Just watched: All about Eve, the winner of the Best Picture of 1950 and nominated for 14 Academy Awards (the most for any movie).

WOW!!!

Rory O'Shea Was Here -- When rebellious Rory O'Shea moves into the residential group home, Michael Connelly's comfortable routine is about to be turned upside down. But the two, both of them confined to wheelchairs--Rory by Muscular Dystrophy and Michael by Cerebral Palsy-- become fast friends and embark upon a journey to independence. This little Irish movie is sometimes funny, occasionally sad and always frank. Worth a look.

Had a blast watching the new release of the Mario Bava cult film, Danger: Diabolik ('68). Ripped from the pages of a popular Italian comic book, the stylish master criminal known as Diabolik, along with his voluptuous female companion Eva, pulls off one spectacular heist after another, each one more daring than the next. The flavour is Barbarella meets Bond, and it's done to the beat of a very cool, flipped-out soundtrack, courtesy of spaghetti Western musicmeister Ennio Morricone. Fun stuff.

Watched The Vanishing Saturday eve. A rather decent, suspenseful movie, with Kiefer Sutherand (looking and acting much like "Jack of 24"), chasing after, and dealing with a 'weird & creapy' Jeff Bridges, trying to track down his lost (kidnapped) former love. Good a/v. Popcorn was served, and heh, the two went well together!!

I just picked up Italian Job for $11.88 and plan to watch it tonight.

I saw Sergio Leone's classic western Once Upon a Time in the West. What a terrific film!

I saw Sergio Leone's classic western Once Upon a Time in the West. What a terrific film!

Second that. One of the best films I've seen.

Absolutely love that western. And hey, heard about it here! Watched it a few times already.

Ennio Morricone also did the music for "Once Upon A Time In The West".

Taxi - A leadfoot pizza-delivery-guy-turned-taxi-driver is about to lose his license over a serious infraction, but the cops will let him keep it if he helps them catch some fast-driving German bank robbers.

This is the French original (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0152930/) (first of a trilogy) by Luc Besson that was recently re-made with Queen Latifah. It's not great, but it's reasonably fun and has some cool driving sequences. I've been told the second movie is better. (A friend who's a fan of the trilogy lent me all three movies.)

I just picked up Italian Job for $11.88 and plan to watch it tonight.

Which version?

Italian Job, Special Edition, Widescreen, 2003.

Sorry, not the original, which I havent seen.

I like both versions but they are 2 different movies (hint, one movie actually takes place in Italy).

This is the French original (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0152930/) (first of a trilogy) by Luc Besson that was recently re-made with Queen Latifa.

I saw the remake and it was awful. The movie was very unfunny and extremely boring.

Eventually, I'll check out the original Luc Besson films.

I like both versions but they are 2 different movies (hint, one movie actually takes place in Italy).

An Italian Job sequel is planned. It is going to be called The Brazilian Job.

Riddick filmmaker writing Italian Job sequel. (http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/621/621206p1.html)

Taxi 2 - Leadfoot taxi driver has to help the police protect a visiting Japanese dignitary from the Yakuza.

It's less enjoyable than the first movie. The plot is silly, there are too many buffoonish characters and the driving sequences aren't even that good.

1. Final Cut ... yet another excellent performance Robin Williams
2. The Sea Inside ... very thought provoking foreign film
3. The Woodsman ... very controversial topic, but a great performance by Kevin Bacon
4. The Aviator ... Oscar performance by Leonardo Dicaprio
5. Coach Carter ... very enjoyable movie ... excellent DVD transfer!
6. Birth ... enjoyed this movie ... starring Nicole Kidman

Taxi 3 - Leadfoot taxi driver has to help the police catch a gang of thieves who disguise themselves as Santa Claus.

Better than the second film, not as good as the first.

Advise and Consent, perhaps the best film of its genre (political):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055728/combined

Perhaps the most realistic portrayal of American political workings ever put on film, Otto Preminger's Advise and Consent may be a tad tedious for those uninterested in the capital's foibles. As with many of Preminger's films, however, there is no denying that the director skillfully captures a specific slice of American life. Unfortunately, the film was not a financial success; Preminger's hadn't had a box-office hit since Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Exodus (1960). In keeping with his string of interesting failures, Advise and Consent has many noteworthy elements. The cantankerous Preminger was famous for pushing the envelope of the Hollywood Production Code and American morality in general -- as he did with the graphic sexual content of Anatomy of a Murder and The Moon is Blue or drug addiction in The Man With the Golden Arm -- and the open homosexual element of Advise was understandably shocking for 1962. The brilliant British actor Charles Laughton made his final appearance in this film as South Carolina senator Seabright Cooley.

Charles Laughton is wonderful in this film.

Speaking of political intrigue, I really like the recent release of The Quiet American ('58) (http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1590quie.html). Same writer/director was responsible for All About Eve.

Also enjoyed some Joan Crawford movies:

Possessed ('47)
" ... an absurd melodrama that can't make up its mind exactly why its leading lady is a nut case - it seems to come to the conclusion that romantic frustration is a direct cause of schizophrenia." --- DVD Savant

The Damned Don't Cry! ('50)
"...a trashy takeoff on a Warners gangster film, showing the rise and fall of Joan Crawford's moll as a female James Cagney." --- DVD Savant

The Best Of Everything ('59)
"...may be a soap opera, but it sustains a high interest with its attempt to be honest about the new working girl of the late 1950s, when an awful lot of sexual freedom suddenly became acceptable." --- DVD Savant

Crawford is perversely fascinating to watch as an actress.