Lanning : ) (binky013)

Three Wishes for Cinderella Unrated

Mahalo, Jos, for pointing this one out to me. I will add it and check it out.

Paranormal Activity 3 R

Man, it's a good thing flixster doesn't allow profanity or I'd be off on a profane tear. Are you kidding me? Seriously, I thought the guy was going to pick up the camera again at the end. And how the heck did they recover that film? Chronic video makers irritate the borat out of me. Well, it's better than Blair Witch, and the best thing about it is the soundtrack. I wonder if it's available on CD?

Sunset Boulevard Unrated

From a writing standpoint, kudos for this script.

There is something about getting old, in Hollywood, that is imminently topical. In this movie about making movies, the notion of growing too old to draw an audience echoes a kind of universally unspoken nightmare for everyone who becomes a "star."

How ironic that this really was Gloria Swanson's swan song. After this it was all a path to obscurity for her with mostly TV parts until the end. Her melodramatic acting style is almost so over the top that you might be tempted to laugh in some scenes, but the fact that her character's story is so sad keeps you from doing so. Swanson would have had my vote for the Oscar.

William Holden is so good in this; dying young is one sure solution to the problem of aging. My favorite player is Cecil B. DeMille as himself. He completely and sympathetically understands the aging star's tragedy.

In Hollywood, how old is too old? An interesting commentary on a problem that must plague many Hollywood industry folks even to this day.

Okay, here's a question for everyone who might want to think about it: In literature, when a narrator continues to speak after death, is that an artistic problem, or, in this case, is that perhaps a commentary on art and immortality?

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three R

Excuse me, do you people still execute in this state?

For me personally, the best Robert Shaw performance ever. No one scarier than Mr. Blue, I kid you not. He asks this of Matthau right before he . . . Don't want to give it away. It's an electrifying scene.

As if his work in The Laughing Policeman just the year before was a tune-up, Matthau appears again as the dogged cop dutifully dealing with the bad guys. This is for me, his most memorable dramatic role. He and Shaw, as adversaries, give a performance for the ages. I miss them both.