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I am a film critic and historian preserving a love of good movies. Check out my blog, 4 Star Films, and follow me on Twitter @FourStarFilmFan or Letterboxd. Thank you for reading!

Have Yourself a Very Movie Christmas!

Posted on December 7, 2013 by 4 Star Films

It’s that time of year again to dust off those old videos and tune your TVs to some Christmas classics. Whether it’s oldies like It’s a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, or more recent favorites like Home Alone and Elf, these films spread Christmas cheer for all to hear. As always Charlie Brown knows the real reason for the season. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Scrooge (1935)
Remember the Night (1940)
Holiday Inn (1942)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
Holiday Affair (1949)
A Christmas Carol (1951)
White Christmas (1954)
Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
Frosty the Snowman (1969)
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970)
Scrooge (1970)
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
The Gathering (1977)A Christmas Story (1983)
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
Scrooged (1988)
Christmas Vacation (1989)
Home Alone (1990)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Santa Clause (1994)
Elf (2003)
Prep & Landing (2009)

The Pawnbroker (1964)

Posted on December 5, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring Rod Steiger with support from Jaime Sanchez and direction by Sidney Lumet, the film chronicles the present life of a Holocaust survivor turned pawnbroker. Sol Nazerman is a man who keeps to himself and he is callous to everyone who enters the doors of his shop. Under the surface, it is evident that the reason for his demeanor are his constant tormenting memories of the death camp as well as the loved ones he lost. In present day Haarlem Sol feels fear for the first time in a long while when he learns his shop is being used as a front for illegal activities. The energetic Ortiz (Sanchez) who eventually got fed up with his boss, shows his loyalty in the end. Despite his specters, Sol seemingly feels humanity after such a long time of being cut off from the world. Steiger gives a stunning performance and although sometimes it seems confused, I think this is an important film to see.

4/5 Stars

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

Posted on December 4, 2013 by 4 Star Films

A Hard Day’s Night directed by Richard Lester and starring the Beatles, showcases the eponymous album and plays out rather like a documentary more than a full-fledged movie.

The opening sequence has the Fab Four running frantically away from a mob of fans as they try to get to their train without being carried off. On the train we get a bit more acquainted in a day in the life of the Liverpool Lads. Paul’s clean but crafty grandfather has come along for a change of pace and the boys try to pick up girls, while their manager attempts to keep them in line. They get to their destination, but would rather dance, talk with girls, and frolic in an open field rather than answer fan mail and attend a press conference. They find themselves in trouble a number of times in between rehearsals for their show. It might be Paul’s grandfather getting in trouble at a casino, George taking a wrong turn, or John being cheeky and childish. Then, thanks to Paul’s grandfather they lose Ringo when he decides to get out and live a little! Time is running out and so they try to run him down with the police hot on their trail. They make it to their performance in time and Beatlemania takes over as they perform complete with swooning girls and deafening noise. The Beatles are a success and then they quickly head off in a helicopter, stopping one of Grandad’s schemes in the process.

We can only assume they were heading to American and as we all know the rest was history. I read an interview with Bob Dylan once and he said the true 1960s did not really start until about 1965. With Marx Brother antics and their challenging of authority you could say that the Beatles led this change. They may have looked like four clean cut boys, but their music, hairstyle, and nonconformist demeanor, at times, reflected a new generation. If you like the Beatles’ music this film is for you, and it also gives an interesting representation of 1960s London.

4.5/5 Stars

The Maltese Falcon (1941) – Film-Noir

Posted on December 2, 2013 by 4 Star Films

This archetypal film-noir directed by John Huston, stars Humphrey Bogart as the detective Sam Spade. After an initial conversation with a mysterious woman, that same night two men end up dead. As Spade tries to understand what is going on, it puts him in contact with a paranoid little man and another man who is trailing him. All of them have something to do with a black bird and the situation gets more complicated when Spade meets the fat man. Rather surprisingly Spade ends up with the falcon but of course there has to be a twist. Soon enough the truth comes out of Brigid O’Shaughnessy and Spade coldly does his work. This film has great characters played by Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, and Elisha Cook Jr. The directing is good as well as the cinematography. This is the film that finally made Bogart a star and he would never look back.

5/5 Stars

Star of the Month: Humphrey Bogart

Posted on December 2, 2013 by 4 Star Films

The man with the memorable speech impediment acquired from a WWI injury, Bogart began in the movies as a bit player in gangster films such as The Petrified Forest (1936) and Angels with Dirty Faces (1938). He finally made is major breakthrough as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon (1941) directed by John Huston, and from that point on he never looked back. He followed it up with his trademark performance as Rick Blaine in Casablanca (1942), then two Huston classics The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) and The African Queen (1951). The 1940s also saw the inception of his romantic pairing and eventual marriage to Lauren Bacall. They acted together in To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948). Bogart continued to star in films in the 1950s including Sabrina and The Caine Mutiny before his death in 1957. He is undoubtedly one of the cultural legends of Hollywood with so many great film credits to his name. He could be a tough guy and a softie but he did it all with that iconic face and voice. Here’s looking at you Bogey.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Posted on November 29, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, with director Arthur Penn, the film chronicles the crime life of a group of notorious gangsters during the 1930s. Clyde Barrow (Beatty), a small time thief meets the beautiful young girl Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) and together they begin robbing banks. Soon they enlist the help of a dim-witted mechanic C.W., and then Clyde’s brother joins the fray bringing along his wife. They have a string of successes and they become infamous nationwide. Soon they begin to bicker among themselves and the police start to buckle down. In a shootout Buck is shot dead and Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W. just barely escape. However, their actions eventually do catch up with them and thus ends the story of these two figures depicted as anti-heroes. This film is significant because it was influenced by the French New Wave but it in turn ushered in a new era of American film . It has a unique combination of comedy, romance, violence, and of course banjo music.

5/5 Stars

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Posted on November 26, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Directed and written by Woody Allen and starring Owen Wilson, this film is a nostalgic piece of romantic fantasy.

Gil is a successful screenwriter, who is attempting to finish his first novel, and he is in Paris with his wife (Rachel McAdams). She dismisses his work on a nostalgia shop because she feels it is not as worthwhile as his screenwriting career. Gil is infatuated with everything about Paris, while his wife is content with fine dining and shopping with her parents and wine tasting with stuffy friends.

Then one evening Gil wanders the streets of Paris, and at Midnight a 1920s style car pulls up and he is invited in. Over the course of the evening, he meets the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, and even Ernest Hemingway, who agrees to read his manuscript. The following night he brings his wife but she leaves and he is picked up once again at midnight. This time he talks with Hemingway, meets Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and the beautiful Adriana (Mario Cotillard). Gil continues to return at night much to his wife’s annoyance and his father-in-law’s disapproval. He meets legendary surrealists such as Salvador Dali, Man Ray, and Luis Bunuel, who he inspires with his conversation.

He finds Adriana’s diary in the present and meets a fellow aficionado (Lea Seydoux) of the olden days. Gil returns to the 1920s and Adriana convinces him to go back to the 1890s where they meet Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, and Degas. This is where Adriana is happy and despite their love, Gil realizes that even though nostalgia is good it is best to live in the present. Gil gets some final feedback on his manuscript and then breaks up with Inez, realizing it was not meant to be. However, Gil finally does find someone who shares his love of Paris in the rain.

Allen made this film really enjoyable for me because he brought to life many people such as Hemingway, Dali, Bunuel, and others. This type of history fascinates me much like Gil, and it was fun to see these figures represented in the flesh by the likes of Tom Hiddleston, Kathy Bates, and Adrien Brody. That being said, this film carries a good lesson about living your life in the present. I would have initially said that Owen Wilson seemed wrong for this film, but I think he did a wonderful portraying Gil as a man mesmerized by the golden days of Paris.

4/5 Stars

North by Northwest (1959) – Alfred Hitchcock

Posted on November 26, 2013 by 4 Star Films

As the last collaboration between Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock, they came together to make the ultimate thriller in North by Northwest. Grant plays a common business man named Roger Thorndike who is framed as a killer in a very public place. All of the sudden he has become a fugitive on the run for a crime he never even committed. Along the way he meets a government agent (Eve Marie Sainte) while dodging the authorities. Trying to clear his name, Grant finds himself fleeing the actual killers. His adventures include a run-in with a crop dusting plane and eventually find him hanging for dear life. However, he comes out on top in the end and he slowly falls in love too (of course). From the beginning when you see the opening credits and hear the score, you gear up for adventure and that is exactly what you get. It follows the wonderful tradition of Hitchcock films and it does not fail to entertain. Besides great locations, a memorable score, and interesting camera work, the story is wonderful.

5/5 Stars

The Departed (2006)

Posted on November 25, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring an all-star cast including Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCapprio, Jack Nicholson, and many others, this is a crime thriller with an interesting concept. The plot has to do with two young men who were in the Massachusetts Police Academy. One is tailored by the Irish mobster Frank Costello to become a mole within the police. The other is called upon to infiltrate the mob before he graduates. Thus begins their dangerous assignments as each tires to find the rat in the other organization while also working to stay out of reproach. Costigan is able to get close to the vile Costello while Sullivan is part of the Special Investigation Unit and also begins a relationship with a psychologist. They must secretly keep contact with the other side but it becomes increasingly treacherous with one encounter leading to a chase and another in the death of a police captain. The heat is on as both men try and reveal the other mole. During a cocaine pick up Costello is traced to the spot and a chaotic shootout ensues. Everything seems calm again and yet Constello’s mole is still around and bent on erasing Costigan from record. They agree to meet on a roof top and from that point on the film moves so rapidly it is almost impossible to take in what happens. Everything seems confused and corrupted but ultimately it does not pay to be a rat. This film has a lot of coarse language and violence but in Scorsese’s hands it is still an intriguing film to watch.

4.5/5 Stars

Amelie (2001)

Posted on November 23, 2013 by 4 Star Films

Amelie is one of those films that you will either love it or you won’t because the fact is, it marches to the beat of a different drum. It is a unique, whimsical Parisian world full of a quirky cast of characters headed by Audrey Tatou.

The ever present narrator opens the film by relating Amelie’s childhood as a young girl who was forced to occupy her time with fantasy and her imagination. Soon we are introduced to this quirky little girl and all the other figures who take up space in her life. She was isolated and her mother died when she was very young leaving her to live with her father. When she is older, Amelie moves on and begins to work in a café. Then in 1997 the death of Princess Di and a bit of fate cause her to devote her life to bringing happiness to other people. She plays matchmaker, reunites an old man with boyhood treasures, guides a blind man through the city, spurs her father to travel through use of his beloved gnome, gives renewed hope to a widowed landlady, and puts an abusive grocer back in his place. Amid her many good deeds Amelie makes friends with as solitary and brittle painter as well as Lucien, the kindly assistant at the corner grocery. Most importantly Amelie begins to realize she is falling for an unknown man after she accidentally retrieves a scrapbook of his. She tries to deliver it back to him anonymously and it becomes a wild goose chase all across Paris, full of arrows, flyers, notes, and rendezvous. However, her shyness makes it difficult for her to approach him, but with a little prodding she finally goes after Nino Quincampoix and he finally meets his mysterious girl.

This film had me in stitches at times, attempting to catch up at times, and completely mesmerized in other moments. This film has wonderful characters and such an idiosyncratic, and often abrupt way of telling their story. It was a change of pace that I enjoyed and I believe that Amelie is an enjoyable albeit eccentric romantic comedy.

4.5/5 Stars