"Fantomas IV: Fantomas vs. Fantomas" (1914)

This story is so well told.  The elements seem simple, and yet how everything is going to come about and how things are exactly going to wind up is not clear, nor is it so easy to guess.  This kind of masterful writing is hard to find these days.  What's more, it's not a cliche genre movie, at least I don't think so.  It doesn't even coin the beginnings of one.  It's part of the wonderful series of Fantomas movies--so there's more than one--, yet, it clearly stands on its own.

This French movie needed an American name.  The name they came up with "Tom Bob."  Nothing like putting two first names together to create an "authentic" American name.  :S  :)

If you haven't watched any of the Fantomas movies, you should.  This one is well worth watching.  And by telling you, "Three identical disguises from three different parties.  What could possibly go wrong?" I am giving away nothing.  You might guess where its going to go, but I predict the better majority of you won't guess, not completely correctly, anyways.  [Hey, I make predictions about your experience, can't I?]

Granted, it takes watching 1 or 2 Fantomas movies to keep track of who's who (they all seem to have dark hair and mustaches), and the Fantomas himself is in several disguises.  That's where the first "introducing the actor/character" bit at the beginning is helpful.  "This actor will have these 4 appearances."  That is helpful.  Then you can play "I spy Fantomas!" as the movie goes on.

Go.  Go watch it.  It's a well-spent hour.

"The Rescuers" (1977)--Revisited

The very first movie that I saw in movie theaters that I can actually remember the title of is The Rescuers.  I remember my Dad recounting afterwards how I'd gotten "tickled" at the chase scene near the end.  And now, X-number of years later, I still find that chase scene grinningly funny.  The only difference is then it was brand new and the here-and-now I can put words to why it was funny--or I can try.  For me, it's not the slapstick, not so much.  Instead, some of it is the unexpected.  Some of it is actually managing to capture irony.  The moment that most captures my funny bone?  When the jack rabbit snaps his fishing reel back to snag the turtle and the turtle says, "I don't need no one's help" when he very clearly does.  The turtle snaps and the jack rabbit doesn't bat an eye taking it all in stride and helps him anyway.  That's the moment that does it.  Every. Time.  lol.  :D    And the music in that section just adds to it.  Music/sound adds SO much to a movie.  Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

"Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944)

It's clear that this movie was meant to showcase two things:  Judy Garland and color.  There were several scenes where Garland's attire is opposite of those around her in order for her to stand out a little more.  Who can miss the stripes when she first appears?  In the first party scene, her blue is in such a shade that it stands out against the other folks' apparel.  Later, when those surrounding here are costumed in very very festive colors, Garland is in black--which both makes her stand out and frames her face.  The house, too, is repainted (not repainted within the storyline) to best showcase each season of the year.  And, of course, who can not enjoy the dramatic depth-of-dimension of a well known alto vocalist in the age where "crooners" are highly valued.

For a musical, the plot was believeable and held the songs together well-enough.  It was curious to have the adults/older figures reprimand the younger for lying and then  would turn around and do it themselves in both the same and in other circumstances.

"Ghost Graduation" (2012)

In Spanish, mostly, (and I believe set in Spain) except for a few English pop songs and once when the teacher says that Shakespeare should be read in English instead of Spanish and attempts to speak a few lines in English from the Hamlet's ghost scene.  The English songs were "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (turn around ... turn around ... turn around ...), "Saturday Night", and "Surfer Bird" ("Everybody's heard, about the bird ... bird is the word, bird, bird, bird, bird is the word...).  There were Spanish songs to.  So, it was a sub title movie.

The premise of the plot is a "done before" one, but since it takes its time, there's enough "what is this version going to do?" to keep watching to see how this one is going to go.

The "humor" I didn't find funny.  Thankfully, it wasn't "stupid" humor.  Instead, the humor played to "mature audiences only"--just enough to be rated for such, but the movie didn't center on it, so it wasn't too bad to ignore it.  There really wasn't any other kind of humor.  It was mainly "for mature audiences only".  And if you prefer family friendly, then you can skip this movie.  If you enjoy the mature humor or if you don't mind looking past it, then the plot is actually enjoyable.  I wish they'd scaled back some of the visuals, but that's me.

So, why did I start watching it?  Teacher helps ghosts.  Others don't believe teacher sees ghosts.  I thought it would be a nice twist/variation on teacher helps students.  It was.  Sort of.  So even though I didn't like the mature humor and mature visual humor etc., the plot was decent enough for me to watch to the end.  That does say something.

Now I'm ready to watch something with better values.  Christians need to make more movies or need to have more Christians involved in movie making.

"Show Boat" (1951)

Nice music.  I know "Old Man River" sung by Paul Robeson was in it, but was happily surprised that I recognized a couple other tunes.  Cotton Candy colors for set and a lot of the costumes.  Wasn't sure where and how the story was going to end.  Certainly a show that's better left just focusing on the music.  Although, I also kept wondering how the gals managed to sing in corsets.  And, yes, the dangers of marrying a gambler.

"Step Dogs" (2013)

Stupid criminal movie with dogs that talk to each other doing fun tricks as the dogs thwart the criminals.  The human story is warm, not too deep, but thoughtful and avoids the cheesy--unless you count the dogs' dialogue styles.  Most of the humor is stupid criminal or slapstick style.

The movie is a decent watch.  It'll fill the time of a movie okay.

"Cloud 9" (2014)

It's a fluffy movie, at least at the beginning, it's a fluffy movie; but, it's a fluffy movie worth the time to watch it once.  And it was nice watching a girl pull out the winning big move at the end instead of the boy.  One plot surprise that wasn't surprising--I mean--I didn't see it coming, but when it happened it kind of rolled on by--it was in character--and therefore not surprising.  Anyways, it's a nice family movie.

Have fun watching other people play in the snow while you stay inside warm.