#100 - Ben-Hur

It seemed like a discouraging way to start off this challenge, a daunting 3.5 hour epic loosely about Jesus Christ (oy vey), but it was actually very entertaining. While I have to admit, I wasn't completely enthralled by it (it's hard for people of my generation to get into anything that long that isn't a nap), I did enjoy a few of the action scenes more than any comparable scene in recent history.

Without the perks of CGI and special effects, the creators of Ben-Hur managed to pull off the most stressful/intense action scene I've ever witnessed. It is an EPIC chariot race between the two rival characters, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala, and 5 other drivers. Each chariot is fronted by 4 horses (that's 28 horses!) being driven by one man around a dusty track with two hairpin turns, all the while avoiding the crashed chariots and their horses. Any description i could give wouldn't do it justice, just watch it below. It apparently took over 3 months and 15000 extras to film the scene.

This is only the second half, but you will get the idea.

You can't help but respect the work and determination that went into this kind of movie. There would have been no room for error, and lives would have been constantly at risk. There are stories of one of the stunt drivers dying on the set, but they have been denied by the directors. REALLY wouldn't surprise me if they were true. It's a shame that it is nearly impossible to imagine an action movie being made today WITHOUT a green screen

The action wasn't the only good part of the movie though , the story was actually very well done. I'm lazy though, and I don't want to go into it, I just wanted to talk about how bad-ass chariot racing is.


Anyway, I don't know if I would recommend going out and renting it with your friends, but if you are ever terribly bored, and you have nearly 4 hours to waste. I suggest checking out Ben-Hur, even if it's only to watch the chariot race.

Cheers,

Patrick

AFI Top 100 Challenge

A couple internet friends recently took on the challenge of watching all of the movies on the 'AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies' list. As an attempt to get this blog up and going for the 3rd time, I am going to join them. I will start at the bottom with 'Ben-Hur' and work up the list to 'Citizen Kane'.

Along the way I plan on watching everything from the movies I've already seen and loved, to the ones I know I'll hate. I'll try and keep this updated with my progress, but if you've followed any of my other blogs you'll understand when I stop updating all of a sudden. hah
You'd think after all of my failed attempts at blogging that I would stop taking on stupid challenges like this.

CAN'T STOP ME, FREE COUNTRY

Cheers,

Pat


PS Below is AFI's list.

#	MOVIE	YEAR
1	CITIZEN KANE	1941
2	THE GODFATHER	1972
3	CASABLANCA	1942
4	RAGING BULL	1980
5	SINGIN' IN THE RAIN	1952
6	GONE WITH THE WIND	1939
7	LAWRENCE OF ARABIA	1962
8	SCHINDLER'S LIST	1993
9	VERTIGO	1958
10	THE WIZARD OF OZ	1939
11	CITY LIGHTS	1931
12	THE SEARCHERS	1956
13	STAR WARS	1977
14	PSYCHO	1960
15	2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY	1968
16	SUNSET BLVD.	1950
17	THE GRADUATE	1967
18	THE GENERAL	1927
19	ON THE WATERFRONT	1954
20	IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE	1946
21	CHINATOWN	1974
22	SOME LIKE IT HOT	1959
23	THE GRAPES OF WRATH	1940
24	E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL	1982
25	TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD	1962
26	MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON	1939
27	HIGH NOON	1952
28	ALL ABOUT EVE	1950
29	DOUBLE INDEMNITY	1944
30	APOCALYPSE NOW	1979
31	THE MALTESE FALCON	1941
32	THE GODFATHER PART II	1974
33	ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST	1975
34	SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS	1937
35	ANNIE HALL	1977
36	THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI	1957
37	THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES	1946
38	THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE	1948
39	DR. STRANGELOVE	1964
40	THE SOUND OF MUSIC	1965
41	KING KONG	1933
42	BONNIE AND CLYDE	1967
43	MIDNIGHT COWBOY	1969
44	THE PHILADELPHIA STORY	1940
45	SHANE	1953
46	IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT	1934
47	A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE	1951
48	REAR WINDOW	1954
49	INTOLERANCE	1916
50	THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING	2001
51	WEST SIDE STORY	1961
52	TAXI DRIVER	1976
53	THE DEER HUNTER	1978
54	M*A*S*H	1970
55	NORTH BY NORTHWEST	1959
56	JAWS	1975
57	ROCKY	1976
58	THE GOLD RUSH	1925
59	NASHVILLE	1975
60	DUCK SOUP	1933
61	SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS	1941
62	AMERICAN GRAFFITI	1973
63	CABARET	1972
64	NETWORK	1976
65	THE AFRICAN QUEEN	1951
66	RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK	1981
67	WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?	1966
68	UNFORGIVEN	1992
69	TOOTSIE	1982
70	A CLOCKWORK ORANGE	1971
71	SAVING PRIVATE RYAN	1998
72	THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION	1994
73	BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID	1969
74	THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS	1991
75	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT	1967
76	FORREST GUMP	1994
77	ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN	1976
78	MODERN TIMES	1936
79	THE WILD BUNCH	1969
80	THE APARTMENT	1960
81	SPARTACUS	1960
82	SUNRISE	1927
83	TITANIC	1997
84	EASY RIDER	1969
85	A NIGHT AT THE OPERA	1935
86	PLATOON	1986
87	12 ANGRY MEN	1957
88	BRINGING UP BABY	1938
89	THE SIXTH SENSE	1999
90	SWING TIME	1936
91	SOPHIE'S CHOICE	1982
92	GOODFELLAS	1990
93	THE FRENCH CONNECTION	1971
94	PULP FICTION	1994
95	THE LAST PICTURE SHOW	1971
96	DO THE RIGHT THING	1989
97	BLADE RUNNER	1982
98	YANKEE DOODLE DANDY	1942
99	TOY STORY	1995
100	BEN-HUR	1959

Movie: How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can't even trust his own pants.

It's mid-April, and school is finally over for another semester. This means a number of things, (Frosty Treat, warmer weather, etc) but most importantly it means that I finally have time to be lazy and watch movies, without feeling guilty about it.

To celebrate I decided to watch Sergio Leone's 1968 western epic, Once Upon a Time in the West. I attempted to watch it on the bus back from Quebec City last month, but sadly my laptop died and there were no plugs on the bus. wtf?

The film is written and directed by Sergio Leone (the man behind The Good the Bad and the Ugly) and stars Henry Fonda (Frank) and Charles Bronson (Harmonica) in opposing roles.

I could tell from my previous brief attempt at watching this movie that it would be great. The opening scene, which clocks in at nearly 14 minutes, contains almost no dialogue (except for a sweet burn by Bronson) and is incredibly irritating (let's just say there's a fly buzzing, water dripping, and a windmill in serious need of oil). As annoying as it is, the intro is extremely enticing and it makes you interested in what is going to happen next. It finally culminates with Charles Bronson being bad-ass as hell.

I found an edited down version of the opening. Imagine this, but with 6 more minutes of water dripping and flies buzzing.

Immediately after that ^^^^^ scene you are introduced to a family of gingers living in the desert. Mr. McBain and his family are preparing for the arrival of his new wife, who he met in New Orleans. Before her arrival though, the family (including the children) is gunned down by a pack of outlaws, so instead of arriving to meet her new family, Jill McBain arrives at their funeral.

The rest of the movie (which is quite long at nearly 3 hours) revolves around the fight for the McBain's land (which is prized for its water) and Harmonica's mysterious quest for retribution.

Going into the movie I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle three hours of spaghetti western , but the movie is fantastic, and I didn't have a problem paying attention. Not to mention Jill is a babe, and there are some hilarious/bad-ass quotes. For example:

Harmonica: I saw three of these dusters a short time ago, they were waiting for a train. Inside the dusters, there were three men.
Cheyenne: So?
Harmonica: Inside the men, there were three bullets.

Cheyenne: You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was, for an hour or for a month - he must have been a happy man.

It has apparently become known as Sergio Leone's ~masterpiece~. Having only seen this and The Good, the Bad, etc, I couldn't tell you if this is true or not. But what I can tell you is, it is an excellent movie and if you ever feel like watching a western it may as well be this one.

Cheers,

Pat


PS Check out this guy. http://lights-camera-jackson.com/ He is an extremely abrasive 11 year old film critic. Listening to him is like listening to someone announce a horse race. As annoying as he is to listen to, he does have some brutal things to say about some shitty movies, and I can always back that. Not to mention he ONLY 11 YEARS OLD.

Other: Not dead, just sleeping.

SO I know I haven't update this in a while, but it's not dead! Believe me!

I literally haven't had time to watch a movie in months! I am finished of school now, so the amount of movies I watch is going to skyrocket again.

As a means of procrastination I had been thinking about what movie I would watch when I finished the semester. I think I've decided on 'Once Upon a Time in the West'.

This make sense considering it was the last movie I tried to watch. I made it about a quarter of the way in before I either fell asleep from exhaustion or moved on to something more important :(

I'm really excited for a summer of movie watching.

Stay tuned!

-Pat

Movie: Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere.

I just finished watching Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 psychological thriller Vertigo. The movie was fantastic on so many levels, but what I really enjoyed was Hitchcock's awesome use of the camera to tell the story.

The movie is about an ex-detective, Scottie (played by the ever-amazing James Stewart), who becomes terribly afraid of heights after witnessing his partner fall to his death. After retiring from the force he gets hired as a private-eye by an old college friend. His friend needs him to follow his wife (Kim Novak) who he believes to have been possessed by her dead grandmother; she goes out for hours at a time and doesn't have any recollection of the events that take place. As Scottie follows her around San Fransisco a much larger mystery unravels and he is continually plagued by his crippling acrophobia and guilt from losing his partner.

A lot of the movie takes place inside the head of Scottie, and Hitchcock uses some neat camera tricks and an animated dream sequence to show this without the need for narration. In order to give the viewer an idea of what Vertigo feels like he uses a technique that is apparently called a dolly-zoom (thanks wikipedia). It is hard to explain if you have never played around with a zoom lens before, or if you haven't seen it used in a movie, but it works so well in this situation. So well in fact, that it has apparently been nicknamed a Hitchcock or Vertigo Zoom. I'll try and find an example on youtube or something... Awesome, this has both of the good dolly-zooms from vertigo.

The other scene that really struck me as brilliant is later in the movie after Scottie has finished making Judy look like Madeline and they begin kissing in her hotel room. The camera does a bunch of 360 degree pans around the couple, but as it goes around them, the background changes from the hotel room the stable where Scottie had his last kiss with Madeline before she died. This scene says so much, without saying a word. The change in background, plus the dizzying affect of the shot really allow you inside Scottie's mind. Fast forward to 3:33ish to see the scene I'm talking about.

Probably wasn't the best movie to watch while I'm sick in bed, but I'm glad I saw it.

Cheers,

Patio

Other: Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

A great injustice has fallen over the UPEI campus! The beautiful snowman that Tristan and I brought to life (seen above) has been murdered in cold blood (see below).

No parent should have to see their child murdered. This isn't the way he was supposed to go; old age, heatstroke, or a bad cold maybe, but not murder. He was so young, so cool.

It may take some Veronica Mars quality sleuthing, but I will have my revenge. I will not rest until the killer is dealt with.

RIP Snowman
16/02/2010 - 18/02/2010

Other: Olympics!

I've been meaning to update recently, but to tell you the truth, I have been too busy to watch any movies. All of my time is being taken up by studying, and what free time I do have is spent watching the Olympics. So instead of movies, I'll talk about that.

I'm a fairly patriotic guy. I mean I don't paint my face red and white for Canada day or anything, but I do love this country and I am very proud of everything it has done. During the Olympics though, my patriotism is at an all time high. I almost feel compelled to paint my face or at least wear more red. Since the opening ceremonies on Friday, despite CTV's lackluster coverage, I have been glued to my TV screen. Curling, skiing, snowboarding, I will watch almost everything, drawing the line at figure-skating. It's not that I can't see the athleticism in it, its that I cringe every time a couple spins next to each other, blades nearly colliding with faces.

I have been craving a good movie lately, and today is a snowday, so maybe if I get a lot of work done I'll have time to watch a movie later tonight.

We'll seeeee.

Pat