Movies You Must See: pre 1960's

Just thought I'd start a list of must see movies. I guess I'll be updating and adding new lists as I go. Lots of genres for that! If you see something on the list that you haven't seen before, watch it and then let me know what you think! I'd love to hear other people's opinions about them. I must admit, I only included ones that I've seen and love. If there are movies I don't like, but I know they are valuable as far as the art form goes, I will recommend it. So, here are the pre-60s flicks that I've seen and would recommend to anyone! Enjoy!!

1) Gone With the Wind
2) The Scarlet Pimpernell
3) Rear Window
4) Singin' In the Rain
5) Some Like It Hot
6) Casablanca
7) The Great Dictator
8) Notorious
9) La belle et la bete (The Beauty and the Beast)
10) His Girl Friday
11) M
12) It Happened One Night

Green Zone

Title: Green Zone
Director: Paul Greengrass
Actors: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson

This movie isn't about the characters or the action. It's about a question. Why did we go to war? The movie attempts to answer that and it is an angering answer. But what is one to do? The real answer may never be known.

You know a movie is good when it makes you feel something. Something other than, "Well, that was fun." I have some bones to pick about this particular movie, but I must admit that it made me feel, even if it wasn't the kind of feeling I was expecting.

To start off with I was expecting "I Can't Believe It's Not Bourne." Far from it. Here we have a main character that is chasing WMD's in Iraq, realizes the intel provided is wrong, and wants to do something about it. He discovers the truth of the situation in the end. At least the screenwriters version of the truth. Does it piss me off? Yes. Does it make Americans out to be bad guys. Yes. And that is why it pisses me off.

I'm sitting here trying to articulate how I feel about the whole situation. It's a difficult task. But to think that a movie has stirred this reaction in me, is something indeed.

Alright, I'm moving off the topic of the Iraq war and the politics involved and moving on to the movie itself.

I hated the camera work. It was soooo damn bouncy that at times you couldn't tell what was going on. At those times I would think, "Why even bother to have something on the screen at all if you can't even tell if that's a human or a lamppost?"

The action was good. Lots of running,and gun battles.

The plot is what made this movie worth watching, despite the headache inducing camera work. The sole purpose of this movie: discover where the WMD's are. When Miller realizes they're on a wild goose chase he asks the obvious. He's shut down by his superiors and recruited by another division led by Gleeson. The film takes us through the war from a soldiers point of view on the ground and then juxtaposes it with the politicians. The latter are so far removed from the reality that their decision making comes off as questionable at best and blatantly manipulative and evil at worst. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. You discover the rest of it as the plot progresses.

What I really like about this movie is it's seeming simplicity. It has one question. The main character sets out to answer that question and correct the problem. There are no sub plots or back alley deals to get lost in. Straight forward is the phrase I'm looking for. You don't usually come across a politically motivated movie like this that's so straight forward and it is refreshing. It was easy to follow and I greatly appreciated that. Had it been more complex I would have lost interest and called it a dud.

Matt Damon turned in another good performance. Nothing too original or difficult to portray. He did a good job with his character. But, and I know I'm repeating myself here, the plot/question of the film really was the main character. Damon was merely a supporting player, facilitating the simple progression and importance of the story.

All in all: decent movie. The plot is the star of the show and the director knew it, kept things simple and easy to follow. The camera work annoyed me to no end, but honestly, you don't have to stare at the screen to know what's going on. Recommended.

The Crazies

Ok, I know I promised a review of The Crazies over a week ago. I've been a little distracted with family matters, plus I wanted to give myself time to digest the movie and write a good review. I realized today that I can't do that. I'm just too darn biased. First of all, there's this:

I mean, seriously now. I'm in love with the dude! So, of course I'm going to spend the whole movie drooling over his cuteness, and thinking about what a good job he's doing. And there goes *that* critique.

Plus, I think it's pretty well known my love for zombie/epidemic type movies. I have a hard time disliking anything with the living dead. And there goes *that* critique!

I will say this though: as horror/thrillers go, this one's good. I do recall jumping and squealing a number of times. Now that I've got some distance between me and my initial excitement a few things have started bugging me. To be honest, when I think about it, there were a few holes in the "disease". Like how it spread, it's progression and symptoms and stuff like that. Maybe I was so focused on Timothy Olyphant's non-existent hips (the boy *does* need to eat a burger or 10) that I missed some details. But, I don't really care cause.... it's Timothy Olyphant and zombies and horror and I'm still buying it when it comes out on DVD. I might even go see it again on the big screen. Can't go wrong with a twenty foot head shot of Timothy Olyphant!

All in all: I loved it. But then again, I was pretty much guaranteed to love it! If you're into horror/thrillers then this will be perfect. If that's not your genre, then you really won't like it.