Det Jim McLeod

Amadeus (1984)

I never purchased this one, but I recall seeing it in bookstores. I remember thumbing through it and one of the chapters that caught my eye was "The Psychos" which featured the crazy scary villains like Robert Mitchum in Night Of The Hunter and Anthony Perkins in Psycho. Classics Of The Horror Film was another of his movie books that I wish I had.

34) Shadows In The Night-Dylan does Sinatra standards. On the first track "I'm A Fool To Want You" sets the mood with spare instrumentation and some muted brass. My favorite track is probably his version of "Autumn Leaves" in which the lyrics match the music arrangement well. Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do" has a nice haunting melody. Other than that, the songs mostly sound the same, making them mostly forgettable. 35) Fallen Angels-Yet more standards mostly made famous by Sinatra. Dylan's voice is just not up to the challenge on some of the more familiar tunes. However I think this collection is slightly better than the last one. "Skylark" is a Hoagy Carmichael song and more uptempo in arrangement, maybe my favorite. "That Old Black Magic" also has a nice arrangement with some good percussion. Dylan does a decent job on "Come Rain Or Come Shine". The rest have the same problems as the last record, the sameness of sound. I would rather listen to his Christmas album than this and Shadows In The Night.

Why Girls Love Sailors (1927) Youtube 6/10 A shy fisherman's (Stan Laurel) fiancee is kidnapped by an nasty sea captain. This is an amusing silent short though interesting mainly as a curio. Oliver Hardy appears as a bullying first mate of the ship, L&H do not work as a team and only have one good scene together. This is only the sixth film in which they appeared together, before they became strictly a duo. In my book "The Films Of Laurel And Hardy" by William K Everson (published in 1967) this was considered a lost film. It was later rediscovered in 1971. The book in error says Hardy plays the captain, this role is portrayed by Malcolm Waite, who had been in Chaplin's The Gold Rush. In the film, Laurel disguises himself in drag, (which he did several times in later films) to distract the captain and crew while he tries to save his girl. The one scene L&H have together is when Stan, dressed in his dame costume tries to "vamp" Ollie. So if there are any fans of the team who want to see something interesting and unusual from them, check this out on Youtube.

Here are some other years that I have highly rated films, the years are according to IMDB: 1933 Sons Of The Desert King Kong Duck Soup Gold Diggers Of 1933 The Invisible Man 1949 The Window On The Town White Heat The Heiress The Set Up

33) Tempest-a very good Dylan disc , still shows he has a great way with lyrics. "Duquesne Whistle" is the opening track and it's a rollicking tune about a train, hearkening back to old folk songs. "Soon After Midnight" is a plaintive ballad with some hints of death, which will also be on other songs on this collection. My favorite maybe "Scarlet Town" a dark and hypnotic song about a grim town the narrator says is where he is born. It's morbidly fascinating with it's images of drink, drugs and w h o r e s. "Tin Angel" is another dark tale of a love triangle ending in bloody murder. Then we get an interesting 13 minute song about the Titanic with "Tempest". The final track is a touching tribute to John Lennon "Roll On John".

A Child Is Waiting (1963)

Double Whoopee (1929) Youtube 6/10 Laurel and Hardy have just been hired as footman and doorman in a swanky New York hotel and cause chaos. Another L&H silent short, I am trying to catch up on ones I haven't seen. Like Bacon Grabbers, this one has a brief appearance by Jean Harlow. She plays a rich dish who Stan accidentally rips her skirt off when he closes a car door on it. This short has it's moments but not one of the best for the team. Stan is a lot more aggressive than I was used to seeing him. he engages in some eye poking and shin kicking with Ollie and a few others.

She is in it for only a few seconds for an ironic twist at the end.

Bacon Grabbers (1929) Youtube 6/10 Laurel and Hardy are process servers for the Sheriff's office and and try serve a summons and repossess a radio. This a funny silent short (though it was also released in talkie form). There is good support from Edgar Kennedy as the deadbeat who owes payments on his radio. There are many funny scenes of Stan and Ollie trying to get the summons to him and then try to get into the house by ladder. Jean Harlow has an early role as Kennedy's wife.

It's funny because 1939 and 1962 are my two top ranked movie years on IMDB. I gave 10/10 ratings to more in these two years. Below are my 10/10 films. Surprisingly my third highest year was 1948 with only 3 with 10/10 1. 1939 The Wizard Of Oz Stagecoach Son Of Frankenstein Of Mice And Men Gunga Din Gone With The Wind 2. 1962 What Ever Happened To Baby Jane Ride The High Country The Manchurian Candidate Dr No Sundays And Cybele David And Lisa Carnival Of Souls 3. 1948 The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre The Search The Naked City

31) Together Through Life-a good though not outstanding collection of mostly bluesy rockers, the use of an accordion is good touch on them. Dylan struggles a bit with his vocals on "Life Is Hard" trying a higher key at times. He sounds better on "My Wife's Home Town" my favorite on the disc, he uses a raspy shout on it. This is a wickedly funny song about a real Devil woman since he says Hell is her home town, Dylan even laughs a bit at the end. I like some of the lyrics on "I Feel A Change Comin On" where he says that dreams did not work out for him even when they come true. While there is not really any bad songs on here, there are no great ones either. 32) Christmas In The Heart- A Bob Dylan Christmas album. I avoided getting this one, I just had bought it and had it delivered last week so I have a complete Dylan collection. While it is one of his lesser efforts, it is not as bad I thought it would be. It is cringe worthy to hear his raspy voice straining it's way through hymns like "Hark The Herald Angels Sing", "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "O Little Town Of Bethlehem". His voice however sounds pretty good on "Little Drummer Boy", probably the best of the famous Yuletide songs. Best song by far is the lesser known "Must Be Santa" which is a joyous hoot as Dylan and his backup singers have a great time rushing through the fun lyrics and some wonderful accordion playing. The album would have been much better with more upbeat and obscure Christmas songs like this.

30) Modern Times-a great Dylan disc, much better than Love And Theft and almost as good as Time Out Of Mind. "When The Deal Goes Down" is nice country flavored tune, the band is very good here and on most of the songs. "Workingman's Blues #2" is an interesting tale of a down and out farmer who still seems optimistic. "Beyond The Horizon" is another good laid back country song. "Nettie Moore" is an intriguing tale about the narrator longing for the lost love of the title. My favorite is the last, a haunting, ominous 8 minute ballad "Ain't Talkin" . The narrator is going down a long lonesome road, he seems to have revenge and maybe murder on his mind.

The Krays (1990) a bio pic of the real life twin British gangsters

Laurel And Hardy short Hats Off (1927), it is considered to be the inspiration of the later classic The Music Box. In this one Stan and Ollie attempt to deliver a washing machine up the same steps they did with the piano in the later film.

The only one with the most acting nominations (4)

After skimming through the lists again, Othello (1965) had four acting nominations, in addition to Joyce Redman and Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier for Best Actor and Frank Finlay for Supporting Actor. But no nomination for Best Picture.

The Vanishing (1988) Next-Gone Girl (2014) 2 with missing women

Ingrid Bergman was in The Bells Of St Mary's with Joan Carroll

29) Love And Theft-a lesser disc after the last masterpiece Time Out Of Mind. There is some interesting stuff here. "Summer Days" is an OK rockabilly tune. "Bye And Bye" is a laid back 30s style pop ballad. I like the fiddle playing on "Floater (Too Much To Ask)". My favorite song is probably "Po' Boy" a good tale of a guy down on his luck, sounds like it could have been a Depression era song. Parts of the final song "Sugar Baby" remind me a bit of "Old Man River".

I Shot Andy Warhol by Mary Harron is another great one, I thought that one would be there.

Edward Albee Next- favorite news anchor of all time

Sandra Dee

Part 7-2010-2019 1. 2010 -Amy Adams and Melissa Leo The Fighter 2, 2011- Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer The Help 3, 2017-Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell Three Billboards Outside Of Ebbing Missouri 4. 2018-Emma Stone and Rachel Weiss The Favourite 5. 2019-Al Pacino and Joe Pesci The Irishman My Choices 1. Melissa Leo as the tough talking mother was more memorable for me. 2. Haven't seen this one 3. Rockwell, because he pulled off a minor miracle, playing a violent, racist corrupt cop and making him sympathetic. 4. Haven't seen this one 5. Pacino shows he still has got it, his best in years, my favorite scene is when he is cutting into a steak while staring someone down.

Yes he was introduced