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LadyWesley
Reviews
Midsomer Murders: Garden of Death (2000)
Beautiful gardens; grim story
This was a very good episode, improved by the magnificent Margaret Tyzack as the matriarch of a most dysfunctional family. Midsomer is full of dysfunctional families, but usually they aren't all killing one another.
Midsomer Murders: Death of a Stranger (1999)
Hard to follow
I've been watching MM in chronological order. I'm pretty sure that I saw all of them twenty years ago, but luckily I've forgotten the details. Death of a Stranger must be the most convoluted plot ever, but it did all come together in the end. Barnaby put his intuition intuition into warp drive to solve this one.
So Long at the Fair (1950)
Great atmosphere; intriguing mystery
I watched this movie on TCM today, having never heard of it before. It is all around great in a 1950s sort of way. Excellent recreation of gay Paree and a creepy hotel full of sinister staff. The director uses just enough French to convey the confusion and desperation of the heroine, who doesn't speak French.
All in all, a well-spent hour and a half.
Endeavour: Ride (2016)
Watch it for the acting, not the plot
Shaun Evans and Roger Allam are always wonderful to watch. I love the relationship between Morse and Thursday. Bright is allowed to become more human, and Anton Lesser does a fine job with his hesitant efforts to welcome back Morse into the fold. The entire ensemble is so good that I barely even care about the plot, which is this case was quite derivative (as other reviewers have pointed out).
The plot here is so convoluted that I couldn't follow it all (and I've read The Great Gatsby). There are just too many moving elements, and the eventual solution pulls in facts that haven't even been hinted at. Morse appears almost psychic, although the verbal tic that gives away the killer is clever. Here's hoping the writing improves.
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)
Captain Queeg meets Agatha Christie with a touch of Hitchcock
The summary line says it all.
Bogie as a kinda sexy guy, a la Casablanca, at first, but becoming more unhinged as time passes. (And a great nod to Casablanca's closing line.)
An English country house with tea parties and hybrid rose gardens. Snooty neighbors and an eccentric housekeeper.
A parish church with bells that chime at propitious moments.
A glowing glass of poisoned milk (although not a glowy as in Suspicion).
Kind of a fun movie, as it turns out.
Hairspray (2007)
Not John Waters' "Hairspray," but that's OK
Loved the original John Waters' production. Never saw the Broadway version. Had a great time at the movie.
It's just a good, fun movie. The music makes you want to get up and dance with the kids. Wonderful casting! Nikki Blonsky makes a delightful Tracy. Michelle Pfieffer is almost unrecognizable, but I knew women who looked just like that in the 60s. Christopher Walken -- well, he is, as always, sublime. John Travolta (did he think he was doing a Bal'mer accent?) was surprisingly light on his feet while wearing that fat suit. When he and Walken danced together -- it's not Fred and Ginger, but it's pretty darn good. Nobody except Queen Latifah could play Motormouth Maybelle.And young Zac Efron is downright hot, as is the adorable Elijah Kelley.
If you were a kid or teenager in 1962, you can't help but notice the set decoration and costuming. They are dead-on perfect.
Hey -- "Hairspray's" got aerosol cans, gas guzzlers, and pregnant women drinking and smoking! What's not to like?
The Howards of Virginia (1940)
I couldn't watch the whole thing.
What a disappointment! I had never heard of this movie, but I love movies from the 30s-40s, enjoy watching Cary Grant, and find American Revolutionary history fascinating.
I give the producer credit for shooting exteriors on location -- but Cedric Hardwicke provided the only other pleasant surprise.(An over-the-top performance should be expected from a character named Fleetwood.)
Cary Grant was just horrible; as others have noted, he adopted a goofy accent and seemed to be on amphetamines; and he never should have been made to wear buckskins and a ponytail, for goodness sake. And poor, dull Martha Scott -- who could believe that she inspired such love and devotion after one meeting. Personally, I could have done without quite so much "Tom" Jefferson.
The plot was simplistic; the dialog mundane. I couldn't take it for the entire two hours.
Goodbye Again (1961)
Yves over Tony? You bet!
I never even heard of this movie until yesterday. Curious, that. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it, primarily because I could not picture an elegant, mature Ingrid Bergman falling for a mentally unstable, childish Anthony Perkins. Fifteen years is not such a great age difference (although it must have been unthinkable in 1961), but here the difference was immense.
Perhaps I just can't find Tony Perkins alluring. If the role had been played by Paul Newman, well, perhaps . . . .
It was great fun to watch, however, for the location shots of 1960's Paris, Ingrid Bergman's fabulous Christian Dior wardrobe and the clever variations on the Brahms theme in the soundtrack.
Star of Midnight (1935)
Powell's apartment
As previous commenters have said, this is a slight but fun reworking of The Thin Man. It's a fun way to spend a couple of hours. There's plenty of sizzle between Powell and Rogers (of course, Ginger's no Myrna, though). The plot is slight, but who really cares?
Check out the set design for Powell's apartment -- it's classic 30's luxury. The bathroom alone is worth watching for. It could fit in to any modern McMansion easily. This is an RKO picture, but I thought the sets were every bit as good as the ones that Cedric Gibbons and Edwin Willis were doing over at MGM during the same period.
Kudos also to the costume design. Ginger Rogers changes outfits more times than I could count. Powell, of course, looks elegant even in a bathrobe, but surely no star ever looked as good as he did in white tie.
Hotel Berlin (1945)
An overlooked little gem, set and filmed in the last days of WWII.
I just saw this for the first time on TCM and found it fascinating. It's one of the few movies made during WWII that distinguishes between ordinary German citizens and Nazis. There's very little overt wartime propaganda, until the end (which has a small surprise twist). Although made with a so-called "B" cast, it's every bit as engaging as Grand Hotel. A shame it's not on VHS or DVD, but surely TCM will be showing it again.