Films from cheap DVD collections

20 Classic Movie Collection: Leading Ladies

Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Biopic of Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern (best known today for the song "Old Man River") featuring Judy Garland (her spotlight song clearly evoking "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"), Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury.  Not exactly Yankee Doodle Dandy but worth a look.

Home Town Story (1951) Marilyn Monroe has a bit part in this film that's not quite Citizen Kane or Frank Capra, but tries hard to be.

Affair in Monte Carlo (1952)

Weird editing makes this movie's timeline confusing in ways the filmmaking doesn't really support, essentially the body is flashback to a present that doesn't have much to say.  

The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)

The unorthodox editing works better in this one (in other words, just plain better filmmaking) featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, Roger Moore, and Eva Gabor.  

The Groom Wore Spurs (1951)

A sendup of the classic celluloid cowboy featuring Ginger Rogers.

Midnight Cop (1988)

A horrible detective story featuring Michael York and Morgan Fairchild.

Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring (1975)

TV movie about Sally Field being a hippy who worries her family including Jackie Cooper (the Christopher Reeve-era Perry White) by dating and/or living with other hippies like David Carradine, who looks considerably different with all that hair.

Tulsa (1949)

A movie starring Susan Hayward (and the Ed Begley who's not Ed Begley, Jr.!) that took on new light after I saw and read Flowers of the Killer Moon, covering very similar territory from a much different vantage point.

The Deadly Companions (1961)

Sam Peckinpah directs a movie where people are crazy about Maureen O'Hara, with one good guy having to constantly defend her against all the bad guys he inadvertantly linked up with and prevent everyone from seeing the telltale clue about his past hiding beneath that cowboy hat he never removes...

Dishonored Lady (1947)

Overblown drama revolving around Hedy Lamarr, (part-time inventor).

Kill Cruise (1990)

Nonsense survival fluff featuring a young Elizabeth Hurley.

Nothing Sacred (1937)

Nonsense newspaper shenanigans featuring Carole Lombard, Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West!) and Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind).

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)

An adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway story featuring Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Ava Gardner.

Road to Bali (1952)

The sixth of seven in the series featuring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour (in most of them).  Classic screwball comedy.

Mutiny (1952)

Ridiculous tale featuring Angela Lansbury.

Never Wave at a WAC (1953)

Screwball look at women in the military.

Jane Eyre (1934)

Adaptation starring the literary classic.

The Seducers (1977)

I watched through a lot of movies.  Some of them I did not watch very thoroughly.  Some of them just weren't worth the effort, okay?  When these things are being compiled through the public domain, they take what they can get.  

Katherine (1975)

Another darned TV hippy flick, this one starring Sissy Spacek in the role of the young future star as a hippy and Henry Winkler as the hirsute actor you'll struggle to recognize as the hippy love interest.

Power, Passion & Murder (1983)

Michelle Pfeiffer conveniently in the public domain, and also Hector Elizondo.  And Holland Taylor!

20 Classic Movie Collection: Leading Men

Constantine and the Cross (1962)

Cumbersome version of how Constantine converted himself and/or the Roman Empire.

The Night America Trembled (1957)

This right here was for me worth pursuing any of this in the first place.  A TV version of the famous Orson Welles broadcast of War of the Worlds, featuring Edward R. Murrow, Warren Beatty, Ed Asner and James Coburn.

The Animal Kingdom (1932)

Puffle featuring Myrna Loy.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1958)

Clever musical version of the classic tale featuring Van Johnson and Claude Rains (Prince John in the classic Errol Flynn Adventures of Robin Hood).

That Uncertain Feeling (1941)

Nonsense romance shenanigans featuring Burgess Meredith.

Life with Father (1947)

Directed by Michael Curtiz (best known for Casablanca, but with a bunch of other standouts), but not worth much, a silly story about a dad played by William Powell (The Thin Man et al) and featuring Elizabeth Taylor.

This is the Army (1943)

Also directed by Curtiz (they couldn't afford any of his good movies), featuring Ronald Reagan in a movie that wishes it was White Christmas, with cameos from the likes of Irving Berlin, Joe Louis and Kate Smith.

The Amazing Adventure (1937)

Cary Grant tries to prove he can survive without relying on his massive inherited fortune...but kind of only succeeds because of his massive inherited fortune anyway.

Borderline (1950)

Fred MacMurray's the hero and Raymond Burr's the villain in this tale of uncertain identities pursuing justice.

A Bolt of Lightning (1951)

Another TV episode, a drama set during the runup to the Revolutionary War featuring Charlton Heston and very little to interest viewers.

A Tattered Web (1971)

Features Lloyd Bridges, James Hong (many small roles over the years!), and not much by way of me remembering anything about it.

Target of an Assassin (1976)

Features Anthony Quinn and another movie I don't remember much about.

The Bushwhackers (1952)

Features Lawrence Tierney, Lon Chaney Jr., and a third disc of the set that starts out with nothing much happening.

Royal Wedding (1951)

Fred Astaire to the rescue!  Featuring memorable dancing on walls, ceiling...anything at all, even dancing with a hatrack!

Made for Each Other (1939)

James Stewart and Carole Lombard can't save this.

Fighting Caravans (1931)

Gary Cooper looking so young it's like seeing a silent film version.

The Lady Says No (1952)

David Niven in not much to talk about here.

Behave Yourself (1951)

Lon Chaney Jr. in another movie I didn't spend too much time on that same day.

Port of New York (1949)

Gosh, had to pay attention to this one!  Yul Brynner's hairline makes it pretty clear why he ended up with the bald look...

David and Goliath (1960)

Orson Welles can't save this one.

I barreled through all these from October 2nd to the 29th.  It was an accomplishment of endurance and commitment when a lot of the material really didn't merit it.  Here we are finally writing this up, which was the main reason I did it at all.  Huzzah!

Every 2023 movie I’ve seen so far

65

The more I thought of this one the more I loved it, an experience that’s worth it on a number of levels. Plus allows me to admire Adam Driver’s acting without much distraction.

80 for Brady

The cast is low energy but it would be a sin against my home country not to partake.

A Good Person

This was the year I finally understood the appeal of Florence Pugh. Another Zach Braff film worth savoring, another excellent turn from Morgan Freeman.

Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania

The problem with recent MCU movies is that they keep trying to be overly ambitious without necessarily understanding how to do it. It’s the reverse of Captain America: Civil War, the third one in that trilogy that was essentially an Avengers movie. Keeping this movie entirely contained with Ant-Man characters both robs it of  the Ant-Man storytelling from the two previous entries and makes Kang look infinitely smaller than he should. It’s one thing to contextualize Thanos, another to just use the villain and actually defeat him in epic fashion before he has a chance to be a threat worth bringing in other heroes.

Asteroid City

My gosh one of my favorite Wes Andersons.

Barbie

Yeah, it was fun!

Beau is Afraid

The director (Ari Aster) has been a cult favorite for a few years now, but ironically I find him most palatable when he’s at his most indulgent and not just trying to impress. A strange wonderful experience.

Blue Beetle

I loved this more in theaters than I did at home. 

Chevalier

Wanted to make one point and either intentionally or accidentally made another. Look, we have a black musical genius who ended up buried by history. Worth rediscovering. Not worth trying to sell the benefits of the horrific Reign of Terror in the process.

Cocaine Bear

I really wanted to like a big dumb movie. I ended up just sort of liking it. Desperately needed characters as outlandish as the premise. But the ‘90s sort of proved this was a very fine line to walk. So I get why it went in a different direction.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Basically an MCU movie set outside the MCU.

Fast X

I’ve been along for the ride since the second one. Of course I’m still aboard.

The Flash

I will always doubt public opinion on the face of it when it’s too universally positive or too universally negative, since it becomes clear most of it is just people deciding it’s easy to just agree. This would be one of those modern examples. I love the Barry Allens. I love Keaton’s return. I love Supergirl. I adore this depiction of the Allen household and crisis. Everything else is needless nitpicking.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

I love that we get the secret origin of Rocket. Everything else basically ignores Rocket himself, though, which is the basic problem of the film. If you have the heart you need it pumping.

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant 

From April until July this was easily my movie of the year, a breathtaking set of journeys built around themes of duty, commitment, endurance, responsibility, humanity, all needful statements in this current age.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Watching it in the theater I wondered if it had, other than its ending, something valuable to add to the franchise. Watching it back later, I understood its merits better.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese has been chasing The Godfather his whole career. This may be his most complete response.

Knock at the Cabin

M. Night Shyamalan back to his classic roots after years of experimenting. 

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

As an addition to Dracula film lore, I’m glad this happened.

Marlowe

Liam Neeson is taken totally for granted these days since he “only makes mindless action movies.” This is a great take on a classic literary and film figure.

Master Gardener

A classic showcase for Joel Edgerton.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

This is the fourth stylistic reincarnation of the series, more playful, somehow more dramatic.

Napoleon 

Ridley Scott is the unchallenged king of historical epics. And this is probably his best work.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

It’s strange how effortlessly I’ve become a fan of Guy Ritchie in recent years, since for a long time I couldn’t have cared less. But these days he can do no wrong for me. This one’s popcorn enjoyable.

Oppenheimer 

Something would have to come out of nowhere to displace this as my favorite movie of the year. A career pinnacle of a career built out of pinnacles.

Paint

Owen Wilson doesn’t appear in Asteroid City, but in this film found something Andersonesque anyway. 

Plane

On Facebook I’m in a Lost group. Someone pointed out this was essentially a Gerard Butler version of the basic plot of the series. Which it is. Which is not necessarily the only way to enjoy it.

Polite Society

This year’s closest equivalent to Everything Everywhere All At Once is a delight not completely to that level but its own irresistible pleasure.

The Pope’s Exorcist 

Russell Crowe getting back into theatrical starring roles is a good thing as far as career statements go. This one wasn’t as good as it could have been. Almost. Still an interesting role and performance from him, though.

Renfield

The other Dracula movie (perfect role for modern Nic Cage!) is great fun.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

It’s not just Disney firing blanks with families this year. This is an entertaining movie that came and went with nobody noticing.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

More confident than the first one. Still requires you to believe this is the DC alternative to everything you didn’t like about every other recent DC movie.

Sisu

One of those obvious cult classics in the making that it’s absolutely worth experiencing. A slightly more grounded John Wick. Slightly.

Sound of Freedom

Jim Caviezel has become a genius at finding projects for those interested in him from that time he got brutalized for two hours.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

A kind of postmodern superhero movie that’s less about the superhero doing anything super and more about the superhero plunged deep into superhero logic. Most comics are being written like this these days. I know this is the second one, but I found this one easier to watch. But still a snake eating its own tail.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Pretty much exactly what it needed to be. (So the exact opposite of that other attempt thirty years ago which thought it was Beetlejuice.)

Sweetwater 

The kind of movie that gets no attention these days but used to be studio and cultural bread and butter, explores the story of the first black player in the NBA, totally unknown today.

Other movies to catch up on, others yet to be seen…!