55. Rumor Has It* (2005) -- A very appealing cast of performers and a kind of sequel to my favorite all-time movie, “The Graduate,” promised to be a winner. But the convoluted story and the creepy factor that Sarah (Jennifer Anniston) is sleeping with Bo (Kevin Costner) just after he swears he is NOT her father was enough to make me cringe. Her good guy boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) wants to marry Sarah, but she is suddenly attracted to the man who slept with both her grandmother (Shirley Maclaine in the Anne Bancroft role, looking indignant) and her late mother. I loved “The Graduate,” but when it comes to “Rumor Has It,” I’d rather listen to Adele sing the song of the same name. 3 cans.
56. First Wives Club (1996) – I can hardly believe 20 years (almost) has passed since Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler and Diane Keaton sought revenge on their cheating husbands in this cheesy romp. Hawn and Midler virtually burst through the screen – Hawn with collagen-laced lips first – to validate the old adage “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” – as they team up and plot to take down their ex-husbands by the wallet. Keaton, on the other hand, has to rise up from being an understanding apologist and get strength from the others to fully participate in their scheme, but she does so with relish. This is not a good movie, but it provides enough gusto and woman-power to overcome the sight gags and cheesy plot, and the stars do shine. But cool it on the collagen, Goldie, because your lips look like suction cups. 3½ cans, mostly for the cast and the Lesley Gore anthem, “You Don’t Own Me.”
57. Boychoir* (2015) – This new movie has a little bit of everything in it: The story of the outsider, Stet (Garrett Wareing) trying to fit in; the story of a tough but caring teacher (Dustin Hoffman, thankfully short of the insane music instructor of “Whiplash;”) kids with talent and an opportunity to use it that quickly evaporates because of their age (they are members of a boys’ choir, and eventually those high notes will be a thing of the past). But I went to see it mostly because one of the lead boys is played by Dante Soriano, Hillsborough’s finest and the grandson of my dear, departed friend, Rose Drabich. Dante acquits himself well in the role of Stet’s first real friend, who is kind enough to show the newcomer how to read music so he can better utilize his amazing voice. Stem is a lost boy from Texas, poor, living with his alcoholic mother and without contact from his father (his father’s close encounter with the boy’s mother is a secret unbeknownst to his “real” family). A teacher (Debra Winger, totally unrecognizable even to such a film buff as me) who knows he has talent tries to hook him up with the visiting National Boy Choir, but he leaves without auditioning. Only when his mother dies in a car accident and his father is summoned to take care of young Stet do the realities of the system play out. The father (Josh Lucas) is rich, and to keep his secret son away from his family, he in essence buys the boy a spot at the Boy Choir School, where his raw talent must be honed along with his rowdy behavior. More than once it appears young Stet will be thrown out, but this isn’t THAT movie. He learns to overcome the obstacles and hit the high notes. So does the movie. It unfortunately did not get a distribution deal, so it will not play at the local multiplex, and that’s a shame, because it is a good story (if a little corny) and makes a fine family film. I can think of at least one person who is watching from high above a movie theater, and she is smiling down on her grandson Dante and his cast mates and giving this film a big thumbs up. This one’s for you, Rose. 3½ cans.
58. 500 Days of Summer (2009) – Tom Hanson (Joseph Gordon Leavitt) is a greeting card copywriter with dreams of being an architect and even more important dreams of being in love. When Summer (Zooey Deschanel) starts working in his office, he is almost immediately smitten, and the two strike up a dating relationship that he would like to define as a couple and she would rather think of as a friendship with benefits. She makes it clear to him that she isn’t interested in a relationship, but he cannot help himself in falling for her and needing to know where they stand. The movie traces their coupling and uncoupling unconventionally, using various points unchronologically along the way to check in on their status. He’s happiest just going to Ikea or a museum with her, feeling like he has her as a girlfriend, but her free spirit and lack of commitment makes it that much tougher on him. Gordon-Leavitt shows his charming and morose sides as Tom, buoyed by love and hope and refusing to realize that he cannot reign in Summer. Deschanel is quixotic and sweet and you just wish they would fall in love with each other – but that is not this movie. Still, 3½ cans even without a happy ending.
59. A Little Romance (1979) – 13-year olds Daniel (Thelonius Bernard) and Lauren (Diane Lane – yes, THAT Diane Lane, from “Unfaithful”) meet on the streets of Paris. He’s a native, she’s an American living abroad with her self-absorbed actress mother (Sally Kellerman) and second stepfather (Arthur Hill). He loves movies, she’s bored and neglected, and they find each other and quickly fall in love. But she knows she will be leaving France for the States, so they decide to venture to Venice and share one kiss under a famous bridge at sunset, aided by a charming older man, Julius (Sir Lawrence Olivier), who finances the trip through his successful career as a pickpocket. The charm of this movie cannot be overstated, from the young leads to the veteran Olivier. I’ve been a fan of Lane’s for years, and although I cannot recall any other movies starring young Mr. Bernard, this one is good enough to last a lifetime. Let’s face it, we all need a little romance in our lives. 4 cans.
60. Bessie* (2015) – I guess if you are going to sing the blues, you had better be able to draw on your personal experience, and singer Bessie Smith has plenty to draw on. Queen Latifah gives an outstanding performance (she is in virtually every scene) as she traces the story of a singer whose career rose and fell, who indulged her tastes in men and women and drink, who suffered discrimination and poverty as well as great success, and through it all, stayed strong. Monique co-stars as Bessie’s rival and erstwhile friend, Ma Rainey, another woman who has earned the right to sing the blues. 4 cans, and thanks, HBO, for a docudrama well worth seeing.
61. Animal House (1978) – It had been a while and I was in the mood for a nostalgic trip down Fraternity Row, especially after having seen the horrifyingly disgusting bathroom at the house my nephew shared with his fraternity brothers. Good to know that no progress has been made since John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert and the other Deltas pursued knowledge at famed Faber College circa 1961. The fact that I know EVERY line in this movie is not a deterrent to seeing it again. In fact, some of them seem particularly apropos these days (“Seven years of college down the drain” and “It’s not over until we say it’s over.”). This movie is a classic and applies to anyone and everyone who ventured onto a college campus in the past 50 years and ended up fat, drunk and stupid at a fraternity party. Hilarious, memorable and right on target. 5 cans (of beer, of course) to one of the funniest movies of all time.
62. In & Out (1997) – Greenleaf, Indiana, is shaken to its mushy core when beloved English teacher Howard Bracket is outed by a former student during his Oscar acceptance speech. After all, Bracket (the immensely talented Kevin Kline) is just about to marry his long-time love Emily (the underrated Joan Cusack), so he can’t possibly be gay. Or could he? There is his Barbra Streisand fetish, the fact that he picked out Emily’s bridal gown, and the three-year engagement and wait before, well, never mind. When TV reporter Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck) comes to town to cover the story, Howard is less sure about himself than ever. I don’t want to reveal the plot of this comedy gem, but Cusack gets off two of the best lines. Life in a small town has never been the same. I once spent a rainy weekend with a dear friend watching this move three times – and we still laughed out loud. It is not of the same humor as the gross but hilarious “Animal House” above, but it packs a punch and a punchline. And Kline makes it all worthwhile. 4 cans.
63. Working Girl (1988) – With “a head for business and a bod for sin,” Tess McGill (Melanie Griffiths) has great ideas for mergers and acquisitions at her investment bank, but no one will take her seriously because she is a lowly secretary. But when her autocratic boss Katherine (Sigourney Weaver) is out of commission following a skiing accident, Tess moves into the office and the life of Jack Trainor (Harrison Ford) to broker a bid deal. It turns out Tess herself is a big deal, taking the lead and showing her stuff, advancing far from the girl with the big hair on the Staten Island Ferry. I haven’t seen suits with such big shoulder pads since – well, since I got rid of my own earlier this year! Griffiths has just the right tone here, demonstrating a quiet resolve and plenty of smarts for someone who has been tested by the poor treatment of her colleagues. Trainor (get the name?) only knows her as an exec, and the woman he meets is powerful and lovable. This is a great Mike Nichols film that is only enhanced by Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” theme song, New York/Staten Island locales, and terrific performances – including a small but funny part by Joan Cusack, who, as in “In & Out,” gets the best lines (“Sometimes I dance around in my underwear. It doesn’t make me Madonna. Never will.”) 3½ cans.
64. Runaway Bride (1999) – There are two problems with this movie. First, despite the leads and director (Julia Roberts, Richard Gere and director Garry Marshall), it is NOT its predecessor, “Pretty Woman.” That film was warmer and yet edgier than this one, whose second problem is that it marches so ploddingly toward its inevitable conclusion. Is there anyone out there who hasn’t figured out that the two stars will end up together? Roberts is Maggie, a bride who has left too many men at the altar, and Gere is Ike, a reporter who writes about her less than stellar track record and then comes to her small town (where he whistles the theme from “The Andy Griffith Show”) to keep the story alive after his first attempt costs him his newspaper job. Will she go through with her latest engagement and marry the guy? I can’t even bother to answer that one. The attractive leads are always worth watching, but you yearn for them to have more meat to chew on than this painful plot provides. One more note: This movie is my third consecutive one with Joan Cusack, although her part here is small and unworthy of her comic chops. 3 cans.
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