100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 32 ~ Toy Story 2

Here we are, all the way up to # 32, and we have a pair of firsts today.

The first, Pixar's first film on the countdown.  It won't be the last Pixar film on the list.  The others will be along shortly.

The second first (??!!) is this is the first sequel to be named on the countdown.  Often I have mentioned the franchises that have spun out of a movie, but it's almost always the first one that makes the lasting impression.

The Toy Story franchise is an odd exception to that cinematic rule.

The first movie is genius, don't get me wrong.

For that matter, even the worst Pixar movie is better than many other studios' "best efforts".

The third movie, also genius.  A very emotional end to a journey with these toys that we had enjoyed for seemingly ever.

Ah, but that second film.

I guess it's the Godfather 2 of animated films.  That rare feature that did everything great about the first one, and then dialed it up another notch or two.

The introduction of the new characters worked great to give Woody a reason to leave Andy behind and feel the need to venture off to a museum.

The all-out efforts of his friends to save him from that very fate is hysterical.  Add in the fact that Buzz gets switched (a gag so great, they used a similar trick in 3) and you have all new comedy by starting over at square one.

Putting this one over the top for me though, was the heartbreaking Jessie's Song, "When Somebody Loved Me".  I told you, I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and Pixar knows how to play the heartstrings as good, or better, than anyone in Hollywood. 

Through my eyes, I can not only see my childhood pass before me again, but I can then see each of my children growing up on screen, and it is both sad and wonderful at the same time.

Well done Pixar, you get me every time with that one.

Thankfully, there is enough madcap humor throughout the film that I'm laughing soon enough, all the way to the very happy ending.

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 33 ~ The Hunt for Red October

A movie I not only own, I saw it for the first time in the theater.  Though until I saw it at home, I was under the impression that the entire movie was just some crazy dream, because I had missed the opening scene where Alec Baldwin explains that he can never sleep on an airplane.

So yeah, I walked out a little disappointed the first time I saw it!

The Jack Ryan franchise began here.  Not sure what is truth and what is fiction after all these years...

Harrison Ford was originally offered the part, but didn't like that Connery would receive top billing... which seems strange since they had just worked together on The Last Crusade.  Either way, Ford would get the part later, but those movies just don't hold a candle to this one.

Maybe it's the screen presence of Sean Connery... maybe a tighter script...  maybe a little less focus on Jack Ryan...

Either way, this is a heckuva thrill ride from start to finish.

For those that have never seen it:

A Russian submarine captain decides to defect to America, taking his state of the art submarine and officers with him in the process.

The Americans think he's attacking, so they set out to sink him.  The Russians are also out to sink him.

But one man thinks he knows the truth...and they have to try and save him.

Directed by John McTiernan...the man has only directed a total of 11 films in his career, but nearly all of them are exceptional films to watch, and there is one still to come on the countdown.

The film is an all-star cast, with no stunt casting or people wasted in their roles.  They all take a back seat to the story, and you'll sit glued to your seat enjoying it...regardless of how many times you've watched it.

It is available to stream from Netflix as of this review.

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 34 ~ The Iron Giant

How does a non-Disney cartoon rank so high up the list?

Pretty simple...

It's amazing.

The Iron Giant is a tale of a boy and his Giant Robot.

Set in the turbulent Cold War 1950s, what happens when a giant robot from space crash lands on Earth and befriends a little boy?

Cool things happen, that's what!

Luckily for the boy, Hogarth, the Giant has bit of a dent on his head that scrambles his prime directive of being the ultimate weapon.  The two become best buddies, and with the help of a bit of a beatnik, attempt to hide the big guy from the Federal Government.

Unfortunately, the Feds think that this giant is a Communist weapon, and apparently the only hope of taking it out to save America...

Is to nuke it!

Oh my!!

Let me begin by saying that the voice casting in this film is exceptional.  Vin Diesel is unrecognizable as the Giant, in a part many will claim is the actor's finest role.

Ouch!

: )

Jennifer Aniston plays the mother, and Harry Connick Jr. plays Dean, the beatnik.  Whether he could become a potential love interest for the mother is an idea that is there, but the film only loosely touches on, after all, this is the story of a boy and his Giant Robot, remember?

Finally, there is Agent Mansley. Christopher MacDonald returns as the villain...the man is so good at being bad...see Happy Gilmore for further proof!  He is deliriously over-the-top as always, and dooms the entire world because of his short-sightedness.

Yep, typical Fed.

: )

As for the ending... you know how you are when you watch films.  They either get to you, or they don't.

I can't not watch this one without bursting forth the waterworks.

It still gets me.

Every. Time.


"Superman"


Great movie!


Available for streaming for Amazon Prime members for free as of today's writing.

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 35 ~ Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

One thing that this list is short on, are horror/monster movies.  Again, going with the criteria of "do I get to enjoy it with the whole family?", the majority of scary movies don't make the cut. 

Today, we have an exception.

Of course, it had to be made in 1948, and feature the classic Universal Monsters, but it still qualifies.

: )

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein is a classic romp featuring the trademark rapid-fire humor audiences had come to expect from Abbott & Costello by then.  Now, while the title refers to the boys meeting Frankenstein, that wasn't the only Universal Monster they wound up meeting.

In fact, while Karloff did not play the monster, they were lucky enough to snag Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman.  Add a last second cameo by the Invisible Man (Vincent Price) and I would say you more than get your money's worth from this film.

Unlike nearly every other Abbott & Costello movie, in this film, Costello actually gets the upper hand on Abbott in much of the word-play, and going after the leading ladies.  The fact that they are all nearly falling over Lou does seem unlikely, but the real reason behind it is revealed before too long:

His brain!

The movie works as equal part loving homage to the Monsters, and classic Abbott & Costello romp.  The Monsters are played straight and not made fun of, which is why the movie works so well.  They could be easily mocked, or they could have played the movie as one giant "well, only Costello actually sees them..." but by bringing Abbott in on the shenanigans, the film works even better.

This one normally gets a spin in the household at least once a year, normally as we get closer to Halloween.

If you don't own it or haven't seen it in ages, it is available to stream on Netflix as of this writing.

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 36 ~ Captain America: The First Avenger

Yep, you read the title correctly.

Captain America!

This was the movie that I requested (after the Avengers, natch!) when I was asked at Heroes Con after Iron Man as to what Marvel movie should follow the unprecedented success of Iron Man.

A Captain America movie, set during World War II would be the ideal way to introduce Cap to the Marvel Movie Universe.

Directed by Joe Johnston, who has had a long, varied, and not commercially a huge success at the box office... this and Thor showed that Marvel was moving forward... but at what cost?

Naturally, when the box office receipts were tallied... both were considered successes...until cast in the shadows of Iron Man, Spider-Man, or the Batman franchise.

However, the groundwork to achieve the Avengers was cast in stone, and the world is now a better place.

: )

Of course, when Marvel announced that they had cast Chris Evans as Captain America, I was skeptical.  For starters...that's the wrong hair color.  Plus, he had already made an excellent Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four franchise.

Say what you want, his Torch was great in those films.

That said, I am a huge fan of Chris Evans.  Have been ever since Not Another Teen Movie (which sadly just missed the countdown!).  Most of the time, if he is in the movie, I will definitely give it a whirl.  Heck, he was the best part of the movie The Losers as well, sticking with a comic book theme.

So anyway, Chris totally won me over in his portrayal of Steve Rogers.  From 98 pound weakling to Super Soldier, he handled both parts adeptly.  The two scenes that had me sold on this movie were both during his training:  Capturing the flag, and jumping on the grenade.

That IS Steve Rogers.

At that point, any doubts I had were gone.

Evans was surrounded by a wonderful supporting cast, including Tommy Lee Jones, quoted in the Facebook intro.  Who am I kidding?  I was sold on the film when I heard that commercial.

: )

I'm looking forward to the sequel, and very interested to see what they come up with next.


Tomorrow: A movie that Steve Rogers would have missed seeing in theaters while he was frozen on ice!

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 37 ~ Miracle on 34th Street

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Forget school being back in season, it's time to gear up for Christmas.

This is one of my favorites to watch every year sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Forget the remake, if you're scared of black and white movies, you should be more scared of the lispy girl in the remake.  Ptooey!

This is the classic tale of a man who claims to be Santa Claus, and by the end of the movie, he very well may be the man he claimed to be.

To see the cynicism melt away from the little girl (Natalie Wood) as the movie progresses is a great reminder to let kids enjoy being kids for as long as they can.  They become cynical adults like her mom (Maureen O'Hara) soon enough.  But when someone like Santa (Edmund Gwynn) come along and can break through the layers...

Miracles can happen.

John Payne also does a great job (as does the entire cast) as the attorney who sets out to prove that his client is indeed St. Nick...and maybe prove to the lady next door that he could be her leading man.  He is a great everyman actor, in the same mold as Jimmy Stewart.

The tale resonates today as much as it did back then, maybe more so.  If the world was disillusioned by commercialism back in the 1940s, imagine what has taken place in the intervening half century?

Yes, it's a sweet story... and tell me you don't get a little lump in your throat when he breaks out the the song for the little Dutch girl.

If you don't believe in Santa Claus, or the spirit of Christmas by the time the movie finishes...

You're a mean one... Mr. Grinch!

Case dismissed!

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 38 ~ Caddyshack

We've had football.

We've had more than our share of baseball.

But golf?

Is that even a sport?

And should there be movies about it???

Amazingly, the two best golf movies I've ever seen almost both made the countdown.

Tin Cup would easily land in the Top 150.

But I could not deny the humor and zaniness of Caddyshack.

I told you Harold Ramis would be back.

In this, his directorial debut, he could have hung it up, because it doesn't get much better than this.  Thankfully he didn't, but he could have.

For those that have never seen the film...

As the catchphrase goes: It's the slobs versus the snobs.

You have a wonderful uppity country club and all of their members plus their caddies.   Then one day, a member with the requirements, but not the class... shows up and turns the country club upside down.

The film stars a who's-who of comedic actors of the late 70s/early 80s.  Most will agree that Bill Murray steals the film as the groundskeeper, and he does.

However the main thrust of Rodney Dangerfield as the outsider trying to fit in, against Ted Knight's uptight judge carries the main momentum of the film.

As I've said before, the better you want your hero to be, you better have an equally entertaining villain.

Ted Knight brings bluster and fire to his performance, literally playing the straight man to the zanies, and it works perfectly.  Look at the picture for this film.  He is literally losing his cool on camera, and it's hilarious.  He is the perfect foil for Dangerfield (and Chase) in the film, and was a casting stroke of genius.

Strangely, the slowest drag in the film comes when they put Murray and Chase in the same scene together.  What should have been comic gold kind of grinds to a halt, and is only mildly amusing.  Otherwise, the movie is hilarious, and will likely be quoted for all time on golf courses around the world...

"It's in the hole!"