10 Things I Hate About You, 1999

Director: Gil Junger

Stars: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Larisa Oleynik, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Keegan

It's a high school version of The Taming of the Shrew. Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) moves into town and falls for the first girl he sees at his new school. But Bianca (Oleynik) isn't allowed to date, until her sister Kat (Stiles) does. And Kat is a rough, feminist, hard-headed girl, who has no interest in any of the boys at school.

Cameron will not be swayed by her wild behavior. Another new student, bad boy Patrick Verona (Ledger), seems to be the perfect guy to handle Kat. Cameron convinces the school's richest student, model Joey (Keegan), to pay Patrick to take Kat out, by telling him the lovely Bianca will be allowed to date him- Joey. Yeah, Cameron obviously didn't think this one through.....

It's entertaining, but it's just like any other high school movie with a wild party, and a bet going about who can take out some girl. I don't really know why, but for some reason I've been thinking about it lately and wanted to watch it. It's not the cleanest, just so you know.

Was high school really like that?

The Long, Hot Summer, 1958

Director: Martin Ritt

Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, Angela Lansbury

Another Paul Newman one! Enough said, right? You are about to hop in the car and go rent it.

Ben Quick (newman), a drifter, comes on a little town in Mississippi, looking for work. He finds a place to stay and work, on the plantation farm of the Varners, the richest family in town. Mr. Varner's son Jody and daughter-in-law live at home in his big mansion, along with his unmarried daughter, the local schoolteacher Clara Varner (Woodward).

The story is about Clara, and how she has dealt with her singleness and her father's opinion of it. And how Jody Varner, Clara's brother, deals with his father's resentment towards him. And of course, the story also includes Ben, seemingly stealing away the father's affection from Jody.

After watching it, I just want to sit on a rockin' chair on the front por-rch, and speak in a Southern dra-wl. Sippin' some cold sweet tea, or somethin'.

Perfect movie for a rainy day, though it is called The Long, Hot Summer.

I think it's sweet how Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married 50 years (until his death in 2008. In Hollywood, that is serious.

Three Men and a Baby, 1987

Director: Leonard Nimoy

Stars: Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson, Nancy Travis

First of all- AHHHHHH!!!!!! SPOCK directed this!!!!!!!!!! I had no idea til now!!!!! Can't wait to tell my Trekkie bro Matt!

Well, that's out of the way. This is such a cute comedy.

This whole thing is a SPOILER!

Three roommate bachelors are living the single man's dream:great apartment, lots of women coming and going, and plenty of parties. After agreeing to take care of a "sensitive package" for a friend, actor Jack (Danson) leaves for a film shoot in Turkey. The day the "package" is to arrive, his roommates Peter (Selleck) and Michael (Guttenberg), are shocked to find a baby in a basket on their doorstep. A note explains the baby, Mary, is Jack's. The mother, Sylvia (Travis), is sorry to leave her, but can't deal with it right now. In all the confusion of the moment, another package arrives and is tossed aside carelessly.

Assuming that Mary is the "package" Jack told them was coming, Michael and Peter, furious with the absent Jack, put their lives on hold to deal with the baby until it's to be picked up a few days later. But when the men who are to pick up the "package" arrive, Peter gets a bad feeling about them. He then finds the other package, just as the guys leave with the baby, and discovers heroin inside.

They chase down the guys and get Mary back, leaving the formula can, which the bad guys believe contains the drugs. But now Peter and Michael have the baby and the drugs, as well as detectives and the bad guys watching them.

I love it! I especially love the sequel Three Men and a Little Lady, soon to be viewed and reviewed!

Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961

Director: Blake Edwards

Stars: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard

I haven't seen this movie in years. I never understood it before. Now I finally watched it and I get it. I'm still not sure about it.

I mean, it's a classic. Audrey Hepburn is beautiful; George Peppard is completely dashing. It's fun to watch. But it's also a bit depressing. Holly Golightly (Hepburn) is so selfish and ridiculous. Paul (Peppard) is just a normal guy who falls in love with her. It's very worth watching, and it is entertaining. But the things she does, and mostly what she does to herself, is kinda sad. The ending is good, though; otherwise, I would never recommend it.

I've only ever seen George Peppard in this and in The A-Team. And he is totally dreamy in both!

Move Over, Darling, 1963

Director: Michael Gordon

Stars: Doris Day, James Garner, Polly Bergman

This is a remake of the 1940 comedy My Favorite Wife, which starred Cary Grant. So, naturally, I've seen it. I knew this was a remake, but for some reason, I thought it would be a bit different. Remakes aren't usually exactly like their predecessors, are they? (Was that the right word?) Well, this one was. Exactly like My Favorite Wife, I mean.

Ellen Arden (Day) was marooned on an island for 5 years, and presumed dead by her husband Nick (Garner). Nick falls in love again with Bianca (Bergman), and wanting to get married, has a judge declare Ellen legally dead, and then 2 minutes later, has the same judge marry he and his new wife. What Nick doesn't know, though, is that Ellen has been rescued from her island the very day he had her declared dead. Ellen arrives at home, only to find her mother-in-law watching her two young daughters while her husband has left on his honeymoon. Her mother-in-law tells her to go surprise her husband and his new wife.

This is basically a screwball comedy. I didn't like the story too much though, since I hate stories where the mother or the father isn't there for the kids' childhoods, or something like that. I tend to take those more seriously, and this just isn't funny to me. Plus, I've never liked screwball comedies, anyway.

All in all, it was ok. Watch it for the dreaminess of James Garner! I need to watch more of his old ones.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, 1967

Director: Stanley Kramer

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Sydney Poitier, Katherine Houghton

Wow! I wasn't expecting this, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Joanna Drayton (Houghton) surprises her parents Matt (Tracy) and Christina (Hepburn) Drayton by coming home early from a trip to Hawaii. And she continues to surprise them by saying she met someone, she's getting married, and- oh, yeah- he's black.

And that's basically the story. The Draytons raised their daughter not to be racist at all, but even they have to struggle with this new and unthinkable idea of having a black son-in-law.

Very emotional at times. Especially Tracy big speech at the end.

NOTE: The moment Spencer Tracy showed up I remembered that the main character from Disney's Up! was based on Spencer Tracy. Or was modeled after him, at least. He's the spitting image of Spencer Tracy in this film!

This was Tracy's last film. It was finished just 17 days before his death.

Coming Soon!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, 1967

Move Over Darling, 1963

Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, 1962

Double Indemnity, 1944

Director: Billy Wilder

Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G Robinson

I was watching NCIS a few days ago, and at one point in the episode, two characters, Tony and Ziva, talk about this film, Double Indemnity, as a classic. Tony usually knows what he is talking about concerning films. (But don't even get me started with his opinion of Strangers on a Train! Those writers need to actually WATCH that movie before they write his lines about it!!)

Walter Neff (MacMurray), an insurance salesman, visits the home of Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) in a routine house call to renew her husband's auto insurance. Her husband is not at home, and they begin a flirtatious exchange, until she asks if she can get a life insurance policy on her husband without his knowing.

Wise to her game, Neff leaves immediately, putting her in her place, or so he thinks. He knows all the tricks in the business, and this one reeks of murder. Mrs. D shows up at his home later that evening, to flirt some more and assure him she doesn't want to kill her husband, though she's not very convincing in the latter argument, since Neff decides he loves her and that the two of them should kill her husband together.

It's crazy how when you're watching a movie, and your point of view is with the thief (like The Italian Job- love the new version of that one!) or the killer, in this case, you are cheering them on, in the case of the theft, or at least not wanting them to get caught, as in a murder. How do movies do that to us?

If you like the genre (film noir) or suspense, or crime movies, I'm sure you'll be delighted. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Barbara Stanwyck was a killer!

State of the Union, 1948

Director: Frank Capra

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury

The description on Netflix didn't interest me, but I watched it because it's one of the many Tracy-Hepburn films, and I want to see them all.

Kay Thordyke (Lansbury) is the hardened editor of a newspaper in D.C., who chooses Grant Matthews (Tracy) as a Republican candidate for the Presidency, and uses her power and the paper to support him. He's a nice guy, but separated from his wife Mary (Hepburn) and in a relationship with Kay. At Kay's suggestion, Grant invites Mary along on the campaign (mostly for the appearance of having a wife's support), and she joins him. Though their relationship hasn't healed, she still believes in her husband and wants to do everything she can to help. But he soon sells out, and starts making speeches about the things he doesn't believe are right, just trying to get the votes.

I wouldn't have been interested if this wasn't a Tracy-Hepburn movie, to be totally honest. And because I love Angela Lansbury from Murder She wrote, it's hard to see her in something else, in which she is a mean, selfish, home-wrecker. It wasn't a bad movie, but I usually stay away from political ones unless they are comedies or thrillers. The ideas Grant Matthews start spouting in one part are scary. He stands for "one world government, one world currency," blah, blah. Yikes! Good thing the story was really about staying true and not being a corrupt politician. It really wasn't bad. Great ending! A must-see for all the Tracy-Hepburn fans out there like me! :) I have a crush on Spencer. He has a dreaminess about him. I want to see him in something where he's really young. Maybe he was even dreamier....

To Catch a Thief, 1955

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams

Retired jewel thief John Robie (Grant) is compelled to prove his innocence in a new string of robberies which bears a striking resemblance to his old M.O. He decides to anticipate the moves of his "copy-cat burglar" hoping to catch him in the act and hand him over to the police. Tipped off by an insurance agent (John Williams), he befriends the people he himself would target, the wealthy Mrs. Stevens (Landis) and her daughter Francie (Kelly).

This was filmed in Monaco and the French Riviera, and it's such a beautiful movie! To me, it is just perfect for summer.

Grace Kelly's wardrobe makes me want to go back in time!

This isn't like other Hitchcock films. This is more romance than suspense, so don't worry, those of you who don't like Hitch's style. Try this out- you're in for a treat!

It Happened to Jane, 1959

Director: Richard Quine

Stars: Doris Day, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs

I seriously love this movie.

Jane Osgood (Day), a widowed mother of two living in a small New England town, raises and sells lobsters for a living. When the Eastern and Portland Railroad fails to deliver her lobsters on time, as she paid them to do, the result is a load of dead lobsters. She and her friend George Denham (Lemmon), also her lawyer, begin to fight the big corporation, which is run by Scrooge-like Harry Foster Malone (Kovacs).

It's a classic David-vs-Goliath story. With romance and small town charm.

This is on my "to-buy" list. It's definitely worth owning! Best marriage proposal scene ever!

His Girl Friday, 1940

Director: Howard Hawkes

Stars: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy

(Try to get past that crazy hat!)

Journalist Hildy Johnson (Russell) is getting married again and leaving news work altogether for a chance at a normal life. Before leaving for Albany with her fiance Bruce Baldwin (Bellamy) and his mother, she decides to say goodbye to her former employer, editor of the Morning Post- also her ex-husband- Walter Burns (Grant). Surprised to see his ex after so many months, Walter, a lovable schemer, will stop at nothing to win her back to their crazy, haphazard journalist lifestyle.

He convinces her to do one last story for him: a jobless man who shot a cop, but claims he didn't mean to, though he's not insane. Hildy interviews him, and, ever the journalist, knows just how to spin it. But things go a little haywire when the convicted man escapes, and Hildy is the one who finds him.

They speak so FAST in this movie! It drives me a little crazy the way they interrupt each other- everyone does this- and talk over each other. (I guess it's supposed to be more realistic, but it's not really familiar in film, you know? But I get over it quickly when I get into the story. I laughed and laughed. So many of Grant's lines are just brilliant.

FACT: At one point in the film, Grant talks about "Archie Leech" as the last person to get on his bad side. Archie Leech is Cary Grant's real name. There's some trivia for you.

The Birds, 1963

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette

I am not crazy about this movie, but I do like the suspense and mystery of it. Flocks and flocks of birds inexplicably start attacking and killing the people of a small California town. They attack and then sit calmly, and then attack again, even breaking violently into homes and through windows.

SPOILER!!!

Two things: The scene in the playground is the best! There's a few birds at first, she looks away, more birds, she lights her cigarette, and suddenly there are hundreds of birds on the playground! And then when the kids and the two women are running down the hill with the birds behind them! I just like how the scene looks.

What I hate: Tippi is really afraid of the birds, and she listens, horrified as they swoop around the house. So WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY does she go upstairs when she hears them IN the house and open that door??????? That part is one of those stupid moments in scary movies (not that The Birds is scary-it really is not) where the girl goes somewhere where you KNOW she is going to get hurt and you want to throttle her through the screen!

The ending is the strangest ending ever.

Witness to Murder, 1954

Director: Roy Rowland

Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill

I recorded this one on TCM (my favorite channel- no surprise there!) and didn't know what to expect, but I enjoyed it!

The excitement starts off right away in the first minute! Cheryl (Stanwyck) wakes up in the middle of the night to close her bedroom window. When she gets to the window, she witness the strangling of a woman across the street in a lighted apartment. Horrified, she calls the police, who come at once to her building. The murderer, Albert Richter (Sanders), sees them arrive and quickly hides the body. When they arrive, he is perfectly bewildered! Why would anyone think he had murdered a young woman!? How ridiculous.

Police Lieutenant Larry Matthews (Merrill) takes an interest in Cheryl, puzzled that she seems so obsessed with the fact that she witnessed a murder, when no evidence of any murder could be found. But when a woman's body is found in a park, Cheryl is sure that she was the victim of the crime. Richter insists that Cheryl is insane, however, and everyone is more inclined to believe him than Cheryl....

I like Barbara Stanwyck in the few movies I've seen her in. The first film I saw her in was Christmas in Connecticut. Love that one! I can't wait until Christmas time!

Since You Went Away, 1944

Director: John Cromwell

Stars: Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple

Anne Hilton (Colbert) tries to hold down the fort at home when her husband Tim goes off to war. She and her daughters try to continue with life as normal. Jane (Jones) finishes high school, becomes a nurse's aide for the army hospital in town, and falls in love with a soldier. Bridget (a teenage Shirley Temple) helps her mother at home and befriends the retired Colonel the family takes in as a boarder for the extra money. Anne and Tim's dear friend Tony (Cotten) comes to visit a couple times, cheering the family in this uncertain time; especially when a telegram comes informing the family that Tim is missing in action.

I really like old movies about World War II, the ones that focus on the home front and the wife and kids. When those telegrams come, I find myself about to cry, unsure what they will say! I get really emotional during war movies.

I loved this one!

Note: I really did love it, but Hitch almost ruined it for me! Two of the main guys, who are GREAT guys in this film, were the evil, crazy bad guys in 2 of Hitch's movies! Good thing they can act, so I soon forgot that I thought they were evil and about to strangle someone. Joseph Cotten was the murderer in Shadow of a Doubt, and Robert Walker was the insane Bruno in Strangers on a Train. And they were very convincing in those roles! But it was nice to see them in something else. Well done, boys!

Sweet Land, 2005

Director: Ali Selim

Stars: Elizabeth Reaser, Tim Guinee, Alan Cumming, Alex Kingston

Inge (Reaser) arrives in a small Minnesota farming community to marry Olaf (Guinee), but without her immigration papers, plus the fact that she is German and the time is right after World War I, both the minister and the county clerk refuse to marry them. At first Inge stays with Olaf's good friends Frandsen (Cumming) and his wife Brownie (Kingston), but soon, sleeping in the same quarters with their nine children becomes insufferable. She ends up living at Olaf's house with Olaf, though he sleeps in the barn since they are not married. Assuming scandal, the minister preaches a sermon against them, and Olaf's friendship with Frandsen suffers, as well.

I don't want to write anything more, because I don't want to give anything away or make it sound stupid, which I probably do sometimes. I absolutely loved it. It's a quiet, slow movie, very sweet and emotional. There's lovely music, when there is music, but there isn't a lot of it. Which makes it more realistic to me.

I absolutely despise Alan Cumming's accent, but it's very accurate; so good job, dude!

Rebekah, I really, really think you'd like this one!

Coming Soon!

Soon to be viewed and reviewed!

--Since You Went Away, 1944 (Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, and Shirley Temple)

--To Catch a Thief, 1955 (Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, directed by Hitch)

--His Girl Friday, 1940 (Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell)

--The Birds, 1963 (directed by Hitch)

--It Happened to Jane, 1959 (Doris Day and Jack Lemmon)

--Witness to Murder, 1954 (Barbara Stanwyck and George Sanders- IF it's good; I haven't seen this one yet)

The Philadelphia Story, 1940

Director: George Cukor

Stars: Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart

Tracey Lord (Hepburn), the former wife of C.K. Dexter Haven (Grant), is getting married again. But the editor of a tabloid magazine has some dirt on her father, and to protect her high society socialite family from embarrassment and scandal, she very reluctantly agrees to have reporter Mike (James Stewart) and a photographer stay at her home and do a story on her wedding. Dexter shows up, too, to make things interesting, and Mike starts to make her fiance George uncomfortable with his attentions towards her.

This is one of my favorites of all time! Just look at those leads! Cary Grant, Katherine, and Jimmy! They are absolutely wonderful!

FACT: When I write these "reviews", I utilize Imdb (Internet Movie Data Base) and Wikipedia to make things a little more interesting, and also to make sure I get the right information on the director. Usually I know who the stars are, but the director (unless he's Hitch) is often a forgotten name. All that to say, when I looked up George Cukor, the name sounded familiar. And no wonder! First, he also directed "Pat and Mike", which I just reviewed a couple weeks ago; and second, he was the director of "My Fair Lady"!

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, 2011

Director: Rob Marshall

Stars: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane

My brother and I saw this the other day. I normally prefer to pretend that Pirates 1 is the only Pirates movie out there, because I HATED the sequels. (Way to go, ruining a great story!) But then I heard Penelope Cruz was in this one, and, in general, Johnny Depp wouldn't do anything too stupid, right? (Well, he was in Pirates 2 and 3, so maybe that logic doesn't work....)

It was ok! A big adventure in search of the Fountain of Youth. There's a little bit of romance, or at least sexual tension, between the leads Cruz and Depp. Geoffrey Rush returns as Barbosa, and Ian McShane as Blackbeard. How many more famous pirates or legends are there to do? They've got Blackbeard, and Davy Jones, and this film even has mermaids, which, by the way, are apparently evil creatures that lure men out of their boats and then drag them to the bottom of the sea! The Little Mermaid never said anything about this!!! I'm never going swimming again!

I didn't mean to make the review sound dumb. I really thought it was cute. It was a fun, pirate-adventure-high seas movie.

The A-Team, 2010

Director: Joe Carnahan

Stars: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel

If you're familiar with the tv show from the 80's of the same name, you know that these men were sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit, and that they promptly escaped from prison. Well, this movie is about how they meet, and then, skipping ahead, years later, we get to learn about that crime they didn't commit which drove them to prison, and then to the Los Angeles Underground! So basically this is the prequel to the classic tv show.

I LOVE THE A-TEAM!!!!

Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith (Neeson), Lieutenant Templeton "Face" Peck (Cooper), Sargent B.A. Baracus (Jackson), and Captain H.M. Murdock (Copley) are The A-Team! They're the best Alpha team out there. But then they're set up- framed!- and sent to separate prisons (well, three prisons and one Veteran's Hospital for Murdock - he's a little nuts). Six months later, they all break out, and their mission is to find the one who framed them and clear their own names.

(There is even a little bit of romance between Lieutenant Carissa Sosa (Biel) and Peck. So that keeps things interesting.)

I was surprised at how much I liked Murdock (played by South African Sharlto Copley- who is he? He came out of nowhere!), the crazy pilot of the group, and in true A-Team fashion, there are quite a few scenes where Murdock gets to show off his moves in flight! I'd have to say he was my favorite.

Brilliant!

Stardust, 2007

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Stars: Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Mark Strong, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert de Niro, Rupert Everett, with Rick Gervais and Peter O'Toole

I think it's funny that the photo I found for this has a "two thumbs up" on the bottom. I agree!

It's a fairy tale! We need more of these!

Tristan Thorne (Cox) lives in England in a village called Wall, so named for the wall that runs alongside it, which, according to legend, hides a mysterious and magical land called Stormhold.

His life is turned upside-down when he witnesses a shooting star that falls somewhere beyond the wall.

There are several story-lines in this movie, including: 1. Tristan's mission to find the shooting Star-who, he is surprised to find, is actually a beautiful woman named Yvaine (Danes)- and bring her back to Wall for his "love" Victoria. 2. The princes of Stormhold (Mark Strong and Rupert Everett, to name 2) search for the necklace that their father the King (O'Toole) threw into the heavens on his deathbed, saying that whoever finds it will become the next king. This is what knocked the star out of the heavens, by the way. 3. A witch (Pfeiffer) and her sisters also search for the star, because if you eat a star's heart you will live forever, of course.

And there's so much more!!! I absolutely love Robert de Niro's surprising role as Captain Shakespeare! He's hysterical!

5 stars easy. I think this movie has a little bit of everything for everyone, really. You can't not be entertained! Okay, so I really love it.

Vertigo, 1958

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: James Stewart, Kim Novak

There are a few films out there (well, probably a lot more than a few, actually) that are truly meant to be watched on a rainy day. And Hitch knew how to make them.

Detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (Stewart) was on the force for years before he discovered he has acrophobia (fear of heights) while chasing a criminal. When the man dies, having fallen from a building while being pursued by Scottie, Scottie takes an early retirement, knowing he can't do his job while suffering from acrophobia.

A few months later an old friend, Gavin Elster, looks him up. Elster heard about his early retirement and acrophobia, but wants Scottie to follow his wife. Elster suspects that the spirit of his wife's grandmother, Carlotta, who committed suicide many years ago, is possessing his wife. He fears that Carlotta's spirit will cause his wife to commit suicide, as well.

Scottie begins to follow the beautiful and mysterious Mrs. Elston (Novak), and begins to become obsessed with her. A wonderful and chilling mystery follows......

I can't give too much away, it's brilliant! It's very suspenseful, very colorful, very crazy! I especially love the effects of Scottie's dream/nightmare. Stewart's disembodied head against a swirl of color. It's so funny! Sorry, Hitch.

But this movie was made for a rainy day, I promise!