Over the past 6 years I have been on a mission; a slow mission but a good one nonetheless. Just what is this lofty goal I've been pursuing for more than half a decade? Why, to watch all 100 of the AFI's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, of course. It's a slow-going process for me, though. Like the Oscars, I've found a number of the movies to be very heavy and dramatic...a theme that often causes me to sit on my hands and take my time.
This isn't to suggest that the AFI holds the same Academy standards for "great" movies. Hardly. This list canvases a large number of genres over the first 100 years of American cinema. For a complete list, go here. I should note that there are a number of movies on this list that I adore; e.g. Singin' In the Rain (#10), Star Wars (#15), Raiders of the Lost Ark (#60), The Sound of Music (#55), The Silence of the Lambs (#65), The African Queen (#17). In this blog, though, I am going to focus on 5 movies I watched solely because of their existence on this list. These 5 films have gone on to become some of my most favorite and most respected.
1. The Philadelphia Story (#51): I love this movie. I think to a certain extent it's because I find a little of myself in Traci Lord's (Katharine Hepburn) willful and independent nature. She knows what she wants in life, presents herself as a strong woman and hides her frailty out of fear or insecurity. Hepburn (my favorite classic actress) is joined by the always impeccable Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. On the eve of Traci's marriage to George Kittredge (John Howard), her ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Grant) shows up unexpectedly with tabloid journalists (Stewart, Ruth Hussey). Mayhem ensues. Don't miss my favorite scene which finds a rather inebriated Stewart laying it all on the line with Grant. Great fun!
2. Bringing Up Baby (#97): Kate and Cary make yet another appearance on my list with this screwball comedy classic. In this film we find Grant as university paleontologist, Dr. David Huxley, trying to score the big donation that will fund all the dinosaur digs his little heart desires. Unfortunately for him, Susan Vance (Hepburn), in all her ditzy and star struck ways has taken a liking to the rather geeky paleontologist...as if anyone could really believe Cary Grant was a geek. Ha! Throw in a leopard who loves the song "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" and an illusive dinosaur bone and you have the recipe for a lovely romantic comedy!
3. Some Like it Hot (#14): There are some gimmicks that always get a laugh and at the top of the list is "Men in Drag." Many films have centered on this theme over the years. Good ones: Tootsie. Cheesy-yet-fun ones: Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. And terrible ones that make you want to slit your wrists: White Chicks. Some Like it Hot definitely fits in the first category. The movie's timeless humour earned it the top place on AFI's 100 Greatest Comedies list as well. The story begins in 1929, when musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) witness a mob hit and are forced to flee Chicago...as women. They get jobs playing with an all-girl band in sunny Florida, which stars a sultry Sugar Kane (Marylin Monroe) with whom both men immediately fall in love. Lemmon and Curtis's antics as Daphne and Josephine are brilliant...and the scene with Lemmon and his maracas is one of my all-time favorites! Definitely a classic and worth every commendation!
4. Rear Window (#42): I should start by stating for the record: "I'm not a fan of Hitchcock." I know that in many minds that is like saying: "There is no God." or more apropos "I don't like Lord of the Rings." (Which I don't...nervously glancing around.) I have found most Hitchcock movies to have brilliant concepts and fascinating plot lines...but they are unbelievably long and boring with lengthy periods of no action. Not so with Rear Window. The lack of action actually worked well for the story and I became just as intrigued by the residents of the apartment complex as L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) and Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly). Those who have seen the movie will remember what was, for me, the most chilling scene: Jeffries watching Mr. Thorwald's (Raymond Burr) dark apartment, the only visible light coming from the end of his cigar. Sends a chill up my spine even now.
5. Double Indemnity (#38): This 1944 noire classic stars Fred MacMurray as insurance salesman, Walter Neff, who plots murder with his married love interest Barbara Stanwyck. I admit, it's been a while since I've seen this movie, so it's a little fuzzy. However, this is the most engaging noire picture I have ever seen. At the very beginning of the movie, MacMurray confesses his guilt to the murder and over the next 107 minutes the audience is led through a riveting disclosure of the who's, how's and why's of the crime. If a black and white noire can capture the mind of a 22 year old (ahem...me), I think that says something! Excellent!
These were some of my favorites. However, in the immortal words of LeVar Burton..."Don't take my word for it!" Go out and watch for yourself. Other note-worthy movies that didn't make my top 5, but are still worth a view: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (#29), Casablanca (#2), Platoon (#83), The Apartment (#93), Tootsie (#62), All About Eve (#16), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (#99), Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (#50), The Gold Rush (#74), the list goes on and on. I've managed to see more than 40 movies in the past 6 years (I have just over 30 left to go)...a low number but honourable just the same. Check out the list and offer feedback! Which movies are your favorites? Which ones do you disagree with? Enquiring minds want to know!
Special Note: Whilst conducting my research, I stumbled across an announcement of the AFI's 10th Anniversary 100 Greatest Movies list. Yep, every 10 years they'll be updating the list! So keep an eye out for the newest AFI release this June!
This isn't to suggest that the AFI holds the same Academy standards for "great" movies. Hardly. This list canvases a large number of genres over the first 100 years of American cinema. For a complete list, go here. I should note that there are a number of movies on this list that I adore; e.g. Singin' In the Rain (#10), Star Wars (#15), Raiders of the Lost Ark (#60), The Sound of Music (#55), The Silence of the Lambs (#65), The African Queen (#17). In this blog, though, I am going to focus on 5 movies I watched solely because of their existence on this list. These 5 films have gone on to become some of my most favorite and most respected.
1. The Philadelphia Story (#51): I love this movie. I think to a certain extent it's because I find a little of myself in Traci Lord's (Katharine Hepburn) willful and independent nature. She knows what she wants in life, presents herself as a strong woman and hides her frailty out of fear or insecurity. Hepburn (my favorite classic actress) is joined by the always impeccable Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. On the eve of Traci's marriage to George Kittredge (John Howard), her ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Grant) shows up unexpectedly with tabloid journalists (Stewart, Ruth Hussey). Mayhem ensues. Don't miss my favorite scene which finds a rather inebriated Stewart laying it all on the line with Grant. Great fun!
2. Bringing Up Baby (#97): Kate and Cary make yet another appearance on my list with this screwball comedy classic. In this film we find Grant as university paleontologist, Dr. David Huxley, trying to score the big donation that will fund all the dinosaur digs his little heart desires. Unfortunately for him, Susan Vance (Hepburn), in all her ditzy and star struck ways has taken a liking to the rather geeky paleontologist...as if anyone could really believe Cary Grant was a geek. Ha! Throw in a leopard who loves the song "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" and an illusive dinosaur bone and you have the recipe for a lovely romantic comedy!
3. Some Like it Hot (#14): There are some gimmicks that always get a laugh and at the top of the list is "Men in Drag." Many films have centered on this theme over the years. Good ones: Tootsie. Cheesy-yet-fun ones: Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. And terrible ones that make you want to slit your wrists: White Chicks. Some Like it Hot definitely fits in the first category. The movie's timeless humour earned it the top place on AFI's 100 Greatest Comedies list as well. The story begins in 1929, when musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) witness a mob hit and are forced to flee Chicago...as women. They get jobs playing with an all-girl band in sunny Florida, which stars a sultry Sugar Kane (Marylin Monroe) with whom both men immediately fall in love. Lemmon and Curtis's antics as Daphne and Josephine are brilliant...and the scene with Lemmon and his maracas is one of my all-time favorites! Definitely a classic and worth every commendation!
4. Rear Window (#42): I should start by stating for the record: "I'm not a fan of Hitchcock." I know that in many minds that is like saying: "There is no God." or more apropos "I don't like Lord of the Rings." (Which I don't...nervously glancing around.) I have found most Hitchcock movies to have brilliant concepts and fascinating plot lines...but they are unbelievably long and boring with lengthy periods of no action. Not so with Rear Window. The lack of action actually worked well for the story and I became just as intrigued by the residents of the apartment complex as L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) and Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly). Those who have seen the movie will remember what was, for me, the most chilling scene: Jeffries watching Mr. Thorwald's (Raymond Burr) dark apartment, the only visible light coming from the end of his cigar. Sends a chill up my spine even now.
5. Double Indemnity (#38): This 1944 noire classic stars Fred MacMurray as insurance salesman, Walter Neff, who plots murder with his married love interest Barbara Stanwyck. I admit, it's been a while since I've seen this movie, so it's a little fuzzy. However, this is the most engaging noire picture I have ever seen. At the very beginning of the movie, MacMurray confesses his guilt to the murder and over the next 107 minutes the audience is led through a riveting disclosure of the who's, how's and why's of the crime. If a black and white noire can capture the mind of a 22 year old (ahem...me), I think that says something! Excellent!
These were some of my favorites. However, in the immortal words of LeVar Burton..."Don't take my word for it!" Go out and watch for yourself. Other note-worthy movies that didn't make my top 5, but are still worth a view: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (#29), Casablanca (#2), Platoon (#83), The Apartment (#93), Tootsie (#62), All About Eve (#16), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (#99), Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (#50), The Gold Rush (#74), the list goes on and on. I've managed to see more than 40 movies in the past 6 years (I have just over 30 left to go)...a low number but honourable just the same. Check out the list and offer feedback! Which movies are your favorites? Which ones do you disagree with? Enquiring minds want to know!
Special Note: Whilst conducting my research, I stumbled across an announcement of the AFI's 10th Anniversary 100 Greatest Movies list. Yep, every 10 years they'll be updating the list! So keep an eye out for the newest AFI release this June!
4 comments:
Wonderful choices! I also discovered Philadelphia Story and Some Like It Hot because of the AFI List. If you don't mind, I'm going to add to your list with my own discoveries.
1. The Apartment--I fell in love with Jack Lemmon all over again.
2. Sunset Blvd.--Who knew that an old movie could be so scandalous!
3. North by Northwest--I may love Rear Window, but this movie is my favorite Hitchcock outing.
4. Chinatown--Holy crap, when I saw this movie, I understood why everyone is Hollywood treats Nicholson with such respect.
All five great flicks ... ooh. Sorry. Had a roommate once that used "flicks" only he sprayed spit when he got to the "cks" so I vowed to never use that word. Fortunately, I'm typing and my impression of him can't produce spit from my fingers.
If you can believe this, I'm making my wife watch the six Star Wars movies for THE FIRST TIME. We're through four with Episodes II and III left (we watched in release order so she wouldn't think the originals were shoddy effects).
You ought to try your AFIs on a 55-inch HDTV MoFo ... kick ass stuff.
Great choices. I am sad to see that it took this list for you to see Rear Window. I LOVE this movie! I saw it at the Alabama theater in b'ham. It was right after they rereleased in 2000. It was cool to see on the big screen finally and it was also cool in the classic theater, we had an organ player come out of the floor and everything. So on to my list. I have not done what you and faith have but these are my favs on the list in no particular order.
Star Wars
Raiders
Bridge over the river Kwai
The Searchers
Rear Window
I was sad to see that Pride and Prejudice (A&E version) was not on the list. If I were a judge it would be on there along with Princess Bride, The Great Escape, and Holiday Inn (I am asucker for Bing and a drunk Fred Astaire.
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