42nd Street (1933)

Plot: A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star.

I got this out of the library having heard several of the songs from the show on my showtunes radio station ("Lullaby of Broadway," "Sunny Side To Every Situation," and "We're In the Money") ... and then proceeded to discover that NONE of those songs were in the movie! It had a grand total of four songs (one repeated twice) and none of the ones I knew. Aghast, I went and looked up a synopsis online... the Broadway production had NINE songs that the movie didn't. This leads me to believe that it was a vaguely musical movie that then was transformed into a fully musical stage production, because cutting nine songs and not even replacing them with anything would just be stupid. The movie itself, sans music, was only decent. The dialogue was stilted, and at a few parts my father pointed out that any movie with such fluff in it today would be laughed out of the theater. Although I don't know... The Wedding Planner was generally applauded... Oops. Did I say that out loud? *covers mouth* But in general, this movie was a waste of time (no money wasted no this, luckily). Don't bother with it. 1 star.

An American in Paris (1951)

Ah, the early romantic musicals. Full of great song and dance numbers and generally ridiculous plot contrivances to make the songs fit together. An American in Paris is a prime example of this. The songs are all nice, but they just don't fit in the plot. I mean, come on. The boyfriend releases the girl to go back to the man she loves - and has a smile on his face the entire time. "By Strauss" couldn't really have any conceivably normal lead-in... and "I Got Rhythm" was made incredibly irritating by a bunch of little kids screaming "I GOT!" Sheesh. 'Tis a marvelous song, must it be ruined? *sob* However, if Gershwin's your forte and you don't mind silly plot contrivances... go for it. Er. Not ruining "I Got Rhythm." Watching the movie. 1.5 stars.

Fail-Safe (1964)

Oh...my. What a heavy movie. Left me going, "Oh...my." Heh... really, it was amazing. I had to think for an hour before I decided if I liked it or not, but then I decided I did. Immensely. My only real complaint? Walter Matthau's idiot character. I swear I wanted to grind him up into little pieces and then jump on him. 4 stars.

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.

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.