The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) - ★★★★

Director: Lewis Milestone
Writers: Robert Rossen (Screenplay), John Patrick (Story), Robert Riskin
Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Judith Anderson, Roman Bohnen, Janis Wilson, Darryl Hickman

I think Barbara Stanwyck is possibly the coolest actress that has ever graced the silver screen. She has played some pretty detestable women over the years, which has made me love her more than almost any other actress. In The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, we get to see some of the best acting she's ever done. Not only that, we also get to see the screen debut of Kirk Douglas, one of the coolest actors that ever lived. On top of all this, we get to see Van Heflin play one of his coolest roles. Most importantly, this is the film that showed me the tremendous talent of Lizabeth Scott, a fairly unknown actress that has all the beauty of Bacall and Garbo. These four brilliant actors and the engrossing story make this a film that leaves you wondering what's going to happen next.

The Ten Commandments (1956) - ★★

Director: Cecil B. Demille
Writers: Twas a large collaboration
Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, John Derek, Cedric Hardwicke, Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price

I think critics forgive a lot of faults when it comes to epic movies. In particular, Cecil B. Demille epics. The Ten Commandments is a movie so grand in scale that people don't sweat the little stuff, and focus on the amazing special effects and cinematography. As for me, I found there were too many unforgivable problems to call this a good movie. The acting was atrocious by almost the entire cast, and the dialogue was highly laughable (for it was a terrible mixture of Hollywood cheese and Bible-esque speech). The story itself is highly interesting, but it drags on so long in this movie that I lost almost all interest in the film. The only thing that kept me going was the hope for an epic 'plagues of Egypt' sequence.

Laura (1944) - ★★★★½

Director: Otto Preminger
Writers: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth (Betty) Reinhardt (Screenplay).
Stars: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson

Otto Preminger's 'Laura' ranks up there with some of the greatest works of Alfred Hitchcock. Yes, it's just that good! Just when I thought I had it all figured out, twists and motives arise that completely took me by surprise. It's filled with marvelous performances, a riveting murder mystery, and plain old excellent cinematography. It's one of the best movies from the 1940s, and is truly one that I'll never forget.

Oh, did I mention that a young Vincent Price is in this? Well that alone makes this a must see film!