1 Year…100 Films, #47: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)

“Stella!” – Stanley

Alright, these are about to be some rapid fire, brief posts. Going to try to get as many as possible done before the end of the year! (I only have two films left, btw)

Basic Premise of the Film: Scarlett O’Hara is going through some shit so she moves in with her sister and her husband. Based on the play of the same name.

Here was a movie I had never seen and had only heard great things about. I was very excited to watch it but wasn’t ready for how I was going to be affected. Now, I’m writing this post from a different mindset than the one I had when first watched the movie. Mainly because I was ready to praise Marlon Brando for his performance but as of late a certain story has been circulating about some stuff that went down during filming of a certain film. I’m not going to link to it or anything. I’m not ignoring it but, I’ve decided, that these film reviews isn’t going to be the place or discuss it – even if this movie does include a rape scene. Oh, the irony of it all.

Anyways, I’m going for rapid fire here…

This was such a great film. I can see why Blue Jasmine was compared to it when it first came out a couple of years ago. Vivien Leigh as astounding as Blanche. Marlon Brando was kind of a douche, but his head was in the right place – most of the time. I really felt sorry for Blanche’s sister, Stella, she was the one who really had it bad the entire movie. The story was also very depressing as well which is why I was kinda not myself when it was over. I felt as if I was put through the emotional rollercoaster that was Blanche’s downward spriral, and then with Brando’s Stanley pulling Stella in all kinds of directions I was just so absorbed by it all. I mean, I guess that’s what we want great films to do, right? To move and touch us.

Awards-wise it got the acting awards it most definitely deserved: Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Actress. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Director and Actor (Brando lost to Humphrey Bogart in “The African Queen” in case you were wondering).

When the list first came out, the film was ranked at #45 and 10 years later it dropped two spots to where we are now. I expect it to remain fairly the same whenever an updated list is made solely because it contains some of the best acting I have ever seen.

I viewed this film online. CLICK HERE to watch it.

No time for the for funsies…sorry y’all.

 

1 Year…100 Films, #48: REAR WINDOW (1954)

“A murderer would never parade his crime in front of an open window.” – Lisa

Basic Premise of the Film: Dude with broken leg is stuck in his apartment. Peeps at his neighbors through his window. Thinks one of his neighbors may have murdered someone.

Well, here it is – we are officially in the Top 50. Technically, “Lord of the Rings” kicked off the Top 50 but since I’ve seen that one so many times it didn’t count and we all know how it went when I tried to watch “Intolerance.” I had never before seen this one and, as it was the second Alfred Hitchcock film on this list, hopes were really high. A couple of weeks before I saw it, I mentioned it to a friend who proceeded to tell me that that movie with Shia LaBeouf, “Disturbia” was actually based on this one. That movie was actually kinda good, so I figured this one had to be really good. I was not let down at all. The overall premise of the story is pretty simple but the payoff is in the build-up and overall suspense as we get to the climax. That was some great stuff. I know I’ve had my moments during The French Connection and In the Heat of the Night, but this was some next level suspense. I can’t say this brought some new insight to the ways movies were filmed or made, but I guess the fact that a semi-simple plot, with surprisingly well-developed characters can go a long way. I will say that I’m surprised that it took us this long to get Grace Kelly in a film. I’m not even going to talk about James Stewart (not yet, at least) because he’s still got several appearances left on this list – I will say though, he was great as the incapacitated protagonist of the film. While, I have yet to write my post about “North by Northwest,” I’ll save a good talk about Alfred Hitchcock until I make it to his highest appearance on the list as well.

Awards wise it wasn’t no charging rhino, but it was nominated for and won for some of the technical categories. Grace Kelly’s performace was applauded as was Stewart’s. I think what has made it so enduring is that is shows what city life can be like for people – lonely, stressful, always changing and it showcased that we all really do like to be nosy on the low. Don’t act like you’ve never peaked through your blinds when you’ve heard something going on outside! Also, as I said before, the way the suspense kept building was great! If you’re looking to watch a good Hitchcock movie, I would highly recommend this one!

Shout-out to Mark in “Love, Actually” for keeping a copy on his shelf!

When the AFI list was first released in 1998, “Rear Window” was ranked at #42, ten years later it fell to where we find it at now. It fell some spots, but still solid showing I think that it was able to stay in the Top 50. When, and if, this list is ever revised I think we should still expect it be floating around the name numbers – Top 60 for sure. I’m going to go ahead and say that “North by Northwest” might even pass it! We shall see.

I actually bought this film from a used store before viewing so I didn’t look up anything for you guys – sorry about that.

And now for fun…

Did you know that this movie was remade in the 1990’s? I sure as hell didn’t so here’s a trailer for the remake which starred the likes of Christopher Reeve (post his tragic accident) and Darryl Hannah. Have any of you seen it? How was it? Let me know, yeah? I’m asking for me and not for a friend this time.

1 Year…100 Films, #49: INTOLERANCE (1916)

So colossal, guys.

Quick Update: While I haven’t posted about my film viewing in a while, rest assured, I’m still making progress on the list! I’m so determined to finish it by the end of the year it’s a little ridiculous. I’m in the mid 40’s now but just life has been hectic with work and school so any movie post between “In The Heat of the Night” and this one (#74-50) will be dated between the two posts so the reviews stay in chronological order. I WILL GET TO THEM!! 

Okay guys, I can’t even give you a basic synopsis of this film. I tried on four different occasions to watch it but I just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t that it wasn’t good (my opinion thus far is that it wasn’t) but just the way the flow of the story was set up didn’t cut it for me. There are four separate stories being told but they all were just overlapping and I thought it was hard to get a complete hold of how each story was being told. The running theme was that each of the four stories  — that were set during four very different timelines — would show some sort on intolerance going down. Seemed interesting enough but I just couldn’t do it.

There’s like 20 different versions of this film (okay, maybe more like 4) and they all have a running time of roughly three hours. WHHYYYYYYY!?!? I just really could’t. I tried. I hate myself a little bit for having skipped but if I couldn’t watch ONE movie in a month’s time it wasn’t going to happen.

Real quick though: let me say that it was not lost on me that I was watching a hundred year old film. My husband and I were both like, “Wow, this is cool.” The version we were watching was remastered and restored beautifully, but obviously there’s only so much that admiration will help you get through a movie. Overall, I just can’t. How is this one of the first movies we have to kick the top 50 off with? In 1998, this movie wasn’t even ranked! This means that #49 is the debut spot for this film. HOW?! Someone please explain this to me and point me in the direction of the version in which we get one complete story at a time. KTHNXBYE.

I tried watching this film on Hulu – CLICK HERE to be directed there.

Here is the version of the film that’s on YouTube (it’s in the public domain so it’s a decent copy). If you make it through, let me know how it is, yeah?