# 160 Groundhog Day (1993)

Groundhog Day is a story of a pretty arrogant weatherman who goes to a small town to cover a story about a weather forecasting groundhog, and has to relive the same day over and over again. He goes through highs and lows, realizing that no matter what he does, even if it's a crime or suicide, the next morning he will wake up in the same bed in a hotel room. So basically he can do whatever he want, but the only change that will ever be possible must happen within himself.

First of all I would like to say a couple of words about the actors. Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell were great as lead actors here, but the most charismatic was Chris Elliott who played Larry. Andie MacDowell is a beautiful woman, and it first it was hard for me to believe that Murray could fit into the role of a womanizer, but he played very convincingly. And Larry was funny as hell.

I liked how this movie showed relationships between men and women. I like how it shows us that even the most unapproachable women are attracted to popular men. As I've mentioned many times before, I'm not a fan of romantic comedies, but there was absolutely nothing in this film that I found annoying. Early drafts of the script explained that Phil's disaffected ex-lover called Stephanie cast a spell on him to teach him a lesson. I'm glad it was cut from the film because it could have turned the movie into a disaster.

The film has quite a few good jokes, the type of jokes that never go out of style, but it's not a pure comedy. Every time the main character wakes up in the morning, you hear the same music, see all the same things, and realize that there's no way out of this. It's so depressing. Groundhog Day is the most interesting mixture of funny and sad I've seen in my life.

Interesting fact: The idea comes from 'The Gay Science', a famous book by Friedrich Nietzsche. In his book, Nietzsche gives a description of a man who is living the same day over and over again. After its release, several writers emerged, claiming that the story was stolen from their idea.

Favorite quote: "I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get *that* day over, and over, and over?"

# 159 Toy Story (1995)

Toy Story, as well as its sequels, is an animated movie about toys that come alive when people are nowhere around. Technically it's the first fully computer-generated feature film. I saw it after I saw Toy Story 3 in a movie theater, which I did earlier this year, and I still haven't seen Toy Story 2, so my perception of the movie may be a little distorted because of this.

Of course the graphics here are not as good as in Toy Story 3, and it would be surprising if they were. I'm not saying it as a bad thing, but it did make it a little hard for me to appreciate this film as much as most people did back in 1995. I'll try to stay away from comparing these two movies in my review because they came out in unequal conditions, so it makes just as much sense as comparing Billy Wilder with Christopher Nolan works.

The idea of toys coming alive when nobody is around probably has crossed every child's mind at least once. It crossed my mind many times. I wouldn't call it a children's movie because it's just too creepy. And that little boy that tortures toys just for fun, Sid, has turned this film into a thriller. May be I'm just a very impressionable type of person. Rated G? I don't think so... I can still see that spider-baby thing every time I close my eyes.

I believe this movie should be aimed at teens and preteens because it talks about things like envy and jealousy, it shows how cruel life can be, and the plot is pretty complicated too. I would never show a cartoon like this to little kids though. It's a very high quality work that basically started Pixar Animation Studios a production company that still raises the bar every time they release something new.

Interesting fact: Woody and Buzz Lightyear are inspired by director John Lasseter's own childhood toys. He based Woody on his own pull-string Casper doll, and once he grew out of Casper he moved on to a G.I Joe, a flashy toy at the time of his childhood. Sid Phillips is said to be inspired by a former Pixar employee of the same last name who was known to disassemble toys and use the parts to build bizarre creations.

Favorite quote: "What if Andy gets another dinosaur? A mean one? I just don't think I can take that kind of rejection!"

# 158 Gone with the Wind (1939)

Gone with the Wind is a movie about the life of a plantation owner's daughter, who is considered very beautiful, but also selfish and manipulative. She spends most of her life thinking that she's in love with one man, but it the end it turns out that all of her feelings were an illusion. Most of it is set in the days of the Civil War, and it also shows how the war changed people's lives.

I enjoyed the movie a lot, but just about as much as I liked the movie, I hated the main character, Scarlett O'Hara. I mean she is a very annoying person, and I don't think she's nearly as attractive as Melanie Hamilton. I guess spoiled people, especially women, really get on my nerves. She did grow as a person towards the end of the movie, but why did she have to go through all these things to realize something so simple? Does it really take that long? So basically I believe that she got what she deserved.

All the other characters, on the other hand, are a lot more likable, and I wish they life stories weren't so sad. Ashley and Melanie are very sweet, the latter doesn't even have any flaws, so I'm not sure if people like Melanie really exist. Clark Gable is a little too funny-looking for the role, but he after a while I got used to that.

The second part of the movie has more conversation and less action, which made me like it more, whereas my husband liked it less than the first part. The cinematography is good for the time, and so is the acting. I don't mean to sound like I'm trying to put it down because of all the flaws I've mentioned, but what I enjoyed the most about it is the story itself. I never finished reading the book, so may be that's what I should do.

Interesting fact: David O. Selznick begged Margaret Mitchell, author of the novel, to critique every aspect of the production. An intensely private person, Mrs. Mitchell gave one criticism of the facade of the design for Tara, which was ignored. Afterward, she refused to comment on any aspect of the film during production.

Favorite quote: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".

# 157 The Terminator (1984)

The Terminator is a low-budget scientce fiction movie from the eighties about a human-looking and unstoppable cyborg assassin that came from the future in order to kill a woman, whose yet-unborn son will lead a resistance movement against cyborgs.

It's very hard to understand what's going on, and what the movie is about when you first start watching it. Who is Kyle Reese? Is he just a good-looking lunatic? And, like in any good movie with a twisted plot, we have a character who is completely unaware of the situation, and through that character we are introduced to the world of The Terminator. So basically we have Kyle Reese explaining everything to Sarah, just like in Inception Cobb explains everything to Ariadne.

It's a very dark thriller, both literally and metaphorically. I think one of the reasons it's shot in very dark colors is that they were unable to provide high-quality special effects back then, so that's what they did. I believe the same trick was used when filming Alien (1979). Of course, this technique also creates the right mood.

I liked The Terminator. Even Arnold's terrible accent didn't seem out of place here. The idea itself is very interesting, and back in the eighties I'm sure it gave many people nightmares. So I think this movie definitely deserves being on the list, and I'm glad I watched it again, now that I'm older and able to understand it.

Interesting fact: Near the beginning of the movie, when Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) receives a message on her answering machine breaking her date, the voice on the machine is James Cameron's. Years later, Hamilton and Cameron got married and subsequently divorced.

Favorite quote: Sarah Connor: So Reese is crazy?

Dr. Silberman: In technical terminology: he's a loon.

# 156 The Graduate (1967)

The Graduate is a movie about a troubled young man who has just graduated from college and is home for the summer. A one-night stand with his parents' friend Mrs. Robinson turns into a relationship, but things get even more messed up what he falls in love with her daughter. The whole story is told in a bitter-comic manner (that I like so much).

I can't find the words to describe how awesome this film is. The director masterfully depicts how it feels to be young and experience all the pressures and expectations from you parents when you don't really feel like doing anything with your life. Another thing I can relate to is being in a relationship with someone my parents would never approve of.

As you can see, this movie is very personal to me in many ways, and it's very very realistic. One of the things that contributed to it is the cinematography, and all the camera techniques used in this film. My favorite two scenes are the party at the beginning, and the seduction scene. I think they are shot perfectly, and this helps us understand what exactly Ben feels at the moment, it makes us feel as if we were there. The wonderful music of the sixties also compliments the film.

I probably would have thought that it's a Woody Allen film, if I hadn't known that it was directed by a different person. The movie is composed of two parts: before and after Ben's relationship with Mrs. Robinson is revealed. They are very different, even stylistically, and I liked the first part a little better, but the second part was good too.

Interesting fact: In Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft's first encounter in the hotel room, Bancroft did not know that Hoffman was going to grab her breast. When Hoffman did it onscreen, director Mike Nichols began laughing loudly offscreen. Hoffman began to laugh as well, so rather than stop the scene, he turned away from the camera and walked to the wall. Hoffman banged his head on the wall, trying to stop laughing, and Nichols thought it was so funny, he left it in.

Favorite quote: Mrs. Robinson: Isn't there something you want to tell me?

Benjamin: Tell you?

Mrs. Robinson: Yes.

Benjamin: Well, I want you to know how much I appreciate this. Really.

Mrs. Robinson: The number.

Benjamin: What?

Mrs. Robinson: The room number, Benjamin. I think you ought to tell me that.

Benjamin: Oh, you're absolutely right. It's 568.

# 155 Stand by Me (1986)

Stand by Me is a movie based on Stephen King's short novel about four friends who set out on a journey to the woods to find a dead kid who was apparently hit by a train. It came out the year I was born, but it's surprising how some things, like human relationships and stereotypes, don't change over the years. I think this is why old dramas look better than movies of other genres.

What this movie does is take you back in time. I can't say that when I was twelve I had the same type of relationship with a group of kids my age, or that I had the same kind of adventures, but I certainly do remember having similar feelings, laughing and crying over similar things.

I think that the writers did an amazing job, so it was easy for the actors to play so convincingly. Of course I don't mean to downplay the children's acting, as they all did good. I was amazed that River Phoenix played so well in the break-down scene; later on I found out that the director made the boy think of a time in his own life when an adult had let him down and used it in the scene. It always interests me what happens to child actors when they grow up, and, once again, Phoenix's death proved us that early fame can wreck lives.

Not so many of Stephen King's stories have turned into good movies. Surprisingly only one of them (The Mist) is a horror film, and the rest of them are dramas. I liked everything about this movie. I don't agree with the idea that we'll never find any friends that will be closer to us than the ones we had when we were twelve. Or may be it is true, except for I would replace the word "twelve" with the word "eighteen". Anyway, Stand by Me is a great movie, with a young John Cusack as a bonus.

Favorite quote: "Alright, alright, Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog. What's Goofy?"

Interesting fact: While practicing his lines, Jerry O'Connell was incredibly impressed that, as an 11-year old, he was being allowed to swear.

# 154 Sar Trek (2009)

Star Trek is the eleventh film based on the Star Trek TV series that came out not so long ago, so I got to see it at the movies and enjoy all the special effects. It tells us about the early days of James T. Kirk, the death of his father, and how he became the captain of the Enterprise.

My first question is about the title. How come the preceding ten films had "a little something in the end". So we have Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek Nemesis, and all of a sudden they shoot a movie and call it simply "Star Trek". Why? Does this movie stand out of the rest of feature films based on the same TV series? Well since it's the only one that made it to IMDb Top 250, may be it is the best one of them, but still I thought it was pretty stupid to call it this way, as if all these other movies had never existed.

The special effects were good. I liked the cast too, especially Eric Bana as the villain (Nero), and Zachary Quinto from Heroes as Spock. There is also a Russian actor, Anton Yelchin, playing a Russian Starfleet officer. Most of all I was impressed by the make-up. At first I didn't even recognize Eric Bana with such a huge nose.

So, basically, the movie is not bad at all. I liked all the twists with the time-travel, although it was nothing new. I just really don't see what was so special about it. I've seen a lot better science-fiction movies, like Moon that came out the same year, but it didn't make it on the Top. So is Star Trek really that good, or was it just a bunch of Star Trek nerds (did I say it out loud? I meant to say "fans") who made an impact.

Favorite quote: "Who was that pointy-eared bastard?"

Interesting fact: J.J. Abrams' only two choices for Nero were Russell Crowe and Eric Bana.

# 153 Trainspotting (1996)

Trainspotting follows a group of heroin addicts from Scotland that go through the same things a drug addict would normally go through in his life: trying to quit, adjusting to sober lifestyle, going back on drugs, and doing everything possible trying to find money for drugs. At first I didn't like the movie because it was so gross. I mean, of course there is nothing pretty about drug abuse, but some scenes in this film were unnecessarily disgusting (like the one where Spud defecated all over his girl's bed).

I started realizing that the movie is in fact not that bad when they all decided to go back to using heroin. From that point I liked everything about the movie. It's not all depressing, unlike most drug-related movies, parts of it are very optimisitc, especially the ending that shows us that there's hope for everybody, but if you don't start a new life, you might end up like Tommy who died of toxoplasmosis after being tested HIV positive.

Towards the end Trainspotting turns into a crime story. Actually I think the whole movie is not as much about the harm of drugs, as it is about bad influence. No matter how much you're trying to change you life, if you're still surronded by the same people, you'll go back to doing whatever everybody else is doing. The main character even goes to London and starts a job as a real estate agent, but his mates come and stay at his place, steal from him and wreck his apartment. After that he goes back to the life of crime. All he needed to do was tell his friends to leave him alone! But he didn't do it. Why? Those people were his "mates".

The cast was amazing. I seriously think that it was Ewan McGregor's best role, I never really liked him, but this time he did an awesome job. The support cast is excellent too. We have a funny guy, a violent guy, a smart guy, and a tragic guy here. Pretty stereotypical, but it all looks very natural on the screen. Trainspotting is not for everyone, and I'm even surprised that I enjoyed it so much, but, unless you have a weak stomach, it's worth checking out.

Favorite quote: "I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?"

Interesting fact: Various options were considered to make the film more intelligible for American audiences. Subtitles were ruled out as they would spoil the effect of using them in the disco scene. Instead, the actors re-recorded the first 20 minutes of dialog, softening their accents to atune American ears to the Scottish dialect.

# 152 Finding Nemo (2003)

I was lucky to see Finding Nemo when it premiered in the United States. I remember it being so overhyped, they wouldn't stop talking about it on Disney Channel, and everybody I knew couldn't wait for it to come out. So I was somewhat sceptical about it, but the movie turned out to be great. Back then it represented a revolution in feature film animation.

The cartoon is about a clownfish that became tired of being controlled by his father, and decided to prove that he's grown up by swimming near the fishing boat only to be caught by a scuba-diver. He becomes an aquarium fish, and tries to find a way to escape while his father travels across the Pacific to find him. The plot is simple but far from being trivial.

The world of Finding Nemo is full of interesting creatures (I think that the baby turtles were the most adorable), it's so diverse, and the creators of this movie provide so much detail that you start forgetting you're watching a cartoon. Both animation and storytelling are on a very high level here, and I still enjoyed it a lot when I was watching it again, despite the fact that I am seven years older now, and the technology has moved on so much.

The humor in this film was brilliant. What we actually see is a parody of human society, with a lot of hilarious jokes, like a group of sharks starting a mutual aid club that's so much like Alcoholics Anonimous. Another good thing about it is that there are no villains in this movie. "Fish gotta swim, birds gotta eat" - everybody's doing what they are supposed to do. There's no good and no evil. Everynody should see this one, no matter how old you are.

Favorite quote: "What is it with men and asking for directions?"

Interesting fact: Animators studied dogs' facial expressions, paying particular attention to the eyes, to animate the expression of the fish.

# 151 Smultronstället (1957)

Smultronstället is a movie by Ingmar Bergman about an elderly physician who travels to another city to receive an honorary degree fifty years after becoming a doctor. Throughout the whole film we see his dreams (most of them are nightmares) that touch on though-provoking subjects, such as human existance, death, and loneliness.

I apologize for saying that, but I think that Bergman was a very weird man. I've only seen a couple of his films, but Cries And Whispers (aka Viskningar och rop), a movie that I had to watch and review for my Ethics class in college, totally creeped me out. So I wasn't expecting to like any of this film, but, to my own surprize, I found parts of it quite enjoyable.

My favorite part was the dream in which the main character is in classroom, taking an exam. He looks into a microscope and sees nothing. He reads the text from the blackboard, but cannot comprehend it. I've seen this in my nightmares so many times! I know there's a deeper meaning to this scene, but it struck me how accurately Bergman showed people's fears in the movie.

But it's not all pessimism. During the trip the main character meets a variety of people, including a girl and two young men accompanying her, all of them being optimistic, fun-loving, and, in my opinion, they make a big impact on him. There are a lot of interesting ideas represented in this movie, so it's worth seeing at least once in a lifetime.

Favorite quote: "Me and my wife are dependent on each other. It is out of selfish reasons we haven't beaten each other to death a long time ago".

Interesting fact: Cinematographer Gunnar Fischer says that several scenes had to be shot indoors due to Victor Sjöström's poor health. "We had to make some very bad back-projection in the car because we never knew if Victor would come back alive the next day." Nevertheless, as long as Victor was home by 5:15 P.M. each day, "and had his whiskey punctually, all went well."

# 150 Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Witness for the Prosecution is a courtroom drama with a trial of a man accused of a murder based on a book by Agatha Christie that I've never read. The subject matter is very interesting to me because, besides being a movie critic, I'm also a lawyer.

I can't say that the movie is flawless, as most of the actors were overacting quite a bit. Which is, by the way, very common for an old film. But one actor that really stands out in this movie is Charles Laughton who playes a master barrister. The way he talked, his gestures and facial expression reminded me of one of my college professors (an aging attorney) so much that it made me like I was in classroom again. Laughton looked very realistic, as well as the whole hearing.

Dietrich was pretty good too, I haven't seen any of her movies before, and she made a very good impression. I'm starting to think that Billy Wilder is a genius. He's made so many good movies, including Double Indemnity and Some Like It Hot, and having seen Witness for the Prosecution, I'm really looking forward to seeing more of his films.

I adore movies with a twist at the end, and I guess I have to thank Agatha Christie for this one. There are surprises throughout the whole movie though, and I'm not sure that all of them came from Agatha Christie's plot, so even if you read the original short story, it's still worth seeing.

Favorite quote: "I am constantly surprised that women's hats do not provoke more murders".

Interesting fact: Unsure if he could play a man with a heart condition, Charles Laughton (Sir Wilfrid) staged a heart attack in the pool one day at home. His wife, Elsa Lanchester (Miss Plimsoll), and a houseguest panicked and pulled him from the water, at which point he explained his trick. Elsa's reaction has not been recorded.

# 149 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

The Bourne Ultimatum concludes the trilogy of movies about a man who volunteered for a top-secret CIA project that transformed him into a highly-trained assassin. After getting shot he loses his memory, but his past continues to influence him. In this movie the main character finds out about how he became Jason Bourne.

I was reluctant to see another guy movie, but having watched all of the Bourne films in one week, I have to say that the trilogy has come together very nicely. Matt Damon did an excellent job portraying Jason Bourne. He is not particularly my favorite actor, but the trilogy made me change my mind about him. It is very rare that an action film delivers good performances.

The pacing is perfect for an action film. There aren't any slow parts, but it's not too fast either, so you don't have to keep pausing and rewinding to figure out what's going on (yes, sometimes I have to do it to understand the plotline). Those of you who have been reading my blog know, that I hate hand-held camera, but this time the shakiness didn't irritate me. In fact, it even made me feel like I was part of the scene, which is what the effect is intended to do.

My only question concernes the fact that out of all Bourne movies, only Ultimatum made it on the list. If I were to rate these three movies, it would be #1 - The Bourne Supremacy, #2 - The Bourne Ultimatum, and #3 - The Bourne Identity. But whatever, the movie is still good.

Favorite quote: "If you were sitting in your office, we'd be having this conversation face-to-face".

Interesting fact: Since the opening scene of the film takes place directly after the ending of The Bourne Supremacy (2004), yet the production time difference was several months, it was January in Moscow. This would have been too cold and Berlin was chosen as the location of the shoot. The fake snow was made using paper and foam, and took an excess of 5 hours to cover the entire set.

# 148 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Here I go criticizing another classic. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is based on a true story about two bank robbers who are being hunted down for one of their train robberies. They escape to Bolivia, but it doesn't stop the posse that is following them, and they end up getting killed.

The main problem of this film is that it's very boring. I couldn't help thinking how overrated it was every single minute while I was watching it. I don't like westerns that much, but this one was one of the least entertaining of all the westerns I've seen in my life, I just couldn't wait for it to end. I don't even want to mention all the countless clichés that are in this movie.

Still I have to admit that the style itself was pretty good. I liked the way the editing was done, specifically when the main characters were on their way to Bolivia, and also at the end of the movie, before they got shot. I thought that the photo sequence was great. Still it wasn't enough to make me enjoy this film.

Some of the dialogues were really good, but most of them were lost in translation, so I had to re-read them on IMDb to catch up. May be if I had watched the movie in English, I would have liked it more, but the problem is, I never want to see it again.

Favorite quote: "If he'd just pay me what he's spending to make me stop robbing him, I'd stop robbing him".

Interesting fact: Katharine Ross enjoyed shooting the silent, bicycle riding sequence best, because it was handled by the film crew's second unit rather than the director. She said, "Any day away from George Roy Hill was a good one."

# 147 Life of Brian (1979)

Life of Brian is Monty Python's feature length movie about a man who was born on Christmas night in a stable and kept being mistaken for Messiah. For those of you who don't know, Monty Python was a British comedy group from back in the day that had a great impact on modern day comedy.

I haven't heard so many good jokes in a very long time. It's hard to pick out just a few that I liked the most, but I'll try. The first one is when the members of "The People's Front of Judea" are sitting in the amphitheater, and one of them announces that he wants to be a woman and to have babies. Then one of the men says that it is symbolic of their struggle against oppression and another man says that it is symbolic of his struggle against reality. Well, the whole conversation was very funny.

Another one of my favorite scenes is when a Roman centurion is trying to correct Brian's Latin grammar, and help him write "Romans, go home" instead of "the people called 'Romanes' they go the house", and forces him to write it a hundred times. The third one is when one of the members of "The People's Front of Judea" says that apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, the Romans have never done anything for them.

Monty Python is a group of very talented people. Their dialogues are full of satire. Besides, they deliver a very solid performance, especially I would like to note Michael Palin who portrayed Pontius Pilate and eleven (!) other characters. One good thing about comedies is that they don't age as much as films of other genres. Unfortunately there isn't many comedies on IMDb Top 250 list, and in my opinion, there is too few good comedies out there, but this one was awesome.

Favorite quote: "Life's a laugh and death's a joke".

Interesting fact: In the interview section of Monty Python's Flying Circus: Live at Aspen (1998) (TV), John Cleese confides that, since there were massive protests against the movie from all denominations of Christianity, he would joke with Michael Palin: "We've brought them all together for the first time in 2000 years!"

# 146 The Lion King (1994)

Who hasn't heard of The Lion King? It's an all-time Disney classic about a lion cub who is tricked into thinking he killed his father. The plot was inspired by Shakespear's Hamlet, and indeed is very simple. As Richard Bach once said, "the simplest things are often the truest". I think this quote describes the movie perfectly.

The animation is simple, yet very beautiful. I love traditional Disney animation, especially the use of highly saturated colors. You don't see all the little details, like textures and hairs, that you can see in modern animated movies, but it still looks great, and may be it's that fact that this type of animation reminds me of my childhood makes it so special to me.

The soundtrack is good, it's proably my second favorite soundtrack after Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (by the way, does anyone know why so many people dislike Spirit?!). And I'm not only talking about Elton John's hit "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". I think that "Circle of Life" and " The Lion Sleeps Tonight" were just as good as the Oscar-winning song.

I think that this cartoon is mostly for children, even though it is a little cruel from my point of view. To be honest, I can't see what lesson it's trying to teach us. If you have any idea, let me know. But still, the characters are too likable to criticize their actions. I find this movie very enjoyable, and I'm definitely going to show this one to my future kids.

Favorite quote: "Before sunrise he's YOUR son".

Interesting fact: Originally, Scar was going to send adult Nala away from Pride Rock because she ignored his romantic approaches, after which she finds Simba alive and well with Timon and Pumbaa. This idea was ultimately abandoned, as sexual harassment was considered improper in a family movie.

# 145 It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened One Night is the first film in movie history to win the Oscar "grand slam" (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay). The story is about a spoiled young woman from a rich family who runs away from her father to be with the man she had secretly married. It gets interesting when she meets a reporter who helps her to get to New York because he wants to write an article about it.

I don't like romantic comedies, especially when they get too melodramatic at the end. There were some brilliant scenes in this movie though. The first one I would like to mention is when the reporter (played by Clark Gable) is arguing with the bus driver over the newspapers. Another one is when the annoying bus passanger finds out about the reward the woman's father offers to anyone who can tell him where she is. I think it was amazing how the reporter fooled him when he started acting like a gangster.

So many times we hear stories about evil parents who don't let their children be happy by not letting them be with the ones they truly love. This type of scenario reminds me of cheap soap operas I got to see when I was little. I think it's great that this film shows us that most of the time the parents are right.

I won't lie, there are a lot of corny moments in this movie. Also I wonder why in old Hollywood movies almost all smartass lines are delivered by male characters, and female characters usually keep saying some mushy romantic stuff. But after all, I think that It Happened One Night is a reasonably good representative of the genre.

Favorite quote: "I never did like the idea of sitting on newspaper. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants".

Interesting fact: I never did like the idea of sitting on newspaper. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants.

# 144 Ran (1985)

Being a movie critic is a tough job. Sometimes you don't like some of the highly appraised movies, and you have to give an honest review without looking like a complete idiot.

Ran is Kurosawa's fourth movie that made it on IMDb Top 250 list, and the only one of these four that is made in color. It's about a warlord who decides to devide his kingdom between his three sons, which eventually leads to war between the brothers and drives their father insane. Ran can be translated as "chaos", and this is exactly what this movie is.

The pacing is very slow, the scenes with the insane warlord and his jester are so long, and there's so many of them that it starts to get irritating. The dialogues aren't nearly as good as in Yojimbo, and sound really unnatural to me. And I guess I was expecting some kind of an intellectual twist in the story, but the plot is very simple. The acting, in my opinion, was too theatrical. The actor credited as "Peter", who played the jester, was good, but still I didn't feel any sympathy for him, or any other of the characters.

It was a great action film for 1985, with all the battle scenes, which by guess take about eighty percent of the movie's running time, but it has aged so much over the years, that I found myself unable to become engaged in it. The most spectracular scene of this film was probably the one in which the old man calmly sits in the castle tower while it goes up in flames. Unfortunately there weren't many close-ups in this film, for some reason Kurosawa keeps shooting his characters from a distance. The ending was a bit surprising, but not enough to change my perception on the movie.

Favotire quote: "Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies".
Interesting fact: The story was inspired by samurai legends, but also draws on William Shakespeare's "King Lear" as well.

# 143 Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Million Dollar Baby tells us a story about an old boxing coach who owns a small gym, and eventually decides to start coaching a female boxer. This is another classic from Clint Eastwood, and, just like in Unforgiven and Grand Torino (which I got to see earlier than Million Dollar Baby), he is a director AND one of the lead actors.

I love boxing movies, even though I'm not a big fan of boxing, but somehow boxing movies usually turn out to be the most dramatic and emotional out of all sports movies. But only part of this film is about boxing. Here comes a spoiler... After a serious injury, the main character, played by Hilary Swank, is paralyzed and has to be ventilated.  I think the question of euthanasia is very complex. I definitely don't think that everyone who is disabled and can't take care of themselves lives a meaningless life. I admire those who find something to live for in situations like this, and I understand why some people say that this movie sends the wrong message. But at the same time I think Eastwood did a great job showing us how the main character came down to this choice in this particular situation.

Clint Eastwood's character in this film is psychologically very similar to his character in Grand Torino. I personally find his relationship with the church very interesting. As for Hilary Swank, I think this is the movie where she showed that she is an outstanding actress. Morgan Freeman appears in several Eastwood's movies, and I think that he was a good choice for this role. There are some cliches in the movie, especially when showing the main character's white trash family, but it didn't look that bad, at least it didn't bother me.

I can't say I've learned anything new from this film. All these things have been written about in books and shown in other movies. It did, however, remind me about something important.

Favorite quote: "If there's magic in boxing, it's the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you".

Interesting fact: Boxing and kick-boxing champion Lucia Rijker, who also plays the part of Billie "The Blue Bear" in the film, was Hilary Swank's boxing coach.

# 142 Yojimbo (1961)

Yojimbo is a story about a samurai without a master who comes two a village devided by two feuding gangs, and, of course, he wants to free the town. But he's not trying to simply cut the bad guys' heads off, he is two smart for that. Instead, he decides to play them against each other.

Actually I was stuck with this one for a while, as I watched it a week ago, but couldn't force myself to write  review until now. There's been to many samurai movies lately, and there's more to come. As good as they are, it's hard for me to watch old japanese movies, it makes me feel like I'm watching the same movie over and over again. Kurosawa is a great director, but I don't like the camera work that much,  especially when they're shooting outside, it's sometimes hard to tell what's going on.

What makes this movie more special to me then other Kurosawa's movies, is the fact that this is the movie Rachel and Frank watched in The Bodyguard (1992) when they went on their first date. LOL, I know, I know, some people hate it, but when I was growing up it was my most favorite movie of all times, so I thought that since it's not on the list, I'll write a little bit about it in this post.

Anyway, back to Yojimbo. The plot was good. I loved how the main character fooled one of the villains when he reunited an abducted woman with her family. Some dialogues were very witty, which I really enjoyed. I cant say that I liked all of the actors' performance. Some of them, for example the gunfighter, didn't look realistic to me, but Oriental acting is a bit different from Hollywood acting, and I'm starting to get used to it, so it wasn't a big problem.

Favorite quote: "Kill one or a hundred. You only hang once".

Interesting fact: Later remade as Per un pugno di dollari (1964) (American title A Fist Full of Dollars with Clint Eastwood and remade as Last Man Standing (1996/I) with Bruce Willis.

# 141 The Big Sleep (1946)

The Big Sleep is a movie about a private detective hired by a rich man to get the blackmailer off his daughter's back. It is based on a novel, and the title is probably explained in the book, however, I've never read it, so I have no idea why the movie is called "The Big Sleep".

I think the main problem of this film is that they tried to put too much plot into it. I've seen it happen with so many films that are based of book (The Da Vinci Code being the brightest example). Seriously, the plot is very hard ot follow. When I first started watching this movie I had to stop it and start all over because I could not understand a thing. Some of the main characters never appear in the movie, and are being talked about so much that it gets confusing.

There is a lot of sexual innuendo in the movie. Note that is was filmed in the age of Hays office censorship, so many things from the novel were presented discreetly, and I didn't understand what they were about until I read about it in Wikipedia.

What I loved the most was, of course, Humphrey Bogart's acting. I'm amazed how such a short skinny man with a lisp managed to become a sex symbol. The greatest witty lines in the movie come out of his character's mouth too. Here is one of them.

Favorite quote: "She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up".

Interesting fact: Due to Humphrey Bogart's affair with co-star Lauren Bacall, his marital problems escalated during filming, and his drinking often resulted in his being unable to work. Three months after the film was finished, Bacall and Bogart were married.

# 140 Into the Wild (2007)

Into the Wild is a true story about a guy who decided to give up his ordinary life to go hitchhiking, and, later on, live in the wilderness in Alaska. The idea didn't impress me that much at first. It's hard for me to understand someone who gives up everything, and burns his money. Was his life really that bad? I don't think so. The fact that he wasn't happy with his parents doesn't explain his behaviour. There are a lot of kids that dislike and even hate their parents.

Besides, I don't get why he was so proud of not taking anything with him if he still lived in someone else's bus. If you want to live in the wild, why don't you sleep on the ground, or find yourself a cave or something? Another thing I did not like is that they showed the main character, Chris, as a very talented, smart and good-looking you man. Why do they have to show someone who is "all that" to make us like him?

However, I found the second part of the movie very moving. The first thing that attracted me is that this film is about someone who is not afraid to do what his heart is telling him to do with his life. So many people are doing something everybody's expecting them to do, never thinking about what they really want. Secondly, towards the end of the movie, the main idea was starting to become more and more clear (I will quote it in the Favorite quote section of the review), and I found myself agreeing with it as I watched the last twenty movutes of the movie.

I think Emile Hirsch played well, and looked somewhat like the main character in real life. Also, as I have already mentioned in my previous reviews, I give extra points to movies that are based on true stories =) So, congratulations, Alexander Supertramp, you are on my "good" list!

Favorite quote: "Happiness only real when shared".

Interesting fact: Shot on location, except for the bus scenes. According to Sean Penn they abandoned the idea of shooting at the real bus out of respect for Christopher and the McCandless family. Instead, they built a set in the wilderness, with an exact replica of the real bus.

# 139 Ben-Hur (1959)

Ben-Hur is a story of the friendship between two boys, one being Jewish, and the other one Roman, who grow up, and become enemies due to the fact that one of them is a Jewish prince, whereas the other has become a commanding officer of the Roman legions in Jerusalem.

This movie kept me focused the whole three and a half hours inspite of being old and long, given that I'm not even a fan of historical epic films. The movie is well paced, at the beginning of the movie I kept thinking it was going to be boring, and that they wouldn't come up with enough events to fill the whole movie with, but I was wrong. There's just so much going on here, so many themes and ideas. No, it's not breathtaking, and it was not very emotional to me, but if I had to use one word to describe it, it would be "interesting". There is a romantic plotline, but, surprisingly, it doesn't ruin the film.

I think one of the things that make this film outstanding is the fact that it doesn't use computer generated graphics for action scenes, such as the chariot race, and still all of the action is of a very high standard. The naval battle was also well done. My favorite part was the scene with the galley slaves rowing in a galley.

Although the tagline of the movie is "A Tale of the Christ", we only see Jesus on the screen for about five minutes throughout the whole film, and his role is so small, that I wouldn't even call him a supporting character. Of course, we understand, that when Christ appears in the movie, it's very special, but the person who is really trying to deliver the message is the daughter of Ben-Hur's slave, Esther. This film is not about forgiveness, it is about mercy though.

Favorite quote: "One God, that I can understand, but one wife? That is not civilized. It is not generous!"

Interesting fact: This is the only one of the three movies who have won 11 Academy Awards (the others being Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)) to have won an Oscar for acting performances.

# 138 The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Big Lebowski follows "The Dude" played by Jeff Bridges who is mistaken for a rich-namesake. Two thugs ruin his rug, and he seeks revenge with the help of his bowling teammates. Of course, the plot is a lot more complicated than what I've described. Twisted plotlines is something the Coen brothers have always been good at.

Needless to say, the movie is very quirky. It is the sixth movie by the Coen brothers that I've seen so far, and this one definitely has the quality. The best part of the movie was probably the cast. Most of all I enjoyed the acting of Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Peter Stormare. It kind of made me wonder if Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare are friends since they have starred in so many movies together.

I think that the film would have been better without all of the weird dreams the Dude had every time he was knocked out. And even though the movie was fun to watch, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. To me it was more like an average comedy that depicted American people. The dialogues were funny, and the most hilarious moment was at the end of the film, when one of "The Dude's" friends scatters their other friend's ashes at the ocean, and they blow all over Lebowski. But I think that the Coen brothers focused too much on being funny. Still, the movie was mostly positively received by the critics, and made it on the list, so I guess may be there was something brilliant about it, something I did not notice.

Favorite quote: "That rug really tied the room together".

Interesting fact: The Dude is in every scene of the movie, with the exception of the scene where the Nihilists are ordering pancakes. This is in keeping with the traditional film-noir, in which the protagonist is the narrator and acts as the audience's guide throughout the film. 

# 137 Platoon (1986)

Platoon is a movie that came out the year I was born. Funny how I didn't know anything about the Vietnam War until I started watching IMDb Top 250. As much as I like learning something new, especially when it comes in a form of a movie, I wish there weren't so many war (or anti-war) movies on the list. But these are just some general thoughts on the subject. Now let's get to this specific film.

Platoon tells us about the war through the eyes of Chris Taylor, played by Charlie Sheen. He, and his platoon are torn between two sergeants: Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). It's sort of a like a battle between good and evil, and it may sound a little bit clichéd, in fact there is a lot of dualty in this film. But it's interesting that the enemy doesn't qualify as either good or bad, it isn't taken into account at all, all that matters in this story is the war between the people who fight on the same side. I think that was a very interesting idea.

As I have already said, I don't know much about the Vietnam War, but I think Oliver Stone created a very realistic atmosphere in this film. Probably it because he's an actual Vietnam veteran. The things that were happening in Apocalypse Now weren't so believable, but here the director, the actors, and everybody who took part in making this film did a great job at capturing the war. It's interesting that Charlie Sheen's father, Maritn Sheen, starred in Apocalypse Now, another Vietnam classic.

The same as in The Deer Hunter, I was excited to see so many famous actors, such as Johny Depp, Forest Whitaker, and Willem Dafoe, back when they were young. The actors did well, but I feel like there was no need to mention it, as good acting is an essential part of any war film. Overall, I think that this is a great film. Not my favorite genre though.

Favorite quote: "I love this place at night. The stars... there's no right or wrong in them. They're just there".

Interesting fact: All of the actors had to endure a harsh 14-day boot camp in the Philippines before the shooting of the film commenced. The actors were given military haircuts, were required to stay in character throughout the camp, ate only military rations, were not allowed to shower, slept in the jungle, and even had rotations for night watch. 

# 136 The General (1926)

The General is an old old old movie. To the point that it bothers me. While I enjoyed watching some of Charlie Chaplin's movies, I'm still not a big silent film fan, as silent films require a lot more attention, and sometimes they're not worth this attention. This story takes place during the Civil War, and it is about an engineer who is turned down for service, which makes his girlfriend think that he didn't enlist because he's a coward, so he does all this crazy stuff trying to impress his girl.

Don't get me wrong, The General is not a bad film. As a matter of fact, at the beginning it is very interesting and even funny. However, it is not a pure comedy, there's a lot of action and romance in this movie. I can't say that this combination made the film look disharmonious. But it's hard for me to watch long sequences of action in the first place, and it's even harder when all of this action is shot in black-and-white. It was fun to watch the first train chase, but then there's another train chanse at the end, and it feels too much like deja vu. I got really bored towards the end of the film.

What makes this movie more valuable is that it's based on a true story of the Great Locomotive Chase. I always feel like adding one star to the movie's rating when I find out that it was based on a true story. This is just my thing. Not bad at all for something that was made in 1926, but I'd fall asleep if I had to watch it again.

No favorite quote in a silent film.

Interesting fact: Florida State University commissioned composer Jeff Beal to write a brand-new soundtrack for this silent film. It was premiered by the University Philharmonia along with the original film playing just above the orchestra.