Rewatch 3. The Avengers
Why is it ranked here: I watched this a couple times(just as a warning). This was my fourth time and I still love it. It does take awhile to get where it needs to be as every character has their own intro still. The ending battle is mostly fluff, though better than any single one of these movies has given us so far. I personally like the original Rami Spider-Man 1 fight better, but this might be the second best end-fight. Robert Downey Jr. can do no ill will and it doses he is even better here.
Interesting: The Hulk voice and look was a combination of both Mark Ruffalo and Lou Ferrigno.
Rewatch 2. The Two Towers
Why is it ranked here: I go back and forth on which of these three Rings movies I like the best. It's mostly RotK when I pole myself but sometimes Towers wins. Nothing in all three movies matches the intense feeling of Helm's Deep. They also do the Ents very well. If this trilogy was ever remade, this one would be the hardest to top.The beginning with Gandalf just rocks.
Interesting: To give the orc actors black blood in the mouth they swallowed black liquorice-based mouthwash prior to each of their scenes.
Rewatch 1. Return of the King
Why is it ranked here: Kind of going down as the epic of our time. Probably on par with both Lawrence of Arabia and the original Star Wars in terms of scope, depth, characters(I love the actor playing Steward Denethor). Of course the biggest problem is the length. There is no way to sit down with this thing and a hour and twenty to blow. It would take you like three sittings.
Interesting: It still amazes me that they created a 3/4 sized city of the city of Gondor. So much detail there that we will never notice. Also one of the first scenes that was done was the climbing of the stairs into Moria which must have been so tough, but they pull it off very well. The battle in the Pelennor fields is just stupid good.
60. Octopussy
Why is it ranked here: There are some standout scenes with another double O agent dying and a elephant fight scene. But more than that they spend lots of this movie on a train. It's almost as bad as From Russia With Love but not quite. I dislike how he spends 15 minutes running around as a clown(literally) trying to disarm a circus bomb. Even stranger is the end fight scene with a mob of all women this time storming the (end base). And Q just flying in on a balloon was fun silly. They probably don't spend as much time on the lead lady as you would think, though compared to most Bond women it's probably on par.
Interesting: The role of James Bond almost went to Josh Brolin until Sean Connery came back with the rival company, forcing them to go back to Moore again. Moore's Octopussy ended up beating Never Say Never by almost 30 million.
59. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Why is it ranked here: New much more serious Bond just never felt in place here. The beginning beach fight scene was good as was the end chase scene. There are also a great moment of Bond escaping on ski lift cables. I also like the fact that they kept using the #1 Bloefeld character despite every actor changing. The plot was even more nonsense than usual - Bond and a woman pretending to be botanists or something while SPECTRE hypnotizes women into becoming suicidal bombers. I might be off on pieces, but it doesn't matter in the end. The problem was I didn't care about the plot. It was the longest Bond, though Casino Royale might be close.
Interesting: One of the most faithful adaptations of an Ian Fleming novel. Almost everything in the book occurs in the film. This caused some continuity problems due to the different order of the films. For example, in this film Bond and Blofeld seem to be meeting for the first time, despite having met face-to-face in You Only Live Twice. Also the first Bond movie with skis, though it seems like every movie after this has them.
58. Moonraker
Why is it ranked here: According to Now Playing reviews - none of us is going to be in danger of making this their favorite Bond. I disagree pretty strongly. This movie had everything to me. Or maybe it was just the funniest one to me. But either way it got a rise out of me as a whole movie more than anything I had watched prior to this. It wasn't until Casino Royal or Goldfinger that I found a movie that entertained me as much. Boy did I laugh hard at the space marines with their lasers. We can all blame Star Wars for forcing everything into space at this time. Jaws is the best villain of all time. Not even the Goldfinger/Odd Job duo can top this guy.
Interesting: Made more money than any Bond movie up until Golden Eye.
57. Grizzly Man
Why is it ranked here: A fairly interesting premise for a documentary. A man who thinks he is in-tune with Grizzly bears eventually gets himself and his girlfriend killed by a bear. The motivation behind the man and the cause of his death are interesting, but beyond that and we are trampling on a man, his life's work and it's just not terribly interesting to me. An hour and 40 minutes which might have worked as an hour special. Not something I would every choose to re-watch.
Interesting: The actual audio tape of the couple dying was not included in the film though there are many claiming to be real on YouTube.
56. The Dictator
Why is it ranked here: Some of the jokes work here. I like and accept Cohen being this bad tyrant. Most of the jokes that work involve his killing of henchmen, dislike of women and generally being an ass. But all that works for me. It's when he is thrown out into New York that it loses quite a bit of charm. By the end though it all falls apart for me as something that I care about. It is funny seeing him repeated calling Anna Faris a man. Aasif Mandvi and Ben Kingsley are two of the best actors.
Interesting: Sacha Baron Cohen attended The 84th Annual Academy Awards in character and full costume but banned from entering after spilling ashes onto Seacrest.
55. Tomorrow Never Dies
Why is it ranked here: I kept putting off watching this one when I was younger. It was always Golden Eye or The World Is Not Enough for me. This one has some great stuff though. The motorcycle chase is great as is the remote car scene. The plot is really silly if you compare it to today's time. The villain is charismatic though and the Bond girl is also more entertaining than usual. We also get a good Teri Hatcher. Upper echelon of Bond movies for sure. The opening is pretty great as well.
Interesting: Tomorrow Never Dies was a typo at some point as it was supposed to be Tomorrow Never Lies which makes more sense given the plot.
54. The World is Not Enough
Why is it ranked here: In actuality it's a tie between this and Tomorrow Never Dies. Much more M here. I was less forgiving watching this time than previously maybe having this been like my 20th Bond in a row. Denise Richards, John Cleese and Sophie Marceau all just make me shudder with their lines. The villain is given a silly gimmick, but is very Bond like. It gave me a Mission Impossible 2 vibe for it's level of mediocrity. The submarine fight at the end is fairly anti-climatic.
Interesting: This movie and Sleepy Hollow are the only 2 films in U.S. history to open on the same day and each gross $30 million their opening weekend. (Note that is definitely not true now, though great for movies at the time)
53. Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
Why is it ranked here: A Hellen pick of an older performance artist given a chance to be remembered. A group of younger artists perform in the New York museum of modern art what Marina used to while herself giving a performance of sitting in a chair for 3 months and looking at whoever will come and sit with her. It touches on her past love, a man who also does a sit with her.
Interesting: James Franco makes an appearance and an unknowing stranger recommends he be an actor.
52. Friends With Kids
Why is it ranked here: Very enjoyable movie about a couple of friends who decide they can have a child together without all the relationship parts after seeing their friends fight and get divorced through the years. It of course fails. But it's characters are lovable and we root for them. SNL Bridesmaids cast of Rudolph and Wiig as well as Adam Scott. The movie is entertaining and doesn't slow down too often. It ends in a unique but perfect spot. Hellen and I both loved it and will probably add it to our collection.
Interesting: It stars the one time director - Jennifer Westfeldt. Not unheard of in today's day as Affleck, Eastwood, Clooney, Costner, Favreau, Gibson, Penn, Redford, Stallone, Stiller all do this. But only Jodi Foster represents the director/actress for women.
51. People Like Us
Why is it ranked here: Beautiful movie about siblings separated due to a father's infidelity. Chris Pine is awesome here as the brother trying to get to know his sister and her son. It hits all the right spots and has such a great supporting cast of Michelle Pfeiffer and Olivia Wilde. The child actor almost becomes likeable as well. Probably should have been called daddy issues.
Interesting: The director rehearsed for two weeks with the cast prior to shooting which is unheard of and also a great idea. The only other movie I know of to do this - The Breakfast Club also works though I'm sure there are more examples of this.
Summary:
Halfway complete.
I am all finished with talking about my re-watched movies for this 100.
Next 100 movies also includes re-watches of People Like Us as well as the Avengers.
5 Bond movies = 11 down I think? Not even halfway through those yet.
2 documentaries neither I loved but were both entertaining in their own ways.
2 fantastic movies which I really enjoyed.
Only 1 Pixar movie so far, lots of those to go.
Sacha Baron Cohen needs to do another Borat movie.
Why is it ranked here: I watched this a couple times(just as a warning). This was my fourth time and I still love it. It does take awhile to get where it needs to be as every character has their own intro still. The ending battle is mostly fluff, though better than any single one of these movies has given us so far. I personally like the original Rami Spider-Man 1 fight better, but this might be the second best end-fight. Robert Downey Jr. can do no ill will and it doses he is even better here.
Interesting: The Hulk voice and look was a combination of both Mark Ruffalo and Lou Ferrigno.
Rewatch 2. The Two Towers
Why is it ranked here: I go back and forth on which of these three Rings movies I like the best. It's mostly RotK when I pole myself but sometimes Towers wins. Nothing in all three movies matches the intense feeling of Helm's Deep. They also do the Ents very well. If this trilogy was ever remade, this one would be the hardest to top.The beginning with Gandalf just rocks.
Interesting: To give the orc actors black blood in the mouth they swallowed black liquorice-based mouthwash prior to each of their scenes.
Rewatch 1. Return of the King
Why is it ranked here: Kind of going down as the epic of our time. Probably on par with both Lawrence of Arabia and the original Star Wars in terms of scope, depth, characters(I love the actor playing Steward Denethor). Of course the biggest problem is the length. There is no way to sit down with this thing and a hour and twenty to blow. It would take you like three sittings.
Interesting: It still amazes me that they created a 3/4 sized city of the city of Gondor. So much detail there that we will never notice. Also one of the first scenes that was done was the climbing of the stairs into Moria which must have been so tough, but they pull it off very well. The battle in the Pelennor fields is just stupid good.
60. Octopussy
Why is it ranked here: There are some standout scenes with another double O agent dying and a elephant fight scene. But more than that they spend lots of this movie on a train. It's almost as bad as From Russia With Love but not quite. I dislike how he spends 15 minutes running around as a clown(literally) trying to disarm a circus bomb. Even stranger is the end fight scene with a mob of all women this time storming the (end base). And Q just flying in on a balloon was fun silly. They probably don't spend as much time on the lead lady as you would think, though compared to most Bond women it's probably on par.
Interesting: The role of James Bond almost went to Josh Brolin until Sean Connery came back with the rival company, forcing them to go back to Moore again. Moore's Octopussy ended up beating Never Say Never by almost 30 million.
59. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Why is it ranked here: New much more serious Bond just never felt in place here. The beginning beach fight scene was good as was the end chase scene. There are also a great moment of Bond escaping on ski lift cables. I also like the fact that they kept using the #1 Bloefeld character despite every actor changing. The plot was even more nonsense than usual - Bond and a woman pretending to be botanists or something while SPECTRE hypnotizes women into becoming suicidal bombers. I might be off on pieces, but it doesn't matter in the end. The problem was I didn't care about the plot. It was the longest Bond, though Casino Royale might be close.
Interesting: One of the most faithful adaptations of an Ian Fleming novel. Almost everything in the book occurs in the film. This caused some continuity problems due to the different order of the films. For example, in this film Bond and Blofeld seem to be meeting for the first time, despite having met face-to-face in You Only Live Twice. Also the first Bond movie with skis, though it seems like every movie after this has them.
58. Moonraker
Why is it ranked here: According to Now Playing reviews - none of us is going to be in danger of making this their favorite Bond. I disagree pretty strongly. This movie had everything to me. Or maybe it was just the funniest one to me. But either way it got a rise out of me as a whole movie more than anything I had watched prior to this. It wasn't until Casino Royal or Goldfinger that I found a movie that entertained me as much. Boy did I laugh hard at the space marines with their lasers. We can all blame Star Wars for forcing everything into space at this time. Jaws is the best villain of all time. Not even the Goldfinger/Odd Job duo can top this guy.
Interesting: Made more money than any Bond movie up until Golden Eye.
57. Grizzly Man
Why is it ranked here: A fairly interesting premise for a documentary. A man who thinks he is in-tune with Grizzly bears eventually gets himself and his girlfriend killed by a bear. The motivation behind the man and the cause of his death are interesting, but beyond that and we are trampling on a man, his life's work and it's just not terribly interesting to me. An hour and 40 minutes which might have worked as an hour special. Not something I would every choose to re-watch.
Interesting: The actual audio tape of the couple dying was not included in the film though there are many claiming to be real on YouTube.
56. The Dictator
Why is it ranked here: Some of the jokes work here. I like and accept Cohen being this bad tyrant. Most of the jokes that work involve his killing of henchmen, dislike of women and generally being an ass. But all that works for me. It's when he is thrown out into New York that it loses quite a bit of charm. By the end though it all falls apart for me as something that I care about. It is funny seeing him repeated calling Anna Faris a man. Aasif Mandvi and Ben Kingsley are two of the best actors.
Interesting: Sacha Baron Cohen attended The 84th Annual Academy Awards in character and full costume but banned from entering after spilling ashes onto Seacrest.
55. Tomorrow Never Dies
Why is it ranked here: I kept putting off watching this one when I was younger. It was always Golden Eye or The World Is Not Enough for me. This one has some great stuff though. The motorcycle chase is great as is the remote car scene. The plot is really silly if you compare it to today's time. The villain is charismatic though and the Bond girl is also more entertaining than usual. We also get a good Teri Hatcher. Upper echelon of Bond movies for sure. The opening is pretty great as well.
Interesting: Tomorrow Never Dies was a typo at some point as it was supposed to be Tomorrow Never Lies which makes more sense given the plot.
54. The World is Not Enough
Why is it ranked here: In actuality it's a tie between this and Tomorrow Never Dies. Much more M here. I was less forgiving watching this time than previously maybe having this been like my 20th Bond in a row. Denise Richards, John Cleese and Sophie Marceau all just make me shudder with their lines. The villain is given a silly gimmick, but is very Bond like. It gave me a Mission Impossible 2 vibe for it's level of mediocrity. The submarine fight at the end is fairly anti-climatic.
Interesting: This movie and Sleepy Hollow are the only 2 films in U.S. history to open on the same day and each gross $30 million their opening weekend. (Note that is definitely not true now, though great for movies at the time)
53. Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
Why is it ranked here: A Hellen pick of an older performance artist given a chance to be remembered. A group of younger artists perform in the New York museum of modern art what Marina used to while herself giving a performance of sitting in a chair for 3 months and looking at whoever will come and sit with her. It touches on her past love, a man who also does a sit with her.
Interesting: James Franco makes an appearance and an unknowing stranger recommends he be an actor.
52. Friends With Kids
Why is it ranked here: Very enjoyable movie about a couple of friends who decide they can have a child together without all the relationship parts after seeing their friends fight and get divorced through the years. It of course fails. But it's characters are lovable and we root for them. SNL Bridesmaids cast of Rudolph and Wiig as well as Adam Scott. The movie is entertaining and doesn't slow down too often. It ends in a unique but perfect spot. Hellen and I both loved it and will probably add it to our collection.
Interesting: It stars the one time director - Jennifer Westfeldt. Not unheard of in today's day as Affleck, Eastwood, Clooney, Costner, Favreau, Gibson, Penn, Redford, Stallone, Stiller all do this. But only Jodi Foster represents the director/actress for women.
51. People Like Us
Why is it ranked here: Beautiful movie about siblings separated due to a father's infidelity. Chris Pine is awesome here as the brother trying to get to know his sister and her son. It hits all the right spots and has such a great supporting cast of Michelle Pfeiffer and Olivia Wilde. The child actor almost becomes likeable as well. Probably should have been called daddy issues.
Interesting: The director rehearsed for two weeks with the cast prior to shooting which is unheard of and also a great idea. The only other movie I know of to do this - The Breakfast Club also works though I'm sure there are more examples of this.
Summary:
Halfway complete.
I am all finished with talking about my re-watched movies for this 100.
Next 100 movies also includes re-watches of People Like Us as well as the Avengers.
5 Bond movies = 11 down I think? Not even halfway through those yet.
2 documentaries neither I loved but were both entertaining in their own ways.
2 fantastic movies which I really enjoyed.
Only 1 Pixar movie so far, lots of those to go.
Sacha Baron Cohen needs to do another Borat movie.
Comments
Post a Comment