Movies I really like a lot (favorites)

"The Sound of Music" This isn't a historically accurate portrayal of the family. I like the music.  If you overlook the history, and view it as entertainment, it isn't a bad movie. (see below)

"The Three Musketeers"   "The Four Musketeers" To me, this version of, "The Three Musketeers" is definitive. It is an incredible movie.  Wow! (see below)

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" A "good" action picture.  I like this first one of the series best.  Although, the last one (third one) where they hunt for the "holy grail", has a memorable scene that is very useful as a Biblical analogy.

"Mrs. Miniver" I have always wanted to view this whole movie.  I have seen parts of it.  I tried to view it from the beginning when I had bronchitis in the winter of 2006.  I didn't get far with it.  I wasn't feeling good, and I remembered what I saw in "Hope and Glory".  I brought back to my mind the sacrifice that the British endured during W.W.II.  I cried and cried.  I couldn't finish it.  Maybe I will be able to watch it this coming year if they play it in the "run up" to the Oscars again. 

"The Great Waldo Pepper"  This is a great story.  I don't know how much is "Hollywood" and how much is "history".  I used to get the "bug" to learn to fly after seeing this movie.  Then the "novelty" would wear off and I would "come down to earth" again.  I would become very frightened at the thought of "me" [by my own efforts] keeping an airplane in the air. 

"Hope and Glory" Very wonderful!!!!!  One of my favorite all time movies!!!!!!! Saw this in a theater.  Very glad I drug Douglas to this one.  The scenes of the "Blitz" brought home to me the sacrifice the British made during W.W.II.  When you think about how British soldiers were malnourished when they joined up or were drafted; and how rationing was welcomed somewhat, because people got more nutritious food than they had before; it gives me chills.  Before the cable channel, "Bravo", "un-straightened" itself "out", (Ha!) they used to play movies like this one.  At one time they didn't show commercials during movies.  They were considered the "Arts and Entertainment Channel".  Not any more!  Our "Bravo" is very different from the Canadian, "Bravo".  They are from the same company, but yet the Canadian "Bravo" is still into the arts.  It is more like how "our", "Bravo" used to be.

"The Big Chill"  I know this is classic leftist "Baby Boomer" stuff, but I feel as if I "know" these characters.  This is almost the only movie I remember seeing that I can say that about. (I saw only part of a movie called "Slacker" once. I could kind of "identify" with the characters I saw. But since I didn't see the whole movie, maybe what I experienced wasn't accurate.)

"Caprice"  This is a nice one with Doris Day.  It makes me "homesick" for the times it was made.  I never saw the whole thing.  I think Bravo used to air it "back in the day". 

"Merrily We Live"  Very good silly movie!!!!  A Favorite.  I hope to see the whole thing some day.

Andy Clyde "Don't Bite Your Dentist"  Hilarious!!  Andy Clyde is one of my favorites!!!! 

"Frenzy" Alfred Hitchcock classic.  I like to watch this mainly for the scenery.  If there was ever a movie that made me want to somehow go back to the time it was made, this is it. I watched it, and wished I could go and visit the late 1960's and early 1970's. (I didn't want to be implanted into the movie.)  Seeing this movie, made me very "homesick" for that time period. (if that is possible)  The version I saw, on television between ads., was on the "Oxygen" cable channel.  I didn't "feel" any of the suspense that should have been there. "Frenzy" is definitely NOT a "feminist" movie.  Someone [a man no less] is killing women with a neck tie. I don't know why it was on Oxygen if this movie was so "anti-women". (We don't get "Oxygen" any more, I am so glad!) 

"Karakter" ("Character") from The Netherlands   This is an interesting movie.  This guy has an uphill battle in life.  I saw it on the CBC with subtitles.

"Benji" A "sentimental" movie but it is kid friendly.

"Comedian Harmonists" I saw this with subtitles on the CBC as well.  It is a German movie about these singers.  I knew their music and was very happy to find there was a biographical movie about them. It is not 100% historically accurate in all instances.  But most movies use some "poetic license" in them.

"Night Must Fall" This is one of the most suspenseful movies I have ever seen.  Very creepy movie!

"Chariots of Fire"  This is a great movie.  This one's like watching wedding cake. (It is very "luscious" like wedding cake.)

Charlie Chan / Miss Marple  I know that Charlie Chan is not popular with Asians.  I just like Murder Mysteries.  I guess you could say that I like what they call the "tea cozy" mystery best. (I hate to box myself in like that though.) [see below]

Ealing Studios (Wikipedia)  Ealing Studios (history from a collectables web site)  I like most any old British movie I have seen.  I may not have agreed with every point of each one. A lot of the "better" ones come from the famous Ealing Studios. 

"The Lavender Hill Mob"; "The Man in the White Suit"; "Kind Hearts and Coronets" all classics of Ealing Studios.  Wonderful!!!!!

"Utomlyonnye solntsem" Burnt by the Sun (more accurately, "Wearied [Tired] by the Sun")                 () This shows only a glimpse of how awful it was to live under Stalin.  There are many levels to this movie.  You can watch the family enjoying their life at their "dacha" (vacation house in the country).  You can see the love of the wife with her husband and children. You can see what happens to the wife when her former lover, who disappeared, comes for a visit.  The relationships with the extended family.  The other way of seeing this movie is to see the political story.  Unless you know a little about Soviet History during Stalin's "reign" then you might miss the subtleties of all of that. (To learn about life in Stalinist Soviet Union, read, "I Chose Freedom" by Victor Kravchenko.) It is a stunning visual movie.  One of the greatest things to "ogle" at is the dacha (country house).  I would "love" to have a house like that. 

The Happiest Days of Your Life  Margaret Rutherford   This is a great movie that would probably be suitable for families.  I don't remember there being anything objectionable in it.  I think I saw this on our "Bravo".  But, I don't think I saw it all the way through.

Clockwise  Very funny movie! Highly recommended!!

Cry 'Havoc' Incredible W.W.II movie!!!!!  Wow!!!!

Mamiya Kyoudai (Mamiya Brothers) I was in Ohio on August 4, 2007.  We got into the motel room just after 8:00PM.  I went and turned on the television.  I wanted something I would not get interested in. So, I turned it to TV Japan. The programming is in Japanese.  There are no subtitles for the most part.  I was evidently watching their "Hotel Viewer".  You would think that this channel would be very dull and boring.  It was in fact quite interesting.  I got in to this movie after it had started.  I was able to pick up the plot even though I know very little Japanese. It seemed like a very simple story.  It's a sort of "buddy movie" about two eccentric brothers.  I liked seeing the Japanese scenery and culture.  Douglas was "swimming" during most of the movie. He came back to the room and I was surprised that he let me see it to the end.  I didn't know the title of the movie since I did not see it from the beginning.  (Not that I could have read the Japanese title on the screen.)  I found TV Japan's web site, and wrote them an E-mail asking what the title was.  They wrote me back saying that I probably saw a movie called, "Mamiya Kyoudai" or Mamiya Brothers.  I looked it up in the Internet Movie Database.  I found the official web site, which had pictures from the movie.  I recognized the pictures I saw, which confirmed that this was indeed the movie I saw.  I recommend this movie.  You don't have to know Japanese to "get" the plot.  I suppose it would help to know Japanese in order to understand the finer points of the story though.  As I write this, (August 11, 2007) "they" have apparently released this movie onto DVD.  I wonder if it is available here in the U.S. in a format I can view on my DVD player? It's not on Amazon, but you can get the soundtrack CD on Amazon. 

Favorite actor ---  Neil Pearson  I have an ever growing scrapbook with fan stuff in it.  I like other actors and actresses as well.  But I like to keep it simple, so I don't end up with too many scrapbooks. 

Movies that were "incredible" if only...

"The English Patient" This movie was a "visual treat"! The big sand storm made me homesick for West Texas.  It does involve adultery though.  If Ralf Fiennes' character had really loved Kristin Scott Thomas's character, he would have left that gal alone. They lusted after one another, it wasn't "love". They wouldn't have had the plane crash. They both would have survived.  He could have saved her!  Instead he was selfish.  Of course had he, "been a gentleman" and, "done the right thing", there wouldn't have been that story and therefore no movie.

Ingmar Bergman wrote a film about his parents. It is called, "Den Goda viljan" (The Best Intentions).  It is Swedish with subtitles. The original was a Mini-series: "Den Goda viljan".  Then there's a shorter version "Den Goda viljan".  This movie is very great on a visual level.  It almost seems complicated.  But that could be because of the way I viewed it.  I saw what I believed to be the longer mini-series version.  I saw it on TVOntario. I am not sure I watched it all the way through the first time.  I was so impressed with what I did see, that I watched it through on the repeats. It isn't always easy to catch all the dialogue when you read subtitles.  Especially if you have to struggle to get TVO off broadcast like we do.  It is a really interesting story though.  I wish it could have been more "Biblically" correct as far as the "morality" of the story. But this is based on a true story and apparently the "moral" thing didn't happen in real life. I do not know much about Swedish culture at all.  The story takes place during Victorian times.  I do not know how "Godly" the Church is that Ingmar's father is a minister of.  I did not understand why the father wasn't reprimanded.  When he was a seminary student, he had a mistress (as in sleeping with a woman) and was "courting" Ingmar's mother.  His parents got married, but she wore the pants in the family ordering her husband to do things.  She pushed him to advancement in the Church.  I do not remember seeing much Biblical study or endeavor.  The father was mostly interested in family life and his duties as a minister----not his "Church" duties as outlined in The Bible, but as outlined by custom and his church's protocol.  (what were the Bishop's orders; how they conducted services in that church etc.) I don't know if these two stayed married. If they did, it would have been very difficult.

"Reds"  This is a neat movie for the visuals.  It is trying to be a "positive" portrayal of early 20th century communism.  I think a "positive portrayal of early 20th century communism" is an "oxymoron".  I wonder how much of this movie is "Hollywood" and how much is true history.  It is a great propaganda piece.  What they don't tell you in the film, is that not every one from the American "intelligentsia" that went over to "Russia", stayed and lived, "happily ever after".  I know of two people that were disillusioned with Soviet life and they left the Soviet Union.  One came back to the U.S. 

Lust och fägring stor [All Things Fair (a.k.a. Love Lessons)]  This is another lush movie.  I like the one house in this.  I wasn't fond of the subject 100%.  It involved a teenage student in love with his older teacher. This is not a Biblical movie at all.  The teacher should have resisted.  I wish the movie could have had a "nicer" story.  I saw this one on the CBC too. It was with subtitles.  An interesting thing I saw was a cuckoo clock that dispensed gin.  The scene where the teacher's drunk husband talks the young student into drinking with him, is suspenseful.  I wouldn't recommend this as a "family" film.  I include it because I wish they could do movies like this but with un-objectionable stories.

Chinese movie Ju Dou  This is another good visual movie.  It has great "morality" issues.  There is adultery in this one as well.  I just liked seeing Chinese culture.  This is China of the past.  My pen pal in China would like to see more movies that show how it is in modern China.  He wants Westerners to see how it really is in China now.

I wish they would make more movies like...

Charlie Chan / Miss Marple  I really like these old murder mysteries.  There wasn't really any "violence".  At least, it wasn't usually shown directly on the screen. I know these aren't "Biblical" or "moral" stories either.  I just like to see how the detective solves the puzzle.  It would be great if "Hollywood" would make more suspenseful movies with puzzles to be solved. Mysteries don't have to have a murder in them in order for a "detective" to have a puzzle to solve. The Charlie Chan movie, "The Scarlet Clue," was part of my introduction to radio drama.  (see story on the main movie page)

"The Sound of Music" This isn't a historically accurate portrayal of the family. I wish someone would produce a "good" factual movie of the Trapp family's journey to the United States.  It is an incredible story.  I read part of one of Maria Trapp's books.  It was just a really great Christian story.

The Happiest Days of Your Life  Margaret Rutherford ---- I like her work.  This movie is really funny. It is "family friendly". There is edge of your seat stuff in it as well.  We need more movies like this!!

"The Scarlet and the Black"  Great made for TV movie based on a true story. It is a Christian story.  We need more good quality Christian stories!

"Mrs. Miniver"-------- Great Movie which we need to see more of.  I am not saying we need "costume dramas" or W.W.II movies; but just good ordinary stories.

"The Three Musketeers"   "The Four Musketeers" To me, this version of, "The Three Musketeers" is definitive. It is an incredible movie.  Wow! I wish they would make more movies that were this lush.  It is like watching wedding cake. I don't think "Hollywood" could afford to make a movie like this today.

"Hope and Glory" Oh! I wish they would make more movies with stories that were more ordinary.  This doesn't have any car chases, space aliens, robots, --- people sit and drink tea in this one.  There is some sex in it --- can't remember how graphic it is.  It is a real "slice of life" movie if you ask me. Why can't they do more "good" movies that aren't downers or depressing??

I don't know if "today", you would ever find, a director willing, or a studio willing, to put up the money for the likes of:  "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World";   "Cold Turkey"; or "The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming".   It would be great to have a family friendly comedy movie that has suspense and all the bells and whistles.  I haven't seen these movies in years.  I haven't seen, "Cold Turkey" since the 1970's.  I like these because they have suspense, and that "crescendo" that builds.  There is humor in them too. (I can't say if they have any "moral" objections or not.)

"Merrily We Live"  Very good silly movie!!!!  A Favorite.  I hope to see the whole thing some day.

Andy Clyde "Don't Bite Your Dentist"  Hilarious!!  Andy Clyde is one of my favorites!!!! 

Ealing Studios (Wikipedia)  It would be great if "Hollywood" made classic movies like they used to make at Ealing Studios. 

Mamiya Kyoudai (Mamiya Brothers)   It's a sort of "buddy movie" about two eccentric brothers.  I liked seeing the Japanese scenery and culture. I recommend this movie.  You don't have to know Japanese to "get" the plot.

Memorable Movies

"The Scarlet and the Black"  Great made for TV movie based on a true story. It is a Christian story.

"The Duellists" This is an incredible movie on many levels.  I haven't seen it all the way through.  Would be nice to see it in a theater, but I suspect it would be difficult to watch it all at once.  I would venture to guess that it is a great way to learn about European culture and customs as they were during the Napoleonic era.  Don't know how historically accurate the movie is though.

"Blowup" This is an interesting movie.  The one scene that has stayed with me the most is when the main character, a photographer, goes into a junk shop, and he buys an old wooden airplane propeller. Today, those things are horrifically expensive.  (I saw one on eBay once.)  The photographer bought it as a "decoration".  I have dreams of going back to that time and visiting such a junk shop. Back in the 1950's and 1960's they were throwing away things like "Art Nuevo". Can you believe it?!!

"The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder" I remember this guy living in a hole in the ground.  He was a loner maybe. He had everything he could have wanted in his hole.  Don't remember much more than that.  I saw it when I lived in Columbia, Missouri.

The Boyfriend Saw this when I was a little girl.  One of my first views of "theater".  (as opposed to "theatre") [see details in the main movie page]

La Strada This is an incredible movie.  Don't remember it 100%.  Saw it on our old PBS station in Lubbock (back in the day).  It had a lasting impact on me for various reasons. It is very sad. [extremely]  So I probably won't watch it a second time.

"Boom" This is a movie I remember from television back in the 1970's. It seemed to air quite a bit during one period of time. I probably saw it a lot on KPLR out of St. Louis, Missouri.  It has one of the most dull stories I remember seeing.  YET it has the most wonderful scenery.  All I remember is this great Mediterranean house near the ocean.  It was beautiful.  The view was spoiled by seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton drinking and arguing through the whole thing. Don't know if my impressions are correct, but this is what I remember of the film.  I have tried and tried to remember the name of it to no avail.  I finally looked on the Internet Movie Database at all the movies that these two did together. This is the one that fits what I remember.  If my memory is correct, and you wanted to see it, I would put on some nice music and watch this movie with the sound off.

Cry 'Havoc' Incredible W.W.II movie!!!!!  Wow!!!!

Trapeze from 1956.  August 7, 2006--- I finally saw the first part of this movie today on TCM.  I had seen (part of?) this movie when I was a child.  Possibly on "dialing for dollars" in Lubbock. (Channel 11?)  That would have been before I was in school.  I am not sure if my memory is correct though.  I carried this memory of this man falling from the Trapeze and then he had a limp and walked with a cane.  I could not remember any other part of the movie really.  I thought he was shot? (and that's how he fell off the trapeze?).  Somehow I remembered someone getting shot.  Maybe I remembered the man who fell, shooting the man who caused him to fall?  Anyway, I didn't see it all today, so I don't know what really happens exactly.  I had no idea who was in the movie or what the name of it was until today. But for some reason the memory of seeing it stuck with me all this time.

Mamiya Kyoudai (Mamiya Brothers)   It's a sort of "buddy movie" about two eccentric brothers. I liked seeing the Japanese scenery and culture. I recommend this movie. You don't have to know Japanese to "get" the plot.

Movies I would like to find on video / DVD

If you know how to go about finding copies of these let me know.  I would like to buy them. Some are for myself, some are for someone else I know.

"The L-Shaped Room"

"Merrily We Live"

"The Enchanted Cottage".     

Andy Clyde "Don't Bite Your Dentist" (and one about going on a vacation)