Cecil DeMille is probably best known for his biblical epics, like "The Ten Commandments", "Samson And Delilah", etc., even though only a few of his movies were based on biblical characters or events. "The King Of...
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Cecil DeMille is probably best known for his biblical epics, like "The Ten Commandments", "Samson And Delilah", etc., even though only a few of his movies were based on biblical characters or events. "The King Of Kings" from 1927 was one of them. It starred H.B. Warner as Jesus, already in his 50s, and 19 years before he would play Old Man Gower in "It's A Wonderful Life". It's a classic telling of the life of Christ in typical DeMille style, and one of the last all-silent pictures.

Cecil DeMille is probably best known for his biblical epics, like "The Ten Commandments", "Samson And Delilah", etc., even though only a few of his movies were based on biblical characters or events. "The King Of...
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Cecil DeMille is probably best known for his biblical epics, like "The Ten Commandments", "Samson And Delilah", etc., even though only a few of his movies were based on biblical characters or events. "The King Of Kings" from 1927 was one of them. It starred H.B. Warner as Jesus, already in his 50s, and 19 years before he would play Old Man Gower in "It's A Wonderful Life". It's a classic telling of the life of Christ in typical DeMille style, and one of the last all-silent pictures.

This miniseries actually first aired on NBC in 1977. The life of Christ, from Annunciation to Ascension, is meticulously told in this star-studded TV epic, featuring Robert Powell as a very convincng Jesus, showing the full range of emotion. A...
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This miniseries actually first aired on NBC in 1977. The life of Christ, from Annunciation to Ascension, is meticulously told in this star-studded TV epic, featuring Robert Powell as a very convincng Jesus, showing the full range of emotion. A holiday treat, whether it be Christmas or Easter. (P.S. The above summary could use some more work.)

This was perhaps the first movie to both show the face of Jesus and give Him a speaking role. Jeffrey Hunter makes the Christ come to life in this epic, more or less a remake of the DeMille silent epic from the 1920s. It begins with a historical...
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This was perhaps the first movie to both show the face of Jesus and give Him a speaking role. Jeffrey Hunter makes the Christ come to life in this epic, more or less a remake of the DeMille silent epic from the 1920s. It begins with a historical narrative of the Holy Land before the birth of Christ and ends at the time of His ascension into heaven. Ron Randell almost steals the show as Lucius the centurion. Orson Welles provides narration, uncredited. A superb score by Miklós Rósza.

Both Billy Hayes, the anti-hero of the story, and screenwriter Oliver Stone have expressed remorse over the extremely negative depiction of Turks in this highly fictionalized version of a true story. In the movie, Billy Hayes is visiting Istanbul...
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Both Billy Hayes, the anti-hero of the story, and screenwriter Oliver Stone have expressed remorse over the extremely negative depiction of Turks in this highly fictionalized version of a true story. In the movie, Billy Hayes is visiting Istanbul with his girlfriend (in the book, he was alone), and is caught trying to smuggle hash (not corned beef!) out of the country to sell to his friends (a brilliant stroke!). His original sentence of four years for possession is overturned days before his sentence is up and is extended to thirty years for smuggling. The prison is a living hell, but even if the events taking place there were actual, any sympathy you might have for Hayes is tempered by the realization that he got there by doing something crimilally stupid, as did most of his fellow prisoners. In Turkey or anywhere else, behave yourself, don't break the law, and your chances of returning home without incident are excellent.

Darby, a groundskeeper set to be replaced by Michael MacBride (Sean Connery), and King Brian of the leprechauns match wits as Darby tries to get the pot of gold, and King Brian tries to trick him into forfeiting it by wishing a fourth wish, which...
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Darby, a groundskeeper set to be replaced by Michael MacBride (Sean Connery), and King Brian of the leprechauns match wits as Darby tries to get the pot of gold, and King Brian tries to trick him into forfeiting it by wishing a fourth wish, which cancels all the other wishes. When the Banshee, the Irish grim reapers, come for Darby's daughter, Katie, Darby wishes to King Brian that the Banshee's death coach will take Darby rather than Katie. The five-thousand-year-old King Brian grants Darby's wish, his third, but has an ace up his sleeve that will save both Darby and Katie. Great wholesome family fare, perfect for St. Patrick's Day.

I had never seen the first "Miss Congeniality", so I went to see this sequel with an open mind. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. It starts off with dumb, tired old "J.Edgar Hoover-was-a-transvestite" jokes...
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I had never seen the first "Miss Congeniality", so I went to see this sequel with an open mind. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. It starts off with dumb, tired old "J.Edgar Hoover-was-a-transvestite" jokes and doesn't get any better. I know it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but the fight scene between Bullock and King was unbelievably campy. William Shatner was mildly funny, perhaps the one saving grace.

A generation of moviegoers may remember him as evil King Edward Longshanks in Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning 1995 epic "Braveheart", but he was a small-screen favorite in the 1960s with "Danger Man" (known in the U.S. as "Secret Agent") and later "The...
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A generation of moviegoers may remember him as evil King Edward Longshanks in Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning 1995 epic "Braveheart", but he was a small-screen favorite in the 1960s with "Danger Man" (known in the U.S. as "Secret Agent") and later "The Prisoner". Few people know that he was considered for the role of James Bond before Sean Connery, but turned it down for moral reasons. A devout Catholic, he objected to the supersleuth's womanizing, and he turned down the lead role of Simon Templar in the 1960s series "The Saint" for the same reason. His character Paul Drake in "Danger Man" treated women with respect, and left their virtue intact. Drake also used his wits before resorting to violence. Bond and Templar are okay, but would have been more likable with Patrick McGoohan in the roles. He will be missed.

This is another one of those movies that speaks to me. Like Nicholas Cage in "The Family Man", I often wonder what life would be like if I had said "yes". He was living the high life, then, like George Bailey in "It's A...
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This is another one of those movies that speaks to me. Like Nicholas Cage in "The Family Man", I often wonder what life would be like if I had said "yes". He was living the high life, then, like George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life", he gets to see what his life would have been like and, after trials and troubles, he realizes it really is, or rather, would have been, a good life. But it's only a glimpse, then back to reality. Can he get a second chance? Who wouldn't give almost anything for one? I know I would. A good holiday movie, and all-year round.

This was one of the best of the Bond films. It was more realistic than most of the others, and the villains weren't so comic-bookish. A far cry from the super-gimmicky "Moonraker" two years earlier, which was probably one reason why they...
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This was one of the best of the Bond films. It was more realistic than most of the others, and the villains weren't so comic-bookish. A far cry from the super-gimmicky "Moonraker" two years earlier, which was probably one reason why they decided to bring Bond back down to earth, so to speak, for "For Your Eyes Only". It was also good to see Bond regard the women in the movie as human beings more than sex objects.

Carole Bouquet was a Bond girl who was her own woman, bent on avenging her parents death, even though it conflicts with Bonds attempts to bring the culprits to justice, as well as to recover a nuclear device lost at sea before the Soviets find it. Chaim Topol, usually referred to by his last name only, was great as a Bond ally who smuggles "diamonds, pistachios, but no heroin".

Among the best of the film noir of the 1940s. Orson Welles steals the show, even though he's in it for only a few minutes, and he utters the most famous line, the one about the cuckoo clock. His character, Harry Lime, was the lowest of the low,...
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Among the best of the film noir of the 1940s. Orson Welles steals the show, even though he's in it for only a few minutes, and he utters the most famous line, the one about the cuckoo clock. His character, Harry Lime, was the lowest of the low, but was reformed somewhat for a radio series, a prequel, which starred Welles recreating his role, and a complete transformation to legitimate business man in a TV series, starring Michael Rennie as Lime. Available on DVD with some good special features.

I don't always agree with film critics, who are mostly out of touch with most movie goers, but they're spot on about "Casablanca". Everything went together just right for it to become one of the classics of American cinema. It won a...
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I don't always agree with film critics, who are mostly out of touch with most movie goers, but they're spot on about "Casablanca". Everything went together just right for it to become one of the classics of American cinema. It won a much-deserved Oscar for Best Picture, and Bogey should have won Best Actor. It gave birth to some notable phrases and sayings, like "Here's lookin' at you, kid", "Round up the usual suspects", and "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship". The ending is a classic, but so is the rest of it. It's available on DVD with some good special features.

A clerical error brought this once-forgotten movie out of oblivion and turned it into one of the premier Christmas classics, one which the holidays just doesn't seem to be the same without. The big movie in 1946 was "The Best Years Of Our...
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A clerical error brought this once-forgotten movie out of oblivion and turned it into one of the premier Christmas classics, one which the holidays just doesn't seem to be the same without. The big movie in 1946 was "The Best Years Of Our Lives", which seemed to fit the somewhat cynical mood Americans were in during the postwar years, but posterity has been much kinder to "It's A Wonderful Life". There are some dark moments, like young George getting slapped by an angry (but sad) Mr. Gower, George getting rough with his Uncle Billy, yelling at his kids ("Why do we have to have all these kids"), and of course, the prospect of suicide. Still, the film strives to show that, in spite of its dark moments, life really is wonderful, and the world wouldn't be the same without any one of us.

Fred MacMurray plays Bill Dunnigan, a Hollywood press agent who is fufilling a deceased young actress's last wish to be buried in her hometown, Coaltown, PA. He helped get her short career started, and she got the lead role in a biopic of St. Joan...
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Fred MacMurray plays Bill Dunnigan, a Hollywood press agent who is fufilling a deceased young actress's last wish to be buried in her hometown, Coaltown, PA. He helped get her short career started, and she got the lead role in a biopic of St. Joan of Arc, but died shortly after finishing the film. Much to Dunnigan's dismay, the producer decides to reshoot the picture with an all-new cast. While in Coaltown, Dunnigan pulls a series of stunts to change the producer's mind, but the one stunt that may do the trick is not of his own making.

This long-forgotten movie, which also features Frank Sinatra as a parish priest, sometimes gets airplay around Christmas, even though only one brief scene takes place at Christmas, but it fits the description of a holiday movie. It deserves a revival similar to that which brought "It's A Wnderful Life" out of oblivion and turned it into a holiday classic. A wonderful piece of Americana, and with a spirit of patriotism.

An early Cecil B. DeMille film, which helped establish him as a Hollywood powerhouse, a full 40 years before his last and most successful film, "The Ten Commandments". "Joan the Woman" may have been the first Joan of Arc biopic...
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An early Cecil B. DeMille film, which helped establish him as a Hollywood powerhouse, a full 40 years before his last and most successful film, "The Ten Commandments". "Joan the Woman" may have been the first Joan of Arc biopic on film. In it, a British soldier in WWI finds a sword that was used by St. Joan herself, and receives a vision of Joan, telling him that he is actually the same person who betrayed her nearly 500 years earlier, and that he must expiate himself of his sin against her. The life and death of the maiden flashes befores his eyes, occupying most of this long silent movie, and at the end he agrees to go on a dangerous mission for the Allies, one from which he cannot return. This was filmed during the height of the Great War, making it all the more interesting.

I remember crying at the end the first time I saw "The Wizard Of Oz" as a child. "There's no place like home" is the theme, and it's also a study in courage. It's touching to see the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion risk...
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I remember crying at the end the first time I saw "The Wizard Of Oz" as a child. "There's no place like home" is the theme, and it's also a study in courage. It's touching to see the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion risk their lives for a simple little girl they hardly know. In any other year (1939) it would have been a formidable contender at the Oscars, but that was also the year of "Gone With The Wind". As another reviewer suggested, it does somewhat resemble "The Sound Of Music", which came a generation later. To anyone who bashes this movie, I have this to say: "Put 'em up, put 'em up!"

I remember crying at the end the first time I saw "The Wizard Of Oz" as a child. "There's no place like home" is the theme, and it's also a study in courage. It's touching to see the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion risk...
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I remember crying at the end the first time I saw "The Wizard Of Oz" as a child. "There's no place like home" is the theme, and it's also a study in courage. It's touching to see the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion risk their lives for a simple little girl they hardly know. In any other year (1939) it would have been a formidable contender at the Oscars, but that was also the year of "Gone With The Wind". As another reviewer suggested, it does somewhat resemble "The Sound Of Music", which came a generation later. To anyone who bashes this movie, I have this to say: "Put 'em up, put 'em up!"

A classic war-time tale of a London community's struggle for survival amidst the Nazi Blitzkrieg over the city, centering on Garson and her family and circle of friends. A great period piece, well deserving of its Oscars.

Clearly one of the greatest westerns of all time. John Wayne is great as Ethan, the tough, hard, but caring uncle who spends years trying to find his niece, whose family was massacred by Indians. When he finds her, he is appalled that she has...
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Clearly one of the greatest westerns of all time. John Wayne is great as Ethan, the tough, hard, but caring uncle who spends years trying to find his niece, whose family was massacred by Indians. When he finds her, he is appalled that she has absorbed Indian ways and has become one herself, filling him with hatred. He is accompanied on the long journey by the girl's adopted brother, who helps keep Ethan from losing control, and who has a girl waiting for him upon his return. A classic tale of duty, revenge, and redemption. The ending is classic.

A beautiful movie from start to finish. Jennifer Jones is thouroughly convincing in her screen debut as the humble, sweet French peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous who receives visitations from the Virgin Mary, and eventually convinces the Catholic...
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A beautiful movie from start to finish. Jennifer Jones is thouroughly convincing in her screen debut as the humble, sweet French peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous who receives visitations from the Virgin Mary, and eventually convinces the Catholic Church and much of the secular world. Bernadette was declared a saint, and Jones was named Best Actress. Vincent Price is superb as the prosecutor who is frustrated in his attempts to crush the bourgeoning religious revival that Bernadette's visions bring about. Alfred Newman's musical score is a perfect compliment to this warm, and sometimes sad but ultimitely triumphant story. As the written opening sequence explains, "To those who believe, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not believe, no explanation is possible."

"Double Indemnity" is one of the best of the B&W film noir of the 1940s and 50s. You get the rare opportunity to see Edward G. Robinson as a hero alongside Fred MacMurray as a villain (Barbara Stanwyck is usually a diva, and her role...
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"Double Indemnity" is one of the best of the B&W film noir of the 1940s and 50s. You get the rare opportunity to see Edward G. Robinson as a hero alongside Fred MacMurray as a villain (Barbara Stanwyck is usually a diva, and her role in this is no exception). There is a moral, too: workers of iniquity always find that things never go as they plan, no matter how careful or meticulous the planning. There will always be a monkey wrench.

Part of my reason for giving "Since You Went Away" such a high rating is because it was one of my mother's favorite movies, but even so, it still deserves five stars. Made about a year and a half or so before the war's (WWII) end, it...
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Part of my reason for giving "Since You Went Away" such a high rating is because it was one of my mother's favorite movies, but even so, it still deserves five stars. Made about a year and a half or so before the war's (WWII) end, it features the ups and downs of a family on the homefront. A warm-hearted wartime story with an all-star cast.

"The F.B.I. Story" is educational besides exciting. Among other things, we learn that it was "Machine Gun" Kelly who coined the term "G-Men" in reference to FBI agents. There is also human drama, as agent Chip...
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"The F.B.I. Story" is educational besides exciting. Among other things, we learn that it was "Machine Gun" Kelly who coined the term "G-Men" in reference to FBI agents. There is also human drama, as agent Chip Hardesty and his wife go through good times and bad. Hardesty seems to be there at every major turning point in the Bureau's history, doing battle with bank robbers, communists, and the Ku Klux Klan. Longtime director J. Edgar Hoover oversaw some of the production of the film, which may raise some suspicions, but adds a sense of authenticity. He also makes a cameo early in the film.

I read somewhere that the makers of this movie were inspired by the "moom hoax" theories (that NASA faked the moon landings) even though they didn't really subscribe to them. In "Capricorn One", a space agency, a fictional...
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I read somewhere that the makers of this movie were inspired by the "moom hoax" theories (that NASA faked the moon landings) even though they didn't really subscribe to them. In "Capricorn One", a space agency, a fictional NASA, fakes a Mars landing after finding that a planned manned mission to the Red Planet would likely end in disaster after take-off. The director of the space agency will stop at nothing, including murder, to protect the secret. A fun and entertaining movie, if you don't take it too seriously.