1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

(Don't worry! I'm not about to list them all!!!!!)

I swear it would take me days to record them all. Also, a lot of them are just "here's a great example of this genre" so go and watch this one! But I am not into watching movies just to watch movies- there has to be some entertainment. There has to be beauty, and fun, and happiness, and if there is sadness, it has to be a noble sadness; somebody sacrificially doing something, or dying for someone or whatever. I am not into watching movies about idiots who destroy themselves and the people around them, for no reason. Or for any reason, actually. Where is the beauty in death and evil, unless somehow redemption comes after?

I actually did browse this whole book! I am so proud of myself! And I came away with about 50 movies from 1001 that I would want to watch. (And review for my readers!) And some of the 50 I have actually already seen and just need to watch again and review them.

So, without further ado, here's the list! Sorry, no pictures, just years and a description, if I remember it!

The 1930's

She Done Him Wrong, 1933 (with Mae West and Cary Grant)

The Thin Man, 1934 (about Agatha Christie's Nick and Nora)

Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935 (Clark Gable!)

The Awful Truth, 1937 (Cary Grant and Irene Dunne)

Gone With the Wind, 1939 (Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh- believe it or not, I've never seen the whole thing. It always looked too depressing.)

The 1940's

The Maltese Falcon, 1941 (Humphrey Bogart- film noir- seen it and love it!)

To Have and Have Not, 1944 (Bogart and Bacall- can't wait)

Gaslight, 1944 (Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten- I love Bergman, so this could be good!)

Spellbound, 1945 (Gregory Peck, and directed by Hitch; I've always skirted it, because it's about crazy people and I don't like it when people go crazy, but I think I will try it out)

The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946 (about coming home from war, so this could be a tear-jerker)

La Belle et La Bete, 1946 (that's French for "Beauty and the Beast", and call me crazy, but I want to see it!)

The Big Sleep, 1946 (Bogart and Bacall- I have seen this, but I don't remember it at all)

Letter From An Unknown Woman, 1948 ( I can't remember what it was about, but apparently somebody is reading a letter from a woman, who is now dead- like when he is reading it- she is dead. Could be sad?)

Red River, 1948 (a western remake of Mutiny on the Bounty- with John Wayne, the king of Westerns! This could be brilliant. There are times when I just want to watch a Western.)

The 1950's

The African Queen, 1951 (one of my all-time favorites! Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart- in Africa. It's absolutely wonderful.)

Roman Holiday, 1953 (I own this and love it, dearly. But to me, it is one of the only tear-jerkers I actually love.)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956 (Ok, I don't usually go for sci-fi that isn't Star Wars, but as long as it isn't actually scary I kinda want to see this. Mainly, because I think it could be funny nowadays. Maybe not.)

The Ten Commandments, 1956 (starring Charlton Heston. Hey, this could be cool, right?)

Twelve Angry Men, 1957 (it's about a jury deciding the fate of a guy. Henry Fonda stars. I like Henry Fonda, and the summary sounded interesting.)

Rio Bravo, 1959 (a western, and I'm pretty sure it has John Wayne)

The 1960's

Goldfinger, 1964 (Yes the Bond one. With Sean Connery, my favorite Bond!)

A Hard Day's Night, 1964 (yes, I am going to at least start watching it.)

Hombre, 1967 (Paul Newman--- enough said!!!!)

Cool Hand Luke, 1967 (ditto)

Bonnie and Clyde, 1967 (Well, it could be interesting.)

The 1970's

American Graffiti, 1973 (I cannot spell graffiti without looking!!! Anyway, I want to see how Harrison got his start...)

The Muppet Movie, 1979 ( I have never seen the whole thing. And why not, I ask myself? I love the muppets! So, I need to see this!)

(haha, only 2 from the 70's! Well, actually 3, since Star Wars is listed below. But still! This is apparently my least-favorite decade, movie-wise.)

The 1980's

The Breakfast Club, 1985 (I've seen it and I like it, now I have to share it. Sometimes I do ask myself though, WHY do I like it? It's kinda depressing.)

Ferris Beuller's Day Off, 1986 (Once again, I've never seen the whole thing. I have a vague memory of a car being destroyed? Could be great.)

Broadcast News, 1987 (Netflix is always recommending this one to me- I think I will finally watch it and just see what all the fuss is about. It better be good, Netflix!)

Rain Man, 1988 (I've never watched the whole thing. It's rated R, so if it's awful, don't expect me to finish it)

The 1990's

Strictly Ballroom, 1992 (Heck yes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wonderful Australian dancing movie!!! )

Forrest Gump, 1994 (It's literally been more than a decade since I have seen this one. Needless to say, I'm sure I didn't understand anything in it. I want to try it again.)

Muriel's Wedding, 1994 (once again, Australian! Hey, Australia had something in the 90's didn't they?)

Clueless, 1995 (This Emma story is ridiculous- I have probably seen it 20 times with my sister Marie)

Independence Day, 1996 (this is one of those movies I can't stop watching when I accidentally find that it's on while channel-surfing, which is an activity I almost NEVER do. If I turn that tv on, I usually have something specific to watch. But when this one is on, I just can't look away!!!)

L.A. Confidential, 1997 (I think I have actually seen this one, but I don't remember anything about it. Could be awful, like a film noir, or cool like a film noir. We will see. I should have a special section on my blog for the films I couldn't finish! Those films that are just too awful to finish should somehow be represented.)

And, because they span the decades, I will just add here that I also want to watch 3 fantastic trilogies:

Star Wars (1977, 1980, 1983)

Indiana Jones (1981, 1984, 1989)

Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003)

Well, almost 50 movies. There were also a lot of the 1001 movies in the book that I didn't list here, which I have seen and do love. A lot of old movies; and some of them I still have to review! The Philadelphia Story, and Casablanca, just to name two....

Let the movie-watching begin!

(Man, I wish I could get paid for this.....)

Dial 'M' for Murder, 1954

Director: Alfred Hitchcock (The 39 Steps, Torn Curtain, The Birds, Vertigo, Saboteur, Topaz, Rear Window, etc....)

Stars: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings

When ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice (Milland) discovers that his wife Margot (Kelly) is having an affair with her old school friend Mark (Cummings), he begins to plan her murder.

His intricate plan involves hiring someone to kill his wife, preferably someone who can be blackmailed into it. After finding the perfect man for the job, Wendice explains the whole detailed plan to him, and the next night, while Wendice takes Mark to a party (using Mark as his alibi), the murderer is to get in using a key Wendice hid for him, and then strangle his wife when she goes to answer the telephone call from Wendice himself. Everything goes just fine.....until Margot fights back as she's being strangled, and ends up stabbing her assailant with a pair of scissors.

I LOVE this film. Wendice is chilling. Mark is desperate to protect Margot. And the detective in charge (John Williams) is absolutely brilliant in the way he solves the crime.

The 39 Steps, 1935

Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Dial 'M' for Murder, To Catch a Thief, The Birds, Vertigo, Rope, Saboteur, etc......)

Stars: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll

Hannay (Donat) is taken by surprise at the theater (where he is watching an interesting spectacle of a man nicknamed "Memory" who will answer any question from the audience, because he memorizes 50 facts every day) when a woman comes to him and asks him to take her home. He takes her to his place, confused by her strange, paranoid behavior. When she discovers that there are men on the street watching his apartment, she begins to tell him about the "39 Steps" and how she must go see someone in Scotland or the UK's secrets will get out of the country. (I don't think they were specific on secrets; I think we are just supposed to know that these are super important secrets. Or it could be I wasn't paying attention. Except I'm pretty sure I was.)

Then the mysterious woman comes to him in the night and tells him to run or he'll be next. And when she falls over, he sees she has a knife in her back!

This incident convinces him that she was telling the truth, so, still unsure of what to do, but knowing he's headed to see a professor in Scotland, Hannay loses the goons after him by hopping a train. But at the next station, he discovers they're still after him. To escape them, he gets into a young woman's compartment and starts kissing her! (Classic escape! Maybe it was Hitch who started the trend?) The woman, Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), does not believe Hannay, and instantly tries to turn him in, but he is able to get off the train and run.

Well, this summary is getting long. I really liked this movie! I can't believe I've never seen it before! The cover for it (at least the one on Netflix) is a bit scary-looking, with a bunch of bloody hand-prints. The film has nothing to do with that! Except for when the mysterious woman is stabbed in the beginning, but it's not bloody! I don't want to say anything more, except that Pamela and Hannay eventually get hand-cuffed together, and are on the run from the guys trying to kill Hannay, and end up sharing a hotel room. How was this allowed on the screen in the 30s!!!!?? I mean, nothing happens, but still!

It's thrilling! :)

It Happened One Night, 1934

Director: Frank Capra (also directed It's A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic and Old Lace)

Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

"I'll stop a car........ and I won't use my thumb."

(my favorite of all Colbert's lines!)

Ellie (Colbert), daughter of a famous millionaire, marries King Westley at a Justice of the Peace, but her father's goons drag her away directly after the ceremony. She's of age, but her father disapproves and tries to keep her on his yacht in Florida. But she escapes and hops a bus to New York, where her husband is waiting for her.

On the bus, she meets a reporter, Peter Warne (Gable), who, seeing she can't take care of herself, tries to teach her what life in the real world is like. He soon discovers who she really is (not just any spoiled brat!), and needing a good story to get back into his boss's good graces, decides to basically blackmail her into staying with him and giving him an exclusive, and in return he will not tell her father where she is.

On their little adventure, they pose as husband and wife, share a cabin for the night, hitchhike, and basically fall in love.

Words can't express how much I LOVE this movie!!

Two thumbs up!

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969

Director: George Roy Hill

Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford

"Kid, who's the best lawman?"

"Best?.... You mean the toughest, or easiest to bribe?"

Bank robbers Butch (Newman) and Sundance (Redford) lead the famed bank-robbing "Hole in the Wall" gang, that is until some pretty big hot shots decide to put a price on their heads. So, they head to Bolivia, for a change of scenery (to prolong their lives), and continue their lovely lifestyle down there. Until the law catches up with them again.

This is a classic. Absolutely hilarious, and beautiful. Very interesting ending. I love it and hate it. The end, I mean. I really like the movie; it's very worth the 2 hours!! I promise! (I've seen it twice!) And did I mention Paul Newman and Robert Redford are in it?? Dreamy!!

NOTE: William Goldman wrote the screenplay; he's also the writer of The Princess Bride (the novel and the screenplay), The Ghost and the Darkness, and Maverick, among many others. Thanks, Mr. Goldman-- I'm a fan!

Texas Lady, 1955

Director: Tim Whelan

Stars: Claudette Colbert, Barry Sullivan

I don't like to give negative reviews, but I just don't want people to waste their time. This wasn't awful ( I mean, it was no where near Deathproof-- I wish I could erase that from my memory and get that 2 hours back!), but it was just pointless.

A woman (Colbert) wins a lot of money playing poker, and the guy she played was a card shark (Sullivan) who had won thousands from her father, who then killed himself. Her father, I mean. So, she figures it's justified that he practically killed her dad, and she killed his reputation at being the best at cards.

Major SPOILER: So she moves to Texas where her father had a newspaper, and she starts to run it, and the town is being controlled by two big shots who own all the land. And there's a lone cowboy/idiot who randomly kills whoever he wants and gets away with it, and she dances with and kisses him. Then the card shark comes looking for her (the woman who destroyed his reputation), because he apparently likes her, so lone cowboy decides the card shark must die, and they have a little showdown, but nobody dies. (Totally lame.) Then the cowboy gets killed by a widow of one of the guys he recently murdered. And it's about time someone just shot him--- where was the sheriff???????

Then, and this could be wrong because I was NOT giving this dumb western my full attention, I am pretty sure in the end, the two big shots who wanted to run the town just decided to leave because the people had turned against them. And the Texas Lady (Colbert) told them they were ridiculous.

I would call this a very "scattered" Western. It felt way too busy. Too many little stories and anti-climaxes. Is that a word?

The Palm Beach Story, 1942

Director: Preston Sturges

Stars: Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor, Rudy Vallee

Mrs. Jeffers (Colbert) decides to leave her husband because he can't pay the rent, and she feels that if he were free of her, he could really succeed and save his money. And, after all, she wants to be rich anyway, and have money while she's young and can enjoy it!

She runs away from her husband Tom Jeffers (McCrea), and takes a train to Palm Beach, Florida. On the train, she meets a multi-millionaire (Vallee), who falls for her and starts taking care of her. Meanwhile, her husband, still in love with her, flies down to Palm Beach to meet her and get her back. When she sees him, she tells her millionaire that he is her brother, and the fight is on for her heart. Her plan is to get a divorce from her husband, who supposedly won't give her a divorce until he is paid $99,000, or so she tells her millionaire, on purpose so that her husband will get his money.

Personally, I don't know why Tom Jeffers fights for his wife. Let her have her divorce- you're better off! That whole "for richer or poorer" phrase she obviously ignored.

Best part: "You have no idea what a long-legged woman can do without doing anything."

-Claudette Colbert in The Palm Beach Story

The Secret of Moonacre, 2008

Director: Gabor Csupo

Stars: Dakota Blue Richards, Ioan Gruffudd, Tim Curry, Natascha McElhone, Augustus Prew, Juliet Stevenson

A magical adventure!

I have to say, I like fantasy adventure films and books. I don't read or watch too many of them, but I am a nerd. There was a time when I could quote Star Wars. All 3 movies-- the originals, of course! I like to pretend episodes 1, 2, and 3 don't exist, they were so awful.

Anyway, I like fantasy stuff! And this wasn't too bad. A young girl discovers an old family feud and a magical land on her uncle's estate. I didn't really understand how there could be a magical land when it was clear that she was English. Why does no one make a big deal in books and movies about discovering magical lands in their towns, homes, or even wardrobes? Personally, I think this would be a big deal.

Anyway, Maria (Richards) inherits a book from her deceased father, which tells the story of an ancient feud between her family, the Merryweathers, and the De Noirs. And if it isn't settled before the rising of the 5000th moon (from the time it began), which happens to be in about 2 days time, the whole valley, including both families will be destroyed.

I thought it was ok for a fantasy, cute enough story-- we're not talking as good as Stardust, but it is kind of similar.

NOTE: I thought Robin (Prew) was kinda dreamy, and after looking him up on Imdb, I realized I was right! He looks even better with short hair!

The Glass Bottom Boat, 1966

Director: Frank Tashlin

Stars: Doris Day, Rod Taylor, Dom DeLuise, Paul Lynde

Okay, this film had almost nothing to do with glass-bottom boats! It was more about the space program. Bruce (an extremely dreamy Rod Taylor--- um, WOW!) develops a formula for a gravity-simulating machine, and everybody is out to get it!

Bruce meets Jenny (Day) one day when she's playing a mermaid for her father's glass-bottom boat tour business. He's intrigued, to say the least, and is completely shocked to find she works in his office! He does his homework, fidns that she has writing experience, and hires her to write his biography. Of course, this assignment means they must spend a lot of time together, and they fall for each other, of course!

But there's trouble in paradise when the CIA suspects Jenny of being the spy who's out to steal the formula. Jenny finds out about this mix-up, and, furious, she decides to have a little fun at their expense.

This is a cute enough movie, I just don't like comedies that are just TOO ridiculous. Jenny is so clumsy. And anyway, it's a comedy, and I seriously have to remember that things are supposed to go wrong in comedies.

NOTE: Paul Lynde is the guy who played Uncle Arthur in Bewitched! And he was also the voice of Templeton in Charlotte's Web. I still can't hear his voice without thinking of a rat dreaming and singing about a "smorgasbord"! Love him!

just the classics!

Starting September right!

I am so excited! Last week, I received a $25 Amazon gift card, and that is like giving me GOLD, I swear. I love Amazon.com, and with $25 to spend, I was in heaven! (And I only actually spent $6.50 above the $25, so that was pretty good! Six movies for $6.50!!)

Except for the last one, I need to get to watching and reviewing! And I'm so excited about doing so! :)

I ended up finally going for a 4 pack of Fred and Ginger movies:

Top Hat, 1935
Swing Time, 1936

The Gay Divorcee, 1932

Shall We Dance, 1937

I love Fred and Ginger and their simple romantic comedies. I know these are ridiculous, "screwball" comedies, but somehow I excuse it, and look past it to the beauty of the dances and the love story. And Fred Astaire!

I also purchased on of the best movies ever made:

It Happened One Night, 1934

This one was an accidental find on TCM. I distinctly remember I was intrigued because of the title, and then I read the description: "Two strangers share a cabin one night when their bus breaks down." I had to watch it after that! And, though that's not the whole story, it certainly does not disappoint!

And last, but never least: one I reviewed just a few weeks ago:

His Girl Friday, 1940

One of the best comedies, EVER! "Excuse me, Madam, are you referring to ME?"

I practically die laughing every time.