Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler

Title: Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler - Dr. Mabuse, Parts 1 and 2
Year: 1922
Country: Germany
Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Erich Pommer
Genre: Crime, Horror, Mystery, & Thriller
Runtime: 140 minutes
Viewed: Part 1: June 28th & Part 2: June 29, 2010

Review: Best way to put it in my opinion is too little, too late. The first half was 120 minutes long, although it was two hours it did not seem that bad, I was entertained for the most part. The second half was 109 minutes long and completely lost me. The first half was fun it kept my attention, although I am still not sure I could tell you what character was who because since Dr. Mabuse disguises himself I'm not sure who was who at all. One second I would think I had it figured out and then the next I would be asking Drake, wait is that this person and she wouldn't know either. The second half was just extremely confusing, all we understood was the he went crazy. Unfortunately because the second half was hard to follow and boring, exaggerating unnecessary scenes to a long length, it was hard to give our full attention to it. I'm not saying we are sitting her glued to the television when we watch these movies, but typically if it even catches our attention a little we are pretty attune to what is happening. Due to the second half of this movie and feeling like it was even longer then the first half, I would never watch it again.

Rating:
2 Shamrocks (If it was just the second half, the movie would only get 1 Shamrock)
1.5 Soccer balls

Movie 13 down... 988 to go!

La Souriante Madame Beudet

Title: La Souriante Madame Beudet - The Smiling Madame Beudet
Year: 1922
Country: France
Director: Germaine Dulac
Producer: N/A (not given)
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 38 minutes
Viewed: June 27, 2010

Review: This movie was short, which was fantastic, however that's about the only thing that was good about the film. Unfortunately, it was incredibly confusing and there were random shots that were unexplainable. The dialogue cards occasionally made sense, but overall they were confusing too. It is safe to say for about 38 minutes Drake and I were just utterly confused. It is supposedly one of the first films for feminism. About half way through the film it made more sense that the husband was oppressive to her, however once again if we would not have read about the movie, I would have no clue that she daydreamed throughout the movie as a way to try to "free" herself from his patriarchy. Drake and I are at a loss for what the end of the film was supposed to mean, in the the second to last scene there are puppets that appear in the mirror and then a curtain falls. If anyone can explain to me how that makes sense other then he invites her to a show at the beginning of the movie, I'd really appreciate it.

Rating:
2 Shamrocks (It helps that the movie was short, but being short isn't a good thing if the movie makes no sense)
1.5 Soccer balls

Movie 12 down... 989 to go!

Orphans of the Storm

Title: Orphans of the Storm
Year: 1921
Country: USA
Director: D.W. Griffith
Producer: D. W. Griffith
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 150 minutes
Viewed: June 26, 2010

Review: Let the sounds of rejoicing commence. Drake and I could not be happier... not because this film was wonderful but because this is the last movie by D.W. Griffith we have to watch! We understand why Griffith is in the book, he truly did contribute a lot to film. However, films that are silent should not be so long, you are bound to lose your audience when the film is over an hour and forty-five minutes. Once again, Griffith felt for him to express the movie best it needed to be over two hours long. It was, in my opinion, a more interesting storyline then some of the other movies. Nowadays there are a few directors and there have been over time other directors who have done this, but it would seem with Griffith it originated that he likes to use the same cast over and over. I'd have to say the best thing about this film were the sets. But the movie as a whole was okay/fair, mainly because it was just too long.

Rating:
2.25 Shamrocks
2 Soccer balls

Movie 11 down... 990 to go!

Korkarlen

Title: Korkarlen - The Phantom Carriage
Year: 1921
Country: Sweden
Director: Victor Sjostrom
Producer: Charles Magnusson
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 70 minutes
Viewed: June 24, 2010

Review: Well, I'll start this post off with I am a bit irritated that I had to buy the film online to be able to view it. I searched everywhere I knew to look to find it and had absolutely no luck. So, $16 later, Drake and I have the movie. I'm not sure I would have understood the movie at all had I not read the description in the 1001 Movies book. It was not the worst film we have watched by any means, but it definitely was not as entertaining as we had expected it to be. One of the greatest things about this movie were the "special effects." The way this movie was filmed was taken to a new level with the Phantom Carriage and the Grim Reaper. It was very interesting to see and imagine how difficult it must have been to develop some of the scenes, that now we don't even typically take a minute to think about the difficulty. I appreciated the way the film ended, but was still very confused by the way the story was being told, it was very similar to The Christmas Carol, although with The Christmas Carol having speaking roles, it is a lot easier to follow.

Rating:
2 Shamrocks
2.5 Soccer balls

Movie 10 down... 991 to go!

Within Our Gates

Title: Within Our Gates
Year: 1920
Country: USA
Director: Oscar Micheaux
Producer: Oscar Micheaux
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 79 minutes
Viewed: June 12, 2010

Review: This is the first film we have watched that was directed by an African-American. It was interesting from the get go in our attempt to watch this movie. Most of them have been easy to locate but this one took a little bit more searching come to find it on the BMA podcast. The film was in two parts via podcast, and I'm unaware if that is how it was made originally or not. Watching this movie it was like we had gone backwards in the book rather than forward. The last film had started to keep our attention more affectively and while this did not necessarily lose our attention it was incredibly difficult to follow. The beginning we were completely unable to read what was said, and throughout the dialogue cards a few of them were impossible to tell what it said. We attempted as best we could to follow the film, but it was definitely a difficult task. There was no music in the background of this film, which also made it seem like we had gone backwards in the advancement of film. It is understandable why the film is in the book, especially with it having been the "earliest surviving feature" (1001 Movies...) by an African-American, but overall I would not imagine it being put in the book. The book notes that the movie had been censored many times because of it being too provocative near the timing the Chicago race riots, because of two things the lynching and rape, however if I would not have known that there was rape from the book I'm not sure I would have picked it out as that, but instead thought it was an attack. The film was restored and I cannot imagine how difficult it would have been to watch it if it had not been restored.

Rating:
2 Shamrocks
1 Soccer Ball

Movie 9 down... 992 to go!

Way Down East

Title: Way Down East
Year: 1920
Country: USA
Director: D.W. Griffith
Producer: D.W. Griffith
Genre: Drama & Romance
Runtime: 147 minutes
Viewed: June 9, 2010

Review: Let us start with this was the first film that we have watched, of semi-normal movie length, that I would watch again. It was actually entertaining. It would appear that Griffith realized his ability to story tell in a way that keeps the viewer's attention. I cannot quite put my finger on it exactly what changed but one of the little details that seems to make a huge difference is that he stopped putting emphasis on such monotonous pieces of the movie. Before the movie even began I told Drake that Griffith likes to depict women as helpless in his movies so far, but Griffith swiftly called my bluff by having dialogue cards at the beginning that summed up said that men should take responsibility for their actions. This was the first film that had scenes from the movie missing, which if I would have known was a possibility I would have prayed that parts of the previous movies would have been missing instead of this one. Instead of it having the typical scenes there were just dialogue cards that stated what was supposed to be there, and in a couple scenes there were photographs of what was depicted in the movie instead of reel. This movie also appeared to have more comedic entertainment throughout it, even though the movie was more of a romantic drama. If you are at all interested in watching a silent film, although this one is long, I would definitely recommend it! Lastly, a triple wedding is gross, it doesn't matter what year it is when a mother in-law and daughter in-law kiss multiple times, with one especially slow kiss, it is weird, and no matter what year you are in when two men accidentally kiss it is funny.

Rating:
3 Shamrocks (if it gets 3 or more shamrocks, this means I would watch the movie again)
3.75 Soccer Balls

Movie 8 down... 993 to go!

Broken Blossoms

Title: Broken Blossoms
Year: 1919
Country: USA
Director: D.W. Griffith
Producer: D.W. Griffith
Genre: Drama & Romance
Runtime: 75 minutes
Viewed: June 7, 2010

Review: This movie is the now common tale of forbidden love. The main character a girl named Lucy is loved by "The Yellow Man." However, Lucy doesn't really know love or kindness because her father, a boxer, is extremely aggressive towards her. When the father gets angry in any situation he takes it out on the "weaker," his daughter, he whips her often. Overall, it makes sense the movie would be in the book because it does seem to kickoff what is known as "forbidden love." It is obvious that there was no protest against racism in films because they have a Caucasian play the "Yellow Man." As well, he is often referred to as Chink. What becomes interesting however is that when Lucy is in the care of Yellow Man she in kindness still calls him Chink by saying, "Why are you so good to me, Chinky?" Another first noticed in this movie is that there were prostitutes in the film, I'm not completely sure what the point was to them other then that Lucy should not become one. The girl seeks care after a beating and this is when Yellow Man really shows his love for her, but when the father finds out it is detrimental. All that to say the movie has an ending similar to that of Romeo and Juliet.

Rating:
2.75 Shamrocks
3 Soccer Balls

Movie 7 down... 994 to go!