Cloudburst (1952)

Sometimes, I just randomly select a movie off Netflix instant viewing.  Not too long ago, I picked Cloudburst, starring Robert Preston.  It's a movie I'd never heard of, but Robert Preston is an interesting actor, and this one made me curious enough to watch.  It was a lot darker and more violent than I expected.

The movie follows a man (Preston) as he hunts down the two escaped cons who ran down his pregnant wife in a hit-and-run car accident.  The movie is set post WWII, and I liked how his contacts from the war, as well as his training, come into play.  He is a specialist in cryptography, who now runs a team in England deciphering various coded messages.  It's not entirely a straight-forward revenge tale, as a Scotland Yard detective finds a coded message (dropped by Preston when he catches up to one of the killers), and comes to Preston to have him decode it.  Preston ends up helping track himself down.

My favorite parts of this film were the tie-ins with WWII.  Preston's combat experience, his friends in the Resistance with a wealth of knowledge on tracking and avoiding being detected... even Scotland Yard has two detectives who served with Preston and carry the same combat knowledge.  As Preston basically reverts to a wartime mentality in his hunt for vengeance, his friend has moved on and knows the things Preston asks him to do in the movie -- things that once kept them alive in the war -- are no longer acceptable in a peacetime setting.  I found that fascinating.  I wish it had explored that contrast even more, but it was a fairly short movie with a brisk pace to a satisfying conclusion.  I also enjoyed watching the detective (Colin Tapley) put things together. 

This is not a film I'll probably watch again, but it was quite intriguing.  I also liked watching the team of cryptographers working hard on decoding various messages.  That's definitely not a job I could do!  Would take way too much patience and systematic thinking.

Favorite Animated Movies

With a six-year-old nephew around, we watch a lot of animated movies, although I'm still amazed how many animated movies (old and new) I have not seen yet.  Of the ones I have seen, here's my personal top ten favorites list.

I made this list by looking at all the animated movies I love (which is a large list), and then asking one simple question:  "if I never see this movie again, would I be okay with that?"  If the answer is no, it makes the favorite list, which I then narrowed down to ten.  If the answer is yes, the film stays on the "I love this movie!" list, but doesn't advance to favorite status.  I've been revising all my favorite list using this criteria.  It's quite a useful question and really helps me narrow down my current favorites.  I find I answer "yes" and drop a movie off the current favorite list for multiple reasons.  Sometimes, I've simply seen a movie so many times, it's part of my consciousness and I can quote it, etc., but I've overdone it and have no desire to actually see it again right now (although if it came on, I would still watch it).

As for which movies I love, (and this applies to every favorite movie I have), I have to want to be one or more characters in the film, and those characters almost always have to be protecting someone, or some ideal, or some place, or some thing.  There's also almost always some kind of beautiful scenery or locations in my favorite movies. I've come to realize that beauty is a key element that draws me to one movie over another.  It's actually mostly why Kung Fu Panda makes this list.  It is such a beautiful movie -- I might even rank it the most beautiful of all of these -- with the most exquisite colors and scenery.  I oooh and ahhhh every time I see it.  There are so many moments in Kung Fu Panda that I want a picture of to put on my wall.  I love the story and characters, beside, but man, do I really love how they chose to animate this movie.

1. Rango
2. Epic
3. Tangled
4. Up
5. Wall-E
6. The Lorax
7. How to Train your Dragon 2
8. Brave
9. Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
10. Kung Fu Panda
11. Puss in Boots

Okay, I cheated and included eleven, but Puss in Boots is sort of a tie with Kung Fu Panda, sooooo...

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

I went to see this movie over the weekend with my sister and six-year-old nephew.  I liked it so much, I will probably go back and see it a second time before it leaves the theater.

I've only seen the first one on DVD.  I remember when it came out in the theater, but the trailer didn't really grab me, and I skipped at the time.  That was a mistake!  After I finally got to see it on DVD, I was surprised and delighted to find out it was a totally different movie than what I had been expecting.  I loved the characters, loved the story, loved the dragons -- particularly Toothless, who ranks as my second favorite cinematic dragon behind Dragonslayer's Vermithrax.  How to Train Your Dragon popped right onto my top ten favorite animated movies list.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that the trailer for the sequel didn't grab me either, but once again, the movie turned out to be quite different and far better than my expectations.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is set in a bright, colorful, and beautiful world.  The first one used a much darker and somber color palette until the very end, and that is not a bad thing.  It's exactly what the first film required.  But, I can't help but love how beautiful the second film is.  This is a world I want to go into.  I also loved the characters a lot more in the second movie. All of the setup is out of the way, the initial character conflicts are behind us.  Everything has moved forward, there are new issues, everyone works together, and I really like the direction the movie took.  The second movie has more lighter moments than the first one (Ruffnut was particularly hilarious), and at the same time, the sequel has the same wonderful heart as the first film.  I cared even more for what happened to the characters, and I personally found the plot and outcome very satisfying.  Lots of action, lots of dragons, lots of beauty, lots of emotion.  John Powell's score was quite good, better than the first movie's score.

I wasn't sure when I got out of the theater on Saturday which of the two movies I liked better, but we watched the first one again tonight, and yep, as much as I love it -- which is a lot -- I enjoyed the second one even more.

Hour of the Gun (1967)

I deliberately avoided this movie in the past for a couple reasons.  One was I was not a James Garner fan, but the big one was that this movie's soundtrack is one of my favorite Jerry Goldsmith scores, and I didn't want to know what was happening in the movie. I write to this score a lot and have my own images, and I didn't want those ruined by reality.  (I have quite a few movies I haven't seen simply because I love the music too much.)

Well, too bad I waited so long, because to my surprise, I really loved this movie.  And I really really loved James Garner.  I've never been that fond of him only because most of what he does seems to be so light-hearted and that's never going to be my go-to.  But, dude, there is nothing light-hearted about James Garner's portrayal of Wyatt Earp.  Serious, cold, quiet, downright grim sometimes, but absolutely wonderful and exactly what I wanted in this movie.  He was MARVELOUS and immediately jumped up to my second favorite cinematic version of Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner's still got the number one position, but Garner's a very close second).



I was fascinated to find that this movie is directed by John Sturges, who also directed The Gunfight at the OK Corral!  Not often does one director make two movies about the same topic, let alone two such very different movies.  As fond as I am of Gunfight (admittedly, mostly for Kirk Douglas and the theme song), this one has everything Gunfight lacked.  Well, that's not quite right.  More accurately, they're complementary films.  Gunfight deals primarily with the setup and ends on the titular fight.  Hour of the Gun opens with the fight and depicts events that occurred afterwards.

And what an opening!  It might be one of my new favorite Western movie opening scenes.  It jumps right into things with no lead in. There's no talking for the first four minutes, just score.  We just watch each side gather, prepare, and head on into the fight.  It was so unexpectedly tense and perfect, I had to back up the DVD and watch it again as soon as I'd finished the movie.  It also sets the dark tone for what follows.  This film is most definitely not treading any ground -- visually, emotionally, or plotwise -- covered in Gunfight at the OK Corral.  And I like that a lot.

Now, I'll also state right up front, that I'm not looking for an historically accurate movie whenever I watch a Wyatt Earp movie.  I have two biographies of Wyatt Earp on my shelf and I've read them both.  I know what really happened.  I'm more interested in a movie that works on its own merits, and if facts are changed, I couldn't care less as long as the changes are consistent for that movie.  But at the same time, it was quite cool to find a movie that did quite a bit of stuff right.  I think this is the only movie I've seen so far that has Virgil and Morgan not shot on the same night.  That was cool.  (I also understand and appreciate why events get condensed in other versions, cuz having months go by doesn't always keep a plot moving.  I'm a writer; I'm quite okay with that.)



I also quite enjoyed Jason Robards' version of Doc Holliday.  He had lots of little moments I really appreciated, and one big one, where he lays into Wyatt in a magnificent speech.  I may have to pick up this movie on DVD just so I can watch that scene whenever I want.  He's the right Holliday for this movie's tone and events, and a good foil/friend for this particular Wyatt Earp.



Robert Ryan plays Ike Clanton and he also gets a bunch of little moments I loved.  Like in the beginning, he's wearing his holster, and the minute the fight starts, he ducks into a building and ditches it so he can look all innocent a minute late.  Hah!  This movie required a focus for the revenge portion, and it lets Clanton be that focus, which works quite well in context. He is quite the scheming, slimy villain in this.

I'm a sucker for those deliberate, open walks/rides into enemy territory, and this one has multiple versions of that.  It never gets old for me. I think I like Holliday and Wyatt riding through a Mexican village to face Clanton at the end the best of the lot.

But mostly, I simply loved this movie because I loved Garner's Wyatt Earp. Who thought I'd say that about a James Garner character?  But he nails this one.

Crash Dive (1943)

This entry is for the Power-Mad blogathon, celebrating Tyrone Power's 100th birthday!  Check out the link for all kinds of wonderful entries on Tyrone Power.

I opted to write about 1943's Crash Dive.  I'd originally watched this movie back in October of 2005.  At the time, I was in the midst of watching all of Dana Andrews' films.  While I knew Tyrone Power, I hadn't watched that many of his films at that time. So, the first time I watched this movie, I was mostly irritated at how much screen time Power got, as opposed to Andrews.  I have not watched this movie since gaining a big appreciation for Tyrone Power, so I thought it was high time for a re-watch.




Crash Dive is a WWII submarine movie, that works well enough if you don't think about it too much.  Power plays Lt. Ward Stewart, who gets yanked off his PT boat and returned to submarine duty.  He is assigned as Executive Officer on Dewey Connors' (Dana Andrews) boat, the USS Corsair.  Before they set sail, though, Stewart goes to Washington D.C. on leave and meets, purely by accident, Connors' girlfriend, Jean, played by Anne Baxter.  He has no idea she's dating his new skipper, she's just a very pretty girl he's attracted to, and so the movie heads into love-triangle territory.  The movie spends a large chunk of time ashore, attending to the romance angles of the plot.  The sub heads out on patrol, sinks a German Q-boat.  This sets up the last part of the movie, where the sub heads out to locate and destroy the German supply base that is sending out the Q-boats. 



This is a movie where if Ward Stewart was played by anyone other than Tyrone Power, I probably would not like him very much, the way he uses deception to get Anne Baxter to go out on a date with him.  Because she's already seeing Dana Andrews, she tells Stewart multiple times she's not interested, even stands him up on their second date, etc.  He refuses to leave her alone and ends up both helping her without her knowledge, while basically blackmailing her at the same time.  But at the same time, he's got that Tyrone Power smile going on, and I get the feeling he would back off if his scheme didn't work, and he does finally agree to leave her alone after one final date, if that's her wish.  Of course, by that point, she has fallen in love with him.

Back in the day, I was always mad that she chose Tyrone Power over Dana Andrews, but now... well, Tyrone's character pursues her, and Dana sits back waiting for the perfect time, and so this time around, it all worked for me.

The always charming Power

But the best parts of the movie are when the Corsair is at sea.  Its first mission has them locating, then playing hide and seek with the Q-Boat.  This is probably my favorite section of the movie. Submarines are one of my first loves, particularly WWII subs, and I never really tire of watching them at work, no matter the movie.  Both leads each get their fair share of the limelight.  Connors' possum tactics allow them to escape the Q-Boat's depth charge attack.  Then when Connors gets knocked out, Stewart takes over and sinks the Q-Boat. 

The second big action scene is when the Corsair follows a tanker into the secret German supply base, and the crew goes commando and blows the place to smithereens.  If you ignore the fact that a submarine crew wouldn't be trained for any of that, the ending is quite exciting.  Again, both leads get to shine.  While Stewart leads the commando team ashore, Connors torpedoes the German ships in the harbor.  Mission accomplished, the sub barely escapes the harbor's guns.  The effects are quite good for the time period, and this movie won an Oscar for them.  My favorite part of the finale is when the submarine sneaks into the harbor, which is filled with mines.  I'm a complete sucker for those tense moments when a mine cable audibly drags against the sub, the mine getting tugged closer and closer to the sub's hull, only to slip free at the last moment... 

As much as I love Dana Andrews, this movie is really Tyrone Power's.  There are few scenes without him, and it's his charisma that drives the romance subplot.  I also love the friendship that develops between Connors and Stewart, and the two actors seem to have a lot of fun when they're together.  They have a great scene after returning from their first mission where they go to the officer's club to share a giant plate of fruit and vegetables and a pitcher of milk.

This was Power's last film before going into the war.

Periscope ornamentation

Even better periscope ornamentation

I'm not sure you could have two more handsome men commanding a submarine!

Devastated

Maximus (2002-2014)

I lost my beloved dog unexpectedly today, although I knew he was not well.  I just didn't realize how unwell he was.  But I didn't expect it to be advanced cancer and at that point where there was nothing left but to tell him how much I loved him and let him go. No matter how long you have them, you're never ready for that final goodbye.  Or the giant hole that's left when you get home, and he's not there.

Catching up

It's been over a month since I last posted.  Mostly, I've been upset over the recent heartbreaking news that the San Diego Opera is being forced to close its doors due to financial trouble after 49 years.  This is their last season.  I've been a season ticket holder for several years now, and they have consistently put on the best operas, with the best casts that I've seen in the Southern California area.  They were always well worth the long drive down for an evening.  This news comes after finding out the LA Opera will not be putting on a single opera I'm interested in attending next season.  After going to a record number of live operas in one season this last year between San Diego and Los Angeles, it looks like the doldrums lie ahead.  Right when there has been an influx of fabulous singers, after a very long dearth of any singers to care about.  At least there's still the Met HD broadcasts, and movie theater broadcasts from the Royal Opera House, etc.  Those will have to tide my family over until we find out what the 2015/16 local opera season holds.

As for movies, I've seen two new, two old in the theater.  I caught Monuments Men and Pompeii.  Really enjoyed both.  Monuments Men was beautifully filmed, and as a fan of the era, it was great to see all the uniforms, vehicles, and European locations on the big screen.  I'm not particularly a fan of any of the actors in it, but they all were great in their roles, and I ended up caring for the characters.  The story was entertaining, non-stressful, and well-worth the time to see it big screen.   

Pompeii, on the other hand, was just plain fun.  I went in expecting Romans, gladiator fights, and a volcano bringing massive destruction, and it delivered exactly that and more.  I wasn't expecting Keifer Sutherland to turn up as a nasty, vile Roman senator (I hadn't read the credits beforehand), and he looked like he was having loads of fun in his role as a bad guy.  Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played my favorite character in the movie, Atticus, a gladiator with only one fight to go before he earns his freedom.  He was great.  The rest, as, as I said, fun.  Lots of destruction, lots of fights, no pretensions, and I even got a chariot chase!  I'd probably see both these in the theater again, if there weren't so many other movies coming out.

I also caught The Great Escape on the big screen.  Sadly, the quality of this viewing was pretty terrible.  I took this in at the Phoenix Big Cinemas, where I've been catching most of the big screen classic viewings lately.  This one was very dark, washed out, colorless from the very opening through the end.  Ugh.  One of the things I love most about this movie is how green the grass is when Steve McQueen is fleeing on his motorcycle, and how blue the sky is.  And the scenery when James Garner is trying to pilot his plane to safety... Alas, I had to go home and put my own DVD on to get a glimpse of better color.  Very disappointing.  But despite that, it is still The Great Escape, and you just can't go wrong with the this movie.  It's one of my favorite WWII movies, and I've seen it many times on television or DVD.  I never tire of it.  The cast is perfect, the scenery lovely, and the story is exciting.  To my surprise, quite a few of the other audience members had never seen it, so there were some great reaction comments that made me grin.  That made up a bit for the lack of screening quality.

I also had one longstanding question answered.  I have always wondered what Hilts (Steve McQueen) is doing with his sweatshirt collar after he's crashed into the barbed wire at the end.  On the big screen, I could finally see that he's showing the Germans his captain's bars, which are pinned to the inside.  Ah-hah!  So happy to have that mystery answered.  It was always just too small to make out on a television set.

Today, I caught Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom there.  Much better screening than Great Escape.  No color or brightness issues, etc.  I've been wanting to see this one on the big screen again ever since my last big screen viewing was rudely interrupted and I missed my favorite part.  I have to admit, since we had an earthquake yesterday, I half expected another one today to disrupt things, but nope, the ground stayed quiescent, and the viewing was great.  (Just felt an earthquake here at home... hah!  How's that for funny timing?  Aftershock, I'm sure, much smaller than yesterday's.)

On the soundtrack front, thank goodness for Danny Elfman!  I've been listening pretty much non-stop to his delightful score for Mr. Peabody & Sherman.  (He continues to deliver quality scores, movie after movie, in a world now dominated by generic, unmemorable, wall-of-sound action scores.  My favorite score of 2013 (Epic) was also his. 

3 Days to Kill (2014)

While there's this Kevin Costner resurgence, I'm going to take advantage of it!  I went and caught a matinee of this one this last weekend and found a different movie from what I was expecting, and I liked that a lot.  This is not a serious action movie, more of a black comedy with some action.  The world's future is not at stake (thank goodness, that's getting oh so very very very old), in fact the mission is quite small in the scheme of things.  The movie is more about Ethan, Costner's character, reconnecting with his daughter and estranged wife.

There will be minor spoilers below...

When I walked out, I was thinking of all the things critics could tear apart about this film, but I think they're exactly all the things I liked.  Let's get the one thing I didn't like out of the way: Amber Heard's character.  I like the actress, but her character here and her character's actions made little sense.  At the beginning of the film, we have a whole team to take down the Albino (one of the bad guys).  After that, *poof,* no team, sketchy intel, no backup, no nothing.  just Heard's character ordering Ethan around while driving fast cars.  (Although I liked the last shot of her in the film.) Fortunately, she's a small part of it, and I just shrugged it off and went with it.

The rest I liked a lot.  There's several specific things that really appealed to me.

1.  Credits in the beginning of the movie.  Seriously, wonderful, glorious beginning credits.  I almost applauded.  I can't even name the last movie I saw that had opening credits, but I really really have missed them.

2.  Straight-forward plot.  This might sound weird, but I've gotten quite sick of scripts that over-use plot twists, deception, characters who aren't who them seem, etc. in order to keep the audience guessing.  This happens more in television, but everything seems to have been trying to one-up themselves, so there's been more and more of this, at the expense of the actual story.  This movie was such a relief to watch.  The bad guys were bad guys, the good guys were good guys, no one was not who they claimed to be.  No lies, no deception, just a story moving from point A to point B.

3.  It was a non-stressful movie.  That doesn't mean it wasn't exciting, because it was, and had some great action sequences.  But it wasn't stressful, which is a different thing entirely.  I'm not sure whether this is because the movie did have that comedic edge so the tension was diffused, if it was because I just trusted Kevin Costner, or if it was because the stakes were lower, but whatever it was, I was relaxed the whole film and never once got stressed out or worried.  Since my primary goal when I go to the movies is to escape reality and be entertained, movies that stress me out are NOT escape.  (This is one of many reasons why horror will never be a genre I seek out.) 

4.  This movie kind of felt like it was made back in the late 80's/early 90's.  It had a different, more relaxed feel to it, sort of a throwback.  Hard to explain and this probably sounds really weird, but it was, well, rather comforting.  The pacing of this film was also not frenetic as current action films tend to be.  It took its time with the characters and Paris scenery.

5.  Kevin Costner.  Loved him in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, loved him even more here.  I just really enjoyed watching his character the whole movie.  Likeable, competent, and still handsome.  I just dig him to pieces.

I have not gone looking for reviews of this, but it's the type of film that usually gets bashed by critics for being predictable, or cliche, or whatever is the movie flaw of the month.  It's not going to appeal to everyone, but it gave me a genuine good two hours of escape, and despite its flaws, I love it for that.

Midnight Club (1933)

Randomly, I checked youtube for new stuff and found a George Raft movie I hadn't seen.

Midnight Club is a fun little visit into the world of aristocratic jewel thieves in London.  The titular Midnight Club functions as a hide-out/base of operations for Colin Grant (Clive Brook) and his gang.  This movie makes thievery into a gentleman's game, and everyone is oh-so-polite throughout.  He and the rest of his gang have employed a set of doubles (the same actors in some beautiful split screen work that does not look like split screen).  The doubles will sit in plain view at their table in the Midnight Club, setting up a perfect alibi, while the real gang goes out and steals jewels.  Commissioner Hope (Guy Standing) knows Grant is guilty, but he simply can't find a way to prove it.  No matter what he does, who he has watched, Grant's beautiful little setup thwarts the good guys.

Enter George Raft, as Nick Mason, an American detective brought over to infiltrate Grant's gang.  Yes!  He's playing a good guy, which I quite enjoyed.  Of course his job is complicated when he falls for the girl, Iris (Helen Vinson).

The fun of this film is mostly just watching the good guys and bad guys sparring with each other in a verbal cat-and-mouse.  The commissioner knows Grant is guilty, Grant knows he knows it and is delightfully smug in the fact that the commissioner will never figure out his secret.  They remain oh-so-polite and friendly to each other throughout, which is quite refreshing.  There's a wee bit of violence at the end when Grant finally cottons on to the fact that Raft isn't who he says he is, but it's short (too short, lol.)

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

I've been really bad about posting anything lately.  Sorry  about that, just unmotivated and have other things on my mind.  Also have not been watching many movies lately.  Television series, yes, but not many movies.

I actually made it to the theater today to see the new Jack Ryan movie.  I read most of the books when they came out.  The Hunt for Red October, of course, had to do with submarines, so I read that one pretty much right after it hit the bookstores back in the 80's, and before the movie came out.  That hooked me, and I kept reading until Executive Orders.  That was the last Tom Clancy book I read.  Patriot Games and Cardinal of the Kremlin are my favorite of the Jack Ryan books.  The Hunt for Red October is my favorite of the movies made so far.  Absolutely love that movie.  Great cast, great score, great fun.  The filmed version of Patriot Games ranks in the other direction.  Hated that movie.  Still do.  I think it is my least favorite book-to-screen translation of all time, and that's pretty hard to do, particularly when I love the actors.  Although, I will freely admit, as much as I love Harrison Ford, he never worked as Jack Ryan for me.  I saw each of his Jack Ryan movies once in the theater... and have avoided them ever since.  I saw the Sum of all Fears film a few years ago and did like that one.  Not as good as Red October, but better than the Ford films.

Which brings me to the current film.  I found it quite enjoyable, (though nothing particularly special), and am glad I saw it on the big screen. The biggest draw on this one, for me, was the cast.  I am a huge, unabashed Kevin Costner fan. I first saw him in The Untouchables (which is one of the films I saw a jillion times in the theater when it was first released).  That movie introduced me to Kevin Costner and Andy Garcia, with Sean Connery's steady performance as a bonus.  After that, I looked for any movie Costner was in.  And I adored him in this movie. His character, Harper, was likeable, protective, and capable and it was a joy to see Costner both in a role like this and on the big screen again.  He really made the movie for me.   Ahhhh, Kevin Costner, how I've missed you.

Right behind him was Kenneth Branagh, who also directed this movie.  He played the bad guy, and he was nicely creepy and cold and a bit smirky.  He was delightful, and I was equally glad to see him on the big screen again.  I'm probably showing my age that I went to see this movie for Costner and Branagh, not the young guys and gals. 

Not to knock Chris Pine.  He was really good and I would definitely watch him as Jack Ryan again.  Liked him far better here than as Kirk (no surprise there, given how much I loathe the Star Trek reboot movies).  He would be my second favorite Ryan behind Alec Baldwin.  Kiera Knightly as Cathy was also very likeable and I have no problems with her either.  They made a great team, and I loved the dinner scene between Branagh and Kiera.

I was also really REALLY delighted to see Mikhail Baryshnikov show up in an uncredited role.   I loved White Nights and always wished he'd done more acting.  He made me grin and grin.

I do have to admit, I sort of didn't pay much attention to the details of the story.  Unusual for me, plot-lover that I am, but really, whenever the characters started talking about secret accounts and plans to crash the dollar... well, I hate economics, hate stock market stuff, and so... yeah, I tuned out.  There were some nice action sequences and fights.  My favorite was the attack on Ryan in the hotel room, which just really worked well for me.

One of the things I loved most about this movie was the fact that the rest of the CIA (and FBI) was not portrayed as stupid just to make Jack Ryan appear smarter.  There are movies and television shows that suffer from this type of bad writing, and it drives me crazy.  This movie, I'm delighted to say, was the opposite.  Harper and his team, the agents back home, etc. are all smart, efficient, and supportive.  They all do their jobs and they're all at the top of their game.  I can't tell you how much I loved that.  Jack Ryan is able to do his job, only because that phenomenal team is behind him feeding him intel and running interference, etc.  What a breath of fresh air!  I loved Harper's whole team in Russia.  They rocked.  And I love how Ryan is stunned and amazed that the CIA could clean up and restore his room after it's destroyed.  And having them smart and quick-thinking did nothing to take away from Ryan's own analytical skills.  It complemented and enhanced it instead.

I'm rather sad to say that Patrick Doyle's score was quite serviceable, but unmemorable.  I was really hoping it would be something I'd want to rush out and buy on CD, as I'm a big fan of his, but alas, no.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

 My first classic film on the big screen this year is The Adventures of Robin Hood.

I was a bit sad that I was the only one in the theater, though.  Granted it's a 10 am matinee, but still.  Just me?  For a great, rousing classic movie like Robin Hood?  I haven't much to say about it that hasn't been said by others.  The film is thoroughly enjoyable and was, of course, even better on the big screen.  Love those sword fights. Love the colors and Maid Marian's costumes really look fabulous up close.  You can pick out details in the fabrics, etc.  I'm particularly fond of the gown she wears to the archery tournament.  The white fading into the blue is just exquisite.  I may have had a private screening, but I wouldn't have missed it.

2014 has not started out well for me, so I apologize for the absence.  Hopefully things will improve.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to the movies I go

2013 was a banner year for theater-going for me.  I've been keeping my ticket stubs in a book, and it appears I went to the movie theater 38 times in 2013!  I think that's more than the previous 5 years' theater outings combined!  Four of those were to see operas.  Seven were older movies, fourteen were new movies released in 2013.  And if those don't add up to 38, that's because a few of those movies were seen multiple times.  LOL. 

My favorite viewing in 2013 of a classic film was It's a Wonderful Life, which I saw just last weekend.  I had never seen it before on the big screen, and it was perfect, with a great appreciative audience.  It was also I think the only movie of the entire year that had the volume set at a level that didn't require me to wear my earplugs.  That was soooooo nice, I can't even tell you.  (As opposed to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which required two trips to the lobby just to get them to lower the volume to a point where I didn't have to have my hands over my ears WITH earplugs already in.)

I find it interesting that in both 2012 and 2013, I saw both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen.  Wouldn't mind if that became a tradition each year!  Although, I might end up with two Lawrence viewings this year, as it's playing this coming weekend... and in a film print, not a digital.  It's also playing in January, though, so I may just wait for the new year and not try to deal with holiday traffic.

So, what were my favorite new films of 2013?

1. The Lone Ranger (by a long shot)
2. Epic
3. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
4. Jack the Giant Slayer
5. ??

I can't actually pick a fifth favorite movie of the year.  The first four are the ones I bought immediately on DVD when they came out.  I'm not sure I'm going to be buying any of the other movies I saw in 2013, though I will happily watch them whenever they come on.  I liked several movies with about the same level of affection.  They were all very entertaining, but they didn't quite hit my personal sweet spots to push them up into favorites.  Those would include Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Frozen, Planes, The Great Gatsby.  But I can't really pick one above another.  Probably the Hobbit out of those, but I need to see it a second time first.

Least favorite movie of 2013, of course, was Star Trek: Into Darkness. 

And there is so much to look forward in the next year.  The Phoenix Big Cinemas will be showing The Adventures of Robin Hood in January, and I cannot wait to see that on the big screen.  I'm looking forward to finding out what other classic movies they'll select the rest of the year.

As for new movies coming out next year that I'm aware of, I'm looking forward to the new Captain America movie, Transcendence, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Monument's Men, Maleficent, the third Expendables movie, and, of course, the final Hobbit.  I'm sure there will be other films as well.