Do The Right Thing. (Wikipedia) For those who have never seen Do the Right Thing, it’s about racial tensions in a diverse Brooklyn neighborhood. Spike Lee directed and starred in the movie which was released in the late 1980’s.

There were a lot of things about the movie that I related to even though I grew up in mostly white middle class neighborhoods. It was funny to see the fashions on display in the movie; the clothes felt VERY dated more than those from Yankee Doodle Dandy. I think this is because I remember when people dressed like the characters from Do The Right Thing, whereas movie’s like Yankee Doodle Dandy are just lumped into an ephemeral “old” category. The music was another throwback to the 80’s. The soundtrack wasn’t used as a tool for nostalgia as it was in Adam Sandler’s Wedding Singer; instead it was integral to the experience that Spike Lee was trying to project through the movie. Some of the acts mentioned and songs played were surprisingly vivid in my memory.

The movie reminded me about a lot of my experiences when I initially enlisted in the Army. I didn’t have many interactions with African Americans growing up. They were represented in my High School, but were a minority group that I didn’t interact with very much. The Army changed that. There weren’t any dramatic confrontations, or cinematic like epiphany moments between the various racial groups in my basic training unit. Instead the cultural gap was bridged as we got to know each other individually. I specifically remember one guy who was originally from Jamaica but had moved to NYC as a child. The stories he told painted a picture of life that was vastly different than what I had known growing up in various suburban neighborhoods. He and I weren’t best friends, but we were friends.

More than twenty years after it’s release, Do The Right Thing still has an interesting message. My hope is that the story of racial tensions grow to a distant memory. I know this will never be the situation universally across our country (or planet) as I think it’s human nature to view people who are different with suspicion. I’m hopeful for my childrens’ future every time I visit the elementary school my oldest daughter attends, and see the wide variety of skin tones represented by her classmates and friends.

What did you think about Do The Right Thing?

Blade Runner. (Wikipedia) It’s been hailed as the greatest science fiction movie of the last 30 years, possibly the best ever. Admittedly it’s a great piece of filmmaking on a number of levels. Ridley Scott has called it his most complete movie. Instead of debating the greatness or expounding upon the influence it’s had within the genre, I thought I’d point out some of what I found most interesting about the movie.

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you a quick synopsis without spilling the beans: in the (not so distant) future, mankind has begun settling other planets to escape the crushing existence on earth; during this period of colonization genetic engineers have created artificial humans, known as replicants, that aren’t allowed on earth; the story is based around the hunt for four fugitive replicants. There’s a TON more to the story but that’s the quick version.

One of the first things to I noticed about the movie is how dark and gritty the future is portrayed. The movie was made in 1982 and set in 2019, what did they think was going to happen in that relatively short time span that would fundamentally shift our reality? I know it’s not a meant to be a realistic picture of the future but it’s not even close.  Although flying cars would be pretty damn cool!

The use of video payphones also stuck out to me. I’m sure at one point in the future I’ll have to explain to my children that there was a period where we didn’t have cell phones, but had to carry around change to make a phone call. Remember collect calls?

Everything considered though, Blade Runner is a great movie. I enjoyed watching it with my wife who had never seen the entire movie. It definitely deserves a spot on the Top 100 movies of all time, I dare say it could even stand to be placed higher on the list. If you’ve never seen it, add it to your Netflix queue today! Here’s the original trailer courtesy of YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yankee Doodle Dandy. (Wikipedia)I have to admit I wasn’t looking forward to this movie as I’m not a big fan of musicals. I don’t mind the occasional song and dance number mind you, but traditional musicals in the vein of Oklahoma aren’t exactly my preferred cinematic experience. I was a little surprised at how engaging this movie is since it held my attention.

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you the nickle tour… it’s the story of George M. Cohan, the son of Irish immigrants who was one of the premier singer/actors/writers/composers/producers/theater owners on Broadway in the early 1900’s. There are a lot of songs and dances from his various productions over the years, but it’s not a traditional musical. Many of the songs were so popular that even my fading memory recalls some of them. Beyond the title song, Cohan also wrote “Over There” for the troops heading to WWI.

My 6 year old daughter is fond of musicals (think High School Musical.. if you’ve never been exposed to it then count yourself among the lucky) so we let her watch it with us until it was time to go to bed. I was proud of her when she caught the reference to 48 states and not 50. I fear I will only be able to pull the wool over her eyes for a little longer, she’s a smart one. Since it was from 1942, I wasn’t too concerned about inappropriate material and wasn’t disappointed. I think she enjoyed the movie more than I did and was a little disappointed when bedtime came before the end of the movie.

Prior to watching Yankee Doodle Dandy, I don’t think I’d ever seen an entire James Cagney movie. He definitely had a few quirks in his performance, especially the singing and dancing. He has an interesting way of performing a song that is part singing and part recital, but it works for him. When it comes to dancing, he seems very good at specific moves many of which were repeatedly used throughout most of the movies dance numbers. A friend described his style succinctly as “stiff legged”.

Ultimately it wasn’t a bad movie to watch, and is likely a good example of the best of James Cagney singing and dancing. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend adding it to your Netflix queue unless there’s something about it that particularly interests you.

Here’s the trailer from YouTube.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Toy Story (IMDB), #99 on AFI’s Top 100 movies, is a great example of what animated movies should consistently strive for. It hit’s home runs in animation, story and talent performance.

Toy Story’s animation did a great job bringing toys to life, especially the small details that really make it hit home. While watching the movie for this post I noticed that the army men had small plastic circles on their backs, a result of the molding process evident on the real life version. This level of attention to detail lends itself to the stylized realism that Pixar employed in this and other releases.

Like many of the classic animated movies, and much of AFI’s Top 100 in general, a great story keeps the movie fresh without feeling dated. I watched the movie with my children who enjoyed it (see the video below) even though it was made 7 – 10 years before their birth. The same can’t be said about some of my favorite childhood animated shows. I’m sure they’d look at Thundarr the Barbarian much they same way I look at Howdy Doody from my parent’s childhood (thinly veiled amusement .. “you used to watch that?!”).

Toy Story avoids this issue by having a great childhood premise that everyone can relate to, regardless of age: what if toys were alive. Everyone has used this as the premise of countless hours of childhood playtime, Pixar brought it to life. Beyond a great premise, the script has the right mix of child & adult humor to appeal to the whole family. As much as I like the Shrek movies, there’s some jokes that I’m glad my girls didn’t get when they were toddlers.

Finally, the talent performances were world class. Tom Hanks is totally believable as Woody, the well intentioned cowboy. Tim Allen as the ego centric Buzz Lightyear was genius, he was able to perfect a similar character in Galaxy Quest a few years later. The rest of the cast was equally superb and delivered great performances that brought familiar toys to life.

Toy Story is a great movie that absolutely deserves it’s place on the all time greatest movies list, if not positioned a little higher than #99. It’s timeless animation, story, and performances still capture the imaginations of children and adults. I have no doubt that I’ll some day watch it with my grandchildren (hopefully that day is a LONG way off).

Here’s what my kids thought of the movie.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the opening 10 minutes on YouTube.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I started my plan to watch all of AFI’s Top 100 movies tonight with #100: Ben Hur. While I’ve seen the movie before, it’s been a long time and I don’t remember too much about the plot. My first thought at the midway point was: Holy cow this thing is long!

It turns out that the movie is based on one of the best selling American novels of all time. Per the Wikipedia entry, it was the best selling American novel until Gone With The Wind came along. From a story standpoint, the book and subsequent movie fall into the historical fiction genre which has always been a favorite of mine. Not a big surprise as I’ve always loved History and have a degree in it from the University of Texas. The storyline of redemption through hard work and sacrifice are not uncommon to American literature. A lot of the mythology of our country is built on this very idea, so it’s no surprise that it was a huge seller.

Ben Hur, the movie, definitely falls into the “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like This Anymore” category. The sets are pretty impressive even if they’re mostly plywood when you realize they didn’t have digital effects back then. When watching the victory parade in Rome, I couldn’t help but wonder if the producers told the set designers “I don’t care what it looks like, just make it look ROMAN”.

The chariot scene is absolutely amazing, and get’s my vote at this point as the best action sequence ever filmed. Something that really stood out to me was the horsemanship involved, especially in the opening parade sequence. I’ve marched in a few large formations years ago when enlisted in the Army and know from experience that keeping a wide formation tight & straight in a turn is hard work. To do it with horses is even more amazing! Per the wikipedia entry (again!), the chariot scene used 15,000 extras and was the largest film set ever built at 18 acres. If you haven’t seen it in a while, take a few minutes and watch the YouTube clip below.

Click here to view the embedded video.