Movies I Watched in August

River's End (1940)

This month I started watching M*A*S*H again (I had stopped after Frank left). So far I've watched season 6-8. They are definitely more serious in tone. I also started The Persuaders (1971-1972), starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore. I liked the first couple of episodes enough to buy the complete series on dvd ($10 on Amazon for 24 episodes). 

* indicates a rewatch

1. A Lady of Chance (1928) - Norma Shearer 
2. Cynara (1932) - Ronald Colman & Kay Francis
3. My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937) - Edna May Oliver, Maureen O’Sullivan & Walter Pidgeon, Rita Johnson
4. The Drum (1938) - Sabu, Roger Livesy, Raymond Massey
5. River’s End (1940) - Dennis Morgan, George Tobias
6. Meet the Stewarts (1942) - William Holden & Frances Dee
7. In Which We Serve (1942) - Noel Coward, John Mills, Celia Johnson, Richard Attenborough 
8. Dear Ruth (1947) - William Holden & Joan Caufield, Edward Arnold
9. *Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) - Cary Grant & Betsy Drake, Franchot Tone
10. Little Women (1949) - June Allyson, Janet Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O’Brien, Peter Lawford, Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith, Rossano Brazzi 
11. Barricade (1950) - Dane Clark, Raymond Massey, Ruth Roman
12. *Shane (1953) - Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon de Wilde
13. Dunkirk (1958) - John Mills, Richard Attenborough 
14. *Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) - Steve Martin + archive footage of old Hollywood stars 
15. Captain Ron (1992) - Kurt Russell, Martin Short
16. Little Women (1994) - Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Christian Bale, Kirsten Dunst, Mary Wickes
17. We Are Marshall (2006) - Matthew McConahay
18. *The King’s Speech (2010) - Colin Firth
19. *The Tourist (2010) - Angelina Jolie & Johnny Depp
20. Elvis (2022) - Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia Delange (in theaters)

Least Favorite Film: Cynara. No one likes a girl who steals another woman’s husband than gets hysterical when he goes back to her.

Favorite Movie: Meet the Stewarts was really cute and funny. I also really enjoyed the 1994 Little Women. I've never really been a huge fan of the book (when I first read it I saw that one of the girls died and didn't finish it). I really liked Christian Bale as Laurie. In most adaptations the character of Laurie is forgettable, or too... for lack of a better word, feminine - maybe it's because his name is similar to mine (Laura). Anyway, Bale did a great job and I think this adaptation is my favorite, followed by the 1978 TV mini-series, which had a great cast. Captain Ron was pretty funny. 

I thought Elvis (2022) would be added to HBO Max in early August and, since I hadn't gotten around to going to see it in theaters yet (I like early weekday showings when there's not a lot of people - even pre-covid I preferred it that way), I had decided to wait. Then they pushed the date and, since it stayed in theaters so long, I finally had a chance to go. I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. Not going to lie, the first hour dragged a little but once we got to the '68 Special it was really good. That was my favorite part of the movie, partly because it was more like a regular biopic, had more actual Elvis songs than the first hour, and had less of Colonel Tom Parker. Austin Butler, who I thought he was a horrible choice when he was cast (despite having never seen him act), was absolutely incredible. He had the moves and voice down to a T. He even managed to catch that twinkle in his eyes that Elvis had. I really do hope he is nominated for an Oscar and wins. He seems like a pretty humble guy in his interviews too and seems to genuinely love Elvis. I hope that one day an extended cut is released. I sobbed at the end of the movie and had trouble holding it together the entire drive home (20 min - while listening to an Elvis cd). The end was perfect (I usually stay until the credits finish but it moved on to a rap song so I hot footed it out of there). The film was added to HBO Max today.