Double Indemnity (1944) Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson Written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler Directed by Billy Wilder Holy cats, do the two main characters in this movie do terrible things. That's actually what makes it so fascinating -- this is a film noir that's actually more Fargo than The … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Double Indemnity (#38)
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The AFI Top 100 Films: Doctor Zhivago (#39)
Doctor Zhivago (1965) Starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin and Rod Steiger Written by Boris Pasternak (novel) and Robert Bolt (screenplay) Directed by David Lean After watching Doctor Zhivago, I found it easy to imagine why people were freaked out about communism. The movie, adapted from the Russian novel by Boris Pasternak, details the … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Doctor Zhivago (#39)
The AFI Top 100 Films: North by Northwest (#40)
North by Northwest (1959) Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason Written by Ernest Lehman Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Cary Grant is Roger O. Thornhill, an advertising executive who has no problem with lying. During a dinner with "friends," he's abducted by two thugs and driven to a grand house in the countryside. … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: North by Northwest (#40)
The AFI Top 100 Films: West Side Story (#41)
West Side Story (1961) Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno Written by Ernest Lehman (screenplay), Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) Directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise This movie comes with the weight of all its baggage. Granted, a lot of classic movies do, but this … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: West Side Story (#41)
The AFI Top 100 Films: Rear Window (#42)
Rear Window (1954) Starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Written by John Michael Hayes (screenplay) and Cornell Woolrich (short story) There is so much that impressed me about this movie that it's difficult to know where to begin. This was the second of four collaborations between director Alfred Hitchcock and star … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Rear Window (#42)
The AFI Top 100 Films: King Kong (#43)
King Kong (1933) Starring Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot and Robert Armstrong Written by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose (screenplay), Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace (story) Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack I think most people from my generation know all about King Kong but haven't actually seen it. We know … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: King Kong (#43)
The AFI Top 100 Films: The Philadelphia Story (#51)
The Philadelphia Story (1940) Starring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart Directed by George Cukor Written by Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay) and Phillip Barry (original play) In the very first scene of The Philadelphia Story, we see wealthy socialite CK Dexter Haven (Grant) packing his bags into his trunk angrily. His wife Tracy Lord … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: The Philadelphia Story (#51)
The AFI Top 100 Films: A Clockwork Orange (#46)
A Clockwork Orange (1971) Starring Malcolm McDowell Written by Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) and Anthony Burgess (novel) Directed by Stanley Kubrick There's a lot to see in A Clockwork Orange that apparently isn't really there. Numerous interviews with the author reveal that there doesn't seem to be much thought behind a lot of the most iconic … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: A Clockwork Orange (#46)
The AFI Top 100 Movies: Taxi Driver (#47)
Taxi Driver (1976) Starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd Directed by Martin Scorcese Written by Paul Schrader Taxi Driver is a movie that's more fun to think about than to watch. It moves with a rather ponderous pace, with long shots of characters staring or significant gaps in conversation that seem to encourage … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Movies: Taxi Driver (#47)
The AFI Top 100 Films: Jaws (#48)
(Ed. Note -- You might have noticed that we've skipped a few movies on this list. We saw The Philadelphia Story (#51) fairly recently, so it wasn't included in our watch list. And we're saving Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for our run of Disney animated movies, coming up right after we finish the AFI … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Jaws (#48)
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 