One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

A good movie but I don't know that it is one of the all time greats. It won the big 'five' in terms of Oscars: Actor, Actress, Screenplay, Director, and Film, but I felt at times it was a bit unfocused and could have used a bit of tighter editing. Jack Nicholson is great but it's the same role he plays in all his movies--I prefered him in Chinatown better. I did finally get the relevance of the poem and the movie: One flew east, one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo's nest wherein the two character who died, Billy and McMurphy, are the ones that flew east and west, and Chief is the one who flew over the nest.

The Godfather: Part II

I loved the first Godfather because of Al Pacino, but in the sequel it was De Niro and John Cazale who really sparkled. This film is much darker than the first since it shows the decline of the Corleone dynasty which is odd, since at the end of the first film, one has the feeling that Michael is going to take the family to new heights. Tom Hagen's likening of the Roman Empire is astute in noting that both empires are brought to slow ruin by inside politics, jealousy, and decadence. I do like how slowly we see Michael become like the stoic Vito, while at the same time we see a more innocent and less somber side of Vito (during his childhood and rise as the Don). Liked it, but not as good in the first, hence the four stars.

Singing in the Rain

So originally I was going to give this four stars, but then I came to the realization I only liked it because of the dance numbers (c'mon, I'm Indian, Hindi movies only work because of the song and dance sequences) and then it dawned on me, this really had no plot except for to give Gene Kelly a showcase. The only character that really stood out was Donald O'Connor as the sidekick to Kelly's arrogant and overly self-assured Don Lockwood. Debbie Reynolds is decent but under-used.

Vertigo

Overall a great film and probably one of the best mystery movies ever made (actually yesterday it was named top mystery movie of all time on the AFI 10 top 10). I love the way Hitchcock uses San Francisco to give the movie atmosphere as well as his genius use of colour--the green signifying Madeleine and the red his obsession. I don't care much for Jimmy Stewart (but then again, I never did) but Barbara bel Geddes is memorable despite her small amount of screen presence.

The Graduate

I've watched this movie quite often in broken snippets on t.v. so I was surprised to find I'd actually seen all but the first 25 minutes or so unbroken, and the beginning really does set up the rest of the film. I'm not particularily a fan of Dustin Hoffman's acting, but Anne Bancroft does have a standout performance. Also as far as editting and cinematography go, this film is steller, plus is has arguably one of my all-time favortie scores (I'm a S&G fan).