3 Mildly Entertaining Films

I have been listening to Atlas Shrugged on the iPod, it is around 63 hours or so. Listening to so much obejectivism and drooling over Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d'Anconia combined with putting our house up for sale hasn't left much time for movie watching, however; last weekend I watched a few flicks. They were...okay. I don't know that they were well done, two of them were low budget films and only one was mildly exciting. But they all made me think.
The first was "Arranged," a sleepy film about an Orthodox Jewish girl and a Muslim girl who are teachers in the same school. They find that they have a lot in common not the least of which being that they are both expecting arranged marriages.

I liked this film because I definitely see the wisdom in arranged marriages, and this movie didn't make them look weird just different. The acting was okay in some spots and bad in others. Obviously, a low budget film but not painful to watch like "Fireproof" (which I loved but can't stand to watch because of the poor acting.)
The second was "War Bride," again low budget and kind of sleepy.
Mostly I was confused?
What was the mother doing upstairs while she was crying and looking at her wedding picture? I don't think I want to know. What did she put in the little tin and then bury on her husband's grave? Why? What did any of this have to do with the film? Do Lily and Charlie ever discuss "Joe?" Why was Charlie so messed up after the war?? Yeah, yeah, PTSD but why? Why is Sophie going back to London? Are you trying to tell me that the family lavishes her with kindness and furs and then kicks her to the curb when her husband is killed?

None of these things are explained. Usually when a movie has gaping holes like this it means it was adapted from a book. As far as I can tell this is not, so those questions - just wasted celluloid.

A movie about a war bride could have been better. A war bride is a great plot device how can you ruin that?


The last was the BBC's production of "The 39 Steps" an adaptation of the book by John Buchan. You may remember that Hitchcock's The 39 Steps is one of my favorite movies and I was hoping for a modern remake. I was disappointed.
The most exciting part of this movie was when Rupert Penry-Jones took his shirt off and that WAS exciting. Can I just ask, if they had to go with a Blond James Bond couldn't they have chosen Rupert Penry-Jones instead of that blue collar worker they put in a tux and handed and Aston Martin?

Hitchcock always called North by Northwest the American version of The 39 Steps.

So what is this?











The British version of North by Northwest?

If so they didn't do a very good job. As much as I love Hitchcock's The 39 Steps I have to admit that North by Northwest is a better movie so it was an improvement on The 39 Steps. The BBC's The 39 Steps is in no way better than North by Northwest or even Hitchcock's The 39 Steps.

I would have thought that the BBC wouldn't tackle a remake unless they could do it better OR stay faithful to the book. They did neither. Bad form.

Just a handful of thimbles out of a possible 21 for all 3 films.