the post-game show is brought to you by... Christ, I can't find it. To hell with it

Average rating: 7.25

Inherit the Wind (1960) - "In the 1920s, Tennessee schoolteacher Bertram Cates (Dick York) is put on trial for violating the Butler Act, a state law that prohibits public school teachers from teaching evolution instead of creationism. Drawing intense national attention in the media with writer E. K. Hornbeck (Gene Kelly) reporting, two of the nation's leading lawyers go head to head: Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) for the prosecution, and Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) for the defense."
length: 2 hours, 8 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD through the public library
I watched it because: it's a classic law movie I've never seen, and is critically-acclaimed
IMDB: 8.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 93% Audience: 91%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "Don't worry, little lady. I may be rancid butter, but I'm on your side of the bread."

directed by: Stanley Kramer

my notes: Well, I didn't love it. As with so many other movies I've seen lately, it hits too close to home in the new political unreality in which we're living. It revolves around issues of fact that are interpreted by some to be opinion (and incorrect opinion, at that). I found much of it upsetting, frustrating, and aggravating. 

    Still and all, there are some marvelous performances. Spencer Tracy, most of all. And it's quite stirring at times. The law part is distressing, and accurate to the period. 

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I agree.
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Actor—Tracy

• Best Writing, Screenplay based on material from another medium—Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith

• Best Cinematography, Black and White—Ernest Laszlo

• Best Film Editing—Frederic Knudtson
overall:  recommended

 

Badges of Fury {Bu er shen tan} (2013) - "When a series of eerie murders erupt across Hong Kong, two troublemaking cops are assigned to the case. Young maverick Wang (Zhang Wen) is a reckless risk-taker, and grizzled vet Huang (Jet Li) is fed up with cleaning up his rookie's messes. After discovering all the victims were former boyfriends of aspiring starlet Liu, the detectives (one now posing as her lover) are caught in a deadly game to lure the killer out."
length: 1 hour, 38 minutes

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: I will watch anything that Jet Li chose to do
IMDB: 4.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 23%
my IMDB: 6/10

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Ziming Wang

my notes: extremely silly, but not in a bad way. Lots of in-jokes, which can be hard to interpret when filtered through a language barrier. Zhang Wen (Wang Bu'er) and Michelle Chen (Sgt. Angela) have great chemistry. Jet Li (Huang Feihong) is really funny and still adorable. In all, it's a dumb and highly entertaining movie. 

overall:  recommended

The Kid (1921) - "A woman decides to abandon her baby in the backseat of an automobile with a handwritten note attached, beseeching the finder to care for and love the child. The baby is discovered by the initially-reluctant Tramp, who eventually softens and comes to love him as his own. As the boy grows up, both he and The Tramp must learn to navigate through a life that spawns one adventure after another."
length: 1 hour, 8 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD through the public library
I watched it because: I enjoy silent movies much more than I'd thought, and particularly like Charles Chaplin's work
IMDB: 8.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 95%
my IMDB: 9/10

MPAA rating: Passed

directed by: Chaplin 

my notes: anyone who thinks that silent films are trite or devoid of emotion ought to watch this one, and learn. The Tramp is at his sweetest and most delightful, but also most sad. The Child (Jackie Coogan) is cute, funny, and very talented. The ending is very, very thoughtful.

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I firmly agree: 

The work that Chaplin does in The Kid provides a template for innumerable stories that confront what it means to belong to someone, taking characters who have intentionally detached themselves from a community and reconnecting them with humanity as they are faced with an unconventional version of fatherhood.

overall: highly recommended

Major League (1989) - "The new owner of the Cleveland Indians, former showgirl Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton), has a sweetheart deal to move the team to Miami. To break the lease with the city of Cleveland, ticket sales have to plummet. Phelps hires the most incompetent players available, including near-blind pitcher Rick Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) and injury-prone catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger). But her villainous tactics accidentally foster a can-do team spirit, turning the Indians into potential winners."
length: 1 hour, 47 minutes

source: TV
I watched it because: I've seen it dozens of times but never reviewed it
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 83% Audience: 84%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "'One hit, that's all we got? One goddamn hit?'

    'You can't say goddamn on the air.'

    'Don't worry, nobody is listening anyway.'"

directed by: David S. Ward

my notes: silly fun. My favorites are Berenger's Jake (of course), Dennis Haysbert as Pedro Cerrano, and the indomitable Bob Uecker as commentator Harry Doyle (with Skip Griparis as his patient, nearly-silent colorman). I've seen it so many times that I can recite whole chunks of dialog. That makes for a good movie in my book.

overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Major League]