Walking away with the Academy Awards for Best Picture (controversially – as Brokeback Mountain was the presumptive winner), Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing, writer/director Paul Haggis’ tale of a cross-section of denizens of Los Angeles, tied together by race, loss and redemption come together in Crash, my next recommendation from the Great Movies…
Tag: great movies – 100 years of film
Do the Right Thing (1989) – Spike Lee
Writer/director Spike Lee’s powerful drama is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of American Beauty. A powerhouse cast brings a multi-cultural street in Brooklyn to life on the hottest day of the year, as the heat builds so does the tension as hate, racism…
The Crowd (1928) – King Vidor
The first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of American Beauty, takes me all the way back to 1928, to this silent film, that follows the tale of Mary (Eleanor Boardman) and John Sims (James Murray), as they struggle to survive and thrive, pursuing their hopes, as…
American Beauty (1999) – Sam Mendes
The next title up in the Drama genre for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is the Academy Award Winning American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes. The film went home with a Best Actor for Kevin Spacey, Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography and Best Original Screenplay. Spacey plays Lester…
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – Henry Selick
The final recommendation from The Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of It’s A Wonderful Life is this modern day cult classic, that has found its way into the mainstream consciousness and has been stuck there since the film’s initial release, celebrating Christmas and Halloween in that macabre and…
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) – Robert Stevenson
The recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book continue following my screening of It’s a Wonderful Life. This time around it’s a Disney film I’ve only seen in bits and pieces and never seen as a whole. It’s World War II, and an apprentice witch, three children and a conman…
Mary Poppins (1964) – Robert Stevenson
poppin It’s time to dig into more family fare in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book as i delve into the recommendations for my screening of It’s a Wonderful Life. Disney based the film on P.L. Travers’ series of books, and created an icon. They added a bunch of classic songs, Julie…
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) – Frank Capra
It’s the middle of summer, so what better time to take a look at a holiday classic as I dive into the Family genre of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. Holiday film or not this one is undeniably a classic, and James Stewart is simply perfection as George Bailey, a…
Cold Mountain (2003) – Anthony Minghella
This beautiful, cinematic adaptation of Charles Frazier’s novel is masterfully brought to life by Minghella, who also wrote the screenplay. My last Civil War stop for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film following my screening of The Red Badge of Courage is by turns brutal, moving, and gorgeously photographed. Nicole Kidman is…
Ride with the Devil (1999) – Ang Lee
We get a look at the other side of the Civil War, as we join a Confederate guerrilla campaign in Ang Lee’s Ride with the Devil, the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Red Badge of Courage. With a top tier cast including…
The Mind Reels 