The Maltese Falcon (1941) (Not Rated)

The Maltese Falcon (1941) (Not Rated)
Directed by John Huston
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet

Daughter Says:

The Maltese Falcon takes place in a city full of secrets. And who is there to save them? None other than Detective Sam Spade played by Humphrey Bogart.

One day a damsel in distress named Brigid O’Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) barges into Spade’s office asking him to trail a suspicious man. Well, his partner volunteers to do the job, but the whole thing ends in disaster. Now Spade is being blamed for the murder of his partner and called a criminal by the police. In search of the truth, he goes back to the beginning. Spade is soon dragged into a treasure hunt he will never forget.

This movie is definitely not forgettable. I would recommend this movie as a classic. The whole movie was amazing. The Maltese Falcon was one of the best mysteries I’ve ever watched. Yes, it is in black and white, and I know I said I hate black and white films, but this one was different. The shadows really helped the mystery of the story. I must say I might start liking black and white movies if Dad keeps finding all these good black and white movies.

Everyone in this film did an amazing job and really brought the story together. Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor made a great pair. But if I have to complain about one thing, the romance part made no sense. There was no need for him to fall in love with her. I didn’t even understand the attraction to her. She wasn’t a very good relationship to be in with. She was so complicated and who wants one of those kinds of people around them. She was lying all the time and it drove me crazy. I hated her bipolarness. What was that about? She couldn’t make up her mind to save herself. It really started to get on my nerves after a while.

Other than that this movie was excellent. Humphrey Bogart did a great job as usual and the cinematography was beautiful. I was very moved by all the shadows and eerie look to the whole movie. So I highly recommend this movie, if your looking for a classic or a really good Humphrey Bogart movie.

Rating for Maltese Falcon: ****1/2.

Daddy Says:

The Maltese Falcon was the directorial debut for John Huston. He had been a screenwriter for roughly a decade prior (and it shows in the incredible dialogue in this movie), but this was the first time for him in the director's chair. And what a debut it is. He would go on to work with Humphrey Bogart again in three other films (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo and The African Queen), but it all started here.

The story is very suspenseful. We're never quite sure where it will go next, but, unlike a complex film like The Big Sleep, we're never lost with what's going on at any particular moment. The movie is also perfectly cast. Humphrey Bogart makes an incredible Sam Spade in a showcasing role for his talents as an actor. Mary Astor is the epitome of the femme fatale, Peter Lorre is twitchy yet smooth as Joel Cairo, but the show may have been stolen by Sydney Greenstreet (in his film debut as well) as the "fat man" Kasper Gutman. He's dangerous, but "by gad" he's also a fascinating character, one it seems would be a joy to talk to if he existed in real life.

The Maltese Falcon is the very essence of film noir, but it may also be one of the best examples of how well a novel can be translated into film. It follows the Dashiell Hammett book very closely, almost scene for scene. The closing line of the film, though, is paraphrased from Shakespeare and is one of the most famous lines in movie history. "The stuff dreams are made of" may be what everyone is after, but in the end it's not the collecting of things that matters. It's the time spent in the quest that counts the most.

Do you really need to guess what rating I'm giving to this classic film?

Rating for The Maltese Falcon: *****.

Dr. No (1962) (Not Rated)

Dr. No (1962) (Not Rated)
Directed by Terence Young
Starring: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord

Daddy Says:

So here we are, where it all began. The very first James Bond movie ever made. And nearly fifty years ago. Has it aged well, like a fine wine, or perhaps a vodka martini, shaken not stirred? Let's find out.

Dr. No finds secret agent 007 (Sean Connery) sent to Jamaica after one of British Secret Service's contacts goes missing. He follows what clues he can find, which lead to a mysterious island where the title character resides; an island which is heavily guarded by armed mercenaries (and legend has it, a dragon). He is helped along the way by Felix Leiter (played here originally by future Hawaii Five-O star Jack Lord).

On the island he comes across a girl named Honey Ryder. She is played by the beautiful Ursula Andress, making an incredible entrance in a white bikini walking out of the surf like a modern-day Venus. If you've never seen this particular scene, it's worth the price of a rental alone.

All the familiar elements were already in place in this first film. We're introduced to Bond from behind as he plays Chemin de Fer. It is here that he speaks his most famous line "Bond. James Bond" for the first time. But he's not just a lady charmer here. He can be cold blooded as well, such as when he shoots and kills a bad guy after informing him that he's all out of bullets. "You've had your six". Bang.

What is missing from this story are all the gadgets he would be provided with in his future film endeavors. No suitcases with exploding tear gas, no cars with passenger ejector seats. All Bond is provided with in Dr. No is a new pistol, and he's very reluctant to give up his old one.

Dr. No plays more like a straight detective story than a James Bond movie. Even the titular villain refers to him as "just another stupid policeman". But I actually like that there aren't gadgets for Bond to play with. He has to use his wits more here and we get to know how he thinks. This may actually be the purest James Bond movie of them all.

Dr. No hasn't aged at all, I'd say. In fact, it may have gotten even better.

Rating for Dr. No: *****.

Daughter Says:

I must say, James Bond wasn’t much of a spy. He always uses his real name and never a cover up. I mean when he was in From Russia with Love, he used a code name, but all of a sudden it’s okay to use Bond. If Dr. No owns his own island and can ban people from entering the island then don’t you think you ought to use a code name, because I’m pretty sure he can access confidential files.

Oh well, I just had to find something wrong with this movie. Once again Dad finds a really good James Bond movie. (Rats! I was really hoping to bash something). I feel in love with almost everything in this movie instantly. The scenery was beautiful and exotic. Makes sense because they were in Jamaica after all (I’ve never been, but I would love to go at some point). I also really liked all the chase scenes in Dr. No. James Bond and Honey running down an exotic beach with a dragon chasing them just yells James Bond, doesn’t it?

I must praise Ted Moore for the great cinematography. The shots in this film were gorgeous. They made Dr. No even more mysterious than he already was. Speaking of mysterious, I also must praise Joseph Wiseman. He made a brilliant bad guy. I wanted Bond to catch him through the whole thing, and for James Bond to get away with Honey.

Oh, and that’s another thing, James Bond wasn’t as much of a man-hoe in this movie as he is in others. He actually stayed with one girl. At least, it gave me the impression that Bond stuck with one girl. Although I don’t see how Honey can accept a guy so quickly. I find it very unbelievable that the girls fall instantly in love with Bond. I’m starting to think Bond is just doing it out of instinct and all the girls in Bond’s world are just horny.

Anyway, I guess since I liked this movie I will suggest it to you. I’m sure it is one of the best James Bond movies yet.

Rating for Dr. No: *****.

From Russia with Love (1963) (Not Rated)

From Russia with Love (1963) (Not Rated)
Directed by Terence Young
Starring: Sean Connery, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Pedro Armendariz

Daddy Says:

We were going to watch Dr. No before this one, but my disc arrived broken so we'll just have to watch them in reverse order. Oh well.

From Russia with Love is the second James Bond movie, coming after the debut Dr. No and before the fantastic Goldfinger. Sean Connery returns to the role of James Bond 007, this time beginning his long-running battle against the international crime syndicate known as SPECTRE. We're introduced to its leader here, Ernst Blofeld, but we only get to hear his voice and see him forever stroking his cat (that's not a euphemism, he really is stroking a cat).

Bond is supposed to make contact with a Russian woman who wishes to defect, offering in return a translating device that just about every nation has their eyes on. She is only willing to do this with Bond because she supposedly falls in love with him after seeing his picture. Of course, en route to returning to England with her and the device, Bond must deal with all manner of people trying to kill him. And he has to keep up the snappy one-liners as he goes, and look good doing it as well.

The plot to this entry in the long-running series is fairly complex, and as this was only the second film, it hadn't yet established the pattern that was put in place with the next film, so this one actually feels less like a Bond movie, and more like a really good action/spy movie. And I mean that in the best possible way. It's nice not being able to predict what's going to happen next when watching a Bond movie, something later films in the series would be unable to accomplish.

There's plenty of action to keep things moving. The fight scene which takes place in the tight confines of a sleeping car of a train between Connery and assassin Robert Shaw is particularly well-done. It's choreographed, but in a very realistic way, so that you're never sure from one moment to the next who is actually winning the battle. It's a type of fight choreography that was copied many times in the Jason Bourne movies more recently, but it's cool to see one of the original inspirations for them.

Rating for From Russia with Love: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

From Russia with Love is once again another great James Bond movie. I’m starting to think that Dad is only going to show me the good Bond movies so I’m forced to say that I like Bond.

Sean Connery does another spectacular job playing James Bond. He is starting to come close to my favorite Bond. (I still like the newest Bond the best.) At least he wasn’t as much of a man-hoe as Connery is. He went through four women this time and two at the same time. I find it outrageous. You know what’s worse? They don’t seem to mind. I find it strange that all the girls fall in love with Bond so fast. I find it very unrealistic.

Other than that, this movie was top notch. It was definitely different from most of the other Bond movies. For once Bond was blind to the bad guy. I thought this brought out the real spy in him and apparently his real personality too. (Still can’t get over how immature Bond acts around girls and everyone is okay with it.)

Besides that there were some really cool fighting scenes. On the other hand, some were better than others were. I know Dad praised the fight scene in the train because it was so well done. But I didn’t find it all that good. Yes it is very realistic, but sometimes realistic isn’t the best for me. I don’t enjoy watching realistic things very often. I watch TV to see the impossible and so when I see realistic fight scenes I’m just not that happy about it. (Maybe that’s why I don’t like reality TV.)

As much as I complain about all the semi-bad stuff, I must recommend this movie because I don’t think you’ll find another spy out there like Connery was. There have been other Bonds out there and I’ve only seen one that compares to Connery. And even he plays Bond differently than Connery. So if you’re looking for an older Bond movie that is good, then I’d recommend this one.

Rating for From Russia with Love: ***1/2.

Enter the Dragon (1973) (R)

Enter the Dragon (1973) (R)
Directed by Robert Clouse
Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri

Daddy Says:

The credit on the screen may say it was directed by Robert Clouse, but this is Bruce Lee's film all the way. One of the first pure martial arts movies seen by American audiences, Enter the Dragon remains a classic of 70's cinema to this day.

Bruce Lee plays a martial arts expert named Lee (go figure), who is recruited by a government agency to join a tournament being held on an island run by a former student named Han. Han's island is populated by his own trained army, and Lee is tasked to find out what secret activities Han is up to and then call in the cavalry. He's just like James Bond, if Bond knew how to kill people with kung-fu. In a flashback, we also see that Han's bodyguard was responsible for his sister's suicide, giving Lee a personal motive for revenge as well. I'll give you two guesses as to who Lee's first opponent in the tournament is, and the first two don't count.

The story is really secondary here, to the spectacular fight scenes (choreographed by Lee himself). The final battle between Han and Lee takes place in a hall full of full-length mirrors, where the opponents cannot be sure if they're attacking or being attacked by a real person or just a reflection. It's stunningly choreographed, and photographed, which must have been extremely difficult considering how many reflective surfaces were around.

It's sometimes silly. The exaggerated slow-motion and facial expressions, combined with the dubbed in sound effects, often evokes laughter instead of the seriousness being portrayed on the screen. But if you like action movies at all, and martial arts movies in particular, you owe it to yourself to see what I consider to be the best of them all.

Rating for Enter the Dragon: *****.

Daughter Says:

I just want to start out by saying that Enter the Dragon is a cool name. It is a great name for a kung-fu movie. It had a semi-great film to go with that great name.

I really enjoyed this movie. I thought I’d be extremely annoyed having to read it (I thought I had to read the movie because it was a Bruce Lee film after all). But then I found out that it was in English, but once again disappointed to find out that it was dubbed. I hate when people’s words don’t match their mouths. It’s like an OCD kind of thing. But my prediction was wrong. The dubbing was semi-decent. Only so often were their words off from their mouths. It was very satisfactory.

I did giggle occasionally, because like any older kung-fu movie it had a lot of really cheesy sound effects. (Wah Yah! I’m a ninja!). That’s all that went through my head every time Bruce Lee karate kicked or chopped a guy. It was really bad when he was climbing walls all dressed in black. (It’s making me giggle just thinking about it.) On the plus side, the fight scenes were really cool. I really liked the mirror scene. The only problem I had with that was when Lee remembered what his master told him. It was very strange.

Other than that, this movie was really awesome. I had tons of fun watching the fighting scenes and laughing at Bruce Lee when he made funny faces.

I highly recommend this movie if you’re looking for a good karate movie. This one is definitely the one for you. It’s got everything a karate movie could ever hope for. If I had to choose a Bruce Lee movie or a Jackie Chan movie, I think I would most likely go for Bruce Lee. He is a master at kung fu and I can see why Kill Bill looked for this movie and others for inspiration.

Rating for Enter the Dragon: *****.

The Ant Bully (2006) (PG)

The Ant Bully (2006) (PG)
Directed by John A. Davis
Voices: Nicolas Cage, Bruce Campbell, Paul Giamatti, Allison Mack

Daughter Says:

The Ant Bully is definitely a kid’s movie. It is the perfect definition of one. A little boy is getting teased at school. He gets picked on and what not. You know the immature bullying things. So afterwards when the kid is at home he turns to the anthill and bullies them. But it’s time for the ants to fight back. So they whip up a concoction of some kind and shrink the kid. They are now going to teach the child to live the ant way. Once he has learned he can go back to his normal size and live like a person again.

Yep, the perfect kid’s story. A child getting teased picks on someone else. The victim teaches the suspect to be kind to others and work together. And in the end the moral of this story is… Exactly.

I enjoyed this movie, even if it is a kid’s movie. The Ant Bully is one you can just sit back and watch with your younger siblings. There wasn’t a lot of thinking involved (Which is fine with me). The whole story was drawn out for you so there was no confusion or figuring things out. I like those kinds of movies sometimes. I also like when I don’t have to read movies either, but that’s beside the point.

The downer to this film was that I’m a little outgrown for it, and I probably won’t be watching this movie again anytime soon. Another thing is some of the things were scary. Like the exterminator. He was really creepy to me and I don’t think you should have that kind of scary in a kid’s movie. It’s like Princess and the Frog. The bad guy and his shadow things were terrifying. I’m sure little kids would be scared of the shadows if they watched that movie. The exterminator in this movie was creepy. He smoked a big cigarette and was a bully just like everyone else. I couldn’t find one nice person in The Ant Bully. But I’ll let you decide what you think of the movie. I won’t persuade or not persuade you to see The Ant Bully.

Rating for The Ant Bully: **1/2.

Daddy Says:

I know I'm constantly praising Pixar's animated movies, but it's because they're doing it right. If more animated filmmakers learned the lessons on how to make one of Pixar's movies, we'd have so many better animated films to watch. The first lesson they need to learn is that the script for an animated film needs to be worked on for at least as long as it takes to animate the entire movie (which is a very long time). Unfortunately, in these types of films, the script is usually just cobbled together so they can get to the parts which they feel will make their movie successful: the wonderful computer-generated visuals. I'm here to tell you, I don't care how good looking a movie is, if it doesn't have a good story with characters I care about, it's not going to succeed.

Our main character, Lucas, is bullied by neighborhood kids. Then he turns right around and picks on the insects in his yard. Newsflash potential script writers: that type of thing makes your character unsympathetic. I'm no psychologist, so I can't say as to whether that type of behavior is common (my mind says it could very well be), but it's not what I want to see in a lead that I'm supposed to identify with.

And when Lucas continues to be sullen when he is sentenced to learn how to be an ant, again he remains unsympathetic. I'm not sure who exactly we're supposed to be rooting for in this film. Obviously, the exterminator character is the villain, but if he weren't played so over-the-top by Paul Giamatti, isn't he really just doing his job? And don't most homeowners want to be rid of insect pests?

This is one of those movies that makes an "all right" night's rental. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself a few days later forgetting that you even watched it. I know I did.

Rating for The Ant Bully: ***1/2.

A Time to Kill (1996) (R)

A Time to Kill (1996) (R)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Sandra Bullock

Daughter Says:

A Time to Kill is about a trial during the KKK time. Matthew McConaughey stars as a local lawyer who doesn't usually handle big time cases. So when two men rape Carl Lee Hailey's (Samuel L. Jackson) daughter, McConaughey is asked to perform his duty. McConaughey just couldn't refuse since he owed Jackson a favor. During the trial he has two fellows on his side. One is a very intelligent and witty girl named Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock) and the other is a not so witty but law smart Harry Rex Vonner (Oliver Platt). Both help McConaughey through this impossible case.

I really liked how the story line went. I was moved during the whole thing. McConaughey did a brilliant job on making me connect with him and his associates. But I can’t give McConaughey all the credit. I also want to give praise to Kiefer Sutherland for doing such a good job at being such an evil man. He really did creep me out. Everyone did amazing on performing their parts. I really appreciated the speech at the end of this movie. I could imagine everything McConaughey said and it shocked me how well McConaughey said it. The whole thing is just a tear jerking moment.

Now to the downfall. I love romantic stories, but sometimes I come across pointless ones. Example would be Witness. There really was no point and the story really would be fine without it. The same goes for this movie. The intimacy between McConaughey and Bullock was pointless. I really didn’t need that there for me to care about anyone. In fact it didn’t help the story at all. The love relationship between those two had nothing to do with Jackson’s case. It was not helping anything or hurting anything. Well it would have hurt McConaughey’s relationship with his wife but other than that it did nothing.

I do recommend this movie for anyone who wants to enjoy a good courtroom drama, but I won’t say it’s a classic or one of a kind. It could have been done just slightly different. Other than that one thing it was overall a good movie.

Rating for A Time to Kill: ***.

Daddy Says:

A co-worker of mine is a native of Mississippi. He's always hated this movie for it's portrayal of his beloved home state. Not because of it's racist portrait of many of Mississippi's fine citizens, mind you. He hates how the film makes it seem like nobody has air conditioning in the entire state, and don't seem to mind sitting around in a pool of their own sweat.

Me, I don't mind that so much. I do however wish that the drama were a little more tightly scripted. We spend a great portion of the film worrying over what supposedly the entire case will swing around: the testimony of both sides' psychiatric evaluations as to the mental state of Carl Lee when he killed the two lovable chaps who raped and tortured his 10-year-old daughter. And then Matthew McConaughey's lawyer makes the rookie mistake of putting his client on the stand, where Kevin Spacey's defense lawyer gets him to admit that he's glad he killed them. Any lawyer I know would never put his client on the stand without preparing him for what the prosecutor was likely to throw at them.

Of course, the closing argument is really all that is needed to win the trial (and it is a very, very good closing argument; still works even today). So I didn't really need to sit through the 2 hours and 15 minutes that came before that point, which is really my biggest complaint about the film. This movie could have been trimmed by a good 30-45 minutes and been a lot better.

There's some half-hearted talk about the pros and cons of the death penalty, and some more talk about racism, but the script doesn't want to seem to deal with these issues head on, preferring to move things forward to where everyone wants them to go. Now, close your eyes. I want you to imagine a really good closing argument here.

Rating for A Time to Kill: ***1/2.

Yellow Submarine (1968) (G)

Yellow Submarine (1968) (G)
Directed by George Dunning
Starring: The Beatles

Daddy Says:

This is going to be interesting. I saw this movie when it aired on network television some 35 years ago, and hadn't seen it again until now. And good luck trying to watch it now, since it's out of print. I got lucky and found a copy at my local Blockbuster. Just one more reason to support your local video stores.

Yellow Submarine is an incredible animated testament to what great drugs people had back in the 60's. As far as plot goes, the magical land of Pepperland is being invaded by the Blue Meanies who have declared war on all that is good, especially music. At the request of an emissary from Pepperland, the fab four agree to take a ride on his yellow submarine to try and save Pepperland from the Blue Meanies. That's about it. The rest of the movie is an excuse to listen to some great Beatles music set to some of the most psychedelic animation ever seen.

The quality and variety of the animation is simply astonishing, even to this day. Some of it will blow you away, some of it will make your eyes hurt. And just about all of it will make you wonder what these people were smoking when they came up with this. The closest thing I can compare this to are Terry Gilliam's animations that he created for Monty Python. Some of his were very surreal, these take surrealism to the extreme.

I quite enjoyed the film. At 90 minutes, it's not too long. The music is fantastic. The Beatles, themselves, are as funny as ever even in animated form. And for some reason, I'm really craving White Castle burgers right now. Weird.

Rating for Yellow Submarine: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

I really think I should have been high to watch Yellow Submarine. I'm not surprised it went out of print a long time ago.

This movie was psychedelic to the extreme. If a person had epilepsy they probably couldn't watch Yellow Submarine either, because there was so many flashing things. The best part of this film was that the real Beatles were in it. Not actors singing their songs for them. I found them really funny, and Ringo cracked really cheesy jokes.

I will give Yellow Submarine this much: it is a movie of another kind. I haven't seen a movie like this since Tommy, and he was real. These characters were all cartoons. Everyone says that Across the Universe was psychedelic too, but at least it was real people and not cartoons that kept changing size and appearance.

I don't know whether to suggest this movie or just tell you guys to stay clear of it. My brain was beyond fried by the time the movie ended. But I really enjoyed the music, and the drawings were very colorful. It also had a semi-good story line to it. I think I'll leave it up to you to decide if you want to see this fascinating movie.

Rating for Yellow Submarine: ***.

The Warriors (1979) (R)

The Warriors (1979) (R)
Directed by Walter Hill
Starring: Michael Beck, James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Thomas Waites

Daddy Says:

Another film that I watched when I was my daughter's age is Walter Hill's The Warriors. I thought it was kind of goofy and over-the-top back then, so let's see how perspective affects it.

The Warriors takes place in New York, and begins with all the gangs in the various Burroughs being summoned to a meeting in the Bronx. They are to send nine members each and show up unarmed, to hear what the leader of the biggest gang in the city has to say. Cyrus, the leader, gives an impassioned speech, pointing out their strength in numbers over the city's police force. He wants them to join forces instead of fighting each other. But his great plan is short lived as someone shoots and kills him at the meeting. And the gang we've been following, known as the Warriors, gets blamed for it. Now they've got to make it back home to Coney Island, with every gang in the city looking to take them out for something they didn't do.

The rival gangs all wear their own colors. Some are low-key, but most are way over the top for gang colors. There's a gang that dresses like mimes. There's a gang that dresses in baseball uniforms with faces painted. Their weapon of choice is baseball bats, of course. It's quite ridiculous, even for the late 70's cinema.

We watched what is called the "director's cut" of the film on DVD, and it is a strong improvement over the original film. What's different? Nothing much content wise, but what has been added are freeze-frame comic book transitions. At the end of one scene, the image will freeze and turn into a comic book rendering. The camera pans across the panels of the comic book page to another frame which dissolves from the comic back to the film, thus turning the entire film into a live-action comic book. I can't tell you how much this improves the film experience. No longer does an audience have to sit back and say "that would never happen in real life". Now it's a comic book that we're watching, and anything goes.

It was good as an action movie back then. It's fantastic as a live-action comic book now.

Rating for The Warriors: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

When we first got this movie Dad said that it wasn't going to be that good, but I think he changed his mind once he saw it again.

I sure enjoyed this movie. I was really into this movie with all its action and comic book stuff. It made the characters seem more believable when they add the comic book pages to it. The Warriors was a whole lot fun to watch.

I enjoyed everyone running around in costumes. It was like Halloween gone mad. The gathering kind of cracked me up because the leader kept asking if they could dig it. It was kind of really funny.

If I must complain about one thing it would be the ending. They were building up to a huge fight that never happened. But other than that I really enjoyed it, and I highly recommend you watch it. It was just a fun movie to sit down and enjoy.

Rating for The Warriors: ****.

Deliverance (1972) (R)

Deliverance (1972) (R)
Directed by John Boorman
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox

Daddy Says:

I first saw this film about 20 years ago. It affected me so deeply that I didn't really want to ever watch it again. But a couple of years ago, I thought I'd give it another try. And to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it more the second time around. This would be my third viewing of it and I'm very curious to see what my daughter has to say about it.

Deliverance is the story of four guys who decide to take a river-rafting trip down a Georgia river before it, and the surrounding towns, get turned into a giant lake. As they drive into the backwoods to find some locals to drive their cars down river for them to pick up at the end of their adventure, the locals they run into are like no one they've ever met. They have their own way of talking and behaving, and our heroes enjoy laughing at them behind their backs. Some are comical, some are openly hostile to outsiders. Ronny Cox plays guitar, while a young boy with what appears to be Downs Syndrome plays banjo, and they play a remarkable duet. But when Ronny wants to shake the boys hand in appreciation, the boy turns away.

The second scene that is burned into the memory of anyone who has seen the film happens near the middle. Jon Voight and Ned Beatty (in his movie debut) stop off at the river's bank for a rest. Two men come up to them carrying shotguns and abduct them further into the woods. If the lines "squeal like a pig" and "he's sure got a purty mouth" don't send chills up your spine, then you've never seen this film. Bill McKinney and Herbert "Cowboy" Coward are two of the scariest villains in film history.

What makes this scene work, and for the most part the entire movie work, is that everything feels so natural. There's hardly a moment in the entire film where anyone seems to be acting. It's like we're observers at a documentary. And because it feels so real, it makes the movie that much scarier. When I first saw the film, I had never seen any of the "locals" in any other movie. Since then, I've seen Bill McKinney play other parts, so I know for sure that they were only acting in that scene. But like I said, it sure felt real to me the first time I saw it.

It also helps that all the actors were willing to do their own stunts on the river. It's much more intense watching the faces of Voight, Cox, Beatty and Reynolds as they ride the dangerous rapids themselves, instead of having to hide the faces of stunt men taking their place.

This movie terrified me for many years, but now I can appreciate it for what it is: a finely crafted, exhilarating ride through an incredible part of nature, punctuated with some of the most nightmarish scenes in cinematic history.

Rating for Deliverance: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

Deliverance was an interesting movie, I must say. I'm still trying to figure out how they got the name for this film. I've never heard of the word Deliverance when going river-rafting, but maybe it's there. I have no idea.

Anyway, this movie was something. I don't quite understand the basis of this movie, because parts of it were a bit confusing. I didn't think hillbillies were like that when I saw this movie and I still like to think I don't see them as that. There were some very disturbing scenes in this movie. I didn't see the point in them. I know they're part of the plot but couldn't see why the director couldn't take it another way. There is no need to give the country a bad name.

Another problem I had with this movie is the banjo. I can't stand the banjo, and I don't see the point of it. What did that banjo have to do with the river-rafting part? The few times we saw the guy who played the banjo was at the beginning and we never saw him again. There really was no point to it.

This movie was an okay movie, but I'm sure it could have been done better. I don't highly suggest this movie, but I won't tell you not to watch it. If you want to watch go right ahead, but if you're asking for my opinion, I didn't really enjoy it that much.

Rating for Deliverance: **1/2.

The Road (2009) (R)

The Road (2009) (R)
Directed by John Hillcoat
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi McPhee, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce

Daddy Says:

I read the Cormac McCarthy novel this film is based on about a year ago. It was on the top of some best-sellers list and I had just seen the movie version of another of his novels, No Country for Old Men. Then I heard that Viggo Mortensen was set to play the lead and my interest in the film went even higher.

The Road takes place sometime in the near future. I say near, even though the time frame isn't really mentioned, but everything still looks about the same. No flying cars, or robot servants, so I'm guessing it's pretty near. The only thing that has changed is the landscape. Something bad has happened in our world, which is now covered in so many layers of gloomy clouds that the sun no longer shines. Because of that, nothing grows anymore, the plant life has all died out, and all of the animals have died except for one: the human animal. And there aren't many of us left.

We follow a man and his son as they journey south. Where are they heading? Somewhere warmer they hope. We don't see many others in the world. Most of the ones we do see are dangerous. They travel in armed packs and prey on the weaker ones left. And I do mean prey, as they've grown hungrier, they've turned to cannibalism. The father must protect the boy from harm, and he must try to raise him in a world so scarred, knowing that he won't be around to protect him forever.

The novel is very powerful. Even a year later I can recall scenes from it. Even whole passages of dialogue. The prose is sparse, like the landscape they inhabit, but there's a certain poetry to it. I found it to be a very moving experience. I'd like to say that the film moved me the same way, but it didn't.

Some parts have been changed, as they always are in adapting a novel to the screen, and it could be that I just want my favorite parts back in. The scene with the can of Coke, for instance. In the movie, they find the can, the father gives it to the boy, the boy insists on sharing it with his father, they smile, they finish it and move on. It's a nice moment between father and son, but in the book the father insists that the boy drink most of it, and the boy realizes that his father wants him to have it because he knows that his boy will never have another one, ever again. Yes, it's only a can of Coke, but knowing that it's just one more thing gone from this world forever is a very moving image.

The movie's visual images are incredible. Even though the landscape is bleak, and everything's monochromatic due to the lack of sunlight, it's still riveting. The actors do a great job of bringing the characters to life. Robert Duvall, almost unrecognizable under layers of makeup, is wonderful in his small role. Viggo Mortensen is great as the father and Kodi McPhee does a good job as his son.

The Road is a good movie, and I recommend watching it, but I was really hoping for a great one.

Rating for The Road: ***3/4.

Daughter Says:

The Road is supposedly a great book, but I didn't read it. What parts I caught were good anyway. The movie on the other hand was good to me. I know my dad didn't enjoy it all that much, but I did. Having not been spoiled by a good read I was very pleased with The Road.

I must say I fell in love with the cinematography in this movie. The end of the world seems very grey almost black and white. I thought Javier Aguirresarobe did a brilliant job at creating the end of the world. It was so amazing and beautiful. I enjoyed watching the images so much.

Another thing I liked was the actors. They were amazing in this movie. Especially Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee were really good at acting. It was mostly just their relationship with each other. I was very moved by their feelings. I was crying by the end of the movie.

I do recommend this movie, but I also suggest watching this movie before reading the book. If you already have you probably would not enjoy this film as much as I did, but you should still see it.

Rating for The Road: ****.

Alice in Wonderland (2010) (PG)

Alice in Wonderland (2010) (PG)
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham-Carter, Crispin Glover

Daughter Says:

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is unlike any other. Alice has not just come to Wonderland, but she has returned. And Johnny Depp is in it. (I'm in love with him). It is the same traditional story of Alice, but this time she must help save Wonderland from the evil red queen.

I have never liked Alice in Wonderland. It kind of always scared me when I was little and now. But when I heard that Johnny Depp was going to be in a Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland I just had to see. And boy was I happy when this movie came out on dvd. I fell in love with it right away.

There were so many great things about this movie. 1) Johnny Depp was in it. 2) Tim Burton directed it. 3) Helena Bonham Carter was in it too. (Depp and Carter work so well together) 4) Anne Hathaway was there too (odd choice I must say. I would never have suspected her.) and 5) I found someone new to fall in love with. Crispin Glover. He was so wicked in this movie.

Now I must get to the downfalls in this movie. First of all I didn't like Alice that much. Her makeup was awful and well I didn't find her very likable. Unlike the Mad Hatter. (It might just be me, because I'm so madly in love with Johnny Depp) Also I had some problem with the ending. Why did Alice have to go home, she didn't need to answer the question at the very beginning and it was obvious that the Mad Hatter really liked her. (Poor Hatter, Alice is an idiot.)

I really think that if you love Johnny and Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman you should really watch Alice in Wonderland. If you like the Anne Hathaway in the Princess Diaries I suggest you not watch this movie in the enjoyment of watching Hathaway. She was kind of creepy and odd. She wasn't herself in this film.

Rating for Alice in Wonderland: ****.

Daddy Says:

First, the good. Alice in Wonderland is a visually stimulating film. Even though the color palette is fairly muted, the art design of the picture is still stunning. It's hard to tell these days just how much is real and how much is computer generated, but Wonderland is completely believable in its appearance. It's awesome.

Unfortunately, that's about it. The story is just not very good. Never having read the original material, I can't say how closely it follows the source, but if it does then I wish it hadn't and instead have come up with something more interesting. As for the acting, I feel that while most of the performers seemed to be trying their best, that their hearts just didn't seem to be in it. Even Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter seems like a retread of parts he's played better in other movies (seems to me like a combination of Edward Scissorhands and Captain Jack Sparrow for the most part). His supposed-to-be emotional appeal to Alice that she could stay in Wonderland doesn't come across that way. It's more like he's just ready for this movie to be over. Only Helana Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen seems to really be relishing her role.

Perhaps I'm not the audience they had in mind for this film. Kids will probably enjoy it a lot more than grown-ups will. And perhaps with time, I may grow to like it more, but for now I'm not looking forward to going back to Wonderland any time soon.

Rating for Alice in Wonderland: **1/2.

Dirty Harry (1971) (R)

Dirty Harry (1971) (R)
Directed by Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon

Daddy Says:

A lot of these movies we write about, I've already seen. Some of them many, many times. The reason for watching them again is to see what they look like through the eyes of someone new, in this case, my daughter. Plus, I have a soft spot for a film which features a character with the same last name as me. Doesn't happen often.

For those of you reading from a different planet that has never heard of Detective Harry Callahan, Dirty Harry is the story of him trying to stop a psychopath who calls himself Scorpio. He kills a woman swimming on top of her building, shooting her from a taller building using his sniper rifle, then leaves a note for the police revealing his motive (he wants money) and his plans (to keep on killing people until he gets it). But Harry doesn't exactly play by the rules.

If you grew up in the 70's like I did, and watched shows like the original Starsky and Hutch, parts of this movie should seem awfully familiar. I can recall watching an episode where one of them was forced to run all over the city by a crook to make sure he was alone, just like happens here. And on some show, which could have been any of the cop shows on at that time, I seem to recall a crook getting himself beat to a pulp and blaming it on one of the cops after him, which also takes place here. So to say this movie influenced a lot of the police dramas of the time is to be certain.

The dialogue is also pretty good here, especially Harry's. His famous line about not knowing if "he fired six shots or only five", but he's got that .44 Magnum "which will blow your head clean off", so do you feel lucky punk? Not until Sudden Impact, did this line get replaced as his most famous.

I also really, really like the ending to this film, and had they never made another Dirty Harry movie, it would have been absolutely perfect. So, I like to pretend that's exactly what they did and leave it at that. Hey, if my wife can believe that Rhett and Scarlett got back together after Gone With the Wind ended, I'm allowed to pretend that four other movies never happened.

Rating for Dirty Harry: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

Once again I was faced with a movie that proved me wrong. I don't want to like Clint Eastwood. I thought he was an overrated and over-acted actor. So when Dad made me watch Dirty Harry I was not at all happy. I didn't want to like this movie.

Everything was great in this movie. Every shot of the film told you something important. I loved the whole set up. Not only that but the acting. Clint Eastwood isn't an overactor at all. He just has the face that makes you think he's an overactor. Eastwood did a wonderful job playing Dirty Harry, and I must give high praise to Andrew Robinson for giving me the creeps. He did a brilliant job of being evil. His laugh was beyond. They really couldn't have casted a better guy. (Unless his name is Jack Nicholson).

I think everyone should watch this movie once in their lifetime. It is extreme and should be on the shelf with the classics. I really did enjoy this movie.

Rating for Dirty Harry: ****1/2.

Manhunter (1986) (R)

Manhunter (1986) (R)
Directed by Michael Mann
Starring: William L. Petersen, Kim Greist, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina

Daddy Says:

Manhunter was the first movie to feature one of cinema's most feared villains: Dr. Hannibal Lector. Unlike the other films (The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon (which is a remake of this film)) he's played here by Brian Cox. I have a feeling that Red Dragon was made simply so Anthony Hopkins could play the role in all three stories. Still, this film does justice to its story, and Brian Cox does a fine job in the role.

When we first see him, Will Graham (played by William Petersen in what today looks like an extended audition for his role in the original CSI) is being coerced into taking on one more case. He was the detective who caught Dr. Lector and put him away. Now, a new threat has surfaced, known in the tabloids as "The Tooth Fairy" because of his odd dental work. Graham's skills at getting inside the mind of a psychopath are needed to catch the killer before he strikes again.

Manhunter is a very well told tale, with director Michael Mann setting up several really good sequences. William Petersen brings the intensity as we follow him around, seeing what he sees, even hearing his thoughts as he dictates them into his tape recorder. The most dated parts of the movie are it's musical score which unfortunately today sounds horrible. I'm sure in 1986 this must have sounded like the height of pop music, but today it's pretty bad. Still, if you can find a copy of this to watch, I recommend it for the chance to see William Petersen before he became a TV star, and for the chance to see someone else's take on one of cinema's most famous creations.

Rating for Manhunter: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

When I saw the preview for this film I was 99% sure that this was going to be a disaster. I was only about 40% right about that.

Manhunter was a different kind of mystery. William Peterson did an okay job at acting, but I didn't understand parts of his dialogue. I kept thinking this guy is crazy because he was the only person in the whole cast who talked to themselves. He kept pretending that he was talking to the killer, but no one could hear him. At one point he looked out the window and told "the killer" that it was just them two. No one can hear you!

Another problem is the random hand gestures. A guy will be talking on the phone and Peterson will look out the window with his hand against it. Supposedly to make a dramatic impact, but it just didn't do it for me.

Finally lets get to the worst of this movie. The dreadful music. The 80's style music didn't fit any of the scenes. It drove me up the wall even more when the killer blasted In-a-gadda-da-vida while he tried to kill a victim. It was awful. I hate that song so much. I can't stand to listen to it.

I bet you're wondering why I think I was only 40% right and why you should watch this movie. Well I think I was 60% wrong because Peterson was surprisingly good. I thought he couldn't be that great of an actor. The best role and only role I ever saw him in was CSI and I loved him in that. But apparently it was the same basic character for Manhunter as it was for CSI, because he did an excellent job. (Other than the talking to himself and overacting). He also made me cheer for him. I was really into this movie when I wasn't getting annoyed by those certain qualities.

Rating for Manhunter: **1/2.

Goldfinger (1964) (Not Rated)

Goldfinger (1964) (Not Rated)
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Harold Sakata

Daddy Says:

It may not have started it all, but the third James Bond movie set the standard, and the pattern, that the Bond movies have followed ever since.

Goldfinger stars Sean Connery as British Secret Service Agent 007, James Bond, licensed to kill. His nemesis this time is Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), a private gold owner, and suspected gold smuggler. He is accompanied everywhere by his henchman Odd Job (Harold Sakata) who wears a lethal hat. Yes, I said a lethal hat. Bond's love interest this time around is Goldfinger's personal pilot, the inventively named Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman).

This Bond movie has all the elements which would become so familiar to us as the series continued: "Q" giving Bond a lecture on all the gadgets he's going to be using on his trip (us knowing full well that every one of them will be needed for just some as yet unknown purpose), the team of enemy commandos all wearing identical jumpsuits, the villain's lair filled with electronic surprises, James Bond seducing every girl in sight.

So what makes this one so good? I like the little touches. Bond and a girl are involved in a shootout with the commandos. He tells the girl to run. She gets killed. And because of his nature, Bond leaves his position of safety to go to her. It tells us a lot about his character, in particular, about his biggest character flaw: his weakness for women.

Another scene: Bond is strapped spread-eagled to a table. Goldfinger shows him one of his new toys, a laser that can cut through metal. The laser slowly inches upwards from the bottom of the table towards Bond's crotch. In a different type of action movie, the hero would have found some way to physically escape from this trap. Not here. It's played out in a soundly logical way, one that requires Bond to use his brains instead of his brawn. Still, it's not all cerebral. And if Bond weren't able to seduce Pussy Galore, the villain might just have gotten away with his really ingenious plan.

This was, and for the most part, still is my favorite Bond movie. The more recent Casino Royale is the first Bond movie to have come close. But, I'll always have a soft spot for this one. And I'll have it's theme song stuck in my head for at least a few more days.

Rating for Goldfinger: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

I'm in love with the new James Bond (Daniel Craig), but Sean Connery comes in a close second now that I have seen Goldfinger. I was absolutely positive that I was going to hate this movie. I am not a big James Bond fan and I'd like to say I still am not. But taking in consideration of how well done this movie was, I might have to admit I'm forming an appreciation for the films.

I must say I found myself surprised to be cheering on Bond to catch the bad guy. After what he did to that poor girl, James Bond deserved his revenge. Although I must say if Bond wasn't such a man-hoe I would like this movie even more. Oh well, I guess I should appreciate the good stuff and not look down upon the bad.

I have to admit that I think you should see this movie. Not because James Bond is attractive (which to be honest he's not that appealing) or because there are awesome gadgets and gizmos but because Goldfinger is a classic James Bond movie. If you must compare the new James Bond to any other movie, choose this one.

Rating for Goldfinger: ****.

The Messenger (2009) (R)

The Messenger (2009) (R)
Directed by Oren Moverman
Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone

Daddy Says:

I like a good war movie as well as the next guy. I like the intensity, the thrill of combat, the adrenaline surge of not knowing if this could be your last moment, and I like it just fine from the comfort of my couch. I hope I never have to see it any closer than that. The Messenger has that same intensity, that same dread, that same adrenaline surge. It also doesn't have one single scene of combat, and it takes place at home in the States.

The Messenger is the story of a combat soldier (Ben Foster) sent home after a battle which injures him, but during which he heroically saves several of his fellow soldiers from certain death. With three months left on his rotation, he is assigned to serve as part of casualty notification, letting family members (NOKs (Next of Kin) is what they're referred to as) know that they're sons or husbands were killed in combat. He is partnered with a veteran at this (Woody Harrelson) who shows him the ropes and tells him the rules. These scenes are emotionally raw and heartbreaking.

The movie becomes a character study of two men, both veterans of different wars, both with different outlooks on how their job should be performed. Harrelson's character believes in following the rules, Foster feels they should treat these people as human beings with feelings that should be acknowledged. Woody Harrelson, in particular, does an incredible job here. He's always been good, but here he takes his character to another level.

The screenplay never steps wrong. A scene where Foster explains what happened on his last day in combat, and why he doesn't feel like a hero after the battle, is particularly vivid in its details. Without ever seeing it happen, I could visualize it so clearly just listening to him tell the story.

This is an emotional story, wonderfully told by writer/director Oren Moverman, that really brings home the life and death struggle that a battlefield soldier endures on a daily basis, without ever showing it to us and making it seem like it might be fun to watch.

Rating for The Messenger: ****1/2.

Daughter Says:

Once again I found another war movie I can appreciate. If I keep coming across all these good war films I might have to start claiming that I like this genre.

The Messenger definitely deserved the nomination for Best Original Screenplay in the Oscars. I think Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman did a brilliant job on the script. Not only did the writers do a great job but Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson did an amazing job at bringing these characters to life. I liked Woody Harrelson in Zombieland. He played a funny part and I was surprised to find him playing a serious role. Harrelson did a good job at it too.

Now to the downer of this film. I was enjoying The Messenger all the way through, until the end. I hated the end. It was unfair. If the movie doesn't have a point at the ending, there isn't a point to watching the movie. And this movie left me feeling the same disappointment. I was not a happy camper.

Rating for The Messenger: ***1/2.