The movies I don’t blog about

It’s never intentional, but time just gets away from me. And with spring (and soon summer) here, time for watching movies (and blogging about them) gets scarcer and scarcer.

For now, here’s some notes and ratings. I’ll make sure the tags include titles so these can be found at a later date.

1. Chicken Run (Peter Lord, Nick Park, 2000) 4.5/5.0 ~ If you love The Great Escape like I do, you’ll love the multiple homages to it in this movie. Thoroughly inventive throughout, and lots of fun.
2. The Savages (Tamara Jenkins, 2007) 3.0/5.0 ~ Ouch. Anyone who’s ever dealt with an aging loved one will relate. I just didn’t like the way the characters were drawn or portrayed.
3. Easy Living (Mitchell Leisen, 1937) 2.5/5.0 ~ Too much screwball, no heart. Sorry, Preston, old boy.
4. The Orphanage/El Orfanto (Juan Antonio Bayona, 2007) 3.5/5.0 ~ The Others with a beach. But very effective.
5. Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (Ernst Lubitsch, 1938 ) 2.5/5.0 ~ Gary Cooper is overmatched by Claudette Colbert in this rom-com. Written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.
6. The Mist (Frank Darabont, 2007) 1.5/5.0 ~ Preach much? Twisty endings and decent CGI don’t overcome a moral tale aimed right at you, you monster.
7. Our Hospitality (John Blystone, Buster Keaton, 1923) 3.5/5.0 ~ Another effective Keaton silent, featuring a family war and a classic waterfall stunt.
8. Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924) 4.0/5.0 ~ My favorite scene: Buster pulls a reverse Purple Rose of Cairo.
9. Kes (Ken Loach, 1969) 3.5/5.0 ~ Touching story about a Yorkshire boy trying to rise above his upbringing by raising a kestrel. The poster is remembered by British children of the time for giving the two-fingered salute.
10. Berlin Express (Jacques Tourneur, 1948 ) 3.5/5.0 ~ Murder! Intrigue! International espionage! Tourneur’s first film after Out of the Past features all the above and Robert Ryan. How can you go wrong?