only a year ago, I was teaching a course in Black history at the University of Blaupunkt

Awesome!! Average score: 8!

The 39 Steps (1935) - "While on vacation in London, Canadian Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) becomes embroiled in an international spy ring related to the mysterious '39 steps.' Then he meets agent Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim), who is soon killed in his apartment. He must elude the police, who are hunting him for murder, while he tries to stop Professor Jordan (Godfrey Tearle) from sending secrets out of the country. Hannay is assisted by Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), an unwilling accomplice who discovers the truth."
source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library (also reviewed here)
I watched it because: it's been a while since I saw it, and it has such a clever storyline
IMDB: 7.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 86%
my IMDB: 8/10

notable quote: "Is it true that all the ladies paint their toenails?"

MPAA rating: Approved (TV-G)

directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

my notes: clever, snappy dialog, an engaging mystery, and appealing characters. Plus, Robert Donat is terribly handsome.

overall: highly recommended

Still Walking {Aruitemo Aruitemo} (2008) - "Still Walking is a family drama about grown children
visiting their elderly parents, which unfolds over one summer day. The aging parents have lived in the family home for decades. Their son and daughter return for a rare family reunion, bringing their own families with them. They have gathered to commemorate the tragic death of the eldest son, who drowned in an accident fifteen years ago. Although the roomy house is as comforting and unchanging as the mother's homemade feast, everyone in the family has subtly changed."

source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it's in the Criterion Collection
IMDB: 7.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 90%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "There's nothing to watch on TV these days. They laugh so loud, but nothing's funny."

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Hirokazu Kore-Eda

my notes: WOW. This is a hard movie to like, and I never want to see it again. Deceptively simple, even superficial, it packs a wallop. It confronts age, gender, grief, obligation, the power of choice, honesty, food, and expectations. There's a scene with a yellow butterfly that left me shaken.

overall:  recommended, but with caveats

 

M {Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder} (1931) - "In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellent and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice."
source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: I'm in a German phase, which nicely overlapped with my Criterion Collection period
IMDB: 8.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 95%
my IMDB: 8/10

notable quote: "[whistling]"

MPAA rating: Passed (TV-14/M)

directed by: Fritz Lang

my notes: creepy as Hell. Ominous and deeply frightening. It's no wonder Peter Lorre was typecast after this was released! Glad I watched this during the day, so I could get it out of my head before sleeping - this is nightmare fuel.

overall: highly recommended

Top Secret! (1984) - "Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer) travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric (Omar Sharif) and Hillary to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul Flammond (Michael Gough), from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine."
source: I own the DVD (which I bought after I played the videotape to death)
I watched it because: I need an infusion of this, now and then, to keep my blood/goofiness quotient up

    (For what it's worth, Roger Ebert's review of this movie is one of my favorite essays, ever, and it matches perfectly my experience watching this film.)
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 76% Audience: 80%
my IMDB: 9/10

notable quote: "'Listen to me, Hillary. I'm not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist, only to lose her to her childhood lover who she last saw on a deserted island, who then turned out fifteen years later to be the leader of the French underground.'

    'I know. It all sounds like some bad movie....'"

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

my notes: hilarious. I laughed out loud a dozen times, even as I was speaking whole stretches of dialog. Val Kilmer is funny, talented (he sings beautifully! and dances!), and gorgeous. This is a classic, in my book.

overall: enthusiastically recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Top Secret!]