High Noon (1952)

Gary Cooper plays a Marshal in a small western town.  He has just been married to Grace Kelly and they are planning on starting a new life in a new town.  Unfortunately, some bad news has come up.  The most dreaded bad guy is being released from jail and he has it in for Gary Cooper.  He will be arriving to town at noon.  Gary Cooper can leave with Kelly, but he decides to stay and confront his villain.  Cooper tries to put together a small group to fight the villain and his 3 accomplices.  To Cooper's displeasure, no one will fight by his side.  Cooper has till noon to figure out what to do.  Will he leave town or fight his enemies?

"High Noon" was a terrific picture.  It was exciting the entire time and you really feel bad for Cooper.  No one will help him after all that he has done for the town.  It is true that if he leaves town, a shoot out will not take place.  But Cooper knows that the villain will find him anywhere he goes.  

The acting is very well done in this picture, but frankly, I don't get Gary Cooper.  I don't think he is the great actor history has made him out to be.  He seems to be a bit stale, but not enough where it affects the film.  I'm not saying he is a bad actor.  I just don't think he is one of the greats.  Grace Kelly did a great job in her role though.  Her character changes dramatically by the end of the film and it is quite the thing to witness.  Lon Chaney was also in this film as a retired Marshal.  He did a very good job, but he was only in two scenes.  It is still a very memorable role, however.

The film is wonderfully directed and the script is written beautifully.  It is hard for many screen writers to keep an audience aware of many different characters, but it works well here.  You really get to know the townspeople, even though they may only have one or two scenes.  

The best thing about the film was the climactic ending.  Cooper does fight his battle and when it seems like he is about to be killed, Grace Kelly saves him.  She picks up a gun and kills one of the bad guys herself.  That was the change in character I was talking about.  She refused to stay with Cooper because she wants to start her new life.  She is on the noon train and ready to leave, when she hears gun shots.  Right away, she jumps off the train to try and help the love of her life.  

"High Noon" is an excellent western film.  I can truly understand why it is a classic.  Everyone was on top of their game during the filming of the picture.

A-  I recommend it.

Show Boat (1936)

James Whale directs this version of "Show Boat" from Universal Pictures.  I really wanted to see this film because James Whale is one of my favorite directors of all time.

Irene Dunne plays the daughter of a Show Boat captain.  She wants to be the star of the show and when the female lead is forced to leave for being half black, she takes the lead role.  A new male lead is hired as well and they soon fall in love.  After a successful tour, the couple leaves the boat to start a life together.  After having a child and realizing that he can't afford a family, Dunne's husband, played by Alan Jones, takes off.  Dunne is then left alone and forced to find a job herself.  She gets hired for a new stage show and she is a success.  She becomes a world famous entertainer and after retiring, her daughter takes her place.  Jones gets a job working as the door man of the theater where his daughter sings.  At the end of the film, the family is reunited.  

I was actually a little disappointed with "Show Boat".  The only scene I had viewed before was the "Old Man River" scene with Paul Robeson.  I love that scene.  The song is wonderful and a great montage is shown.  I thought that the film was going to be about slavery and race issues.  There were subplots that dealt with this, but the main story did not.  I would have preferred the slavery issues to the love story.  The slave characters are much more interesting.

James Whale does do a good job directing the film, but I felt that it was also rushed.  The songs just seem to come and go way too fast.  There is no build up to a song.  But the way the film is shot and the way the actors are directed is excellent.

All of the acting was great and Irene Dunne was spectacular.  She begins the film as a youthful teenager and by the end, she is in her 50s.  She was very convincing playing both stages of life.

Overall, "Show Boat" was good, but it was not the great classic I thought it was going to be.  This was James Whale's favorite film in which he directed, but I still gotta stick with "Bride of Frankenstein."

B  I recommend it.

By the way, Irene Dunne's father is Barney Kurtz of "Mertz and Kurtz" from "I Love Lucy."

Rambo (2008)

It's a simple story.  A group of Americans decide to go to Burma to help an ailing community who is suffering from war.  When they are captured, Rambo and a group of mercenaries are hired to bring the Americans home.

I was very impressed with "Rambo".  I had only seen the first one and it is pretty good.  I really liked how simple the story was.  Rambo goes in, kills the bad guys, and saves the good guys.  There was a nice theme throughout the movie.  That theme was "Live for nothing or die for something".  It gives validity to the way Rambo lives his life.

"Rambo" has to be the most violent film I have ever seen.  People get beheaded, gutted, they explode, and Rambo even rips a man's jugular out with his bare hands.  It was very graphic.

The acting in the film was OK.  Stallone didn't have many lines as Rambo since the character has a troubled past and he is always depressed.  But Stallone pulled it off.  The other actors weren't special, but they got the job done.  

Sylvester Stallone not only starred in "Rambo", but he directed and co-wrote it.  Stallone knows what he is doing when it comes to a good action film.  The film has an incredibly fast pace.  It felt like it was over before it started.  It is always better to leave the audience wanting more than leaving them thinking it was too long.  With the success of "Rambo" a 5th film is being made.  I will definitely see it.

B+  I recommend it.

I Saw What You Did (1965)

William Castle directs this thriller about a couple of teenage girls that make crank calls.  They call random people from the phone book and say "I saw what you did and I know who you are."  Unfortunately for them, one number they call is the house of a murderer.  The murder occurs when they are on the phone, but they have no idea.

John Ireland plays the murderer and when he gets this call, he freaks out.  He thinks his murder has been witnessed.  The girls are curious about this man they have called.  They think he sounds sexy.  They decide to drive by his house to catch a quick glimpse of him.  Unfortunately, they are caught by Ireland's girlfriend played by Joan Crawford.  She takes the registration from the girl's car, which belongs to her parents.  The kids then drive home embarrassed of what had happened.

Ireland then takes the registration, which has the teen's address on it and he pays a visit to them.  To save himself from life imprisonment, Ireland tries to kill the teenage girls.  When it looks like lights out for the lead girl, the cops come and save the day.

While William Castle is famous for his horror films, he is most famous for his gimmicks.  The gimmick for "I Saw What You Did" involved seat belts that were installed in several movie theater seats.  Castle publicized the film as such a thriller that you audiences needed to be strapped in their chairs.

Joan Crawford gets top billing in "I Saw What You Did" even though she is barely in it.  It is actually just a cameo by Crawford, but since she as such a huge star, she gets top billing.  The kids in the film did a good job, but they never really went on to do anything else with their careers.  John Ireland was very convincing as a crazy murderer.  He did a great job.  

Even though the film is extremely corny, it is still very fun to watch.  William Castle doesn't direct the best films, but he sure knows how to entertain an audience.

B-  I recommend it.

Dead Alive (1992)

Peter Jackson directs this zombie picture.  A strange half monkey half rat creature is on exhibition at a zoo.  An old woman is bit by the creature and she turns into a strange zombie like creature herself.  Every person she bites turns into a zombie themselves.  

The old zombie woman's son is trying to hide the fact that these zombies exist.  He takes care of them at his house and keeps them in the basement.  The son's uncle ends up moving into the house and he throws a huge party, but the zombies escape.  Everyone turns into a zombie eventually.  The son and his girlfriend have to do whatever they can to survive the night.

"Dead Alive" also known as "Braindead" is full of camp and humorous gore.  It is probably the goriest film I have ever seen.  It has some of the most original zombie kills such as an entire rib cage being pulled out of a man's chest.  It also has many grotesque scenes.  One scene was most disturbing and it almost caused me to get sick.  The zombie mother, her son, and a couple house guests are eating dinner together.  Custard is served for dessert and pus from the zombie mother's arm squirts into the guest's bowl.  He eats it.  Then the zombie woman's ear falls off into her own custard and she eats it.  It was really sickening.

The acting was OK in the film.  I mean these are all amateur actors, but they do a good enough job.  It is a zombie picture after all.  I thought the girlfriend played by Diana Penalver was actually pretty good.  She is very likable.  

The scene of the rat monkey at the zoo is a good scene.  Stop motion animation is used to make the rat monkey come to life.  I always like to see the use of this type of animation.  The best thing about the zoo scene is the cameo from Forrest J Ackerman however.

Even though "Dead Alive" is just one step above being an average student film, it still has some worthwhile things to it.  You can see the beginning of Peter Jackson's creative mind starting to take shape.  There is some originality to the story, but overall "Dead Alive" is just an average horror film with endless amounts of blood and guts.

C+  I kind of recommend it...

The Country Girl (1954)

William Holden is a director for a musical theater show and he wants Bing Crosby for the lead.  The problem with that scenario is no one else thinks Crosby can pull it off.  Crosby has been a drunk for the last several years and he is unreliable.  Fortunately for Crosby, he has his wife by his side played by Grace Kelly.

Crosby has been a drunk for so long because several years earlier his kid was run over by a car when he was supposed to be watching after him.  He has felt guilty ever since and he will not take any responsibility since that accident.  He is nervous and scared about the new show because everything is lying on his shoulders.  Kelly pushes him on, trying to get the best out of him, but Crosby tells Holden that Kelly really isn't needed.  Crosby just has Kelly help him so she can feel good about herself.  It is then realized that Crosby was lying and he has been lying to Holden the entire time.  He really is scared and a down and out drunk.  But with Kelly's and Holden's help, he can commit and be successful in the show.

During the film, Holden and Kelly fall for each other.  In the final scene, Kelly has to make a choice between Holden and Crosby.  Crosby understands if she chooses Holden since he has held her down for the past 10 years with his guilt and alcoholism.  Fortunately, Kelly chooses Crosby so they can start a new life together.

"The Country Girl" is a very good film.  I was surprised how good it was.  This is the second film I have seen with Grace Kelly and she is simply amazing.  She really is outstanding and she is one of the most beautiful actresses I have ever seen.  Seeing her in this film makes me want to see every other movie she has done.  Kelly won the Oscar for "The Country Girl".

Bing Crosby was incredible in the film also.  Not only does he do his usual singing parts, but he has many dramatic scenes.  This was one of the first times audiences really saw how great of an actor Crosby really is.  William Holden is also great.  He is very convincing as a strong director.  He probably based his characterization on directors he has dealt with in the past.

The reason I wanted to see "The Country Girl" was because of the William Holden episode of "I Love Lucy".  On that episode, Ricky asks Holden what he is working on and he replies "I just finished a picture called "The Country Girl" with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly."  That was enough for me!  I had to see it!

"The Country Girl" was nominated for many Oscars, including Best Picture.  It only won 2 however.  Best Actress and Best Writing.  It really did deserve at least those, if not more.  It was a great picture.

A  I recommend it.

Poltergeist (1982)

**

A family living in a suburban town is having problems with spirits.  The little girl of the family is speaking with spirits through the television set and things are moving around the house.  One night, the hauntings get much worse.  The young boy in the family is attacked by a tree and he is about to be eaten until his father saves him.  All of this is really a distraction so the spirits can steal the little girl.  The family then tries everything, with the help of paranormal psychics to get their child back.

"Poltergeist" is an excellent ghost movie made by Steven Spielberg.  Tobe Hooper gets the directing credit, but all signs show that Spielberg really directed the movie.  I wouldn't doubt it.  This is a ghost movie that only Spielberg could do.  

There are several scenes that are really great.  I love it when the chairs stack up on the table in one take.  It really is a shock.  It is at this point that we know that there really is something wrong in the house.  Another great scene is the sequence where the mother goes into the other dimension to get her little girl back.  It is quite thrilling and you do not know what to expect on the other side.  There is also another scene where one of the para-psychologists peels off his face to reveal his skeleton.  That was really frightening.  Of course, it was all in his mind though.

One of the most famous scenes from the film is when the clown doll attacks the little boy.  It is a scary scene, but I don't get why the boy would sleep with a scary clown doll starring at him.  It didn't make any sense.

Everything was top notch in "Poltergeist".  It has excellent acting, especially from the parents played by Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams.  It has excellent special effects and a great score from Jerry Goldsmith.  

"Poltergeist" is a thrilling ghost movie in every sense of the word.  Spielberg once again proves why he is such an amazing talent.  Now I have to watch the sequels again.  The second one used to scare the hell out of me.

One more thing...  When the skeletons start emerging from the pool with JoBeth Williams in it, it is incredibly creepy.  What makes it even scarier is knowing that Spielberg used real skeletons!

B+  I recommend it.