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srah's latest project: watch a hellalotta movies

When I moved here, one of the first things I did was to join the local library. The DVD/video section is just across from the circulation desk and is much more compact than the book section, so the first thing I did was to check out DVDs. They have a list of The American Film Institute's 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time posted on the wall, and this (and the fact that apete's already done it) inspired me to take a shot at watching all 100. It's going to involve watching a lot of westerns, gangster films and war movies, but it's good to get out of your comfort zone (as any good study abroad advisor will tell you).

When I first looked at the list, I counted 47 movies that I'd seen. This counts movies that I saw several years ago but doesn't count movies I've only seen parts of (so I'll actually have to sit all the way through A Clockwork Orange and - although I think I've seen the whole thing in parts - I'll have to rewatch The Godfather). I hope this number's correct, because I've been counting my progress based on that.

I am the worst movie reviewer ever ("It was good. You should see it.", "It was dumb.") but I figure if I write one-paragraph reviews for several movies at a time, it will look like I'm writing more. Here goes:

#48: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - I looked at the list and didn't know where to start, so I picked one that I've always meant to watch and suspected I might enjoy. It didn't disappoint, except in that AFI only ranked it #99. Great performances and an engaging story.

#49: The Searchers - I realized when I checked this out that although my grandfather was a big fan of westerns and John Wayne in particular, I myself had never seen a John Wayne movie. I've seen enough John Wayne impressions to expect it. This was... okay I guess. Again, I'm not much of a western fan and I felt like the movie was dated, even for its time, in terms of racial relations. I don't know. I wasn't around then.

#50: A Place in the Sun - Montgomery Clift, you are a 'tard!

#51: From Here to Eternity - I'm beginning to think that in order to be included in the list, you must have a character, portrayed by Montgomery Clift, who is a 'tard. I didn't think much of him. Frank Sinatra's character was a little more interesting, but overall the movie didn't make much of an impression on me. I don't know why it's always billed as one of those big romantic movies (cue beach scene, Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster covered in seaweed), because I didn't find it very romantic at all. It's a war movie or a boxing movie (neither of which I'm very fond of) with some people having an affair in the background. I checked the book out of the library because I'd seen that it was better than the movie, but then I realized it's also 10,000 pages long.

#52: Giant - My mother once suggested that I watch Giant, saying that she thought it was the kind of thing I would like. "Why? What's it about?" I asked her. "Oh, it's got Rock Hudson and cattle ranchers and oil and stuff." Rock Hudson? Cattle? Oil? How did my mom know that those are my very favorite things on earth? It was a strange recommendation - since I like moo-cows but I really have no opinion on Mr Hudson or oil - but she was right. It was a nice story and I especially liked James Dean. I've never seen him in anything and I always wrote him off as a pretty-boy who got a lot of press for dying young, but he really was quite talented. And thus, my next movie was...

#53: Rebel Without a Cause - Natalie Wood seemed strange and awkward. I've seen Miracle on 34th Street and Gypsy, but I've always been able to separate the two in my mind. It was kind of weird to see the transition between the child actress and the adult. James Dean was good again, it was very angsty, Sal Mineo was great, and I believe that someone, during the first fight scene at the planetarium, referred to someone else as a poophead. I've already returned the DVD to the library so I can't verify this. Anyone?

#54: Modern Times - Yawn. It was 1936. Making a (sort of) silent film was gimmicky. It was the last appearance of Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp" character, and I think it might have been unnecessary to drag him back out like that. Buster Keaton makes me laugh and you, Mr Chaplin, are no Buster Keaton. ¡Viva el Buster!

srah - Friday, 9 December 2005 - 12:24 PM
Tags: afi, buster keaton, movies

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