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Reviews
Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
saw this when I was 12
I recently saw this film again after seeing it when I was twelve (progressive Jewish parents).
I didn't remember much about it except that Ali MacGraw took her clothes off, that it reminded me A lot of my family at the time, and that there was a very moving scene in a library with Richard Benjamin and a small African American boy.
I was right on all counts -- Ali looks great (her first film), it STILL reminds me of my family and when I showed it to some friends of mine (also Jewish) they all said the same about their families, and the scene in the library is just as I remembered it. I was as moved today, some 36 years later, as I was back then.
A wonderful comedy.
Kings Row (1942)
Still packs a wallop!
One of my ten favorite films of all time -- easily one of the top three -- is this classic Warners drama.
My hobby is collecting 16mm prints. On summer evenings, I enjoy hosting screenings in my back yard for my friends and friends of friends. One never knows how people will react to a 1940s black and white drama starring a cast of (save RR, to today's generation) unknowns and shot on a studio back lot. But nobody stirred for the 2+ hours. All eyes remained glued to the screen. And when the screen finally went dark, the entire crowd broke into a loud applause.
I love the films produced by Warners in the 1930s and 40s. How can you not enjoy the nostalgia of seeing Bogey or Cagney or Edward G. Robinson, watching Paul Henreid light a cigarette for Bette Davis? But the reality is that only a small percentage of those films hold up in their entirety today as they did when first released. Sixty years on, Kings Row hasn't aged a bit.
Love Actually (2003)
This movie gets me every time.
This is "actually" my first post.
I just got through watching this beautiful film for the tenth (or is it eleventh?) time on cable and wanted to add my own thoughts on the experience.
As a dedicated movie buff (and we're talking from the silents right through to today) I try to see as many films as possible in a their theatrical run. But I took a pass on this one -- maybe there were too many other "serious" films around at the time, maybe it just sounded corny -- don't remember. But after much prodding from a girlfriend of mine I decided to rent the DVD last year. Two hours and some minutes later I was wiping the tears from my eyes and hitting the play button again. And again.
Sure, this film is flawed. Not all of the stories work as well as others. Some of the characters and their actions may make even the most forgiving viewer cringe. But writer-director Richard Curtis has forged one of the most enchanting, heartwarming, humorous and ultimately moving testaments to the joy and pain of love that I have seen in years.
Tonight, I was channel surfing and stopped to watch "just a minute" I told myself. Right. That's what I say every time I happen upon it. And just like the first time, I'm still sitting there at the very end, wiping the tears from my eyes with a big smile on my face.