Movies

Movies

We've seen some good old movies at the theater down the street.

• Strangers on a Train -- Parts of it seem a little dated, but it was still a fun and suspenseful movie. It's a pretty interesting plot, but much of the movie wouldn't happen if the protagonist wasn't so stupid. On the other hand, the things he does probably seemed normal at the time, when audiences weren't jaded by years of such movies.
  
  
• Rebecca -- This was billed as a romance, so I was pretty suspicious, but Mrs. Turtle seemed like she really wanted to see it, so we stayed after Strangers on a Train (it was a double feature). It turned out to be more of a suspense/mystery, and was a really excellent film, one of the best I've seen in years. Laurence Olivier is great in his role.
  
  
• Notorious -- This was a strange film. I normally love Hitchcock, so I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment. It was interesting enough, and I'm glad I saw it, but not much actually happens during the film. There is a romance that seemed to me to be completely unmotivated, and plot that is wrapped up as a kind of afterthought at the last minute. Finally, I felt bad for the bad guy at the end of the movie, but I don't think I was supposed to.
  
  
• Casablanca -- This film is so overhyped and overquoted that I had very low expectations going in. I was completely blown away. It's witty, intelligent, suspenseful, surprising, interesting... This is one of the greatest movies of all time.
  
  Best of all, there were plot twists that caught me by surprise several times. That's extremely rare in modern movies, even more so in old movies. It's especially impressive given that I kind of knew how the movie ended.
  
  Finally, those quotes that people throw around actually: they really are great quotes in the film, although people usually quote them incorrectly.