[74] My Fair Lady

Now as some people know, but probably not now that I think about it, I am a great fan of musicals. There is rarely an outburst of song or dance that I despise. That said, I absolutely adored this movie. From the first song I was enthralled by it all. This film is funny, beautiful and romantic.

It tells the story of Henry Higgens (Rex Harrison), a man who has great knowledge in the ways of speech. He is able to know where a person came from, just from hearing the words from their mouth. He proposes a challenge to change Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) from being a common flower girl, to someone who could be mistaken for a duchess.

As far as acting goes, I'm on really going to speak on Audrey Hepburn. I've only seen one other film she's in, Breakfast At Tiffany's. As great as that film is, I did enjoy My Fair Lady much more. Audrey Hepburn's accent is fantastic in the beginning, as a common London flower girl. Her exclamations, the way she moves, it's fantastic. Then, as she changes, she is fantastic in a different way. She is then seen as something beautiful and lovely. An actress like Audrey Hepburn is rare in these days. I'd probably give it to someone like Cate Blanchett as being the Audrey Hepburn of the current ages. The way she looks, speaks, moves, they're all amazing. I'm surprised she wasn't nominated for a best actress oscar in 1964, for this film. This does make sense though, because the winner of this was Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins, a role that is quite astounding.

I would like to point out that Rex Harrison won a Best Actor oscar for his role as Henry Higgins. An achievement he was certainly worthy of.

The film, however, did win Best Movie, in the year 1964, an honour it was very deserving of. I wonder what it was up against. Ok, I have looked it up on a website of some sort, and it was up against Becket, Dr Strangelove, Mary Poppins and Zorba the Greek. An interesting year for films, no doubt, but I'd say that in voting that year, I would have had a hard time deciding between Dr Strangelove, Marry Poppins and My Fair Lady. I can't say anything for the other two as I haven't seen them.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Although it may not be for everyone's tastes. My sister, before I watched it, told me it was boring. I however, didn't think so.

I give it a 9/10 and realise I should really have some sort of ratings sytem that makes sense to myself, let alone everyone else.

[73] The Great Train Robbery

Back in 1903, I'm sure this film eluded class. It was a magical wonder of their time, something new, exciting, something I'm sure someone said was just a fad, and would never continue on. I know many people said that about television and computers, but they're still going, quite strong in fact.

I was fortunate enough to find that someone had posted this on Youtube. I don't think that's illegal, because I am quite certain the copyright expired a while ago, much like A Trip to the Moon.

This is the second film on the list, meaning it's the second earliest to be made. A Trip to the Moon is the first, incase I hadn't made that clear. This is a film revolving around, as you'd expect, a great train robbery. It was a train robbery performed by Butch Cassidy and his gang. The black and white, grainy film quality makes it hard to tell what is going on. It really does help to either know the backstory behind Butch Cassidy, or to watch the Paul Newman film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid appears on this list, and I've seen it before. Great film, well worth watching.

Parts of this are quite hilarious. Scenes where people are shot, and a punch-out scene that involves someone being thrown off a train, evoke enjoyment, because after the film quality we see in this day and age, you can't help but laugh.

It only goes for twelve minutes, and therefore it's a winner, so I give it a 9/10, for its revolutionary style, ability to make me lol, and the fact that it doesn't take too long.

[72] Sideways

In 2004, a little film called Sideways came out. Now, before the Golden Globes, I wasn't really aware of this film at all. Director, Alexander Payne, hasn't got a name that is likely to stick into my mind. Although, despite that, I have seen both Election and About Schmidt, both of which are on that poster above. Both of which were great movies, that I enjoyed.

This movie troubles me. I don't know whether to say I liked it or not. I can't say I was able to relate to the characters in anyway, because they had been through things I have not had the chance nor the time to go through. Divorce, marriage, that kind of thing.

The movie is centred around two friends, one of them about to get married. The other one takes this one that's about to get married, on a wine tasting journey. They then meet a couple of women, the one getting married does something he shouldn't have with one of these women, and the plot thickens from there.

It has some quite funny, laugh out loud type moments, although I didn't find enough of them as I hoped for. It gets funnier near the end, but for the most part I just felt that it dragged on.

I will have to give it a 7/10, because as much as I'd love to give it a good approval rating, I don't feel I can at this point in my life. Maybe twenty years down the track I will see it as something else, but at the moment really can't.

Next on the list? Hmm, well I did find No Country for Old Men, but I am also about to go hunting the library catalogue for some to put on hold. At least I've gotten two out of the way tonight, both of which were movies that I have been meaning to see for a while. Blogs are so motivational!

[71] Jurassic Park

1993, starring Sam Neill, and that nerd from Independence Day, Jurassic Park is the story of a fictional theme park that features real living dinosaurs.

Various things go horribly wrong when the the power gets shut down, thus turning off the electric fences. There is then a great issue with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, people get eaten, that kind of thing. I think that most people should have seen it by now, so I really don't think I need to go into great plot detail. Also, that'd be spoilers for those who haven't.

It is pretty much the quintessential dinosaur movie, unless of course you have enough time to watch the entirety of Dinotopia.

Actually, I take that back. This film is a little bit ridiculous. Anyway, it's a fairly good adventure film. It's on the list, so apparently you're meant to see it before you die. I'm glad that I have finally seen it. I may watch the other ones one day.

In case you were not aware, this film is directed by Steven Spielberg, which really isn't all that surprising. You wouldn't expect anything less than an epic from that guy. He's produced some pretty amazing movies over the years. None of them really in this decade, but rather of the 70s, 80s and early 90s.

I will kindly grant this film a 7.8/10 and be done with it, that is a rating I use from my special ratings system. 7.8 seems fairly random though.

Anywho, reasonably good film, deserves its spot on the list, because it's quite good for its time.

Hopefully the fourth one, coming out in 2010 or so, will not be a giant cock up.

Thank you and goodnight.

The List so Far:

The following is a list of films that I have seen so far, from Steven Jay Schneider's book, '1001 Movies YouMust See Before You Die'. I imagine it'll be a fair few more than the number of books I've read (http://katdoesthe1001.blogspot.com)
Hoping to watch and review all the ones that I am yet to see, in the future, on this blog.

Here is the list so far:

1. A Trip to the Moon
2. The Wizard of Oz
3. Pinocchio (Disney)
4. Dumbo
5. It's a Wonderful Life
6. Singin' in the Rain
7. Animal Farm
8. Breakfast At Tiffany's
9. West Side Story
10. To Kill a Mockingbird
11. Dr Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
12. The Sound of Music
13. The Jungle Book
14. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
15. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
16. Deliverance
17. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
18. Star Wars IV: A New Hope
19. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
20. Grease
21. Monty Python's Life of Brian
22. The Muppet Movie
23. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
24. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
25. Gallipoli
26. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
27. E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial
28. Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
29. This is Spinal Tap
30. Ghostbusters
31. The Breakfast Club
32. Back to the Future
33. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
34. A Room with a View
35. Top Gun
36. The Princess Bride
37. Big
38. Grave of the Fireflies
39. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
40. Rain Man
41. Edward Scissorhands
42. Strictly Ballroom
43. Groundhog Day
44. The Piano
45. Schindler's List
46. Forrest Gump
47. The Lion King
48. Four Weddings and a Funeral
49. Muriel's Wedding
50. Babe
51. Toy Story
52. Clueless
53. Se7en
54. Princess Mononoke
55. Titanic
56. Fight Club
57. The Matrix
58. The Sixth Sense
59. Meet the Parents
60. Amelie
61. Moulin Rouge!
62. Spirited Away
63. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
64. The Pianist
65. Crash
66. Little Miss Sunshine
67. The Departed
68. The Queen
69. Rebel Without a Cause
70. Independence Day


The last two are obviously out of order, because I missed them. I knew there was something wrong when I hadn't added Rebel Without a Cause to the list.

I found the list here: Steven Jay Schneider - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

So, up to 70. That's 7%, which isn't too bad for 18 years old. Hopefully going to knock a few off quickly.