in the tangled networks of a great city, the telephone is the unseen link between a million lives

I watch movies to learn, to be entertained, to be distracted, and to feel things with which I haven't enough access.

Paddington (2014) - "A young Peruvian bear travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a temporary haven."

source: Prime
I watched it because: I'd heard that the sequel is "the most perfect movie ever made" and really had to see the first one first
IMDB: 7.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 97% Audience: 80%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "My body had traveled fast, but my heart... she took a little longer to arrive."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Paul King

my notes: cute enough, but overlong

overall:  recommended

Dead Poets Society (1989) - "Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression."

source: DVD
I watched it because: I periodically need an infusion of this kind of emotion
IMDB: 8.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 84% Audience: 92%
my IMDB: 9/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Cheers (2006) #52

notable quote: "Don't you forget this."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Peter Weir

my notes: this film gives me chills. Pieces of it are brilliant, and overall it is charming and engrossing. Definitely in my top 10 of all time.

Academy Award winner: Best Writing, Screenplay written directly for the screen—Tom Schulman
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas

• Best Actor—Robin Williams

• Best Director—Weir

(Seen before, many times, but never actually reviewed. Huh!)
overall: always highly recommended

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) - "While on the telephone, an invalid woman overhears what she thinks is a murder plot and attempts to prevent it."

source: Prime
I watched it because: I'm exploring my interest in noir
IMDB: 7.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 86% Audience: 77%
my IMDB: 8/10

notable quote: "What does a dame like you want with a guy like me?"

MPAA rating: approved

directed by: Anatole Litvak

my notes: tense! Barbara Stanwyck as Leona Stevenson is realistically hysterical and paranoid, and Burt Lancaster's Henry Stevenson is big, strong, and complicated. This is a "small" movie, and would make a marvelous stage production. I liked it very much.

Academy Award nominee: Best Actress—Stanwyck
overall:  recommended

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) - "Set during the Korean War, a Navy fighter pilot must come to terms with with his own ambivalence towards the war and the fear of having to bomb a set of highly defended bridges. The ending of this grim war drama is all tension."
source: DVD
I watched it because: I owned the DVD, but plan to offer it for sale, so I thought I'd see it one last time
IMDB: 6.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 82% Audience: 60%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "'I'm a lawyer from Denver, Colorado.'

    'Judas, how'd you wind up in a smelly ditch in Korea?'

    'I was just asking myself that same question.'"

MPAA rating: approved

directed by: Mark Robson

my notes: William Holden is a marvelous actor, and he imbues Lt. Harry Brubaker with just the right combination of strength and anxiety. And Grace Kelly, as Nancy Brubaker, is gorgeous and slightly brittle, as any good military wife would be. Even so, I don't love this film. It makes me sad and angry, and leaves a mark when it's done.

Academy Award winner: Best Effects, Special Effects
Academy Award nominee: Best Film Editing—Alma Macrorie

(Also reviewed here)
overall:  recommended with reservations

[the title quotation is from Sorry, Wrong Number]