Dirty Dancing, White Christmas, Dirty Harry

From now, in order to catch up with the festive season's splurge of DVDs and televised movies, I'll be posting short, three movie sum-ups, with a little less detail than usual. The bare facts, rather than a lot of unnecessary waffling! Here goes...

#1 - DIRTY DANCING

Stars - Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze
Director - Emile Ardolino
Memorable Quote - 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner.'
Review - An all-time classic, probably better suited to the female side of the audience, and a little creepy if you look too far into it - but hey, who's looking too far into it? Best moments include Baby and Johnny's miming to the words of a song (above) and the final dance, where Baby finally gets out of her corner (below). A great dance flick with a lot of uplifting moments, along with the more uncomfortable side of Penny's predicament. 4/5





#2 - WHITE CHRISTMAS


Stars - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye,
Director - Michael Curtiz
Memorable Quote - 'Miss Haynes, if you're ever under a falling building and someone offers to pick you up and carry you to safety, don't think, don't pause, don't hesitate for a moment, just spit in his eye. '
Review - Quite ridiculous in the sense of a musical, but not hideously unenjoyable. A good happy ending with lots of snow is just what you need at Christmas, but it's not necessarily something I'd leap to see again. 2.5/5


#3 - DIRTY HARRY

Stars - Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson, Reni Santoni
Director - Don Siegel
Memorable Quote - 'I know what you're thinking — "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But, being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?'
Review - Are any of Clint Eastwood's movies bad movies?! I mean really, are they? I haven't seen a bad one yet and this is no exception - the cult status it carries is there for a reason. What a great movie! I mean, how can you not love Harry Callahan, that tough-talking rule-breaking cop who in the end only does it because he wants so desperately to save someone's life? A masterpiece, 4.5/5.