Day 31: Silence of the Lambs

Silence of the Lambs:1991: Winner of the 64th Academy Award

 

Starring:

Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling

Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter

Scott Glenn as Jack Crawford

Ted Levine as Jame Gumb, "Buffalo Bill"

Anthony Heald as Frederick Chilton

Brooke Smith as Catherine Martin

Diane Baker as Senator Ruth Martin

Kasi Lemmons as Ardelia Mapp

Frankie Faison as Barney Matthews

Tracey Walter as Lamar

Charles Napier as Lt. Boyle

Danny Darst as Sgt. Tate

Alex Coleman as Sgt. Jim Pembry

Dan Butler as Roden

Paul Lazar as Pilcher

Ron Vawter as Paul Krendler

Roger Corman as FBI Director Hayden Burke

Chris Isaak as SWAT Commander

Harry Northup as Mr. Bimmel

Masha Skorobogatov as Young Clarice Starling

Don Brockett as cellmate and "Pen Pal"

Anthony Hopkins I love you! Everything you do I love! As the genius madman/ cannibal Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins was damn brilliant. It is also further proof that the man can be evil and you still have to love him. He was on screen for no longer than ten minutes and he won the oscar. And who could forget his big line. “ A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti..apffffffffff.” (The sound effects and face are much more menacing I promise.)Further I think this is my favorite Jodie Foster movie, she is a very convincing driven cop who wants to prove her worth more than anything else and as a near an equal as can be to Lecter. I saw this movie when I was fourteen for the first time and I wont lie, I was quite taken, never had I seen a thriller this brilliantly adapted, I decided to read the book , and dear blog afficionado, I was not disappointed! To this day it is one of my favorite trilogy's both in film and book, following on the heels of LOTR. I know it isn't the movie for the faint or weak of stoamch, but I dare anyone to watch and not like it.

It also won awards for:

Best Actress: Jodie Foster

Best Actor : Anthony Hopkins

Best Director: Jonathon Demme

Best Adapted Screenplay :Ted Tally

Day 30: Rocky

Rocky: 1976: Winner of the 49th Academy Award

Starring:

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa

Talia Shire as Adrian Pennino

Burt Young as Paulie Pennino

Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed

Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill

Joe Spinnell as Tony Gazzo

I liked this movie, but I couldn't help thinking there was something wrong with Rocky. Like maybe he wasn't all there mentally. It is the story of the American underdog and I understand that. It was a chance for the Holllywood underdog (Stallone) to show his acting chops. My likes about this movie we're obviously the soundtrack, and the girlfriend. Shire is cute and quirky and exactly the kind of girl you can mentally picture Rocky with. I also loved the scene where he walks the girl to her house and he gives her a lecture on how to behave, and at the end of the walk she calls him a perve or dumbass... that was hilarious. What I didn't like was the psycho brother and the cocky boxer! First of all that guy was a huge pain in the ass to look at and secondly he should have been more supportive instead of looking for recompense. Then the boxer, OK I get he is the best and Rocky just wanted to go the distance, but come on he should have one. This guy literally had nothing her improvised and he was the only one who got to the 15 rounds with Apollo Creed. Dude it irked me that he didn't win. I can see why this movie won awards, the nation needed a hero, even if he was a halfwit.

It also won awards for:

Best Film Editing

Won

Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad

Best Film Editing Won Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad

Best Director Won John G. Avildsen

Best Director

Won

John G. Avildsen

<>

Best Director

Won

John G. Avildsen

Day 29:The Apartment

The Apartment: 1960: 33rd Winner of the Academy Award

Starring:

Jack Lemmon as C.C. "Bud" Baxter

Shirley MacLaine as Fran Kubelik

Fred MacMurray as Jeff D. Sheldrake

Ray Walston as Joe Dobisch

Jack Kruschen as Dr. Dreyfuss

David Lewis as Al Kirkeby

Hope Holiday as Mrs. Margie MacDougall

Joan Shawlee as Sylvia

Naomi Stevens as Mrs. Mildred Dreyfuss

Johnny Seven as Karl Matuschka

Joyce Jameson as the blonde in the bar

Willard Waterman as Mr. Vanderhoff

David White as Mr. Eichelberger

Edie Adams as Miss Olsen

This movie was pretty decent and it was also kind of unexpected. It's a romantic-comedy film and it stars comedic legend: Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Firstly I would like to say that I was irked by it at first. The premise is that 'Bud' lends his apartment out to the head honchos of the company he works for so they can have their flings with secretaries and the lot. However he himself is trying to associate with Fran (MacLaine), she is an elevator girl who has a secret, she is sleeping with the boss. Now this is standard rom-com formula. They fall in love, something stands in the way, they figure it out , boy losses girl, girl figures out and looks for the boy, and happy ever after. However the inter-plot is great, there’s a sense of a lost girl in Fran, that just translates really well onto the screen. I have never seen any of MacLaine's earlier work, I believe from 1980 to now. I never knew her voice was so high up there and that she was way pretty when she was younger. Like super pretty! As for Lemmon well I also had a teensy bit of a crush on him, but didn't like how mean he was to Marilyn Monroe. Which brings me right back to point one, the irk. So the first ten minutes of the movie, I assume this is a teamwork between Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon who had worked with Monroe before, one of the honcho's girl not only sounds like Monroe but is doing the “Marilyn”, it kind of irked me because, well because you don't fuck with Marilyn! However something quite interesting is that in the first 5 minutes a commercial for “The Grand Hotel” another “Best Picture”, winner. It was fun to watch this movie, maybe not something I’d get but I’d watch it again.

It also won awards for:

Best Director :Billy Wilder

Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen :I. A. L. Diamond and Billy Wilder

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black and White):Edward G. Boyle and Alexandre Trauner

Best Film Editing: Daniel Mandell

Day 28: Gentleman's Agreement

Gentleman's Agreement: 1947: Winner of the 20th Academy Award

Starring :

Gregory Peck as Philip Schuyler Green

Anne Revere as Mrs. Green

Dorothy McGuire as Kathy Lacey

June Havoc as Elaine Wales

John Garfield as Dave Goldman

Albert Dekker as John Minify

Celeste Holm as Anne Dettrey

Jane Wyatt as Jane

 

 

I am super in love with Gregory Peck, ever since I watched “To Kill a Mockingbird”! In this movie he is a journalist who poses as a Jewish American citizen in order to fully understand what it means to be a Jew. Throughout the movie we see how people who have no idea he is Jewish sometimes change when they find out he is. Most of the movie is how his fiancé can't deal with it though and that just bored me.  What I will say is this, I live in California, this is Jew city and we love it. Especially since I live so close to Weho, I guess I never thought that they weren't always loved. I know it seems childish but I never knew that in America they weren't tolerated like the Irish Catholic's or the Chinese, I guess they teach you those things in high school eh?. Anyway the movie was pretty good, it was a little too much talking and to be honest I was really upset when Mr. Green didn't end up with Anne she was a real girl. Kathy was a bub, she talks to much and she isn’t even pretty! I liked the mom she was the driving force behind her son and I like strong maternal figures. It was a good movie but I took two naps. Just saying

 
It also won awards for:
 
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress - Celeste Holm


Academy Award for Directing - Elia Kazan

Day 27: How Green Was My Valley

How Green Was My Valley: 1941: Winner of the 14th Academy Award

Starring:

Sara Allgood as Beth Morgan and Roddy McDowall as Huw Morgan.Walter Pidgeon as Mr. Gruffydd

Maureen O'Hara as Angharad Morgan

Anna Lee as Bronwyn, Ivor's wife

Donald Crisp as Gwilym Morgan

Roddy McDowall as Huw Morgan

John Loder as Ianto Morgan

Sara Allgood as Mrs. Beth Morgan

Barry Fitzgerald as Cyfartha

Patric Knowles as Ivor Morgan

Morton Lowry as Mr. Jonas

Arthur Shields as Mr. Parry

Ann Todd as Ceinwen

Frederick Worlock as Dr. Richards

Richard Fraser as Davy Morgan

Evan S. Evans as Gwilym Morgan

James Monks as Owen Morgan

Rhys Williams as Dai Bando

Lionel Pape as Evans

Ethel Griffies as Mrs. Nicholas

Marten Lamont as Iestyn Evans

This movie is good but oh so sad. It was like nothing in this movie could save the Morgans from their stream of bad luck! The beginning is the whole family and you see how close they are, how loving and dependent they are of one another. There are a grand total of 6 boys and 1 female. Then you got mom and dad who btw are super adorable in their patriarchal staging. The story told thru the eyes of the youngest in the family Huw is both lighthearted and tragic. First the older brother gets married but that’s about the only good thing, then bad things start to happen. As they work in a coal mine, they are reducing pages and so the two next to older brothers decide that because of the no union and because there isn't enough money to go around they will try their luck in America. That leaves four brothers still  and  Angharad who has the hots for the preacher. Meanwhile Huw goes to school and he gets picked on and beat by the other kids and bullied by his teacher. Which reminds me, any adult who has the gall to talk to a defenseless eleven year old in that manner should be dropped kicked. Ok back to story, so Huw and the mom go to put the men back in their places after they all gang up on the dad and they fall into an ice hole and they freeze a bit and it is quite some time before either of them get completely better. Angharad, the only character other than Bron :the first brothers wife who's name I believe is Ivor is the only names I remember, anyway she is in love with the preacher but he tells her he can't see her living in the dumps like him because he loves her too much and soon she is courted by the wealthiest man in town and off she goes. Then they lay of the two brothers and so they pack up and call it quits in the town, leaving mom, dad and Huw with Bron and Ivor. Tragedy strikes again as Ivor is killed in a mining accident. Then Angharad who has gone comes back and is accused of filing for divorce and because of the scandal the father goes to work on a day he usually doesn’t and gets killed. The story has a lot of heart and is told beautifully. Its a story about a hard working family trying to stay together throughout  the different fast changing pace of time and space. Also props to Walter Pidegon for not having an accent, he just delivers the line and doesn't deal with the middle man. I noticed it in “ Mrs. Miniver” and loved that he does it! Go Walter! By the way this movie beat out the more memorable Maltese Falcon with Bogart and Citizen Kane, I love Citizen Kane so think this should have not been the chosen, but I can understand why, Citizen Kane is unabashedly long.

It also won awards for:

Best Director - John Ford
Best Supporting Actor - Donald Crisp

Best Black-and-White Cinematography - Arthur C. Miller
Best Black-and-White Art Direction-Interior Decoration - Richard Day, Nathan H. Juran and Thomas Little

Day 26: Cimarron

Cimarron: 1931: Winner of the 4th Academy Award

Starring:
Richard Dix as Yancey Cravat

Irene Dunne as Sabra Cravat

Estelle Taylor as Dixie Lee

Nance O'Neil as Felice Venable

William Collier Jr. as The Kid

Roscoe Ates as Jesse Rickey

George E. Stone as Sol Levy

Stanley Fields as Lon Yountis

Robert McWade as Louis Hefner

Edna May Oliver as Mrs Tracy Wyatt

Judith Barrett as Donna Cravat

Eugene Jackson as Isaiah


This was a fucking western! I suffered through this movie like I have never suffered through a movie before. Set in the late 1880's rate to attain land. The Cravat's led by fearless Yancey are all in Oklahomy.. ok ok Oklahoma but I like how Issiah said it better. Anyway they have a rollercoaster kind of life and blah blah blah... then they get old and die and have one ungrateful daughter, one very nice son Cim, and throughout this process I still have no idea where they got the name for the movie! It was very long and tedious. Even though I liked some parts I really didn't feel others were necessary. Furthermore it was a WESTERN. I just can't deal, the end was kind of sad but I was glad it was finally over. This was kind of like a western version of “How Green was my Valley” but the latter movie was definitely better. There is no reason why any one should watch this movie, maybe torture?

It also won awards for:

Best Writing, Adaptation: Howard Estabrook


Best Art Direction :Max Rée

Day 25: Rebecca

Rebecca: 1940: Winner of the 13th Academy Awards



Starring:


Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter
Joan Fontaine as The Second Mrs. de Winter

George Sanders as Jack Favell

Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers

Nigel Bruce as Major Giles Lacy

Reginald Denny as Frank Crawley

C. Aubrey Smith as Colonel Julyan

Gladys Cooper as Beatrice Lacy

Florence Bates as Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper

Melville Cooper as Coroner

Leo G. Carroll as Dr. Baker

Wow, wow, wow! This movie has it all, the wry dry British Humor, thrills and chills and a love story. The plot is this a young woman (Fontaine) is a companion to a wealthy woman and is with her on a trip in Monte Carlo, there she meets the young aristocrat Mr. de Winter, who is now a widower thanks to his previous wife’s catastrophic death. As with any movie plot they fall in love. What you have to understand is that she is almost in every way very different to Rebecca his previous wife. Anyhow, this man takes her to his estate called “Manderly” and a series of very intriguing plots begin to twist. I don't want to say to much for fear that I’ll give too much away. I mean honestly you won't get the whole story until the movie is just about done. It is very similar to the movie Psycho, in the sense that you don't get the complete picture all at once, more like in pieces. The end is simply superb and I loved Laurence Olivier in this. I almost pardon him for the movie “Hamlet”, which was way boring. Also I think I might have liked this more because for the longest I couldn’t find a place that had it. Salinger and I went out to get stuff and randomly found a library and lo and behold three movies that had been as of yet not found stood staring at me like new found friends. Rebecca being one of them. This was Hitchcock's first American film and he won an Oscar for it! Go Hitchcock. This is my third Hitchcock movie seen. I never got to finish “Rear Window”. This is joining “My to get List. ” its one of those movies you watch on a stormy and rainy day, in the dark. It just gets you so excited and you can't help but try to anticipate whats going to happen next. This is one of the Academy's better choices. Furthermore considering I had a week of solid war movies of extremely long length I can faithfully say I am happy for a decently timed film with a good plot and no gun shots. Rebecca is a must see, trust me you will not be disappointed.

It also won an award for:
Best Cinematography, Black and White - George Barnes