Guys and Dolls (1952)

I watched this tonight for the first time in probably 25 years. Great movie, still not in my top 100. I like all the characters except for Adaleine. My favorite song is at the start..."I got my horse right here, his name is Paul Reviere, and the man in the paper says the weathers clear.... can do... can do....

Thoughts

I just watched half of HUD last night. I love that show. I can't believe you are not adding it to your top 100.

I started the night out watching "Kings Go Forth" starring Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra, but it was soooo boring I gave up on it. I also gave up on "One Eyed Jacks" the other night with Marlon Brando and Karl Madden. Both movies were on Instant viewing on NX.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

After watching this 3 hour movie over two nights, it is with great pleasure that I get a spend a few minutes giving you a review. This is a 5 star movie that is now in my top 100 list. This masterpiece was well worth the "long wait" message that Netflix kept giving me as it sat at the top of my list forever.

Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard lead an extraordinary cast on this adventure which includes beautiful location sets in Tahiti, along with 7 academy award nominations. One interesting note....Brando feel in love with the actress Tarita (Maimiti in the film) during the filming of this movie, and the couple were married from 1962-1972.

The actual "Bounty" naval ship was built just for this movie. I loved watching the extra features on the 2nd DVD which talks about how hard it was to build this ship (in Nova Scotia), and how after the movie came out they toured it around the world because everyone wanted to see it. The script is based on a true story which occured in the 1800's.

This movie is about 1st Lieutenant Fletcher Christian (Brando) and how his character changes from one of an obedient up an coming navy leader who is loyal to Britain to someone who needs to make a bold move. Throughout the movie his conscious gets the best of him and he realizes that he is in a position, more than anyone else on the ship, to do something to stop the tyranny esqe actions that Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard) is dictating to his crew.

I love the ending, it was unpredictable for me. Christian goes through a change after becoming the new captain. But they way it all unfolds was different than what I thought, and I liked that about the movie.

My favorite part of the movie is when Fletcher is ordered by the captain to go make love to Tarita, the daughter of the Tahitian leader. It is so funny because Brando gets on the small boat to leave and he stands up like a champion as "Rule Britannia" plays in the background. It made me laugh out loud.

This is UR but would be PG is it came out today. When the Tahitian ladies are dancing for the sailors, they are wearing on a bunch of lei flower necklaces on their bodies, but you can see part of their chest from the side. Also some men die on the ship. It it weren't for those things the movie could be rated G. No swearing.

Here is the preview, I can't figure out how to post this like you do-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmZ_A0UTrA

The Conspirator (2010)

I really like this era of American history. Recently, I have read two book pertaining to this era of Abraham Lincoln's presidency; first was The Manhunt, this was all about the assassination of the President and ensuing chase of John Wilkes Boothe, and the second book was called The Team of Rivals, which covered the cabinet and history of Lincoln's presidency. Both were well written and gave good insight into this movie.

After the death of Lincoln the new reunited country was in great mourning, and the leadership of the country wanted people to hang for this unspeakable act. John Surratt conspired with Booth to first kidnap, but than eventually murder the president. Most of the planning took place in his mom's boarding house, so the government thought she was part of the group that murdered the president, butchered the Secretary of State, and attempted to murder the Vice-President. (Trust me I am not giving anything away, it is all in well written history books.)

Young Franklin Aiken was given the task of defending Mrs. Surratt. Aiken was a veteran of the Civil War and did not like the task of defending a sworn Southern loyalist. As the trial ensues he changes his ideals.

I read somewhere that they actually took the transcripts of the trial and used them in the movie (do not hold me accountable to that fact, as I am not really sure if that is so). I enjoyed this movie 3 1/2 out of five. My only draw backs were for language that seemed out of place for the era, and the fact that they used familiar actors for the roles: James McAvoy, Alexis Bledel,Robin Wright, Justin Long, Kevin Klien, among others...I would have enjoyed unknown actors better.)

This is not a happy feel good movie, it ends like the Crucible, and not like Amazing Grace...read your history.

Tron Legacy (2010)

Disney has never been known for making well scripted storylines for their live action films, and this does not make an exception to the rule. However, I wanted so desperately for this film to be good. I had heard that the storyline was weak but the graphics were spectacular. I will take this one step further and say that the graphics were amazing, but the story was horrible.
Sam Flynn has the option to go into the Grid and rescue his father and so he does. The End!! I loved the techno-type music, and the graphics were beyond the best.
This movie has good visual eye candy, but it numbs my brain to think that I sat through the whole thing—painful!! Le Bad acting!!!!! Oh the humanity!!! The Horror!!!

Source Code (2011)

All I can say was that I thought Jake Gyllenhaal was good in this film, beyond that I did not like it at all. There were just too many holes to punch through the story and all in all it was very flat. Many people I have spoken with enjoyed this film, but it did nothing for me. Take Back to the Future, 2001 Space Odyssey, Fugitive, Groundhog Day, James Bond, and many other story lines, mix them in a blender and you get this movie. 1.5 stars out of 5.

The Gold Rush (1925)

Let me start by saying this is an OLD silent film, so please go at it from that perspective. The story of a young and inexperienced gold prospector (Charles Chaplin) trying to find his way in the Alaskan gold fields. Along the way he runs into a down on his luck prospector and prospector who is running from the law; not to mention a beautiful young lady. For the time period this movie has it all, great comedic action, romance, adventure, murder, and whores. The long imagery shots and trick photography are great because during that time they were very limited with technology. For instance they show the long pass that the prospectors used to climb in Alaska...to make that shot work they needed real people on that mountain at the time, AMAZING and breathtaking.

This has the famous scene where Charlie Chaplin uses the dinner roles to do his famous dance scene with.

As a warning this was a difficult movie to make through on one sitting because it is a silent film. Generally I like to watch silent films, but more in a Egyptian Theater setting (if you have not experienced a silent film in the Egyptian Theater, it is a MUST!!!)

I truly enjoyed this movie, not only from a story prospective, but from an art perspective as well. This will make it on my top 100 (this is the third silent film on my list...The General, and The Birth of a Nation).

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Absolutely this is now in my Top 100! I thought I had seen this movie in Jr. High, but as I watched it last night, nothing seemed familiar to me. The 1st hour is okay- it was more about setting the theme, developing characters, etc. The last hour was brilliant. This is a 4.5 star movie. The symbolism is perfect. I love how the first 95% of the movie is about justice- the need for Atticus (Gregory Peck) to give Tom Robinson a fair trial, despite the racial overtones of the townspeople (and of the Country during the time period this movie was made in!). But then in the last 10 min of the movie, Mr. Loyal, Mr. Law Abiding Citizen Atticus drops all reasoning and turns to mercy. He realizes that Boo Radley (Robert Duvall - on of the best actors ever to live and Adam's favorite) wouldn't stand a chance in court of a self defense plea. So they let the story go the way the Sheriff wants it- Bob Ewell fell on his own knife as he tried attacking Scout and Jem. Mary Badham (Scout) was outstanding, it is a shame she only made one other movie in her life (The Property is Condemned with R. Redford and N. Wood- and she was great in that movie). There is a lot to think about in this movie. I loved the poise that Peck showed in his character- unrattled by opposition. Definitely worth making my top 100 and it did!

The Producers (1968)

Ahhh...Mel Brooks, what a daring comedic genious. This is a story of a broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and his accountant (Gene Wilder) who set out to make money by producing the worst movie ever seen on the stage. The end result is Springtime for Hitler and Germany (only a jewish writer could get away with this!). Please be warned that this is not great cinema, but I found myself laughing outloud a couple times. Comparative to the modern version with Matt Broderick and Nathan Lane, the more modern version had better chemistry and timing, but I generally like original versions the best. 2 stars, not great, but harmless.

I found this part very funny.

The Taming of the Shrew (1967)

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton...Brilliant!!! Will it make my list? No, but it was an enjoyable movie to watch. I have a slight issue with some movies made during this era because the film is very grainy and difficult to watch, the colors just don't pop for me and it is distracting. I felt that all the roles were played and directed well. I would compare this to the more modern version of Much Ado About Nothing, because it had the who's who of the time. I do enjoy watching Sheakspear films. I would recommend this only because the two lead actors are so wonderful.

Need I say More? Yes!

Have you Heard About the Morgans? (2009)

My wife MADE me watch this movie with her. I don't like this type of chic movie, it was horrible to sit through. The best part was when it showed Sarah Jessica Parker watching the movie "The Searchers" with John Wayne and Natalie Wood. But that only lasted for 3 seconds. What a waste of time.

The Prince & The Showgirl (1957)

This was a great comedy. Thank you for recommending it to me. I give it 4 stars. Monroe did a fantastic job playing a clueless blond who ends up falling for Grandduke. I loved the chemistry between Laurence Olivier and Marliyn Monroe. Well done.

Primer (2004)

This will be the most challenging review I have ever attempted. Primer was the "Grand Daddy", "Take home all the Awards" show at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. My brother has been after me to watch it for 2 years. It was originally rated R, then they took out the language. The disk says it is rated PG-13, the MPAA website says PG-13, IMDG says PG-13, the Netflix sleeve that comes in the mail says PG-13, but Netflix.com lists it as R. I watched the movie in captions and there was one swear work, the Lord's name in vain. No nudity, no kissing, very little violence that doesn't show anything. I would give it a PG rating. Primer is for people that enjoy non-linear movies. The beauty of the movie is that it leaves a lot of guessing at the end, and I believe that was the intent. It was made by a first time director and he spent $7,000 making the movie. Take it for what it is. It is difficult to pull off a time travel movie, but given the brilliance of the plot, and for how much money they spent, I will give the work 3 solid stars. It made me think about a lot of things. If I were to travel back in time lets say a week, the real Ryan would still be alive, and the person that traveled (clone #1) would have to stay out of the way of the real person's life, otherwise there wouldn't be symmetry or you would throw off the time space continuum (Back to the Future definition). It gets even more complicated if you add a clone #2. Who is the real Ryan? Can all three people co-exist. What happens when you get to the point in time where no one is traveling in time, do the clones die and the original live, do all three live, does one person kill off the other two to be the only Ryan Lambert? This movie is like Inception, in that you learn more by reading on the Internet the day after you watch it. It is safe for kids to watch. The audio is bad, and it is hard to hear in some parts, so I suggest watching in captions.

The Tenth Man (1988)

This is a hallmark hall of fame made for TV movie, based off a famous book, and stars Anthony Hopkins and Kristin Scott Thomas. It is available on instant viewing on netflix, and I came across it when looking at movies of Anthony Hopkins. I absolutely love the storyline and premise of this movie. Very creative. I didn't think the director did a great job, just an okay job. I felt Kristin's role could have been developed more. Hopkins was fantastic as usual. This is a 3 star movie. What happens is a rich lawyer is captured by the Germans while he leaves a resturant in occupied France during the onset of WWII. He wasn't captured for any reasons, just that the German's wanted to make a statement towards the French resistance, by saying "we are going to take so many people every day out of your streets and put them in our prisons". Most the prisoners are peasants, but Chavel (Hopkins) is upper class. He has the money to dictate his own fate, even behind bars. But he learns that with power comes responsiblity, and the life he creates for himself is quite different than what he expected. My wife and I liked the movie, it was original, it was different, it had twists and turns that we did not expect. I think it is worth watching if you like Hopkins. I felt stressed out as the prisoners were drawing pieces of paper to see who would be executed next, man that must be crazy to do something like that. Your heart would be going crazy.

Singin in the Rain (1952)

4.5 stars, loved it. Not sure yet if it is in my top 100 or not, I need time to think. My family enjoyed it as well.