FAVORITES of 2011

These three reviews are of movies that were originally released in 1985. 1985 was a great year for movies!

THE GOONIES, 1985 (original post: August 13, 2011)

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Jeff Cohen, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton

The classic treasure-hunting adventure story!

A group of kids (known as "the Goonies") find a treasure map in an attic, and decide to follow it and see if the local legend is true- that pirate One-Eyed Willy really did leave behind a ship and treasure in a cave. Unfortunately, as they follow the map, it leads them to an abandoned restaurant where a family of criminals, the Fratellis, are hiding a dead body. As witnesses to this crime, the kids flee the Fratellis underground, following the map, as it leads them to a spectacular surprise!

It's absolutely wonderful! This isn't a kid's movie; it's definitely scarier than a kid's movie, and there's swearing too- not too much at all, I just thought I'd mention it. I love the kids' acting and the way they work together. It's very different, and refreshing. Their acting seems to make it more real. I just love it!

BACK TO THE FUTURE, 1985 (original post: November 5, 2011)

Director: Robert Zemeckis (Romancing the Stone, Forrest Gump, Cast Away)

Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson

My favorite.

In 1985, Marty McFly (Fox) hops in a DeLorean to escape from terrorists, and he accidentally gets sent back in time to November 5, 1955. His friend "Doc"- Dr. Emmet Brown- (Lloyd) had converted the DeLorean into a time machine. Marty finds Doc in 1955, and together they have to repair the broken time machine and get Marty back to the future!

But a wrench is thrown into their plans when Marty bumps into his high school age father and mother, and interferes with their first meeting, which was pivotal in their relationship. Marty has to convince his wimpy father that Lorraine (Thompson) is the girl for him. Extra complications arise when Lorraine apparently has a crush on Marty, her future son!

This movie is brilliant, and I could watch it over and over again. I think my favorite part is when Marty plays Johnny B. Goode at the dance. Michael J Fox didn't actually play it, but wanting to be accurate, he learned all the correct fingerings on the guitar. He probably could have played it!

I have watched these movies (parts 2 and 3, as well) with commentaries a few times. They have so much information and insights for geeks like me! I loved it.

CLUE, 1985 (original post: October 15, 2011)

Director: Jonathan Lynn

Stars: Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Leslie Ann Warren, Eileen Brennan

I swear, 1985 was the best year for movies!

This delightful whodunit was based on the board game, so Miss Scarlet (Warren), Professor Plum (Lloyd), and the rest of the colorful cast join Mr Boddy (Lee Ving) and the butler Wadsworth (Curry) on a crazy, murderous adventure inside a creepy old mansion.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I really enjoy this one.

NOTE: This movie is unique in that it has 3 separate endings! I love watching it with all 3 endings right in a row. But apparently when it played in theaters, it showed the different endings at each theater. I mean, if I went to one theater and my friend went to another, we would have seen two different endings! How cool is that? I wish they'd do that again!

FAVORITES of 2011

These three reviews have Cary Grant in common. He is without a doubt one of my favorite actors.

HIS GIRL FRIDAY, 1940 (original post: June 12, 2011)

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 PHILADELPHIA STORY, 1940 (original post: June 6, 2011)

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"!

THE TALK OF THE TOWN, 1942 (original post: April 24, 2011)

Director: George Stevens

Stars: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman

No, I didn't think up this blog name myself! I borrowed it from one of my favorite Cary Grant films: The Talk of the Town, of course!

Leopold Dilg (Grant) is a wrongfully-accused escaped convict who shows up on Nora Shelley's (Arthur) doorstep, looking for a place to hide from the police. Believing him to be innocent, she reluctantly agrees he may stay the night. But her new tenant Professor Michael Lightcap (Colman), who agreed to rent the house from Miss Shelley, shows up early. Now Miss Shelley takes it upon herself to hide Dilg, while also employed as the Professor's secretary. What follows is a perfect mix of comedy, mystery, romance, and drama as the three become friends, and eventually attempt to prove Dilg's innocence.

I could not possibly love this movie more.

I always rewind the very last scene and watch it again and again.