The Defiant Ones

Stars - Sidney Poitier (#22); Cheers (#55)

Have I mentioned that I love Sidney Poitier? 

The Defiant Ones tackles racism, with a pair of escaped convicts, one black and one white, chained together and dependent on each other.  It could have been sappy, but it wasn't.  It could have been an edge-of-your-seat adventure, but it wasn't.  It was realistic, and I liked it.

Oh, and I love how buff Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier are in this poster.

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

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

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

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Thrills (#63); Stars - Bette Davis (#2), Joan Crawford (#10); Villains - Baby Jane Hudson (#44)

I love you, sister dear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=648-2RE4XAk

Jezebel

Stars - Bette Davis (#2), Henry Fonda (#6); Passions (#79)

It is said that this movie was Bette Davis' response to not being cast as Scarlett O'Hara.  However, Jezebel is no Gone With the Wind.  Sure, she's a spoiled Southern girl pining over a man she can't have, making a spectacle of herself in the process.  But it doesn't have the depth or complexity that GWTW has.  It's simple and lackluster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrhNPS4nbmQ

The Great Dictator

Laughs (#37); Stars - Charlie Chaplin (#10)

This movie, made in 1940, featured Chaplin in a dual role - as the ruthless leader of a European country and as a Jewish barber living in the ghetto.  I liked the opening disclaimer:  "Note, any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental."

It was very strange to hear Chaplin speak.  But he had enough of his characteristic comedy pratfalls and mishaps to keep his fans happy. 

This was a comedy, but when the barber ended up confused with Hynkel (surprise, surprise) and had to give a speech to the masses, I liked what he had to say.  It's a bit lengthy, but worthwhile:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4

The Wild Bunch

Top 100 (#80/79); Thrills (#69); Stars - William Holden (#25), Ernest Borgnine (Current); Top Ten - Western (#6)

Ugh.  This ranks up there with Unforgiven as my most disliked western.  A gang of outlaws in the last days of the Old West rob banks and trains, take advantage of women, and try to avoid the mercenaries who are after them.

There's not a single woman in the movie who's not being used by men.  I realize it shows what kind of men they were and all that, but it really was excessive.

William Holden and his adversary Robert Ryan looked too much alike, and I found that confusing.

The gunfights, however, were cinematically impressive.  And that's about as positive as I'm going to get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62qvse2Rl-M

In the Heat of the Night

Top 100 (#75 Revised); Stars - Sidney Poitier (#22); Cheers (#21); Quotes - "They call me Mr. Tibbs" (#16); Heroes - Virgil Tibbs (#19)

Excellent movie.  A Philadelphia homicide detective is falsely accused of murder while visiting relatives in the South.  He then has to help the racist sheriff figure out who really did it.

Have I mentioned that I love Sidney Poitier?

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

On the Town

Stars - Gene Kelly (#15); Songs - New York, New York (#41); Musicals (#19)

The story was thin, but the movie starred Gene Kelly, so it's all good.  I just love watching him glide while he dances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7CIgWZTdgw

City Lights

Top 100 (#76/11); Laughs (#38); Stars - Charlie Chaplin (#10); Cheers (#31); Heroes - The Tramp (#38); Passions (#10); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#1)

Good, sweet, but maybe a bit overhyped - then again, I'm watching it 80 years later.  The Tramp falls in love with a blind girl and tries to come up with the money she needs to save the home where she lives with her grandmother. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rkNBH5fbMk

How the West Was Won

Score (#25); Stars - James Stewart (#3), Henry Fonda (#6), Spencer Tracy (#9), Gregory Peck (#12), John Wayne (#13)

Holy cavalcade of stars!  This movie is actually 5 different stories about taming the west, covering river rafts, trapping, gold mining, wagon trains, riverboats, the Civil War, buffalo stampedes, the railroad, and Indians.  It wasn't bad, but although they managed to loosely tie the stories together, it felt a bit disjointed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5HRSmLlaiA

Marty

Stars - Ernest Borgnine (Current); Passions (#64)

I wasn't expecting to like this movie, but I loved it!  This little gem is a romantic drama from the guy's point of view.  Marty is in his mid 30s and single.  Everyone jokes, "So, Marty, when are ya going to get married?"  Marty laughs it off, but secretly he's alone and hurting, thinking no girl will ever find him attractive. 

If you haven't seen it, see it.  It'll be worth your while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_1M-4lIfnA

Show Boat

Stars - Ava Gardner (#25); Songs - Ol' Man River (#24); Musicals (#24)

I was actually supposed to watch the 1936 version of this movie, but I can't find it.  I ended up watching the 1951 version.  It worked out ok, because then I got to see an Ava Gardner movie, so it counts for that, too.

Well, what's there to say about it?  It started off with slaves smiling in the cotton field.  Somehow I don't think they actually smiled all that much.  And the Magnolia/Ravenal story wrapped up awfully quickly.  And we never did find out what happened to Julie.  And the Ravenal/Kim part at the end totally creeped me out.

But I liked "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkDU1ai5P1I

Thelma and Louise

Thrills (#76); Stars - Geena Davis (Current); Cheers (#78); Heroes - Thelma Dickerson and Louise Sawyer (#24)

First, I'd just like to say that if I were Susan Sarandon, I would have pushed Thelma into the Grand Canyon about 30 minutes into the movie.  Oh my gosh, she was an idiot.  How on earth can Geena Davis think she was portraying a strong woman?

Secondly, I strongly question the "heroes" list.  Sure, they deserved a cheer for shooting the would-be rapist.  But after that, everything they did was just plain wrong and anything but heroic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

A Night at the Opera

Top 100 (#85 Revised); Laughs (#12); Stars - The Marx Brothers (#20)

Okay, so I don't really like the Marx Brothers all that much anyway.  I like Laurel & Hardy better.  But this wasn't my favorite of their movies.  Maybe it was because of all the opera.  Maybe it was because Zeppo wasn't in it.  Who knows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Axzxe1a78E

Moonstruck

Laughs (#41); Stars - Cher (Current); Quotes - "Snap out of it!" (#96); Passions (#17); Top Ten - Romantic Comedy (#8)

A young widow is engaged to a man, but ends up falling for his estranged brother.  Meanwhile, her parents are experiencing romantic problems of their own.

I liked that it included the parents' story.  I liked some of the romantic things Nicolas Cage said.  But overall, it was about passion, not love, so I didn't think it was that great.

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

Topper

Laughs (#60); Stars - Cary Grant (#2)

When a fun-loving, carefree couple dies in a car accident, their ghosts decide to help their stodgy friend Topper lighten up a little.

It was ok, but I guess I'm just too serious a person.  I found it annoying that all they wanted to do was party.  I also thought there wasn't nearly enough Cary Grant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhoxERyC32c

Woman of the Year

Laughs (#90); Stars - Katharine Hepburn (#1), Spencer Tracy (#9); Passions (#74)

A sports writer falls for a political journalist.  He soon finds their romance takes a back seat to her career.

Probably ahead of its time, I thought it was alright.  I didn't really like Hepburn's character, though. 

I wanted the clip where Tracy introduces Hepburn to baseball, but I couldn't find it.  Sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snSK5RfD33Q

Man of La Mancha

Stars - Sophia Loren (#21)

This movie is not on any of the lists, but Sophia Loren is, so here you go.

I love this movie.  I love the story of Don Quixote (although the book is cumbersome).  And I love the way Don Quixote sees Aldonza, his beloved Dulcinea. 

As Eliza Dolittle says, "The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated. I shall always be a common flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me like a common flower girl, and always will. But I know that I shall always be a lady to Colonel Pickering, because he always treats me like a lady, and always will."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-1aCoRqRO4 (I don't know why the sound doesn't match the picture, but oh well)

Little Caesar

Stars - Edward G. Robinson (#24); Quotes - "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Rico?" (#73); Villains - Caesar Enrico Bandello (#38); Top Ten - Gangster (#9)

I have now seen more than my share of gangster movies, and I am thoroughly convinced they're all the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq3uK3i4_gA