GREEN FOR DANGER

GREEN FOR DANGER - 1946

RATED - NR but G/PG. Nothing offensive but mostly adult content.

RATINGS - 32 Amazon (4.5/5), 11,769 Netflix (3.5/5), 1,453 IMDB (7.8/10), New York Times (4/5).

STORY - The setting is England during 1944 and the Nazis are sending V-1 unmanned bombs over. When the noise overhead stops, you know the bomb is about to explode and you better take cover. A postman who just completed a delivery on his bicycle to the rural hospital (temporarily converted estate) nearby that operates on bomb victims becomes the next victim. While his wounds require surgery, they are not life threatening until the surgery begins. He mysteriously and suddenly dies on the table. The new hospital administrator states there will be a full inquiry. A whimsical Scotland Yard inspector is brought in who quickly sequesters the surgery team and boasts he knows who did it and will reveal the killer shortly. One of the better whodunits I've watched, it is tightly scripted and the acting is superb. Every word and gesture counts. The eccentric inspector antagonizes just about everyone with his arrogance. Did I mention the tangled web of relationships that will keep you guessing? This Hitchcock-like British murder mystery will hold you to the end. The Criterion version has been restored exceptionally well. Lu for Lu's Reviews. 10/31/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB

BULLITT

BULLITT - 1968

RATED - PG but some brief but fairly bloody and graphic violence for a PG.

RATINGS - 247 Amazon (4.5/5), 365,493 Netflix (3.8/5), 18,596 IMDB (7.5/10), Roger Ebert (4/4).

STARRING - Steve McQueen (Detective Frank Bullitt), Jacqueline Bisset (Cathy-Bullitt's girlfriend), Robert Vaughn (Senator Chalmers).

AWARDS - 1969 Academy Award for Best Film Editing, AFI TOP 100 Thrills, 1970 BAFTA nominees for Best Direction & Best Supporting Actor (Vaughn).

STORY - Most people remember this film for perhaps the best (or one of the best) car chase scenes in film history with Steve McQueen (driving himself) in a Mustang Fastback chasing two gangsters in a Dodge Charger up and down the hills of San Francisco. It is memorable to be sure, but the movie, as a whole, is decent. While there is some brief but bloody violence it's not just a shoot 'em up film. Steve McQueen insisted that it be realistic and as a result you do get inside the character's heads. You experience detective work as much of it really happens, methodical with patience. Bullitt is assigned to what should be a fairly routine witness protection weekend assignment at the request of Senator Chalmers (Vaughn) who is on a crusade to clean up the mob and get credit for it - the credit is what he mostly cares about. This is his star witness and the hearings will be his stage. However, the assignment quickly goes bad and Bullitt wants to find out who leaked the location and who are the assassins. There are enough twists and turns to keep you involved and, of course, there's the car chase. Roger Ebert likes it because the role of the stoic cop Bullitt is so close to the real Steve McQueen. Lu for Lu's Reviews. 10/31/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB WITH TRAILER, ROGER EBERT

GATES OF HEAVEN

GATES OF HEAVEN - 1978

RATED - NR but probably PG. Nothing offensive but the subject matter is mostly adult oriented.

RATINGS - 26 Amazon (4.5/5), 20,232 Netflix (3.4/5), 1,640 IMDB (7.7/10), Roger Ebert (4/4)

STARRING - Academy Award-winning Erroll Morris (THE THIN BLUE LINE) is the film maker. The pet owners and pet cemetery owners are themselves in this documentary.

STORY - Roger Ebert calls this documentary 'A masterpiece...one of the top ten films of all time...They say you can make a great documentary about almost anything, if you see it well enough and truly, and this film proves it.' While on the surface, this might seem to be a film about people and their pets, it's really a study in human nature and psychology. It is people opening up to the camera about their dreams, hopes and disappointments. It initially is centered around the developer of a pet cemetery in Southern California that ultimately went bankrupt and how the 450 buried pets had to be dug up and transferred to another cemetery. The film then shifts to the owners of the new cemetery, a family run business, and the dynamics of the father and two sons as they share their 'success' strategies for life. Interspersed are interviews with owners whose pets had to be transferred and the trauma that goes along with that experience. This might have been a good candidate for 'reality TV' if that had existed. Not your everyday documentary but fascinating in its own way. Read Roger Ebert's fascinating review at the link below. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 10/10/09.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, ROGER EBERT