Blue Is the Warmest Color

Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) starring Adele Exarchopoulos, Lea Seydoux. A sort of coming of age story about a high-school girl named Adele (Exarchopoulos) who finds that she is more attracted to girls than to boys. She falls in love with a fourth-year college student with blue hair named Emma (Seydoux), and they enter into an intense relationship which involves showing graphic lesbian sex scenes lasting several minutes. Eventually, though, Adele cheats by sleeping with a man, and Emma throws her out. The emotions shown by both actresses are very strong, and Adele, although she is the cheater, is heartbroken. Emma was The One for her, and Adele has great difficulty moving on. Even at nearly three hours, the movie does not seem too long. In fact, it barely sketches years of their relationship. The only quibble I have is that the actresses don't noticeably age, even with the passage of several years through the film. But this can be forgiven when a movie shows such raw emotion so convincingly, and Blue Is the Warmest Color is a film which  sticks with you long after the closing credits run. It's in French, with English subtitles. Grade: A-   

Petulia

Petulia (1968) starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott, Richard Chamberlain, Arthur Hill, Shirley Knight. Non-linear storytelling stands out in this dramatic romance wherein Petulia (Christie) is a kook who decides to pursue Archie (Scott), even though she is already married to David (Chamberlain). The movie starts in the middle of the story and then tells the rest through flashbacks and flash-forwards. Although this movie has been highly praised by critics, I found the film's style to be distracting and not particularly pleasing. Although all the pieces are there, they're scattered around, and I couldn't see that any particular purpose was served by scattering them. Not one of my favorite movies. (Subtitles in English, as well as closed captions, are offered on the disc.) Grade: B  

Goldfinger

Goldfinger (1964) starring Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton. Third entry in the 007 series has James Bond (Connery) stylishly thwarting Auric Goldfinger (Frobe), an arch-criminal who plans to set off a nuclear device in Fort Knox and contaminate the U.S. gold supply.  Blackman plays the funny-named  Pussy Galore, whom Bond manages to persuade (ahem) over to the side of the good guys. The movie is entertaining throughout, with many exciting action scenes and lots of clever gadgets. Memorable scene has Goldfinger's secretary (Eaton) being killed by being covered entirely in gold paint. (English subtitles are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B+ 

Made for Each Other

Made for Each Other (1939) starring Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn, Lucile Watson. Movie-quality soap opera about Lombard and Stewart getting married, then battling illness, lack of money, Stewart's meddling mother (Watson) to try and find happiness. Running gag has the family unable to keep a maid because Stewart's mother keeps driving them off. The film tends towards the maudlin in final third, but everything suddenly works out in last two or three minutes. A fairly enjoyable outing, worth it to see Stewart and Lombard on screen together. (The disc provides excellent English subtitles for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas. Grant and Loy play a married couple living in a cramped apartment in New York City, who decide to move to the boondocks in Connecticut and buy a house there. Only trouble is, the house they buy is unlivable, and they have to tear it down and build a new one -- at great expense. Low-key comedy is a pleasure to watch, with Grant and Loy very convincing as a married couple, and Douglas as their lawyer who tries to warn them that they are getting into deep trouble when they buy the property in Connecticut. Naturally, as they are building the new house, nothing goes right, and expenses mount. Grant's reactions to the rising costs provide most of the comedy, with the workmen building the house providing local color. A good quality old film. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B+ 

Mr. & Mrs. Bridge

Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990) starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Blythe Danner, Simon Callow, Kyra Sedgwick. Newman and Woodward play a middle-aged couple living in the late 1930s through the middle 1940s, dealing with changing times and their three children's desires for different lives. Mr. Bridge (Newman) is a stiff, emotionally distant father and husband, and Mrs. Bridge (Woodward) is a desperately lonely housewife who just can't get enough affection from either her husband or her children. Danner is Mrs. Bridge's best friend, Grace, who sinks into alcoholism and ultimately suicide. I can't help but feel a faithful affection for this movie, even though it's full of plot holes. I just enjoy watching it and observing the changes that all the characters go through. The film does a good job of evoking its time and its place, and it's real escapist entertainment. It's that rare thing, a portrait of a marriage between two mature people. (The subtitles, for the hearing-impaired, are highly legible.) Grade: A-  

Brief Encounter

Brief Encounter (1945) starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey. Directed by David Lean. Two ordinary people -- a man and a woman (Johnson, Howard), both married to others -- meet by chance at a railway stopover. Over the course of a few weeks, they fall hopelessly, desperately in love with each other. But the movie, told from Johnson's  point of view, shows that she has a kind and loving husband and two adored children at home. She never meant to fall in love with someone else, it just happened. The love affair between Johnson and Howard is never consummated, and they eventually come to their senses and give up their affair. One gets the feeling that Howard wants it to continue more than Johnson does, but he does the noble thing and takes a job in South Africa, which will keep them apart and prevent them from doing anything foolish. This is a small, sad movie with an inevitable ending -- but one which, in 1945, must have titillated audiences no end. It's a British production, which may account for some of its reserve. The film makes excellent use of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, which weaves throughout the action. Really a perfect little movie, in its own way. (English subtitles are provided for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: A- 

The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth (1937) starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy, Cecil Cunningham. Screwball comedy in which Grant and Dunne play a married couple who, based on mutual suspicion, decide to divorce. Both make plans to remarry, but spend the rest of the movie trying to prevent each other from moving on with someone else. Dunne is especially hilarious in a scene where she pretends to be Grant's sister and barges in on a social occasion thrown by his fiancée. (The DVD offers highly legible English subtitles for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B  

The Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game (1939) starring Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor. Directed by Jean Renoir. In the introduction to this movie, Renoir says that he wanted to make a film that would be pleasant to watch, but which would uncover the rottenness of society. The movie shows the romantic foibles of an assortment of French men and women at a country estate, and under the cover of light comedy manages to satirize the follies, rituals and class distinctions of the bourgeoisie. I found the film to be for the most part entertaining and at times funny. It's in French, with only adequate English subtitles. Grade: B+   

All is Lost

All is Lost (2013) starring Robert Redford. A man near the end of his life (Redford) finds himself stranded aboard his sailboat, which has sustained damage in a collision with a floating storage container. We watch him as he mentally figures out each step in the process of trying to survive, while there is a minimum of dialogue (just a little monologue). Redford proves his ability to command the screen, and he is on camera for virtually every shot of the  movie. It's a harrowing experience, as his boat slowly disintegrates and he is forced to resort to the life raft, and has to work out  problems such as how to get drinkable water and food to insure his survival. The movie keeps us under suspense -- we are in doubt up to the very end as to whether he will survive or not. It's an absorbing film, though I wouldn't exactly say I was entertained. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: B 

Enough Said

Enough Said (2013) starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener, Toni Collette. Louis-Dreyfus stars in this charming romantic comedy as Eva, a middle-aged woman who falls in love with and imperfect man named Albert (Gandolfini) and at the same time becomes friends with his ex-wife, Marianne (Keener). The catch is, Eva doesn't know at first that Albert and Marianne are exes. She dates Albert and listens to Marianne criticize her ex, but doesn't put the two together until it's too late. It's refreshing to see a romance between two mature people on screen (they both have grown children). And it's squirm-inducing to watch Louis-Dreyfus wriggle when Albert and Marianne find out that she's been trying to sustain relationships with both of them at the same time. I felt profound sympathy for all the characters, and really enjoyed the movie. (The subtitles for the hearing-impaired are quite good and legible.) Grade: B+ 

Annie Hall

Annie Hall (1977) starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Carol Kane. Probably Woody's best movie, stars Allen and Keaton in an autobiographical romantic comedy with many fine Allenisms, funny comparisons of New York vs. Los Angeles, Keaton singing (twice!), the lobster scene in the kitchen, "The Sorrow and the Pity," Marshall McLuhan, etc. The film won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Keaton. Many memorable and funny bits, lots of them derived from Allen's own life and from his life with Keaton. Truly a movie to be scene repeatedly and enjoyed every time. (Subtitles in English are very good.) Grade: A   

Anne Frank Remembered

Anne Frank Remembered (1995) Documentary. Directed by Jon Blair. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh. Diary read by Glenn Close. This movie tells the moving story of the young Jewish girl who, with her family, hid from the Nazis for two years in a house in Holland, and who famously kept a diary of her thoughts while in hiding. The film tells the story from the start through the time Anne and her family spent in concentration camps after being discovered. Remarkably, Anne's father, Otto, survived the camps and lived until 1979. Anne, her sister Margot, and her mother all perished in the camps. The movie tells its story in German, Dutch and English, with highly legible English subtitles. Grade: A-  

Anna and the King of Siam

Anna and the King of Siam (1946) starring Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Lee J. Cobb. Dunne stars as Anna, an English woman who in the 1860s journeyed to Siam (today's Thailand) to tutor the king's (Harrison) 67 children in English. After she arrives, everything boils down to a struggle of wills between her and the king. Neither can be said to have won, but she gains the king's respect because she speaks the truth to him -- something that his Siamese subjects are too frightened to do. My main quibble with this film is that Harrison is miscast as an Asian king -- he's an Englishman, and he scarcely even loses his accent. He doesn't even look vaguely Siamese. Cobb, as his majordomo, looks equally Caucasian. That problem aside, this is a pretty good movie. I was very moved when the king died. (The disc includes subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired, and they are quite legible.) Grade: B 

The Sorrow and the Pity

The Sorrow and the Pity (1970) Documentary. Directed by Marcel Ophuls. This movie looks at life in occupied France during World War II, largely through interviews with those who lived through it. At four hours, it's a long movie, but it needs to be this long to cover the subject thoroughly. Among those interviewed are members of the Resistance, collaborators, Germans who were in France during the war, and innocent bystanders. Also shown are scenes of the repercussions after the war for those who cooperated with their German occupiers. Some suffered severe consequences, others got off lightly. The movie is divided into two main parts: Part 1, the Collapse, and Part 2, The Choice. Part 1 deals with the ease with which the Germans were able to conquer France, and Part 2 deals with the choice Frenchmen had to make between resistance and cooperation. There are many gradations of distinction among people who made different choices, and the film explores them all in depth. Some might find this movie dry, but I was very interested, even though my mind occasionally wandered. The film is mostly in French, with highly legible English subtitles. Grade: B 

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) starring Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stephane Audran, Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Michel Piccoli. Directed by Luis Bunuel. A group of people try to get together for dinner, but are continually interrupted by absurd, surreal events. Some of the events seem real, but then they are seen to be somebody's dream. After seeing the movie, I am unable to separate dream, fantasy and reality. I'm not sure Bunuel meant for any of the events in the film to be real -- it's all one big joke on the audience. But it's a magnificent joke, and I enjoyed watching it from start to finish. I would even go so far as to rank it as one of the best movies I've seen. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It's in French, with English subtitles. Grade: A 

Canvas

Canvas (2006) starring Joe Pantoliano, Marcia Gay Harden, Devon Gearhart. This movie tells the story of a family in which the mother (Harden) has been stricken with schizophrenia. Her husband (Pantoliano) copes by building a sailboat in the yard, and her son Chris (Gearhart) copes by being a kid. It's a moving and somewhat scary story that is said to be based on a true family's tale. The filmmakers obviously cared a lot about their subject and have put a lot of heart into this film. (The DVD lacks subtitles in English, but closed captions save the day.) Grade: B+   

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None (1945) starring Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward. A group of eight people are lured to an isolated island, where they stay in a mansion and are killed off one by one. Based on an Agatha Christie story, this is a pretty good mystery. There's only one problem with this disc. It has no subtitles of any kind, nor does it have closed captions. Makes it pretty rough to watch for the hearing-impaired. Grade: F 

The Lucky Ones

The Lucky Ones (2008) starring Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, Michael Pena. Three Iraq War veterans return to the United States and end up embarking on a cross-country road trip together. Each has his or her own wounds to deal with, both physical and psychological. They are "lost souls," with only each other to rely on. McAdams steals the picture with her enthusiastic performance as Colee, a private who has a flesh wound and a guitar she has salvaged from her squadron-mate Randy, who was killed by an IED. Colee hopes to return the guitar to Randy's family, and to ingratiate herself with them. Each of the three combat veterans has issues to deal with, however, and they try to help each other, with varying results. I found this movie engaging, although some of the side trips the trio took were unnecessary. Worth seeing for McAdams performance, if nothing else. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B   

The Girl Can't Help It

The Girl Can't Help It (1956) starring Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O'Brien, Julie London. Silly bit of pop film about agent (Ewell) who is hired by gangster (O'Brien) to make the gangster's girlfriend (Mansfield) a star. Trouble is, she can't sing! Or so we are led to believe. The movie's saving grace is that the agent and the girlfriend visit several nightclubs trying to get her noticed, and at each nightclub a different contemporary act is performing. The viewer gets to see live performances of songs by Fats Domino, The Platters, Gene Vincent, and Little Richard. Mansfield isn't bad in this picture, but she isn't called on to do much acting. Julie London performs a lovely rendition of "Cry Me a River." (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: C   

American Heart

American Heart (1993) starring Jeff Bridges, Edward Furlong, Lucinda Jenney, Tracey Kapisky. Just released from prison, Jack (Bridges) finds himself tracked down by his son, Nick (Furlong). Jack doesn't know much about being a father, but Nick is in desperate need of a father figure in his life. They form an uneasy truce, and end up sharing a flop-house apartment. Jack is determined to stay on the straight and narrow, but Nick doesn't know any better and starts stealing. This is a sobering drama of a movie about what it's like to be down-and-out in modern America (it's set in Seattle). Bridges and Furlong both turn in excellent performances. (Subtitles in English are not available on this bare-bones disc, but closed captions are provided.) Grade: B+