As a follow-up to my blog, I Would Like to Thank the AFI, I decided to make a list of the movies I'm not thankful to the AFI for having watched. To mix it up, this one is set up a little differently. There aren't many movies I've disliked since I started keeping tabs; so, I'm going to look at every movie I've disliked on the list, whether I watched it before or after the AFI released their 100 greatest. There are also varying degrees of "dislike". None border on pure unmitigated hatred, as each film serves it's purpose in cinematic history; but that doesn't mean I must like them all, does it? Again, for a complete list, go here. So, without further ado, let's begin shall we?
1. The Grapes of Wrath (#21): Why did I watch the movie? Because it was easier than 
reading the book for Honors Lit my Junior year of high school. (Sorry Ms. Baharestan!) What did I get out of it? The overwhelming urge to take a nap. It may not be fair of me to rate this movie based on my 17-year-old mind's opinion. However, I think even today I would find this Steinbeck adaptation slow and relatively uneventful. This era of literature has never interested or attracted me. However, that's not to say that the story of Oakies traveling to California for work during the dust bowl of the 1930's lacks heart. Hardly. Henry Fonda's uplifting portrayal of Tom Joad won him an Oscar nomination. The film went on to take home Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Jane Darwell) and Director (John Ford).
2. Vertigo (#61): Why did I watch the movie? College friends rented it and I'd heard it 
was a must-see. What did I get out of it? A short nap and a lot of staring at my watch. As I mentioned in my previous AFI blog, I'm not a fan of Mr. Hitchcock. While I've liked a couple of his movies, and I respect him as an artist, his films have never kept me engrossed. Vertigo finds Stewart, a retired San Francisco police detective, hired to follow a wealthy ship-builder's wife (Kim Novak). As the story progresses, Hitchcock weaves a web only he could devise, that has our hero stretched to the brink of his own sanity. Quintessential Hitchcock...if you're not me, you'll probably love it.
3. The Birth of a Nation (#44): Why did I watch the movie? Because it was on the list. 
What did I get out of it? Exasperated sighs and raised eyebrows. I believe I can say without a doubt, that this was my first silent movie. I think my only other "silent movie" experience was movie within a movie in The Three Amigos...which doesn't even count. If I'm not mistaken, the reason this 1915 silent picture made the AFI's Greatest 100 is because of it's epic scale, subject matter and method of story-telling. The complete DVD version runs a baffling 187 minutes. Yes, 3 hours and 7 minutes of silent Civil War epic. While the cut down 2 hour 5 minute VHS version was boring enough for me to turn off before intermission; it's important to recognize this film broke many boundaries including depicting the KKK and racial turmoil during the 1860's. Silent films aren't for everyone, especially those of us who are used to the fast-paced movies of today. Still, Nation has it's place...but that place is not amongst my personal movie collection.
4. Rebel Without a Cause (#59): Why did I watch the movie? It was on the list and it's James Dean's signature roll. What did I get out of it? Whiney teen angst and mid-50's 
stereotypes. Like Marilyn Monroe, Dean has become an American Film Icon. Better remembered for leaning against a wall smoking a cigarette than just about anything else. In Rebel, Dean finds himself the new kid in town, who makes a number of friends and enemies as he strives find his place in a new school and the love of Natalie Wood. I'm sure teenagers in 1955 would have identified more with the characters in the movie and empathized with their struggle to belong in a stiflingly structured community. However, I believe my reaction was, "Wah, cry me a river and grow up!" Arguably, what's most interesting to me about this movie doesn't have anything to do with the actual film itself; it's the real life tragedy of 3 of is principle cast members. As we all know, Dean was killed in a car crash about a month before Rebel was released, Natalie Wood mysteriously drowned in a lake in 1981 and Sal Mineo was stabbed and killed in 1976. Fascinating reality, disappointing fiction.
5. North By Northwest (#40): Why did I watch the movie? Because it was on the list. What did I get out of it? About 36 minutes of intriguing action and 100 minutes of thumb-twiddling waiting for something else to happen. Arguably one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films and very likely his best collaboration with Cary Grant. Who hasn't seen that "money shot" of Cary 
running away from the crop-dusting plane? To be honest, I think this is one of the most fascinating stories Hitchcock brought to the screen. Grant's Roger O. Thornhill is an average man, who is unfortunately mistaken for CIA operative, George Kaplan, by a group of spies. Thornhill then goes through Hell and back trying to find the illusive Kaplan and clear his own identity. Along the way he meets the beautiful Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who agrees to help him on his quest for the truth. I fell asleep during this movie, probably only for about 20 minutes or so, but I fell asleep. This movie could've been incredible if Hitch had cut out about 20 to 30 minutes. Speed up the pace and get rid of the long dead periods where we're just watching people sit or listening to extraneous details. But hey...I'm in the minority here. Just go see it for yourself!
Honourable Mention
A Clockwork Orange (#46): I admit it. I hate this movie. It freaks me out. I haven't even seen it the whole way through. Now before you Kubrick fans jump on my back and start hurling obscenities at me, let me say this: You can't expect me to believe you don't find anything 
traumatizing about watching someone's eyes held open by wires or that you can ever listen to the song Singin' In the Rain again without the image of a very violent and graphic rape scene...I just won't believe it. (Incidentally, I can still listen to that song, because the rape scene in question is one I haven't seen.) It gets the "Honourable Mention" status because I've basically decided that I will never watch the whole movie. I don't want to see it. I have no desire to see it. Nor do I see any reason why I should see it. Do you have any idea how many other movies are out there that won't cause me personal trauma and require a visitation to a counselor after it's over? There's a lot. Trust me. Netflix has like 30 to 50, 000 for me to choose from.
Ok...let's hear it. I know you have things to say to me about disliking some of the greatest American cinematic staples of the past century. Leave your thoughts...I can take it!
3 comments:
I respect your opinion...and agree with you on Grapes of Wrath and Birth of a Nation. (I've now seen Birth of a Nation twice for film classes, and I hate it more than any other silent film I've ever seen!)
But North by Northwest?!!? Oh, it's my Hitchcock go to film. I love it! But, as I said, I must respect your opinion because I love you that much.
Wow. I think you're being overly harsh on Hitchcock. I first saw NxNW in a theater (not in 1959, more like 1999) and it was an unforgettable experience. A very funny movie, too. As for Vertigo, it wasn't my favorite the first time out, but the more I've read about the film, the more I appreciate it when I watch it.
I know this is a much delayed comment, but I've recently had the experience that you've written about here. We were flipping around TV and we saw Morgan Freeman on CBS. Morgan Freeman...how could it be a bad thing? We discovered that we had come in on the beginning of the NEWEST Top 100 movie list. We jotted them down as the show progressed. We immediately rushed out and rented two random ones on the list that we had not seen. We've rented about 6 movies thus far and I'd say a solid 3 of them were just not worth my time.
Kind of discouraging, I'd say.
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