Movie #97: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Movie #: 97
Movie Title: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Year Released: 1969

Director: George Roy Hill
Notable Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Jeff Corey, Henry Jones

Short Description: Two Western bank/train robbers flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #73
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #32
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #94



Date Watched: 6/20/2016

Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)

Rationale: Paul Newman and Robert Redford have excellent on screen chemistry, especially considering that this was their first movie together, and that made Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid quite enjoyable to watch. The only dull moment was a picture montage during the transition period in the middle of the movie when Butch and Sundance left the US for hiding in Bolivia, but that was only a minor hindrance. Otherwise the best parts included a suspenseful cross country pursuit of Butch and Sundance by a group of lawmen bounty hunters and a thrilling and well choreographed gun fight at the end of the movie. In general, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid happily exceeded my expectations.

Movie #98: Modern Times

Movie #: 98
Movie Title: Modern Times
Year Released: 1936

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Notable Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford, Chester Conklin

Short Description: The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #78
IMDB.com: #45
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #76



Date Watched: 6/19/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: Thankfully my feelings towards Modern Times ended up being more like The Gold Rush than The Great Dictator. Having now seen three Charlie Chaplain films, two of which featured his Tramp character, I can say safely that’s Chaplain at his best and Modern Times benefits from having the Tramp in it. There’s something about the Tramp that’s entertaining enough to feel slapstick without overdoing it and Chaplain is so good at using visual expressions to convey what he’s feeling and thinking. My only complaint is there are major decisions by characters that aren’t explained and you as the viewer are made to just go with it, but I’m willing to take those bumps in the road when everything else is working so well.

Movie #99: Unforgiven

Movie #: 99
Movie Title: Unforgiven
Year Released: 1992

Director: Clint Eastwood
Notable Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett

Short Description: Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner and a young man. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #68
IMDB.com: #95
Ranker.com: #78
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #61
FlickChart.com: N/A

Note: This is the first movie on my list to appear on four of the top 100 lists I used to compile the 251 movies I’m watching.



Date Watched: 6/14/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: Unforgiven is like a slow burning firework that has an exciting pop at the end. The payoff makes up for a drawn out character building, especially when you find out why Clint Eastwood’s character Will Munny is trying so hard to forget and move on from his past. Both Eastwood and Gene Hackman, as Bill Daggett, played roles I haven’t seen them in before and it was refreshing seeing Eastwood as a tired, broken down old cowboy and Hackman as a lawman using his authority for his own advantage. Morgan Freeman’s character Ned Logan was necessary to the story as a partner for Eastwood’s Munny, but I sort of feel like Freeman was wasted in that role because it didn’t provide much in terms of character depth for him to work with.

Movie #100: The Pianist

Movie #: 100
Movie Title: The Pianist
Year Released: 2002

Director: Roman Polanski
Notable Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Michał Żebrowski

Short Description: A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #50
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #56
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #96
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 6/13/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: The Pianist fascinates me because, like Schindler’s List, it’s grim and doesn’t sugar coat atrocities that occurred against Jewish people in Europe during WWII. Director Roman Polanski is himself a Holocaust survivor so the film had a very personal feel to it and Adrian Brody gave the performance of his life, culminating with a justly deserved Oscar for Best Actor. Movies about the Holocaust are never easy to watch but The Pianist is one that’s worth it.

Goodbye triple digits

With the exception of movie #100, I'm finally out of the triple digits and have 100 movies left to go. From the time I started this project in January 2013 to the end of 2015 I had only accomplished watching 70 movies. As I'm writing this it's June 13th and alone in the first six and a half months of 2016 I've watched 81 and counting. As I move towards the top of the 251 movies the list is generally getting better, which is making it easier to power through at the pace I am. Hopefully the last 100 movies are a piece of cake too.

Recap of Movies #101-125

Adjustments

Movie #: 110
Movie Title: The Night of the Hunter
Original Grade: 1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
Adjusted Grade: 2 out of 5 (Fair)




My Best to Worst of #101-125

Movie #	Movie Title	My Grade
104	Jurassic Park (1993)	5 out of 5 (Exceptional)
108	Titanic (1997)	5 out of 5 (Exceptional)
119	Slumdog Millionaire (2008)	4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)
124	Life Is Beautiful (1997)	4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)
120	Avatar (2009)	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
113	All About Eve (1950)	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
103	The Princess Bride (1987)	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
107	Up (2009)	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
121	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
125	The Sixth Sense (1999)	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
101	The Terminator (1984)	3 out of 5 (Good)
114	It Happened One Night (1934)	3 out of 5 (Good)
115	Ghostbusters (1984)	3 out of 5 (Good)
109	Stand by Me (1986)	3 out of 5 (Good)
117	The Philadelphia Story (1940)	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
122	High Noon (1952)	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
106	The Maltese Falcon (1941)	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
118	Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)	2 out of 5 (Fair)
116	The Grapes of Wrath (1940)	2 out of 5 (Fair)
112	The Sound of Music (1965)	2 out of 5 (Fair)
105	8 1/2 (1963)	2 out of 5 (Fair)
123	Rashomon (1950)	2 out of 5 (Fair)
110	The Night of the Hunter (1955)	2 out of 5 (Fair)
111	Yojimbo (1961)	1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
102	Annie Hall (1977)	1 out of 5 (Poor)

Movie #101: The Terminator

Movie #: 101
Movie Title: The Terminator
Year Released: 1984

Director: James Cameron
Notable Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Paul Winfield

Short Description: A human-looking indestructible cyborg is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a waitress, whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against the machines, while a soldier from that war is sent to protect her at all costs. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #38
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #63



Date Watched: 6/12/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: As is the case with movies that have prequels, sequels or spinoffs, I can’t help but compare them even though I know I shouldn’t. That said, The Terminator is simply ok in comparison to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Having experienced Arnold Schwarzenegger as a good Terminator in T2 and a bad Terminator in The Terminator, it’s hard for me to not prefer his role in T2. Sarah Connor is a more complete character in T2 than in The Terminator and in addition to a new bad Terminator, you get the cocky, young John Connor thrown into the mix. Kyle Reese is a fine character as a human soldier protecting Sarah Connor from Arnold’s bad Terminator, but he just doesn’t compare well to the T-1000 as a legit opponent for Arnold.

Movie #102: Annie Hall

Movie #: 102
Movie Title: Annie Hall
Year Released: 1977

Director: Woody Allen
Notable Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Janet Margolin, Shelley Duvall, Christopher Walken, Colleen Dewhurst

Short Description: Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #35
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #68
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 6/12/2016

Grade: 1 out of 5 (Poor)

Rationale: Here are some of the things I’d rather listen to than Woody Allen’s voice for one more second: the slow, cracking sound of my bones breaking one at a time, my computer being repeatedly crushed by a semi-truck going forward and reverse on it, 100 dentist drills drilling on a chalk board with nails for their tips, and an hour long concert of William Hung attempting to sing opera. I loathe Woody Allen more than any other actor in Hollywood and pray I never have to watch another one of his movies. If that doesn’t adequately describe how I feel about this movie, I don’t know what will.

Movie #103: The Princess Bride

Movie #: 103
Movie Title: The Princess Bride
Year Released: 1987

Director: Rob Reiner
Notable Cast: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, Fred Savage

Short Description: While home sick in bed, a young boy's grandfather reads him a story called The Princess Bride. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #100
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #65
FlickChart.com: #40



Date Watched: 6/11/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: I’d heard that The Princess Bride was good, but I didn’t know what to expect other than finally getting to see André the Giant act since I knew he was in it. Thankfully, I liked the movie very much. André the Giant was fun in his role as a giant brute for hire but a little hard to understand on occasion because of his accent and either slurring or mumbling. The main reason, though, that I ended up enjoying The Princess Bride was Mandy Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya. Quite the entertaining character and a shame he was absent for a long stretch in the middle. That’s the kind of role a spinoff would have been worth watching for, even if it required writing an original story since The Princess Bride was adapted from a book with no sequel.

Movie #104: Jurassic Park

Movie #: 104
Movie Title: Jurassic Park
Year Released: 1993

Director: Steven Spielberg
Notable Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, B.D. Wong, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards

Short Description: During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #60
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #60
FlickChart.com: #86



Date Watched: 6/10/2016

Grade: 5 out of 5 (Exceptional)

Rationale: Jurassic Park is the epitome of watching your childhood imagination come to life. Even for a movie that’s now 23 years old, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, like T-Rex and Velociraptors, look unbelievably real. As great as the visuals are, and they are extraordinarily impressive, the sounds and story are two works of pure art. John Williams may be the best composer Hollywood has ever seen and the iconic theme he created will live forever. As for the story, it would be one thing to have any old screenwriter adapt Michael Crichton’s novel into a movie, but Crichton himself adapted his own novel and hit a home run. The book Jurassic Park is markedly different than the movie but that’s never a problem because the adaptation came from the mind of a master of suspense and thrills. No one could have done a better job than Michael Crichton.

Movie #105: 8 ½

Movie #: 105
Movie Title: 8 ½
Year Released: 1963

Director: Federico Fellini
Notable Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo

Short Description: A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #69
Empire.com: #51
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #87



Date Watched: 6/10/2016

Grade: 2 out of 5 (Fair)

Rationale: Moments of self reflection by Marcello Mastroianni’ Guido and listening to his wife Luisa, played by Anouk Aimée, accurately and callously accuse him of cheating while he falsely denies it are the best parts of 8 ½. The movie took too long to get going and the second half when his wife showed up was infinitely better than the first half. The title happens to be more amusing and clever than the movie itself since this was the director’s 8 ½ movie after six feature films and three short films/collaborations.

Movie #106: The Maltese Falcon

Movie #: 106
Movie Title: The Maltese Falcon
Year Released: 1941

Director: John Huston
Notable Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet

Short Description: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #31
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #75



Date Watched: 6/6/2016

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)

Rationale: As I’m sure is the case with being a real detective, The Maltese Falcon was a bit messy because of all the lies and hidden agendas from the supporting characters. Honestly, trying to keep track of who said what and why was almost a bit too much to follow at times. Fortunately the movie had a solid ending that explained motivations fairly well and even had a nice ironic twist regarding the falcon statue itself. Good to watch once just to say you’ve seen it.

Movie #107: Up

Movie #: 107
Movie Title: Up
Year Released: 2009

Director: Pete Docter
Notable Cast: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson

Short Description: Seventy-eight year old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his home equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #54
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #56
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 6/6/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: Most Disney/Pixar movies contain a sad point that pulls the viewer in and makes them become emotionally invested, but there’s always a strong rebound of happiness and laughter because it’s a kid’s movie after all. I never got that feeling with Up. It starts out very strong with the emotion tugging, and settles for moderately entertaining the rest of the way. I don’t recall laughing or chuckling as much as I’ve come to anticipate when I watch a Disney/Pixar movie. Though my rationale sounds harsh for a movie I gave a 3.5 out of 5 to, Up isn’t a bad movie. It’s just an odd duck in the Disney/Pixar universe and expectations should be different when watching Up compared to other movies from that power collaboration.

Movie #108: Titanic

Movie #: 108
Movie Title: Titanic
Year Released: 1997

Director: James Cameron
Notable Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Victor Garber, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Nucci, David Warner, Bill Paxton, Gloria Stuart

Short Description: A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind, but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #83
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #30
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 6/5/2016

Grade: 5 out of 5 (Exceptional)

Rationale: Ladies and gentleman, we have our first 5 out of 5. Now that doesn't mean I think Titanic is a flawless movie...it almost is, though. At its core the movie is less about the ship and it's sinking and more about the characters, specifically Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack and Kate Winslet's Rose. Arguably they tell the most captivating love story in cinematic history against a backdrop of epic proportions. The fact that Titanic looks and feels like a real ship on the screen is a tribute to what a master of visuals James Cameron is. If you haven't seen it because of the lame old joke about "knowing already that the ship sinks", you're doing yourself a disservice. If you're not a fan of the love story and won't see it for that reason, you just may be heartless and I've nothing to help with that. Also, as an aside, I still have my movie ticket stub from seeing Titanic in theaters in 1998. It's the oldest movie ticket stub I still have.

Movie #109: Stand By Me

Movie #: 109
Movie Title: Stand By Me
Year Released: 1986

Director: Rob Reiner
Notable Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland

Short Description: After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #58
Empire.com: #70
FilmCrave.com: #88
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 6/5/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: Stand By Me was an odd movie to watch because it wasn't what I expected. I was expecting something with fun vibes like The Sandlot given the relatively similar time period and age of the kids. Instead, it turned out to be more of an adventure featuring childhood friends trying to still be kids while dealing with the realities of growing up with troubles like death, lack of love, no self worth, and drifting away from friends. Bordering on too deep at times, it requires a mature mind to grasp all of the messages Stand By Me conveys.

Movie #111: Yojimbo

Movie #: 111
Movie Title: Yojimbo
Year Released: 1961

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Notable Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada

Short Description: A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #95
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #24



Date Watched: 5/31/2016

Grade: 1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)

Rationale: The movie A Fistfull of Dollars told a very similar story in a far more exciting and entertaining way. While I shouldn’t be comparing the two because this is a recap of how I felt about just Yojimbo, I can’t help it because the movies are so similar in basic themes, badass “lone wolf” main characters, and general timeframe of when they were made (1961 vs 1964).