That makes sense. Glad you got to see them.

The films of
Alice in Wonderland
and
Huckleberry Finn
were the first cinema versions of those works.

I've seen
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
, a very long time ago, but I remember liking it.
I also saw and really loved
Hamnet
. I know that Jessie Buckley is going to win the Oscar for her performance, and I'm hoping that Chloé Zhao will win for her directing.
And I'm really intrigued by the fact that you saw the 1903 version of
Alice in Wonderland
and the 1920 version of
Huckleberry Finn
. I wish I had time to watch all the films I want to see, especially those from the silent era, but alas, I don't.

Little Men
(1935) on February 1
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1938) on February 3
Huckleberry Finn
(1920) on February 4
The Adventures of Mark Twain
(1985) on February 5
Alice in Wonderland
(1903) on February 6
Hamnet
(2025) on February 7

Not much this week. I intended to watch
My Cousin Rachel
(1952) after finishing the novel, but didn't get around to it. Maybe this week.
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026

Alexander Nevsky is definitely not Eisenstein at his best. It was made during the Great Purge so he may have been reluctant to get too creative.

Storm in a Teacup
sounds like it would be fun. I'll keep an eye out for it. Great cast. Thanks.

I also found
Alexander Nevsky
a bit of a struggle to get through. I didn't feel the depiction of medieval combat was that great either.
Make Way for Tomorrow
is worth seeing. I think it is a bit over-rated, 8.1 on IMDB right now, but still fairly good.
Storm in a Teacup
might be a movie you would like. A bit of a screwball comedy taking place in Scotland. Rex Harrison plays an English reporter assigned to a small town in Scotland. He writes a story against the town Provost, who is running for higher office, about how the Provost has taken a dog away from a poor woman, who can't afford the dog license fee. Of course, the girl Harrison likes turns out to be the Provost's daughter (Vivian Leigh). Not great but watchable.

PL, of your titles the only one I've seen is
Alexander Nevsky
, ages ago, and I recall it being a bit of a struggle to get through. Not at all my favorite Eisenstein film.
And I've been meaning to see
Make Way for Tomorrow
for such a long time, but haven't done it yet. It's been highly praised to me by several people over the years, but I've always held off because it seemed like it might be too difficult for me emotionally. One of these days I will see it though. Great cast, and I'm a big Leo McCarey fan.

Tension at Table Rock
1956 Richard Egan, Dorothy Malone, Cameron Mitchell. Solid Western fair. - **1/2
Alexander Nevsky
1938 - Russian. Story of Russian Prince who defeated to Teutonic Knights in 1242 to save the Rus. **1/2
Storm in a Teacup
1937 Vivian Lee, Rex Harrison. ***
Forty Thousand Horseman
1940 Grant Taylor, Chips Rafferty, Betty Bryant. Australian. Story of Australian Light Horse in Palestine at the end of WWI, including the big charge of Beersheba. ***
Make Way for Tomorrow
1937 Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell, Fay Bainter - An elderly couple (Moore and Bondi) run out of money and have to go stay with their children and are split up. ***
The Buccaneer
1938 Frederick March, Franciska Gaal, Akim Tameroff, Walter Brennan. Dir: Cecille B. Demilla. Jean Lafitte (March) helps defend New Orleans from the British in 1815. ***

Rufus, I couldn't agree more with you about
Train Dreams
. I thought it was a truly beautiful film. It was among my nominees for the DGA Awards, but in the end it didn't get a nomination. It did, however, receive four Oscar nominations – for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song and Best Cinematography. I'm so glad about that, although I know it isn't going to win.

Few weeks' worth
Out of the Past (1947)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039689/
I saw this very recently. Then I see this pop up on HBO-MAX and had a urge to watch again. One of the essential film noir and one of best Robert Mitchum. Directed by Jacques Tourneur and written by Daniel Mainwaring based on his novel "Build My Gallows High", a mob boss played by Kirk Douglas hired a man (Mitchum) to look for his woman. The problem is the man fell for the woman. Jane Greer was one of the best femme fatale, measured up to Barbara Stanwyck. She was beautiful, she was feminine, and she was deadly.
Train Dreams (2025)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29768334/
This is a simple movie, but very poetic. We follow in the early 20th century the unstable life of a railroad worker played by Joel Edgerton, as he see the change of society. I never heard of this director before, Clint Bentley. One may mistaken this movie for a Terrence Malick one. The dialogues, except for now and then, were very brief. Same with the take. It's a beautiful movie. It is an experience, much like Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, or The Tree of Life. Not as brilliant as Malick movies, still quite breathtaking.
The Seventh Victim (1943)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036341/
A young woman in boarding school learned of her sister's disappearance. She went on to find her sister. The deeper she digs, the more disturbing the situation she found. Directed by Mark Robson, this was a fascinating mystery. Yet I thought it could have been so much better if directed by someone like Hitchcock. This was Kim Hunt's film debut playing that young woman.
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036027/
A nurse was hired by a man to go take care of his sick wife in a Caribbean Island. The illness was very complicated. The story was not that sophisticated, but it was the atmosphere and Jacques Tourneur's direction that made this an excellent movie. Recently I watched a similar movie The Serpent and the Rainbow. This was a better made. Not only the atmosphere, but I felt the emotional attachment of characters. From what I read, this was loosely adapted from Jane Eyre.
Bugonia (2025)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12300742/
This is latest from Yorgos Lanthimos about Two cousins convinced that the woman who runs a big pharmaceutical company is an alien who planned to kill off human. So they planned a skim to kidnap her. Emma Stone again in her usual excellent performance playing the CEO of the company. Jesse Plemons was equally as good playing one of the cousin, and Aidan Delbis played the other mentally slow cousin. Also glad to see Alicia Silverstone in a minor role. This is a remake of a South Korean Save the Green Planet! Lanthimos signature wide angle shot was throughout the movie. The music was very dramatic. I did find the movie very engaging, but I am cautious about recommendation. Several scenes were quite bloody. Some dialogues I found cringey, but in a funny way. Overall, I thought quite good.

First viewing:
Love Affair / Leo McCarey
(1939). The earliest version of the film about a man (Charles Boyer) and a woman (Irene Dunne) who fall in love aboard a ship, although they are committed to others. Nominated for six oscars in all the major categories, including Best Picture, it was was a little hard hard for me to engage with at first, given that my favorite of all the versions is
An Affair to Remember
(1957), starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, but it wasn’t long before I was completely hooked. It’s a beautiful film that’s worth seeing for its wonderful performances, including by Maria Ouspenskaya, and for McCarey’s masterful direction. And I’m not sure, but it now may be my favorite version. Highly recommended. (Available on several streaming services.)
Re-watches:
Adam’s Rib / George Cuckor
(1949). Married lawyers (Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, clash in and out of court when one prosecutes and one defends a woman (Judy Holliday), who shot her husband (Tom Ewell). A delightful, really smart Oscar nominated script written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, with wonderful direction by Cukor, and a great supporting cast that includes David Wayne and Jean Hagen, it's one of my favorite Tracy/Hepburn films, and I think one of their best. (On TCM through March 3)
I’ll See You in My Dreams / Michael Curtiz
(1951). Songwriter Gus Kahn (Danny Thomas) fights to make his name, then has to fight again to survive the Great Depression. And his wife (Doris Day) stands by him through everything. A much better film that I would have thought, with a good script and good performances. Not as good as
Adam's Rib
, but definitely worth a view for the story and the cast. (On Max)
Holiday Inn / Mark Sandrich
(1942). At his New England inn a singer (Bing Crosby) competes with a dancer (Fred Astaire) for the affections of a beautiful woman (Marjorie Reynolds). A real delight with wonderful music by Irving Berlin and the famous song “White Christmas.” I love it and watch it every couple of years, usually at Christmas. (I watched it on my DVD, but it’s available here: LINK)

Thank you!

Kanopy recently added The Fabulous Baron Munchausen and The Color of Pomegranates and that's how I was able to watch them. That's also where I watched Floating Weeds.

Oh, unex, I'm so envious of you! I've been meaning to see these films for years and haven't gotten it done yet! Thanks for your wonderful reviews and the reminder that I need to get in gear and watch them. I hope to do it soon, if I can find them. I know
Floating Weeds
is on MAX, but I'm not sure about the others.

Floating Weeds (1959) - Ozu movie about a group of itinerant actors. As usual with his films it is slow moving but somehow never drags. They hit a sweet spot in film with the scope of story. It's not too small so that we get bored, not too large so it seems rushed or sparse. It's just some actors experiencing relatively minor dramas in their lives.
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962) - Czech Munchausen. A mixture of live action with animation. Instead of building the elaborate sets the director/production designer (first time I've seen that combination) used illustration. Some of the animation is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's so it's no surprise this movie influenced his own Munchausen. There are some splashes of color but most of the time it has a yellowish tint that doesn't always look great.
The Color of Pomegranates (1969) - A series of allegorical tableaux on the life of Armenian poet Sayat-Nova. This was the first time I've sat through the entire film. I have no familiarity with Sayat-Nova but I had some idea of what was going on and despite any confusion it is fascinating to watch. Every scene is hand-crafted by the director who also served as the art director.