As advertised, this will be the final post until after Christmas. I'll start up again on either Sunday or Monday.
MOVIE #52
Shrykespeare
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – Director: Robert Mulligan; starring Gregory Peck, Mary Badham and Robert Duvall. Probably the one film in my entire list that’s the least like all the others: the only one prior to 1970, the only black-and-white film, and probably the only Hollywood “classic” on my list. Set in the prejudice-rampant Depression-era South, Peck’s performance as Atticus Finch is one of the greatest of all time, bar none. Named #1 on AFI’s Greatest Movie Heroes of All Time, and richly deserved; Finch, a champion of justice and morality, seeks to defend a poor black man unjustly accused of attacking a white girl, in the worst possible setting. If you haven’t seen this film, you simply must. (2nd appearance)
Here is an audio clip from the famous courtroom scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8TgqenWW0I
silversurfer
Gremlins (1984) - Director: Joe Dante; starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Hoyt Axton. Never expose a Mogwai to bright lights, never get it wet, and never feed it after midnight. Sounds easy enough? Well you better think again, and then when was is bound to happen actually happens you're in for trouble! Joe Dante's most spectacular B-Movie spin on the Holiday blockbuster is one of the most frightening, thrilling and hilarious rides I've ever had the fortune to see on the big screen. Like the Gremlins, Dante's playfulness with traditional folklore of movies is a delight to watch from start to finish, mixing Looney Tunes theatrics with a delicious slice of dark comic horror to make you laugh and scream all at the same time. He draws you in with all this magic, excitement and wonder, but due to selfishness and irresponsibility of humans, it twists, turns and spits itself back out as a nightmarish vision of mayhem, and we get the hellride we've always wanted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGyghmQak-A
thegreenarrow
In The Mood For Love (2000) - Director: Wong Kar Wai; starring Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung and Ping Lam Siu.
(2nd appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kRQqksluZk
transformers
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Director: Steven Speilberg; starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies and Paul Freeman.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the quintessential adventure films of all time. The whole film is just an absolute blast to watch and Indiana Jones is one of the coolest characters in film history. Raiders of the Lost Ark established one of the most memorable franchises in film history and it remains the best entry in the
Indiana Jones series.
(3rd appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YXw7BxYGMU
englishozzy
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) - Director: Guillermo del Toro; starring Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi Lopez, and Maribel Verdu.
Pan's Labyrinth is an example of an adult fairytale, both magical and twistedly gory at the same time. Everything about this films screams Oscar worthy, from its amazing sets and designs to the story itself, everything is done so well that you don’t notice having to read the subtitle at the bottom. Del Toro does well to blend the two parts of the film together, the reality with the unhappy family and the labyrinth itself, but keep them so far apart. Easily Del Toro's best film to date.
(3rd appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYiSlkvRuw
Ron Burgundy
Platoon (1986) – Director: Oliver Stone; starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe.
(4th appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPi8EQzJ2Bg
Buscemi
The Shining (1980) - Director: Stanley Kubrick; starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers. One man's descent into madness in an haunted, isolated hotel during the dead of winter makes for one of Stanley Kubrick's masterpieces (loosely) based on Stephen King's novel. The cast is limited and the film doesn't have much action over its 146 minute run time but the atmosphere and performances help deliver the action and scares. The setting is chilling (quite literally, by the end the characters are in a driving snowstorm) and moody, as is Jack Torrance (played masterfully by Jack Nicholson). The terror meter goes up to 11 as the weather gets colder and Jack gets crazier. It's as if Kubrick wants to feel like you are with the Torrance family, experiencing Jack's descent and wondering if you will get out alive. And because of that, it is one of the most effective horror films ever made.
(3rd appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYwE6PKSiMw
Chienfantome
The New World (2005) – Director: Terrence Malick, starring Colin Farrell, Q’Orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Wes Studi and Christian Bale. I think if we had to make a list of our most anticipated films ever, the ones that made us the most excited to see,
The New World would be in my Top Ten. I have rarely been so craving to see a film. I’ve counted the months, the weeks, the days before its release, and I remember like it was yesterday of the minutes I stood in the corridor leading to the screening room, waiting anxiously to penetrate the theater and watch that new Terrence Malick film. I’ll always remember that. I’ll also always remember the trance I was in upon watching some of the sequences. I remember how perfect it felt to see the love of John Smith for Pocahontas blossom onscreen, in those scenes without dialogues. Just the beauty of the images, the incredible sensations created by the sounds. Terrence Malick is a cinematographic poet like no other, and the only reason this film is not higher on my list is because of the last act which felt much less powerful than the rest of the film. This is not the last film of Malick to appear in my Top.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYttzO5rXUw
numbersix
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) - Director: Frank Capra; starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore. How appropriate! Okay, so I bumped this film up a few places to tie in with the time of year, but it's still a great film. The only problem is, like
Casablanca, the pale imitators that came afterwards have lessened the effect of this movie. But look beyond that and you see a wonderful film that isn't just a glossy feel-good flick, but one that delves deep into the character of George, from his endless optimism to his sense of defeat to the realization that achieving ambitions may not be as important as you think, especially if you affects others around you in such important ways. It's a film that prompts us to look back at the minor moments of goodwill, and realize their importance. It also contains one of Jimmy Stewart's best performances.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6e6dY1F0E
Banks
Being John Malkovich (1999) - Director: Spike Jonze; starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener. A movie like this could only come from a mind as twisted as Charlie Kaufman. One where a good portion of the film takes place on the 7 ½th floor of a skyscraper, and most of the rest takes place within the brain of a B-list actor. It’s been proven that Kaufman’s scripts can veer wildly off course (Adaptation), but Being John Malkovich is the perfect example of an off-the-wall concept being brought to life perfectly. And kudos to whoever cast Cameron Diaz as the homely wife and Catherine Keener as the hot office worker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ahIGLNNwo
BarcaRulz
Bicycle Theives (1948) - Director: Vittoro De Sica; starring Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola and Lianella Carell.
(2nd appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzEopdP0QS4
Geezer
Ocean's Eleven (2001) - Director: Steven Soderbergh; starring: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Bernie Mac, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Andy Garcia. I've honestly been kinda shocked at the backlash I've read in some of the comments regarding this film. I personally can't find a single thing not to love about it. Absolutely phenomenal cast, and they all deliver. Fantastically fun and cool. Every minute of the heist sequence is edge of your seat type stuff. I could watch this over and over and over again and never get tired of it. Its just a great, entertaining film.
(3rd appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpTAcDlSFZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Q7f-fPXcM (funny spoof)
leestu
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Director Frank Darabont; starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, William Sadler, Clancy Brown and Bob Gunton.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_lp4_Jfz7U
W
The Man From Earth (2007) - Director: Richard Schenkman; starring David Lee Smith, Tony Todd and John Billingsley. This is probably my favorite $1 Redbox rental, though my Redbox days didn't last too long. This film felt like a long Twilight Zone episode, which is a good thing. It probably felt that way because the writer of this also wrote one of the most known
Twilight Zone episodes ("Kick the Can"). Basically a college professor gets a group of colleagues together to discuss whether it would be possible for someone to have been living since caveman days and still be alive. There's a lot of science and a whole lot of fiction involved with a little bit of
12 Angry Men (or that's how I see it). Oh, there's a good amount of religious stuff in there too. I don't care, but some might.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVMhEAI3pvg
NSpan
Night of the Living Dead (1968) – Director: George A. Romero; starring Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones and Karl Hardman.
(2nd appearance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pElSu_ECJGM
undeadmonkey
Meet Joe Black (1998) – Director: Martin Brest; starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani and Marcia Gay Harden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcL_qKTyZcU
