April Recap

 I've gone with a more rigorous rating system this time, to eliminate a high volume of 4 and 5 star awards.  This may have been my busiest month for film watching ever, but there was a week long break where I watched about 3 movies a day, so that helped.

Decision at Sundown (1957) ***
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) ***
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) ***
Ride Lonesome (1959) ****
Pat and Mike (1952) ***
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) *****
Bend of the River (1952) ****
The Fallen Idol (1948) ***
A Night to Remember (1958) ***
Will Success Spoil Ruck Hunter? (1957) ****
Cheyenne Autumn (1964) ***
The Strawberry Blonde (1941) ***
Bullets or Ballots (1936) ***
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) ****
That Uncertain Feeling (1941) ***
Where There’s Life (1947) ***
Force of Evil (1948) ***
On the Town (1949) ****
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) ****
Track of the Cat (1954) ****
The Long, Hot Summer (1958) ***
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) ***
Duel in the Sun (1946) ***
Fallen Angel (1945) ***
My Favorite Wife (1940) ****
Carefree (1938) ***
Captains Courageous (1937) ***
Osaka Elegy (1936) ****
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) ***
Triumph of the Will (1935) ***
Man of Aran (1934) ***
Little Women (1933) ****
High and Low (1963) *****
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) ****
Rain (1932) ***
Anna Christie (1930) **
Late Autumn (1960) *****
Love in the Afternoon (1972) ****
Battleship Potempkin (1925) ****
The Cabin in the Woods (2011) ***
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) ***
The Adventures of Tintin (2011) ***


Re-watched:

Diary of a Country Priest (1951) *****
The African Queen (1951) ****
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) *****
To Be or Not to Be (1942) *****
Ikiru (1952) *****
Bananas (1971) ****
Broadway Danny Rose (1984) *****

TV

Mad Men season 5
Game of Thrones season 2
The Bob Newhart Show

I wasn't feeling too well for a week and Bob Newhart was the only thing that made me feel better.

I'm pretty sure DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST is one of my absolute favorite films ever made.  If you asked me what my favorite of all time is right now I might even say that.  It's THAT good.  I should have busted out a 6th star for it.

I've completely given in to Brandon's TO BE OR NOT TO BE beseeching, but with great pleasure.  Re-watching that film, I knew for certain that it was the best of 1942 and one of the best comedies ever made (my list has been changed). I still burst out laughing when Jack Benny meets the real Col. Ehrhardt.  "So they call me Concentration Camp Ehrhardt, eh?" "I thought you'd react that way." :)  The absolute best.

I probably like SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS more than I should, but dammit Stanley Donen can sure craft one hell of a musical.  It's one of the best I've ever seen, from a genre I used to feel so iffy about.  Donen, Minnelli, Berkely, and Astaire/Rogers are starting to change that.

TINTIN and GHOST PROTOCOL are pretty solid action/adventure movies.  I liked PROTOCOL better if only because it's just non-stop ludicrous action.  It delivers the goods for a MISSION IMPOSSIBLE picture.  If I'm going to watch one, I'd better see constant, outlandish action pieces, ridiculous gadgets, and Tom Cruise scaling a fucking skyscaper in Dubai.  Thankfully, Mr. Bird knew how to accommodate. One thing I absolutely love about GP is that despite the IMF team losing a majority of their operation, thank god they still had the contact lenses that take photographs and the briefcase that directly prints them inside itself.  They woulda been screwed without that. (I kid...I know it's supposed to be absurd, and I accepted that immediately).