movie guide

A brief on the movies I've recently watched 

Super

1. Breaker Morant - superb. Dialogue, bit of action - crash course on turn of the centry S. Africa 
2. Mutiny On The Bounty (1935,Gable,Laughton) - see separate post 
3. Patton - a must watch. 
4. North by Northwest 
5. A Touch of Class 
6. Casablanca (just a romance, but still, pretty action packed - like most good old films, they could do it without special effects) 
7. Dr. Strangelove (you *have* to watch this one) 
8. Gaslight (1940) 
9. Suspicion (not the greatest ending, but good dialogue and suspense) 
10. The Kid (Chaplin - the only movie that made me laugh *and* cry at the *same* time. Sheer genius) 
11. Mildred Pierce - you know my type, super dialogue, all based on human nature. Not like the crap they serve up these days.
12. Anatomy of a Murder - one of those undiscovered classics. Worth watching just to see the young George C. Scott. 
13. Kill Bill Vol 2 Frenzy (Hitch) 

Pretty Good

1. Anne of Green Gables - recommended to me - great movie - funny/emotional - lovely humour
2. The Village (Shyamalan) 
3. Marnie 
4. Shadow of a Doubt 
5. Strangers on a Train 
6. Mrs. Miniver 
7. The Apartment 
8. 42nd Street 
9. The Great Ziegfeld 
10. Life Of Emile Zola 
11. Treasure of the Sierra Madre (H. Bogart) - separate post 
12. The Truman Show

Super Dialogue

1. A Touch of Class 
2. To Catch a Thief 
3. North by Northwest 
4. Breaker Morant

Below Expectations

1. The Postman Always Rings Twice (the remake is actually more watchable) 
2. Salaam Bombay (didn't finish watching it) 
3. M - Fritz Lang (but, to be fair, a pretty good accomplishment in its day) 
4. Breakfast At Tiffany's - man, Audrey had to have some serious political influenza to win the Oscar for this one.
5. Indiscreet (Ing Berg and Car Gran) pretty dumb. 
6. Unforgiven (Eastwood). Thought it was cheap and crappy 

Cute

1. Metropolis (1927, by Fritz Lang) 
2. Babes in Toyland (Laurel&H) 
3. Flying Deuces 
4. Prisoner of Zenda (good for it's time I guess) 
5. The Seven Year Itch (Monroe. Some dialogue is cute and okay, otherwise, just dumb and cute) 

Dumb

1. The English Patient (you prick your finger with a needle, then extract it and then you realize that the process is quite beautiful. The crazy kid from American Beauty would love this one. But, if you've been spoiled by too many classy films, forget this one, you're wasting your time) War of The Worlds (Spierlb, TomC) - really crappy dialog - especially for the little girl. *Really* crappy dialogue most of the way. Quick, unconvincing ending. The guy didn't have to do any work like Jeff Goldblum!! 
2. Any Abbot and Costello - except maybe the Safari one. 

Really Dumb

1. Gaslight (1949) Duh. Just putting in Ingrid Bergmann doesn't make it great. 
2. War of the Worlds - 2005 version. Will they ever learn about acting and dialogue?

Yet to watch

Blood Diamond (not sure what context it got recommended to me under) The Lost City (seems really old - again, lost the context)