Tuesday, February 12, 2008

100 movies - part SE7EN

   So, here we are again. How you all been doing? Good, good. Glad to hear it.

   Well, I intimated that I might take a while to get the next ten of my list of 100 movies I really like posted here. I was wrong. Here they are. The previous entry is
here, and it contains links to all that came before. Enjoy. And tell me what you think of these films, OK?
   Oh, about the title. I wanted to make it a movie reference of some kind, and settled on that. The movie Seven starring Brad Pitt, however, does not appear on this list. At all. Because I didn't like the way it ended.

Blood Diamond - This film is full of great performances, but Leo DiCaprio stands out above them all. His gritty character pulls us through a movie filled with disturbingly realistic portrayals of the violence that occurs every day in various places across the African continent. Matthew watched this with us, and afterwards we spent a few moments discussing it with him, as it obviously affected him strongly. I recommend you see this if you have not already. It will affect you, too.

Ocean's Eleven(2001) - The chemistry between George Clooney and Brad Pitt in this movie is top notch, and can best be summed up, in my opinion, by a couple of throw-away lines at the end of the film:
Rusty (Brad Pitt), who is waiting to pick up a tuxedo clad Danny Ocean on his way out of prison - "I hope you were the groom."
Danny (George Clooney), looking at what Rusty is wearing - "Ted Nugent called, he wants his shirt back."
This is a straight up fun movie.

Pink Floyd: The Wall - Several friends and I used to go see this movie in the theater on a regular basis. It played in a downtown Toronto theater every second weekend for years (alternate weekends they showed The Song Remains The Same). Watching this on DVD, it is impossible to duplicate the sensations of seeing it on the giant screen, with the massive sound. Also, there are certain substances that may or may not have been involved in ::ahem:: modifying the experience...

The Fugutive(1993)- The whole 'home theater' revolution was in its infancy in the early nineties, and this film was one of my first experiences being truly rocked by excellent movie sound at home. The train wreck, early in the film, is a serious test of any home theater sound system to this day. Plus, Tommy Lee Jones is teh awesome.

Oops. I just realised that The Fugitive appeared on the fourth edition of this list. I'm not sure how that happened, but now I'm going to have to figure out what one other movie I should add in this spot in place of this one. Damn, that's gonna be hard!

Saving Private Ryan - The wife and I watched the first twenty minutes or so of this movie (the taking of the beach), then had to pause it to catch our (literal and emotional) breath. It has to be one of the most intense pieces of film-making ever produced. The rest of the movie was OK, too.

Moulin Rouge - Let me quote from
my review of this movie on themanroom.com:
I had no idea what this movie was about. When I realised it was a musical, I was concerned...
In fact, about ten minutes in, I actually apologised to my wife for renting it. We almost turned it off.
...Then a funny thing happened. I started to get interested. By the time they hit the tango version of Sting's Roxanne, I was hooked. Not only is this not a bad movie, it may be one of the best movies I've ever seen. The picture quality is excellent, with a palette of vibrant colours taken from Tolouse Lautrec posters of the time. The sound quality is also good, although there is not much in the way of surround action here. An interesting note: both Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidmann sang their own songs in this movie. One other piece of oddment: the voice of the green fairy is credited as being Ozzy Osbourne.
   It is interesting to  note that this film has not held up to repeated viewings for me. I bought the DVD because I was so knocked out the first time I watched it, but subsequent viewings have left me underwhelmed, with a been there-done that kinda feeling. Still, if you haven't seen it, I do recommend it highly, at least once.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - I hear a lot of people complaining about the "unrealistic" fight scenes in this film (and in Chinese cinema in general). Those same complainers, however, will happily spend hours in line to see the latest Superman, or Spiderman, or (insert your favourite comic book hero here) movie. In order to enjoy Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and other similar Chinese films from which it draws its inspiration, it is necessary to understand that it is, in essence, a superhero movie. It is not supposed to be any more realistic than Ghost Rider. OK, maybe a bit more than that.
   In the end, what this movie really is, is a touching love story.

They Live - Here's one of those 'bad' movies I alluded to in the
first installment of this series. It stars (Rowdy) Roddy Piper, for Pete's sake. Still, every once in a while it appears on late night TV, and I almost always stay up to watch. It's so delightfully tongue-in-cheek that I can completely overlook the fact that it's bad. Signature line: "I'm here to chew bubblegum and kick butt, and I'm all out of bubblegum."

Apollo Thirteen - "Houston, we have a problem." Hmm, Tom Hanks again. I think I'm detecting another trend.

Braveheart - This film has been lambasted by some for its alleged historical inaccuracy. To them I say, "grow up, it's just a frickin' movie!" If someone is stupid enough to try and point to the film as an historical reference, then fine, go to town on them. But to expect a work of fiction to attempt to be 100% historically correct is just silly. Unless, of course, you like really boring movies. Yes, it's bad history, but it's a damn fine film.

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lol..the only one I've never seen is the wall one, I think that was more my sister's age group anyway...one more brick in the wall. Good choices though...take care,,Sandi

Anonymous said...

Well, I disagree with Seven.  I thought it was a good movie.  Pitt wasn't as famous as he is now, and the very last line in the movie is one of my favourite very last lines, spoken by an anonymous off-camera cop in the helicoptor: "Somebody call somebody."  That summed up the entire situation right there.  Good flick.  Dark (like, really dark) but good.  Plus, I've always been a big Kevin Spacey fan.

Blood Diamond is another of those I intend to see, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet.  I like Leo.  I think he's finally shirked his Titatic stigma.

I loved all the Ocean's movies.  1 and 3 the most.  2 slipped a little.  But with that sort of cast thrown together, it's hard not to hit some of the right chemistry.

Never seen The Wall.  Is that bad?

Fugitive, yeah.  Tommy r0x0rs.

My reaction to Moulin Rouge was the same as my reaction to Chicago.  I liked 'em both.  Once I got into them.

Crouching Tiger stands up extremely well to repeated viewings.  Same as Hero, of similar theatrical ilk.

Never seen They Live, and uh, it's not high on the list.  But I won't disparage good cheese that I've never seen.

Hanks rocks, yes.  The rest of the cast wasn't too shabby either.

I certainly agree that Braveheart was a good and entertaining film, and I also think it deserves its fair share of lambasting for historical inaccuracies.  The thing is, it doesn't purport to be a work of fiction and so the ignorant, unquestioning masses are more than likely to take it for a true rendition.  That's where I see that it fails.

Simon

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with what you said on Braveheart, watch the History Channel if you want accurate.  The movie rocked.  Seven and 8mm were two of the most disturbing movies ever, and I totally agree about the ending of Seven.  If the ending was different, I probably would have loved it.

Heh heh heh about The Wall.  Those were the days... lol

be well,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

ps... I preferred the "Song Remains the Same'  I was a total Zep chick.

pss.  I can't believe how much you are posting!!!  Yay!  LOVE IT!

be well,
Dawn

Anonymous said...

I saw "Saving Private Ryan" in the theater, with my Dad...a WWII veteran. In the opening sequence, I held his hand, but I think I was shaking worse than he was. Intense is right. Three of his brothers also served, and he said later that the part that got to him most was when they told Mrs. Ryan that another of her sons was dead, and she sunk to the ground. He said, "That could've been my Mom," and he cried a little.

The movie is excellent all by itself, but being able to see it with my Dad makes it even more special for me. I still can't watch it without sobbing.

Beth

Anonymous said...

I got you're message in my journal. Thanks for the info! Now, off to FTP space hunting...

http://journals.aol.com/glopsey/thelovebug

Anonymous said...

Hmm, I loved Seven, and personally, I think the ending was disturbing of course, but a perfect conclusion. I would have been angry if Brad hadn't put a bullet in Spacey's head. (Side note, not so interesting, but I know Kevin's brother, he lives in my town and believe it or not, works at the Maverik Gas store down the street. Evidently, having a famous brother doesn't always help siblings) Anyway.....The only other movie that you put down, that gave me a "what the hell" was Moulin Rouge. Seriously? Ok, well, it's your party.
And Braveheart is one of my top ten~~
Rebecca

Seriously....Moulin Rouge? I walked out of the Movie theater 45 minutes in...evidently I didn't make it to the 'good part'

Anonymous said...

Hey AF-

 We have much the same taste in movies-Moulin Rouge was great, but can't watch it more than a few times.

Anonymous said...

I felt EXACTLY like you did about <em>Moulin Rouge</em>.  I couldn't believe how much I liked it, but on my second attempt, it paled.  Never tried it again.  Likewise with <em>Chicago</em>.  Oh well.

I also cannot turn off the TV when <em>They Live</em> comes on.  It's a fun movie, and with a cool premise.

I haven't seen a couple of these, but I agree that DiCaprio is amazing on-screen.  In <em>The Departed</em> he was brilliant.

(found you through simian farmer and his wife, by the way)

Anonymous said...

Lot of my fav's on here!