Quarterly Cinema Scan - Volume XIV

The sub-zero temperatures, which are a way of life here in Minny, present opportunities to stay inside and watch movies on the idiot lantern.  Unfortunately, of the eight I saw during the last three months of 2013, only two were worthy of a rank above a B.  Rio Bravo, which I'd never seen before, is a little long (141 minutes) but has to place as one of the top half-dozen westerns on my honor roll.  Watching The Pit And The Pendulum reminded me of attending the Saturday matinees at the Liberty Theater in Libertyville.  The weekly offerings were geared for the town's kiddies, and typically consisted of double features of a certain genre such as westerns, science fiction, action heroes and horror stories.

1. Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004 comedy; Will Ferrell is a self-absorbed, misogynistic TV news anchor feeling professionally threatened by newcomer Christina Applegate, who aspires to share Ron's anchor desk.) B

2. Beautiful Girls (1996 drama; Timothy Hutton goes back to his New England hometown for a high school reunion, and discovers that his old buddies like Matt Dillon still have the same archaic attitudes about women that they did ten years ago.) B

3. The First Time (2012 dramedy; Dylan O'Brien and Britt Robertson are high schoolers who meet at a Friday night party and by Sunday have run the gamut of possible first-time love experiences.) B

4. Foreign Correspondent (1940 spy drama; Joel McCrea is a New York paper's investigative reporter who is sent to London to get a sense of how close the Brits are to plunging into a war with the Nazis.) C+

5. Masque Of The Red Death (1964 horror; Vincent Price is a blood thirsty, devil worshiping prince who shows no pity toward the local village when it's hit by the Plague, and thinks nothing of bumping off his unsuspecting guests within his decadent castle.) C-

6. The Pit & The Pendulum (1961 horror; Vincent Price is a creepy Spanish nobleman who is visited by his suspicious brother-in-law following the mysterious death of Price's wife inside a spooky castle.) B+

7. Rio Bravo (1959 western; John Wayne is a sheriff in a wild west town, who enlists the help of lush Dean Martin, singin' Ricky Nelson and scene-stealing Walter Brennan in an effort to keep the bad guys from springing Wayne's prisoner before the US Marshall arrives.) A-

8. A Walk To Remember (2002 drama; Shane West is a popular high schooler who easily finds trouble until he gets to know the preacher's daughter, Mandy Moore.) C+