10.2 ~ #18

"Clerks" (1994)

From Netflix: "Made on a shoestring budget by director Kevin Smith, this classic indie comedy won awards at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Convenience and video store clerks Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed … and bored out of their minds. Between serving nonstop shoppers, the overworked counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their offbeat love lives."

I love all things Kevin Smith.

EVERYTHING he's ever written, directed, starred in...is GOLD.

Except Jersey Girl, but I love him enough to forgive him for that.

I've only seen Clerks a handful of times...it's a little more grown-up than a lot of the movies Kevin Smith did later on in his career, mostly because it's so verbose. The whole thing takes place inside a convenience store, and is completely dialogue-driven. It's also completely in black-and-white, a trait that they play homage to in the opening of Clerks 2...which I own and have PLAYED OUT. And of course, you can always count on Silent Bob and his one line that seems to wrap up the whole movie in a nice, neat, philosophical package...

Great movie, but maybe I'm biased because I watched movies like Dogma & Mallrats before I watched this one for the first time, so I was already used to the style, plus I already liked a few of the characters. I don't know how I'd feel about this film if I had watched them all in the order in which they were made. This is the first film featuring recurring characters from the View Askewniverse, a badass world that our friend Kevin Smith created.

Great film, though I'd love to discuss it's merits with someone who sees it with new eyes, before being exposed to other works of Kevin Smith...

8.2 ~ #12

"Braveheart" (1995)

From Netflix: "Enraged at the slaughter of Murron (Catherine McCormack) -- his new bride and childhood love -- legendary Scottish warrior William Wallace (Mel Gibson, who also directed the film) slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule. With vivid battle scenes and a heaping portion of legend, Gibson's epic won five Oscars, including Best Picture."

I REALLY didn't want to watch this film. I remember being nine years old when my dad took my sister and me to the theater to watch this, and my elementary school aged ass walked out of the theater and waiting outside for 2.5 hours because I couldn't stand how ridiculously bloody and horribly sad the movie was...and now here it is on this list, so I can no longer escape it...

Not even fifteen minutes, there's shacks full of hung corpses, the child being called in to check out how his dad's heart was cut out, and then that theme song...which made me actually pause the movie just so I could look this up...(LOL I HAD to! That song was the JAM back in the day...and I've just successfully dated myself LMAO)

Seriously though, this is not a movie to watch at work (which I did) because the movie is a very emotional one to watch...it makes you desperately sad, uncontrollably angry, and you can't unleash your emotions just anywhere. If you are going to watch this movie, make sure you do it in a space where people won't think you're crazy for changing your mood 37 times in the span of three hours.

Oh...I hadn't mentioned this movie is 3 hours long? Well, it is. (Good thing I love all things medieval.)

It's also remarkably violent and gory, which is cool if you're into that sort of thing. I'm not.

The movie is also sad, but in a way that makes you feel grateful for your lot in life. There's a lot of wisdom to be taken away from this movie, if you let it hit you...One to watch at least once, perhaps more often if the violence doesn't bother you...Really a beautiful film...

7.2 ~ #10

"The Batman Superman Movie" (1998)

From Netflix: "In this animated superstory, The Joker solicits the help of Lex Luthor in a new fiendish scheme, and only the combined superpowers of Batman and Superman can save Metropolis. Will the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader be able to foil the plot of this diabolical duo? Not if the superheroes' alter egos clash as they vie for the attention of the self-reliant Lois!"

I don't know.

I dig comic books. I dig Batman (hell, I've got the Batman logo tattooed on my leg as part of a bigger piece). I LOVE the Joker and especially Harley Quinn (probably the hottest cartoon character that's ever existed. There, I said it.)

Now, why this movie made the list of 101 movies I MUST see before I die, I'm not sure.

I mean, yeah, it kicked ass. Why wouldn't it? Awesome villain, kick ass hero, a Lois Lane-Batman-Superman love triangle...but, I MUST see this? Really? ok...

It was good. I liked it. Hell, I'd even watch it again. Just don't expect it to change your life and shake you to your core. More like, it'll entertain you and remind you of when cartoons rocked (unlike the crap that's around nowadays)

:)

6.3 ~ #9

"Babe" (1995)

From Netflix: "Director Chris Noonan's tale of precocious piglet Babe's (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh) struggle to fit in and become a champion sheepherder won the hearts of audiences and critics. Nominated for seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture), Babe won the Visual Effects Oscar, and everything from farmer Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) to the multitude of farm animals to the humble, edgy script is remarkably appealing for kids and adults alike."

I actually own this movie in VHS, and from this you can deduce that I've seen it a zillion times, but could probably stand watching it once more. :)

I learned while researching this movie that apparently it was made in Australia (I :heart: all things Australian, BTW) but it was dubbed in "American" accents before it's US release to make it more consumer friendly. Ridiculous, that we Americans need everything spoon-fed to us, but then again, who knows if the movie would have done poorly if it hadn't been dubbed? This movie was only an hour and half, just the second movie on the list of ten that have gone by that is under 2 hours long.

Random fact: Babe is voiced by the same lady that voiced Chuckie on Rugrats.

This movie totally makes me want to be a vegetarian again. I guess that's what happens when you anthropomorphize animals. It's so sad though, to imagine from an animal's perspective what it must be like to be raised with the sole purpose of being someone else's food. While in that respect, I don't think this movie should be labeled family friendly (I'd find that traumatizing!), I do think this movie has a couple of great messages, besides just being fun to watch: the first is that just because things have always been a certain way doesn't mean that there's not a better way. The other moral I found to this story is that aggression is not the answer, and you can get a lot more accomplished when you work together with other people instead of being a bully.

So yeah. In less than 24 hours I'll be 24 years old, and I still love "Babe".

:)

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For next week, I'll be watching:
#10: "Back to the Future"
#11: "The Batman Superman Movie"
DOTW: "Stripped"

I hope you'll watch along and comment! :)

6.2 ~ #8

"As Good As It Gets" (1997)

From Netflix: "When acerbic, reclusive and obsessive-compulsive author Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) lets stressed-out single mom and waitress Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) and gay neighbor Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear) and his dog into his life, profound changes await them all in this touching dramedy. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay, the film won Oscars for Nicholson's and Hunt's heartfelt performances."

I love this movie.

I've seen it before, many times. I think the reason I've seen so few movies is because once I decide I love a movie, I will watch that same movie a dozen times in a week. Considering that, it's no wonder I hadn't had time to watch a bigger variety of movies.

In any case...

With a cast like this, it's hard for any movie to suck. Add to that a great story, and you've got gold. Jack Nicholson is phenomenal, as always. I don't think this guy has EVER sucked at anything EVER. Greg Kinnear is another one of those guys that is just so GREAT at everything he does, whether he's playing the douchebag, the daddy or the gay artist (like here) he always delivers. I don't personally like Helen Hunt too much, but I really LOVED her in this. And Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a tiny part, but he's good at it.

And the dog that plays Verdell is the bomb.

This is such a great movie. It's funny, it's sad, and it's HUMAN. It tears down walls and makes you see how the characters tick, and when you see all these people on such a real level, it makes their interactions even more interesting. It's got a fantastic message about tolerance, and it also tells you that if you take chances, you might surprise yourself. Definitely a must-see, and entertaining enough that after all these times I've seen it, I only know realized that it's over 2 hours long. Every movie on this list so far with the exception of the first has been at least 2 hours long. Yikes! Good thing with movies like this, you don't feel it. :)

Next up: another movie I can watch over and over, and have: "Babe".

5.2 ~ #7

"Amistad" (1997)

From Netflix: "Steven Spielberg directed this story about the 1839 revolt aboard Spanish slave ship La Amistad and the uprising's tragic aftermath. An African-born slave (Djimon Hounsou) leads a mutiny against his brutal captors. Because the ship is in American waters, a U.S. court must decide the slaves' fate. In an eloquent courtroom speech, ex-president John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) argues for the Africans' freedom."

To be completely honest, I've been avoided watching this movie. I am very passionate about civil rights and have very strong feelings watching anything having to do with slavery, the civil rights movement, etc. and I was told this is the kind of movie that stirs emotion and makes the most stoic person cry. Well, I have a confession...I am a crier. So I was not looking forward to watching this film at ALL.

It's remarkable to hear how the characters address the slaves that the movie revolves around..."savages", "beasts of burden", "creatures of prey"..they are compared to livestock and heirlooms in one scene. It is so shameful to think that this country was founded in order to escape persecution, and yet every new group of people that has come to this land for exactly that purpose has been met with just that...persecution. Disgusting. Slights like this, I believe, are the reason that though I was born here, I do not consider myself an American but a child of Cubans. I don't wish to identify myself with a country that treats it's immigrants in such a manner just because I had the serendipity to be born here. I appreciate very many things about the liberties I'm given in this country, but as a result I appreciate more the struggles of the people that had to fight to make it this way. And we still have a LONG way to go...

But I digress...

The acting in this film is phenomal...Matthew McConaughey plays probably his best role ever, Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman...well, they never disappoint, do they? And Djimon Hounsou is so beautiful and haunting in his role...he really makes you feel his desperation and his strength without words, just through his eyes. Amazing.

Wow. Saying I cried watching this movie would be an understatement. Sobbed intermitently through the last hour and a half is more like it. There was a full 8 minutes about an hour and 15 minutes in where I couldn't breathe because the sobs were coming so hard...

I don't know if I would watch this movie again. It was very hard to watch and remarkably sad to imagine that people had to go through exactly this. That being said, it is a beautifully made and remarkably acted movie that everyone should watch at least once, if only to appreciate it cinematically, but ideally to take away the story with you and let it be a part of you...because the fact is that if you live in America, this story, regardless of whether you've heard it or seen it, IS a part of you.

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The other movie for this week, "Apocalypse Now", had a "short wait" indicator on Netflix, so I will be watching it and reporting on it as soon as it's available...

For week 6:
#8: "As Good As It Gets"
#9: "Babe"
DOTW: "High: The True Tale of American Marijuana"

4.2 ~ #5

"American Beauty" (1999)

From Netflix: "Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is struggling to endure marriage to uber-realtor Carolyn (Annette Bening), an unfulfilling career and a sullen teenage daughter (Thora Birch). Deep into a midlife crisis, Lester becomes infatuated with a friend (Mena Suvari) of his daughter. Soon, he's quit his job and is working at a fast-food joint in this dazzling blend of social satire and domestic tragedy from director Sam Mendes that scooped up five Oscars."

Another 2 hour wonder. Not that I minded AT ALL.

I've seen this movie a couple times before this week (I lie. More than a couple. I developed a mild obsession with it in high school). I totally see why it's on this list. So much so in fact, that fifteen minutes in, I started it over because my mother had never seen it and I felt she HAD to. Then at about 20 minutes in, I started it over AGAIN because my sister had never seen it, and I felt she HAD to.

The director of this movie had never worked on film before, only in stage productions, and now with my training in photography, I can really appreciate that in the cinematography. The lighting in this movie is PHENOMENAL! The score is amazing as well, which for some reason I never really appreciated before either. Kevin Spacey is mind-blowing as the main character of the film, and Annette Bening is my all time favorite actress ever, so it goes without saying that I loved her in this as well. Everything about the film seems so organic, like we really are catching a glimpse at these people's lives and not watching a movie...And I always cry at the end of this film, no matter how many times I watch it. Not a sad cry, but a so-much-emotion-built-up-inside-you-you-have-to-get-it-out cry. It's a movie that really stirs the soul and makes you truly grateful for every seemingly insignificant thing you've ever encountered or experienced.

This truly is a film that everyone on earth should watch at least once. I credit this movie with teaching me early on that one should always be kinder than maybe one deems necessary at first glance, because EVERYONE is broken, EVERYONE is battling demons, and you never really know what people are dealing with or why they do what they do, sometimes even in situations where you feel you know everything about a person, you might be surprised. I think another great message to take away from this movie is that people need to learn to slow down and just LIVE. Don't be so consumed with making a living that you forget to make a life...and of course, the most important moral of all...

"there's nothing worse in life than being ordinary."