The Irish Thug

The Barefoot Contessa
Humphrey Bogart (Harry Dawes) and Ava Gardner (Maria Vargas) star in a story about a woman who is picked to be the fresh new face of Hollywood. It’s not much surprise that she takes to Harry instead of the egotistical producer. However, Harry and Maria’s relationship is not a physical one. Instead the film follows Maria on her quest for true love, a true prince.
Bogart and Gardner both play their roles to a t. My only complaint is that the “this only happens in movies” lines got old. I know Harry is a writer/director and that is what he knows, but it gets over played. Maybe I’ve just watched to many movies about show business recently (they all use the same line at some point).

Belle de Jour
Séverine Serizy is a young housewife who has trouble being intimate with her husband. After hearing of another woman who worked at a brothel, Séverine becomes curious and decides to become a prostitute. She is very shy at first, but begins to open up (at work and at home). However, when a gangster becomes a regular customer, the job begins to have a more direct effect on her life.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Aliens have come to Earth and are replacing humans with body doubles. People start to become suspicious as the double lack emotion and become distant from the people they were close to. Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams work to discovery the mystery of the duplicates and escape the invasion. It’s a great horror/sci-fi film as it takes it’s time to develop and provide the feeling of helplessness.

Dances with Wolves
Kevin Costner moves to an abandoned fort in the western frontier after being awarded for his actions during a Civil War battle (he was actually trying to kill himself). Living on his own, he spends time learning a life of the land. In turn, he befriends a tribe of Sioux that lived in the area. Costner, a first time director, spared no expense to make the film as real as possible. The film features thousands of buffalo and a few “trained” wolves. This movie is the reason Goodfellas did not win Best Picture.