The Movie Journal

Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 6 "Charity Drive" November 30, 2003 I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, “Charity Drive.” This episode is the sixth episode of the first season of Arrested Development , although it was meant to be the fifth episode. Both episodes have many similarities. The first similarity is that each episode focuses on rapid character development. We get to learn more about these characters and their past. For example, we learn here that Michael has an irrational fear of eating ice cream in his father’s car because he spilled ice cream when he was younger. The second similarity is both episodes were directed by Greg Mottola. People may recognize the name because he would eventually go on to direct the super funny 2007 movie Superbad. Mottola definitely brought his own vision to these episodes. While Mottola exceled at character development, the plot in these episodes are a little scattered. That is to be expected with all of these subplots, but ...

Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 5 "Visiting Hours"  December 07, 2003 This episode, “Visiting Ours,” is the fifth episode of the first season of Arrested Development . Or maybe it is the sixth? Between the fifth and sixth episodes of the first season, we see that 20 th Century Fox sometimes broadcasted the episodes out of order as is the case here. That being said, I really enjoyed this episode. Each episode is jam-packed with material so I feel these episodes are important by who we meet in each episode. Here, we meet Kitty Sanchez (played incredibly well by Judy Greer). She is George Sr.’s secretary….and apparently she had some kind of extracirricular activities going on with him. She looks attractive on the outside, but somehow seems to turn into a very ugly person without her glasses (part of the joke….but man those eyes are freaky!). This episode is also home to one of the best phrases of the series, “Daddy horny, Michael,” where George Sr. admits he misse...

Casablanca (1942) Famed critic, Roger Ebert once held a mini debate about this 1942 classic, Casablanca. He compared this movie to a similar film, Citizen Kane . He claimed that Kane may be the better movie, but Casablanca is the more popular movie. I agree with Roger because Casablanca is one of the best movies ever made and it seems as if my opinion is a fact (although keep in mind all movies are subjective). There is just so much to admire about the film. The cast, the themes, the actual production of the movie, and the way the film influenced future movies just to name a few. We wouldn’t get star-studded romantic epics like 1997’s Titanic if this film bombed at the box office or was not even made. Fortunately, this movie was a giant success both financially and critically. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning three of them including Best Picture which it is rightfully deserved. Where to begin gushing about the movie! I loved the themes of the movie. On t...

The Pride of the Yankees (1942) Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. This emotional quote is from one of the most famed speeches of sports history. As a lifelong, die-hard Yankees fan, one of my required viewings was 1942’s baseball movie Pride of the Yankees starring Gary Cooper. The movie tells the life story of a Yankees legend, Lou Gehrig who is considered to be one of the greatest first basemen of all time. The name Gehrig is associated with the disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) because Lou contracted the disease at age 34 that ended his baseball career and ended his life only a few years later. The movie is one of the nicest, most sentimental, and old-fashioned movie you will ever see. I love how the story, written by Jo Swerling and Herman J. Mankiewicz has no villainous characters as it just focuses on the man who is very kind and humble. The movie leans more towards emotional value rather than actual facts, and that is not re...

Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 4 "Key Decisions" Release Date: November 23, 2003 We are now here at the fourth episode in the first season of Arrested Development and I continue to marvel how the show is able to carry on multiple strong storylines at once. Generally, I would focus on one storyline because the subsequent subplots are often weaker. So far, not in this series. Take for instance this episode, “Key Decisions.” There are three major storylines: Lindsay taking a stand with Johnny Bark (played by Clint Howard, Ron’s brother), GOB claiming he can escape prison with his magic, and Buster finding love with Lucille’s rival (by accident). It amazes me how much care the writers put forth into each storyline. They all add up to a theme where none of the Bluths care about a single thing for more than a day, but that really makes for some fun comedy! Also, we are introduced to another famous prop of the series: The staircar! With all modes of transportation gon...

Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 3 "Bringing Up Buster"  Release Date: November 16, 2003 When the offspring of a parent is given independence for the first time, how does parents/offspring alike react? That is the question that the extremely-detailed writers try to answer this this incredibly funny and uproarious third episode in Arrested Development’s first season. After staying out of the spotlight in the second episode, Buster Bluth makes a triumphant return in this episode, titled “Bringing Up Buster” (yes, you have noticed this title was ripped off the 1938 screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby. ). There are two important things introduced to us in this episode: fan favorite Steve Holt (!) and the infamous Cornballer. Steve Holt (played brilliantly by Justin Grant Wade) is the high school quarterback whom Maeby has a giant crush on even though Steve Holt is basically a brainless…ahem dolt. Every time we see the guy, he always says his name with the exclamation po...

The Philadelphia Story (1940) Prior to the release of The Philadelphia Story, Katherine Hepburn had a string of failures (including the classic 1938 screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby) that labeled Hepburn as box office poison. In order to get rid of the career-ruining label, she decided to get to work on her own film. In 1939, she was starring in a very popular Broadway show from Philip Barry. She convinced MGM to buy the rights with her having control on everyone who was brought into the cast and crew. She chose George Cukor to direct this film whom she worked with before and David Odgen Stewart who was a friend of Barry’s and had experience turning plays into movies. For the cast, she chose Cary Grant and James Stewart as her main co-stars. She worked with Grant previously three times (including the aforementioned Bringing Up Baby). Taking control of the production was a very smart business move for Hepburn. In addition to this romantic farce being the fifth highest b...

Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 2 "Top Banana" November 09, 2003 When new sitcoms come on air, it usually takes several episodes to get going. Arrested Development does not suffer this same problem as witnessed in this episode, “Top Banana.” The episode continues the manic energy and the fast pace of the pilot. This episode is the first episode that features the famous title sequence and “on the next” segment which are scenes that tell us viewers what happens next to our characters after the main events happened in this episode. Keep in mind that there is a lot that happens in this episode, so make sure you pay attention so you don’t miss anything. Michael believes that his father is running the business from inside prison and that is confirmed after his father’s associate T-Bone (Patrice O’Neal) burns down the company’s warehouse and Michael visits his father in prison for confirmation. Michael makes George-Michael a manager of the frozen banana stand a...

Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 1: "Pilot"  November 2, 2003 Arrested Development is a sitcom that shouldn’t work, but somehow it all does. Creator Mitchell Hurwitz took the basic plot line of a dysfunctional family, added elements from Wes Anderson movies, nonstop references taken from shows like The Simpsons , a great cast, nonstop insanity, and it was all put in the blender and Hurwitz smoothly blended these elements until they came out in the form of this show, Arrested Development . Based on this episode, I really liked what I saw. It’s not overly funny, but it has a lot of heart and the interactions between the cast members are golden. Without further ado, let’s meet the Bluth family: George Bluth Sr.(Jeffrey Tambor): The patriarch of the Bluth family who took a frozen banana stand and turned it into a business empire. Lucille Bluth: (Jessica Walter): The wife of George Bluth known for her constant squealing on inconsequential things and seemi...

Bringing Up Baby(1938) Bringing Up Baby is a 1938 Howard Hawk’s screwball comedy that can easily be defined as insanity. From start to finish, this movie brings forth an energy that hits you like a lightning bolt. I consider that to be a good thing…..and maybe something that is a little bit too much at times. This film, directed by the legendary Howard Hawks ( Barbary Coast ) and stars two of our acting greats; Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, is considered by many to be the greatest comedies ever made. Great comedy, yes! Greatest comedy ever made? Maybe in the eyes of some, but my eyes see this as a fine, serviceable comedy. The biggest mystery of this review is how to make sense of the plot. As many critics say, this film is basically a giant ball of energy start to finish. Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a paleontologist who has been working on the building of a brontosaurus structure for many years….and he is also about to be married to his assistant, Alice. On the ...

Barbary Coast (1935) I miss films like 1935’s Barbary Coast. These are the kind of old-fashioned melodramas that have been driven to extinction. I am not entirely sure that this movie would have been the best kind of old-fashioned film, but it has all the elements that I come to expect from these type of films. For the most part, the film was very entertaining. There is a romanticized and somewhat crass love triangle that lays at the heart of the film. I like this unconventional (for its time) love triangle because it plays to the dark side. The cinematography really plays well to the tone and the atmosphere. There is an abundance of fog and that really gives a sense of mystery to the city of San Francisco, which was known as Barbary Coast to its citizens during the time period the film is set in. This film was directed by Howard Hawks, who is known as one of cinema’s greatest auteurs. It is not his greatest film, and I would even call this film a major B-production (w...