you want to know where you can get a hold of Mrs. Potter? I don't know, she's awfully ticklish....

Five very different movies, and all at least somewhat recommended. Are my standards weakening? Am I getting better about choosing what I watch? Have I seen so many movies that my intellectual taste buds are numb? Is anyone reading this? Hellloooo?

The Big Easy (1986) - "A corrupt lieutenant in the homicide division is threatened by the righteous district attorney while trying to solve a string of mysterious murders."

Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: it was a compromise between a "guy movie" and a "girl movie" (sorta romantic, some law, and they were rumored to have not simulated the sex scenes...)
IMDB: 6.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 89% Audience: 61%

notable quote: "Just relax, dawlin'. This is the Big Easy; folks have a certain way o' doin' things down here."
story: well done, realistic, engaging
visuals: sumptous, sweltering
costumes, hair & makeup: dated but pretty hot (Quaid never looked better)
acting: meh

intangibles: OK, so there's nothing spectacular about this film - but it is entertaining enough to pass the time (also reviewed here)

overall: recommended

Doctor Zhivago (1965) - "The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it's supposed to be one of the most romantic films ever made
AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Movies (original list 1998) #39

100 Years ... 100 Passions (2002) #7

IMDB: 8.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 84% Audience: 88%

notable quote: "If people love poetry, they love poets. And nobody loves poetry like a Russian."
story: politics, war, time, family - everything conspires to keep dashing Yuri Andreyevich (Omar Sharif) and exquisite Lara (Julie Christie) apart, but love conquers all.... right?
visuals: the cinematography reflects the story, which - in grand Russian style - reflects the weather, geography, scenery and cinematography.
acting: Alec Guinness (Yevgraf) and Rod Steiger (Victor Komarovsky) stole the show for me, disparate versions of the words 'powerful' and 'charismatic'

intangibles: it doesn't seem to be 197 minutes long. That compelling, that fraught, that dramatic and passionate and lovely...
Academy Award winner:
• Best Writing, screenplay based on material from another medium

• Best Cinematography, color

• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, color

• Best Costume Design, color

• Best Music, Score - substantially original
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Supporting Actor—Tom Courtenay (Pasha Antipov)

• Best Director—David Lean

• Best Sound

• Best Film Editing
overall: very much recommended

The General (1926) - "When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single-handedly and straight through enemy lines."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: I've never seen a Buster Keaton film before

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Laughs (2000) #18

100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th anniversary edition 2007) #18

IMDB: 8.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 93% Audience: 92%

notable quote: it's silent
story: Johnnie Gray (Keaton) wants to enlist in the Confederate Army, but he's little - and he's of more use to them as engineer of his train, The General. The General is, along with Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), a love of Johnnie's life. When Northern soldiers abscond with the train, Johnnie is inspired to great heroics to get it back - and save the girl.
visuals: unbelievable. Recognize that this picture was made nearly a century ago, and tell me you're not blown away by the effects. The camera work and lighting are extraordinary.
acting: silent film acting requires some obviousness of expression, and Keaton did so beautifully

intangibles: this is a charming, emotional, exciting movie
overall: highly recommended

Bonnie & Clyde (1967) - "Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it's on some best-lists
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 88% Audience: 88%
AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Movies (original list 1998) #27

100 Years ... 100 Thrills (2001) #13

100 Years ... 100 Passions (2002) #65

100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th anniversary 2007) #42

10 Top 10 (2008) Gangster #5

notable quote: "'I ain't a rich man. You could get a rich man, if you tried.'

    'I don't want no rich man.'

    'You ain't gonna have a minute's peace....'

    'Promise?'"
story: a perfect storm of self-destructive, catastrophic, ignorant and morally bankrupt comes together to cause a whole lot of trouble
visuals: bold
acting: Warren Beatty is no great thespian, but he managed to combine the insanity and humanity of Clyde Barrow in a fairly thoughtful way. Faye Dunaway (Bonnie Parker) perpetually appears not to give a crap, regardless of what role she plays. And Estelle Parsons (Blanche Barrow) has one volume: full-on, screeching lunatic.

intangibles: profoundly violent, depressing, and hopeless, this is a film that anyone who loves movies should watch, but that I never want to see again
Academy Award winner:
• Best Supporting Actress—Parsons

• Best Cinematography
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Beatty

• Best Actor—Beatty 

• Best Actress—Dunaway

• Best Supporting Actor—Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow)

• Best Supporting Actor—Michael J. Pollard (C.W. Moss)

• Best Director—Arthur Penn

• Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, Written Directly for the Screen

• Best Costume Design
overall: recommended because I have to

The Cocoanuts (1929) - "During the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: I've never seen a whole Marx Brothers film, and this one seemed like a good place to start
IMDB: 7.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 95% Audience: 70%

notable quote: "I'm gonna put extra blankets, free, in all your rooms - and there'll be no cover charge."
story: zany nonsense about land sales, a hotel, a jewel, and a wedding
visuals: very, very good for the period!
costumes, hair & makeup: gorgeous! They really did dress so well back then.
acting: Harpo Marx was the star of the show. Never spoke a word, but expressed everything with a glance, a toot on that horn, pulling something from his pocket, or picking up nearly any instrument and making such beautiful music that I was moved nearly to tears. His harp playing (hence the name) was literally stunning.

intangibles: this is a loopy film with the most thready story, and very entertaining
overall: recommended

[the title quotation is from The Cocoanuts]