Silverado (1985)

As you may have guessed from the title, it's a western; and as you may have guessed from the year of release, it's not very serious as westerns go. The casting provides a further clue to the latter: It includes Kevin Kline and, in a smaller role, John Cleese. Oh, it's not A Fish Called Wanda with twang; the humorous aspects are secondary to the adventure and occasionally solemn drama. (Netflix calls it "fast-paced," but it allows some tense pauses a la Sergio Leone.) Still funnier than the overrated Cat Ballou in my book.

The Theory of Everything (2014)

Yes, I see modern releases in theaters sometimes. In this case, a very good yet sparsely attended theater. Perhaps not many people care to see a movie about a theoretical physicist. Or a man who can move less and less as the story continues (which of course feels much faster on screen). Or both. It did remind me at times of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the most depressing movie I ever...loved. But TToE is much less depressing, and not just because the protagonist is still alive.

Ernest & Celestine (2012)

No, it's not part of the Jim Varney collection; just look at the year. I'm talking about an Academy Best Animated Feature nominee that, being foreign, went up against movies from the following year. That's almost all I knew when I chose to check it out.

It hadn't been long since my last French animation from the 2010s with talking animals, but that's about where the similarity ends. Unlike The Rabbi's Cat, E&C is indeed family friendly, having a basis in children's books. Probably the only reason for the PG rating is a handful of lines about ways to die. A sufficiently young viewer might cry over them, but I figure that if I could watch An American Tail many times around age 5, it's not that big a risk.

So how does E&C fare for older viewers? Let me begin my answer with "I WANT A CELESTINE DOLL! SHE'S ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!" But since not everyone would decide on a movie for that reason alone, I'd better put more details below.

Rachel, Rachel (1968)

Paul Newman's first time as a director netted him and wife/star Joanne Woodward several awards and nominations. It's one of those generally credible dramas that focuses on a small number of ordinary people in ordinary situations, which almost merit a subgenre classification. I only wish this movie offered fun, too.

The Rabbi's Cat (2011)

Now here's a rarity in my adulthood: My mom made the suggestion based on an associate's semi-informed recommendation for her. It was streaming, so I and my parents went for it, knowing little more than that it was "surreal." I think the term "magic realism" applies better.

This subtitled French animation takes place in the late '20s, beginning in the Casbah of Algiers. It's unrated, but I can tell you it wasn't made for kids, as first hinted by the visual evidence that the nameless titular Abyssinian isn't neutered (and he makes use of that detail later). Things seem to move quickly, at least in terms of dialog and narration. The narrator being the cat, in an oddly deep voice like Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service or Salem from "Sabrina the Teenage Witch." Still pretty cute, of course.

Reign of Terror, or The Black Book (1949)

Dad helped me choose this from among the Norman Lloyd collection showing at the AFI Silver Theater (a rather random choice, as he gets little screen time). I'm not sure why Dad favored it. It wasn't the star power; I've barely heard of anyone in the credits. Its reception has been pretty good but not outstanding. Offhand, I'd say it's the unenviable setting: France under Maximilien de Robespierre.

Tell It to the Marines (1926)

I had the good fortune of buying this DVD for $1 from Potomac Video (R.I.P.) instead of paying $3 to watch via Amazon or Google Play. Netflix still doesn't offer enough silents, altho I learned of this one from a documentary accompanying a silent I did get via Netflix. You see, it stands out for showing Lon Chaney's ability to play characters without freakiness or even makeup -- in this case, a sergeant with a hard edge but also a heart. Maybe that's why he liked it best of all his films.

Häxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages (1922)

Yup, another foreign film right after the last, this one involving an allegedly more genuine brand of magic. Last Halloweeny pic I'll watch for some time, I warrant; Netflix just had a long wait on it.

It's only the second silent so-called "documentary" I've seen, after the reportedly dishonest Nanook of the North. (You can watch the William S. Burroughs-dubbed version from 1968 on the same disc if you hate reading intertitles or want to save time, but I prefer the powerful classical score to the quirky jazz. I don't think the later one uses helpful tinting either.) In truth, while this Swedish-Danish collaboration does start out looking like a presentation along the lines of An Inconvenient Truth, complete with rare first-person narration by the researcher, it soon goes on to reenactment with license a la "America's Most Wanted" and feels more like historical fiction. Which makes it no less enjoyable.

The King of Masks (1995)

Netflix taught me of this film's existence and had been pushing it on me for a long time. I'm not sure why it estimated my rating at upwards of four stars, as I haven't watched and loved that many films like it, but it is a fine, solid drama with a mostly happy ending.

Given China, I couldn't tell for sure whether it's set in the '90s (edit: it's the '30s). The titular protagonist, Wang, is an elderly street performer of Bian Lian, the art of switching one's masks so rapidly that it looks like magic in the hands of a pro. Despite his low status, he does make the friendly acquaintance of a popular cross-dressing opera singer, who reminds him that he'd better pass his secret along before he can longer perform. Tradition holds that he teach a son or grandson. Not having any living relatives, Wang buys an abused eight-year-old orphan (yeah, it's that kind of culture) and shows grandfatherly love, until he learns something that would've dissuaded his purchase. Unfortunately, it's hard to talk about my thoughts on this movie without a few spoilers, so read on at your own risk.

Johnny Guitar (1954)

I've almost never purchased films, but I did when the last local video store was closing, only to watch them once and sell them to the Record Exchange or, if they were supposedly too scratched, leave them at the office for others to claim. JG had been the only tape in my home for a while. I decided to give it a whirl partly to take a break from my Halloweeny viewings and partly to reduce the space of my possessions in preparation for a move. Might I say, I never knew how much better movies looked on DVD until I went back to VHS.

For much of the movie, Sterling Hayden's title character seems almost incidental to the plot, a quiet bystander mildly entertained by the tension between others. Tough tomboy saloon keeper Vienna (Joan Crawford) summons him to town just before a mob comes and demands the whereabouts of her semi-boyfriend, the Dancin' Kid, and his buddies, who may have a criminal record but probably had no part in the latest felonies of which they're accused. The mob's primary motivator, Emma (an extraordinarily acid Mercedes McCambridge), insists that Vienna should hang with the rest, but Vienna notes two likely ulterior motives: (1) warped feelings of "love" for the Kid, such that Emma wants to kill him yet also is jealous of Vienna; and (2) land greed, intolerant of anyone else having a saloon at the outskirts of town where a railroad station is planned. Of course, this being a western, it won't do for Johnny to remain aloof to the end....

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Still watching vaguely Halloweeny movies, am I? That comes of neglecting to rearrange my queue in time. It's also a movie I initially marked "Not interested," probably because I wanted to make time for something else, not because I expected to dislike it. Was it worth adding? I think so, but you'll notice that's hardly a strong answer.

Two years before Keanu played a super pseudo-messiah in The Matrix and three years after his turn as a heroic cop in Speed, he starred as law-abiding yet rather corrupt lawyer Kevin Lomax in DA (heh, appropriate abbreviation). Of course, the real draw for viewers must be Al Pacino as suspiciously named CEO John Milton, who takes a special interest in Lomax and his nigh inexplicably perfect track record. I hardly call it a spoiler that Milton creates steam by sticking his finger in holy water; the posters alone give a big hint to his identity, even if it takes Lomax most of the 2 hours and 24 minutes to catch on.

Triple Feature: ParaNorman, Frankenweenie, and Hotel Transylvania

Boy, the next movie I saw after Vampyr also had vampires but otherwise couldn't be more different if it tried. I considered reviewing HT on its own, but I had recently seen the other two participants in its Hollywood "duel" and felt like talking about them too. You may ask, "Why bother with comparisons instead of just reviewing a film on its own merits?" Well, not everyone has the resources to make watching all three feasible, so why not help weigh the options?

To qualify for a duel, movies need to come out around the same time with similar themes -- in this case, comical PG family animations focusing on the undead circa Halloween 2012. At present, PN and FW are exactly tied on both the Internet Movie Database and Rotten Tomatoes. HT does marginally better on IMDb but much worse on RT, as you might expect from the one that didn't get nominated for Best Animated Feature. I'd rather not discuss box office figures. I'll start with synopses.