Rebel Without A Cause

"Rebel Without A Cause", #59/removed, 1955

So this is a pretty famous movie because it stars James Dean. Most people know the story of James Dean because he's referenced in a whole bunch of songs like "Vogue" by Madonna and "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, and I feel like he shows up in a lot of TV programs that look back movie stars and what not. But, in case you don't know, James Dean was in a crap ton of movies from 1951-1954, but just had minor roles. Then he started to get leading roles, and his biggest role was in this movie. He had just been signed to be the star in nine movies. And then he tragically died when his car collided with another at age 24 in 1955. (Ironically he had just made some Drive Safe PSAs). So, even though he only starred in three movies, the combination of a sudden, tragic, ironic death at a young age while he was very much on top made him on of the actors that will long be remember. (Also a side note, the movie Giant was released after his death, so Heath Ledger is not alone in that).

So, this movie starts late one night when three teenagers are at the police/juvenile center all for independent reasons. And then either the next night or soon after, they all go to school. And the movie follows them throughout the day, and into that night and probably early the next morning. Other than that, you really need to watch this movie because it is the role that James Dean will also be remembered by, and it is a good movie.

The first thing that I noticed was when the teenage girl came on screen. I recognized her, and after checking imdb.com (the best website ever and the one that makes writing this blog so much easier) I verified that it was the same actress who played the lost/captured girl in The Searchers - Natalie Wood. She, like James Dean also died tragically, but not quite so young. She was out on a yacht with her husband and friends when she fell into the ocean and drowned (in 1981 at age 43)

And the actor who played the third main character in this movie was Sal Mineo, who also died tragically. He was stabbed and killed in 1976 at age 37.

Sorry this blog post turned so morbid, but I just really find it interesting that these three actors played the three main characters in Rebel Without A Cause and they call died tragically, but James Dean is the only one who is really remembered.

Oh, also I have no idea why this movie was dropped from the anniversary list. Yeah, really not sure what that's about.

Okay, so to sum up... watch the movie-it's pretty good.

A Streetcar Named Desire

"A Streetcar Named Desire" #45/#47, 1951
This movie was not so great. It's about this girl, Blanche, who goes to visit her sister, Stella, in New Orleans. And Blanche clashes majorly with Stella's husband, Stanley, played by the very studly Marlon Brando. First of all, I loved the old names in this movie. The fact that I actually remember them is something, because I honestly don't pay much attention to character names. But, the old names were just about about all I loved. One thing however, is that I couldn't guess what was coming. At first, Blanche is kind of flirty with Stanley, and I was very worried that some kind of horrible affair was going to happen, but it did not. So it probably was a good film in that it keeps the audience guessing and whatever, but it is not one I plan on watching again. So, since I'm not really recommending that you watch this one, I'm going to ruin the ending for you. You can stop reading if you have any major objections to that. In the end, Blanche goes crazy. Like, literally crazy, and they bring people from the insane asylum to take her away. Except, instead of it just being Stella and Stanley at home, there is like a party going on... it's Stella, Stanley, two of Stanley's friends, including the guy she dated in the movie, the neighbor. It was weird. It tied up a lot of things character wise and it did save some time because instead of the news being passed from person to person and seeing each of the reactions individually, the audience saw it all at once and it wrapped up nicely. But, if anyone ever calls the insane asylum on me, please promise that you will limit the number of people around when they come to take me away.

It Happened One Night

"It Happened One Night", #35/#46, 1934

This was a really good movie. There are a lot of ridiculous parts that seem to go along with the movies from the 30's/40's. But, it's a cute romantic comedy. The movie starts as the main girl is fighting with her father on his boat. He doesn't want her to marry this boy, and she's all made at her father over it. So she jumps overboard and swims away. The entire movie is about her trying to make her way to New York with out any money and trying to not get caught by the detectives her wealthy father hired to track her down. In order to get there, she makes friends with the guy who is also traveling. And, as this is not really giving much away, the love story that the audience is routing for is not between the girl and the boy that her father hates, but between the girl and the new guy friend. The absolute best part of this movie (and the reason why I'm considering buying it) is the Wall of Jericho. But, explaining that will give it away, so you should just watch the movie.

The Searchers

"The Searchers", #96/#12, 1956
Oh yes, a John Wayne western. Well, it was alright. Maybe the western thing is growing on me? Now that I'm actually the one choosing to watch it. Maybe it was that I hated westerns because I always wanted to be watching something else. Who knows? Well anyways... this movie lapses a few years, and it's all about searching for this little girl who was captured. The characters in it are all very amusing. It's got adventure, love, cowboys and indians, and a happy ending. So, if you like westerns, watch it, but if you're not really a big fan, then it's probably not worth your time. The thing that intruiges me the most about this is the huge jump this movie made. On the orinigal list, it was number 96, and on the anniversary list, it was number 12. How can it jump 84 places like that? I'm not quite sure why it's the movie that rose the most between the two lists, but that must mean it's a good film.

Rocky

"Rocky", #78/#57, 1976

This movie is another one that is shown on television all the time. Then again, since there are about eight-five sequels, who knows what movie is actually on TV when I flip through it. And, I've never really been interested in this movie, so I've never made a point to watch it. There's probably not a lot to recap, other than to say it is a boxing movie where Rocky is the underdog everyone is rooting for. The one thing that surprised me is I didn't realize there was a love story in the movie. And I'd have to say that the diologue was amazing. Some lines were repeated- not a word for word thing, but like one character repeats the same thing on a couple occasions. It was great since that how people generally act. And of course, the absolute best part was when "Eye of the Tiger" came on.
So, if you haven't seen the movie, you should watch it. It's actually a pretty good movie, and since it's got the boxing thing and the love story, most poeple could find something they enjoy about it. And anyways, "Eye of the Tiger" is a lot better stuck in your head that "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", New/#66, 1966
This is another movie that was added to the anniversary list even though it was around well before the original list.
This movie takes place all in one night, one very late, very drunken night. It's about two couples, one old(er) and one young. Both the men are professors at the same college and they just meet at a faculty & spouse get together. The young couple comes over to the old couple's house, and even before they arrive, we get to witness the old couple screaming at each other and the audience learns they're in this crazy, bitter, hate-filled, but also somehow loving marriage. At the beginning, the young couple seems like the perfect happy little couple, and then you learn little by little that they have issues too. The best part was when the young women went on this little rant about how she drinks very carefully not to get drunk, and then, naturally, three minutes later she gets very drunk and stays pretty plaster for the rest of the movie. The entire movie is just the couples chatting, drinking, and sharing deep, dark secrets with people they've just met.

One thing I found interesting is that I watched the whole movie without recognizing what actor was the young husband. He's name's George Segal, and I knew him from when he played Jack Gallo on Just Shoot Me. This is not important information or anything, but the fact that after watching this movie, the most interesting thing about it is that I didn't recognize that actor pretty much tells you this was not a good movie. So, I would suggest not watching it.
The last thing is that the title doesn't have anything to do with Virginia Woolf. She's not a character in the movie at all. It comes from a joke at the faculty party, so the movie audience doesn't even really know what the joke is, but it singing "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf" to the tune of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush". And the movie audience gets to hear the couples talk about what a riot that was at the party. So, that's been stuck in my head for a while...

Intolerance

"Intolerance" New/#49, 1916
It's always intriguing to me when a movie not on the original list is added to the anniversary list, especially considering the movie was around when the original list was made. So what is it about the movie that made it qualified to be added to the list.
Well anyways...
I was not excited for this movie. It had three strikes against it before I even started the movie. 1) It's a silent film, 2) it's a silent drama, and 3) It's three and a half hours long. So that was a great set up. However, somehow, I enjoyed it. The movie is a 'drama of comparisions' and it's shown in two acts. Probably so that the people in the movie theatre could have a bathroom break. I think I watched it in about four chunks. The movie is a bunch of overlapping stories-I think there were four. There was the "Modern Story" (keep in mind modern still meant early 1900's) in America, one from ancient Babylon around 500BC featuring King Belshazzar, one around the 1500's in France, and the crucifixion of Jesus circa 30AD. The main story was the modern one, we also followed that one the longest, I think it spanned three or four years, while the Babylonian story spanned three or four days. Luckily, this movie (generally) clued the audience into which story it was. I really loved that none of the characters really had names. I mean, there was Belshazzar, who was the King of Babylon. But, the girl in the modern story was The Dear One and she met (and then married) The Boy. And the girl in the french story was Brown Eyes. The girl in Babylon who lived out in the mountain was, The Mountain Girl. I think using those names made it a lot easier to keep track of what story was about to be shown. When the audience sees "The Mountain Girl", they know it's the Babylonian story. Had they said, "Mary & John", the audience may have been confused if it was The Dear One and The Boy from the modern American story, or Brown Eyes and The Prince. I mean, the audience may have figured it out, but I just watch The Sing-Off (an a capella singing competition) and even though I'd watched five episodes, I have no idea what the first name of the main singer of my favorite group is, so really, it's also very probable that the audience would be confused throughout.
As you probably guessed, the movie is about intolerance. It showed every type of discrimination... religion, sex, social class, age, etc. And, by jumping between the modern story and the three older stories, it artistically showed that nothing has changed, intolerance still ruins the lives of people.
So, as I said above, I actually really enjoyed this movie. Even though you still have to deal with the epic background music and the extreme overacting, I think this movie is worth watching. I think any silent drama film that is 3 1/2 hours, that I still consider to be a good movie, is probably a really good movie. So, if you have a chance to watch it (probably in at least two, maybe four sittings), you should!

Pulp Fiction

"Pulp Fiction", #95/94, 1994
When I pulled this movie out of the Netflix envelope, there was a guy with shoulder-length hair, and after a moment of starring at it, my thought was, "Is that John Travolta?" Well, turns out it was. "Pulp Fiction" also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis as the main characters, and a whole slew of actors like Christopher Walkins, Steve Buscemi, & Kathy Griffin, who play these really minor roles like waiter or pedestrian. I think the main reason why I was so surprised by the actors is because I'm so used to these old movies from the 40's or so.
Okay, so the movie... The movie doesn't really follow any one storyline. It shows Samuel L, John Travolta, Uma, and Bruce in this kind of overlapping, connected storyline. The coolest part of the movie is that the audience doesn't see things in chronological order. And you also see the same event from different points of view. I just attempted to explain the order that it takes place... Like 3a, 2a, 4a, 5, 4b, 1, 2b... but, I got confused, so, I gave up on that. And, what I think was kind of sweet is that the movie does not tell you what order it is, the audience just has to figure it out. The only thing the movie tells the audience is the title of 'section' like "The Gold Watch" or "The Bonnie Situation", so you know it's kind of this contained storyline that fits into the whole picture.

I don't know... maybe that does make any sense. But, it was very cool, and that's probably the reason why this movie is on the Top 100 movie list, because the content is not really original. My favorite parts of this movie are the hair styles that Samuel L & Travolta had and the soundtrack. There is this scene where one of the characters is driving along, jamming out to "Flowers on the Wall". It just funny and rather realistic. I mean, if you heard "Flowers on the Wall" on the radio, wouldn't you just be jamming out as well? I know I would. There are other soundtrack moments that are just awesome. It's almost as if they just picked fun songs, and not necessarily ones that were specifically chosen to match the situation.
Oh, and the title of the movie... I don't know why it's called "Pulp Fiction". Pulp fiction points to a time in comic books when they printed on this old, recycled paper called pulp.
And other thing I forgot, there are a couple times in the movie where Samuel L quotes Ezekiel 25:17 as a passage from the Bible that he has memorized. He says: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you." Now, go look that up on biblegateway. ((Hint: Don't get your theology from pop culture))
So if you can look past the fact that is has bad theology, a lot of violence, drugs, sex, and the fact that it holds the record for most use of the "F" word in any movie (Netflix says 271, imdb.com says 265, I don't care to count) along with a huge slew of other swear words and derogatory terms, I think it is good movie, and you should consider watching it. Just make sure there are no kids around.

It's a Wonderful Life

"It's a Wonderful Life", #11/20, 1946
This movie probably doesn't need a review, because most people have seen this movie. However, I was not one of these people. I have seen a few pieces of it because it's always on TV, but I had never made an effort to watch it because it's always on TV. I'm not going to recap the movie, because the normal people know it well and the people who haven't seen it, should. That said, I really enjoyed this movie.
It stars James Stewart who was in The Philadelphia Story and is in at least two other movies I've yet to watch. He is becoming one of my favorite actors. Also, I found out he starred in a movie called "It's a Wonderful World" about seven years before "It's a Wonderful Life." Hmm... Interesting.
The best part of this movie was watching while wraping Christmas presents with a good friend! (She is one of the normal people who has seen the movie many times). If you are like me, and haven't actually watched it, you should! And you should definitely watch it while doing something Christmasy.