Mrs. Miniver (1942)

In a small village outside London, a "typical" English family adjusts to the horror of war as it slowly encroaches on their turf. Based on the novel by Jan Struther and directed by William Wyler. During WWII, Hollywood did their bit for the war effort by making propaganda films to boost the morale of the country. Most of them took place in actual battle zones but a handful of films like SINCE YOU WENT AWAY and this one focused on the home front. MRS. MINIVER doesn't get much love these days but I think it's a fine film. Of course, this isn't a typical English family at all, just Hollywood's idea of one. But it shows the courage and tenacity of those who lived under the terror of German bombings, often seeing their loved ones killed and their homes destroyed. Never sure of when their turn will come. It's melodramatic and contrived to a point yes but there's still a nobility about it. It's Oscar win for best film is understandable if debatable although I have no problem with Greer Garson's win playing the title character. The nation took the film to its heart and the movie was a huge box hit. With Walter Pidgeon, Richard Ney, Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty, Henry Wilcoxon and Henry Travers.

The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)

A mysterious gas attack kills off most of the world's population. But in a small country inn in England, a small group of survivors gather and attempt to formulate a plan to survive as killer robots patrol the streets. Directed by Hammer veteran Terence Fisher (BRIDES OF DRACULA), this low budget sci-fi horror seems a retread of the superior TARGET EARTH released ten years earlier. The two (very) mature leads are veterans of supporting and small roles in films of the 50s and 60s, Willard Parker (KISS ME KATE) and Virginia Field (WATERLOO BRIDGE). The best thing about the film is its great title and nothing in the movie lives up to it. The robot's gear is pretty neat though. The film's score is by Elisabeth Lutyens, one of the earliest female composers in film. With Dennis Price, Vanda Godsell and Thorley Walters.

Six Characters In Search Of An Author (1976)

While rehearsing a television show, a director (John Houseman) and his crew and cast are surprised when six people suddenly emerge. First, on the TV monitor and then "in person" on the set. The six are characters in an unfinished play looking for an author to complete their story. Based on the play by Luigi Pirandello and directed by the actor Stacy Keach. The theatrical setting of Pirandello's play has been updated to a TV studio. While the TV studio setting doesn't quite work, the casting of the stepdaughter (Beverly Todd in the play's best performance) and her two siblings (H.B. Barnum III, Claire Touchstone) with black actors gives the play an interesting dynamic. Like Pirandello's play, the production examines the fine line between Art and reality, how illusion is simply that and how an actor's interpretation of a role or a director's vision can often distort the reality of a character's truth to serve the production. A character's truth is on the page but once taken and put into the service of play's production or filmization, it is no longer theirs. There's no underscore but Jerry Goldsmith composed the title credit to Saul Bass's main title. With Andy Griffith, Julie Adams, James Keach, Laurence Hugo, Timothy Blake and Patricia Hitchcock.

The Revengers (1972)

After his entire family is massacred, a Colorado rancher (William Holden) goes to Mexico in pursuit of the man (Warren Vanders) responsible. Since the man is protected by Comanche Indians, he helps a group of convicts to escape and pays them to ride with him. Directed by Daniel Mann (COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA), this is a preposterous and sloppy western. It's a Peckinpah wannabe but without Peckinpah's visionary boldness and artistry. It plays out more like a poor American imitation of a spaghetti western. The film comes alive in its last 12 minutes with a very good battle between the "revengers" and U.S. Cavalry against the attacking Comanches. There's a horrendous anachronistic underscore by Pino Calvi which sounds like pop versions of Ennio Morricone's scores. Some of the acting is pretty bad including Ernest Borgnine at his scenery chewing worst. With Susan Hayward (in her final film role), Woody Strode, Arthur Hunnicutt, Reinhard Kolldehoff, Roger Hanin and Larry Pennell. 

The Eternal Sea (1955)

A career Naval captain (Sterling Hayden) is injured in the Battle Of Leyte Gulf during WWII and loses a leg. But he refuses any thought of retirement and instead is determined to remain in the Navy and eventually command a ship again. Based on the life of Admiral John Madison Hoskins and directed by John H. Auer. This is a standard military film extolling the virtues of heroism and patriotism during the Korean War. It's a painless if tedious sit balancing the action film aspect of it as well as the domestic side with Alexis Smith as the patient Navy wife forever wringing her hands and standing by her man. But it's a dull and uninteresting movie with a bizarre Christian bent at the very end of the film. Even if you're a war movie enthusiast you might find this one a bit of snoozer. There's an underscore by a young Elmer Bernstein. With Virginia Grey as another hand wringing Navy wife, Dean Jagger, Ben Cooper, Hayden Rorke and Douglas Kennedy.

The Flight Of The Phoenix (1965)

A cargo plane flying oil workers and some military personnel from Jaghbub to Bengazi (in Libya) crashes in the desert. The survivors are too off course to expect any rescue. An aircraft designer (Hardy Kruger) proposes to the plane's pilot (James Stewart) that they build a small aircraft out of the remaining wreckage and escape. Based on the novel by Elleston Trevor and directed by Robert Aldrich (KISS ME DEADLY). Considered a "classic" now, the film actually received mixed reviews when it opened and was a box office failure. Ironically, when a remake came out in 2004, critics generally said how inferior it was to the original. It's a meticulous (perhaps too meticulous, it runs almost 2 1/2 hours) film that thoroughly details the machinations involved in surviving in the desert as well as the complications of creating a viable aircraft. The characters are all flawed and many (like Ronald Fraser's bitter soldier) are downright unlikable but I liked that there were no typical "heroes". There's a strong underscore by Frank DeVol. With Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, Hardy Kruger, Ian Bannen (inexplicably nominated for an Oscar for his work here), Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Christian Marquand and Barrie Chase (CAPE FEAR), whose entire performance consists of a bump and grind mirage dance. 

Changeling (2008)

In 1928 Los Angeles, a single mother (Angelina Jolie), who works as a supervisor for the phone company, returns home from work to find her nine year old son (Gattlin Griffith) is missing. Several months later, a boy (Devon Conti) is returned to her claiming to be her son which she denies. What follows is a devastating narrative of police corruption, the disempowerment of women, false incarcerations and child murders. Based on the true story of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders and directed by Clint Eastwood. The film takes artistic license but it is for the most part accurate to the facts of the disappearance of Walter Collins and the subsequent ordeal suffered by his mother Christine Collins (Jolie). In its own way, it's as much a horror film as SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. But the horror comes from a society that doesn't listen to women, brushing them off as hysterical and emotional and shoving them aside rather than listening to their truth. The horror comes from the power of a corrupt political system that denies citizens their rights and allows police to destroy lives at a whim. Jolie gives a career best performance here. There's is nothing more traumatic than losing a child and Jolie makes us privy to the rollercoaster of emotions running through her and her refusal to bow down. With John Malkovich, Colm Feore, Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner, Amy Ryan and Denis O'Hare.

The Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake (1959)

A university professor (Eduard Franz) specializing in the occult is the last survivor of the Drake family. The family has a curse placed on them by a Jivaro witch doctor 200 years ago. Each male member of the family will die at the age of 60, his head will be decapitated and shrunk. Directed by Edward L. Cahn, the film's lack of any concession to cinematic style and its studio stagebound sets make it play out like an extended episode of the 1960s TV anthology THRILLER. As an episode of a TV show specializing in horror, it's not bad. As a movie, it's a stiff (like the acting). The film takes itself oh so seriously but it never veers over to "camp". For a horror film, it's very discreet. Although several decapitations are included in the movie, they're all done off camera. For fans of 1950s B horror output, it should be of interest. I'm not sure of anybody else. With Valerie French (JUBAL), Grant Richards, Paul Cavanagh and Frank Gerstle. 

That Uncertain Feeling (1941)

A Park Avenue socialite (Merle Oberon) feels ignored by her husband (Melvyn Douglas). When she meets a neurotic musician (Burgess Meredith) in her psychoanalyst's (Alan Mowbray) office, she finds herself attracted to him as he offers an alternative to the rut her marriage is in. Based on the 1880 play DIVORCONS by Victorien Sardou and Emile De Najac and directed by Ernest Lubitsch (NINOTCHKA). Lubitsch had previously used the same source material for his 1925 silent film KISS ME AGAIN. Perhaps the film might have worked better as a pre-code film and its theme of mixed partners and adultery allowed to be more daring. It's not a bad film and if a name other than Lubitsch were attached to it, it might be considered a pleasant diversion. But it is a Lubitsch film and the sparkle and wit just isn't there. Oberon is lovely but comedy is not her forte and even a Rosalind Russell or Carole Lombard would be let down by the script. With Eve Arden, Sig Ruman, Harry Davenport and Olive Blakeney.

After The Wedding (2019)

The co-founder (Michelle Williams) of an orphanage in India, which is in dire need of funds, travels to New York to meet with the wealthy CEO (Julianne Moore) of a major company with the hopes she will make a sizable donation to the orphanage. While the benefactor won't commit right away, she invites the visitor to be a guest at her daughter's wedding. It is there that she meets the woman's husband (Billy Crudup) whom she had known in her youth and with whom she shares a dark secret. A remake of the 2006 Oscar nominated Danish film which was nominated for a foreign language film Oscar and directed by Bart Freundlich. The film makes a gender switch for the three leads. In the Danish films, the Moore and Williams roles were male and the Crudup role was female. I haven't seen the Danish original but despite some good acting, this film seems contrived and overly convoluted. It's so obvious where the movie is going and I was hoping I was wrong but it goes exactly where you think it's going. Normally, I have zero problems with downer movies but this one can't seem to find a heartbeat. Crudup is fine but he can't match the dynamic duo of Williams and Moore. With Abby Quinn and Will Chase.

Water (1985)

A sleepy island in the Caribbean under British rule becomes a hotbed of political and economic chaos when a unique and flavorful mineral water is discovered underneath the surface of the island. Suddenly an island no one cared about is thrust into the world view. Directed by Dick Clement (A SEVERED HEAD), this satire on colonialism, capitalism and revolutions is a mixed bag. Much of it is unfunny and there are a couple of awful performances. Specifically, Brenda Vaccaro as a hotheaded and oversexed Guatemalan wife whose accent is godawful and the irritating Billy Connolly as a biracial revolutionary (his Scottish accent is never explained). But the film's aims are well intentioned and the movie slowly (very slowly) wins you over in spite of all its major shortcomings. The gorgeous island of St. Lucia is lovingly photographed by Douglas Slocombe (THE LION IN WINTER). The large ensemble cast includes Michael Caine as the island's governor, Valerie Perrine, George Harrison, Jimmie Walker, Leonard Rossiter, Dick Shawn, Fred Gwynne, Ringo Starr, Dennis Dugan, Eric Clapton and Maureen Lipman as Margaret Thatcher.    

Psycho II (1983)

22 years after he was declared not guilty by reason of insanity in a series of murders, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is released from a mental institution as "cured". The sister (Vera Miles) of his last victim (Janet Leigh) objects to his release but to no avail. Returning to the Bates mansion and motel which was the scene of his crimes, he has a difficult time putting his past behind him. Directed by Richard Franklin (ROAD GAMES), this sequel to the Hitchcock classic is surprisingly good. While nowhere near the level of artistry of the iconic 1960 film, the film smartly goes in a different direction. There's a poignancy to it and one almost feels an empathy for poor Norman as we're never quite sure if he's being driven mad or if he was never cured in the first place. Jerry Goldsmith's excellent score sets the tone as his main title theme is melancholy as opposed to Bernard Herrmann's racing strings theme. Vera Miles returning as Lila Crane (now Loomis) gives an aggressive performance in an interesting contrast to her more subdued performance in the 1960 movie. It's more grisly than PSYCHO. The slasher film (FRIDAY THE 13TH had come out 3 years earlier) was now a staple at cinemas so the film makers upped the ante. But it's a well made and intelligent film. I think Hitchcock would have approved. With Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Dennis Franz (the film's only sour note) and Claudia Bryar.