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

2001
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean

You know you've all seen this movie... don't lie.  I've seen it more than 10 times probably! But I hadn't seen it in a while, and it is number 50, which means I'm halfway through my list!! Very exciting. Back to the movie... we follow the first part of the journey to return the one ring to Mordor.  It's exciting, lays the groundwork for future films, and is definitely an epic tale.  Even though I don't really like Elijah Wood, I can overlook it or this movie, it's great... Except now every time I watch this one, I think about the Family Guy episode where Chris points out the hole in the story about why the giant eagle that saves Gandalf in this movie doesn't just take Frodo to Mordor... classic.

Trivia:  Eight of the nine members of the Fellowship got a small tattoo of the word "nine" spelled out in Tengwar, which is the Elvish script created by Tolkien. They got it at a tattoo parlor in Wellington, New Zealand, to commemorate the experience of the movie. The ninth member, John Rhys-Davies, declined and sent his stunt double in his place.

Up Next: Intolerance

# 51 West Side Story

1961
Director: Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise
Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris

This one is definitely a classic. And tells the classic story of Romeo and Juliet, set in more modern times.  The songs are perfect, and every actor brings something unique to the movie.  It's been about 10 years since I've seen this, and it didn't disappoint.  As I was watching and listening to Maria sing, I knew it wasn't Natalie Wood, but thought it sounded like Audrey Hepburn's singing in My Fair Lady (which I also knew wasn't Audrey), so I looked it up and sure enough, same lady sang both parts- Marni Nixon I have nothing bad to say, except if you haven't seen this and you can get past the idea of gang members singing and dancing, see it!

Trivia: Opening dance sequences were shot on the upper west side of Manhattan where Lincoln Center stands today. This area was condemned and the buildings were in the process of being demolished to make way for Lincoln Center. The demolition of these buildings was delayed so that the filming of these sequences could be completed. 

Up Next: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (#50!! Halfway)

#52 Taxi Driver

1976
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert DeNiro (Lots of people in this movie! Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks)

Story about a NYC man who literally goes crazy... you can see the progression from the beginning when he takes the job as a cabbie; you can see he grows paler and looks more exhausted, especially after things don't work out with Cybill Shepherd's character.  By the time he is purchasing guns, and training physically, he is definitely insane.  I thought I had seen this movie once before, but I didn't remember the end, when he was hailed as a hero and returns to work in his cab.  One thing I didn't like at all was the weird music that played most of the time in the background.  Overall, I would say I liked but didn't love this one!

Trivia: De Niro worked twelve hour days for a month driving cabs as preparation for this role. He also studied mental illness. 

Up Next: West Side Story

#53 The Deer Hunter

1978
Director: Michael Cimino
Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, George Dzunda

The movie follows a group of friends from a small town in Pennsylvania.  The first hour was slightly boring... ok, very boring.  The whole wedding scene was beyond too long... Once the movie moves to Vietnam, it gets much more interesting.  I found myself closing my eyes a lot, mainly during the Russian Roulette scenes.  After the war, you see how it effects them all in different ways.  Obviously, De Niro was fantastic.  Walken was great, and I liked John Savage a lot too.  (This was his last movie...) Overall, I liked it, but didn't love it.  And I was a little glad when it was over!

Trivia: Robert De Niro and John Savage performed their own stunts in the fall into the river, filming the 30 ft drop 15 times in two days; and Meryl Streep improvised many of her lines.  

Up Next: Taxi Driver

#54 MASH

1970
Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duval

I had never seen this one before, and never watched the tv show either.  There is no major plot; it follows a group of army doctors in Korea.  They use jokes and sex to get through war time...Entertaining, but I don't know that I would put it on a list of the 100 best movies of all time!  Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye, Tom Skerritt as Duke and Elliott Gould as McIntyre were great in their roles and made the movie fun to watch though.  (BTW- Strange lyrics to the opening song!!)

Trivia: The loudspeaker shots and announcements were added after the editing process had begun and the filmmakers realized that they needed more transitions. Some of the loudspeaker shots have the Moon visible and were shot while the Apollo 11 astronauts were on the Moon. 

Up next: The Deer Hunter