The mafo's MoFo 100 List

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I'm not sure that I will offer a prize, but who undestands what one of Francis Coppola's offspring has to do with what I've posted today?
Holden will know
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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha



I'm not sure that I will offer a prize, but who undestands what one of Francis Coppola's offspring has to do with what I've posted today?


Even though she's credited as "Domino", a thirteen-year-old Sofia Coppola is an actress in "Frankenweenie". She plays Victor's tall neighbor and classmate in the blond wig, the one who does aerobics with her Barbie.
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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



That guy must have one of those memories where he remembers lots of stuff. Mmmmm Hmmmm.
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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969)



I posted much of what I enjoy about this film at another thread where I showed the "This used to be a Helluva good country" and "The Venusians are working amongst us" scenes. I'll try to track those down for you to remember and enjoy, but for now, I'd rather just share my personal thoughts about this film.

Easy Rider, at least for me, is a very profound film. More than any other of the films trying to define the era of the Vietnam War, which obviously includes reoccurring racism, Hippies, drugs, the mistrust of the government (pre-Watergate!), the mistrust of our youth, the divide between the "traditional" Americans and the "Younger Generation" ("Red Vs. Blue" - that sounds so Revolutionary War), the concept of what the "American Dream" is ("You go for the big money, and then you're free... "), the communes, etc., certainly dates the film because it was just about as up to date as was possible.

My brother used to criticize Easy Rider as being flawed because all the marijuana smokers had their own joints. My brother is informed, but he's also short-sighted. Criticizing Easy Rider because they don't pass a single joint around makes as much sense as saying that people smoke dope ONLY as a communal experience. It's partially correct, but it doesn't reflect people's reality, including my Bro's. The reality is that Easy Rider takes what seems to be an exagerration of America's attitude and turns it on its head. The awesome scene just outside of LAX where Phil Spector sells the drugs to Captain America and Billy is a textbook example of how to draw an audience in, both visually and cinematically. (P.S. I guess they still have to retry Phil Spector for his "murder" of the unfortunate Lana Clarkson (Amazon Women on the Moon).

This scene explains my concept of why this film is far deeper than most any others ever made.



This clip follows and helps to explain why Easy Rider is still a very powerful, and I might add, hilarious film.



The first time I watched Easy Rider was with a double bill of The Last Picture Show. I'm going to include that one next, but not quite yet...



Welcome to the human race...
I think now might be a good time to buy that Easy Rider/Five Easy Pieces double-pack I've seen at work. $13 sounds like very good value, yes?
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I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Right, first of all, this is a fascinating list of films. Probably the most unpredictable and revealing 100 Greatest list I have read. Secondly, I really like the pictures you used to compliment such films. My favourite was the picture you used when you added Shawshank Redemption. That's my favourite scene from that film.

Also loved your inclusion of A Clockwork Orange. Though, I can't imagine any list feeling complete without Stanley Kubrick's near masterpiece. That said, I disagree with what you said about the film being unlikely to be financed in this day and age. I think people are much more likely to back a film like this right now than they were 30 years ago.

But yeah, I really enjoyed reading this list, despite the exclusion of Memento. The list really does remind me that there is hunderds of great films I have yet to see. Nice work.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971)




Bogdanovich's second feature, co-scripted with novelist Larry McMurtry, digs deep into both the setting and the characters of the small, dusty, dying Texas oiltown of Anarene in 1951/2. Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) are best friends and senior football players on the high school's lousy team, but the only times they have to look forward to are dates at the town's movie theater and hanging out at the local pool hall/cafe. Both establishments are run by Sam the Lion (Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Ben Johnson) who serves as a Father Figure to the friends, as well as their mute friend Billy (Sam Bottoms). Duane's girl is the prettiest teenager in town, Jacy (Cybill Shepherd), but she's well aware of how to use her looks to control boys and get what she wants.


*Ben Johnson turned down the role three times because he said it had "too many words". After speaking with John Ford and getting assurance from Bogdanovich that an Oscar would be in his future, he finally signed on for the film. In-joke: There's a movie poster in this film's Royal Theater of Ford's Wagon Master (1950), a film which gave Johnson his first lead role.

Although told in an episodic fashion, the film progresses chronogically from the ending of 1951's football season to the beginning of 1952's football season. Sonny begins an affair with the lonely wife (Cloris Leachman, who nabbed the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this role) of his football/basketball coach, and there's an honest sharing and communication between the two characters. Jacy not only tries to get Duane jealous over geeky Lester (Randy Quaid) but Sonny himself. We also come to know about Jacy's worldly-wise mom Lois (Ellen Burstyn) and Genevieve (Eileen Brennan), the big-hearted waitress who works for Sam.

Aside from the complex characters and wonderful performances, probably the most-memorable thing about The Last Picture Show is how real it seems. Bruce Surtees' black-and-white cinematography really makes you feel as if you're back in the early '50s in the middle of Nowheresville. The sets are stripped-down and almost austerely believeable for a place populated by mostly poor people who have either already missed out on their chance at life or may well end up going to the Korean War to find their ultimate destiny. If I'm painting what appears to be a harsh picture, I don't really want to go overboard. The film is liberally sprinkled with witty dialogue and situations, and the soundtrack is overflowing with popular tunes of the day, including those by Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine and Johnny Ray. There is also quite a bit of sex and nudity (if that floats your... boat). It all adds up to a powerful motion picture experience.




My favorite movie:

The Great Dictator by Charlie Chaplin



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I like that one and all of Chaplins. How about I do Chaplin quickies, since I love him, but I haven't posted any of his in here.

The Kid (1921):


Since lines hates sentiment, I picked this scene for him. The Kid is a very simple film, but it's also very honest and highly cinematic. Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester from "The Addams Family" TV show) was one of the most talented and adorable child stars ever. (He was six years old when he made this film.) The film is jam-packed with terrific comedy and at the end, Chaplin provides one of his greatest fantasy scenes which has to be seen to be believed, but this chase scene with Chaplin racing over rooftops and battling the state who "need" to take away "his kid" always resonates with me as the centerpiece of this sweet, enjoyable film.

The Gold Rush (1925):


The Gold Rush was the first Chaplin film lionized by international film critics and historians, and even if it's recently fallen a bit out of favor, it's still a terrific movie and a must-see as all of Chaplin's features are, at least up through Limelight (1952). It's crammed with awesome scenes, from the cabin teetering on the edge of a cliff, to the starving prospector who wants to eat Charlie because he thinks he's a chicken to the bear following the tramp, to eating the shoe to the memorable climax to this short and sweet dance of the rolls. Chaplin's films are full of the kind of imagination which seems to be in short supply nowadays.

The Circus (1928):


This is one of Chaplin's least-seen features, but as the fun house scene shows, it's a real winner. What's odd is that this film actually contains quite a bit of sadism because the ringmaster of the circus abuses his daughter horribly. The Tramp tries to rescue her, but the film eventually ends on the bittersweet note which so many of Chaplin's films do. Other highlights in the film include the tightrope/bicycle scene and the scene in the lion's cage. Chaplin took a standard silent story and tweaked it to his personal vision.

City Lights (1931):
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Although it seems like a silent film, there are sound effects and a strong musical score. Chaplin was one of the last filmmakers to abandon the concept of silent movies as being more purely cinematic than talkies. Anyone who has seen this film knows all the classic scenes; the opening at the unveiling of the statue is wonderful. This is probably Chaplin's most romantic film, even with the hauntingly-enigmatic final scene. But, for all this film's greatness, I just laugh like a little kid at this boxing scene, maybe because it reminds me of Dick Lane and "Wrestling at the Olympic Auditorium" when I was growing up. "Whoa, Nellie!"

Modern Times (1936):


Chaplin uses even more sound effects, dialogue, and even sings a nonsense song, but most people still see this as a silent film, even with his classic song "Smile" on the soundtrack. Modern Times is both a social and political satire and shows Chaplin heading in the logical direction of making his next film and first "true" talkie, The Great Dictator (1940), which tackles the Nazis headlong. Modern Times may actually seem the most "modern" of Chaplin's films. It still discusses valid points, and modern teenagers find it encouragingly relevant to their lives (P.S.: they think it's funny too!)

I realize this is just scratching the surface, but I actually came in here last night to write about another movie, but when I saw the Chaplin comment, I just went off. If anybody makes any comments or asks questions, I can get into more detail.



Registered Creature
Great reviews.



Welcome to the human race...
In other news, I just bought Excalibur on VHS blind purely because it's on this list. Will express opinions ASAP.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
The Shop on Main Street (Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos, 1965)




Let me start off by saying that this film was made in 1965 in what was Czechoslovakia at the time. It's one of the most-bittersweet films ever made, and I find it to be one of those films where, after maybe 35 minutes in, you feel like you're eavesdropping on real life. It's about the Holocaust at the beginning of 1942, just after Germany occupied the country, so it's pretty specific, but even if it wasn't about something so profound, the honest sharing and caring of the main characters would still make this a great film. The crystalline black-and-white photography ranks with the greatest ever depicted in a film, and this too adds to the film's verisimilitude. Throw in the ominous music score, and things certainly seem to not be especially kosher in this seemingly-friendly town where all the "good people" go for strolls on Sundays after church while listening to the town's band playing lovely waltzes.

The film stars two actors whose performances are so perfect that, first of all, they don't seem to be acting at all, and second, they almost seem to be two different sides of the same person, even though they probably couldn't be any more different. Jozef Króner plays Tony, a poor carpenter (is this film really a Christian allegory?) who's informed one night by his fascist brother-in-law that he will become the "Aryan administrator" of a Jewish button shop owned by an elderly widow named Rosalie (Ida Kaminska, Oscar-nominated) who seems to have very little grip on reality, even though she always knows what day is the Sabbath, and she's well-aware that her husband died giving his life for his country during WWI. Tony is initially frustrated by Rosalie's "blindness" and "deafness", but he's quickly won over by her humanity and kindness. As things escalate in his village, and it becomes clear that all the Jews will be transported to concentration camps, Tony does all he can to protect Rosalie, even when it goes against his wife's feelings and those of that meddlesome brother-in-law who keeps lurking around the shop.



The film does begin slowly, but the pacing actually works to its benefit. It becomes clear that Tony is unhappily married and that he doesn't measure the worth of his life the same way as his wife or the other fascist Slovakians who are toeing the Nazi line for their own benefit. Then, Tony learns that Rosalie's shop is utterly worthless and that she's only able to live from the alms of the Jewish community, and this same community rallies around Tony because they feel he is "truly a good man" and wants him to look out for the old woman. All this leads to one of the most heartbreaking, yet uplifting, endings ever filmed. Give The Shop on Main Street a shot and see if it digs deeply into your heart, almost surreptitiously, until you have almost no control over yourself at the film's conclusion.



Let's try to be broad-minded about this
I've just recently been watching the extended versions of all three films, and I have to say, despite of giving you and extra 40 minutes in Middle earth, they ultimately detract from the overall experience quite a bit. Maybe I'm just too attached to the original versions, but every single added scene felt absolutely redundant, to the point where I wondered why anybody in their right mind would have written them, let alone included them in the film...
Then you must not have read the book because the extended versions were intended for those who did.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
The Young in Heart (dir: Richard Wallace; scr: Paul Osborn, pro: David O. Selznick, 1938)




This is a very modest, mostly-unknown film which also happens to be one of the most-perfectly constructed movies I've ever seen. It's a comedy about a family of con artists who get kicked off an ocean liner and thwarted from marrying into a millionaire's family, but somehow luckily, they immediately come across a lonely old rich woman, "Miss Fortune" (Minnie Dupree) who takes them to her heart aboard a train. This suits the family fine since they've never earned an honest living in their life, and they see a chance to engender themselves to the old woman so much that they might just make off with her inheritance when she dies. The family consists of "Sahib" (Roland Young in probably my fave performance of his), his absent-minded wife Marmy (Billie Burke, the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz and Young's wife in the Topper films), their daughter George-Ann (Janet Gaynor) who's being courted by young Scotsman Duncan (Richard Carlson), and their son Richard (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). Once the family gets to England and moves in with Miss Fortune, they begin to see things a little bit differently than they have in the past. Although they're still counting on supporting themselves with the old lady's "fortune", Sahib becomes a crackerjack salesman and Richard goes to work for the first time in his life to impress his American "boss" (Paulette Goddard).



The Young in Heart is a wonderful combo of hard-boiled cynicism and uplifting sentiment. It's rare to find a movie with so many bald-faced, common-sense emotions on its sleeves, especially concerning a group of cold-hearted takers confronted by one warm-hearted giver. Every time I watch the film (as I did tonight on TCM), I find myself with an enormous smile planted on my face for the entire 91 minutes, but it's occasionally broken by my smile cracking open loudly into hearty laughter or my tear ducts going into overdrive at the simple honesty of how good life can be if families and friends just found a way to "let it be". This film is crammed with so many memorable and original moments: the Flying Wombat, the penguins at the London Zoo, looking for the dog with the black eyebrow, Duncan completely hating George-Ann and her family but finding himself more attracted to her with each moment, the train wreck, Miss Fortune's lawyer (the awesome Henry Stephenson), Richard's hangover, Sahib "getting his head handed to him by his boss" (HA!), and many others. The cast is uniformly excellent, but the film would never work without the wonderful Minnie Dupree, who only made three other films. If you ever get a chance, watch this beautiful film, and remember to tell me what you think of it, even if you think I'm crazy! Thanks for reading.

WOW! Edit: Some automobile historian posted scenes from The Young in Heart because the awesome "Flying Wombat" was really the Phantom Corsair, which said historian says cost $24,000 to produce in 1938 ($400,000 in today's dollars!!)

Check the actual link at YouTube
to read what he said. Make sure you go to the right column, under the "Added: June 23, 2008" words and click on (more info) to learn more.

I love this movie!