2022 Movie Post #1
Jan. 2nd, 2022 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stdesjardinsDown Argentine Way is a 1940 musical starring Don Ameche and Betty Grable which I watched on The Criterion Channel. The plot is nothing much, and the stars' acting ability is sufficient to the plot. What makes this memorable are the rousing song and dance numbers, which are mostly in the form of nightclub acts that the characters are watching for plot-related reasons, which means they can get people who are really really good at singing and dancing without worrying about whether they can act. This is part of a collection Criterion debuted this month featuring the Nicholas Brothers, a black dance team who despite their immense talent were relegated to bit roles that could be cut from films without compromising the plot, because Southern theaters would not show movies with prominent black actors. They really are incredible dancers who make their bodies do things that actual human people who are not cartoon characters should not be able to do. Charlotte Greenwood, who was nearly six feet tall and about fifty years old when the movie premiered, played a man-hungry aunt who admitted to being thirty-one. She's obviously intended to be perceived as ridiculously vain and a figure of scorn, but, you know, good for her.
It's a fun movie and I recommend it, but I am not sure it will join the list of musicals I am ever eager to re-watch.
Crime Wave is a 1953 Sterling Hayden picture that came to The Criteron Channel this month. After three escaped criminals get in a shoot-out with a police officer which leaves one of them wounded they decide to seek refuge with an ex-con who's gone straight. They threaten his wife to keep him in line, and recruit him to carry out one last big job before they flee the country. It's a solid B-movie which gets a bit heavy-handed at times. I wouldn't call it a great movie, but I have a soft spot for films which are more ambitious than they need to be, and I can believe it may actually have made part of the audience feel more sympathetic to the difficulties ex-cons face, which is not something I believe of all movies that try to address social issues. Plus, like most B-movies, it's pretty short, so worth a look.
I don't know if I'll succeed in keeping the resolution, but I'm going to try to keep up with a log of all the movies I watch this year. Movies watched so far: 2.
It's a fun movie and I recommend it, but I am not sure it will join the list of musicals I am ever eager to re-watch.
Crime Wave is a 1953 Sterling Hayden picture that came to The Criteron Channel this month. After three escaped criminals get in a shoot-out with a police officer which leaves one of them wounded they decide to seek refuge with an ex-con who's gone straight. They threaten his wife to keep him in line, and recruit him to carry out one last big job before they flee the country. It's a solid B-movie which gets a bit heavy-handed at times. I wouldn't call it a great movie, but I have a soft spot for films which are more ambitious than they need to be, and I can believe it may actually have made part of the audience feel more sympathetic to the difficulties ex-cons face, which is not something I believe of all movies that try to address social issues. Plus, like most B-movies, it's pretty short, so worth a look.
I don't know if I'll succeed in keeping the resolution, but I'm going to try to keep up with a log of all the movies I watch this year. Movies watched so far: 2.
