One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)

Deanna Durbin's primarily a singer, so building a film around her acting doesn't really work. I wouldn't be up for a film that employed her solely as a singer either -- but that's neither here nor there.

She's the whole show here -- cast as a controlling yet adorable (supposedly) young girl scheming to get her father and a group of his fellow unemployed musicians working again. I just got tired of the same manic "youdon'tunderstandthough--" "butyouhaveto--" "justlistenI'm--" back and forths. The adults don't listen to her and she doesn't listen to them and, despite what the screenwriters apparently believed, interruption isn't the same thing as banter.

C-

Game 6 (2006)

I was kind of wrinkling my nose at what passes for conversation in this movie...it seemed so irritatingly familiar while also feeling incredibly unrealistic. Then there was an asbestos storm, complete with men in white suits moving like astronauts as they cleaned up the mess and it clicked: DeLillo.

The one other experience I've had with this writer, when I was forced to read "White Noise" for an online book club, was equally unsatisfying. The characters spoke in the same "monologuists taking turns" style and there was even a catastrophe involving chemicals where people had to take cover while a team came in to clean up the place in containment suits. So -- this guy's apparently got only a couple of ideas and, unfortunately, they're not very interesting ones.

This was tedious, to say the least. Keaton's performance was good, but it didn't fool me into believing the movie was.

D-

Winter Passing (2006)

Local-theater actress daughter of reclusive "Great American Author"-type is offered a chunk of change if she'll hand over her parents' correspondence which was left to her by her recently-deceased (by suicide, natch) mother. So, she hops on a Greyhound to get the goods and finds herself a stranger in her own home. Sounds pretty standard, doesn't it? Well, zip up your parka because the quirkiness avalanche is about to bury the landscape.

Her father now lives in his own garage, while a territorial British chick and a guy who just appeared on the couch one morning have taken over the house. Dad whacks golf balls every evening before dinner in the former master bedroom. The master bedroom furniture is now gracing the back yard. Dad has trouble remembering to hold on to his fork during dinner but don't worry: British chick is on the case. I mean, sure I like a side of quirk in my indie films -- but making an entire meal out of it is a bit much.

C+

Twilight of Honor (1963)

Principled widower takes on the defense in high-profile case in which an entire town wants the blood of the accused. Sound familiar? Yep -- you got it -- it's a low-brow "To Kill a Mockingbird" rip-off.

Where Mockingbird had nobility, sadness, and weight, Honor substitutes in entitlement, seediness, and romance. It's a waste of time -- especially when considered comparatively.

C

Duma (2005)

Xan and and his parents raise a motherless cheetah on their ranch in South Africa and, of course, grow quite attached to him. Dad and son make plans to return "Duma" to the wild but the father dies before they can do so. Mom decides that they will lease the ranch, move to the city -- putting Xan into a private school and Duma on a wildlife preserve. Neither Xan or Duma fare well during their short stint in the city, so Xan decides to take Duma back to the wild himself.

While I kinda like this movie, I'm also rather confused as to what its message is. It's an exciting adventure, to be sure, but a dangerously ill-advised one. Xan makes no preparation other than grabbing his dad's cycle (no extra gas, no food, little water, improper clothes) and leaves his mother uninforned and worried to death. Of course he makes it -- it's a family film -- but I kinda wish there'd been some long-term consequence. I don't know...a broken leg that doesn't set properly? Burned corneas resulting in blindness? I mean SOMEthing to let kiddies know that good intentions don't always triumph over stupidity.

Hmm...I rather doubt I'll be getting a job writing children's books any time soon.

B-

Pickup on South Street (1953)

Pickpocket ruins a sting operation when he unwittingly lifts a wallet that contains more than cash. This is a decent noir -- the first half-hour or so is particularly excellent.

Thelma Ritter's in it (always a good thing) and she brings some heart to the proceedings as a stoolie who isn't begrudged her living by the criminals on whom she informs. There is an unfortunate "Commies! Oh no!" foundation, but it's clunky and really beside the point. According to one of the trivia entries on IMDb, the French version changed the dialogue and title to make it about drugs rather than Communist spies -- which just goes to show how little the what in this story matters. It's all about the how.

B-

Hoodwinked! (2005)

It's Red Riding Hood told Rashomon-style. Red, the Wolf, Granny, and the Lumberjack all tell police what happened from their point of view -- and it's entertaining for a while, but then it just gets boring. Despite it's short running time (80 minutes), it just seems to go on and on and I was tired of the "cleverness" and just wanted it to end. I think this could've worked really well as a one-hour TV special (42 minutes + ads).

Another couple of complaints: the songs were stupid and Anne Hathaway (as Red) is too sarcastic/snarky-sounding. A gal can be savvy without sounding condescending.

C

Rumor Has It... (2005)

It's got an extremely clever premise: woman (Jennifer Aniston) finds out that grandmother/mother were the real-life mother/daughter duo on whom characters in "The Graduate" were based. You'd think they could've had a lot more fun with it. Instead, it's just lifeless and a little creepy.

Basically, in the space of a few hours, Aniston goes from believing that Beau (a likable Kevin Costner) could be her father to sleeping with him, which kind of wrecks her engagement -- but only temporarily since, you know, her fiancé's got that movie-level patience.

I just didn't get it. And I wasn't really bothering to try.

D+

A Song to Remember (1945)

The IMDb plot outline reads "Biography of Frederic Chopin." Ummm...yeah. That's kinda like saying The Da Vinci Code will tell you the true story of Christ.

Chopin's a Polish Revolutionary (!) who escapes to Paris after enraging the powers that be in his homeland. There he becomes a celebrity of the "leave me alone with my genius" variety -- forgetting his younger ideals. Don't worry, though, because when he's really needed he'll give a concert that kills him for dear old Poland!

Pretty much just a bunch of junky fictional melodrama with pretty music.

C-

The Family Stone (2005)

My expectations that this would be a slapstick comedy were completely wrong -- I'm guessing that both this film and Matchstick Men hired the same guys to put together a fully misleading trailer.

There's a fantastic mix here of humor and drama, of uncomfortableness and beauty. I was angry and touched and fully immersed in the story. The actors do an amazing job of feeling like a family - the only performance with which I had any trouble was Dermot Mulroney's (I'm really not sure why this guy even has career, let alone one as an object of desire - he always comes off as rather a cold fish). But even his monotone delivery and unchanging expressions couldn't drag this movie down too much.

A

Last Holiday (2006)

Queen Latifah is adorable as Georgia Byrd, a timid, church-going sales clerk with lots of dreams. She makes elaborate dinners at home that she photographs then feeds to the neighbor boy while she microwaves a Lean Cuisine for herself. Once she's diagnosed with a weeks-to-live terminal illness, she wakes up and decides to realize some of the dreams she's outlined in her "Possibilities" album.

Byrd becomes fearless -- socially and physically -- winning over everyone in her path (including Gary and me) in the process.

There's nothing here that's gonna stick with anyone long-term, but it's one of those "suitable for all" stories that's well-done in that sweet without being dopey way. Everything's gonna work out -- of course it is. That's the whole point of a happy little story like this.

B-

Little Fish (2006)

We get kinda plopped into the middle of things here -- I felt as though I were playing catch-up for the first 40 minutes or so (e.g., who is that guy? are they related? is that a boyfriend -- eww...her dad?? oh! her stepdad).

Tracy (Cate Blanchett) is an ex-addict in a go-nowhere job trying to start her own business. Her family are in different states of dealing with drugs: her brother's been maimed as a result of abuse, her stepfather's still deep into the life, her just-returned-to-town ex-boyfriend seems to have his act together now, and her mother has turned into a fearfully watchful nag.

Despite the fact that there's a big story that weaves all of the little threads together, the movie winds up feeling rather small and pointless. Though I have to admit that there's bravery in refusing to wrap everything up with a bow, that's not always enough to make a movie good.

C-

The Happiness of the Katakuris (2002)

Um...erm...welllll.... It's definitely odd. It's a Japanese horror/comedy -- with claymation and musical numbers (one's even presented sing-along style) sprinkled throughout.

Despite the forced weirdness in every scene, you can't help but like the central family. The actors are charming and they give themselves over completely to the strangeness of each scene. I wish I could have done the same.

As unique as it is, though, I found my patience wearing thin about halfway through. It's definitely my new answer for the "what's the weirdest movie you've ever seen" question -- and that's worth something.

C+