Monday, January 19, 2004

It's Always Fair Weather (1955)

This was exactly the mood I was in the night I watched it. A good ol' cheesy, contrived, let's-burst-into-song-and-dance-while-we're-walking-down-the-street, walk-off-into-the-sunset-at-the-end 1950's movie musical. And that's exactly what it was and therefore it was very satisfying. As far as said GOCCL-B-I-S-A-D-W-W-W-D-T-SW-O-I-T-S-A-T-E-1MMs go (gah, that was ridiculous) it wasn't nearly as good as Singin' in the Rain, but it was a heck of a lot better than, say, There's No Business Like Show Business. Most of the songs were enjoyable, while not memorable, and there were actually quite a few dance scenes that made us go, "Whoa. That would be....rather hard." Pretty decent entertainment. 3 stars.

Thursday, January 8, 2004

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

Dr. Seuss stories are absolutely delightful, and the movieization of this story lost nothing in the charm and innocence of the book. (I refuse to see the new live action version, based mostly on the fact that it's PG and if you PGerize Dr. Seuss, you can get nothing but junk.) It's definitely one of my absolute favorite Christmas movies. 4 stars.

Hook (1991)

I've always thought Peter Pan was one of the most charming children's books I'd ever read, and so approached this movie with a hopeful expectation with just a tad of wary suspicion mixed in. But the suspicion soon vanished as the tale began to unfold, and it became clear what the movie would be like. It was delightful from beginning to end, a new twist on the classic story. Yup... one of those movies I'd like to see again someday. 3.5 stars.

Crocodile Dundee (1986)

I've always loved those "person changes cultures" stories, whether they're traveling around in time, outer space, or earth. So this one was, of course, a blast. Played with the idea just enough - not enough for either an "Okay, when will they stop beating this joke into my head?" or an "Uh... that was it?" reaction. All in all, great fun. 3.5 stars.

Clue (1985)

Wow... this could have been so much more... Even as it was, though, it was very funny in spots and worth another watch some time. As far as great silly detective stories go, though, Murder By Death was better. 3 stars.