Movie – Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the best westerns ever made.  And to think that director Sergio Leone didn’t even want to make it because he was tired of doing westerns.  He couldn’t find any interest in a film he wanted to make titled Once Upon a Time in America, so he resorted to doing what he was best known for in the U.S.  It wouldn’t be until the 1980s before he would finally get to make that other film.  Despite the fact that this wasn’t his first choice he put together a great cast and story.  It includes not two antagonists, but four or even five – all with their own agendas that cause them to sometimes join with one another and sometimes to oppose one another.  That complexity is rare in westerns, whose stock in trade is easily identifiable good guys and bad guys.  Perhaps this complexity came from the fact that the film was co-written by Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dario Argento.  The latter two would go on to become successful directors in their own right.

Movie – Blue Crush (2002)

Why might you want to watch Blue Crush?  Well, it’s not for the freshness of the story, which has been done many times.  But how many movies can honestly claim they have original plots in them anyway?  It’s not for the Academy Awards, because it received none.  This is more an Mtv Awards kind of movie.  So why bother with it?  Because it has stunning cinematography and sound for the ocean, wave, and surfing scenes, of which there are plenty.  When I used to demonstrate my widescreen TV and surround sound system to people in the early 2000s (neither was common yet) I used to play the lobby and rooftop scene from The Matrix (1999) and the surfing practice scene from the middle of Blue Crush.  Many people would exclaim over the way the ocean really stood out.  In addition, since this is a movie about surfing there are plenty of great looking women and men that often appear in swimwear.

Movie – Young Frankenstein (1974)

How about the year Mel Brooks had in 1974?  He directed what are now known as two genre spoof comedy classics – Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.  While the sendups of western clichés and the “meta-ness” of Blazing Saddles are fun, I prefer Young Frankenstein’s take on the monster movie genre in general and the Frankenstein’s monster movies in particular.  Brooks and the film’s star, Gene Wilder, co-wrote the film and you could tell they had a blast making it.  They received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to The Godfather Part II.  “Adapted” is a bit of a reach.  There’s not a lot of connection between this film and Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, other than the concepts.  Young Frankenstein actually is closer to the Frankenstein movies that it is making fun of.  Regardless of what it is based on, it is a very funny movie.

Movie – The World Unseen (2007)

The World Unseen is a drama set in Cape Town, South Africa in the 1950s.  While the ban on interracial relationships certainly plays a part in this film, that’s not the primary focus.  Instead it is the story of two women, one an unconventional one who runs her own restaurant and another who is a traditional housewife with a husband and three kids.  Neither woman is white or black, though; both belong to the Indian minority that settled in Africa following the troubles in their home region before, during, and after WWII.  Writer/director Shamim Sharif based the film on her own 2001 novel of the same name.  Even though she was born in England, she is of Indian and South African heritage.  While I know little of what South Africa was like in the 1950s this movie felt very authentic to me.  South Africans must have agreed because this film won 11 of the 15 SAFTAs (South African Film and Television Awards) in 2008, including Best Director and Best Ensemble Cast.

Movie – Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

What praise can be given to Lawrence of Arabia that has not already been spoken many times over?  What words can be written about both a movie and a man whose histories are both inextricably linked and also clouded in questions of reality vs. fiction?  To be clear, the film Lawrence of Arabia is epic, and even that’s a bit of an understatement.  While I know of at least one person for whom “epic” is a four letter word, I am using it in the most positive way.  I could joke, “Look up ‘epic’ in the dictionary and they will have a picture of Peter O’Toole as Lawrence.”  Instead, I will be completely serious when I write the following sentences.  I have seen all 85 films that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture – from Wings (1927) to Casablanca (1943) to The Godfather (1972) to Schindler’s List (1993) to Argo (2012).  If I were ever to be put in the “gun to your head, gotta pick only one as the best of the best” situation, then my choice would be Lawrence of Arabia as the greatest of all 85 Best Picture Oscar winners.

Movie – Tuck Everlasting (2002)

Tuck Everlasting is based on the award winning 1975 Natalie Babbitt children’s novel of the same name.  (I’m not using the term “young adult” since that now conjures visions of sparkly vampires and shirtless werewolves.)  I’m a little hesitant to discuss the central premise of the story since it is kept a secret from the main character for about half the film, yet all the marketing for the movie, and heck, even the title, pretty much lay it out for the viewer.  And the opening of the movie also makes clear what is special about the Tuck family.  So, I will be discussing it in the paragraphs below so you can see if this family film is one you might want to watch.

Movie – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning Tennessee Williams play of the same name.  It had first appeared as a Broadway play directed by Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront) and starring Ben Gazzara as Brick and Barbara Bel Geddes as Maggie the Cat.  When it came time to make the film, Kazan passed on it despite already having done two other Williams adaptations – A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Baby Doll (1956).  Instead, Richard Brooks adapted and directed it.  The two main roles were cast with Paul Newman as Brick and Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie the Cat.  The result was six Oscar nominations, including the “big five” of Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay.  It did not win a single Academy Award, though.  It was beaten out by Gigi in multiple categories, Newman lost to David Niven in Separate Tables, and Taylor lost to Susan Hayward in I Want to Live.  I’ve seen all five Best Picture nominees for that year (Auntie Mame, The Defiant Ones, and Separate Tables were the other three) and I feel that Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was definitely the best film of the five.

Great Eyes

“He has his father’s eyes.” – Roman Castevet, Rosemary’s Baby

Pretty much every actor or actress that is attractive (which is most of them) has nice eyes.  That’s just a given.  Some performers, though, stand out for their eyes even within this sea of attractiveness.  Some even became famous precisely because of their eyes.  This category is designed to select some films that I would recommend that have these performers in them.

Now “great” doesn’t always have to mean “beautiful”; it just means that they catch your attention and hold it.  I’ve included a couple of actors that were very well known for their unique eyes.  Don’t worry, though, ladies (and some gentlemen).  Even though I am a poor judge of what makes a man attractive, I think I’ve got some examples for you in this category that will satisfy.  In fact, here’s Paul Newman for you right now.

 

His eyes are at the top of the picture, folks.

I’ve decided to go with a set of very well known films alternated with some that are more obscure, but still worth your time.  I’ve placed close-ups of the performers’ eyes below.  You’ll probably recognize some of them.  And no, none are Yoda; I only used real people. 

As I review the films I will come back and tell you who they are, along with adding links to their movies that I reviewed.

Paul Newman (top) and Elizabeth Taylor

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Alexis Bledel

Tuck Everlasting (2002)

Peter O'Toole

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Sheetal Sheth (top) and Lisa Ray

The World Unseen (2007)

Marty Feldman

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Kate Bosworth

Blue Crush (2002)

Jack Elam

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Charlotte Ayanna

The Insatiable (2007) – posted April 22, 2013

Ray Liotta

Something Wild (1986) – posted July 5, 2013

On to the reviews…

Movie – Something Wild (1986)

Something Wild holds a number of firsts for me.  It was the first movie in which I ever saw Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber, Gettysburg), Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), and Ray Liotta (Goodfellas).  It was the first film directed by Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) that I ever saw.  The film contained songs from a number of bands that I was hearing for the first time.  I can’t be positive, since it was more than 25 years ago, but I believe that this film is the first one for which I ever bought the CD soundtrack.  I still own it.  I took it off the shelf and I’m listening to it as I write this.

This film was not always easy to find.  It did get issued on DVD in the early days of the medium, but that disk went out of print.  Thankfully, Criterion recently bought the rights to the film and released it on both DVD and Blu-ray.  They also added a bunch of new content.  Even though I own the original DVD, it doesn’t have those extras on it so I have thought about getting the Criterion edition.

Movie – The Insatiable (2007)

I hesitated on including The Insatiable in my Horror Comedies category.  It is a little more serious than the other films I have reviewed.  While there is humor in it, it is more understated than in movies such as Zombieland.  In addition, the rating for this film on IMDB is only average, which made me wonder if I was not remembering the appeal of this film correctly.  I did something I don’t often do and watched this film again before deciding to write this review.  My re-watch confirmed for me both that I like this film and that it has enough humor in it to be included in the horror comedy category.