SHENANDOAH (1965)

Farmer Jimmy Stewart along with his six sons (including Patrick Wayne), one daughter and one daughter-in-law run a 500 acre farm in Virginia.  The Civil War is happening all around them, but pigheaded Stewart refuses to get involved and tries to ignore it.  Finally some events happen and he doesn't have any choice but to get involved.

I was kinda torn with SHENANDOAH.  The acting is very good, but the story is off.  In one of the opening scenes, Jimmy's teenage son finds a Rebel hat and starts wearing it.  Right then and there the viewer knows that no good can come of this, but even with the war raging all around them, Stewart allows the boy to wear the hat.  Naturally something really horrible happens because of the stupid hat.  Another thing that irked me and it's irked me with a number of films from this period is the blind happiness in going to church.  I know that if my entire life and the lives of my family were destroyed and turned upside down because of my foolishness I damn sure wouldn't be sittin' around in church praisin' the Lord and crying.

Quick pace, lots of action, tons of familiar faces, unwise life choices, great acting, clips of battle scenes from RAINTREE COUNTY, bending bayonets, multiple actors from "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "Little House on the Prairie".  Enjoyable beginning and middle that's tarnished by a weak ending.  Too bad that Stewart and Anthony Mann had already had their falling out in real life because this film could have used Mann in charge.

 

 I'll never look at Dr. Baker the same ever again.

PROMETHEUS (2012)

[Update 03/21/2021: This review sucks. Just deleted it and going to review the entire series again instead and then fix this review better when I get to it. Need to fix screenshots.]

Original series:
Part 1 - Alien (1979)
Part 2 - Aliens (1986)
Part 3 - Alien 3 (1992)
Part 4 - Alien Resurrection (1997)

Alien vs. Predator films:
Part 1 - Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Part 2 - Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Prometheus films:
Part 1 - Prometheus (2012)
Part 2 - Alien: Covenant (2017)
Alien: Romulus (2024)

NEXT TIME WE LOVE (1936)

Nineteen thirty-six was a very busy year for Jimmy Stewart.  He starred in eight full-length movies and NEXT TIME WE LOVE was his first outing as a leading man.  And he does a great job.  The film opens with him and his girlfriend (Margaret Sullavan) talking nonstop love stuff and then getting married.  It's all very sappy, but then the film takes a serious turn. A very serious turn.  James and Margaret quickly learn that love cannot overcome financial difficulties and when James takes a job as a foreign correspondent in Russia they solve the financial part, but now they have the long distance thing to deal with...and in 1936 Russia was way more long distance than it is now.

I have no idea how successful (or unsuccessful) NTWL was at the box office, but I liked it quite a bit and will definitely be watching it again.  The story is mature and maybe even a little bit ahead of it's time?  Or maybe not, I don't know, GRAND HOTEL and I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG were both made four years earlier and both even more depressing.

My biggest complaint is the movie just isn't long enough.  The story, especially towards the end, goes way too fast and it doesn't give the viewer enough time to react emotionally.  Also the ending just ends.  I wanted more or at least some closure.  Even so, NEXT TIME WE LOVE is an enjoyable watch and a nice chance to see a young Stewart before he became a household name.