The Silver Chalice

 

My sister wanted to watch this movie because of Paul Newman. If I looked on imdb and saw its 4.6 rating I wouldn't have bothered. This was really bad and incredibly stagey and boring.  This was Paul Newman's debut. This movie doesn't show his potential at all and that's surprising considering that he was an excellent charismatic actor. He later apologized for this movie! Paul Newman plays a sculptor who makes a cup for the last supper. This really has a great cast Virginia Mayo, Jack Palance, and Pier Angeli. But you can't tell. All of their talent is wasted. I've always had a fond spot for Pier Angeli and wow she is gorgeous in this movie and that was the best thing about this movie. 

Karthik calling Karthik

 

This was a pretty good Indian movie until its cop out ending. Karthik is suicidal and down on his luck. But everything changes when he gets a phone call from a stranger. Soon he is dating the girl he admires from his office and his business life has never been better. Until he starts questioning the stranger on the other line and realizes they might not as be as great as he thought. The screenwriter should have put their script to the side and waited for a more original ending. It feels rushed and it ultimately could have been better. It deserved that. 

Therese Raquin

 

I have to agree with Leonard Maltin that this movie while not bad never becomes special either. Marcel Carne made better movies. It's about a wife who has an affair with a truck driver who eventually kills the husband. Simone Signoret does a good job. Frankly my favorite part of the movie was the discovery of the minor film actress Lina Genneri who also did a lovely performance in Umberto D. This just wasn't memorable.

Umberto D.

 

This was a pretty good Italian classic. It concerns a suicidal man suffering from poverty who can't afford his rent anymore. His only friends are his dog and his maid. The maid was played by Lina Genneri. I saw her in a minor role in Therese Raquin and then immediately saw this. Here she gets more of a role. She was a pretty talented actress. I wonder why her career didn't really take off. Vittorio De Sica managed to do some of the most beautiful films of his day. 

Animal Farm

 

This was just an ok adaptation of Animal Farm. It followed the book well, but something was missing. I found it to be too cutesy and didn't capture all the creepiness that I felt was associated with the book. It didn't capture all of the sharp satire in the book. It was short though, only 72 minutes. It was all right. I didn't care for the changed ending.