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The Hurt Locker (2008)
The Worst Best Picture Film Ever?
I haven't seen every best picture winner I'll admit, but this one had my wife and I scratching our heads. I like Jeremy Renner and I wanted to (and expected to) like this film. It started out well and held my interest for probably the first half of the film. For a movie that appears to be going for "realism", there were clearly some things that even a non- military person could tell were not believable (the single bullet that ignites a car on fire - as another reviewer mentioned). But the bigger problem with the movie is the story - or lack thereof. I kept waiting to learn more about the characters and why they acted the way they did - never explained. I kept waiting for it all to lead up to a revealing scene to tell me why I spent two hours watching - it never came. This movie has no journey and as far as I could tell no point besides "war sucks". You could snip each scene from the final cut, throw the pile into the air, and splice it all back together in random order and I don't think it would matter. In the end I found it hard to believe this was even nominated for best picture.
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
Dated and contrived
I love Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life", so it pains me to admit that this film is a flop. It has high ideals, but is ultimately contrived and simplistic at the same time. The movie hinges on the notion that having money is less important than having friends (ala Wonderful Life), but gets a little to black and white with the characterizations - deep down, the wealthy folks are miserable people, and the poor and middle class are noble citizens. Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur have great chemistry, and there are some nice moments between them, but it all sort of gets lost in this heavy-handed morality play.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Another Jimmy Stewart classic
This is a delightful and fun film with a clever plot. The writing is terrific and funny. Some of the exchanges between Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan are priceless and had me laughing out loud. Very well acted and directed throughout. The main oddity about this film is that it takes place in Budapest for some reason. The location has nothing to do with the story. It could have easily been set in Los Angeles or London and it wouldn't have mattered a drop. That one quirk does not detract from the film at all - just an interesting note (likely the result of the original stage play). The only reason I gave this a 9 instead of a 10 was that the ending was a little flat - especially with the big buildup that precedes it. All in all a real classic though.
The Naked City (1948)
The star of this film is...
...New York! This film is presented as a quasi-documentary (it is not). Though the story is fictional, the setting is entirely real - 1948 New York City. And that is the biggest appeal of the picture (I was born and raised there so I may be biased). Some interior shots appear to have been filmed on a sound stage, but the bulk of it is on location. For example, there is a scene filmed in lower Manhattan near Rivington and Norfolk streets. It show's a bustling, thriving "family" neighborhood with well dressed folks and kids playing in the neighborhood. It looks nothing like that now - just a place to pass through to get to somewhere else (though there is a school there now - check google maps and find the intersection - you can see the same building in the opening shot for that scene).
Story-wise, it's a pretty solid film especially considering how dated movies from this period can be. There appears to be a real attempt to make the movie as accurate as possible and goes out of its way to include the methods used in solving modern crimes such as forensics - probably a novelty at the time. The acting is solid throughout. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with the idea of a narrator - on the one hand, it lends authenticity to the documentary feel, but on the other, it can take you "out" of the picture at times. Overall, very worth watching. I give it a thumbs up (can I do that here?)
Nightfall (1956)
Beautifully filmed noir with plot problems
The teaser I read for this movie called it "exceptional film noir". I take exception to that description. While beautifully filmed, this movie features a less than stellar performance by the lead Aldo Ray, who I found to be a bit wooden. I don't think he can carry a movie as leading man - unless maybe it was about a football player or wrestler. The rest of the cast does a nice job, and Ann Bancroft is young, lovely and talented. The biggest problem is the plot which gets worse the further along you go and climaxes in an unbelievable (not in a good way) and contrived ending, which if re-written, could have made this a pretty decent film.