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“David Lynch’s second film, The Elephant Man, appears on the surface as one of his more outré works. Nary a twisty narrative that takes multiple viewings to possibly discern, The Elephant Man was nearly like Lynch going all prestige on everybody… on the surface. Peak deep enough beneath the surf” read more
“One of the worst aspects of the first Mulan was the presence of Mushu, Eddie Murphy’s wisecracking dragon that was an obvious attempt at recapturing the magic of Robin Williams’ genie from Aladdin, so here comes Mulan II doubling down on his presence. While he was a supporting player in the orig” read more
“So, this was clearly intended as a trial-run for an Atlantis: The Lost Empire spinoff TV show, right? I mean, it just seems so obvious given the way that the three different adventures involved have clean three-act structures and obvious breaks for commercials and separation into individual episodes” read more
“The foundation for the story is the childhood belief that your toys could become real, or even were real when you weren’t looking. This idea appeared in two divergent films in 1995: The Indian in the Cupboard and Toy Story. One of them had a ton of heart and spawned a long-lasting franchise, while” read more
“What do you get when you combine the talents of Chuck Jones, operating as a writer and producer, and a vocal cast that includes Judy Garland, Robert Goulet (in his film debut), Red Buttons, and Hermione Gingold? Well, you get Gay Purr-ee, a film that’s more visually arresting than it is capable of” read more
“Seventeen musical numbers in 103 minutes. No one can unfairly claim that Easter Parade doesn’t offer a lot of bang for its buck, but that doesn’t mean it was necessarily money well spent. There’s no real story or concept here, just a loose connection of scenes that ostensibly tell a story but ” read more
“A three-hour black and white courtroom drama about the Nazi trials populated by movie stars in the waning days of their careers – sounds like the recipe for a snooze fest, an overly pious piece of do-gooder cinema that’s overly saccharine. Judgment at Nuremberg is not that movie. I mean, in a wa” read more
“The Clock is a lovely little movie that offers Judy Garland one of her rare straight dramatic parts. It doesn’t hurt that she’s matched by a fabulously sincere and present performance by Robert Walker, and an overall tender tone that underscores the bittersweet nature of the romance. The Clock i” read more
“Booth Tarkington’s novel gets the glossy MGM treatment here, so that means the downbeat ending and realistic traumas the characters face are softened and/or jettisoned in favor of a triumphant final bow before the curtain closes/screen fades to black. Presenting Lily Mars is a great showcase for t” read more
“Ignore that James Stewart, fresh off an Oscar win for The Philadelphia Story, gets top billing here. Here’s a supporting player to the trio of stage-struck hopefuls played by Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner. The whole thing is overly long, the melodrama gets laid on a bit too thick, I d” read more
“I fully admit to being skeptical about the Andy Hardy films. I don’t mind a little sugar, but there’s nothing sour to offset the sweet about these films. They’re pleasing little lies about a piece of Americana that likely never existed. A better written and acted The Brady Bunch, if you will. ” read more
“Small town American was never as picture perfect and saccharine as it was in the Andy Hardy series. There’s the stoic but supportive father (Lewis Stone), fretful loving mother (Fay Holden), nicely combative older sister (Cecilia Parker), and Andy, the teenager on the right side of mischief-making” read more
“The first pairing of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland finds the pair playing second fiddle to a waifish British male youth. No, not Freddie Bartholomew, who seems tailor-made for the lead role and was mysteriously dropped, but Ronald Sinclair, a carbon-copy of Bartholomew. Sinclair’s lacking in char” read more
“Judy Garland’s not a girl, not yet a woman in Little Nellie Kelly, an oddball film that has her playing both mother and daughter. Loosely based on the George M. Cohan play of the same name, Garland finds herself stuck between the opposing male forces of her life in both incarnations and a metric t” read more
“Rarely has 75 minutes feel so interminable as it does during Listen, Darling. The plot is a bit of nonsense that plays like the lamest of sitcom conceits: two siblings (Judy Garland and Scotty Beckett) enlist their best friend (Freddie Bartholomew) to help kidnap their mom (Mary Astor) so she doesn” read more
“There sure is a lot here. Broadway Melody of 1938 is one of those “something for everyone” entertainments that winds up being of little value to anyone. It doesn’t settle into its backstage theatrical story, its supporting plot about an aging performer is just there, and there’s a lot of tim” read more
“A cinematic oddity that splices together campus comedy, sports underdog (football, in this case), and manic musical into… something. I’m not quite sure what it all is, but it’s a lot of something that’s diverting if thin. There’s wisecracking Patsy Kelly and an effete Jack Haley as a marri” read more
“It’s impossible to separate the final version of The Pirate from its fractured, turbulent production. Star Judy Garland was absent for roughly 75% of its shooting schedule as her marriage to director Vincente Minnelli crumbled, her pill addictions took a stronger hold on her life, and her mental/e” read more
“The last of their four musical films together, Girl Crazy takes an established property and has Mickey and Judy playing honest-to-goodness characters rather than taking their established personas and building around that. Girl Crazy ends up being one of their strongest films for it. Of course, the G” read more
“The weakest of the four “let’s put on a show” musicals Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland made; Babes on Broadway ironically also contains some of the best individual materials of the four films. But there’s no getting around a few simple facts: Babes on Broadway is too long and convoluted, and ” read more
“Backyard musical number two from Mickey and Judy, Strike Up the Band is bigger than Babes in Arms but not necessarily better. Make no mistake, this is a hugely entertaining affair with some delightful set pieces and a fun group of supporting players, but a certain sense of proportion starts to weigh” read more
“The original Brother Bear was a neutral object that never quite justified its existence and was like watching studio groupthink in action. Three years later comes a direct-to-video sequel, imaginatively titled Brother Bear 2, and it’s just as much of an indifferent object as the first. Hell, this ” read more
“A bit of a noir-by-numbers, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t enjoy the thrill ride of Drive a Crooked Road. Sure, the plot is the basic building blocks of a film noir, but it’s nice little B-level entry in Mickey Rooney’s filmography that careens through its brief running time with no fat on t” read more
“I suppose this is a noir film, in a mild sense, but its so bonkers and esoteric in its story beats that it quickly veers into horror proximity. So Dark the Night, director Joseph H. Lewis’ sophomore slump, is a weird, shapeless thing. I’m not sure if its pretentions or what, but So Dark th” read more
“Less a traditional film noir than an arty psychological melodrama with a noir aesthetic, My Name is Julia Ross is a kindred spirit to the likes of Gaslight and Rebecca. While it distinctly ranks as the bronze medalist between the trio, My Name is Julia Ross is still a solidly made thriller. So” read more
“1939 truly was a golden year for the studio era and for American film. Here is a bonafide classic filled with memorable musical moments, elaborate camerawork, a stunning juvenile performance from Judy Garland, and the whole thing runs so effortlessly and smoothly that it seems over just as it was st” read more
“It both seems entirely odd and somehow appropriate that Ernst Lubitsch’s yuletide romantic comedy, The Shop Around the Corner, would get the MGM musical makeover. While it is inferior to the original source material, In the Good Old Summertime is a solid, pleasing excursion through the story with ” read more
“Richard Jenkins, you’re a well-liked character actor with two Oscar nominations. What are you doing in this mess? Kim Basinger, you won an Oscar. I’m pretty confident you could do better than playing “the mom” to a high schooler in a generic sport’s drama. It’s a bit hilarious to watch K” read more
“Ah, these cornpone musicals are delightfully hokey and corny. I mean, here’s a big musical starring Judy Garland with a tagline about “how the fairer sex conquered the Old West!” Deep or memorable art this is not, but it’s a pleasant way to spend two hours. The Harvey Girls offers up a ” read more
“For Me and My Gal is mainly remembered for two different reasons: Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. This was Kelly’s first film role, and it makes a stellar first impression, and a transitional role for Garland. Here she was changing over from the girl-next-door parts to an ingenue and taking on more g” read more