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Gold Rush, the (1925, Charles Chaplin)
“The Gold Rush” stars Chaplin as his iconic character, the Little Tramp. Living in a hut during the gold rush in Alaska, he searches for gold with his rugged mining buddies and love in the form of Georgia, played by Georgia Hale. One of Chaplin’s downright funniest films, “the Gold Rush” plays host to some of his very best comedy set-ups. I don’t want to go into reeling them off, partly because you should discover them for yourselves and partly because there are too many to choose from, but I don’t know if there’s another Chaplin film that can rival “the Gold Rush” for sheer laughs. It’s also a bit different. In my full review of this film, I mention that the girls in Chaplin films are much of the same mould; sweet, desirable, and almost in as much of a jam as the tramp itself. Here, Georgia is a high class socialite who only talks to Charlie to play and taunt him. It’s a great twist on a good formula, and it adds some much needed suspense to the film. It’s also heartbreaking, as all good Chaplin films often are. He’s always invested a fine mix of sweet (but not sickly) melodrama and comedy into his films, and “the Gold Rush” is no different. It invests emotion in its characters, particularly the Little Tramp, heightening the tragic plight that he’s in. There’s nothing in the movies that can induce a tear and a laugh at the same time like Chaplin dreaming about meeting his sweet Georgia and her friends on New Years Eve or the Little Tramp eating a shoe. But the tragedy in no way outweighs the comedy, and Chaplin accompanies the film with his usual happy ending. Everything is tied up in a neat little bow, and – unlike in some films – it’s all the better for it. Chaplin had a gift for making you smile and never feeling uneasy at a wholly happy ending, and this film is a testament to that. 5/5.
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992, James Foley)
“Glengarry Glen Ross” is a talky film about a group of salesmen (Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, and Alan Arkin) working for a small telecommunications firm. When an outsider (Alec Baldwin) comes in to give a speech on closing and efficiency, they’re told that only two of them will keep their jobs. “First prize is a Cadillac. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize; you’re fired.” “Glengarry Glen Ross” has two major strengths. The first is its writing, which is just short of genius. Based on David Mamet’s play, which I haven’t seen but really want to, and converted into screenplay form by the same man. The witty banter flies across the screen like bullets, and Mamet sculpts a script that is cynical, funny, and highly intelligent. It’s incredible, really, that in a film with no real action and where so little happens, you never once feel anywhere near to being bored. The other strength is the acting. From such a strong ensemble cast, which also includes Kevin Spacey and Jonathan Pryce, you would expect wonders, and that’s exactly what you get. Spacey is brilliantly smarmy and equally sympathetic. Harris is angry, volatile, and utterly unlikable. Pacino is impressively impressive, putting across an aura of invincibility and of success, but an uneasy one at best. If there’s one salesman here who we wouldn’t like to meet, it’s him. Baldwin, in his highly regarded twenty minute cameo, is absolutely detestable but strangely inspiring. But the true star, undoubtedly, is Jack Lemmon, who manages to make this man – someone who we would hate to be on the phone with – incredibly likable and entirely sympathetic. He’s just trying to get by, feed his kids, and make his wife happy, but however much he tries he just can’t. And that, coupled with the fact that nobody will ever really like him, is ultimately heartbreaking. 4/5.
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, Tay Garnett)
This somewhat disappointing noir is the story of Frank Chambers (John Garfield), a drifter who stumbles upon a burger shop run by Cora Smith (Lana Turner) and owned by her richer, older husband Nick (Cecil Kellaway). Predictably enough, they fall in love, and then plot to do in Nick in his bath tub. As a noir, it’s not really up there with the best for me, but it certainly has something about it. There are some very nicely done moments, particularly the introduction of Cora. Shot in somewhat lighter tones than the rest of the shadowy film, Lana Turner is practically glowing. Her presence is almost angelic, and it does a good job of conveying the love (or lust) at first sight for Frank. The murders are suitably gritty, spontaneous, and flustered, putting across how hard it must be to actually kill someone a lot better than the stylish, casual killings of films today and – to be honest – of other noirs at the time. But for all its hard work, “the Postman Always Rings Twice” is an overly complicated, over-long, and overly melodramatic film that doesn’t follow up the good moments with anything worthy of note. The court scene is ridiculous; a frantic, silly mess of a scene that doesn’t really make much sense. It’s also overly repetitive. Cora and Nick fall in and out of love more times than I could care to count, and sometimes I just wished that they would get on with it. The performances are solid, particularly from the lovely Lana Turner, but the characters are so utterly irredeemable that you find yourself cheering for poor old Nick… a man who is, in reality, actually quite decent, and who didn’t deserve any punishment at all, let alone death. 3/5.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, Lewis Gilbert)
Roger Moore’s Bond is back with his third Bond film, after the decent but silly “Live and Let Die” and the rubbish but silly “the Man With the Golden Gun”, and here he’s on the hunt for some stolen nuclear missiles. Stalled away on submarines, Bond enlists the help of a KGB agent, Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), whose lover he killed. For me, Bond films always fall into one of three categories. The first is the ones which are actually quite good, like the first three, “Casino Royale”, “OHMSS” and “Goldeneye”. The second is the ones that are cheesy, a little bit rubbish, but really quite watchable, like “For Your Eyes Only” and “A View to a Kill”, or pretty much ever one that Moore starred in. The third are the ones that take themselves seriously and are, in reality, a load of old tosh, like “Die Another Day” and “Quantum of Solace”. I was previously undecided whether “the Spy Who Loved Me”, helmed by “Alfie” director Lewis Gilbert and one of the few films that Stanley Kubrick was involved in (he oversaw lighting under the condition that nobody would ever know he did… clearly the secret got out), fell into the first or the second category. It’s one of my personal favourites, and definitely Moore’s best effort, but after a re-watch I do think it’s one of the films that are really enjoyable, have their moments of brilliance, but are actually a little bit rubbish as well. Starting with a great stunt and not really letting up from there, “TSWLM” is a rollercoaster ride of action, guns, sex, and quips. Moore’s 007 is in his element, his eyebrows going into overdrive and relishing some of the best one-liners in the whole series (“I’m keeping the British end up, sir”). The villain, Curd Jurgens’ Karl Stromberg, is a little bit rubbish, but he’s accompanied by one of the all-time iconic henchmen, Jaws (the humongous Richard Kiel). By “Moonraker”, he may have become little more than a running joke, but here he’s imposing and dominant, and when we first see him – shrouded by shadow amongst Egyptian pyramids – it’s just about one of the best character introductions of the whole series. One that I can re-watch time and time again, despite all of its flaws. 3/5.
Family Plot (1976, Alfred Hitchcock)
Probably the worst film Hitchcock ever made, “Family Plot” is a light hearted thriller about a fake medium named Blanche Tyler (Barbara Harris) and her taxi driver boyfriend George Lumely (Bruce Dern). They’re hired by a wealthy, dying woman to locate her one and only heir; Arthur Adamson (William Devane), who is running a kidnap and ransom scam with his girlfriend, Fran (Karen Black). As with all Hitchcock films, there is always some good stuff going on. It’s suspenseful, even for a film this bonkers, and at times it’s even darkly hilarious. But, unfortunately, this particular Hitchcock film is weighed down by overwhelming negatives. The acting is poor at best, particularly from Blanche Tyler, who is just about the most annoying character Hitchcock ever brought to the big screen. The villains are clichéd, two-dimensional caricatures, which probably accounts to why William Devine and Karen Black (who was brilliant in “Five Easy Pieces”) get away relatively unscathed. They aren’t stretched by any means, but they manage to be mysterious and creepy enough to get by. And, despite the fact that it’s only just over two hours long, it’s well too long. “Torn Curtain”, a film of similar length, gets by because – in parts – it’s actually quite gritty and it’s always relatively gripping, but “Family Plot” is something you can easily drift in and out of without missing anything or gaining anything. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but this film was made by the master of cinema himself. Hitch gets his reputation because his films are so awesomely gripping (I challenge anyone to drift off whilst watching “Rear Window”, or even something like “Rope”), and here he’s just squandering what was once an immaculate talent. This was the last film he’d ever make, and it’s a shame that he had to go out on what – compared to the rest of his oeuvre – is a weak film at best. 2/5.
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Top 100 Moz Songs / Top 100 Films
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RE: Top 100 Films I've Wathced This Year: 2009 - 
It took another rewatch, that's all. Honestly, I keep thinking about how great the first one was now, excellent film, 
I don't profess to have seen many shorts but I really love this one, I've read a few interpretations, none I fully agreed with because it's such an enigmatic little film, but it does have different layers to it.
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