Firstly, I have my computer back! My sleek, lovely black MacBook. She crashed on me back in March - a horrific, terrifying moment of my life - and it was discovered that my hard drive was completely fried :( Ergo, I lost EVERYTHING because I hadn't backed up anything since I got her in August 2007. Word to the wise: Buy an external hard drive and use it! But on a happier note, she (with a larger hard drive and all the trimmings) and I are reunited and ready to work!

Onto the classic films I've seen over the last few weeks. I've started screening some of this season's TCM Essentials (Saturdays at 8PM with Robert Osborne and Alec Baldwin) and the first I watched was The Letter. It stars Bette Davis directed by her favorite of all filmmakers, William Wyler. If I were to use one word to characterize this film, it most definitely would be melodrama. It's about secrets, adultery, and murder, but what melodrama isn't? Probably the most famous line from the film is Bette in her most exasperated exclaiming, "With all my heart, I still love the man I killed!" I think that sums it up.

Next, I watched Woody Allen's first big break Take the Money and Run. Being a Woody Allen fan, I really enjoyed this film. It clocks in at a breezy 85 minutes, and definitely keeps pace with Allen's witty, fast-paced persona. It incorporates mockumentary and crime films, but the criminal in this case is the world's worst. Everyone in it shows off their comedic skills, and I have to say, other than Woody and one or two other folks, I was pretty unfamiliar with most of the cast. Nevertheless, everyone was great, and I highly recommend it. Keep in mind, it's on this year's Essentials calendar, so check it out on TCM if you have cable.

Third, I watched a Julie Andrews musical from the early 1980's - Victor/Victoria. So. Good. Funny. Entertaining. Great songs. Great cast. Honestly, my eyes stayed glued to the tele. Granted, it is a Blake Edwards film, so it comes as no surprise as to how enjoyable it is. Andrews, being the musical phenom she is, delivers the songs flawlessly. She's joined by Robert Preston (a.k.a. The Music Man) who plays a homosexual singer in 1930s Paris who sees Andrew's potential and turns her into the most popular musical act in Paris. The catch: She has to pretend to be a man pretending to be a woman. Confusing? Perhaps, but it becomes hilarious once James Garner comes into the mix and starts questioning his own heterosexuality thinking that he's attracted to a man, when in fact, he's very much attracted to a woman. Also, keep your eye on scene-stealer Lesley Ann Warren. She's fantastic!

Okay, I have a slew of other films I've watched:

• Network: Put this on your queue. I've seen it a few times but felt like a refresher. For a 1976 film, it was somewhat prophetic, as well as an overall brilliant film from screenplay to directing to acting.
  
• The Bride Wore Black: Truffaut's 1968 homage to Hitchcock starring Jeanne Moreau and scored by Hitchcock's frequent collaborator, Bernard Hermann.
  
• Ruggles of Red Gap: A delightful, quirky comedy from 1935 starring the Hunchback of Notre Dame himself, Sir Charles Laughton.
  

More recent films:

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
  
• Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones doc Shine a Light
  
• The sequel to City of God, City of Men, which was not as experimental or intense as its predecessor, but still a gripping film.
  
• And a collection of Radiohead videos entitled The Best of Radiohead. I can't tell you how ridiculous it was seeing the band as their early 90's selves. Johnny has the nicest facial structure!
  

I think that covers things for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but it's been a busy few weeks, so forgive me. The next new release I'm anxious to screen is Public Enemies. I really hope it doesn't suck. Eeesh.