Movie #74: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Movie #: 74
Movie Title: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Year Released: 2004

Director: Michel Gondry
Notable Cast: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson

Short Description: When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories. But it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #76
Ranker.com: #81
Lifed.com: #61
Empire.com: #73
FilmCrave.com: #46
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 7/29/2016

Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)
Adjusted Grade: 4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)

Rationale: I believe Jim Carrey is at his best when tackling serious roles, like in The Truman Show, and his performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is another outstanding example of what he can do when he's acting to his ability and not trying to dumb himself down for laughs. Brilliantly written and well-acted all around, not just by Carrey, Eternal Sunshine is a movie I'm glad I finally had a chance to watch and would gladly do so again.

Movie #63: Some Like It Hot

Movie #: 63
Movie Title: Some Like It Hot
Year Released: 1959

Director: Billy Wilder
Notable Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien

Short Description: When two musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: #22
IMDB.com: #88
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #71
Empire.com: #27
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 8/14/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: Some Like It Hot had an amusing, but not quite laugh out loud funny, plot with Tony Curtis' Joe and Jack Lemmon's Jerry pretending to be women and somehow pulling it off despite being kind of ugly and man-ish while in drag. Marilyn Monroe was better than I expected and all three of the leads had good on screen chemistry. I did want to punch Lemmon by the end because his laugh was so fake and over the top, but that was my only annoyance.

Movie #64: Full Metal Jacket

Movie #: 64
Movie Title: Full Metal Jacket
Year Released: 1987

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Notable Cast: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard, Ed O'Ross

Short Description: A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #83
Ranker.com: #45
Lifed.com: #76
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #52
FlickChart.com: #54



Date Watched: 8/14/2016

Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)

Rationale: I don't know if I've seen a movie that has such distinctly divided halves. The first half was the more entertaining of the two, likely because that's the part I was looking forward to watching after having heard many stories about "Gomer Pyle" and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The transition between the two was something I didn't know about to their fates were quite unexpected. I don't think the combat action in the second half stands out compared to similar sequences from movies like The Thin Red Line or Saving Private Ryan, but it was well executed and as intense as those scenes should be.

Movie #65: The General

Movie #: 65
Movie Title: The General
Year Released: 1927

Director: Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton
Notable Cast: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack

Short Description: When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single-handedly and straight through enemy lines. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: #18
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #26
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #64



Date Watched: 8/14/2016

Grade: 2 out of 5 (Fair)

Rationale: Fairly or not I couldn't help but compare The General to a couple of the Charlie Chaplain movies I've seen as this silent film had a situational slapstick comedy vibe similar to Chaplain's films. Unlike Chaplain's films, though, The General never came across as even mildly amusing. To boot, the music was repetitive and didn't fit well with what was actually happening on the screen. I've pretty much established at this point that older films really need something special for me to like them and unfortunately there's nothing special about The General.

Movie #67: American Beauty

Movie #: 67
Movie Title: American Beauty
Year Released: 1999

Director: Sam Mendes
Notable Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper

Short Description: A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #53
Ranker.com: #57
Lifed.com: #65
Empire.com: #96
FilmCrave.com: #43
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 8/10/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: This movie project has helped me uncover cinematic gems I hadn't noticed before, like Dustin Hoffman's excellent work. With American Beauty I was able to realize just how great Kevin Spacey is. Really, the entire cast is noteworthy and deserving of praise, but Spacey stands out among them and receiving the Best Actor Oscar is justification. I don't necessarily agree that American Beauty should have won the Best Picture Oscar as I thought The Green Mile was better that year, but it was a fine choice if The Green Mile wasn't going to win.

Movie #68: Léon: The Professional

Movie #: 68
Movie Title: Léon: The Professional
Year Released: 1994

Director: Luc Besson
Notable Cast: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello

Short Description: Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #31
Ranker.com: #64
Lifed.com: #73
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #77
FlickChart.com: #73



Date Watched: 8/9/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: Though good in both departments, Léon: The Professional didn't wow me like I hoped it would with story or action. It was the acting, however, that was superb and definitely the strength of the movie. Gary Oldman was only a supporting actor, but he certainly felt like the star of the movie every time he was on camera with his masterful job as a crazy, corrupt DEA agent. In addition, twelve-year-old Natalie Portman was also pretty good in her motion picture debut as an orphaned child and hitman in training. Worth watching once to say you've seen it.

Movie #69: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Movie #: 69
Movie Title: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Year Released: 1982

Director: Steven Spielberg
Notable Cast: Henry Thomas, Pat Welsh, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote

Short Description: A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: #24
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #58
Lifed.com: #90
Empire.com: #47
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 8/7/2016

Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)

Rationale: To me, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial stands at or near the top of the list of movies you need to see at least once in your life. The brilliance of director Steven Spielberg is unquestionable and the magnificent theme by composer John Williams is iconic. E.T. himself exemplifies childhood imagination and wonder as he discovers our world with and through the help of children. Even more important, the movie is very strong in the emotions department when E.T. and Elliot say their good byes. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial is truly one of a kind.

Movie #70: The Third Man

Movie #: 70
Movie Title: The Third Man
Year Released: 1949

Director: Carol Reed
Notable Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard

Short Description: Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #74
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #21
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #27



Date Watched: 8/7/2016

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)

Rationale: The plot of a man trying to uncover the truth regarding his friend's death and discovering it was faked so his friend could go off the grid and continue his illegal activity unnoticed sounds like something that should work well, and it did to a point, but the pacing of The Third Man was slow enough that I was bored even with an interesting sounding plot. By the time the big reveal comes that his friend isn't dead, I didn't care and was counting the minutes that were left.

Movie #71: Double Indemnity

Movie #: 71
Movie Title: Double Indemnity
Year Released: 1944

Director: Billy Wilder
Notable Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall, Jean Heather, Byron Barr, Richard Gaines, John Philliber

Short Description: An insurance representative lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: #29
IMDB.com: #58
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #35



Date Watched: 8/4/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: I was ready to write off Double Indemnity as just another boring movie before this slow starter found a new gear beginning with a staged death on a train. What followed was an intricate story of attempting to cover the tracks of the staged death while the walls are closing in due to nosey insurance men putting the pieces together to determine insurance fraud. Maybe is wasn't quite as suspenseful as my words make it sound, but it's a well-executed detective-like plot told from the vantage of the perpetrator committing an inside job while being a fellow insurance man.

Movie #72: The Apartment

Movie #: 72
Movie Title: The Apartment
Year Released: 1960

Director: Billy Wilder
Notable Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen

Short Description: A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: #80
IMDB.com: #98
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #12
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #37



Date Watched: 7/31/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: As the start of a three movie stretch where I knew little to nothing about the movies I was about to watch, I had few expectations for The Apartment. Thankfully, it turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. Jack Lemmon was a delight as apartment owner and aspiring managerial candidate C.C. Baxter and his troubles with pushy bosses wanting to use his place for their affairs in exchange for a good word with their bosses had just the right amount of humor. Better still, the doctor and wife next door stole every scene they were in.

Movie #73: Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Movie #: 73
Movie Title: Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Year Released: 1983

Director: Richard Marquand
Notable Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz, James Earl Jones, Alec Guinness, Ian McDiarmid, Sebastian Shaw

Short Description: After rescuing Han Solo from the palace of Jabba the Hutt, the rebels attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to make Vader return from the dark side of the Force. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #82
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #91
FilmCrave.com: #51
FlickChart.com: #7



Date Watched: 7/30/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: Growing up I loved Return of the Jedi mostly because of the ending space battle outside the Death Star and the final confrontation between Luke, Darth Vader, and the Emperor inside it. While those are still the best parts, along with the reveal of the Skywalker lineage by ghost Obi-Wan and Yoda's passing, the Ewoks damper my grown up feelings for Episode VI. I still think Return of the Jedi is very good overall, but I could rant for days, as if it were a trap, about the terrible decisions and changes George Lucas made to this movie. A pox on the Ewoks.

Movie #75: City of God

Movie #: 75
Movie Title: City of God
Year Released: 2003

Director: Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund
Notable Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge

Short Description: Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer. (IMDB.com)


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

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #21
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #30
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #87
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 7/28/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: I'm not sure if I can put my finger on why but the opening couple scenes of City of God sort of had a Slumdog Millionaire vibe, which was great because I love Slumdog. The feeling petered out gradually as City of God took on a darker tone than Slumdog, but I was digging it by then even though the multitude of characters were occasionally hard to follow. The method of telling the story in a chapter like manner was a fresh take that you don't see implemented often.