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)!