Bonnie and Clyde

"Bonnie and Clyde", #27/42, 1967

Oh, this was a good movie. It's about Bonnie and Clyde. You should watch it. And then you'll understand when people reference Bonnie and Clyde. 
It'll be great. 

A Clockwork Orange

"A Clockwork Orange" #46/70, 1971

I wasn't done... more cleaning turned up more drafts. They were just so far down the list, I didn't see them.

Okay, here we go...

This movie was super interesting. I often try to guess what the ending of a movie is going to be, or even what's going to happen within any given scene. Well, couldn't do that with this one. I don't think I could have predicted anything that happened in this movie. Maybe that's because I new nothing about it beforehand? But, even then, it's got some strange events in it. 

It's about this guy, Alex Delarge. He lives in futurist Britain. But not what someone would invent as futurist Britain now. What someone would have invented as futurist Britain in 1970's. So the lack of modern technology that is so prevelent now, kind of gave it a post-apocalyptic feel for me, but that's not what they were going for.
Alex is played by a young Malcolm McDowell, who does a really awesome job in the role. 

Well, Alex is our main guy, but he's not exactly our protagonist. He's kind of terrible. And does a couple terrible things with his droogs. The term in all the plot summaries is "ultra-violence."
He ends up in jail. And gets rehabbed with this experimental therapy. So instead of being a delinquent, he's supposed to be an upright citizen. And that doesn't totally work out for the government. But it doesn't totally work out for Alex either. 

Not the happy ending movie. Or the feel good movie. But it was super interesting.
I would consider watching it again. But, it's not one that I would watch all that often. The ultra-violence and all. 

The Lord of the Rings

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", New/#50, 2001

Well, I just got all caught up with all of the drafts I had. And then next step in organization is to cross these off my list. (I love crossing things off to-do lists). And I noticed that I could cross off another movie! After posting about it, of course.

I watched the Lord of the Rings movies a few months ago. For the first time ever. I wasn't really into them when they were coming out. And then, once they were all out, and they all were so long, with tons of extra footage, they were just too intense to watch. But, I had wanted to watch them for a while. So, I decided to just watch parts of them, like an hour, and then stop. So I wouldn't get overwhelmed. I think it took me about a week. Watching a little in the evenings after work, and then finishing up on the weekend.

And, turns out, they're great movies. Shocker, I know. Only the first movie on is on the Top 100 list, but really, you have to watch all three. Legitimately, there's no conclusion until the end of the three movie. Actually, the third book too. Because, fun fact, the Lord of the Rings is just one book, but it was split into three to make printing easier. And because people read for entertainment, and not for an exercise. 

So yeah, it's a lot to take in, but it is a well-assembled story line. The cohesiveness of the fantasy world is great. The epicness of the journey is there. All of it. All good things.

Now I just have to watch all of the Hobbits... Which is also three movies, though that was one, normal sized book. 

Psycho

"Psycho" #18/14, 1960

Oh, Psycho. This is an excellent horror movie. 
I'm sure you've all seen a clip of the shower stabbing scene, or at least hear the music, so I'm not really giving much away there. But, there were things in this movie that I was not expecting. And I'm not going to give those away. I know I often ruin movie plot lines on here, but you should see this movie. 
The basic set up is that a bunch of stuff goes down at the Bates Motel. 
So just go watch it. 
Because it's classic. And it's Alfred Hitchcock. 
So, even if you're like me and you don't like horror movies, just watch this one. For the experience of it :)

MASH

"MASH" #56/54, 1970

Oh Mash. The movie. 
I am much more familiar with the TV show. This show was on during many dinners at my house growing up. I gave most of the seasons' DVDs to my dad for Christmas. (I should check to see if there are any he still needs... notes for next December...)
So, I was pretty familiar with the characters - Hawkeye, Trapper, Houlihan, Frank Burns, Henry Blake, Father Mulcahy, Radar. It's just that I didn't recognize any of them except Radar. I think he was the only actor in the film that continued on in the TV series. 
There were some well know actors in this, but they were much younger versions of Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Robert Duvall than I am used to seeing. 

This movie is worth watching if you have any love for the TV show. I would guess that if you don't like the show, you wouldn't like this movie.

For me, and my dad who watched it with me, it was entertaining. 

The Gold Rush

"The Gold Rush" #74/58, 1925

I took no notes on The Gold Rush. 
Rediscovering that the writer, star, and director was Charlie Chaplin assures me that it was a great movie.

The movie takes place in the Klondike area. Lots of snow. 
I remember one of the recurring jokes including the intense cold outside, and the nice warmth inside the cabin. 

I remember a cute girl that the tramp likes. Sorry. Charlie doesn't play that tramp in this one. The lone prospector. I remember a cute girl that the lone prospector likes. 
I remember a dance hall. 

And I do remember liking it. I would watch it again. Which is what I would need to do in order to tell you anything more about this. 

High Noon

Well, it's been another year... and a half. Yikes...
One post in the last three years. That is not a good track record.

Turns out I kind of needed a break from this little project of mine. There were so many other things to watch. I started getting together with a group every other week to watch a movie from RedBox. i.e. recent popular movies. Netflix and all their TV shows. (I couldn't figure out the plural of series...)



"High Noon" #33/27 1952 

Also, remember how I was going to use this blog as a way to remember all of these movies?
That would require blogging about a movie soon after watching it. And not waiting over a year...

I had at least started this post, with some random thoughts that I wanted to get in here.

Okay, High Noon.

A Western.

The movie includes a lot of conversations. Over the course of one day. There is this bad guy coming back into town. And everyone is terrified. Except the Marshal Will Kane. (Cue Gary Cooper)

The Marshal is ready to take the guy on. (again, that's why the bad guy is not currently in the town). 

And he starts recruiting help. He goes around, struggling to get people on board, people who were on board jump ship. And basically every would rather run away and hid in fear than face the baddie and his buddies. 

So, the Marshal takes him on alone. Well, not entirely, his wife is actually there, which is kind of awesome. (played by Grace Kelly. Also awesome)

When the gang arrives, in the final moments leading up to the big fight, there was intense background music and long shots of every character. Every single character. And it was this big climatic moment, and I found it hilarious. Did we need to get everyone's individual reaction shot on that?

Well, like any good western, the good guy wins! He and his wife take down the group. And the people of the town crawl out of their cowering places and surrounds them as they climb onto a horse-pulled carriage. This was the Marshal's last act, he is leaving town.

Before going, he needs to give his Marshal badge to his successor. He takes it off, and looks around at the people who deserted him, and throws it onto the ground.

Which was epic.

I felt so good that his final small gesture was so powerful. 

Now, I don't know that the awesomeness of those three seconds is worth watching the whole movie. But, I know that I do love a good ending.