#6: Gone with the Wind

My wife loves this movie.  For the last four years of my life all I have heard about is how much she loves this movie, how good this movie is, how it is the best thing that has happened since sliced bread (whatever that means).  That is right today I am reviewing Gone with the Wind.  The 1939 film Gone with the Wind is based of the Margret Michelle novel of the same name and is directed by Victor Flemming and stars Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.  Anyways lets get on with the review before we are dust in the wind.

This film is an American epic.  This film was the longest running film (almost four hours) and was one of the first films filmed in color.  It broke the box office becoming the highest grossing movie shortly after it came out.   And to do this day if you adjust for inflation Gone with the Wind is the highest grossing movie of all time.  This film also is referenced much as well as having one of the most famous lines from film, "Franky, my dear, I don't give a damn".  On top of all of this Gone with the Wind won 8 academy awards for Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography (color), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel), Best Director, and Best Picture.  It also received honorary and technical Oscars and was nominated for 5 other awards.  McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Academy Award.

The internet also has postive things to say about this film.
IMDB: 8.2 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating): 96%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating): 91%
It seems the internet agrees that there is something special about this movie.

The acting in this movie was very good for an older film.  I usually find older films to have really bad acting but this movie was great.  Starting with the supporting characters we have family members of Starlets family and they are decent nothing special.  Then we have Mammy who was played by McDaniels.  This character was so funny and so sassy.  She also liked to use the phrase "white trash" which I had no idea was around back then. But the problem with this movie is that for every great enjoyable character we have one of these:

Ugh Prissy!  The same goes with the main characters as well.  Clark Gable as Rhett Butler (which I learned is not Bret Butler the ex-Dodger).  Clark was great.  He was funny and likeable.  Ashley the Boy was also well acted and an enjoyable character.  His wife Melanie was great and probably the nicest person in the movie.  But with all of these good likable characters we knew the there had to be a realy annoying character the problem this time is that the annoying character is the main character Scarlet, played by Vivien Leigh.  While I cannot complain about the acting the character is so unlikeable.  She is selfish, lacks empathy, uses people, and is just a general brat.

The story aspect of the movie is really what was hard for me to enjoy.  The movie felt like it had no point other than to follow Scarlett as she dealt with the Civil War.  When the end came I felt like saying "that's it?".  I put 4 hours into this film and what I got was really nothing.  This movie is definitely based on novel.  It is long, not about to much but character development.  At times I felt like I was watching Twilight with Team Rhett and Team Ashley.  On the bright side I did learn somethings:
#1. There were eating disorders in the Old South (20 in waist was big?)
#2.  They all hate the Yankees as much as I do.
#3.  Must not be an age of consent.
#4. They really are into incest in the South:

The music was fairly good and the settings and cinematography were very good too.  At times I felt like I was at Disneyland.  I do not fully know why but it just reminded me of Fronierland or Critter Country.   The green screen on the other hand is not very good:

In conclusion this movie was long and at times left long.  The acting and cinematography were great but the characters not so much.  The movie has definitely left  a huge impact on American film.  I have to give Gone with the Wind an A.

#100: Ben-Hur

Today I will be reviewing the 1959, William Wyler film Ben-Hur.  Now I have never seen the movie the whole way through (which is no surprise since this movie is nearly four hours long) but I have seen bits and pieces of the movie, most notably the famous chariot race.  But seriously four hours?  Do you know what else you can do in four hours?  Watch a ballgame, fly from Chicago to Los Angels, cook a turkey, or watch Ben-Hur.

Now this movie is a great epic movie.  All sorts of big events thrown together for a great story but this movie is famous for one thing... the chariot race.

This scene is exciting and for the time must have been extremely hard to shoot.  I am not an expert on the subject so I will just give my ignorant non-founded facts and say that this scene had to shape action scenes for years to come.  The fact that it is still refereed to and referenced shows how impactful this scene was.  Also while watching this scene it really made me wish NASCAR was this entertaining.  One top of this scene this film also won 11 Oscars for ...no way that is to many to list, I will just say it won 11 Academy awards and nominated for one more.

The wide world of world wide web has the following ratings:
IMDB = 8.2 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 89%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 81%
Really high critic rating and a little lower on the audience meters but maybe 19% of people have better things to do then watch a four hour movie.

Now time for my extremely un-expert opinion on the movie.  The characters we overall I don't know... nonexistent.  Ben-Hur's sister and mom were in the movie... and I can not tell you one characteristic about them.  The same would go for the character of Ester, Arrian, and pretty much everone else in this movie.  All characters can be defined by are they a nice person or a mean eperson.  Only a few characters outside of Ben-Hur stood out to me.  First being Jesus (does this then count as a Christmas or Easter movie) because he is Jesus.  Next the Sheik who is just super entertaining.  I really wish there was more of him in this movie.  Lastly there was Messala who only really stands out due to his role in the story not due to great acting or being a stand out character.  Ben-Hur is a really enjoyable character and I found him really funny though I am not sure if I was supposed to.  The acting is fine I didn't feel that it was horrible but nothing special either.

Now that we are back from the intermission (get it because the movie is so frickin long?) lets look at the story.  The story is what makes this movie great.  As I mentioned before the characters are pretty flat but the plot is the main draw and focus of this story.  Ben-Hur goes through a lot on his journey and even though this movie starts with the birth of Christ (is this why all my mom's Christmas decorations have one black wise man?) and goes for years it never feels long while watching it.  There is always something going on.  Also, as always, I learned  thing or two from this film:
#1: The best way to prove yourself innocent is to kill someone
#2: Boats have four speeds: normal, battle, attack, and ramming
#3: Fire sticks are better than swords
#4: People don't want to hang out with leapers
#5: Leapers don''t want to have out with people

This movie is famous for its big chariot scene and I am not sure how much stunt and camera work had to go into that scene but I bet it was a lot.  That wasn't the only battle scene though:

Though this looks more like kids playing with fireworks and roman candles.  I am also curious why the blood is so red in this movie.  It is like ketchup.  Also for a movie with a lot of violence and blood I was surprised that it was rated G.  I guess back in the days their children weren't wusses (that right I'm looking at you six year olds).  Lastly this movie has decent music.  How do I know this you ask, well its because this film has a overture which lasts over six minutes at the begging of the film and another moment of music lasting for 4 minutes on the second disc of the DVD.  Boy oh boy its fun to watch a blank screen while music plays. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, despite that my fiance continued to patronize me and explain everything that was happening in the movie.  The story is great and the action is fun.  Ben-Hur is a funny character who does awkward things at times and even though the movie is four hours it is never boring.  In conclusion I give this movie an A.

#76: Forrest Gump

Okay, okay, okay first off its been a long time since my last post, secondly I do not understand why everyone loves this firckin movie so much!  I mean it is a good movie but the idea of watching it fills me with dread and I can't really say why.... oh wait yes I can I'm writing a blog.  Today we review Forrest Gump.

Forrest Gump is a 1994 Robert Zemeckis film starring Tom Hanks.  This film might be one of the most quoted movies of my generation.  I remember when this movie came out people every where just quoting this movie left and right.  Quotes like: "Seats taken", "Stupid is as stupid does",  "Run forest run", "You ain't got no legs Lt. Dan", "My name is Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump", and something about being shot in the "butt-ox".  And if these quotes weren't enough there was even a popular song:

If this didn't tell you how much this movie effected culture the movie even started a restaurant chain.  And to top how big of a deal this movie was, it also won it won six Oscars including a win for Tom Hanks, Best Editing, Best Writing, Best Directing, Best Special Effects, and Best Picture, and nominated for seven other Academy Awards.

Now lests see what the wise internets has to say about this movie:
IMDB = 8.7 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 71%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 93%
Seems to fairly well critically but once again I see that everyone frickin loves this movie for some reason. 

Now for my extremely biased opinion. Acting wise I felt this movie was great.  Starting with the young Forrest Gump who is in the first quarter of the movie.  He does great for a child actor.  Next we have Jenny.  Jenny is a bitch.  I don't like her character at all.  Acting wise she is fine I guess.  Man, Jenny is a bitch.  Bubba is awesome.  Great character and the acting really makes the character likable.  Next we have Lt. Dan.  Lt. Dan is an interesting character.   Do you hate him? do you like him?is he a prophet?:

I am not a huge fan of Gary Sinise so I guess he is fine in this movie.  Next we have the mom, or Mrs Gump.  The acting is great but the character is mentally insane.  She names her son after the KKK and has sex to get her son in school.  WTF!  Lastly we have Gump.  Tom does great with this role.  He makes it come to life and made Forrest one of film's most beloved characters.  Now as the character goes I hate him.  He is so annoying.  Ugh! I will address this later but the only positive is that he likes Dr. Pepper.

The story is all told through Forrest Gump's narration as he tells people who don't want to listen (I am one of them) the story of his life:

The movie is so long and boring.  Ugh and annoying.  I don't even know what else to share except Forrest does everything.  He meets Elvis and John Lennon, plays for the Crimson Tide, gets the Medal of Honor, meets like three Presidents, goes pro in ping-pong, owns his own business, and a bunch of other crap.  WTF!  So what am I supposed to get out of this Forrest is awesome and my life sucks?  The only thing I learned from this movie is:
#1. Hookers taste like cigarettes.
Though I do have a theory.  Forrest keeps going yet many people in Forrest's life do not survive the movie.  Maybe he is a serial killer. 

The movie has fantastic music.  Given that the movie starts in the 60s I believe and goes through the 80s you get great music for those decades.  Some of the movies green screen effects or whatever this is:

not so good.  Are they on a conveyer belt?

Anyways even though I do not like this movie very much I have to admit I did at one point think it was enjoyable and it is and extremely well made movie as well as made a gigantic impact on pop culture.  Do to all of these factors I am forced to give this movie an A-....I hate that I did that. 

#73: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

I have always heard from my parents and my brother how great this movie was so I was looking forward to watching it, I mean it could be like The Sting but a western.  Today I will be reviewing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Robert Redford and Paul "The Dressing" Newman

star in this 1969 film written by William Goldman and Directed by George Roy Hill.  Now as I mentioned my mom likes this movie, but apparently "like" is not a strong enough word.  My mom had Butch and Sundance posters all over her room as a teen, some of which she even burned the edges of to make them look more western.  How embarrassing....

This film is not as groundbreaking as some of the other movies on the AFI Top 100 but it still is a very well beloved American classic and has been referenced in multiple shows and movies like Shanghai Noon, The Simpsons, Futurama, and even The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!  This film also did win a few Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Original Song (more on that later), and Best Writing.  It was even nominated for three other Academy Awards including Best Picture. 

The internet says:
IMDB = 8.2 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 89%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 90%
These scores are not very high compared to many of the movies on the Top 100 list but it is still above average.

Now how did I like this movie you ask, well I will tell you.  There was not much of the way in characters in this film.  It really only followed around Redford and Newman and many other characters didn't have more then a few lines, many of which didn't even have names, though there are some surprising people like Cloris Leachman playing these character.  Despite this one of these very minor characters was one of my favorite things of the movie:

He is so colorful.  Next we have the "love" interest of the film played by Katharine Ross.  She was pointless, I am not sure why she was in this film.  She just seemed shoehorned in so that there was a female character in this film.  Now we have our two main men.  Robert Redford was pretty funny in this film and the character was great.  My only problem with him was his mustache.  Why did mustaches used to be cool and acceptable?  Now mustaches are just a joke or creepy.  I just think it is so interesting that today's facial hair style can be tomorrow's molester.  Anyways Paul Newman was extremely funny in this movie.  Butch was my favorite character despite the fact that he could be a little weird at times.  The two of them played of each other so well and were so funny that it really helped make the movie more enjoyable. 

There was not to much to this story really.  I realized after watching almost and hour and a half of this movie that all I was watching was people do things.  Also this is not your typical western, or at least it is a lot different then the westerns that I have seen.  I have to mention the good script given that the dialogue between or two main characters was hilarious.This western has comedy and modern music and a certain scene which just struck me as odd.  Sometimes the vibe of the movie made me feel the train time-machine from Back to the Future 3 could be making an appearance.  Once again I did learn some important life lessons from this movie:
#1: All Mexico has is sweat
#2: There are no rules in a knife fight
#3: Butch would fail Spanish class
#4: Time in Bolivia makes you colorful

Now here we get to some interesting things.  First off it felt like the first ten minutes of this movie was in sepia tone for some reason (so if you watch this there is nothing wring with your TV), then we have some bike stunts (why?), and lastly the music is so weird.  I think it is funny that the song won an Oscar.  The song is not bad at all but it just seemed so out of place in a western

So did Paul Newman start the planking trend?

In conclusion, I really liked this movie though I wish there was more of a story. The comedy was great and the film was very enjoyable despite the parts of the movie (mainly the scene above) which really took me out of it.  I give this movie a B.

# 69: Tootsie

Heh heh 69..... Anyways today I will be reviewing Tootsie.  Tootsie is a 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman who dresses up as a women to get a role on a soap opera.  I was nervous about this movie for two reasons.First, this movie is about a man who dresses up as a women to get a job.  Sounds like it be okay but then I saw this:

If the movie was going to be anything like this I was going to hate it.  Secondly, not all comedies from the 70s and early 80s are that funny to me.  My parents would rave about how funny Fast Times at Ridgemont High was, then I watched it.... not so funny.  So these two factors made me nervous to see the film but I knew it had to be done, so we gathered together to watch a movie about a cross-dresser.

I was really surprised to learn that this film wasn't one of the first movies to have a lead male character dress as a women for comedy.  I guess I just assumed that it wasn't done that often because old things are conservative and lame (hey so are my parents).  This was one of the few movies I have seen staring a male who dresses up as a female, I have seen Ladybugs (great/weird soccer comedy) and Mrs Doubtfire. Going into this movie I was comparing everything to Mrs. Doubtfire.  Its struck me as I was doing this that even though Tootsie came out first and may even inspired Mrs. Doubtfire I still in my life see Mrs. Doubtifre as the movie to compare and contrast to.  I guess it is all about perspective.... does that mean kids to day will watch The Empire Strikes Back and compare it to The Phantom Menace? Anyways back on track, Tootsie received 9 Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Jessica Lange.

The internet, who know all that is right, fells the movie should receive rating like this:
IMDB = 7.4 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 88%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 75%
Overall, I feel these scores are a little low for a movie on the AFI Top 100.  Maybe the internet hates cross-dressers.

The comedic acting in this movie was really good.  There were lots of really funny characters with good delivery, at the same time though there were a lot of pointless characters.  Hoffman's agent played by Sydney Pollack had some great scenes and great lines.  George Gaynes, or Commandant Eric Lassard as I know him,  was hilarious.  He might have been one of my favorite characters in this movie and he had one of my favorite lines "Does Jeff know?".  Bill Murry was awesome.  He is always so funny and this movie is no exception.  He has great delivery and made me wish he was in it more.  Now I need to insert a clip of Bill Murry being hilarious.

Now as I mentioned there were a lot of characters which just felt pointless, including Teri Garr.  It is weird she was nominated for this movie because I felt her role was pointless and unnecessary.  Also, Geena Davis was in this movie for about thirty seconds.  Though this movie was a comedy there was also a lot of dramatic elements and actors like Charles Durning did a great job.  Now Jessica Lange won for this movie and I think she did a decent job but what I found the most interesting thing about her is that she used to look like this and now looks like this.  Dustin Hoffman, as the lead, was great.  He was funny when it was time to be funny, great in the dramatic roles, and had great chemistry with the cast.  His interactions with Bill Murry were fantastic and though Hoffman wasn't the funniest character in the movie he was still great.

The story was actually real good.  In this day and age it is great to see comedies that not only are funny but have a good story and heart as well.  This film really looked at not only what it means to be an actor:

but also shared a message on gender roles, and how to stand up for yourself.  The movie was also very funny, my fiancee was laughing the whole time.  The situations and lines were just great and it was relatively a clean comedy as well.  Now as always I learned a few things from this movie:
#1: Women have a much easier time getting jobs then men
#2: If you are get caught naked in a friend of the opposite sex's place just have sex with them.

The makeup in this movie is really good.  It is actually sorta hard to tell that Dustin Hoffman is playing a woman, meaning it is better then Jack and Jill.  Though this can lead to an interesting question:

Ewww. Gross.  Also the music in this movie got nominated but I cannot help but this the music is really corny.  It feels more like a sitcom beat the a movie soundtrack:

In conclusion I think this movie is really good.  It is very funny and totally went above and beyond my low expectations.  It is a great comedy with a real dramatic story at its core.  I give this movie a B.

# 78: Modern Times

I didn't even know if was interested in seeing this movie or dreading it, today I am reviewing Modern Times.  You see I have never seen a silent movies (I prefer talkies) so I had no idea what to expect.  I know my girlfriend did not want to see this at all, but my mother was looking forward to it (I think its because she is old).

Charlie Chaplin is a very popular, maybe the most popular, silent movie star.  He not only was loved world wide but I have heard how his comedic styling has been an influence to many people.  On the other side of things he always seemed to be in political controversy by doing things such as not joining the army during WWI and had some socialist and communist friends.  Well Charlie I have some friends too:

This film is also received some criticism for being a silent movie even though the technology for talkies had been around for a while and it received no recognition from the Academy Awards, despite it being one of Charlie's most well known films.

The internet lied!  They are a bunch of liars!!! Oh, wait let me first say I was not a huge fan of this movie, anyways here are the internet's ratings: 
IMDB = 8.5 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 100%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 95%

I am not sure how to even talk about the characters in this film.  There were so so so many minor characters.  Some were weird, some were funny.  There were no personalities or story arcs for these characters instead they were more silly, cartoon-like characters.  The female lead in this movie was really cool, I liked her a lot though I am not sure why, once again not like there is a lot of character to like.  FUN FACT #1: Charlie Chaplin had many marriages in his life, many of them very young girls, the lead in this movie was one of the older girls he married.  Charlie Chaplin was fun but I wasn't really impressed.  I think that there may have been too much hype about him that I built unachievable standards or maybe he just isn't all that awesome.  You do get to hear Charlie Chaplin sing in this movie, and I believe it is the first movie where he does so, so that's a pretty big deal.  Also, is his mustache real?

Not really much of a story to talk about either (seeing the trend? there isn't much to this movie).  There really isn't one story but rather a bunch of shorts stringed together by a loose plot line.  The movie did have social commentary about life during the depression but I don't know history that well or am that deep.  The story was so boring I had to keep shaking my girlfriend to stay awake and then she eventually had to narrate everything that was happening to keep focused.  Some of the jokes were pretty racy.  There were boob jokes and cocaine jokes.  I guess I just thought they were more conservative back then.  My mom thought it was hilarious though so I guess she liked it.  Once again I did learn things from it:
#1: Hitler mustaches were cool
#2: If you are buff and work in a factory you don't need to wear a shirt
#3: Factories are dangerous

The music for this movie was written by Charlie which is cool I guess.  I also thought some of the "stunts" were really cool, actually just when Charlie was skating around:

I am not sure if he really did this or there is some painted backdrop this going on but I still thought it was cool.

So I learned that I do not like silent movies.  I know some people will say we need to appreciate the art and history of it and look at where movies come from.  To them I say when is the last time you decided not to drive your car and take a horse and carriage somewhere?  Just imagine if one of your favorite movies was a silent movie:

Not that cool is it?  I do not know why there are so many silent movies on the AFI Top 100, I just know I won't like them and I didn't like this movie.  I gave Modern Times a D+

#97: Blade Runner

Finally a movie I have seen that my girlfriend has not, it is about time we came around to watching Blade Runner.  First off Blade Runner is not about running with scissors (hahahahahahahaha I am so funny), it is a sci-fi, or should I say sy-fy, thriller and I am a nerd and love sci-fi and fantasy movies and books.  Any ways lets get on with the review.

Blade Runner did not see success at the box office but it has since become a cult classic.  I am not really sure what makes something a cult classic though, I assume it is a fringe movie that is very popular for its genre or a movie that bombed but then sees later success, but I am not sure.  I have always been a little foggy on the definition but here is a video of other cult classics takes from different lists found on the internet:

I am still confused how movies like this can do so bad while in theaters and then years later make a huge comeback and become culturally relevant.  It has even helped shape modern sci-fi with sources saying the creator of the new run of "Battlestar Galactica".  This movie did not win any Oscars but was nominated for Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Visual Effects.

The all-knowing internet has these rating for the film:
IMDB = 8.3 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 92%
Audience Rating (Audience Rating) = 89%
These scores are a little low but that can really be all summed up by the fact that this movie is a cult classic.  It was not adored nationally or critically acclaimed.

There were so many characters in this movie that I will not touch on all of them but just the ones that stood out to me.  First off we have Edward James Olmos playing a character who I found to be extremely interesting.  I wish we knew more about him, but then again if we did the mystery would be gone.  It was also weird to see EJO so young and skinny.  Next we have Sebastian a character who is so likeable, awkward, and meek.  This character was well acted and because of that I was very sympathetic towards this character.  Now we have Pris, played by Daryl Hannah.  I don't really like Daryl Hannah or the character, I don't know why but I just don't.  With that said she is one of the images that stands out to me from this movie.  The character of Rachel was another character I just didn't connect to.  She was a good character and the acting was there but something about her just didn't interest me.  The bad guy of this film, Roy, is fantastic.  The acting is superb and the character makes you challenge the idea of is he really a bad guy.  Should we arrest him or sympathize with him?  Fantastic!  Then we have Harrison Ford being a BAMF but he always is.  I love Harrison Ford in nearly everything he is in.  The character is awesome and Harrison Ford is awesome.  For me this is another stand out movie of Ford's and a character I will always remember... though there are some weird parts:

The movie started with a text prologue, which all good sci-fi movies need I guess, and we are introduced to the future, which is only five years from now.  I love when you watch old movies to see what they think the future would be like and then as we get closer to it you know it won't be like that.  Anyways the movie itself moves at a very slow pace and this slow pace easily could have lead to it not be popular when it was first released.  The slow pace does however allow for the environment and atmosphere of 2019 develop and this is my favorite part of the movie.  I actually feel the movie is more beloved for art direction then the story itself, which I personally do not think is anything special.  I could be wrong and the nerds of the internet may get angry but the story doesn't do much for me.  It is not bad but it isn't fantastic either.  That does not mean that there is nothing to learn from it though:
#1: I want to make my own midget friends
#2: Asians will rule the world
#3: Product placement will be all the rage in the future
#4: Retire=death
#5: In the future its night time a lot
#6: Replicants be crazy
#7: Daryl Hannah should be an Olympic gymnast

Now the thing I love most about this movie is the environment.  I mentioned earlier about how the movie was slowly paced, I feel that this slow place allowed the film to showcase the new world it has created for this story to take place in.  I love it!  The buildings are awesome, the atmosphere the set up is great, the mix of new and old is fantastic.  I love it all.  From the huge building with all the lights to the technology the use like the photo enhancer:

The key to making this atmosphere seem so awesome was great art direction as well as special effects.  The music is also fantastic I love the techno sound they use.  I don't know if I can say enough how much I love the atmosphere of this movie so here is a video of clips of the movie (no spoilers) and the music played during the credits:

In conclusion I like this movie, despite that I feel the story isn't that interesting or that it moves slow, I still love it for the atmosphere and vibe of the 2019 future we get to see.  I think it is a must watch for any one who loves sci-fi or just enjoys art direction in film.  I give this movie a B.

#32: The Godfather Part 2

To follow up last week's blog on The Godfather I figured that I might as well as review the sequel right afterwards, so today's review is The Godfather Part 2.  Like I mentioned last week I have never seen these movies so all I knew about this one is that it is always on "the best sequels of all time" lists.  Oh, and I also know according to almost everyone the third one is stupid.  Anyways, lets get on with the review.

As I mentioned before the first Godfather has had a huge influence on culture and I think the same can be said for this movie.  These two movies work so well together that I think it would be difficult to separate the impact of each movie. The one thing this movie has offered us though it one of the best sequels in film history.  Now not all sequels are great in fact most aren't: 

I know some of you might not agree with my list and to you I say, my opinion is more important so keep your comments in your pocket.  This film not only is one of the best sequels ever but also cleaned up at the Academy awards.  It won six Oscars for: Best Writing, Best Picture, Best Music, Best Director, Best Art Direction, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (De Niro); as well as being nominated for five other awards. 

Now it is time for everyone's favorite part.... the internet ratings!!!!!
IMDB = 9 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 98%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 96%
So despite many people feeling this sequel surpasses the first movie the internet rating are all slightly lower.  I wish the internet could make up its mind.

Now it is time for my favorite part.... my own review!!!!  Acting once again was fantastic.  Though I was sad that characters like Tom were in it a lot less.  I really enjoyed his character in the first one and just would have liked to see this character built upon more.  Diane Keaton returned as Kay and though her acting was good, man do I hate her character, but I feel that the character is supposed to stir up emotions in us, it is one of those characters that, depending on how you view the morals of other characters, is either likeable or you hate her.  The bad guy in this film was fine but the character was not anything spectacular.  There is also a character named Frankie, the actor was nominated for an award and when I saw that I didn't even know who the character was.  You see, I am really bad with names when there are a lot of characters so some of the names slip through the cracks of my brain.  Anyways, he did a good job and his character was good as well.  Now for the Corleone Family we have Talia Shire, playing Connie, who is not only annoying but barely in this movie.  Yet, she was nominated for an Oscar!  How?  How does this happen?  She was only in it for ten minutes total yet it was Oscar worthy:

I hope you liked that.  She was in like 4 scenes total!  This happened a few years ago when Tilda Swinton won an Oscar for Michael Clayton when she was hardly in it!  She beat out the little girl from Atonement!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  Also Fredo was in this movie a lot more and he did a great job.  His character I felt is similar to Kay where you choose sides and you either sympathize with them or hate them.  I love when movies and characters make you do this.  Now we have Robert De Niro.  He was fantastic.  I really enjoyed his story arc, his character, and the acting.  Oh, also since he wasn't in the last one I guess I should do a then and now picture.  Al Pacino once again plays Michael and does a great job showing the depth and complexity of the character.  The character is extremely well written and Al does a great job making the character seem real.  Before I move on I want to also mention all the little characters in this movie who just all are great and are acted very well.  My personal favorite being some awesome black hat wearing, killing guy.  I think it shows a lot when you are sad that one of these little characters dies and you know you won't be seeing them the rest of the movie.

As I talk about the story of the movie I need to first warn people that you will have to read in parts of this movie.  I know, why make us read, we are watching a movie not reading a book.  The story has tons of symbolism and moves at a very quick pace which helps this movie, which is over three hours, feel much shorter.  The movie may be hard to follow since they change location and time periods with out much of a warning but it isn't too difficult.  The story was great and it follows Michael as he deals with the hardships of being in charge and we see how it is hard to hold to one's morals in that situation.  While watching it all I could think of was how I wish the Star Wars prequels had a more rise and fall or morality story, like this, with Anakin rather then his just being a little &%^#.  I also really enjoyed the beginning of the movie and seeing the immigration of Vito to America.  The script once again was fantastic and really helped the story and characters seem real.  As always I did learn some thing from the movie:
#1: My high school band does funnerals
#2: Cubans like to riot
#3: Italian brothers show love in weird ways
Seriously though, I have never done this to my brother:

The music was once again very good and much like the last movie nothing stood out either good or bad with the special effects.  I did really enjoy the parts of the movie in Miami because the look and feel of them was very cool and reminded me a ton of GTA3:Vice City, which I am not sure if that is more a complement to the movie or the game... oh well.

In conclusion, I have to agree with most people out there and say I like this movie better then the first one.  It had two great stories that paralleled each other very well and afterwards my mom, my girlfriend, and I all had great conversations about the differences between Michael and Vito.  I really enjoyed both these movies and this movie a little more.  This movie gets an  A+

#2: The Godfather

So it is the Christmas season and instead of putting on a fire and snuggling up to watch some Christmas movie we decided to watch The Godfather.  Now if you are like my families and friends you might find it weird that I have never seen this movie, if you don't think it's weird then I like you more then them. But, I do know certain things about the movie (referential pop culture things) as well as know that this is a very well liked movie so I was really looking forward to watching it, almost as excited as you are to read this review.

Like I mentioned earlier The Godfather is referenced multiple times in media, some of which I didn't even know because it was from my childhood:

Okay, okay, okay, I know Fat Tony might not be a normal "Godfather" reference but in my naive youth I thought all Italian gangsters were references to The Godfather.  This movie though next to maybe Goodfellas is probably the most referenced mafia movie in pop culture.  This film also broke new ground by being a movie told from the side of the mafia.  Most mafia or gangster movies at this time were more focused on the police trying to stop the mafia.  All sorts of movies and TV shows now take a look from the side of the mafia, one of the most recent ones being The Sopranos (though the mob dressed better back in the day then they do now).  This film won three Academy Awards for Best Writing, Best Picture, and Marlon Brando for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Now lets see what the always positive people of the internet have to say about this film:
IMDB = 9.2
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 100%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 97%
Holy cow these are some high ratings, I guess not everyone on the internet is negative.

Now before I start my own personal review I want to talk about how weird it is for me to watch older movies and see how young some of the actors look.  I feel it is very similar to how when you see pictures of your parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. as kids and teenagers and you think to yourself, "you were young once?"  Well the same thing happened to me while watching this movie:

Before I talk about the individual characters I just want to say that all the actors were great.  I really thought that this was a very well acted movie.  This movie had so many characters so there is no way I will be able to talk about them all so I will just talk about the ones I had either positive or negative opinions on.  First of the character of Clemenza was awesome.  I cannot explain why I liked him so much but I just thought he was awesome.  Not sure if you ever like characters like this, you know, the ones that aren't that important, or even in the film much, but for some reason you really like them.  That is what Clemenza is for me.  Now the family has some great characters and some not so great characters.  Fredo and Connie were both pointless and annoying.  I have no idea why these characters even exist.  They were so pointless and underused that they might have well not even been in it.  Kay played by Diane Keaton was another character that did not really add much to the overall movie.  Honestly the most i can say about her is that Diane Keaton looks better now then she did then (holy big forehead Batman).  Then we have Vito, the character we all know, played by Marlon Brando.  It is really hard to me to judge this character and this acting since, I CAN"T UNDERSTAND HIM:

So I will have to go with what other people say and just say he was great and the character is great too.  Now we will get to my three favorite characters of the movie, Tom (Robert Duvall), Sonny (James Caan), and Michael (Al Pacino).  All these characters were not only interesting but were awesome characters.  I would watch a "Sopranos" like series if it followed these three characters.  I really really liked them.

The story was very good and for a three hour movie there were not many times I was bored.  It was great to see the character development.  At times the pacing may seem slow and the movie does take some time getting to the main plot line it feels but I think it is worth it if it adds to the movie.  The characters were well developed and the feeling of the movie was established.  I really wish more movies would do this.  I don't want to ruin the main story for you because I really enjoyed it and I want you to have the same experience.  The script was fantastic.  My only question is why do they always use Mario references.  Now I also, as always, learned something from this movie.  Here are just a few things:
#1: Horse heads are not as nice to cuddle with as teddy bears
#2: My Italian stereotypes aren't really stereotypes
#3: Cops suck (seems to be a trend)
#4: Italy is boring
#5: Women are more dangerous then shotguns and have lightning powers
#6: Babies crying are REALLY annoying
#7: Al did not age well

The music was really great in this film (one of the songs in is the Now and Then video).  Though it was not something that really stood out all the time, when I did notice it I really enjoyed it.  The effects, stunts, etc. were nothing to write home about (which is weird since I live at home) but they were not distractingly horrible either.

In conclusion, I really thought this was a good movie.  It was well made and I really enjoyed watching it.  Now I don't think it will become a movie I watch over and over again, but I did like it.  Why do some great movies never become a movie that I can watch multiple times yet some lesser movie like Ocean's 11 can become a movie I watch almost every time it is on?  Whatever, my grade for this film is an A.

#48: Rear Window

Well we have come to another James (Jimmy) Stewart movie, today's review is no other then Rear Window.  I was looking forward to this movie because, one my mom and girlfriend talked about how good it was, and two, I liked Disturbia.  Also this is Alfred Hitchcock and to my knowledge I have never seen a Hitchcock movie all the way through.  All this to say I was in good positive spirits going into this review. 

Rear Window is based off a short story and directed by Hitchcock.  Some even say it is one of Hitchcock's best works.  This film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Director.  While the film making aspect of this film is not ground breaking the story itself is one that has been referenced and redone many times:

One of the most recent adaptations slash remakes is Disturbia starring Shilabuff (sp?).  Funny story about this though is that Distubia got sued for plagiarizing the book.  I guess they didn't ask for permission of something.  I was going to look more into it but I got bored.

The internet tells me that Rear Window should be critiqued like this:
IMDB = 8.7 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 100%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 95%
These ratings are very, very, very, very, very high.  Seems like the internet really likes this movie.

Now lets see what I think, because that's the opinion I trust most.  The characters in this film were decent.  The women both Stella the Nurse and Grace Kelly's character were both very amusing.  Stella at moments was down right hilarious and Grace Kelly was fun but mainly she was there to be pretty.  The cop friend of our main character was a flat character as was the mysterious man they were watching.  Nothing were super special about either of these character but both were played well and important to the story.  Now our main star James (Jimmy) Stewart was the same old James (Jimmy) Stewart he has always been.  I still feel that he is the same person in everything and all that changes is his occupation and motive, but I don't care I think he is still awesome.

The story was very interesting and suspenseful.  The tension of spying on someone and not really knowing for sure what is happening is a great idea though I am curious if this is where the Patriot Act came from.  Anyways, this movie was great from beginning to end, but for some reason during the climax I kept thinking of this song:

The script was well written and there are some saying the use back then that I wish we used today.  Phrases like "hows your stomach?" "empty as a football".  I want to use this in the near future and see how people react.  As always there were lots of things an audience member could learn from this movie.  Things like:
#1: Don't count on cops
#2: Girls dance around in their underwear
#3: Women pretend to have dinner parties
#4: People eat fish heads and rice
#5: People don't use blinds or curtains often
#6: Dog don't use elevators they use baskets
Wow!  What a wealth of knowledge I just laid on you.  Also what the frick is a rear window?  This didn't take place in a car.  Do people call the windows in the back of their house a rear window?  I need to know because this whole time I just call them windows.  I want to make sure I use the proper name.

The cinematography in this movie was great.  Combined with the silence used in some scenes I really felt like I was spying on these different people outside of the window.  It really helped in building up the suspense and drama in this film.  While cinematography and sound may be a strength to this movie special effect well...... look for your self:

Overall I really enjoyed this movie, but I do think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't seen Disturbia before hand and went into this movie not knowing anything about it.  Still I give this movie a B-

Now for a bonus feature (and this isn't even a DVD) you will now read about my journey through tying food.  First off I love McDonald's but there are a few items that I was a little nervous to try for different reasons but I decided to give it a go and try these items with my girlfriend. First up was the Holiday Pie.  It is a custard filled pie with sugar cookie crust.  This honestly wasn't that bad it might be a little to sweet to eat a whole one but it was way better then my low expectations were.  Next up was the Filet o' Fish.  This one I was terrified to try something about fast food and fish doesn't sit right with me, I don't know why.  Anyways it didn't make me want to throw up but I defiantly won't be eating this one again. Last up was the McRib.  Now I know that everyone goes crazy for this when it is out but I was always weirded out by it.  It looked like ribs, you know like a rack of ribs that you eat off the bone, except there is no bone in this rib patty.  It is like the took "rib" meat and crammed it into a rib mold and made patties.  Anyways it wasn't great and it wasn't horrible.  It was just ok.  I don't understand why everyone loves this.  I could care less if I ever have another one in my life.  Well, that's it thank you for reading this bonus feature.

#66: Raiders of the Lost Ark

If you didn't get enough of a biased fanboy review in my Lord of the Rings review then you are in luck because today we are reviewing Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I love this movie!!!  I love Indiana Jones!!!I feel like everyone loves this movie (except for one friend I had who never saw it because she thought it was a "boy" movie).  I love the ride at Disneyland.  I was so happy that I got to watch a movie like this and it made me realize that I wish a lot more of the AFI Top 100 movies were movies that I liked.  Frick, I just wish more movies were like Raiders.  Anyways enough of my gushing love for this film lets get on with the review.

Now once again I may be biased in my view here but I feel Indian Jones is one of the most iconic American film characters of all time.  I mean if he wasn't such a huge icon why would the South Park kids feel like this:

So if everyone is this upset about the fourth movie then Indy must be a pretty important character.  Also I think he might have inspired Devo to write a certain song:

In all seriousness though, when this film was released it received high critical ratings and one four Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Effects, Best Editing, and Best Sound.  It also received a Special Achievement Award for sound effects editing and was nominated for four other Academy Awards including Best Picture.  The film also was included in the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." 

Now we will take a look at how the nerds of the internet have to say:
IMDB = 8.7 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 94%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 93%
I guess these rating are okay, but if the internet was really smart they would all be one-hundred percent.

Now get ready for me to start my biased portion of the review (if it wasn't biased already).  The acting in this movie is fantastic.  The baddies to be honest are not the greatest in movie history.  Rene is a decent main bad guy but never seemed to be a real threat.  Then we have the Nazis who... well they are Nazis so yeah.... But then we have Arnold Thot, played by Ronald Lacey, who is one of the most memorable villains from my childhood and I believe has one of the most memorable scene in this movie.  Now lets move on to the good guys.  First we have Sallah.  I love Sallah, he is such a great side kick character.  He is loyal, knowledgeable, helpful, and just they guy you want with you when you are hunting for ancient artifacts.  Sadly, Sallah doesn't have a love interest in this movie, but Sallah can explain why:

Oh gosh!  That's a knee slapper!  So now we have Marion Ravenwood who is the main/only female character in this movie.  She is played by Karen Allen and is fantastic at playing a tough, independent, female rather then the stereotypical damsel in distress.  They only thing I need to ask Karen is:

Sorry I love that movie and couldn't resist.  Now this brings us to Indian Jones.  The main man himself.  Indian Jones is a BAMF!  He is awesome, amazing, wonderful, fantastic, marvelous, terrific, transcendent, athletic, rugged, tenacious, brilliant, ingenious... I need to stop I could go one all day.  But, seriously Indiana Jones was fighting Nazis before it was cool.  Harrison Ford was not originally cast to play Indiana, Tom Selleck was going to be the Jones.  It is weird to think about now since I cannot imagine anyone else play Indy other the Harrison.  Also I don't think Indy would look good with a mustache.  Oh I forgot to mention.  I am scared of snakes too.

The story is fantastic.  I have seen this movie countless times and every time I am still entertained and engaged the whole way through.  It is just so fun from beginning to end.  I really wish more movies were like this today.  The mix of action, adventure, and even just a little campy fun thrown in make this movie a blast.  The script is great and combined with the actors there are some scenes of quick wit that are extremely enjoyable.  But not only is this movie entertaining but it teaches us many thing.
#1: God hates Nazis
#2: Hooking up with underage chicks is awesome
#3: Marion is hot
#4: Archaeologists are awesome

Now there are some great stunts in this movie and the action is really fun.  Now not all the effects are the greatest but I guess some of it comes with the times.  One thing that I really liked in this movie was its use of light and shadows.  There were a few reveals on Indy that were just awesome, but don't take my word for it:

And lastly the music in this movie is amazing.  The theme song was my cellphone ringtone for years.  I think it might be one of the most recognizable themes in movie history and it is a shame that it didn't win an Oscar. 

All in all I love this movie and I know you know that so I guess I will just get straight to it and share my inflated grade of an A+

#79: The Wild Bunch

Before I start my review I need to complain a little first.  I hate it when people talk during a movie that I am really trying to watch.  I also hate it when people get a phone call and answer the phone but don't leave the room.  Now, with both of these little pet peeves, I was about to yell at my dad when I was watching this weeks movie, The Wild Bunch, and he was on the phone and decided to sit down and watch the movie while still on the phone.  Really dad, really!?  Anywho... I knew next to nothing about this film before I watched it other then previews made for movies in the 60s are very different then previews now.  I did know that no matter what that this movie had to be better then The Philadelphia Story (and yes I will keep using this as the standard of bad movies until I watch a worse AFI movie) so I was excited for that.

Now this movie really helped change the landscape of film making.  For its time it used revolutionary techniques such as multi-angle editing and using normal and slow motion.  This was interesting to learn since for me techniques like those have always been part of the action movies I watch, so to think of how audiences must have felt when they saw these techniques must have been awesome (why doesn't awful mean to be full of awe?).  Also this movie was controversial for being graphically violent.  Meaning this movie let us have this:

The graphic violence in The Wild Bunch is nothing compared to movies like Kill Bill or Saving Private Ryan, but to be that movie to really push the graphic violence envelope I can see how this movie earned its way to being a big part of American cinema history.  This film was nominated for two academy awards for Best Original Score and Best Screenplay.

According to the internet we can see that The Wild Bunch got the following reviews:
IMDB= 8.1 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating)= 97%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating)= 89%
We can see here that this movie seems to vary in its ratings.  We have one rating which gives it a vary high 97% while another rating gives it almost a 7 out of 10 (for those who don't know math that would be a score in the 70-79% range). 

Now its the time you have all been waiting for, my opinion.  This movie seems to have lots of characters all sort of forming different sides in this crazy Western.  First we have the Mexicans, who were hard to understand, mainly cause all they did was speak Spanish.  What ever happened to making everyone no matter their nationality speak English so the audience can understand?  Anyways, the Mexicans were just a big pile of racial stereotypes.  They sorta reminded me of drunk versions of this:

Then we have the bad guys?  Okay I have been curious about this issue for a while now.  When the main characters in a movie are outlaws are they still the good guys?  For example in Ocean's 11 are they good guys?  If they are the good guys does that make the people who are out to stop them the bad guys?  If so this means its possible to have our good guys to be criminals and our bad guys to be cops.  I guess we will chalk it up to perspective.  So in this movie (according to our perspective) the bad guys are funny.  There weren't much a point to a few of the characters other then to be obstacles for the "good guys" but I was entertained by them.  The main bad guy was an interesting character but I did have a hard time telling him apart from the main good guy in some scenes.  I guess I have to admit a weakness of mine... in old movies I have a hard telling main characters apart from one another because I feel that they all sort of look a like. So, now lets talk about the "good guys".  Fist up we have an old crazy drunk man who is awesome, though it does seem that every Western needs an old crazy drunk guys who just looks gross and laughs the whole time.  Next we have Angel the token Mexican "good guy".  He isn't a walking stereotypes like the other Mexicans in this film but that's all I can say about him.  I don't really like him or dislike him:

Then we have this duo of friends who seem to do everything together.  They are always getting drunk, causing trouble, and just being entertaining.  They were very funny to watch and just made being an outlaw to seem like it was a blast, they even sorta reminded me of pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean.  Earnest Borgnine plays the main "good guys" right hand man and he is fantastic.  I really liked this character.  Then we have the main character of the film played by William Holden.  He was a decent character but a little to unemotional for me to really get behind.  I enjoyed the other "good guy" characters more then him.  Overall the acting was decent and I am getting used to the idea that acting styles have changed over time so I guess I am learning that though sometimes the acing can seem cheesy doesn't mean its bad it just means that old movies are cheesy.


#1: Being a bad guy/outlaw is awesome.
#2: I don't think I would last long in the Old West (too dirty).
#3: Cowboys don't drink mixed drinks (I wonder when those became popular).
#4: Racism is funny.
#5: Chin straps are really meant to be worn on the chin.

The stunts in this movie were great but I did begin to wonder... can horses swim?  If not there was a lot of animal cruelty in the making of this film.  Also how do they do stunts with animals without the animals getting hurt?  Also the gun fights in this movie were awesome and crazy though I couldn't help to this of this

every time there was a gun fight.  The sound dubbing was horrible at points in this movie but the music I enjoyed and really helped adding to the enjoyment of the film. 

In conclusion, I felt this was a good movie but could be better.  The fact this movie broke new ground in both its styling and violence and gore is the reason this film made the AFI Top 100, because I do not think the story itself was good enough.  I give this movie a C-.

#50: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

OMG!  This is the greatest movie I have ever seen in my life!  Well, not really, but I did think so when this movie first came out.  This week I am reviewing The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.  Unlike all the other movies I have watched from the AFI Top 100 to date, this one I was extremely excited to watch.  I love this movie.  I would say I am a fanboy but then I have seen people who go to Comic-Con so I guess I'll just say I am a fan.  Just to give you some background on how much I love these movies and stories here are some of the things I have done:
See this movie in theaters either five or six times
Read the whole trilogy of books every year before each movie came out
Watch the cartoon (which did have some awesome songs)
Attend a special screening of Return of the King where I also got to watch Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers extended cuts in theaters (that was a very long day)
Anyways, all this to say that this review will be very positive.

This was the first movie in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy made by Peter Jackson.  All movies were shot at the same time over a eight year span.  I know this film isn't the first to do this but I also know it was the first time I heard of a franchise doing that and I hear about it a lot more now.  Also this film was so big that it made the fantasy genre main stream and even "cool" to like.  References to this movie are made all the time

All of us nerds should be thankful movies like this do well.  This film was also nominated for thirteen academy awards winning four of them for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score.

Now since the internet is always right we will take a look at how it scores there:
IMDB= 8.8 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating)= 92%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating)= 92%
These scores really show just how well this fantasy movie was received.  I do honestly believe that franchises like this made it possible for fantasy movies to be taken seriously.

Now lets talk about what I think of this movie (get ready for a very biased review) starting with the characters.  Okay, so there are a lot of characters in this movie like Bilbo, Gollum, and Agent Smith who don't really play a big role, at least in this movie.  We also have a pair of girls, Liv Tyler playing Arwen and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel.  Now though I really don't care for either of these characters there is one thing that really bugged me about them and the story.  In the movie it is talked about how beautiful and attractive Galadriel is yet Arwen is talked about in the same manner.  This pisses me off like there is no tomorrow (why is this a saying?).  I hate it when there is obviously a more attractive actress playing a role yet another actress' character is seen to be more beautiful by the characters in the story.  Anyways.... lets look at the bad guys. First off we have the dark riders though they aren't much character wise they did give my girlfriend and her mom nightmares so I guess they did their job.  We also have Sauron who is just an eyeball in the sky and the traitor white wizard Saruman (sorry if calling him a traitor is a spoiler but their names are practically the same).  Now we come to the Fellowship, our main heroes.  First off we have Boromir which I'm just glad he kept his head on in this movie.  Then we have Gimli who is okay in this movie but he is still often used a comedic relief and it makes me a little mad because in the books he is a little more of a BAMF.  As we talk about the next character I need to admit that this will be extremely biased as this character has helped shape my life and make me the man I am today.  Legolas is a bad-ass elf who shoots arrows and is awesome and kills people and is awesome and has cool elf skills/powers and is awesome.  This character alone has made me obsessed with elves.  When I play WoW I am a elf, when I play D&D I am an elf, and when Skyrim comes I will be an elf.  He just showed me how awesome elves are.  Aragorn played by Viggo Mortensen is also a bad-ass and both my mom and my girlfriend felt that he looks the best as this character though neither could explain why.  We have Gandolf, the anti-Dumbledore, who is wise yet more human then typical characters in this role.  He does do magic but it seems to most of the time to just be fireworks, which in that case China used to have a lot of wizards.  Hobbits are awesome, funny, and I love them a ton.  Merry and Pippin are just hilarious and a ton of fun.  It is great to see what I feel is a normal person going on a huge adventure where they are way over their heads.  Though it is weird to look at Merry and not think of Charlie.  Sam (Rudy) is great and his relationship with Frodo is endearing though many people got a gay vibe from the two of them.  To those people I say, I guess you haven't seen the cartoon:

I bet the look pretty straight in the live action movie now, huh?  This leads me to Frodo who is my least favorite person in the Fellowship mainly cause he is a annoying whiner the whole time.  I guess his burden is hard but, its still annoying.  Though thinking of Frodo does remind me of this:

My friend tried to reenact this for hours as he continued to fall on his back and catch his ring on his finger.  He never did it.

The story is great.  I really like the epic adventure and though there are differences between the books and the films I was able to look past them and enjoy the movie for what it was.  The movie is really really really really long especially since I had the extended version.  Those there is one thing that I always was curious about, why is it called Middle-Earth?  Is it the middle of our Earth?  is it in the Earth's core?  Where is Right or Left Earth?  As I ask these questions I guarantee there are nerds out there who know this answer.  The script was great as well with only a few times where I laughed at the lines when they weren't meant to be funny (there is one point when Gandolf mentions following his nose and all I can think of is Fruit Loops).  There are also great lines such as:

I cannot have beer with most of my friends without this line being quoted. 

The Academy Awards got the awards right.  This film excels in music, costumes, makeup, special effects, and settings.  All these thing really aid in getting the audience sucked into the film.  The Hobbits are smaller then the other characters.  The building look awesome and have a ton of detail.  The orcs look great.  The music is so epic that I used to listen to it to motivate me to do things.  All of these little things really add to this movie that already has a great story and fantastic characters to make a film worth of all the nominations and wins they got.

In Conclusion, if you couldn't tell, I love this movie, but if I am honest with myself I don't really know if this movie belongs on the AFI Top 100 and I would not be surprised if it is gone when they update the list.  With that said if I made my own list (and I am) it would for sure be on it and most likely near the top.  This movie gets an A-.