Anna Karenina

Some guys like action movies... Some guys like horror films... Some guys like suspense while others like drama. For me, the greatest genre in film making is the Black Exploitation Film.

Blacula changed my life.

But that's not why I'm writing this.

Today I watched the 1948 version of Anna Karenina starring Vivien Leigh in the title roll. By the end of the movie I absolutely hated this woman and was begging her to cut her own throat. Turns out, she gets run over by a train. I was cheering for the train. I moved closer to the TV just to make sure she was dead.

I did some research and found that this movie has been made a number of times, suggesting that movie audiences have some sort of sick, never-ending appetite for annoying, shallow, self-centered, cheating, whining tarts. Along with Vivien Leigh, Karenina was also played by Claire Bloom, Jacqueline Bissett, Sophie Marceau... And... Greta Garbo - who I like very much... Probably because I've never seen her play Anna Karenina.

So if you want to watch an old movie, may I suggest Grand Hotel with Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, and the Barrymore brothers. Save Anna Karenina for the next time you have a sentimental longing for a root canal.