Saturday 4 June 2011

46. It Happened One Night

What it's about
A lady runs away and meets a man she thinks is annoying.

What I thought
I like Clark Gable.

What Mum thought
Mum had seen this one before. "Another one I love. The Walls of Jericho scene, the hitching a ride scene, Gable staying behind as Colbert misses her bus... he might not have a huge part in it but I have to say Ellie's Dad makes the ending for me. Capra created a brilliant RomCom with aspects you can see again and again as newer film-makers try to make something as good as this."

What Dad thought
First time for Dad."Do you love her?
Yes but don’t hold that against me, I’m a little screwy myself.

This was a fantastic film. Not only did it have the great performance and witty script that we have come to expect from most of the films on this list it was genuinely laugh out load funny and heart felt.
I loved the development of the relationship between Peter and Ellie, the one liners and the happy ending. Great film."

Thursday 2 June 2011

45. Shane

What it's about
A man just wants the quiet life and tries to settle down on a farm.

What I thought
Shane was great, I liked the little boy too. I like cowboy films - I get to wear cowboy hats!

What Mum thought
Mum had seen this one before. "It's a proper Western with the good guys in white and the bad guys in black. Ladd is brilliant, as are Jean Arthur and Palance. Sentimental and well worth watching again."

What Dad thought
First time for Dad. "Lovable ex gunfighter Shane gets work as a farm hand in this cool understated good vs evil Western. The scenery is beautiful and there are some really nice touches. The scene where Shane and Joe take on the ‘something’ gang in a classic bar room brawl is great and there is a split second shot where the two characters are fighting back to back and  briefly catch each others eye and smile. This symbolises the understatement of the show, this one smile showing that they have tried being reasonable but, at some point, it just feels good to punch your problems."

44. Philadelphia Story

What it's about
A lady is about to get married when her ex-husband turns up. 

What I thought
I liked Dexter a lot, and I wanted the model boat, it was yar.

What Mum thought
Mum has seen this one lots of times. "Hepburn, Grant and Stewart so of course I'm going to like it. Hepburn is marvellous, the script is brilliant, great supporting cast. Love it."

What Dad thought
First time for Dad. "Another classic with great witty dialogue and good performances.  *Yawn* It seems that an unforeseen side effect of watching films from this list is that I have seen so many good films that films that would have stood head and shoulders above most others fall into obscurity when compared to others on this list. It wasn’t Sunset Boulevard and it wasn’t Some Like It Hot, but it was a good film."

Wednesday 1 June 2011

43. Midnight Cowboy

What it's about
It's about two friends who live in New York.

What I thought
I liked the music and Ratso.

What Mum thought
Mum had seen this one before. "Another one I can appreciate but wouldn't watch all that often. Brilliant performance from Hoffman, Voigt does well as the naive Joe. The cinematography is good, and I do like the dream sequences. Ratso is the best thing about the film. "

What Dad thought
Dad had seen this one before. "'I’m walking Here!'
A film stealing performance by Dustin Hoffman (he’s on this list a lot!) Ratso/Rico is my favourite thing of about this film. I never really took to Jon Voight’s character, he just seems to be an idiot. I understand that the film is about the yin-yang relationship of Rico’s bitter streetwise knowledge and Joe’s hopeless naivety and optimism but I really didn’t care about Joe."