works on the principle of the cantilevered bridge...

I slipped into classics mode! 

The Recruit (2003) (thriller/romance) - "A brilliant young CIA trainee is asked by his mentor to help find a mole in the Agency."
source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I sometimes like Pacino movies
IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 43% Audience: 58%
my IMDB: 3/10

notable quote: "Would you consider yourself subjectively firm or objectively flexible?"

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: Roger Donaldson 

my notes: dumb and unbelievable, this movie relies on hubris to fill the gaps where it's just not credible

overall: not recommended

The War Wagon (1967) (Western) - "The story of a man who was shot, robbed and imprisoned who returns to steal a large gold shipment from the man who wronged him. The gold is transported in an armored stage coach, the War Wagon."
source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it's been a while since I've seen it (first reviewed here)
IMDB: 6.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 90% Audience: 78%
my IMDB: 4/10

notable quote: "Unless there's money in it, Lomax ain't goin' to do nothin' for nothin'—and I want Taw Jackson dead!"

MPAA rating: Not rated 

directed by: Burt Kennedy

my notes: not my favorite, this film has not held up well. The Duke looks old, fat, and slow, and both his and Kirk Douglas' characters are basically unlikeable. There are much better movies to see!

overall: recommended for completists

Remember the Day (1941) (Drama/War/Romance) - "Elderly schoolteacher Nora Trinell, waiting to meet presidential nominee Dewey Roberts, recalls him as her student back in 1916 and his relation to Dan Hopkins, the man she married and lost."
source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: Claudette Colbert is a wonderful actress
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 56%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: 'passed'

directed by: Henry King

my notes: this is not the sort of movie that they make anymore, you know? Thoughtful. Introspective. Decent. Entertaining in a slow, gentle, unexpected way. 

overall: much recommended

Vertigo (1958) - "A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed."
source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it's been a while since I've seen it (first reviewed here)
IMDB: 8.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 93%
my IMDB: 5/10

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Movies (1998) #61

    100 Years ... 100 Thrills (2001) #18

    100 Years ... 100 Passions (2002) #18

    100 Years of Film Scores (2005) #12

    100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th anniversary ed. 2007) #9

    10 Top 10 (2008) Mystery #1

notable quote: "'Don't you think it's kind of a waste for the two of us ...'

    "'To wander separately? But, only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere.'"

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

my notes: I don't love this movie. The Jimmy Stewart character is a crazy jerk, not sympathetic at all. There's no hero, no heroine, no reason to be invested at all.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Black and White

• Best Sound
overall:  recommended only because it's Hitchcock

[the title quotation is from Vertigo]