4v291o

I saw Two-Lane Blacktop many years ago as a young hot rodder, but recently bought the Criterion Blu-ray and am so glad I did. This is much better than I ed it. The story of several lonely people who do not know how to communicate or relate on an intimate level.

The Driver (James Taylor) and The Mechanic (Dennis Wilson) drive around in a souped-up 1955 Chevy making money by betting against locals that their car can win a drag race. One day The Girl climbs in the back of the car while they are in a cafe eating. When they get in they don't say anything, don't say "Hello," don't say "Which way you goin'?" don't say "What are you doing?" They just get in and start driving. Eventually she asks which way they are going and they say "East." "Cool" she says, "I've never been east."

The run across a new Pontiac G.T.O. driven by G.T.O. (Warren Oates) and they decide to race to Washington, D.C. They form a sort of friendship. At one stop, they offer G.T.O. a truce, a peace offering, "Want a boiled egg?" LOL

G.T.O. tells a different story to everyone, and he picks up a lot of hitchhikers to assuage his loneliness and they each get a fresh story. He keeps talking even when his engers fall asleep. This might be one of the best roles Warren Oates ever got. He really sells the rootlessness and longings of G.T.O. Harry Dean Stanton is one of the hitchhikers.

Everyone wants The Girl. The Mechanic is the only one who gets to sleep with her and he doesn't seem to mind if she stays or goes. The Driver falls hard for her, but is unable to connect, and yet can't handle it when she goes. G.T.O. wants her, too, but more as wish fulfillment than for who she is.

The ending is ambiguous and I'm not fond of it exactly, but not sure how else one would end something this existential and nihilistic in 1971. It's a world that does not exist anymore, and a mood that can't be sustained. I found more depth in the telling of this story than I expected and am overjoyed at the discovery.

And people think Andrew Lloyd Webber came up with the idea for Cats! Much as I like James Cagney as a gangster, he really should have been allowed more roles that took advantage of his fast-taking, high-energy, persona. The plot is just the thread to hang these scenes on, but the ending is a triple-doozy. Cagney designs sort musical numbers for theaters while his secretary (Joan Blondell) is in love with him, some other chiseler is after him, and he has to keep the company running while his partners rip him off, and a competitor steals his ideas. For those who love these Warner Brothers pre-code musicals, this is a solid entry.

A rather goofy, loosely-plotted story about 5 inept criminals who go straight and one inept cop. Sammo Hung is one of the criminals, and Jackie Chan is the cop. For most of the movie there isn't any interaction between the criminals and the cop. Eventually some gangs and counterfeit money come in to play, but most of the movie is just following these folks around separately. A Hong Kong hang-out movie.

Translations can be funny. The IMDB credit for one character says his name is "Exhaust Pipe" but in the dubbed version on TUBI they called him "Smokey." Another is called "Vaseline" in IMDB but was called "Greaser" on the screen.

A film that is sort-of following in the footsteps of The Endless Summer, but they stay in the Northern Hemisphere. Two guys and a gal go surfing around the globe. They start in Portugal, go to Casablanca (when Bogart said he went there for the waters, I don't think he meant surfing), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, Japan, and Hawaii. In Japan they only surf in an indoor wave pool.

This lacks the dry-humor narration of The Endless Summer, and the music is a chorus of young people going "Bop be do DAH" and such. However, there A LOT of surfing footage. Some of it has a weird green tint to it, I wonder if the film has degraded or if that was a (bad) choice?

The thing that caught my eye and the reason I bought it was this is produced by Robert E. Petersen, the founder of Hot Rod Magazine, and owner of several others. There is a Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles that I plan to get to some day. Almost nobody with this film did anything else, except the music by Stu Phillips of the Hollyridge Strings (if you scavenge thrift stores for cheap records you've seen a million of their records) and Dino, Desi, & Billy.

We all have temptations, but how far will we give in them for a good cause? Thomas Michell is a district attorney named Foster who wants to nail a guy for a protections racket. Suddenly, Ray Milland shows up as Nick Beal, and offers him the evidence he needs, but in a not-quite legal way. From there, Mr. Beal worms his way into more of Foster's life and political ambitions until Foster is running for governor against a crooked man. How crooked will he get to keep a crooked man out of office? Will he sell his soul? Has he done it already? We at first wonder if Beal is an angel, but soon enough it is apparent that he is from the Enemy. How will Foster redeem and save his soul? Good show about how things creep up on you bit-by-bit until you are hooked. Interestingly, while not as overt, The Big Clock, also from director John Farrow, looks at the same theme of how one decision leads to more that get you in deeper.

I just read this book, my least favorite Chandler book, and this is my least favorite film adaptation of Philip Marlowe. For one, I'm not terribly fond of Altman's style. For another, this is mean and ugly without being interesting. I can see why Altman would want to adapt this of all Chandler's works, it's the most drawn out and least engaging of the books, and that's just how he likes to film. Sorry to all the fans of this film, I gave it the second chance, and it was still an unpleasant time.

Called The Haunted Strangler on Criterion Channel but Grip of the Strangler here. Boris Karloff is an author looking in the Haymarket Strangler, murderer of 5 young ladies, who was hung 20 years ago. He has this idea that the guy hung was innocent. It seems the ladies were strangled with one arm and slashed by a knife. We see the prison doctor drop a knife in the coffin of the man hung for the killings. In his search, the author finds that the doctor disappeared after that. When we find the killer, it was a bit of a surprise to me, but maybe some would see it coming. It's a bit slow in the beginning, but once we know who the killer is, things move along. This was a bit of a psychological horror, and Karloff is excellent, as expected.

A story of Mae West and how became who she became. She made her own choices and drove her career and business. She became a multi-millionaire by investing in real estate. But she really loved the spotlight and being the center of attention. Dom Deluise narrates, but one of the talking heads is Robert Osborne, known as the host of Turner Classic Movies for so long, but here he is identified as "columnist." I don't think they used enough of her quotes, but they certainly cover her figure, looks, and style. She was a very short woman, barely 5 foot tall, but much thicker than was popular at the time, and some think that's what allowed her to get away with so much. As I said in my review of the first film of hers I watched, she'd be hard to caricature, she is a caricature by herself she is so outlandish.

A rock solid police procedural from director Don Siegel. It's from a book called The Commissioner, but Madigan is not the Commissioner. Henry Fonda is. There is a bit of story going on with him also, but the main focus is Madigan (Richard Widmark) and his partner Rocky Bonaro (Harry Guardino), as they look for the guy who took them by surprise and took their guns. Part of the story is the personal lives of a few of them, but most of it the leg work of hunting down a criminal. Siegel keeps things moving and doesn't let it drag too much. Similar to his version of The Killers, it seems like a TV movie in parts, but in others, it's too much.

My wife ridiculed me for not watching the Jack Lemmon doc right after watching Walter Matthau, so I had to correct that. Lemmon grew up as upper-middle class outside Boston and attended Harvard. He went to New York after college to pursue acting and did a lot on stage and early live television. Eventually he made his way to Hollywood and after being labeled a comedian, longed for some drama. He got that chance with Days of Wine and Roses and has proven to be one of the most consistent and respected actors ever. I love what a couple of people noted, he says right before every scene, "It's magic time."

A nice doc on the great Barbara Stanwyck. Lots of love from folks from Robert Wagner, Robert Stack, Roddy McDowall, and Ricardo Montalban, as well as a couple of biographers, her agent, her dress designer, and Aaron Spelling. From being orphaned at age 4, one of the youngest of 5 kids, she had a rough childhood. One of her sisters was a showgirl, and that's how Barbara got her start about age 14. Her first husband took her to Hollywood and while her star rose, his faded and ended her marriage. She could do it all as an actress, comedy, tearjerkers, cold-hearted murdereress, Westerns. For such a shy person, she gave it all to the camera and finally won an Honorary Oscar in 1981. Possibly the best actress to never win an Oscar for a particular role. She deserved a dozen of them.

Called Dead Kennedys: Part One on the actual show. I'm not a huge Dead Kennedys fan, but I know the songs "Holiday in Cambodia" and "California Über Alles." I the lead singer, Jello Biafra running for mayor of San Francisco. They have a short news clip of that included here.

Also, how did Jello get to keep that name, isn't Jello a ed trademark? How come they didn't sue and force him to change his name to Gelatin Biafra?

It's interesting that Jello looks like a normal guy, has a regular (for 1980) haircut, and is fairly handsome, but he's an absolute bonkers inconsistent anarchist.

Growing up in small-town Kansas, our closest big city was Tulsa, Oklahoma. Once the radio station out of Tulsa (KMOD) was advertising an all-ages show with Dead Kennedys and I was so put off by the name I decided it wasn't worth the trek. Obviously, that was the first time I'd heard of them and knew nothing of the music.

Now, about this actual show, it's 28 minutes long, all concert footage with the exception mentioned above and a few 10-secocnd clips of something interspersed. Looks like it was shot on a camcorder. As they say, a real time capsule.

I'd always wanted to watch Wings, the first winner of the Best Picture Oscar. At 2 hours 20 minutes it always seemed daunting for a silent. I ended up watching this over several lunch breaks. It's the story of two guys from the same town going to World War I as pilots. Clara Bow is in it, but not as a shameless flirt, but as the girl-next-door. She goes overseas as an ambulance driver. Some amazing footage of dogfights and a tragic tale of war.

The Library DVD is called Fritz Lang: Circle of Destiny. This French documentary on Herr Lang covers only his European films. Many talking heads are French or German, and speaking French or German, with only one American. Some interesting insights into his silent films, and they talk about his complicated character and cold nature toward everyone in his attempts to get the shot he wants. I thought it was interesting to watch once. I've been on a real kick watching these movie-making documentaries, I've seen 10 just this calendar year, and 7 of those are on directors. Add another 5 if you make it the last 12 months, but only one of those was on a director.

After watching a German Billy Wilder special recently, now here's one on Hawks that's on the Criterion DVD of Bringing Up Baby. the only one seen talking is Hawks. Some German is used to fill in some info. Odd that I had to manually turn on the subtitles. Hawks gives some background on his time in the movies and a few of his other interests such as flying. Some of it is good insight, and some of it is Hawks myth-making, but he's always good to listen to. I've always been a big fan of his, but am also glad that not everyone follows his philosophy of movie-making.

Watched on Wednesday May 14, 2025.

Called The Hollywood Collection: Walter Matthau, A Diamond in the Rough on Tubi. There's a whole bunch of these. A pretty good talking-head doc on the great Walter Matthau. He narrated it mostly, with inserts from Jack Lemmon, Ossie Davis, Neil Simon, and a few others. Other than his gambling, no real negatives are brought up, so this certainly leans toward hagiography. Still, I didn't know much about his life, so it was good and there were some good insights into the man and his skills.

I can see why this was a big deal back in the day, but there isn't much of a story. The big question I get out of this is, how many times a day can a man have sex? I lost count with this guy. I like what one character said about Beatty's character, "Always moving and never going anywhere." In the end, he gets what he deserves.

It's been a terrible stressful week so I wanted a comedy. This one is in a set one of my kids bought me and I hadn't seen it for several years so it seemed a good choice. It was indeed. Stupid humor, but a few things really had me laughing. I'd seen this many, many years ago and actually only ed only three things. It was fun to watch and I'm in a better mood until I go into work tomorrow morning.

Wow, this really is bad. Cheap sets, horrible acting, and terrible dialog ("Future events such as these will affect you in the future."). You can see there's a good idea buried there. A few of them could act a bit, but some were worse than a middle school play. I was surprised to see it was in color. Generally, I don't mind voice-over, but wow is it overused here. It does finally drop out till the end, but it was pretty heavy going there for a while.

I can't believe I've not reviewed this here. I fell in love with this film the first time I saw it and immediately bought it. It's such a joy to watch and listen to the dialog. Richard Erdman especially gets some great lines. He has such a dry sardonic delivery. Jay Adler as the ukulele playing manager is great also. He shows them a trailer house and looks surprised when the water actually comes out of the faucet. I may have given it half-star too much, but I just really love this and can put it on anytime.

"Thanks for the pen."

Mrs. Hound (who ain't no dog) and I just stinkin' love this movie. I was class of 1984, and she was class of 1987 so this hits our sweet spot, being the class of 1986. They do a real deep dive on the music of the era, stuff that wasn't on the radio in my area, anyway. However, I still had to resist naming each song as it came on, that begins to annoy the wife after a while.

Martin Blank (John Cusack) is a "professional killer" who is getting tired of the job. Grocer (Dan Aykroyd) is putting together a union (more like a club) of hitmen, which Blank doesn't want to . He's like me, not a er. Like most of GenX actually. When a job takes Blank back to his hometown just in time for his 10-year high school reunion, he decides this is a good time to visit his old high-school flame, Debi (Minnie Driver). She can't decide if she's happy or not as he ran out Prom night and hasn't been heard from since. However, people are out to kill him and have followed him to Grosse Pointe. Chaos ensues.

It was interesting to hear opinions on the awkwardness of a 10-year reunion, now that I've just ed my 40th. I did not go.

Watched on Saturday May 3, 2025.

I absolutely adore the dry humor in this. I finally bought a copy and am so glad I did. The story is simple, some surfers decide to travel around the globe looking for summer and waves. I"m not sure anyone would do this the same way now, since technology would allow for so much more. But it's brilliant that it was shot on film without sound and then The Sandals soundtrack and Bruce Brown's humorous narration really make it special.

I am fascinated by surfing and surf culture, though I live 1605 miles (2583km) from Malibu, California, and have never lived within 1500 miles of surfing. In fact, I have a fear of water. I have no interest in a cruise, or fishing, or boating, or swimming. Even in lakes or streams, but especially the ocean. Everything in the ocean is trying to kill you. Even the water itself, as this doc makes clear. But I love to watch surfing. Good luck figuring me out.

EDIT: After reading other reviews, it seems lots of people are not a fan of the one-person narration, which I think is a strength. Good luck figuring people out.

Seeing the review from mrbalihai I thought I could devote 8 minutes to this bit of brilliance. A guy on Easter Island with an Easter Island moai head hitches a ride on a ing plane and lands in civilization. I loved that he was fascinated by all the advertising statues(?) we use, Muffler Men, Big Boy burgers, etc. Kinda clever and fun.

FInd it here: beachbumberry.com/publication-secret-of-easter-island.html

"Spectacle does not equal funny." A quote from Full Marx podcast that I just happened to hear as I was watching this over several lunch hours. That explains a lot of these overblown 1960s comedies that were competing with television. I can think of Around the World in 80 Days, The Great Race, and of course, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. While each of those, and this current film, have some great bits and clever setups, they end up a slog to get through.

For some reason "they" want to flood the world with 007s, male and female. We watch the first one get inducted, and then he just disappears from the film? What? Perhaps the fact that six(!) directors are listed in IMDB explains part of the mess.

There's a bit with Woody Allen where he doesn't talk. Well, he's no Harpo Marx or Charlie Chaplin, Allen is only funny when he talks, so why have an extended scene where he ineptly pantomimes around?

There are several stunningly beautiful women, so that helps one get through the film. One attracted to women anyway. For those attracted to men, there's Peter Sellers and Woody Allen.

I think this is my first Ed Wood movie! The Jail Bait here is a gun, not as I grew up hearing the term, an underage girl. A plastic surgeon's son is up to no good, hanging around with a known criminal. He's been busted for carrying a gun, and immediately gets a gun and goes out and they rob a place and someone is killed. The son feels bad, but the criminal won't let him turn himself in. The soundtrack is a piano and guitar, and I have to it, it gets kind of annoying at times. The show itself isn't bad, even if the acting is, and it gets a bit preachy, but things move a long at a pretty good clip. I do have to it I was surprised at the turn of events at the end, though many of you will probably see it right away. I mean, I knew dad was a plastic surgeon, but I didn't expect that! I also didn't expect the blackface, which was totally unnecessary to the plot, and really just unnecessary.

More melodrama than noir, though it goes noirish toward the end. Mary (Ava Gardner) rides the train back into the small town she left, and Kenny (George Raft) has been playing cards and drinking in the small town even after she asked him to come with her to Chicago. They love and hate each other. Fran is in love with Kenny. Mary likes town boss Lew (Tom Conway) because he has money. Kenny and Lew just hate each other. No love there. Gitlo (Victor McLaglen) is Kenny's friend who works for Lew. Eventually a murder is planned and you might be surprised to know it all goes downhill from there. Somehow, we still get a (mostly) happy ending. Ava Gardner wasn't much of an actress yet, but she sure is magnetic on screen. Especially in that robe she keeps wearing. McLaglen brings the most life to the picture. This is strictly a b-picture all around, but it's worth watching once.

This was pretty bad. It didn't help that my copy has terrible sound issues and sometimes I couldn't understand them, but as stupid as this guy is, I don't think the words matter that much. Angela Landsbury and Douglass Dumbrille are a husband and wife who con people and kill them for the insurance money. They've set up Keith Andes, and boy is he stupid. He realizes pretty quick that he's been set up, but just keeps being stupid about it. I was surprised at how frank they were about Angela sleeping with the marks while her husband doesn't seem to mind.

Watched on Friday April 25, 2025.

Edward G. Robinson in a tale by Cornell Woolrich. If you haven't read any Woolrich, get right down to the library or bookstore and fix that. Robinson plays a mentalist who actually starts to get real visions. This disturbs him, and he starts getting premonitions of bad things and they come true, he gets very upset and goes to live by himself. However, living in LA gets visions of his old partner, now a rich oil man, and then the partner's daughter. He tries to find a way to make his vision of her death not come true, everyone thinks he is some kind of con-man. Directed by John Farrow, who does some great camera work.

Kansas connection: They mention Wichita, Kansas twice.

An interesting documentary that uses lots of archival footage of John Wayne, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda talking about John Wayne. A lot of it didn't seem to focus on Monument Valley as much as one would expect, but it is covered some. Ford filmed all or part of nine movies at Monument Valley, and really was the first to use that landscape. Many Westerns were filmed a hundred miles south where they had a Hollywood Western town built, but Ford loved the landscape and liked to get away from everyone else, especially studios who might interfere. They go through a few of the movies and talk about how Ford used the setting to make nature large and humans small. Martin Scorsese talks a lot, as does British critic Peter Cowie, who sounds like an academic. Not particularity groundbreaking, but a nice way to spend a couple of lunch hours.

A documentary about John Ford and his ion for Ireland and his 20-year dream to bring The Quiet Man to the screen. Maureen O'Hara adds life with her interview bits. The town and areas where the movie was filmed have become tourist magnets. So much so, I'd rather not visit after watching this. Ford's parents had come to America from Ireland and Ford was always obsessed with Ireland. In many ways, The Quiet Man is a dream of Ireland, not really a representation of the real place, and they acknowledge this in the documentary. It was pretty interesting if a bit unfocused and wide-ranging. I'd recommend it to any fans of the film.

My wife and I used to watch this a lot. It's been a while and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy watching it. Tom Selleck is a writer of private eye novels who's in the midst of writer's block. He goes to the courthouse to watch trials to get ideas and one day a Romanian, played by Paulina Porizkova, is being arraigned for murder. He is smitten and gives her an alibi claiming they were having an affair. She moves in with him, but he is not totally convinced she is innocent, so when things happen he misinterprets them as her trying to kill him. The best parts are the voice-over when he is writing his book, translating what is happening in real life to an over-cooked private-eye speak. YMMV of course, but it really cracks me up.

I liked that this Jesus actually laughed. So many portrayals are so solemn. Some surprising camera work also. I saw this in the theater when it came out, a group from my church went to see it. I may have seen it once since then, but I only had general impressions, not any details I ed. Mostly called The Jesus Film in my reading and discussing, this tells the story of Jesus based on the Gospel of Luke. And was, I believe, produced by Campus Crusade for Christ (now called Cru) and has been translated into more languages than any other film. Like I said, I thought it was good, but they brush over a lot and the beatings and crucifixion did not convey the horror of it. Of course, we are used to a lot more extreme violence now than we were then. A good watch for Easter.

HUGE cast-of-thousands epic on the life of Jesus Christ. Most of the people in this are lucky to get one or two lines. Keep IMDB open as you watch so you can look every bit player up.

Surprising well acted in places, especially José Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, and Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate. Shelley Winters of course overacts her one line. It was a bit jarring to see a blue-eyed Jesus. Max Von Sydow does a pretty good job. It can be tough to pull off saying such well-known and weighty lines and make them sound natural.

Beautifully shot, stunning in places, George Stevens makes good use of shadow, which was surprising, and the the sky and landscape really pop.

"A movie is not a book" so of course some things differ from the source material. Being a Christian my whole life and having read the Gospels who knows how many times, my wife and I enjoyed pointing out where they made changes. The substance is still the same. It was a good watch for Good Friday.

Hadn't seen this in a long time, man what a testosterone show this is! Lots of slapping people around or beating them. A few get shot. Ok, most of them. Even Coleen Gray is tough in her own way. When a guy is framed for a bank robbery, he tracks the team down to Mexico and worms his way in. Excellent noir, tight and tough and well-directed by Phil Karlson. With John Payne, Preston Foster, Jack Elam, Lee Van Cleef, and Neville Brand.

This is the story of brilliant Indian mathematician Ramanujan. Born in India, he is able to go to Cambridge University in the 1910s, but faces many obstacles, not least of which is his race. He also sees the math in his head, but Professor Hardy (Jeremy Irons) wants him to do proofs. These is some battle of wills until they come to an understanding. Ramanujan left behind a wife, and is anxious that she would come to England. Unfortunately he develops tuberculosis. He is able to make it back home to India for one more year with his wife. A very good movie that tells an important story. Many of Ramanujan's theorems are still being used to work out black holes.

I saw this many years ago and did not like it. I think the opening bloodbath with many innocents being killed really put me off, and I didn't pay much attention after that. That much blatant nihilism is not where I was in life. Really, I'm still not, but I have a better understanding of it. All I ed from the first watch was the opening and closing massacres, and not a single thing in-between.

The cast is really stacked with greats, Warren Oates, Robert Ryan, Ben Johnson, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O'Brien, William Holden... even others like Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Albert Dekker, Dub Taylor, and Bo Hopkins show up for a bit. Everyone does an excellent job.

I have to say I was more engaged this time and followed the story. No one is the Good Guy, which I realize it part of the point. I wonder how people like Ben Johnson thought about this, people who had been making movies since the 1930s. I know a lot of the old-timers hated this New Hollywood direction, but lots of them also starred in these films. Was it just a paycheck? Did they not like it but go along anyway? Did they think it was brilliant?

It is certainly too long at 2 hours 24 minutes, and while I have more respect for it, and appreciated it more this time, The Wild Bunch will not be going on my list of favorites.

A great detective show, not just a car chase. There's also a foot chase in the basement of a hospital and another at an airport. In the commentary, director Peter Yates says he thought of it as a Western. I don't see that exactly, but I get where he is coming from. I love that the music stops when the car chase begins, because I LOVE the sound of those engines. I turned it up loud for the chase.

Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is assigned by a rich and powerful politician (Robert Vaughn) to watch a witness. The witness is shot and so is a cop, one of Bullitt's guys. So, he goes after the shooter, with the stupid arrogant politician popping up in the way every turn. I enjoyed it even more this time than the first time I watched it. I need to put it in regular rotation.

In this TV movie, Teri Garr is a retired LA police officer, now working as a Private Investigator in Palm Springs. She gets a case to follow a husband and needs another hand so she hires Sam Elliott, who is a cop on disability leave for only a few more months then he retires. He can't be moonlighting for a PI while technically on the force, but he can use the $1000 so he agrees. While following the husband he spots the guy with a fugitive who has snuck across the border and beat up a sheriff's officer. Thomas Haden Church is a young gung-ho cop who is looking for the fugitive. They all end up working together in a very uneasy partnership trying to figure out the deal with both the husband and the fugitive. Even though she is the PI, Elliott tends to use the colorful phrases one normally associates with private eyes. They kind of leave it like it was possible pilot for a series, or they could have made a few more, but I can't seem to find that they did.

TW: Elliott purposefully gets Garr drunk to take advantage of her but gets so drunk himself he es out. Still, the intent was there. And in the morning she is rightly pissed and calls him many wonderfully terrible names.

I've been on a silent movie kick lately. Tubi has several available. In this one, Lon Chaney, who is such a great actor it makes one wonder what happened to his son, plays a brilliant but unknown scientist who makes a great discovery. The Baron, who is his patron, steals his idea and presents it before the academy. When our scientist calls him out, the academy doesn't believe the scientist and laughs at him. Then the Baron, who stole the man's idea, also steals his wife. She laughs at him. So in a masochistic depression he becomes a clown that gets slapped. One hundred times a night. People thought that was hilarious. HE (everyone calls him HE, they even have a neon sign that says HE who gets slapped) falls for a horse rider but she's in love with another horse rider. The Baron falls for the horse girl, but no one recognizes HE, but HE does what is necessary to stop the Baron. Quite the ending. Very moving.

Anna Imhof told me to watch this many years ago, but it has been hard to find. I just happened to find it on Tubi, five days before it goes away.

I don't know why it's so hard to find, it directed by John Ford and has everything you expect from John Ford: male bonding, male voices in chorus, sentimentality, pageantry. roguish humor, Irish humor.

Except for a couple of brief scenes, the film entirely takes place at West Point Military Academy over the course of 50 years in the first part of the 20th century. The "long gray line" refers to the many years young men have worn the gray uniform of the cadets. The story is told through the life of one man, Martin 'Marty' Maher, played by Tyrone Power, who is an Irish immigrant who gets a job at West Point but finds the Army folks are treated better so he enlists. He spends his entire career at West Point and marries Maureen O'Hara, as any man would, and has his ups and downs, including losing friends to war. At 2 hours 15, this is a bit long, but it keeps moving and is never boring. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Ford.

I would have guessed this documentary would have been done a lot earlier than 2013 from the quality and style of it. There's a narrator, and lots of very washed-out color trailers (for the color films, obvs) and informative bits to sell the films. No talking heads. The doc covers each film after a certain point giving a bit of context and background. They cover his TV years also. Man, that guy had a macabre sense of humor. I love it. If you are deep into Hitchcock there may be nothing new here, but as a causal fan I found it pretty interesting.

Such a cool movie. The music really makes it, a combo of Jazz and Spaghetti Western. The film is about a hit man and his trainee who kill the opposing boss in his own bosses house so everyone is after him. They hide out and eventually have a big showdown in a dusty field. It's fantastic. And, what a great name for a movie!

What a delightful and charming movie. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the doppelganger thing, but they pulled it off well. Sylvia Sidney is a princess and a struggling actress. When the princess visits the US and gets sick, the actress takes her place. She is told to woo Cary Grant and she falls for him, but can't let him know she's not a princess. They pulled it off very well.

Now this is a dark tale. An Argentine noir of a man who thinks he is being treated unfairly and lied to and then overreacts. Gaspar is a journalist who meets Liudas, a European without papers who claims he wants to bring his family over. Liudas convinces Gaspar to start a business together, but Gaspar gives 3/4 of the income to Liudas to help him and his family. But eventually, Gaspar begins to doubt the truth of the family. Gaspar is a proud man, and the thought that he had been taken advantage of is too much and he murders Liudas. There's a long dream sequence that tells you so much without words. And it is an amazing looking sequence. Much of the story is told in flashback, with voice-over and lots of shadows and darkness. Some really fantastic cinematography and directing. The tension is so much, my stomach was in knots for half of the film. This is probably my best "first watch" in quite a while.

Gary Cooper is an American working for a car company in and takes a vacation before going back to Detroit. Marlene Dietrich is a jewel thief who he happens to meet and puts the moves on. She drags him along and her accomplice s them but keeps trying to get rid of Cooper. What will win out, the jewels or love?

Strictly a B-Western where a lawman acts like a bandit to draw out the true bandits. Has to do with a silver mine and a secret group of lawmen that everyone knows about or finds out about. We had it on while playing cards at my dad's.

Amusing farce that takes place in 1840s New Orleans. Marlene Dietrich has come over from Europe and is looking for a rich husband. Roland Young falls for her act, but she falls for simple sailor Bruce Cabot. She tries very hard to marry rich Roland, but manly Bruce is too much. How long can she keep up the charade of her being a countess before being found out? Director René Clair keeps it light and fun and the character actors of this time are all just superb.

Work in progress, starting from scratch for next year's version of letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/helenwelonmelon/list/poll-2024-top-500-favourite-film-lists/

1. A Trip to the Moon
2. The Phantom of the Opera
3. Five Came Back
4. Brick
5. The Man Who Wasn't There
6. The Family Man
7. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
8. Almost Famous
9. The Big Lebowski
10. Get Shorty

...plus 607 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Private Life of Don Juan
• Ladies of Leisure
• Monster Madness: The Counter Culture To Blockbusters
• Bad Company: Total Rock Review
• I Love Trouble
• Becoming Cary Grant
• Automorphosis
• The Iron Lady
• The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel
• Ladies in Retirement

...plus 69 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Raymond Chandler's detective Phillip Marlowe on film. I haven't seen anything below Time to Kill yet so rankings may change.

Time to Kill and The Falcon Takes Over are films based on Chandler's Marlowe stories, but the names are changed. I haven't seen them yet either.

See also my Private Eye List: letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/retrohound/list/private-eye-films/detail/

1. Murder, My Sweet

   Much as I love Bogart, Dick Powell owns this role. Too bad he didn't do it more times. See also Cry Danger for Powell in Noirish action. Based on Farewell, My Lovely.

2. The Big Sleep

   Bogart is amazing, and the movie as directed by Howard Hawks is outstanding.

3. Marlowe

   Takes place in 1969. I was afraid this would be a bit like a longer Rockford Files, but it really is its own movie. In many ways, this Marlowe is closer to the Marlowe in the book than any of the other movies. Based on The Little Sister.

4. Farewell, My Lovely

   Takes place in 1940s Los Angeles. I was surprised because the other Mitchum as Marlowe is in England in the 1970s.

5. The Big Sleep

   Takes place in England in the 1970s. Mitchum is really too old, too bad he didn't take on the role of Marlowe in about 1962.

6. Marlowe
7. Lady in the Lake

   Movie is shot POV which gets annoying after awhile. And I'm not to fond of Robert Montgomery in this role.

8. The Long Goodbye

   Takes place in LA in the 1970s. Elliot Gould is Marlowe but Sterling Hayden as the depressed writer rules.

9. The Brasher Doubloon

   Based on The High Window.

10. Time to Kill

    Based on Chandler's book The High Window, but used Brett Halliday's detective, Michael Shayne.

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of films with a private detective as the central character. See the notes to see details on P.I. names and book authors from which the movies are derived. Also characteristics like female, African-American, or country other than USA. Suggestions are always welcome.

Not in the database: Most of the Showtime anthology series Fallen Angels seems to be private eyes. The below is just one example.
"Fly Paper" The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett. Stars Christopher Lloyd. This is episode five of season two of "Fallen Angels." It was directed by Tim Hunter from a teleplay by Donald E. Westlake. youtu.be/w8G5cuTNlD0

1. The Maltese Falcon

   Sam Spade by Dashiell Hammett

2. The Maltese Falcon

   Sam Spade by Dashiell Hammett

3. Satan Met a Lady

   Sam Spade (with name changed to Ted Shane) by Dashiell Hammett. Based on The Maltese Falcoln.

4. Roadhouse Nights

   The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett

5. The Dain Curse

   The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett. Hamilton Nash in the movie.

6. No Good Deed

   Based on a Continental Op story by Dashiel Hammett

7. Mister Dynamite

   T.N. Thompson from a treatment by Dashiell Hammett

8. The Thin Man

   Nick and Nora Charles by Dashiell Hammett

9. After the Thin Man

   Nick and Nora Charles by Dashiell Hammett

10. Another Thin Man

    Nick and Nora Charles by Dashiell Hammett

...plus 421 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I guess Joe Don Baker just died. I had no idea the guy was still alive! He's always been one of my favorites, and sometimes, he's really, really good. Frequently though, it's just his charisma that make a film acceptable (especially in the 1970s). But I still love those films.

1. The Outfit
2. Charley Varrick
3. Checkered Flag or Crash
4. Mitchell
5. Speedtrap
6. Fletch
7. The Living Daylights
8. GoldenEye
9. Tomorrow Never Dies
10. Cool Hand Luke

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

No order, does not include VHS

• Almost Famous
• American Graffiti

  Blu-ray Special Edition

• Cry Danger

  Blu-ray

• Gun Crazy

  Film Noir Classic Collection with The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, Murder, My Sweet, Out of the Past, and The Set-Up.

• Murder, My Sweet

  Film Noir Classic Collection with The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, Murder, My Sweet, Out of the Past, and The Set-Up.

• Out of the Past

  Film Noir Classic Collection with The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, Murder, My Sweet, Out of the Past, and The Set-Up.

• The Asphalt Jungle

  Film Noir Classic Collection with The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, Murder, My Sweet, Out of the Past, and The Set-Up.

• The Set-Up

  Film Noir Classic Collection with The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, Murder, My Sweet, Out of the Past, and The Set-Up.

• In a Lonely Place
• Key Largo

...plus 306 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I love this stuff. If you know of any others, leave a comment. There's a huge list at letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/pileofcrowns/list/documentaries-about-movies-open/

• The Story of Film: An Odyssey
• For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
• Tales from the Script
• These Amazing Shadows
• The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
• Something's Gonna Live
• Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
• A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies
• Visions of Light
• A Decade Under the Influence

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Lots of people like bad movies. If action, or horror, or Hallmark, or whatever, they'll enjoy it. I like my bad movies to have a moral to teach me. Not all of these are bad movies by any means, but I'm including plenty of films that could use better acting, better scripts, better something, but I find them mostly enjoyable.

And believe it or not, even though I'm a Christian, I've not seen Gibson's The ion of the Christ and a few other essentials.

You might want to read the notes.

1. Ordet
2. A Man for All Seasons
3. The Phantom Carriage
4. Chariots of Fire
5. The Mission
6. Jesus
7. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
8. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
9. Do You Believe?
10. To Save a Life

    They try to tackle too much for one movie, but really well done.

...plus 70 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Finally doing a list for John Ford. Still missing a few key films, but here's the one's I've seen and my personal ranking of them. Feel free to argue with me about it.

1. Stagecoach
2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
3. Drums Along the Mohawk
4. The Grapes of Wrath
5. The Quiet Man
6. The Horse Soldiers
7. Donovan's Reef
8. Wagon Master
9. 3 Godfathers
10. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

...plus 14 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Kansas Saloon Smashers
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
• A Modern Musketeer
• Tumbleweeds
• The Wizard of Oz
• Cimarron
• The Washington Masquerade
• Kansas City Princess
• The Plainsman
• The Plow That Broke the Plains

...plus 99 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Films where someone is from Kansas, or takes place in Kansas. Suggestions welcome.

• Movie Crazy

  Lloyd's character is from Kansas.

• They Call It Sin
• History Is Made at Night

  Jean Arthur's character is from Kansas.

• Stagecoach

  The whiskey drummer is from Kansas City, Kansas, not Kansas City Missouri, as he keeps telling people.

• Dodge City
• Only Angels Have Wings
• The Wizard of Oz
• The Kansan
• Abilene Town
• The Blonde Bandit

...plus 39 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Films based in Kansas, not movies with a dash of Kansas, such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles or The Wizard of Oz.

• Abilene Town
• Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
• Americana
• Angel in My Pocket
• The Big Kahuna
• A Boy and His Dog
• Bus Stop
• Capote
• City Heat
• Critters

...plus 58 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This list is here for my own use, but feel free to comment or make suggestions. I suppose that English, Australian, New Zealand, and even Canadian should be "foreign" but that would be too much work for me to sift out. Click on the list view to see my ratings.

Current count (not really anymore):
Japan 28
15
Italy 17
7
Denmark 2
India 3
Sweden 2
South Korea 1
China 1
Hong Kong 3
Argentina 1
Brazil 1

• The 10th Victim

  Italy

• The Bad Sleep Well

  Japan

• Band of Outsiders

• Bicycle Thieves

  Italy

• Big Deal on Madonna Street

  Italy

• The Big Gundown

  Italy

• The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

  Italy

• The Bitter Stems

  Argentina

• Blood and Black Lace

  Italy

• Bollywood Calling

  India

...plus 70 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies about racing. Drag racing, Grand Prix, Le Mans, Bonneville, Baja, whatever, as long it involves automobiles or motorcycles. Read the notes to see what kind of racing.

A really early one on YouTube only 3 minutes long: youtu.be/4tTltMKheKg?si=89aO_rp9uJrHDhlx

As always, suggestions are welcome.

Not in the database:
Clutch (2012) Jay Rowlands

See also my Racing Documentaries list.

• Mishaps of the New York-Paris Auto Race
• Kid Auto Races at Venice
• The Roaring Road
• Excuse My Dust
• Burn 'Em Up Barnes

  See also the 1934 version

• Kid Speed
• Alice's Auto Race
• The Love Race
• The Crowd Roars
• Burn 'Em Up Barnes

  See also the 1921 version

...plus 103 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Sorted oldest first.

Updated for helenwelonmelon's list.
letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/helenwelonmelon/list/poll-2024-top-500-favourite-film-lists/

Top Years
1987 11 films
1973 11 films
1939 11 films
1985 10 films
1952 9 films

Top Actors
Cary Grant 14 films
John Wayne 13 films
Robert Duval 11 films
Humphrey Bogart 11 films
James Stewart 10 films

Top Actresses
Joan Blondell 6 films
Esther Howard 6 films
Jean Arthur 6 films
Ginger Rogers 6 films
s McDormand 5 films

Top Directors
Howard Hawks 12 films
Michael Curtiz 11 films
Alfred Hitchcock 8 films
Joel Coen 7 films
Fritz Lang 5 films

21 Silent films
442 English language
10 Italian
8 Japanese
7 French
4 German

1. A Trip to the Moon
2. The Great Train Robbery
3. The Rink
4. Within Our Gates
5. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
6. The Mark of Zorro
7. The Phantom Carriage
8. The Kid
9. The Idle Class
10. Nosferatu

...plus 490 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies with the title The Big _____

I've noticed this was a big thing during the 1950s cheap crime films. Suggestions welcome, but it must begin with "The"!

Sorted alphabetically.

• The Big Ask
• The Big Bang
• The Big Bird Cage
• The Big Blind
• The Big Blue
• The Big Bluff
• The Big Boodle
• The Big Boss
• The Big Boss
• The Big Bounce

...plus 86 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• It Happened One Night

  Sappy personal stuff

• The Princess Bride

  Witty

• Blow-Up

  My most popular review. I gave the movie one star too much.

• It's a Wonderful Life

  This is now my most popular review.

• Once Upon a Time in America

  Take down.

• Key Largo

  Hot dog!

• 3 Ninjas

  Funny

• City Slickers

  More sappy personal stuff

• Viva Las Vegas

  Oh. My. Freaking. Word.

• Three Ages

  Family story

...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/helenwelonmelon/list/poll-2024-top-500-favourite-film-lists/

1. Man on the Flying Trapeze
2. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
3. Q Planes
4. Virginia City
5. The Big Steal
6. Woman of Straw
7. They Call Me Trinity
8. The Outfit
9. Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze
10. Rooster Cogburn

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

UPDATING SO NOT RANKED YET! Started for a list, rules at letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/thomasmccallum/list/letterboxd-community-top-25-film-noir-1/

This is possibly my favorite style of movie.

I have a kinda narrow idea of what counts as film noir. Gangster movies are not noir, crime movies are not noir, but there does have to be crime, so that leaves out movies like Sweet Smell of Success.

The first four are the epitome of noir, and anyone who doesn't have them in the top four spots are wrong.

1. Out of the Past
2. Double Indemnity
3. Scarlet Street
4. The Postman Always Rings Twice
5. Murder, My Sweet
6. The Maltese Falcon
7. The Big Sleep
8. Sunset Boulevard
9. In a Lonely Place
10. The Third Man

...plus 107 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Great Train Robbery
• Police Story 2
• Private Hell 36
• Daughter of the Dragon
• The Freshman
• Dishonored
• Get Christie Love!
• Vampyr
• The Big Store
• Panic in the Streets

...plus 82 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

From Covkate's list letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/covkate/list/films-i-ire-more-than-like/

Films that on a technical level are well done, even amazing, but just don't connect with me. Interesting that all but one are "epics."

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• The Lady Eve
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Doctor Zhivago
• Gone with the Wind

Actually, I thought I'd watched more of his, but I guess this is it for now.

• Scarlet Street
• M
• Metropolis
• The Woman in the Window
• The Big Heat
• Fury
• Human Desire
• While the City Sleeps
• Man Hunt
• Ministry of Fear

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranked according to Bogart's performance, not the movie as a whole. For example, Dark Victory is a great movie, but Bogart's part is rather small and not very essential, so it's down the list a bit.

1. Casablanca
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. In a Lonely Place
4. The Big Sleep
5. To Have and Have Not
6. Key Largo
7. The Caine Mutiny
8. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
9. High Sierra
10. Sahara

...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Films that most film-lovers tend to rave about, but I just don't get. "Hate" my be a bit strong for a few of them. Feel free to comment and help me see what I'm missing. I think I see a trend that if I don't care about the characters I don't like the film.

Read the notes.

• 8½

  Was there a point?

• The Birds

  Not in the least interesting.

• Barton Fink

  Love the Coens. Thought this was great until the lady looses her head, then it went wacko.

• Breakfast at Tiffany's

  There's not a single thing to like or a single believable character.

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind

  Please Mr. Spielberg, can you tell the story any slower?

• Slacker

  I like the anarchist, but the rest just wasn't interesting.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey

  I've never actually been able to finish this one. Update, I did finish it, and it was lllooonnnggg. Very pretty however.

• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

  I'd rather watch Matt Helm, Derek Flint, or any of the real spoofs from the 1960s.

• The Lady Eve

  There's some great dialog, but the story line is just so stupid.

• Before Sunrise

  Perhaps if I'd seen it in my 20s I'd have liked it, but I just found it tedious and pretentious.

...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

For some reason I love a mystery with comedy. Not spoofs per se, but straight mystery with straight comedy.

I went ahead and added some spoofs. Let me know what I might be missing or what I have that shouldn't be on this list.

• Into the Night
• Radioland Murders
• My Favorite Brunette
• My Favorite Spy
• The Thin Man

  The whole series would obviously fit here.

• The Ghost & Mr. Chicken
• Fletch
• What's Up, Doc?
• Brick

  This one is almost too serious to include, but at the same time it's so outrageous with high school kids in Noir tropes that I have to.

• The Big Lebowski

...plus 64 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

SOME SPOILERS IN THIS LIST!!!! (and perhaps some inaccuracies) Or perhaps accidental killings, manslaughter, etc. NOT when you are on the run and have to prove your innocence. When you are in a position to investigate! Suggestions welcome. SOME SPOILERS IN THIS LIST!!!! (and perhaps some inaccuracies)

• The Big Clock
• Scandal Sheet
• Where the Sidewalk Ends
• Night Editor
• Double Indemnity
• No Way Out
• Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
• The Departed
• Infernal Affairs
• Female Jungle

...plus 29 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Highly subjective list that hasn't much to do with quality. Thank God It's Friday isn't a great film, but I find it entertaining as all get-out and will watch it at the drop of a hat. So I guess I will call this list Movies I Will Watch at the Drop of a Hat. The order is really flexible, and I noticed how much it has changed in the last 20 years. Some movies that were top 10 aren't even on this list! Crazy.

Decade Breakdown:
1920s: 1
1930s: 6
1940s: 25
1950s: 10
1960s: 9
1970s: 15
1980s: 18
1990s: 8
2000s: 7
2010s: 1

1. Casablanca
2. American Graffiti
3. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
4. Citizen Kane
5. The Maltese Falcon
6. The Godfather
7. The Manchurian Candidate
8. Patton
9. What's Up, Doc?
10. Raising Arizona

...plus 96 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My loose ranking of John Wayne movies. I like John Wayne, he has a ton of presence on screen, was a professional, knew his lines, hit his marks, and showed up on time.

Some people accuse him of always playing himself, but don't most actors? Doesn't Jack Nicholson always play Jack Nicholson? Michael Caine? Jimmy Stewart? David Niven?

And it's obvious I need to review more of his films!

1. Rio Bravo
2. Stagecoach
3. McLintock!
4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
5. The Quiet Man
6. Hondo
7. The Comancheros
8. Sands of Iwo Jima
9. Rooster Cogburn
10. True Grit

...plus 37 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Wow, that was surprisingly easy. And many of these I've watched twice just to make sure!

I'm updating this to include movies I've shut off without finishing and a few others I've just ed.

1. Once Upon a Time in America
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Breakfast at Tiffany's
4. The Illustrated Man
5. Four Weddings and a Funeral
6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
7. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
8. The Birds
9. The Dark Crystal
10. Natural Born Killers

...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Personal ranking, not in the least objective.

1. Psycho
2. North by Northwest
3. Vertigo
4. Notorious
5. The Man Who Knew Too Much
6. The Lady Vanishes
7. Frenzy
8. Strangers on a Train
9. Family Plot
10. Mr. & Mrs. Smith

...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Sign of the Cross
• Silence
• The Girl from Rio
• Animals Are Beautiful People
• Memory
• The Suspect
• The Long Voyage Home
• Marlowe
• Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
• The 355

...plus 85 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Or, should they be called Elvis impersonators? See notes. Suggestions welcome.

• Elvis

  Kurt Russell

• Elvis and the Beauty Queen

  Don Johnson

• Elvis and Me

  Dale Midkiff

• Heartbreak Hotel

  David Keith

• Forrest Gump

  Peter Dobson

• Elvis Meets Nixon

  Rick Peters

• Finding Graceland

  Harvey Keitel

• Bubba Ho-tep

  Bruce Campbell

• Elvis

  Jonathan Rhys Meyers

• Walk the Line

  Tyler Hilton

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies about teachers and principals who make a difference.

As always, suggestions welcome. My wife loves these kinds of stories and is always looking for more.

1. Stand and Deliver
2. Freedom Writers

   This may be the best of the bunch.

3. Dangerous Minds
4. Lean On Me

   It was great to see Morgan Freeman not be "Morgan Freeman."

5. The George McKenna Story

   AKA Hard Lessons

6. The Emperor's Club
7. Music of the Heart

   Meryl Streep is a music teacher in a poor neighborhood.

8. Goodbye, Mr. Chips
9. Mr. Holland's Opus
10. To Sir, with Love

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies where a dead body keeps getting moved. Suggestions welcome. (Dead dead, not come back to some sort of life dead. Moved not under its own power)

• The Trouble with Harry
• Weekend at Bernie's
• Weekend at Bernie's II
• Midnight Manhunt
• A Slight Case of Murder
• The Big Sleep
• Arsenic and Old Lace
• Out Cold

Set myself to an impossible task: ranking Howard Hawks, one of the most versatile and capable directors in history. The top 4 could all be put any any order depending on the day and which I most recently watched.

Of course, there are some I haven't seen yet. Let me know which one I've missed and should watch next.

1. His Girl Friday
2. Rio Bravo
3. The Big Sleep
4. Bringing Up Baby
5. To Have and Have Not
6. Ball of Fire
7. Scarface
8. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
9. I Was a Male War Bride
10. Only Angels Have Wings

...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My wife decided that since I'm a pretty big Elvis fan that I should watch his movies. I've only seen a very few, she's seen just about all of them. I'll be adding to this as we watch them.

Not including the concert films or documentaries. The '68 Comback special is a must watch for any Elvis fan, or to help you become an Elvis fan.

1. Viva Las Vegas

   Race car driver

2. King Creole

   Singer

3. Flaming Star

   Rancher

4. Loving You

   Singer

5. Jailhouse Rock

   Singer

6. Clambake

   Rich kid/water ski instructor/race boat driver

7. Girl Happy

   Singer

8. Love Me Tender

   Farmer

9. Kid Galahad

   Boxer and Mechanic

10. Charro!

    Bad good guy or good bad guy

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I'm not sure what to do with this one yet, I might delete it. Just wanting something that shows my love of music without being overwhelming.

• Woodstock
• Monterey Pop
• U2: Rattle and Hum
• Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967
• Message to Love - The Isle of Wight Festival

  The year is wrong on this one, I think it's supposed to be 1970.

• Stop Making Sense
• The Who - At Kilburn 1977
• Shine a Light
• US Festival 1983 Days 1-3
• Festival

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

One of the most engaging actors of all time.

1. Notorious
2. North by Northwest
3. His Girl Friday
4. Father Goose
5. Bringing Up Baby
6. The Philadelphia Story
7. Only Angels Have Wings
8. Holiday
9. Gunga Din
10. The Awful Truth

...plus 28 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I have a list of Racing Movies but keep getting suggestions for documentaries, so I'm doing a list of those now. Suggestions welcome.

• 1

  Formula One.

• Dust to Glory

  Baja 1000.

• Funny Car Summer

  Drag racing.

• On Any Sunday

  Motorcycle racing.

• On Any Sunday II
• On Any Sunday: Motocross, Malcolm & More
• On Any Sunday: Revisited
• On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter
• Senna

  Formula One.

• Super Speedway

  Indy Car

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies with the name Johnny and something that could be a last name, but isn't a usual last name. Sure, some of these could be a real last name, but was picked because it was cool or unusual. Suggestions welcome! Arranged chronologically.

• Johnny Apollo
• Johnny Eager
• Johnny Doughboy
• Johnny Angel
• Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet
• Johnny O'Clock
• Johnny Belinda
• Johnny Stool Pigeon
• Johnny Allegro
• Johnny Holiday

...plus 51 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Last week I happened to notice my first film logged on Letterboxd was January 3, 2013, meaning I've been her 10 years! While I don't get to the newsfeed to read everyone's reviews like I used to, I love the interactions with my fellow classic film fans. Here's the top new film to me for each year. Read the notes for a few others from each year.

• Le Doulos

  2013. 99 River Street was another great one from this year. I am a big fan of genre films.

• Make Way for Tomorrow

  2014. Easy Living was the discovery of this year that I have watched the most since. Make Way for Tomorrow however, is just a beautiful movie that I need to watch again.

• Viva Las Vegas

  2015. Several great ones in this year. Born to Kill, Drive a Crooked Road, and The More the Merrier.

• Anatomy of a Murder

  2016. Cruel Gun Story and Diabolique were highlights this year.

• Metropolis

  2017. What a great year for me. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Throne of Blood, Paths of Glory, Breaking Away, and The Devil and Miss Jones. Notice how many years have a Jean Arthur film highlighted?

• Ordet

  2018. Another great year with Rope of Sand, Momento, The Man Who Knew Too Little, For a Few Dollars More, and Too Late for Tears.

• My Favorite Wife

  2019. Hobson's Choice, I Married a Witch, and The Long Good Friday stand out this year.

• The Wages of Fear

  2020. Sorcerer, Gettysburg and Enter the Dragon are the most memorable.

• Judgment at Nuremberg

  2021. The Longest Day, Seven Days in May, Elite Squad, and Cameraman but the funnest was probably Deadlier than the Male.

• It Started with Eve

  2022. The Champ and Safety Last also.

• Paul, Apostle of Christ
• Terror in a Texas Town
• The Assassination Bureau
• This Beat Goes On: Canadian Pop Music in the 1970s
• Three O'Clock High
• The Fast and the Furious
• Dragstrip Girl
• Machine-Gun Kelly
• Billy Blazes, Esq.
• Safety Last!

...plus 80 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The "murder as a game" or "murder as entertainment" list.

As always, suggestions are welcome.

• The Most Dangerous Game
• Bloodlust!
• The 10th Victim
• The Naked Prey
• The Million Game
• Open Season
• Death Race 2000
• Rollerball
• Deathsport
• Turkey Shoot

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Subject to be added to.

• What's Up, Doc?
• Bullitt
• Gone in 60 Seconds
• Gone in Sixty Seconds
• Ronin
• The French Connection
• The Blues Brothers
• Smokey and the Bandit
• To Live and Die in L.A.
• The Lineup

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. The Killers
2. The Big Red One
3. Point Blank
4. Hell in the Pacific
5. Prime Cut
6. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
7. The Big Heat
8. The Dirty Dozen
9. Seven Men from Now
10. The Comancheros

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ridiculous idea. Ranking could change depending on the day. I need to put more thought into this.

1. Rio Bravo

   Howard Hawks

2. Stagecoach

   John Ford

3. The Apartment

   Billy Wilder

4. To Be or Not to Be

   Ernst Lubitsch

5. Casablanca

   Michael Curtiz

6. Scarlet Street

   Fritz Lang

7. It's a Wonderful Life

   Frank Capra

8. Raising Arizona

   Coen Brothers

9. The Maltese Falcon

   John Huston

10. Sixteen Candles

    John Hughes

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Director William Wyler was once considered second only to John Ford, then fell down the rankings, but is being rediscovered, especially his pre-code stuff. Some huge gaps here, I've not yet seen Ben Hur, Dodsworth, and The Letter. And of course, anything that isn't on this list.

1. The Best Years of Our Lives
2. Ben-Hur
3. Mrs. Miniver
4. The Westerner
5. The Big Country
6. Jezebel
7. The Desperate Hours
8. How to Steal a Million
9. Roman Holiday
10. The Heiress

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Known for "the Lubitsch touch," he did many risque comedies, and some not so risque. To Be or Not To Be is one my favorite movies ever, The Shop Around the Corner is a very pleasant watch, and the rest are all enjoyable at three and a half stars. Not perfect, but each is worth your time to watch.

1. To Be or Not to Be
2. The Shop Around the Corner
3. Ninotchka
4. Trouble in Paradise
5. A Royal Scandal
6. The Smiling Lieutenant
7. Heaven Can Wait
8. Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
9. Design for Living
10. That Uncertain Feeling

Done for the showdown.

1. Collateral
2. Knight and Day
3. Rain Man
4. A Few Good Men
5. Valkyrie

   This is one movie where I forgot it was Tom Cruise, at the same time, he commanded the screen.

6. The Outsiders

   This movie means a lot to me as I grew up in Tulsa and read all the S. E. Hinton books as a kid.

7. Far and Away
8. The Firm
9. Minority Report
10. Taps

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This is a list with links to unique lists. NOT any best/worst/favorite lists, but an unusual thing to make a list from. Take a look at what's here and make suggestions. I have final word if a list makes this list.

Read the notes to see the link to the list.

• Napoleon

  Films in which a dog has a flashback… List by mook letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/mook/list/films-in-which-a-dog-has-a-flashback/

• Nanook of the North

  Visual Anthropology List by Veronica letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/bacchichiccups/list/visual-anthropology/

• Pearl of the South Pacific

  Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Films List by mrbalihai letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/mrbalihai/list/tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki-films/

• Troll

  Unexpected depth in B movies List by Martin Jensen letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/martinrj/list/unexpected-depth-in-b-movies/

• Supervan

  Vansploitation List by Brian Saur letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/rupertpupkin/list/vansploitation/

• Schindler's List

  Top movies about making lists List by Robert Lalonde letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/robertthunder/list/top-9-movies-about-making-lists/

• We Bought a Zoo

  What’s That About Then?… List by Daryl letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/scalytugboat/list/whats-that-about-then/

• Die Hard

  Love? No, Death in an Elevator! list by Roberts: letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/robertsk/list/love-no-death-in-an-elevator/detail/

• Night of the Living Bread

  Films With Bread Products In The Title - List by Steve Grzesiak letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/settingsun/list/films-with-bread-products-in-the-title/

• Wild Strawberries

  Films With Fruits In The Title - List by Steve Grzesiak letterboxd.sitesdebloques.org/settingsun/list/films-with-fruits-in-the-title

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.