Children of Paradise (1945) – Marcel Carne

  I like when I come across a film I’ve never heard of, and discover a new favorite. Thanks to the next Drama title in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, I’ve discovered my new favorite French film, Children of Paradise. Clocking in at just over three hours, this wonderfully character-driven film…

Shanghai Express (1932) – Josef von Sternberg

  The next entry in the Romance and Melodrama category for my viewing of The Blue Angel from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is this very enjoyable film, that again features von Sterberg directing, and Marlene Dietrich starring. The film follows a collection of passengers aboard the Shanghia Express, amongst them,…

Morocco (1930) – Josef von Sternberg

  My foray into romance and melodrama following my screening of The Blue Angel for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book continues with this film starring Marlene Dietrich in her first Hollywood picture opposite Gary Cooper. It was also von Sternberg’s movie Our characters all arrive in Morocco, Gary Cooper as Tom…

F for Fake (1973) – Orson Welles

  The final Orson Welles recommended title following my screening of Citizen Kane for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, is this entertaining, quick-cutting, documentary about frauds, forgery, and fakery. Wandering delightfully from subject to subject, Welles regales the viewer with a number of stories, most based in fact, about lies and…

The Blue Angel (1930) – Josef von Sternberg

  The next section I`m jumping to in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, is Romance and Melodrama, and this has provided me with my first introduction to the films of Marlene Dietrich, specifically, The Blue Angel. A bit of a superior-type professor, Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings), runs a tight ship in the classroom,…

Chimes at Midnight (1965) – Orson Welles

  So I’m getting back on track with the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, and am getting ready to finish up my time with Mr. Welles. I was quite looking forward to sitting down and watching this one, as I do like my Shakespeare, and I was quite interested to see how…

King Solomon’s Mines (1985) – J. Lee Thompson

Cheesy lines, poor pacing, editing and uninspired action sequences that are poorly shot, and some even lifted from Raiders and the serials of the 30s weigh this film down that not even a score by Jerry Goldsmith can save. Shot back to back with its sequel Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold, the…

Alien Abduction (2014) – Matty Beckerman

  The found footage genre is packed full of material at this point, and it’s probably not going anywhere for a while, just like ‘reality’ television, I think we’ll be stuck with it. So when this one popped up on my Netflix recommendations, I knew, at some point, I’d get around to watching it. For the…

Red State (2011) – Kevin Smith

  When a writer/director takes on a genre that aren’t often associated with, people are going to get antsy, and some people are just going to hate it no matter what. I found myself looking forward to seeing what Kevin Smith did with a different genre, and took a look at his film Red State,…

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) – Jimmy T. Murakami

  With the advent of Star Wars in the late 70s, every studio, almost every writer, wanted to get in on the sci-fi band wagon, including Roger Corman. Known for his exploitation films with incredibly low budgets, Battle Beyond the Stars, was his biggest budgeted film, and was my introduction to the story of the…