AFI # 91.5: My Fair Lady (1964)

#91 on 1998 AFI 100 Greatest Movies of All Time

I saw this movie for the first time when I was a kid and I liked it.  There are some really great songs in this musical and wonderful set pieces.  But that's about it.  The movie as a whole makes very little sense and has no real ending.  It's not surprising that it didn't make it back on to the Top 100 list in 2007, because it really has not held up well over time.  If you think you like this movie, I challenge you to go back and watch it again, then make a list of what was good and what was bad and see what you come up with.  Because I thought I liked this movie, and then we watched it and it turns out, it was kind of terrible.  So here is my list:

Good:
The scene at Ascot
Eliza's father and his friends (especially their first song)
The costumes, mostly

Bad:
The lip synch, especially in "Get Me To The Church on Time"
Rex Harrison sing-talks all his songs
Eliza's response to everything for the first half of the movie is "EEEEAAAAAOOOOOWWWW"
All of a sudden, at 3:00am, Eliza magically learns how to speak perfectly and never falters again
They skip a few months during the course of a conversation, between Ascot and the ball
Freddie apparently stalks Eliza by hanging out on her street all the time, and then at the end of the movie, he's probably still just waiting for her in the cab; what is up with that?
There is no problem to solve and no resolution of the plot; which means there isn't an ending


So there it is.  We both put this at the bottom of our respectful lists and I have a feeling it's going to stay there.

AFI # 92: Goodfellas (1990)

#92 on 2007 AFI 100 Greatest Movies of All Time
#94 on 1998 AFI 100 Greatest Movies of All Time
#2 on AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films

What can I say about Goodfellas that you don't all already know.  It's a fantastic movie.  It has fantastic acting: Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta.  It has fantastic writing: "I'm funny how, like I'm a clown? I amuse you?" It has a fantastic soundtrack: Cream, The Rolling Stones, The Who.
It is completely entertaining from beginning to end.  The only complaint I have is that the real-life Henry Hill was an asshole and this movie makes you kind of like him.  But that's not a very big complaint.

Mike is also a fan of the soundtrack.  And he likes the longshot through the kitchen. 

But what else is there to say? We didn't really have any discussions beyond talking about how awesome it was... for example:

[Tommy shoots Billy Batts]
Me: He's crazy.
Mike: Yeah.
Me: This movie is awesome.

Or:

[Instead of getting made, Tommy gets dead]
Me: That was crazy.
Mike: Yeah.
Me: This movie is awesome.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think that Joe Pesci is the reason that this movie is so awesome.  He did win an Oscar for this performance, and I think it was completely deserved.  Because everytime I try to think of why this movie is awesome, it always comes back to Tommy... not Henry Hill.  Although I must say that Ray Liotta is very good looking and this is probably his best ever role.  But it's really all about Tommy, isn't it?  Anyway, it's also a great performance from Robert DeNiro, although I think there are a couple better ones further up the list.

So, since this movie is so awesome, we both put it at #1 on our lists.  Which makes it #1 overall.  For the time being.  I should mention that it is #1, not just for being ambiguously awesome, but for being a well directed, well acted movie with a fantastic soundtrack that happens to be wildly entertaining.  So that's the standard...

AFI # 92.5: A Place in the Sun (1951)

#92 on 1998 AFI 100 Greatest Movies of All Time

I thought this movie was really boring.  I have never seen anything with Montgomery Clift, I thought he was fantastic.  Wasn't overly impressed with Elizabeth Taylor, I'm more looking forward to some of her other movies. I thought the trivia on IMDB was more interesting than the movie.  And I definitely want to see more Montgomery Clift movies.  But since I didn't love the movie, I will let Mike tell you what he thought...

Me: Mike, what did you think of  A Place in the Sun?
Mike: Which one was that?
Me: Where he maybe killed his girlfriend.  In the boat.
Mike: Right. Pleasantly surprising direction.  Impressed with whatshername... Elizabeth Taylor [heh].  She was better than I expected.  I liked the boat parallels to Godfather 2, twenty years later [what a guy thing to say]. 
Me: Anything else.
Mike: No.

Also, Mike looked up Montgomery Clift and regrets it.  Apparently his life was incredibly sad, so Mike has decided he does not want to see any more Montgomery Clift movies.  Mike is now telling me about Montgomery Clift's life... and it is really depressing.  But I still want to see more Montgomery Clift movies. 

Anyway, the current rankings, if you care to see them.  First, the overall, then the individuals...

	1. Do the Right Thing
	2. Pulp Fiction
	3. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
	4. Blade Runner
	5. The Last Picture Show
	6. The French Connection
	7. A Place in the Sun
	8. Toy Story
	9. Yankee Doodle Dandy
	10. Ben-Hur

	Mike			Sara
1	Do the Right Thing		1	Pulp Fiction
2	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner		2	Do the Right Thing
3	Pulp Fiction		3	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
4	Blade Runner		4	The Last Picture Show
5	A Place in the Sun		5	Blade Runner
6	The French Connection		6	The French Connection
7	The Last Picture Show		7	Yankee Doodle Dandy
8	Toy Story		8	A  Place in the Sun
9	Ben-Hur		9	Toy Story
10	Yankee Doodle Dandy		10	Ben-Hur