Movies

[Rusty]

854 - Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988) - 7.5/10 - Klaus Barbie was a brutal Nazi who evaded capture for nearly 40 years after WWII, working part of that time for the CIA, and later living in Bolivia. This film is very good and very thorough, but it is nearly 4.5 hours and I started losing interest around the 3 hour mark. I think that Ophüls could have edited it down just a bit more, though I suppose that I could have taken a break and come back to it later.


855 - Kukan (1941) - 7/10 - Rey Scott visited China and took 16mm film during his trip through the country. We get to see the people and places that have not been taken over by the Japanese. The war is mostly in the background for much of the film, except for an air raid on Chongqing and its aftermath which are caught on film. It's pretty cool seeing color footage of China from 80 years ago.


856 - Arthur Rubinstein: The Love of Life (1969) - 6/10 - Lots of footage of Rubinstein playing the piano, which is cool, but a mostly forgettable documentary about his life.


857 - Flee (2021) - 8.5/10 - A mostly animated story about a man who fled Afghanistan with his family as a kid, ending up in Russia. Amin later arrived in Denmark as an unaccompanied minor and gained asylum, but kept his real story a secret from most people until finally confiding to a friend. I thought it was very good.


858 - Going the Distance (1979) - 7/10 - This film highlights a number of athletes who are competing in the Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1978. We get some insight into their training routines and also get to see them in competition. I didn't know any of the athletes, but it was somewhat interesting.

[Rusty]

859 - Jack Johnson (1970) - 7/10 - A decent biography of one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time with lots of fight footage, but also footage from his trips overseas, racing cars, and in his later years.


860 - Just Another Missing Kid (1981) - 8/10 - In 1978, 19 year old Eric Wilson was driving from Ottawa to Boulder, Colorado in order to attend a summer college course. He called home every night until he disappeared somewhere in Nebraska. His father and brother flew to Nebraska to look for him with no success and the police and FBI didn't seem very interested. A suspect turned up weeks later and the family hired a private detective to find out what happened because the authorities weren't pursuing the case. It's a sad indictment of the system that still rings true today.


861 - Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II (1992) - 8/10 - Members of the 761st Tank Battalion from WWII reunite in Europe and retrace the route they took through France, Belgium, and Germany. They were black soldiers who faced discrimination at home and segregation in the service as well. They also helped liberate a concentration camp and were understandably shocked at what they found.


862 - The Children of Theatre Street (1977) - 7.5/10 - Princess Grace narrates this film about the students at a prestigious Russian ballet school in Leningrad. The film focuses mostly on the youngest students and a few of the students who will be graduating soon. Overall, it's a nice film, even for those not into ballet. The performances themselves are the least interesting part, but aren't bad.


863 - The Human Dutch (1963) - 7.5/10 - Shot with hidden cameras (supposedly), we get a look at the average Dutch as they go about their day. We get to see people enjoying a day at the beach during the summer, skating during the winter, kids on their first day of school, and more. It's fairly engaging.


864 - Malcolm X (1972) - 7.5/10 - James Earl Jones narrates this film which features movie clips and archival/newsreel footage to tell the story of Malcolm X.


865 - The Gatekeepers (2012) - 8/10 - Six former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli organization in charge of internal security, candidly discuss their organization, its methods, and its failures over the years, especially in regard to the Palestinians. It's very well put together and not exactly what I expected going in.


866 - World Without Sun (1964) - 6/10 - Jacques Cousteau directed this film about oceanauts living on the floor of the Red Sea in a special building to see if living underwater was feasible. They conducted experiments, did some exploring, and other things. There is some interesting footage, but it is mostly somewhat dull.

[Rusty]

867 - Sing (2016) - 8/10 - This was a rewatch in advance of going to see Sing 2 and it was still a lot of fun.

3 Sing mini-movies (2017) - (11 minutes) - Cool little dvd bonuses.


868 - Of Fathers and Sons (2017) - 5/10 - The filmmaker befriends a radical jihadist family in Syria and stays with them for two years. He shows how the sons learn the lessons taught by the fathers. This one really wasn't for me.


869 - On Any Sunday (1971) - 8/10 - This was a lot more fun than I was expecting. It's about motorcycle racing and has a fair amount of motocross, but also desert racing, hill climbing, drag racing, speed tests, and more. Steve McQueen makes a few appearances and competes in a couple of events, including the desert race.


870 - On the Ropes (1999) - 7/10 - Three young boxers are being trained in the same gym. George has pro potential and is being scouted by professional managers. Tyrene has talent, but a challenging home life. Neil doesn't have a lot of talent, but needs to learn discipline. I thought it started a bit slow, but became more interesting as you got to know the people involved.


871 - Sing 2 (2021) - 8/10 - While I don't think it was quite as good as the first movie, I still thought it was a lot of fun and enjoyed it.


872 - Agee (1980) - 5/10 - James Agee was a journalist, author, film critic, and screenwriter who died young at age 45 and won the Pulitzer Prize a few years after his death. He did a lot of things, but the movie is fairly dull and uninteresting.

[Rusty]

873 - Respect (2021) - 7/10 - Jennifer Hudson is good as Aretha Franklin and Skye Dakota Turner was also good as the young Aretha. There was certainly a lot of good music here, as expected, but I thought the movie itself wasn't really anything special. It was good, but not great.


874 - A Portrait of Giselle (1982) - 5/10 - A former ballet dancer interviews ballerinas who have portrayed Giselle over the years and the reminisce, discuss the role, and discuss other ballerinas who performed the role. I found the whole thing rather uninteresting and dry, but it probably is of more interest for fans of ballet.


875 - Fortress (1985) - 7.5/10 - Four men in Halloween masks kidnap a teacher and her students in rural Australia. They put them all in a cave for safe keeping, but the teacher and students have other ideas. This is based in part on an actual kidnapping case from 1972. I loved this movie when it aired back in the 1980s, but hadn't watched it in over 30 years. It's pretty violent at times and holds up pretty well.


876 - Dancemaker (1998) - 6.5/10 - Paul Taylor was a dancer who became a renowned choreographer and ran his own modern dance company. This film features interviews with Taylor and many members of his company along with showing rehearsals and performances. It was actually kind of interesting due to the people involved and some of the dances.


877 - Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists (1983) - 7.5/10 - A look back at various activities of the American Communist Party in the 1930s-1950s with archival footage and interviews with people who were members at the time. Hearing their stories and why they were members was pretty interesting. A number of them were still active when this was filmed, even if they'd resigned from the Communist Party itself.


878 - Cartel Land (2015) - 6.5/10 - The Autodefensas formed in rural Mexico to battle the cartels and take back the towns. Members were initially people whose lives had been impacted by the cartels in a variety of ways. The government was against this group and later formed a Rural Defense Force of their own. We also get a look at a militia group operating in Arizona to capture illegals crossing the border, whether to bring drugs in or for illegal immigration. The U.S. side of the picture is less interesting than the part in Mexico.


879 - Deliver Us From Evil (2006) - 7.5/10 - Oliver O'Grady was a Catholic priest who abused dozens of kids in California over decades. The Catholic Church was complicit in this since whenever he got into trouble in one location, they relocated him to another parish some distance away and quashed the complaints. It's a pretty disgusting story, but is fairly well told with interviews of victims and their families who paint the picture of what it was like when the abuse happened. We also get video from depositions given by a couple of Catholic officials and an interview with O'Grady himself, who was living in Ireland at the time after serving time and being deported. O'Grady seems like he has some mental issues and speaks of what he did openly, though doesn't seem to fully comprehend the seriousness of his actions.

[Rusty]

880 - War Dance (2007) - 8.5/10 - Members of the Acholi Tribe in Uganda live in government sponsored camps to protect them from rebel forces who might abduct or kill them. The National Music competition is coming up and the local elementary school has qualified so students are busy preparing for the event, which will feature performances in eight categories. The film focuses on three of the students - Nancy, Dominic, and Rose, each of whom has been personally affected by the war. The film is sad in some respects due to how the war has affected them and is still affecting them in the camps, but is happy in the joy that they get out of music and dance and the people around them.


881 - No End in Sight (2007) - 8/10 - A look at errors made with respect to the war in Iraq from 2003-2006. It paints a pretty damning picture of the Bush administration and its incompetence.


882 - Strong Island (2017) - 5/10 - A black man was shot by a young white mechanic back in the early 1990s, but the grand jury failed to indict. The man's family made this film about it and it seems to be to help them deal with the feelings they still have after all of these years. It's a sad story, but I don't think it makes a great film.


883 - The Square (2013) - 8/10 - This film documents a number of protests in Tahrir Square in Cairo from 2011-2013 which led to Hosni Mubarek stepping down, but didn't create any real change initially since most of the same people were still in charge. The protesters continued to return to the square, even with threats of violence from the military.


884 - How to Survive a Plague (2012) - 7.5/10 - The work of AIDS activists is traced from 1987-1996 using archival footage and interviews. They worked to get proper treatment for AIDS patients and also to try and find a regimen that would stop the massive death toll and make the disease manageable. They did a good job putting the film together.


885 - The Long Way Home (1997) - 8/10 - The film traces the fate of Jewish refugees from the end of WWII through the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Many survivors of concentration camps found conditions after the war to not be a whole lot better. Life in the displaced persons camps was generally not good. Survivors who returned to the communities they had lived in before the war found themselves unwanted there. Many wanted to travel to Palestine, but the British set strict quotas for immigration there.

[Rusty]

886 - Icarus (2017) - 8/10 - Bryan Fogel had looked up to Lance Armstrong, but in the wake of Armstrong confessing to using performance enhancing drugs, Fogel decided to see if doping would help him improve his own racing abilities. He eventually hooked up with Grigory Rodchenkov, a Russian doctor with firsthand knowledge of doping athletes, and the two form a bond. When the Russian doping scandal hits the news, the story expands to encompass it with Rodchenkov at the center.


887 - Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011) - 8/10 - In 1993, three eight year old boys were murdered and found tied up and nude in the woods in West Memphis, Arkansas. Three teenage boys were arrested and convicted, mainly it seems because they wore black and listened to heavy metal music. There was no real evidence tying them to the crime. This is the third documentary about their story and attempts to regain their freedom. They had gained a lot of outside support over the years for their innocence. The story is well told and was updated at the end with a change in their status.


888 - Children Underground (2001) - 7/10 - The film follows five street children who live in a subway station in Bucharest. The oldest is a 16 year old girl with a shave head and is the boss. The youngest are a 10 year old girl and her 8 year old brother. They fight, steal, beg, get high on paint fumes, and live their lives. One girl in particular, Macarena, gets high on Aurolac frequently. It's a sad situation and each of the kids came from a troubled life before hitting the streets.


889 - The Challenge: A Tribute to Modern Art (1974) - 6/10 - Orson Welles narrates this look at modern art (including sculpture) with interviews of artists, film of them in action, and displays of plenty of other art. It was a bit boring, but okay.


890 - Young Americans (1967) - 4/10 - This is a pretty odd film. It is supposed to be a documentary about the Young Americans choir, though it is obviously staged and not really a documentary. There are a lot of antics throughout and it is pretty corny. The film has not aged well at all. This movie also happens to be one that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1969 only to have it revoked a few days later when it was discovered that it had been released in 1967 and wasn't eligible. This was a pretty bad year for documentary nominees. Other Voices is unavailable, except in archives. Journey into Self and A Few Notes on Our Food Problem weren't very interesting. Legendary Champions is the only one in the group that I liked and it is fairly average.


891 - Let's Get Lost (1988) - 7/10 - A biography of jazz trumpet player/vocalist Chet Baker that came out four months after he died. It includes interviews with Baker plus his family and friends along with archival footage of Baker from the 50s-80s. I wasn't really very familiar with Baker other than knowing his name, but this was kind of interesting.

[Rusty]

892 - Torero! (1956) - 6/10 - This biopic documentary looks at the life or Mexican bullfighter Luis Procuna. It wasn't bad, but I probably would have had more interest if I liked bullfighting at all.


893 - I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951) - 4/10 - Matt Cvetic went undercover in the Communist Party for 9 years before coming out while testifying before Congress. As a drama the film is okay, but as a 'documentary' based on Cvetic's life, it's fictionalized anti-Communist propaganda and was unworthy of an Academy Award nomination. My guess is that it got a nomination because Hollywood was scared of Congress and blacklisting.


894 - The Battle of Russia (1943) - 7/10 - This entry in the Why We Fight series starts with a look at historic invasions of Russia and then moves on to the Nazi invasion during WWII and how the Russian approach differed from that of other countries which were conquered in a matter of weeks. Russia's great size and large population certainly helped.


895 - The Infinite Man (2014) - 6/10 - A man uses a home built time machine to try and get back together with his girlfriend, but creates an infinite loop. There were some parts which were funny, but overall I found it to be rather boring.


896 - The Silent World (1956) - 7/10 - This full color Jacques Cousteau documentary features some great underwater scenes and also a tour of the S.S. Thistlegorm, an armed British merchant navy ship that was sunk in the Red Sea by the Germans and still contains a ton of supplies that it was carrying to troops. Unfortunately, not everything in the picture has aged as well, including their treatment of tortoises and dynamiting fish for study.


897 - Brothers' Nest (2018) - 7.5/10 - Two middle aged brothers are concerned that their mother, who is dying of cancer, is going to change her will so that her second husband will inherit the family home and property. The older brother has a scheme which will take care of the problem. It was a bit of a slow burn at first, but had a pretty strong finish.


898 - Trobriand Cricket (1975) - 7/10 - The game of cricket has evolved among the villages of Papua New Guinea. The various dances and fun they had in playing was interesting to watch.


899 - The True Glory (1945) - 7/10 - A documentary about the invasion of Europe from just before D-Day through VE Day.

[Rusty]

900 - 13th (2016) - 7.5/10 - A line is drawn from the 13th Amendment to the establishment of the prison complex as a substitute for slave labor and later as a money making complex.


901 - Virunga (2014) - 8.5/10 - Park rangers at Virunga National Park in the Congo work to keep the park safe, protect the mountain gorillas and other animals from poachers, and keep a British oil company from trying to exploit the natural resources (in this case oil) that might be found in the park. Rebels, bribes, agents of the oil company, and so on make it very dangerous there. I thought the movie was put together very well. They did good work with the secret cameras in a few places.


902 - In the Year of the Pig (1968) - 7/10 - The U.S. involvement in Vietnam is brought into question through newsreel footage and interviews. A lot of this I was familiar with from other sources, but it packs a lot into the film.


903 - The 81st Blow (1974) - 6/10 - This Israeli film covers the oppression of the Jews in the ghettoes followed by their time in concentration camps during WWII with narration (or at least the words of) survivors.


904 - Ape and Super-Ape (1972) - 7.5/10 - The film looks at animal behavior during the first half of the film and then switches over to human behavior. There is a lot of good footage and it is interesting.

[Rusty]

905 - Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996) - 8/10 - George Seldes died at the age of 104 just before this documentary about his life and 80 year career came out. Seldes started out in newspapers in 1909 and covered WWI, interviewed Lenin, got on Mussolini's bad side, and so on. He published a number of books and also a popular small newspaper during the 1940s which critiqued the news business. I thought the film was pretty interesting since Seldes lived an interesting life.


906 - Four Days in November (1964) - 7.5/10 - This film documents JFK arriving in Dallas, the time he spent there, his assassination, and the aftermath, ending just after the funeral. They look into Lee Harvey Oswald as well and the film does a good job putting events in order with footage from a variety of sources.

[Rusty]

1 - Palm Springs (2020) - 8/10 - Nyles is stuck in a time loop and wakes up every day at a motel where there is a wedding happening that night. Sarah is also there for the wedding and accidentally gets dragged into the time loop as well. This was recommended to me a year and a half ago and I finally got around to watching it. It was a lot of fun. I still like Groundhog Day more, but this is a good riff on the theme.


2 - The Matrix Resurrections (2021) - 7/10 - For all the high tech special effects, this felt like a less ambitious and relatively minor film compared to the earlier trilogy, though I did like it a lot more than either of the other sequels. It wasn't as bad as some of the reviews I saw indicated and it certianly isn't great, but it was watchable and fun in places.

[Rusty]

3 - The Andromeda Strain (1971) - 7/10 - A tiny alien life form kills almost all of the residents in a small town after a satellite returns to Earth. A group of scientists is quickly assembled to find out why a baby and an old man survived. They study the life form and try to figure out how to neutralize it so that it doesn't spread and kill more people. This isn't the most exciting movie, but it's well acted and is interesting.


4 - When Worlds Collide (1951) - 7/10 - A wandering planet is spotted entering our solar system and one scientist predicts that it will pass close enough to Earth to cause devastation and destroy all life on the planet. The only hope is to build a rocket to transport as many people, animals, and supplies as possible to this new world in order to have a chance to survive. It's definitely a bit dated, but it was still entertaining.


5 - Visit to a Small Planet (1960) - 4/10 - Jerry Lewis plays a somewhat simple alien named Kreton who skips class to visit Earth, where he causes a number of problems. I'm not a fan of Jerry Lewis and didn't really enjoy this one much, except for a few bits here and there. Mostly it was just dumb.

[Rusty]

6 - West Side Story (2021) - 8/10 - The film has great set design, costumes, production values, etc. It's been too long since I saw the original to make any real comparisons, but I enjoyed this version a lot. I think Anson Elgort was miscast a bit, though he does a decent job. I liked Rachel Zegler as Maria and the rest of the cast was pretty good as well. My mom liked the movie a lot as well and she saw the original when it came out.

[Rusty]

7 - Portrait of Jennie (1948) - 8/10 - A struggling artist of mediocre ability comes across a girl in a park who seems to be from another time. He comes across her at other times and places and each time she's a bit older than before. He tries to track her down and find out more about her, falling for her more each time they are together. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.


8 - Altered States (1980) - 5/10 - A scientist is eager to explore realms of consciousness and uses sensory deprivation, drugs, and other practices to try and reach and remember these other states of mind. It turns out to have a dangerous physical effect on him. The visual and sound effects on this film are good, but I didn't care for the story at all and I thought the acting was only so-so.


9 - Finch (2021) - 6.5/10 - Tom Hanks stars as a man traveling around in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by solar flares. He is dying and builds a robot to take care of the dog he travels with once he is gone. The robot learns quickly, but has some growing pains. It's a decent enough film, though it seems to me that it had the potential to be a lot better. Hanks was portraying a man who was weary and ill, but it sort of came off at times as if he was going through the motions.


10 - Bell Book and Candle (1958) - 7/10 - James Stewart is engaged to be married when he meets the woman (Kim Novak) who runs a shop below his apartment. Novak happens to be a witch and doesn't like Stewart's fiancee so she casts a spell to make Stewart fall for her instead. It's a rather lighthearted and lightweight film, but is entertaining.


11 - Nightmare Alley (2021) - 7.5/10 - A man joins a carnival and finds that he has talent as a mentalist. He's got ambition, though, and wants to rise above the carnival circuit. This is a good film and the settings and costumes are excellent. I think that it moves at a little too slow and deliberate pace at times, though, and I don't think of it as among del Toro's best.


12 - Babes in Toyland (1961) - 7/10 - Mary (Quite) Contrary and Tom Piper are supposed to get married, but the dastardly Barnaby has a plan to take Mary for his own bride. This started out looking somewhat like a community theater production, but it grew on me as it went along and ended up being fun.


13 - Outland (1981) - 6/10 - Sean Connery is the marshal of a mining colony on one of Jupiter's moons. He comes across a drug ring whose product has led to a large increase in deaths among the workers. He sets out to bring the ring down including the powerful person in town. It's High Noon in space, but unfortunately isn't anywhere near as good. It can be watched and somewhat enjoyed, just be ready to overlook a number of things that don't make much sense.

[Rusty]

14 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) - 7.5/10 - The adventures of the Captain Nemo and the Nautilus are shown here in this Disney adaptation of the Verne novel. James Mason plays Nemo, Oscar winner Paul Lukas is the Professor, and Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre also have large roles. I loved the design of the Nautilus both inside and out. There's plenty of adventure along with some silliness (usually around Douglas) and I enjoyed the film.


15 - Real Steel (2011) - 6/10 - Hugh Jackman plays a washed up boxer who tries to make a living with boxing robots, but isn't very good at it. His ex-wife dies and he ends up spending the summer with his estranged 11 year old son and the two fix up an old robot and teach it to box. I thought the first 45 minutes or so wasn't very good, but it got more fun after that. Still not good really, but entertaining at least.

[Rusty]

16 - Free Guy (2021) - 7.5/10 - Ryan Reynolds stars as an NPC in a violent video game called Free City. He becomes self aware after seeing a player that he falls in love at first sight with and then later takes the gaming glasses from another player. I became interested in this film a couple of years ago when I first saw the trailer. I thought it was fun and even though it was kind of predictable in spots, I enjoyed it. There were lots of little bits here and there that were nice.


17 - Legend (1985) - 6/10 - This is a rewatch and it really seems strange seeing Tom Cruise in this. I hadn't seen the film since the 1980s. The effects and story aren't really that great. It's certainly watchable, but seems really dated.


18 - The Door Into Summer (2021) - 7.5/10 - A young inventor is cheated out of his company and inventions, but doesn't give up in finding a way to make it right. This was a pretty faithful adaptation of the Heinlein novel, though with a Japanese cast. I like most of Heinlein's novels and have read this book several times and also enjoyed the film.


19 - It Came from Outer Space (1953) - 7.5/10 - An amateur astronomer/author and his girlfriend are watching the stars in the Arizona desert one night when they see a meteor crash. They take a helicopter out to the crash site and the astronomer sees a ship at the bottom of the crater, but it is soon buried by falling rocks. He tells people what he saw, but is not believed...at first. I thought it was a fun film.


20 - Electric Dragon 80000 V (2001) - 3/10 - Lizard lover and guitar player Dragon Eye Morrison has electric powers. He faces off against Thunderbolt Buddha, a tv repairman who also has electric powers. There isn't much dialogue or plot and this one really wasn't for me.


21 - Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession (1973) - 7/10 - An inventor gets his time machine to work, but in demonstrating it, accidentally strands his building superintendent and a burglar in the 16th Century and brings Ivan the Terrible to the present. The building superintendent is also named Ivan and is a double of the tsar. There is plenty of slapstick humor with a nice Benny Hill type chase. Overall I enjoyed it, including the music, though I wouldn't rank it as a top comedy film.