Number 98 on the American Film Institution's Top 100 is Yankee Doodle Dandy which was made in 1942. The movie is a biography of the life of George M. Cohan who was a self-described, "song and dance man." Cohan wrote such classic songs as "The Yankee Doodle Boy", "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway", and "You're a Grand Old Flag," in addition to many shows that were performed on Broadway and throughout the U.S.
The story of George M. Cohan is the biggest selling point for this movie. Nearly everyone can recognize the popular songs that were written by Cohan and performed in the film. Watching how these songs came to be is a surprisingly fun thing to watch. It isn't even that you watch him compose the pieces, but rather get to watch the songs performed in a re-creation of the shows that Cohan became so famous for. I have no idea how many shows that Cohan created himself, but the film portrayed him as a pioneer of Broadway shows and a regular to the biggest of venues. These shows looked as though they were big productions that dazzled the eyes and entertained the masses. The film did a fantastic job at recreating the spectacle of these shows. It was not just the music or the shows that made the film such a pleasure.
Another reason that Yankee Doodle Dandy was such a successful film, was the acting of James Cagney as Cohan. Cagney does a wonderful job not just performing the songs, but also recreating the shows and making you feel as though you were there. The dancing that Cagney displays is a joy to watch; you just no longer see such skillful dancing, especially tap dancing. In several separate sequences Cagney wows the viewer with his display of athleticism while making tap dance look easy. Not only does Cagney excel at singing and dancing, but the slow moments of the movie are kept interesting through the acting of Cagney. All the hard work that Cagney put in trying to emulate Cohan was well spent, as he was rewarded with the Academy Award for best actor, and rightfully so.
One aspect of the film that I paid particular attention to was the acting. After watching Ben-Hur and the "over-acting" that resulted in an Academy Award for Charlton Heston, I was curious if that was simply the norm for that time. After watching Yankee Doodle Dandy I can confidently say that it may have just been the norm for Ben-Hur. Yankee Doodle Dandy was well acted by everyone involved, and never seemed to go over the top. It will be interesting to continue watching older films to see how the acting compares to the movies that I am used to watching.
The cinematography was about what you would expect for such a movie, nothing special but certainly was not lacking anything. The shows that were recreated were fun to watch but did not take any special shots as you would expect from a movie in today's era. However, you could argue that this type of movie had no need for any special cinematography, and it would have even taken away from the movie if there were.
Yankee Doodle Dandy did not have to rely on any fancy story lines, or trick photography. Instead it knew it had a winner with the story alone, and was able to add to the overall experience with the superb acting of James Cagney. Erin was unable to watch the movie, therefore can give no rating. I however would give the movie a high 4 out of 5, lacking only because of few slow spots in the movie. I would certainly recommend watching it, not only for the entertainment it brought but also the historical aspect of it.
One of the new rating systems I will be implementing is my personal top 10 movies of the AFI's Top 100. Although I have only watched three thus far, I will be continually updating my top 10 with any movies that I feel have outperformed the current top 10. So here are the top 3 so far.
1. Toy Story
2. Yankee Doodle Dandy
3. Ben-Hur
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
No. 99 - Toy Story
The next movie that I was instructed to watch was Toy Story. For my money this is one of the best animation films that has graced the silver screen. There are so many different reasons that this movie stands above all other animation movies, many of which I will cover below.
Disney Pixar has long had a history of terrific story lines to anchor their movies. Even before the two companies merged, they each had success in fantastic story telling. As far as I am concerned the cream of the crop is Toy Story. The story of a roomful of toys coming to life had always been a dream of virtually every kid. With Pixar, however, this dream came true. The sheer originality of the movie did not satisfy, as the scripting of the story is really quite top notch. The characters were well developed and the story lines intertwined with one another without getting in the way of each other. Part of the story line is character development, at which Pixar has never ceased to amaze. It is not just the main characters of Woody and Buzz Lightyear that are developed thoroughly, but the supporting cast as well. Characters that add so much to the film are given their time in the limelight as well. Characters such as Hamm, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky, and Sarge. Of course it isn't just character development and story line that make a movie great.
If the story line and characters do not draw you in, the animation will. This was the first feature-length movie that Pixar released. It was received to rave reviews of the realism and depth of detail. Nothing was missed from the texture of a plastic toy, to the decals of a sticker eventually peeling off. Having seen the movie in the theaters, and multiple times at home on DVD, it was a pleasure to watch it again in Blu Ray. This showed even more detail than I remembered, particularly in the texture of Mr. Potato Head. I saw the texture clear as day on Blu Ray, and it took me back to my child hood playing with one in my Grandma's basement. The animation goes so far beyond the obvious of the look of toys that we all remember as kids. The shadowing across faces, the movement of the characters, and the detail to each stitch of a toy really showed how much time the makers put into this movie.
The real diamond in the rough for Toy Story was the voice acting. I believe that they are unsurpassed in the quality of voice acting for this film. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen provide the meat of the entertainment, and deliver on nearly every line. It is the lesser known actors, however, that provide us with the enjoyment to repeatedly watch the film without tiring. One such actor is John Ratzenberger as the character Hamm. Ratzenberger never misses an opportunity to shed humor on a situation when given a line. He did such a fine job that you will find him on nearly every other Pixar film that follows Toy Story.
Toy Story is one of those movies that only come along every so often. Not only do children get to enjoy it, but the adults do as well. With so many different levels of enjoyment it is no wonder that Woody, Buzz, and the gang made it onto the Top 100. Erin enjoyed the movie as much as I did, and maybe even more, having stayed awake the entire time. As for myself? This is a movie that I would easily give a 5 out of 5.
Disney Pixar has long had a history of terrific story lines to anchor their movies. Even before the two companies merged, they each had success in fantastic story telling. As far as I am concerned the cream of the crop is Toy Story. The story of a roomful of toys coming to life had always been a dream of virtually every kid. With Pixar, however, this dream came true. The sheer originality of the movie did not satisfy, as the scripting of the story is really quite top notch. The characters were well developed and the story lines intertwined with one another without getting in the way of each other. Part of the story line is character development, at which Pixar has never ceased to amaze. It is not just the main characters of Woody and Buzz Lightyear that are developed thoroughly, but the supporting cast as well. Characters that add so much to the film are given their time in the limelight as well. Characters such as Hamm, Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky, and Sarge. Of course it isn't just character development and story line that make a movie great.
If the story line and characters do not draw you in, the animation will. This was the first feature-length movie that Pixar released. It was received to rave reviews of the realism and depth of detail. Nothing was missed from the texture of a plastic toy, to the decals of a sticker eventually peeling off. Having seen the movie in the theaters, and multiple times at home on DVD, it was a pleasure to watch it again in Blu Ray. This showed even more detail than I remembered, particularly in the texture of Mr. Potato Head. I saw the texture clear as day on Blu Ray, and it took me back to my child hood playing with one in my Grandma's basement. The animation goes so far beyond the obvious of the look of toys that we all remember as kids. The shadowing across faces, the movement of the characters, and the detail to each stitch of a toy really showed how much time the makers put into this movie.
The real diamond in the rough for Toy Story was the voice acting. I believe that they are unsurpassed in the quality of voice acting for this film. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen provide the meat of the entertainment, and deliver on nearly every line. It is the lesser known actors, however, that provide us with the enjoyment to repeatedly watch the film without tiring. One such actor is John Ratzenberger as the character Hamm. Ratzenberger never misses an opportunity to shed humor on a situation when given a line. He did such a fine job that you will find him on nearly every other Pixar film that follows Toy Story.
Toy Story is one of those movies that only come along every so often. Not only do children get to enjoy it, but the adults do as well. With so many different levels of enjoyment it is no wonder that Woody, Buzz, and the gang made it onto the Top 100. Erin enjoyed the movie as much as I did, and maybe even more, having stayed awake the entire time. As for myself? This is a movie that I would easily give a 5 out of 5.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
No. 100 - Ben-Hur
What a nice way to start my list. Ben-Hur was a movie that I had heard many people talk about, but had never seen myself. I had not heard much about the overall story of the movie, but mostly of the chariot race that was supposed to be so entertaining. I was curious to see if I would be affected by the movie being made such a long time ago, or if I would consider it a "classic" as many people do.
Finding out that the movie was over 3.5 hours long was a bit of a shock. It may have taken some of the wind out of my sails right away. From the start of the movie, however, I was interested and didn't notice the time. The only time I noticed it was getting long, was when I had to stop the movie, to finish the next day. I don't know, though, what they could have cut out and kept the story line smooth and flowing.
The overall story was quite good, even by today's standards, and I am surprised that no one has attempted to remake it yet. The beginning and end of the movie took a turn towards the religious, or even spiritual, side while the rest of the movie focused solely on the challenging life of Ben-Hur. The ending was somewhat strange and did not seem to follow the recipe of success that the rest of the story did. I felt that it went too far to the religious side and did not have much to do with the rest of the story. The ending aside, Ben-Hur was a great story that was not affected by the age of the movie, and was enhanced by the originality of it. You will not see many movies similar to it.
The acting was intriguing but sometimes hard to take. Charlton Heston won an Academy Award for best actor for his role in Ben-Hur. Watching his performance I saw numerous scenes in which he employed what I would consider over acting. He had very exaggerated emotions, expressions, and body language. This may be common for the time as I have not seen many movies that were made in this era or before. I am curious if it has anything to do with working in theater first. I could see where many of the actors and actresses of this era go their start in plays, and thus were accustomed to these exaggerated moments.
One thing that really amazed me about this movie was the sheer size of it. This had to be considered an "epic" for its time. There were scenes of the Romans marching that had HUNDREDS of soldiers, as well as a parade scene that showed even more Roman citizens lining the streets. The size of the set had to be massive as well, if nothing but for the parade scene. And lets not forget about the chariot race.
The best part of the movie was the chariot race scene that was just as good as everyone had told me. It was both enthralling and exciting to see a scene with that much action that was not enhanced or assisted with computer generated graphics. The crash scenes were really intense. Although you could see that some of the crash victims were clearly just rag dolls, some of them looked like they were just well-timed stunts. This scene alone was worth the time I spent watching the movie.
Ben-Hur was a great movie to start with on the Top 100 movies. I personally enjoyed it, but I am not sure that I would recommend it for everyone. It takes time to get through the whole thing and some people may find it slow moving. However, the story was well thought out and put together, the acting was decent, and the cinematography exceeded my expectations for the time. Erin stayed up the entire time on the first night that saw us reach the halfway point, but was out cold about 20 minutes into the second night. As for my own rating of the movie...I would give this movie a 3.5 out of 5.
Finding out that the movie was over 3.5 hours long was a bit of a shock. It may have taken some of the wind out of my sails right away. From the start of the movie, however, I was interested and didn't notice the time. The only time I noticed it was getting long, was when I had to stop the movie, to finish the next day. I don't know, though, what they could have cut out and kept the story line smooth and flowing.
The overall story was quite good, even by today's standards, and I am surprised that no one has attempted to remake it yet. The beginning and end of the movie took a turn towards the religious, or even spiritual, side while the rest of the movie focused solely on the challenging life of Ben-Hur. The ending was somewhat strange and did not seem to follow the recipe of success that the rest of the story did. I felt that it went too far to the religious side and did not have much to do with the rest of the story. The ending aside, Ben-Hur was a great story that was not affected by the age of the movie, and was enhanced by the originality of it. You will not see many movies similar to it.
The acting was intriguing but sometimes hard to take. Charlton Heston won an Academy Award for best actor for his role in Ben-Hur. Watching his performance I saw numerous scenes in which he employed what I would consider over acting. He had very exaggerated emotions, expressions, and body language. This may be common for the time as I have not seen many movies that were made in this era or before. I am curious if it has anything to do with working in theater first. I could see where many of the actors and actresses of this era go their start in plays, and thus were accustomed to these exaggerated moments.
One thing that really amazed me about this movie was the sheer size of it. This had to be considered an "epic" for its time. There were scenes of the Romans marching that had HUNDREDS of soldiers, as well as a parade scene that showed even more Roman citizens lining the streets. The size of the set had to be massive as well, if nothing but for the parade scene. And lets not forget about the chariot race.
The best part of the movie was the chariot race scene that was just as good as everyone had told me. It was both enthralling and exciting to see a scene with that much action that was not enhanced or assisted with computer generated graphics. The crash scenes were really intense. Although you could see that some of the crash victims were clearly just rag dolls, some of them looked like they were just well-timed stunts. This scene alone was worth the time I spent watching the movie.
Ben-Hur was a great movie to start with on the Top 100 movies. I personally enjoyed it, but I am not sure that I would recommend it for everyone. It takes time to get through the whole thing and some people may find it slow moving. However, the story was well thought out and put together, the acting was decent, and the cinematography exceeded my expectations for the time. Erin stayed up the entire time on the first night that saw us reach the halfway point, but was out cold about 20 minutes into the second night. As for my own rating of the movie...I would give this movie a 3.5 out of 5.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
American Film Institue's Top 100
In 2007, the American Film Institute published their 10 year anniversary version of "100 Movies...100 Years." The list was compiled by 1500 film critics and includes some of my most cherished titles. Reading the list I realized that I have yet to see many of the movies that have helped to define the American cinema. This gave me inspiration to watch these movies I have missed, as well as those that I have already seen before.
Recently I was accepted into Arizona State University's Film and Media Studies program. My ultimate goal is to gain the knowledge to critique movies and give my opinion of their quality. It was brought to my attention, however, that I do not necessarily need a diploma to review movies. Therefore, I have decided to get a head start on my future career.
One of my pet peeves when reading critics is how they seem to forget the many different purposes of movies. They seem to think the only movies worth watching are the truly fantastic ones that are few and far between. They forget that a movie can be enjoyable without winning every major award. Hence the success of the "Scary Movie" franchise. They always seem to make a bunch of money despite their horrendous stories, directing, acting, and everything else. The majority of movies rely on the sheer entertainment value to lure viewers. Examples of these are any of the movies in the recent super hero craze.
I am attempting to complete the AFI's Top 100 in one year, which will require me to watch an average of two movies every week. I will also attempt to dedicate one blog to each individual movie. This will allow me to provide you, the reader, with my own personal rating of each movie as well as a another rating. This secondary rating system for each movie will involve my wife, Erin. That rating system will be determined by the length of time that Erin actually stays awake during the movie. In theory, the longer she stays awake the better the movie is.
Well, I am off to start my journey through the best movies of all time! First up:
100. Ben-Hur
Recently I was accepted into Arizona State University's Film and Media Studies program. My ultimate goal is to gain the knowledge to critique movies and give my opinion of their quality. It was brought to my attention, however, that I do not necessarily need a diploma to review movies. Therefore, I have decided to get a head start on my future career.
One of my pet peeves when reading critics is how they seem to forget the many different purposes of movies. They seem to think the only movies worth watching are the truly fantastic ones that are few and far between. They forget that a movie can be enjoyable without winning every major award. Hence the success of the "Scary Movie" franchise. They always seem to make a bunch of money despite their horrendous stories, directing, acting, and everything else. The majority of movies rely on the sheer entertainment value to lure viewers. Examples of these are any of the movies in the recent super hero craze.
I am attempting to complete the AFI's Top 100 in one year, which will require me to watch an average of two movies every week. I will also attempt to dedicate one blog to each individual movie. This will allow me to provide you, the reader, with my own personal rating of each movie as well as a another rating. This secondary rating system for each movie will involve my wife, Erin. That rating system will be determined by the length of time that Erin actually stays awake during the movie. In theory, the longer she stays awake the better the movie is.
Well, I am off to start my journey through the best movies of all time! First up:
100. Ben-Hur
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