Twist and Turns at Every Corner!

55.North by Northwest (1959)- I have not seen an Alfred Hitchcock movie that I haven't liked. So far he is not letting me down. This movie kept it's viewers on their toes! Basically Cary Grant (wonderful) gets mistaken as a spy that someone is trying to get rid of. The movie continues to show the true identity of the spy and how everything is tightly wound together. I do not want to give anything away, but I will say that this movie was rather entertaining and exciting. I think that the viewer is supposed to be confused, but everything gets explained in the end! A Big TWO THUMBS UP!

SHARK!

56.Jaws (1975)- Who does not like Jaws? If you haven't seen it, you should because it is a classic. I do not like horror films, but does a crazy white shark really count? Nah! This movie has such good lines and scenes that you forget you are supposed to be scared of a great white shark. I had not seen the end of this movie in an extremely long time. I kind of forgot how crazy it gets. That shark gets pretty darn mad! There is not a lot I could say about this movie except, if you haven't seen it... WATCH IT! Classic! TWO THUMBS UP!

Yo!

57. Rocky (1976)- Yo! Ok, so everyone has heard of Rocky! It's the Eye of the Tiger, It's the Thrill of the Fight! My favorite part of the movie was that Rocky walks down the street constantly jabbing the air. Don't jump him cause he is always ready to go! I had seen parts of Rocky, but never the whole thing all at once. I have been told by many that the many sequels are better and more fun than the original. I do not know about that yet, but this movie isn't too bad. Some things came off a bit confusing, like why Adrian's brother has to be so mean?? Necessary? Anywho, this movie will get a hand from me because it understandably deserves to have a spot on the list. But did he have to lose at the end?

Getting Ready For a Snow Storm!

58.The Gold Rush (1925)- Charlie Chaplin actor on the list that has yet to let me down. So far the two Chaplin movies on the list have been rather entertaining. The Gold Rush had a completely different feel than Modern Times, however kept you laughing just the same. Any movie where someone can eat a shoe, and make it entertaining, is alright by me. That does sound rather odd, but don't let it fool you. This movie was pretty darn good. You may not think you would like a silent film, but this movie may just change your mind. A Big THUMBS UP!

Who Knew Country Music Could Be So Confusing?

59.Nashville (1975)- Ughhhhhhhh! What was this movie even about? I am not sure I could tell you. I am not even sure why it is on AFI's list. It definitely had enough actors and stars to make a great movie, but then again that made it all the more confusing. The basic story line has something to do with country singers... and that is about all I can tell you. Oh, and somebody randomly dies at the end?!?! This movie left my husband and I looking at the TV screen with a confused look on our faces from beginning scene to ending credits. The highlight of the movie was a very young, random Jeff Goldblum. Whatever else you think is going to be a good part of the movie, turns on you and leaves you asking why? So I will ask, Why AFI? Why did you put this on the list? TWO THUMBS DOWN!

Soup Anyone?

60. Duck Soup (1933)- Pretty much a great summary of the Marx Brothers. This movie is very entertaining and wonderfully funny. The highlight of the movie for me was the interaction of the brothers. They played off one another so wonderfully in this movie. Groucho Marx is definitely a great witty dictator of the country of Freedonia, but the best part of the movie is when Harpo and Chico tease a grumpy street vendor. The scene is choreographed so great! My husband and I kept laughing throughout the entire interaction. I would definitely put this movie in front of a Night at the Opera. But then again, I would recommend any Marx Brothers movie to almost anyone! Big Thumbs Up!

By Bus, Plane or Car...

61. Sullivan's Travels (1941)- Not to be confused with Gulliver's Travels. Now, most of the movies on this list have been seen by my mother and father-in-law. Therefore, when neither one of them had even really heard of this movie, it left me feeling a little nervous. However, there is nothing better than getting a great surprise of a good movie that you can tell people they should watch! This movie is about a movie director, played by Joel McCrea, who is tired of making boring old comedy movies. He decides to go on a journey so he knows what it is like to be a Hobo so he can then make a dramatic movie. Little bit of a stretch of a story line, but nonetheless, pretty good movie. It is rather entertaining and keeps you on your toes with crazy plot twists. This movie was definitely a refreshing spot on the list. Thank you AFI for entertaining me again! Big Thumbs Up!

Sunday, Monday Happy Days???

62. American Graffiti (1973)- Knowing this movie inspired the TV show, Happy Days, I was pretty pumped. Besides the fun of seeing an extremely young Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford, this movie did not do much for me. Ron Howard looked EXACTLY like his Happy Days role, which left me wanting him to be Richie Cunningham, which he definitely was not. The rest of the movie did not have much of a story line, which is usually okay by me, however in this case it just left me with the feeling that something icky was going to happen. OH, and people like to say that Suzanne Somers is in this movie... maybe she is! Don't blink because then you will miss her! All in all, the movie reminded me of an early day Dazed and Confused, but not nearly as fun. It is definitely not worth all the hype it receives in my opinion. I understand that it sparked a lot of careers and created great TV shows in the future. And for that I am grateful. From me though, the movie gets a big Thumbs Down!

Bienvenidos!

63. Cabaret (1972)- Being an avid watcher of most of the reality dance shows, I was pretty excited to see this movie. However, it left me with a nasty, dysfunctional feeling. Liza Minnelli was really good in this movie. The other staring role was Micheal York (many in my generation would know him as Basil from the Austin Powers movies). York's character basically gets thrown in with Liza Minnelli's character's crazy sexy dancing lifestyle, which he tries to avoid until being totally seduced by it. The rest of the movie (excluding the musical numbers) goes down from there. I might be a little old fashion in my movie preferences, but I am not a fan of a cheating hetero/homo sexual love triangle that involves lies and abortion. The movie left me feeling like I just watched Sophie's Choice and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe again. You can remember from my previous posts that I was not a fan of those movies, so putting them together definitely did not do it for me. The musical numbers were definitely fun and entertaining, too bad the actual story line ruined them for me. TWO THUMBS DOWN!

"I'm as mad as HELL and I'm not going to take this ANYMORE!"

64. Network (1976)- This one was an interesting one to say the least. It reminded me a bit of All the President's Men only because the story was a bit hard to follow from time to time due to so many people talking about so many different people. The main premise is about a station and the news show. It starts off saying its about one newscaster in particular that recently got fired. It begins with him and ends with him. However, there is way more to the story. The station's high up executives basically want to boost their ratings and leave all morals of any kind behind. They agree to feed off of their newscaster's breakdown and suicide attempt, make deals with terrorists, and fire hard working employees. There is also a random love story between to of the employees that I did not see any necessity for. Besides that the movie was somewhat entertaining. Faye Dunaway (who plays one of the high up executives) did a good job but I just wanted her to yell out "NO WIRE HANGERS!" whenever she got mad. (That was a Mommy Dearest movie reference... if you have not seen it, watch it!) The other actors played their roles very well, even though most of them played jerks, an adulterer, or a crazy delusional newscaster. Peter Finch being that newscaster actually received an Oscar for his role in this movie after he past away. (He is now joined with Heath Ledger who won his Oscar for his role in the latest Batman movie.) This movie was definitely unique and entertaining in some parts. It was surprising and the ending was pretty shocking! I will give it a hand for definitely being "outside the box".

Guess Who's in the Jungle

65. The African Queen (1951)- There haven't been too many movies on the list like this one. Even if there has been a love story, it does not seem to be the main aspect of the movie. Falling in love has been second or even third behind rage, wars, gun fights, and drug busts. You do not see many movies that focus on World War I and yet show barely any war at all. Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart (someone who will grace this list many a times) were simply charming. Even though the stars were avoiding gunfire, riding rapids, and making it down a river few had, it was mostly just them talking and falling in love. Hepburn's character was a missionary's sister who traveled with him to Africa. After the German Army destroyed their African Village, and Hepburn's brother died, she decided to try to avoid more destruction by traveling with the messenger steamboat man, Humphrey Bogart. She a good bible girl, him a drinking steamboat captain. A match made in heaven. The rest of the plot is about the pair getting down the river to attack a German ship with homemade torpedoes. I won't give away this ending because I think you should watch this movie! I may be a little biased since I have not ever seen a Katharine Hepburn movie I did not enjoy, but I still think this has been one of my favorite so far! Two Thumbs Up!

I don't like snakes either...

66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)- This movie was made one year before Harrison Ford was in Blade Runner. If they had to put Blade Runner on the list, they at least got something right by putting this movie 31 spots above it! I much prefer Harrison as Indiana Jones over whoever that futuristic person was in Blade Runner! Raiders was definitely entertaining. I thought the story was a little confusing to follow (I had to ask my husband some questions throughout the movie), and I do not know if it really lived up to all the hype. Sorry Indiana Jones fans! This movie of course is followed by two other good films and one random later film that has something to do with aliens!?! It has been a while, but I think I like the 2nd movie the best. Unfortunately, no sequel made the list. However, I really did enjoy watching this classic film. I thought what happened when they finally opened the mysterious ark was CRAZINESS! I started shouting out Ghostbuster lines like, "I am the Gatekeeper!". It was very Ghostbuster-ish. I thought that was the best part of the movie... very surprising if you have never seen the movie! This movie gets a thumbs up from me, however the rating gets a thumbs down! With all the fighting, blood, and facemelthing I think it should be at least rated PG13! Just a thought! haha!

Nothing but Crazy...

67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)- So I was pretty excited about this movie. For one it was not a western. And two I had never seen it before. Silly me, I thought I would enjoy watching it. Ugh... I can completely understand why all four actors in this movie were nominated for academy awards. I can understand why critics would like it and I understand how significant it is. I mean, HELLO, its on the list of the 100 best movies. However, purely from an enjoyment standpoint this movie blew! It was awkward and uncomfortable. The basic premise is Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Burton's characters are married and invite a younger couple over for drinks at 2:30 in the morning. The first of many unusual events in this movie. It made me feel like these guests were having drinks with a dysfunctional couple of serial killers! There was so much bickering you could not even understand what they were saying half the time. I could barely say anything to my husband because if I did you would miss a whole dialogue! This movie had to be one of the strangest most dysfunctional disturbing movies I have ever seen. I am just not a fan of fake killings (of many kinds), affairs, non-stop babbling, and confusion beyond belief. I really do not like movies that do not explain things. Once it was over I felt like I knew less than when it started! TWO BIG THUMBS DOWN!

Who would have thought

68. Unforgiven (1992)- Well, watching all these movies must really be wearing me down. I am not a fan of westerns and believe it or not I do not enjoy Clint Eastwood. He just gets under my skin with his scrunched up face and raspy voice! However, compared to the Wild Bunch (another western on the list) this movie is definitely better. The plot of this movie is kind of disturbing and a little crazy. Basically, a whore house woman gets all cut up by an angry customer so the rest of the women put out an award for whoever kills him. The arrogant sheriff, Gene Hackman, gets word of this and allows no weapons in their little western town. Through a few more cowboys in there and that's the movie! There was too much blood, nastiness, and Clint's character was way too old to have the young children he had. Or may be he wasn't that old but his scrunched up face just made him have lots of wrinkles?? But seriously, Clint's character was supposed to be some horrible killer in his day, but had given it up for his loved wife that had passed away. He was able to go back to his old ways pretty easily for a small amount of reward money... kind of lame. For a while I thought the only good thing about this movie was going to be the wonderful Morgan Freeman. However, the ending was pretty BA! I have to give it to Clint... gross as it may have been I was pretty impressed with the awesomeness that Clint was. I'll give this movie a hand... not too bad to watch, but not too good either! I'm sure if you are a man or someone who likes westerns you would probably like this movie.

Dustin Hoffman's feminine side

69. Tootsie (1982)- If you have not seen Tootsie, you are missing out. I had seen this movie many times before (it is one of the ones on the list I actually own). It is definitely one of my all times faves. The original Mrs. Doubtfire! But seriously, Dustin Hoffman does such a good job in this movie. It actually really affected him personally. I saw him once in an interview and he got all emotional about making this movie. His hard work paid off. This movie rocks! It is funny, entertaining, and heartwarming! The premise of the movie is that Dustin Hoffman's character is an out of work actor that is difficult to work with. He needs money to put on his friends play (a young and delightful Bill Murray) and gets this job as a woman on a soup opera. Classic. This movie gets a BIG TWO THUMBS UP from me! If you haven't seen it... go see it!

"Your friend and humble narrator..."

70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)- What can I say about this movie? Besides the fact that many of the scenes were too long, you couldn't always understand what people were saying, and you did not really know what decade you were supposed to be watching, this movie was pretty much just gross and wrong. If you could get the rape, orgy, and violent scenes out of your head, you probably would still be weirded out by this movie. The basic premise is that main character, Alex is the leader of what I will call a gang (four boys that run around in what looks like long underwear, a jockstrap, and black hats). They basically run around torturing people at their will while also breaking into people's home which includes more torture. Their bad deeds eventually catch up with them and Alex is taken to prison. He then from there gets picked for a "treatment" which makes him painfully ill at the thought of violence and sex. (They do this by making him watch videos, holding his eyes open which is what the most famous pictures of the movie are from.) Soooooo... Alex is eventually released but he is basically hated and is therefore tortured himself. Possibly one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen. I won't give away the ending, which is easy not to do since I don't even really understand how it ended. I will say this about A Clockwork Orange... it was never dull. I was dumbfounded through most of it. Odd. Simply Odd.

Also, if anyone knows what A Clockwork Orange actually means please let me know. The movie never explains.

A Redemption and A Saving

71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)- What can I say about Saving Private Ryan? I had seen this movie once before and was kind of dreading watching it again. If you like war movies full of gruesome fight scenes that showcase almost every imaginable way to die in WW2 then this just might be your movie! I like sad movies... but this movie is almost just too unbearable for me. I feel bad for the men that go to save Private Ryan (a group of men including a wonderful performance by Tom Hanks) and then I feel bad for Private Ryan himself (a young Matt Damon... yum!). This movie basically leaves me feeling sad because it is a depressing movie that is based off of events that actually did take place. Overall, I have to respect this movie. I have a hard time putting down anything that Tom Hanks does. I also have a hard time putting down Stephen Spielberg as well, even though I am a bigger fan of his earlier work vs his newer work. So to sum this review up... Saving Private Ryan is a respectful movie that I would suggest if you are in the mood for a depressing war movie! I'll give it a Thumbs Up! (surprised?)


72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)- I had seen parts of this movie before, but never in it's entirety. My husband had however (more than once) which made it an interesting viewing in our house (I have a tendency to ask questions with people who have already seen a movie I have not). Anyways, I want to say that I did not like this movie. It is sad, kind of gross, and depressing. However, it is probably the most depressing "feel good movie" I have ever seen! I want to not like it, but then there are parts that make me just love the movie. Those parts are probably Morgan Freeman. I don't know if I have seen Morgan Freeman in a movie and not like his performance. Thank goodness for Mr. Freeman. because without him this movie would have been a horribly depressing flick! The ending is wonderful and the best part of the movie. We also learned that it was based of a short story by Stephen King called, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, which makes complete sense once you see this movie. Which I would recommend! I give it a big Thumbs Up!
ps. If you like this movie, watch The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)!

And Robert Redford comes back in my life...

73) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)- Now, I am not one for watching westerns. I have never really liked them. That being said, I do not know if I am just biased or what but I really liked this movie. Maybe Robert Redford and Paul Newman can just do no wrong. This movie was witty and definitely entertaining. Near the end of the movie you could definitely tell it was "based" on a true story. Stupid men being stuck in their stupid ways! However, it was still a pretty darn good movie. I just loved the dialogue between Butch and the Kid. I guess I can like a western movie as long as its funny and the leading men are fun to look at! This movie came out the same year as The Wild Bunch (number 79) and was SO MUCH BETTER! If you are going to watch a western from the year 1969 definitely go with Butch and Sundance! I give this movie TWO THUMBS UP!


Side note... if you are a Robert Redford fan (like apparently I am) watch Barefoot in the Park. It is not on the list but it is a favorite movie of mine, and Robert is always good to watch! :)

"Hello Clarice"

74) The Silence of the Lambs (1991)- Ok sorry it has been forever! Being in graduate school makes it difficult to be on top of the blog! Anyway... back to the movie! I am not one for scary movies. I can't even remember why I ever watched The Silence of the Lambs in the first place. Nevertheless, this was definitely not my first time seeing this movie. As I said I am usually never a fan of scary movies... except when it comes to this movie. It is the only scary movie I actually own! (I don't count Attack of the Killer Clowns as a real horror film) I love this movie and I am not really sure why. I don't know if it is because you love the bad guy (Anthony Hopkins) even though he is literally Hannibal the Cannibal. Or if it is because Tom Petty's "American Girl" gets played in the middle of it! Haha... no it is probably because of Anthony Hopkins. The only down side of this movie is that they made a sequel and a prequel. LAME! The movie stands on its own! (and ps the prequel was basically an excuse to make the exact same movie over again except with Edward Norton instead of Jodie Foster... lame) Cool side note about The Silence of the Lambs is that it won the best 4 categories of the Academy Awards : Actor, Actress, Director, and Best Picture. I read somewhere that it was the only "horror" film to ever win best picture. This unprofessional opinion definitely thinks it was well deserved. TWO THUMBS UP!


Next on the list is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Robert Redford and Paul Newman. I have been told it was the Spy Game of it's time, because of the mixing of the heartthrobs! Paul Newman with Robert Redford... years later Robert Redford with Brad Pitt... I wonder what the next one will be??? Anywho... stay tuned!

They call me Mr. Tibbs.... and rightfully so!

75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)- I didn't know what to think when my husband and I started watching this movie. I couldn't tell if I was going to love it or hate it. The premise of the movie is that the great Sidney Poitier gets arrested for basically sitting at a train station in the south. Turns out he was arrested for killing some major town figure. In reality he did not kill the man, but he was a homicide detective from the north. He ended up helping with the case against his own will at some times and against the sheriff's at the others. It was an intense movie filled with horrible racist remarks that were perfectly acceptable in the south at that time. It was crazy to me how people thought it their behavior was acceptable. The movie was also filled with some laughs and leaves you feeling content at the end. I am still little unsure how Mr. Tibbs figured out who the real killer was. It might be a watch more than once to understand kind of movie. Which I would definitely do again. If you like To Kill a Mockingbird (also on the AFI list) and A Time to Kill, you would like this movie as well. A Big Thumbs Up from this unprofessional critic.

"My name's Forrest, Forrest Gump."

76. Forrest Gump (1994)- This was actually the first movie on the list that my husband and I did not have to rent. Getting it off of my DVD shelf... I played in the movie in my head. I have seen Forrest Gump many times before, and I could basically picture the entire movie in my head. However, once we started the movie it was like watching it for the first time. Every scene seemed amazing and new. The incredible Tom Hanks was magnificent and made it seem so easy! I could not believe how much I enjoyed watching this movie again. Funnily enough this was the second movie on the list that Haley Joel Osment was in! Random, I wonder if he knows this?! Anywho... if you are one of the very little people who have never seen this movie you should definitely check it out! It is a definite classic and Tom Hanks is wonderfully amazing! Definitely deserved his academy award for best actor for the second year in a row! It is such a crazy sad story and yet he leaves you feeling upbeat and happy. Sally Field was also delightful as Forrest's mother. A Big Two Thumbs Up!!!

I Love Robert Redford

77. All the President's Men (1976)- I have always had a strange love of the 70's. That and the fact that a younger Robert Redford was in most scenes... means this movie was not too shabby. Robert and Dustin Hoffman played the famous reporters Woodward and Bernstein during the whole Watergate scandal. There were some confusing aspects of the movie that probably could have been explained better and there was a lot of attention to detail in the beginning of the movie that left us with a rushed ending. It felt like they ran out of time and had to hurry to finish the movie. Besides all of that the movie was still very good. Good choice picking Robert and Dustin... cause how can you go wrong there? It was also nice how they used real footage of the time since the movie was only made 4 years later. It gets a BIG THUMBS UP from me!

Next week is Forrest Gump... I already know it will be amazing!