Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

Honestly I laughed so much at Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. I laughed so much I was basically bullying this film. It starts off sort of charming, I guess, but it moves into hilariously absurd territory. It's so stupid it starts to be sort of marvelous, actually. Constance Wu's plays a basically unhinged sort of character who never strikes a single believable note. Javier Bardem does much much better, but he's not asked to be earnest in the same way that Wu is. The whole thing is insane. I watched it because I imagine that one of the Pasek & Paul songs in this (sorta) musical would be nominated for an Oscar. But after having seen it, I'm honestly sort of skeptical. Maybe the song that played over the credits...

10 (1979)

This isn't important at all, but I saw Blake Edwards' 10 a couple days ago, and I just don't understand. I think the reason I don't get it is that about a year and a half ago, I saw and disliked Edwards' 1986 film That's Life! and I was surprised to find that this is basically a very similar plot. 10 is about a very, very rich Hollywood songwriter, played by a hilarious Dudley Moore, who is going through male menopause – which is exactly what is happening to Jack Lemmon's character in That's Life! Indeed, both men in both films are both in romantic relationships with (Edwards' wife) Julie Andrews. Andrews is great in the 1986 film; she's totally miscast in the '79 film. 

Anyway, 10 is much funnier than its later, 1986 iteration (I think this is because Lemmon takes his role way too seriously, while Moore plays everything for laughs), but it's largely the same movie. 

The highlight for me was that Dudley Moore's best friend in this is a gay man who is about the same age as him. They talk frankly about him being gay, and it's rather delightful. He's only a gay best friend character, but he has some great moments, and I believe Dudley Moore even drops the word "faggotry"!

The L-Shaped Room (1962)

I was very pleasantly surprised by The L-Shaped Room, which is an early-60s kitchen sink drama set in a cheap boarding house. It has an intriguing, beautiful cast of characters that are played beautifully (including – and this was very surprising – an older lesbian actress who is wonderful). Leslie Caron is excellent, but really the whole thing is very good!

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

What a delightful swashbuckling adventure! Ronald Colman is good in this, and it's a well plotted, beautifully designed, pleasurable romp no matter how you swing your sword – especially for 1937 – but the real takeaway here was Douglas Fairbanks Jr. He's incredible! Insouciant, wild, unpredictable: he's a movie star through and through. He makes this part into a character any star would want to play. It's really masterful. I have never paid too much attention to the younger Fairbanks (the Academy never did either), but I will now. Mary Astor is also fabulous in this.