My Brilliant and Witty 2013 Movie Diary

This movie's title is so accurate because I actually felt really sleepy and tired while watching it. And this isn't even me just taking a cheap jab at the film because I hate it, I was just extremely fatigued when I saw The Big Sleep, and this was exacerbated by the confusing plot and rather inconsistent storyline.

Bogey and Bacall play upon their enchanting allure, and sparks literally fly between them every time they're on screen. Bogey plays Phillip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler's famed classic detective, and he slyly investigates the disappearance of a rich family's employee. Sure enough, there are femme fatales, mysterious gunmen and a few murders here and there, and a lot of plot twists.

The Big Sleep is a rather typical noir, and from what I actually could comprehend, I found the mystery to be rather unexciting and contrived. But that just might be my stupidity talking, because after all, I was half dead when I saw the damn film. It might benefit from a re-watch in the near future...

Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu star in this thoughtful and slow drama about a stage actress hiding her Jewish husband in Nazi occupied Paris while struggling to run a theater at the same time.

Francois Truffaut's directing style is sluggish and contemplative, and it often even becomes monotonous at times. Though their romance develops quite near the end of the film, Cat and Gerard have some captivating chemistry and are believable in their contrasting roles. Deneuve's character is icy and reserved, and Depardieu's is warm and rather comedic at times; so it makes for a rather cliched "opposites attract" situation.

While The Last Metro isn't much of a romance, it's not really a war movie or a drama either. Despite the lack of action, this film displays the more mature and serious later style of Truffaut and there is some fine acting throughout.

The Street Fighter is pretty much just a showcase of what a BAMF Sonny Chiba is. He's a lean mean fighting machine with no fear or hesitation, and he kicks a lot of ass and spills a lot of blood in this classic martial art masterpiece.

It must have been hard for Sonny to make a name for himself in the 70s because everyone had a boner for Bruce Lee, but he was too awesome to be held back. In The Street Fighter (not to be confused with the derided JCVD movie), he plays a ruthless and violent bastard of a mercenary named Terry. In many well executed fight scenes, he shows off his impressive kung fu skills as he beats the shit out of everyone who pisses him off.

To conclude, The Street Fighter is a pretty grim and downbeat film with a storyline that is actually pretty thoughtful for an action movie. This is a milestone martial arts flick that must be seen by all fans of the genre.

So basically, I love Cab Calloway and his groovy music and that's the only reason why I watched Hi-De-Ho...to hear him sing! The film starts with some half-assed story about Cab having a jealous girlfriend named Minnie (just like in his famous song Minnie the Moocher) who tries to sabotage his act. It's all so badly acted and written (because the film was made on an obvious shoestring budget), and I could barely even pay attention to what was going on because I was bored to death.

After the messy first 40 minutes, there comes an outstanding barrage of dancing and musical numbers done by Cab and other talented peeps. This is the sole thing that saves the film from being total lame crap.

I hate to admit it, but one of the biggest reasons that I watched this film is because the title is somehow related to Warren Beatty. Warren would phone his girlfriends and say in that soft whispery voice of his, "What's new, pussycat?" That's creepy and sexy at the same time, boo-yah! And Warren was supposed to be in this film, but dumb ass Woody Allen re-wrote the script until Warren's part was waaay smaller than originally intended, so Warren was like "fuck it" and dropped out. He was replaced by Peter O'Toole, who is also awesome so s'all good.

Anyways, What's New Pussycat is some kind of bizarre screwball comedy that features famous 60's peeps like O'Toole, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Capucine, Paula Prentiss and Romy Schneider. There are also small appearances by Francoise Hardy and Richard Burton.

While the cast may be mindbogglingly cool, it's a pretty messed up movie that doesn't make much sense and isn't all that funny. O'Toole plays a irresistible ladies' man who can't seem to put a halt to his playboy ways, and Sellers plays his whacked out psychiatrist. It's a somewhat comedic and entertaining movie, but nothing to go nuts about. I expected much better from a cast like that!