Movie Reviews Galore

These are some of the films I've been watching. (I wrote a paper on horror movies, thus the genre overload.) Just thought I'd update you.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). silent German horror classic about a somnambulist. Pretty interesting for a silent film.

Dracula (1931), starring Bela Lugosi. So cool. I'll quote myself from an essay, "Lugosi is so graceful almost to the point of seeming delicate. " Watch it.

Frankenstein (1931), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), starring Boris Karloff. Fantastic. Boris is perfect, he's so good you feel sympathy for the monster.

Freaks (1932). One of a kind classic horror. There has never been another movie like it and there probably never will be. As someone said on the special features, anyone who sees Freaks remembers it forever.

Cat People (1942). It's the cat persons answer to werewolves. It's decent, but not as good as it could have been. The lady is adorable.

House of Usher (1960), based on Poe's story and starring Vincent Price. Vincent + Poe = good standard horror.

Night of the Living Dead (1968). Zombies are wonderful. It's the mother of all future zombie movies.

Rosemary's Baby (1968), starring Mia Farrow. It's not as scary as I thought it would be. Mia is adorable as always. It's a classic, sure, but I don't know if it was worth divorcing Frank over.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977). I assume the new one is better. This is amusing enough to watch but really lame.

Re-Animator (1985). Gross beyond reason. Killer zombie-cat is something worth seeing, though maybe not for the sensitive cat people. And if you don't want to see a detached head attacking a naked woman then this isn't the movie for you. However, if you see the disturbing humor in that, then by all means go rent it. I'd watch it again, but I need my pals with me to make fun of it. It's so wrong.

Willard, starring Crispin Glover. He's kind of becoming one of my heroes. He's so cool. He's can be sweet and adorable and psychotic all at the same time. Very Norman Bates. This movie overflows with rats and it's creepy, but I liked it.

Slither, starring Nathan Fillion. It's brilliant and it's gross. It's not quite up to Shaun of the Dead status, but it's still hillarious. If you like Nathan Fillion, the special features are a must to watch.

That's all for horror.

The Producers (new), starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Will Ferrell, and Uma Thurman. I haven't seen the original yet, but this one was pretty funny. You can smell the aura of Mel Brooks on it. Plus there's singing and dancing which is always fun.

Paper Moon (1973), starring Ryan and Tatum O'Neil. This is the big movie here in Hays because it was filmed in this area and you can see our own Main St. in one scene. Tatum is very cute and it has a pretty nice story. It's a whole father/daughter thing that I don't get, but it's cute anyway.

The Philadelphia Story (1940), starring Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Katherine Hepburn. This movie is a classic and it's hillarious. I have decided that Jimmy should always be drunk in movies, especially if Cary Grant is around. One of the funniest scenes I've seen in a long time involves those two.

High Society (1956), starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Grace Kelly. When I got this I had no idea that it was a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story. It's not the same, but it's still great because, hello, Frank and Bing. Louis Armstrong has a fun role too.

On the Town (1949), starring Frank, and Gene Kelly. Obviously anything with those two is worth watching. Frank is all young and adorable and I could watch Gene Kelly do anything all day.

Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart. I remember watching this when I was little and of course it's cool because there's a giant invisible rabbit. Watching it now is different though. Almost everyone in the movie is a horrible person except for Elwood (Jimmy). The women should all be killed so they stop whailing and being pathetic. But it's still Harvey. It's a classic, you gotta watch it.

1941, "starring" Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Christopher Lee, and a handful of others from the SNL-type posse. Worst should-have-been-funny movie I have ever seen. It's worth watching for one scene...Dan Aykroyd with pantyhose on his head. There's maybe 30 minutes (out of the 2 and a half horrible hours) that's worth watching. I actually fast forwarded through a good bit of the second half because I couldn't take it anymore. Warren Oates, and Robert Stack make it even more tragic because they could have been awesome in a really funny movie but when Airplane, Stripes, and Animal House all get together they come up with a mentally handicapped child.

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, starring Steve Coogan. There's a bunch of cameos in here of some great people that I know and love and you probably wouldn't recognize. It was an OK movie. It should have been better with all the excellent comics they had but it gets a bit tiresome after a while. Not the worst ever, but quite disappointing.

"Little Britain", (TV). If you don't like BOTH Monty Python AND The Office (UK) then this might be a bit much for you. I think it's brilliant. It's that kind of humor where you beg them to stop because it's painfully irritating. It's very Python, but more updated. Anthony Head is a highlight of the show, no question.