MadMikeyD's Top 100 Films

You Can't Take It With You is a tale of two families - the rich Kirbys and the free-living Vanderhofs. It's part Romeo and Juliet with Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur as the lovebirds, and the well-to-do Kirbys trying to keep them apart because of their social class. It's also part tale of the clash of ideology between Lionel Barrymore as the zany Grandpa Vanerhof and Edward Arnold as banker A.P. Kirby. Arnold is always great in these evil rich guy roles. And it's hard to believe sweet old Grandpa Vanderhof would play the complete opposite role as Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life eight years later.

Along the way we get lots of laughs from the crazy characters in the Vanderhof household, which is full of not only family members, but other people who just came to stay and do whatever it is they want to do. The mayhem on the night the Kirbys visit is a blast.

While the social commentary in this film is not as heavy as it is in other Capra films, like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town or Meet John Doe, it's still there. Mr. Kirby learns that true happiness doen't come from money or big deals, but from just enjoying your family and life in general. We all wish at some point or another that we could live like the Vanderhofs. In reality, of course, we know we can't, but it is possible to find a balance somewhere in the middle.

I really enjoy this picture and I laugh a lot watching it. I thought my kids might enjoy it also with all the crazy characters in it. I was wrong on that. They did like some of the characters, but for the most part they found it too long and not exciting enough. Oh well. It's still one of my favorites.

What can I say about Up that has not been said already? Probably nothing, so you've probably read all of this before. Up is, IMO, the perfect animated movie. It is simultaneously wacky and out there, yet grounded and realistic. The first 15 minutes are practically the greatest and most realistic love story ever put on film, yet even my 5 year old watches attentively. Even when we leave the "reality" and enter the wackiness of the floating house, Carl is still a real person and we still can empathize with him. So we already have this great character who has suffered a great loss, and we share that with him. Then we get Russell. The wide-eyed and curious kid that also is suffering. His dad has a new family and doesn't have time for him anymore. Now we have two fantastic characters we can sympathize with and relate to. Not that this film is a downer. There is plenty of comedy, action and adventure in this film. Kids of all ages are glued to it. I would classify this as the animated equivilant of It's a Wonderful Life. Not in terms of plot or story neccessarily, but in terms of the emotional experience of viewing it. Like Capra's masterpiece, if you don't have some kind of emotional reaction to this film, you may not have a soul.

Making a Top 10 List is Hard..

Here are mine

1. Little Miss Sunshine
2. The Champ (1979)
3. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
4. Human Traffic
5. Rocky II
6. Snatch
7. A Bronx Tale
8. The Shawshank Redemption
9. Boyz N the Hood
10. Dead Poets Society

67. Paul Blart - Mall Cop (2009, Steve Carr)

Starring: Kevin James

This is the movie I'll probably get the most grief for, but I don't care.

I just rewatched Arsenic & Old Lace the other night (finally). I think it's probably been 10 years or so since the last time I saw it. I had forgotten just how funny it was. I was laughing out loud the whole time. Was Cary Grant's performance a little over-the-top? Maybe, but he was absolutely hilarious. A truly fun, truly funny movie. Not the social-statement, little-guy-vs-the-system picture Capra is normally remembered for, but still an excellent piece of work and worth watching if you've never seen it.

Great classic film. The first film to sweep all 5 "big" Oscars - Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay. The dynamic between Gable and Colbert is fantastic. So many classic moments - "Quit bawlin'!", "The Walls of Jericho.", "I won't use my thumb." Clark Gable is very funny here, which is not a trait I would have associated with him before watching this picture. A fun romantic comedy with an appeal far beyond that of the typical "chick-flicks." Though made in the 1930s the film still holds up. I think any fan of film would be well served to watch this one.

Frank Capra's first post-Columbia feature. Gary Cooper is excellent as Long John Willoughby. You ride right along with him as he goes from bum to celebrity, from being full of doubts to actually believing in what he is doing. Walter Brennan is also great as his friend the Colonel, and Edward Arnold is always excellent as the Capra villain. This movie is the antithesis of the belief that Capra's endings are always perfect and happy, as the conflicted ending, while not tragic, is not all sunshine and roses either.

Nothing I can say would truly do justice to this film. While most people view it as a sappy Christmas story, it is oh so much more. George Bailey, like so many of us, is a man who has had to watch all of his dreams fly away in order to fulfill the responsibilities of life. He has always acted selflessly and for the good of other, no matter the cost to himself. We get to see this from the time he was a boy, to the time his father dies, to the time his brother gets married, to the depression, to WWII. In his darkest hour, on Christmas Eve, he decides it would be better for everyone if he was dead. Even on the verge of suicide, George acts selflessly saving another man from drowning. That man turns out to be Clarence Oddbody, Angel Second Class, who shows George what the world would be like if he had never lived. The vision is a dark and twisted version of his hometown and friends. It is actually a very dark and depressing sequence. As has been said, Capra delivers happy endings, but he makes you work for them. And of course, once George, and the viewers, realize how wonderful life really is, just being with the people you love, we get our sappy, happy ending. But boy did we work for it. If you don't get watery-eyed during the finale of this film, you're heart is probably two sizes too small.

Only Capra could have made this movie, which is probably why no one before him was able to make it work. Donna Reed is fantastic. Lionel Barrymore is suitably evil. The supporting characters are all wonderfully cast.

Jimmy Stewart, who is always likeable on-screen, is perfect as George. Stewart is able to show George's growing bitterness and resentment at how his life has gone. He shows us George's happiness and unhappiness. The overwhelming despair when he's about to loose it all. The terror as he tours Pottersville. The indescribable joy as he makes it back to Bedford Falls and the people he loves. Through Stewart's performance, he takes us all through the full emotional gamut, and makes the payoff, sappy and Capra-corny as it may be, all the more satisfying.

A perfect film, not just for Christmas, but for anytime. I watch it several times every year and never fail to end up blubbering like a baby by the end.