“On the Waterfront” (TCM/Satellite)

On the Waterfront is a union flick. I’d say more but I’d get my legs broke.

“Apocalypse Now” (TCM/Satellite)

Apocalypse Now is Martin Sheen’s psychedelic trip through Vietnam to Cambodia to meet and kill a fat bald Marlon Brando.

Not much to say about it, go watch.

“Spartacus” (MAX/Satellite)

Spartacus is a ripoff of “Ben Hur”. It is a good ripoff, but still a ripoff. Well, not so much a ripoff, as a cash-in. Big budget color Roman-era pictures were in vogue.

“I’m Spartacus!”
“I’m Spartacus!”
“I’m Spartacus and so’s my wife!”

It stars Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, and some other people. It has some quite amazingly choreographed movements of armies, both rough mobs of rebelling slaves, and highly organized Roman legions. The battle scenes themselves were so-so.

This is also one of the very early examples of explicit (if roundabout) references to homosexuality (or rather bisexuality) in a major film, in Marcus describing his interest in Antoninus (played by Tony Curtis), and later somewhat, in Spartacus and Antonius proclaiming their “father and son” love for each other. In this way it was both shown to be an evil vice of an evil ruler and master to his helpless slaves, and a harmless celibate bond between friends.

It is rather interesting that homosexuality (and bisexuality by extension) fall in and out of vogue throughout history. Moral groups seem to see it as evil/unnatural simply because it doens’t promote procreation. Well, neither does most heterosexual sex (or or masturbation for that matter) in our modern age.

Do worker bees or drone ants procreate? How about non-alpha males in several species of mammals such as horses and some canines? And yet, are they useless? Do they contribute nothing to the wellbeing of the species? Do their effects not pass down through the generations of the breeders?

In this way, procreative sex, recreational sex, homosexuality, bisexuality, masturbation, and abstinence, in my opinion, are all perfectly equally natural, in at least that it is none of OUR business what other people do in their free time.

And here I go topic wandering again, spending all this time on a simple 2 minute scene in the movie. Well, the rest of the movie was about people training to die, fighting, dying, bribing, blah blah.

“Umberto D.” (IFC/Satellite)

Umberto D. is a sad little story of a sad man in a sad circumstance. Trying to keep his dignity and room while everything crumbles around him.

Apparently in Italy movies were not legally required to have endings. This one ends with a pine cone, somewhat randomly. It doesn’t really resolve. I hate that.

I mean, some movies end weirdly, like “No Country for Old Men” but almost everything is resolved, if not the way you want. Some end abruptly like “Notorious”. But this one… didn’t really begin or end, just a slice of life with minor background changes.

Ahh well, not what I would put on my top 250. Crazy italians.

“Notorious” (TCM/Satellite)

Notorious is a thriller/mystery/suspense/action movie, with no thrills, mystery, suspense, or action. The most action shown on screen is a broken bottle full of sand. It is all done psychologically.

It also seemed rather risqué, for 1946. “You can add Sebastian’s name to my list of playmates.” Alfred Hitchcock sure likes pushing the envelope (whatever that phrase means).

Not bad, but the end is a bit abrupt. It leaves you with

“Paths of Glory” (OVATION/Satellite)

Paths of Glory, is the story of a French WWI general trying to cover up his own responsibility at the failure of his company during a minor trench battle with a German encampment, by having 3 privates put to death for cowardice in the face of the enemy (originally supposed to be hundreds).

The callous disregard the generals show to the execution of three innocent men simply as examples, drives Kirk Douglas’s character to distraction, especially when they compare the enlisted to little more than dogs, while officers are considered above reproach.

It was at least refreshing as to not be yet another WWII movie.

Some people like to think we’ve advanced a long way since then as a society and a species, in terms of military discipline. Except… we’re still having wars. Think about that.

“The Third Man” (TCM/Satellite)

The Third Man is a drama/mystery flick set in post-war Allied-occupied Vienna to the backdrop of a city ruled by uncooperative police forces and black market hooligans. Orson Welles has a small part as a dead man (or rather, a man who everyone believes is dead) trying to escape his past misdeeds, which include diluting penicillin to sell on the blackmarket, causing dozens of deaths and cripplings from gangrene, meningitis, etc.

Even on the first watching, most old movies are, how to say it… unconsciously predictable? As in, you pretty much know what is going to happen. They are either so full of tropes (in the case of many of these movies, they are in fact the origin of the trope; that is the reason the plot device/twist/character is so popular), or we’ve seen snippets or clips of them before, or heard about them, and so forth. This movie was somewhat of an exception, I was not at all expecting Harry to still be alive.

That being said, I wasn’t really into it that much. War era European movie featuring Americans lost and confused and getting murdered. Meh.

“The Sting” (SLEUTH/Satellite)

The Sting is another Newman/Redford buddy movie. I’ve seen it before, or at least the end. It is somewhat enjoyable, although con movies aren’t big in my list of favoriate genres.

My reviews are getting shorter, the time between them longer. This is probably a consequence of having seen the good ones first, and now having less access to unwatched ones.

This is my 180th of the 250 on the list. I started at 46% (116) and am now at 72%. I’ve been doing this for 45 days and have seen 64 movies for a rate of 1.4 per day sustained (though there have been up to 5 per day, and gaps of 3-4 days). The dates on which I post the reviews aren’t always strictly accurate. Sometimes there is a delay, and sometimes I am watching several movies simultaneously in increments.

Sorry, they were calling out numbers in the movie during the horse races. Bit contagious.

“Manhattan” (ENCR/Satellite)

zzz

“For a Few Dollars More” (DVD)

Per qualche dollaro in più è un altro occidentale di spaghetti… er.. is another Spaghetti Western, by Sergio Leone. It is less dreary than “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”, and a bit more entertaining at the end. Clint Eastwood almost acting out a scene from “Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail”.

But meh, Westerns…