Fatal Attraction

Fatal Attraction (1987) starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer. Happily married Dan (Douglas) has a weekend fling with book editor Alex (Close), but soon learns that she doesn't consider it a fling. When Alex confronts him with the claim that she is pregnant, things get serious. Dan gradually comes to realize that Alex is not normal, as she shows up at his office and his home without being invited. The movie escalates nicely as Alex becomes more and more unhinged. Dan's wife Beth (Archer) assumes greater importance as the film progresses, and she has the honor of administering the crucial coup de grace in the climactic scene. This is an involving movie that will keep you glued to the screen, but it doesn't hold up very well to critical examination of the plot points. (English subtitles are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B-  

Lust for Life

Lust for Life (1956) starring Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown. Vincent van Gogh (Douglas) struggles to develop his now-famous painting style, while at the same time struggling to make a sale. Quinn won a Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Van Gogh's friend and fellow artist Paul Gaugin. Surprisingly, van Gogh did not cut his ear off over a woman, but after an argument with Gaugin. Donald turns in a solid supporting performance as van Gogh's brother Theo, who kept van Gogh afloat with donations of canvases, paints and cash. Douglas may be accused of overacting a little bit, but it can't be easy to portray someone who is steadily losing his mind. Van Gogh's life ended in suicide, but of course today his paintings are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The movie is amply illustrated with pictures of van Gogh's actual paintings. (The disc supplies English subtitles for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B  

Friendly Persuasion

Friendly Persuasion (1956) starring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins. A pacifist Quaker family, living in southern Indiana during the Civil War, struggles to maintain ideals while under threat of attack by Rebel raiders. Surprisingly, the war section of the movie occupies only a fraction of the screen time; much of the rest of the film is filled with comic vignettes from the lives of the main characters. Cooper stars as Jess Birdwell, the patriarch of the family, and McGuire plays his minister wife, who tries to restrain her son Josh (Perkins) from going off to fight the Rebels. The film starts slowly but builds momentum until the final action scenes put an exclamation point on the story. Very entertaining, well acted, and ultimately moving. (English subtitles are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B+

Antonia's Line

Antonia's Line (1995) starring Willeke van Ammelrooy, Els Dottermans. Following World War II, in Holland, the widow Antonia (Ammelrooy) and her daughter Danielle (Dottermans) return to Antonia's home town, where Antonia's mother lies dying. The pair settle in to make a life for themselves, and Antonia establishes a matriarchal line of women passing down through her daughter Danielle to Danielle's daughter Therese, to Therese's daughter Sarah. The movie won the 1995 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and the award was richly deserved. Always unpredictable, always interesting, this is a film worth seeking out. It's in Dutch, with English subtitles that are very legible. Grade: A 

El Cid

El Cid (1961) starring Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren. Directed by Anthony Mann. Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, also known as El Cid (Heston) rises to power, marries the beautiful Chimene (Loren). Based on the true story of a Spanish national hero, this is a grand historical epic. It's obviously a big-budget extravaganza, and one can see all the money that was spent up on the screen. This DVD also has copious Extras, including a making-of feature and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Amazingly, one of the Extras reveals that Heston and Loren despised each other! I found the movie, despite its excessive length of over three hours, to be eminently watchable and emotionally rewarding. A really good film. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: A-   

The Great Beauty

The Great Beauty (2013) starring Toni Servillo. Jep Gambardella (Servillo) is a 65-year-old Italian who once wrote a novel but has not done much since. He writes magazine articles and goes to parties. In this movie he wanders around Rome and observes various weird things. This film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, though for the life of me I can't see why. It just doesn't turn me on. (In Italian and other languages, with English subtitles.) Grade: C 

Where the Red Fern Grows

Where the Red Fern Grows (1974) starring James Whitmore, Beverly Garland. Note to self: This disc has no subtitles in English to help the hearing-impaired. Grade: F

Don't Look Back

Don't Look Back (1967) starring Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Donovan. Documentary about Dylan's 1965 tour of England, starting in London. Features lots of backstage footage of Dylan interacting with various people, also some limited concert performances. Dylan performs "The Times They Are a Changin'," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." Strictly for Dylan fans. (Subtitles in English are provided.) Grade: B- 

The Color of Money

The Color of Money (1986) starring Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, John Turturro. Fast Eddie Felson (Newman) takes on a protégé named Vincent (Cruise) who has huge amounts of natural talent. But Vincent refuses to play the game (nine ball) according to Felson's rules, and the two eventually come to a parting of the ways -- until they meet in a huge nine ball tournament in Atlantic City. There are many things in this script which didn't make sense to me, and the movie's main redeeming feature is Newman's performance (he won an Academy Award). Cruise was just irritating, but Mastrantonio, as his girlfriend Carmen, was extremely fetching. (The film has English subtitles for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B-  

Rachel, Rachel

Rachel, Rachel (1968) starring Joanne Woodward, James Olson, Kate Harrington, Estelle Parsons. Directed by Paul Newman. Affecting story of how spinster teacher Rachel (Woodward) tries to break out of her confining life of living with her widowed mother (Harrington). She has a brief fling with a childhood friend home for the summer (Olson) and suspects that she might be pregnant, and this provides the impetus she needs to take a giant step. Good, adult entertainment. Nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Woodward, and Best Supporting Actress for Parsons. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B+ 

Something's Gotta Give

Something's Gotta Give (2003) starring Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves, Amanda Peet, Frances McDormand. Nicholson plays a successful entrepreneur who is dating Peet, who plays Keaton's daughter. Surprisingly, a romance develops between Nicholson and Keaton, and also between Keaton and Reeves. All the acting is very good, and this makes for a diverting and entertaining romantic comedy for adults. (Subtitles in English are available, and are very legible.) Grade: B 

Married Life

Married Life (2008) starring Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams. Cooper is happily married to Clarkson, but wants to leave her for McAdams. An interesting premise, perhaps, but one I don't get to explore because the disc doesn't have English subtitles for the hearing impaired!
Grade: F

Captain Blood

Captain Blood (1935) starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone. Flynn's first Hollywood film made him an instant star, and he was cast as a swashbuckler for many movies after this one. In Captain Blood, Flynn plays an English doctor named Peter Blood who is imprisoned for giving medical treatment to a rebel in 1685, and later sentenced to go to Jamaica as a slave. Needless to say, he doesn't stay a slave long, and after a time he escapes and takes over a Spanish ship, which he turns into a pirate vessel. Captain Blood soon becomes a famous and dreaded pirate, and his adventures continue from there. De Havilland is lovely as his young romantic interest, and Atwill and Rathbone are effective as villains and rogues. It is an entertaining movie to watch, even though it dates back to 1935 and is in black and white. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B+ 

Angels with Dirty Faces

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, The Dead-End Kids. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Cagney and O'Brien play childhood friends who end up going in different directions as adults -- Cagney becomes a notorious gangster, and O'Brien becomes a priest. They still love each other though, and when Cagney gets in a shoot-out with police, O'Brien steps in to try to save his life. The disc features copious Extras, including a Warner Night at the Movies and commentary on the film. (Subtitles in English are available for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: B   

The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan. Set in Budapest sometime in the 1930s, this movie tells the story of two shop clerks (Sullavan and Stewart) who secretly exchange letters full of high culture and insight, but who don't know that the person they are exchanging letters with is working beside them every day. Naturally, in person they argue and squabble, and they claim not to like each other. Meanwhile, there are several interesting subplots which impel the film along in a most entertaining way. Viewers who see this film may recognize the seeds of "You've Got Mail," the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie that had the same theme, except that the two exchanged emails instead of letters. This film helped establish Stewart as a leading man. (The English subtitles are highly legible, being bright yellow against a black-and-white movie.) Grade: A-  

Lovers and Other Strangers

Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) starring Gig Young, Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, Anne Jackson, Harry Guardino, Anne Meara, Michael Brandon, Richard Castellano, Diane Keaton. The plot of this delightful comedy revolves around the impending marriage of Mike (Brandon) and Susan (Bedelia), and encompasses the relationships of several of their friends and relatives. Why should a marriage work, and what goes wrong when a marriage doesn't work? This is the theme of the  movie, and it is explored through the marriages and infidelities of the characters who revolve around Mike and Susan. Highlight of the film is Oscar-winning song, "For All We Know," which is sung during Mike and Susan's wedding. A very entertaining and funny movie. (English subtitles are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A-    

The Swimmer

The Swimmer (1968) starring Burt Lancaster. A middle-aged man named Ned Merrill (Lancaster) sets out to swim through all the swimming pools in his neighborhood to get back home to his wife and two daughters. At first, the people around the pools he swims are friendly, but gradually they become more and more hostile, and we learn more and  more about Ned's sordid past. Lancaster is really pretty good as the man who we learn, as time passes, just might be crazy. (The English subtitles are almost too small to read. There are no closed captions.) Grade: B

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom. The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his company of dwarves journey through Middle Earth, through Mirkwood and through wood-elves territory, to the dwarves ancestral mountain -- under which dwells the dragon Smaug. It is there that Bilbo -- the "burglar" of the company -- is designated to steal the Arkenstone, which will enable the dwarves to re-establish their kingdom under the mountain. The movie is the second in a planned trilogy, and thus all the stories are left in suspension at the end. In that way it is unsatisfying to watch, but in every other way it is superb. The film was shot in New Zealand, and the unspoiled landscapes make a beautiful backdrop for the story as dwarves and hobbit are pursued by a relentless (but not too bright) band of filthy Orcs on their journey to the Lonely Mountain. It's a propulsive tale with scarcely a quiet moment. Although it is two hours and 40 minutes long, it does not seem overlong, and it is difficult to find a flaw in this story based on the J.R.R. Tolkien book. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: A- 

Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour (1967) starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel. Directed by Luis Bunuel. A young wife (Deneuve) cannot (or will not) have sexual relations with her handsome husband (Sorel), but she soon takes to working as a prostitute at a brothel in the same city where they live. She frequently has fantasies and dreams about strange sexual tableaux which include her husband, but for some reason she just can't have sex with him. This is certainly an interesting movie to watch, and there are intriguing developments in the plot which keep the viewer involved. (In French, with English subtitles.) Grade: B 

The Answer Man

The Answer Man (2009) starring Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Taylor Pucci, Olivia Thirlby, Kat Dennings. Twenty years ago, Arlen Faber (Daniels) wrote a spiritual self-help book titled Me and God. Ever since then, people have pursued him, looking for answers. He has been a virtual hermit until he throws his back out and has to seek the help of a chiropractor named Elizabeth (Graham). This movie is a sort of romantic comedy, but unfortunately, the chemistry between Daniels and Graham is virtually nonexistent. Furthermore, the script is extremely ragged, with many scenes thrown in for no apparent reason, and with many other scenes that might have helped to advance the story left out. Thirlby and Dennings, two beautiful and talented actresses, are pretty much wasted in this film; their parts are mere sketches. I was very disappointed in this movie, and would not recommend it to anybody. (Subtitles for the hearing-impaired are not included, but closed captions save the day.) Grade: C 

A Nous la Liberte

A Nous la Liberte (1931) starring a French cast. Supposedly a "classic comedy," I found this movie to be a bore and quite unfunny. It may have been state of the art in 1931, but it has not aged well. In French, with English subtitles. Grade: D