Tina's February Movies 2011

February is Oscar month, the time of year they award the Oscars, and Turner Classic Movies launches 31 days of Oscar, featuring lots of Oscar-winning movies. I taped a bunch, watched some -- as you will see below -- and enjoyed another month of movie watching. I am sticking to my goal of watching movies I either have not seen previously (marked with an *) or movies I haven't seen in 20 years or more. Here's what I saw in February. (Numbering picks up from previous month, and ratings are done on the scale of 1-5 cans of tuna, 5 being the top score.)

FEBRUARY *= My first time seeing this movie

13. Against All Odds * (TV) – A buff and tan Jeff Bridges (circa 1984) adds visual appeal to this drama about a football player (Bridges) who is cut by his team and hired by a bookmaker to look for his missing girlfriend (Rachel Ward). All kinds of complications arise as he finds her on the beaches of Cozumel, Mexico, and they promptly hook up. Hands, please, from anyone who didn’t see that coming. Bridges, who really only wants to play football and be left alone, has done a few things for which he can be blackmailed, and a cat and mouse game begins among the principals. In the end, only the strong survive. I think I liked the Phil Collins song better than the movie, but it was nice to see Bridges in his pre-Rooster Cogburn prime. 3½ cans.

14. Last Summer (TV) – This 1969 movie features three teenagers summering at the beach, pushing the boundaries of friendship, truth and sexuality, as they build a bond based on selfish interests and bad home lives. Teenage temptress Barbara Hershey plays what we would now call the “mean girl,” as she manipulates and tantalizes Richard Thomas and Bruce Davison and preys upon newcomer Cathy Burns. The movie careens to an ending that is unexpected and outrageous. I wish I could remember a summer with so little parental supervision – and these young people could have used some. 3 cans.

15. 84 Charing Cross Road (TV) – Helane Hanff would have hated the Kindle. A dedicated book lover, she relished the feel of a book in her hands, its weight, its paper and its binding. Addicted to second hand books, she located a bookstore at 84 Charing Cross Road in London that would find her the volumes of English literature she craved and ship them to her in New York. And thus was born first a business relationship and then a friendship between Hanff (Anne Bancroft) and bookseller Frank Dole (Anthony Hopkins). Niceties and gifts, warm and funny letters exchanged between Helane and Frank, and extended to the other employees in the shop as well as Frank’s wife and family, formed a 20-year friendship built entirely on correspondence. This movie celebrates good writing – in books and letters – and reminds us of all the little things we should appreciate in life. And though Helane never gets to England to meet Frank and his colleagues, she is just as much a part of their lives as if she lived around the corner from 84 Charing Cross Road. Great movie, as long as you are not craving action and adventure. 5 cans.

16. The Producers (TCM) – The lunacy of Mel Brooks has never been better than in this hilarious movie about a has-been Broadway producer determined to stage a flop and keep the money from the backers, a bunch of horny old ladies he coaxes into financing the show. No one but Brooks could imagine a Broadway musical based on Hitler and the Nazis and featuring dancing stormtroopers. This is the original production, with a bug-eyed and stringy-haired Zero Mostel as producer Max Bialystock and wide-eyed innocent Gene Wilder as his accountant and partner in crime, Leo Bloom. The look on the faces of the audience as they watch the “Springtime for Hitler” number is unforgettable, and there are a million hysterical bits and characters scattered throughout the 90-minute gem. Ironically, Brooks was married to Anne Bancroft at the time and had a hand as producer himself in “84 Charing Cross Road,” a completely different kind of movie. 4½ cans.

17. Radio Days (TCM) – Woody Allen serves up this pitch perfect paean to the days of his Rockaway youth, when radio ruled the airwaves and people gathered together in living rooms to listen to their favorite shows. Featuring the usual cast of Allen characters (Mia Farrow, Diane Keaton, Diane Weist, Tony Roberts, Julie Kavner and a young Seth Green playing Allen himself), this pastiche of vignettes seems authentic but oddly assembled. One scene is forced to lead to another and the result seems like a self-indulgent stroll down memory lane with no real destination in mind. Not one of Allen’s best, but with impeccable production design and wardrobe. After all, how often can you see women with their hair in snoods? 3½ cans.

18. Come Back, Little Sheba (TCM) – Whatever happened to our lost youth, our lost love, our lost dog? These are the questions Shirley Booth might ask herself in this sobering tale of a lonely and lost housewife married to an alcoholic (Burt Lancaster). As she fusses over him and tries to be caring and upbeat, she can’t help but look back and lament the life they have created together, all the while waiting for his inevitable slip from sobriety. Her only solace was a little dog she adored, Sheba, who has vanished, leaving her mourning the loss and dreaming of the dog’s return. Shirley Booth, later TV’s favorite maid in “Hazel,” won an Oscar for her touching performance. 4 cans.

19. The Red Badge of Courage* (TCM) – Men at war can demonstrate either courage or cowardice, and young Frank, a Union soldier in the Civil War, displays both in this film adaptation of the Stephen Crane novel. Frank deserts his regiment after a battle with the Rebel forces, only to find them again and ultimately lead them, waving the flag, in their final battle. The book is required reading in high school, and I think it plays better print than on the screen, where the characters seem a little too noble and the tale too corny. 2½ cans.

20. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (TV) – In honor of Black History Month, I decided to revisit this classic TV saga of a woman whose life spans from slavery to civil rights and who tells her tale to a magazine writer. Cicely Tyson won an Emmy for her portrayal of Miss Jane, and whether layered with makeup or young and working in the fields, she handles the demanding role with aplomb. The last scene of this TV-movie is one of the most memorable scenes in TV history, as 110-year old Miss Jane walks ever so slowly to the “whites only” fountain and, in an act of defiance, takes a sip of water for all the town to see. Classic. 4½ cans.

21. High Noon* (TCM) – Although he starts the day by marrying Grace Kelly, the day takes a turn for the worse for Marshal Will Keane. The dreaded criminal Frank Miller is released from prison and heading to town. The judge who convicted him packs his bags and gets out of Dodge lickety-split, the deputy quits and it looks like Keane (Gary Cooper) can’t recruit any deputies so he’ll have to face down the whole Miller gang alone when the noon train arrives in town. This is an iconic American Western, with the brave marshal determined to do what’s right. Beautifully shot in black and white with close-ups of taut and perspiring faces, this movie has your basic gunfight, good guy against bad guys. Will Grace Kelly get out of town, leaving her man behind – or dead? Only time will tell, and it’s almost noon. Not really my kind of movie, and I found Cooper very wooden in the role (though Grace Kelly was absolutely gorgeous). 3½ cans.

22. Auntie Mame (TV) – The incomparable Rosalind Russell stars as the irrepressible Auntie Mame in this delightful story of an eccentric and wealthy New York woman who takes on the care of her orphaned nephew in the late 1920s. It is love at first sight between them as Auntie Mame exposes her “little love” Patrick to the arts, culture and her whacky world. I actually missed some of the songs that appear in the later musical version of this movie, and parts of it seemed overly long, but I always enjoy seeing the bond between nephew and aunt and between Mame and her loyal staff and friends. Russell absolutely dominates the screen. 4 cans.

23. Unknown* (Hillsboro) – I finally got out to the movies this month, just in time for Liam Leeson’s latest one-word title action movie. Imagine being in a city where you don’t speak the language, you leave your wife at the hotel while you go back to the airport to retrieve the briefcase you inadvertently left behind, and the next thing you know, your cab crashes into a river and you nearly drown. And that’s just the beginning of this intriguing movie. I tried to stay as alert as possible so I could figure out exactly what was happening, but there were plenty of twists and turns I never saw coming, and I’m not just talking about car chases. All I can tell you is that if Diane Kruger offers you a ride, don’t get into the car. 4 cans.

24. The Rosa Parks Story* (TV) – One day in 1955 Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and rode into history. Parks, a dignified, quiet but determined black woman, was an advocate of civil rights, but hardly a confrontational sort. This one day, coming home from work and sitting in the “colored” section of the city bus, she had simply had enough and refused to give up her seat to a white man. She was arrested, taken to jail and prosecuted for the crime. Her single act of defiance galvanized the black community, which boycotted city buses. Ultimately, Parks was acquitted and the despicable Jim Crow laws that governed the city and state were declared illegal. Angela Bassett plays Parks with a quiet strength and resolve and the actor who plays her husband will no doubt play Barack Obama someday since there is such a strong resemblance between them. 3½ cans.