10 (1979)
This is the first time I've seen this movie all the way through in one shot and uncut. I enjoyed it quite a bit, although I still think Dudley Moore's best performance is as
Arthur. This is the famous flick that has him as a famed composer dating Julie Andrews for years but getting the middle-age crazies and pursuing Bo Derek's character after seeing her at a traffic stop on the way to her wedding. This being a Blake Edwards movie, there are plenty of sight-gags and pratfalls, mostly with Dudley taking the pain, but it's also a bit dramatic and sad in some parts. This features the famous fantasy scene of Bo Derek in a one-piece swimsuit, with cornrowed hair, running down the beach towards Dudley. Yet, with Bo and Julie in this, the most attractive woman for me is Dee Wallace (a year before becoming Dee Wallace-Stone after her marriage). Dee plays a single woman Dudley meets in Mexico (where he's chasing after Derek) and they have an unsuccessful fling, which Dee blames on herself. As Dudley plays piano at the bar, she has tears in her eyes while he plays a sad song. She gets advice from bartender Brian Dennehy, who has a nice but small role here. Edwards regular Robert Webber co-stars as Moore's songwriting partner and there are many familiar faces in small roles scattered throughout. The first half is mostly comedy and the last half is mostly romance tinged with bittersweetness. Still worth seeing if you like any of the people involved. Had to put forth Dee in the pic below.
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Super-fun science fiction movie of the 50's with a very simple tale of flying saucers invading Earth and blowing up crap left and right. Scientist Hugh Marlowe comes up with a way to defeat them, causing them to crash into lots of famous Washington D.C. structures. The great special effects are done by the king of stop-motion animation, Ray Harryhausen. There are no monsters to speak of like the in latter-day Harryhausen films, but there are robot-suited aliens that can obliterate anything with their built-in arm lasers. The saucers are very cool if not overtly adorned. But who cares? They do what flying saucers do...they fly but they also have blasters that blow stuff up real good! And they crash real good. It's all great fun, part of the 50's Cold War scare glut of Sci-Fi movies. A winner all the way and a must for any true Harryhausen fan.
P.S. Yes, Tim Burton gave homage to this film with a lot of his movie
Mars Attacks!, like "borrowing" from the scene above.
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