AFI 100 Years Series Discussion & Challenges, vol. 2 - Page 7

MatthewLouwrens · 12-13-2006, 06:48 PM

I would say, break down and watch them. Here in NZ, there are six Laughs films that are completely unavailable full stop, in either VHS or DVD. So you're in better position than I am.

Wow, it has been tough in the past few months to find time to watch anything. I did manage to watch Mary Poppins a few weeks ago, but never got around to posting anything at the time.

I didn't really like it at all. There were some good moments - the park sequence was really great - but overall it just was very episodic, with very little follow-through of events from one scene to the next. Mary Poppins was just so sickly and sweet - I was intrigued to learn that P L Travers' version was much more stern, and the books much darker, which I think would have been quite interesting.

Some of the songs are good, and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is a very cool fun song that I do enjoy. Some of the other songs, though - I know Walt loved "Feed The Birds", but he was wrong.

And, my gosh, that accent. I sat down, thinking "Surely it's not as bad as they all say." But it just hurt to listen to.

**HTF Ads**

Adam_S · 12-13-2006, 08:02 PM

I love Mary Poppins, especially Feed the Birds, I like to Laugh, the animated park sequence, chim chim cherree, spoon full of sugar. It's just a terrific film all around, imo. but then I grew up with Mary Poppins.

I probably will watch them, I'd like to knock off another list, and I'm close on quotes too.

Adam

Adam_S · 01-03-2007, 12:25 PM

Arthur -

Laughs list
Songs list - Arthur's Theme (the Best that You can Do)

So that's what that song is called. :p

A charming and wonderful film. Full of instantly iconic characters and dialogue. Great chemistry and in many ways very old fashioned.

But Arthur as a lush is very annoying because the rauciousness and laughter gets a bit grating after a while.

But there are some amazing funny bits. At the pre wedding party pinning an unsuspecting man between them. the famous "I'll alert the media." The shoplifting routine. Everything with the Grandmother. drunk and remorseful arthur. Arthur proposing in the Diner. and of course her father being much more devastated by Arthur confessing the truth.

One more film to go on laughs list.

Adam_S · 01-10-2007, 12:28 PM

Private Benjamin -

Laughs list
MAR DVD
01/09/2007

Goldie Hawn is pretty good in this flick. I was reminded over and over by the very similar Troop Beverly Hills, a favorite of my mom's that I grew up watching. Troop Beverly Hills is basically Private Benjamin at 14. :p

I had no idea what would happen at first. I was mildly amused at most of the opening wedding material, but when I realized her husband had died I started getting into the humor of the situation and her character.

Private Benjamin is pretty light and fluffy, it plays with sexism and stereotypes but doesn't confront them very directly. It does end on a nice note though.

There were some really bad moments, like the training montage after she decides to stay was horrendous, and quite funny because of it, but I'm not sure if it was deliberately funny or accidentally.

and it's amazing Hawn got to keep all her hair.

Adam

MatthewLouwrens · 01-12-2007, 10:27 PM

I haven't seen Private Benjamin for years - I must see that again, to see what I think of it today. I remember watching the TV series as a kid, and when I did see it, it was not long after rewatching reruns of the show - and I was comparing the two and didn't like the film as a result. But it would be interesting to rewatch the film today, since I have very little memory of the TV series today, other than that I watched it. I might be able to judge the film on its own merits.

Adam_S · 01-21-2007, 03:21 AM

I watched Rebel Without a Cause (second viewing, first in widescreen) and I was blown away by how much better it felt. superb acting, over the top script, great direction. technically a marvel, and I loved the use of color. I've not seen many Sirk films, but this strikes me as excellent the way Sirk melodrama strikes others as excellent, there's just something appealing about the absurdity and unreality of the exaggeration, a careful tone that toys with satire, layers social commentary under the obvious 'message' and explodes suburban lethargy with cinematic excess--I think the term 'movie movie' works pretty well to describe that kind of film.

----
Miracle on 34th St -

Cheers list

A movie that can't fail to make you smile. Genuine and appealing. I'd only ever seen the remake. This is far superior. Natalie Wood is adorable, and the rest of the cast is excellent. The script is flawless and makes navigating the dicey material look easy. Excellent in every respect.

Adam_S · 01-22-2007, 02:49 AM

Breaking Away -

cheers list

A by the numbers Rocky meets American Graffitti kind of films, with bikes rather than boxing/cars.

Great acting, good script, I loved the story. Just not all that engaged by the film. The final race was absolutely wonderful and intense.

--------------------------
Funny Girl -

Passions list
Songs list - "People"
Songs list - "Don't Rain on My Parade"
Quotes list - "Hello Gorgeous."
Musicals

Last time I attempted to watch this was about seven years ago. But i'd just seen it on stage and couldn't get the stage Nick out of my head, so I gave up on it. This time around enough time has passed and I loved Streisand and Sharif, and very much appreciated Walter Pidgeon as Zeigfeld. A wonderful and quick moving musical, William Wyler did a wonderful job. Some of his crane moves into the stage were just spectacular, and I love the way he staged a shot, using a dolly and the wide field of cinema scope to lend depth and breadth to both the quiet and dynamic scenes.

Not one of my all time favorite musicals but definitely one of the highest class. I should see if I've been able to get the stage version of Fiddler out of my head, because I found myself equally unsatisfied at the beginning when I attempted to last watch it.

Adam

Adam_S · 01-26-2007, 11:59 AM

If anyone here would like to participate in the final stage of the current HTF / AFI revote, and has seen all the 100 films in our HTF list, send me an ordered list (1-100) of these films:

over a year ago we put together a slightly different list from AFI through a several stage voting off / voting on method, you can read about it here
however we never finished the last stage, ordering the final 100 into our own list. This is the stage you newcomers can come in on, if you've seen all the films. Every new person participating gives us a better statistical consensus, so the more informed opinions, the better. Your list will be weighted in the usual manner (#1 worth 100 points, #2 worth 99... #100 worth 1 point)

I have lists from George Kaplan, Michael Streeter, and Lew Crippen (and myself) but all of you are welcome to submit a new version if your opinions have shifted over the last 10 months or so.

---------
2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
African Queen, The 1951
All About Eve 1950
All Quiet on the Western Front 1930
American Grafitti 1973
Annie Hall 1977
Apartment, The 1960
Apocalypse Now 1979
Back to the Future 1985
Ben-Hur 1959
Best Years of Our Lives, The 1946
Big Sleep, The 1946
Blade Runner 1982
Blazing Saddles 1974
Bonnie and Clyde 1967
Bride of Frankenstein 1935
Bridge on the River Kwai, The 1957
Bringing up Baby 1938
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969
Casablanca 1942
Chinatown 1974
Citizen Kane 1941
City Lights 1931
Clockwork Orange, A 1971
Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977
Dances with Wolves 1990
Do the Right Thing 1989
Doctor Zhivago 1965
Double Indemnity 1944
Dr. Strangelove 1964
Duck Soup 1933
E.T.: the Extra Terrestrial 1982
Empire Strikes Back, The 1980
Fantasia 1940
Fargo 1996
Forrest Gump 1994
Frankenstein 1931
French Connection, The 1971
General, The 1927
Godfather Part II, The 1974
Godfather, The 1972
Gold Rush, The 1925
Gone with the Wind 1939
Goodfellas 1990
Grapes of Wrath, The 1940
High Noon 1952
It Happened One Night 1934
It's a Wonderful Life 1946
Jaws 1975
King Kong 1933
Lawrence of Arabia 1962
Maltese Falcon, The 1941
Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, The 1963
Manchurian Candidate 1962
MASH 1970
Modern Times 1936
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939
Mutiny on the Bounty 1935
My Fair Lady 1964
Network 1976
Night of the Hunter 1955
North By Northwest 1959
Notorious 1946
On the Waterfront 1954
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975
Palm Beach Story 1942
Paths of Glory 1957
Patton 1970
Philadelphia Story, The 1940
Platoon 1986
Psycho 1960
Pulp Fiction 1994
Raging Bull 1980
Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981
Rear Window 1954
Rebel Without a Cause 1955
Rocky 1976
Schindler's List 1993
Searchers, The 1956
Silence of the Lambs, The 1991
Singin' in the Rain 1952
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937
Some Like it Hot 1959
Sound of Music, The 1965
Stagecoach 1939
Star Wars 1977
Steamboat Bill Jr. 1928
Sullivan's Travels 1941
Sunrise 1927
Sunset Blvd. 1950
Taxi Driver 1976
Third Man, The 1949
To Kill a Mockingbird 1962
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The 1948
Unforgiven 1992
Vertigo 1958
West Side Story 1961
White Heat 1949
Wild Bunch, The 1969
Wizard of Oz, The 1939

Adam_S · 01-29-2007, 01:35 PM

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -

quotes list "Elementary my dear Watson"

Basil Rathbone is a great Holmes, and Nigel Bruce is equally good as Watson. But overall I was underwhelmed by the film which is a somewhat tedious affair in which the nefarious Moriarty plays a double game of misdirecting Holmes attention so he can steal the crown jewels Bwa ha ha.

Such a story should be more interesting, but it's just not nearly as good as something like Hound of the Baskervilles, which is better able to sustain both the story and the mystery.

Adam

MatthewLouwrens · 01-29-2007, 06:17 PM

It's been years s