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Reviews
Stalingrad (2013)
Stunning and emotional
Look closely beyond the battle scenes and you will find ironies: A German captain judging Russians as back stabbers, as beasts -- all the while representing a fascist army occupying another country and destroying it. Russian soldiers who manage to find beauty while war rages around them. A Russian who shoots a water-fetching German who showed his canteen to the enemy to avoid getting shot. A fellow Russian reproaches the shooter as inhumane and the shooter reminds him of the Germans' inhumanity. The statue of children holding hands in a circle as the world crumbles around it. The battle scenes are good but the human element in this movie is priceless. I came away thinking that I knew every Russian soldier holed up in the building. And I came to care for them. We forget that the Russians were the valiant ones fighting fascism for so long while the U.S./Britain bade their time (and for good reason). We forget that while Stalin was as bad as Hitler that his soldiers held off the Nazi monster for so long and, ultimately, allowed the West (and my Army dad) to crack the western wall and march toward Germany. Unlike us in the U.S., Russians suffered so much. Their cities were destroyed. Millions of them died. They (the Russian people) are my heroes for their sacrifices so we could buy time. I hope this film reminds us to give credit where credit is truly due. -- Guillermo Torres
Greenberg (2010)
Want to slap him around
Greenberg was such a humorless, bitter, angry and confused person. The way he treats Greta Gerwig's character was inexcusable.
But maybe that is just good acting by Ben Stiller.
Still, overall, the movie is a depressing look at pretensions, posturing and fake facades (is that redundant?).
Then again, having lived in California, Greenberg well represents the cynical easterners who go to California to complain about everything. I must say, I enjoyed watching the characters who played Californians. Largely laid-back, live and let live people. Greenberg, though he played a former Californian, showed everything to not like about Easterners.
The Conjuring (2013)
Totally creeped me out
For me, "The Exorcist" has always been No. 1 as a horror movie. Now comes "The Conjuring." Had me at the edge of my seat. Had me breathless.
On first viewing it seemed like a low-budget movie, but early on I didn't know it was set in the early 1970s. That explains the cheesy outfits and the cheesy sideburns on the male demonologist.
This movie will give you a chill up and down your spine. I saw it in the safety of others. When it arrives on disc, don't see it alone.
One thing I do not understand: Why did Officer Brad suddenly appear as a helper to the demonologists? Was he assigned to the case? Was he a friend to the investigators? Don't know what his motivation was. A little help?
I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
Falling in love with a movie
Have you ever fallen in love with a movie? In love with a film that speaks to your heart and your sense of whimsy? I have tried to recall what led me to this movie, to no avail. But, ohhh, I am so glad this movie came into my life. Because I have waited for such a movie all my life. It's a simple story: A youngish woman travels far from home to marry a rich man. But choppy waters delay her trip from the mainland to her intended's island. It's the atmosphere that makes it somewhat like a fairytale. Gaelic is spoken here and there. The fog moves in and out. The winds stir up the water and the grasses and trees. You can here the "seels" baying nearby. At a ceilidh, folk music is sung and two young lovers reconnect. In a mansion nearby, new money meets old money and the new money is looked down upon in subtle ways. I guess it was the fog that shrouds the landscape. It obscures the romantic tendencies in almost every character. Sometimes emotions erupt, as when a young girl pleads for a boat journey to be aborted so her lover won't die. So many things to watch for in this movie. Roger Livesey is at his best as the correct and courteous Torquil MacNeil, the master of the island he is renting out to Wendy Hiller's "rich man." As Joan Webster, Hiller, is an upward climber. The old money knows this and she resents it. The class undercurrents are numerous. I fell in love with this movie, perhaps, as the dock. When somber music wafts and fog shrouds the bay and the seafarers retreat to their homes, leaving Joan alone on the dock. When the wind snatches her itinerary into the water, its symbolism is not overdone. Perhaps that is what I like about this movie. Nothing much is overdone. People speak like people. Well, Gaelic people. And the upper crust is as much at home with the lower crust. And outsiders have to earn their way into that society. Poor Joan, she can't see that right away. I fell in love with this movie. I think, if you give it a chance, you will too.
Spooks Run Wild (1941)
There are so many goofs, they just add up to a whimsical film
1. When Bela Lugosi's character (Nardo) and his sidekick drive up to the filling station, and later, when the Professor Von Grosch drives up, the attendants is already reading a book about the Monster Killer (supposedly Lugosi) and the Professor who "has come to save us."
2. When the Boy are whisked off the street to camp, none gets to even see his parents.
3. Nardo's and Luigi's vanishing act at the cemetery is never explained. Was the cemetery caretaker tricked by illusion?
4. Lugosi, when he arrives at the Billings Estate, had asked for directions there so it is assumed he had not been in the mansion before. Yet, he seems to know all the nooks and crannies of the house when Muggs and the kids arrive. Nardo was driving only a truck with caskets in them. Suddenly he is settled in. When Nardo and Luigi were in the cemetery, they saw Diana Billings headstone. "Diana Billings. Winter came after 18 "schort" summers," Nardo says. "She was beautiful." It is not explained if he knew Diana or how he came to occupy her former home.
5. When the kids disappear from camp and Jeff and Linda's cannot locate them, Jeff rushes into the camp office. One is sitting around and the other is at his desk reading a paper. Jeff announces there is no sign of the boys and he's going to town "and we'll probably need a search party," he says in an urgent way. The camp official just keeps on looking at the paper without flinching. "OK," he says and keeps on reading. Look, camp counselor, 6 of your kids are missing. What is so interesting in what you are reading?
6. And after all the loose ends are tight up at the haunted Mansion and the search party and the kids and Lugosi are all sitting in the living room for an inpromptu magic act by Nardo, why is Margie the soda fountain girl there? What made her journey to that place of mayhem in the middle of the night?
Wonderful movie. Twists and turns and soooo nonsensical. I love it!
Boys of the City (1940)
Boys of the City is a guilty pleasure of mine
Boys of the City has relatively good production values and the story and props are creepy enough to make it suspenseful and exciting.
Unlike Ghosts on the Loose, most of the "gang" gets talking time.
But let's cut to the chase. There are twists and turns and there is a mansion-wide hunt for Miss Louise and a mysterious stalker who roams the house.
Something I want to Know: when the "gang" and Knuckles and the Asst. D.A. split up to search the grounds, where is Buster and Skinny? They just disappear until the chase.
I enjoyed this tremendously and renew its acquaintance every once and then. It is not to the level of Spooks Run Wild, but it's a very close second.
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
Cat and the Canary: Spellbinding
This is one eerie movie. That it is over 75 years old shouldn't detract from its place among "scary movies." The production values are scrumptious. The acting is a bit over the top (Aunt Susan) but all in all, an eerie night with shadows and interesting interplay among the characters. But the Paul/Annabelle relationship is a bit creepy. Aren't they (gasp!) cousins????? The hairy hand is a bit over the top too. Mammy Pleasant (is her name an inside joke?) is waaay too menacing. I saw this on TMC (loved the sepia tone) and the soundtrack is exhilarating, though a tad too fast for the action. This is a gem of a horror movie.