# 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. 

# 135 Snatch. (2000)

The first time I tried watching Snatch., I thought it was boring. I don't know if my movie perception has changed so much because I've seen so many good movies or for any other reason, but this time the film was like a breath of fresh air. I have not seen Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels yet, so I can't compare these two movies, but I really enjoyed every single minute of watching Snatch.

The first thing that I noticed about it is that the film is very well paced. I wanted to say "perfectly paced", but at the beginning thing happen too fast, which confused me a little, and I had to keep asking my husband (who has seen it before) who this or that character was. Still I wouldn't call it a flaw because it only makes you wanna watch the movie once again.

The actors put in an excellent performance. Benicio Del Toro is about to become my new favorite actor. I always thought that Brad Pitt was a little too glamorous, but in this film he does a very good job, just like he did six years later in Babel, and three more years later in Ingrourious Basterds. I've never seen the actors that played Sol and Vinny before, but those guys made me laugh big time. And this was a rare occasion when Jason Statham's acting didn't irritate me.

I can't even think of which part of this film I liked best, each word of the script is a masterpiece, with the right touches of dark humour. I loved how the plotlines intertwined, and the editing was good too. Guy Ritchie has earned my respect through films like Sherlock Holmes and Snatch. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his movies.

Favorite quote: "You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity".
Interesting fact: Brad Pitt, who was a big fan of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), approached director Guy Ritchie and asked for a role in this film. When Ritchie found Pitt couldn't master a London accent, he gave him the role of Mickey the Gypsy. 

# 134 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

I think that Tarantino has made some quality movies, including Inglourious Basterds and Pulp Fiction, but Kill Bill: Vol. 1 did not live up to my expectations. It is a very basic revenge story. It's unrealistic and too extreme. However my major problem with this film is not the lack of realism.

The movie is all about style and has no plot. I loved the dialogues in Pulp Fiction, and I loved almost everything about Inglourious Basterds. In Kill Bill the music was good (it was borrowed from Tarantino's soundtrack collection), but that's about it.

This film is badly written and directed. It lacks pace. It contains Tarantino's weird trademarks, but they make absolutely no sense. Like what's the point of bleeping out the bride's name? At the same time when I was watching Kill Bill, all the countless clichés made me think of hundreds of other movies it reminded me of. And I've never been a fan of martial arts films, but I'd rather watch those because this one looks like a parody. Yeah, this film is ingenious, but I don't get what so many people see in it.

Favorite quote: "It was not my intention to do this in front of you. For that I'm sorry. But you can take my word for it, your mother had it comin'. When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I'll be waiting".

Intersting fact: Uma Thurman's yellow track-suit is a direct homage to the one worn by Bruce Lee in Game of Death (1978).

# 133 Annie Hall (1977)

Annie Hall is a story of two selfish neurotics who fall in love. It takes place in New York, where a comedian played by Woody Allen tries to maintain a relationship with a singer played by Diane Keaton. The movie shows how the relationship changes over the years, and eventually falls apart.

At the beginning the movie seems pretty entertaining. It is innovative in the way the story is being told, but after a while all of these unusual remarks and dialogues get boring. I can't say that any of the characters in this film captured my sympathy. The acting was good, but the character's personalities didn't attract me at all. 

As much as I like the genre of intellectual comedy, I don't understand why Annie Hall is considered a classic. There were a couple of funny moments though. One of them was Woody Allen sneezing into the cocaine. What makes it even funier is that it was an unscripted accident. I thought the joke at the beginning of the movie (about the food at the mountain resort) was good too.

I have only seen a few of Allen's movies so far, but this is not the best one of them. I'm not saying it was a bad film, but it's far from being outstanding.

Favorite quote: "That sex was the most fun I've ever had without laughing".

Interesting fact: At 93 minutes, it is the second shortest film to win the Best Picture Oscar. The shortest film to win the Best Picture Oscar is Marty (1955) at 91 minutes.

# 132 The Deer Hunter (1978)

I have recently watched The Deer Hunter, and to be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much from it. The movie is about a group of friends (Americans of Russian descent), and for the most part it shows us their lifes before and after they went to the Vietnam war. 

The story begins with one of the friends getting married. Despite the fact that none of the lead actors are ethnically Russian, I really liked the way a traditional Russian wedding was shown in the movie. Not that I'm a huge fan of Russian traditions, but the film is very good at depicting them. The cathedral and the choir looked authentic. According to IMDb the wedding scene took five days to film, and an actual priest was cast as a priest. After the wedding this loud company goes hunting, and then three of the friends go to war.

I really liked that it was not a typical war movie with all the war-type action. As a matter of fact only a short part of the story takes place in a POW camp. The rest of it focuses on the friends' lives after they escape from the camp. One of the friends loses his legs, another one loses his mind, and the third one tries to go back to living a normal life. So basically the movie shows different outcomes of the same story, and this outcome mostly depends on luck. Yes, luck plays a great role in this story, as well as in real life.

It was good to see Young Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep. De Niro looked so handsome in this film too. All of the actors did an excellent job. Russian roulette was surely among the best things about the movie. My verdict: The Deer Hunter is a must-see!

Favorite quote: "Why don't we go to bed? Can't we just comfort each other?" (sounded hilarious in the context of the movie).

Interesting fact: John Cazale, who also played Fredo Corleone in The Godfather, was very weak when filming began, and for this reason, his scenes were filmed first. Michael Cimino knew from the start that Cazale was dying from cancer, but the studio did not. When they found out, they wanted to replace Cazale. When Meryl Streep learned of their intentions, she threatened to quit if they did. Cazale died shortly after filming was completed. This was John Cazale's last film.

# 131 The Wrestler (2008)

I saw The Wrestler at the movies, when it first came out, so it was quite a while ago. It's a drama about an aging wrestler played by Mickey Rourke. Now, a year after having seen the film I realize that it was a good movie artwise, but my first reaction was a feeling of disgust.

I have to admit that Rourke acted to his fullest potential, and that the role fit him very well. But other than that I couldn't find a single thing to like in this movie. It was just too raw for me. I can't stand all of that puking, cutting yourself and other people, drugs and sex-in-the-bathroom kind of stuff. I didn't think that the film was very deep either. I mean yeah, everybody gets old, and then dies. So what? Besides hand-held camerawork irritates me.

I know it's going to be one of the shortest reviews in my blog, and all of The Wrestler's fans are going to hate me for this one, but this is the type of movie I wouldn't wanna watch again.

Favorite quote:"Then that Cobain pussy had to come around and ruin it all".

Interesting fact: The first scene of Randy working the deli counter was improvised. When real customers kept walking up to the counter during filming, Darren Aronofsky told Mickey Rourke to take their orders while the camera would continue rolling. Also improvised were all of the backstage locker room scenes.

# 130 The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

This is an old movie, and normaly I don't have a problem with that, but I have to admit that this time it really caused some problems for me in understanding the movie. Once again the film touches upon such subjects as the Cold War and Red Scare. The story revolves around a Korean war POW who comes home after being brainwashed by the Communists.

I think that it was an excellent film over fifty years ago, but having seen it in the 21st century I found it a little naive. I still liked how it shows that a human mind can be manipulated so easily though. And I'm glad I watched it because I got to see oneof the first Hollywood Kung Fu fights. That scene cracked me up.

Favorite quote: "Have you ever noticed that the human race is divided into two distinct and irreconcilable groups: those that walk into rooms and automatically turn television sets on, and those that walk into rooms and automatically turn them off. The trouble is that they end up marrying each other".

Interesting fact: A scene where Laurence Harvey jumps in Central Park lake was shot on the coldest day in 30 years. They had to break the foot-thick ice on the lake with a bulldozer before the scene could be shot.

# 129 There Will Be Blood (2007)

There Will Be Blood is a story about a silver miner who discovers oil in the shaft and starts his own oil company. This is one of those movies shows a different historical period or a different region so well that it makes you want to learn more about that period or region. I really liked the way Paul Thomas Anderson portrayed the lives of people who lived in the western United States at the beginning of 20th century. At the same time the film tells us a story about a man whose mind is possessed by greed and desire of power, universal features of human nature.

Many people, as well as myself, find lengthy films hard to watch. This movie is 2 hours 38 minutes long, and I can't say that the plot seemed very interesting to me. However, it was compensated by some solid acting and horror-like score (by the way, written by Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead). The music reminded me of TV Series Lost. The cinematography was also beautiful. 

It's a dramatic film, but there are elements of comedy in it. The funniest part was the scene of the main character's baptism. Pastor Eli made me laugh a couple more times during the film. I find this character very hard to like though.

Overall, the movie is good, and I think it deserves being on the list. If you like The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, which was the director's inspiration for this movie, you'll probably enjoy watching this one too.

Favorite quote: "Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... I... drink... your... milkshake!"

Interesting fact: The fictional character of Daniel Plainview bears some resemblance to a real, early 20th-century California oil tycoon named Edward L. Doheny. Both were from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; both were employed by Geological Survey and worked in Kansas; both tried a hand at mining before going into the oil business; and both worked with a fellow prospector named "H. B. Ailman."

# 128 Notorious (1946)

Alfred Hitchcock's fans are going to hate me for this one...

I don't want to go into details about the plot, but basically Notorious is a combination of love story and espionage story. In reality, all we see in this movie is a pseudo love triangle between an incompetent spy, a fallen woman, and a Nazi. Come on, do really really beleive that a secret agent could fall in love after a drunk date? Aside from all missteps in the plot, the film is simply too slow-paced. Three Hollywood stars (Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, and Claude Rains) fail to deliver their best performance this time.

There is one thing I liked about the movie though, it's the final scene (the one involving the staircase). This is the only scene in this film that is likable, Hitchcock finally manages to build the tension that I expected to see throughout the whole film. Technically the movie is pretty good, but emotionally it didn't engage me at all.

This is the worst movie by Alfred Hitchcock I've seen so far.

Favorite quote: "We are protected by the enormity of your stupidity, for a time".

Interesting fact: Mission Impossible II is a remake of this film

# 127 The Sixth Sense (1999)

When The Sixth Sense came out back in 1999, I was thirteen years old. Being a fan of Bruce Willis, I decided to save up some lunch money and buy the movie on VHS. You can imagine my disappointment when I found out that it was counterfeit, and when I say it, I mean it was of a very bad quality, taped in a movie theater. Russia was, and still is a hotbed of piracy. Besides, I wasn't used to watching scary movies, and I was probably too young to understand what the movie was about.

This time, more than ten years later, I watched the movie again, and I watched it from a totally different perspective. The movie tells us a story about a frightened little boy, Cole Sear, and a child psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, who is helping the boy overcome his problems while trying to recover from a violent encounter with a former patient.

I probably won't be wrong if I say that the most memorable thing about the film was the twist at the end. The ending is surprising, yet very logical. Unfortunately, it took me only about half an hour to figure it out, but I blame it on having seen the movie before, even though I don't remember seeing the end of it. The best thing about the plot is that it draws all of your attention to the boy and his fears, and it makes you see Dr. Crowe only as a supporting character, so you don't notice all the weird things that happen to him. There are no fallacies in the plot, however it is achieved by setting some artificial rules, like "ghosts don't see each other", "ghosts only see what they want to see", and it seems a little made-up to me, but this might be the only flaw in the whole movie.

What makes this film so scary? For the most part it is very calm. Then all of a sudden you see a little boy, he turns around, and there is a huge hole in the back of his head. The scary moments in this movie come when you least expect them, and that is what makes them so creepy. The music also plays a big role in building the atmosphere. However, the movie is not only trying to scare the audience, it touches upon very important issues, such as love between parent and child, death and letting go of your loved ones.

It is important to note the performance of Haley Joel Osment who did a remarkable job portraying Cole Sear. For this role he was nominated for the Academy Award, which made him the second-youngest actor ever to receive an Academy nomination for a supporting role (after Justin Henry who was nominated at the age of eight for Kramer vs. Kramer). I believe that Bruce Willis delivered his best performance too. In this film he took a break from all these action movies, and showed that he can also be a good dramatic actor.

Favorite quote: "I see dead people" =)
Interesting fact: While circling a passage in the notes, Bruce Willis does so with his right hand. Willis is actually left-handed; he learned how to write right-handed so that viewers wouldn't notice that his wedding band was no longer on his hand.

# 126 High Noon (1952)

This is my first review on one of the Top 250 Movies, and I already know that this is not going to be an easy one. Western is not particularly my favorite genre, so this film was a little hard for me to appreciate.

In High Noon Gary Cooper plays a marshal who goes by the name of Will Kane. The movie begins with him getting married and getting ready to leave the town, when he finds out that an outlaw whom he thought was to be hanged, has been freed, and will arrive at the town's train station at high noon. Kane makes a decision to stand up and fight against the gang, even if he has to do it all by himself.

The movie delivers a message about a man doing what he is supposed to do, it's about courage and doing what is right. May be this idea would seem more appealing to me if I was a man, but from a woman's point of view, I would like my man to stand by my side instead of chasing bandits. I won't go into the political background of this film, I'll just say that it's full of allegory, so for those who can read between the lines and know the US history of the 20th century, it's probably a very interesting movie.

To me the best thing about the movie is that the action takes place in real time. The runtime is 85 minutes, and the film portrays the events that take place between 10:35 am and noon. No surprise it won an Academy Award in "Best Film Editing" category. There is not much action in the movie, which I think is good because the 1950s action looks pretty archaic to me. The music score was written by Dimitri Tiomkin, a Russian (or Ukrainian to be more exact) composer who won two Oscars for this movie (Best Original Song and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture).

I won't argue with those who say that there are no flaws in this movie, but it's hard for me to understand what's so special about it. It's a good film, but I think it's a little bit overrated.

Favorite quote: "If you don't know, I can't explain it to you".
Interesting fact: High Noon is reportedly Bill Clinton's all-time favorite movie.