1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die - As seen in March 2011
1) The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970 - Dario Argento) 6/10 - Had all the potential in the world, but the twist at the end just didn't fly with me.
2) The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943 - Powell & Pressburger) 6.5/10
3) Ordinary People (1980 - Robert Redford) 5/10 - Didn't hold up in retrospect and the fact that it beat out "Raging Bull" for Best Picture is even more ridiculous in hindsight.
4) I Know Where I'm Going! (1945 - Powell & Pressburger) 2/10
5) A Matter of Life and Death (1946 - Powell & Pressburger) 6/10 - Maybe I overrated it the first time around, because I really was trying my best to like Powell & Pressburger.
6) Black Narcissus (1946 - Powell & Pressburger) 4/10 - I can still clearly see Sister Ruth's crazy eyes as she totally loses it and snaps. It gained a few points from my original rating.
7) The Lavender Hill Mob (1951 - Charles Crichton) 7/10
8) The Red Shoes (1948 - Powell & Pressburger) 7/10 The rating is more for the beauty and artistic value of the film, rather than my enjoyment. If I was rating it for pure enjoyment, it would probably be a bit lower.
9) Peeping Tom (1960 - Michael Powell) 3/10
10) The Ladykillers (1955 - Alexander Mackendrick) 6/10
11) Whisky Galore! (1949 - Alexander Mackendrick) 1.5/10 - I know...harsh. But I just didn't find anything appealing about this one and the extra '.5' is almost for pity's sake.
12) 12 Angry Men (1957 - Sidney Lumet) 10/10
13) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962 - Robert Mulligan) 6.5/10
14) Sweet Smell of Success (1957 - Alexander Mackendrick) 5/10
15) Woman in the Dunes (1964 - Hiroshi Teshigahara) 10/10 - Yeah...it's that good. Had to pump the rating up as high as it would go, because there's no denying the movie.
16) Giant (1956 - George Stevens) 7/10
17) The Jungle Book (1967 - Wolfgang Reitherman) 5.5/10
18) Die Hard (1988 - John McTiernan) 7/10
19) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006 - Larry Charles) 4/10
NON-1001 Movies - As seen in March 2011
1) The Red Balloon (1956 - Albert Lamorisse) 7.5/10 - So there's a little story that goes along with why I watched "The Red Balloon" and I'd like to share it. For those of you that don't know, I work at Wal-Mart. On the big screen T.V.'s in "Electronics" they were playing a commercial for "TCM's 31 Days of Oscar" all February long. I kept passing it and seeing a scene of a boy being carried away by a handful of balloons and floating over, what looked to be a European city. I had to find out what that film was and when I found out that it was "The Red Balloon" and that it was streaming on Netflix, I had to watch it. For a film thirty minutes in length, "The Red Balloon" is a real treat and I'd urge any film lover to take a half hour out of their day and give it a watch, because I don't think you'll regret it. It portrays innocence like no other film I've ever seen and even reminded me a little bit of my own childhood. Great film - treat yourself...it won't take long.
2) 10 Things I Hate About You (1999 - Gil Junger) 5.5/10 - I watched this one for my new DVD review blog. Check out my DVD review (where I discuss the film) by clicking here.
3) Due Date (2010 - Todd Phillips) 6/10 - Much like "Borat...", this film did make me laugh, however I wasn't all that enthused with the final, overall picture. Is it just me or do all comedies that come out nowadays and star the likes of Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Zack Galifinakis, Paul Rudd, Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell and Seth Rogen all seem like the same movie? They can be about completely different things, but somehow my mind wraps them all into one big wad and clumps them together. I did think that Galifinakis and Downey Jr. had some good chemistry and if all you're looking for is a good laugh, then by all means check out "Due Date".
4 - 14) Every Woody Allen film from "Don't Drink the Water" to "Melinda and Melinda" (1994 - 2004 - Woody Allen) various ratings - I'm still chugging along on my Woody Allen side project and it's all coming along nicely. I'm keeping notes on all of the films that I watch and keeping a ranked and rated list and in June I plan to present it right here on this blog...so hopefully you care enough to look forward to it.
Well that about wraps 'er all up for another month. I'll keep watching, you keep reading and I'll see you back here when April is over.
April 5, 2011 4:19pm
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