Filmography 2010

This is a really awesome video featuring most of the films released in 2010:

The Shawshank Redemption

In 50 years when another young film geek is attempting a do it yourself film school by viewing older classics, The Shawshank Redemption will without a doubt be on his or her list. It is a modern classic that is just now coming out of the shadows of Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump which were released at the same time. The story is inspiring without being manipulative and the whole cast inhabits their characters as real people, the “bad” guys are at times like able and the “good” guys are in no way saints. Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne as a man who refuses to become an imprisoned man even when imprisoned. He maintains his dignity and courage in situations that would make most men give up. Morgan Freeman is Red, Andy’s closest friend and the prison’s Sears and Roebuck as he describes himself. He is a man who seems to have mastered prison life until Andy comes along and surprises him. The film hinges on their friendship and they both come to depend on each other within prison for sanity. My favorite performance in the film is Bob Gunton as the warden. Rather than play this character as a clichéd heartless bastard, he instead presents himself as a sheep, seemingly well intentioned and reform minded. Only as time progresses, do we see the wolf beneath and learn that he is addicted to the power of being warden. He will stop at nothing to maintain his royal status, using the prisoners as slaves and a means of monetary gain. I usually don’t enjoy happy endings in movies because they often feel forced or fake. This is a rare exception, however, because Andy and Red are truly redeemed at the end and morally deserve the severance they receive just as much as the Warden deserves the ending he gets. I love that Morgan Freeman was cast as Red, originally written as a white Irish character. This example of color blind casting is rare in Hollywood and unfortunately only seems to occur with a few actors, Freeman primarily. The only cliché I felt the film didn’t transcend was having the prisoners be the heroes and the warden and guards as the villains. I would love to see a prison film that features the prisoners as the bad guys and the staff as decent people.

My Top Ten of 2010

This wasn't the strongest year for film, however, there were some greats. These are films that I felt were the best of the year, either due to acting, filmmaking, or simply connecting to me on a personal level. Three films that might have made the list are Somewhere, Rabbit Hole, and Blue Valentine. They have not been released wide yet, so I have yet to see them. I will post seperate reviews when I do. Without futher rambling:

1.) 127 Hours- Seeing this film has been the most personal movie-going experience I have had all year. I relate to the lead’s need of independence and desire to leave on an adventure without telling anyone. This plan backfiring and his realization that he has slowly cut out everyone important in his life makes for an extremely watch able story, James Franco’s performance and Danny Boyle’s stylish direction only making the film stronger.

2.) Black Swan- This film is a deeply satisfying story about how a performer literally goes crazy in order to perfect her performance. Darren Aronofsky’s direction is great, giving the film a feeling of uneasiness, but it is the cast that makes this film perfect. Natalie Portman gives everything she has and then some while the supporting cast doesn’t include a weak performance, particularly Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder.

3.) True Grit-There is nothing I could write about the Coen brothers that hasn’t already being better written. They have a command of story that is rare in Hollywood and their quality to quantity ratio is unlike any directors ever. True Grit is no exception. The film is faithful to both the novel and the original John Wayne film, but manages to make the world the characters inhabit more realistic.

4.) The Fighter- I don't know how Christian Bale does it. Not only did he lose a significant amount of weight for this role, he literally disappears into his role of Mark Wahlberg's crackhead brother. The fact that he is the stand out in a film that also includes amazing performances from both Melissa Leo and Amy Adams just solidifies his status as one of the best working actors today. The film itself is funny and depressing at the same time, giving it an authentic feeling. It felt at times like I was watching a documentary instead of a dramitization. This was a film that I underestimated based on it's trailer and it's "boxing movie" label. This is much more than a boxing movie.

5.) The King’s Speech- This is a beautifully photographed film. I found myself noticing the beauty of the sets and all their details. The film goes from being good to great because of the performances of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush as King George VI and his speech therapist. The two actors have amazing energy as the spar with each other and the relationship they build throughout the film is completely believable.

6.) The Social Network- This is a great film, expertly acted, written, and directed. It is a faithful portrait of our generation, not accomplishing things to make life better for mankind, but to get rich and be seen as cool. Jesse Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg quickly becomes seduced by the world that Justin Timberlake’s character presents to him that he loses his best friend in the process. This, like Black Swan, doesn’t have a weak link within it’s cast.

7.) Inception- I wish all action films were like this, using effects to tell a story rather than telling a “story” to show off effects. I love that this film expects me to think and be smart enough to keep up instead of dumbing down and treating the audience like idiots. I was literally on the edge of my seat the first time I saw this. Nolan is in total control of a film that feels out of control.

8.) Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World- I am not a fan of video games or anime, two huge influences on this film. I do, however, like films that are actually funny and witty. Edgar Wright is 3-0 with this film that becomes like candy to our eyes. If Social Network is a portrait of my generation’s ambition, this is an accurate portrait of my generations lack of ambition. The characters are barely cognizant of how they got from one moment to another, they just do. Michael Cera also delivers his least awkward teen performance to date.

9.) Shutter Island-Scorcese's love letter to the horror genre is more like a how-to for making a thriller. The cast is top notch and the scene with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lake with his children might be the most emotionally charged scene put to film this year.

10.) The Town- I love Ben Affleck the actor. I feel he is underrated. As a director, he is even better and thankfully getting the respect he deserves. Like The Fighter, this has an authentic east coast feel due to wonderful performances by Affleck, Jeremy Renner, and Rebecca Hall.

Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I am not a fan of the fantasy genre, but I can't deny that this film has some great imagery. I am speaking of the New Zealand landscape where the film was shot. The effects leave a bit more to be disired as any computer generated imagery does. The acting is pretty good, given the silly things the characters have to say. I was slightly offended that the whole film is being fought over jewlery. I think Breakfast at Tiffany's has fetishized rings enough. Also, If instructed not to ever put the ring on, why does Frodo put it on 6 or 7 times in the film? Doesn't he realize that by putting the ring on, he is alerting his hunters to his location. Also, it really bothers me that the hobbits don't wear shoes, especially when hiking through the snow covered mountains. Other than these complaints, the film is alright and it did leave me curious to see the next one, which I hope is darker a la Empire.

Sunset Blvd.

I knew two things about Sunset Blvd. prior to watching it: It's director is Billy Wilder and the most famous line from the film is "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up". Seeing as how Wilder was the director, I assumed this was a comedy. Knowing that line, I figured it was a film about a Hollywood starlet at the height of her career. I was wrong on both accounts. Sunset Blvd. is a very dark film noir about a struggling writer who is taken in by an eccentric aging actress from the silent era who's career has long passed. It has been one of the most surprising films I have seen yet this year and I mean that in the best way possible. This is a near perfect film. William Holden is the youngest I've ever seen him on screen, encapsulating machismo even in his early days. The real star of this film, though, is Gloria Swanson and Norma Desmond. Swanson was a real silent film star who had faded into radio and television work when Billy Wilder cast her. She plays Desmond with a manic delusional quality that is creepy. I imagine that meeting Michael Jackson would have been very similar to Holden and Swanson's first encounter in the film. The fact that she is sheltered from reality by her "butler" Max, who used to be the director of her films doesn't help her condition. Max is played by Erich Von Stroheim, who was a real life director of some of Swanson's famous silent films. This inspired casting blurs the line between the film and reality, giving it an especially uncomfortable atmosphere. The ending gave me chills, learning the true context of Swanson's famous line. Wilder's film is as close to perfect as I have seen in a long time.

Trivia: Many Hollywood personalities cameoed as themselves in the film, including Cecile De Mille and Buster Keaton.

One of my favorite lines from the movie:  "That's the way a lot of us think about Schwab's drugstore...Kind of a combination office, kaffee klatch and waiting room" I'm sitting at a Starbucks as I write this.

It Happened One Night

1934’s It Happened One Night is one of only 3 films to win Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director, and Best Screenplay Oscars. It’s a story of a wealthy socialite who runs away from her father to meet up with the man she has recently eloped with. On her way, she meets a newspaper man who helps her on her way with the intention of writing a newspaper article about her. They fall in love on the way, both of them fighting it the whole way. The film, directed by Frank Capra, is a classic screwball comedy. The film is successful because of the chemistry between stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Their annoyance with each other is very believable as is their gradual attraction. I was at first annoyed that they didn’t like each other at first. It is so common in romantic comedies for the leads to dislike each other at the beginning and then to begin getting along. The difference here is that they continue to bicker the entire film. Thinking about it, I realized that all couples tend to argue as often as they get along. It’s never out of hate, but out of reluctance for someone to know you so well, they can spot your flaws. This is what I enjoyed the most about the film. It ends happily, but not happily ever after. I imagine Gable and Colbert waking up after their honeymoon and battling over what to have for breakfast. The constant struggle to make both people in a relationship a stronger person is often misinterpreted as being controlling, when it’s usually not meant in that way. Taking that away from the film has made it a richer experience for me. As for the actors, Gable seems a bit uncomfortable in some scenes. This is most likely due to the fact that he isn’t playing the “Clark Gable” type here. His character has flaws not usually associated with him. Overall, though, he appears to be having a good time. Colbert is one of the most beautiful actresses I have ever seen on screen, with the exception of her eyebrows in this film. She never plays her socialite character as spoiled, but instead presents her self as just lacking the experiences that define lower class people as normal. The two’s chemistry is present in spades. My favorite scene in the film involves them competing to see who is the best hitchhiker, Gable with his thumb or Colbert with her leg, which finally wins out. Little competitions like these is something that occurs between me and Kassy often and it’s always surprising to be underestimated or to wrongfully underestimate and learn something new about the other person. The best films allows the viewer to connect with the characters in some way and this was my connection to this film. It’s pretty funny also.
　

　

Movie catch up

I haven’t had internet in a while, so here are quick reviews of the films I have seen since my last post:

Casablanca: This film is arguably the most beloved Best Picture Oscar winner of all time. That played against the film for me because my expectations for the film was huge. It is a good movie, but I do feel as if it is overrated. The cast is great and the set design is amazing, but overall I was under whelmed. Rather than focus on the aspects of the film I was disappointed in, I will focus on what I like in the film. I really enjoyed Claude Rains performance. He has a way of disappearing into a performance (he-he) I also admire the way that the character of Sam is portrayed. Rick treats Sam as an equal and is really his only true friend. It feels like a brave choice for the time. My favorite aspect of the film is the ending. The fact that Humphrey Bogart doesn’t get the girl is what makes this a realistic love story. Like life, there is rarely a happy ending.

Lawrence of Arabia: This is a film, like Casablanca, that is often in the top ten of great movie lists. I also feel that this film is over hyped. It has possibly the greatest production value ever. The sets and costumes and grandiosity of the film is all there. I feel like the movie is lacking heart, however. I never connected to any character emotionally. The closest I came was Peter O’Toole’s debut performance as Lt. Lawrence. He is a man who is brand new to adulthood and searching within for how he will be defined. He is idealistic and knows he has greatness in him. His character arc is the most compelling component of the film. I am disappointed that most of the Arabic characters in the film are played by non-Arabic actors. This film was made about 20 years after Casablanca and somehow manages to be less racially progressive.


Raging Bull: I am not usually a fan of “sports” films, but there is something cinematic about boxing. This is possibly the greatest boxing film, followed by Rocky and Million Dollar Baby. None of these films are about the sport of boxing though. Raging Bull is about a man who is a force of nature and boxing serves as an outlet to release the “raging bull” inside of him. Robert De Niro becomes Jake LaMotta, both losing and gaining weight for the role as a way to fully commit to the role. This level of method acting has since become a bit of a marketing gimmick, but at the time was fresh. Scorsese’s use of black and white is an homage to the time period that the film takes place in and the contrast of that medium and the violence and rawness works perfectly.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Along with The Philadelphia Story, this is my favorite James Stewart role. Jefferson Smith is a character who you immediately root for. Stewart has a way of playing characters as genuine. This film is weirdly both a time capsule of the time and timeless at the same time. In today’s political culture, this comes off as a fantasy almost. Everyone would like to see the political machine taken on and defeated. Jefferson Smith’s patriotic nature is met with cynicism by all of his new colleagues in Washington and he manages to win them over by putting his reputation at risk. Claude Rains again delivers as the senior senator who attempts to use Smith as a pawn for his own interests. This is without a doubt the greatest film about filibustering ever made.

Rear Window: James Stewart stars in this film as a very different character than in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. He plays a man here who is depressed due to an broken leg that restricts him to the confines of his own apartment. He is ungrateful to his girlfriend who brings him dinner and spends her nights attempting to lift his spirit. The film focuses on the week before he gets his cast off and how he passes the time by living vicariously through his neighbors by spying on them with binoculars and creating his own back stories for each of them. The plot takes a turn when he begins to suspect one of his neighbors of murdering of the neighbor’s spouse. Hitchcock does an amazing job of neither confirming or denying Stewart’s suspicion and I found myself wondering if maybe being cooped up had driven Stewart mad. The courtyard set of the film is stunning as each apartment window is it’s own world. This is not Hitch’s greatest film, but it is never dull or lacking.


Stagecoach: Stagecoach is credited as being John Wayne’s breakthrough role. As great as he is, I found myself really enjoying the supporting cast, especially the relationship between Donald Meek’s timid whiskey salesman and Thomas Mitchell’s alcoholic doctor. The plot is great in it simplicity. The characters on the stagecoach are attempting to make it from one city to another in one piece, facing all the dangers that were present in the old west. I love that the film is a character study first and an adventure story second. One of John Ford’s best films.

The Searchers: I was a bit disconnected from this film. I was slightly offended by John Wayne’s racist character and how he is portrayed as the hero of the story. Not my favorite western even though it is often cited as being one of the most important. I will eventually give the film another shot, but until then, this has been one of my least favorite films from the AFI top 100.

Nashville: Robert Altman can film stream of consciousness like no other filmmaker. The Characters of Nashville walk in and out of frame often mid-conversation. It gives a feeling of being a bystander witnessing these people coming and going. The cast is huge, but the style of filming makes Nashville, TN the true star of the film. It captures the collective mind set of the musicians, politicians, and everyday people of Nashville rather than tell a linear story. This film seems to have been inspiration to many new filmmakers, most notably Paul Thomas Anderson in Boogie Nights and Richard Linklatter in Slacker.


Cabaret: Most musicals pre Cabaret were perfectly polished grand spectacles that cast “stars” in elaborate costumes, singing and dancing in over the top sets. Cabaret broke all those rules by presenting a seedy world full of morally ambiguous characters. Even though the film is set during World War II, this is without a doubt a 70’s film. I love that the music in this film is secondary to the story instead of a story being written around huge musical numbers. Liza Minnelli will forever be remembered as Sally Bowles and my only previous exposure to Minnelli was her role as Lucille 2 in Arrested Development and for the reputation of her personal life. She shows vulnerability in a way that I can not tell if she is acting or not. The greatest character of the film is without doubt Joel Grey as the emcee, a role he originated on stage. He serves as not only the emcee of the Kit Kat Klub, but also the film itself. Grey’s performance reminds me of a clown, desperate to make other peoples lives better regardless of the sadness of his own. Cabaret is one of my favorite musicals.


Rebecca: This is the only Alfred Hitchcock film to win an Oscar for Best Picture and it is my favorite Hitchcock film I’ve seen thus far. He is primarily known as a director of horror films, but this is not a scary movie. It does have creepy elements, especially within the gothic feel of Manderley, the De Winter estate. The film is, in my opinion, primarily a love story between Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier and how Fontaine misinterprets Olivier’s character as never having recovered from his previous wife’s demise. When she learns his true feelings and the fact that he is actually in love for the first time, she returns the feelings by standing by him even though she knows that he has murdered his first wife. The cast is wonderful, Olivier being the standout to me. With the exception of The Clash of The Titans, this is the first Olivier film I’ve ever seen.

Chicago: Chicago seems to take many cues from Cabaret, featuring characters who are not typical of a Hollywood musical. It is definitely it’s own film though. Taking place in a time when criminals were often seen as role models by people, It stars Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones as rival inmates, both competing for the public’s attention as well as the services of Richard Gere’s showman lawyer. Every character is fleshed out and I love Queen Latifah in particular. The music is very catchy, especially John C. Reilly’s rendition of Mister Cellophane. Moulin Rogue is given most of the credit for reviving the movie musical, but I really feel like Chicago has had an equal or greater role in it’s resurgence.

Around The World In Eighty Days

I’ve just seen my first stinker. Around The World in 80 Days won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1957. After watching this bloated, noisy excuse for a film, I assumed 1957 was just a bad year for film. This isn’t the case. Gail Kinn and Jim Piazza’s wonderful book, The Greatest Movies Ever includes three classic films from 1957: Funny Face, Paths of Glory, and Wild Strawberries. Not surprisingly, Around the World in 80 Days doesn’t make the cut. That same year, Giant was also nominated for Best Picture. Giant is one of my favorite films and is a far superior film by all accounts. How it lost out to this is anyone’s guess, but if I had to make one, I would say that this film won because pretty much everyone in Hollywood makes a cameo appearance. Around the World apparently coined the phrase cameo. The film features guest appearances from Shirley McClaine, Peter Lorre, Red Buttons, Frank Sinatra, Buster Keaton, and Ceasar Romero amongst others. I assume that since everyone that votes for the Oscars had a role in the film, this must be why it won. The film has great production value and was obviously very expensive to make, but the acting is amateurish and the plot is razor thin. My biggest problem with the film is it’s flat out racism. Each country that is visited during the trip around the world depicts the “natives” as broad stereotypes right down to the costumes. It is as if the entire film was shot at Epcot Center. This film was supposedly a comedy, but I laughed exactly one time in the film. The dialogue is paraphrased below:
Fogg: I want you to guard this bag with your life
Servant: I shall treat it as if it is a beautiful woman.
Fogg : (deadpans) Don’t make love to it, just watch it.
Other than that, the film consists of the same scene repeated over and over again against the back drop of a different country. I am really disappointed that I spent what felt like an eternity watching this useless movie. Not even David Niven could save it and he spend most of the film looking appropriately embarrassed.

From Here To Eternity

1953's From Here to Eternity is one of those rare films that shows military life pretty close to how it actually is. It deals with a lot of problems that military members deal with: Drinking, infidelity, being overworked and underappreciated, an absent officer. I was expecting a war movie, but got a much better film instead. It is about the lead up to Pearl Harbor and follows two stories, one about a young private played by Montgomery Clift, a new transfer to his company who is persecuted for not playing politics within his company. His only friend is a trouble maker played by Frank Sinatra in a great supporting role. The other storyline focus's on Clift's 1st Sgt, played by Burt Lancaster, who falls in love with his commanding officer's wife, played by Deborah Kerr and must choose between her and the career he loves just as much as her, if not more. The acting in this movie is amazing and even includes my friend Ernest Borgnine in a small role as an abusive brig warden. All of the main cast were nominated for Oscar's and Sinatra and Donna Reed won them in the supporting categories. The film also swept most of the other awards, including Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Editing, and Screenplay. I even noticed George Reeves in one scene, who is known as the second most famous Reeves to play Superman. This is the film that Pearl Harbor could have been if it wasn't directed by Micheal Bay. I was very impressed with Lancaster and Clifts performances. Lancaster plays Sgt Warden as a soldier that will do anything to take care off his men, something the commanding officer doesn't do. Clift plays Private Pruitt with a naturalistic style that was just catching on at the time. He also looks like Dennis Quiad to me. That's pretty irrelevant though. The movie's iconic scene of Lancaster and Kerr kissing on the beach as waves crash was good, but not even close to the best moment in the film. Check this one out if you get the chance.

A Night At The Opera

After the draining experience of watching Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, I decided a comedy was in order. I chose A Night at The Opera, starring Groucho, Chico, and Harpo Marx. It is a mad cap film that barely has a plot, but is so fast paced I hardly noticed. Most of the film takes place on a ship ride from Italy to New York, where Groucho is working for a man bringing over a very famous Italian opera singer to debut in New York. Groucho finds three stow a ways in his luggage in the form of Chico, Harpo, and Ricardo, an aspiring Opera singer chasing after the girl. The rest of the film is the four of them plotting to get Ricardo in the Opera while avoiding the cops who are after them. The film is very funny and filled with crazy stunts and non-sequitors through out.This is the first Marx Bros. movie i have seen and they are like The Three Stooges if the Stooges got along. This was also the first film that dies not feature Zeppo Marx, who left the group after their previous film flopped. The dialogue is sharp through out and I was surprised at how many blatant sexual references and jokes were made for a film released in 1935. That is one of the things I am learning with this project. I had always imagined old movies being boring, stuffy, or chaste. The are actually just as Risque as movies today, some even more so. I feel very lucky to be discovering all of these classics.

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

It took me 3 tries to get through 1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Not because it is boring or a bad film, but because it is so tense. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor star as a middle aged married couple who are in one of those toxic relationships where they compete to see you can make the other more miserable. They are both deeply unsatisfied with where they are in life and rather than accept their disappointments, they blame each other. Even though they are grown adults, they are still children emotionally and don't really understand how a relationship works. They are dependant on each other, but they both expect to be takers without giveing anything back in return. Their poision spills over when they have a young couple over for the night, playd by George Segal and Sandy Dennis. The couple make a game of fighting in front of the young couple, even bringing them into their arguments and ultimately leading to act as a catalyst for the young couples own problems. This is an excellent study of relationships and I hate that there are couples out there that are actually like this. Couples that make each other dread waking up and rather than foster growth in each other, they hamper it by being over bearing, jealous, and controlling. This film makes me realize how lucky I am to have someone like Kassy. We might argue and bicker here and there, but we are far from Toxic. The fact that she is supportive of a project like this one shows that she is a very patient soul and I love her for it. Anyway, back to the film. The foursome cast put on an acting clinic in this film. This is very difficult material filled with lots of emotiona and dark places and the cast goes there unapologetically. All four principle cast meber were nominated for Oscars, and Taylor and Dennis won them. The direction by first time director Mike Nicols is spectacular. He stages every scene with an uncomfortable closeness that made me feel like I was a peeping tom, watching this train wreck that these people were creating for themselves. Kassy said it best when she described the film as making her feel awkward the whole time. It's no wonder Nicols would go on the direct other great films such as The Graduate and Closer. Finally, I want to mention cinematographer Haskell Wexler, Who also served as cinematographer for In The Heat of The Night and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest among others. His photography brings a realism to the movie and I like how he chooses to focus in on certain background objects, such as the roadhouse sign when George and Martha are fighting outside. He also deservedly won an Oscar for this film. I highly suggest that you put this film in whenever you have relationship problems. I guarantee it will put your problems in perspective. If you still feel like your relationship is in trouble, then for your sake, end it immediately!

Marty

1955's Marty won the Oscar for Best picture and also won Ernest Borgnine his only oscar for Best Actor. It also took the highest honor at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d'Or. It's a very simple story of a man in his mid 30's who still lives with his mom and has never found love. Borgnine seems to have been born to play this role. His hangdog persona and the way he deals with rejection after rejection is amazing. I really didn't like the movie as much as I thought I would, though. The acting is great. Betsy Blair is very good as his love interest and I don't think they could have cast someone better as Marty's mom than Esther Minciotti.They look so much alike, it's incanny. It is even written by one of my favorite screenwriters, Paddy Chayefsky, who would go one to write one of the greatest screenplays of all time, Network. I feel like the film is too simple. There's not enough there. It starts out good by introducing us to Marty and my favorite scene happens pretty early when his mom is urging him to go out and he spills his heart out to her about how he is just a little ugly man and he is tired of getting his heart broken. The next chunk of the film follows Marty out where he meets a similar "dog" as she's described. They dance, go for coffee, stop by to meet his mom, and then call it a night. Borgnine's celebratory run down the street after dropping her off is another key moment in the film. The rest of the film, only about 15 minutes of it is what I really dislike. His mom and friends suddenly don't want him to get married and make fun of him for going on a date with such an hidious looking woman. He stands her up, only to change his mind and call her on a payphone. THE END. What the hell. first of all, She's by no means ugly. Unconventional for a movie star, maybe, but nowhere near ugly. Second of all, I really liked Borgnine and Blair's chemistry and was hoping for an onscreen reunion, but instead it end with a payphone call in which she's not even shown. Shenanigans. I also dislike that Borgnine is the one who can't find love and when he does, The movie makes it sem like he's making the sacrifice by finally choosing her even though she's ugly. It's kindof sexist. I know that was common in the mid 50's, but part of what makes a film classic in my opinion is it's timelessness and this is not a timeless film. It's enjoyable up til the ending and Borgnine delivers what has to be his best performance, but there just wasn't enough to the film for me.

Rebel Without A Cause

Kassy and I followed last nights excellent dinner and a movie with another one tonight. I got to choose this time and decided it was time to watch Rebel Without a Cause, one of only 3 major film roles that James Dean had before his premature death. This is probably his most famous role and when people thing of him, They imagine him in that leather jacket with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he does as Jim in this film. That image has become iconic. The film itself is pretty good. Most of the action taking place in a single day, it focuses on Jim's first day at a new school and how his rebellious nature sets off a series of events that will change his life. Dean has the same quality that Brando did in Desire and Waterfront, a magnetism that made me want to be his friend and gain his approval. I have seen him in Giant, which is his greatest role in my opinion and he is the same in that one. I was surprised at how good Natalie Wood was in this, also, for some reason. I have never seen her in anything before and only knew of her from her tragic death, but she has a confidence in this that is very good. She begins the film as sortof the first ever "mean girl", but of course comes around. I really enjoyed the psycology of the film. All three main characters were motivated completely by their father issues. The writing was rock solid. The biggest surprise to me though was Jim Backus's role as Dean's father. Backus is famous as the millionaire Mr Howell on Gilligan's Island and as the voice of Mr. Magoo, so when I saw him in the opening credits, I assumed he would be playing some sort of comic relief. He instead delivers a vulnerable performance of a man completely lacking in confidence, a stark difference to Mr. Howell. I felt that both him and Dean deserved Oscar nominations for the film, but both were snubbed. The film is a perfect portrait of the alienation everyone feels at that age and is a subject that rarely gets visited in film and is never this good, with the exception of maybe The Breakfast Club. anyway, Has anyone read one of these notes and seen the film afterwards? I hope so...You won't regret it. Goodnight.

All Quiet On The Western Front

I let Kassy choose the first movie in our new apartment to watch. Following an excellent dinner of chicken, corn, and veggies, I was fully expecting Sophie's Choice or Terms of Endearment (Not that there's anything wrong with those. I'll get there.) Instead, I was pretty surprised when she choose AQOTWF, a war movie from the 1930's. I was actually kind of in the mood for a more recent movie, but she chose like a champ. The film is the most realistic view of war that I've seen since Saving Private Ryan. I was really shocked at the violence in the film. Severed limbs are shown, and there is bloodshed throughout. The movie is the earliest I've seen to tackle a subject that is cliche nowadays, the soldier who's ideology is changed from the experience of war. The film takes place during World War 1 and the soldier is Paul. He is roused into enlisting in the army by his school teacher and he and his classmates are off to war in no time. Paul and his buddies are scared and naive at first, but as the time passes and his friends thin out, and the food becomes scarce, Paul begins to view the war from a new light. None of his fellow soldiers can recall what the war is even being fought for anymore and when Paul fatally injures an enemy, he has time to bond with the enemy as he dies, realizing that they aren't that different. Paul returns home for a while on leave following an injury, only to learn that he doesn't quite feel at home anymore. It's a theme that was well used in last year's Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker. What sets this film apart from some of the other films that take a stance against war is that Paul is fighting in the German army. The German's were the U.S.'s enemies in both world wars and for an American film to tell this story from their point of view and be sympathetic to them was pretty revolutionary at the time. Films such as Tora!, Tora!, Tora! and Letters From Iwo Jima would later use a similar viewpoint. The film is amazing throughout and I actually cried a bit. It is definitely a film you should show when you have your "We should just blow them to hell" relatives/co-workers/neighbors over. Maybe it will enlighten them a bit. Great choice Kassy! You are choosing from now on.

You Can't Take It With You

George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's play, "You Can't Take It With You" is the most produced high school play. That's when I first saw it about ten years ago. I went to a production at Brownwood High School. I thought it was hilarious. Especially the guy that played grandpa Vanderhof. I have also seen a few other productions of it since then, some good and some bad. So I knew what to expect when i put in the Best Picture Oscar Winner. Of course, like many adaptations, this one took liberties as well. Characters were added and taken away and the plot opened up some to include greedy bankers, no doubt because this was a depression era film. This film was directed by Frank Capra, who also directed three other films from my list. I have a feeling this will be the least of his films. The movie is alright, but never reaches the level of hysteria that i have seen on stage. I like how the play confines all the action to one room. It adds claustrophobia and a feeling of being trapped with all these crazy people. The film includes scenes in a park, restaurant, bank, etc. I understand it, it's just not the play I was used to. The performances are alright, with the stand outs being James Stewart, Donald Meek, and Lionel Barrymore as Grandpa. The film is very watchable, it just hasn't held up like the other films I've watched so far this year have

The Wizard Of Oz

I have seen The Wizard of Oz before. As a matter of fact, This is the first film I ever remember seeing. I used to wake up early every weekend and put on our VHS of The Wizard of Oz complete with commercials for dish washer detergent that had a revolutionary squeezable cap so you didn't even have to take the cap off. I loved the wizard of Oz and would sit patiently waiting for Dorthy to shut up with her damn singing so we could get to Oz already. This movie, along with Batman, is probably the reason I love movies so much. I felt like Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion were my friends. I wanted to hang out with Munchkins and throw buckets of water on anyone who made me mad. I remember being frightened of the violent apple trees. I was baby sitting Aidan today and decided to show him the film, wondering if he would like it as much as I did. I think he will appreciate it more as he gets older. He loved Toto, barking along with him and saying "Doggy!" every time Toto was on screen. He also loves Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of The West, laughing anytime she would appear on screen and cackle. He got distracted by our real dog, Sadie, and I thought he wasn't as into the film as I was at his age, When I realized that there were scenes on that i didn't quite remember. The first half of the film I could almost still quote, but at some point, it became unfamiliar. I realized that I, too, had gotten distracted watching it as a kid. It gave me hope that he will fully appreciate it some day. It is about the most timeless film ever made. It is a film that is more re-watchable than any other film I can think of. Judy Garland is iconic in her role of Dorothy and every supporting character has so much charisma that the screen can barely hold it. I love that this film was made 71 years ago and doesn't feel as if it has aged. Some interesting trivia: This film lost the best Picture Oscar for 1939 to Gone With The Wind. Both films are considered one of the greatest of all time and both were directed by Victor Fleming.

The Bridge On The River Kwai

1957's The Bridge on the River Kwai is the first war movie from my list I have watched. It stars William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Sessue Hayakawa. It is surprisingly realistic for a 50's war movie. The depictions of POW camps are pretty dark and grim. The film is about the ultimate case of Stockholm Syndrome as Guinness's British officer and his men are captured by the Japanese and must work in a prison camp commanded by Hayakawa's character. I started the movie rooting for Guinness as he was locked up in the "oven" for refusing to work and despising Hayakawa's character. As the film progresses, I begin to dislike the British Col, though, as he loses his mind and begins to not only help the Japanese, but becomes the de facto commanding officer of the POW camp. Hayakawa becomes more and more sympathetic as the film goes on as he loses control and realizes he might lose his life. The only part of the film that rings false is Guinness's protest on behalf of the officer's doing manual labor. His character refuses to have his officers do any kind of real work as it is a rule of the Geneva Convention. This part is as real as it gets when it comes to officer's. The fake part is when Guinness wins this fight and the enlisted prisoners celebrate the victory as if they had won the war. Any real enlisted man wouldn't put up with an officer's prissy attitude if they were in a POW camp together, especially if they were doing the brunt of the work. I was able to suspend my disbelief though. William Holden has a supporting role as an escapee of the camp who comes back to blow up the bridge that has been built by the prisoners. He pretty much play William Holden in this movie and gets top billing in the film since he was the biggest star at the time. The movie belongs to Guinness ans Hayakawa, though. Their scenes together are great and the way they react to each other, trying to figure the other out, is great. I was glad to see Guinness in a role that didn't involve a lightsaber and I have never even heard of Hayakawa before this. Guinness and Hayakawa were both nominated for Academy Awards, with Guinness deservedly winning for Best Actor. I can only hope the other war movie on my list will be this good

On The Waterfront

1954's On The Waterfront was like a reunion for me, with pretty much the entire main cast having appeared in a movie I've already watched. We had Marlon Brando and Karl Malden (Streetcar Named Desire), Eva Marie Saint (North By Northwest), Lee J Cobb (12 Angry Men), and Rod Steiger (In The Heat of The Night) It makes me excited that I am starting to familiarize myself with these past stars. This film is very good, especially from an acting standpoint. Every performance that is given by the above actors is spot-on. I have to continue my Brando crush from Streetcar. He has a realizism about him that is hypnotic almost. Cobb is great in the bad guy role, and Steiger goes toe to toe with Brando in one of the films most famous scenes, the "I could'a been a contender" scene. I wish Steiger's role had been bigger because of that scene. They play it perfectly. Elia Kazan directed this film and I love how both this and Streetcar have such a real feel compared to other films from that time period. You feel like this was shot with actual long shore men as extras and in the bit parts. Malden is wonderful in this. I imagine him to be the nicest guy. The film won 8 Academy Awards for 1954, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Actor. The movie is an allegory for the HUAC hearings of the 50's, much like High Noon was. Brando takes the Gary Cooper role of being faced with a decision without the support of his friends or co-workers. Well, I've got to cut this one short and get started on my next film because I'm already a day behind on my catch-up schedule.

North By Northwest

Roger Thornhill: Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself "slightly" killed.

This is my favorite line in this film. I loved Cary Grant's line reading so much that I stopped the movie and listened to it over again, which is a first for my project. Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest has some of the best dialogue I think I've ever heard in a movie. It was nominated for best screenplay for 1959 and deserved to win, even though it didn't. This is my last Cary Grant film from my list, I believe, and he was just as charming in this as he was in Bringing Up Baby and Philadelphia Story. He is much older in this film, but still suave and his comic timing is just as great. I love how he plays drunk in an early sequence. Eva Marie Saint and James Mason are good also and Martin Landau is creepy as a henchmen here, which was only his second film credit. The real star of the movie, however, is Hitchcock. No one can film sequences and make them so iconic. Much like Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid's bicycle scene, I enjoyed seeing how everything built up to the scene where Grant is chased by the crop duster. I loved the suspense that built leading up to that with the plane in the background and Grant waiting on the dirt road. I loved that Hitchcock chose not to play any music during the sequence, which gave it a feel of reality and dread. This is the first Hitchcock from my list, but thankfully not the last. I'm happy that I haven't seen an outright bad film yet. I guess that's why these are on the best films list though. Well, back to movie-watching!

The Great Zeigfeld

Today starts two consecutive weeks of catching up on my project. I vow to watch at least a film a day to get back on track. I planned on starting light, popping in The Great Ziegfeld, a movie that I didn't know anything about, but judging by the DVD cover, I assumed it was a light film about show business that would be an enjoyable hour and a half spent. 3 and a half hours later, I finally finished the film. It is a "light" film by comparison to other films on my list. It stars William Powell and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Who in the early 1900's rose to become one of Broadway's most successful producers. The film marks his highs and lows in show business and includes actual dance numbers from some of his shows, which is what pads the running time to the 3 hour plus mark. It won the Oscar for Best Picture for 1936 and was the first bio-pic to do so. It is not a film that would be nominated today, but it's easy to see why it won back then. It deals directly with the stock market crash and the great depression, both figuring into the films finale. These themes proved to make the Great Ziegfeld very timely. The majority of the film, however, is pure escapism. Powell plays Ziegfeld as a sort of real life Bugs Bunny, always outsmarting his rivals. Ziegfeld is a womanizer and horrible with his money, both traits that help humanize the cartoonish characterization of him. Powell does great in the role and I was surprised that he was not nominated for an Oscar for this film. He is very fun to watch. The film also stars Luis Rainer as his first wife in a role that did win her an Oscar. I, however, find her character in the film to be whiny and annoying. Only in her final scene does she seem to have any acting talent. From what I have read, that scene is what nabbed her the Oscar. I enjoy most of the supporting cast also, especially Frank Morgan as Ziegfeld's rival/financier/friend Billings, The Elmer Fudd to Powell's Bugs Bunny. I wasn't as interested in the musical numbers, though. I felt that they didn't add anything to the story and, like I said earlier, they make the film too long. They are expertly filmed and the costumes/design/choreography are amazing, I just wasn't as emotionally invested in them as I was the story of Ziegfeld's life. There are also a few scenes that do not hold up in this day in age. One is an Eddie Cantor impersonator performing on stage in black face, which was a little shocking to see. I still don't understand how that was entertaining. Was it supposed to be funny? The other was less offensive. It is early in the film and has Powell's character explaining to a little girl that he is a womanizer. It's very creepy. The scene goes something like this:

Zeigfeld( sitting girl on his lap): Some people like pretty paintings.

Girl (pointing): like that one?

Zeigfeld: yes, like that one. And some people like pretty flowers

Girl (pointing): Like those?

Zeigfeld: yes...well...I like pretty girls.

Girl: like me?

Zeigfeld (laughing): Yes, I like pretty girls like you.

The delivery of the line and the fact that the scene takes place with just the little girl and two grown men in the room gives a creepy vibe that is completely unintentional and kind of campy. I'm sure the clip has been used before on some comedy show. All and all, this film was just all right. Not one of the greatest of all time, but a fun time capsule of the time period just prior to World War II

The Maltese Falcon

In 1941's The Maltese Falcon, Humphrey Bogart stars as private detective Sam Spade, one of his most famous roles. What struck me about Bogart was how ugly he is....just hideously ugly. Any other actor that looked like him would surely be cast as villians exclusively. Bogart always plays the hero, though, because he's so damn cool. He has the confidence to get out of any situation, no matter how unlikely the odds. His Spade isn't a saint by any means. He never pretends that he is motivated by the greater good or by his morals. The film opens with Spade being visited by a beautiful woman, played by Mary Astor, who would like him to track down her lost sister. The plot gets more and more complicated from there; Resulting in death, lies, fights, and bribery. All of this is because of the titilar Maltese Falcon, an artifact from the 1500's that has been missing since then. Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre play the "bad guys" out to get the Falcon from Astor, who may or may not have it. This is director John Huston's first film and he directs it very confidently. Trivia: John Huston is actress Angelica Huston's father and part time actor, appearing in Chinatown, which is very similar to The Maltese Falcon. This isn't a socially important film like In The Heat of The Night or The Lost Weekend, but it is fun and very well written. It is hard to believe that this is actually Syndney Greenstreet's first film, who was 60 when it was made. I also couldn't help but wonder if somewhere in Malta, Indiana Jones was also searching for the Falcon. The DVD version of this film comes with a special feature called, "A night out with Warner's" which plays newsreels,40's movie trailers, a looney tunes cartoon, and short films before the feature that gives the viewer the experience of movie going in that era. This is one of the most purely entertaining films I've seen from my list so far

The Lost Weekend

Last night I watched The Lost Weekend, 1945's Best Picture Oscar winner and one of five Billy Wilder directed films on my list. Seeing as how this was a Wilder film, who also directed Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, I was expecting a lighthearted comedy. I was dead wrong. This film is the most realistic dipictions of addiction I've ever seen, rivaling modern films like Requiem For a Dream and Trainspotting. It stars Ray Milland in his Oscar winning performance as Don Birnam, a washed up writer with a serious drinking problem. Milland comes off as James Stewart without the likeability. His performance is fearless, shunning the perfect matinee looks of his contemporaries and appearing unshaven and sweaty through most of the film. Milland gives a wonderful monlouge about love that turns chilling when you realize the love he is declaring is for his bottle. He plays drunk very spot-on, but it's when he is going through withdrawals that he really shines. You can practically read his thoughts just by the expression on his face. I like that the film didn't depict him as a monster. He doesn't hit anyone or abuse anyone emotionally. Other than some petty theft, the only person Don harms in the film is himself. This choice is what makes this film great and keeps it from being a clichéd alcohol film. The supporting cast is great also. There isn't a weak performance in the film, especially from Jane Wyman as his girlfriend Helen, Howard Da Silva as a bartender racked with guilt at being an enabler, and Doris Dowling as a bar regular with eyes for Don. This film excites me for the remaining three Wilder films on my list. If you are looking for a good double feature, I would suggest watching this movie, along with Crazy Heart.

The Sting

After doing the math and realizing that I have to watch a movie from my list every 2 and a half days to get through them by the end of the year, I decided to pull a double feature today. I watched my second Paul Newman/Robert Redford film directed by George Roy Hill, The Sting. The Sting won best picture in between the two Godfather film in the early seventies. It takes place during the great depression, a time period when outlaws threatened to make a return to the American zeigist. Redford plays a small time grifter who teams up with Newman's washed up con man to get revenge on Robert Shaw's New York gangster. I have read that Shaw was a huge alcoholic, which was an advantage to his most famous character, the drunk from Jaws. Here, he is just barely convincing as the ganster who doesn't drink. He slurs his lines and stumbles around through most of the movie and isn't very threatening. Other than that, the film is a bonafide classic. The twists and turns in plot actually fooled me, which is a rarity in today's films. Newman takes first billing, even though he is really just a supporting character in this film. His scene on the train during the poker game is great and he steals the scene without being hammy. This is Redford's film, though. He plays this character as a bit more naive than Sundance Kid, which is something I haven't really seen from the usually confident Redford. Charles Durning is strong in this as a Charles Durning type. I liked how Hill replaced the old time photos with the Saturday Evening Post style paintings as chapter marks to help with the time period establishment. The score is made up of one song, but it works very well and is stuck in my head right now. This is my favorite of the two Newman/Redford/Hill films and mixes the comedy and drama without feeling unrealistic. I'm now two more movies down and only 101 to go. Wish me luck.

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid

It's been almost two months since I've watched and written about one of the movies on my list. An inspection at work, a pretty bad cold, preparing to move, my new phone, the return of Lost, and laziness are all contributions to my break from my project. Luckily, The inspection is over and I got a day off, so I decided to get back to it. I am less than two weeks away from getting out of the Navy, so I will be hitting it hard after that. I chose Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid to restart my project because it had the most appealing DVD cover. It stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford as the title characters and is very similar to The Wild Bunch in spirit. Rather than tell the story of the outlaws rise, It focuses on their final days. They are already famous (infamous) and spend the majority of the film on the run from LeFluer, a villian/hero who is never seen and may not even be the man on their trail. I like that it is never confirmed that this is who is after them. It may just be their paranoia and imagination that he is after them. They are losing it and realizing that robbing banks is the only thing they know how to do and that there is only one way for them to escape the life. Newman and Redford are iconic in these roles and play them as co-dependant, even bickering like a married couple at times. If it weren't for Katherine Ross's character, I would even say that the pairing could have been more than partners and friends. Ross is effective in her role as a woman that they both love, but she chooses to be with Redford's Sundance because he is dangerous and exciting. I got the feeling she would have been better with Newman's Butch because he was safe and more in tune with her feelings. If it weren't for Sundance, I Think she could have tamed Butch and got him to give up the outlaw life. The film doesn't spend too much time on this love triangle because of the action. It shows that they are so busy being on the run, that they don't have time to enjoy the life they think they are stealing for. The triangle is something that will have to be dealt with if they could just keep the heat off of them. It is artfully directed by George Roy Hil, who takes a break from the action to give us one of the most famous scenes in film history, as Newman and Ross ride a bicycle to the tune of B.J. Thomas's "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" I really liked the way he bookends the film in sepia Photographs to give you a feel for the period. One of the things I am noticing in these films is that the iconography of them make them seem larger than they really are. It's fun to discover these films as just that...films. I like seeing how the famous scenes such as the bicycle film fit into the greater picture. I apologize for the break, but I'm excited to dig into some more great films.

In The Heat Of The Night

I left for boot camp on December 6th, 2004. It sucked. After about 2 weeks of inprocessing, we were assigned to our permanant quarters. I was assigned to be bunkmates with a guy named Jonathan Henry. On the surface, we didin't have much in common. We had diffrent tastes in clothes, music, and movies (With the exception of Napolean Dynamite, which we must have watched 10 times in A school). During boot camp, however, none of that matters. We are broken down to our most basic selvs. We all wear the same uniforms , eat the same food, and make our beds the same way. This lack of individuality coupled with an almost complete cut-off from friends, family, and the outside world is hard physically and damn near impossible emotionally. I don't think I would have made it through had it not been for Jonathan. We quickly learned to rely on each other for emotional support, sharing our letters from home and making each other laugh during the harder days. Jonathan would help me iron my uniform and shine my boots and I would return the favor by making sure he was up early for his watches and muster during A School. He was a notorious over-sleeper. We pushed each other to pass our PT tests and leaned on each other during those days when we wouldn't get letters from home.He was an avid supporter of me quitting smoking and I will never forget the look of disappointment on his face when he caught me in the smoking area at A School. Even though we don't speak that much anymore, I still consider him one of my best friends. He saw me at my weakest and shared my joy when I was at my strongest. After watching In The Heat Of The Night last night, I couldn't help but feel angry that had it been as early as 40 years earlier, I would have been indoctrinated to see Jonathan as someone less than me just because he is black. I am lucky to have been raised in this day and age where racism is becoming a thing of the past. The film itself is a wonderful time capsule of a film that captures an era where people began to stand up against the ignorance of judging people on the surface. Sidney Poitier literally slaps his way to equality and I found myself cheering him on through every victory he achieves in the film. He is caught in a small Mississippi town where he is needed, but surely not wanted and his closest ally is the chief of police who is just as racist as everyone else in town. The chief is played by Rod Steiger in his Academy Award winning role. I loved this film and continue to kick myself for not seeing these films until now. Some quick notes:

- Poitier's line, "They call me Mr. Tibbs!" gave me goosebumps. Poitier is an icon of American cinema.

-The look of the film is great. It's easy to see why Cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Who's Afraid of Virginia Wollfe?, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) is considered one of the greatest.

-I was surprised to read in the credits that the film was edited by Hal Ashby, who would go on to direct classic 70's films such as Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo and Being There.

-I thought I recognized Beah Richards, who played the backwoods abortionist in this film. Turns out she played Sidney Poitier's mother in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

-The fact that the Mayor's office was located in a mechanic's shop craked me up and reminded me of Brownwood.

Mutiny On The Bounty

I figured I should get my Navy movie out of the way while I was still in the Navy. (50 working days and counting down!) Mutinty on the Bounty is the 1935 Academy Award winner for best picture. It features the only time in history that 3 actors from one film have all been nominated for Best Actor, which led to the creation of the Supporting performance awards. None of them won, which is a shame, because all the leads gave award worthy performances. Franchot Tone and Clark Gable star as two Roayl Naval officers abourd the Bounty, commanded by Captain Bligh, played by Charles Laughton in one of the greatest villianous roles I've ever seen. Laughton commands the screen and permiates evil as he flaunts his power in the name of " discipline" , stilling the spotlight from the better looking Gable. Laughton's Captain Bligh is a sadist of the highest level. He doesn't seem to have emotions. It's an amazing performance that will surely be one of my favorite from the films this year. There are actual people in the Navy who abuse rank or power, but not at all to this degree. Gable is very good as Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny. He is the type of leader who shows that he actually cares instead of leading by fear. He "leads from the front" and does not ask anything of his men that he would not be willing to do. Franchot Tone played a very junior officer on his first voyage who, despite his close relationship with Fletcher, refuses to take part in the mutiny. He puts duty above all else and is the most noble of the three leads. The film does not have any slow moments. It is pretty action packed and the special effects were pretty impressive for 1935. I was also surprised to see that many of the traditions of the navy are the same today. Mutiny on the Bounty is the perfect film to watch as my time in the Navy winds down.

The Wild Bunch

Well, I'm a month into my project and I've watched 13 movies that I have never seen before that are deemed classics. I now have 11 months to watch 105 more movies. Tonight I saw The Wild Bunch, starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, and many more talented people. It takes place in the early 1900's, I believe around 1913 and concerns a group of aging gunmen who are having trouble adapting to the changing times when outlaws are no longer the norm. They are hunted down by an ex-member, played by Robert Ryan in one of the finest supporting roles I've ever seen. He conveys everything he's thinking just by the llok on his face. That is talent. The film itself is from 1969 and was directed by Sam Peckinpah. I find the theme of the Old West dying out interesting because 1969 was really the last year that the western was an American staple of film. There were other westerns released after 1969, but it has never been a popular genre since then. 1969 was the year that John Wayne won his only Oscar for True Grit, but the Best Picture Oscar that year went to Midnight Cowboy, which is anything but a western. It signaled the beginning of what I consider the greatest decade in film, the 1970's and pushed the genres that had become cliched, such as the western and musical, out of style. This film, however, is great. It is very violent and stylized, which I think was possibly inspired by Bonnie and Clyde(1967). The acting is great, especially from Ryan, but also from William Holden. I have seen Holden in a few things before including The Omen II and Network, and he has a certain quality about him that I like. He seems real, like someone you'd run into in day to day life. This quality serves him well in this role. Ernest Borgnine, however, is a little diffrent. He looks so goofy, that I have a hard time taking him seriously. I am only familiar with his newer roles in lifetime movies playing Santa Claus and I am looking forward to seeing him in Marty. He hasn't quite won me over in this film, so I'm hoping he will wow me in that.The Wild Bunch was a really good movie. It did an amazing job catching the recklessness of the old west life style and there were several scenes that I can't believe wern't really happening. I'd be surprised to hear that no horses died during the filming of this movie. Anyway, I've still got a good deal of westerns on my list. I hope they are as good as this one and High Noon. They've got a lot to live up to.

The Apartment

I never thought I would ever write the following sentence before seeing The Apartment, but... Shirley McLaine is hot! I have no idea how the charming actress from this movie became the crazy that she is known as now. I now have a major crush on 1960 Shirley McLaine. The movie is great. Jack Lemmon gives a perfect performance as a young employee at a company who loans his apartment out to adulterous company executives in exchange for raises. He then falls for McLaine's character, who is one of the executives mistresses and must choose between her and his job. Lemmon is hilarious and relateable in this role, which is newly crowned one of my favorite Jack Lemmon movies, alongside Some Like It Hot, also directed by Billy Wilder, who was the king of comedy at that time. I was also shocked to see Fred MacMurray (My Three Sons) and Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian) in villianous roles as the cheating executives. I grew up watching these two on Nick at Nite in completely likeable roles. It excites me for the future discoveries I will make during my project and makes me wish that typecasting wasn't so deadly to an actor's career. The Apartment mixes comedy with drama seamlessly and makes me pine for more movies like this today instead of garbage like Disaster Movie, Superhero Movie, Epic Movie, and any other movie claiming to be comedy.

Trivia: The last completely black and white film to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

If Do The Right Thing shows the negative side of racism, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner is a hopeful film. The cast is top notch: Katherine Hepburn as yet another completely diffrent character from the last two films, Sidney Poitier as a very admirable man that sticks to his convictions, Cecil Kellaway as my favorite charcater in the movie, an open minded, optomistic priest, and Spenser Tracy in his final role as a liberal newspaperman who's principles are put to the test when his daughter brings home a black man she intends to marry. Tracy is great in this and with his glasses, I kept thinking about the old man from Up and wondering if they moedeled his look after Tracy in this. This movie was very good and funny and dramatic at the same time. It's also the first movie in a while that I've watched for this project that doesn't involve death. I really liked Poitiers line in reply to Tracy asking him about the children Potier and Tracy's daughetr would have.(They met in Hawaii): "She think's they'll all grow up to be President of The United States" That line is chilling now that we do have a mixed race President and that fact comforts me after my anti-racism rant from Do The Right Thing. I like that when watching the film, I was not at all bothered by the fact they were diffrent races, but rather shocked that they were planning on marrying after only knowing each other for only 10 days. This is one of those films that I am glad has aged subject matter. Hopefully one day it will be regarded as a farce

King Kong

1933's King Kong ranks #43 on AFI's top 100 films. It was a landmark film for special effects in it's time and was a huge success. I, however, didn't enjoy it as much as the other films I have seen. With the exception of Robert Armstrong as Carl Denham, the acting is subpar and the plot is minimal. It is, however, a crowd pleaser and one of the few films on my list that I think a casual film watcher would be interested in. It's like the Transformers of it's time. It's an escape film. A film for people who want to suspend their disbelief and watch something fantastic. Even though It's not my kind of film, I can see why people like it and all those other Special Effects heavy films. Not everyone is searching for subtext, subtlety, or social commentary. Sometimes people just like to see a big ass gorrila fight a T-rex

Do The Right Thing

I also had a chance to finish Do The Right Thing today, Which is generally regarded as Spike Lee's masterpiece. It is a 1989 meditation on race related hate. It features early performances by John Turturro, Rosie Perez, Martin Lawrence, and Samuel L. Jackson. It also featured top notch performances from Spike Lee himself, Danny Aiello in his Academy Award nominated performance, and real life couple Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee as bickering community elders. The first two thirds of the movie plays like a comedy, introducing us to the whole neighborhood of characters as they go about their buisness on one of the hottest New York days of the year. In the last act, though, a misunderstanding turns ugly quick and because of hate and racial prejudices, the film becomes anything but a comedy. I really liked the camera angles and the way Lee attempts to frame each character by them self when speaking to give focus to the words they are saying. I liked the imagery of the never ending heat wave to show the seemingly never ending racial tension that sweeps the community. I, however, felt uneasy with the fact that Lee refuses to take a stand either for or against the violence that is depicted in this film. It ends with two quotes, one from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and another from Malcolm X that highlights their difference in philosophy. I believe that it is his refusal to either condone or condemn that makes this film a masterpiece and one of the fewer more recent films on the AFI's top 100. It is a rare film that makes you think and come to your own conclusions without it being shoved down your throat. It seems crazy that it has been over 20 years now since this was released. The wardrobe has aged, but the general story is just as timely. Racism is ignorant. Anyone who generalizes a group of people and blames problems in their own community on this group are lazy. Do something to yourself to make it better. Lend a hand instead of hurling an insult. Judge people on their individual merits and shortcomings. Everytime I hear something said about another race, which in Texas, is usually Mexicans, I instantly lose respect for that person. If you don't want to grant the same freedoms and equality to others as you enjoy, then leave America. Freedom doesn't come with conditions based on race or what language you speak. I know people who have fought hard to keep it that way in America and every time racism shows up, A giant step backwards is taken. So, In closing, See this film. As you can tell, It's very powerful and evokes strong emotions...and think about how stupid you sound next time you make a dumb ass comment.

The Manchurian Candidate

A few years ago, I saw the remake of this movie with Denzel Washington, Liev Schriber, and Meryl Streep. I liked it and thought it was a pretty good story. The original, though, blew it out of the water. I don't understand why Hollywood feels the need to remake every movie under the sun. There are plenty of original voices in the world with new stories to tell, yet so much energy is spent on remaking films that were masterpieces to begin with. It's not like someone is trying to improve on old crappy movies. anyway, as long as us suckers keep spending our money on them, They'll keep getting churned out. Now on to The Manchurian Candidate:

-Excellent performances from Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, and the entire supporting cast.

-The standout performance, however, is Angela Lansbury in her Oscar nominated role as a ruthless mother that is a sort of puppetmaster to her senator husband and brainwashed war vet son. To think that I would ever see Jessica Fletcher as an incestious, dastardly, just plain evil woman is amazing. To actually believe it is even better. I wish she would have had more of a film career following this high.

-I found the violence to be crazy for it's time. It shows several characters heads getting blown off and this was released just prior to Kennedy's assassination.

-The story was very timely and I liked the use of flashback and dream sequences.

-I loved the ending. I was on edge wondering if Harvey's character was still under Lansbury's control. Very satisfying ending