1981 : The Best (alphabetical order): Body Heat Das Boot Chariots of Fire Clash of the Titans Cutter's Way Eye of the Needle Raiders of the Lost Ark Taxi zum Klo Also liked (alphabetical order): Absence of Malice Arthur Atlantic City Back Roads The Chosen The French Lieutenant's Woman Gallipoli Mep...

Jennifer Warren had her moment and then sort of vanished. She had a major role in NIGHT MOVES. She played the mother of a teenage model in BARE ESSENCE, which was briefly a TV series.

1959: One of the Great Movie Years Best of the Best : The Nun's Story Day of the Outlaw North by Northwest Some Like It Hot Odds Against Tomorrow Rififi The Journey The World of Apu Anatomy of a Murder Ride Lonesome Warlock Ben-Hur Shake Hands With the Devil Room at the Top Fires on the Plain Odd O...

The "Witch of Capri," character played by Noel Coward in BOOM! was a woman in the original play.

"Jack Nicholson goes way over the top"--like that would ever happen! Again, I mean. And again. Is his death scene in The Departed supposed to be funny? But Batman was indeed a huge hit, a film seen by everyone but me and loved by many, and Nicholson as the Joker was one of the main reasons.

I couldn't figure that out, either. Delon's psychic connection with the bird? It was far from obvious.

We just watched the documentary The Bloody Hundredth, which accompanies the mini-series Masters of the Air. This superb documentary includes interviews with survivors of the 100th, including some of those portrayed in Masters of the Air. If you have any interest in WWII, highly recommended.

Hey, a cool 1991 double feature would be Thelma and Louise and Grand Canyon!

1991 Number of films seen: (20-25) Movie quote of the year: "The life of the mind!"-- Barton Fink Favorites (alphabetical order): Beauty and the Beast Enchanted April The Fisher King Soapdish Tous les matins du monde Also liked: Fried Green Tomatoes Queens Logic Grand Canyon Bugsy The Nak...

I liked LE SAMOURAI better than I did the first time around, and look forward to seeing it again. It's all style without much substance, but it certainly delivers on the style. The blue-toned cinematography would have looked much more original than it does today, but the shot-making, editing, set de...

Speaking of our TCM host's tendency to get names wrong, a friend referred to him as "Ben Manglewitz."

Ten Performances To Celebrate Dame Edith Evans : The Queen of Spades (1949) The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) Look Back in Anger (1959) The Nun's Story (1959) Tom Jones (1963) The Chalk Garden (1964) Young Cassidy (1965) The Whisperers (1967) The Gambler (1968)--two-part BBC mini-series Scroog...

We just finished watching Masters of the Air. This Apple TV series in nine episodes follows the real-life story of American airmen who flew missions out of England in WWII and watched most of the men in their units be killed or taken prisoner. Doesn't develop characters that much, but is heavy on at...

Ten Performances in Villainous Roles by Actors Who Usually Don't Play Villains : James Stewart in After the Thin Man Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven Jane Wyatt in The Man Who Cheated Himself June Allyson in The Shrike Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer Olivia De Havilland in Hush, Hush, ...

Since we were talking about Wings Hauser, of all people, I remember when he replaced James Houghton as Greg Foster on The Young & the Restless. Now James Houghton was a very handsome young man, but as a Yale-educated lawyer somewhat less than convincing. Let's just say that Wings Hauser was eve...