Switching things up a bit. Today we're heading off to feudal Japan, for a heartwarming take of child slavery and prostitution. That's right, kiddies: it's time for Sansho the Bailiff!
My boyfriend's dad rented Captain America the other night. I was OK with this, mainly because Chris Evans is super attractive and I like WWII stuff. Game on.
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| Walking around with a literal target on your back. |
OK, I don't really have a good explanation for why I voluntarily viewed this film, except that I read the book when I was younger and it was OK in a crappy, guilty pleasure, only socially acceptable when you're a teenager kind of way. And I was bored. And it was free online. Don't judge.
As surprising as it may seem, this is my first go around with the blockbuster juggernaut that is The Terminator. It was kind of one of those film series that I'd always meant to watch but never got around to. It makes our list at #264. Here we go.
Moving along to Boogie Nights, a 1997 ode to porn starring Mark Wahlberg's junk. Is an impressive piece of prosthetic genitalia enough to earn Boogie Nights a position on our list at #536? Yes, apparently so. Does it deserve that spot? I don't know, I haven't watched it yet. I'll get back to you.
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The next film on the list is The Black Cat, a 1934 horror film starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. I know what you're thinking. A scary movie from the 30s that has Lugosi and Karloff in it? Surely not! Why, that's as rare a sight as the Loch Ness Monster herself. But there's a reason these two creepers made eight horror movies together and have clocked in probably 500 solo horror movie appearances. They're creepy guys. So creepy, in fact, that The Black Cat earns a position at #969 on our list.
The next film on our list is the Wes Anderson comedy Rushmore, starring Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. Despite my suspicion and almost universal dislike of hipsters, I have to admit to liking both Wes Anderson and his films. So there it is.
Hey guys. So while I was finishing up my 50th review, it made me think. This is a list of the Top 1000 movies of all time. I'm not even sure if I've even seen 1000 movies in my lifetime. I mean, I probably have, but who knows?
I return from my Thanksgiving vacation to watch the most American of films from the most American of filmmakers. The next film on our list is Strike (or Stachka, for the commie bastard segment of my audience). It's the first full length film of Sergei Eisenstein, a revolutionary Soviet filmmaker responsible for what we pretentious film historians refer to as the Soviet Montage.
I just got home from watching The Muppets, starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, and the Muppet gang. My reaction?
Our next movie is Spirited Away, a 2001 animated film from famed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. It is the first anime film to win an Oscar, and it earns a spot at #439 on our list.
My next review is on a film called Shane, which is a 1953 western starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur. It's the story of a mysterious stranger who comes in and helps some folk stand up to the nasty cattle ranchers who are trying to take over their land. It is placed at #266, something which makes me momentarily question the validity of this list.
The next movie we're watching is A Trip to the Moon (or Le Voyage dans la lune, if you're of the French persuasion), a 1902 science fiction film by Georges Melies. This is the oldest movie on our list by far, and it's sort of Point A in film history. The old girl scores #465 on our list.
Next we'll be watching The Manchurian Candidate, a 1960s political thriller guaranteed to make you suspicious of anyone and everyone...particularly well-bred looking yuppie types with a vacant look in their eye. It clocks in at #367 on our list.
The next film we'll be watching is Sullivan's Travels, a 1941 comedy about a director who takes himself far too seriously and needs a good dose of reality. I am unfazed, as this accurately describes every director I've ever worked with. Regardless, it earns a position of #136 on our venerable list.
Moving on to our next movie, American Graffiti. This 1973 coming of age film stars Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfuss, and comes in at #460 on the almighty list.
No, it's OK, no one have a heart attack. Green Lantern is not on the Top 1000 list, so we all don't need to weep for the future of filmmaking. The boyfriend had me watch it this weekend and I thought What the hell, why not post my thoughts? So without further ado:
This is something that's been floating around in my head for a while. I love Top Whatever lists, and I've been wanting to do one on here. These may not all be movies that came out while I was a kid, but they're certainly the films that dominated my VCR during my formative years. Prepare yourselves for nostalgia overload.
So without further ado...
The Top 30 Movies of My Childhood
Onward to Gunga Din, a 1939 RKO adventure film starring Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks Jr, chronicling the triumph of British soldiers over Indian natives. Yay! It comes in at #718 on our list.
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The next movie on our list is Sugar Cane Alley, a 1983 French film about a young, poor boy growing up in Martinique, and his grandmother who is determined that he won't end up working in the sugar cane fields. It's ranked at 797 on the Top 1000 list.
The next movie, which clocks in at #818 on our list, is a 1925 silent film starring John Gilbert as a spoiled rich boy who fights in World War I. Being as familiar as I am with the Great War, I anticipate this being a barrel of laughs. Just kidding. It's probably going to be really depressing. Cheers!
Moving on to the next film on our list, this is Jane Campion's Oscar-winning film The Piano. I have been told that this is an erotic film (to tell the truth, I was told that by Sally from Coupling) and I've also been made aware that Harvey Keitel is one of the two leads. I am having a hard time reconciling these two facts.
As we all know, November 5th is a very important day in history.
No, not because of Guy Fawkes. Please. I thought the whole reason we fought the Revolutionary War was so that we officially no longer had to care about British Parliament?
Today is a special day in the history of science. Specifically, time travel. Because November 5th, 1955 is the day when this little baby was invented.
Come join me as I watch Broken Blossoms, one of DW Griffith's desperate attempts to prove to the world that he wasn't racist after 1915's Birth of a Nation (also on this list).
The next movie we'll be watching is the flawed but underrated AI: Artificial Intelligence. A Stanley Kubrick/Steven Spielberg collaboration, this film comes in at #732 on our list.
The next film is the famous cautionary tale of not letting your boss use your apartment to shag loads of women, especially not if one of the women you happen to be in love with. Although now that I've written all that out, it seems a lot less like a cautionary take and more like common sense. Regardless, this is The Apartment, starring Jack Lemmon, and it clocks in at #58 on our list.
The next film on our list comes to us straight from 1957 Poland. Kanał (thanks to Smileyman, I now have an "ł") just manages a place on the list at #989. This film details the Warsaw Uprising (not to be confused with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising), a major operation that the Polish resistance Home Army launched to liberate Warsaw from the Nazis, only to be brutally suppressed. I anticipate this film to be uplifting, and in no way depressing enough to make me want to throw myself out of a window.
Yes, I know, it's Halloween and I've reviewing Halloween, how cheap and obvious is that? But hey, it is totally on the list, so I'm not going to miss out on the opportunity.
So there.
The 1000 Movie Journey is now in full on Halloween mode. Let's get some decorations up in here!
In this 1939 film, John Ford offers a rare glimpse of a young Abraham Lincoln cursing out his parents, making poor decisions, getting drunk and passing out in ditches...
Hello! I'm off my crazy work schedule, so you can expect me to be updating this far more frequently. The next film on our list is This is Spinal Tap, a 1984 mockumentary, which is very nearly as often quoted as Monty Python. Which is a lot. Almost too much. Really. It comes in at a rock star worthy 357.
For The Shop Around the Corner, we journey to picturesque Budapest, Hungary with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan (both of whom could not be more Hungarian). Clocking in at #196, this 1940 romantic comedy is an Ernst Lubitsch classic.
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The next film on our list has adventure, sword fights, true love, and Fred Savage. I'm talking, of course, about The Princess Bride, the 1986 classic starring Cary Elwes and Robin Wright. It scores a position at #694 on the TSPDT list.
After a brief hiatus (sorry all, went up to Massachusetts for a few days and just started a new job, so I've been a bit busy), we're back to business with the 1973 Spanish film The Spirit of the Beehive. Considered by Spaniards (and most of the rest of the world) to be a classic, this film clocks in at #226 on the TSPDT list.
Onward to Duck Soup, the 1933 Marx Brothers classic. It's the last Marx Brothers film to feature Zeppo, and scores a frankly shocking position at #104 on our list.
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| Great...because I needed those nightmares. |
We're up to La Jetee today, the interesting short film from France that tells a science fiction story set in the future using only black and white photographs. Directed by Chris Marker, this film came out in 1962, and has secured a place at #142 on the TSPDT list.
The next film on our list is The Thief of Bagdad, a 1940 adventure fantasy based on the Arabian Nights stories. This film won three Oscars (including one for special effects, le shock!) and earns a place at #306 on the TSPDT list.
Moving on to Meshes of the Afternoon. This quirky little experimental film was made by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid (who also play the two characters) in 1943, to the tune of $275. TSPDT put it at #312 on their list.
