Oh Marilyn...

The Asphalt Jungle(dir. John Huston)
It pales in comparsion to other capers, but still remains enjoyable. The robbery scene wasn't particularly exciting which is usually the most exciting scene in other movies. The movie seems to hit its stride after the robbery in a way. The characters other than the German Doctor and Sterling Hayden's character are given barely enough screen time to make a dent. Marilyn Monroe is probably the highlight of the movie just because she has so much screen presence. Sterling Hayden essentially plays the same character as the character from The Killing except he had more a sense of honor in that film that made him likeable. Two moments that stood out where when the German Doctor sits down and watches a girl dance to a tune on a jukebox and Sterling's character's death around the horses. I recommend it.
*** out of ****

Oh Ratings...

New Rating System
****-Great
***1/2-Really good
***-Good
**1/2-Decent
**-Average
*1/2-Bad
*-Really Bad
I realized I need to be more specific because I end up giving movies *** that really deserve higher and I give **** to movies that deserve lower.
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Rashoman(dir. Akira Kurosawa)
Overacting. Overacting. Overacting. The one thing that has distanced me away from Kurosawa. This movie is definately marred by overacting from Toshiro Mifune and the woman that played the wife. The ending completely redeemed it from being a total waste of time since it was rather touching. Maybe I should see Ikiru because the actor that plays the woodcutter is in that and he seems to be the only actor I feel sympathetic towards in the movies I've seen by Kurosawa. It would have gotten a **, but because of the ending it gets a
*** out of ****