AFI's 100 Heroes & Villians

A movie I watched in school. Atticus deserves the AFI #1 movie hero honor. A great example of a classic book being translated well into a classic film.

Foster and Hopkins give star performances. Levine is creepy as Buffalo Bill. But, this movie simply did not impress me as much as the other two movies to hold the honor of winning the Oscar big five awards. The movie didn't give me a sense of release, a sense of "Oh Wow" when Foster finds her way to Buffalo Bill's house independent of her boss at the FBI. I didn't understand the prevalence of close up shots of the actors' faces. There are a lot of foreheads half cut off in this movie. I guess it heighten the suspense a bit to see the sweat and muscle twitches in the characters' faces. But for a thriller it didn't have any amazing twists that really make you appreciate the writing. At least I didn't think so. The lambs, the moths, the sewing, the cannibalism were all supposed to be mysterious elements that suggest a creative and disturbing story, but it didn't all add together to something greater than the parts. Dr. Hannibal Lecter making his escape was probably the most fascinating, terrifying, and shocking part.

I've seen all the Bond movies including the unofficial Never Say Never Again and the Casino Royale with Woody Allen. Not reviewing any of them till I re-view them because I can't keep them straight in my head. I've seen this one more than once now, and man, I was surprised how much I had forgotten! There is a lot more to the plot, more of a traditional mystery, than I remembered. It doesn't get a full five stars 'cause there were some things that bothered me. The opening graphic now seems like a rip-off, because the body double with the hat is so obviously not James Bond. The Bond Theme with groovy sixties colored dots blinking around is cool, but then I forgot there are two more songs that you have to wait through before it gets to the story. You have to wait a lot longer still before Bond makes his appearance. Then it gets more exciting and suspenseful. Q was not yet developed and so there are not so many gadgets. Well technically I learned from a special feature that the character of Major Boothroyd who briefly gives Bond a new gun is Q's real name, but he doesn't have much of an impact. Connery shows he is a suave, cool, fit, always one step ahead of the villains kind of spy guy. The dragon tank/tractor thing is ridiculous and Joseph Wiseman and Zena Marshall playing part-Asians is embarrassing. The radioactive protective gear looks pretty silly today too. The design of Dr. No's living quarters and the radioactive laboratory almost makes up for the dated suits. Dr. No's underground chambers, conceived of by production designer Ken Adam, and Jamaica as the exotic locale set the standard for the look of future 007 films. These first Bond girls are beautiful as well.

More iconic lines and music. Love the shadowy film noir aesthetic of this film. "The problems of a few people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

I've read all the books, and even though it takes liberties with a few things, I still love it. In this most well-known adaptation, the special effects for the time, the technicolor, the quotable lines, and the simple values of brain, heart, courage, and home are what make it great. It'll always be my favorite!

McMurphy puts himself in a mental institution thinking it'll be the easy life. He represents anti-establishment with nothing else apparently wrong, but it's a tragic irony that the powers that be in the hospital are more sadistic and cold-hearted than the world he came from. Or is it really so different?

A classic Christmas movie, but the story isn't really about Christmas. A performance where Jimmy Stewart get to show some range. Through desperation his character considers ending his life, and then through desperation for his family and friends, the life he "lost," he learns an important lesson. Also, before The Graduate, plastics were still the wave of the future. And it looks forward to financial issues still with us today. Mr. Potter represents the bank that controls most of George Bailey's small town. Potter keeps the workers in his slums and tries to ruin the Building and Loan every chance he gets, since the Baileys are too free with giving houses to the poor. The bottom line for Potter is how to make a profit and be a good businessman, meaning a predatory businessman.

nominated for best picture by NBR, at the golden globes, and at the oscars

want to see this because it was nominated for best picture at the oscars

A boy ranger meets wised up Washington types and a political machine, he's Don Quixote, he's David against Goliath without a slingshot. I enjoyed this very much. Sure Stewart is so squeaky clean and sentimental, but he's the little guy you have to root for against corruption. You have to! People can't give up on ideals and making the world a better place. Wonderful supporting characters in Arthur, Mitchell, Rains, and Arnold too. Jean Arthur is incredibly attractive! She is intelligent and strong and Jefferson Smith would have never said what he needed to say in the Senate filibuster without her.

The "I'll be there" monologue near the end is awesome. Very inspiring after seeing the whole of the movie.

Gut-wrenching! Inspiring!!

nominated for best picture by NBR and at the oscars

A tribute to film noir in color. A great caper with multiple mysteries to solve. The ending feels abrupt and unsatisfying every time I watch it, but I guess that's the point, the tragedy of it.

The title Misery is the ultimate double entendre!

I was surprised and pleased to see Reiner directed this and Goldman adapted the screenplay. There was more to the story than I was expecting, since I thought 99% of it would be Caan as Sheldon lying in bed in one room and Bates as Wilkes slowly torturing him. I really appreciated the addition of Sheldon's editor character played by Bacall and the small town sheriff and his wife played by Farnsworth and Sternhagen. They were all really nice touches for Goldman to add to King's story. I thought Farnsworth doing the detective work to find where Sheldon has gone missing gave an especially strong performance. Caan and Bates give wonderful performances too and make it easy to stay with them and want to find out what happens next through the length of the picture. There are several very funny moments, the suspense is built expertly, and a couple of big shocks might just make you jump out of your seat.

nominated for best picture at the oscars

nominated for best picture at the golden globes and oscars

I love Sidney Poitier. He plays a powerful character with pride and intelligence. And still he has prejudices that might be misleading to solving the case. The relationship between Poitier and Steiger is something to watch.

Classic, iconic everything!

nominated for best picture at the oscars

nominated for best picture by NBR

A lesson in truth and justice! People like to think that truth is one sided, that it is easy to see, and that a few simple "facts" should undoubtedly lead to certain outcomes. In reality, if people are willing to admit it, the answer to a question is more often, "I don't know." There is room to suppose another option, another interpretation of the "facts" may be possible. Lots of people like to think they're serving justice, but this movie shows some things that get in the way: weaker personalities who maybe haven't developed their own opinion yet go along with the louder members of the group early on as to not be singled out, lawyers may not always represent their clients to the best of their ability, people are in such a rush, resent having to spend time serving jury duty, and may be willing to spend less time coming to a well-informed decision because of something as simple as uncomfortable weather conditions. There are more hindrances to justice, the big three to hold out till the end are: bigoted prejudice, stoic righteousness, and personal revenge agendas. I know America's court system does not always work so well, the system can get it wrong, and juries probably do not regularly make a total turn around in their decision like in this hit stage play. Still I have more faith in our justice system with men and women like you and me sorting through the truth and deciding what is just for the accused, rather than appealing to some justice from God. Why is it that those big three things standing in the way of truth and justice in this movie are most often associated with people claiming it is not for us to decide because God's justice will be served later, or that God's will must be served now because His law is not the same as man's law. I believe laws are made by man, have been developed over time to keep society civil, will continue to be changed occasionally, hopefully for the better, and that our laws can serve truth and justice.

Each character is uniquely fleshed out and played. It is well paced, nearly in real time. A film everyone should see, deserving of its classic status.

nominated for best picture at the oscars

want to see this because it won best picture with the NYFC

I don't want to be a soldier. I don't want to go to war. I would seriously consider dodging the draft if there still was one. I identified with Gary Cooper's character. Yet, the movie's message is strongly supporting war and a soldier's work. Somehow I still enjoyed the film, and can appreciate it for the things it does well.

want to see this because it won best picture with the NSFC

won best British film from BAFTA and was nominated for best foreign film by NBR

won recognition as a best picture by NBR

nominated for best picture by NBR

Watched this in high school English. Pacino's character is a great hero. He is the straight cop fighting against the corruption that surrounds him.

want to see this because it was nominated for best picture at the oscars and by NBR

Re-watched this after The Dark Knight. Good movie, but for the first modern movie adaptation it doesn't really explore much of Bruce Wayne's personality. He's nothing more than the strong silent type. This Joker's extracurricular activities include chemistry and art, but Nicholson is always his charming self. The Joker dancing around to Prince songs was really odd, I didn't remember that. And the dialog is so basic, corny sometimes, like I said the movie doesn't delve into much motivation. Batman just does what your garden variety good guy needs to do, the Joker just mildly frightens people, the newspaper reporters (a newspaper, what's that?!) don't have much information, and the cops and DA are essentially useless. Burton does infuse the movie with the dark Gothic mash-up of the 30's and 80's like the new comic books of the 1980's returned to the character.

nominated for best picture at the golden globes

want to see this because it won best picture with the BAFTA