Hooray for Hollywood, or at least these movies
Folks who know me know I’m a big movie fan. I’ll watch almost any kind of
movie, although I sometimes wait until the ones that look like turkeys wind up on the
small screen. That saves me money, plus I always can find something else if it’s
a real gobbler.
Like other folks on Facebook lately I was tapped to list 15 movies that have stayed with me. There are a lot of things like that on Facebook — give thanks for three things a day for five days, name 10 books that influenced you, if you wake up in jail next to a friend what would be the first thing you’d say in four words, list five credit card numbers and your bank PIN. That last one hasn’t been very popular.
Since I’m always looking for ideas to pen here and share with faithful readers (and since this gets shared on Facebook, too) I thought I’d list 15 movies that have stayed with me through the years here. Might as well inflict as broad an audience as possible. Anyway, here we go, and an eclectic group they are.
1. The Magnificent Seven. This always pops in my mind first when I think of favorite movies. Great story, great cast of characters (watch as Steve McQueen keeps trying to upstage Yul Brynner), lots of action, fantastic score. Definitely an all-time favorite.
2. Casablanca. Excellent flick. Humphrey Bogart is one of my favorite actors, and his banter with Claude Rains is as good as the romance with Ingrid Bergman. Exotic location (actually well-done back lot) intrigue, romance, humor, a bit of patriotism and memorable lines. Got to see it once on the big screen in Dallas on a double-bill with Play It Again, Sam.
3. Anything with John Wayne (except that Genghis Khan movie that gave everybody cancer). What can I say, I’m a big fan of The Duke. Stagecoach, Red River, The Sons of Katie Elder, Rio Bravo, Flying Tigers, The Fighting Seabees, The Sands of Iwo Jima, True Grit, the John Ford cavalry trilogy, his version of Dirty Harry, Hatari! Donovan’s Reef and, of course, The Shootist. You never need to know what the movie’s about, just that it’s a John Wayne movie.
4. Bonnie & Clyde. I’m fascinated by the ’30s outlaw period and this still is the cream of the crop of movies about those wild days of crime. That opening scene with Faye Dunaway made an impression on this 13-year-old boy, as did the final scene. Remember both well today. Sure, it was romanticized and not entirely historically accurate, but it’s a good movie. Considered extremely violent for its time (especially the climax) it almost seems tame compared to some of today’s movies. (Plus it inspired a slew of other ’30s outlaw movies, including Bloody Mama that was filmed right here in the Twin Lakes Area.)
5. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (tie). Two of the most hilarious movies I’ve ever seen, and they still can leave me rolling in the floor. Over-the-top politically incorrect, Blazing Saddles probably couldn’t be made today, even though it’s poking fun at racism (or more like jabbing it with a sharp stick) and all-things Western movie. Call me sophmoric, the campfire scene remains a favorite. And who could forget Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein. Both a spoof and an homage (see, I know big words) to the classic horror movies, it has some of the best bits and lines of any comedy.
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels. I liked watching old serials on TV and reading adventure stories, and the Indiana Jones movies caught the best of them. And I’d like to remind folks I was wearing hats long before Indy.
8. The Maltese Falcon. Bogey, again. The classic hard-boiled, tale of greed, murder, lust, tough-guy dialogue and a little black bird. It paved the way for future pulp mysteries, setting the gold standard for pulp and noir movies.
9. Pretty Woman. What can I say; I like Julia Roberts and Kim adores Richard Gere. We usually wind up watching it whenever we run across it on TV.
10. Likewise with Steel Magnolias.
11. Saving Private Ryan. This should be required viewing in high schools so students (a) get an idea of what war really is like and (b) realize the sacrifices made by the World War II generation and those who still go in harm’s way for our country. The closing scenes hit me harder than the D-Day opening.
12. Superman (the Christopher Reeve version). It was the movie Kim and I saw on our first date.
13. Cabaret. I’m not really sure why, but when I was in college I saw this several times. It might have been that crush I had on Liza Minnelli then. It was a musical that still would have been a movie without the musical numbers, which all took place in the Kit Kat Klub. Loved the Bob Fosse choreography for the movie, and Joel Grey still creeps me out.
14. Once Upon a Time in the West. The ultimate spaghetti Western. A simple plot — bad guys want to steal land for the railroad — but presented in a very slow, deliberate, gritty, almost operatic way. In fact, the soundtrack has special themes for each character along with a sweeping score. I think that makes the movie for me as much as the s tory and Henry Fonda as a bad guy, Jason Robards as an outlaw, Charles Bronson as a mystery man and Claudia Cardinale as the widow with the land (I had a crush on her, too).
15. Another western — Major Dundee. Confederates and Yankees, cowboys and renegade Apaches, the French army and Mexican rebels; this movie had a little bit of everything. That includes a big-name cast (Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn and Senta Berger) and practically every Western movie character actor you can name — Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Ben Johnson, R,G, Armstrong. Slim Pickens, Dub Taylor among them. They would become part of Sam Peckinpah’s acting troupe for most of his movies.
So, what movies have stayed with you through the years?
Like other folks on Facebook lately I was tapped to list 15 movies that have stayed with me. There are a lot of things like that on Facebook — give thanks for three things a day for five days, name 10 books that influenced you, if you wake up in jail next to a friend what would be the first thing you’d say in four words, list five credit card numbers and your bank PIN. That last one hasn’t been very popular.
Since I’m always looking for ideas to pen here and share with faithful readers (and since this gets shared on Facebook, too) I thought I’d list 15 movies that have stayed with me through the years here. Might as well inflict as broad an audience as possible. Anyway, here we go, and an eclectic group they are.
1. The Magnificent Seven. This always pops in my mind first when I think of favorite movies. Great story, great cast of characters (watch as Steve McQueen keeps trying to upstage Yul Brynner), lots of action, fantastic score. Definitely an all-time favorite.
2. Casablanca. Excellent flick. Humphrey Bogart is one of my favorite actors, and his banter with Claude Rains is as good as the romance with Ingrid Bergman. Exotic location (actually well-done back lot) intrigue, romance, humor, a bit of patriotism and memorable lines. Got to see it once on the big screen in Dallas on a double-bill with Play It Again, Sam.
3. Anything with John Wayne (except that Genghis Khan movie that gave everybody cancer). What can I say, I’m a big fan of The Duke. Stagecoach, Red River, The Sons of Katie Elder, Rio Bravo, Flying Tigers, The Fighting Seabees, The Sands of Iwo Jima, True Grit, the John Ford cavalry trilogy, his version of Dirty Harry, Hatari! Donovan’s Reef and, of course, The Shootist. You never need to know what the movie’s about, just that it’s a John Wayne movie.
4. Bonnie & Clyde. I’m fascinated by the ’30s outlaw period and this still is the cream of the crop of movies about those wild days of crime. That opening scene with Faye Dunaway made an impression on this 13-year-old boy, as did the final scene. Remember both well today. Sure, it was romanticized and not entirely historically accurate, but it’s a good movie. Considered extremely violent for its time (especially the climax) it almost seems tame compared to some of today’s movies. (Plus it inspired a slew of other ’30s outlaw movies, including Bloody Mama that was filmed right here in the Twin Lakes Area.)
5. Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (tie). Two of the most hilarious movies I’ve ever seen, and they still can leave me rolling in the floor. Over-the-top politically incorrect, Blazing Saddles probably couldn’t be made today, even though it’s poking fun at racism (or more like jabbing it with a sharp stick) and all-things Western movie. Call me sophmoric, the campfire scene remains a favorite. And who could forget Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein. Both a spoof and an homage (see, I know big words) to the classic horror movies, it has some of the best bits and lines of any comedy.
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels. I liked watching old serials on TV and reading adventure stories, and the Indiana Jones movies caught the best of them. And I’d like to remind folks I was wearing hats long before Indy.
8. The Maltese Falcon. Bogey, again. The classic hard-boiled, tale of greed, murder, lust, tough-guy dialogue and a little black bird. It paved the way for future pulp mysteries, setting the gold standard for pulp and noir movies.
9. Pretty Woman. What can I say; I like Julia Roberts and Kim adores Richard Gere. We usually wind up watching it whenever we run across it on TV.
10. Likewise with Steel Magnolias.
11. Saving Private Ryan. This should be required viewing in high schools so students (a) get an idea of what war really is like and (b) realize the sacrifices made by the World War II generation and those who still go in harm’s way for our country. The closing scenes hit me harder than the D-Day opening.
12. Superman (the Christopher Reeve version). It was the movie Kim and I saw on our first date.
13. Cabaret. I’m not really sure why, but when I was in college I saw this several times. It might have been that crush I had on Liza Minnelli then. It was a musical that still would have been a movie without the musical numbers, which all took place in the Kit Kat Klub. Loved the Bob Fosse choreography for the movie, and Joel Grey still creeps me out.
14. Once Upon a Time in the West. The ultimate spaghetti Western. A simple plot — bad guys want to steal land for the railroad — but presented in a very slow, deliberate, gritty, almost operatic way. In fact, the soundtrack has special themes for each character along with a sweeping score. I think that makes the movie for me as much as the s tory and Henry Fonda as a bad guy, Jason Robards as an outlaw, Charles Bronson as a mystery man and Claudia Cardinale as the widow with the land (I had a crush on her, too).
15. Another western — Major Dundee. Confederates and Yankees, cowboys and renegade Apaches, the French army and Mexican rebels; this movie had a little bit of everything. That includes a big-name cast (Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn and Senta Berger) and practically every Western movie character actor you can name — Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Ben Johnson, R,G, Armstrong. Slim Pickens, Dub Taylor among them. They would become part of Sam Peckinpah’s acting troupe for most of his movies.
So, what movies have stayed with you through the years?
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