Bell, Book and Candle

Bell, Book and Candle is a romantic-comedy staring James Stewart and Kim Novak, as well as, Jack Lemmon, Else Lanchester, and Ernie Kovacs. A while back I wrote a piece titled  '10 James Stewart Movies Everyone Should See' and, while I do stand by those ten selections because they're all fantastic films, this is a movie that is certainly worth watching as well. Released in 1958, it's definitely been overshadowed by another Stewart/Novak film from that same year; Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

The plot is straight forward and fun: a witch named Gillian (played by Novak) has a bit of a thing for a man named Shepard (played by Stewart) who lives in the apartment just a floor up from her shop. Gillian originally plans to try to win Shepard over without using any magic but when she learns that he's already engaged and to be married soon, she decides to cast a love spell on him. So now she has Shepard infatuated with her, however, there are a couple problems with this plan. First off, obviously she can't tell Shepard she's a witch because he won't be too happy if he finds out he called off his engagement because of witchcraft. Second, witches can't fall in love and there is a legend among the witches that if you do, you lose your powers. Early on you'll know how this film is going end but it's a fun ride getting there.James Stewart and Kim Novak are both solid but, the two actors who steal the movie are Jack Lemmon and Erine Kovacs. While there are funny lines from just about everyone in the film, Lemmon and Kovacs provide the overwhelming majority of the jokes.

Overall, it's an enjoyable film full of laughs and charm. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

The Greatest Showman is a new musical to hit theaters, and is inspired by the life of P.T. Barnum.

With a strong cast consisting of Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams and Zendaya just to name a few, I was pretty excited going into this one. Now, if you go into this expecting a fairly accurate biopic about P.T. Barnum then you need to know that this is not that. Its a big, glitzy, crowd-pleaser, with a lot of heart.

At approximately 1hr 45mins the film moves along at a brisk but satisfying pace. It's well directed, well acted (for the most part), and has a captivating plot. The only knock on the film is that there is one particular song and dance sequence in the middle of the film that felt a bit shoehorned in and I didn't feel like it added anything to the film. 

Overall, is this the best musical of all-time? No, but it is fun, a few of the songs are pretty catchy, and Hugh Jackman is fantastic.

I enjoyed it and, though I can foresee this one getting some mixed reactions from audiences, I recommend it.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.