Milk

Milk

Focus Features etc.

November 26, 2008

Historical Drama

DVD

B-

I was really moved by this movie when I saw it in the theater, but rewatching it I felt more distant, I think partly because a lot of the supporting characters are barely sketched in.  Still, Penn remains solid as the title character.  Gus Van Sant directed, and I've tagged some of the real people who appear in archival footage.

Dark Victory

Dark Victory
Warner Bros.
April 22, 1939
Drama, Romance
DVD
B-

I've of course heard of this movie for years, but the only Bette Davis movie I think I'd watched in full was All About Eve (which I own).  So it was interesting seeing her relatively young and playing a sweeter character, although with many moods and shades to her personality.  It pretty much is just her movie, with everyone else, even a future president, Clarence the angel, and Bogie*, fading into the background.  I thus found the movie entertaining but can't rate it as high as something with a more balanced cast.  Edmund Goulding directed.

*This is, by the way, the fourth out of five Humphrey Bogart movies I've watched all the way through for this blog.  And I'm sure there will be more.

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.

Balls of Fury

Balls of Fury
Rogue Pictures
August 29, 2007
Comedy
DVD
C

Although I didn't laugh out loud at this, except for at one of the reaction shots of the Reagans in the 1988 prologue, I can see how someone might think it was hilarious, and I've certainly seen worse comedies, especially for this project.  I tuned out before Christopher Walken showed up.

Thomas Lennon co-wrote and appears as Karl Wolfschtagg.  Robert Ben Garant directed.