Susan*

Yeah, I saw Shoah, Little Dorrit, and the longer Fanny and Alexander, but not all in one sitting. Cleopatra is maybe the longest one I saw in a theater at one sitting. (I also saw revivals of Lawrence of Arabia and Gone with Wind in theaters, but according to wiki Cleopatra is longer. I did singalong Sound of Music a couple of years ago and that felt four hours long but it's not!)

I keep thinking of Shadow of a Doubt -- which I love and has terrific acting by Cotten. I used to have that discussion with my parents -- 20 plus years ago! The real drama should have been whether the daughter was good enough for Pointier.

I count 23 movies on that list of omitted films not 36? I hadn't thought about whether the movies were really American. Lawrence of Arabia feels super-British to me, though I have no idea who financed it. Same with Bridge on the River Kwai, though that has an American leading actor at least. I guess we're claiming David Lean for some puzzling reason? Or did they become "American" because they were academy award winners that were beloved by American audiences? BTW, I'm so glad Guess Who's Coming to Dinner came off that list.

For me it would be Fargo. It might be the best movie of the 1990s for me. Which is funny, because I didn't love it when I saw it in the theater for the first time. And Close Encounters should replace E.T.

I saw a making of Life of Brian a long time ago and they said they mocked storylines from all the big bible epics, so I'm sure Ben-Hur was included. It looks like they're doing the 10th anniversary list for this podcast, not the original. -- if they were doing the other list you and I both might have had a reason to see Rock Hudson in Giant. Because they're doing the 10th anniversary list, I still have two movies on the list I haven't seen -- but now it's Intolerance and Shawshank Redemption. I'm pretty sure that Rock Hudson's best work was McMillan and Wife, but that show is completely looney. The wife is pregnant but later there's no baby. His wife then dies off screen (and he gets a new maid) even though his "wife" is sort of named in the title of the show.

Also Swing Time has the Fred Astaire in black face number.

My mom attended a school in Indiana that was named after Lew Wallace. I ran across him when I was reading Civil War history. I'm only a third of the way into the podcast, but the opening scene of Ben Hur reminds me of the opening scene of the Life of Brian. I swear it's even the same soundtrack?

How did they pick Top Hat for the musical list but Swing Time for the movies list? And I still like the Gay Divorcee, Follow the Fleet, and the one where he plays a ballet dancer better.

Some of the really old movies will be more fresh than the ones from recent decades. I used to love Tootsie. It was never perfect but the good parts were so good and my parents loved that movie. That one would be tough to rewatch because I'm old enough to remember how Dustin Hoffman gave dozens of interviews talking about how playing that role made him appreciate what an ass he had been as a young man and he was all about the feminist statements. But honestly, the soundtrack might be the deal breaker for me now. Earnest 80s movies had some of the worst songs. That one has a montage that's the equivalent of an 80s music video.

That's interesting! I haven't seen intolerance either.

I have not seen Birth of a Nation or Giant all the way through. (I saw parts of Birth in a college class and parts of Giant on TV but it always looks awful) When I was in college I went to a revival house at least once a week, mostly seeing double features, which could be tough, like the double feature of 2001 and Clockwork Orange.

I watched the whole movie on Filmstruck -- really I did. But I'm an idiot and I missed the opening credit saying that Ayn Rand wrote the screenplay. During the first 15-20 minutes, I kept thinking what an odd tone the movie had. What do you call it when characters tell the audience all their motivations and backstory in a super-obvious/unrealistic way? I don't think I've even seen a movie so full of that during the opening scenes. I hated that. I'm glad I was judge-y about the screenplay without knowing who wrote it. It's certainly an oddball movie and I'm glad I finally saw it, but I can't vote for it. Helen Mirren won an Emmy for the Passion of Ayn Rand, a movie I cannot recommend but it portrayed Ayn's relationships in her mature years. :/ FYI -- I'm a gigantic fan of old movies. I love so many of the old-time actors--leading men and character actors. I have never understood the appeal of Gary Cooper. I don't like his acting and he was too old for the part, but I think it's crazy to say that he's not attractive in the movie. He' conventionally leading-man attractive in this movie and generally. I love Amy, but she made me want to hit my head against the wall with the comment about people knowing Patricia Neal mostly from Breakfast at Tiffany's. So glad she was challenged on that right away. I didn't even remember Patrica Neal being the older love interest of George Peppard. But I hope Amy remembers her from A Face in the Crowd. And please see Hud. FYI -- I can think of 3-4 other Astaire and Rogers films that I'd watch before Swing Time. Yes, the scene where he pretends that he can't dance and then they dance all over the dance studio is a perfect musical number, but the overall story etc isn't as memorable. The Gay Divorcee has The Continental and the gigolo who forgets his secret code phrase.

Just checking in to say that I've continued to watch The Avengers (tv show). In 4-5 weeks they should be getting to the episodes that are in color.

This. But I voted for Infernal Affairs.

Ordinary People is one of my favorite movies. The three leads are wonderful. The final scene between Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton is perfect. It's a realistic depiction of something that could have been my midwestern town/school/friends when I was a teenager. I saw Raging Bull a long time ago. I understand why it was a huge achievement, and I usually like movies that feature unlikeable leads, but I didn't enjoy it and I never want to see it again. Cathy Moriarty was the best thing--love her. I don't know about direction and who should have won best director but Ordinary People was the better movie. I want to get that off my chest. Scorsese movies are always worth watching, though I rarely like them. I strongly dislike ones like Cape Fear, where the camera work is so obvious it distracts from the movie. I prefer the small flawed movies with goofy elements like After Hours. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore might be a perfect film though. When I saw The Departed I was surprised and relieved that I liked the movie the whole way through--Maybe I was too easy on it. But I would have given the Oscar to The Queen. I really love that movie, not just Helen Mirren. The Queen accomplished what it needed to do. And I could watch the scene where the girl gives the flowers to Helen Mirren and cry right now.

I've intended to see this movie for years, and now I have another reason. Plus I love Patricia Neal.

What about the Richard Gere movie?

Why do movies about teenagers have such poorly drawn characters? Breakfast Club uses the easiest stereotypes. Sheedy and Broderick had better teenager roles in War Games. Fast Times at Ridgemont High had characters that more closely resembled the kids at my high school (though Freaks and Geeks came even closer). When I went to my 20th high school reunion, it turned out that the smartass who sold me scalper tickets to concerts had become a career army guy.

I came to this with a certain amount of dread. I understand that the concept of the canon is that it's not about whether a movie is good, but so many movies I dislike get in. I really dislike this movie. I listened carefully to the podcast, and I thought I had an open mind, but what I heard was the guest cataloging many bad things about the movie that coincide with my opinion, and talking with love about a movie that I do not like and never have liked. I'd say that I was a little too old for this movie when it came out -- except that's not true. I guess it was r-rated, but it seems like it should have resonated more with younger kids because the characters were so poorly drawn -- more like what people who haven't been to high school think high school is like? Except that's not true in my memory. I went to a sold out showing at a suburban theater on opening night. I hated it, but my best friend's older brother loved it, and it seemed like the audience did too. The audience appeared to be in the older teens, young 20s. So maybe I've always been the odd one. I strongly feel that this is a bad, bad movie. Random thoughts (just to get it out of my system): I understand the argument that a brat pack movie should be in the canon, but why not the terrible St. Elmo's Fire? That's the penultimate brat pack movie. As for Hughes, I loved 16 Candles when it came out, but I can't champion that now for reasons others have touched on. I was never a Ferris Bueller fan, but it had a big impact, in style, and inside references you use later in life like Abe Froman. For my money, Home Alone is far and away the best Hughes movie, but I understand wanting to tie him to the subpar high school movies instead. If you're younger, then you need to understand that Molly Ringwald was a big huge deal. She got press coverage at every level, in every kind of publication. As a serious actress with interesting personal history, for leading major movies that did well, for getting movies made, and for trying to expand to more interesting roles that ultimately didn't work for reasons that weren't her fault. And she dated Adam Horovitz! And she was always articulate and came across as smart, even in the puff pieces. I still have a soft spot for her even though I don't have a soft spot for any of her movies. Simple Minds was a solid band. I appreciated how the video for Don't You (Forget About Me) minimized the film footage so you barely noticed it and the song could live outside the movie. And Alive and Kicking is another memorable video for them.

I was a child when the Exorcist was a hit. My best friend's older brother begged to go see the movie with his dad, the dad finally relented, and then the brother had horrible nightmares for ages afterwards. It took me about 20 years to finally see the movie on cable because its reputation loomed so large in my childhood memory. My friend's family was very old-world Catholic, and their belief that exorcisms were real played heavily into the impact on that family. I don't like horror movies so I'm not going to watch or vote this week, but I just noticed that The French Connection is on HBO on demand so I'll watch that again in tribute to Friedkin instead.

I haven't seen it since its theatrical release, when my friends loved it and I hated it.

So is there going to be a break before new podcasts?

I tried to watch that on cable once! It seemed like it wouldn't be that hard to make a slight, but entertaining movie based on that concept. I've started recording the B&W TV shows on a channel called CHARGE!

Even The Canon can't make me watch this movie. But I did ask my DVR about it and learned that the British TV show is playing on a channel I didn't know I have.

Eddie Murphy has never been in a good movie. I understand the appeal of 48 Hours, Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop--they have their moments. They have some classic scenes. But they are not good movies. I'd say they are actually bad movies that Eddie Murphy saved by coming in and doing his appealing schtick. (Honestly, Ghostbusters and Bill Murray are the same -- a flawed movie that becomes a must see because of what Bill brought -- not the script, not the director.) I've always found Eddie to be a very sad case. I'm old so I can remember when he was an amazing and fresh comic. And so smart. So special. It wasn't fair to him that he was on SNL at the worst time, with the worst cast, when he had to carry the whole show. But his best stuff was among the best that show ever had. Then he was cast in movies where he had to carry the whole movie, taking mediocre product and trying to spruce it up. I used to wonder what he would do if he even had a chance to work with a talented writer and director. But that didn't happen. I don't know much about him. I suspect that he was just so huge, with the entourage and the mega-star trappings, he wasn't strong enough or interested enough to do what it would take to take interesting roles in unusual projects. It makes me appreciate how tough it must have been for Bill Murray. (FYI - I'm one of the few who saw The Razor's Edge in its initial run.)