My 2009 Movie Odyssey - Part XV

For Me and My Gal (1942)
Judy Garland is pretty, Gene Kelley is charming, and there are some nice musical numbers, which adds up to a pleasantly entertaining piece of film (though I think Judy Garland’s character chose the wrong man in the end).

Taken (2008)
The title should be renamed: “Liam Neeson Kicks Butt.”

Knowing (2009)
There are a couple interesting set pieces (namely Nicholas Cage wandering through the wreckage of a plane that just crashed) but the payoff, filled with hijacked Christian symbolism, left me thinking that the whole thing would have been much better if done as a half hour Twilight Zone episode.

Caught (1949)
The movie asks some interesting relationship questions, but the ending feels overly contrived and too much like a copout.

Manhattan (1979)
Woody Allen has troubles with his love life; isn’t this the plot of every one of his films?

Coming up next: a couple more single word titles, one vastly superior to the other.

My 2009 Movie Odyssey - Part XIV

The 400 Blows (1959)
This is an interesting character study of a young boy who constantly finds himself in trouble (played wonderfully by Jean-Pierre Leaund) but nothing really happens.

Southland Tales (2006)
This is the most bizarre, confusing, poorly written, poorly acted, inconsistent, unbelievable, and downright dirty beer commercial I have ever seen.

Ikiru (1952)
This is the compelling story of an old man with only a few months to live, who decides to make something of what little life he has left despite the ineffectual bureaucracy that surrounds him.

Any Given Sunday (1999)
Oliver Stone makes a football movie that is entertaining while it lasts.

Catch-22 (1970)
This war time comedy is irreverent and sometimes surreal and is very reminiscent of MASH, which coincidentally came out the same year.

Coming up next: four one word titles.