well if it's free, then I ain't stealin'

Average rating: 8

The Great Dictator (1940) - "After dedicated service in the Great War, a Jewish barber (Charles Chaplin) spends years in an army hospital recovering from his wounds, unaware of the simultaneous rise of fascist dictator Adenoid Hynkel (also Chaplin) and his anti-Semitic policies. When the barber, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Hynkel, returns to his quiet neighborhood, he is stunned by the brutal changes and recklessly joins a beautiful girl (Paulette Goddard) and her neighbors in rebelling."
length: 2 hours, 5 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD through the public library
I watched it because: it seemed, um, timely
IMDB: 8.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 92% Audience: 95%
my IMDB: 8/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Laughs (2000) #37

MPAA rating: G

notable quote: "Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you ... who regiment your lives, tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel!"

directed by: Charles Chaplin

my notes: this is a relevant, funny, and deeply disturbing film. Chaplin was brilliant, and very brave.

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

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Actor—Chaplin

• Best Supporting Actor—Jack Oakie

• Best Writing, Original screenplay—Chaplin

• Best Music, Original score—Meredith Willson
overall: highly recommended

 

Gaslight (1940) - "Twenty years removed from Alice Barlow's murder by a thief looking for her jewels, newlyweds Paul (Anton Walbrook) and Bella Mallen (Diana Wynyard) move into the very house where the crime was committed. Retired detective B.G. Rough (Frank Pettingell), who worked on the Barlow case, is still in the area and grows suspicious of Paul, who he feels bears a striking resemblance to one of Barlow's relatives. Rough must find the truth before the killer can strike again and reclaim his bounty."

length: 1 hour, 24 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD through the public library
I watched it because: I wanted to see the difference between this first film and its more familiar successor (1944; reviewed here and here)

IMDB: 7.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 76%
my IMDB: 9/10

MPAA rating: NR

notable quote: "'I don't think I like your tone.'

    'You are under no obligation to listen to it.'"

directed by: Thorold Dickinson

my notes: Brilliant. I think it's way better than the latter version, which is less twisty and menacing. Anton Walbrook is marvelous as Paul, swooningly handsome and uniquely unhinged. Diana Wynyard's Bella much better conveys the overwhelmed weakness of a terror victim. 

    (I also realized that the role of the sleazy maid, Nancy, is so abhorrent to me that it wouldn't matter who was playing it - so, apologies to Angela Landsbury for my loathing of her performance in the 1944 version.) 

overall: very strongly recommended

Midnight Cowboy (1969) - "Convinced of his irresistible appeal to women, Texas dishwasher Joe Buck (Jon Voight) quits his job and heads for New York City, thinking he'll latch on to some rich dowager. New York, however, is not as hospitable as he imagined, and Joe soon finds himself living in an abandoned building with a Dickensian layabout named Enrico Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman). The two form a rough alliance, and together they kick-start Joe's hustling career just as Ratso's health begins to deteriorate."
length: 1 hour, 53 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD through the public library
I watched it because: it's a classic movie that lives in pop culture, about which I knew nothing
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 89% Audience: 88%
my IMDB: 8/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Movies (original list 1998) #36

    100 Years…100 Movies - 10th anniversary edition (2007) #43 

MPAA rating: X        

            NOTE: read up on this, if you're wanting to see it and concerned about the rating

notable quote: "The two basic items necessary to sustain life, are sunshine and coconut milk. Didya know that? That's a fact! In Florida, they got a terrific amount of coconut trees there. In fact, I think they even got 'em in the, eh, gas stations over there."

directed by: John Schlesinger

my notes: well, that's what I get for seeing a movie without even reading the description first!

    This is a dirty, shocking, upsetting movie. It also contains moments of real beauty, is genuinely funny, and leaves a strangely mellow afterglow. If one hadn't already picked up that Dustin Hoffman is a genius, watching this film will cement the deal; his Ratso-call-me-Rico is pathetic, conflicted, and affecting. This was an eye-opener for me about Jon Voight, too. He's never been one of my favorite actors, though I did admire Conrack (1974, reviewed here) and Heat (1995). It's probably weird to say it this way, but now I can see Angelina Jolie in him, both physically and in their acting.

    All that, and the costumes are outstanding. 

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I agree: "Midnight Cowboy is a good movie with a masterpiece inside, struggling to break free."

Academy Award winner:
• Best Picture—Jerome Hellman

• Best Director—Schlesinger

• Best Writing, Screenplay based on material from another medium—Waldo Salt
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Actor—Hoffman

• Best Actor—Voight

• Best Supporting Actress—Sylvia Miles

• Best Film Editing—Hugh A. Robertson
overall:  recommended

Metropolis (1927) - "Sometime in the future, the city of Metropolis is home to a Utopian society where its wealthy residents live a carefree life. One of those is Freder Fredersen. One day, he spots a beautiful woman with a group of children, she and the children quickly disappear. Trying to follow her, he is horrified to find an underground world of workers who apparently run the machinery that keeps the Utopian world above ground functioning. One of the few people above ground who knows about the world below is Freder's father, Joh Fredersen, who is the founder and master of Metropolis. Freder learns that the woman is called Maria, who espouses the need to join the 'hands' (the workers) to the 'head' (those in power above) by a mediator who will act as the 'heart'. Freder wants to help the plight of the workers in their struggle for a better life. But when Joh learns of what Maria is advocating and that Freder has joined their cause, with the assistance of an old colleague, an inventor called Rotwang, who turns out to be crazy. Their nemesis goes to works towards quashing a proposed uprising, with Maria at the centre of their plan. Joh, unaware that Rotwang has his own agenda, makes plans that include shutting down the machines, with the prospect of unleashing total anarchy both above and below ground."

length: 2 hours, 33 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD through the public library
I watched it because: science fiction has opened my mind lately 
IMDB: 8.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 97% Audience: 92%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: NR

notable quote: "What if one day those in the depths rise up against you?"

directed by: Fritz Lang

my notes: this is THE classic of science fiction/dystopian cinema, and right up there with the greats of silent film in general. I didn't love it, but neither would I discount its value to film-making. The magnitude (25,000 extras! Filming for a year!) is astounding when considered against the technology of the time. It's definitely worth seeing, especially for those who are interested in the genres.

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I do not wholly agree.

overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Midnight Cowboy]