Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb     Writer/Director: Stanley Kubrick.

3.5 Licks

1964

Rated PG

George C. Scott, Peter Sellers. James Earl Jones, Slim Pickens.

This movie is so “off its rocker” in so many ways, that if you’re not giggling throughout the movie…you’re at least definitely smiling! Dr. Strangelove is “different” in the best sense of the word.

And being that this movie is written and directed by Stanley Kubrick, strange, different, odd and unique are all complimentary descriptions. After all, who in the movie business has a greater reputation for such things than Kubrick?!

Sellers gives a superb performance as Dr. Strangelove, in addition to portraying other characters in this film as well. Dr. Strangelove, however, is a truly unique character portrayed in a way that only enhances that originality.

It’s okay to be different. Thanks for reminding us of that, Mr. Kubrick!

Doctor Zhivago

3 Licks

Rated PG-13

Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Geraldine Chaplin.

The whole story in Doctor Zhivago is riveting, and the movie plays out so well that you’d think you were there with them. You feel as if you’re watching something that happened in real life, at the time it actually happened…rather than seeing a filmed story for an epic movie.  

This epic love story takes place through revolution and war, making that fated passion, turmoil and raw emotion all the more awe-inspiring and gritty.  

Had this movie been a little shorter in duration, it would’ve been worth 4 Licks. As riveting as the movie is, it’s 3+ hours runs a bit too long.

Gaslight

3.75 Licks

1944

Not Rated

Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Angela Lansbury.

Sometimes, you watch a classic without quite knowing what to expect or without knowing how the description on the movie jacket will translate into your own interest or disinterest in the movie.

With less “special effects” to rely on in the classics, there’s a lot more reliance on minor details or nuances, as well as that thing too many serious types these days often undervalue…a wider sense of imagination and a healthy dose of natural paranoia.

Strange things happen in Gaslight, causing a woman to believe she is losing her mind. The woman can’t remember or explain the strange goings on, but is she really losing her mind or is someone plotting to make it look like she is?! And if she doesn’t get answers soon, what will it matter anyway?

Gaslight is a classic horror tale wonderfully executed! One might even dub it a grandfather to the horror films focused on various forms or degrees of psychosis…only Gaslight rises above the others, avoiding the gruesome “blood, guts and gore” degree so many of its genre in present day over-saturate their stories with.

In today’s horror movies, it’s easy to be underwhelmed with all the overdone gore wherein one movie becomes a clone of another and another and another…even as each tries to out-gore or out-disgust the other. However, in a classic horror like Gaslight, you’ll find sometimes the horrors of the mind are far more intense and threatening than all the wannabe gore-kings of Hollywood and their formulaic gore-gore-gore-and-more-gore-fests! (Only Al Gore hyping some non-existent campaign for Global Worldwide Air Conditioners could be more scary!)

Gone with the Wind

Rated G

Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel, Leslie Howard, Thomas Mitchell.

Gone with the Wind is a true classic! With a story set during the American Civil War, it’s a soap opera, it’s a love story…it’s Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara. Passion, pain, love, loss, childbirth, death...and there are even some smoothly comedic lines added in with just the right timing.  

There’s also Rhett throwing Scarlett over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and Rhett scooping Scarlett up in his arms when he’s obviously not thinking of potatoes! In the realm of historical romances, Gone with the Wind reigns supreme. 

Sure, there are other characters in the movie, and yes, I could say more about them and the movie itself. However, if you need more of a review than this to see the movie, well, to quote Rhett, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!”

Grease

5 Licks

1978

Rated PG

John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Didi Conn, Sid Ceasar, Dina Manoff.

Someone I know once mentioned that every time he’s seen this movie musical, he’s had a strong urge to sing and dance…and every time he sings and dances, he’s had an urge to see this movie again. Maybe it’s an exaggeration, or maybe it’s just a little-known side effect of having grown up with or on Grease.

It’s no exaggeration to say I know some who’ve seen this movie over 50 times. No kidding! Think poor, destitute college kids with a VCR (yes, before the days of DVD’s)…and but one single videotape, Grease! Needless to say, they and their friends could (and likely did) enact the entire movie with no sound on more than one occasion.

Grease was the very height of (a then young) John Travolta’s career…even better than Saturday Night Fever, which also left more than a few with a strong desire to dance!

In Grease, Olivia Newton-John stars opposite Travolta (who plays he role of Danny) as his love interest, Sandy. Having been “summer lovers,” things are a much different story for the two when they discover they’re both attending the same high school. Sandy, the innocent goody two-shoes…and Danny, that bad boy who likes to play it “cool” and tough among his friends. What will happen to Sandy and Danny now that summer’s over?

Watch and see! You’ll sing. You’ll dance. You’ll wish you’d been Danny, Sandy, Rizzo, Kenickie, Frenchy……or maybe in fonder recollections of your youth, on some level, you were.

How to Steal a Million

4 Licks

1966

Unrated

Audrey Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Eli Wallach.

Museum borrows a statue from a family, unbeknownst that the statue is actually a forgery. Before the forgery is discovered through close scrutiny and testing, a forger’s daughter (played by Hepburn) enlists the aid of a stranger --- whom she thinks is a burglar --- to help her steal the statue back from the museum in hopes of avoiding trouble.

Of course, the stranger (played by O’Toole) is no burglar, but he is fascinated by Nicole (Hepburn), thus he goes along with her ploy…and a fun romantic comedy ensues.

How to Steal a Million transcends its time and thus can still be easily related to today. The role played by Hepburn in How to Steal a Million seems a perfect fit for the type of characters she was accustomed to playing. Both lead actors seem to work well together in making this an even more enjoyable story.