Moose And The Movies

The Great Escape, 1963, directed by John Sturges, Criterion blu-ray (2020), 3.5 stars. I've never been much on war films, period pieces, historical dramas and the like. But I do like to get out of my comfort zone and visit with the classics now and again. I first saw The Great Escape about 20 years ago, with a DVD blind buy, and I enjoyed it quite a bit -- especially the Steve McQueen motorcycle chase through the German countryside. This was my second time watching the film. It's a pretty entertaining epic based on a book about a group of British airmen who tunneled out of a German POW camp during World War II. I gather the historical accuracy of the event is questionable, heavily reframed to appeal to American audiences. But I'm not concerned about all that. Taken on its own terms, this movie is a fine way to spend about three hours. The ensemble cast is loaded with recognizable faces -- McQueen and James Garner stand out. We also get a look at Charles Bronson, David McCal...

Nine of the movies I watched in January were rewatches. A couple of them I have seen several times, favorites from my DVD library from the early '00s. The rest are films I remember watching only once before. Here are my tier-list rankings of those rewatches. I'll be back in the next day or two with a recap of all the movies I saw for the first time, and I also plan a combined ranking. 9. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, 1978, directed by Philip Kaufman, streamed on Kanopy, 2.5 stars.   I had always remembered this as a pretty good film since I saw it probably during its first theater run. But it didn't hold up for me at all, mostly because of all the plot holes. 8. V/H/S/2, 2013, multiple directors, streamed on Prime Video, 2.5 stars. You need more than one excellent and one decent segment to hold up a five-segment anthology. 7. Southern Comfort, 1981, directed by Walter Hill, streamed on Prime Video, 3 stars. A decent thriller about a National Guard unit lost in the swamps ...

Magic, 1978, directed by Richard Attenborough, streamed on Prime Video, 4 stars. I hadn't seen this since its first run in my local movie house, though the image of Anthony Hopkins and Fats -- and, especially, Fats' voice -- have stayed with me through the years. I was a little surprised that this movie was just as good on a second watch as it was nearly 50 years ago. Hopkins, as the dissociative Corky Withers, is just as frightening and memorable as he was 13 years later playing that other guy. Hopkins certainly has a lot more screen time in Magic than he did in that 1991 film. I believe the reason Corky didn't have the impact on the culture as the later guy did is that Magic is not a perfect movie. Ann-Margret ain't Jodie Foster. Hopkins does get outstanding support early on from Burgess Meredith. The "five minutes" scene with those two playing off each other is worth the price of admission on its own. One more thing before we move on: The WB's Buffy The...