the only thing you hate worse than a guy making a play is when a guy *doesn't* make a play

Well, so much for being organized. This bunch of movies is from in the summer (?). Not sure how I could have missed it! A little blast from the past.

West Side Story (2021) - "Manhattan, Upper West Side, 1957. Against the backdrop of the decaying tenements in the San Juan Hill neighbourhood and the constant threat of the wrecking ball, two warring gangs—tough Riff's Jets and swaggering Bernardo's Puerto Rican Sharks—fight for supremacy. Now, with a once-and-for-all, winner-takes-all rumble on the cards, an unexpected whirlwind romance at the high-school dance between former Jet brawler Tony and Bernardo's delicate little sister María sets the stage for an all-out turf war. But what's a gang without its territory? Above all, when the future is uncertain, what's hope without love?"
source: borrowed the Blu-ray from the public library
I watched it because: having seen the first one, I wanted to compare
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 92% Audience: 93%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "If you go with him, no one will forgive you."

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: Steven Spielberg

my notes: pretty faithful to the original. In the words of my former physical therapist (who was not an art aficionado), "I liked the colors." Ariana DeBose, as María's friend Anita, was the high point in the cast. I didn't love it, and would never watch it again, but it's worth seeing.

Academy Award winner: Best Supporting Actress—DeBose
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger

• Best Production Design—Adam Stockhausen (production design), Rena DeAngelo (set decoration)

• Best Sound—Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, Shawn Murphy

• Best Costume Design—Paul Tazewell

• Best Cinematography—Janusz Kaminski

• Best Director—Spielberg
overall:  recommended

Arlington Road (1999) - "In suburban Reston, Virginia, George Washington University American History professor Michael Faraday is still mourning the death of his wife, FBI agent Leah Faraday, after three years. His inside knowledge of the agency colors what he teaches in his classes. Although on good terms with Leah's ex-partner, Whit Carver, and the agency in general, Michael wants the agency at least to acknowledge their responsibility in her death in the line of duty. Michael is moving on with his personal life, he being in a serious relationship with his former teaching assistant Brooke Wolfe. Although he likes Brooke, Michael and Leah's nine year old son, Grant Faraday, may not yet be quite ready for Brooke to be a permanent part of their lives. It is only in helping adolescent Brady Lang who he sees in medical distress that Michael meets his new neighbors, Oliver and Cheryl Lang, Brady's parents. In the process, Michael and Brooke becomes friends with the Langs, as Grant and Brady become friends. However, the more time that he spends with them and catches discrepancies in their stories, Michael becomes suspicious that the Langs may not be everything they appear on the surface. As such, Michael, against Brooke's concerns of invasion of the Lang's privacy, begins his own investigation of Oliver in particular. What Michael discovers has serious national security implications, as well as possible life threatening dangers to him, Brooke and Grant."

source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: it was mutually agreeable with my companion - perhaps on the basis of the cast only
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 63% Audience: 74%
my IMDB: 2/10

notable quote: "I'm a messenger, I'm a messenger! There's millions of us, waiting to take up arms, ready to spread the word... millions of us!"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Mark Pellington

my notes: histrionic, weird, and unbelievable

overall: not recommended

WarGames (1983) - "In Seattle, teenager David is a lazy but bright teenager that prefers to hack and change his grades in the high-school computer than study. One day, David's best friend Jennifer is with him and he decides to hack into toy company Protovision, seeking new games, and he accidentally connects the War Operation Plan Response system in a computer located at the North American Aerospace (NORAD) at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado using the password Joshua that was the name of the son of its creator, the deceased scientist Stephen Falken. David challenges the computer to play a Thermo War game between USA and the Soviet Union. Soon he realizes that the computer is playing for real and the United States of America is changing its condition to DEFCON 1 in a game with no winners."
source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: we wanted something quite different from the last choice!
IMDB: 7.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 76%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "Remember you told me to tell you when you were acting rudely and insensitively? Remember that? You're doing it right now."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: John Badham

my notes: extremely dated, yet fun and engaging. I liked it!

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen—Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes

• Best Cinematography—William A. Franker

• Best Sound—Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, Aaron Rochin, Willie D. Burton
overall: recommended

Leatherheads (2008) - "In 1925, an enterprising pro football player convinces America's too-good-to-be-true college football hero to play for his team and keep the league from going under."
source: I borrowed the DVD from my dad's barber
I watched it because: Joe the Barber told my dad to watch it, and he gave it to me to preview before he took the plunge
IMDB: 6.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 52% Audience: 38%
my IMDB: 4/10

notable quote: "'Yeah, I kissed her! On the mouth, twice! And I liked it. A lot!'
    'Oh you did, did you?'
    'Yeah!'
    'Thanks.'
    'You're welcome.'"

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: George Clooney

my notes: dumb. Clooney's movies are either excellent or godawful, and this is the latter

overall: not  recommended

[the title quotation is from Leatherheads]