Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", #50/73, 1969
So this movie was not that great. It's about two people... Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They are bank robbers, who are being chased. The absolute best part of this movie, is they can't seem to shake the people chasing after them, which is weird because they run from people a lot, but none of their tricks are working. They keep repeating "Who are those guys?" I think it was like 5 or 6 times. But, other than that, it was just kind of drawn out and not really a good plot. I also had a really hard time knowing which was was Butch Cassidy and which one was Sundance Kid, but it didn't really matter.
So, in conclusion... it's not that great, so I'm not recommending it.

Apocalypse Now

"Apocalypse Now", #24/#30, 1979
This movie has a few big names in it. A lot of the stars that I know, were very young in this movie, like Martin Sheen, Harrison Ford, and Robert Duvall, and some of the big movie stars in these movies from the 40's were old in this movie, like Marlon Brando. It takes place during the Vietnam War in Vietnam. Pretty much all of the main characters are in the US Army. The big set up is Martin Sheen is trying to find Marlon Brando. So you follow his adventure through Vietnam. It's alright, kind of weird and all over the place. I wouldn't watch this movie again, but it wasn't an awful one to sit through. I actually spent a lot of the time noticing how much the young Martin Sheen looks like his son, Emilio Estevez. (By the way, Martin Sheen is the father of Emilio Estevez, the guy from Mighty Ducks, and Charlie Sheen, the guy from Two and A Half Men. There's a whole story about the name change and things, kind of interesting, you should read up on it.)
So, back to the movie... I didn't really get the whole movie. I just didn't quite understand what happened in the end. But, I didn't care enough to try and figure it out. So, like I said, it's not horrible, but I won't watch it again. So if someone is begging you to watch it with them, go ahead, and watch it. But, since they most likely won't, you probably won't ever see it.

The Shawshank Redemption

"The Shawshank Redemption", New/#72, 1994

This was an amazing movie!! I really, really liked it. This is a movie that was added to the anniversary list, and I fully support that. The movie takes place in Shawshank prison and focuses on a few of the prisoners that are serving long sentances. Morgan Freeman's character, Red, narrates the movie, and it is mostly about Tim Robbins' character, Andy. They are both serving life sentances for murder. I don't want to give away too much of the movie because I highly suggest watching it. This movie is a really good balance of drama, some humor, low points, high points, and things like that. So, this is another movie that I actually want to watch again, and would kind of consider buying. You should definitely watch it.

Update: Three days later I was shopping at Walmart, and I checked out the $5 movie section as I usually do (I mean, $5 movies, that's awesome), and Shawshank Redemption was there. I bought it. So, you can totally borrow it from me. :)

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.