#78 Modern Times

1936
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard
Director/Writer: Charles Chaplin

This was my first time watching a Charlie Chaplin movie, and it was his last 'silent' movie (there were sound effects, a few spoken lines, and some singing.)

In this movie, this poor guy can't catch a break, with the exception of meeting a woman to share his follies with.  Funny and entertaining, I enjoyed my first Chaplin flick.

Up next: All the Presidents Men

#79 The Wild Bunch

1969
Director: Sam Peckinpah

 

Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan

Hate to say it but I didn't get this movie at all, or why it's on this list. I couldn't turn this one off fast enough!! Maybe I just don't like westerns...

#80 The Apartment

1960
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Jack Lemmon, Fred MacMurray

I liked this one, cute movie. Don't know if it's one of the best I've ever seen, but I enjoyed it!

#85 A Night at the Opera

1935

Starring: The Marx Brothers, Kitty Carlisle

Directed By: Sam Wood

Entertaining Marx brothers movie- actually, this was my first time watching one of their movies! I was entertained, but didn't love it.  I thought Groucho was the funniest of the 3.  

It's so funny to see how times have changed since this movie was made... in this movie, opera stars were major celebrities.  

I think there's another Marx brothers movie on the list, so I'll be interested to see which one I like better!

Up Next: Supposed to be Titanic but I think I'll wait until the 3-D release!! Soooo, up next really is The Apartment

#86 Platoon

1986
Written & Directed by Oliver Stone
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Keith David, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon, John McGinley, Mark Moses, Johnny Depp

This was my first time seeing this movie, and although I knew what to expect and the basic premise of the movie, it felt much more real than I expected.  I can't even imagine the horror of what went on there, but this gave a glimpse into what it must have been like.  Classic good guy/bad guy roles... and a terrific cast (didn't even know Johnny Depp was in this til I watched!)  

#87 - 12 Angry Men

1957
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb

Excellent movie set in the jury room after a murder trial.  You could actually feel the tension building as the movie went on!  The characters (jurors) were all interesting to watch and I loved Henry Fonda!

Up next: Platoon

#89 The Sixth Sense

1999
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette


I see dead people.
Ok, not really. But I saw the Sixth Sense again... I haven't watched it in years, and since I had seen it, I knew the twist.  However!! I still got chills, and it was still kinda creepy.  I think I liked it more this time around than when I had seen it when it first came out. I was actually surprised at how good I thought it was.   Since I knew the end, I watched some of the bonus materials (Rules and Clues) which kind of explained some of the visual tricks they used (use of Red, body language, interactions) which was kinda cool to then watch the movie looking for all of those "tells" that you don't catch on to.  
Definitely a must -watch.... and for me, a movie to watch during the day, never at night!! 

#91 Sophie's Choice

1982
Director: Alan Pakula
Starring: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol


I was dreading this one... I'd seen it once before, many years ago. And it was not easy to watch the second time around either. 
Beautiful story telling, and acting.  You get glimpses of Sophie's life in Poland throughout the movie, only guessing at what her struggles were like. But once she breaks down at the end and tell of her choice, you feel her complete anguish and the horror of it all.  

# 92 Goodfellas

1990
Directed by: Martin Scorcese
Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Brocco


“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”
Great first line, and completely sets the tone for the whole movie.  The acting in this movie was perfect all around and the story completely keeps you involved the entire time.  I checked out the real Henry Hill & friends online after watching, and I couldn't believe that this guy is online, and on ebay selling mafia stuff... crazy!!

# 93 The French Connection

1971
Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider
Director: William Friedkin

Narcotic cops in NYC chase down a drug dealer & associates. The movie was supported by great actors- Gene Hackman played a strong lead.  Interesting to watch the wire-tapping and compare to how things are done now with all the technological advances.  (ALSO interested to not that this movie won the Best Picture oscar over A Clockwork Orange, which I would have to say was a better movie.)
Good car-chasing-train scene... All in all a good movie, but not great in my opinion.

#94 Pulp Fiction

Starring: Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman (with so many more- Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Ving Rhames, Rosanna Arquette...)

Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino

I haven't seen this movie in a while and I forgot how great it is - I would watch this movie simply for the first 2 scenes alone! (The rest of the movie is fantastic, but the first 2 scenes are classic. )  Quentin Tarantino seems to have first scenes down pat (see: Inglorious Basterds.)
Scene one - Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer in the diner.  The dialogue is perfect.
Scene two - Samuel L and John Travolta in the car and then at the apartment. Samuel L Jackson is insanely terrifying and perfect in his delivery of this scene. "Allow me to retort!" and "Say WHAT again" - are you kidding?! Awesome.

The rest of the movie is fantastic in it's backwards and mixed up, puzzle-like delivery. You have to kind of figure out where in the timeline you are in the movie, but that's all part of the fun!

#95 The Last Picture Show

Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd
1971

Amazing cast - listed above, plus Ellen Burstyn, Cloris Leachman, Randy Quaid - in this movie based on a Larry McMurtry novel.  Beautifully acted and directed.  It tells the stories  about the people living in a small town in Texas in the 50's, and you really get a sense of what their everyday life was like.  No one is happy with their own lives, it seems, so they frequently turn elsewhere for fun and love.  This movie brings you back to a time before cell phones, computers and technology.
Timothy Bottoms was perfect as Sonny and I loved seeing Jeff Bridges.  Cybill Shepherd (in her first movie) still looks exactly the same!!

#98 Yankee Doodle Dandy

Starring: James Cagney
1942

Fun, patriotic movie bio about George M Cohan. Great, feel-good film :)

I felt like I should have watched it on July 4th though!

Up Next...

# 98 Yankee Doodle Dandy
Starring James Cagney

#70 A clockwork orange

Starring: Malcolm McDowell
1971

WOAH weird movie, but awesome at the same time.  Malcolm McDowell makes the movie what it is, he looks like he completely gave into this character.  Love the "Ludwig Van" references.
I LIKED the movie when I first watched in, but in the days since, I realized that I kept thinking about it, and MORE THAN liked it!

Up Next...

# 70, A Clockwork Orange

#88 Bringing Up Baby

"Bringing Up Baby"
Starring: Cary Grant & Katherine Hepburn
1938

What a fun movie! Katherine Hepburn was hilarious, and Cary Grant was perfect. There wasn't a dull moment!!

Up Next: #98 Yankee Doodle Dandy

Up next...

# 88 Bringing Up Baby - (1938)

#82 Sunrise

Sunrise (A Song of Two Humans, 1927)

2 thumbs up! This is the first silent move I have watched, and it held my attention the entire time. The music in this movie was perfection and the actors were amazing; I knew every emotion. This movie didn't need words.  Slow parts in the middle, but overall, I loved it.

Up Next...

Sunrise

Easy Rider

Hmmm... this one wasn't one of my favorites. I definitely could have gone without watching it.  It wasn't TERRIBLE, but wouldn't make my list of 100 favorite movies!

Pros: Liked the characters, loved Jack Nicholson, music was great

First 2 weeks - Ben Hur, Spartacus, Swing Time and more...

I watched a few movies over the past few weeks, including:

Ben Hur - I saw this once when I was a kid, but watched it again and so far is my favorite that I've watched on the list so far.  Amazing story, a must watch.

Do The Right Thing - Great story, great soundtrack... I love watching and picking out some familiar faces and realizing this is how they got their start, or at least one of their earliest movies.

Swing Time - Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire... awesome, and so simple. Great movie.

Spartacus - classic story, and so many modern movies have taken themes from this movie. This was the 'Gladiator' of 1960.  Especially love Tony Curtis in this...



UP NEXT: Easy Rider

100 Greatest Movies

I decided since I love movies so much that I should complete watching AFI's 100 greatest movies list, the updated version.
I am working my way from the bottom of the list down to number 1.  Not necessarily in order, I'll wait for the top 20 to watch them in order, and I am going to skip over movies I've seen a hundred times :)

Feel free to comment on each movie!!