The Big Broadcast of 1938

Songs - Thanks for the Memory (#63)

The movie itself was just enh.  Millionaire W. C. Fields is financing a luxury liner in a Transatlantic race.  Meanwhile, Bob Hope plays emcee for the ship's entertainment.

The entertainment is, well, varied.  From an out-of-place animated sequence to an operatic solo from Valkyrie to a duet that is quite reminiscent of Snow White and the Prince.

But then there's "Thanks for the Memory".  It might not be remarkable here, but it became Bob Hope's signature song.  And yes, I am old enough to fondly remember him singing it at the end of each Christmas special.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Owr4iBctU

AFI Top 100 Thrills

 

Not necessarily 100 thrillers, this list also encompasses action movies, mysteries, and horror films. And then there was the occasional odd fit, like The Wizard of Oz, which I'm sure was just on there so AFI could have Judy Garland on every list. There were a good number (7) that I refused to watch.

 

Robert Mitchum is very scary.  Gaslight remains my favorite psychological thriller, and Raiders of the Lost Ark is the most exciting movie ever.

 

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

 

AFI Top 100 Passions

 

 

The thing I had to remember when looking at the movies on this list is that "passion" is not the same as "love".  I'd dispute calling some of these films love stories, but I suppose they're passionate, so here they are. 

 

I haven't yet seen Morocco (#83) or Porgy and Bess (#92).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_H3atqLp2Q 

 



AFI Top 100 Laughs

I guess comedy means different things to different people, but I did find some pleasant surprises on this list - Buster Keaton, Nick and Nora Charles, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Ball of Fire, to name a few.  I still really do not get Woody Allen, and I think O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Princess Bride should have made the list.

Oh, and I haven't yet seen The Freshman or The Heartbreak Kid.  I haven't been able to find them, but I'll review them when I do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzf43LdYeYU

AFI Top 50 Heroes

“...but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.”  

 

I love Atticus Finch.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-6ZvOQ0hBI 

AFI Top 50 Villains

I guess I don't disagree with any on this list.  It seems to me Darth Vader should be higher, but I can't dispute the first two choices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8JjH724-ho

Jurassic Park

Thrills (#35); Stars - Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum (Current)

I don't really get how this was such a huge hit.  It's the same premise as every other creature movie out there - Arachnophobia, Deep Blue Sea, Tremors.  Scientists decide to mess with DNA, they inadvertently create a superspecies, almost everybody dies.  Unoriginal and stupid.

Oh, and I've always thought of Jeff Goldblum as kind of quirky looking.  But I was watching this and I thought, "You know, he's not unattractive."  Nope - he was 39.  I guess he was a late bloomer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4me3kPQwE

AFI Top 10 of 10 Film Genres

 

I'm not going to re-list them all, but here are the top movies in each genre:

 

Animation - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Fantasy - The Wizard of Oz

Gangster - The Godfather

Science Fiction - 2001: A Space Odyssey

Western - The Searchers

Sports - Raging Bull

Mystery - Vertigo

Romantic Comedy - City Lights

Courtroom Drama - To Kill a Mockingbird

Epic - Lawrence of Arabia

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n54V-F5Y_xc 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Passions (#87)

Unbearable.  I couldn't finish it.

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

The Taming of the Shrew

Stars - Mary Pickford (#24)

Technically, this movie is not on any list, but I needed to watch a Mary Pickford movie.  I chose this because it's my favorite Shakespeare play.

They shrunk the adaptation down to an hour, which meant they completely glossed over why Katherine was like she was, and why she came to submit to Petruchio - and so, basically, they cut out the parts of the story that show why I love it (and why I feel both characters are completely understood in modern society).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blZMk5MklF4