98. Yankee Doodle Dandy

I've just pressed the play button on my dvd remote, more out of desperation and an increasing feeling of cabin fever than anything.  I've had the disc for over a week, but it's hard to be excited over a title I probably never would have watched, had it not been for this list. I should be in class right now, but the mini-blizzard that happened yesterday made my 45 minute commute to school not the slightest bit worth it. And as I just finished season two of 'Beverly Hills, 90210,' I decided now was as good a time as any to give YANKEE DOODLE DANDY the fair shot it deserves.

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) is a biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, the actor/singer/dancer/playwright/songwriter/producer/theatre owner/director/choreographer known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway." The film commences in the early days of WWII; Cohan (James Cagney) has come out of retirement to star as Franklin D. Roosevelt in a show called "I'd Rather be Right."  He is summoned to meet President Roosevelt at the White House, where he is presented with a Congressional Gold Medal.  Cohan then chats with the President, and recalls his early days on the stage.  A flashback to Cohan's birth (July 4th) reveals his father as a vaudeville performer. 

Cohan and his sister, Josie (played by Cagney's real-life sister, Jeanne), become integral parts of the family act as soon as they learn to dance.  Soon, The Four Cohans are performing together, successfully. However, as their reputation grows, so does George's ego.  He becomes too cocky for his own good and is blacklisted by theatrical producers for being troublesome.  Cohan strikes out on his own and attempts to sell his songs and plays, unsuccessfully, around producers.  After meeting Sam Harris, another writer searching for success, the two form a partnership and finally are able to interest a producer.

After gaining success with "Yankee Doodle Boy" and other songs and productions, George is able to persuade his parents, whose act is struggling, to join his act, eventually vesting some of his valuable theatrical properties in their name.  Cohan later retires, but is seen on stage again several times, his role as President Roosevelt that we saw as the film opened being the culmination.  Leaving the White House, he dances down the stairs.  He then joins a military parade, where the soldiers are singing "Over There."  The soldiers invite Cohan to join them, clueless to the fact that he is the composer.  He joins them, giving us the last Cohan/Cagney performance of the film.

James Cagney won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of George M. Cohan.  The film itself won Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY was selected by the Library of Congress in 1993 for preservation in the National Film Registry.  Though some liberties were taken regarding Cohan's biography in order to Hollywood-ize his life, I enjoyed the film.  His divorce and remarriage were omitted, and there are some chronological inaccuracies, but overall the film is a wonderful tribute to George M. Cohan.  I find myself pleasantly surprised and entertained.

"My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you."

99. Toy Story

TOY STORY was made in 1995 and was not only the first disney/pixar film to be made, but was also the first feature film made entirely with CGI.  TOY STORY follows a group of toys who pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are present.  woody, a pull-string cowboy (tom hanks) is the favorite toy of andy, a young boy.  the film begins on andy's birthday - his toys are the epitomes of curiosity and competition as new toys begin to arrive and be opened; an astronaut action figure, buzz lightyear (tim allen) is of special interest, especially to woody.

we learn early on that woody is more or less the leader of the group, and that andy's family (and toys) is scheduled to move the following week.   from the moment andy brings buzz lightyear up to his room, it is clear that woody is no longer the favorite that he used to be: woody is literally tossed aside to make room for buzz.  though woody's feelings of inferiority and the interaction between him and buzz are the main conflicts in the film, buzz's internal conflict is perhaps just as integral to the overall plot.  buzz's action figure "programming" keeps him from realizing that he is not actually a space ranger, but is, in fact, a toy.  much of the film's comedic value stems from this.

when a prank on buzz goes awry and he is knocked out of the window, all the other toys turn against woody.  andy takes woody to dinner, and finds buzz along the way, only to both end up as hostages of sid - andy's creatively vicious next door neighbor.  all along woody has been trying to convince buzz that he merely a toy, but it is only after a commercial viewing and failed flying attempt that buzz learns he must accept this as reality.  as andy finishes packing his toys (without woody and buzz), sid straps buzz to a rocket.  woody tries to free him, but buzz has slumped into a deep depression and lacks the motivation to help anyone, including himself.  however, after a heart-to-heart with woody, buzz learns that being a toy and bringing happiness to a 9-year-old boy is infinitely more rewarding than being a space ranger.

andy and his mother leave for their new home as sid prepares buzz for rocket launch and woody, with the help of sid's other toys, executes a plan to thwart sid's space travel experiment. buzz (still strapped to the rocket) and woody escape sid's clutches and find their way to the moving van. however, sid's dog, scud, catches up with them and captures buzz in his teeth.  woody enlists the help of rc, a remote-controlled car to save buzz, though the rest of andy's toys are still convinced that woody is out to hurt buzz.  after a death-defying ride behind the moving van, woody is forced to light the rocket attached to buzz to catch up with the van, and find their way to andy.  having worked together to save both their lives, woody and buzz have formed an unbreakable friendship.  the film ends similar to its beginning - with andy's toys investigating military-style the opening of christmas presents.

i can remember watching this for the first time when i was 9, roughly the same age as andy's character, and being simply entertained by the animation and overall storyline of the film.  watching it now, 14 years later, i am still entertained.  though, this time, i am almost blown away at the ability of TOY STORY to relate universally, and to all ages.  much like 'shrek' and 'a bug's life,' TOY STORY has elements for everyone.  i found the character developments of both woody and buzz, their interactions, and their relationships with the other characters much entertaining and important to the overall plot than i had previously.  i was pleasantly surprised to find that TOY STORY is much more than a children's adventure movie.

100. Ben-Hur

When I said I wasn't excited about watching Ben-Hur, that was an understatement. I absolutely did not want to watch it. Thus, I found it extremely hard to pay attention to, especially when distracted by Boggle on Alyssa's iPhone. We ended up splitting in half - the first half of which I paid about as much attention to as I would, say, Reagan Hicks. I then had to have Alyssa fill me in on what was going on.  However, I found the second half of the movie much more watchable and was able to actually figure out what was going on and differentiate from about a dozen characters that all looked the same. 


Prince Judah, Judah, Judah Ben-Hur, whatever his name happened to be at any given point, as a character, wasn't really able to evoke any sort of emotion from me. Granted, me and emotion aren't exactly on a first name basis or anything, but still.  Maybe it was the writing, the acting, or the story in general, but I just could not find any way to connect with the title character, and believe me, I tried (in the second half, of course). I wanted so badly for the first (well, technically last) movie on our list to inspire and excite me to continue on. Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited about the majority of the rest of the movies, but Ben-Hur didn't make it any easier for me to keep my focus.


Overall, the story was ok, though the first hour or so dragged on.  The actual filiming and direction and whatnot, for the time I guess, was pretty good.  I can see why it is on the AFI Top 100, because of its quality relative to when it was made, but I don't think I will shell out another $4.50 at Blockbuster to see it again any time soon.


Next up is Toy Story... love it. But I'll be watching it differently than I ever have. Instead of watching it as a fun, fanciful children's story, I'll be looking for clues to figure out how exactly it made the Top 100.
-sarah

in my head, when alyssa and i started this, i figured it would take about a year to get through the list. that imaginary deadline is just about up, and i'm no closer to being finished than i was 8 months ago.  i'm back at home in kentucky, so it's just me watching movies now. only, i haven't been. since i moved back in june, i have watched seasons 1-5 of 'how i met your mother,' both seasons of 'popular' and 'pushing daisies,' the only season of 'freaks and geeks' and 'wonderfalls,' all 6 seaons of 'lost' and 'dawson's creek,' and the first three seasons of 'dexter.'  so, as you can tell, i haven't exactly been busy. more just... occupied.  the jobs i have leave me with lots of freetime, which leaves me with no desire to do anything. ever. i'm working on it.

to get back in the groove of things, i'm going to alternate my netflix account. i get two dvds at a time - one will be a season of something, one will be the next movie in the list. it'll take longer to get through the list than i had originally expected; but hey, it already has.

new review soon, i promise. 

an apology for the masses

ok, here's the deal... not that anyone reads this, but i feel like i owe the internet lasers or airwaves or whatever an explanation. 

about the only thing i'm good at is procrastinating.

i'm gearing up to move back home to kentucky, where, hopefully, i'll be teaching in the fall.  i'm convinced that life will be better, that i'll be less lethargic and depressed, etc.  after the summer, i'll be living alone, which will greatly increase the personal use of my netflix account.  my plan is to pick back up where i left off after ben-hur and watch my way through the top 100, probably one a week. 

living with a roommate, it seems that i have to use my netflix to entertain the both of us, and alyssa hasn't been brimming with anxiety to get the next movie watched. hell, she never even wrote a recap of ben-hur.

i've been thinking about writing lately - how much fun it would be to work in a writer's room for a sitcom or sketch comedy show.  or how writing movie reviews for entertainment weekly would just about make me pee my pants. so maybe writing about the top 100 will give me enough experience, confidence, blah, blah, blah, to take a step in that direction. hmmm, it would probably help if this got read by someone at some point. eh, a girl can dream, right?

Opening Credits

I have always liked movies.  I love getting lost in someone else's idea of reality for an hour and a half, two hours or so at a time. And not just the typical chick-flick movies; I love dramas, comedies, musicals, documentaries, mysteries, everything. So after watching an episode of "30 Rock" in which Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) starts dating Floyd (Jason Sudeikis) and they fall asleep watching Tootsie, I decided I wanted to tackle the AFI Top 100. Liz and her friend from work, Pete, (Scott Adsit) who had been staying with her had decided to watch the Top 100, but only had Star Wars and Tootsie, so they just watched those over and over. I've seen several on the list already, but am super excited to watch them again. I'm also excited about several others, like Tootsie, Vertigo, Casablanca, Annie Hall, and The Last Picture Show that I have not ever seen. We're starting at number 100 and working our way up to Citizen Kane. The only flaw in the plan that I can see thus far is having to watch the The Godfather Part II before The Godfather.  First up are Ben-Hur and Toy Story. I've never seen Ben-Hur, so I have mixed feelings about it. I'm pumped to start watching my way through the list, but Ben-Hur being the starting off point isn't exactly inspiring alot of motivation. So join my roommate, Alyssa, and I every week when we watch at least one, maybe two, movies from the AFI Top 100 list. I'll have a bag of Act II Butter Lover's popcorn and a package of Reese's, but you (if there is a you) can have whatever you want.

-sarah

I am excited about watching AFI's top 100 because I love movies that you can appreciate. Movies that reflect transformations in cinema history and ultimately our society. I must admit I'm not always open minded when it comes to some genres. For example I really do not like slasher movies, horror movies, or gory war movies. I'm hoping that through this endeavor I will not look so unfavorably  at the darker genres. I love movies that make you feel good, aren't too sappy and bring you into the life of characters that lead extraordinary lives. Having taken only two beginner film classes in college, I by no means think I have the authority to say what is a good or bad movie. I do know what I like and why I like it. I am prepared to approach this with an open mind and a bag of pretzels with raspberry honey mustard dip and probably one or two of Sarah's Reese's.

-Alyssa

AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition)

1. Citizen Kane (1941)

2. The Godfather (1972)

3. Casablanca (1942)

4. Raging Bull (1980)

5. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

6. Gone with the Wind (1939)

7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

8. Schindler's List (1993)

9. Vertigo (1958)

10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

11. City Lights (1931)

12. The Searchers (1956)

13. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

14. Psycho (1960)

15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

16. Sunset Blvd.  (1950)

17. The Graduate (1967)

18. The General  (1927)

19. On the Waterfront (1954)

20. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

21. Chinatown (1974)

22. Some Like It Hot (1959)

23. The Grapes of Wrath (191940)

24. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

27. High Noon (1952)

28. All About Eve (1950)

29. Double Indemnity (1944)

30. Apocalypse Now (1979)

31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

32. The Godfather Part II (1974)

33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

35. Annie Hall (1977)

36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

40. The Sound of Music (1965)

41. King Kong (1933)

42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)

45. Shane (1953)

46. It Happened One Night (1934)

47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

48. Rear Window (1954)

49. Intolerance (1916)

50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

51. West Side Story (1961)

52. Taxi Driver (1976)

53. The Deer Hunter (1978)

54. MASH (1970)

55. North by Northwest (1959)

56. Jaws (1975)

57. Rocky (1976)

58. The Gold Rush (1925)

59. Nashville (1975)

60. Duck Soup (1933)

61. Sullivan's Travels (1941)

62. American Graffiti (1973)

63. Cabaret (1972)

64. Network (1976)

65. The African Queen (1951)

66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

68. Unforgiven (1992)

69. Tootsie (1982)

70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

74. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

76. Forrest Gump (1994)

77. All the President's Men (1976)

78. Modern Times (1936)

79. The Wild Bunch (1969)

80. The Apartment (1960)

81. Spartacus (1960)

82. Sunrise (1927)

83. Titanic (1997)

84. Easy Rider (1969)

85. A Night at the Opera (1935)

86. Platoon (1986)

87. 12 Angry Men (1957)

88. Bringing up Baby (1938)

89. The Sixth Sense (1999)

90. Swing Time (1936)

91. Sophie's Choice (1982)

92. Goodfellas (1990)

93. The French Connection (1971)

94. Pulp Fiction (1994)

95. The Last Picture Show (1971)

96. Do the Right Thing (1989)

97. Blade Runner (1982)

98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

99. Toy Story (1995)

100. Ben-Hur (1959)