Sunday Showdown: AFI vs. IMDb (#76 & #75)

Sunday Showdown double feature and late… again.  The AFI vs. IMDb battle continues:

#76: Forest Gump vs. Cinema Paradiso

#75: In the Heat of the Night vs. Raging Bull

Really, I don’t want to talk about In the Heat of the Night vs. Raging Bull.  I didn’t like either of those movies. I appreciate In the Heat of the Night for what I envision it was at the time of its 1967 release – smack in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement.  But now it’s more of a movie that you’re sure was powerful 35 years ago, but today…

And Raging Bull? Well, Robert DeNiro is just bat crazy. But I had to choose one of the two so I chose Raging Bull. That’s all I have to say about that.

Speaking of… Forest Gump vs. Cinema Paradiso. I have been told by one of my film aficionado friends that if I choose Gump over Cinema Paradiso that he’s going to blow up Mount Rushmore or kill all the fish in the Atlantic Ocean or something like that.  

Forrest Gump & I met a few months ago in L.A.

Forrest Gump is a great story. Truly. I defy anyone not to tear up when Forrest and his Jenny are reunited in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Or when Lt. Dan has his showdown with God on the shrimp boat.  Or Jenny throwing those rocks at her father’s house.   These are all gorgeous, heart-wrenching and even iconic moments. Forrest Gump is one of the best loved American films of all times, and will probably continue to be for decades to come. Forrest Gump is an absolutely wonderful story.

But it’s not necessarily a great movie.  

You will fall in love with this kid, I promise

As much as I hate to give in to cinematic terrorism... I have to agree with my film enthusiast friend.  Cinema Paradiso is the better movie.  I had never seen it, and apart from the Sunday Showdown challenge, I’m not sure I ever would’ve – and what a terrible pity that would’ve been.  Such a fabulous film. It is foreign, with subtitles, but it’s still beautiful – perhaps even more so – because of that. Undoubtedly one of my favorites so far. If you haven’t seen it, you definitely should.

And hooray, Mount Rushmore and all the fish in the Atlantic get to live another day.

	AFI’s Top 100	IMDB’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
#58	The Gold Rush (1925)	Memento (2000)
#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, finally a fair and equal match: Silence of the Lambs vs. Pan’s Labyrinth.  Spooky and more spooky.

Things I Learn from Teaching College - Washing Hands, Changing Diapers... Zombie Invasions

Last week were student speeches again. It's a new semester, so we start back over with the Demonstrative Speeches -- the first of three speeches my students give. 

The purpose of a demonstrative speech is, of course, to demonstrate how to do something -- in other words, to teach an audience something. If you Google "demonstrative speech" the top site is from California State University, Fresno -- a list of 200 possible topics.

Here's the first twenty on that list:
Clean your teeth. 
Coordinate clothes for any occasion.  
Sign for the deaf.
Apply decorative stencils.
Roll clothes to pack a suitcase.
Make stain-glass.
Read nutrition labels.
Defend yourself against an attacker.
Plan a home fire escape.
Stencil tile.
Set-up an e-mail account.
Change oil in your car.
Play the drums.
Change a baby's diaper.
Swing a golf club.
Putt a golf ball.
Pot flowers.
Prune roses.
Make a simple children's game.
Make peanut butter bars.

Most of those are pretty decent.  Of them all, the one I've heard most is "How to change a baby's diaper." In my career, believe it or not, that has been the second most popular speech topic -- I usually hear it 4-5 times a year.

The most popular speech topic is "How to wash your hands." Seriously. I get it 7-8 times a year; definitely have heard it over 50 times in my teaching career.  So if you hear me singing "Happy Birthday" twice while washing my hands - blame my students.

There were no hand washing nor diaper changing speeches last week. (By some odd stroke of luck, I'm only teaching one public speaking class this summer or else I'm sure these old favorites would've made an appearance). But I did have a "How to Prepare for a Zombie Invasion" speech.

This is actually the second zombie-preparedness speech I've had. Both have been pretty good and both of them have been from women in the 20s. For this one she talked about the types of zombies and gave a demonstration about how to protect yourself with a baseball bat from different types. Had a fellow student pretend to be different types of zombie and everything.

And because knowing is half the battle, for all you zombie movie lovers out there:

So next time I am tempted to think my job is not important, I will remember this speech. I will know I have gleaned valuable life skills -- skills that can make a difference -- especially if I have a baseball bat handy. Zombies everywhere beware.

Sunday Showdown: AFI vs. IMDb (#79 & #77)

What can I say? Summer is here, school is done, and my poor blog has suffered great neglect over the past couple of weeks.  But I’m back with a double Sunday Showdown.  Last time I did #78 since I was waiting for The Wild Bunch to arrive from Netflix. So this week it’s #79 and #77.

#79:  The Wild Bunch vs. The Bridge on the River Kwai

Which Bridge movie is this, anyway?

I absolutely loved The Bridge on the River Kwai.  I thought I had seen it before, but it ends up the movie I actually saw was A Bridge Too Far. I watched that back in the early 90s, when my boyfriend at the time was recovering from having a metal plate put in his hand – a plate he had to get because he broke his hand during a softball game. That I forced him to play.  Ooops.

Plus I called him a wimp at lunch after the softball game because I thought he was faking. Unbelievable that we didn’t make it as a couple, isn’t it?

Anyway, he got to choose the movie that recovery day and chose A Bridge Too Far. I hated it and barely stayed awake. The thought of watching it again last week was not appealing, so I was ecstatic and captivated to find the much different Bridge on the River Kwai. I loved it.  It was no question for me that this won over the The Wild Bunch (which seemed to be just a bunch of violence and naked boobies, which may appeal to some, but not so much to me).

#77: All the President’s Men vs. Singing in the Rain

The question here is not “Is All the President’s Men a great movie?”  Instead the question is, “Is All the President’s Men better than Singing in the Rain?” 

I hadn’t seen All the President’s Men, nor was I very familiar with the Watergate scandal. I truly enjoyed this film. Robert Redford was gorgeous as usual. Even Dustin Hoffman was tolerable.  The whole thing was intriguing and had that wonderful 70s feel to it. 

Good mornin', good morning'!

But is it better than Singing in the Rain? No. 

I love Singing in the Rain. I love how I am able to watch it with my grandparents, parents and children and it entertains all generations equally.  I love that it influenced my shy, youngest  daughter enough that she chose to audition for a play last year and sang “Good Morning” from Rain as her audition piece. (Got the part.) And I am convinced that Donald O’Conner doing his “Make ‘Em Laugh” routine began my oldest son’s love affair with flips on the trampoline. 

So it’s five in a row for IMDb.  Next week, another double: #76: Forrest Gump vs. Cinema Paradiso and #75: In the Heat of the Night vs. Raging Bull

	AFI’s Top 100	IMDb’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
#58	The Gold Rush (1925)	Memento (2000)
#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)