other people's lives are fascinating

Average rating: 6.5, a quite different set of movies from my usual.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) - "A geologist (James Mason) and his assistant (Pat Boone) set off on an expedition to the center of the earth. Following directions found in an inscription hidden in volcanic rock, the explorers travel to a volcano in Iceland to begin their journey. Along the way, a widow of a famous scientist (Arlene Dahl) and an Icelander (Peter Ronson) join their party. However, the treacherous terrain and prehistoric monsters are not their only concern when a rival scientist (Thayer David) is on their trail."
length: 2 hours, 9 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it's been a few years since I saw it—and other than Pat Boone as a sex object, I recalled very little

    previously reviewed here
IMDB: 7.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 84% Audience: 69%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "'Never interrupt a murderer, madam.'

    'I resent that bourgeois classification. I'll spare your lives. You have my word of honor.'"

directed by: Henry Levin

my notes: wackadoddle. It's quite adventuresome while also being tacky and melodramatic. Entertaining, weird, funny, ominous, occasionally creepy. Quite fun.

    James Mason has a strange demeanor but gets the job done as Sir Oliver Lindenbrook. Arlene Dahl is
wonderful and gorgeous as Carla Göteborg. Peter Ronson is fun and compelling as the Icelander Hans Belker, and also sweet and devoted to Gertrude the duck (who has an actress page on IMDB and may be my favorite part of the movie). And Boone, of course, makes a doofy "Scotsman" with his Jacksonville, Florida accent and surfer-boy tan. 

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Color—Lyle R. Wheeler, Franz Bachelin, Herman A. Blumenthal, Walter M. Scott, Joseph Kish

• Best Sound—Carlton W. Faulkner

• Best Effects, Special Effects—L.B. Abbott (visual), James B. Gordon (visual), Carlton W. Faulkner (audible)
overall:  recommended

 

The Longest Day (1962) - "In 1944, the U.S. Army and Allied forces plan a huge invasion landing in
Normandy, France. Despite bad weather, General Eisenhower gives the okay and the Allies land at Normandy. General Norma Cota (Robert Mitchum) travels with his men onto Omaha Beach. With much effort, and lost life, they get off the beach, traveling deep into French territory. The German military, due to arrogance, ignorance and a sleeping Adolf Hitler, delay their response to the Allied landing, with crippling results."
length: 2 hours, 58 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I've seen it once or twice but it's kind of a blur.
IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 84% Audience: 90%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: G

notable quote: "'Is it bad?'

    'Split wide open, from the crotch to the knee. A medic came along and gave me a shot of morphine. I hope he'll be back before it wears off. He said he would.'

    'Did he sew you up?'

    'Well, when he came ashore he lost most of his equipment. So he . . . so he pinned it together with . . . with safety pins.'"

directed by: Ken Annakin (British exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (French exteriors, parachuting in Sainte-Mère-Eglise), Bernhard Wicki (German exteriors), Darryl F. Zanuck (interiors)

my notes: this is a lot of movie. Long, beyond packed with star power, with realistic violence and pointlessness. It's well worth seeing, if you can set aside the time and attention it needs.

Academy Award winner:
• Best Cinematography, Black and white—Jean Bourgoin, Walter Wottitz

• Best Effects, Special effects—R.A. MacDonald (visual), Jacques Maumont (audible)
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Zanuck

• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Black and white—Ted Haworth, Léon Barsacq, Leila Rubin, Gabriel Béchir

• Best Film Editing—Samuel E. Beetley
overall:  recommended

 

Made in Belfast (2013) - "Jack Kelly returns home after writing a novel that reveals his friends' secrets. He aims to mend relationships, especially with his best friend whose marriage he ruined. His friends struggle to forgive him for his betrayal."
length: 1 hour, 23 minutes

source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I've seen it before, loved it, and wanted to relive that.

    previously reviewed here
IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 78%
my IMDB: 8/10

MPAA rating: Not rated

notable quote: "I have something for you. I don't want you to say anything, I just want you to listen, OK? It's a letter. I wrote it for you.

        Nobody would draw any pictures or write any books if you weren't alive.

        In another lifetime, you had sex with painters and poets. 

        There's something unfathomable about your curves and contours. I love your tits. And I miss them.

        To try and make you out of clay is an insult.

        I want to lick salt off your back.

        I want to hear you scream my name again.

        I would die a happy man if you would make the sweetest love to me once more. Just the once. Just the once."

directed by: Paul Kennedy

my notes: Shaun Blaney (Petesy) is such a terrific actor; I hope to see him again. 

    The film is sweet, smart, funny, and thoughtful. Very good.

overall:  strongly recommended

Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006) - "On the lush green lawns of London's Hampstead Heath Park, a variety of couples commune and sort through their assorted romantic dilemmas. Brian (Douglas Hodge) asks his partner, Billy (Ewan McGregor), to cease his constant carousing. Gerry (Hugh Bonneville) and Julia (Gina McKee) slog through what appears to be a very bad blind date. Meanwhile, Iris (Eileen Atkins) gets a blast from the past when she encounters a man she had a fling with 50 years earlier."
length: 1 hour, 31 minutes

source: streamed on TubiTV
I watched it because: I really like Tom Hardy
IMDB: 5.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 50% Audience: 49%
my IMDB: 4/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "You see, once you commit yourself to something, however bizarre it might seem to other people, you kind of owe it to yourself to enjoy the experience."

directed by: Ed Blum

my notes: 91 minutes of awkwardness, some weirdness, a little meanness, and quite a bit of boredom. There is one scene that starts the slightest bit sexy and turns skeevy, damn quick. It's one of those movies that seemingly intends to be clever but is just inexplicable and uncomfortable, like eavesdropping on inside jokes.

overall: not  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Scenes of a Sexual Nature]