5-star reviews

Saw a lot of movies this first week of January. Eighteen to be exact, so I'm introducing ratings (1-5 stars).

Open City (1945)
2 Stars
Italy's answer to Children of Paradise; neo-realist angst over what happened to Rome in the latter days of WWII. Bor-ing.

Rio Bravo (1959)
4 Stars
Howard Hawks in his comfort zone: recycled, self-congratulatory, sloppy, langorous, and most of all, fun. Angie Dickinson is straight out of one of Howard's wet dreams.

Spanglish (2004)
4 Stars
Ending's weak, but getting there is enjoyable. Paz Vega hot.

Bullitt (1968)
2 Stars
Started the series of loose cannon cop movies of the 70's and 80's. Skip it. But Jacqueline Bisset is hot.

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
2 Stars
Bette Davis uses makeup to give us a preview of how scary she would look a dozen years later. Compared to the old hag, Olivia de Havilland is slightly fetching.

Design for Living (1933)
2 Stars
Three's company, but four's a crowd. Miriam Hopkins annoying as always - but hot.

Peter Ibbetson (1935)
2 Stars
Would've been a total loss but for a heartbreaking performance by little Ginny Weidler. Ida Lupino hot.

2046 (2004)
4 Stars
Nothing but style and posturing, but I liked it. Similar to Alfie. Zhang Ziyi, Faye Wong - hot, hot.

A Knight's Tale (2001)
3 Stars
The original Heath-on-a-horse flick. Completely mindless, but Chaucer might've enjoyed jousting to the sounds of Queen. Jolie look-alike Shannyn Sossamon: flat but hot.

But I'm A Cheerleader (1999)
4 Stars
The kind of campy gay comedy they just don't make anymore (see Brokeback Mountain below). Despite tongues flying all over the place, no one's particularly hot - okay, maybe Cathy Moriarty's garden-hoe-riding son.

Alfie (2004)
3 Stars
Given recent events between Jude Law's co-star and lover Sienna Miller, you gotta wonder if this isn't a documentary. If you don't know what Sienna Miller looks like, picture Britney Spears as a Spice Girl wearing nothing but a g-string. Überhot.

Greed (1924)
2 Stars
Not bad for a silent. If you can get beyond Zasu Pitt's hysterics, there's some interesting shots of old San Francisco, Oakland, and even the old Emeryville Shellmound amusement park. Death Valley hot.

The Black Orchid (1959)
4 Stars
Nice little flick in the The Apartment vein. Sophia Loren not so much hot as… radiant.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)
4 Stars
Heath mounting his horse without protection again. Jake kinda whiny, while Heath gives Wayne and Eastwood a run for their fistful of dollars. The Hottie goes to Heath.

In Old Chicago (1937)
2 Stars
Lame rip-off of MGM's San Francisco. Alice Faye smokin' hot.

Summertime (1955)
2 Stars
Filmed on location in Venice, but you’d never mistake this for Roman Holiday or To Catch a Thief. Katharine Hepburn almost a quarter century past her prime.

Boys Town (1938)
2 Stars
Another movie about boys shacking up in the American West (with a priest, no less). The only way I can explain Spencer Tracy's Oscar for this performance is by reference to the palpable sense of relief that comes when Mickey Rooney leaves the scene and Spencer Tracy enters it. Boy that kid is annoying.

Spellbound (2002)
4 Stars
I was sure I'd hate this one, but it won me over quickly. Thirteen year olds not so hot. Well, maybe one or two…