The virtual house cleaning I mentioned a few days back continues, as today I delved into my Gmail drafts folder, a repository of lists, writing ideas and half-baked blog posts. In the era before I had my laptop, I would write blog entries in a variety of places and save them in my Gmail account before posting them. Now I do most of my writing on my computer and save it there until dumping it on the interwebs.
Today, I came across a listing of brief movie reviews that I compiled way back in January of 2007! As far as I can tell, they were never posted. So here they are, a mixed bag of film blurbs–
The Working Man (1933)
Thank God for TCM! Films like this delightful comedy (little known and unavailable on DVD) make my cable supscription so worthwhile. (****)
7th Heaven
This beautifully shot, tender love story set during WWI confirms that when Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell appear in a movie together, their farewell scenes will consume half the movie. (***)
Monarch of the Glen – Series Four
An entertaining escape to the Scottish Highlands. (****)
Flightplan (2005)
This flight should have been detained prior to take-off so they could have plugged all the holes in the screenplay. (**1/2)
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
Good performances highlight this early Blaxploitation pic directed by Ossie Davis, but I was a tad restless for a movie that’s only 97 minutes long. (***)
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
As his-and-hers high fashion counterfeiters, platinum blonde Bette Davis looks good but this is charmer William Powell’s show all the way. (***)
Written on the Wind (1956)
Douglas Sirk directed this colorful but thoroughly unbelievable romantic melodrama. (**)
So Big (1932)
So dull. (*1/2)
Shaft (1971)
Didn’t have enough plot or 70s kitsch to keep me interested. (**)
Marple: Murder at the Vicarage (2004)
I’m not a huge Agatha Christie fan but watching Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple is a true pleasure. Top-notch production and great location shooting as well. (*****)
Marple: A Murder is Announced (2005)
Ditto above. (****)
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
Stupid humor centering around a child’s game. Just what the doctor ordered. (***)
Dolls (1987)
Horribly hilarious. I laughed all the way through. (***)
Six Feet Under – Fifth Season
Like many TV series that over-stay their welcome, SFU hits a low point in seasons 3/4, but the concluding episodes bring the show to a satisfying close. (****)
Tarnation (2003)
A dreamlike, kinetic self-portrait of one man’s troubled youth and his relationship with his mentally ill mother. (****)
Shattered Glass (2003)
An impressive cast and a fascinating true tale of one journalist’s self-destruction. (****)
Miss Marple has appeared in films and TV series since 1959. I’ve read all of the books and I think that Geraldine McEwan is the closest to the Miss Marple that Agatha Christie wrote about.