My Favorite Movies

This film is my #1 choice for greatest movie of the 20th Century, its such a tremendous story and so beautifully told. This movie set the bar so high that very few films ever reached that level again. Certainly nothing in the last 30 years has ever come close. Its exceptionally well made, I had no idea how well made it was until I saw the Documentaries on the extras discs. Alot of trick photography was used, but it was done so well that you'd really have to examine the footage closely to notice it. Some things added to the fore- and Backgrounds look seemless, I actually believed that those things were real. I never realized the level of creativity and ingenuity that went into films like this, its absolutely amazing.

They went through so much over the 3 years it took them to get everything together and then film it. They were working so hard to get everything right, they put so much money into it even though they didn't have to with certain things and they did it anyways. Ann Rutherford recalled getting fitted for her costumes, and she noticed all the detail that went into things that the audience is never going to see. She said "Mr. Selznick, you really shouldn't bother with the little things that the audience won't even know is there" and he told her "they won't know its there, but you will and thats all that matters". Who thinks like that nowadays? No one, they are all too money conscious, but even if they weren't its not like anyone is writing anything of this calibur today anyways

Vivien Leigh was born to play Scarlett O'hara, she was absolutely perfect for the role. She was able to be Bratty, scheming, selfish, proud, passionate, strong willed and determined, She was everything that made Scarlett so compelling. She made you hate Scarlett when she was being a bitch, but she also brought out the redeeming qualities of the woman, Which helped the audience to sympathize with her. Leigh was brilliant and beautiful, its hard to imagine Scarlett being played by anyone else, even someone as equally beautiful as Paulette Goddard (who was just barely inched out by Leigh for the role). Its hard to believe that certain radio pundits of the time tried to incite a boycott on this movie because Vivien was british. Thankfully no one listened to the crackpots, otherwise this magnificent film would have probably been tossed into the vault to gather dust, never to be seen again.

Clark Gable was the only one people could see as Rhett Butler, and the people made a good choice. Gable was Gable, and thats how people imagined Rhett to be, there could be no subsitutes. Incidentally Gable was greatly worried that his performance would ruin the film, that fans would stand up and say "Thats how he thinks Rhett would be like!? What a Jerk!". He proved himself wrong, even though he still wasn't satisfied with his portrayal.

Olivia De Havilland as Melanie was ,again, perfect. I guess alot of great actresses could have pulled that role off, but could they beat Olivia's performance? thats something we'll never know. personally I don't think so. Melanie was a really important character to the story, she was the glue that held everyone together. Olivia nailed that part, she was just so right for it.

Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes was again the only person they had in mind for it, even though he was too old to play Ashley, and he had no interest in the part in the first place. David Selznick just couldn't see anyone else as Ashley, and did everything he could to get Les on board. They did a good make-up job on him, he looks alot younger than he actually was.

Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen were both very good, Hattie was so good she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress over Olivia De Havilland! Butterfly was excellent in her role, she really took it seriously, and she took a stand when it came to things she didn't want to do, like eating Watermelon or being slapped. Many Black actresses of the time would have just done what they were told, even if they didn't agree with it, she stood up and said No and they listened to her.

Some may not like the film because its not action packed, there isn't any gratuitous sex or nudity. Its a very dramatic film, which will also put off alot of the hipsters who think drama is not cool. Its 4 hours long which unless it has alot the stuff I just said it doesn't have, will be too long for alot of folks. Its a brilliant film that will stand for all time, even if the youngsters don't appreciate it, its still the Top grossing movie of all time (adjusted for Inflation).

Ah Casablanca, Considered by many to be the best movie ever made, and it has a great case for it. Its hard to believe that this film became what it is completely by accident, isn't it? It started out as just another picture, 1 of the 50 that Warner Brothers made every year, but after all the work was finally done it would be the #1 picture of 1942, standing out over the other 49 pictures they made that year. When you hear about how hectic this production was you'd never think this movie would have been as good as it is. With the constant work on the script, No one really knew where the film was going or how it would turn out. But somehow it all came together to make a master work.

Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, and he plays him like no one else could. Bogie gave us one of the best if not the best performance of his career. I could see the pain in his eyes when he remembered the good times back in Paris with Ilsa, I could hear the venom in his words when he spoke to Ilsa when he was drunk. The anger of having her come back into his life after what she did to him. he was great, no doubt about it.

Ingrid Bergman plays Ilsa, and there really wasn't anyone else who could have nailed this role. No one could look the way she did at a man, with love an tenderness. Gods, she was wonderful, You could see in her eyes how she felt when she heard "As Time Goes By" and she reminiced about the good old days. You could feel her admiration for Victor and the love she had for Rick, and how it tore her up to have to make the choice between the man she loves (Rick) and the man she admires (Victor).

The supporting cast were all wonderful in their roles, Claude Raines was exceptionally good, but then he always was.

There are so many memorable scenes and lines in this film that it has become deeply intwined with our Popular culture. The most powerful scene in the movie was the La Marseillaise scene, where The German soldiers are singing "Wacht am der Rhein" and Victor Laszlo tells the band to play La Marseillaise, the French National Anthem, and all the refugees and Free French people start to sing along and completely drown out the germans. I had tears in my eyes when I saw that, and the playwright whoe wrote it said he cryed when he wrote that scene. Not only that but many of the extras and lesser cast members were refugees either from Germany or France so this was a particularly emotional scene for them as many of them wept during and after that scene. A wonderful moment to be sure.

The Dialogue is wonderful too, so much wit and verve. Alot of great humourous lines, and memorable exchanges. The Epstein Brothers did a magnificent Job with the dialogue, if only writers today had half the wit they had, Hollywood would be in much better shape right now.

Certainly this film deserves its great reputation, and I hope anyone reading this and hasn't seen it yet will go out and get it right now.

The origin story of one of Anime?s most enduring heroes, Captain Harlock. And what a movie this is! This is the embodiment of everything that is so great about Matsumoto?s work.

The Earth has been conquered by the evil Illumidus Empire with parallels drawn to the post World War Two occupation of Japan. Captain Harlock with a group that will become his life long friends begin their fight against this tyranny visited upon the planet earth with no regard to the costs the struggle will have on them, caring only for the ideal of restoring freedom to the people of earth.

This film cemented Harlock?s and Matsumoto?s godlike status with me. Everything just works so well here, like GE999, it had great story, characters, music, and atmosphere. I think I cry more watching this movie than any other, there are just some scenes that overwhelm me. Harlock is one of my biggest heroes because no matter what, he does what is right in his heart. Even after the Earth Government banishes him because of his defiance against the Illumidus occupational forces, he still hangs around to protect the earth and its lethargic citizenry when the Mazone empire invades in the original TV series, even when they don?t deserve it. To me, thats what being a hero is all about, doing the right thing no matter what has happened to you.


Leiji Matsumoto has provided me with hours of great entertainment, I wish I could thank him personally for all his hard work. Modern fans tend to not understand his style, such as when 2 starships battle it out in an old fashioned Broad-sides duel, or How a starship can be on fire and billowing smoke in the vacuum of space. The explanation is simple, Matsumoto uses these things for dramatic effect. He knows these things are improbable or downright impossible, but its all to create this grand atmosphere his films have. The Fire and smoke gives everything a sense of urgency, you can see they are in trouble without going through every room on the ship. Its these touchs that really give the film a grand old Hollywood feeling, and I love that.

I loved it, but I think that one needs to put themselves into the time when these things took place. Things that seem mundane to modern eyes seem amazing to someone from Ziegfeld's time. If you look at it that way you can really get into this film. If you can't do that you might as well skip it

It was a great film in 1936 and it remains a great movie. Its just hard for modern folks to relate to nowadays

Those familiar with Robotech will know that Macross is the original version of the first section of Robotech. Macross was a great show that got hacked to bits so Harmony Gold could make some quick cash off of the 80s anime boom. Macross was so much more than a saturday morning cartoon, it was a romance story masquerading as a space opera, and it was very well done considering the problems that plagued its production.

A.D. 2009: The human race is in the middle of a three-way war with a race of giant humanoid aliens split into the Zentrans (males) and Meltlans (females). After executing a space fold that sent it and part of South Ataria Island to the edge of the Solar System, the space fortress Macross is on its way back to Earth. During a small skirmish with Zentradi forces, young pilot Hikaru Ichijyo rescues idol singer Lynn Minmay and their relationship develops as they?re stranded somewhere within the ship. But shortly after returning to Macross City, Minmay is captured by the Zentradi, and Hikaru and female officer Misa Hayase end up back on Earth?only to view the aftermath of the destruction of their civilization. Only a song discovered eons ago?along with Minmay?s voice?can determine the outcome of the war.

this is essentially a retelling of the TV series down in a classic Hollywood style, and IMO it surpasses the series. As much as I love that show, this was just so much better. Unfortunately, this was only licensed on Dubbed and Edited VHS a long time ago. Harmony Gold started a big legal battle with Big West, Studio Nue, and Tatsunoko studios over who had the US distribution rights for all things DYRL?, and as a result the winner Big West has decided that no Macross will be licensed in the US after HG?s license runs out. So no DYRL? for us sadly, but there are fansubbed versions that can be acquired, thankfully.

My Favorite of all the UY films, Its the only one that captures the Wacky spirit of the series. The others are great, but they all seem to try and be more than what UY is. This is Pure Takahashi lunacy and I love it

This was the first film I ever saw starring Rita Hayworth, up until then the only thing I ever saw of her was a short clip from the beginning of Gilda, and a A&E Biography about her. That was years ago, and for the life of my I don't know why I waited so long to see her movies, because I love so many of them now.

Rita plays a duel role here, first as young Rusty Parker, the afformentioned Showgirl, who loves Danny Mcguire (Gene Kelly) the Night club owner and Choreographer. Secondly she plays Maribelle Hicks, Rusty's Grandmother, in Publisher John Coudair's flashbacks. In both roles she is absolutely stunning, The classic 1900's attire suits here just as well as the then contemporary 1940's styles. She plays both roles very well, and performs beautifully in both time periods' musical numbers.

Gene Kelly, as I said plays Danny Mcguire, Rusty's fiance/boss/choreographer. This was his breakout role, before this he did alot of small time roles over at MGM. When MGM couldn't figure out where to put him in 1944, they loaned him to Columbia Studios for this picture. Little did they (MGM) know that they had been misusing him all this time, and Columbia finally let him shine. Columbia gave him full control of his dance numbers, and he wowed the world with them. This was a great role for Gene, it showed his acting chops and it finally let people know what a great hoofer he was.

The supporting cast was very good too, particularly Eve Arden and Phil Silvers.

Eve Arden is now mostly remembered for her role as the Principal of Rydell High in Grease, but she had alot of good supporting roles in her younger days. she was quite adept at playing the wise-cracking side-kick, and she really had great timing and delivery of her witty quips that she became known for. She also did quite a bit of Radio work and some TV work in the 1950s.

Phil Silvers was a great comedian in Radio, film, and Television. He's mostly remembered as Sgt. Bilko, his most famous character, which also inspired the cartoon Top Cat. Phil was a great talent, as we see here, he cracked jokes, he sang, he danced, its just too bad he didn't get alot of solo work in films like Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis did.

This film is classic 1940's musical fare, and it was a real priveledge to watch it. It remains one of my favorite musicals of all time along with the work of MGM Producer Arthur Freed. Its a very sweet film (in a good way), go check it out.

Wow, this takes me back. Back to a time where if I loved a movie, I never hesitated to see it over and over again in the theater, and this and Batman monopolized my summer movie time in 1989. We saw both movies so many times that summer it was insane.

However, I can't help but agree with some when they say the TLC was almost a retread of Raiders. They are very similar films with only one really key difference aside from the McGuffin they are searching for, and thats the father/son relationship.

Don't get me wrong, I love this movie, but after 20 years it doesn't grab me nearly as much as Raiders or ToD still does. But this is no fault of the cast or the director, they all did a terrific Job. Perhaps I just don't get as excited about the Holy Grail as I did for the Ark or the Sankara stones. The grail seemed like such a let down after all that build up.

The Father and Son interaction is really the selling point of this movie I think. Because some of the best dialogue is between Connery and Ford. If you go into this with that in mind, You can't possibly be disappointed. However the trademark Indy set pieces are pretty thin on the ground in this one, which is what probably makes it a little less memorable for most, seeing as it really hasn't entered that level of recognition that Raiders and ToD both enjoy. You never see references to Crusade anywhere these days, in the same way that you see for Raiders and ToD. Its kind of sad that its not as well remembered in that sense, but it is more of a personal story this time around so I guess its a trade off.

This is the last dignfied ride off into the sunset for Indiana Jones, and the perfect end to one of cinema's greatest franchises. Too bad they had to spoil it all.

The Quintessential Adventure movie. Its been copied many times but no one has ever been able to top it, or even duplicate this great film. It embodies what all great adventure movies should be, but very often fail to become.

Lucas and Spielberg built this off of their knowledge of classic adventure comics and pulp fiction stories, as well as the old Republic serials of the 1930s. They knew what they wanted and how they wanted everything to look. Thats something that I don't think is considered in the modern day attempts to capture this lightning in a bottle. The modern directors want to make this movie, but they don't have that wealth of knowledge to work from so they never quite get it right.

The cast is great, I simply can't imagine anyone else filling any of these roles. Imagine, Indy was almost played by Tom Selleck, Sallah by Danny Devito, and Marion by Sean Young. Somehow I don't think it would have worked, as much as I like those people in the various shows and films I've seen them in, I don't think they could have pulled Raiders off at all. This film could have so easily been another disaster from Spielberg, like 1941, but they were able to find the right cast to make it work for themselves and the audience.

As for the film itself, Its iconic, it has become a part of out popular culture the way great films like Gone With The Wind, Wizard of Oz, and Casablanca have. It is timeless, it hasn't really aged at all, it still looks and feels as good as it did almost 30 years ago. I can't imagine many films from this decade or even the 1990s will hold up anywhere near as well. Raiders IS adventure, pure and simple, it is the pinnicle of the genre.

its quite amusing to see myself writing such a glowing review, since I saw it way back in the early 80s (not in theater sadly), this film scared me so much that until I bought the box set a couple of years ago, I never watched it again. As much as I love this movie today, that end sequence still gives me the willies.

This is the first of the series I saw in theaters, and man did it scare the crap out of me. But it is a wonderful, thrill-packed ride that never lets you go. Lucas and Spielberg were really trying to out-do themselves with this one, and they very nearly did IMO.

This films draws even more influence from the old comics, Pulp stories, and classic 30s serials and adventure films (Gunga Din, in particular). I get the feeling that this is even closer to what they wanted to do with Raiders. This film however has a much darker tone to it, and for many that ruins the film for them (though I never will understand why). This is one of the reasons some critics didn't enjoy it, other reasons cited are Kate Capshaw's character of Willie Scott and Ke Huy Quan's character So Wah Mu a.k.a. Short Round.

People seem to find these characters so annoying that it kills the picture for them, and I think those folks just missed the point of the characters, personally. But whatever, to each his own I guess. I thought they played their parts very well and kept the film from becoming too heavy. Luckily the people who hate this movie are only a small vocal minority on the internet, so they don't speak for everyone (like some of them think they do).

Amrish Puri played Mola Ram, the sadistic Thuggee leader with a penchant from removing hearts the hard way, and I think he was the best villain of the entire trilogy. The Man is pure evil. I'm told he was the richest villainous actor in all of India, he played alot of heavies in many many bollywood films before and after this.

The sad thing about ToD, is the fact that both Lucas and Spielberg seem to have disowned it, saying it was their least favorite. I think thats a real shame because like Raiders, it is part of our popular culture to the point where you see many many references to it all the time. I think in general, people loved this movie just as much as Raiders, and they should be proud of it.

One of Matsumoto?s greatest works is Galaxy Express 999, and its a shame that in never got a chance in the US. I became acquainted with GE999 when I was about 12 or so, flipping through channels I stopped on the Foreign language channel which split its time up between Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and Spanish. It was a thursday evening, and I saw a familiar looks show, because of the character designs I knew it was something by the creator of Yamato, and even though there were no subs, I watched it anyways. It was pretty good and I only wished I had subs so I knew what happened exactly. School got on top of me, and I didn?t get to see the show again. But later in life, I saw that Viz Entertainment had licensed the movie, so I grabbed it. GE999 has been a beloved favorite ever since.

After the death of his mother at the hands of the evil robot Count Mecha, young Tetsuro has become a delinquent street urchin who dreams only of revenge. Tetsuro lives in a far future world in which humans have the choice to travel to another planet where they can exchange their bodies for immortal, robotic counterparts. His goal is to someday acquire (through theft) enough money to board the Galaxy Express 999, a train which is capable of traveling through space, and which will take him to the planet of robots. One day, after escaping from the police, he meets the beautiful Maetel, who resembles his mother. She offers to take him on the Galaxy Express 999 to get a robotic body and to get revenge on Count Mecha. Along the journey, the two meet many varied people (including Captain Harlock and Queen Emeraldas), and Tetsuro learns what it means to be human.

It has a great story, great characters, great music, and a great atmosphere. Its full of emotion, and like nearly every Matsumoto film I?ve seen, it brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. Some people in today?s anime fandom would accuse Matsumoto?s work to be too long and slow moving, but its not true. These folks seem to not be able to watch anything that doesn?t have an explosion or a panty shot every 2 minutes.

I'm seriously surprised to this day that this isn't a more well known film in the anime fandom. To me, its the best animated Ninja film of them all, and I'm including Ninja Scroll in that remark. Ninja Scroll was good, don't get me wrong, but I think people latch onto it more because of the shock value, what with the sexual bits and huge amounts of gore. Kamui has a bigger, grander feel to it, it doesn't go the shock value route, it goes for a more historical look, while still maintaining a degree of fantasy (which is important to note.). the story is this (abit spoilerish, so marked in red):

A young boy named Jiro finds his mother and sister murdered in his home. Falsely accused of the crime, he flees from his village and meets a priest named Tenkai, who has him kill a rogue ninja named Tarouza. After fulfilling that task, Jiro undergoes training to become a master assassin. Many years later, Jiro finds out that he was an orphan and his real father was Tarouza, who had worked for Tenkai until he aborted his mission when he fell in love with an Ainu woman. The young ninja discovers that the Shogunate was to retrieve the lost treasure of Captain Kidd and use it to once again isolate Japan from the rest of the world. Using the clues that Tarouza had kept secret, Jiro - along with the female ninja Oyuki and a slave named Sam - travels to Russia and America to search for the treasure in hopes of using it to extract revenge from Tenkai.

There are moments where people bitch about how impossible it is historically because he meets so and so and does this or that, but seriously people, its fantasy! Lets have alittle suspension of disbelief shall we? These instances are not so major as to ruin the film, but some people make it a point to bitch and moan about one or two scenes in the whole movie as if the film was utterly destroyed by those moments. If you understand that this isn't meant to be a historically accurate film and that its based off of a series of novels, I think you can easily enjoy it. I say go to www.animeigo.com and go pick up a copy on DVD before they lose the rights to this film too.

Probably the first anime parody film ever made, this thing cracks on everything from Harlock to Hokuto and Macross to Yamato, Its insane. But its not just a parody film it has a pretty action packed story to go with it.

Sixteen years after a mysterious meteorite leveled Graviton City, the rebuilt metropolis faces an even greater threat to it?s architecture: two quarrelling schoolgirls whose superhuman powers threaten to tear the city apart. A-ko and her ditzy sidekick C-ko are the new kids at Graviton High School for Girls, and they ought to be pretty popular, given A-ko?s superhuman strength and speed. But things turn ugly when evil-genius classmate B-ko decides she wants C-ko for herself. Can A-ko defeat her rival?s army of giant mechs? How about B-ko?s Akagiyama supersuit, the world?s only flying, missile-launching bikini? Oh, and did we mention the huge alien warship heading straight for the downtown shopping district? Whatever the outcome, you can be sure of one thing: Not much of Graviton City will be left standing!

its totally crazy and totally awesome. If you know your anime, you?ll spot quite a few cameos, be they human, alien, or machine. You really need to know your anime to fully appreciate this film, but I like to think the zaniness is enough for those not in the know to appreciate. I don?t know if this can still be purchased, Central Park Media lost their distribution a few years ago, but I don?t know if they shut down or are just operating low-key at the moment.

Like Walt Disney's Fantasia, this was a pretty bold project. And like Fantasia, it seems that people just didn't get it. Rarely do I see anyone in the fandom these days that has seen this and loved it, most have never seen it, and the ones who have just don't get it. There isn't much to get, it really wasn't that hard to understand, its just Art plain and simple. The idea behind it was this:

9 of Japan's leading animators were asked to create a short segment that followed the theme of "Robots," for their inclusion in this film. Essentially, this "movie" is 9 short films, all independant of one another. The common element is human interaction with robots, namely the consequences of creating life with one's own hands, played in nine very different ways.

Is it really that hard to understand? Anyway, its a beautifully made film with something for everyone IMO, serious moments, comedy, strange moments, scary moments, and poignant moments. I really love this film, I just wish it would get another R1 release.

When strange alien creatures attack experimental Vizorium refining facilities, The WWWA send the Lovely Angels (Don't call them the Dirty Pair if you know whats good for you) in to investigate. They discover that a loony scientist, who is trying to create a new race of perfect beings from the raw Sadinga ore, is responsible for creating the vizorium eating beasties. Now the must stop him before he turns every single piece of ore on the planet into these rampaging monsters!

A very good movie for the Angels, with some characteristically silly moments through out. I love the classic DP character designs by Tsukasa Dokite, Indicative of the 1980s style. And Kazutaka Miyatake's mechanical designs are always wonderful.

After establishing himself with Snow White, Walt moved on to his many other animated projects, and the first to be finished was Pinocchio. This film is every bit as wonderful as Snow White, with great characters and animation, and again, Stunning background art.

This film showed again, that Walt was not afraid to put some pretty unsettling things in his films. With Snow White, We had the Queen demanding that the huntsman murder Snow White and to bring back her heart in a box, and the transformation sequence when she changes herself into an Old Crone to trick poor Snow White.

In Pinocchio, We have characters like Stromboli and The Coachman, both rather sinister characters, who take advantage of Pinocchio's ignorance of the ways of the world for their own gain. We have Pleasure Island, which frightened me when I was very small, and we have the gigantic whale Monstro, who is quite a dangerous beast that wants to devour our hero and his father.

Today, many parents would seek to shelter their children from such films, in a misguided attempt to protect them. But these films needed those moments in order to get the story across, without them the film would be rather flat and lifeless.

Wow..............This film right here is the pinnacle of Walt Disney animation. I mean, I love Fantasia, Snow White, Pinocchio and many of the others, but Bambi just does everything perfectly. From the lovable characters to beautiful back, middle, and foregrounds to the wonderful music, this film just strikes a cord with me.

I think this is the closest they ever came to bringing their art to true life. Every Character was as anatomically correct as they could make them, they moved just like their real life counterparts, even the mannerisms were spot on. The Back/middle/foregrounds were not so much about the fine details but rather an impressionistic view of the forest, using the chinese style of landscape art brought to them by Tyrus Wong. The Forest gives you that feeling, the atmosphere that you feel when you are in a big forest, its truly amazing and awe-inspiring.

The music is used perfectly in the context of the story, it helps move the story along and doesn't get in the way. It creates emotion and helps bring scenes to life, and the moments when the music isn't there just enhances the feeling of those scenes.

To me, Bambi is the most perfect film Walt Disney ever made.

Disney returns to his roots with another classic Fairy Tale adaptation. In the same fashion in which he crafted Snow White, He didn't really sugar-coat it, no talking animal side-kicks, and a very frightening villain. There is still the trademark Disney comedy in there, but it doesn't take the spotlight from the main story.

This movie is Disney at his finest, much like his early masterworks. Sadly, there just wasn't an audience for his classic style anymore. The Advent of TV, and subsequently, Saturday Morning Cartoons changed the way animation was perceived by this time. Animation was now seen as something only for children, and the return to the classic Disney style was too frightening for the new audience brought up on more light-hearted fare.

Walt would never again make a film of this type again, and so ended the classic era for Disney Studios.

Unbelievable as it may sound in this day and age, this is a silent picture. Its filmed in a 1920s noir style and I honestly don't think this would have worked any other way. They truly captured the essence of H.P. Lovecraft's famous short story. CoC is about a man who takes over the work of his great uncle in trying to uncover the secret of the Cthulhu Cult. He tries to piece together the puzzle of a series of strange occurances that seem to all point to this cult, and with each piece he gets more and more afraid of what he'll find.

The use of Black & White photography is very well done and combined with the music create a very chilling atmosphere. A Great telling of a classic Horror story, and a fabulous homage to 1920s cinema and the special effects of Willis O'Brien. Call Of Cthulhu proves that you don't need blood and guts to make a scary movie, just a great atmosphere and the right story

I'm amazed that I had never seen this film before, but I do vaguely recall seeing the trailer on TV in 1992 when it was release nation-wide in the US. I still don't know to this day why I didn't demand to see it back then, because IMO its a fantastic film. And why not? look who have been involved with it over the long course of its production, Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston (2 of Walt Disney's 9 old men), Ray Bradbury, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Dezaki, Chris Columbus, and many more. Thats an impressive crew list. Sure they didn't all stick around to see it finished because of creative difference or something like that, but their collective input really makes this film a treat. Basic story is as follows:

A young, curious, and adventurous boy, Nemo wakes one night to an invitation to visit the wondrous world of Slumberland. There he is dubbed a prince, but soon finds that his new position involves the responsibility of protecting and saving Slumberland from evils like the Nightmare King.

Based off of the turn of the century comic strip by Winsor McCay, who was a long lost animation visionary who first animated his characters in 1911! This movie made me want to go out and get the collected version of his stories (and next time I'm in Bern, I'm picking it up).

Honestly, this has to be one of the most beautifully animated films not made by Studio Ghibli or Walt Disney himself. I hope another DVD release it made soon. But until then, there are torrents for it, so.....

On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front. Myra stayed with him past curfew and is thrown out of the corps de ballet. She survives on the streets of London, falling even lower after she hears her true love has been killed in action. But he wasn't killed. Those terrible years were nothing more than a bad dream is Myra's hope after Roy finds her and takes her to his family's country estate.

I've had this on my HD for along time and forgot about, boy do I regret taking so long to see it. I was watching the extras to my new Gone With The Wind DVD set, and this movie was mentioned in Vivien's Bio and I instantly remembered that I had it. This film is not as well known as it should be, it had everything, a great cast, a great director, a great score, and most importantly great characters and story.

I've read that this was Vivien's favorite out of all the films she was in, and I can see why. She looked her very best here, so beautiful and charming, She really seemed to love Robert Taylor's character, I could almost feel it. Later, in her despair, I felt a bit of the weight of sorrow that Myra must have been feeling, like the world was collapsing around her. I was certainly saddened that she seemed to lose all hope and ceased to care about herself. And When Roy (Robert Taylor) returned, I sensed they joy and the fear that she must have felt, Joy that the man she loved was alive, and fear for what he would say if he knew what she was doing to survive. Leigh was a great actress and it saddens me to know she only made 19 films in her whole career, I'd have loved to see her more throughout the 1940s. And I wish I could find some of her pre-GWTW films from the 30s.

Robert Taylor was good, but hardly suitable to play a british officer, since he was american and had no accent. He did a great job anyways, so I can't begrudge him, besides he was great in other romantic tragedies like Camille. I certainly felt his exuberance when he fell in love with Myra, had I been him I'd be that exuberant too. Later I certainly felt his sorrow, and it was pretty deep.

The supporting cast were largely unknown to me, but I think british audiences would probably have been more familiar with them. They all turned in worthy performances, some of them were better than others and I'm tempted to look up their IMDB profiles.

Mervyn LeRoy was MGM's golden boy producer after the passing of Irving Thalberg, he was responsible for producing and directing some of MGM's greatest films of the 30s and 40s. He did a great job of putting this film together, and its sad more people are familiar with it. Though I wonder how he'd feel knowing that it is one of the most popular western films of all time in China? Yes, Apparently when The Chinese Govt. started to allow Hollywood films to be shown again this was one of the many classics that were first shown (along with Gone With The Wind), and the Chinese people loved it and still love it to this day.

Its a beautiful romance and a deep tragedy, I'd rank it with the best of the genre. Its out on DVD so I suggest anyone looking for a good cry to pick this one up.

Another great film for Vivien Leigh's resume. I'm tempted to say she looks even better here than she did in Gone With The Wind. Her performance was equally good, though the love scenes may not count to that performance, since she was with the man she truely loved and her new husband, Larry Olivier.

This was Viv's show all the way, even Larry couldn't compete with her on the screen, something he actually admitted when it was all over. In fact she outshined him so much he decided not to make anymore films with her. They worked together on the stage alot, but never in pictures again.

Laurence was not slouch, he's not considered one of the greatest actors of all time for nothing, But all eyes were on his wife's performance in this one, he really had to fight her presence to be noticed.

British folks should know this story pretty well, considering it was one of the biggest scandals of its day, the Admiral Nelson/Lady Hamilton affair was big news back then. Its a pretty sad story, especially when you know what happened to Nelson, you can't help but feel sorry for Lady Hamilton. A great film with lots of drama and romance, should not be missed if you get the chance to see it

I'm surprised I like this as much as I do, seeing as this could be where all those shows like Desperate Housewives and Sex In The City got their start. The difference is this is a classy film, full of witty dialogue and superb acting from everyone. All the Top female stars at MGM were in this except Myrna Loy and Greta Garbo, that should give you an idea of the caliber of film this is.

George Cukor is a favorite director of my especially his comedies. I was amazed to learn that he is unofficially credited as the reason Gone With The Wind and Wizard Of Oz were such big hits, he did alot of the important work on those films before being replaced by Victor Flemming.

Norma Shearer plays Mary Haines, and she does so magnificently. I've seen very little of Shearer's work, most notably her portrayal of Marie Antoinette, and I still this she's the best MA I've ever seen. As Mary Haines she really runs the emotional gamut, and she does it so wonderfully I don't think anyone else could have played this part so well.

Joan Crawford plays the man-stealing Crystal Allen, and they don't refer to Ms. Crawford as the best Bitch in the business for nothing. She really knew how to get people to hate her character, in the end Miss Allen deserves everything she gets.

Rosalind Russell plays Sylvia Fowler, Mary's cousin and supposed best friend and man was she really catty. I've only seen Ros in one other movie, His Girl Friday (1940), and she was great there, but she surpassed herself hear. She played Sylvia like a weird High Society freak, and it was hilarious

Joan Fontaine plays the innocent Peggy Day, another friend of Mary's who seems quite naive in the ways of the world, but she is a sweetheart. This was my first time seeing Joan Fontaine in anything and I think she did quite well, though the part wasn't a big one. She would go on to bigger roles very soon. She was a lovely woman too, I now know why people have a hard time choosing between her and her older Sister Olivia De Havilland when asked who was more beautiful, its really a tough question. Its too bad she's such a bitter woman, she really should make up with Olivia before one of them dies.

Paulette Goddard plays Miriam Aarons, the tough little fire-cracker Mary befriends on her way to Reno. Again, I bought this movie because of Paulette, and I initially was disappointed that she doesn't show up until the last half hour or so. But she is good while she is on screen. If I ever go to Ticino, I'll have to place some flowers on her grave, I've seen two great movies I probably wouldn't have seen if it hadn't been for her. I wish I could thank her.

This movie might be abit much for those expecting the usual "Chick Flick Comedy", Alot of the Dialogue is funny and witty and it comes at you at a mile a minute. The characters might also bother people because they aren't the norm of today. Another thing people will notice is the lack of any male characters, all males are spoken of but never seen or heard throughout the entire film, some thing that had never been done before on screen.

This was remade in 1955 as a musical called the Opposite Sex, and from the trailer that movie was no where near as good, but then I don't like the Rock 'n'Roll musicals very much. They seem to have changed quite a few things around and the dialogue seems to have been simplified.

After I saw this movie I became aware of a new Remake, and I honest don't know why they bother, None of the actresses can hold a candle to the original's cast. They modernized and hipped it up, and I hate it when they do stuff like that. It looks like the took a good movie and dragged it through the sewers for the sake of making a profit.

Please, if you are thinking of seeing the 2008 remake, do yourself a favor and seek out this dvd first,

When looking at this film its hard to believe that MGM was about to go bankrupt. And yet they were and they banked everything they had on Ben-Hur to save the studio, and luckily for them it worked.

William Wyler has been a favorite of mine ever since I saw Jezebel (1938). The man was a superb director, not something we see often in this day and age. Fellows like him seemed to have all but died out, with only a few fledgling directors capable of carrying on the once great legacy of the silver screen. He did a tremendous job here, he knew exactly how he wanted to make this film and he went out and made it come true. He was a perfectionist that demanded the very best from everyone involved in the film, if more of the youngsters in Hollowood would take that stance, we wouldn't end up with some the awful dreck we usually get. Of course if more directors today were like that, many many actors would be out of the job.

As for the cast, they were perfect for their roles, Heston was a masterful actor, something people tend to forget while hating him for his stance on gun control. Its hard to imagine anyone but him as Judah Ben-Hur, and there were alot of choices at the time.

Stephan Boyd was suitably menacing as Messala, Judah's boyhood friend turned enemy. After a certain point, every word he uttered simply dripped with venom. You could just feel his hatred. Very well done, they made the right choice with him.

Everyone was perfectly suited for their parts, Sam Jaffe, Haya Harareet, Jack Hawkins, all of them. I'm glad this was such a success, because the cast is now immortalized in cinema history, and they worked hard for that and deserve it.

As for the film itself, its simply magnificent. They spent millions on set design and creation, they built whole stuctures specifically for this film, including the Circus for the chariot race. If MGM was having financial trouble you'd never know it from this film, they spared no expense. If this gamble hadn't paid off, MGM would have been finished for good. I think the story is well told and has a pretty good pace about it. The most outstanding part about this film is that its all real, no cgi making everything so easy. This film took alot of hard work from every single person involved to make it this great. See this film and you can really appreciate what a great film can be made without computers taking all of the work out it

being a Heathen, you'd think this would be one of the last movies I'd ever like, let alone love. Its clearly a Christian movie, although most of the film has not much to do with Christ at all, just some cameo moments for the most part. However, One doesn't tend to think about it while watching it, The religious aspects were pretty toned down in comparison with the source material. This film can certainly appeal to anyone regardless of faith or beliefs. Its a tremendous story even without the Christian parts, and thats what matters.

The thing besides the religious undertones that would put young folks off is the length, its 3 hours long. But in this reviewers opinion its 3 hours very well spent.

Possibly the best War movie I've ever seen. The horrors of War were never so vivid without resorting to blood and gore, this film really impressed me. When you realize that the events that take place had happened very recently in the minds of the audience, you can understad what kind of effect it had on them.

Claudette Colbert played Lt. Janet "Davy" Davidson, and IMO she was magnificent. Some people say she was too old for the part, but she was only in her 30s, its not like she was 50 or something. Seeing her here was a different experience for me as I'm used to seeing her in comedies like "it Happened One Night". She really pulled this off very well

Paulette Goddard played Lt. Joan O'Doul, and I feel she kind of stole the spotlight on occasion, she was so engaging It was hard to take my eyes off of her. She certainly deserved the Oscar Nomination, whether she stood a chance of winning it I don't know I haven't seen the competition yet. I bought this film because of Paulette, after seeing how close she came to being Scarlett O'hara, I wanted to see some of her best films.

Veronica Lake played Lt. Olivia D'arcy, a young nurse who lost her Fiance at Pearl Harbor. The scene were she recollects the loss of her beloved was very intense and certainly worthy of Oscar consideration. Many say this was possibly her best role, until I see more of her work, I'll save my judgement. I have seen Veronica before, in a film called "I Married A Witch", which was the obvious inspiration for the TV series "Bewitched". I remember her being quite funny in that, so its also strange to see her in this kind of role.

George Reeves played Lt. John Summers, a medical technician that "Davy" nurses back to health after his ship was torpedoed and later falls in love with. As many of you know, George played Superman on TV years later, and here you see just how wasted he was in that role, he was a much better actor than they needed to play "The Man Of Steel". I'm told that his Army Career interupted his film career just as roles like this were establishing him, and unlike the leading men of the day, when the war was over he had nothing to go back to as it seems he was forgotten. George Reeves is one of Hollywood's great tragedies, you can only wonder how different things would have been for him if he hadn't gone off to war and built up his movie career instead. He might have lived to a ripe old age.

A tremendously powerful movie that doesn't see much publicity nowadays, go out and get it and you won't be sorry.

This was the first film with an all Black cast, and for what it is, its pretty good. But its obvious that this is nothing more than a showcase of African American talent. Not to say thats a bad thing, far from it, it was about time they got their due credit, but they deserved a better script. The story isn't bad, but its really only there to connect the musical numbers.

Bill Robinson plays Bill Williamson, and he gives us a quite a good bit of dancing throughout. This is it first and only leading role in a film and it was also his last film appearance, so I guess you could say he went out on a high note. He deserved a better movie career, and should be remember with folks like Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly as one of the best dancers on screen.

Lena Horne plays Selina Rogers, and she stole the show IMO. Beautiful and elegant, She did a bit of dancing, but her singing was the real high point of the movie. She really deserved alot more leading roles, too bad the times really wouldn't allow it. She really only starred in 2 films, This one and Cabin in The Sky (1943), nearly everything else she was in were small scenes in musicals. She was cast in these parts because they could edit her scene out of the film for distribution in the prejudice South. She deserved better, and in a perfect world she would have recieved better I garauntee that.

Dooley Wilson played Gabe Tucker, Bill's best friend who was always spending more money than he had trying to look like a big shot with the ladies. He was pretty good here, but he will always be remembered as Sam from Casablanca. I can't help but wonder what his career would have been like if black entertainers were viewed as equals instead of as second fiddles to the white entertainers.

Everyone else played themselves, and they really kicked ass doing what they did best. The Nicholas Brothers really stand out though, their complicated "Jumpin' Jive" dance number was absolutely amazing, and unbelieveably, they did it all in one take! Now that is talent! Katherine Dunham and her dancers had a nice ballet-like number that I can't help but think may have influenced Gene Kelly's famous ballet numbers in On The Town (1948), An American in Paris (1951), and Singin' In The Rain (1952). It was cool to see Cab Calloway in all his glory, like many people the only other thing I've seen him in was The Blues Brothers, and that only captured a bit of how great a showman he was, he really goes all out here. Fats Waller and Ada Brown were excellent together, its a shame Fats died of pneumonia only 5 months after this film came out, we might have seen more of him in films if he had lived.

A great showcase of African American talent, but they deserved a better story. This would be absolutely stomped by MGM's Cabin In The Sky that same year.

This came out at about the same time as 20th Century Fox's Stormy Weather, but its obvious that Arthur Freed and Vincente Minnelli gave alot more credit to the African American entertainers than Fox did. They took this Broadway play and did it a great justice on the big screen and let the stars shine all by themselves.

Eddie Anderson Plays Joe, and he does a good job of portraying a man who has a good heart but just can't seem to say no to temptation. Eddie is most remembered for his role on The Jack Benny show on radio and TV, playing his Valet Rochester. As Rochester, Eddie may have been in a sub-servient role, but he was treated as an equal by Mr. Benny, and Jack gave him most of the best jokes. Looking back its amazing how many films Eddie pops up in. I only recently found out he was in Gone With The Wind, that I did not expect.

Ethel Waters plays Joe's wife Petunia, and IMO steals the whole film away with her performance. She was magnificent thats all I can say about it. Its a damn shame she didn't get more leading roles, but again the times didn't allow it. She was a strong minded woman who wasn't afraid to speak out when she didn't like something. This unfortunately got here blacklisted in Hollywood, which it one of the biggest mistakes ever made in Hollywood. They missed the boat with Ethel, she should be much better remember than she is.

Lena Horne plays the seductive Georgia Brown, and I have to say I applaud Joe for resisting her charms because I don't think I could have. Lena is another one Hollywood screwed up with, they could have made her a huge star and all because of the lousy southern states and their damn prejudice, she never got her chance as a film star. She and Ethel were great singers though, so they did quite well on that front I believe, but they deserved much better than they got.

Now there are people who paint this film as racist, but by all accounts, it was not meant to be and was not considered so by the African American community of its time. This film did not belittle the African American population, it was played with great diginity by its cast, In fact I'd venture to say that if they made this film with the usual all white cast, with no changes in the script whatsoever, it would be the same movie it is now. This is a tremendous film, and it should be more well known today.

I've encountered some of Chaplins short films a few times in my life but this is the first time I've seen one of his feature length films, and this one is considered by many to be his best film.

Chaplin is a great physical comedian, his zany antics are almost balletic. His comedy in this film however, it serves to mask the social commentary about industrialization and it effect on the workers, as well as the depression. Later this film would be used against him during the McCarthy hearings when he was suspected of being a communist (which he wasn't).

As I said the physical comedy was great it just seemed to come naturally to him, unlike many physical comedians, who's comedy always seems so forced. Chaplin was a great entertainer and the world would be a better place with more entertainers of his calibur in it.

Paulette Goddard was once again my inspiration for seeing this one, so I owe her even more thanks. She plays the Gamin, the homeless girl who loses her father in a riot. Try as they might, even the dirty face, messy hair, and tattered clothes couldn't hide her beauty. I've heard people say that it even enhanced her beauty, which speaks volumes about the people who say that wink.gif. She and Charlie were a very cute couple in this, and as we now know, they fell in love during the making of this film.

There isn't a whole lot I can say about this film that hasn't been said better by other people. Its definitly one of the great comedies of the 20th century, and the social commentary just as relevent today if not more so because of our increased dependency on technology (which is kind of one of the messages he was trying to convey here, that mankind should not become too dependent on machines)

The fact that this is a mostly silent film will probably ensure that many of the younger crowd won't bother with this, and thats a shame because its alot of fun.

Well, this certainly was and is an interesting film. This film had to be made when it was because people were so interested in ancient Egypt, and mummies and curses. They were so interested that even many movie theaters of the time had an Egyptian motif going for them. Yes, this film came along just at the right time.

Karloff is magnificent as Imhotep/Ardath Bey, and the make-up job done by Jack Pierce is one that will be remembered forever. Its been said that no one was a better "victim" for Pierce than Boris Karloff, only Karloff would let him do things that most people wouldn't be able to stand. The now primitive make-up tricks used have been described as torturous because they took almost as long to get off than the do to put on, and the chemicals used were not very comfortable. Karloff got the most out of his frightening appearance, especially in the first shot of him when he slowly opens his eyes and moves his arms

Zita Johann was a good leading lady, she really became her character. Apparently Acting was her religion and took it very seriously, to her it was a spiritual experience. She did not have a good time making this unfortunately, as it seems director Karl Freund had it in for her from day one and was trying to get rid of her. As far as I know the whole experience soured her feelings about the film industry and the people in it (except Boris, she always got along well with him).

This was my first time seeing this film, I became interested because I was given the impression that this was vastly different and superior to the 1999 remake starring Brendan Frasier. Having now seen both, story wise they aren't that different. The central tale of Imhotep and Princess Anck-es-en-Amon is still there in the 1999 film, the only real difference is that there is more action and Imhotep's Powers, the bigger curse, Hamunoptra and the whole secret society. The basic story is still the same, and I^m grateful that they new film was kept in the 1920s/30s, there was humor which could be slightly inappropriate for such a film at times, but all in all I think it was a rather good remake.

However, I urge anyone to see this film if they haven't already, and appreciate it for what it is. Don't compare it unfavorably to its remake, and you will certainly enjoy it quite a lot.

I saw the preview to this on my Stardust DVD, and I thought it looked like it would be pretty good. And I'm happy to say it was! I haven't read the books (But my wife and I have now spent 100 francs to get them all and Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide), but it seems to have stuck to them well from what people told me. My biggest complaint is that it all went by far to quickly, I mean they'll give 2 1/2 to 3 hours and multiple films to franchises that don't have nearly the level of material to work with that this did. I guess Paramount decided that since their Nickelodeon studio was in charge they better put a 90 minute cap on it just in case it sucks (which was Nick studios trademark, sucky movies).

Freddie Highmore did a great job as Jared and Simon. its not easy to play twins, but many folks said that they didn't realize they were played by the same kid and not real twins, thats high praise indeed.

Sarah Bolger was pretty good as Mallory, and she seemed pretty handy with a sword. not much else can be said.

The CG was pretty damn good I must admit, it didn't seem nearly as jarringly unrealistic to me as some of the more popular films of the decade have been. The Characters were quite detailed too, I was impressed and I usually hate CGI with a fiery passion.

As I said the only problem is they really rushed through this thing, which is a shame because there was alot more promise here than what we got. It didn't ruin the movie for me like it did for some folks, it was just a bit disappointing. Its a good film for Kids and Adults alike, whether they be 8 or 80.

A ground-breaking Live-action/Animation amalgamation. Out of all the films of this type I've ever seen (and I've seen them all) this is the best. A 1940s style Noir mystery mixed with classic cartoon comedy, what's not to like? For me that makes this a winner, I love films from the 1940s, especially Noir films, and I most definitely love the classic cartoons from back then, hell who doesn't?


Bob Hoskins plays Eddie Valiant, the boozing P.I. who gets hired to get evidence that Roger's wife is cheating on him with a mysterious Suger Daddy. Bob plays an american so well that for years I thought he was one, turns out he's british in case some of you didn't know. He did a great job here, it ain't easy playing opposite to a bunch of characters that aren't actually there and it does it magnificently. He also does a great job of conveying Eddie's sorrow upon remembering his late brother. A great performance all around.

Comedian Charles Fleischer give voice to Roger Rabbit, and I think he was suitably zany in the part. Some folks seem to be annoyed by Roger, but I don't see why, he's only doing what toons do the best, being silly. Fleischer was so gung-ho about this roll he wore a full sized Roger Rabbit costume whenever he was on the set.

Comedian Stubby Kaye played Marvin Acme, and to be honest, I don't know who else could have played the cartoon gag king and owner of Toontown better. He just looked like how you'd imagine the founder of the fictional Acme Company would look.

Joanna Cassidy played Dolores, Eddie's sweetheart and bartender at the trolly station bar. She was quite good, though we didn't get to see much of her throughout. She certainly was convincing in her role IMO.

Kathleen Turner (voice) and Amy Irving (singing voice) played the seductive Jessica Rabbit, Roger's loving wife and femme fatale. Ms. Irving did a wonderful job during Jessica's musical number, playing the classic Noir sultry siren to a T. Ms. Turner of course was alway good at the Femme Fatale roles, so its no surprise she pulls it off well here and also adds a bit of humor to the mix. The Character of Jessica herself conjures up images of such sexy screen seductresses like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, and of course Veronica Lake. Mrs. Rabbit I think is the most famous part of this movie, people might not remember the film itself too well, but Jessica is instantly recognizable.

Last but not least, we have Chrisopher Lloyd playing Judge Doom, The ruthless Judge of Toontown who wants to destroy it all and put a freeway in its place (after dismantling the Trolley system). Lloyd was quite creepy as the Judge, which was a real switch from his previously well loved characters like Rev. Jim Ignatowski and Emmett "Doc" Brown. He showed his versitility here and should be commended for it.

This film was the start of what could have been a really great franchise. It had some fun new cartoon characters in the classic style. It revived the classic Cartoon shorts that come in front of the movies with 3 hilarious Roger Rabbit & Baby Herman cartoons, there was supposed to be a whole TV series for The cartoon cast, and a prequel film "Who Discovered Roger Rabbit. But Some time in the early 90s, everyone got greedy and a falling out between Disney Corp, Amblin Entertainment, and Roger Rabbit Creator Gary K. Wolf smashed it all to pieces.

It saddens me because I loved the characters, I loved the 3 shorts they made, they were great. and I would have loved to see the characters in another film. I really loved the concept of Toontown, and that humans and cartoons were living and working along side eachother. Its was alot of fun, a pity it couldn't last.

Anyways, if you love classic cartoons and 1940s style Noir films, go out and get this one.

The Best adaptation of Tetsujin 28, I can't imagine anyone toping this

My nomination for Best OVA of all time. Imagawa really put something special together, and after this and Tetsujin 28, I hope he adapts more Yokoyama Mitsuteru works

A must see for Masami Kurumada fans.