Monday, June 04, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
A Special Double Post: #50-31: Malcolm, McQueen, Mockumentaries, a Modern Mephistopholese, and Many ways to Make Brent Mad
I'm stepping up my production of these posts, because the AFI list comes out on the 20th of June, and because I'm going to Mumbai and Greece and don't know how often I'll be able to do this. So here's 20 more movies on my list. Most of which are too low for Brent (but I have to make room for Rocky's II-IV somewhere)
50 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers—I am not one of those who thinks that the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the new Godfather. Then, why, you may ask, have I put one of the three above things like Taxi Driver and Ben-Hur? One simple reason my friend(s): the marriage of technology and classic film performances. Forget the hobbits, forget the sword fights and Orlando Bloom’s flowing silver hair. Focus on Andy Serkis, giving a performance as Gollum that is to modern audiences what Karloff in Frankenstein was to audiences in the 30s. Soulful, full body acting, using technology not as eye candy for fan boys, but as a way to make the story and the character come alive.
49 Lawrence of Arabia—If he was any prettier he would have been “Florence of Arabia.” If he was any better on screen…well…uh…there’s really no where to go in that sentence is there. He’s Peter O’Toole and he is the bomb, the desert commanding, camel riding, bomb. True, it’s long, really long, and (like Lean’s Doctor Zhivago before it) seems to present the simple truth that barren landscapes can be pretty, but life in them really sucks, but whenever you reach the point of, boredom, O’Toole turns up to keep you in your seat.
48 Psycho—This is probably going to engender one of those furious Brent postings. It’s not that Psycho’s bad. In fact it’s quite good. It’s just not everything that people build it up to be. If you go in expecting to be scared out of your wits, you’re going to yawn, especially given that so many people talk about it that unless you live in a cave you already know the shower scene is coming. It’s not a grand experiment or exploration of fear, it’s just a surprising, stunning, shocker. Alarming, but not incredible.
47 Wizard of Oz—I recently re-watched this with some friends of mine, and, between the shouts of “SHUT UP LION, I HATE YOU!!” I remembered what it is that makes this movie beloved: tradition. It’s really not that incredible, the songs aren’t so much catchy as they are part of the lexicon. The characters aren’t so much riveting as they are loved. It’s like a plate of cookies and a glass of milk at the end of the day. It’s great because every April, you’ll watch it and smell fabric softener and know that you’re family’s watching it too. It’s great because you’re comfortable and cozy when you curl up with the story
46 Waiting for Guffman—I’ve read three articles in the last week alone about the new “mockumentary” trend in comedy. It is not a new trend, it’s just been made popular by a TV show. The show is amusing, but not remotely close to this, one of the pinnacles of “mocku”comedy. Anyone who has ever been in, or seen Community Theater hurts when they see this movie. It’s a bittersweet look at people who genuinely believe they’re good, and who truly are terrible. It’s scary and sad to see, and at the same time, you end up loving the characters (which is more than you can say about almost any other “mockumentary”) because they’re more real than any of the others that follow.
45 Traffic—Like mockumentaries, complex, multi-national, multi-story-line dramas are the rage in movies today. That doesn’t mean they’re better than most, it also doesn’t mean they’re worst than most. And what makes Traffic the best of them all is that director Steven Soderbergh takes clearly separates the story lines to the point that you can distinguish everyone and then slowly slurs them together to show you how everyone is part of the same problem. He doesn’t sacrifice depth for breadth, the characters are developed, the performances are gripping and by humanizing all sides of the issue he makes it palatable regardless of politics.
44 Casablanca—Even I’m surprised I have this movie, this low. We all know the reasons it’s good (romance, passion, and pretty cinematography), so I’ll focus on why it’s not higher. Much as I hate to say it, it lags, it sags, and even a die-hard romantic like me rolls his eyes at Bergman’s doe-eyed innocence at the end. It’s much more fun to enjoy Peter Lorre and Claude Raines (“I am shocked, shocked to discover that there is gambling going on in this establishment!”), but sadly, there’s relatively little of him to go around.
43 The Searchers—I think I might have used the phrase “epic western” in connection with John Ford about 7 times already on this list. So here’s lucky number 8. It’s an epic western, sprawled out over the southwest. And, despite the long running time, despite the unfortunate undertones of mockery and racism towards Native Americans, the grandeur of the west and unflappable flawed focus of John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards makes this worth watching again and again.
42 In the Company of Men—Maybe it’s that I’m a theater geek and dig Niel LaBute. Maybe it’s that I’m a nice guy who always finishes last. Maybe it’s that I’m secretly psychotic, but this is the kind of movie that holds me and keeps me coming back. It’s the anti- Waiting for Guffman where you see people and smile and love them, here, you see people and feel sick, because they’re actually deplorable. The discordant jazz notes, the blaring, riotous anger and vitriol that colors the film and Aaron Eckhart as the most Mephistopholese-esque villain on film leaves you sick inside and with every stumble towards grace you think a little bit harder about what you’re doing to the world, and what it’s doing to you.
41 Shawshank Redemption—The kind of movie you forget, but can’t pass up if you find it on TV. It takes the standard prison movie formula and twists and turns it until you let your eyes ping-pong from Morgan Freeman to Tim Robbins again and again, relishing everything they say, and every turn of the plot that comes to be. The heartbreaking simplicity of characters and natural rhythm of the performances leaves you satisfied and guarantees that you’ll go back for more the next time you nearly flip by.
40 The Great Escape—More than the origin of British soccer chants, more than the embodiment of Steve McQueen’s cool (even in Nazi Germany), this is perhaps the most soulful action movie you could ever hope to see. (It’s also fun to see James Coburn and Charles Bronson do vague accents)Yes it has the standard, best friend dies in the arms of the hero moment, but it also has an original spin on revenge. Everyone loves Steve McQueen jumping over the fence, and coming back with a smile on his face, but James Garner resigning himself to fate, turning blithely away from his superior officer, turns the obvious into the remarkable.
39 The Gold Rush—The fifth and final Chaplin movie to make my list, the Gold Rush has everything that the other movies have (lovable tramp, nearly falling over the edge of something). But it has something else that separates it from the other movies (besides the fact that he eats his shoe). We get the Tramp’s soul more clearly than ever before, and his heartbreak when the girl (rather than being blind, or lost) rejects him out of hand (at least at first). Oh, and potatoes dancing. Funny.
38 West Side Story—Musicals tend to live or die by two things: the music (obviously) and how completely the actors captivate the audience. What’s great about West Side Story, besides the music that makes everyone either want to be a street thug or a senorita, is that while the leads are genuinely engaging, the supporting players hold us much more than anyone else. (“America” and “Officer Krupke” are a lot more fun than “Maria” and “I feel Pretty”)
37 Third Man—You know who you don’t hear much about? Joseph Cotten. Jedidiah from Citizen Kane (overshadowed by big ol’ Orson) and the lost in Austria pseudo-sluth in the Third Man. Unfortunately he’s once again overshadowed by Orson (even though Welles is on screen for only a few minutes), but he’s superb, distraught and raw when he’s pounding the cobblestones searching for Harry Lime. (Welles, is awesome too, but I felt like giving Cotten his due.)
36 The English Patient—Something of a return to the big sprawling movies in exotic locales with romance and intrigue, but the complication of the standard story line with flashbacks and side stories makes it compelling. The jumps to scenes in the present and examination of what love hath wrought in the lives of four people gives you a taste of deeper philosophy and thought without cramming it down your throat. And, as Brent will no doubt explain in more detail, erotic without giving in to simplistic pornographic detail.
35 Manhattan—Nobody does romance like Woody Allen. Which is a good thing because anyone who had a wife leave him for another woman, was dating a 17 year old and broke up his friend’s romance would need serious counseling. Much is made about Allen’s funny quips and quirks but this is really a movie made by the women, Streep, Keaton and most heartbreakingly of all: Muriel Hemingway in an honest, tender goodbye that makes Casablanca look bland by comparison.
34 The Lion in Winter—“By God I’m King, fifty and alive all at once.” Peter O’Toole is again the bomb, only this time, instead of camels and Omar Sharif he has Katherine Hepburn’s mania and Anthony Hopkins ready to cap a sword in his ass. It’s intrigue, violence, family, deception, and some of the wittiest wordplay on film. Made even stronger by the simplistic stupidity of Prince John’s, “you’re a stinker do you know that. You’re a stinker and you stink!”
33 Silence of the Lambs—Maybe it’s the more modern sensibility that makes this psycho story, more riveting than the Hitchock marvel. Or maybe it’s the fact that Lecter just looks more fierce in his mask than Bates does in his housecoat. Or maybe its that there are more compelling twists and stunning results here than the obvious ending everyone knows is coming in Psycho. Whatever the case, here is your modern treatise in fear.
32 Toy Story—It should be applauded for doing what Disney and family films in general haven’t done in decades: make something that kids giggle at with just enough reality and subtle wit that parents who have to pay for the kids, get a good laugh too. Some would criticize it for giving us Shark Tale and Robots but they miss the point. It has the eager adventurousness of kids in general with the search for identity that makes it relevant long after you’ve stopped playing with toys.
31 Malcolm X—A compelling, complete look at an American icon who is usually left to simplistic generalizations. Denzel and Spike make him complex and human, they give motive to his beliefs, and though they take a good deal of license adjusting his biography to suit the needs of their story, they make it both a film and forum for ideas, leaving the audience agape, and stunned as they hear Ossie Davis’ soothing basso into a deeper study of the man and his methods.
50 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers—I am not one of those who thinks that the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the new Godfather. Then, why, you may ask, have I put one of the three above things like Taxi Driver and Ben-Hur? One simple reason my friend(s): the marriage of technology and classic film performances. Forget the hobbits, forget the sword fights and Orlando Bloom’s flowing silver hair. Focus on Andy Serkis, giving a performance as Gollum that is to modern audiences what Karloff in Frankenstein was to audiences in the 30s. Soulful, full body acting, using technology not as eye candy for fan boys, but as a way to make the story and the character come alive.
49 Lawrence of Arabia—If he was any prettier he would have been “Florence of Arabia.” If he was any better on screen…well…uh…there’s really no where to go in that sentence is there. He’s Peter O’Toole and he is the bomb, the desert commanding, camel riding, bomb. True, it’s long, really long, and (like Lean’s Doctor Zhivago before it) seems to present the simple truth that barren landscapes can be pretty, but life in them really sucks, but whenever you reach the point of, boredom, O’Toole turns up to keep you in your seat.
48 Psycho—This is probably going to engender one of those furious Brent postings. It’s not that Psycho’s bad. In fact it’s quite good. It’s just not everything that people build it up to be. If you go in expecting to be scared out of your wits, you’re going to yawn, especially given that so many people talk about it that unless you live in a cave you already know the shower scene is coming. It’s not a grand experiment or exploration of fear, it’s just a surprising, stunning, shocker. Alarming, but not incredible.
47 Wizard of Oz—I recently re-watched this with some friends of mine, and, between the shouts of “SHUT UP LION, I HATE YOU!!” I remembered what it is that makes this movie beloved: tradition. It’s really not that incredible, the songs aren’t so much catchy as they are part of the lexicon. The characters aren’t so much riveting as they are loved. It’s like a plate of cookies and a glass of milk at the end of the day. It’s great because every April, you’ll watch it and smell fabric softener and know that you’re family’s watching it too. It’s great because you’re comfortable and cozy when you curl up with the story
46 Waiting for Guffman—I’ve read three articles in the last week alone about the new “mockumentary” trend in comedy. It is not a new trend, it’s just been made popular by a TV show. The show is amusing, but not remotely close to this, one of the pinnacles of “mocku”comedy. Anyone who has ever been in, or seen Community Theater hurts when they see this movie. It’s a bittersweet look at people who genuinely believe they’re good, and who truly are terrible. It’s scary and sad to see, and at the same time, you end up loving the characters (which is more than you can say about almost any other “mockumentary”) because they’re more real than any of the others that follow.
45 Traffic—Like mockumentaries, complex, multi-national, multi-story-line dramas are the rage in movies today. That doesn’t mean they’re better than most, it also doesn’t mean they’re worst than most. And what makes Traffic the best of them all is that director Steven Soderbergh takes clearly separates the story lines to the point that you can distinguish everyone and then slowly slurs them together to show you how everyone is part of the same problem. He doesn’t sacrifice depth for breadth, the characters are developed, the performances are gripping and by humanizing all sides of the issue he makes it palatable regardless of politics.
44 Casablanca—Even I’m surprised I have this movie, this low. We all know the reasons it’s good (romance, passion, and pretty cinematography), so I’ll focus on why it’s not higher. Much as I hate to say it, it lags, it sags, and even a die-hard romantic like me rolls his eyes at Bergman’s doe-eyed innocence at the end. It’s much more fun to enjoy Peter Lorre and Claude Raines (“I am shocked, shocked to discover that there is gambling going on in this establishment!”), but sadly, there’s relatively little of him to go around.
43 The Searchers—I think I might have used the phrase “epic western” in connection with John Ford about 7 times already on this list. So here’s lucky number 8. It’s an epic western, sprawled out over the southwest. And, despite the long running time, despite the unfortunate undertones of mockery and racism towards Native Americans, the grandeur of the west and unflappable flawed focus of John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards makes this worth watching again and again.
42 In the Company of Men—Maybe it’s that I’m a theater geek and dig Niel LaBute. Maybe it’s that I’m a nice guy who always finishes last. Maybe it’s that I’m secretly psychotic, but this is the kind of movie that holds me and keeps me coming back. It’s the anti- Waiting for Guffman where you see people and smile and love them, here, you see people and feel sick, because they’re actually deplorable. The discordant jazz notes, the blaring, riotous anger and vitriol that colors the film and Aaron Eckhart as the most Mephistopholese-esque villain on film leaves you sick inside and with every stumble towards grace you think a little bit harder about what you’re doing to the world, and what it’s doing to you.
41 Shawshank Redemption—The kind of movie you forget, but can’t pass up if you find it on TV. It takes the standard prison movie formula and twists and turns it until you let your eyes ping-pong from Morgan Freeman to Tim Robbins again and again, relishing everything they say, and every turn of the plot that comes to be. The heartbreaking simplicity of characters and natural rhythm of the performances leaves you satisfied and guarantees that you’ll go back for more the next time you nearly flip by.
40 The Great Escape—More than the origin of British soccer chants, more than the embodiment of Steve McQueen’s cool (even in Nazi Germany), this is perhaps the most soulful action movie you could ever hope to see. (It’s also fun to see James Coburn and Charles Bronson do vague accents)Yes it has the standard, best friend dies in the arms of the hero moment, but it also has an original spin on revenge. Everyone loves Steve McQueen jumping over the fence, and coming back with a smile on his face, but James Garner resigning himself to fate, turning blithely away from his superior officer, turns the obvious into the remarkable.
39 The Gold Rush—The fifth and final Chaplin movie to make my list, the Gold Rush has everything that the other movies have (lovable tramp, nearly falling over the edge of something). But it has something else that separates it from the other movies (besides the fact that he eats his shoe). We get the Tramp’s soul more clearly than ever before, and his heartbreak when the girl (rather than being blind, or lost) rejects him out of hand (at least at first). Oh, and potatoes dancing. Funny.
38 West Side Story—Musicals tend to live or die by two things: the music (obviously) and how completely the actors captivate the audience. What’s great about West Side Story, besides the music that makes everyone either want to be a street thug or a senorita, is that while the leads are genuinely engaging, the supporting players hold us much more than anyone else. (“America” and “Officer Krupke” are a lot more fun than “Maria” and “I feel Pretty”)
37 Third Man—You know who you don’t hear much about? Joseph Cotten. Jedidiah from Citizen Kane (overshadowed by big ol’ Orson) and the lost in Austria pseudo-sluth in the Third Man. Unfortunately he’s once again overshadowed by Orson (even though Welles is on screen for only a few minutes), but he’s superb, distraught and raw when he’s pounding the cobblestones searching for Harry Lime. (Welles, is awesome too, but I felt like giving Cotten his due.)
36 The English Patient—Something of a return to the big sprawling movies in exotic locales with romance and intrigue, but the complication of the standard story line with flashbacks and side stories makes it compelling. The jumps to scenes in the present and examination of what love hath wrought in the lives of four people gives you a taste of deeper philosophy and thought without cramming it down your throat. And, as Brent will no doubt explain in more detail, erotic without giving in to simplistic pornographic detail.
35 Manhattan—Nobody does romance like Woody Allen. Which is a good thing because anyone who had a wife leave him for another woman, was dating a 17 year old and broke up his friend’s romance would need serious counseling. Much is made about Allen’s funny quips and quirks but this is really a movie made by the women, Streep, Keaton and most heartbreakingly of all: Muriel Hemingway in an honest, tender goodbye that makes Casablanca look bland by comparison.
34 The Lion in Winter—“By God I’m King, fifty and alive all at once.” Peter O’Toole is again the bomb, only this time, instead of camels and Omar Sharif he has Katherine Hepburn’s mania and Anthony Hopkins ready to cap a sword in his ass. It’s intrigue, violence, family, deception, and some of the wittiest wordplay on film. Made even stronger by the simplistic stupidity of Prince John’s, “you’re a stinker do you know that. You’re a stinker and you stink!”
33 Silence of the Lambs—Maybe it’s the more modern sensibility that makes this psycho story, more riveting than the Hitchock marvel. Or maybe it’s the fact that Lecter just looks more fierce in his mask than Bates does in his housecoat. Or maybe its that there are more compelling twists and stunning results here than the obvious ending everyone knows is coming in Psycho. Whatever the case, here is your modern treatise in fear.
32 Toy Story—It should be applauded for doing what Disney and family films in general haven’t done in decades: make something that kids giggle at with just enough reality and subtle wit that parents who have to pay for the kids, get a good laugh too. Some would criticize it for giving us Shark Tale and Robots but they miss the point. It has the eager adventurousness of kids in general with the search for identity that makes it relevant long after you’ve stopped playing with toys.
31 Malcolm X—A compelling, complete look at an American icon who is usually left to simplistic generalizations. Denzel and Spike make him complex and human, they give motive to his beliefs, and though they take a good deal of license adjusting his biography to suit the needs of their story, they make it both a film and forum for ideas, leaving the audience agape, and stunned as they hear Ossie Davis’ soothing basso into a deeper study of the man and his methods.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
#60-51: Streetcar! Silly Sensibilities and Suicide (of the Painless Vairety)
For the record: A post from me without alliteration, is like a post from Brent without a pointed barb about my inability to get a date. So, he's finally begun his list, but as we race towards the finish, note my nearly insurmountable lead that will vanish soon enough in the puff of poetic haze that is Brent McCafferty (and his trapezius muscles)
60 Streetcar Named Desire—I remember when I was a kid and people kept telling me that I wouldn’t know acting until I saw Brando. I couldn’t possibly want to be an actor until I knew what Marlon Brando had done. I started to think of him as highly overrated, and without a doubt, not nearly as great as he seemed. I was wrong. Brando rocks. And this movie is Brando rocking as only he can. Yes it’s Tennessee Williams, and yes it’s mocked by the Simpson’s to the point where any member of our generation will compare Brando to Ned Flanders (“can’t you hear me yell-a/You're puttin me through hell-a”), but the fact is, any man who can take a violent misogynist and turn him into a compelling, dominating character is, quite simply, the man.
59 Hotel Rwanda—Few movies in recent years have carried the emotional punch that Hotel Rwanda has. It’s no less an indictment of the forces of intolerance and hatred than of the people who simply switch the channel after watching another horrifying series of images on CNN. It’s a great film to watch to capture the spirit (both romantically and realistically) of modern day Africa. Most surprisingly of all though, is the fact that after so much has been made of African-American men winning the Academy Award in recent years the best performance of the bunch—Don Cheadle’s Paul Rusesabagina—didn’t get the award.
58 The Princess Bride—I first saw this movie when I was 4 years old. I immediately decided that when I grew up, I would be Fezzik. It’s something of a sore spot that I have grown up to look like Westly (I mean, who wants to be the hero when you can be a 7’7”, 300 pound French wrestler?). But the movie is still surprisingly captivating. And while it was originally intended to be a tongue in cheek comedy, it has become instead the fairy tale for my generation, a group of people, hoping against hope that their true love will simply say: “as you wish.”
57 M*A*S*H—Forget the TV show and all the silly antics that characters get into, this is a serious war-movie about a very silly time in America. The strains of “Suicide is Painless” are still enough to sooth people into a stupor and leave you all simply gawking at Altman touring the scene of a lively, yet conflicted camp. Donald Sutherland and Eliot Gould are hilarious, and at the same time, heartbreakingly real.
56 Sense & Sensibility—Okay, yes, I have a crush on Jane Austen. And if ever there was a film that enabled that crush, it is this one. The wit crackles on the screen, from the first moment Hugh Laurie (known to most as “House” and me as “Bertie Wooster”) bickers over just how little to give his sisters, until the triumphant wedding scene there’s a little more comedy here than the average teenage boy expects. (Though, not enough breasts to keep them interested if they haven’t read the book…or developed a crush on the author).
55 Saving Private Ryan—For all the adoration and glory heaped upon the men who died at D-Day, the opening moments of this movie with sand, surf, blood and bullets bring home the reality of the war with all the power of All Quiet on the Western Front and none of the talking. From then on it’s a great way to look at a culture and generation searching for salvation (and it manages to make you feel bad that Vin Diesel dies…which is worth at least 10 extra spots on my list).
54 Brokeback Mountain—Imagine you’re a Tawainese kid who likes movies. You start making movies. You make a comedy out of an 18th century novel in the English countryside. You make a gripping romance about cowboys in 1970’s Wyoming. You are friggin awesome. And you are Ang Lee. (You are also responsible for The Hulk but we’ll overlook that.) For all the chatter about groundbreaking this and heartbreaking that, this is really an accomplishment for Lee, who takes what could be just a joke made by middle-school boys and turns it into a drama about family, alienation and desperation set against a seemingly desolate backdrop that isn’t romantic at first, by grows to be home by the end of the film.
53 Being John Malkovich—This is the movie every teenage boy should see when they’re ready to discover what movies can actually be (beyond the action/date/dumb comedy genres). Trippy—to say the least—it also manages to redefine three actors as you’ve never seen them before. John Cusak’s a maniacal manipulator. Cameron Diaz is a homely nobody. John Malkovich is a little dull and not that dramatic. And in all of this, there’s enough humor, shock, and sex to leave you wondering who the hell you are.
52 The Incredibles—Out of every kid’s movie that’s come out in recent years very few can hold a candle to the majesty of Pixar. They know and apply the one thing that matters in movies (animated or otherwise): you don’t need flash, you don’t need big names, you need a story, and this movie has a great one. It’s not so much a superhero movie as much as it’s about coming of age…whether that age is 12, 17, or 45. It’s about accepting who you are, and balancing reality with fantasy (whether the reality is fantastic or not) and Jason Lee’s fanboy gone mad is maybe the best crazy scientist villain with a soul since Dr. Frankenstien.
51 City Lights—Brent, Brent, Brent…100? City Lights at 100? Debbie Does Dallas beats City Lights? Taxi Driver beats City Lights? I say on simplistic beauty and purity of romance alone City Lights far outstrips gratuitous sex and gratuitous violence…there, I said it, I’m a prude. (But the Jane Austen thing probably should have given that away).
60 Streetcar Named Desire—I remember when I was a kid and people kept telling me that I wouldn’t know acting until I saw Brando. I couldn’t possibly want to be an actor until I knew what Marlon Brando had done. I started to think of him as highly overrated, and without a doubt, not nearly as great as he seemed. I was wrong. Brando rocks. And this movie is Brando rocking as only he can. Yes it’s Tennessee Williams, and yes it’s mocked by the Simpson’s to the point where any member of our generation will compare Brando to Ned Flanders (“can’t you hear me yell-a/You're puttin me through hell-a”), but the fact is, any man who can take a violent misogynist and turn him into a compelling, dominating character is, quite simply, the man.
59 Hotel Rwanda—Few movies in recent years have carried the emotional punch that Hotel Rwanda has. It’s no less an indictment of the forces of intolerance and hatred than of the people who simply switch the channel after watching another horrifying series of images on CNN. It’s a great film to watch to capture the spirit (both romantically and realistically) of modern day Africa. Most surprisingly of all though, is the fact that after so much has been made of African-American men winning the Academy Award in recent years the best performance of the bunch—Don Cheadle’s Paul Rusesabagina—didn’t get the award.
58 The Princess Bride—I first saw this movie when I was 4 years old. I immediately decided that when I grew up, I would be Fezzik. It’s something of a sore spot that I have grown up to look like Westly (I mean, who wants to be the hero when you can be a 7’7”, 300 pound French wrestler?). But the movie is still surprisingly captivating. And while it was originally intended to be a tongue in cheek comedy, it has become instead the fairy tale for my generation, a group of people, hoping against hope that their true love will simply say: “as you wish.”
57 M*A*S*H—Forget the TV show and all the silly antics that characters get into, this is a serious war-movie about a very silly time in America. The strains of “Suicide is Painless” are still enough to sooth people into a stupor and leave you all simply gawking at Altman touring the scene of a lively, yet conflicted camp. Donald Sutherland and Eliot Gould are hilarious, and at the same time, heartbreakingly real.
56 Sense & Sensibility—Okay, yes, I have a crush on Jane Austen. And if ever there was a film that enabled that crush, it is this one. The wit crackles on the screen, from the first moment Hugh Laurie (known to most as “House” and me as “Bertie Wooster”) bickers over just how little to give his sisters, until the triumphant wedding scene there’s a little more comedy here than the average teenage boy expects. (Though, not enough breasts to keep them interested if they haven’t read the book…or developed a crush on the author).
55 Saving Private Ryan—For all the adoration and glory heaped upon the men who died at D-Day, the opening moments of this movie with sand, surf, blood and bullets bring home the reality of the war with all the power of All Quiet on the Western Front and none of the talking. From then on it’s a great way to look at a culture and generation searching for salvation (and it manages to make you feel bad that Vin Diesel dies…which is worth at least 10 extra spots on my list).
54 Brokeback Mountain—Imagine you’re a Tawainese kid who likes movies. You start making movies. You make a comedy out of an 18th century novel in the English countryside. You make a gripping romance about cowboys in 1970’s Wyoming. You are friggin awesome. And you are Ang Lee. (You are also responsible for The Hulk but we’ll overlook that.) For all the chatter about groundbreaking this and heartbreaking that, this is really an accomplishment for Lee, who takes what could be just a joke made by middle-school boys and turns it into a drama about family, alienation and desperation set against a seemingly desolate backdrop that isn’t romantic at first, by grows to be home by the end of the film.
53 Being John Malkovich—This is the movie every teenage boy should see when they’re ready to discover what movies can actually be (beyond the action/date/dumb comedy genres). Trippy—to say the least—it also manages to redefine three actors as you’ve never seen them before. John Cusak’s a maniacal manipulator. Cameron Diaz is a homely nobody. John Malkovich is a little dull and not that dramatic. And in all of this, there’s enough humor, shock, and sex to leave you wondering who the hell you are.
52 The Incredibles—Out of every kid’s movie that’s come out in recent years very few can hold a candle to the majesty of Pixar. They know and apply the one thing that matters in movies (animated or otherwise): you don’t need flash, you don’t need big names, you need a story, and this movie has a great one. It’s not so much a superhero movie as much as it’s about coming of age…whether that age is 12, 17, or 45. It’s about accepting who you are, and balancing reality with fantasy (whether the reality is fantastic or not) and Jason Lee’s fanboy gone mad is maybe the best crazy scientist villain with a soul since Dr. Frankenstien.
51 City Lights—Brent, Brent, Brent…100? City Lights at 100? Debbie Does Dallas beats City Lights? Taxi Driver beats City Lights? I say on simplistic beauty and purity of romance alone City Lights far outstrips gratuitous sex and gratuitous violence…there, I said it, I’m a prude. (But the Jane Austen thing probably should have given that away).
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
#70-61: Bond, Bad Boy Bogie, and Burt Bacharach
70 Chinatown—At some point Nicholson’s Private Eye becomes a little wearisome, a little too cool, a little too savvy, a little too put together to be the ideal flawed film noir hero. Fortunately, that’s also the moment that the story shifts on a dime and you couldn’t be more glued to your seat than if you accidently sat on a small village of milk duds.
69 Fantasia—Okay, yes, this is a very dorky selection…an uber-dorky selection…a mega-ultra-hyper dorky selection. But, for anyone who’s ever looked for an excuse to like classical music in the face of their Backstreet boy singing peers you have to like dancing crocodiles and hippos…I mean c’mon!!
68 Stagecoach—It’s as stellar a character study as any Robert Altman film, minus the hour long single shots and set entirely within a stagecoach. It’s not so much a western as it is a road movie in the old west. The characters are astounding: pure and desolute, heroes and ne’er-do-wells, and all manner of those in between. A fantastic example of John Ford’s eye for the majestic west.
67 Unforgiven—Eastwood kicks off his second career as a something more than an iconic film actor by presenting the truth behind the mythic iconic western figures. It explodes the legends that we’ve all come to adore and lauds truth, justice and the old American way.
66 Modern Times—A great movie for struggling artists afraid of letting go of their ideals and winding up in some dead end job. What’s most impressive and is still most fascinating about this classic Chaplin comedy is that it came out years after talkies had been around and is still very funny.
65 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—This set of ten seems to revolve a great deal around anti-heroes. And so it’s only fitting that these two make an appearance. Part of everyone’s vernacular, Butch and Sudance aren’t just good bad guys, they’re without adoubt the coolest guys ever even remotely associated with Burt Bacharach.
64 Treasure of the Sierra Madre—Bogie as a badass makes for a nice change of pace (it can get a little dreary seeing him up against the odds fighting for what’s right…it’s much nicer to see him up against the odds fighting for what’s wrong). But what’s most remarkable is watching his slow and steady descent into madness. What’s most remarkable to hear is the origin of the classic: “Badges…we don’t need no stinkin’ badges!!”
63 Goldfinger—The ultimate Bond movie. Nothing else has or will come close. An ultra-villain with witty repartee, killer gadgets a hardcore henchman and the most inappropriate Bond-girl name ever (honestly, how much would you like to hear people talking over that name during the intial film screening? It still makes my mother titter and she’s over 55) all are the perfect match for Sean’s perfect Bond.
62 Guess who’s Coming to Dinner?—A little treacle goes a long way. A lot of treacle nearly drowns out a good movie. But Poitier, Hepburna and Tracy make you forget all of that and just revel in the sight of such fine acting and such genuine emotion. Though you have to ask yourself at a certain point: “what happened to the girl?” And at another point you have to ask yourself: "who in the world thought Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac would be the right people to remake this movie?"
61 Double Indemnity—The deluxe thriller, with the flawed film noir protagonist Jack Nicholson only wishes he could be. It’s got conflict, despair, anger, betrayal and that’s before they even kill a guy. You can never watch the original Flubber again after you see just what Fred McMurry can really do.
69 Fantasia—Okay, yes, this is a very dorky selection…an uber-dorky selection…a mega-ultra-hyper dorky selection. But, for anyone who’s ever looked for an excuse to like classical music in the face of their Backstreet boy singing peers you have to like dancing crocodiles and hippos…I mean c’mon!!
68 Stagecoach—It’s as stellar a character study as any Robert Altman film, minus the hour long single shots and set entirely within a stagecoach. It’s not so much a western as it is a road movie in the old west. The characters are astounding: pure and desolute, heroes and ne’er-do-wells, and all manner of those in between. A fantastic example of John Ford’s eye for the majestic west.
67 Unforgiven—Eastwood kicks off his second career as a something more than an iconic film actor by presenting the truth behind the mythic iconic western figures. It explodes the legends that we’ve all come to adore and lauds truth, justice and the old American way.
66 Modern Times—A great movie for struggling artists afraid of letting go of their ideals and winding up in some dead end job. What’s most impressive and is still most fascinating about this classic Chaplin comedy is that it came out years after talkies had been around and is still very funny.
65 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—This set of ten seems to revolve a great deal around anti-heroes. And so it’s only fitting that these two make an appearance. Part of everyone’s vernacular, Butch and Sudance aren’t just good bad guys, they’re without adoubt the coolest guys ever even remotely associated with Burt Bacharach.
64 Treasure of the Sierra Madre—Bogie as a badass makes for a nice change of pace (it can get a little dreary seeing him up against the odds fighting for what’s right…it’s much nicer to see him up against the odds fighting for what’s wrong). But what’s most remarkable is watching his slow and steady descent into madness. What’s most remarkable to hear is the origin of the classic: “Badges…we don’t need no stinkin’ badges!!”
63 Goldfinger—The ultimate Bond movie. Nothing else has or will come close. An ultra-villain with witty repartee, killer gadgets a hardcore henchman and the most inappropriate Bond-girl name ever (honestly, how much would you like to hear people talking over that name during the intial film screening? It still makes my mother titter and she’s over 55) all are the perfect match for Sean’s perfect Bond.
62 Guess who’s Coming to Dinner?—A little treacle goes a long way. A lot of treacle nearly drowns out a good movie. But Poitier, Hepburna and Tracy make you forget all of that and just revel in the sight of such fine acting and such genuine emotion. Though you have to ask yourself at a certain point: “what happened to the girl?” And at another point you have to ask yourself: "who in the world thought Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac would be the right people to remake this movie?"
61 Double Indemnity—The deluxe thriller, with the flawed film noir protagonist Jack Nicholson only wishes he could be. It’s got conflict, despair, anger, betrayal and that’s before they even kill a guy. You can never watch the original Flubber again after you see just what Fred McMurry can really do.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
#80-71 "Plastics," Pop-Tarts and the President's Men
80 Doctor Z—Sprawling and at times suffocating in it’s grandeur it’s still a remarkably human epic. And that last sentence was so unbelievable pompus I’m about to gag myself with a spoon. (Notice, however, I’m not deleting it). The message of Dr. Zhivago: life in Russia sucks, but Omar Sharif is handsome.
79 All the Presidents Men—A gripping portrayal of power, persuasion, and passion to make everyone want to be a reporter (if only so we all have a chance to get that great Robert Redford hair). It's not glamorous, but it's wonderfully true.
78 Frankenstien—Not really scary any more, not really related to the Mary Shelly book at all, and not really all that compelling. But Karloff is a one man clinic on acting with your whole body and renders everything else meaningless.
77 Chicago—The cinematic equivalent of a pop tart. Looks great and full of a surprisingly rich center (including an active critique of the current state of American culture and a number of compelling characters {okay, John C. Reilly}), it doesn’t really last in your system, but invariably you go back for more.
76 Forrest Gump—I tend to have at least one sentimental and sap ridden film in each set of 10 I put together. This is that sentimental and sap-ridden film. Yes there’s a lot of needless weepiness, yes, there’s gratituitous use of the archival footage, but really, it’s a nice story of where we’ve been as a country and perhaps where we’re going.
75 Jungle Fever—Spike Lee’s family saga (or, at least the one people actually know as opposed to Crooklyn). Infidelity, loyalty, love in all its forms, and just plain ol’ American dysfunction for all. Yes, Wesley Snipes does seem to telegraph his lines, and Spike’s own character seems superfluous (outside of Do the Right Thing/She’s Gotta Have It, when wasn’t it?) but the dynamic between Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Samuel L. Jackson is superb. Really, though, this is Stevie Wonder’s movie, with an excellent score that makes even the slower parts of the movie, eminently rewatchable.
74 Bridge on the River—Though it lag’s during Guiness’ manic shifts in attitude towards the bridge it has a great amount of fervor and pride for not just Britan but for all the world. Plus, anytime William Holden beats the living daylights out of a man it’s a good day.
73 Graduate—The ideal coming of age movie. Ask any twenty something guy, we’ve all had a “plastics,” moment. (I was once told to consider going into the corporate world of the Discovery Channel Store.) On top of fine acting and a plot that most everyone can relate to, it does have perhaps the ultimate marriage of a scene and a song.
72 Shane—A nice coupling of romantic love for the west, and the glimmer of inspiration in a young boy’s eyes (you can almost hear his brain churning to the idea of “I wanna be a cowboy”) and a hero who knows that it’s not nearly as great as people would like to believe.
71 Star Wars—Once you permit yourself to disassociate this movie from the fan boys and droid haters that populate the world it’s a fun fairy tale, and the inspiration for more Pop-culture references than anyone knows what to do with. (I still sing “What a Wookie!” from Clerks when no one’s looking)
79 All the Presidents Men—A gripping portrayal of power, persuasion, and passion to make everyone want to be a reporter (if only so we all have a chance to get that great Robert Redford hair). It's not glamorous, but it's wonderfully true.
78 Frankenstien—Not really scary any more, not really related to the Mary Shelly book at all, and not really all that compelling. But Karloff is a one man clinic on acting with your whole body and renders everything else meaningless.
77 Chicago—The cinematic equivalent of a pop tart. Looks great and full of a surprisingly rich center (including an active critique of the current state of American culture and a number of compelling characters {okay, John C. Reilly}), it doesn’t really last in your system, but invariably you go back for more.
76 Forrest Gump—I tend to have at least one sentimental and sap ridden film in each set of 10 I put together. This is that sentimental and sap-ridden film. Yes there’s a lot of needless weepiness, yes, there’s gratituitous use of the archival footage, but really, it’s a nice story of where we’ve been as a country and perhaps where we’re going.
75 Jungle Fever—Spike Lee’s family saga (or, at least the one people actually know as opposed to Crooklyn). Infidelity, loyalty, love in all its forms, and just plain ol’ American dysfunction for all. Yes, Wesley Snipes does seem to telegraph his lines, and Spike’s own character seems superfluous (outside of Do the Right Thing/She’s Gotta Have It, when wasn’t it?) but the dynamic between Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and Samuel L. Jackson is superb. Really, though, this is Stevie Wonder’s movie, with an excellent score that makes even the slower parts of the movie, eminently rewatchable.
74 Bridge on the River—Though it lag’s during Guiness’ manic shifts in attitude towards the bridge it has a great amount of fervor and pride for not just Britan but for all the world. Plus, anytime William Holden beats the living daylights out of a man it’s a good day.
73 Graduate—The ideal coming of age movie. Ask any twenty something guy, we’ve all had a “plastics,” moment. (I was once told to consider going into the corporate world of the Discovery Channel Store.) On top of fine acting and a plot that most everyone can relate to, it does have perhaps the ultimate marriage of a scene and a song.
72 Shane—A nice coupling of romantic love for the west, and the glimmer of inspiration in a young boy’s eyes (you can almost hear his brain churning to the idea of “I wanna be a cowboy”) and a hero who knows that it’s not nearly as great as people would like to believe.
71 Star Wars—Once you permit yourself to disassociate this movie from the fan boys and droid haters that populate the world it’s a fun fairy tale, and the inspiration for more Pop-culture references than anyone knows what to do with. (I still sing “What a Wookie!” from Clerks when no one’s looking)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
#90-81: Heathcliffe, the Holy Grail, and (Ben)-Hur
90--Sound of Music
Mountaintops and Toblerone bars and hilarious science teaching co-workers are just a few of my favorite things about Austria. The Sound of Music makes that cut too, though the eerily adorable children make it a tad Stepfordish. Still, the sing-a-long factor and Julie Andrews make it a standard for snowy nights and fires and warm apple strudel.
89--A Place in the Sun
A stellar murder thriller taking the audience on a trip through the anxiety riddled mind of a desperate man. Shifting the tables on the audience, so often rooting for the coppers to catch that dirty rat, you instead suddenly understand the dirty rat’s predicament. Some part of you knows why he commits his crime and some part of you might have wanted to do the same thing. It’s as psychologically riveting as Crime and Punishment without the torture of all the Russian pronunciations.
88--Some Like it Hot
Again, contrary to what Brent says there is some humor in cross dressing comedies. No matter how many times the creators of modern offenders (Big Momma’s House) cite the classics as inspiration. Here the redeeming factor is not Marilyn Monroe (the female version of my anti-James Dean fixation), nor is it Tony Curtis (doing a lame Cary Grant impression). It’s Jack Lemmon. Only Jack Lemmon. Forever Jack Lemmon. And Billy Wilder
87--It Happened One Night
Say what you will about screwball comedy: it’s unrealistic, it’s repetitive, its overwrought zaniness can grate on your nerves after the one hour mark. But whatever you say don’t lump this film in with the movies that give the genre a bad name. Clark Gable starts a grand tradition of sensible men turned into blithering nincompoops by a beautiful woman. And as a sensible man who is a blithering nincompoop in the company of a beautiful woman, I greatly admire this performance.
86--Wuthering Heights
Out of the whole of Laurence Olivier’s career you’ve got to think that this is not the movie he would pick to be the most beloved for generations after he’s shuffled loose the mortal coil. But it is, Heathcliffe on the moors and an enduring romance that is to dorky English teachers what Pretty Woman is to America at large (only without the profanity and creepy George Costanza moments).
85--Taxi Driver
Every one of my posts contains one entry that’s guaranteed to make Brent’s blood pressure rise. This is that entry. There’s nothing wrong with Taxi Driver. It’s classic. It’s DeNiro and Scorcese at the top of their games. It’s chilling, yet human, haunting, yet heroic. So why is it at 85 and not 15? One word, four syllables: gratuitous. Do we really need all the blood, all the time at the porno theater, all the political subplot. We probably do. It just distracted me from everything else.
84--Ben-Hur
Epic. There were a lot of movies that worked towards this end before Ben-Hur, there have been a lot of movies that have tried to achieve the feat afterwards. None of them manage to pull it off quite like this one does. True, epic is often boring and confusing: (What his mom and sister are being thrown out of the house? *2 hours later* What? He has a mother and sister?) but the high moments of Ben-Hur are so great, so grand and inspiring that you can’t help but pull yourself to the edge of your seat. Witness the thousands of (failed) attempts to achieve the chariot race scene again, none of which matches the intensity of the original.
83--Amadeus
Ben-Hur was long with moments of incredible intensity. Amadeus is long with aching crescendos of personal introspection. Just the kind of movie that an overly-reflective guy like me would like. It’s not totally accurate, and three hours of Mozart in a movie is a tad gratuitous, but F. Murray Abraham is like a human chariot race. Hanging on to everyone who watches him and pulling them along for the ride.
82—Dances with Wolves
When it first came out it was beloved, then it was totally and utterly forgotten. It’s worth looking at again, not because Kevin Costner is a cinematic genius (he’s not), nor because the romance is stirring (it’s a little frigid) but just because it found a way to recapture the dramatic beauty of the Western, the rolling fields and plains and mountains and everything that made me proud to grow up Montanan, the sense of land and history and culture and pride, and Graham Greene just generally being awesome.
81—Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Good, solid, fun. It’s all the best parts* of Star Wars, wise cracking Harrison Ford, and rip-roaring, swashbuckling adventure, with a dollop worth of rah-rah Americana in an effort to best the Nazis. AFI suggests Raiders of the Lost Ark, but that movie doesn’t have Sean Connery or the Hindenburg, making this movie much more list worthy.
*Ed. Note: By best parts of Star Wars we mean “best human parts of Star Wars” because clearly wookies would not have done well in the 1940s…or, maybe…
Mountaintops and Toblerone bars and hilarious science teaching co-workers are just a few of my favorite things about Austria. The Sound of Music makes that cut too, though the eerily adorable children make it a tad Stepfordish. Still, the sing-a-long factor and Julie Andrews make it a standard for snowy nights and fires and warm apple strudel.
89--A Place in the Sun
A stellar murder thriller taking the audience on a trip through the anxiety riddled mind of a desperate man. Shifting the tables on the audience, so often rooting for the coppers to catch that dirty rat, you instead suddenly understand the dirty rat’s predicament. Some part of you knows why he commits his crime and some part of you might have wanted to do the same thing. It’s as psychologically riveting as Crime and Punishment without the torture of all the Russian pronunciations.
88--Some Like it Hot
Again, contrary to what Brent says there is some humor in cross dressing comedies. No matter how many times the creators of modern offenders (Big Momma’s House) cite the classics as inspiration. Here the redeeming factor is not Marilyn Monroe (the female version of my anti-James Dean fixation), nor is it Tony Curtis (doing a lame Cary Grant impression). It’s Jack Lemmon. Only Jack Lemmon. Forever Jack Lemmon. And Billy Wilder
87--It Happened One Night
Say what you will about screwball comedy: it’s unrealistic, it’s repetitive, its overwrought zaniness can grate on your nerves after the one hour mark. But whatever you say don’t lump this film in with the movies that give the genre a bad name. Clark Gable starts a grand tradition of sensible men turned into blithering nincompoops by a beautiful woman. And as a sensible man who is a blithering nincompoop in the company of a beautiful woman, I greatly admire this performance.
86--Wuthering Heights
Out of the whole of Laurence Olivier’s career you’ve got to think that this is not the movie he would pick to be the most beloved for generations after he’s shuffled loose the mortal coil. But it is, Heathcliffe on the moors and an enduring romance that is to dorky English teachers what Pretty Woman is to America at large (only without the profanity and creepy George Costanza moments).
85--Taxi Driver
Every one of my posts contains one entry that’s guaranteed to make Brent’s blood pressure rise. This is that entry. There’s nothing wrong with Taxi Driver. It’s classic. It’s DeNiro and Scorcese at the top of their games. It’s chilling, yet human, haunting, yet heroic. So why is it at 85 and not 15? One word, four syllables: gratuitous. Do we really need all the blood, all the time at the porno theater, all the political subplot. We probably do. It just distracted me from everything else.
84--Ben-Hur
Epic. There were a lot of movies that worked towards this end before Ben-Hur, there have been a lot of movies that have tried to achieve the feat afterwards. None of them manage to pull it off quite like this one does. True, epic is often boring and confusing: (What his mom and sister are being thrown out of the house? *2 hours later* What? He has a mother and sister?) but the high moments of Ben-Hur are so great, so grand and inspiring that you can’t help but pull yourself to the edge of your seat. Witness the thousands of (failed) attempts to achieve the chariot race scene again, none of which matches the intensity of the original.
83--Amadeus
Ben-Hur was long with moments of incredible intensity. Amadeus is long with aching crescendos of personal introspection. Just the kind of movie that an overly-reflective guy like me would like. It’s not totally accurate, and three hours of Mozart in a movie is a tad gratuitous, but F. Murray Abraham is like a human chariot race. Hanging on to everyone who watches him and pulling them along for the ride.
82—Dances with Wolves
When it first came out it was beloved, then it was totally and utterly forgotten. It’s worth looking at again, not because Kevin Costner is a cinematic genius (he’s not), nor because the romance is stirring (it’s a little frigid) but just because it found a way to recapture the dramatic beauty of the Western, the rolling fields and plains and mountains and everything that made me proud to grow up Montanan, the sense of land and history and culture and pride, and Graham Greene just generally being awesome.
81—Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Good, solid, fun. It’s all the best parts* of Star Wars, wise cracking Harrison Ford, and rip-roaring, swashbuckling adventure, with a dollop worth of rah-rah Americana in an effort to best the Nazis. AFI suggests Raiders of the Lost Ark, but that movie doesn’t have Sean Connery or the Hindenburg, making this movie much more list worthy.
*Ed. Note: By best parts of Star Wars we mean “best human parts of Star Wars” because clearly wookies would not have done well in the 1940s…or, maybe…
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Bens #'s 100-91: Clyde, The Kid and Cukoo Kings
It's been a while since a post, largely because Brent and I were awaiting the introduction of wise new bloggers.
Turns out they're so wise they aren't joining us at all. So, abandoned by the only three readers we would have ever had, we're starting up 100-1 from the ground up.
My first ten are a strange brew, 30's, 50's and 70's, war movies/post war movies, shiftless criminal lowlifes and shiftless political lowlifes, heart warming family's and crossdressers galore!
With that, here are 10 movies that aren't the greatest (not by any means) but have something going for them that makes them special.
100--Bonnie & Clyde
Rather than building up the myth of history’s most famous bank robbing duo, this exposes their more sincere flaws. Insensitive, afraid, co-dependent, everything you don’t envision from the bland descriptors in books. Plus it features great performances from Beatty and Dunaway.
99--The Best Years of Our Lives
What makes this often sappy soldiers-come-home drama, worthy of a top 100 spot is the reality of it all. The romance of the army, shattered (before Vietnam) the return of heroes, quickly forgotten (before Gulf War I/II), Though the central love story rather stinks, Fredrich March and Myrna Loy (HELENA WOOH!) do have one of the great love scenes of all time: “How many times have I told you I hated you and believed it in my heart? How many times have you said you were sick and tired of me; that we were all washed up? How many times have we had to fall in love all over again?” Beautiful, and true, I think, I’ve never been married.
98--All the King’s Men
A political drama in an era when politicians were considered nigh untouchable. The dramatization of Huey Long’s life does two intersting things in equal measure. First, it makes you admire the idealism of the man, regardless of the tactics he uses to get them. And secondly, it openly confronts the viewer asking how you can approve of him with your votes.
97--The Kid
I heart Charlie Chaplin (as you’ll no doubt notice during the revelation of this list). This is the beginning of Chaplin’s real exploration of his Tramp character. Whereas most of the other movies are focused on getting the girl, this one’s focused on his fatherly instincts, and it’s extremely affecting (if not as funny)
96--King Kong
As close to an epic monster movie as you’re like to come to with the first real development of special effects in story telling. It can be forgiven the lame remakes, but what is so surprising is that the grandeur you can tell was inteded in the 30’s still resonates today.
95--Grapes of Wrath
As sincere and heartwarming as the novel it’s based on, this is a great American story (and I’m pretty sure that’s a phrase I’ll end up using about twenty times before this is over). What’s so stunning about this film though is that it pushes Tom Joad to the brink of iconic hero status, only to reassert his flawed humanity upon his exit. It’s not quite Steinbeck’s words or art but it is Henry Fonda which is close enough
94--Tootsie
Regardless of what Brent says, this is funny. Not so much Dustin Hoffman in drag, or talking about being in drag, but rather Dustin Hoffman himself. His overblown obsession with Love Canal, his inimitable sleaziness in picking up women, and in a perfect match, Bill Murray’s understated writer is the ultimate dead-pan counterpoint to Hoffman’s occassionally overwrought zaniness. A crappy synth-sound track nearly ruins it, but doesn’t.
93--Platoon
The standard for post-Vietnam War movies. It takes many of the elements of The Best Years of our Lives and sets it in the time of war itself. We are confronted with the reality of humanity in war time, or rather, the lack of it. Painting with a broad brush, soldiers are either corrupt killers or disenchanted druggists, but in Charlie Sheen we have a measured lens for both worlds, reporting the facts and enabling a personal judgement on the world it portrays. 91--One
92--One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Though it seems more dated now, this is still an excellent exhibition of the madhouse, and madman Jack Nicholson’s methods. At turns charming, antagonistic, humane and anarchic, Nicholson’s McMurphy is superb. Best of all he has a host of wild men to play off of, each of whom brings their own quirks and habits to their role.
91--All Quiet on the Western Front
A wonderful combination of gritty battle reality and post-service after shock, all told from the German perspective. A humanizing look at the villanized victims not all together different from their counterparts in the opposite bunker.
(Next week 90-81, and potentially comments from people who have even less of a life than I do)
Turns out they're so wise they aren't joining us at all. So, abandoned by the only three readers we would have ever had, we're starting up 100-1 from the ground up.
My first ten are a strange brew, 30's, 50's and 70's, war movies/post war movies, shiftless criminal lowlifes and shiftless political lowlifes, heart warming family's and crossdressers galore!
With that, here are 10 movies that aren't the greatest (not by any means) but have something going for them that makes them special.
100--Bonnie & Clyde
Rather than building up the myth of history’s most famous bank robbing duo, this exposes their more sincere flaws. Insensitive, afraid, co-dependent, everything you don’t envision from the bland descriptors in books. Plus it features great performances from Beatty and Dunaway.
99--The Best Years of Our Lives
What makes this often sappy soldiers-come-home drama, worthy of a top 100 spot is the reality of it all. The romance of the army, shattered (before Vietnam) the return of heroes, quickly forgotten (before Gulf War I/II), Though the central love story rather stinks, Fredrich March and Myrna Loy (HELENA WOOH!) do have one of the great love scenes of all time: “How many times have I told you I hated you and believed it in my heart? How many times have you said you were sick and tired of me; that we were all washed up? How many times have we had to fall in love all over again?” Beautiful, and true, I think, I’ve never been married.
98--All the King’s Men
A political drama in an era when politicians were considered nigh untouchable. The dramatization of Huey Long’s life does two intersting things in equal measure. First, it makes you admire the idealism of the man, regardless of the tactics he uses to get them. And secondly, it openly confronts the viewer asking how you can approve of him with your votes.
97--The Kid
I heart Charlie Chaplin (as you’ll no doubt notice during the revelation of this list). This is the beginning of Chaplin’s real exploration of his Tramp character. Whereas most of the other movies are focused on getting the girl, this one’s focused on his fatherly instincts, and it’s extremely affecting (if not as funny)
96--King Kong
As close to an epic monster movie as you’re like to come to with the first real development of special effects in story telling. It can be forgiven the lame remakes, but what is so surprising is that the grandeur you can tell was inteded in the 30’s still resonates today.
95--Grapes of Wrath
As sincere and heartwarming as the novel it’s based on, this is a great American story (and I’m pretty sure that’s a phrase I’ll end up using about twenty times before this is over). What’s so stunning about this film though is that it pushes Tom Joad to the brink of iconic hero status, only to reassert his flawed humanity upon his exit. It’s not quite Steinbeck’s words or art but it is Henry Fonda which is close enough
94--Tootsie
Regardless of what Brent says, this is funny. Not so much Dustin Hoffman in drag, or talking about being in drag, but rather Dustin Hoffman himself. His overblown obsession with Love Canal, his inimitable sleaziness in picking up women, and in a perfect match, Bill Murray’s understated writer is the ultimate dead-pan counterpoint to Hoffman’s occassionally overwrought zaniness. A crappy synth-sound track nearly ruins it, but doesn’t.
93--Platoon
The standard for post-Vietnam War movies. It takes many of the elements of The Best Years of our Lives and sets it in the time of war itself. We are confronted with the reality of humanity in war time, or rather, the lack of it. Painting with a broad brush, soldiers are either corrupt killers or disenchanted druggists, but in Charlie Sheen we have a measured lens for both worlds, reporting the facts and enabling a personal judgement on the world it portrays. 91--One
92--One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Though it seems more dated now, this is still an excellent exhibition of the madhouse, and madman Jack Nicholson’s methods. At turns charming, antagonistic, humane and anarchic, Nicholson’s McMurphy is superb. Best of all he has a host of wild men to play off of, each of whom brings their own quirks and habits to their role.
91--All Quiet on the Western Front
A wonderful combination of gritty battle reality and post-service after shock, all told from the German perspective. A humanizing look at the villanized victims not all together different from their counterparts in the opposite bunker.
(Next week 90-81, and potentially comments from people who have even less of a life than I do)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT!
The following conversation was held one week ago in response to B. McC's response to my listing of Crash as one of my 5 movies that just missed the cut (in which he referred to both All Quiet on the Western Front and The Best Years of our Lives as "unwatchable")
--E-mail from B. MacK "Unwatchable?"
The only thing that's unwatchable is your face...okay that insult sucks, but still.
I just saw your response to one of my posts, and rather than argue with a post of yours (because I can't think of anything to argue with) I'll defend my own selections.
1st--No, we didn't see Crash together. And I think you're wrong, I think many people will remember Crash in twenty years, not for being groundbreaking (and for the record, there really are only about 30 movies that are groundbreaking and good, not everything can be a new and exciting form), but, as I said, because we like to look back at where we have been in terms of racial relations, I don't think that Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is groundbreaking either, but what makes it stick is the subject matter, and great performances from three incredible actors, Crash doesn't have three great performances, to be fair it has about two above average ones (Dillon and Cheadle) and three or four middling to above middling ones (Ludacris (god that's embarrassing to write), Terrence Howard, Sandra Bullock).
2ndly-- "All Quiet on the Western Front and The Best Years of Our Lives, are both unwatchable." What are you on? I love those movies. They aren't above 85 on my list, but they are on my list. I think they are, by far, among the best war movies I've seen. Platoon is better, yes, so is Saving Private Ryan and Patton is excellent. But at least All Quiet and the Best Years have some middle ground to claim, they aren't ham fisted odes to the glory of the soldier, they're often ham-fisted odes to the pains of the soldier, yes, but the moments of greatest tenderness (I'm thinking here of Myrna Loy's speech in "Best Years") more than make up for the overwrought sentimentality (and to be fair, when isn't Hollywood sentimentality overwrought?) (I'm mostly shocked because I would classify The Postman as unwatchable, I would classify Reindeer Games as unwatchable. All Quiet and Best Years of our Lives aren't superb, but they certainly aren't unwatchable)
Finally--As per your last question to me: "Hasn't Hollywood made 85 better than above average movies?" Yes, but not 85 better than above average movies that last. Do you think anyone in 10 years is going to remember In the Company of Men besides me? Do you think anyone does remember In the Company of Men besides me? Thank you for Smoking? Playing by Heart? 6 Degrees of Separation? Bamboozled (despite the craptastic Damon Wayans)? What's up Doc? There are these movies. These good, lovable, but in no way lasting movies. Perhaps my intial list was playing things a little too safely, but if one of the things we're thinking about is enjoyablity for the populace at large, I'm not so sure I've got a whole lot of movies to add on.
So perhaps I would do well to rephrase this tirade in terms of a question. At what point does a movie that you like, really, really like, become better than a movie that is embraced, adored and cited as a golden example of fine film making by 75% of the rest of the world. As a demonstration of this question Princess Bride V.s. Some Like it Hot: A movie we both love, versus a movie we both feel is vastly overrated. A movie that already has lasted 20 years among people who see it and love it versus a movie that has lasted 60 years on reputation alone. Any thoughts? (besides the fact that I'm a big tool who should be working on his lesson plans instead of opining on what is and is not Unwatchable?)
Chat transcript from the same morning--
9:54 AM me: See my e-mail punk?
9:55 AM Brent: yeah, i'm just starting to read it. this's the kind of fiery, hate-filled response we need on the actual blog
me: I aim to be fiery and hate-filled.
9:57 AM Brent: okay, just finished reading your email
(you should post it on the site, by the way, if only to show that we're reading and responding to this stuff.)
9:58 AM anyway, as for unwatchableness--i don't know, movies with egregious sentimentality just bore me to no end. i'd rather even watch out-and-out bad movies, i think.
9:59 AM me: Really?
Well...I can see that.
I suppose for me sentimentality isn't as much a fault as gratuitous lionizing.
10:00 AM Tears over cheers (I was going to right tears over flags, but I thought I should go for the rhyme).
Brent: but, yeah, i don't know about the list. i mean, how can i make a list that's the 100 greatest movies of all time and not include the 100 movies i like best? what would be the point of doing it any other way? any other way, you just go, "well, everyone seems to like 2001: a space odyssey and it's endured for forty years. let's put that around number three." you know?
10:01 AM i mean, this list HAS to be subjective--not based on reputation. and, yes, "tears over cheers" is much better. always go for the rhyme!
me: I can see that. I just wonder about my own taste in these sorts of things.
10:02 AM I like Playing by heart. A movie that is not enjoyed by anyone other than me and one ex-girlfriend. What the hell do you do with that?
Brent: i think you've got pretty great taste
i think i do too
and even if we don't, if we're not willing to stick up for movies we like better than other movies, what're we doing?
10:03 AM then every movie you watch, you're just going, "i like this, yeah, but i'd better see what roger ebert or joel siegel said about it before i can fully enjoy it."
10:04 AM me: Fair point.
I can agree to that in terms of list making
After all, it's not like this is being seen by anyone other than us, now is it?
Brent: right, exactly. i think two and ONLY two people are reading this blog
10:06 AM i think the reason that critics' lists are useful is that they give you a starting point. if 98 percent of critics on rotten tomatoes like a movie, you at least know that movie probably won't suck. and, with very few exceptions, if a movie made afi's list of the 400 greatest american movies, you know it probably won't suck either.
10:07 AM (i will concede, as long as we're talking about the blog, that "all quiet on the western front" isn't unwatchable. long stretches of it are actually pretty great
10:08 AM i couldn't get through "the best years of our lives," though, i really couldn't
me: You just don't know the value of Myrna Loy do you?
Just fast forward through the stuff with young people.
Brent: no, i do, i do. and i know she's from montana and all that stuff.
me: It's all about Myrna and Fred Marsch.
Brent: it's just that i had to sift through so much nonsense to get to her
10:09 AM me: Fast forward, it's like reading the action of Scarlett Letter and nothing about "the custom's house."
Brent: i also watched it right around the time i'd watched both "mrs. miniver" and "how green was my valley," so i was feeling pretty pessimistic about the film industry as a whole
me: That would do it to you, yeah.
Give it another try and avoid the younguns.
young'uns.
10:10 AM Brent: have you seen those movies? now those movies, those movies are unbearable
me: I think I made it through 10 minutes of How Green was My Valley.
That was enough.
Brent: i will. i'll give it another try. that's how much faith i have in your putatively bad taste
me: I've got to go teach "To the Virgins is to make much of Time"
Thank you for trusting my putatively bad taste.
Brent: sounds hot
me: It's nice to know you'v egot friends.
10:11 AM Brent: i wish i could teach my class about virgins
me: I'm pretty sure my teaching will involve surviving the gales of giggles from 11th grade boys.
But you don't have any virgins left is that what you're saying?
Brent: precisely
bada-bing!
me: I will include more of my favorites and less of the stuff I grudgingly let on.
But just know that it will include a Jason Lee movie.
10:12 AM Brent: that's totally cool. i'll have some dubious stuff, too, plenty of it
if they were american, i'd probably include three pink panthers
me: I've got the Lion in Winter based on Katherine Hepburn alone.
Brent: i've never seen it all the way through
10:13 AM just bits here and there
me: Peter O'Toole baby! Peter O'Toole.
And on that note...Peter O'Toole to all y'all fools.
The Rube
--E-mail from B. MacK "Unwatchable?"
The only thing that's unwatchable is your face...okay that insult sucks, but still.
I just saw your response to one of my posts, and rather than argue with a post of yours (because I can't think of anything to argue with) I'll defend my own selections.
1st--No, we didn't see Crash together. And I think you're wrong, I think many people will remember Crash in twenty years, not for being groundbreaking (and for the record, there really are only about 30 movies that are groundbreaking and good, not everything can be a new and exciting form), but, as I said, because we like to look back at where we have been in terms of racial relations, I don't think that Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is groundbreaking either, but what makes it stick is the subject matter, and great performances from three incredible actors, Crash doesn't have three great performances, to be fair it has about two above average ones (Dillon and Cheadle) and three or four middling to above middling ones (Ludacris (god that's embarrassing to write), Terrence Howard, Sandra Bullock).
2ndly-- "All Quiet on the Western Front and The Best Years of Our Lives, are both unwatchable." What are you on? I love those movies. They aren't above 85 on my list, but they are on my list. I think they are, by far, among the best war movies I've seen. Platoon is better, yes, so is Saving Private Ryan and Patton is excellent. But at least All Quiet and the Best Years have some middle ground to claim, they aren't ham fisted odes to the glory of the soldier, they're often ham-fisted odes to the pains of the soldier, yes, but the moments of greatest tenderness (I'm thinking here of Myrna Loy's speech in "Best Years") more than make up for the overwrought sentimentality (and to be fair, when isn't Hollywood sentimentality overwrought?) (I'm mostly shocked because I would classify The Postman as unwatchable, I would classify Reindeer Games as unwatchable. All Quiet and Best Years of our Lives aren't superb, but they certainly aren't unwatchable)
Finally--As per your last question to me: "Hasn't Hollywood made 85 better than above average movies?" Yes, but not 85 better than above average movies that last. Do you think anyone in 10 years is going to remember In the Company of Men besides me? Do you think anyone does remember In the Company of Men besides me? Thank you for Smoking? Playing by Heart? 6 Degrees of Separation? Bamboozled (despite the craptastic Damon Wayans)? What's up Doc? There are these movies. These good, lovable, but in no way lasting movies. Perhaps my intial list was playing things a little too safely, but if one of the things we're thinking about is enjoyablity for the populace at large, I'm not so sure I've got a whole lot of movies to add on.
So perhaps I would do well to rephrase this tirade in terms of a question. At what point does a movie that you like, really, really like, become better than a movie that is embraced, adored and cited as a golden example of fine film making by 75% of the rest of the world. As a demonstration of this question Princess Bride V.s. Some Like it Hot: A movie we both love, versus a movie we both feel is vastly overrated. A movie that already has lasted 20 years among people who see it and love it versus a movie that has lasted 60 years on reputation alone. Any thoughts? (besides the fact that I'm a big tool who should be working on his lesson plans instead of opining on what is and is not Unwatchable?)
Chat transcript from the same morning--
9:54 AM me: See my e-mail punk?
9:55 AM Brent: yeah, i'm just starting to read it. this's the kind of fiery, hate-filled response we need on the actual blog
me: I aim to be fiery and hate-filled.
9:57 AM Brent: okay, just finished reading your email
(you should post it on the site, by the way, if only to show that we're reading and responding to this stuff.)
9:58 AM anyway, as for unwatchableness--i don't know, movies with egregious sentimentality just bore me to no end. i'd rather even watch out-and-out bad movies, i think.
9:59 AM me: Really?
Well...I can see that.
I suppose for me sentimentality isn't as much a fault as gratuitous lionizing.
10:00 AM Tears over cheers (I was going to right tears over flags, but I thought I should go for the rhyme).
Brent: but, yeah, i don't know about the list. i mean, how can i make a list that's the 100 greatest movies of all time and not include the 100 movies i like best? what would be the point of doing it any other way? any other way, you just go, "well, everyone seems to like 2001: a space odyssey and it's endured for forty years. let's put that around number three." you know?
10:01 AM i mean, this list HAS to be subjective--not based on reputation. and, yes, "tears over cheers" is much better. always go for the rhyme!
me: I can see that. I just wonder about my own taste in these sorts of things.
10:02 AM I like Playing by heart. A movie that is not enjoyed by anyone other than me and one ex-girlfriend. What the hell do you do with that?
Brent: i think you've got pretty great taste
i think i do too
and even if we don't, if we're not willing to stick up for movies we like better than other movies, what're we doing?
10:03 AM then every movie you watch, you're just going, "i like this, yeah, but i'd better see what roger ebert or joel siegel said about it before i can fully enjoy it."
10:04 AM me: Fair point.
I can agree to that in terms of list making
After all, it's not like this is being seen by anyone other than us, now is it?
Brent: right, exactly. i think two and ONLY two people are reading this blog
10:06 AM i think the reason that critics' lists are useful is that they give you a starting point. if 98 percent of critics on rotten tomatoes like a movie, you at least know that movie probably won't suck. and, with very few exceptions, if a movie made afi's list of the 400 greatest american movies, you know it probably won't suck either.
10:07 AM (i will concede, as long as we're talking about the blog, that "all quiet on the western front" isn't unwatchable. long stretches of it are actually pretty great
10:08 AM i couldn't get through "the best years of our lives," though, i really couldn't
me: You just don't know the value of Myrna Loy do you?
Just fast forward through the stuff with young people.
Brent: no, i do, i do. and i know she's from montana and all that stuff.
me: It's all about Myrna and Fred Marsch.
Brent: it's just that i had to sift through so much nonsense to get to her
10:09 AM me: Fast forward, it's like reading the action of Scarlett Letter and nothing about "the custom's house."
Brent: i also watched it right around the time i'd watched both "mrs. miniver" and "how green was my valley," so i was feeling pretty pessimistic about the film industry as a whole
me: That would do it to you, yeah.
Give it another try and avoid the younguns.
young'uns.
10:10 AM Brent: have you seen those movies? now those movies, those movies are unbearable
me: I think I made it through 10 minutes of How Green was My Valley.
That was enough.
Brent: i will. i'll give it another try. that's how much faith i have in your putatively bad taste
me: I've got to go teach "To the Virgins is to make much of Time"
Thank you for trusting my putatively bad taste.
Brent: sounds hot
me: It's nice to know you'v egot friends.
10:11 AM Brent: i wish i could teach my class about virgins
me: I'm pretty sure my teaching will involve surviving the gales of giggles from 11th grade boys.
But you don't have any virgins left is that what you're saying?
Brent: precisely
bada-bing!
me: I will include more of my favorites and less of the stuff I grudgingly let on.
But just know that it will include a Jason Lee movie.
10:12 AM Brent: that's totally cool. i'll have some dubious stuff, too, plenty of it
if they were american, i'd probably include three pink panthers
me: I've got the Lion in Winter based on Katherine Hepburn alone.
Brent: i've never seen it all the way through
10:13 AM just bits here and there
me: Peter O'Toole baby! Peter O'Toole.
And on that note...Peter O'Toole to all y'all fools.
The Rube
Sunday, February 18, 2007
5 & 5
5 Near Misses
Fight Club--If there were a college-guy-pseudo-philosophical-film-institute out there, you’d be looking at a shoe-in for the top ten. Dark, haunting, with stellar performances from Ed Norton and Brad Pitt it is a fascinating look at the seriously scary undercurrent of violence in young men today.
Crash--It’s not a great film, nothing that waffles as ridiculously as this film does can be, but it’s more than a morality tale about racism. It’s a reflection of contemporary culture that may be as relevant in the future as Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? are now (though with much less nuance and groundbreaking film techniques).
From Here to Eternity-- Two great love stories and Frank Sinatra in the arch-type forming romantic-comedy-best-friend role are nice. But for god’s sake, did you really need three hours?
Groundhog Day--A touch of slapstick, a bit of black comedy, a lot of witty dialogue and Bill Murray in tour de force form. Best of all, it keeps a touch of reality, he still snarks at the people he helps. Only Andy McDowell’s woodiness stops it from real greatness.
Mutiny on the Bounty--Heavy handed, sure. But if you can watch this without getting pumped up for Clark Gable, you’re without a pulse. If you can explain why all Polynesians are white and speak in perfect English, you’re a genius.
Honorable Mention
Good night and Good Luck--a nice way to make a political statement (see Crucible, The)
The Usual Suspects--a knockout thriller with great Kevin Spacy
Mutiny on the Bounty--Heavy handed, sure. But if you can watch this without getting pumped up for Clark Gable, you’re without a pulse. If you can explain why all Polynesians are white and speak in perfect English, you’re a genius.
Honorable Mention
Good night and Good Luck--a nice way to make a political statement (see Crucible, The)
The Usual Suspects--a knockout thriller with great Kevin Spacy
Dogma-A neat little morality play disguised as bathroom humor (or vice versa)
Memento-A nifty trick, a thrilling who dunnit, and tattoos apleanty.
Memento-A nifty trick, a thrilling who dunnit, and tattoos apleanty.
5 Gladly Omitted
Rebel Without a Cause--One of my least favorite things about movies: the undying adoration of James Dean. This is held up as his masterpiece. But he’s not the title character, and what’s more he’s so freaking whiny even as a teenager I wanted to smack him around.
Duck Soup--Perhaps it was funny its day, today the plot is ridiculously disjointed, the one-liners come off as surreal, and some of the jokes are flat out racist.
Giant--If you’re going to make a 3 hour long movie about life on a Texas oil ranch, you should have some compelling personalities. Instead this features: Rock Hudson, moaning, Elizabeth Taylor in her standard, strong, yet sensitive debutante role, and James Dean doing the only thing he ever does in movies: pout.
Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind--A masterpiece of special effects magic? There for two sequences with the spaceship, and they aren’t even impressive compared to others of the day. (The best part for me was when Richard Dryffeus’ wife left him, summarizing my feelings about the movie as a whole.)
2001: A Space Odyssey--As Brent has said, “I think you have to watch it on meth or LSD or something.” That something might just be crap. The whole move is crap. Crap acting. Crap story. Crap metaphysical bullshit at the end. Crap.
Dishonorable Mention
Philadelphia Story--okay concept, but, it’s crap,
Grease--pop crap.
Something about Mary--disgusting crap.
Last Tango in Paris--disgusting sexual crap.
Philadelphia Story--okay concept, but, it’s crap,
Grease--pop crap.
Something about Mary--disgusting crap.
Last Tango in Paris--disgusting sexual crap.
The ground rules
Each member of this site will be trying (as best as they can during hours they should be spending studying, teaching or working) to set forward a list of the 100 best movies they know.
They were each given the list of 400 for review, and have the option of including up to 10 personal selections that AFI forgot in order to make room for Grease.
But rather than starting off with the full list, we're going to start with 10 movies that didn't make the grade. 5 we love, and 5 we absolutely can't stand.
--Rube
They were each given the list of 400 for review, and have the option of including up to 10 personal selections that AFI forgot in order to make room for Grease.
But rather than starting off with the full list, we're going to start with 10 movies that didn't make the grade. 5 we love, and 5 we absolutely can't stand.
--Rube
Monday, February 05, 2007
The Gang
For those who don't know, here's a little guide to the people who will be posting in this space in the coming days/weeks/months/nanoseconds.
"Edemame"--The ex-striker turned Lawyer-to-be has a long track record of performance both on the pitch, in the classroom, and on the stage. Unfortunately, this blog is neither the pitch, nor the classroom, nor the stage, and his writing is likely to be peppered with both angry shouts at drunken Bears fans near his Chicago apartment and Aaron Sorkin references.
("It was oregano Dave, it was a dime bag worth of oregano.")
"Petercrouchgeneticanomolies"--Months ahead of his time, the poet/critic spotted what no one else did years before last year's world cup: "Peter Crouch really isn't very good" (dorm room conversation with a rabid Liverpool fan, 2005). He has already spotted a number of things about this year's AFI list: "These people are idiots." (A reference to the inclusion of Spider-Man 2 and There's Something About Mary in the 400 potential nominees) Count on more sterling insight in the time ahead.
"Likethesolid"--After being sequestered in such faraway places as Martinique; Hall, Montana; and San Francisco, California, The solidest of solids has emerged from hiding to dispense her wisdom upon the world. Ever the globetrotter, her comments will come interspersed with insights into the world around her and pleas for people to buy tours from her San Francisco educational vacation company.
"Montannie 37"--Straight out of the mean streets of Potomac, MT and Mussoorie, INDIA (no, cool abbreviation to be had there) "Montannie 37" knows a thing or two about movies. They are entertaining and compressed into frames of film. She actually knows more than that, but will need to educate young minds about the wonders of Beethoven, Bach and Brahms before focusing on the wonders of Sandler, Spade and Schnieder.
"AceCClax6"--The first newbie to post, AceCClax6 is a bad mother...oh, I'm sorry I'll shut my mouth. In the wake of yesterday's Super Bowl you may wish to revisit his post regarding the pointlessness of life around Chicago Bears fans (or maybe not, if you're a Chicago Bears fan/player/owner/cheerleader/hot dog vendor, see the January Posts under: "DAAAA Bears: Aw, who cares.") An aspiring actor, he is sure to include critiques of the fine work turned in by the luminaries on his 100 list, and more than a few comments about how even Bette Davis could be a better quarterback than Rex Grossman.
"Ben MacKenzie"--One heck of a pseudiddlyudonym
Now that you know our players, we hope you enjoy our game/pointless blatherings into the ether.
--BM
"Edemame"--The ex-striker turned Lawyer-to-be has a long track record of performance both on the pitch, in the classroom, and on the stage. Unfortunately, this blog is neither the pitch, nor the classroom, nor the stage, and his writing is likely to be peppered with both angry shouts at drunken Bears fans near his Chicago apartment and Aaron Sorkin references.
("It was oregano Dave, it was a dime bag worth of oregano.")
"Petercrouchgeneticanomolies"--Months ahead of his time, the poet/critic spotted what no one else did years before last year's world cup: "Peter Crouch really isn't very good" (dorm room conversation with a rabid Liverpool fan, 2005). He has already spotted a number of things about this year's AFI list: "These people are idiots." (A reference to the inclusion of Spider-Man 2 and There's Something About Mary in the 400 potential nominees) Count on more sterling insight in the time ahead.
"Likethesolid"--After being sequestered in such faraway places as Martinique; Hall, Montana; and San Francisco, California, The solidest of solids has emerged from hiding to dispense her wisdom upon the world. Ever the globetrotter, her comments will come interspersed with insights into the world around her and pleas for people to buy tours from her San Francisco educational vacation company.
"Montannie 37"--Straight out of the mean streets of Potomac, MT and Mussoorie, INDIA (no, cool abbreviation to be had there) "Montannie 37" knows a thing or two about movies. They are entertaining and compressed into frames of film. She actually knows more than that, but will need to educate young minds about the wonders of Beethoven, Bach and Brahms before focusing on the wonders of Sandler, Spade and Schnieder.
"AceCClax6"--The first newbie to post, AceCClax6 is a bad mother...oh, I'm sorry I'll shut my mouth. In the wake of yesterday's Super Bowl you may wish to revisit his post regarding the pointlessness of life around Chicago Bears fans (or maybe not, if you're a Chicago Bears fan/player/owner/cheerleader/hot dog vendor, see the January Posts under: "DAAAA Bears: Aw, who cares.") An aspiring actor, he is sure to include critiques of the fine work turned in by the luminaries on his 100 list, and more than a few comments about how even Bette Davis could be a better quarterback than Rex Grossman.
"Ben MacKenzie"--One heck of a pseudiddlyudonym
Now that you know our players, we hope you enjoy our game/pointless blatherings into the ether.
--BM
A complete waste of time
No, not my personal life. Below is the American Film Institute's latest foray into MEGA LISTS! Ten years after their first "100 Years" Series, they are back with 400 more candidates for the new list (much like the British Film Institute).
Given my natural predilection for listing things, I am reviving the long dormant Montana Hooligans' Debate Center for a good ol' fashioned throw down over your 100 favorite movies of all time (as selected from the list below plus a maximum of 10 movies of your own choosing). Your old favorites, "edemame" and "petercrouchgeneticanomalies," are back and I'll be introducing the rest of the crew very soon. So stay tuned for something that matters not at all.
To see the list in it's entirety with synopses and featured casts, click on the AFI link below and sign up to be an AFI member. Or be a lazy moog, and read the list I painstakingly copied out for you here.
More soon.
--The Rube
P.s. I apologize in advance for the length of the post below, try as I might I could not put more than one title on a line.
Given my natural predilection for listing things, I am reviving the long dormant Montana Hooligans' Debate Center for a good ol' fashioned throw down over your 100 favorite movies of all time (as selected from the list below plus a maximum of 10 movies of your own choosing). Your old favorites, "edemame" and "petercrouchgeneticanomalies," are back and I'll be introducing the rest of the crew very soon. So stay tuned for something that matters not at all.
To see the list in it's entirety with synopses and featured casts, click on the AFI link below and sign up to be an AFI member. Or be a lazy moog, and read the list I painstakingly copied out for you here.
More soon.
--The Rube
P.s. I apologize in advance for the length of the post below, try as I might I could not put more than one title on a line.
The List
Ace in the Hole
Adams Rib
Adventures of Robin Hood, The
Affair to Remember, An
African Queen, The
Airplane
Alien
All About Eve
All Quiet on the Western Front
All That Jazz
All the King's Men
All the President's Men
Amadeus
American Beauty
American Graffitti
American in Paris, An
Annie Hall
Apartment, The
Apocolypse Now
Appollo 13
As Good as it Gets
Atlantic City
Austin Powers
Aviator, The
Awful Truth, The
Babe
Back to the Future
Badlands
Bambi
Bandwagon, The
Bank Dick, The
Beau Geste
Beautiful Mind, A
Beauty and the Beast
Being John Malkovich
Ben-Hur (26)
Ben-Hur (59)
Best Years of our Lives, The
Big
Big Chill, The
Big Parade, The
Big Sleep, The
Birds, The
Birth of a Nation, The
Blackboard Jungle
Blade Runner
Blazing Saddles
Blue Velvet
Bonnie & Clyde
Boogie Nights
Born on the Fourth of July
Boyz in the Hood
Braveheart
Brazil
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Breakfast Club, The
Breaking Away
Bridge on the River Kwai
Bringing up Baby
Broadcast News
Brokeback Mountain
Broken Blossoms
Bull Durham
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Cabaret
Cabin in the Sky
Camille
Carrie
Casablanca
Cat Ballou
Cat People
Chariots of Fire
Cheat, The
Chicago
Chinatown
Christmas Story, A
Cinderella
Citizen Kane
City Lights
Clockwork Orange, A
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Color Purple, The
Coming Home
Conversation, The
Cool Hand Luke
Crash
Crowd, The
Dances with Wolves
Day the Earth Stood Still, The
Days of Heaven
Days of Wine and Roses
Dead Poets Society
Deer Hunter, The
Defiant Ones, The
Deliverance
Destry Rides Again
Diary of Anne Frank, The
Die Hard
Dirty Harry
Do the Right Thing
Doctor Zhivago
Dodsworth
Dog Day Afternoon
Double Indemnity
Dr. Strangelove
Driving Miss Daisy
Duck Soup
E.T.
Easy Rider
Empire Strikes Back, The
English Patient, The
Erin Brokovich
Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind
Exorcist, The
Face in the Crowd, A
Fantasia
Fargo
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fatal Attraction
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Field of Dreams
Fight Club
Finding Nemo
Five Easy Pieces
Force of Evil
Forrest Gump
42nd Street
Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse, The
Frankenstien
Freaks
French Connection, The
Freshman, The
From Here to Eternity
Funny Girl
Fury
Gandhi
General, The
Gentleman's Agreement
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Ghostbusters
Giant
Gigi
Gilda
Gladiator
Glory
Godfather, The
Godfather Part II, The
Going My Way
Gold Rush, The
Goldfinger
Gone with the Wind
Good Night, and Good Luck
Good Will Hunting
Goodbye Mr. Chips
Goodfellas
Graduate, The
Grand Hotel
Grapes of Wrath, The
Grease
Great Dictator, The
Great Escape, The
Greed
Groundhog Day
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Gun Crazy
Gunga Din
Halloween
Harold and Maude
Harry Potter (Azkaban)
Heiress
High Noon
His Girl Friday
Hoosiers
Hotel Rwanda
Hours, The
How Green Was My Valley
Hustler, The
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
In the Heat of the Night
Insider, The
Intolerance
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
It Happened One Night
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
It's a Wondeful Life
Jaws
Jazz Singer, The
Jerry Maguire
Jezebel
Jurassic Park
Kid, The
Killing Fields, The
King and I, the
King Kong
King of Comedy, The
Kramer Vs. Kramer
L.A. Confidential
Lady Eve, The
Last Emperor, The
Last Picture Show, The
Last Tango in Paris
Laura
Lawrence of Arabia
Life of Emile Zola
Lion King, The
Little Caesar
Little Foxes
Longest Day, The
LOTR (Fellowship)
LOTR (Towers)
LOTR (Return)
Lost Horizon
Lost in Translation
Lost Weekend, The
Love Story
M*A*S*H
Magnificent Ambersons, The
Maltese Falcon, The
Man for all Seasons, A
Man who Would be King, The
Manchurian Candiate, The
Manhattan
Marty
Mary Poppins
Matrix, The
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Mean Streets
Meet Me in St. Louis
Memento
Midnight Cowboy
Mildred Pierce
Million Dollar Baby
Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The
Miracle on 34th Street
Modern Times
Moonstruck
Moulin Rouge!
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mrs. Miniver
Mutiny on the Bounty
My Darling Clementine
My Fair Lady
My Man Godfrey
Mystic River
Nashville
National Lampoon's Animal House
Network
Night at the Opera, A
Night of the Hunter, The
Night of the Living Dead
Ninotchka
North By Northwest
Notorious
Now, Voyager
On Golden Pond
On the Waterfront
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ordinary People
Out of Africa
Out of the Past
Outlaw Josey Wales, The
Ox-Bow Incident, The
Paths of Glory
Patton
Phantom of the Opera, The
Philadelphia
Philadelphia Story, The
Pillow Talk
Pinnocchio
Pirates of the Caribbean
Place in the Sun, A
Planet of the Apes, The
Platoon
Poor Little Rich Girl, The
Porgy and Bess
Postman Always Rings Twice, The
Pride of the Yankees, The
Producers, The
Psycho
Public Enemy, The
Pulp Fiction
Queen Christina
Quiet Man, The
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark, The
Rain Man
Raisin in the Sun, A
Ray
Rear Window
Rebecca
Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Reds
Requiem for a Dream
Return of the Secaucus 7
Right Stuff, The
Risky Business
Road to Morocco
Rocky
Rocky Horror Picture Show, The
Roman Holiday
Rosemary's Baby
Rushmore
Safety Last
Saturday Night Fever
Saving Private Ryan
Scarface: The Shame of a Nation
Scarlet Empress, The
Schindler's List
Searchers, The
Sense and Sensibility
Sergeant York
Sex, Lies and Videotape
Shadow of a Doubt
Shakespeare in Love
Shane
Shawshank Redemption, The
She Done Him Wrong
Sherlock Jr.
Shining, The
Shrek
Sideways
Silence of the Lambs, The
Singin' in the Rain
Sixth Sense, The
Sleeper
Sleepless in Seattle
Snow White and the 7 Dwarves
Some Like it Hot
Sons of the Desert
Sophie's Choice
Sound of Music, The
Sounder
Spartacus
Spider-Man 2
Spleandor in the Grass
Stagecoach
Stalag 17
Stand By Me
Star is Born, A
Star Wars
Sting, The
Stormy Weather
Stranger than Paradise
Strangers on a Train
Streetcar Named Desire, A
Sullivan's Travels
Sunrise
Sunset Blvd.
Sweet Smell of Success, The
Swing Time
Taxi Driver
Ten Commandments, The
Terminator 2
Terms of Endearment
Thelma & Louise
There's Something About Mary
Thief of Bagdad, The
Thin Man, The
Thing from Another World, The
Third Man, The
This is Spinal Tap
Three Kings
Titanic
To Be or Not To Be
To Have and Have Not
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tootsie
Top Hat
Touch of Evil
Toy Story
Traffic
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The
Trouble in Paradise
12 Angry Men
Twelve O'Clock High
2001: A Space Odyssey
Unforgiven
Usual Suspects, The
Vertigo
Way We Were, The
West Side Story
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
When Harry Met Sally…
White Heat
Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?
Wild Bunch, The
Winchester '73
Wind, The
Wings
Witness
Wizard of Oz, The
Woman of the Year
Woman Under the Influence, A
Wuthering Heights
Yankee Doodle Dandy
You Can't Take it With You
Young Frankenstein
Young Mr. Lincoln
Monday, January 22, 2007
DAAAAAAAAA BEARS!!!! ahh who cares?
So as I was working on an 8-10 dramaturgical textual analysis of True West by Sam Shepard. The dorms were filled with calls like DA BEARS, REX YOU FUCK NUT!!! and of course DITKA I WANT YOUR MAN-BABIES. I realized something playoff football is really the only time to watch. Really playoff time for any professional sport these days is the only time to watch. It's that time when ignorant buisness men and women suddenly realize "oh shit we have a good team" and they proceed to get decked out it their teams colors for a couple of weeks then through those souveniers in the closet till the next time thier team reappears in the playoffs. It also seems unfair to those loyal fans through thick and thin who have to watch thier team from the bar because they can't get seats because of those wealthy buisnessmen and women. So I ask you why can't we televise sporting events where every single game is sold out like...dare I say it...Soccer. I know I know it may seem radical but I think if we can start to look at the sports that aren't getting all the publicity that the major leaugue ones are maybe lacrosse, soccer, and of course college sports I think the more people can appreciate team spirit because those are the games that are the most exciting to watch. Then I realized it was 2:40 in the morning and I only had 4 pages done, so who cares?
How's that for my first post there smellypants
How's that for my first post there smellypants
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Don't Call it a Comeback
I'm not sure why I latched on to that LL Cool J song with such a fervor but lord knows that I have.
The Montanan Hooligans' Debate Center, so long a dormant and insignificant speck in the gigantic universe of cosmic nothingness that is "blogger.com" is at last ready to make it's grand re-entry.
Once again we are prepared to take on all comers for the title of "Least Important Website On the Internet."
Once again we are prepared to howl our opinions into the eternal ether of time and space only to be greeted by a loud, wet "Pbbbbbt."
Watch this space in the coming weeks for a spirited--or at least, moronic--debate over the 100 greatest films in the American Film cannon. Brent McCafferty, the adorable scamp who so ably mocked Ronaldo with something other than "Fatty", will be back and I will do my level best to involve others of an equal ability. Once the monkey's at typewriters idea fails, I will contact good friends of ours with a similar love of film to engage in witty verbal repartee whilst Brent and I sit back repeating: "Dude, 2001: A Space Odyssey sucked," again and again.
The American Film institute will release a new list of the 100 greatest movies of all time this summer, but why wait for that list when you can laugh at the idiocy of Montanan Expatriate yokels.
We'll be speaking again soon to you, oh bottomless receptacle of all things totally unnecessary, you ol' vacuous nothingness you.
Ben
P.s. I got a word of the day calendar for Christmas...can you tell?
The Montanan Hooligans' Debate Center, so long a dormant and insignificant speck in the gigantic universe of cosmic nothingness that is "blogger.com" is at last ready to make it's grand re-entry.
Once again we are prepared to take on all comers for the title of "Least Important Website On the Internet."
Once again we are prepared to howl our opinions into the eternal ether of time and space only to be greeted by a loud, wet "Pbbbbbt."
Watch this space in the coming weeks for a spirited--or at least, moronic--debate over the 100 greatest films in the American Film cannon. Brent McCafferty, the adorable scamp who so ably mocked Ronaldo with something other than "Fatty", will be back and I will do my level best to involve others of an equal ability. Once the monkey's at typewriters idea fails, I will contact good friends of ours with a similar love of film to engage in witty verbal repartee whilst Brent and I sit back repeating: "Dude, 2001: A Space Odyssey sucked," again and again.
The American Film institute will release a new list of the 100 greatest movies of all time this summer, but why wait for that list when you can laugh at the idiocy of Montanan Expatriate yokels.
We'll be speaking again soon to you, oh bottomless receptacle of all things totally unnecessary, you ol' vacuous nothingness you.
Ben
P.s. I got a word of the day calendar for Christmas...can you tell?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)