Beyond the Clouds

Beyond the Clouds
Zee Studios
20 November 2017
Crime Drama
DVD
C

I didn't have any strong feelings about this movie one way or the other, but it did feel odd to me that there was an onscreen "SMOKING" warning every moment that a cigarette appeared onscreen, and meanwhile there's a brothel and drug deals.  I guess this can be chalked up to cultural differences.  Majid Majidi also wrote and directed Baran, sixteen years earlier.

Bewitched

Bewitched
Columbia
June 24, 2005
Fantasy, Romcom
DVD
D

Nora Ephron directed and co-wrote this mess with her sister Delia.  I saw it at the time and mostly remembered that the concept-- the movie isn't a remake of the classic TV show but a movie about a remake of the classic TV show-- was convoluted, and Will Ferrell was annoying.  Both still true, but I probably would've given the movie a C- or a pity C back in '05, and I did watch until the end.  This time, I was irritated with Kidman before Ferrell showed up, although he did bring it down from a D+.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Better Luck Tomorrow
MTV Films
April 25, 2003
Crime Drama
DVD
C-

Two allegedly smart teens are petty thieves.  John Cho plays the boyfriend of the girl that the narrating teen has a crush on.  Justin Lin directed and co-wrote.

The Best of Times (1986)

The Best of Times (1986)
Universal
January 31, 1986
Sports Comedy
DVD
C-

I wanted to like this movie, because I read the very positive Pauline Kael review ages ago (not quite at the time, but a few years later), and I like Kurt Russell and sometimes love Robin Williams.  Unfortunately, I disliked Williams's character, who is the protagonist, as he's a whiner and a cheater and just not funny.  Too bad.  It would be nice to like a sports comedy for a change.

Roger Spottiswoode directed.

The Best of Me

The Best of Me
Relativity Media
October 17, 2014
Drama, Romance
DVD
D+

Boring people are connected in confusing ways, and then we go into an extended flashback.  Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel.

Best in Show

Best in Show
Warner Bros.
October 20, 2000
Mockumentary
DVD
B

Guest directed and with Levy co-wrote this movie, and the two of them play two of the main characters in it, although each set of dogs & owners gets moments in the spotlight.  I saw this movie at the time and maybe once again in the intervening almost twenty years, and I do think it holds up well, in both humor and story-- all the more impressive considering how much of it was improvised-- but I don't think it has the extra oomph that This Is Spinal Tap (1984, and reviewed here https://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2014/11/this-is-spinal-tap.html) has.  By the way, I think Begley's reference here to a rock band he can't say by name is a Spinal Tap joke. 

I actually forgot which dog won and thought it was Hubert the Hound, but it makes narrative sense for it to be the Flecks' Winky, because that family, especially Gerry (Levy's character), are most the (sorry) underdogs.  And the funniest performance here is Larry Miller's cameo as one of O'Hara's many exes, which surprised me because his humor can be hit or miss for me.  The "not the same Starbucks" line remains classic.

I had to leave Patrick Cranshaw out of the crowded tags, but I will note that he was then 80 and had been playing old men for about thirty years, like on Mork & Mindy.

Benny and Joon

Benny and Joon
MGM
April 23, 1993
Dramedy, Romance
DVD
C-

The '90s, when mental illness was quirky.  At least there's some nice scenery and costumes.  Jeremiah S. Chechik directed.

Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham
Road Movies
11 April 2002
Sports Comedy
DVD
C

Although this movie was very well received, watching it for the first time now, I didn't think it had any of the magic of writer-director Gurinder Chadha's Bride & Prejudice, or even the surprising likability of her Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (surprising given that the Georgia Nicolson books aren't that likable).  I'm not big on sports anyway, but that said, this was OK, and I did like the bits about Anglo-Indian culture.  And, yes, that's 17-year-old Keira Knightley as the protagonist's new friend.

Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur
MGM
November 18, 1959
Historical Drama
DVD
D

Six-and-a-half minutes of overture, then five-and-a-half-minutes for the Birth of Jesus, and then the opening credits.  2001 was more eventful!  At least this led to one of the funnier sequences of Celluloid Closet, where Gore Vidal claims he put homosexual subtext into the movie.  (I wouldn't know from what I watched today.  There was barely any text.)  William Wyler directed.

Beirut

Beirut
Bleecker Street
April 11, 2018
Historical Drama
DVD
C-

A diplomat (Hamm)'s wife is killed at a dinner party in Beirut in 1972, then it's ten years later and he sits lost in thought in a car.  Then I tuned out.  Brad Anderson directed.

Being There

Being There
United Artists
December 20, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
C-

I saw this movie at the time and remember enjoying it, although I was 11 and it's incredibly slow-moving, at least in the first quarter-hour, which was all I watched this time.  And I have to say, middle-aged Gen-Xer that I am, I was much more interested in the clips from Green Acres, The Price is Right, and whatever show Muttley the Hanna-Barbera Snickering Dog was on than the deliberately emotionless character Sellers plays.

Jerzy Kosinski co-wrote the script, based on his novel.  Hal Ashby directed, but this is no Harold and Maude.

Being Julia

Being Julia
Sony Pictures Classic
September 3, 2004
Historical Comedy
DVD
C-

In 1938, Julia the actress is theatrical on and offstage.  Based on the W. Somerset Maugham novella Theatre.   István Szabó directed.

Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich
Propaganda Films
December 3, 1999
Fantasy, Dramedy, Romance
DVD
B

Let me tell you a little story that has nothing to do with your viewing experience but a lot to do with mine.  It was almost twenty years ago, and less than a year after this movie came out.  I was watching it with my then-boyfriend, possibly on DVD but I think on VHS.  We were attracted to each other without having much in common, which we were fully aware of.  We were still in the giddy early, hormonal stage and we started making out during the scene when Maxine (Catherine Keener) is mounting Malkovich while Lotte (Cameron Diaz) is in his mind.  We kept making out until shocked out of it by the scene where Lotte's husband, Craig (John Cusack), forces her at gunpoint to make a call to Maxine.

Watching the movie now wasn't that much of an emotional whiplash, but it remains a twisted, disturbing and yet somehow fun and funny ride.  It's one of those rare movies where I don't like any of the characters and yet I want to see what happens to them, and of course the situation is fascinating and it's cool to see it play out in all its ramifications.  At one point, Craig wonders what will happen to John M. if he goes into the portal, and Maxine says, "Let's find out," like she's just another viewer.  (Interestingly, she's the one significant character who doesn't try to "be" John Malkovich, although she does control him through sex and love.)

Charlie Kaufman wrote the script and Spike Jonze directed, and I assume the quirkiness comes from both.  I want to particularly single out my two favorite parts, one of which is a play on the title and the concept, and the other of which seems to have little to do with the main part of the movie but is actually a capsule of it.  What the viewers (but maybe not Maxine or Craig) find out is that Malkovich enters an alternate world where everyone is Malkovich and speaks only in Malkovich, e.g. "Malkovich? Malkovich!"

When Craig is first hired to work at LesterCorp, he has to watch a training film, which is unlike any training film you've ever seen.  The visuals suggest it was made about 20 years earlier, but then it goes into a "dramatic recreation" of something allegedly from the late 1800s, except that the two characters we now see are dressed as if it's colonial times, more like 250 years ago than 100.  We get the feeling that LesterCorp is keeping down its overhead in more ways than low ceilings.  And then later in the outer movie, the story turns out to be true!  (Well, they probably got colonial costumes cheap in 1979, but still.)

I didn't love that boyfriend and I don't love this movie, then or now, but some things have to be experienced, no matter how "wrong" they are.

I'm omitting all the people, including Dustin Hoffman, that appear in archive footage, but I am including Sean Penn and Octavia Spencer because they make memorable cameos.

Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines
20th Century Fox
November 30, 2001
War Drama
DVD
D

Wilson and Hackman argue during the Bosnian War.  John Moore directed.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
THINKFilm
October 26, 2007
Crime Drama
DVD
C-

Three years after Lumet directed Tomei in the Alfie remake, he gives her a sex scene and a nude scene in just the first quarter hour.  So a C- rather than a D+ for this tale of two criminal brothers.  Note that the alphabet has given Ethan Hawke back to back entries for this blog.

Before Sunset

Before Sunset
Castle Rock
July 2, 2004
Romance
DVD
C-

This turns out to be the middle in a trilogy, with movies spaced nine years apart (Before Sunrise was first and Before Midnight is the last, so far).  I judged it as a stand-alone and it was just sort of there.  A novelist gets interviewed and then talks with his "ex," who shows up to surprise him, and even though I am big on dialogue (my idea of ultimate entertainment is a lot closer to people talking on a couch than it is to explosions or any "spectacle"), I just didn't care enough about what they were talking about.

Ethan Hawke not only stars as Jesse, but he co-wrote the screenplay with director Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan, who co-created the characters.

Before Night Falls

Before Night Falls
Grandview Pictures
February 23, 2001
Historical Drama
DVD
C-

Based on Reinaldo Arenas's autobiography, this tells the story of a young gay man growing up in Cuba.  I liked the touches of humor but wasn't really drawn in.  Julian Schnabel directed.

Beethoven's Christmas Adventure

Beethoven's Christmas Adventure
Studio Unknown
October 4, 2011
Children's, Comedy, Fantasy
DVD
C-

This seventh entry in the franchise was straight-to-video, but it's not as bad as I expected, especially considering I've never seen any of the others.  Not that it's good-- not with jokes about drool and a queeny mall elf-- but the teen hero (played by Munro Chambers) is better than necessary and it's not surprising the actor went on to various incarnations of Degrassi.  

John Putch directed.  Note that this is the third movie with Tom Arnold (here voicing the dog) that I've rejected, although that's not his fault.

Bedtime for Bonzo

A surprisingly racy poster, considering
Reagan and Lynn don't share a bed.

Bedtime for Bonzo
Universal
April 5, 1951
Comedy
DVD
C+

This isn't as bad as its reputation but neither is it an under-rated gem.  Reagan isn't plausible as a psychology professor who blames environment on crime, or really as a romantic lead (at least in this movie), but he's serviceable, especially since he mostly has to act mad at a "monkey."  (Like just about all '50s and '60s movie "monkeys," it's a chimp.)  The then-40-year-old-but-passing-for-maybe-30 is paired with a nanny played by Diana Lynn (then 24 but still recognizable as the lovably clear-headed kid sister in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek).  The best comedic performances here are from then-not-so-old reliables Herb Vigran and Jesse "Maytag Repairman" White, both playing cops in this movie and showing up on just about every sitcom for the next two decades after.  Note that the movie contains a reference to Harvey, which came out the previous December.  And this story inspired 1965's Monkey's Uncle, which I also gave a C+ (https://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-monkeys-uncle.html)

Frederick De Cordova directed this film, which is part of the reason that Johnny Carson used to mock the movie on The Tonight Show, which De Cordova produced.  That and "Ronald Reegan" (as the trailer pronounces it) went on to a career in politics.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Walt Disney
7 October 1971
Historical Comedy, Musical, Fantasy, Children's
DVD
B-

Unlike Mary Poppins, which this somewhat resembles (Robert Stevenson direction, Sherman Brothers score, some plot and character elements), I hadn't seen this movie in decades and honestly didn't know what to expect.  Having watched the whole two hours and twenty minutes (edited back to its original length after being shortened soon after its premiere in Britain, hence that release date above), I'm still not sure what I think.  I went back and looked at my review of Poppins (https://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2014/04/mary-poppins.html) and I realize that I gave them the same score, although for different reasons.  Except, I think David Tomlinson is the weak link in both movies, although, again, for different reasons.

I was very into the first part of the movie this time.  Lansbury is great and the kids are good, and I liked the village life, including Roddy McDowall (always fun) as the local minister.  Some of the matte paintings, with a seaside setting, are just lovely.  The idea of an "apprentice witch" reluctantly taking in three London orphans during World War II had a lot of potential.  And when the bedknob (singular in the Mary Norton book title, which I read ages ago as a kid and was surprised by how different it was) was twisted and the bed took off, I was ready for adventure.

And then Tomlinson showed up.  In Poppins, far too much time is spent "saving Mr. Banks," while here Tomlinson's character, "Professor" Emilius Browne," is a "lovable" con man who becomes Eglantine Price's (Lansbury's) love interest and potential "father" to the kids.  Besides the fact that Tomlinson has little chemistry with Lansbury (this is not the why-couldn't-it-be-canonical-ship of Mary P/Bert), Lansbury's character is so awesome (except for her being somewhat forgetful as a witch), that it would be hard for someone to match up to her.  Giving Emilius lines like "Women always lose things" and "Women don't know how to file" (because, you know, you never see female secretaries or file clerks) doesn't help matters, especially in a period when Women's Lib was breaking into mainstream media.

I also think that the musical numbers are a mixed bag, none of them bad exactly-- I was pleased to see that "Beautiful Briny Sea" is as lovely as I remember-- but some of the sequences going on too long, like the dances-of-all-nations shoehorned into "Portobello Road."  The whole movie is too long, especially in its restored version, and it's not like there aren't still hanging threads, like the payoff for McDowall's character simply being that his hat floats off his head and he gets chased by Miss Price's nightgown.  And I think there's a reason that I blocked out the specifics of Naboombu; as a kid or an adult, I don't want to watch a violent soccer game, played by talking animals or not.

Still, yes, I would put this movie on a level with Mary Poppins.  There's something about it after all this time, something as elusive as a magical spell that you can't quite remember all the words to.

Bed of Roses (1996)

So I guess they smile at some
point after the first quarter-hour

Bed of Roses (1996)
New Line Cinema
January 26, 1996
Romance
DVD
D+

A depressed and depressing lawyer gets flowers from a secret admirer.  I like Masterson better in Fried Green Tomatoes and Slater better in Heathers, and I didn't want to watch them here.  Still, the production values are good, and it's cool to see what Pamela Segall (later Pamela Adlon) looked like in her late 20s, since I enjoy her work as a teen in Grease 2 and Something Special.  She plays Kim, the best friend of Masterson's character, and of course steals scenes even when she's just a voice on an answering machine.

Michael Goldenberg wrote and directed, and over a decade later he would do much better work with the script for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Disney
November 22, 1991
Children's, Fantasy, Musical
DVD
C-

Even before the possible Stockholm Syndrome comes along, this just isn't that entertaining, definitely one of the lesser Disney Princess movies.  (I would rather watch Sleeping Beauty or even Pocohantas, but maybe not the over-rated Snow White.)  I'd seen this once before, about ten years ago, all the way through, but I didn't care enough to continue this time.  I remember enjoying the 1946 Cocteau version much more, but my library doesn't own it.

Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise would also co-direct Atlantis a decade later.  (And I gave that a C-, too.)

Beautifully Broken

Beautifully Broken
Studio Unknown
August 24, 2018
Drama
DVD
D-

Eric Welch directed and co-wrote, so he must bear much of the blame for the cliches, poor acting, and ham-handed transitions, like from a birthday cake to gunfire.

Beautiful Thing

Beautiful Thing
Film4 Productions
28 March 1996
Dramedy
DVD
C

I was on the fence with this, so I gave it a half hour.  The truth is, I liked Leah (Tameka Empson), the Cass-Elliot-worshiping black neighbor girl, better than the main character or anyone else.  Still, it's interesting to see a British '90s movie about a gay teen boy and I did like the touches of humour.  Jonathan Harvey based the screenplay on his stage play, while Hettie Macdonald directed.

A Beautiful Mistake

A Beautiful Mistake
Studio Unknown
1 October 2010
Historical Drama
DVD
D+

During the Cultural Revolution, a boy sees his parents have sex, pees, and gets bullied, not necessarily in that order.  And apparently this film was never shown publicly in China, perhaps because of the voyeurism after I tuned out.  Wei Hao Tang and Hui Zhou Lu co-directed and co-wrote based on a novel by Zhong Qiu Shi.

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind

Universal

January 4, 2002

Historical Drama

DVD
D+

Ron Howard directed this pretty boring story of a (to the point I watched) freshman Math major (Crowe) at Princeton in 1947.  Akiva Goldsman wrote the script based on the Sylvia Nasar biography.

Un Beau Soleil Intérieur AKA Let the Sunshine in

I don't know if it's "sunshine" or "sun
shine" but it probably doesn't matter.

Un Beau Soleil Intérieur AKA Let the Sunshine in
Curiosa Films
18 May 2017
Drama
DVD
D

A woman (Binoche) has an affair with a married man who is unappealing physically and in personality.  Claire Denis directed and co-wrote based on a book by Roland Barthes.

Beatriz at Dinner

Beatriz at Dinner
Roadside Attractions
January 23, 2017
Dramedy
DVD
C-

I saw a trailer for this oddly enough on the Beast DVD and it looked like a class-clash comedy, but the first quarter hour is about a healer (Hayek looking as plain as they could make her) whose goat is killed and whose car dies, so her rich client invites her to stay for dinner.  I'm going with "dramedy" as the genre, since presumably the funny scenes are later.  Surprisingly, Arteta directed Alexander and the Terrible...Day in '14.

Beast (2017)

Beast (2017)
30 West
7 October 2017
Drama
DVD
D-

This would've been an F+ or lower but the cinematography, especially of the sea, is pretty good.  Early on, I decided I really didn't want to spend time with these people, and that was before the self-harm and the possibility of the heroine being raped!  Michael Pearce wrote and directed.

The Beach (2000)

The Beach (2000)

20th Century Fox

February 11, 2000

Drama

DVD
D-

I think you can pretty much take it as given that I'm not going to like any movie set in, as DiCaprio repeatedly pronounces it in his annoying voiceover, "BangCOCK."  I would've gone with an F+ but I am a sucker for treasure maps.  Danny Boyle directed and John Hodge wrote the screenplay based on the Alex Garland novel.

Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind
New Line Cinema
February 22, 2008
Comedy
DVD
B-

I saw this at the time, when DVDs were already well established and VHS was almost all phased out.  So it was a period piece even then, despite its contemporary Passaic setting.  Watching it now, when even Blu-ray is no longer cutting edge, it feels quaint, although, yes, I still own and occasionally use my VCR.  It is a sweet, funny little movie, about people who make sweet, funny little movies, "Sweded" versions of feature films, low-budget and short-running.  I wouldn't want to oversell it, but it's definitely worth another look, even on technology you don't have to rewind.  Also, note that the interracial cast and Fats Waller subplot are surprising touches from a French writer-director, Gondry.

Baywatch

Baywatch
Paramount
May 25, 2017
Comedy
DVD
C-

Well, this was better than I expected and I was leaning towards a C, but then a guy got his erection stuck in a deck chair.  Thomas Lennon was one of the co-writers.  Seth Gordon directed.

Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin
Goskino
24 December 1925
Historical Drama
DVD
C-

Eisenstein directed and co-wrote this look back at a 1905 mutiny.  This film is of course critically acclaimed, but it's a silent about the military, so C- is about as high as I can go.  It is, for the moment, the oldest movie on this project, replacing Hitchcock's Easy Virtue (1928).

Battle of the Sexes

Battle of the Sexes
Fox Searchlight
September 2, 2017
Historical Drama, Sports Drama
DVD
B

Although I don't like sports, or sports movies, in general, I do like this one, and not just because tennis is one of the less boring sports.  Stone and Carell do well portraying real figures who changed the way America saw women, and tennis, and women who play tennis.  This is definitely a drama, but the script by Simon Beaufoy is also at times very funny, and not just Carell's shtick as Bobby Riggs.  There are some good supporting performances as well, most notably Natalie Morales as Rosie Casals.  This is additionally of course an LGBTQ movie, with Billie Jean King's sexual awakening handled tastefully.  The '70s music is incorporated smoothly, and I like the sets and costumes.  And yet, I don't love this movie, even on the second viewing (it's one of the few films I saw in the theater in '17), but it is definitely one of the brighter spots in this project so far.