My Darling Clementine

My Darling Clementine

20th Century Fox

October 16, 1946

Western

DVD
C-

On the one hand, there's the title song and dry humor, and on the other, there's obligatory racism and some heavy-handed writing in relation to the kid brother who's killed off.  John Ford directed.

My Cousin Rachel (2017)

My Cousin Rachel (2017)

Fox Searchlight etc.

June 9, 2017

Historical Drama, Mystery

DVD
C

Gorgeous scenery and an ominous story based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel, but not on a level with the '40s Rebecca.  Director Roger Michell adapted for the screen.

My Boss's Daughter

My Boss's Daughter

Miramax etc.

August 22, 2003

Romcom
DVD
D+

Kept from being as bad as it could be by the sheer villainy of the father-boss character (played by Stamp).  David Zucker directed.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

HBO Films etc.

April 19, 2002

Romcom

DVD
C-

This seems dated (and I don't mean because it's 20 years old but because it would've felt dated in the '70s) but innocuous, and I can kind of see why it was a big hit.  I would've stayed with it if it were funny, which it could've been.  Joel Zwick directed but failed to quite bring it up to endearing sitcom levels.

My Best Friend (2018) AKA Mi mejor amigo

My Best Friend (2018) AKA Mi mejor amigo

Studio Unknown

8 November 2018

Drama

DVD
C-

Two very different teens meet and presumably things turn tragic.  Martín Deus wrote and directed.

My Architect

My Architect

New Yorker Films

November 12, 2003

Documentary

DVD
C-

A man (writer-director Nathaniel Kahn) researches his unappealing father who created unappealing buildings, but there were some mildly intriguing touches.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

MGM

November 8, 1962

Historical Drama

DVD
C-

A miscast Brando provides the main entertainment in this version, based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.  Lewis Milestone and Carol Reed co-directed.

The Mustang (2019)

The Mustang (2019)

Sony Pictures Releasing etc.

March 15, 2019

Crime Drama?

DVD
D

Too much about prison, but at least there are horses.  Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre directed and co-wrote.

Must Love Dogs

Must Love Dogs

Warner Bros. etc.

July 29, 2005

Romcom

DVD
D+

Gary David Goldberg wrote and directed, but this doesn't even rise to the level of a sitcom.  I found it predictable and unfunny (OK, one joke worked in fifteen minutes), although the leads are likable as usual.

The Music Man

The Music Man

Warner Bros.

June 19, 1962

Musical, Historical Comedy, Romance

DVD

B-

I first saw this movie just a few years ago, although I had heard of it for ages of course.  This time around, while the musical numbers mostly hold up (except for Shirley's solos, because I hate that sort of singing), the movie does feel too long at two and a half hours.  Also, the acting is mostly not great.  And the mixed messages about sex (especially women's sexuality) are about what you'd expect for 1962, and 1912.  Still, there is a certain charm to the story and the setting and I was content to revisit it.  Morton DaCosta directed.

The Muse (1999)

The Muse (1999)

October Films

August 27, 1999

Comedy, Fantasy

DVD
B

Very witty Albert Brooks vehicle about life in Hollywood, with some nice supporting material for Stone, McDowell, and Bridges, as well as fun cameos.  The "fantasy" tag (spoilers) may not be strictly accurate, but I choose to believe it is.

The Muppets Take Manhattan

The Muppets Take Manhattan

Tri-Star

July 13, 1984

Comedy, Musical, Fantasy

DVD
C

While there are certainly worse movies with the Muppets, this one didn't quite click with me.  The songs are OK, the comedy a bit weak but not terrible, and Dabney Coleman remains the go-to '80s movie comedy asshole.  The quarter-hour I spent was not unpleasant, but I didn't want more.  Frank Oz directed and of course voiced various characters.

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Disney

December 11, 1992

Historical Comedy, Fantasy

DVD
D

Remarkably unfunny and poorly written (sample line, "Even the vegetables don't like him"), but the look is pretty good.  Jim Henson's son Brian directed.

The Mummy (2017)

The Mummy (2017)

Universal etc.

June 9, 2017

Action, Fantasy

DVD
D-

I briefly thought I might like this, when it was BBC news reports, but then it gave us sexism, racism, boring action, and of course Tom Cruise with a somehow more annoying sidekick.  Alex Kurtzman directed.

The Mummy (1999)

The Mummy (1999)

Universal

May 7, 1999

Historical Drama, Fantasy

DVD
D+

I enjoyed this movie at the time, much more than I expected, but today it just seems really cheesy, and I was annoyed that the librarian arranges her books alphabetically by title.  Stephen Sommers directed a decade before G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

The Mule

The Mule

Warner Bros. etc.

December 14, 2018

Crime Drama

DVD
D+

Clint Eastwood stars and directs, so you knew I wasn't going to go for it, but I sort of liked the details of like the party in the backyard and at the hotel.  So set design and costumes maybe?

Mulan II

Mulan II

Disney

November 28, 2004 (direct-to-video)

Historical Comedy, Romance?

DVD
C-

The first quarter-hour is uneventful and cute at best.  Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland co-directed.

Mulan (1998)

Mulan (1998)

Disney

June 19, 1998

Historical Drama, Historical Comedy, War Drama, War Comedy, Musical*

DVD
B-

A G-rated Disney movie about cross-dressing, implied nudity, concubines, and of course war?  It was The Nineties.  Anyway, while not a typical princess movie, I like it better than most, if not as much as I did when I saw it for the first time about fifteen years ago.  The voice acting is fun, if not always culturally appropriate.  (Not that I will ever knock June Foray of course.  The woman was a long-lived legend.)

Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook co-directed.

*I'm skipping the "romance" tag because it's such a minor part of the story.

Mud

Mud

Lionsgate etc.

May 26, 2012

Drama?
DVD
D+

A bit creepy but the setting is interesting.  Jeff Nichols wrote and directed, four years before Loving.

Much Ado About Nothing (2012)

Much Ado About Nothing (2012)

Lionsgate etc.

September 8, 2012

Comedy?
DVD
D+

Modern-dress version of Shakespeare, but why?  It doesn't really add any extra meaning and actually makes it blander, not helped by being shot in black & white.  Joss Whedon directed and adapted.

Mùa hè chieu thang dung AKA The Vertical Ray of the Sun

Mùa hè chieu thang dung AKA The Vertical Ray of the Sun

Studio Unknown

24 May 2000

Dramedy?

DVD
D+

Quietly creepy but nicely shot.  Anh Hung Tran wrote and directed.

Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire

20th Century Fox

November 24, 1993

Comedy
DVD
C

I'd avoided this movie since the time, since the clips and quotes I saw and heard just never struck me as funny.  I made it to the halfway point, since I actually liked the very beginning, with Robin's character playing a temperamental actor, even if that was a little too close to Tootsie all things considered.  The acting was better than I expected, including poor miscast Sally Field as the Yuppie wife-mother.  But the random racism, sexism, and, yes, transphobia (including a throwaway joke about one of Robin's phone personalities), as well as the EXTREME, even for this sitcomic setup, implausibility (an acquaintance notices that two characters have the same eyes but the wife and children don't?), finally got to be too much.  Still, I've certainly seen worse, including from Williams.

This movie is based on Anne Fine's novel Alias Madame Doubtfire, which I think I did attempt reading in the last twenty years, but I wouldn't swear to it.  Chris Columbus directed, three years after Home Alone.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Columbia

October 19, 1939

Dramedy?

DVD
C-

Surprisingly flat, and it doesn't help that Jimmy S doesn't show up until a dozen minutes in.  (And I didn't even get to Jean Arthur this time.)  Capra's Mr. Deeds wasn't great but at least it had real momentum.

Mr. Skeffington

Mr. Skeffington
Warner Bros.

August 12, 1944

Historical Drama

DVD
C+

This is based on the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, but definitely not on the level of the '90s Enchanted April.  It starts out promisingly, with some spritely comedic elements as well as a serious subtext about anti-Semitism.  But the melodrama gets stronger as it goes on.  And it's one of those movies where turning 50 might as well be turning 90.  The title is somewhat misleading, especially in the second half, where Rains is hardly onscreen and it is very much Davis's showcase as Mrs. Skeffington.  I haven't read the novel, but I felt like her characterization was wildly inconsistent, and towards the end I wanted her earlier self to snap, "How can you say I never loved anyone but myself when I was distraught when my brother ran off to the Great War and later when he died in battle?"  Still, for a two-and-a-half-hour movie, it held my attention well enough to marginally recommend.

Vincent Sherman directed, six years before The Damned Don't Cry with Joan Crawford.

Mr. Sardonicus

Mr. Sardonicus

Columbia

October 18, 1961

Historical Drama

DVD
C-

Meeting the ex's new spouse.  Ray Russell adapted his novella.  William Castle directed and introduced.  

Mr. Jones (2013)

Mr. Jones (2013)

Preferred Content etc.

April 19, 2013

Drama?
DVD
D+

Mr. Jones and me tell each other fairytales.  Karl Mueller wrote and directed.

Mr. Holmes

Mr. Holmes

BBC Films etc.

19 June 2015

Historical Drama

DVD
C

This didn't quite click with me but I'm not a big Sherlock Holmes fan, so it's better than some uses of his character.  (Certainly better than Holmes & Watson!)  This is based on Mitch Cullin's A Slight Trick of the Mind, and obviously inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle.  Bill Condon directed nine years after Dreamgirls, which I gave a C+ and felt didn't live up to its potential.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Columbia

April 12, 1936

Dramedy, Romance

DVD

C+

I've of course heard of this Capra movie for decades but had never actually watched it before today.  I found it didn't live up to its potential and definitely had muddled messages (like about socialism and hitting people), but there is a certain charm to it, and, yes, it introduced the word "doodle."  This is based on the short story "Opera Hat" by Clarence Budington Kelland, which is why there's the running joke about Deeds trying to find a rhyme for "Budington."

Mr. Church

Mr. Church

Cinelou etc.

September 16, 2016

Historical Drama
DVD
D

An ungrateful brat is rude to the cook, played by an uncharacteristically subdued Murphy.  Bruce Beresford directed years after Her Alibi and Double Jeopardy, which I also disliked.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

RKO

June 4, 1948

Comedy
DVD
C-

I watched the whole movie in the last ten or fifteen years and had mixed feelings then.  This time, I just didn't find the family dynamic funny, even in a sitcom kind of way.  The sarcastic opening narration about New York was much better written.  This is based on the novel by Eric Hodgins and directed by H.C. Potter, who had directed the much livelier Second Chorus seven years earlier.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Regency etc.

June 10, 2005

Comedy?

DVD
D

I didn't really last until the "action" part of the movie, but as a dark comedy about an incompatible couple, it's pretty unappealing.  I mean to the extent that I kept wanting the narrative to follow minor characters or even extras.  Doug Liman directed.

Moving McAllister

Moving McAllister

First Independent Pictures

September 14, 2007

Comedy
DVD
C-

Not terribly original, but I've seen worse comedies, especially in this project.  Andrew Black directed.