Kiwi Film Review

IMDB: 8.7
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%

Release Date:  23 January 1943

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid.

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Written By: Julius J. Epstein 

Described by IMDB as: “In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick’s surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick’s one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit. Well, that was their original plan….”

I’m writing this review while watching, so if its a confusing review I apologize. I’m also sick, so I probably mostly make no sense. I’d also like to apologize for how many times I’m about to use the word “classic,” its just there’s no other word that fits. First of all, I feel like I really lucked out on the quality, its so clear excellent restoration to whoever does that sort of thing. This first thing I noticed about this movie is how much I loved the poster. Its just so classic. I love the typography on the title and the way they displayed the names of the stars. The second thing I noticed was, the song playing throughout the whole movie, is it just me or is it the same as the beginning of “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles? Sneaky, sneaky.

I’m really enjoying the 40’s time period, its so glamorous even in the middle of wartime. Its quite interesting to see a movie about World War II while the war is still taking place. The Nazi’s are still the bad guys, but not the monsters they’re portrayed to be in more recent films. This is obviously because they didn’t really know about the Holocaust until the war was over, but its interesting to see just how little they knew. They talk about how Victor, Paul Henreid, was in a concetration camp, but I feel like they didn’t understand exactly what that meant in 1942. The fact that he’s still alive and able to talk to Germans makes it clear that they definitely didn’t know. The thought that the Germans are trying to politely convince Rick to give them the letters of transit is ridiculous. They’d torture him, take them, and kill him. They wouldn’t have shut down his club, they would’ve burned it down. But, as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Is it just me or does Ilsa, Ingrid Bergman, have a literal glow around her whenever there’s a close up of her face. She is truly gorgeous. Again, such a glamorous time period. Humphrey Bogart is SUCH a stud. Its really amazing that he was born almost 100 years before me. He’s definitely a great actor, the New York accent of the 40’s is so classic. The final scene is so sad, but Bogart’s final outfit with the trench coat and the hat is perfect.

This is such a classic love story and I’m so glad I decided to watch it. I’ll end this review with a “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” and a “here’s to looking at you kid.”

Overall I’ll give this film a 8/10. A must see for any movie lover.

IMDB: 7.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
Roger Ebert: 3.5/4 stars

Release Date: 28 November 2007

Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Julianne Moore.

Written and Directed by: Todd Haynes. 

Described by IMDB as: “Six incarnations of Bob Dylan: an actor, a folk singer, an electrified troubadour, Rimbaud, Billy the Kid, and Woody Guthrie. Put Dylan’s music behind their adventures, soliloquies, interviews, marriage, and infidelity. Recreate 1960s documentaries in black and white. Put each at a crossroads, the artist becoming someone else. Jack, the son of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, finds Jesus; handsome Robbie falls in love then abandons Claire. Woody, a lad escaped from foster care, hobos the U.S. singing; Billy awakes in a valley threatened by a six-lane highway; Rimbaud talks. Jude, booed at Newport when he goes electric, fences with reporters, pundits, and fans. He won’t be classified.”

I’m not entirely sure what I think about this movie. If I sleep on it and wake up tomorrow and have a different opinion, I will do an update, but as for right now I think I’ll say, I just don’t know. Overall, I liked it, BUT, it was very difficult to follow. Maybe if I had known more about Bob Dylan before watching it would’ve been easier to understand everything. I thought the acting was amazing, as was the concept, I just though it was I dunno, maybe could’ve been done a little differently. I’m sort of confused by whether this is the actual story of his life, or if its mostly fiction. I think I would’ve liked it better if all of the actors still played him, but actually had his name and just portrayed him at different points in his career/life. Its uncanny how well Cate Blanchett was able to portray Dylan. Also, was it just me or did we catch a glimpse of Heath Ledger’s dong? Nice. I think this movie mostly made me want to see a biography about him just so I could find out. I really wish it was more a movie about his life rather then what it was. I also wish that if it really was a story about his life, that it had been in chronological order, I think thats what made it mostly confusing for me, just how over the place it was. I think overall I’d recommend it to people who really enjoy movies. Again, I think it was well done, just sort of confusing.. pay attention.

I think I’ll give it a… 7/10.  

IMDB: 9.2

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Roger Ebert: 4/4

Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton.

Written by: Mario Puzo and  Francis Ford Coppola.

Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola.  

Described by IMDB as: “The story begins as “Don” Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia “family”, oversees his daughter’s wedding. His beloved son Michael has just come home from the war, but does not intend to become part of his father’s business. Through Michael’s life the nature of the family business becomes clear. The business of the family is just like the head of the family, kind and benevolent to those who give respect, but given to ruthless violence whenever anything stands against the good of the family. Don Vito lives his life in the way of the old country, but times are changing and some don’t want to follow the old ways and look out for community and “family”. An up and coming rival of the Corleone family wants to start selling drugs in New York, and needs the Don’s influence to further his plan. The clash of the Don’s fading old world values and the new ways will demand a terrible price.”

God damn. God damn. God damn. How have I waited this long to see this movie? I’ve seen on a couple of sites that I’ve looked up that its widely decided that its the the greatest movie of all time. I think its a pretty great movie, but its not in my favorite movies of all time. Its really made me realize that by not watching older movies I’m missing out on a lot. I’ve only seen a handful of movies that are older then the 80’s. It starts off with Don Vito Corleone in charge but I was shocked to see at 45 minutes he was shot. I though he was dead at first, and was so confused and sort of disappointed, but in the end he’s still alive. I finally understand why everyone loves Al Pacino. Its so weird to think that he’s the same person who’s in the shitty movies he’s been in recently. Same with James Caan. The man was in Elf for god sakes. Most importantly, Marlon Fucking Brando. He isn’t a boss, he’s THE boss. I need to watch more of his movies because god damn he’s amazing. At first I found his voice sort of annoying, but it seriously adds to the character. Its amazing that the movie was 3 hours, but it was so jammed packed with interesting goodness, it went by so fast. 

Second movie in a row tonight that I watched with Diane Keaton. Its amazing the difference 20 years makes. From tonight, I’ve realized that she is seriously one of my favorite actresses. This movie also really shows how great an actor Pacino is. The range of his character in this movie alone is astounding. First he plays a college kid who tries to stay out of his family business, and by the end he’s in charge of the whole operation. 

I really love the time period of this movie. The whole 40’s/50s gangster scene is so fascinating. I’ll definitely be watching the 2nd Godfather movie tomorrow. Normally I’d be pretty worried about being disappointed with the sequel to a movie like this, but the reviews for the second are also fantastic which is super exciting.

Overall I’ll give this movie a 9/10.