Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1941

2-rating (2/5) ‘horror’

This particular version of  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) is the first Jekyll and Hyde movie I’ve seen (there are several). I chose this one because it stars two of my favourite classic movie actors: Spencer Tracy and  Ingrid Bergman

Note: I’m a classic movie fan. This is the first of what I hope will be many classic movie reviews on The Daleisphere.

Tracy plays Dr. Jekyll, a medical researcher forced to test a potion on himself when the hospital he works for refuses to allow him to test it on his patients. Jekyll’s potion is designed to separate the soul’s evil from the good.

I dislike horror movies intensely. While billed as a horror movie, it pale’s by today’s horror movie standards and comes across as more cruel than scary. Spencer Tracy’s performance as Mr. Hyde was difficult to watch. In the dozen or two Tracy film’s I’ve seen, he’s always played the good guy.

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Zoolander – Redux

Zoolander Cover 0.5-rating (0.5/5) comedy

As a true-blue movie fan. I’ve easily watched more than 1,000 movies at the cinema and hundreds more on DVD, HBO, Showtime, the Movie Channel, etc. In 30+ years of movie watching I have walked out of only two – Zoolander (2001) and Purple Rain (1984).*

I walked out at the point where Zoolander was pumping gas, drinking Orange Frapacinos and dancing with his friends to Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go“. My less-than sophisticated one-word assessment of the movie from the 16 minutes I watched back then was – gay!

I had no intention of attempting this movie again. But in the intervening years, too many pop-culture references and friend recommendations made their impact. And, perhaps Owen Wilson’s recent suicide attempt may have weekend my resolve. So when I saw it in my TiVo listings as an HD broadcast on City TV, I relented.

With some trepidation and a willingness to accept the possibility that my tastes may have changed in 7 years, I sat down and watched it.

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Hellboy (2004)

Hell Boy Poster3.5-rating (3.5/5) super-hero, sc-fib

Hellboy (2004) has fallen out of the bottom of my TiVo at least twice. Seeing it reappear in my  TiVo listings as Fox Channel HD movie last week I decided to record it once-again on the off chance I’d actually watch it.

As a rule I do not watch horror films. I was under the mistaken impression that this was one such film. It isn’t. It’s more of a super-hero movie.

I enjoyed it.  Ron Perlman was surprisingly good. I don’t recall watching Perlman in any prior movie. I was delighted by his light-hearted sardonic performance. From the first time I saw her in Legally Blonde (2001), I’ve been enamoured with Selma Blair. She was fine in this film.

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