Movies - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Since I don't like carnival I always take the holidays to read, sleep, catch up with the blogs I like and watch movies. I watched a lot of movies these days, and obviously didn't like all.

The good:

Amadeus

The movie tells the story of Mozart through the eyes of his rival, Antonio Salieri. Feeling the approach of his death, Salieri tells a priest  he lead Mozart to his death - as he believes he did. Mozart's success, allied to no dedication, led Salieri to a blind hate and his very destruction.
This movie won 8 very deserved Oscars. Everything is just perfect. Really.

The Apartment

C. C. Baxter is a bachelor who works for an insurance company. To climb the corporate ladder, he borrows his apartment to his bosses so they can comfortably cheat on their wives. He's just fine with that until one of them takes the girl he is in love with and tells her he is not divorcing his wife to be with her.
After he leaves she attempts suicide and Baxter has to take care of her. I won't ruin the end for you, but I can say it is a lovely romantic comedy. And it won the Oscar for best movie that year. It has the charm of the beginning of this genre so much explored today.

East of Eden

 Based on the last part of an extense book by John Steinbeck, East of Eden is one of the three movies James Dean got to do before he died. It is the story of a religious father, Adam, and his two sons, Aron and Cal. To him, Aron is all of good and pure, and Cal is a stubborn and revolted son. Unfortunately, the father's approval is all Cal wants. Even after he finds out he lied about their mother being dead. This movie has a good story, and some good acting too.

Stand by Me

Didn't expect much of this one - though it was going to be cheesy and shallow. It was based on a tale by Stephen King (not in a scary way). Four friends with complicated families decide to follow the train rails until the place it is believed that lies the body of a kid who was ranover by the train. During their trip they realize how important their friendship is and how hard it will be to keep it in the future. Despite hat, the movie is quite funny and really nice.

When Harry Met Sally

This is one of my mother's favorite movies. Usually, I don't like Meg Ryan, but she was quite likeable in this movie. Harry drives Sally to NY as a favour to a girlfriend. They start a few conversations, all end in complete disagreement.
A few years later, they meet again, then again, then again, so they start meeting and become good friends. But how long can a man and a woman remain 'just good friends'?

All About Eve

Anne Baxter plays Eve, a naive girl who wishes to be a theater actress. With the help of a scripwriter's wife, she gets to Margo (Bette Davis, wonderful as always) and becomes a helpful companion.
But, as a friend of Margo warns her, a person who dedicates everything to another and asks nothing in return is certainly suspect, and Eve seems to be studying, analyzing her. Said and done: Eve uses Margo and her friends to climb to stardom without their notice, and the only one who got what she was up to was an admired theater critic.

Now, to the bad:

My Life In Ruins

I really like Nia Vardalos, but ARRRGH! This movie really sucked. It is a bad romantic comedy about a turistic guide in Greece, Georgia, that in vain tries to persuade turists to pay more attention to the history of Greece.
About to quit the job, she must make one last trip, with the hairy bus driver with a supposedly hilarious name of Procopi 'Poupi' Kakas and Irv, an old man that thinks himself very funny (he's Richard Dreyfuss, I couldn't believe it). It happens that when Poupi cuts his hair, he is not so repulsive and Irv just acts that way because his wife died before he could take her to Greece (Up, anyone?). You know how it's gonna end. So cliché.

And the ugly:

Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

This movie is considered one of the best and a classic and all, but I don't know if it was my headache, or the poor dubbing (TCM is all dubbed here. It's awful), or the fact that I'm not meant to, but I couldn't like this movie. I didn't even understand it well enough to. Maybe I need sometime to get it, like I needed to love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

To Catch a Thief

What happened to Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Grace Kelly here? It was all very badly put togheter, dull and monotonous. Grant lives a retired jewel thief, but all of a sudden roberies like his start again.
To prove his innocence, he decides to catch the responsible himself. Meanwhile, he meets Frances, who kind of desperatly tries to seduce him. Girly observation: Despite all, figurine is stunning.

Yep, that was it. Not bad for four days, I think. More later,