What Movies Did You Watch Last Week? (13/11-19/11) CLOSED

That's okay. I figured that they were probably a bit too obscure.

I couldn't look away. I'm left wondering how the hell Bruce Willis conned them out of $70M to make it.

Sergeant York / Howard Hawks (1941). It seems that any time a pacifist appears in a dramatic movie, that pacifist must, by the time the movie is over, have had to kill someone, e.g. Quaker Grace Kelly in “High Noon” and Amish Ernest Borgnine in “Violent Saturday.” This trope finds its extreme example in this bio-pic of America’s most famous hero from World War One, Alvin York. York was from the hills of Tennessee where not much news of the outside world penetrates in the first decades of the 20th century. More than half of the film’s run time is taken up in picturing York’s life in the sort of idealized and sentimentalized picture of small town-rural America that John Ford had achieved in “Young Mr. Lincoln.” We first see young Alvin York (Gary Cooper) drinking, carousing, and smashing up bar rooms with his two best buds (Noah Beery, Jr. and Ward Bond) much to the distress of Mother York (Margaret Wycherly) and her old-time-religion pastor (Walter Brennen). It is not until York meets the comely Gracie Williams (Joan Leslie) and has a meaningful encounter with a bolt of lightning, that he gets religion. Then he is drafted into the army after his conscientious objector application is denied. The scenes of battle where York wins all his medals is only 20 minutes of the 2 hour plus film, but it is an intense experience. York decides he needs to kill some to save others. But the film is never a rah-rah cheerleader for war. We don’t even learn what York and his combat comrades are fighting for. When Gracie asks what the war is about, all Mother York can say is, “I don’t rightly know.” The reason the movie was made was probably not about the last European war at all, but the new one that was just over the horizon in 1941. Also in the supporting cast are some familiar faces like Dickie Moore, Clem Bevens, Howard da Silva, Joe Sawyer, and George Tobias. The film was nominated for 11 Oscars (Wycherly and Brennen for Supporting, Hawks for Directing), winning two: Best Actor for Gary Cooper and Best Film Editing.

Léolo / Jean-Claude Lauzon (1992). In French speaking Montreal, a boy named Leo rejects his own family in his imagination. To him, his real father is Italian and Leo’s real name is Léolo. Spending most of everyday with a spiral notebook and pen in his hands, he writes his thoughts and stories. The people he is closest to are his three older siblings: two sisters who slowly slip into mental illness and a body building brother who, in spite of his strength, is extremely fearful. Leo’s motto is: “Because I dream, I am not.” The boy’s journey further and further into his own mind is funny and sad, often at the same time. This is the second of only two feature films from writer/director Lauzon who died in a plane crash at age 44.

…Continuing a watch straight through the 10 seasons of Doctor Who: New Series in anticipation of next year’s introduction of the 13th Doctor.

S.4, Ep. 2 “Fires Of Pompeii” April 12, 2008. The Doctor was aiming for ancient Rome but lands instead in Pompeii on Volcano Day. He learns that sinister alien forces are behind the eruption. Peter Capaldi, who would become the Twelfth Doctor six years later, guest stars. Karen Gillen, who, two years later, would play Amy Pond, one of The Doctor’s most popular companions, has a small part as one of the Sibylline Sisters. A lot of future show history in this episode.

S.4, Ep 3 “Planet Of The Ood” April 19, 2008. The passive but repulsive looking species, the Ood, make their second appearance. The Doctor and Donna resolve to free the Ood from their slavery.

S.4, Ep 4 & 5 “The Sontaran Stratagem” / “The Poison Sky” April 26 and May 3, 2008. The Doctor again hooks up with the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT) with whom he was aligned during most of the Third Doctor period in the Classic Series. That clone race of warriors, the Sontarans, are carrying out an attack on Earth. The Doctor has to find out their ultimate goal before it’s too late.

S.4, Ep 6 “The Doctor’s Daughter” May 10, 2008. The Doctor and Donna are captured by soldiers who take a tissue sample from the Time Lord and instantly creates a clone, a young woman named Jenny, already programmed as a fighter in a continuing war. The ending to this episode sounds a lot like it was a pilot for a new series featuring Jenny, but in the nine years since, I have never even heard a rumor of such a plan. Jenny is played by Georgia Moffett who is the daughter of Peter Davison who played the Fifth Doctor in the Classic Series. So, the Doctor’s daughter was played by the Doctor’s daughter. Further, David Tennant up and married Georgia so the Fifth Doctor is now the Tenth Doctor’s father-in-law. Remember that old C&W novelty song, “I’m My Own Grandpa”? Well, this is something like that.

That was my mistake. I should've specified it was the 2011 film that I was talking about.

I only watched it again for Claire Foy, who was easily the best part of that movie.

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)- 9.5\10