Bad Day at Black Rock

Spencer Tracy comes to Black Rock to find a friend of his and the town treats him like crap. Even threatening to hurt him if he doesn’t leave. Well he is crippled (his left hand is no longer functioning) but not scared. He decides to stay to learn the fate of his friend.

This movie was fairly predictable, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Spencer is a man on a mission and he wants to complete it. He is not scared by the locals, and even fights back against them, and they find he is one hell of a good fighter! The point of this movie was that it was a bad day for all at black rock.

Some of the townsfolk are bastards, others are too scared to stand up for right, etc. So everyone has a bad day! But the best line occurs when the sheriff is speaking to the doctor. We know that the doctor and sheriff are keeping a secret and its been eating away at them for 4 years.

The doc says to the sheriff if he’s feeling ok, the sheriff says no, I need a prescription. The doc asks for what? The sheriff says for a guilty conscious, and the doc replies that he too is in need of that prescription and then the doc finally says:
“maybe the stranger (referring to spencer) has one.”

Wicked.

4/5

J-Man


The Thin Man

Part of long series of films starring a husband and wife detective team. This is the first of that series.

I must say that the couples relationship is just amazing! They make fun of each other, they laugh at themselves, they undermine each other and all the while you know that they really love each other. It’s all done very playfully and smart. The writing here is top notch!

Now the murder mystery aspect of the film was a bit downplayed. Which was too bad, since I was getting into it. It’s kind of like Gosford Park, where the mystery is only seriously discussed in the last scene. But that being said, if you go in just wanting a fun movie with great leads, then this is it!

3.5/5

J-Man


The Devil and Daniel Webster

Farmer Jabez is down on his luck. His wife and mother live on his farm, and he has nothing. Mr Scratch (aka the devil) comes to him and makes him an offer. Your soul for 7 years of good luck. Well souls don’t exist, so Jabez makes the deal. He becomes rich and mean. He used to be a kind farmer, but now he’s just a bastard. He gambles, cons people, and treats his wife and ma like crap. The devil comes to collect after 7 years, but offers Jabez a renewal if he gives up his son. Jabez by this time has learned that he was wrong and decides to cancel the deal. The devil is not impressed and is about to take Jab’s soul when Politician and attorney Daniel Webster shows up to defend him in a trial! So 12 ghosts show up for the jury (Benedict Arnold is one of them!) and they have a trial.

This movie was again, predictable, but enjoyable. But it’s like Thin Man in the sense that the trial is just 10 mins in the end, and I wanted to see a bigger trial. But this was an enjoyable afternoon of viewing.

3/5

J-Man

Lawrence of Arabia

TE Lawrence goes to help the Arabian people and he does good! He’s white, but they end up respecting him (duh) but how and why is just amazing. This film won 7 oscars, and for good reason. It is one of the greatest films I have ever seen.

Ben-Hur, is it’s only rival (not counting Watchmen and Conan, and 2001 – my personal faves) but I am talking epic here and for good reason!

This film is just so amazing, I don’t know what to tell you about it. You have to just watch it and learn from it. Peter O’Toole is just AMAZING in this role and I never knew what to make of him.

Was he mad, or a genius or simply a man forced to do something he never wanted to, or was a man who knew what to do, and did it! I don’t have these answers, but I only know that this movie is worth watching several times to figure out.

Buy it.

5/5

J-Man.