Back to the Favorites!

I freely admit, I have a bad habit of leaving projects unfinished. Alas, one of these projects has been this very blog. 


Granted, I've been through a lot of trials this year, not the least of which was a tree falling through my house and briefly giving me the unusual feature of being able to see my living room from my bedroom. More recently, at my job, I find myself having to move from the entertainment beat to the education beat. 


Neither of these was a change that I expected, but I am making the best of both. My house has mostly been repaired, and the good news is that since I'm not writing about entertainment as much at work, I will be writing more often about it here.


In so doing, I will pick up one of those unfinished projects from this very blog. Quite some time back, I asked several of you to submit lists of your favorite films to me. In turn, I would comment on the list and maybe even gain some new viewing material in the bargain. And so would you, I hope! 


My friend Martha had been so enthusiastic about the idea that she submitted no less than THREE lists. Believe me, I can relate. When you're a film nut, it's kinda hard to narrow things down. 


Nevertheless, I will start narrowing down Martha's favorites, with the first of her lists. The titles are hers, the comments are mine. 


Ride the High Country - Just watched this for the first time recently. It's great to see two old pros like Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott go at it. It's also fun to see director Sam Peckinpah start to bend the conventions of the Western genre - you can see the road to The Wild Bunch begin here.


Elizabethtown - Sad to say, this is my least favorite Cameron Crowe film. He went so far into himself in this one, he got lost - so much so that his usually reliable soundtrack choices were disappointing. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" playing during a trip to the Civil Rights Museum? That's a liiiiiitle too on the nose, Cam.Breakfast at Tiffany's - Essential viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in Audrey Hepburn - but ye gods, Mickey Rooney's Asian caricature is the nadir of this film, and his career.

Casablanca - Bogie and Bergman rule - and Claude Rains matches them.From Here to Eternity - Terrific acting from the largest role to the smallest. But I have to say I have a soft spot for Donna Reed, who can't help but be lovable, even when playing a woman of ill repute.

Suddenly, Last Summer - Another terrific acting showcase - particularly for how Liz Taylor more than holds her own with the great Kate.The Green Pastures - This film buff has to admit he had never heard of this one. But Bible stories from the perspective of blacks - in 1936, no less - certainly sounds interesting.

Driving Miss Daisy - Too many people decry this as the "nice" civil rights film that came out the same year as Do the Right Thing. There's much more to this story than that broad brush will paint.

Fried Green Tomatoes - Believe it or not, I've never seen Miss Tandy's follow-up to Driving Miss Daisy. Come to think of it, I've never even tried a fried green tomato either.

The Green Mile - Hmmm. More green. I like the film a pretty good deal, but I thought the sequences with the "old" Tom Hanks were a bit much.

It Happened One Night: You know those cliches you saw in the last Hollywood rom-com? Most of them came from this movie.Moulin Rouge (1952) - This is the John Huston picture, not the hyperactive Baz Luhrmann musical. But I've always wanted to see it, particularly because of the way it drains the color palette, which was daring for a film of that time.  

My Favorite Wife - I prefer The Awful Truth, but this is delightful too.
Paper Moon - Tatum O Neal didn't get her Oscar just because she was cute. She got it because she jolly well deserved it. And I was rather delighted to see they still make Nehi.
Sullivan's Travels: "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you know that that's all some people have? It isn't much, but it's better than nothing in this cockeyed caravan."

O Brother Where Art Thou?: Hmmm. I wonder HOW Martha got from the last film to this film ...


Do the Right Thing: 

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys a community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in America and the bad ones are the ones who seem to have all the power and be in these positions to block things that you and I need. Because this is the situation, you and I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't even call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence.- Malcolm X

The truth of this film lies in the distance between those two quotes.

Peggy Sue Got Married: This film, from one of Francis Ford Coppola's "I'll direct anything as long as they pay me" phases, gets a lot of juice from Kathleen Turner's wonderful performance. But it also hits a lot of sour notes thanks to Nicolas Cage's truly annoying performance. 




The Shawshank Redemption: I remember when I saw this film once in the theater, two of the reels were transposed. How did I know this?  Because Raquel Welch came before Marilyn Monroe on the wall.

More from Martha later. In the meantime, if you'd still like to submit a favorites list, feel free to do so in the comments. 

Our Favorite Movies: Girl on a Warpath's picks

It's been too long since I've done a Favorite Movies installment, so I'd like to return to that project today by offering the choices of a colleague of mine, who identifies herself as "Girlonawarpath." I shall tread as lightly as possible here. Fury and a woman scorned, you know. ;) I'll offer her commentary, followed by mine.

Love, love, love Big Fish. I must have watched that movie 20 times when I first got it.

A lot of people love this movie, and I can understand that, although for me the movie was only great in fits and starts. It had some magical moments (Ewan McGregor meeting Alison Lohman, for example), but I wanted the movie to sustain that energy all the way through, and it never quite did that for me. Speaking only from my own perspective, maybe my muted respect for this movie stems from the fact that I don't have major "daddy issues," so to speak.

It's kind of cliched, but I love Citizen Kane and All the President's Men.

You'll get no argument from me on either of those. Both are outstanding, although as far as 70s paranoid conspiracy thrillers go, I like Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View even better than his President's Men.

Pirates of the Caribbean is definitely most of the fun movies I've ever watched.


It is indeed a lot of fun, although I've always found this movie, and certainly this series, to be a bit overrated. All the movies, from one degree to another, suffer from overlength, but the first is surely the best.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) is a definite favorite.

Absolutely OUTSTANDING choice. That film is a template of the Hollywood action movie, and in one way or another, movies are still ripping it off today. Amazing fun, and the Technicolor is explosively glorious.

The Princess Bride is a classic. Love Beauty and the Beast and the animated Alice in Wonderland. I also love the animated Thumbalina, but that might be nostalgia for my childhood.

The Princess Bride is indeed a great deal of fun. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite of the Disney renaissance films, and Alice in Wonderland, though imperfect, is quite the trip (pun intended). Too many people - Walt included - were overly critical of this one. Can't speak to Thumbelina, but for me Don Bluth's best is The Land Before Time.

American Gangster. I watched that multiple times as well. And I just got turned onto Kingdom Of Heaven, that is slowly working its way in my favorites.

Two Ridley Scott films. American Gangster had great moments, but should have been even better than it was, given its pedigree. As for Kingdom of Heaven, I hope she means the extended cut, which is a great film. The theatrical version sawed off giant chunks of the movie, including entire subplots, stripping it of most of its power. It's the most dramatic difference from a theatrical to a director's cut I've ever seen - even more so than Scott's own Blade Runner. 


Anyone who'd still like to submit a list is more than welcome to do so - I'd love to keep this going as long as possible!

Our Favorite Movies: Anonymous picks

Returning to the ongoing Our Favorite Movies project, next on the list is a reader who chose not to identify himself/herself. Not sure why - it's certainly not because of the quality of their choices.

1. Jaws - Fine AND fun choice. This is still the only movie that ever made me scream out loud (during the chumming scene) and this past summer I had a great time seeing this in a beautiful print, playing on a double bill with District 9 at the Holiday Auto Theatre drive-in in Hamilton.

 

2-10 (in some order)

 

Hoosiers - Never been a big basketball fan, but this probably is the best basketball movie

 

The Shawshank Redemption: You know, I'm going to surprise some people by saying this, but I've never quite been able to count this among my favorites - or bests. It's a very fine film for which I have a great deal of respect, and I understand why a lot of people love it, but I can't honestly say I love it - and I really don't know why. There's nothing "wrong" with it, certainly, and it's very well crafted on all fronts, but for reasons I can't define, it doesn't grab me emotionally the way it grabs many people. It lacks that intangible extra something that would push it on any list of mine. Regardless, a very defendable choice.

The Natural: I like the film but find it a bit overrated and overstated. Roger Ebert put it very well when he wrote "At about the 130-minute mark, I got the idea that God's only begotten son was playing right field for the New York team." As far as baseball movies go, Pride of the Yankees is my favorite. 

 

The Bad News Bears (the original): Lots of fun. I like it better than The Natural. And it's really fun to witness Jackie Earle Haley's career renaissance of late, in Little Children and Watchmen.

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark: My favorite of Spielberg's "popcorn" pictures.

 

Dead Poets' Society: Very solid film, and I love Peter Weir as a director, but I grew weary of Robin Williams' shtick in this movie, and the writing is a bit ham-fisted sometimes. My favorite "teacher" film is probably Stand and Deliver, with Edward James Olmos.

 

Rear Window: Probably my second-favorite Hitchcock, after Vertigo.

 

Superman The Movie: Wonderful fun, and I love John Williams' score. but I actually like the second one better, even though it didn't turn out as originally envisioned. 

 

The Hangover: I was surprised at how much I liked this movie, considering most of the alcohol I've ever had was ingested by accident.

I'm still taking submissions, dear readers. Feel free to submit more lists!

Best movie vs. Favorite movie - what's the difference?

When I commented on reader Rob's list he submitted to the favorite movies project, he pointed out "First off, I'll say my list is very much a 'favorites' list and not a 'best' list. It's very much about what films have really grabbed me and less about the technical merits of the film."

I understood him perfectly well. After all, I myself titled the project FAVORITE movies. And like Rob, I will always favor emotional impact over technical merit. But thinking back on my own list, it seemed to be more of a "Best-Of" ranking than a favorites list.

What's the difference? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. The most common delineation seems to be that best = prestigious and favorites = fun, but that seems simplistic. My list blurs the line between the best films and my favorites.

For example, A Hard Day's Night falls into both camps for me. I believe it to be the best rock film ever made. And it's also the most fun for me because well - it's a Beatle movie, dammit. With Beatlemania like mine, it would be unnatural if it didn't make the list.  

Then there's Citizen Kane. Many people cite it in best-of lists because of its technical and narrative innovations, as well they should. But there's much more to the film than that. I also think it's a lot of fun. Sure, it has weighty themes and its moments of melancholy, but every time I watch it, I can feel the glee with which Orson Welles made the film, knowing he was breaking all the rules. Kane is both a best film and a favorite film for me.

Sometimes "favorite" also tends to mean "most compulsively watchable." If I followed that definition, my list would look decidedly different. It would be a lot less democratic. It might contain a whole bunch of Hitchcock films, (like Rear Window) Scorsese pictures (Goodfellas) or Disney movies (Beauty and the Beast). Diversity would go out the window.

But I get also a charge out of the movies that are either emotionally punishing (Raging Bull) or fascinating enigmas (2001) because I love the craft on display. And I was the nut who saw Schindler's List five times in the theater, trying to approach it analytically -  and failing every time when the tears started to flow.

When I start a blog with a query, I often end up answering my own question, but I really don't think I have this time. For me, the distinction between "best" and "favorite" will never be concrete. There will always be overlap.

So let me ask you  - what, for you, is the difference between a favorite movie and a "best" movie? Is there a difference?

Our Favorite Movies: Rob's picks

Just in case anyone forgot (or thought I forgot), yes, we ARE still doing the favorite movies project, and yes, I am still taking submissions! There are still some people out there from whom I would love to see a list.

Those pesky Oscar nominations got in the way these past few days, but it's time to pick the gauntlet back up with reader Rob's choices. His list, and my comments, follow.

1. Casablanca (1942) - Can anyone rightly argue with this one, even if it's not on their own list? I mean, really.

2. Amelie (2001) - Wouldn't put it as high as number two of all time, but it was certainly one of the best films of that year.

3. Garden State (2004) - Still another movie I quite liked, although I could never place it this high.

4. Roman Holiday (1953) - The film that gave the world Audrey Hepburn. Lovely.

5. Vanilla Sky (2001) - Wow. I thought the film was underrated myself, but among Cameron Crowe pics, the highest for me would be Almost Famous.

6. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - People are two hard on this film, but the BEST of the original trilogy? Really? I favor the 1977 original meself.

7. Punch Drunk Love (2002) - Gutsy choice, my friend. I must admit I got a giant kick out of Adam Sandler's fans (and most other people) give this movie a giant WTF? But Paul Thomas Anderson is surely used to it by now.

8. Spirited Away (2001) - Might just be my very favorite non Disney hand-drawn animated film, outside of Yellow Submarine.

9. Mulholland Dr. (2001) - An often spellbinding film, but a bit overrated in my book. The more it gets away from Naomi Watts, the less interesting it is.

10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - My favorite romance of the past decade. Just might be my favorite movie of the past decade.

11. Sabrina (1954) - An easy film to love, but I love the other Wilder/Hepburn pic Love in the Afternoon, even more.

12. Magnolia (1999) - Ribbit.

13. Fight Club (1999) I always thought this one was overpraised. Some mesmerizing ideas and visuals to be sure, but even now, I still don't quite buy the reveal at the end.

14. Spider-Man II (2004) - The best of the series. Easy.

15. Office Space (1999) I can understand why a lot of people love this movie, but maybe because I've rarely worked in a conventional office environment, I don't laugh at this comedy as much as other people do.

16. Pulp Fiction (1994) - That was fuckin' trippy.

17. The Princess Bride (1987) - Everybody quotes the Inigo Montoya line. I was always rather fond of the rodents of unusual size.

18. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) - Over Raiders? Really?

19. The Matrix (1999) - Still great fun to watch, despite the increasingly labored sequels.

And no, I didn't lop off Number 20 - Rob did.

Keep em coming, folks!

Our Favorite Movies: M.E.'s picks

Wow, everyone - I am impressed with and very grateful for the response to the Our Favorite Movies project so far! Some of you went even more all-out than I expected. Compared to a couple of the lists you submitted, my original 10 looks pretty measly now. Guess I better get  crackin' on No.s 11-20!

But that's for a future post. Now it's time to show how the other side of this works. It's time for me to start commenting on your lists. Two-way street, ya know. I'll take them in the order submitted.

First up to respond is a longtime friend and colleague of mine who goes by the name of M.E. (for short). She's quite well versed in movies, and I thank her for being first out of the gate. Her pic(k)s are:

The Philadelphia Story: Cary Grant. Katharine Hepburn. Jimmy Stewart. Does any movie without a large cast bost more potent star power? And yet, little Virginia Weidler came along and damn near stole the picture from the lot of 'em.



Some Like It Hot: Along with Singin' in the Rain, this is the movie I turn to most whenever I need a pick-me-up. No matter how many times I see it, Billy Wilder's comedy, the funniest movie ever made, never fails to asphyxiate me.

Modern Times: Outstanding Chaplin. As previously stated, my top choice is City Lights, but this might be my second or third favorite, depending on where I put The Great Dictator. 

Anatomy of a Murder: Very fine courtroom drama with an outstanding lead performance from Jimmy Stewart and a memorable turn from the always striking Lee Remick. As far as courtroom movies go, I personally prefer Twelve Angry Men or To Kill a Mockingbird, but Ottto Premenger's drama is probably a close third. 

Rear Window: One of my very favorite Hitchcocks. Probably more so than any film he made, this one speaks the most to the pure visual power of the cinema, because so often, we are the camera. Oh, and it features this lovely entrance too. Ah, Grace ....




The Wizard of Oz: Indeed, there is no place like home.

The Sound of Music: A lot of people call this movie sappy, and it is, but that's part of it's charm. It's a little long for me, and has too much repetition of some of the numbers. When it comes to Robert Wise musicals, I gravitate to West Side Story, but on the whole, its charms are irresistible.

Casablanca: Yeah, I can hardly believe it didn't make my list either, but as sterling as this masterpiece is, I couldn't kick out any of the 10 for this one. This would probably be number 11, though.

To Have and Have Not: See this and witness Bogie and Bacall falling for each other. Great stuff, although my favorite B&B is The Big Sleep, as little sense as it makes.

Segueing to more modern choices:

The Lord of the Rings trilogy: Indeed, one of the greatest film achievements of the past decade, although I think the theatrical version of The Two Towers was cut too severely - it plays much better in the extended version.


Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Also my choice for the best of the Potter films.

No Country for Old Men: One of the Coen Brothers best, if not their best. It certainly has the most chilling villain of the past decade.

Poltergeist: You've heard of the Poltergeist curse, right? How very, very eerie that M.E, should pick this the very day it's announced that Zelda Rubinstein has died.

Toy Story 2: I consider this Pixar's greatest achievement. Well, either this or WALL-E, depending on what day you ask me.

Up: I sense a theme here. My second favorite movie of last year, and probably Pixar's third-greatest achievement. 

So that's how it works, folks. You list em, I opine on them, and we turn each other on to our favorites. Check here if you want to see my list and grasp the premise a little more.  We're off to a fine start. Submit MORE and let's keep the momentum going!

My favorite movies/Your favorite movies

"A favorite movies post, Eric? How unimaginative can you get? What IS this, a desperate ploy for traffic?"

Well, it certainly couldn't hurt. And I admit the idea is not all that original. Besides, my 10 favorite movies are listed on Facebook for all to see.

So what's the point? Well, here's what I hope this post will spark:  This won't just be me naming MY favorite movies. That will be the launchpad for you naming yours.

Over the past year or so, thanks largely to Facebook, I have met or reconnected with a number of friends. It occurred to me that many of them don't know my list. More importantly, it occurred to me that I don't know many of their favorite movies. In fact, I have some friends I've known for many years, and I'm not sure what their favorite movies are. Heck, I don't even know what the favorite movies are of many of my family members. Rather shameful for a movie maven like me. I always meant to do this on my original newspaper blog and to my regret, never got around to it.

So here's how this will work:  I will list my 10 favorite movies of all time below. Then in the comments, you tell me what your favorite movies are. Name as many or as few as you wish. Then, what I will do is I will devote a post to your favorite movies. And even if I don't like your favorite movie I promise I will be civil. Unless maybe your movie is directed by Michael Bay. And if your favorite movie is directed by Michael Bay, how in the WORLD did we ever get to be friends?

I jest. Sort of. But that's the game, and I'm really looking forward to it. And by the way, this game is not limited to people who know me. If you're a stranger and you've wandered in here, you can play too. And there's no time limit on this. This can go on for weeks or months.

Here are mine:

1. Vertigo (1958): Alfred Hitchcock combines dizzying camerawork (the views down the staircase alone are spine-tingling), an emotionally wrenching story  of love lost and won, superb performances by James Stewart and Kim Novak, and Bernard Herrmann’s achingly beautiful score to create a spellbinding, dream-like masterpiece.

2. A Hard Day's Night (1964) — The greatest rock n’ roll movie ever made, the Beatles’ first film cannot be topped for pure, frenzied fun. The music’s pretty OK too.

3. Citizen Kane (1941) — Oh, to be 25 having never made a movie before, and to hit it out of the park on your very first try. Orson Welles’ seminal film features a stunning array of cinematic innovations that tell the fascinating and poignant story of a man who found out the hard way that money can’t buy him love — or save Rosebud.

4. Singin' in the Rain (1952) — This is the movie I watch whenever I’ve had an awful day. For a shining 103 minutes, this movie washes my troubles away, and all is right with the world. Musical numbers don’t get more joyous — or more perfect — than when they have Gene Kelly, an umbrella and a lamppost.

5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) — Stanley Kubrick may not have been very accurate in his predictions of the future, but this film remains a mesmerizing look at man’s journey beyond his earthly bounds. No edit in
cinema history speaks more volumes than the shots of the bone changing into  satellite.

6. Raging Bull (1980) — America’s greatest living director, Martin Scorsese, shows us an utterly despicable man, boxer Jake La Motta, and still makes his story electrifying through boundless filmmaking skill. De Niro’s work gets my vote for the best performance of all time.

7. Pinocchio (1940) — “Snow White” may have been first, but “Pinocchio” was better. The sheer beauty of the animation, combined with the story’s great gags and tremendous heart, makes this Disney’s masterwork.

8. The Wizard of Oz (1939) — It will remain eternally wonderful for Judy Garland’s performance alone.

9. Schindler's List (1993) — I will never forget going to see this movie in a packed theater in Cincinnati and marveling at how the audience was utterly silent at the end.

10. City Lights (1931) — Fall-down funny comedy and touching romance co-exist beautifully when Charlie Chaplin tries to raise money for the blind girl he loves. The ending is exquisitely moving.

So those are mine. Feel free to comment on my choices, and especially to list yours. Let the game begin. Maybe you could even invite your friends who don't know me to participate. We can learn something from each other - and have some great movie-watching to do. 

My favorites: Film score and composer - what are yours?

Notice how the title of the post is singular - film score and composers, rather than the plural film scores and composers.

That's quite deliberate. Some time back I thought about authoring a post listing my 10 favorite film scores and some of my favorite composers. A truly comprehensive, well-considered list would take some time, however. so that list will have to wait for a future date - if, indeed, I can ever settle on THE 10 greatest scores.

I WILL say however, that picking out my favorite film score and composer is beyond easy. My favorite score is the one for what is probably my favorite film, Vertigo, and the composer is the legendary Bernard Herrmann.
 
Here's the theme from it:



But my favorite piece from the film is the "Scene d'Amour," with Kim Novak's achingly beautiful reveal, as seen here (NOTE: DO NOT watch this if you have not seen the film - it contains major spoilers).



Ah, but that's still not my favorite piece of Herrmann music. And no, it's not the shower music from Psycho, brilliant as that is. That's the most INFLUENTIAL piece of film music, but it's not my favorite. My favorite film theme - the one that I dream of conducting in front of an orchestra someday - is the theme to Hitchcock's North By Northwest. Just thinking about it thrills and exhausts me.



And just think: None of Herrmann's Hitchcock scores - not a single one - was ever even NOMINATED for an Oscar. That, to me, is the Academy's most galling oversight.  (Herrmann did win an Oscar for The Devil and Daniel Webster, but still ...)

Finally, here's the clip that prompted me to write this post: a VERY nifty collection of Herrmann scores that serves well to remind us he wasn't just Hitchcock's guy.



So what are your favorite Herrmann scores? For that matter, who are your favorite film composers and what are your favorite film scores? Let's turn this into a REAL free-for-all! Comment away! 

Favorite movie entrances, and an exit too!

I recently watched Gilda for the first time on the World's Best Movie Channel (TM), TCM. If that movie doesn't contain one of the greatest entrances in the history of movies, I don't love movies. See for yourself.



Guaranteed to make every man in the room say "DA-YAM." 

As it happens, the divine Ms. Hayworth's husband has at least two. Here's the best, from The Third Man.



And another, from Citizen Kane. Come to think of it, this counts as an entrance AND an exit at the same time:



Here's an entrance that almost never gets mentioned: Judy Garland in Girl Crazy, about 1:38 in.




I second that wolf whistle. Judy was truly underrated as a beauty.


Then there's the mother of them all, Grace Kelly in Rear Window.




































Oh, I'm sorry, I got distracted.

Anyway, my list is hardly all inclusive. Include some more by telling me some of your favorite movie entrances.