THE HALF OF IT, EUROVISION SONG CONTEST:STORY OF FIRE SAGA, LOVE BIRDS, SECRET LOVE, NATALIE WOOD: WHAT REMAINS BEHIND, PAPER MAN, MY SPY, DA FIVE BLOODS, VAST OF NIGHT, plus older goodies IMATATION OF LIFE 1959, MY MAN GODFREY 1936, 10 RILLIGTON PLACE 1971, CHALK GARDEN 1964, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN 1935, etc.

New stuff on cable:

THE HALF OF IT is a new Netflix offering which reworks the CYRANO DE BERGERAC story, but set now in a modern small town high school.  A young teen is not very popular-- she works and lives with her dad running the local train station, but she is clever and willing to make extra money by writing essays for fellow students of lessor smarts.  One day a popular jock asks her to write a "love" letter he wants to send to a girl he likes, and of course the writer and reader get all complicated and all mixed up.  The film has a number of likeable characters played by charming actors and the story has some "modern" surprises for us, and this is one Netflix film that I really liked in a low key and amusing manner.
GRADE------------B+

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: STORY OF FIRE SAGA  is an awkwardly titled story about life in the glitzy world of European singing contests (a true contest that was sadly canceled this year due to Covid 19).  Fortunately, Will Ferrell wrote and produced this romantic comedy, which works as a loving farce of a young couple who have grown up musically since childhood, played with charming good humor by Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, who I haven't seen in any film for several years and didn't recognize her for several scenes.  Pierce Brosnan plays his father and Dan Stevens (DOWNTON ABBEY) plays a major competitor, and all the actors keep their characters from going WAY over the top.  Still, there are some pleasant (some old, some new) songs, some wild sight gags, some clever dialogue and some nicely protracted comedic sequences.  For Ferrell fans (BLADES OF GLORY, ELF, ANCHORMAN, TALLADEGA NIGHTS, STEPBROTHERS, etc} and others, this Netflix film is an epic comedy feast.          GRADE-----------B+

LOVE BIRDS is a quirky romantic comedy with a serious edge from Netflix.  This couple, played by Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani become involved in a murder on their way to a dinner party and spend most of the film running from the law and trying to solve the murder.  The plot fall apart a bit towards the end, but most of the dialogue is witty and the cast gives the film some oompfh.
            GRADE-----------------B 

SECRET LOVE is a Netflix documentary about an older couple of women who have lived together for several decades before recently coming out as a married couple.  The film focuses on their  struggles as a young Lesbian couple complete with a lot of video and pictures of them in their twenties and thirties, and their struggles as older people trying to adjust to old age and their search for senior living.  The film is of special interest for seniors trying to adjust to senior housing and illness.          GRADE----------B

NATALIE WOOD: WHAT REMAINS BEHIND is showing on HBO and is an interesting documentary about the life and films and death of Natalie Wood, especially through the eyes of her daughter and husband Robert Wagner.  Of special interest to film buffs and people who like biographies.               GRADE----------B

DA 5 BLOODS from Netflix is a mixed bag for me.  The senior actors are all fine if sometimes over baked, and the plot and action keeps you alert, but this ambitious Spike Lee film made me wince a few times as everything and the kitchen sink is thrown into the mix.  Lee tries to give the film a number of "teaching moments" where he literally "stops" the film to give background information on a certain hero or important event, and while this is admirable, it stops the action and flow of the unique story.  Four African American vets return to current day Vietnam to find the remains of their dynamic dead mate, and to reclaim a buried treasure, but of course thing don't go as planned--think TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.  Camera work is slick and effective, and good use is make of late 1960's music.              GRADE----------------B

MY SPY is a predictable story of tough rough CIA spy trying to teach a child how to be a spy, but she is already more savvy  than he is, and she's also trying to set him up with her single mother, who is under being spied on by his partner and himself.   Fortunately , Dave Bautista has some funny comic timing, and the 9 year old child is amusing and I found myself giggling through most of the film.  A pleasant diversion if you go in with low expectations.       GRADE-----------B-

VAST OF NIGHT Amazon Primes effort at a low budget science fiction thriller---part TWILIGHT ZONE, part retro B film and for the most part it works just fine, except it is so low key at times that if becomes unforgettable after seeing it in a few days.  Two teen friends in a small town hear odd noises that comes through a telephone operator's board, and she contacts her best male friend who is doing a local late night talk show and they air the odd noises, and they get local calls that suggest there is something sinister in the night sky.  There's some rapid fire dialogue, especially at the start of the film, and some stories told to them suggesting a sinister operation involving aliens, mostly involving a lot of talk.  Atmosphere is everything and if you aren't patient you may not get into the mood.    This is probably a first film, and bodes well for something more substantial in the future.              GRADE--------------C+


THE ABOVE FILMS WERE ALL FIRST RUN ON CABLE.  BELOW ARE OTHER FILMS FROM PAST DECADES, VIEWED ON DVD, ON DEMAND, OR OTHER FREE VENUES.


IMITATION OF LIFE 1959--When I was a teen, I took a short trip to the Worlds Fair in Spokane with my parents and sister.  About 9 pm IMITATION OF LIFE started and within 15 minutes everyone was asleep except me, and for two hours I was completely drawn to this glossy, moving melodrama, with a final half hour that left me weeping.  Douglas Sirk made the best melodramas in movie land, with sweeping themes of love, conflict, romance, sadness, such as MAGNIFICANT OBSESSION, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS,  WRITTEN ON THE WIND, et al.  He inspired many directors including Fassbinder, who copied his style and Francois Ozon.  This film features Lana Turner who plays a single struggling actress trying to make in on Broadway and she has a daughter who grows up to be played by Sandra Dee, and early on she hires a single poor black woman Juanita Moore with a daughter who grows up to be played by Susan Kohner, and in spite of the fact that Moore is  basically playing "THE MAID," the relationship  becomes one of best friends.  Conflict comes when Kohner's character wants to pass as white (her father was white and she is quite pale) and turns against her mother.  The final 30 minutes is just as effectively sad as I remembered it to be.  I was especially moved by the Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner story. This was one of the first times that two black women characters have a giant share of plotline in a major Hollywood movie (not counting all the "black movies" from the 1930's and 1940's that  played to mostly black audiences.) It is worth noting that Susan Kohner is a white actress, but she plays her role without blackface.  I thought they also stole the movie from Turner, Dee and John Gavin as the potential boy friend of Turner.  Afterwards I looked up information and saw that both Moore and Kohner were nominated for best supporting actress Oscars, the only nominations for that film, although they both lost that year to Shelley Winters for THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.  BEN HUR was the big winner that year with 11wins from 14 nominations.  Watched on Peacock.                             GRADE-----------------A-

MY MAN GODFREY 1936--Here's a wacky, socially aware comedy about a poor man (William Powell) living in the city dump who is picked up by a silly rich woman (Carole Lombard) to help win her the top prize of a treasure hunt.  She decides to hire him as her personal butler in her dysfunction family, and starts to fall for him.  Godfrey meanwhile starts to come out of his depression and begins to recover from issues that put him in the dump in the first place, and does wonders for the family.  It's a true happy ending, with some bites and bumps along the way.              Watched on Peacock.                               GRADE-----------------B+

10 RILLINGTON PLACE 1971--Based on a true story of a serial killer named John Christie and his relationship with the young couple who rent the room upstairs.  The film is based on transcripts of the murder trial and is responsible for changing manditory hanging sentencing in Great Britian.  Richard Attenburough is very creepy as a rapist/murderer, and a youthful John Hurt and Judy Geeson play the young couple.  It is unpleasant but fascinating to watch, and there is no humor or sensationalism.   Watched on Peacock, I think.                         GRADE----------B 

THE INVISIBLE MAN 1933--This film by director James Whale (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Old Dark House) started all the INVISIBLE MAN sequels (at least a dozen) and is the best one with the possible exception of the newest, modern version from this past February.  Claude Rains stars (although you don't see his handsome face until the last scene where you can finally understand why Gloria Stuart still loved him in spite of his madness....)  The special effects were rather special for the time and the film holds up even with some stiffness in  some actors.    Watched on Peacock.                            GRADE-----------B

THE WAR WAGON 1967--is a large tank like structure with metal walls and machine guns mounted on a stage coach  which makes runs across parts of the west filled with gold from miners.  John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Robert Walker and Keenan Wynn try to steal the gold on one run,  and Bruce Dern and Bruce Cabot and an army of others try to stop them.  The film, directed by western actor Burt Kennedy is very entertaining, filled with clever dialogue and humor and a few sight gags, too.  I saw this film 30 some years ago, and it holds up well.  Watched on Peacock.                       GRADE----------B


THE CHALK GARDEN 1964--Based on a British play and featuring young Haley Mills in one of her first adult roles. she plays a troubled young teen under the guardianship of her grandmother played amusingly by Dame Edith Evans in one of her first screen roles, coming from the theatre in London.  Her "nanny" is played with restraint by Deborah Kerr who arrives with only new clothes in her suitcase, and the butler is slyly played John Mills (Hayley's real father).  Although the film errors from caution, it's still an interesting psychological mystery into the mind of  a troubled teen.  Watched on Peacock.               GRADE--------------B

CAPE FEAR 1962--Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Polly Bergan star in this tense drama of an ex con (Mitchum) who starts stalking Peck and his wife Bergan with threats to revenge his time in prison caused by lawyer Peck.  Mitchum is excellent at simmering violence and evil, and the film score by Hitchcock favorite Bernard Hermann adds to the tension.   Watched on Peacock.                     GRADE--------------------B

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTIEN 1935--James Whale directed this sequel to FRANKENSTEIN against his better judgement, but many (me too) consider this film better than the original --I especially love Elsa Lanchester as the Bride.  Watched on Peacock.         GRADE-------------B

PAPER MAN 2009--This independent film is certainly creative.  Jeff Daniels is a man-child of a  writer with writer's block.  Lisa Kudrow is his wife running out of patience.   He goes to a cabin but brings along his only childhood friend--a make believe super hero embodied by Ryan Reynolds complete with tights and a cape.  There he meets a troubled teen, played by Emma Stone who you might not recognize at first.  The film doesn't always work but the actors have a great time.                GRADE-------------B

JOHNNY ENGLISH: REBORN 2011--Rowan Atkinson can be an aquired taste, but this British comedian really made me laugh while nearly choking while  eating a cheese sandwich during my first time I saw him in BEAN, and I've loved him ever since.  He's the closest thing to Charlie Chaplin these days with his faces, pratfalls and slapstick.  Not every joke lands, but when they do they are quite delightful.  The JOHNNY ENGLISH films has him spoofing James Bond--hard to imagine him being a super spy, but he makes it work and still has the gags flying.  This one features a fine supporting cast:  Rosamond Pike, Gillian Anderson, Dominic West, and Daniel Kaluuya .   Watched on Netflix.             GRADE-----------------B-

THE SPY NEXT DOOR 2010--Jackie Chan is a spy living next door to a single woman with 3 kids, and he wants to marry her.  He agrees to babysit them while she makes an emergency trip, but winning them over is harder than he thinks.  The  film is soft on violence and weak on plot, and the jokes are half ok and some fall flat, but Chan is charming, and watching him perform his own stunts is fun.  Watched on Peacock.                   GRADE---------------------C+

TAMMY AND THE BATCHLOR 1957-- This was the first of four TAMMY movies starring Debbie Reynolds and she's quite disarming.  Leslie Neilsen is quite dashing as the love interest, and Walter Brennen gets to slap his knee and utter "by golly" at least once in this film.

 GRADE---------------C+

THE BLACK DAHLIA 2006--Brian dePalma used to be one of my favorite directors, but this grim retelling of the gruesome death of a wanna be actress in Los Angeles in the 1940's felt confusing, lifeless and often distasteful, and except for one exciting sequence on a staircase in a large building complete with a chase, shadows, death and filmed with energy and style, it was mostly disappointing.  The cast tries hard:  Josh Hartnet. Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson, Fiona Shaw and Hilary Swank, but the film felt heavily edited (nearly 30 minutes were trimmed) and still it felt too long.  Some of my favorite dePalma films include Obsession, Carrie, The Fury, Dressed to Kill, The Untouchables, Blow Out, Mission Impossible, and others, although I have hated for all time one of his most popular films--Scarface.            GRADE---------------C+