A Bridge Too Far (1977)

As often happens, I felt obliged to watch a movie featuring someone who recently died, in this case Sean Connery. He's one of the actors I've watched most, so there weren't many promising titles left. This one's pretty popular but has a bunch of other big names and countless speaking roles, so I wasn't sure it would showcase him well.

Based on a book that's at least partly based on reality, it tells of Operation Market Garden: In 1944, British, American, and Polish forces plan to use paratroopers and tanks to capture numerous bridges in the occupied Netherlands. Many soldiers doubt the feasibility of the mission, as it involves considerable travel along narrow roads, there's fog to consider, and even if the Germans don't send their best, they won't be pushovers. If you know this chapter of history, you know the doubts are correct.

Dogville (2003)

Had I paid more attention, I would not have chased the weirdest David Lynch movie I've seen with a Lars von Trier piece. Still, this was one of those culturally significant pictures I'd been putting off for some time.

In what might be the '30s, a stranger named Grace (Nicole Kidman) comes to a remote Colorado town, planning to cross the nearby mountain until local would-be writer Tom (Paul Bettany) sees her and advises against it. Not knowing a better way to elude a gang looking for her, she begs sanctuary. Tom talks all his skeptical neighbors into keeping mum for a period and then deciding whether to send her away. Grace endears herself to them with chores, and for a while, she and the town brighten up each other. But when authorities under the gang's sway announce that she's wanted for crimes, although she couldn't possibly have committed them, the townsfolk become less content with lying to the law and subsequently make life increasingly hard for Grace.

Elf (2003)

For the first time in ages, my family couldn't go to a theater together on Christmas. I wound up watching this DVD alone, partly from lack of interest by others. Given my low opinions of Will Ferrell and 2003 movies in general (gosh, I haven't even reviewed any of the latter in full here), I was only slightly interested myself. But it keeps getting positive references 15 years later, so I figured I owed myself a little education.

Santa Claus (Ed Asner) accidentally takes an infant stowaway from an orphanage back to the North Pole. The head elf (Bob Newhart) adopts him, calling him Buddy. Like Navin in The Jerk, Buddy has no idea he's adopted until told so in adulthood, despite not fitting in -- literally. When he learns that his unknowing biological father, Walter (James Caan), is a "naughty" New York exec, he makes a trek in the hope of making a loving connection. Of course, in many ways, he fits in even less among fellow humans, but his stepmother (Mary Steenburgen) encourages Walter to receive him in all his perceived lunacy after a DNA test confirms their relation.

El Dorado (1967)

This could easily have been a flop. One of the last movies directed by Howard Hawks, it looked a lot like his earlier westerns, which didn't fit the mood of the late '60s. John Wayne was getting too old to pass for a hired gunman. He didn't get along well with Ed Asner and had previously given trouble to Robert Mitchum. The film took longer than projected to complete. And despite a delayed release in order not to compete with another Wayne film, it wound up competing with yet another. (Dude did have quite a run, even in later years.) But it still performed well at the box office and has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I had to check it out.

In and near the titular city, Cole Thornton (Wayne) gets caught up in a battle for territory between the rightful McDonald clan and the outlaws under Bart Jason (Asner), including noted sharpshooter Nelse McLeod (Christopher George). Between the influences of buddy Sheriff J.P. Harrah (Mitchum) and on-and-off lover Maudie (Charlene Holt), Cole picks the good side. He soon enlists the help of newcomer nicknamed Mississippi (James Caan), who does much better with a knife than with a gun. Unfortunately, as aged Deputy Bull (Arthur Hunnicutt) reports, J.P. is usually too drunk to be of any use. And a bullet near Cole's spine, which he hasn't found time to treat properly, sometimes paralyzes part of him....