Judy has decided to let me share this blog with her so I suppose we should rename it movie reviews by Judy and Gail or just the Judy and Gail Show. How come Judy and Gail has always sounded better than Gail and Judy. Must be the u sound being softer than the a sound.



The question is what to review. Although I like Judy's category I am more interested in the writing, acting and the emotional impact that the movie has on me and if it can teach me anything about life. I guess the last two categories the emotional impact and teaching me something about life are similar to Judy's does the movie make me cry and is there a theological message. Judy is about theology (sort of) and I am all about psychological impact. Is there a difference?

Perhaps I will just start by naming some of my all time favorite movies. Casablanca heads my list. I just watched it the other night again. It is a movie I could watch once a week and never get tired of. It still makes me cry. I suppose what makes it such a great movie is both the writing and the acting. The stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman of coarse. All Ingrid Bergman has to do is show up. She was such a beautiful woman. But many beautiful women cannot act. But more importantly are the secondary actors. I think you can tell the quality of a movie by the supporting cast hence the academy award category best supporting actor and actress. Claude Reins was superb. Paul Henried, and Dooley Wilson. The story is a timeless theme about love. But not just about love, it is also about the one we didn't end up with for what ever reason and then running back into the love of our life. Getting a second chance at that love. The movie starts out with Rick (sometimes known as Richard) a broken man who is surviving but not living. We find out the reason why during the movie and at the end he gets his life back again. It is about sacrifice and doing the noble thing. The scene where Humphrey Bogart is sending Ingrid Bergman away is perhaps the most famous scene in all of Hollywood and a great one.

A more modern movie that ranks at the top is Good Will Hunting. Right up my psychological alley. I thought the story was good and the writing above average. The acting top notch from the stars Matt Damon, Minnie Driver and Ben Afflect (probably the best thing Afflect ever did except for Holliwoodland where he plays George Reeves.) Again though, it is the supporting acting the elevates the movie to greatness. Robin Williams gets an academy award for his performance of Will's therapist. Best scene is when Will breaks down in his office. Second best scene is when Will has taken off and Afflect's character goes to his door to pick him up and he isn't there. He smiles and one of the buddies in the back seat jumps into the front seat and life goes on.

I think next time I will write a review of the movies (that I have seen) that are up for best picture. There are 10 of them this year.