Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Screen Gems

The September order is pretty good size, 102 titles. Most of these are films that are of the 'gap' order variety, golden age-screen idol kind of filler. But there are some truly fantastic films in this buy. Ray Harryhausen's Jason and Argonauts is the best 'stop action' animated movie ever made, (Well maybe with the exception of King Kong). Double Indemnity has to be on everybody's too 100 list. Its Billy Wilder directing a Raymond Chandler script of a James Cain novel. Edward G Robinson's plodding methodical insurance investigator has Colombo beat any day. The Prince of Foxes and the Mark of Zorro are two (I think) highly under-rated films. The Mark of Zorro along with Captain Blood, the Adventures of Robin Hood, and the Prisoner of Zenda, has to be one of the best swashbucklers ever made, while the Prince of Foxes is a personal favorite of mine. It was shot on location so the sets and costuming are awesome. Everett Sloane has to be one of the most delightfully sinister sidekicks in movie history. Moby Dick with Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart and Orson Welles is another movie which the critics don't like but which I think is one of the greatest movies ever made. The detail, the realism, and the acting are all superb. John Huston directed and Raybradbury wrote the script. I would like to say that Peck's Ahab stole the show but there were so many other fine performances it's impossible to point them all out.

Two newer movies I think everybody should catch are For the Love of the Game and Searching for Bobby Fischer. Sports movies are always tough to make but there is something about Kevin Costner and Baseball that just seems to click on screen. Searching for Bobby Fischer is one of those movies you won't forget. It's got a great cast and is very well done. (Look for Tony Shaloub in a bit part with Gummy Bears.) Its about a kid that's a child prodigy in chess and how his family, and specifically his father, tries to cope. It's got Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Lawrence Fishburne, William H. Macy and others.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

September Movies

This month I'm finishing up with Screen Legends and switching over to 'Modern' stars. Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Elizebeth Taylor, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, and Marilyn Monroe are just some of the Screen Legends I've been working on. Kevin Cosner, Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and Kurt Russell are the Modern stars I purchased this month. By popular request I also found some Doris Day and Elvis Presley.


The Movies:

Libeled Lady; Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, William Powell. Leonard gives this classic Four Stars.
China Seas; Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, and Rosalind Russel. Fantastic cast horrible plot, but don't miss it.
You Were Never Lovelier; A Fred astaire Rita Hayworth musical left over from last month.
Nun's Story; Audrey Hepburn and Peter Finch from the Kathryn Hulme Novel.
Wait Until Dark; Audrey Hepburn thriller with Alan Arkin as the heavy.
Suddenly Last Summer; Katharine Hepburn, Elizebeth Taylor, and Montgomery Clift in a Gore Vival adaption of a Tennessee Williams play.
Rainmaker; Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn at their best.
Rooster Cogburn; Katherine Hepburn and John Wayne. Need I say more.
Li'l Abner; Gotta have this one. It's Arkansas.
Sweet Smell of Success; Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtiss. Don't miss this Noir Classic.
Birdman of Alcatraz. Burt Lancaster, Karl Malen, Telly Savalas, and Hugh O'brien.
Brigadoon. A musical I missed earlier.
Twentieth Century; John Barrymore and Carole Lombard in a Howard Hawks farce.
Nothing Sacred; Carole Lombard and Frederic March in the classic William Wellman comedy.
Two Women: Sophia Loren won an Oscar for this role.
Crossfire; Robert Young Robert Mitchum, and Robert Ryan, murder, mystery, and Film Noir.
What a way to go! Shirley Maclaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Bob Cummings, Dean Martin, Dick Van Dyke, and Gene Kelly.
Sundowners; A four Star Movie with Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr, and Peter Ustinov.
Seven Year Itch: Marilyn's famous white halter dress and a subway.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell but 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.'
Pride and Prejudice. Greer Garson and Lawrence Olivier in the classic comedy of manners.
Clash of the Titans; Ray Harryhausen's special effects steal the show.
Jason and the Argonauts; Ray Harryhausen's special effects ARE the show.
Moby Dick; The Critics hate this one but it's Gregory Peck directed by Joun Huston with a Ray Bradbury screenplay so I put it in my top 100.
Captain Horatio Hornblower; Forget the Made for TV version this one's the best.
Little Lord Fauntleroy. I had to have Mary Pickford some where in the collection.
Lillies of the Field; the Saint Sydney classic.
Barbary Coast; With Edward G Robinson from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Double Indemnity; Barbara Standwyck, Edward G Robinson, Fred MacMurray from the story by James Cain, directed by Billy Wilder, and a screenplay by Raymond Chandler you cannot and I mean you CANNOT miss this one and call yourwself a movie fan.
We're not married; Marilyn Monroe, Fred Allen, Zsa Zsa Gabor, pure Hollywood fun.
Monkey Business; Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Marilyn Monroe in a madcap screwball comedy.
Kitty Foyle; Ginger Rogers got an oscar for this soft romantic momedy.
Strange love of Martha Ivers; Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, Lizabeth Scott and Van Heflin in a highly underrated film noir.
Clash by night; Barbara Standwyck and Robert Ryan, more excellent noir from Barbara and Rob.
Winchester 73; This is the Western that re-established Jimmy Stewart as a major actor after his stint as a bomber pilot in WWII.
Call Northside 777; Jimmy Stewart is a reporter trying to propve a convicted man is innocent.
Broken Arrow; Jimmy Stewart, Jeff Chandler, and Debra Paget in an epic Western.
Night Passage; Another Jimmy Stewart western, this time with Audie Murphy.
Man Who Knew Too Much; Hitchcock directs Jimmy Stewart and Doris day in the classic remake.
Lassie Come Home; Roddy McDowell and Elizabeth Taylor in the classic Family tear jerker.
Place in the Sun; This movie with Montgomery Clift and Elizebeth Taylor won six Oscars.
Taming of the Shrew; Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in an excellent adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Ivanhoe; Robert Taylor and Joan Fontaine from the novel by Sir Walter Scott.
Heidi ; Shirley Temple in Switzerland.
Little Miss Broadway; Shirley Temple with Jimmy Durante.
Curly Top; Shirley Temple does "Animal crackers in my soup."
Desk Set: Tracy and Hepburn in every Librarian's favorite movie.
Woman of the Year; The first pairing of Hepburn and Tracy is unforgetable.
State of the Union; Another Literate pairing of Hepburn and Tracy.
Vincent: The life and Death of Vincent van Gogh
Michelangelo: Self-Portrait
Romance on the High Seas; Doris Day's breakout film.
Pillow Talk: Rock Hudson and Doris Day in a super comedy from the 60's.
Lover Come Back; Another Hilarious pairing of Rock Hudson and Doris Day.
That Touch of Mink; This time it's Cary Grant and Doris Day.
Prince of Foxes; Tyrone Powers, Orson Welles, and Everett Sloan on location in in Italy in the sumptuous Renaissance story.
Mark of Zorro; Forget the Remake. This is Tyrone Powers, Linda Darnell and Basil Rathbone.
Black Swan; Tyrone Powers and Maureen O'hara in a swashbuckling pirate spectactular.
North & South: the complete Collection. The Miniseries.
Jailhouse Rock; Elvis Presley. (The other King)
King Creole; Elvis gets involved with Southern Gangsters.
Viva Las Vegas; Elvis Presley, Ann Margaret and race cars in Las Vegas.
Roustabout; Barbara Standwyck and Elvis Presley star but look for Terri Garr and Rachel Welch in bit parts.
Lethal Weapon; Mel Gibson and Danny Glover take on drug smugglers.
Lethal Weapon 2; Mel and Danny take on South Africa.
Lethal Weapon 3; Mel and Danny take on gun runners.
Lethal Weapon 4; Mel and Danny take on Jet Li.
Road Warrior/ Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Mel Gibson takes on everybody without Danny Glover.
Goodfellas; Robert de Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe pesci, overly long and overly brillient.
Shawshank Redemption; Tim Robbins & Morgan Freeman from a Stephen King novel.
Fight Club; Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
Fargo; The Coen brothers best effort so far with Oscars for Screenplay and Francis Mcdormand. Usual Suspects; Great cast everybody's in this one but its got a wonderfully twisted and convoluted plot.
Searching for Bobby Fischer; Every Parent should see this one, make that Everyone should see this one.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: Kevin Costner's no Errol Flynn but he doesn't try to be. Its Alan Rickman that steals the show.
Wyatt Earp: Epic All star western with Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Gene Hackman, a bit long but well done.
Tin Cup: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Cheech Marin, and Don Johnson. I like this movie a lot better than the critics, Kevin Costner just does sports movies better than any one else.
For the Love of the Game; Sports movies are always hard but Kevin Costner does it well. I think this will go down as the best baseball movie ever made.
Sommersby; Beautifully filmed period piece, well acted with Richard Gere and Jodie Foster.
Nell; Jodie Foster, Liam Neeson, and Natasha Richardson in the back woods of the deep south.
Soldier; Hackneyed science fiction plot but Kurt Russell does a fantastic acting job as the obsolete genetic soldier.
Backdraft; A b-Movie plot with an A quality cast and state of the art special effects. Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, and Robert De Niro.
Night Shift; Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton with Ron Howard directing.
Gung Ho; A Ron Howard movie thats dated but still funny with Michael Keaton and Cheer's George Wendt.
Down and Out in Beverly Hills; Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, and Richard Dreyfuss in this remake of a French Classic.
Prince of Tides;Nick Nolte does a great job in the adaptation of the Pat Conroy book.
48 Hours; Eddie Murphy & Nick Nolte are both great in Murphy's big screen debut.
Holy Man; The movie doesn't work but you'll love it anyway. Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, and Kelly Preston are superb.
Wild Things; A neo noir with more twists than a bag full of pretzels. Kevin Becon, Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, and Denise Richards but Bill Murray steals the show.
She's having a baby: Kevin Becon Elizabeth McGovern in a yuppie slice of life.
Rocketeer: Bill Campbell and Jennifer Connely capture the feel of a 30's serial with Timothy Dalton as a truly original bad guy.
River Wild; Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon in a taut thriller.
Total Recall; Over the top Paul Verhoeven movie based on the Philip K Dick story staring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone.
Twins; Arnold Schwartznegger and Danny DeVito as mismatched twins but it's a great blend of action and comedy.
Mighty; Beautiful story of two young misfits, with Sharon Stone.
Little Shop of Horrors. The original Roger Corman version with Jack Nicholson.
Carnal Knowledge; Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Ann Margaret and Art Garfunkel.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. Won the top five Oscars, look for Danny deVito in a bit part.
Border; Jack Nicholson and Harvey Keitel in a tale of border corruption.
Grifters. John Cuzack, Angelica Huston and Annette Bening in a ice cold heartless look at grifters. A modern noir classic.
Dangerous Liaisons; Glen Close, John Malkovic, Uma Thurman, and Kanau Reeves in the often remade French Classic.