SPECIAL: The Marx Brothers, Paramount Films

For Christmas I received the best gift ever: a collection of the Marx Brothers' first five films with Paramount pictures: The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup. Of course, I was thrilled. I started watching them nearly right away. I had seen all the films before, but some had been a while. And now I could watch them whenever I wanted.

The Marx Brothers hold a very special place in my heart and in the world of cinema, too. I would watch the movies when they happened to be on or when my dad was watching, but it was never really planned. Sometimes when I was home sick from school I would try to find one as watching the zany antics nearly always made me feel better. But my love affair didn't really start until I was in college and actually started paying more attention to classic films, through film classes and just voraciously watching everything.

No other performers created a bridge between the world of vaudeville and the silver screen like the Marx Brothers did. Some of the earliest films are like watching their stage shows, which is amazing to think about--we have a window into the world of vaudeville through these films. A window into a wholly different culture and time, now almost 100 years ago. Wow.

My favorite of the first five films is Horse Feathers. I love it because of the music, especially, but also because of the fantastic lines and gags. Monkey Business is my second favorite, it is nostalgic for me and has some brilliant scenes. The others are all equally great, too, just for different reasons. I can't get enough of them and am so glad I have them in my collection now.

The Cocoanuts

Rating: Q=6, P=6 / Average OJ

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3

Animal Crackers

Rating: Q=6, P=6 / Average OJ

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3

Monkey Business

Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=4

Horse Feathers

Rating: Q=7, P=8 / Obsession

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4

Duck Soup

Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=4

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller, 2024)

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Rating: Q=7, P=8 / Obsession

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4

Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Survival, Neo-Western

My first viewing of Mad Max: Fury Road, which was not long after the film came out, gave the film an average rating. Let's be honest...I wasn't really into action movies as much back then. I've since rewatched that film multiple times and have a much greater appreciation for the genre and the filmmaking. I would give it a much higher rating now.

I went into seeing Furiosa with the expectation that it would be good, probably not as good or iconic as Fury Road, but I was optimistic it would be not only fun to watch but thoughtful and interesting. But I was also just along for the ride. I was blown away. This film truly exceeded all my expectations.

The film is more than just a backstory of Furiosa. The backstory part is quite good, too, but it fills in the universe a bit more and provides more motivation for the character(s). It has some very grueling and gruesome scenes, some hilarious moments, phenomenal performances by Chris Hemsworth (not typecasted!) and Ana Taylor-Joy. I was sucked into the world and wanted more when it was done.

Probably the most telling part of my reaction to Furiosa, was that I immediately wanted to rewatch Fury Road when it was over. And after I watched Fury Road again, I appreciated both of the films even more. They build on each other in unexpected ways, which is wonderful filmmaking. A fantastic story, escape, and film.

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Coming Home

Coming Home (Hal Ashby, 1978)

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Rating: Q=7, P=4 / Can't Get Enough

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=2

Vietnam War, Drama, Complex Relationships, Grief

I have a hard time watching typical war films, because the majority of the story is usually set on the front lines or in the action. But few war films focus on the veterans when they return and/or the people they leave behind. Coming Home is perhaps the best film I've seen that truly discusses what war does, its impacts, its legacy. Jon Voight and Jane Fonda are phenomenal in their roles. Bruce Dern is also memorable. And the actual veterans in the film make this a pseudo-documentary, at times, with incredibly powerful effects. I was moved by the brutal honesty of this film and I think it is quite important to see.

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Topsy Turvy, revisited

Topsy Turvy, revisited (Mike Leigh, 1999)

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Rating: Q=4, P=4 / Average OJ

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3

Biopic, Historical, Musical/Opera, Complex Relationships

It was fun to revisit Topsy Turvy, a film I watched in college when me and my roommate had a Gilbert and Sullivan phase. We saw a live production (students performed Rudigore) and then watched several film versions of the operettas and this film. It is still a great biopic with memorable performances of the duo. Great visuals and sounds from The Mikado, of course.

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3

Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 (Jennifer Corbett and Dave Filoni, 2024)

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Science Fiction, Action, Adventure

Season 1 Rating: DSQ=10, SP=6 / Can't Get Enough

Scale A=4, Scale B=3, Scale C=3, Scale D=3, Scale E=3

I really enjoyed the darker, tenser tone of Season 3. Omega grows so much and we really see the undying loyalty that is the very essence and soul of a clone. The relationships between the clones and each other is also strengthened with the return and redemption of Crosshair. And the terrible experiments/trials of the Empire become somehow even more disturbing. I think Doctor Hemlock might be my least favorite character in Star Wars-- a truly awful villain. We also get more answers to many questions that kept arising in the previous seasons. Nothing completely explained, but that would never happen ;)

I loved The Bad Batch --in concept, each character, individual episodes in all seasons-- what a great part of the Star Wars universe.

Click here to see how I rated Season 1. And Season 2.

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The Pale Blue Eye

The Pale Blue Eye (Scott Cooper, 2022)

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Rating: Q=6, P=5 / Average OJ

Scale 1=3, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=2

Based on Book, 19th Century America, Mystery, Grief, Macabre

I don't know much about the earliest decades of America, that time between independence and the civil war. It isn't a period that my history classes focused on, sadly. Especially not the culture. But I did spend some time reading early American authors as an English major in college and so gleaned some cultural and historical knowledge. The Pale Blue Eye is an aesthetically beautiful film. It is incredibly melancholic, greatly aided by the snowy, wintry setting. And though it is a mystery with undertones of the occult, cultural/political conflicts, and grief, it is also a story about young Edgar Allen Poe. They really made Harry Melling look exactly like Poe! I was captivated by this blending of history and fiction. And I was drawn into the world as much as (if not more so) trying to solve its mystery.

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