71 Saving Private Ryan

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain Tom Hanks and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home. Steven Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski paint a harrowing picture of the price of war and heroism -- one that netted them Oscars for Best Director and Best Cinematography, respectively.

Jason


Well, what I mean by that, sir, is... if you was to put me and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile of Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, sir... pack your bags, fellas, war's over. Amen.

I don't know if I stated it on this blog but I'm not really a fan of war movies (I think I might have in Platoon). I'm not really sure why though. It could be because I have trouble watching tragedies made into entertainment, or maybe it's the fact that there's so much going on with bullets flying and random body parts being blown off its sometimes hard to focus on the story. I honestly think it's latter, but I like to think the former also plays a part.

That all being said I really enjoyed this movie. It didn't glorify war, or make it cool to kill the enemy or make it seem like anything but hell. When you watch the first 20 minutes you really get a feeling for how terrible D-day really was.

I think Spielberg was able to do something very few war movies directors are able to do. Instead of making the movie about the war, he used it as setting. So I was really concerned with seeing battles, or people die. I was more concerned with where Ryan was and whether or not they could save him.

Final Thoughts- Like I said, I enjoyed this movie. Though, I think this movie is on the cusp of being on my list. So if it does make it, its not above 90.

72 Shawshank Redemption

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)

Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden (Bob Gunton). During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red (Morgan Freeman) -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

Jason

The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing shit they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell... and those bars slam home... that's when you know it's for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it. 

This movie is arguably the greatest movie of all time, but you don't have to take my word for it just checkout the Internet Movie Database's top 100 list. It continually fluctuates between the top 3 spots.

Now I could go on about how good the acting is or how well the screenplay was adapted from the book, but I honestly attribute a lot of what I like about this movie to one thing. Morgan Freeman.

Morgan Freeman in my opinion is on a very short list of actors who can do no wrong. Every movie he is in is elevated to a different level purely from his presence on screen. Plus, the man has a voice like silk. His narrating was very monotone, but not in the boring sense. It was more like a good friend telling you a story. You didn't need it to be all animated and over the top, just the words and the sound of his vioce are enough to keep you enthralled throughout the whole story.

Final Thoughts- I am well aware that this post has been more of a Morgan Freeman love fest then a review of Shawshank, but honestly this movie is awesome, just go watch it then you'll understand.

73 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)

Legendary outlaws Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) display their gifts for perfect comedic timing and charisma as they pull off heist after heist in this Academy Award-winning film from director George Roy Hill. To evade a relentless posse, the boys flee to Bolivia, thinking they'll find easier pickings there. But trouble finds the charming desperadoes wherever they go, prompting yet another run.

Jason

Rain drops keep falling on my head.

In case you forgot, or if you didn't read it, the last western we watched was never even finished. So when I sat down for this movie I was nervous, not like uncomfortable just not in the mood to sit through another boring western. Fortunately, I was pleasently surprised.

This movie was far from the greatest thing on earth, but it had a charm. A great deal of this charm is from the fact that both Newman and Redford are superb actors. They gave life and individuality to two very similiar characters.

Another part of this movies charm is it's choice of music. Watching Newman riding that bike around
while hearing the song my quote was from was ridiculous. Ridiculous but charming non the less.

Final thoughts- If your looking for a bad ass gunslinging western, starring a grizzled old cowboy don't watch this movie. It never really takes itself to seriously and is kinda fun. I wouldn't put it on my list but it is a western I don't dislike, which is saying a lot actually.

74 Silence of the Lambs

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)
In this pulse-pounding adaptation of Thomas Harris's novel, FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) ventures into a maximum-security asylum to pick the diseased brain of Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a psychiatrist turned homicidal cannibal. Starling needs clues to help her capture a serial killer; unfortunately, her Faustian relationship with Lecter soon leads to his escape … and now, two deranged killers are on the loose.

Jason

You see a lot, Doctor. But are you strong enough to point that high-powered perception at yourself? What about it? Why don't you - why don't you look at yourself and write down what you see? Or maybe you're afraid to.

This movie is the quintessential suspense movie. Do I really have to say anymore. I know this is one of those movies that I could write on and on about, but I feel like if you've seen this movie before you know why its so good, and if you haven't then you should crawl out of the rock you've been living under and go see it.

The one thing that I would like to comment on that I think few people ever really think about is the title. Think about it, this line is said once and the story its from has almost nothing to do with the plot. Yet, I feel like the title fits the movie so well. It's kind of a hard thing to explain, but I guess I just wanted to point out that for a title that has nothing to do with the plot it fits the movie so well.

Final thought- Obviously this goes on my list. It is definitely in the top twenty, but could be as high as my top ten.

75 In the Heat of the Night

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)
Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) helps a redneck Southern sheriff (Rod Steiger) solve a murder in this fascinating study in racism that still strikes a resonant chord today. Steiger won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as the put-upon sheriff who comes to respect Tibbs's professionalism and ability. Norman Jewison directs this dramatic tale with a feeling for the cultural and social atmosphere of the time.

Jason


They call me MISTER Tibbs! 

I've found it! I've found the whole reason I started this project.

For those of you who don't know I am a movie buff (which I guess is given since I'm doing this project), but I always felt like I've heard of every good movie out there. Then I found this list and realized I had never even heard of quite a few of these. This led me to believe that I was missing something and this movie proves it. Up until the time I watched it three days ago I had never even heard of it, and without this list I probably never would have, and it was great. I can only hope that as we get farther down the list this happens more and more.

Like I said this movie was great. I haven't seen a good detective movie in a really long time. I was enthralled by it's twists, and loved that I was able to figure out who the killer was along with Sydney Poitier.If I had to make one complaint about the movie it would be that once they told you who did it they didn't really give you time to think about the clues that led up to him being the one, they jumped right into more story.

I also enjoyed that this movie wasn't just your normal detective movie. It has a twist that gives it the edge over what is probably 100 similar movies. Using a small, racist town as a setting with a black detective gave the story a chance to not only be about a crime, but was also a chance for characters to change and develop in ways that other similar movies could not. My favorite example of this is the respect that Mr. Tibbs had earned from Gillespie.

One last thing I'd like to point out is my quote. Through out this project I have tried to avoid the popular quote. You know the quote that everyone thinks of when you talk about the movie (i.e. "I See Dead People" or "Run Forrest Run"). I do this not because I don't like the lines but because I don't always think that they are the most important lines in the movie. The reason I bring this up is because I did in fact pick the most popular line in the movie (I think its like number 44 on the AFI 100 greatest quotes list). I picked it because it was impactful. It was delivered perfectly and it actually gave me chills.

Final Thoughts- This movie is in my top 40. Its fucking awesome.

76 Forrest Gump

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)
Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, director Robert Zemeckis's charming blend of comedy and drama stars Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, a simpleminded man who finds himself in the middle of nearly every major event of the 1960s and '70s. Along the way, he makes friends, changes lives and searches for a soul mate. Hanks nabbed a Best Actor Oscar for his remarkable portrayal of the unsophisticated yet surprisingly wise Forrest.

Bryan

"Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing."

So in my attempt to write a balanced review of Forrest Gump, I tried to figure out what I could criticize it for, and I had a lot of trouble finding anything worth writing. In every respect that is important to me, this film is solid.

Tom Hanks is fantastic. As I was trying to pick which quote to choose for my review, I realized how important Hank's delivery is. Many of the quotes seem bland when written out, and yet when read by Hanks is gut wrenching, or hilarious, or touching. I can totally understand why one of the six Oscars was to Hanks for best Actor.

We spent a lot of time discussing the visual effects during this screening, another aspect of the film that won it an Oscar. It was worth discussing, because the first few times I saw the film I didn't even recognize some of the effects as effects. I guess that's the mark of quality- their CGI stood out because it was indistinguishable to me from reality. An important part of that was that it wasn't over the top- they weren't making 4 story tall monsters from outer space, but removing legs from an actor. It required much less suspension of disbelief. The scenes where Hanks was added to historical footage was obviously not genuine, but it was believable and very well done. For the most part the effects were seamless, and were used very well. In an industry that at the time was falling in love with computer graphics, the effects were not lifted up as a central point of the film. Very few viewers went to see the film for the cool effects; the film was visually stunning more through classic approaches to cinematography than new technology. The effects were a way to open doors for the plot, rather than being visual-effects driven. I like that.

The old icon of theater (the smiling and frowning masks) comes to mind when I think of this movie. I ran through a broad spectrum of emotions while following Gump's travels, and that's not easy. I'm not sure which it did better. The funny parts didn't seem like simple comic relief, but felt like part of a real comedy, while the drama was more heart-wrenching than the conflict in a normal comedy. Awesome. Finely done.

Final Thought- This is certainly a top 100 movie, and I think it will be even higher on my list. There were discussions during Titanic about the "broadness" of the audience, and I would argue that this is a film that has across-the-board appeal. A fantastic film, and no longer being overplayed. (There was a while where ever poor kid running on the sidewalk was greeted with a "Run, Forrest, Run!!!" I'm glad that malarkey has died down.) Thumbs up.

Jason

God damn it, Gump! You're a god damn genius! This is the most outstanding answer I have ever heard. You must have a goddamn I.Q. of 160. You are goddamn gifted, Private Gump.

This movie is very hard for me to talk about. Not because it effects me in some profound way, or because I have a problem with it. It's really because I'm kinda indifferent to it. I mean I know this movie is good, it does a lot of things right, but I watch this movie and it doesn't really do anything for me.

I've been told on several occasions that I have an odd taste in movies. Not because I like weird movies (though I do like some really odd movies), but because I don't like movies I probably should. I'm having trouble thinking of an example, but if you ask any of my closest friends they will agree with me on this. Honestly they were the ones who pointed it out in the first place. I think Forrest Gump falls into that category for me. The movie is a fun time and all but I just don't feel a real connection to it. Maybe its because the story seems so far fetched to me, or maybe its because I have a problem liking movies that everyone else likes. Who knows, but whatever it is this movie just doesn't, figuratively, blow my skirt up.

Final Thoughts- All that being said I actually would actually put this movie on my list. Its not the greatest ever, but tt does a lot of things right and is a fun time as long as I don't watch it to often. I would put it number 75 on my list so its pretty much spot on.

77 All The President's Men

Brief Synopsis (from Netflix)
The film that launched a thousand journalism school students, All the President's Men chronicles how the work of reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) contributed to the public downfall of President Richard M. Nixon. The duo connected a Washington, D.C., hotel break-in with a Nixon "dirty tricks" team assigned to discredit Democratic rivals, launching a series of tense events that forced Nixon to resign.

Bryan

"If you're gonna do it, do it right. If you're gonna hype it, hype it with the facts. I don't mind what you did. I mind the way you did it."

This was a great story, and I'm glad they made a movie out of it. That said, this was more like a history channel special than one of the greatest films of all time. I was interested by how little attention was paid to the Watergate story at first, which makes the fact that Woodward and Bernstein ran down all these leads as much more impressive.

The film was interesting, but not captivating. It wasn't an experience I'll remember, it didn't change my views on the subject, and it didn't leave me wanting more. It was illuminating on the subject, but not wondrously entertaining.

Final Thought- I'm glad I saw this film, but I don't think I'd suggest it to others that weren't interest in this subject matter specifically. If journalism or history is a passion of yours, this was a very well made dramatization of the Watergate scandal. But it doesn't stand alone as a marvel of film making. It won't be on my list.

Jason


You're both paranoid. She's afraid of John Mitchell, and you're afraid of Walter Cronkite.

Bryan pretty much said it all so I'll just summarize my thoughts. The movie is an excellent portrayal of a historical moment, but entertaining it is not. I know this event in history was important for
America, but I don't understand why someone would think that a history lesson would make a good movie. Even with two powerhouse actors, this movie just doesn't do it for me.

Final Thoughts- This movie is boring, so boring in fact that I was dozing off through out the film. This movie is obviously no where near my top 100