Movie 236/1001 ~ Beverly Hills Cop

This is a 1984 movie starring Eddie Murphy and Judge Reinhold. The movie is about Axel Foley, a street-wise cop from Detroit, who travels to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his best friend. I enjoyed watching the movie but it clearly has little value beyond a not unpleasant way to pass time. How much can I really say about a movie when my favourite parts of it were the theme song and a man with the first name Judge?

**

Movie 235/1001 ~ Open City

Open City is a neorealist film made in Italy during 1945. The film follows the stories of one of the leader's of the resistance trying to evade fascist capture and a priest who is helping the resistance. The movie is quite engaging and I found that the time flew by while I watched it. The movie combines everything that I like about neorealism and adds an interesting plot, intriguing characters and a the correct amount of melodrama and suspense. The film itself rose from the rubble just months ofter the war was finished and enabled the actors to be truly compelling. This film is worth watching.

****1/2

Movie 234/1001 ~ The Rules of the Game

This classic 1939 film by Renoir is considered one of the greatest movies ever made. This film is about upper-class French society before World War II. The movie is centered around a pilot who returns from a trip across the Atlantic to discover that Christine, his lover, has married another man. Christine and her husband invite many people to their country home, including the pilot and the husband's mistress. Various romantic intrigues ensue. The film requires that the viewer pay attention. There is a great deal of dialogue and it can be difficult to follow the plot. The film makes great use of deep focus. This technique has allowed Orson Welles to gain fame, but he was probably inspired by Renoir. In this film, the actors in the background or foreground will subtly advance other plot points while the main action occurs. The film is a great inspiration to many film directors, notably Robert Altman. His film Gosford Park is clearly an homage of sorts to The Rules of the Game. Altman has stated that "The Rules of the Game has taught me the rules of the game."

****

Movie 233/1001 ~ Ghostbusters

This 1984 classic stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis as three out of work parapsychologists who decide to try and make a living as a ghost removal service. This comedy is considered one of the best comedies over made. The film features an excellent and popular theme song, numerous quotable lines, and an excellent cast. I enjoyed this movie, but by no means is this one of my favourite comedies.

***1/2

Fun Fact: There is some dispute over how many of Bill Murray's lines were scripted. Some claim the he hardly improvised at all and others claim that he improvised so much dialogue that he deserves a writing credit.

Movie 232/1001 ~ Deliverance

Made in 1972, this film is the tale of four men who decide to go on a canoe trip in the Georgia backcountry before they build a dam and destroy the river. The film stars Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds. What begins as a peaceful trip is soon ruined by a memorable scene in which two hillbillies accost and rape one of the members of the group at gunpoint. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed this movie as much as I was disturbed by it. The movie is well acted and is well shot, but it is difficult to declare this movie among my favourites. The main theme of the movie is a song titled Dueling Banjos which won a Grammy and is very recognizable. This film is also notable for none of the actors being insured in order to conserve, despite the numerous stunts the actors performed the movie. Notably, Voight scales a cliff and Reynolds broke his coccyx during a river sequence. Reference to this fact is made early in the film when Reynolds declares that he has never been insured.

***1/2

Movie 231/1001 ~ Spirited Away

Filmed in 2001, Spirited Away is a classic animated film directed by Hayao Mayazaki. Spirited Away won best animated feature in the 2002 Oscars ceremony. The film follows the young Chihiro, a little girl, who is moving with her parents. When her dad takes an ill-advised shortcut, they end up finding themselves at an abandoned amusement park, and the parents find a lot of food, whish they consume. The little girl explores the area and meets a boy who tells her that she must leave immediately before nightfall. When she gets back she finds that her parents have turned into pigs, there are spirits everywhere and she is starting to disappear. Like most anime follows the general reasoning and logic is sometimes hard to follow, but the movie is still fairly coherent. Additionally, the film has several scenes and characters which are simply too cute and interesting that they will certainly improve the rest of the movie for any viewer.

***1/2

Movie 230/1001 ~ Chinatown

Whew, it's been a little while since I saw this film but I liked what I saw. Chinatown was filmed in 1974 by Roman Polanski. It starred Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston. The story revolves around private detective who is hired to investigate the chief engineer of the city's water department but the case turns sinister. The three main actors are amazing in this movie and it is one of the best detective stories that I have ever seen.

Fun Fact: J.J. Gittes (Nicholson) is in every single scene of the movie.

****1/2

Movie 229/1001 ~ Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a 1931 adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel of the same name. The movie is just over an hour and is fairly entertaining. There are a few common misconceptions about the movie. Firstly, I thought the name of the monster was frankenstein, but it isn't. Frankenstein is the name of the creator and NOT the monster. Furthermore, the hunchbacked assistant is NOT named Igor. I'm not sure exactly how these misconceptions came about, but it is intriguing nonetheless. I also like the narrator at the beginning of the film that warns the audience that they might find the film horrifying (it isn't). Basically, it was interesting, but ultimately, not very entertaining or horrifying for a modern audience.

Fun Fact: During the movie a little girl has a cat in her arms and she tells her dad to stay and play with her and the cat. Look at the cat. It is NOT happy at all.

***1/2

Movie 228/1001 ~ Blowup

Blowup is a 1966 English-Italian art film. The film has an unusual narrative structure. The movie follows a photographer as he pursues a number of objectives throughout the day including the seemingly innocuous photographing of a couple in the park. Only afterwards, when he brings the photos home and the woman from the photos follows him and demands the photographs does the plot thicken. This film is about the image and really is trying to question reality. If only a picture of something exists did it really happen? This motif is underlined when the main character is watching some mimes play tennis, and eventually we begin to hear the sounds of the imaginary ball and rackets and culminates in the character himself disappearing from the grassy field. I liked this movie. It is a slow plot development and is a little unusual, but I feel that the movie is quite interesting and very well shot. However, there are some extraneous and overly long sequences.



Fun Fact: This film helped destroy the MPAA Production Code. This film was controvertial because it has full frontal female nudity (gasp!) and MGM released it despite not getting approval from the MPAA.



****

Movie 227/1001 ~ Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles was directed in 1974 by Mel Brooks. The film is a parody of the western genre and stars Gene Wilder. I mildly despise hate Mel Brooks. People think he is funny, but he has the mental capacity of an infant isn't. He continually makes mediocre horrible parodies of any random genre and people think he is hilarious. He utilizes every lame gag with no discretion or hilarity. He isn't funny. As a comedy it is one of the most tragically unfunny pieces of trash that I have ever had the misfortunes of witnessing fails. My mouth twitched into a small portion of a smile once or twice. To be fair, I do like The Producers, one of the only Mel Brooks films that ISN'T a parody. This film, along with Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, Spaceballs, and all of the rest, was horrible. He uses the same jokes in EVERY one of his garbage receptacles films. If I wanted to hear bad jokes, I would go to the music lounge or visit my family. I award this movie one half of a star and only because of the high frequency of the infamous 'N' word that made the movie more interesting and into something that vaguely approached palatability.

Fun Fact: This film also has the dubious amazing distinction of being the first film to show flatulence! Hurray! Thanks Mel!

1/2

Movie 226/1001 ~ Fantasia

The third feature animated film produced by Walt Disney, Fantasia was a commercial failure. The film itself is a series of animated featurettes with no dialogue that is choreographed to famous orchestral works. In my youth, I had seen some of these segments, but never the entire film. The movie made great breakthroughs in sound recording technology because Walt Disney was very unhappy with the quality of sound that contemporary systems could provide. The film, which is over two hours in length, was just too lengthy for many and ultimately, the film wouldn't become profitable until many decades later. It also ran into some trouble because of a black centaur that was performing menial tasks and due to the reductions of several of the pieces of music. Some morons critics even went so far as to complain that because the animation didn't correspond with the composers vision for the music, the entire movie was foolish. Today, there are only two animated features on the AFI top 100 films list, and they are Fantasia and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I enjoyed this film, but really I think that it is too long for one sitting.

****

Fun Fact: This film was very popular in the sixties. Why? Teenagers would see the film after partaking in various narcotic substances such as LSD and marijuana. Try it at home!

Movie 225/1001 ~ Meet Me in St. Louis

This movie was made in 1945 and stars Judy Garland and Mary Astor and was directed by Vincente Minelli. The movie is a musical about a middle class family living in St. Louis. They have four daughters and a son. Judy Garland plays the second eldest daughter who is smitten with the neighbour next door. If you ever wanted to know who to thank/murder for creating the songs Clang Clang Goes the Trolley and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, now you know who to thank. Both songs were written for the movie and have been tremendous hits ever since. I enjoyed this movie, but I didn't think it was spectacular. I don't really care for child acting from the time period and there was a lot of it. I believe it was supposed to look cute, but it just wasn't working for me. Mostly, it was well constructed and well acted, but it didn't go over that well for me.

Fun Fact: Judy Garland met Vincente Minelli while making this movie and the two teamed up and Liza Minelli was born a little while later.

***

Movie 224/1001 ~ Marty

Filmed in 1955, Marty is one of only two movies to win Best Picture at the Oscars and the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Marty is the story of a 34 year old Italian man who is constantly badgered about getting married and has resigned himself to the fate of bachelorhood. The film was a huge and unexpected success. Burt Lancaster has claimed that the film is superb in everyway and it was definitely a sleeper hit. Personally, I don't think the movie translates very well into a modern setting. There are FAR too many fifties-isms and behaviour that many would today find exceedingly inappropriate. Many serious parts of the movie actually end up somewhat amusing because the dialogue is ridiculous. Additionally, Marty's friends constant insults about his love intersest are ludicrous and almost unbelieveable. I liked parts of this movie, but not for reasons that were intended by the film maker.

***

Movie 223/1001 ~ Caravaggio

Filmed in 1986 by Derek Jarman, Caravaggio stars Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, and Tilda Swinton. The movie itself is a largely fictionalized retelling of the life of Caravaggio. This movie is moderately interesting to view, but it is very slowly paced and most of the interesting portions of the plot are largely fictionalized, such as the bisexual nature of the titular character. Furthermore, there are several props used throughout the movie that are not period at all. The film is purported to be set in the 1600s, yet we see some electric lights, a calculator, and an automobile at varying points of the movie. This made little sense at the time and frankly confused the hell out of me. This is apparently an art joke due to the fact that Caravaggio painted biblical portraits with 'modern' clothing styles, but I found the entire thing perplexing and repelling whilst I was watching the film.

**1/2

Movie 222/1001 ~ Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Filmed in 1977, Steven Spielberg directed this blockbuster starring Richard Dreyfuss. The film follows three main storylines. The first is of the various government and army officials pursuing the alien phenomena and trying to cover it up from the public. The second is of a woman who's son is abducted by aliens and the third is of Dreyfuss' character who sees UFOs while travelling in the countryside at night. The film was hugely successful and proved that Spielberg could continue to make hit movies after Jaws. Moreover, the film was one of the first movies to portray alien visitors as friendly and popularized the thin, grey look that many aliens are portrayed as. I enjoyed this movie, but didn't particularly care for it. It certainly didn't add any relevance to movie making and it really doesn't have anything to say. It is however, enjoyable to watch and is considered to be one of the 'classics' by most movie critics. Enjoyable, but don't go out of your way to see it.

**1/2

Movie 221/1001 ~ Platoon

In 1986, Platoon was directed by Oliver Stone and stars Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe. Charlie Sheen plays a new recruit who joins a platoon of men in the Vietnam war. There are many different types of men in the platoon, and as the film progresses, the line between right and wrong is blurred and Sheen struggles to discern the correct path for himself. I really like this movie. I believe it is the best Vietnam movie that I have watched thus far and easily my favourite Oliver Stone film. The movie has a certain moral ambiguity to it, but I was compelled by the character driven plot and action. The film was also very well shot and the accompaniment of the poignant Adagio for Strings throughout the film was an excellent touch.

****1/2

Movie 220/1001 ~ Chungking Express

Made in 1994 by Wong Kar Wai, Chungking Express is a film with two storylines, both involving police officers and romance. The first storyline is about a cop who has given himself a month to either get over his previous girlfriend or accept that the relationship has expired and a women who wears a blonde wig and has until the end of the month to fix a drug smuggling operation gone sour. At the end of this sequence the film abruptly begins a new storyline involving another cop who has broken up with his stewardess girlfriend and the woman who works at a cafe who has fallen in love with the man. Many viewers find the abrupt change in storylines confusing and repelling, but I actually kind of liked it. The film repeatedly plays two songs, What a Difference a Day Makes and California Dreamin,' and highlights recurring themes of the movie. I like these songs, so I approved heartily. The film also uses a number of self-indulgent filming techniques step printing slow motion which only movie buffs could recognize. Generally, I liked it and found it to be an enjoyable watch that is well-shot and produced.

***1/2

Movie 219/1001 ~ Ben-Hur

Made in 1959, Ben-Hur was an expensive gamble to try and save MGM from bankruptcy (it paid off). The film stars Moses as Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince in Judea who is sent into Roman slavery, but eventually earns his freedom and returns for revenge. The film is set in the time of Jesus and the movie show several biblical scenes such as the birth of Christ, the sermon on the mount and the crucifixion. The film is set in an extremely large aspect ratio of almost 3:1. The film is better viewed in this manner and the differences between the 3:1 and a lesser (but better fitting the screen) ratio is most noticeable in the chariot race sequence. The chariot race sequence took months to complete and they had to bild an actual chariot racing stadium for the film. Moses had to learn to chariot race for the film. I enjoyed the film. The movie is quite long at around 3 hours and 15 minutes, but I found it entertaining and enjoyable. I'm not really a fan of Moses and I'm not usually a fan of religious movies which tend to be too pious and self-righteous, but I think this movie avoids the pitfalls that many films fall into deftly. Over-all, an enjoyable experience. The film is rumoured to have homoerotic undertones between Moses and his rival, but I'm not sold on that particular issue. The film one a whopping 11 Oscars, including Best Picture.

***1/2

Movie 218/1001 ~ American Graffiti

Made in 1973, American Graffiti is the tale of four men in one night in Modesto California, set in 1962. These four men are all leaving high school and are going to spend the last night of their lives with all four of each other's company before two of them travel to university the next morning. The film is directed by George Lucas and was a gigantic financial success in the box office. The film also stars Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, and (briefly) Suzanne Somers. The film has no original score; the soundtrack is entirely comprised of time period musical hits. I enjoyed the movie, but I didn't really like it. Many people really enjoy this film and especially like how it captures the time period and uses many innovative lighting techniques, but I didn't find the movie that interesting. Sometimes, I wonder if this and other movies lose something on me because of the distance in time since it came out and the current date. Ebert said that it brought him back into his childhood and he loved it and it is ranked respectably on the AFI best movies list, but I can't say that I particularly enjoyed it.

***

Movie 217/1001 ~ The African Queen

Ok, now that the Oscars are over, it is back to the grind stone. The African Queen stars Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Set in WW1 Africa, Hepburn gets on board Bogart's boat after the village where she is being a missionary is burned to the ground by German troops. Determined to get even, she formulates a plan to strike a counterattack using Bogart's boat, the African Queen. There are manyh obstacles to overcome, including insects, malaria, leeches, and angry Germans. Bogart won his only Oscar for this film. I liked the movie, but didn't find it as spectacular as I was told it would be. I found the musical score to not work with the film in a way I found pleasing and I found Bogart's unusual accent used in the film mildly annoying.

***

Movie 216/1001 ~ 42nd Street

42nd Street is a black and white musical. It's the story of a production of a musical called "pretty woman" and is set on New York's famed 42nd Street. The production is troubled and the story follows the star of the show, her sugardaddy, her lover, the director, and some of the cast. It is one of the first musicals and to modern standards may not seem to qualify as such because the song do not serve to develop the plot or do not necessarily underscore the themes of the film. This film saved Warner Bros. from bankruptcy and received near universal acclaim. I enjoyed watching this movie, but didn't love it. I liked how the love rectangle in the movie is sort of ambiguous and it isn't terribly straightforward, but I think the ending gets tied up in pointless musical numbers and most of the plot was a little too predictable.

***

Movie 215/1001 ~ Black Orpheus

Made in 1959, Black Orpheus is a retelling of the ancient Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. Orpheus, who is engaged to Mira, becomes infatuated with Eurydice. Euridice is on the run from a man who wants to kill her, and when Mira discovers what is going on, she want to kill Euridice as well. The film received much critical acclaim and is an excellent modernization of a classic tale. I liked it.

**

Movie 214/1001 ~ Aliens

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film starring Sigourney Weaver. The film is considered a benchmark for the genre. The film is set on the planet from the original Alien movie which had begun to be colonized when the Aliens were discovered and murdered all of the people on the planet. A team of marines is mobilized to investigate. This film is action packed and very enjoyable to watch. Sigourney Weaver had a nomination for Best Actress for the role, which is considered extraordinary, because the genre is usually ignored by the Academy. This film is much different than the original Alien which was mostly suspense. This film is non-stop action. I liked it.

***1/2

Movie 213/1001 ~ Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls is a MGM musical starring Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. It is about petty gamblers and small time criminals in New York trying to set up illegal gambling when the cops have been turning up the heat. I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I especially liked how Frank Sinatra's name in the movie was Nathan, which meant that there were a whole bunch of cool songs with the name Nathan in them.

***1/2

Movie 212/1001 ~ Cabaret

Caberet stars Liza Minelli as a singer from a night club in early 30s Berlin. She has dreams of becoming a great actress using her singing talents. Then a man moves into her apartment and love and the rising Nazi power both play factors as the film progresses. This movie is a quasi-musical. The musical that it is based had several of its songs cut, and several new songs were added for the movie so that the movie's characters wouldn't burst into song to advance the plot. This makes the movie seem more like real life. All of the songs are performed as part of the caberet show and underscore themes from the film. I really liked this movie.

Fun Fact: Caberet has the distinction of winning the most Oscars without winning best picture. It won eight.

****

Movie 211/1001 ~ Mad Max

Mad Max is a low budget Australian film about a dystopic future where the police is underfunded and crime is prevalent. 'Mad' Max, played by Mel Gibson in his first role, kills the leader of a motorcycle gang that makes things personal by killing Max's wife and kid. This movie is on this list because, among other things, it held the record for most money earned to money spent until 2000, when the Blair Witch Project handily unseated it. I didn't care for this movie.

**

Movie 210/1001 ~ 8 1/2

This film is considered one of the greatest films of all time, and its isn't hard to see why. Fellini's mastery of black and white cinematography is blatant and beautiful. On face value, the film is about a director struggling from director's block while under pressure from all facets of his life, from the producer, to his mistress, to his wife. The film itself is largely autobiographical but even delves into questions of religion, the nature of art, and a quest to find meaning in life. It is an excellent movie, important for any film buff to watch at some point. It is called 8 1/2 because it was Fellini's 8 1/2th film (one short).

Side Note: I love the leading actor's hat and sunglasses.

****

Movie 209/1001 ~ 400 Blows

Ok, so apparently this WASN'T a porn film, but it turned out to be on my movie list so I watched it anyway. (Is he joking?). 400 Blows is a film by acclaimed French director Truffaut about a youth who engages in several pranks and petty crimes, which leads to his eventual incarceration in the French judicial system. The movie's title is lost in translation, the original French title is part of a phrase meaning 'raising hell.' I enjoyed the movie, but didn't love it. At first I didn't like the ending to this film, but after thinking about it, I think that it is a very good ending for this movie.

***

Movie 208/1001 ~ 12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men is a movie starring Henry Fonda as a lone dissenter in a jury room. All of the other jurors are convinced of the guilt of the defendant, but he is convinced that there is reasonable doubt. All is not what it seems in this clearcut murder trial. The majority of this film, all but three minutes in fact, takes place within one set, but that doesn't stop the film from being gripping and interesting. A very good movie.

****

Movie 207/1001 ~ Aguirre: The Wrath of God

This film is German and stars Klaus Kinski as Aguirre. The story is of a group of Spanish conquistadores in the 1500s searching for El Dorado on several rafts. Aguirre, who is hungry for power causes a mutiny and the slow descent down the river truly begins. This movie is a minimalist film, and many will find it quite boring. The lack of standard musical scores and dialogue is meant to convey the growing madness of all onboard this clearly doomed mission. I liked the movie, but I didn't love it.

Fun Fact 1: Klaus Kinski has a notoriously terrible temper (which is why he was chosen to be a crazy person) and is known to throw temper tantrums. In fact, in one tantrum on location, he fires at a set and accidently shot off an extra's finger. The director, Werner Herzog, had to persuade Kinski not to storm off of the set be threatening to kill him with a gun.Fun Fact 2: To obtain the monkeys for the final scene, the director payed trappers to catch 400 monkeys. He payed them half in advance, and then they tried to sell them to OTHER buyers for more money in Miami. As the thieving trappers were loading the monkeys onto the plane, Herzog showed up, claimed to be a veterinarian, said the monkeys needed vaccinations and just stole the monkeys. The monkeys were released back into the jungle after the film.

***

Movie 206/1001 ~ Fatal Attraction

1987's Fatal Attraction stars Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. Douglas has an affair with Close that he thinks ends after the weekend, but Close demands that she not be ignored and claims to be pregnant. I actually felt some sympathy for Close's character, even though she clearly is twelve types of crazy, Douglas's unsympathetic attitude to her plight certainly isn't helping matters. I enjoyed this movie.

Fun Fact: The original ending was changed because test audiences didn't like it, so the cast was called back for three weeks to film a different one. Result: second highest grossing film of the year and six academy award nominations.

***

Movie 205/1001 ~ Alien

Alien is a film from 1979 starring Sigourney Weaver in her first leading role. The film is about a spaceship that goes to a planet to investigate a suspected SOS, only to have one of their crew members attacked by an alien lifeform. There was a couple of brief moments where the technology was clearly to low-tech for space travel, but mostly I enjoyed the movie a lot. It was difficult to predict who would die next, and in a horror movie, that can go a long way. Entertaining.

***1/2
"In Space, no one can hear you scream"

Movie 204/1001 ~ The Age Of Gold

Age of Gold is another collaboration between Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, similar to the Andalusian Dog. The difference here, is that this film is one hour in length instead of merely fifteen minutes. The film IS surrealist and is meant to shock its viewers. There is little to no plot in each of the individual segments. The film if meant to confuse and antagonize the viewer and each watcher will draw their own conclusions about the film after watching it. The film was actually banned for about fifty years after its release after its initial screenings incensed the audience into throwing ink at the screen and destroying artworks outside the theatre. Although it is clearly not blasphemous enough to incite anyone in this day and age, it still is very confusing and antagonizing to a modern viewer. I didn't really like this movie. It's incomprehensible 'storyline' just annoyed me.

On a crude note, I kind of enjoyed the scene where a man ACTUALLY punts a small dog for no reason at all. The dog was owned by the director and apparently survived the incident without injury.

*

Movie 203/1001 ~ Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

This film. made in 1990, chronicles the making of Apocalypse Now. It is shot with interviews of the cast and crew from the present as well as deleted scenes from the movie, scenes from the movie, behind the camera scenes, and conversations that Coppola had with his wife, that she had taped. It is interesting to see why the film went so notoriously overbudget and why Coppola put up so much of the money for the film by himself. They had to contend with monsoons, the Phillipine government constantly recalling their helicopters, actors health problems, and that Marlon Brando showed up overweight, unprepared, constantly arguing over everything, and all at the low price of one million dollars a week. I wish I could get away with that for anything. The movie is certainly as good as any making of documentary could possibly be, but I didn't find it particularly entertaining or memorable.

**1/2

Movie 202/1001 ~ Apocalypse Now

Filmed in 1979 (with great difficulty), Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now is consistently rated among the very best war movies ever made. Loosely based on the Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, the movie is about Captain Willard's (Charlie Sheen) mission deep into neutral Cambodia during the Vietnam war to terminate Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who is alleged to have gone insane. The film also stars Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, and Robert Duvall. The movie is really about man's descent into darkness and insanity and the blurring of justice in a war like Vietnam's. I quite enjoyed the first half of the film as it was very compelling and visually stunning. As they get closer to Kurtz, the film gets darker and tries to reflect the madness of everything. The second half of the movie was still good, but I didn't like it as much as I did the first.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

***1/2

Movie 201/1001 ~ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a story about a princess who is 'the fairest in the land.' Her stepmother is extremely jealous of this fact and tries to kill her and Snow White is forced to flee into the forest, where she meets seven dwarfs. This film was the first successful English animated feature. It is currently the only traditionally animated feature on the AFI top 100 american films list. The film created and revolutionized the animation techniques of the time. Snow White and Fantasia are the only two Disney movies that have never been shown on television. That being said, I didn't like this film. It was okay, and the evil stepmother was pretty badass, but I found Snow White's voice quite grating. It pretty much ruined the whole thing for me. It was worse than that time that I found out that Bambi was male.

*1/2

Movie 200/1001 ~ The Untouchables

This is a Brian De Palma film, starring Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro. De Niro stars as Al Capone who rules the illegal alcohol rings during Prohibition in the 30s. Costner is an agent who is trying to bring Capone's reign of terror to an end. Since everyone is corrupt, he assembles a small group of' 'untouchables' to fight Capone's operations. This movie was also quite good. It does stretch the truth of actual events far beyond its limits, but this wasn't a problem for me. I found the movie quite entertaining and I really enjoyed the score by Ennio Morcone for the picture. Good music goes a long way for a movie. All in all, a film worth watching.

****

Movie 199/1001 ~ Trainspotting

Trainspotting is a film starring Ewan MacGregor and is about drug use/abuse. Several times in the film, the main character makes attempts to have one final hit and the movie is about these adventures. The movie has a number of unusual sequences related to drug trips and a number of very unusual characters of varying degrees of likeability. I quite liked this movie actually. I especially enjoyed the ending which I shall not ruin. All in all, a very enjoyable movie.

****

Movie 198/1001 ~ Natural Born Killers

Natural Born Killers is a film from 1994 starring Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, and is directed by Oliver Stone. This movie is messed up. It is really difficult to follow near the beginning and uses a lot of disorienting camera techniques and filters. The movie is intended to try and relay how the mass media perpetuates and idolizes things it should not be, such as serial killers. In the film, Lewis and Harrelson go on a killing spree at first to help Lewis escape from her abusive father, played by Rodney Dangerfield, and then to purify humanity. It is a intriguing movie that is visually appealing, but might turn off some by its possibly excessive violence. I found it interesting, but ultimately too disorienting.

***

Movie 197/1001 ~ Metropolis

Filmed in 1926 by Fritz Lang, Metropolis is a silent science fiction film heavily influenced by German Expressionism. Set in the year 2026 in a metropolis, it is the tale of class structure. It is about the thinkers and planners who live high in the sky and the lowly working class who labour far below the Earth's surface. But the head and the hands need to be mediated by the heart, or so says the movie, and our hero is ready to try and join the two classes together in harmony. The film is over two hours, which is fairly long for a silent film. The DVD version is available with its original orchestral scoring, which is certainly neat. I for one was very impressed to hear the Dies Irae in the gloomy parts, which is the old Latin tune for the Day of the Dead. But I digress. A full quarter of the film is lost forever due to laziness and bad storage. The actual film was three and a half hours long. I don't know what that version was like, but I found this shorter version reasonably compelling. The visuals were well constructed, but it is never going to be a real attention grabber for the average viewer. I found myself actually pleasantly surprised; I found it more interesting than other German Expressionist films that I had seen in the past. That being said, most of you will hate this movie.

***

Movie 196/1001 ~ La Jetee

La Jetee is a 1962 french film. I called it a film, but virtually the entire movie is comprised of photographic stills. It is a science fiction movie about a man who as a child sees a man die which causes the image of a woman's face to become engrained in his memory. This image makes him an excellent candidate for post war experiments for time travel. The plot doesn't actually make sense, but the synopsis is fairly accurate. Even though the film is almost all stills, the narration is fairly engaging and the movie is only a half hour. I actually quite liked the one moment of actual cinematic movement.

***

Movie 195/1001 ~ Cool Hand Luke

Cool Hand Luke was filmed in 1967 and is set in a Louisiana rural prison. Paul Newman is the titular role as Cool Hand Luke himself. Prison life isn't easy for the misguided war veteran and there is a lot of difficult labour to deal with on the chain gang. Luke just can't conform to prison life and attempts escape. I found the movie enjoyable, if somewhat predictable. Personally, the movie mostly underscored how unfortunate it would have been to be in prison in the past. The quote "What we have here is a failure to communicate" was voted the 11th most influential movie quote in a recent poll.

***

Movie 194/1001 ~ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Finishing off my Frank Capra kick is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Filmed in 1939, and starring Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur (a favourite leading lady of Capra's), it is the tale of a naive Mr. Smith that gets appointed to the senate. After discovering dishonesty (shock!) within the senate, he tries to uncover the truth and greedy newspapermen and politicians try to crush him and smear his reputation. It was very entertaining, and I learned a lot about how the senate works, and why it takes so god damn long to get anything done in government. I especially liked Jean Arthur's sidekick Thomas Mitchell, and the performance from Claude Rains, who is the policeman from Casablanca.

***1/2

Movie 193/1001 ~ It Happened One Night

Filmed in 1934, It Happened One Night is an unconventional romance. It stars Clark Gable as a reporter down on his luck and Claudette Colbert a rich girl trying to escape her fathers chokehold on her life. With private detectives everywhere searching for her, Colbert gets on a bus, and tries to escape to New York, but there is only one seat left, and its beside our leading man. It sounds like pretty standard fare on the outside, but I found it refreshing and original, even today. Frankly, the movie is pretty old, so its probably fairly original. Its very good.

****

Movie 192/1001 ~ Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Made in 1954, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a classic MGM musical. Set in Oregon, Adam, the eldest of seven brothers who live alone in the woods, is set on getting a wife the same day that he goes to town - and he succeeds. His brothers get jealous, and decide to kidnap six other women over the winter in order to get themselves brides as well. The movie is entertaining because the plot is a little silly and it is very campy. It is pleasant enough to watch, but old musicals aren't particularly my bag.

***1/2

Movie 191/1001 ~ Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

This is a Frank Capra classic movie. Filmed in 1936, it stars Gary Cooper, as the likeable Mr. Deeds. He inherits 20 million dollars from a distant relative, but must contend with moochers and schemers in New York. When he opts to donate his money to charity, he is sued and others try to prove that he is mentally unstable. The movie is well paced and is well worth watching. It isn't my favourite old movie, and it isn't even my favourite Frank Capra movie, but it was very good.

Ed. Note: As some people have noticed, Adam Sandler did indeed make a movie called Mr. Deeds, and yes, it is loosely based on this film.

***

Movie 190/1001 ~ Earth

Earth is a russian silent film made in 1930. Its (rather slight) plot is of Basil, a farmer who is tired of the rich farmers always getting their own way, and decides to settle things by getting a tractor somehow. I think. The movie wasn't very clear, and I think it would have mad emore sense if I had understood the ins and outs of Russian politics amongst the farmers of the time. But I didn't and I don't and the movie seemed as boring as all hell to me. For some reason, critics love it. I'm not sure why. It has an ambiguous political message, but it is lauded as one of the greatest films of all time. Maybe I'm just missing the point. I found it boring. Sorry.

*

Movie 189/1001 ~ Good Morning Vietnam

Filmed in 1987, Good Morning Vietnam stars Robin Williams. The movie is the story of a radio personality who is brought in to make an interesting radio program for the troops. Everyone loves his program - except for the two officers in charge of the station. Hilarity/antics ensue. The movie was good, but I didn't think it was that funny. In a comedy, that's everything.

**1/2

Movie 188/1001 ~ The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Filmed in 1966, and starring Clint Eastwood, the Good the Bad and the Ugly is one of the most famous westerns ever created. The film is about the interweaving storylines of three men during the civil war who are all trying to track down a fortune of gold and keep the other two at bay. Its easily the best western movie I have ever seen. The plot is very well written and the pacing is excellent. Definitely worth watching.

****1/2

Movie 187/1001 ~ Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

This film, from 1971, is the original blaxploitation film. It is the very first such movie to make a big impact in the film community, and started a new genre of film's about black people who are tired of taking it from the Man (ala Shaft). In fact, the film is dedicated to "all the brothers and sisters who had enough of the Man." The film is about a male black prostitute who, when seeing two racist cops beating another black man, can't help but beat the two cops within an inch of their lives. The rest of the film is about Sweetback's attempts to flee the police. The film stars Martin van Peebles as Sweetback. It is written, produced, directed, and even scored by Martin van Peebles. Needless to say this was an independent film, and it shows. It basically only uses one song throughout the entirety of the movie. I didn't like this film at all. To me, the plot was weak, the acting was poor, and the entire film ran more like a bad softcore porn movie than anything else. What his baadasssss song is, I'm not entirely sure. It could have been the one song they played over and over again, or it could have been the moans of the ladies when he uses his sexual prowess. I have no idea, and I don't really care. I found it boring, useless, and puerile. Not even a title like Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song and a name like Martin van Peebles is enough to save it.

*