Only about 8 people read these Sunday Showdown posts that have been going on since early 2012 (seriously, even my mother doesn't read these). But just about EVERY SINGLE ONE of the eight got mad at last week's post.
I thought it would be because I blasted It's A Wonderful Life. But no, most people were angry because I gave Wonderful Life my vote over Double Indemnity. (Ahem, and because I didn't use enough film theory terms to back up my opinion or didn't provide enough review of the films). Sigh.
I promise I'll try to do better so I can get "As" on my papers and make Honor Roll at the end of the semester. But really, Sunday Showdown is just my short opinion about a couple of movies each week, nothing more.
If you're looking for review of movies, let me introduce you to my pal, Dan the Man and his website. Dan is all of 20 years old, but has an impressive collection of movie reviews. He's funny and insightful, and although I don't always agree with him, I tend to enjoy his thorough reviews. Check him out if you're looking for reviews.
But without further ado, this week's Showdown:
#28 - All About Eve vs. Se7en
#27
– High Noon vs. Silence of the Lambs
Maybe we should just call this week: Classic Hollywood vs. the Serial Killers.
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| "John Doe has the upper hand!" |
A couple years ago on Facebook there was this thing going around where someone gave you the name of a director and then you had to state: 1) A movie you loved, 2) A movie you liked, and 3) A movie you hated by that director. I was given David Fincher (director of Se7en).
Although I did not list Se7en as
any of the three options, I did mention that after watching Se7en I'm pretty sure "I was in the fetal position on the floor of the theater
for hours after the credits started rolling backwards on that
film."
And then the next 40 Facebook comments were
about whether Se7en was the most contrived piece of junk on the planet,
or the most brilliant, disquieting thriller in years. Well, John Doe definitely
had the upper hand (I repeat, John Doe had the upper hand!!) in that
conversation, because we all nearly killed each other making our points -- love it or hate it.
I didn't like Se7en very much
when I saw it in 1995, and I didn't particularly like it when I saw it again
this week. It's gruesome, I didn't really care for Brad Pitt's acting, and
there are some pretty obvious problems in the story. I would never suggest this
movie to anyone (particularly you, Denise), but I must give it this: I have
never forgotten it. There's something to be said for that.
 |
| "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night" |
But against All About Eve?
No. Eve is classic with a capital C..., with a capital AWESOME.
(I said that last time when it was IMDb's #81 and won against Spartacus). Eve was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture.
Deserving of every single one if them, I'm sure. It's a film about ambition and
friendship and knowing/accepting yourself. And has some of the wittiest
dialogue in the history of the world.
Bette
Davis is beyond fabulous in this film. I don't know, maybe it's because she's a
40-year-old woman coming to terms with who she is, and who she's not, and who
she still has left to be (ahem, like someone else we know), but I loved
everything about it. As in: one-of-my-Top-10-movies-of-all-time-love-everything-about-it.
So it definitely gets my vote.
 |
| If only High Noon was as exciting as this picture |
The other showdown: High Noon vs.
Silence of the Lambs.
I understand that High Noon is a
classic film. A classic western. A classic melodrama. Whatever: yawn. If nobody
in the whole town will help you except some 10-year-old kid after all you've
done for them, it's time to move to a new town.
Maybe one where Hannibal Lecter --
the most bestest serial killer in the world -- is mayor. It can't be much worse
than the town in High Noon.
High Noon doesn't even make it onto
the IMDb Top 100 at all. I don't blame them. Silence of the Lambs definitely
gets my vote (btw,
Silence of the Lambs was AFI's #74 and it won against Pan's Labyrinth).
So
one vote to AFI and one vote to IMDb this week, bringing the score to AFI - 43,
IMDb - 33.
AFI’s
Top 100
|
IMDb’s
Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
|
|
43
|
33
|
|
| #11 | City Lights (1931) | LoTR: Return of the King (2003) |
| #19 | On the Waterfront (1954) | LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001) |
#20
|
It's
a Wonderful Life (1946)
|
Rear Window (1954)
|
#27
|
High Noon (1952)
|
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
|
#28
|
All About Eve (1950)
|
Se7en
(1995)
|
#29
|
Double
Indemnity (1944)
|
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
|
#30
|
Apocalypse Now (1979)
|
Memento
(1990)
|
| #31 | The Maltese Falcon (1941) | LoTR: The Two Towers(2002) |
#32
|
The Godfather Part II (1974)
|
Sunset
Boulevard (1950)
|
#33
|
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
|
Dr.
Strangelove (1964)
|
#34
|
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(1937)
|
Forrest
Gump (1994)
|
#35
|
Annie
Hall (1977)
|
Leon: The Professional (1994)
|
#36
|
The
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
|
Citizen Kane (1941)
|
| #37 | The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) | Apocalypse Now (1979) |
| #38 | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) | North By Northwest (1959) |
| #39 | Dr. Strangelove (1964) | American Beauty (1999) |
| #40 | The Sound of Music (1965) | American History X (1998) |
| #41 | King Kong (1933) | Taxi Driver (1976) |
| #42 | Bonnie and Clyde (1967) | Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) |
| #43 | Midnight Cowboy (1969) | Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
| #44 | The Philadelphia Story (1940) | Vertigo (1958) |
| #45 | Shane (1953) | Amelie (2001) |
| #46 | It Happened One Night (1934) | Alien (1979) |
| #47 | A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) | Wall E (2008) |
| #48 | Rear Window (1954) | Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |
| #49 | Intolerance (1916) | The Shining (1980) |
| #50 | LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001) | Spirited Away (2001) |
| #51 | West Side Story (1961) | Paths of Glory (1957) |
| #52 | Taxi Driver (1976) | A Clockwork Orange (1971) |
| #53 | The Deer Hunter (1978) | Double Indemnity (1944) |
| #54 | M*A*S*H* (1970) | To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) |
| #55 | North by Northwest (1959) | The Pianist (2002) |
| #56 | Jaws (1975) | The Lives of Others (2006) |
| #57 | Rocky (1976) | The Departed (2006) |
#58
|
The Gold Rush (1925)
|
Memento
(2000)
|
| #59 | Nashville (1975) | City Lights (1931) |
#60
|
Duck
Soup (1933)
|
Aliens (1986)
|
#61
|
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
|
Eternal
Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)
|
#62
|
American
Graffiti (1973)
|
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
|
#63
|
Cabaret
(1972)
|
Das Boot (1981)
|
#64
|
Network (1976)
|
The
Third Man (1949)
|
#65
|
The African Queen (1951)
|
L.A.
Confidential (1997)
|
#66
|
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
|
Reservoir
Dogs (1992)
|
#67
|
Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
|
Chinatown (1974)
|
#68
|
Unforgiven
(1992)
|
The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)
|
#69
|
Tootsie
(1982)
|
Modern Times (1936)
|
#70
|
A
Clockwork Orange (1971)
|
Life is Beautiful (1997)
|
#71
|
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
|
Monty
Python & the Holy Grail (1975)
|
#72
|
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
|
Back
to the Future (1985)
|
#73
|
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
(1969)
|
The
Prestige (2006)
|
#74
|
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
|
Pan’s
Labyrinth (2006)
|
#75
|
In
the Heat of the Night (1967)
|
Raging Bull (1980)
|
#76
|
Forrest
Gump (1994)
|
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
|
#77
|
All
the President’s Men (1976)
|
Singing In the Rain (1952)
|
#78
|
Modern
Times (1936)
|
Some Like it Hot (1959)
|
#79
|
The
Wild Bunch (1969)
|
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
|
#80
|
The
Apartment (1960)
|
Rashomon (1950)
|
#81
|
Spartacus
(1960)
|
All About Eve (1950)
|
#82
|
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
|
Amadeus
(1984)
|
#83
|
Titanic (1997)
|
Once
Upon A Time in America (1984)
|
#84
|
Easy
Rider (1969)
|
The Green Mile (1999)
|
#85
|
A
Night at the Opera (1935)
|
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
|
#86
|
Platoon (1986)
|
2001:
A Space Odyssey (1968)
|
#87
|
12
Angry Men (1957)
|
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
|
#88
|
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
|
The
Great Dictator (1940)
|
#89
|
Sixth Sense (1999)
|
Braveheart
(1995)
|
#90
|
Swing
Time (1936)
|
The Bicycle Thief (1948)
|
#91
|
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
|
The
Apartment (1960)
|
#92
|
Up (2009)
|
Goodfellas
(1990)
|
#93
|
The French Connection (1971)
|
Downfall
(2004)
|
#94
|
Pulp Fiction (1994)
|
Gran
Torino (2008)
|
#95
|
The
Last Picture Show (1971)
|
Metropolis (1927)
|
#96
|
Do The Right Thing (1989)
|
The
Sting (1973)
|
#97
|
Blade Runner (1982)
|
Gladiator
(2000)
|
#98
|
Yankee
Doodle Dandy (1942)
|
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
|
#99
|
Toy Story (1995)
|
Unforgiven
(1992)
|
#100
|
Ben Hur (1959)
|
The
Elephant Man (1980)
|
Next week, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington vs. The Matrix and To Kill a Mockingbird vs. The Usual Suspects. Easy choices.
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ReplyDelete~Angi
Awww, thanks Angi!
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