My goal is to watch the 501 movies listed in "501 Must-See Movies" and by doing so, gain more insight into the movie world by writing a bit about the films i watch. <3.
“Fill your hands you son of a bitch.” Hard to believe this is the first film John Wayne got an award for, it’s his 139th film; I would have guessed he’d beat everyone at the academy awards. I mean this guy is such a huge film icon, starred in more than 150 films and all of them were praised.
He plays, Rooster, a one-eyed, drunken, badass Us Marshall hired by a young Mattie Ross. Mattie is just a kid, she has a boyish haircut and man can she take care of herself. Her father was just killed and she’s determined to get the killer hung and avenge her father’s death.
Together they embark on a journey through dangerous territory. And with every passing moment Rooster gets more intrigued by how fearless and determined Mattie is and they form a friendship in which they save each other’s lives over and over again.
The Coen brothers are re-making this movie >.> And as much as I like their films, I don’t really think this one should be touched, but I guess it’d be interesting to see.
Wow, time for me to rant on about John Cusack. He’s one of my most favorite actors, I love the movies where he plays the same quirky, troubled, fast thinking, sentimental yet totally chill and cool guy :3. Like in Must Love Dogs, Serendipity, and High Fidelity. Some of my other favorites are 2012, Being John Malkovich and Martian Child. I just learned right now that he’s a screenwriter and producer, so now I’m even more fascinated.
In this film he plays the guy I mentioned above, he’s a hit man and doesn’t really care who knows it. Even though most people think he’s just goofing off when he tells them he kills for a living, he doesn’t seem to mind whether they believe him or not. Anyways, he just messed up on a job and is tired of the lifestyle. After running out on his prom night from his home town ten years ago, he’s beginning to wonder if things are still the same and if he can get out of this business.
He heads home only to find that his house isn’t there anymore, it’s now a liquor store. He’s desperate to find some meaning or just anything that’ll reassure him that his choice is a good one. He reunites with his high school sweetheart, she’s still angry about him running out on her on prom night, but gives him another shot. People are out to get him and everything turns upside down once he figures out who his last job is.
This is a really funny movie if you enjoy Cusack’s character like I do, the sarcasm he uses so often and how he’s always somehow troubled.
Terry Malloy [Marlon Brando] works for Mob boss Johnny Friendly. Terry’s not a smart guy but he is a good guy. After watching Friendly’s henchmen finish off a guy who didn’t deserve it, he starts wondering if he really belongs in that mess. The media and police are after Terry, they know he doesn’t have the smarts and won’t be able to pretend nothing happened, but he does have muscle.
Edie and Father Barry are trying to recruit people to try and get Friendly out of their sight and all the trouble he brings along gone. The good people who work the docks down in New Jersey are terrified of Friendly and his men and they play deaf and dumb to whatever goes on. Terry all in all is very confused about what to do, Friendly took him in when he was just a kid but now he’s just pushed around to do errands and play bait. He falls for Edie, who’s brother was the last guy he unwillingly pushed into Friendly’s grip and he’d do anything to help her. Edie just wants justice, she wants Friendly and his men to rot in jail, but after all the pushing Terry’s been through, he doesn’t act anything other than violent. He can either kill Friendly and rot in jail or testify against him in a court of law and hopefully win the case against him.
Terry knows he’s worth more than what he is, that he deserves more, he could have had a better life, he could have “been a contender.” Poor guy grew up around violence and doesn’t have the brains to see what’s right in front of him.
This is a very dramatic and emotional movie, set in the 50s with black and white. The directing is beautiful because you get this sort of real emotion, time and real people feel. Our eyes are open to so much humiliation, bullying, lying and blood and confusion. The fact that it is based on some true facts and articles just astounds me, they did a great job of letting the feel of it leak through this film.
Mm, ending is just astonishing and the love story that grew from all the tension is just a small bonus to the storyline. We really get to see how foolishly people can follow one another and how important trust is when you have to work together with someone else.
Howard Kemp is a bounty hunter looking for a man with a big price on his head. He got help catching him but wasn’t going to reimburse the fine gentlemen for their work. Their prisoner, Ben, lets facts go loose and Jesse and Roy, who blindly helped Howard, decide to tag along and grab a third of the reward.
Ben causes a lot of trouble between the three, with suggestions such as “money splits better two ways than three,” and sending his girl around them to distract the men from himself. Howard gets so irritated by Ben because he brings up the past over and over again and is about ready to kill him a few times but he stands above it. It is no wonder Howard is so ashamed of his past, when he left for war he lost all that he had for love and hopes that the reward for Ben will help gain some of it back.
Tension grows between the gang and they don’t feel as if they can trust each other at all. They have a long journey ahead of them, nowhere to hide out from the rain and Indians roaming around, and their loss of trust doesn’t make anything easier.
This is a really fast movie, takes course in a day and had me wondering what is around the corner since the beginning. I’ve never seen a western until a year ago and now they all seduce me so easily. There’s always a hero, a damsel, some shooting and a lot of anticipation and buildup.
Story starts off with a boy and his Indian mother in a carriage headed to visit family. Two men ride up beside them and start causing trouble, and eventually get their way with the boy’s mother. They boy, left to witness, rides home to get help but he’s too late. His father, US Marshal Morgan, by reading the inscription on one of the horses’ saddles knows where the killer came from and heads over to Gun Hill. He finds out the killer is his best friends son and his friend, Belden won’t let him take his son away.
The whole town is under Belden’s hands, they abide his every rule and hide his secrets. They wait for Morgan’s death, they think he’s just being stubborn and should die for going against Belden. The odds are against Belden; No one is willing to lend him a helping hand, he’s in unknown territory with an assignment only a dead man could carry on.
This is the longest movie I’ve ever seen, but I’m not at all disappointed and I can seriously say I was never bored either. The story was nothing like I’ve ever heard so I was reeled in since the beginning. Every time I mentioned what I was watching everyone would bring up “It’s just a less blue Avatar.” I wouldn’t know because I don’t know anything about Avatar, just that it beat Titanic in the box office, but I surely am inclined to watch it since its compared to this work of art.
John Dunbar was a Lietunant/Officer with the Army but after being badly injured he tried to commit suicide, twice. Guy had luck written all over him, he was called out as a hero and was given the right to travel and see the western frontier as soon as he is done healing. He finds a post emptied and decides to wait it out in case anyone heads over and needs help. Here he starts his writings, and starts a lonely lifestyle just waiting to see something.
He encounters Indians, Sioux to be exact and they try to communicate with him, they’re fearful of how many soldiers will pass by there and what they’re capable of. John is discreet about that information, he knows he has to stay loyal to the army but he never lays eyes on any soldiers and his duty as lieutenant slowly fades. He’s amazed by the Sioux, how they’re so close with each other, how they protect and always look after each other. Slowly he starts to become their friend and they fight and celebrate together.
The story just kept unraveling and dragging me in, leaving me scared and wondering what will happen next. John finds a new home with the Sioux and the Army won’t have it, they call him a traitor and are ready to execute him because he’s not willing to turn in his friends. We can see his determination from the beginning, how he wants to die with honor and we know how disgusted he is by those who kill for no reason. The world surrounding the Sioux camp is just horrible, at least the people are, the grass is always green and the water clear. The other tribes and soldiers walk around soulless, killing with smiles on their faces and without any appreciation for the animals and people surrounding them.
Wow, first film I’ve seen in HD, made it cooler than it already is. I remember watching this as a kid and to this day those damn bugs creep me out.
Rick O’Connell [Brendan Frasier] is an explorer who was captured in Hamunaptra, City of the Dead, while trying to explore the remains there. Evelyn, a librarian fascinated by ancient Egypt and whatever’s left of it, helps set him free and they start a journey back to Hamunaptra. They accidentally resurrect a mummy who brings with him the curse of death, the plagues of Egypt and much more evil. The mummy is trying to gain back human skin by killing and hopes to resurrect the love of his life and keep on churning chaos. It’s up to Rick and Evelyn to put a stop to all this but the mummy is behind their every move. They don’t even know what they can do to put him back in his crypt, or if it’s even possible.
The special effects are chilling, and add this creepy eerie feeling to the film. I wouldn’t consider it a horror movie without it. It’s a very entertaining film, full of one liner jokes and quirky characters. I don’t remember much about the other Mummy films, this one stuck on me even as a kid. Great adventure story and holds a form of “innocence.”
“Fill your hands you son of a bitch.” Hard to believe this is the first film John Wayne got an award for, it’s his 139th film; I would have guessed he’d beat everyone at the academy awards. I mean this guy is such a huge film icon, starred in more than 150 films and all of them were praised. 
