Good Morning, Vietnam

Laughs (#100)

This really should have been ranked higher. The movie tells the true story of an army disc jockey who brought laughter to the troops (breaking some rules along the way).

For the most part, Robin Williams plays Robin Williams, and in this movie, he shines.

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

Halloween

Thrills (#68)

Yeah...no. I'm skipping this movie, too.

Cinderella

Top Ten - Animation (#9)

It's fun and it's magic! It's no surprise that, 60 years later, this is still one of the top Disney movies. It's a magical, romantic story (and to all you feminists out there who think it's about a woman waiting for her man to save the day, shut up already. It's about a woman who was kind despite adversity. Don't you want your daughters to be like that? And by the way, it was the fairy godmother who saved the day. Idiots.)

One of the things I like in this version of the story are the little hints of foreshadowing - Cinderella's frustration when the clock "orders me around" and her losing her shoes throughout the day.

Which begs the question - if her glass slipper was a perfect fit, how did it fall off at the palace?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAYYgEJEu1M

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Quotes - "Elementary, my dear Watson" (#65)

It was ok, but I liked The Hound of the Baskervilles better. I'm not sure why. Maybe because in this one, we knew from the beginning who done it. I did like Watson's bits of comedy relief, especially when he was reenacting the crime. Oh, and Basil Rathbone looks like Ben Bailey from Cash Cab (not so much in this picture, though).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGmq_SfElA0

Dracula

Thrills (#85); Quotes - "Listen to them..." (#83); Villains - Count Dracula (#33)

This movie is a bit creepier than Frankenstein, due to Bela Lugosi constantly staring into the camera (the flashlight on the eyes effect is funny). He also has a minion with a nightmarish laugh. And I think it's interesting that while we consider the name Dracula synonomous with vampire, the characters in the movie did not. I suppose that makes sense though. The ending, however, just might be one of the worst ever (not the worst - that honor goes to 2001). It just ends, as if the scene was cut in half.

I did learn something from this movie though - apparently there are armadillos in Transylvania.

And to my favorite blog reader, this clip's for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T3h9JocqLk

Young Frankenstein

Laughs (#13); Stars - Teri Garr (Current); Songs - Puttin' on the Ritz (#89)

Not hilarious, but funny. Mel Brooks is always entertaining.

And Ox, I love you -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-aRwEbp5I

Frankenstein

Top 100 (#87); Thrills (#56); Quotes - "It's alive! It's alive!" (#49)

Did people really think this was scary 80 years ago? Because, yeah, not so much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WYknq2Us9Y&feature=related

The Princess Bride

Stars - Billy Crystal (Current); Passions (#88)

Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...and yes, even kissing. This movie has everything, and it does it perfectly. The witty dialogue has turned it into one of the most quoted movies of all time (no "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya" in the best quotes category? Come on, AFI!). The casting is brilliant. It's clean enough for all but the youngest children to watch (which makes it really popular with youth groups). There's enough action for boys to like it and enough romance for the girls. I can't think of a single thing that's wrong with this movie. This one leaves them all behind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abBjXMNFHPY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5hpfOAbsU&feature=related

The Omen

Thrills (#81); Stars - Gregory Peck (#12)

Sorry, Mr. Peck. Not even you could entice me to see this movie.

Big

Laughs (#42); Top Ten - Fantasy (#10)

This is a movie that could have gone wrong in so many ways. There have been countless variations of this plot that have failed miserably (Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa). Big, however, succeeded. And Tom Hanks can take credit for that.

While most adult actors play a twelve-year-old as if he were four, Tom Hanks gets it. He captures Josh's playfulness, vulnerability, and adolescent confusion perfectly, and as a result the audience believes that he just might be a pre-teen after all.

Kudos, Mr. Hanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KosJK_ZMMu0

Meet Me in St. Louis

Stars - Judy Garland (#8); Songs - The Trolley Song (#26), Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (#76); Musicals (#10)

A bit sappy, but sweet, Meet Me in St. Louis is the story of a family facing an unwanted job transfer. It has some fun songs and a few boring ones as well. It also has, in typical 1940s fashion, a child actor who thinks talking loudly is the same as acting.

I still don't like Judy Garland, but this movie is fine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0odXnKhKBxQ

E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Top 100 (#25/24); Thrills (#44); Score (#14); Cheers (#6); Quotes - "E.T. phone home" (#15); Top Ten - Science Fiction (#3)

Sometimes I think this is a sweet family movie about a lonely boy who finds a friend. And other times I think it's just a weird movie about an alien. Truth is, it's both.

The unfortunate thing about E.T. is that, while it could be a great family movie, the language is much stronger than most parents want their children to hear. By the time I felt my girls were old enough to watch it, they were really too old to fully enjoy the story. Best bet for families - watch it on TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS5tzGfOBGU&feature=related

The Shining

Thrills (#29); Quotes - "Here's Johnny!" (#68); Villains - Jack Torrance (#25)

The Shining is both scary and creepy, and in this case, that's a good combination. Stephen King crafted an edge-of-your-seat story, and it translates well on screen (although I've heard that the TV remake is closer to the book).

Jack Nicholson is terrific as a man haunted by his past who slowly goes insane while tucked away at a mountain lodge for the winter.

If you want to watch a scary movie, I'd pick this or Psycho.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os6raCCmAFk&feature=related

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Top 100 (#50 - Revised); Top Ten - Fantasy (#2)

I wasn't initially thrilled about seeing this movie, but my husband wanted to, so my sister and I tagged along.

The story was interesting, albeit a bit confusing, but I thought it was scary and violent. And the Orcs were icky. And then the movie just ended. What was that all about? I was annoyed, because that meant I'd have to see The Two Towers, too.

Since then, I've come to like the movie. After seeing the entire trilogy, the story makes more sense and the characterization is clearer. And I love Samwise Gamgee.

So yes, this is a must-see movie. But you really have to see all three.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEmL99wwXA

The Pride of the Yankees

Stars - Gary Cooper (#11); Cheers (#22); Quotes - "...the luckiest man on the face of the earth" (#38); Heroes - Lou Gehrig (#25); Top Ten - Sports (#3)

Why is baseball better than football? Because of guys like Lou Gehrig. The Pride of the Yankees is a good movie about a truly decent man, one who persevered and won the respect of his teammates and fans.

Gehrig's farewell speech sums up the movie better than I ever could:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky.

"When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies - that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body - it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know.

"So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."

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

The Phantom of the Opera

Thrills (#83)
This 1925 version is creepier than the one by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Lon Chaney did his own makeup, and he looks pretty gross. Some sequences in the movie seemed long, but that's probably because there was no talking.
Snitz Edwards was in this movie (he was in Thief of Bagdad, too), so that's happy. Snitz is a great name. Other than that, I much prefer the Weber remake.
Skip ahead to 1:02 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgVw4xLuV1s

Platoon

Top 100 (#83/86); Thrills (#72)

Wow. Twenty-some years later, Adagio in Strings still haunts me.

The big thing I remember about this movie was that, when I saw it in the theater, nobody moved when it was over. Everybody sat silently through the credits and when the lights came on, slowly and wordlessly filed out. Compelling.

(Clip is basically the movie in 7 minutes)

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

Field of Dreams

Stars - Burt Lancaster (#19), Kevin Costner (Current); Cheers (#28); Quotes - "If you build it, he will come"(#39); Top Ten - Fantasy (#6)

Is this heaven? No, it's sappy and, to be honest, a bit strange. But this movie about a farmer who mows down his corn field to make way for a baseball diamond is about the love of the game. It's not nearly as good as Eight Men Out, but it's not bad. I'd say it's worth the rental.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8-B5cyfK6A

South Pacific

Songs - Some Enchanted Evening (#28)

For years, I have tried to like this movie. After all, it's a musical. And a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical no less. But I just can't get into it. Maybe it's the stars - but then, I didn't like the Harry Connick Jr. remake, either. Maybe it's the fact that Emile is so old. Maybe it's the music, although some of the songs are fun. I don't know what it is.

At any rate, I'm sure there are people who love it. I'm just not one of them.

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

Bull Durham

Laughs (#97); Stars - Kevin Costner (Current); Top Ten - Sports (#5)
This isn't so much a baseball movie as it is a movie about sex that's set against the background of baseball. And as such, I didn't like it. The characters are shallow and there really isn't a basis for their relationship. They know that and don't mind - but I do.
The movie does have its moments - I like the part when the guys gather at the pitcher's mound to discuss what to get a teammate for a wedding gift (so that's what they talk about!) - but overall, I'd pass. I'll take The Pride of the Yankees or A League of Their Own any day.

If you'll pardon the language, here's the pitcher's mound scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo88LaJIt5E&feature=related
This part's good, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBUS3vQtDCA&feature=related

Training Day

Villains - Alonzo Harris (#50)

We all know Denzel Washington is a great actor, but who would have thought he could be this bad? Washington does a wonderful job as a cop whose moral compass doesn't exactly point north.

I didn't really care for the movie - way too much swearing and violence - but it was well made, and both Washington and Hawke gave great performances.

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

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Villains - Freddy Krueger (#40)

Ugh. Why do they even make movies like this?

See the Rosemary's Baby review.

The Terminator

Thrills (#42); Quotes - "I'll be back" (#37); Villains - Terminator (#22)
First off, it really needs to be said that Arnold Schwarzenegger has an incredible body. I don't mean sexy. He's too body buildery (but fortunately not overly so - not bronzed and oily and veiny) to be sexy. But holy cow. He's like a golf tee. And he's huge!

Now that that's out of the way, I can review the movie. It is such an '80s movie! The hair, the clothes, the technology, the dancing. It's really rather funny how dated it is. And the futuristic set looks a bit like something you'd find on The Muppet Show. And Linda Hamilton isn't pretty. And the ending is cheesy.

Other than that, I liked it, which was surprising. It was thrilling and fast paced.

Oh, well, except for the exacto knife. Like I wasn't afraid of those enough already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTx9WMsxLLM

The Birds

Thrills (#7)

The great thing about Hitchcock films is that the thing in the movie that terrorizes us is scary because it could actually happen. Who hasn't thought twice about hotel showers since seeing Psycho? Or wondered about crop dusters chasing them down like in North by Northwest? Being attacked by a ginormous flock of birds? Not likely, but come now - when you see them all flying overhead, or gathering on a telephone wire, what comes to mind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbluA8ZWw80

Duck Soup

Top 100 (#85); Laughs (#5); Stars - The Marx Brothers (#20)

Stupid comedy movies were so much better in Old Hollywood than they are now. Back then, they were stupid and funny. Today, they're just stupid.

Duck Soup is silly. Groucho Marx plays a man who unexpectedly becomes the leader of the small country of Freedonia. It's physical comedy, one-liners, and a whole lot of craziness. But it's a fun escape to the movies. That's what entertainment should be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdQ9jh5GvQ8

Roman Holiday

Stars - Audrey Hepburn (#3), Gregory Peck (#12); Passions (#4); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#4)

A fun, sweet movie, the plot bears some similarities to It Happened One Night - runaway princess ends up in the care of a reporter. Gregory Peck, of course, is exquisite. Who wouldn't want to go on a Roman holiday with him? And Audrey Hepburn is charming, although I still don't get why so many people think she's perfection.

The Exorcist

Thrills (#3); Villains - Regan MacNeil (#9)

See my review of Rosemary's Baby.

Moulin Rouge!

Songs - Come What May (#85); Musicals (#25)

I know all of my readers feel differently about this movie than I do. I didn't like it. Sure, Ewan McGregor is, well, Ewan McGregor, and that's a happy thing. But I didn't care for the story, or the characters, or Nicole Kidman, or Baz Luhrmann's need to fill up every inch of the screen with busyness (which I know is his thing, and I know it works with this movie. I just didn't care for it).

Feel free to disagree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5p56hEK-1A&feature=related

Psycho

Top 100 (#18/14); Thrills (#1); Score (#4); Quotes - "A boy's best friend is his mother" (#56); Villains - Norman Bates (#2)

Now this is what a horror movie should be. Suspense, a great plot, a surprise twist. Just the right amount of creepiness and no over-the-top gore. No wonder Alfred Hitchcock is still the master. Well done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV0lSpgMsxM

It Happened One Night

Top 100 (#35/46); Laughs (#8); Stars - Clark Gable (#7), Claudette Colbert (#12); Passions (#38); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#3)

I love this movie! Clark Gable is absolutely irresistible as a reporter who encounters runaway heiress Claudette Colbert, who becomes his unwilling travel buddy. This is the first great romantic comedy and still the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHfSb2xz2M

The Wizard of Oz

Top 100 (#6/10); Thrills (#43); Stars - Judy Garland (#8); Cheers (#26); Quotes - "...We're not in Kansas anymore" (#4), "There's no place like home" (#23), "I'll get you, my pretty..." (#99); Songs - Over the Rainbow (#1), Ding Dong the Witch is Dead (#82); Villains - The Wicked Witch of the West (#4); Top Ten - Fantasy (#1); Musicals (#3)

This really is a good movie, one that deserves to be called a classic. And I think it was brilliant to do the Kansas scenes in black and white and the Oz scenes in color. Sure, we're all used to it. But imagine watching it in 1939 - color was a new thing. People went in and started watching a black and white movie and all of a sudden Dorothy steps out of her house into a magical colorful world. Wow!

Judy Garland has never been one of my favorites, and she's definitely too old for the part. I don't think it would have stood the test of time had Shirley Temple been Dorothy, though. People would still watch it, but it would be cutesy, not classic. Margaret Hamilton was wonderful as the witch. My favorite, though, is Ray Bolger. I love him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOKK8mAkiUI

Patton

Top 100 (#83/86); Heroes - General George Patton (#29)

I don't like war movies. Military history bores me, and three hours of military strategy and people shooting each other is tedious.

And that's still my opinion, after watching Patton. There were things I liked about it. I liked that Patton took war seriously and was in it to win. He was a true soldier. And I thought George C. Scott did an excellent job. He won the Oscar for the role, but turned it down because he didn't think actors should be competing against each other (don't they - or somebody anyways - have to submit their work to the Academy? Just wondering)

Anyways, if you like war movies, here you go. My husband said he's seen it "several times". All I could think was "Why?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5jN7OnPhgw

Rosemary's Baby

Thrills (#9); Stars - Mia Farrow (Current)

Scary movies that are old and cheesy are ok. So are psychological thrillers. But I have no desire to watch horror movies that are demonic and/or overly graphic. And so I'm passing on Rosemary's Baby.

Dances with Wolves

Top 100 (#75); Stars - Kevin Costner (Current); Cheers (#59)

Overall, it's a good movie. It has an epic feel to it, and has some pretty impressive moments (like the buffalo stampede). That being said, it was more violent than I thought necessary, and at times it felt like it was an homage to Kevin Costner.

All that aside, if you haven't seen it, it's worth seeing. It's just not one I'd watch over and over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS903AfgOUo

Night of the Living Dead

Thrills (#93)

While I don't like horror movies, I much prefer the old cheesy ones to the newer graphic, bloody ones. And this is one of the old cheesy ones. The acting is campy and the story is ridiculous. Perfect for a spooky Halloween night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG6oy46qKE4

Boys Town

Stars - Spencer Tracy (#9); Cheers (#81); Heroes - Father Edward (#46)

This is much more my kind of movie. I definitely prefer heartwarming stories to bloody horror films. Father Flanagan starts Boys Town, a home for troubled boys, as a means to keep them out of jail. This movie focuses on one boy who keeps resisting the chances Flanagan offers him.

It's a bit hokey at times, but it's also hopeful and encouraging.

*Note - The AFI list said "Father Edward", but I'm fairly certain they meant to say "Father Flanagan".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoofjH022pU

Carrie

Thrills (#46)
Scary, scary, scary! I wouldn't have seen this movie had it not been part of a film studies class. The big football player guy sitting next to me jumped out of his seat (and probably peed his pants), it was so scary.

The African Queen

Top 100 (#17/65); Stars - Humphrey Bogart (#1), Katharine Hepburn (#1); Cheers (#48); Passions (#14)

I like this movie. And I like the chemistry between Bogie and Hepburn. It's not wild and passionate - they're both a bit crusty and jaded for that. But it's sweet.

The scenery is lovely and the plot holds your interest. And the wedding scene ranks as one of my top most romantic movie moments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3myQ0G7WdLQ

Marathon Man

Thrills (#50); Stars - Lawrence Olivier (#14), Dustin Hoffman (Current); Quotes - "Is it safe?" (#70); Villains - Dr. Szell (#34)

Combining three of the scariest things ever - Nazis, dentists, and William Devane (ok, so he's more creepy than scary. I don't know why, because it's not Gary Sinise scary. He's just always seemed creepy to me) - Marathon Man keeps its audience on the edge of their seats. Although predictable at times, it has moments where it brilliantly builds the suspense.

If you like this kind of movie, it's good. I don't really, so I'll stick with William Goldman's other screenplays - The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XuNo67Rifg

The Magnificent Seven

Thrills (#79); Score (#8)
A tough guy and his henchmen storm into a small farming village, demanding food and money. The villagers have nothing to give him, especially as nothing has been harvested yet. The bandit warns them that he'll be back when the harvest is in, and they had better be ready to pay him.
The villagers are at a loss - they aren't strong enough to fight. They could hide the food, but he'd be sure to find out. So they send for help. And along come the magnificent seven to save the day.
Sound familiar? I know! That's why I totally loved this movie (once I figured it out - because I didn't think I would at first). And listen to the Coplandesque theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45KAjt7v4t4
And now listen to this (skip ahead to about 1:45):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrW_TTxP1ow&feature=related Coincidence? I think not.
Ok, as for the actual Magnicent Seven movie itself, I liked it. I liked Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen, and I absolutely loved this Charles Bronson quote, as he's berating three young boys who think he is much braver than their fathers:
Don't you ever say that again about your fathers, because they are not cowards. You think I am brave because I carry a gun; well, your fathers are much braver because they carry responsibility, for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers. And this responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists them until finally it buries them under the ground. And there's nobody says they have to do this. They do it because they love you, and because they want to. I have never had this kind of courage. Running a farm, working like a mule every day with no guarantee anything will ever come of it. This is bravery. That's why I never even started anything like that... that's why I never will.
It may be a boy movie, but it's definitely worth seeing. It's now my favorite western. Or maybe second favorite, because I still love Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Sergeant York

Stars - Gary Cooper (#11); Cheers (#57); Heroes - Alvin York (#35)

Gary Cooper (who reminds me of my up north uncle, both in looks and in soft-spokenness) has a knack for playing men who stick to their guns and do the right thing. His quiet demeanor captures the characters' inner struggles. That's what he does with Sergeant York.

It's a heroic story, and Cooper does it well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyJTfuau3hw

An American in Paris

Top 100 (#68); Stars - Gene Kelly (#15); Songs - I Got Rhythm (#32); Passions (#39); Musicals (#9)

Oh, Gene Kelly, how I love to watch you dance! Well, except for the long ballet sequences. Truth be told, I fast forward through them. And then there's Leslie Caron. Maybe she can dance, but she looks like she's 13 (I thought maybe it was the ugly haircut, but then I realized it's the same hair 40-year-old Stockard Channing has in Grease). And sorry, but she's not all that pretty. I'm not sure why Gene Kelly would be so entranced by her.

But anyways, this movie has Gene Kelly and great Gershwin songs and 's wonderful enough for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvglHa_P9BA

Gandhi

Cheers (#29); Heroes - Mahatma Gandhi (#21)

Gandhi wants freedom for India. He refuses to fight. He refuses to eat. He spins with his little spinning wheel-thingy. He wins. It takes three hours to tell that story.

Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast) does a wonderful job in a movie that is much too drawn out.

Ben-Hur

Top 100 (#72/100); Thrills (#49); Score (#21); Cheers (#56); Top Ten - Epic (#2)

Sure, it's long, but then so is the book on which it is based. Sometimes you just can't tell a story in 1 1/2 hours.

Ben-Hur is a compelling story about a Jewish prince who is wrongly accused of a crime and sent off to a life of slavery. On his way back to freedom, he encounters Christ at Calvary.

I'm guessing the drop in the Top 100 ratings is due to the spiritual nature of the film. It remains a beautifully done epic.

Oh, and there's a chariot scene. I think every review of this movie has to mention the chariot scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVjKOVbl01o

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Heroes - Arthur Chipping (#41)

This is a sweet, touching story about a teacher who gives up his dreams in order to teach his students. It follows his entire career, through wars and other hardships.

The story is inspiring, the message is good, but the movie is slow-paced. Rather like Mr. Chipping's life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=333ac__d9Mw

Grand Hotel

Stars - Greta Garbo (#5); Joan Crawford (#10); Quotes - "I want to be alone" (#30)

Garbo's acting is over the top, but John Barrymore is dashing and Crawford is absolutely charming in this movie about the goings-on at Germany's finest hotel. It's several intertwining stories - some sweet, some melodramatic - but they combine to make an entertaining movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxmrh75ymqM

The Empire Strikes Back

Villains - Darth Vader (#3)

Sometimes a movie becomes such a part of pop culture that we forget what it was like to see it for the first time, unspoiled. Let me refresh your memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbV5hn_ET0U&feature=topvideos_comedy

The Star Wars series was exciting, innovative, and, yes, surprising.

Kramer vs. Kramer

Stars - Dustin Hoffman (Current - not rated); Top Ten - Courtroom Drama (#3)

This isn't so much a courtroom drama as it is a story about a father and son. Mom (played by newcomer Meryl Streep) walks out on her family, leaving Dad to figure out how to be a single father. It's not easy, and he makes mistakes along the way, but he figures it out.

Then Mom comes back demanding custody, and courts in the 1970s overwhelmingly tended to side with the mother.

A good movie, with the exception of one unnecessary scene (why is there always one unnecessary scene?).

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

Pinocchio

Cheers (#38); Songs - When You Wish Upon a Star (#7); Top Ten - Animation (#2)

Sure, Silence of the Lambs scared college-age me. But Pinocchio frightened little person me. It wasn't Monstro. I knew the Jonah story. I knew that people (or puppets) who get swallowed by whales come out alive. It was Pleasure Island that was really scary. I sure didn't want to be turned into a donkey!

I think that's the reason Pinocchio ranks pretty low on my list of Disney movies. And while When You Wish Upon a Star is indeed a great song, Jiminy Cricket's voice annoys me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy49Yea3iZc

The Verdict

Cheers (#75); Top Ten - Courtroom Drama (#4)

Paul Newman, Jack Warden, courtroom drama, a compelling story - what's not to love? The answer: David Mamet. When I saw that he wrote the screenplay, I knew I'd end up being disappointed. And I was. I hated House of Games. And a certain professional baseball player still owes me money for the evening I wasted watching The Spanish Prisoner. This time, Mamet had a really good story, one that John Grisham or David E. Kelley would have done wonders with, and two of the best actors in the business. Yet in typical Mamet style, the movie dragged.

David Mamet, go away!

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