Rope

Star Rating: 3

Length of Film: 80 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Douglas Dick, Edith Evanson, Dick Hogan, Joan Chandler







Rope is a movie about two friends, Brandon (John Dall)  and Phillip (Farley Granger) who are apart of high class, who listened to their college professor saying that, that superior individuals are more privelaged and everyone else inferior and unimportant. With this bit of information, they decide to kill their friend David Kentley (Dick Hogan), just for the sake of killing him, and they did it with a rope.

Brandon Shaw is the leader, and Phillip is just the sucker who follows his orders. He's nervous from the start. They decide to stuff their friend David in an ottoman, the body hidden, but out in clear site for their dinner party, where Brandon invited David's  parents Mr. Kentley (Cedric Hardwicke) who brought Mrs. Atwater (Constance Collier), David's Aunt, Mr. Kentley's sister-in-law; Mrs. Kentley had a cold and was sick at home. There's also Janet Walker (Joan Chandler), David's girlfriend, her former lover Kenneth Lawrence (Douglas Dick), and prep-school housemaster, publisher Rupert Cadell (James Stewart).

Brandon decides to serve dinner not in the dining room, but make a place setting over the ottoman. Which causes maid, Mrs. Wilson (Edith Evanson), to have to move everything from the dining room, to the sitting room. His reasoning was he wanted to use the dining room, to view the 1st edition books. The girlfriend and David's father got really worried, and kept calling home to see if he has arrived there, but nothing, which of course, worried his mother. Brandon was calm and proud of himself for what he's getting away with, but Phillip's emotions are completely the opposite. As Mr. Kentley leaves, Brandon hands him a stack of 1st edition books tied together by THE ROPE, as he leaves. Mrs. Wilson hands Rupert his hat, but Rupert notices that the initials are D.K. He immediately becomes suspicious...Rupert makes up an excuse to come back to the apartment, and well... things get a little heated.

Rupert: But by what right do you *DARE* say that there's a superior few to which you belong??!! By what right did you *DARE* decide that that boy in there was inferior and therefore could be killed??!! Did you think you were GOD, Brandon!!?? Is that what you thought when you choked the life out of him??!! Is that what you thought when you served food from his grave!!?? Well I don't know what you thought or what you are but I know what you've done!!! You've murdered!!! You've strangled the life out of a fellow human being who could live and love as YOU never could and never will again!!!

The movie was set up like a play staging, the whole movie was set in one room, the sitting room, where you can also view the dining room, and front door. It was simple staging, but id didn't need to be for the plot line. It was very subtly suspensful knowing that the body was in the room, and no one knew about it. It was worth watching the movie.

Up in Smoke (1978)

Star Rating: 3
Length of Film: 86 minutes
Director: Lou Adler, Tommy Chong
Cast: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Strother Martin, Stacy Keach, Edie Adams, Harold Fong, richard Novo, Jane Moder, Pam Bille, Arthur Roberts, Marian Beeler, Donald Hotton, John Ian Jacobs, Christopher joy, Ray Vitte, Michael Caldwell 








The movie starts out with Pedro (Cheech Marin) passed out on the couch, having children watching cartoons, climbing all over him. He walks into the bathroom, looks over his shoulder and realizes that the toilet is on the other side of the room, he looks down and he's peeing in a laundry hamper.

Man (Tommy Chong) gets in a fight with his parents, and storms out of the house. The garage door opens, revealing the grill of a Rolls Royce. As an audience, we're supposed to believe that Man's rich parents let their screw up child drive a Rolls Royce, but as he drives out, we see that it's just a part of a Rolls Royce and his car is actually a beat up yellow Volkswagon Beetle.

His car breaks down, and he decides to tie his shirt up, and stuff it, so it looks like he has boobs and showing off his stomach. He gets Pedro's attention through the rear view mirror, and he turns a 180 to pick "her" up. Man gets in the car, and he was completely surprised when "she" ended up being a "he". Pedro pulls a joint out of his pocket, Man looks at it confusingly, and it actually was a toothpick. He digs in his other pocket, to find the joint. Man looks at him, with disgust and pulls out HIS joint.

They drive around with the whole inside of the car filled with smoke. Stoned out of their ass, they sit in the car and Pedro starts freaking out, Man gives him pills to calm him down and they accidently end up being Acid. A police pulled over, Man panicked and started popping every pill he had. Pedro, stoned out of his mind is very sarcastic with the police officer, and gets thrown in jail. The court scene is hilarious and Man asks for a glass of water, darts for the judge's glass, gets pulled away from the officers, then Pedro grabs the glass for him. Man takes a sip, and spits it out, stating that it's vodka. The judge looks embarassed.


The movie continues with the 2 main characters trying to get high. Police Officers try to make a drug bust, but are too stupid to catch any of them. They end up in Mexico, and steal a van, which is made completely of pot, which of course, they don't know that it is.

The movie, of course, gets more crazy and they end up competing in A Battle of the Bands, which their outfits are the best part. I couldn't find pictures of them, in their costumes, so since I couldn't find them, you'll just have to watch the movie to see it. This movie is Dumb and Dumber of the 1970's. It's a good laugh and worth watching.

Happy viewing!



All About Eve (1950)

Star Rating: 3
Length of Film: 138 minutes
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Marilyn Monroe, Thelma Ritter, Walter Hampden, Randy Stuart, Craig Hill, leland Harris, Barbara White
Oscars: Darryl F. Zanuck (best picture), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (director), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (screenplay), George Sanders (actor in support role), Edith head, Charles Le Maire (costume)
Oscar Nominations: Anne Baxter, Bette Davis (actress), Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter (actoress in support role), Lyle R. Wheeler, George W. Davis, Thomas Little, Walter M. Scott (art direction), Milton R. Krasner (photography), Barbara McLean (editing), Alfred Neuman (music)
Cannes Film Festival: Joseph L. Mankiewicz (special jury prize), Better Davis (actress)


There are 6 main characters in this film. All the guys look the same, and frankly, I wish I would have had a cheat sheet to tell them apart. Hopefully this will help you.



                        Bette Davis- Margo Channing     Gary Merrill- Bill Sampson



These two actors were actually married in real life. 1950-1960


Anne Baxter- Eve Harrington

George Sanders- Addison DeWitt

George Sander with a young Marilyn Monroe

Celeste Holm- Karen Richards

Hugh Marlowe- Lloyd Richards



Lloyd and Karen Richards are married.

Margo Channing and Bill Sampson are boyfriend and girlfriend (later in the movie, husband and wife).

The movie starts out at an award show, narrated by theater critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) who's the voice of Shere Kahn in Disney's animated movie, The Jungle Book. We later on, flash backs to the past, getting the real story. Margo Channing is the queen of theater, an aging actress (40 years old). She's dating a director, Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill) who's 8 years younger than Margo. Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe) is the play writer.

The movie is about a young, naive girl, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter)  who was brought by Lloyd Richards wife, Karen (Celeste Holm) to meet her hero, Margo Channing. They meet in her dressing room and Eve tells Margo her sob story, and how she has seen her show ever night. Margo gives Eve a job as her assistant, and after time, she is hesitant that Eve is up to no good. Margo's boyfriend tries to make her see that Eve is innocent and does not have a personal agenda. At Bill's birthday party, Margo gets really drunk and makes a big scene. You see...Eve DOES have a personal agenda.

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!- Margo Channing

The ending comes full circle, inventing a new "Eve Harrington". It's quite a good twist to the ending of a movie. Eve will get what she deserves!

The Searchers (1956)

Star Rating: 3
Length of Film: 120 minutes
Director: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera miles, Ward Bond, Natalie Wood, John Qualem, Olive Carey, Henry Brandon, Ken Curtis, Harry Carey Jr., Antonio Moreno, Hank Worden, Belulah Archuletta, Walter Coy, and Dorothy Jordan







Ethan  Edwards (John Wayne), returns home from the Civil War, greeting his family with open arms. He's been away for so long that he tells Lucy (Pippa Scott), that she hasn't grown since he left. Debbie (Lana Wood), corrects him with her little girl attitude telling her that Lucy, is over there.

While settling in, neighbors barged in saying that someone took their cows. They went on a search, and found the cattle dead, with spears in them. Ethan identified the spears being owned by the Comanche Indians. Ethan's family, at the homestead, looked out, while the sun was setting, and started preparing. Locking the windows, and telling Little Debbie to climb out the window and head for safety.

Fire burns the homestead, finding Aaron (Walter Coy), his wife Martha (Dorothy Jordan), and their son Ben (Robert Lyden) dead; and Debbie and her older sister Lucy missing, so they assumed the worse, that they were kidnapped. Ethan, Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), who was Aaron and Martha's adopted son, go on the search (hence the title!) to rescue Lucy and Debbie. Ladies...eye candy!

Many individuals, including Lucy's fiance,  went on the hunt to find the 2 girls. Lucy's fiance got himself killed, after Ethan told him he found Lucy's body badly beaten, and dead in a canyon. During the winter, Ethan and Martin seeked refuge with the Jorgensen's. Their daughter Laurie (Vera Miles) took a liking to young Martin. A very playful flirtatious scene where Martin is in a bathtub and she barges in and he's all embarassed, it's actually quite funny! Ethan's plan was to wake up early, and ditch Martin. Of course, that didn't go over well, and he borrowed a horse from Laurie, and caught up with Ethan. Martin writes Laurie a letter, that she cherishs and re-reads over and over again. She waits for him, but then another suitor, Charlie McCorry (Ken Curtis) swoops in and agrees, because its been years since she's heard anything about Martin. They finally track down information about a white girl traveling with the Comanche Indians. 5 years has passed, and they know not to look for a little girl, but a young woman.

You see Scar (Henry Brandon), Cheif of the Comanche's has taken Debbie as a wife. They try to make a trade; horse for Debbie, but Scar wouldn't go for it. They leave frustrated and empty handed. Not long after, Debbie approaches Ethan and Martin, dressed head to toe in Indian attire, and speaking their native tongue. Then in english, she tells them to go. Ethan pulls out his rifle, and points it Debbie. He would rather kill his last living family member, than see her as an Indian.

I'll leave you with that teaser...

John Wayne plays a strong man, with a vendetta to save his last living family member. My favorite part of the movie was the interaction between Laurie and Martin, and their flirtation. Especially when Martin shows up years later, on her wedding day to Charlie. It was great to see the two men fight it out, rolling around in the dirt.

Touch of Evil (1958)

Star Rating: 3
Length of Film: 95 minutes
Director: Orson Welles
Cast: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Joanna Cook Moore, Ray collins, Dennis Weaver, Valentin de Vargas, Mort Mills, Victor Millan, Lalo Rios, Risto, Michael Sargent, Phil Harvey, Joi Lansing






Miguel "Mike" Vargas (Charlton Heston) a drug enforcement officer for the Mexican government and Susie (Janet Leigh) are on their honeymoon by the border of Mexico.

While walking, they witness a car being blown up. Police Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) and Quinlan's longtime partner, Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia) arrive on scene. Vargas decides to throw himself into the game, since it was a Mexican bomb on US soil, and sends his wife to safely stay at an motel in the middle of nowhere.

Quinlan and Menzies points their finger on Sanchez, who is secretly married to the victim's brother. In a shoe box they find the exact type of bombs. Quinlan purposefully placed the bombs there, because he wanted to close the case fast. This wasn't the first time he has falsely accused suspects by tampering with evidence. Quinlan is why the movie is titled "Touch of Evil".

In the meantime, Susie is stuck in a motel, owned by Grandi (Akim Tamiroff) the brother of one of Vargas' case. Grandi has a personal vendetta so he makes a deal with Quinlan where they would drug Susie and travel her to a different hotel Grandi owns. What ends up happening is Quinlan kills Grandi and decides to frame Susie in murdering Grandi.

Vargas works with Quinlans partner, and has him carry a tape recorder, to document that Quinlan is NOT a good guy and that he has planted false evidence. Quinlan shoots his partner, falls to the ground, and while Vargas and Quinlan have a stand off, Menzies shoots and kills Quinlan.

The biggest complaint I have about this movie is the fact that Charlton Heston, a white male, playing a mexican. THEY PAINTED HIM BROWN!!!! I had no idea who the actor was in the movie. I kept thinking, 'It looks like he's wearing make-up. Is he wearing make-up?' In the credits, Vargas was played by Charlton Heston. A white actor known for his roles in movies such as Ben-Hur, Planet of the Apes, and The Ten Commandments. I cannot believe that in 1958, they couldn't hire an actor with Mexican descent to play a leading role in a movie. They had to apply make-up to make him look like he has dark skin.



The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

Star Rating: 2
Length of Film: 92 minutes
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, Frances Bavier, Lock Martin

 





Living in the 21st century, we are used to watching amazing special effect movies that blow our mind, and it spoils us. This is what happened to me. This 1951 movie was too old and the special effects are really corny, that it wasn't enjoyable for me. 

The movie starts out with Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and Gort (Lock Martin) flying in a space ship in Washington D.C. Klaatu was sent to warn Earth, but was injured as soon as he left ship. They captured Klaatu leaving is giant robot guarding the ship. The actor stood at 7 foot, 7 inches.

Klaatu heals and escapes from the hospital and decides to live among the people. While at a boarding house, he meets boyfriend  Tom Stevens (Hugh Marlowe), Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) , and her son Bobby (Billy Gray). She allows a complete stranger, Klaatu to babysit her son, where Bobby shows him around and educates him on worldly things.


Klaatu was sent to earth because other planets are worried about their creation of atomic power. To get the worlds attention, he makes everything freeze, by neutralizing all electric power. A scene where we view national monuments around the world, frozen.


Here are 3 reasons why I didn't like this movie.


1. You can view the ropes that's holding up Helen Benson while Gort is carrying her.
2. Klaatu tells one of the characters in the film that at the hospital, he escaped from room 309, when it was actually 306.
3. In the advertising poster, is sees Gort holding a blonde lady captive NEVER was there a blonde lady that was held by Gort.

 I can understand why this movie was a big deal and iconic in 1951, but watching a sci-fi movie in 2012, it just looks ridiculous and like it's made by a 12 year old. Gort's laser that shoots out of his helmet, is really cool to watch, but other than that...the movies just really, really dull.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Star Rating: 3
Length of Film: 113 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Albert Brooks, Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu, Victor Argo, Gino Ardito, Garth Avery, Harry Cohn, Copper Cunningham, Brenda Dickson-Weinberg
Oscar nomination: Michael Phillips, Julia Phillips (best picture), Robert De Niro (actor), Jodie Foster (actress in support role), Bernard Herrmann (music)
Cannes Film Festival: Martin Scorsese (Golden Palm)



I'm gonna piss a lot people off with this review...I didn't like the movie. It held my attention thoughout the whole thing, but the ending confused me, and it left me puzzled and a movie should have a definite ending; crystal clear.

Travis Bickle is a veteran from the marines who was discharged in 1973. Being bored, and not being able to sleep, he decides to get a job as a taxi driver, to help with his insomnia. Driving around, he noticed a pretty lady, Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) working as a volunteer at an office promoting senator Palantine for the presidency. He awkwardly walks into the building and flat out, asks her out.

She agrees to coffee and pie when she has a break at 4. He was so excited, and socially behaves himself. She states that he is a lot like Kris Kristofferson's song "The Pilgrim, Chapter 33". She agrees to go on a second date to the movies. He happily goes to a record store and buys her the album. Travis takes Betsy to a porno, and she gets uncomfortable and leaves.

After being dismissed by Betsy, he goes in a deep place and decides to buy 4 guns. He focuses on working out, and decides to to make his own gun holder sleeve that retracts when he flicks his arm. Actually pretty bad ass!

He helps a grocery store clerk who is held up a gunpoint, and shoots the man. He flees the scene because his guns aren't registered. On one of his night rides, he sees a young girl (Jodie Foster) who tries to get into his taxi, but is then dragged off by a man, who throws a $20 bill for him to forget about the whole thing, except he didn't... in the back of his mind, he kept thinking of this young girl. DON'T GET ME WRONG...HE'S NOT INTERESTED IN HER SEXUALLY, HE WANTS TO HELP HER.

He flags the young girl down, and she directs him to talk to her pimp, Matthew (Harvey Keitel). He informs Travis that's she's 12 1/2 years old and he'll never experience a pussy like hers. Iris and Travis go up to a room, which costs him $10 and she continues to undress herself, and then trying to undo Travis' pants. He reminds Iris that they've met before, and she recalls not remembering, that she must've been high.

Travis makes it his mission to help save this girl. He invites her to breakfast to get more of a backstory of why she ran away and Iris states that she's happy with her decision and doesn't want to go back home. He becomes obsessed with saving Iris, and decides the only way to save her, is releasing her from the power of Matthew, her pimp. He shaves his head into a mohawk, and goes out to kill him. He approaches Matthew, shoots him, shoots the motel owner, shoots Iris' paid customer. Being injured himself, and scaring Iris, Travis puts a gun to his throat, then pulls the trigger, multiple times, but the clip is empty. He sits down on the couch, puts his index finger to his temple, and moves his thumb, representing a gun.

Roger Ebert, wrote this about the ending of Taxi Driver. I had to research the ending because I had no idea what happened. I didn't know what was real, and what was Travis' imagination. I took the ending as Travis was having a psychological break, and imagined him being the hero, saving little Iris, but he got off, killing 3 men scotch free.

"There has been much discussion about the ending, in which we see newspaper clippings about Travis's 'heroism' of saving Iris, and then Betsy gets into his cab and seems to give him admiration instead of her earlier disgust. Is this a fantasy scene? Did Travis survive the shoot-out? Are we experiencing his dying thoughts? Can the sequence be accepted as literally true? ... I am not sure there can be an answer to these questions. The end sequence plays like music, not drama: It completes the story on an emotional, not a literal, level. We end not on carnage but on redemption, which is the goal of so many of Scorsese's characters."

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=//20040101/REVIEWS08/401010364/1023


I still don't know what to think about this movie... I'm puzzled to why Travis is alive and how he wasn't thrown into jail, and I'm surprised that Iris compromised to go back home and live a normal teenager life after living a certain lifestyle in New York City. What really confused me was right after the bloody killing scenes, it flashes to a wall taped with newspaper articles and a note from Iris' parents. We later see Travis leaning by a Taxi with his friends, with a full head of hair, joking around like nothing happened. How much time passed? Did Travis spend anytime in jail? How could the police consider him a "hero" when he killed 3 men? Yes...these men were awful and deserved to die, but Travis should've had a consequence for killing these men. I don't see Travis as heroic and I don't think that he should be an iconic character worth remembering. Iris was sleeping with these men willingly and wasn't asking for help. If Iris was truly trying to escape from Matthew, and cried during her visits with other men and wanted rescueing, I would have all for Travis swooping in and saving her, but she didn't want to be, so I say she lives a life of prostitution.