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Singin' in the Rain, a review by Tom

Title: Singin' in the Rain
Year: 1952
Director: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen
Writing: Adolph Green (Original Material By), Betty Comden (Original Material By), Adolph Green (Screenwriter), Betty Comden (Screenwriter)
Rating: G
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 1, English: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood
Donald O'Connor as Cosmo Brown
Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden
Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont
Millard Mitchell as R.F. Simpson

Plot:Singin' in the Rain marks its 50th anniversary in this Deluxe Edition providing a downpour of celebratory Special Features that salute not just this all-time favorite but also the musical legacy of its producer, songwriter Arthur Freed.

Awards:

Academy Award	1952	Nominated	Best Music, Musical Picture	Lennie Hayton
Academy Award	1952	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress	Jean Hagen
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years of Musicals (2006)
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years... 100 Laughs (2000)
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (1998)
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (2007)
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years... 100 Passions (2002)
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years... 100 Songs (2004)	"Song": Good Morning
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years... 100 Songs (2004)	"Song": Make 'Em Laugh
AFI	1952	Won	100 Years... 100 Songs (2004)	"Song": Singin' in the Rain
BAFTA	1952	Nominated	Film And British Film
Directors Guild of America	1953	Nominated	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Golden Globe	1952	Won	Actor in a Leading Role - Musical or Comedy	Donald O'Connor
Golden Globe	1952	Nominated	Picture - Musical or Comedy	Arthur Freed
Writers Guild of America Awards	1953	Won	Best Written American Musical	Betty Comden, Adolph Green

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Scoring Session Music Cues
Trailers

A great classic musical. Also a fun story about the difficulties of the transition from silent movies to talkies. Like in Moulin Rouge, all the songs are not original to this movie, but are taken from older musicals. I enjoyed all of these, except maybe the one towards the end, which is too much of a showstopper and it just doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. I guess this is on purpose as the characters themselves planned this one for their talkie which is set in the past but has this modern number in it.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 9th, 2010)

Ikiru, a review by Antares

Ikiru





Year: 1952
Film Studio: Toho
Genre: Drama, Classic
Length: 143 Min.

Director
Akira Kurosawa (1910)

Writer
Shinobu Hashimoto (1918)...Writer
Akira Kurosawa (1910)...Writer
Hideo Oguni (1904)...Writer

ProducerCinematographer
Asakazu Nakai (1901)

Music
Fumio Hayasaka (1914)...Composer

Stars
Takashi Shimura (1905) as Kanji Watanabe
Shinichi Himori (1907) as Kimura
Haruo Tanaka (1912) as Sakai
Minoru Chiaki (1917) as Noguchi
Miki Odagiri (1930) as Toyo Odagiri, employee
Bokuzen Hidari (1894) as Ohara
Minosuke Yamada as Subordinate Clerk Saito
Kamatari Fujiwara (1905) as Sub-Section Chief Ono

Review
       In a span of just five years, Akira Kurosawa completed three genuine masterpieces, , Ikiru, and Seven SamuraiIkiruIkiru from the rest of the films that deal with similar subject matter, is the way the structure of the story is laid out for the viewer. Once again, as with Ratings Criterion
5 Stars - The pinnacle of film perfection and excellence.

(From Ikiru (1952) on December 4th, 2009)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Lana sees a former friend of hers. But that's impossible, Emily died six years ago. She isn't a ghost, but she isn't totally real either. Clark tries to help Lana and finds a secret lab - and there's more than one Emily. They are copies of a failed experiment and that experiment now endangers Lana's life.

My Opinion: Although I found it interesting that Lionel Luthor is conducting experiments on human beings, I wasn't much into that episode because I am not much into the horror genre.

Synopsis: Lana and Clark get closer and closer but then Dr. Walden is awaking from his coma and he claims that "the day is coming". He tries to kill Clark because he has read the same text as Clark, that "the last son will rule the third planet". Meanwhile someone has stolen Clark's blood from Dr. Bryce's office and there are supsects: Lex and his father Lionel.

My Opinion: This was the great begin of a season finale. As I said I've never read Superman comics but I don't like the idea that Jor-El really had the intention that his son should rule mankind and I am glad that he is opposed to that thought as well.

Synopsis: Clark and Lana have their very first date but then the ship calls out for Clark again. His biological father demands that he leaves everyone behind and that he has to leave Smallville. But he doesn't intend to follow his father's rule but instead he plans to destroy the ship. Meanwhile Lex walks down the aisle and marries Dr. Bryce. But from there everything changes for both Clark and Lex.

My Opinion: Great finale and an evil cliffhanger. I feel so sorry for both Martha who has lost her baby and Clark who feels responsible for that (ok, he actually is). But personally I also think that Clark made a bad choice when he ran away. This guy saves lifes on a nearly daily basis but he doesn't want to face the consequences of his actions. But then again I am forgetting that he is only 17 years old.
I believe that was the last episode I ever watched on television on a regular basis. I missed the beginning of the third season the next fall and then kind of dropped out. I only regained interest in the show after I bought the first seasons on DVD.

The Season - My Opinion: That was a very good season, exploring Clark's origins. We will learn more with every season. This season also had a lot of good stories that came together to several arcs and these will also continue. Of course there were also FotW episodes - and there will always be some in every season - but not so many than in the first season. And more importantly they weren't always bad guys.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on May 25th, 2008)