Considering that it has been close to a year of freelancing in a demanding Friday evening business, I've been doing pretty well with showing up here. There was the Yearly Kos photo diary that sobermom needed to post for me because I was working a spotlight at Phantom and we had to swap a few times.
I had planned to write a review of last week's AFI's 10 Top 10, a little competition with Friday Night at the Movies but now I don't have time. So for tonight, as I'm dressed in a black suite listening to some summer classics, I'll just list those Top 10 in 10 categories because movies are a happy story for me.
I hope you can enjoy this hostless dairy, tell us how you feel about those movies and share a few happy stories of your own. I'll be back at 11 to add a thing or two and mojo you up.
Being a really big movie fan I think those hose AFI specials are great fun to watch In AFI's 10 Top 10 they divided the movies up into ten categories and picked the best in each bunch.
The Opening Montage alone was a wonderful walk down memory lane that had only one suprise, a scene from Miller's Crossing and of course ended with the music and that famous view from Gone with the Wind.
The first category was Animation and the winners are;
#1 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
#2 PINOCCHIO
#3 BAMBI
#4 LION KING, THE
#5 FANTASIA
#6 TOY STORY
#7 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
#8 SHREK
#9 CINDERELLA
#10 FINDING NEMO
After working something like five thousand performances of the live version I've go to go with Beauty and the Beast.
#1 CITY LIGHTS
#2 ANNIE HALL
#3 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
#4 ROMAN HOLIDAY
#5 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
#6 WHEN HARRY MET SALLY...
#7 ADAM'S RIB
#8 MOONSTRUCK
#9 HAROLD AND MAUDE
#10 SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
#1 THE SEARCHERS
#2 HIGH NOON
#3 SHANE
#4 UNFORGIVEN
#5 RED RIVER
#6 THE WILD BUNCH
#7 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
#8 MCCABE & MRS. MILLER
#9 STAGECOACH
#10 CAT BALLOU
As far as I'm concerned Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid case closed! I was surprised that Once Upon a Time in the West was not on the list. I guess even the AFI suffers from that American fear of immigrants but that was one marvelous bowl of spaghetti.
How great do Sport Movies seem when you look at this Top Ten List?
#1 RAGING BULL
#2 ROCKY
#3 THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES
#4 HOOSIERS
#5 BULL DURHAM
#6 THE HUSTLER
#7 CADDYSHACK
#8 BREAKING AWAY
#9 NATIONAL VELVET
#10 JERRY MAGUIRE
I have to agree with the AFI on the number one choice but I always lean toward Martin Scorsese. I'll put Raging Bull up top and after that it gets confusing. I really loved Rocky when it came out but I would move The Hustler up above that one and place a movie that didn't even make the list in number two position, Million Dollar Baby.
#1 VERTIGO
#2 CHINATOWN
#3 REAR WINDOW
#4 LAURA
#5 THE THIRD MAN
#6 THE MALTESE FALCON
#7 NORTH BY NORTHWEST
#8 BLUE VELVET
#9 DIAL M FOR MURDER
#10 USUAL SUSPECTS, THE
Even though I love every one of those movies I like newer movies that seem to fit into my era more than the old classics, so I'll go with The Usual Suspects in this category. I think that movie may have had the best ensemble ever and Kevin Spacey was just as good as acting can ever get.
What should be my favorite category since Bush began his White House occupation, Fantasy;
#1 THE WIZARD OF OZ
#2 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
#3 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
#4 KING KONG
#5 MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
#6 FIELD OF DREAMS
#7 HARVEY
#8 GROUNDHOG DAY
#9 THE THIEF OF BAGDAD
#10 BIG
My favorite is the one I waited for since reading the books at age ten, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I don't know how GroundHog Day made that list but after those five thousand or so nights watching the same show I really understand that movie.
#1 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
#2 STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE
#3 E.T. - THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL
#4 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
#5 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
#6 BLADE RUNNER
#7 ALIEN
#8 TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
#9 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
#10 BACK TO THE FUTURE
Outside of the two oldies I've seen every movie on this list at least twenty-five times. I remember like it was yesterday taking the 'D Train" down to the Capitol Theatre to see 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is probably the movie I've seen the most times in my life.
Here's ten that Congress can identify with, The Gangsters;
#1 THE GODFATHER
#2 GOODFELLAS
#3 GODFATHER PART II, THE
#4 WHITE HEAT
#5 BONNIE AND CLYDE
#6 SCARFACE: THE SHAME OF A NATION
#7 PULP FICTION
#8 THE PUBLIC ENEMY
#9 LITTLE CAESAR
#10 SCARFACE
Being a lover of the home town movie and Scorsese, I've got to go with Goodfellas on this list.
#1 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
#2 12 ANGRY MEN
#3 KRAMER VS KRAMER
#4 VERDICT, THE
#5 FEW GOOD MEN, A
#6 WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION
#7 ANATOMY OF A MURDER
#8 IN COLD BLOOD
#9 CRY IN THE DARK, A
#10 JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG
Because I can handle the truth A Few Good Men for me here.
"Anytime you're ready C.B." In the last but not least tradition The Epics;
#1 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
#2 BEN-HUR
#3 SCHINDLER'S LIST
#4 GONE WITH THE WIND
#5 SPARTACUS
#6 TITANIC
#7 ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
#8 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
#9 REDS
#10 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Oh I don't even know where to start with this one. Besides I'm all out of time. It's a shame that I'm stuck at work because I could write and chat about movies all night long. So sorry for the Houdini act but I'll be here soon.
What's your Happy Story for this week and what are your favorite movies?
