Mary Poppins

Songs - Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious (#36); Musicals (#6)

Another of my all-time favorites. It's delightful. It's fun to sing along with, and it's got Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, two of the very best.

Tip of the top, cream of the crop, it's Mary Poppins and there we stop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic

The Birth of a Nation

Top 100 (#44); Stars - Lillian Gish (#17)

Wow. I don't even know what to say. Even taking into cosideration the era in hich this was made, it is extremely racist. The storyline, with the KKK being the heroes, and the way blacks are portrayed are very offensive.

I'm sure it made the list (but notably not the revised edition) because of its cinematic contribution. It was the first epic. Three hours (yes, three!) of silent movie melodrama.

My favorite part - the twenty minutes or so that I watched with my sister, when we made fun of the acting and inserted our own dialogue.

I know this clip isn't from Birth of a Nation, but it's Civil War-y, so here you go -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79eIUM4w0PU

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Top 100 (#60/66); Thrills (#10); Heroes - Indiana Jones (#2)

Without a doubt, the best action movie ever made. Many have tried to copy it, but nobody has succeeded. Raiders has it all - a dashing hero, adventure, suspense, humor, an amazing score, dastardly villains.

I love, love, love this movie.

And this is my favorite scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_Ds2ytz4o

This Is Spinal Tap

Laughs (#29)

Before there was The Office, there was Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner's mockumentary about a fictional heavy metal band. It's different, quirky, and yes, funny. Michael McKean (Lenny from Laverne & Shirley) and Christopher Guest (The Princess Bride's six-fingered man) star and are great as tripped-out rockers.

Reiner took a chance on this unique movie, and it paid off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7rWiY5obI

The Sixth Sense

Top 100 (#89 - revised); Thrills (#60); Quotes - "I see dead people" (#44)

Haley Joel Osment is terrific in this movie. He draws the audience in and makes them feel sorry for this lonely, scared little boy.

M. Night Shamalan is one of the few writer/directors today who gets that you can tell a compelling story without sex or strong language. And he keeps his audience on the edge of their seats.

I figured it out about 2/3 of the way through, but I still really liked the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6X3JomOOzY

Notorious

Thrills (#38); Stars - Cary Grant (#2), Ingrid Bergman (#4); Passions (#86)

Cary Grant is suave and Ingrid Bergman is beautiful and mysterious in this Alfred Hitchcock spy movie. And it all just leaves me wishing they could make movies like this now - romance and action without all the sex and violence. We didn't need that 60 years ago. Why do movie makers think we need it today?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6CbrTPsuE0

Amadeus

Top 100 (#53)

I liked this movie better than I thought I would. I think it's because it avoids pretentiousness by using humor and contemporary language. The music, of course, was beautiful - although at times it was hard to hear the dialogue over it.

Tom Hulce's '80s California boy hair looked out of place, as did the actress playing Frau Mozart. But all in all, it worked.

...And now I have Falco stuck in my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVikZ8Oe_XA&ob=av2n

High Noon

Top 100 (#33/27); Thrills (#20); Score (#10); Stars - Gary Cooper (#11), Grace Kelly (#13); Cheers (#10); Songs - Do Not Forsake Me... (#25); Heroes - Will Kane (#5); Top Ten - Western (#2)

High Noon is about a man who wants to stand up for what he believes is right, despite the objections of just about everybody. Gary Cooper plays Will Kane with the quiet certainty that he does best. I had some issues with his wife, Amy, though. As a Quaker, she objects to any kind of fighting. Fine, but she fails to understand the man she married. She expects him to be less than he is, on the grounds that she wants it that way. He's not a Quaker, and she stands in the way of him standing up for what he believes.

Overall, very good movie. And now, instead of Axel F, I have Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling stuck in my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4a_1UhwgFU&feature=related

The Color Purple

Stars - Whoopi Goldberg (current); Cheers (#51)

This is the story of a black woman in the South in the early 1900s. It's about her struggles within and without.

In all honesty, I probably would have liked it better had I not seen it and read the book as part of a woman in literature class. The professor was a man-hating feminist, and that strongly affected my memories of this film.

The acting was good, though, and the story was compelling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqfuzkeCJ8k

9 to 5

Laughs (#74); Stars - Lily Tomlin (current); Songs - 9 to 5 (#78)

I was disappointed in this movie. Made at the height of the women's movement, and with the stars that it had, I expected it to be a statement against chauvenism. Instead it was a farce. It should have been about three strong women who take a stand against their sexist boss. And it was, in a way. But then it disintegrated into a stupid comedy about their ineptitude, their failure to think things through, and their lack of life experience.

It was a movie that could, and should, have been much better than it was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVKTZ4CEM90

Beverly Hills Cop

Laughs (#63)

Eddie Murphy is one of the few Saturday Night Live alumni to have given up playing high school-type characters. He's embraced the fact that he's older now, and has moved on to comedic roles in Mulan and Daddy Daycare and more serious movies like Dream Girls (in which he was excellent, by the way).
But before he grew up, he was Axel Foley. That laugh, that smile, that foul mouth. All of that was vintage Eddie Murphy, and he's at his best in Beverly Hills Cop. One of my all time favorite comedies.
Oh, and Paul Reiser's in it, too - yay!
AND it has the Axel F. song (which is now stuck in my head)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu9jFLM6lec

AND if you cut ahead to about 2:39, Ross Geller knows the Axel F. theme, too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU39sqEQOms&feature=related

All About Eve

Top 100 (#16/28); Stars - Bette Davis (#2); Quotes - "Fasten your seat belts..." (#9); Villains - Eve Harrington (#23)

Stage star Margo Channing hires Eve, an adoring fan, as her assistant. But before she knows it, Eve is trying to steal Margo's career.

The acting is campy, the script is melodramatic, but All About Eve is still entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-ckMup6SI

Finding Nemo

Top Ten - Animated (#10)

A delightful, funny movie that appeals to all ages, Finding Nemo is the story of a father who will do anything to find his lost son. Nemo is sweet, although a bit long (Pixar never seems to remember that a large part of their audience is younger than 6 and can't sit still for more than 75 minutes). And Ellen DeGeneres, as Dory, is hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqDZf3smobI

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Laughs (#72); Stars - Cary Grant (#2)

Humor always works best when the audience can relate to it, and the premise of Mr. Blandings is one that most people have experienced in one form or another. You start on a simple $50 home improvement project...next thing you know, you've spent $500, have a big hole in your wall, and are calling a professional.

Such is the case in this movie. The New York family sets to move to a quaint home in Connecticut and before long the bill is increasing by hundreds and thousands of dollars.

Cary Grant was one of those actors who moved seamlessly from comedy to drama, doing both with suave sophistication. Whichever he was doing it's well worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRsp3OqsHS4&feature=related

The Maltese Falcon

Top 100 (#23/31); Thrills (#26); Stars - Humphrey Bogart (#1); Quotes - "The stuff that dreams are made of" (#14); Top Ten - Mystery (#6)

Ok, to be perfectly honest, this isn't going to be much of a review. I saw this movie ten years ago or more and I don't remember much of it. I remember that I liked it overall, but not enough to feel compelled to watch it again, especially when I have so many others that I haven't seen yet.

I do know that Humphrey Bogart is wonderful, and that I probably loved the 1940s clothes, and that I think people should wear hats, because people treated each other better when they all wore hats and dressed nicely.

And that's my review of The Maltese Falcon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O-dQ_Bnpyk

The Graduate

Top 100 (#7/17); Laughs (#9); Stars - Dustin Hoffman (current); Quotes - "Plastics" (#42), "...You're trying to seduce me..." (#63); Songs - Mrs. Robinson (#6); Passions (#52)

It's a movie about an affair, very much not my kind of movie. But that wasn't the only reason I didn't like it. Despite the excellent acting, the characters (with the exception of the beautiful Katherine Ross) were absolutely unappealing. They were shallow, whiny people who wanted everybody else to think they were victims. They went through life with no thought whatsover of consequences. (Case in point - when Mr. Robinson tells Benjamin that he knows about the affair, and that he and Mrs. Robinson are getting a divorce, Benjamin exclaims "But why?!" Why?!)

Side note - I thought it was funny that William Daniels was playing Dustin Hoffman's dad. I like him ever so much better as Mr. Feeney.

Rain Man

Stars - Dustin Hoffman (current); Cheers (#63)

Tom Cruise plays, well, Tom Cruise. The exact same self-centered, self-focused, doesn't-give-a-crap-about-anyone-else character that he plays in every other movie (ok, to be honest, I haven't seen a Tom Cruise movie since Mission: Impossible, but I really doubt he's changed). But despite the fact that he's playing himself yet again, it works. And the reason it works is Dustin Hoffman.

This is Dustin Hoffman's movie. Made at a time when mainstream America knew very little about autism, Hoffman creates a sympathetic character. Despite the routines and twitches of Raymond, Hoffman avoids turning him into a caricature and makes him somebody we all love. And because of that, it's a movie worth seeing.

Titanic

Top 100 (revised - #83); Thrills (#25); Quotes - "...King of the world!" (#100); Songs - My Heart Will Go On (#14); Passions (#37); Top Ten - Epics (#6)

Looking at this as strictly a historical movie, I liked it. The costuming, the set design, the effects were all impressive. The movie did a good job portraying the class distinctions and the terror of the sinking ship. I cried at the shots of the Strauss couple and of the mother and her children as the ship went down. Very emotional, very well done.

But then there were Jack and Rose. And I think I would have been happier without the human interest angle. Rose was unlikeable, as was just about everybody in her circle. And I was not the least bit enamored by their love story. She was looking for an escape from her life, not a romance, and so I didn't really care that they didn't end up together. Oh well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yX2KV3WyH8&feature=related

Singin' in the Rain

Top 100 (#10/5); Laughs (#16); Stars - Gene Kelly (#15); Songs - Singing in the Rain (#3), Make 'Em Laugh (#49), Good Morning (#72); Passions (#16); Musicals (#1)
When I watch this movie, I'm happy again. Debbie Reynolds is cute and sweet, Donald O'Connor is the perfect comic sidekick, and Gene Kelly - he's so fine (doo lang doo lang doo lang). And Jean Hagen, I loved her, too. Except for the ballet sequence in the middle, everything about this movie works.
The songs are sing-alongable, which every musical's songs should be. Make 'Em Laugh and Moses Supposes are delightful, You Were Meant for Me is romantic (although every time I hear it I think of Gene Kelly singing it with Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show - "I was meant for vou, Gene!").
And then there's Singing in the Rain. The great Gene Kelly at his absolute best. Gene Kelly never danced - he glided. He moved with such ease and grace and sophistication that it appeared absolutely effortless. Watch him with Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, or Cyd Charisse. They were good, no doubt about it. But you can tell they're dancing. With Kelly, he's simply moving, just like breathing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ
I like this version, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXtd7xq7URM
What a glorious feeling!

North By Northwest

Top 100 (#40/55); Thrills (#4); Stars - Cary Grant (#2), Martin Landau (current); Top Ten - Mystery (#8)

There should be a law that says every dictionary should have Cary Grant's picture next to the word "suave".

Hitchcock's movie does everything right. It's got mystery, suspense, tension. And, of course, Cary Grant.

One question though: Why does the arrow on the movie poster point north by northeast?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g458w2X9uHc

Holiday Inn

Stars - Fred Astaire (#5); Songs - White Christmas (#5)
I love the premise of this movie - an inn that is only open on holidays. And they prepare special entertainment for that specific holiday. It's just fun!
But of course, the highlight of the movie is Bing Crosby singing, for the first time, White Christmas. It would have been a wonderful song anyways, and most likely a classic, but it was definitely helped along by the fact that it was written during wartime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWfyaLESG84&feature=related

The Court Jester

Laughs (#98)

Yes, Adam Sandler and David Spade, William Shakespeare did use his share of bathroom humor in his plays. But note that I said "his share". It was a side gag, not the crux of the story. Many of Shakespeare's comedies centered around mistaken identity. And you know, that is ever so much more appealing than fart jokes.
The Court Jester is good, clean fun. A delightful change of pace from today's sophomoric comedies. And Danny Kaye is one of my all time favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6OYGEoWKYk

8 Mile

Song - Lose Yourself (#93)

Since I grew up in what could probably be described as a Brady Bunch world, the setting, characters, and plot of this movie are all pretty unfamiliar to me. However, in an effort to expand my horizons, I read a biography of Eminem a few years ago. 8 Mile does a pretty good job of bringing all that to life. The movie is well acted and well made. Mekhi Phifer looks about as un-Dr. Pratt as he could be, but he plays his role well. Kim Basinger made me want to slap her, but I think that was the point. Overall, I could have done without the swearing, but it really wasn't a surprise.

Misery

Stars - James Caan (current star - not numbered); Villains - Annie Wilkes (#13)
My seventeen-year-old said this wasn't scary. Really? Were we watching the same movie? Predictable? Yes, pretty much. But Kathy Bates going from sickeningly sweet to a psychotic rage? Heck, yeah, it was scary.
Somehow this movie failed to make the 100 Thrills list. And yet 2001 did. Go figure.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Top 100 (#22/15); Thrills (#40); Cheers (#47); Quotes - "Open the pod bay doors..." (#78); Villains - HAL (#13); Top Ten Science Fiction (#1)
I'll be the first to admit that science fiction isn't my thing. However, I went into this with an open mind. And my prevailing thought as I watched the movie was "I am SO glad I didn't have to pay to watch this in the theater!" It was boring, and I failed to see the point. There were so many disconnects. From the first twenty minutes with nothing but apes, during which time I checked - twice - to make sure I wasn't watching Planet of the Apes, to the nonsensical ending, I was wishing I was in hibernation with the astronauts. The pace was incredibly slow - not kidding, there would be four minute stretches of a spaceship flying across the screen; two minutes of a monitor blinking "Computer Malfunction! Computer Malfunction!" And the minimal dialogue was tedious: "Open the pod bay doors, HAL. HAL, open the doors. Open the doors, HAL. HAL. HAL. HAL. HAL. HAL. HAL." And they call this one of the most thrilling movies?
The only thing it had going for it was that, for 1968, the special effects were impressive. That's about it.
My advice? Skip the movie and watch this instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHdhNpb_Opo&feature=related

Gone With The Wind

Top 100 (#4/6); Score (#2); Stars - Clark Gable (#7), Vivien Leigh (#16); Cheers (#43); Quotes - Frankly, my dear... (#1), ...Tomorrow is another day (#31), As God is my witness... (#59); Passions (#2); Top Ten Epics (#4)
I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing this is one of the most, if not the most, decorated movie on the lists, and rightly so. If it were up to me, I would have listed it as #1. This is the epic to which all other epics are compared. Gone With the Wind defines "classic".

Clark Gable is perfect as Rhett, and I have to admit I'm glad the studio strong-armed him into playing the part. Nobody else could have done the role justice. My one complaint is that the other actors are all too old, although Vivien Leigh really does well capturing Scarlett's stubbornness, cunning, and spite.

A beautifully made, well written movie. Definitely a must-see!

This may be a spoiler, but seriously, if you haven't seen this movie or at least this scene at some point in the past 72 years, that's your misfortune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2RxWs60dRM

What's This All About?

I'm on a quest to view all of the movies on the American Film Institute's Top 100 lists (well, at least almost all - I'm not convinced that my life will be any better if I actually watch The Exorcist or a few of the others. But we'll see how it goes).
For those who don't know, 13 years ago, AFI compiled a list of the best 100 movies made in the first 100 years of Hollywood ( http://www.afi.com/100years/ ). Over the next ten years, they made new lists, sorting movies by genre:

100 Stars
100 Laughs
100 Thrills
100 Passions
100 Heroes & Villains
100 Songs
100 Film Quotes
100 Years of Film Scores (actually only 25 movies)
100 Years of Musicals (again, 25)
100 Cheers
10th Anniversary Edition (a slightly altered Top 100)
10 Top Ten (more genres)

In all, there are far more than 100 movies, although some overlap several categories. I think I've now seen over half of them, and I figure why do this if I can't share my thoughts? So here they are, my personal reviews of AFI's Top 100.