The Meaning of Life (1983)

This film is a collection of short sketches, most of which, unfortunately don't actually work. I'm a huge Python fan, so I was very disappointed at this. The sketches were overly long and held onto one joke for the entire time. I did laugh a couple times, but those moments were few and far between. My favorite sketch: the one about marching up and down the square. 2.5 stars.

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

This movie was very on-and-off for me. There were a few moments that were absolutely perfect (I loved the casual delivery of the line, "I can eat fifty eggs") but there was a lot of in between that didn't quite work for me. Paul Newman is good in this, but it's one of the classics that mostly just doesn't resonate with me. 3.5 stars.

Chaplin (1992)

Robert Downey, Jr. is phenomenal as Charlie Chaplin. I'm always fascinated when they manage to make screen legends come to life in biopics, and this is one that really strikes me. The movie is never boring. The very opening scene showing him removing his makeup sets the tone for the movie - funny but bittersweet, like Chaplin's films. 4.5 stars.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath is a haunting look at a displaced family. As I watched it, I kept thinking of those "As long as we're together, we're happy" films. This is not one of them. This family is acutely aware that even if they're all together, they may be in deep trouble. In fact, they may be even worse off because there are so many of them. The poverty, not only physical but spiritual, is almost palpable. The scene where Ma wants so desperately to share their food with the starving children particularly stood out to me. Nobody in this movie has much of anything, and what they do have they cannot afford to give away. I found myself completely caught up and intensely sympathetic to this world and these characters. Henry Fonda's character is especially interesting - more than any of the others, he doesn't *seem* like a character, just like a regular guy. 4 stars.

Wayne's World (1992)

This movie took me by surprise. I thought it was going to be annoying or, at the very least, incomprehensible to someone who had no familiarity with the original sketches. Instead, I got a largely enjoyable comedy that hit, yes, a lot of predictable notes, but also a few hilariously unexpected ones as well. It's a lot smarter than I would have ever expected. It's not quite as good as its obvious predecessor Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (though I would put it above the lackluster Bogus Journey). I love when movies surprise me by being better than I expected. 4 stars.

Clash of the Titans (1981)

This movie doesn't make an ounce of sense. I don't have a problem with iffy special effects because of datedness, but the effects in this movie center around a ridiculous plot with hilariously bad dialogue, and the only good acting is done by the side characters. The mythology itself is even funky - how are the Kraken or Medusa titans? Maybe they just mean it in the sense of "giants," but since this is a world in which titans EXIST, it's ludicrous to call them that. Silly, silly, silly. 1 star.

Spinning Into Butter (2008)

I saw a reader's theater version of the play a year or two ago. The play itself already verges on preachy, but manages to sidestep it by making it about the characters. Sarah Jessica Parker was unbelievably miscast as the lead. She takes the dialogue and drags it over the preachy line as far as it can go. The rest of the cast does their best to bring it back, but since her role dominates the movie, there's not much they can do about it. 3 stars.