+Margie Kleerup was off on mostly-business last week, so +Kay Hill and I got to watch a lot of movie — though not as many as I wanted, as it was a fairly busy week in other ways.
So here's what we watched, with links to my Letterboxd reviews.
1984 (1984) ★★★★
Stylish and grubby, but story-light rendition of the Orwell novel, with John Hurt as the perfect Winston Smith.
http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/1984-1984-6/
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) ★★★★
Definitely more spycraft than spandex, some solid entertainment here.
http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/captain-america-the-winter-soldier/1/
V for Vendetta (2005) ★★★½
Well-produced and -talented adaptation of Alan Moore's anarchist serial, undermined by trying to give it a more conventionally happy ending.
http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/v-for-vendetta/
Hotel Transylvania (2012) ★★½
It's Mad Monster Party for the modern generation, and just about as deep.
http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/hotel-transylvania/1/
Harvey (1950) ★★★★
Is being a really nice guy okay if you're also a demented alcoholic? Who cares?
http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/harvey/
12 Angry Men (1957) ★★★★
Taut drama about jury deliberations in a supposedly open-and-shut murder case.
http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/12-angry-men/
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) ★★★★½
Quirky but gripping spy tale of brainwashing and bad mothers. Lansbury deserved her Oscar nomination and more.
http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/the-manchurian-candidate/
I pretty much agree with most of your assessments here, at least on the films you've listed that I've seen.
1984, 12 Angry Men, and, surprisingly enough, Harvey I've never seen.
I will take issue with your comparison of Hotel Transylvania to Mad Monster Party , though. Adam Sandler will never compare to Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller 😉
The premise and some of the jokes in Hotel Transylvania seemed so promising, it was one of those movies I kept wanting to be better than it ultimately was. Still, a fun, throw away diversion.
Manchurian Candidate, both early and later versions, are in my "top 10" ever list. Thank you for reminding me of this. In case you're interested, I today wrote a review of Personal by Lee Child. Here it is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1196790224
+Fred Mast I never watched the recent remake, largely because I didn't see a reason to remake the original.
(One of the elements of the original that I find most amusing is that the title doesn't refer to either of the protagonists.)