but to be logical is not to be right

The joy of the hit or miss...

Johnny Guitar (1954) - "Vienna has built a saloon outside of town, and she hopes to build her own town once the railroad is put through, but the townsfolk want her gone. When four men hold up a stagecoach and kill a man the town officials, led by Emma Small, come to the saloon to grab four of Vienna's friends, the Dancin' Kid and his men. Vienna stands strong against them, and is aided by the presence of an old acquaintance of hers, Johnny Guitar, who is not what he seems."
source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I'd never seen a Sterling Hayden film
IMDB: 7.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 85%
my IMDB: 4/10

notable quote: "'How many men have you forgotten?'

    'As many women as you've remembered.'"

MPAA rating: not rated

directed by: Nicholas Ray

my notes: I found it very hard to watch Joan Crawford as a heroine, much less in a Western. This film is bewildering.

overall: not recommended

The Hot Rock (1972) - "Dr. Amusa approaches Dortmunder about a valuable gem in a museum that is of great significance to his people in Africa, stolen during colonial times. Dortmunder assembles a crack team of cat burglars and hatches an elaborate plan for stealing the gem. Despite their care and experience, circumstances and plain bad luck keep the gem just out of their reach."

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I'm trying to understand Robert Redford's acting choices
IMDB: 6.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 78% Audience: 69%
my IMDB: 2/10

notable quote: "I'm not all that anxious to have an entire African nation after my ass, if you don't mind. Blowguns and poison arrows, no thanks."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Peter Yates

my notes: I didn't get it

Academy Award nominee: Best Film Editing
overall: not  recommended

Hoffa (1992) - "Jack Nicholson's portrait of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend Bobby Ciaro (Danny DeVito). This film follows Hoffa's struggle to shape America's most influential labor union through his countless battles with the RTA. As he fights for workers' rights, Hoffa locks horns with industry management, organized crime and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. In 1975, four years after serving his prison term, Hoffa disappears, in one of America's most fascinating unsolved crime mysteries."

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it's a Jack Nicholson film I'd never seen
IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 52% Audience: 59%
my IMDB: 1/10

notable quote: "If a guy's close to you, you can't slight 'im. You can't slight that guy. A real grievance can be resolved; differences can be resolved. But an imaginary hurt, a slight - that motherfucker gonna hate you 'til the day he dies."

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Danny DeVito

my notes: I hated this movie. Watched every moment, gagging, not sure why, until the end credits. "Written by David Mamet." Ugh.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Cinematography

• Best Makeup
overall: strongly not recommended

Body of Lies (2008) - "Roger Ferris is a CIA operative in the Middle East; Ed Hoffman is his control at Langley. Cynicism is everywhere. In Amman, Roger works with Hani Salaam, Jordan's head of security, whose only dictum is "Don't lie to me." The Americans are in pursuit of a cleric who leads a group placing bombs all over Europe. When Hani rebukes Ed's demand that Jordan allow the Americans to use one of Jordan's double agents, Roger and Ed hatch a plan to bring the cleric to them. The plan is complicated by its being a secret from Hani and by Roger's attraction to a local nurse. Satellites and cell phones, bodies and lies: modern warfare."

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: I haven't seen a Leo movie in a while
IMDB: 7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 55% Audience: 62%
my IMDB: 7.0/10

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Ridley Scott

my notes: a good movie. Political, twisty, violent, deeply felt moral issues. Some silly comedy moments. Russell Crowe as an arrogant asshole. 

overall:  recommended

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) - "It has been three years since the most important Nazi leaders had already been tried. This trial is about 4 judges who used their offices to conduct Nazi sterilization and cleansing policies. Retired American judge, Dan Haywood has a daunting task ahead of him. The Cold War is heating up and no one wants any more trials as Germany, and Allied governments, want to forget the past. But is that the right thing to do is the question that the tribunal must decide."

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I love history, WWII, and the law
IMDB: 8.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 92% Audience: 93%
my IMDB: 10/10

AFI: 10 Top 10 (2008)—Courtroom Drama #10

notable quote: "Janning, to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he loathed the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture and death of millions by the government of which he was a part. Janning's record and his fate illuminate the most shattering truth that has emerged from this trial. If he and the other defendants were all depraved perverts—if the leaders of the Third Reich were sadistic monsters and maniacs—these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake or other natural catastrophes. But this trial has shown that under the stress of a national crisis, men—even able and extraordinary men—can delude themselves into the commission of crimes and atrocities so vast and heinous as to stagger the imagination. No one who has sat through this trial can ever forget. The sterilization of men because of their political beliefs... The murder of children... How easily that can happen! There are those in our country today, too, who speak of the 'protection' of the country. Of 'survival'. The answer to that is: survival as what? A country isn't a rock. And it isn't an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for, when standing for something is the most difficult! Before the people of the world—let it now be noted in our decision here that this is what we stand for: justice, truth... and the value of a single human being!"

[bold added]

MPAA rating: not rated (TV-14)

directed by: Stanley Kramer

my notes:  brilliant, from the casting to the sets, costumes to dialects, cinematography to sound. The acting is extraordinary. I passionately loved this film.

Academy Award winner:
• Best Actor—Maximilian Schell

• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium—Abby Mann
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Actor—Spencer Tracy

• Best Supporting Actor—Montgomery Clift

• Best Supporting Actress—Judy Garland

• Best Director—Kramer

• Best Cinematography, Black and White—Ernest Laszlo

• Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black and White

• Best Costume Design, Black and White

• Best Film Editing
overall: most highly recommended

[the title quotation is from Judgment at Nuremberg]