irving Stone's book, which covered Michelangelo's entire life, comes this adequate movie depicting the battle between Pope Julius II (Harrison) and Michelangelo (Heston) over the  painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The depictions of Michelangelo's works are inspiring, without a doubt, but the plot of this movie is lacking in inspiration. It's only a so-so entertainment, and not one of Heston's greatest performances. Harrison is lacking in gravitas in the role of the pope. I was a bit disappointed in the film. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

Dog Day Afternoon

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, James Broderick, Chris Sarandon. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Sonny (Pacino) and Sal (Cazale) team up to try and rob a bank, and it turns into a media circus when all the police show up. It turns out that Sonny is doing it to try and get money for his homosexual lover's (Sarandon) sex-change operation. Durning and Broderick play cops who try to negotiate with Sonny for the release of hostages that Sonny and Sal are holding in the bank. It's a pretty entertaining movie, thanks to Pacino's performance as the conflicted Sonny. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

After the Thin Man

After the Thin Man (1936) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart. Sequel to the first Thin Man movie has Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) journeying to San Francisco, determined to put detective work behind them. But it is not to be as a murder occurs right in their own circle and Nick is called on to solve it. The murder mystery is really just a backdrop for "snappy chatter" between Nick and Nora and the rest of the cast, but it has lost some of its snap in the last 75 years and is only mildly amusing. This is a fairly diverting movie, but nothing to write home about. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

After Life

After Life (1998) starring Aarata, Erika Oda, Susuma Terajima. Japanese fantasy film about workers at a way station for the dead, who spend one week with the newly deceased and help them choose one best memory from their lives, which the agents will then film and send on with the dead to the afterlife. The dead will then spend eternity experiencing this memory, and forget about the rest of their lives. It's an interesting conceit, but I found this movie to be pretty limp and not terribly engaging. It's in Japanese, with English subtitles. Grade: C

Back to the Future

Back to the Future (1985) starring Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover. Young Marty McFly (Fox) accidentally travels back in time from 1985 to 1955, in a time machine built by Doc Brown (Lloyd). In 1955, he encounters his own parents (Thompson, Glover) -- when they were young. He gets enmeshed in their lives, and realizes that he must go back to the future after he manages to get them together. Although this movie is riddled with paradoxes and inconsistencies, it is nevertheless one of my favorite movies. There is so much good stuff here that it cancels out the bad. (Subtitles in English are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: A-   

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1952) starring Dan O'Herlihy. Directed by Luis Bunuel. Sometime in the 1600s, a man named Robinson Crusoe (O'Herlihy) leaves home to sail the seas. Much to his dismay, his ship is blown far off course by a storm, and he is stranded on an uninhabited island. By pluck and quick wits, he manages to survive, and eventually ends up spending 28 years almost completely alone on the island. His only relief from loneliness is his man Friday, a native who shows up on the island about half-way through the film. It's a moderately entertaining movie, although there's only so much you can do with one man cast away, alone on an island. In the end, his exit from the island seemed a bit anticlimactic, and the film overall was kind of a downer. (Captions in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B 

Advise and Consent

Advise and Consent (1962) starring Henry Fonda, Don Murray, Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres. Long but interesting drama about wheeling and dealing (and blackmail) in the U.S. Senate. Fonda plays a man who is nominated by the President (Tone) to be Secretary of State, and most of the rest of the cast play senators who must deliberate and decide whether to confirm him in the office or not. The movie borders on melodrama, but is still absorbing enough to hold the viewer's attention and to make sense. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone. The classic movie has all the Robin Hood stories you'll remember, unless you're a Robin Hood scholar. Flynn is the definitive Robin of Locksley, and de Havilland is lovely as Maid Marian. Rains and Rathbone are fine as the villains, Prince John and Sir Guy, who try to take over England and raise taxes while Richard the Lion Heart is gone to the Crusades. Filmed in glorious Technicolor, the movie is a little too colorful. But it certainly provides a fine evening's entertainment, with lots of '38 Extras. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A- 

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989) starring John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed, Charles McKeown, Jonathan Pryce, Uma Thurman, Sting, Robin Williams. Directed by Terry Gilliam. Typical Gilliam fare has Baron Munchausen (Neville) riding in to save a city from the depredations of the Turks in the late 18th century. Everything about the film is fanciful, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I found it to be a mildly diverting evening's entertainment, certainly not one of the great films, but worth watching for the most part. (The supplied English subtitles are very legible, and the disc also offers closed captions.) Grade: B

The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring (2013) starring Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Clair Julien, Taissa Farmiga. Based on actual events that happened in 2008-9, this movie tells the story of a small group of Southern California teens who targeted celebrities for burglaries. The film commits the cardinal sin of being repetitive and boring for the first hour, then depressing for the next half-hour. The viewer is really given nothing to care about, as none of these teens has much depth or any distinguishing characteristics at all. It's not a terrible movie, it's just not very good. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: B-   

Zorba the Greek

Zorba the Greek (1964) starring Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates, Irene Papas, Lila Kedrova, George Foundas. A young Englishman (Bates) arrives in Greece, on his way to the island of Crete, where he has inherited a lignite mine. On the way there, he meets a Greek named Zorba (Quinn), who attaches himself to him and whom he hires to try and bring the  mine up to working order. Once in Crete, the young Englishman gets involved in the affairs of the people of the small village to which he travels. The movie has a certain earthy zestfulness, courtesy of Quinn and Kedrova, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a dying prostitute. The film also won Oscars for cinematography and art direction-set decoration. Grade: B

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Richard Greene, Wendy Barrie, Lionel Atwill, John Carradine. Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) investigates a murder on the moor. When an old family legend is revealed (the Hound of the Baskervilles), Holmes is not fooled, and uses his deductive powers to catch the murderer. It's a very atmospheric movie, with lots of mist and howling by the hound. Oddly enough, Rathbone has little actual screen time. Mostly Holmes is in London while Watson (Bruce) is on the moor acting as his eyes and ears. This is not a great film, but is notable for being the first pairing of Rathbone and Bruce as Holmes and Watson in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. (Subtitles in English are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B  

Adam's Rib

Adam's Rib (1949) starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell. Tracy and Hepburn appear together in one of their celebrated pairings, as two lawyers on opposite sides in a murder case.  Tracy appears for the prosecution and Hepburn for the defense in the case of a woman (Holliday) who shot her cheating husband (Ewell). Of course, the case bleeds over into Amanda (Hepburn) and Adam's (Tracy) marriage because yes, they happen to be married to each other. I found this to be a pretty good entertainment, and you can't fault the star power of the actors. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

The Absent Minded Professor

The Absent Minded Professor (1961) starring Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Ed Wynn. Professor Brainard (MacMurray) is so preoccupied with his research that he forgets his wedding -- three times. His bride-to-be (Olson) gives up on him, but then he invents flubber (short for flying rubber) and the plot thickens. When he puts flubber on the soles of his college's basketball team, the fun starts. The team is able to bounce around the basketball court like kangaroos. Then the professor figures out how to use flubber to make a car fly, and we're off to the races. This movie is silly, but still a lot of fun. It's short, at an hour and 36 minutes, which is something I like in a movie. There's lots of slapstick and funny situations, and everything works out in the end. What more could you ask for? (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+

It's Complicated

It's Complicated (2009) starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell. Jane (Streep) falls into an affair with her ex-husband Jake (Baldwin), who has remarried to a younger woman (Bell). Meanwhile, Jane is beginning to feel attracted to Adam (Martin), the architect who is designing an addition to her house. Since Jane and Jake have three grown children, it's a bit of an understatement to say it's complicated. This movie showcases Streep's talent, and has warmth and humor. I liked it, aside from the presence of the odious Alec Baldwin. It certainly provides an evening of diverting entertainment. (English subtitles are available, but not closed captions.) Grade: B+  

The Young Philadelphians

The Young Philadelphians (1959) starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith, Robert Vaughn. Newman stars as a young man named Tony Lawrence in Philadelphia in the late 1940s through the 1950s. Something goes horribly wrong between his  parents on their wedding day, with the result that his father turns out to be someone other than the man who married his mother. It's all about social climbing and career success, however, and Tony learns his lesson early. Later, he goes on to act as defense lawyer for a friend (Vaughn) who is falsely accused of murder. It's all one great big melodrama, which is another way of saying it ain't art. But it is an entertaining movie, and I didn't feel like I had completely wasted my time. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B   

Absence of Malice

Absence of Malice (1981) starring Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon, Wilford Brimley. A reporter (Field) is fooled into printing a story that is critical of an innocent man (Newman). Offended by the cruel power of the press, he decides to get even -- and succeeds. Newman and Field have one love scene together, but frankly there's not much believable chemistry between the two. The main plot, with Newman setting up the government officials who are harassing him, is pretty nifty. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

The Wrong Man

The Wrong Man (1957) starring Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Unusual entry in the Hitchcock body of work has Fonda playing real-life musician who was falsely accused of a series of crimes. Strongest performance of the movie comes from Miles, who plays his wife who cracks under the strain of the wrongful prosecution of her husband. The film is generally rather low-key and grim, with the steely bands of justice slowly closing around Fonda's character, even though we are pretty sure he is innocent. The real core of the film is his wife's breakdown, which persists even after he is exonerated. Definitely not a feel-good movie, but one well worth seeing. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

The Longest Day

The Longest Day (1962) starring John Wayne, Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Peter Lawford, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, many others. This World War II epic takes a sweeping view of June 6, 1944, the day of the Normandy invasion -- the day when the Allies finally struck back at Hitler's Germany and began the process of ending the war. Numerous well known actors and future stars appear, many of them in roles so brief that they can only be called cameos. The combat scenes are very effective, and in many cases you get the feeling of actually being there. For anyone who loves history, and especially the history of World War II, this is must-see viewing. Not necessarily a great movie, but definitely an epic. (Subtitles in English are available, as are closed captions.) Grade: A-  

The Addams Family

The Addams Family (1991) starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya, Elizabeth Wilson. The macabre humor of the Addams family takes center stage as the family lawyer (Hedaya), coveting the Addams' wealth, plants a phony Uncle Fester (Lloyd) in their midst. Huston and Julia are excellent as Morticia and Gomez, who are absolutely in love with each other and share a morbid sense of humor. The script is a little weak in spots, but the movie is a fun watch. (Subtitles are available in English, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B 

Stories We Tell

Stories We Tell (2012) Documentary. Directed by Sarah Polley. The stories in question are Polley's family stories, the stories told by her siblings and her father about her late mother. The big reveal in this movie is that Polley's father Michael was not her biological father; she discovered in her 20s that her biological father was a man whom her mother had met while acting in a play in Montreal (the family lived in Toronto).  I found this movie mildly interesting, but hardly earthshaking. To Polley it must seem like a big deal that her father was not her biological father, but in today's society it seems like a commonplace. The film is well produced and clearly plotted, so it is something of a pleasure to watch. (Subtitles in English are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B

L'Avventura

L'Avventura (1960) starring Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari. A small group of idle rich arrive on a deserted Mediterranean island for a lark, only to find excitement when one of their group (Massari) disappears. The rest of the film is ostensibly about the search for the missing woman, except that it soon branches off into a romance between her boyfriend (Ferzetti) and her friend (Vitti). The commentary track on this DVD makes the case that it is a great film, but I couldn't quite see it. It's certainly an interesting film, but I predict that most American viewers won't like it much. It's in Italian, with English subtitles. Grade: B