2. Young and Innocent - [rewatch] A lesser-known Hitchcock, but I remember liking this one. I'm not so sure after a rewatch. It's very boring, but it does have some amusing moments (like when she's like "I'm SURE he was there" and then he goes "he was in India", and then she changes instantly "Oh, well then he wasn't there". It's a great bit of dialogue and they nail it). It's obviously outdated - complete with a scene featuring an entire band in blackface. I forgot it existed, but it's obviously uncomfortable to watch. I'm not bothered by movies made in the past that aren't up to today's politically correct standards, but this is definitely jarring. Anyway, other than that, it's a very forgettable Hitch.
3. The African Queen - [blind spot] I love a good old action adventure romance film, so not sure why I haven't seen this - it feels like the blueprint for so many films that came after (Romancing the Stone, etc). I don't think I ever realized exactly what it was about, and I assumed it was more of a historical drama; I also thought it was one of those 3+ hour historical dramas, which is why it kept getting moved lower down the list. I was, obviously, very wrong. It's actually a perfect length for this type of film, but it also still drags in the middle so it feels longer than it is. Katherine Hepburn is incredible in this (her excitement after they go over the first rapids is so infectious!), but I also really like that this is a really different role for Humphrey Bogart (and he won an Oscar for it!). I had a lot of fun with this - they have great chemistry and their banter is entertaining and funny instead of being annoying like I find most bickering couples.
4. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - [blind spot] If I didn't already know that this was a Scorsese film, I never would have guessed it. It's SO different for him - first and foremost, Scorsese rarely tells women's stories (some might use that as criticism, but to be clear, I definitely don't. I think people should tell the stories they want to tell and that they feel like they can tell well. And a lot of men don't know how to tell women's stories so they...shouldn't). That's not to say that some of his films haven't feature incredible female characters and actresses (and so many of his supporting actresses have been Oscar nominated! Jodie Foster, Lorraine Bracco, Juliette Lewis, Winona Ryder, Cate Blanchett - the list is incredible! Plus Vera Farmiga in The Departed is one of my favorite supporting actress performances ever). This story is about a single mom who leaves a dangerous situation with a man she's involved with (he's married, abusive towards her wife, and then threatens her and her child). The road trip she takes with her son to find a new home brought back memories (but actually not necessarily bad ones - I remember when my mom escaped my dad and we traveled cross-country from California to New York, we cranked the music up, and sang, and danced, and laughed a lot. "Walk Like an Egyptian" was a big hit in our car). She struggles to find work as a singer, so she becomes a waitress at....MEL'S DINER!!! I had NO IDEA that the tv series, Alice, was a spin-off of this movie!! That's insane! I only realized it when I saw Mel (and he's the same actor in the show), and I thought "wow it's weird that he starred in this as Mel who runs a diner, and then he went and did a tv show as Mel who runs a diner". And then I thought it was weirder that the title character is Alice in both...and then I googled it because those are two coincidences that are likely not coincidences! Anyway, like the show, this has fast-paced, witty, and smart dialogue and Ellen Burstyn knocks it out of the park (although I'm surprised she won the Oscar over Gina Rowlands and Faye Dunaway. What an incredible year for actresses!). Also, love the use of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" - I'm a big Whitney fan, but I adore Parton's original version of this song too.
5. Don't Look Now - [rewatch] This is my third viewing of this film within the last decade or so, and I thought this might be the one that made me push my 4 1/2 star rating to a 5 star perfect movie rating. It's just so close to a perfect movie, but I think I just can't connect to the supernatural/religious aspect. As a psychological exploration of grief, PTSD, and how loss effects marriages, etc., I think it's incredible. It also has, perhaps, one of the greatest straight sex scenes in film history. And since this is a hot topic within the film community, I want to focus on why this is done so well. Because I think a big part of the backlash towards sex scenes in films come from a place of necessity (as in...the sex scenes aren't necessary for the story), and I think that in a lot of cases that's true! Sex and nudity became overused and thrown in for effect, and a lot of times the audience is left unsatisfied. But this is so beautifully done because of the lead up - we see them suffer a huge loss, we see them love and console each other, and we see their quiet intimacy before we see the sex. And then the sex scene is filmed entirely differently - focusing on a raw sexual intimacy, sweaty body parts, etc., yet never feels exploitative; instead it deepens their connection to each other. I just think it's really stunning, and very important to the story being told. I also want to say that even though I don't connect to supernatural stuff, I do connect to stories about intuition and find them fascinating (especially concerning parents and their children) - and they definitely touch on that feeling in the beginning when they run towards their child without even knowing something is wrong. As a related side story, my mom's perspective of me getting hit by a car is that she was in the shower and then suddenly an overwhelming sensation came over her that something was wrong with me, so she jumped out and got dressed, and ran towards the door. My uncle was living with us at the time and said "what's wrong??", and she said "It's Michelle, something happened to Michelle". He ran out the door with her, very confused, and they were confronted with a crowd of people running towards our house to tell my mom that I was just hit by a car. He was flabbergasted by it. Maybe she heard the car screech to a stop or people in the distance yelling, but neither her nor my uncle remember hearing anything. She says that she "just knew". It's kind of creepy to think about. Anyway, I love this movie a lot. Maybe one day I'll go for the 5 stars.
6. Murder on the Orient Express (1974) - [blind spot] I've seen the remake of this, and I remember being confused by the plot but obviously already knowing the ending (since it's such a famous ending), and then I read the novel, for the first time, a few years ago and it all made much more sense to me. I didn't really have much interest in watching the 70s one until someone pointed out that it's directed by Sidney Lumet! I had no idea. I also was not expecting the accents to be just as wild as the new one. I admit that I was definitely expecting more from this. But nothing about it really stood out to me - aside from the stunning cast (Vanessa Redgrave, Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins, Lauren Bacall(!!!)), although ruined by Albert Finney in the lead role (I did not like this casting at all). There's some really beautiful music in the beginning that seemed very familiar (a bit like the music from Phantom of the Opera?). But I think I actually prefer Branagh's version? It's not great, but it's extremely beautiful and filmed really well. This just fell a little flat, for me.
7. The Sting - [blind spot] Doing this whole retrospective thing, that I started last year, now has me realizing just HOW MANY blind spots I have with classic/well-loved films. But that's exactly why I'm doing this - it's forcing me to watch something other than a constant barrage of terrible new releases. I liked this movie a lot. And I'm not surprised in the least to see that it won 7 Oscars, including Picture, Screenplay, Cinematography, and Costume Design (which is why I looked up the Oscars - I just *knew* it had to win Costume especially since it's Edith Head - who was THE costume designer from the 50s, and well into the 70s. She did a lot of Hitchcock films as well as Roman Holiday, Sunset Boulevard, Funny Face to name a few). The costumes are incredible - and I think that's hard to make stand-out with men's fashion. There's a great little gender-reversed makeover scene, which is totally unexpected for a film like this. There's a great score too (also won an Oscar). Robert Redford and Paul Newman are great (as expected), and the story moves in really surprising ways (I literally sat mouth agape when they shoot the waitress in the head!). It's fantastic and I can see how a lot of films have copied it (or, you know, have been "inspired" by it).
8. Ocean's 11 (1960) - [blind spot] I'm so annoyed that I tried to watch this in January along with my Ocean's marathon, and I couldn't find it streaming anywhere, and then suddenly I'm searching Max's "last chance" streaming movies (movies that are leaving the service) and it's listed! What was it streaming for like a month before being removed? I'm glad I found it before it disappeared again, but that's definitely the biggest problem with streaming. It was never a problem for me until Netflix discontinued discs, because anytime I couldn't find a movie on streaming I would just add it to my Netflix disc queue and receive it in the mail within 2 days! Now I constantly have to search for things and wait for things to randomly appear. I hate it. ANYWAY. This is a rare case in which the remake is MILES better than the original. The remake is one of my all-time favorite movies (possibly in the top 20 - I've never actually made a list because it's too daunting). This just doesn't hit the same - their banter is also really dull compared to how entertaining the 2001 one is. And there is some weird editing - the NYE scene, in particular, with it cutting to each of them but the song is playing in different parts??? It makes it feel so...choppy. The highlight is Sammy Davis Jr. - what a talent. I could listen to him sing for days on end. Also, Mr. Roper is in this!! I don't think I've ever seen him in anything else aside from Three's Company (but I LOVED that show so much growing up!). Overall, though, a big disappointment.
9. Sleeping Beauty - [rewatch] Stunningly beautiful animation - definitely among my all-time favorite animated movies. I don't think I've seen this since I was a small child, but I always adored Aurora (more so than any other of the early Disney princesses). I somehow don't remember the whole prearranged marriage part though (LOL). I'm surprised that they haven't made this into a live-action movie like all the others (instead they made one that focuses on the villain, Maleficent, which I actually enjoyed), but GUESS WHAT? Someone did make it into a live-action movie and that someone is CASPER VAN DIEN. Apparently he directed Sleeping Beauty (2014) starring his own daughter (for real! look it up!). Anyway, I think it's funny that the first aspect of her "dream man" is "tall" - it was so engrained in our brains as girls that "tall" is important when finding a male partner, which is SO WEIRD. I've also been told (as someone who is only 5ft), that I'm genetically predisposed to be attracted to tall men in order for my potential children to (theoretically) be taller. I do prefer tall guys, but when it's all said and done, it's not actually important (see my top two male celebrity crushes: James McAvoy (5'7") and Taron Egerton (who calls himself 5'10", but is listed on the internet as 5'9" HAHA!)). My husband is 6ft tall and my favorite thing to do is to tell him that he's not tall enough for me (I'M SO MEAN, but his reaction is really funny - he will literally list out statistics of average men's heights). Anyway, I'm on a tangent, but it's related because we learned so much about beauty standards from Disney movies as kids, and I think it's interesting that it's not just standards for women's appearances.
10. The Omen (1976) - [rewatch] As I mentioned with my post on The Exorcist, I always get that, this, and Poltergeist confused. I'm not sure why (supernatural horrors based around children, released in the 70s/early 80s, I guess?). I wasn't even sure if I had seen this before because I get them so mixed up, but as soon as I started watching it, I definitely remembered it. Sadly, I didn't get the same reevaluation that I did with The Exorcist - that went from a 3 star movie in my mind to almost a masterpiece at 4.5 stars. I still liked a lot about this, though. Gregory Peck is one of the best, and I love his voice so much. It's so distinct and soothing. The story is really strong (possibly stronger than The Exorcist), but it never quite hooks me. Probably because it just feels so cliched now, with the evil devil child being a major trope in the horror genre. At least the kid is a really good actor (who apparently went to jail for assault a few years back), but I don't know - aside from one shocking scene, nothing else about it really stands out for me. Also, maybe don't name your child Damien????
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