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. 

The Birth of a Nation

"The Birth of a Nation", #44/Removed, 1915

Via the trivia available on imdb.com, I found out that after director D.W. Griffith made this film (which has some racial overtones-I'll get to that), he was criticized as being racist, and he was very hurt by this. So, he then made "Intolerance", which is also on the top movie list.

Now, this movie really is rather racist. It shows the American Civil War from the point of the South. And it shows the start of the KKK as a way to protect the southerns from the horrible new black-supremists that were terrorizing the place. In true 1910's style, this is a three hour long silent film, and D.W. Griffith didn't write a script or screen play at all. He came up with all the shots in his head, and simply explained to all the actors prior to each shot what was going on. I'm sure it really helped that it was a silent film, since he could then shout to the actors in the middle of scenes what he wanted them to do.

One of the things I liked the most about this was the soundtrack/score. Each character had their own theme music that would come on when a scene focused on them. So, it was probably the same eight songs played over and over again, with maybe a couple extra songs thrown in.

The first part of the movie shows two families who are long time friends - the Northern Stonemans and the South Camerons. They show them visiting each other prior to the war, and how much the two families care for each other. [[Major spoiler alert... but really, you probably won't be watching this movie ever, so who cares if I spoil it]] Then there is a really interesting scene where two men of the families (close friends) meet up on the battle field (fighting each other). One man is wounded on the ground, and the other man is approaching and about to stab him with the bayonet attached to his musket, and then he realizes who he is about to stab, and then embraces him as a brother and attempts to help him, but then they are both shot down, and die in each others' arms.
It was a very interesting scene that contrasted how much the North hated the South in general terms, but there was still a brotherhood love between individuals who were friends.

Good film, but a long, racist movie. I won't be watching it again, nor would I suggest it to anyone.

Some Like It Hot

"Some Like It Hot", #14/22, 1959
This was a cute movie! It takes place in 1929, during prohibition. Though, everyone seems to know where to find the alcohol.
The movie is about two men who are musicians struggling to find a job. And there is a perfect job for them, except it requires two women. Then, when the men need to leave town (Chicago) to avoid getting killed, they decide to take the perfect job and get over the one thing that's not perfect, by dressing up as women.
It has the standard humor surrounding many comedies about men dressing up as women... getting used to high heels and nylons, and of course, our guys falling in love for women who are confiding in them as friends because they think our guys are women, and men who fall in love with our guys, thinking they are women.
The one particular women they're infatuated with is Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, played by Marilyn Monroe. With a name like Kowalczyk, it has to be good. Just kidding, they clearly called her Sugar (just don't tell the feminists).
This movie was pretty entertaining. It had good humor, great comedic timing, a relatively unique approach to the whole switch-gender thing, some good chase scenes, some nice musical numbers, and ultimately some pretty clever lines/scenes. I would definitely watch this again, and recommend it to others.
Here are some good lines, which may not make sense if you haven't seen the movie, but they certainly make me smile.

Jerry: Will you look at that! Look how she moves! It's like Jell-O on springs. Must have some sort of built-in motor or something. I tell you, it's a whole different sex!

Jerry: I'm engaged.
Joe: Congratulations. Who's the lucky girl?
Jerry: I am!
Joe: There's another problem.
Jerry: Like what?
Joe: Like, what are you gonna do on your honeymoon?
Jerry: We've been discussing that. He wants to go to the Riviera but I kinda lean towards Niagara Falls.

And, my favorite part, which I can't find the exact quote for, and I don't remember exactly how it goes as I watched this movie back in September (about 4 months ago), is when the two men are about to take the car out of the garage, and the garage attendant asks if they needs some gas (for their 100 mile trip) and they ask for 'about 50 cents worth' or something like that. I don't remember the exact quote, but I remember wishing that gas prices today were much more like gas prices back then.

Oh, one more thing I just remembered! Spats! There was this baddie named Spats Colombo, and I suppose he got his name from his love for spats. Spats are this kind of shoe covering. They go under pants and over the top of the shoe. And Spats Colombo was very particular about his spats, and it was super entertaining. These need to make a comeback in the world of fashion.

The General

"The General", New/#18, 1927
This is the highest ranked addition to the list. Again, it's really interesting to me when a movie is added to the anniversary list, even though it was around when the original list was put out. But, I support this addition. It's kind of interesting because it centers on the Civil War, and Buster (the protagonist) is from the South. And, since I've spent 99% of my life in Union states, it was really foreign for me to be rooting for a Confederate. So, in case you don't know, the American Civil War was one of (if not the) first industrial war. Which, along with a lot of other things, means that the railroads played a very important part in the war. And, turns out, that The General is a type of train. And, the entire story pretty much takes place on trains.
It was actually highly entertaining. Maybe I need to rethink my opinions about silent films. Because for hating them, I think I have actually liked the majority of the ones I've watched so far. And, the silent comedies are actually really good. Because they don't really have much dialogue, almost all of the comedy is physical comedy, which is hilarious. And Buster Keaton is hilarious.
Maybe I should talk about him for a little bit... Or, I guess write, since I'm not actually talking. Anyways... Buster was a nickname that Harry Houdini gave him. How awesome is that? he started his career in a vaudeville act with his parents. You can google vaudeville, but it was a theater type of entertainment, so people would go to a theater/arena/venue of some king and they would watch the acts. But, the big thing that Buster was known for was always having a solid poker-face, which was typically described as deadpan. I didn't research this, but I'm pretty sure he did all of his own stunts. He definitely did this really epic one in a movie called Steamboat Bill Jr., where a whole side of a house falls on him, and he miraculously is standing right where the window will be, so he doesn't get hit. You should watch it on YouTube. That scene is actually referenced in an episode of Arrested Development, when the 2nd model home falls apart and Buster Bluth is standing right where the window is.
But, back to Buster Keaton. He was a great comedy, and extremely well know in his time and still today. Well, he's probably not that well know by the public, but he is covered in any TV special about the great comedians of all time. The guy made over 100 movies. That's kind of ridiculous. And I would know about triple digits of movies.

Anyways, back to the review of The General... It was pretty good. It had a good mix of comedy with a little drama, a love story, a lot of action. I would watch it again, but I think there needs to be maybe a year or two in between viewings just because the entire movie follows this train around, so it really is this long continuous train ride. So you do need a little time as a view to recover from that.

From Here to Eternity

"From Here to Eternity", #52/removed, 1953
So is a war movie, kind of. It's about a bunch of soldiers stationed in Hawaii in 1941. It's an interesting movie. A lot of the plot is about a new soldier to the unit who doesn't want to fight (box), and all of his fellow soldiers harassing him about it, except for one friend, played by Frank Sinatra. The movie has all of the good plotlines... romance, bullying, friendship, love, lust, pride, integrity, murder, singing, dancing...
And, a very surprising ending that, even though it is really odd, it is actually kind of perfect.
I would be up for watching it again, but I wouldn't say that I particularly recommend it, so if you watch it and don't like it, don't blame me.

Frankenstein

"Frankenstein", #87/removed, 1931
So, first off, the monster is not Frankenstein, the name of the doctor who created the monster is named Frankenstein. But really, who cares? And i don't think me mentioning it on this blog will change the last 80 years of everyone saying it wrong.
This movie was awful. It's bad dialogue, and a poor plotline.
However, everyone should see this movie.
I mean, come on, it's Frankenstein. And it's only 90 minutes. You can totally sit through that. So yeah, watch it and laugh at it's horribleness.

All About Eve

"All About Eve", #16/28, 1950
This movie was surprisingly good. There was wonderful character development and a pretty good plotline. It's all about Eve, who is this young, innocent person interested in acting. And she attaches herself to her idol, Margo. Then we find out, she's not so innocent. And Eve connives her way into Margo's place. Again, it was pretty good. I think I would watch it again, but it did get kind of long. It was only two hours, but the pace of the movie was pretty slow.
There was actually a remake of this that came out in 1973 called Applause. Maybe that one would be better paced? I don't know.
Overall, it was good. If it's on TV, you should watch it.

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.

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!

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.

Duck Soup

"Duck Soup", #85/60, 1933 This is a Marx Brothers film. The Marx Brothers were a vaudeville comedy act. They are five brothers with ridiculous names:  Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, Gummo Marx, Harpo Marx, and Zeppo Marx. Then they took their vaudeville act and transitioned to movies. Naturally, with those names, they are in the comedy business.
The title of the movie has absolutely nothing to do with happens in the movie, but Groucho's explaination for it is: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup the rest of your life."
The movie's plot is really only there for necesity because it's a movie. But the movie is essentially just for their gag comedy. It's a pretty short movie, only a little over an hour, and it is pretty funny. The best scene in the movie is where two of the brothers (the two in the background) dress up like the brother in the front. And two of them do this hilarious mirror scene, so if you have at least three minutes you should watch the clip on youtube. And if you have an hour, you should watch the movie.

City Lights

"City Lights",  #76/11, 1931
This was a great movie. It was Charlie Chaplin's last silent film and one of his last films in general. I've already mentioned that I'm not a big fan of silent films, but this is a good one. Charlie Chaplin always puts a lot of physical comedy into his films, which makes them fun to watch. Maybe I just don't like silent dramas, because silent comedies are typically alright. This movie is funny, but also very heartwarming. Chaplin, in his ever famous character-The Tramp (in this time period tramp refered to a homeless person, not a skanky girl, so think Lady & The Tramp). He falls in love with this blind girl, who mistakes him as a rich man. Chaplin also meets a rich man and they become friends... or at least they are friends while the man is drunk, but then when he sobers up, he can't ever remember Chaplin and is mean to him, until the next party. Then the blind girl has a surgery and is no longer blind, she waits for her 'rich' suitor to come, but the 'rich' is actually homeless and incredibly poor. But she recognizes him anyways and they love each other! So heartwarming :)  And it's really funny. So, this is one of the few that I am actually recommending that you watch.

The Philadelphia Story

"The Philadelphia Story", #51/44, 1940
This movie was a real struggle. I started it one night, and I couldn't handle it, so I had to stop it and started another day. The female lead was Katharine Hepburn, who played the mom in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". Apparently, she was a really big star in her day, which I didn't really know. There were a few male leads in this film, but the most noteworthy ones were Cary Grant and James Stewart. All three of these actors show up a few more times on the Top 100 movie list, and I bet that you would at least recognize  their faces. The only recap I'm going to give is to say that it's about multiple guys chasing after one girl. But, don't watch this movie. You can definitely find a better movie that's stars these people, maybe even together.

The Apartment

"The Apartment", #93/80, 1960
So, I haven't blogged in a while... I haven't watched too many movies off of the list lately because I got very distracted by catching up on television shows. I watched all of Veronica Mars and the entire series of The Office-bringing me up to speed with the current season, and I just have just started watching NCIS. The NCIS episode I finished referenced this movie, which was kind of awesome to hear a vague reference to a movie and know what it was about.
I'm going to give away some things here, but most of it is explained in the first few minutes, and then a lot of it is very predictable, so I don't really feel bad about giving it away. This movie is about Baxter, who works at some company at a low level, and he is trying to move up by helping out the top executives. The way he helps them out is by lending out his apartment to the top executives so they can bring the girls they are having an affair with for a few hours. Which is just weird and gross. Baxter has a crush on this girl in the office who runs the elevator, which really made me smile. Then there are a couple twists that I won't reveal.
Then Baxter gets the job and he cuts off everyone from using the apartment, except for his new boss. And then his new boss wants to take the girl to the apartment. And Baxter quits because he would rather have no job than have a job since it means letting the boss use his apartment with the girl. Then the girl finds out and chooses Baxter. So, happy ending all around.
It was a little difficult to watch the movie, it got kind of long, and I just felt so bad for Baxter for most of the movie. However, if you are going to watch all of NCIS, you should watch this movie first.

An American In Paris

"An American In Paris", #68/removed, 1951
This movie was pretty good. It is a musical featuring Gene Kelly. He is a really good dancer and pretty good singer, so most of the movies he made were musicals, or he played a musical character in them. Right away, the movie starts with this voice over of Kelly's character. He explains that he is in Paris, he is an American, and he's a painter. Then we heard his good friend explain that he's also an American in Paris, but he's a pianist. Then it switches to a Paris native who is a famous singer. So, being good friends with a pianist and a singer leads to a lot of songs in the movie. Although these beginning voice overs gave the audience a lot of interesting information, it went on for a long time and was getting really annoying. I was worried that the entire movie would be like this, but no worries, the characters soon started talking to each other.
The story line in a classic girl meets boy, boy meets other girl, that girl is with a different boy story. So, kind of a z-shaped love diagram going on. Then, the climax of the movie happens at this party, and the girl chooses the other boy and we're all kind of sad. Then, there is a random 15, maybe 20 minute long dream sequence that is just dancing. There are lots of dancers and many bright costumes going on. It was all good choreography, but it just went on too long. It lost my interest and I really like dance, and bright colors. But then the dream sequence ends and the audience returns to the party, and wouldn't you believe it, the girl comes running back to the boy.
Overall, I liked this movie. A friend who was watching it with me got a little squimish about the love Z going on, so there is that to consider. And there were some very interesting side notes throughout. However, if you don't have to pay a rental fee to watch this movie, you totally should.

Guess Who

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", #99/removed, 1967. This movie may be familiar to you if you've see the 2005 remake with Ashton Kutcher and Zoe Saldana (the girl from Avatar and the new Star Trek movie before she was the girl from Avatar and the new Star Trek). I've seen the remake before I watched the original, so I spent a lot of the movie making comparisons between the two. The common set up the parents of a girl meeting her boyfriend, who is of a different race. The biggest difference I noticed between the movies, is that in the remake, the boy is white, and in this original, the boy is black. I was pretty surprised by this, but there are a lot of reasons why the remake needed to make this change. The original was made and takes place right in the middle of the Civil Rights Movements. The couple in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is engaged, and ready to be married quickly. One of the lines in the movie explains that the two of them getting married would actually be illegal in 16 states. That shocked me. So in that movie, it made sense for the parents to struggle with this idea, and they fought many internal battles throughout the movie trying to accept it. These parents actually wanted to accept it. In the remake, they had to switch the racial roles because in the remake, the father was adamant against the boy, which is why the dad had to be black and the boy had to be white. In 2005, it was funny for a black dad to be against a white boyfriend, and it would have been considered horrible for a white dad to be against a black boyfriend.

So, that's my rant on the race issue of it all... now, on to the actual movie critique... this movie was not great. It was pretty slow, and the entire movie took place in one day. There were a few gems in there. Like when this one girl appeared in about three insignificant scenes, and then didn't reappear in anything significant later on. Or the fact that the climax of the movie was a dinner, and more and more guests were added to the dinner, which resulted in the phrase "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" actually being said throughout it. The daughter's reaction when her mother's coworker shows up at the house. But, even with those few gems, I would suggest watching the funnier remake of it before you watch the original.