I was told by a coworker that I would enjoy this one, and I definitely did. This movie redeemed Westerns for me. Despite being a seemingly traditional Western with gunfights and violence, it had humor, sarcasm, catchy (but odd) music, and even a tiny bit of romance.
Though it wasn't an incredibly intense movie to me, it was enjoyable to watch. I honestly wasn't ready for it to end. I didn't know the story of the actual Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid, and Etta Place (the schoolteacher/prostitute who moved to South America with the outlaws,) and I had no expectations of what would happen. The actual Butch and Sundance were members of the "Wild Bunch" in the late 1800's/early 1900's, and no one knows how their story ended.
Interestingly, since The Wild Bunch came out a few months before Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, they changed their gang name to "Hole-in-the-Wall Bunch" so people wouldn't confuse the films. This movie was better than The Wild Bunch in every way imaginable, especially with casting. Paul Newman and Robert Redford were amazingly talented, memorable in their roles, and looked different enough for me to tell them apart!
Rating: 7/10
Big Names: Paul Newman (Butch), Robert Redford (Sundance), Katharine Ross (Etta, also the girl in The Graduate), Cloris Leachman (only realized she was Agnes, the prostitute, after I saw her name in the credits and looked it up on IMDB)
Big Lines:
(during the last gunfight of the film, when they're running low on ammunition)
Butch: We're going to run out unless we can get to that mule and get some more.
Sundance Kid: I'll go.
Butch: This is no time for bravery. I'll let ya!
Big Songs:
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" by Burt Bacharach
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
#79 The Wild Bunch (1969)
I've never seen a Western, so I can't compare this one to any others, but I hated it and now think I probably will strongly dislike all Westerns. I started watching it about a month ago, but turned it off when I realized I had watched thirty minutes without having a clue what was happening. Today, I felt motivated to push through to the end.
The story itself has potential. A group of outlaws (The Wild Bunch) are being chased by a gang of bounty hunters all through Texas and Mexico. An interesting twist is that the bounty hunters are led by a former Wild Bunch member, but he was arrested and now is released as long as he captures or kills the ringleader of the Wild Bunch.
I don't agree with the casting. I think the two main guys look too much alike, and so as I was watching, I couldn't keep it straight who was on whose team. (Travis watched about twenty minutes of it with me today when he came home for lunch, and he couldn't tell them apart, either, so I don't think it's just me.) It's also a long 2-1/2 hours of evil, maniacal laughter and unnecessary violence. I'm not against violence in films as long as it actually serves a purpose, but this was over-the-top. At the time of its release, this was possibly the most violent movie ever made. Most action movies nowadays are just as gory, so I don't think this movie would shock anyone now as it probably did in the '60s.
All the shooting and killing is disgusting and...well, boring. I'd much rather see a story develop than to see blood gushing from hundreds of random people.
Rating: 3/10
Big Names: William Holden, Robert Ryan
Big Lines:
"Well, how'd you like to kiss my sister's black cat's ass?" Okay, not a big line, but the most bizarre line I've ever heard someone say as they were dying...
The story itself has potential. A group of outlaws (The Wild Bunch) are being chased by a gang of bounty hunters all through Texas and Mexico. An interesting twist is that the bounty hunters are led by a former Wild Bunch member, but he was arrested and now is released as long as he captures or kills the ringleader of the Wild Bunch.
I don't agree with the casting. I think the two main guys look too much alike, and so as I was watching, I couldn't keep it straight who was on whose team. (Travis watched about twenty minutes of it with me today when he came home for lunch, and he couldn't tell them apart, either, so I don't think it's just me.) It's also a long 2-1/2 hours of evil, maniacal laughter and unnecessary violence. I'm not against violence in films as long as it actually serves a purpose, but this was over-the-top. At the time of its release, this was possibly the most violent movie ever made. Most action movies nowadays are just as gory, so I don't think this movie would shock anyone now as it probably did in the '60s.
All the shooting and killing is disgusting and...well, boring. I'd much rather see a story develop than to see blood gushing from hundreds of random people.
Rating: 3/10
Big Names: William Holden, Robert Ryan
Big Lines:
"Well, how'd you like to kiss my sister's black cat's ass?" Okay, not a big line, but the most bizarre line I've ever heard someone say as they were dying...
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
#75 In the Heat of the Night (1967)
This was a good one. From the moment I turned it on, I couldn't look away, couldn't get up, and I even had to pause the DVD to fold clothes.
Set in the '60s, the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi, a redneck white cop stumbles across a murdered rich, white man and decides to bring in the first black man he finds to call the murderer. Since this man, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), has a lot of cash in his pocket, the sheriff is convinced that he MUST be the killer. Of course, this is before he realizes that Tibbs is a successful homicide detective from Philadelphia whose expertise he reluctantly admits to needing.
Aside from the excitement of the murder mystery, this movie perfectly displays the hate and racism of the deep South. I know (or hope) that this isn't entirely the case any more... but I've lived in the South all my life, and the deeply ingrained racism these characters have is absolutely believable to me. Interestingly, it couldn't even be shot on location due to the fear of attack in Mississippi at the time. (It was instead shot in Illinois.)
This movie is known to have the "slap heard 'round the world" when Poitier returns a slap to a prominent, rich, white man. This had never been done before on film, and I've read that audiences applauded the scene in theaters.
There's a lot more I can say about this one, but I'd rather somebody else watch this, and then we can just talk about it. I promise it's worth your time to see it.
This movie beat out The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde for best picture Oscar in 1967. That was a good year to see some movies!
Rating: 10/10
Set in the '60s, the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi, a redneck white cop stumbles across a murdered rich, white man and decides to bring in the first black man he finds to call the murderer. Since this man, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), has a lot of cash in his pocket, the sheriff is convinced that he MUST be the killer. Of course, this is before he realizes that Tibbs is a successful homicide detective from Philadelphia whose expertise he reluctantly admits to needing.
Aside from the excitement of the murder mystery, this movie perfectly displays the hate and racism of the deep South. I know (or hope) that this isn't entirely the case any more... but I've lived in the South all my life, and the deeply ingrained racism these characters have is absolutely believable to me. Interestingly, it couldn't even be shot on location due to the fear of attack in Mississippi at the time. (It was instead shot in Illinois.)
This movie is known to have the "slap heard 'round the world" when Poitier returns a slap to a prominent, rich, white man. This had never been done before on film, and I've read that audiences applauded the scene in theaters.
There's a lot more I can say about this one, but I'd rather somebody else watch this, and then we can just talk about it. I promise it's worth your time to see it.
This movie beat out The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde for best picture Oscar in 1967. That was a good year to see some movies!
Rating: 10/10
Big Lines: They call me MISTER Tibbs! (#16 in AFI's top 100 movie lines)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
#76 Forrest Gump (1994)
I was twelve when this movie came out, and I wasn't allowed to see it. I also wasn't allowed to see Jerry Maguire in 1996 because my parents didn't think I would fully understand either one. Of course my youngest sister Mia was allowed to see anything she wanted by the time she was two. I guess it's a downside of being the oldest child. :)
So since junior high, I've seen this movie a million times, but I've never watched it from the perspective I did the other day, which was to decipher why this movie is on the list. I think possibly the biggest reason is Tom Hanks's acting. He does such an amazing job as Forrest, believably playing a mentally challenged adult and keeping the role light, making Forrest innocently hilarious. It's also very well-written and about every ten minutes of the movie, you'll hear a quote that anyone could identify as a line from Forrest Gump.
I never realized it before, but the special effects in this movie are incredible. Forrest really looks like he met those Presidents and attended basically every historic event of the '60s and '70s. And while it's not a reason to be on the list, soundtracks can very much affect how much I personally enjoy a movie, and The Forrest Gump soundtrack was one of the few tapes my parents had in our car growing up so I knew and loved every song before I even saw the movie. ("Love Her Madly" is still my favorite Doors song.)
Overall, a beautiful, moving story that's so well-acted it certainly earns its spot on the list.
Rating: 10/10
Big Names: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright (Buttercup from The Princess Bride), Sally Field, Haley Joel Osment (this is his second appearance in the list so far... pretty impressive for a little kid)
Big Lines:
Drill Sergeant: Gump! What's your sole purpose in this army?
Forrest: To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant!
Lieutenant Dan: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?
Forrest: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.
Forrest: I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is.
Forrest: I'm sorry I had a fight in the middle of your Black Panther party.
Lieutenant Dan: Where are you boys from in the world?
Forrest & Bubba: Alabama, sir!
Lieutenant Dan: You twins?
Forrest: No, sir. We are not relations.
So since junior high, I've seen this movie a million times, but I've never watched it from the perspective I did the other day, which was to decipher why this movie is on the list. I think possibly the biggest reason is Tom Hanks's acting. He does such an amazing job as Forrest, believably playing a mentally challenged adult and keeping the role light, making Forrest innocently hilarious. It's also very well-written and about every ten minutes of the movie, you'll hear a quote that anyone could identify as a line from Forrest Gump.
I never realized it before, but the special effects in this movie are incredible. Forrest really looks like he met those Presidents and attended basically every historic event of the '60s and '70s. And while it's not a reason to be on the list, soundtracks can very much affect how much I personally enjoy a movie, and The Forrest Gump soundtrack was one of the few tapes my parents had in our car growing up so I knew and loved every song before I even saw the movie. ("Love Her Madly" is still my favorite Doors song.)
Overall, a beautiful, moving story that's so well-acted it certainly earns its spot on the list.
Rating: 10/10
Big Names: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright (Buttercup from The Princess Bride), Sally Field, Haley Joel Osment (this is his second appearance in the list so far... pretty impressive for a little kid)
Big Lines:
Drill Sergeant: Gump! What's your sole purpose in this army?
Forrest: To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant!
Lieutenant Dan: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?
Forrest: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.
Forrest: I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is.
Forrest: I'm sorry I had a fight in the middle of your Black Panther party.
Lieutenant Dan: Where are you boys from in the world?
Forrest & Bubba: Alabama, sir!
Lieutenant Dan: You twins?
Forrest: No, sir. We are not relations.
Jenny: Dear God, make me a bird so I can fly far, far away from here.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
#77 All the President's Men (1976)
I started The Wild Bunch Saturday night, watched thirty minutes of it, and was so bored that I turned it off. Trav asked me if I'm going to suffer through the whole movie even though it was terrible, and I guess to be able to say I've seen all 100 of AFI's top movies, I will eventually need to watch it. Not today, though!
This morning I watched this film about the Watergate scandal and the two Washington Post reporters responsible for exposing it. The movie had great momentum even though it was tricky to keep up with all the names and dates they throw at you, and since I already knew what was going to happen, I was on edge. About 2 hours and 15 minutes into the movie, I thought, "Oooh, now we're getting to the good stuff," but then, they sum up all the scandal excitement via a man typing newspaper headlines. Sure, this is artsy, but literally none of the excitement is shown so the movie ends up being much more about the grunt work-- finding the story and interrogating people-- and none of the satisfying success is shown at all. Watching it, I thought this was going to be a great one, but the ending ruined the whole movie for me. Great acting, though.
Rating: 4/10
Big Names: Carl Bernstein (writer), Bob Woodword (writer), Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Robards (from Parenthood!), a ton of other guys
This morning I watched this film about the Watergate scandal and the two Washington Post reporters responsible for exposing it. The movie had great momentum even though it was tricky to keep up with all the names and dates they throw at you, and since I already knew what was going to happen, I was on edge. About 2 hours and 15 minutes into the movie, I thought, "Oooh, now we're getting to the good stuff," but then, they sum up all the scandal excitement via a man typing newspaper headlines. Sure, this is artsy, but literally none of the excitement is shown so the movie ends up being much more about the grunt work-- finding the story and interrogating people-- and none of the satisfying success is shown at all. Watching it, I thought this was going to be a great one, but the ending ruined the whole movie for me. Great acting, though.
Rating: 4/10
Big Names: Carl Bernstein (writer), Bob Woodword (writer), Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Robards (from Parenthood!), a ton of other guys
#78 Modern Times (1936)
The past few weeks I haven't had many weekdays off work, so it's been a while since I watched a movie on my list. Not excited about either of the movies I have at home right now (The Wild Bunch and this one), I picked the shorter one of the two. This was only 1 hour and 27 minutes long.
I definitely knew of Charlie Chaplin, but when I read a blurb about this movie, I had no clue who they were referring to as a Tramp. Chaplin's famous character, with the bowler hat, cane, clown shoes, and goofy walk/waddle, was the Little Tramp. Charlie knew this character wouldn't survive in the non-silent films that were taking over, so Modern Times was done stubbornly as a "silent" film. "Silent" is in quotes because there are some spoken lines, and the Tramp even sings toward the end.
Surprisingly (to me), there are pretty funny moments. I laughed out loud when he followed this girl with the buttons on her coat. It's insanely impressive to me that a 75-year-old movie can make me laugh, but this film also had more serious messages. The idea that progress and industrialization isn't always necessary or better and the the truth of how difficult it is for less fortunate Americans to keep up are just a bit of what Chaplin was trying to say. I like his style of stringing together entertaining skits, but having underlying deeper messages that I didn't even realize until after the movie was over.
One of the main songs in the movie is the original, instrumental version of "Smile Though Your Heart Is Aching." The lyrics weren't added until decades later, but the words are well suited for the last scene of the movie, when the main characters get themselves up off the ground and try again.
Rating: 7/10
Big Names: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard (Chaplin's wife at the time)
I definitely knew of Charlie Chaplin, but when I read a blurb about this movie, I had no clue who they were referring to as a Tramp. Chaplin's famous character, with the bowler hat, cane, clown shoes, and goofy walk/waddle, was the Little Tramp. Charlie knew this character wouldn't survive in the non-silent films that were taking over, so Modern Times was done stubbornly as a "silent" film. "Silent" is in quotes because there are some spoken lines, and the Tramp even sings toward the end.
Surprisingly (to me), there are pretty funny moments. I laughed out loud when he followed this girl with the buttons on her coat. It's insanely impressive to me that a 75-year-old movie can make me laugh, but this film also had more serious messages. The idea that progress and industrialization isn't always necessary or better and the the truth of how difficult it is for less fortunate Americans to keep up are just a bit of what Chaplin was trying to say. I like his style of stringing together entertaining skits, but having underlying deeper messages that I didn't even realize until after the movie was over.
One of the main songs in the movie is the original, instrumental version of "Smile Though Your Heart Is Aching." The lyrics weren't added until decades later, but the words are well suited for the last scene of the movie, when the main characters get themselves up off the ground and try again.
Rating: 7/10
Big Names: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard (Chaplin's wife at the time)
Friday, April 29, 2011
#70 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
So I skipped ahead a bit on this one. Of the movies I had already added to my Netflix instant queue, it was the one that Trav wanted to see with me at the time.
I had seen the first third of this movie when I was about 18. (See my "bad habit" in the post about #85: I fell asleep for the rest of the movie but acted like I hadn't.) This portion of the movie shows the main character Alex, an inherently evil and violent man, breaking into strangers' houses, raping women, and actually getting enjoyment out of torturing people. On one of their "adventures," a woman calls the police and between the time of the call and the arrival of the police, he accidentally kills her. His friends leave him, he's arrested and then of course, has to serve jail time.
After serving a bit of time, he agrees to participate in an experimental "aversion therapy" to shorten his jail sentence. His therapists force him to watch movies of disgusting, violent acts until his body has a Pavlovian response to the sight of violence and he becomes physically ill. Unfortunately, the movies he's forced to watch are accompanied by the classical music he adores, and this is used against him when he again meets the husband of a woman he raped.
I read Roger Ebert's review, and his was incredibly negative, mostly criticizing Kubrick for glorifying Alex and "celebrating his nastiness." I don't think that's what Kubrick was trying to do, though. I think he wants the viewer to see through that and still be able to recognize what is good and evil, and I feel that most viewers would have the same reaction that I did, which was utter disgust.
If an indicator of a good movie is that it affects you somehow, this movie is incredible. It gave me nightmares.
Rating: 8/10
Big Names: Malcolm McDowell
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