A television movie about my hero Winston Churchill and the years leading up to WWII. Beautifully written,  directed, and acted by some of the best including one of my top ten,  Albert Finney as Churchill, along with  Vanessa Redgrave as his wife Clementine, and lots of other good actors including Jim Broadbent. The relationship between Winston and Clemmy is interestingly explored and comes with some surprises, so there is something other than politics and war.

Mature Kids: Only because it may be boring to the less mature.

Movie Details: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314097/

A great old fashioned Santa movie that everyone should see with their whole family. Get the original 1947 black and white version (it’s been redone several times) with Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn playing Kris Kringle – better known as Santa Clause.

Movie Details: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/

Another 60’s TV special classic I love!

Another animated movie made by Rankin/Bass studios, it first aired on TV in December of 1969, and according to Wikipedia, it is one of the only four 1960’s Christmas specials still being telecast today, including: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and of course Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Hippity Hop Hop and go rent “Tosty” (as my daughter called him)  this Christmas season. Better yet, buy it for your kids, grand-kids, or anyone else you love.

http://www.amazon.com/Original-Christmas-Classics-Red-Nosed-Reindeer/dp/B000R7G6JA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1259184303&sr=8-1

Movie Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frosty_the_Snowman_(TV_program)

OK, I still am a kid at heart, and I love this movie!

A “stop motion animation” movie made by Rankin/Bass studios, and first aired on TV in December of 1964, according to Wikipedia,

“It has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest running Christmas TV special, and one of only four 1960s Christmas specials still being telecast (the others being A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Frosty the Snowman).”

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas and rent it this Christmas season. Better yet, buy it for your kids, grand-kids, or anyone else you love.

http://www.amazon.com/Original-Christmas-Classics-Red-Nosed-Reindeer/dp/B000R7G6JA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1259184303&sr=8-1

Movie Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_the_Red-Nosed_Reindeer_(TV_special)

We all know about John Wayne/John Ford western classics, I love them too, but some of the best, if not the best westerns are Randolph Scott/Bud Boetticher westerns.

Randolph Scott is my favorite western actor (sorry John) and Bud Boeitticher is my favorite western director (sorry again John). Plots? Hey, they’re westerns, but with great plots, acting and directing.

Ladies, you’d be surprised at how fun a good western can be, and guys, you can’t go wrong, so check them out!

• Seven Men from Now (1956)
• Decision at Sundown (1957)
• The Tall T (1957)
• Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)
• Ride Lonesome (1959)
• Westbound (1959)
• Comanche Station (1960)

Lonesome Dove is the absolute best television mini-series ever made! Beautifully adapted from Larry McMurtry’s novel by the same name. My wife and I have watched this four part (eight hours?) movie/mini-series at least five times and will watch it again and again.

It’s a western, but one for gals and guys alike but it’s not for kids as there is a lot of strong violence and some “waggle the bean” references you may not want them to ask you to explain.

Movie Description: Lonesome Dove

A fun Christmas classic for young and old alike.  Written by Jean Sheperd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Sheperd), it’s a tale set in 1940’s Cleveland full of period Americana with a little edge and a lot of fun. Stars Peter Billingsley (Little Ralphy), Darin McGavin (Ralphy’s “Old Man”), and lots of others.

Kid Caution: May have some scary parts for the smallest kids during a “Somewhat Scary Santa at the Mall Scene”, and some other stuff you may or may not want your kids to see, so maybe you want to watch it first and decide if you have little ones.

Movie details: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085334/

A Christmas movie you don’t hear about much for some unknown reason, but probably the only musical I’ll watch over and over if given the chance. Just enough “musical” and plenty of good writing and acting.

Based (duh!) on Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Albert Finney – one of my top ten actors, plays Ebenezer Scrooge magically. Yep, that’s him playing both Scrooge as both young and old man (Check out other great movies with Albert Finney). With Alec Guiness, Dame Edith Evans, and lot’s of other great actors and cute kids. Do yourself a favor and fast forward through the long beginning credits, and be prepared for a quite long movie that starts kind of slow for some, but ends wonderfully for all. Nominated for several academy awards, and Albert Finney won the Golden Globe for best actor.

Kid Caution: We just watched this movie and I am changing my rating from “For Everyone” to “Kid Caution”. Why? There are a couple of scenes that may be scary for younger (<13 years old?) kids. Especially the Jacob Marly scene played wonderfully by Alec Guiness. Marly is Scrooge’s ex-partner and is now of course a ghost. Some scary ghosts and a “hell” scene. Also, the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come may be scary and sad as the spirit foretells of Scrooges and Tiny Tim’s deaths. Personally, I now don’t recommend it for younger kids, but it still is a great movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066344/

First, let me say that when it comes to beauty in movies, I believe that Benjamin Franklin (not that Ben knew much about movies) had it right when he said:

“Is but supported by opinion
Beauty, like supreme dominion”

In other words, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It’s true in all things – especially the movies. Almost every movie I’ve loved or hated, one of my most valued friends or members of my family has conversely hated or loved. Keeping that in an open mind, here’s the bottom line of what I see as beautiful in the movies, which of course means what I’m for and against in movies, and how I rate and rank them in my reviews.

I am for:

• Any kind of movie. Comedy, drama, suspense, western, chick-flicks, whatever. No pigeonholing allowed.
• A good script. No matter who produces, directs, or acts, without a good script, forget it.
• Good direction.
• Good acting.
• Good music.

I am against:

• Gratuitous violence, especially for kids.  No matter who insists on it, I believe it desensitizes and enables a worse society. I don’t believe that The Wizard of Oz’s flying monkey scene or wicked witch landed on by house scene is bad for any kid. I do believe that Friday the Thirteenth is bad for anyone, young, old, stable, or deranged.
• Gratuitous foul language. The F-bomb snuck into our movie culture in the Sixties, but give me a movie without and it, and the rest of the needless, mindless and worthless mind numbing gibberish being passed off as relevant banter, and it would have been a better movie, guaranteed.
• Gratuitous sex. ‘Nuff said.
• Revisionist or inaccurate history, because as George Santayana said: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” More to the point, if the only history most of our young people are getting is from the movies, how important to the future of our country and indeed our world is accurate history, and how dangerous is purposely inaccurate (better known as propaganda) history?
• My Own Waffling: I hate to waffle, but here goes.  All of the things I hate I admit I sometimes throw out the window. For instance, I am a sucker for Mob movies. The Godfather trilogy, The Sopranos, Good Fellas, Casino, etc. – can’t get enough of ‘em. There’s plenty of gratuitous everything in most of them. Make your own decision, as an adult, that’s the beauty of living in a free country, isn’t it? But I still say they’re not for kids under eighteen.

Ratings

• Everyone – The littlest kid to the biggest kid amongst us.
• Kids Caution – May have some content that could disturb kids – dying dogs, sick horses, scary clowns, etc. I’ll explain in each review, you be the judge.
• Mature Kids Only – Better for older, more mature kids (15+?). I’ll explain in each review, you be the judge.
• Adults Only – I’ll explain in each review, you be the judge.

Rankings

• 1-10, 10 being the best of the best, 1 being avoid at all costs.

Why in the world would anyone use Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) and or Outlook Express? My only guess is, as George Mallory said when he was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, “Because it’s there.” That’s a good reason to climb mountains, but you wouldn’t stab yourself in the toe with your ice axe or wrestle the four hundred pound abominable snow man in the corner “because it’s there”, so why in the world would you use IE or OE, especially given the excellent, free and much safer alternatives available. Read the rest of this entry »