We Watch Your So Called Classics

Platoon was okay, better than I thought, but just okay.  I have never been a fan of war movies.  I didn’t mind playing with my brother’s G.I. Joes but anything dealing with war usually turns me off.  Every time I heard the music to M.A.S.H. I immediately turned the channel.  When “Platoon” was over and we clicked on the special features, the movie started to get more interesting.  I liked hearing the real story and maybe the best thing about the film for me was seeing some familiar famous faces before they were so famous. 

Platoon. I thought it was cool. But I should admit, I had a tough time following the narrative arc. One, because there wasn't much of a narrative arc. Two, because what there was of it was spread out among so many characters.

The coolest thing about the movie, aside from its all-star cast, was that Charlie Sheen's character was based on the real-life Oliver Stone.

War movies these days seem a dime a dozen. That's what made Tropic Thunder work so well as a parody. (While watching Platoon, I was often taken back in my mind to Tropic Thunder; and after watching "The Making of Platoon," I would have to think Tropic Thunder was, in fact, at least a partial spoof of Platoon.) And there must be a dozen of so movies that look in some shape or fashion like Platoon. But seeing as how Platoon came first, perhaps that's the biggest complement I can give it.

Pulp Fiction was full of them... and I liked that about this film.  There was lots of talking.  I almost wondered if it would work as a play.  (I'm sure someone else has already thought about that.) 

I saw this movie in high school and I'm pretty sure I didn't understand 1/2 as much as I understood this time around.  I really only remembered the ketchup joke and The Gimp from the fist viewing.  But this time the story was clear and liked Samuel L. Jackson more than I ever have before. 

Since first watching Pulp Fiction some fifteen years ago, I've remembered it as having a puzzle of a timeline that could only be pieced together through considerable effort by the viewer. Either I'm super wise now, or I was a simpleton then, because as it turns out the movie follows a rather straightforward chronology. Only the first and last scenes--everything that happens after Sam Jack's famous recitation of Ezekiel 25:17, up to and including the diner heist--are out of place.

So why wouldn't Tarantino just let the whole thing play out in order? Why not start with John Travolta and Sam Jack's convo about Royales with cheese, and end with Bruce Willis hightailing it out of town on "Grace?" Well, because there's no more fulfilling way to close a movie than with a moment of clarity and a heaping helping of bad motha fucka philosophizing from the brilliant Sam Jack.

Which brings me to the thing that I like most about Quentin Tarantino--he knows how not to get in the way of good story telling. And Pulp Fiction is plenty good story telling. I think it, unlike Sixth Sense, will be around in the top 100 for a long time to come.

The guys in the movie kind of lived the life I have always wanted to live... at least up to the point where they get beat up and later murdered. They were two guys riding on the American roads, taking their time, and meeting people along the way. Other than the times when they drank a little, smoked a little, and had one crazy acid trip, their long haired lives were all about freedom. This might have been the first movie that we've watched so far that I would have wanted to be in. Of course I would have also needed to be a man and/or white unless I wanted to be one of the poor extras living in the shacks in New Orleans or in the parade but I think it would have been a cool filming experience. So I am doing the next best thing, riding on a train with that guy on Christmas day. Living a life of freedom and adventure... at least until I have to go back to work on Thursday.

These days, art movies seem to get all the love from the critics. At the end of each year, every critic's favorite movie seems to be some low-budget gem that you've never heard of. That's why I think its so remarkable that this is the first movie we've seen so far in the top 100 that feels like an art film. It moves slow, it's about nothing in particular but everything in general, and it has a dope soundtrack. Do The Right Thing tiptoes up to that category but it seems glossy and polished compared to Easy Rider.

Overall, I dug Easy Rider. Jack Nicholson stole the show of course. My favorite scene was the one in the Louisiana diner. That was a real art-film moment. And the ending was saddening, almost maddening, but it felt just right. The one thing I didn't like was the blink-wipes between scenes; even for an indie-loving person like myself, that was a bit much. 

Yes, by some bizarre turn it was I that fell asleep on the first try with this movie. Which just goes to show that I must have been really beat, because this movie was darn good.

What never ceases to amaze me, what is only just now sinking in while watching these top 100 movies, is how little there is in modern-day cinema that's truly innovative. I'm not sure if movies like Yankee Doodle Dandy, which absolutely nails the biopic movie, were that far ahead of their time, or if we're just lazy. I have a qualm or two -- let's just say this movie wasn't made to get my granddad or grandma out to the theater -- but I can't front on the writing, the story telling, and the performance given by James Cagney. I'm like you, that girl -- I didn't know anything about George M. Cohan before this movie, but the film succeeded in making sure I would never forget him. It was darn good.

Just kidding. I don’t think you are a hater, that guy. But unlike you, I do think and hope that “Sixth Sense” will stay on the top 100 list for a while. This is one of the few movies that I own. I rarely buy movies and I hardly re-watch anything but this is one that I would love to watch with my kids and their kids in the future. Maybe it’s because I love a good ghost story. Okay, I might be one of the few people who like “The Village” and I think I was a fan of “Lady in the Water” but it’s because these movies were like stories that I would like to listen to or tell myself. Watching this movie again years later didn’t have quite the same impact as it did the first time. Probably because I knew the surprise ending but just think about how much fun it would be to watch it with someone else who didn’t.

Assuming AFI stays true to form, they'll revamp their top 100 list in 2017, adding a handful of new movies and removing a few old ones. That said, I'd advise "The Sixth Sense" to really enjoy these next six years; my money says their days on the list are numbered.

It's not that The Sixth Sense is a bad movie, it's just not classic, not in the way that other contemporary movies like Toy Story, Do the Right Thing, and Pulp Fiction are. We all thought M. Knight Shyamalan was a genius when The Sixth Sense came out, but now we know he's a sham and a one-trick pony. Its hard, then, not to look back at The Sixth Sense as gimmicky. Granted, it was the gimmick to end all gimmicks -- maybe that's what AFI sees in the movie -- but you take that away and nothing about the movie even seems better than average. It's a movie that you can only really enjoy once. Well, twice, if hunting for ghost-world inconsistencies is your thing.

A coworker of mine thinks its criminal that AFI  didn't make room for Gladiator on their top 100. Well, in 2017, there should be at least one slot opening up. I wouldn't be mad at all if Russell Crowe and company snatched it up.

...to your question, that girl, is obvious: Ben Hur. Spartacus was a little soft, and would have been dead 20 minutes in if not for a benevolent negro.

not snails. This movie, as far as movies go, was a little snailish. It wasn't awful, but it's in my bottom two so far, along with french connection.

That girl, when you asked me what the early African governments must have been like, something clicked; something occurred to me for the first time: I don't understand white moviemaker's obsession with Rome.

Between Spartacus, Ben Hur, Gladiator, and what must be tens of other flicks, I think there's a thing with Rome and white people. My theory is this: Rome, as far as eras of civilization go, is the ultimate have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too for white males. Like the eras of Mad Men and Pan Am, it was a time when white men ran things...and by things I mean half the habitable earth. But on top of that, it's also one of the few times in history when white men, regular old white guys, were widely oppressed. So not only do they get to bask in a bygone era of world dominance, they also get to play the humble, underdog protagonist. Brilliant.

That's my theory, at least. And I'm sticking to it.