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  Sunday, June 22, 2008
Another Movie Meme
I'm not really one for meme's but this one came through on one of my Google Alerts for Butch Cassidy and happened to have a movie I'm watching as I type, so I figured I'd give it a go.

Animation

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Pinocchio (1940)
Bambi (1942)
The Lion King (1994)
Fantasia (1940)
Toy Story (1995)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Shrek (2001)
Cinderella (1950)
Finding Nemo (2003)


Fantasy

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
King Kong (1933)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Field of Dreams (1989)
Harvey (1950)
Groundhog Day (1993)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Big (1988)


Science Fiction

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Blade Runner (1982)
Alien (1979)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Back to the Future (1985)


Sports

Raging Bull (1980)
Rocky (1976)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Hoosiers (1986)
Bull Durham (1988)
The Hustler (1961)
Caddyshack (1980)
Breaking Away (1979)
National Velvet (1944)
Jerry Maguire (1996)


Western

The Searchers (1956)
High Noon (1952)
Shane (1953)
Unforgiven (1992)
Red River (1948)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
Stagecoach (1939)
Cat Ballou (1965)


Gangster

The Godfather (1972)
Goodfellas (1990)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
White Heat (1949)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Little Caesar (1931)
Scarface (1983)


Mystery

Vertigo (1958)
Chinatown (1974)
Rear Window (1954)
Laura (1944)
The Third Man (1949)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
North by Northwest (1959)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
The Usual Suspects (1995)


Romantic Comedies

City Lights (1931)
Annie Hall (1977)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Philadelphia Story (1940) (The one I'm watching right now.)
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Adam's Rib (1949)
Moonstruck (1987)
Harold and Maude (1971)
Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Courtroom Drama

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
The Verdict (1982)
A Few Good Men (1992)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
In Cold Blood (1967)
A Cry in the Dark (1988)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)


Epic

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Schindler's List (1993)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Spartacus (1960)
Titanic (1997)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Reds (1981)
The Ten Commandments (1956)

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posted by m/a/z/e  [6:37 PM]   0 comments
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Oscar Overdose
When the Oscar meme started floating around last year I thought it would be a good idea to use it as a blueprint to catch all the films on the list - both as a fan of movies and as a total OCD freakazoid. So between Oscar ceremonies, I hit 18 of the movies on the list. Since the last Oscar ceremony, full-on neurosis set in, and I've caught 26 more movies (see below). Last night I wound up deleting 30 more flicks from my DVR in an effort to stop the insanity. What is it about a list that creates a compulsion in some people? At any rate, I'm still on my quest to catch all the nominated movies (I've expanded the original meme to include every Oscar ceremony dating back to 1928.), but I'm going to take slower, less OCD pace in the process. :P

At any rate, here's the newest batch crossed off the list...

The Awful Truth (04/07/08)
The Grapes of Wrath (03/15/08)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (03/10/08)
High Noon (02/27/08)
Roman Holiday (03/16/08)
Shane (02/28/08)
Auntie Mame (03/07/08)
Lawrence of Arabia (03/13/08)
Lilies of the Field (03/31/08)
Ship of Fools (03/06/08)
In the Heat of the Night (04/12/08)
Midnight Cowboy (03/30/08)
Patton (04/06/08)
The French Connection (03/30/08)
The Last Picture Show (03/05/08
Lenny (03/11/08)
An Unmarried Woman (03/06/08)
Raging Bull (03/08/08)
Braveheart (03/04/08)
Elizabeth (02/27/08)
The Thin Red Line (04/09/08)
Gladiator (03/02/08)
Gosford Park (03/19/08)
Babel (03/18/08)
No Country for Old Men (03/16/08)
Michael Clayton (03/03/08)

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posted by m/a/z/e  [12:46 PM]   0 comments
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Oscar Meme Redux Redux
In the year that's past since I filled out the Oscar meme, I've managed to add 18 of the nominated films to my "have seen" list, while managing to miss every film nominated this year entirely. I need to make a few trips down to the theater before I have to wait until fall or later to catch them on cable. Anyway, here's the slots I did manage to fill. Eventually I'll have completed the whole list. :P

1944
Double Indemnity (02/24/08)
1949
All the King's Men (02/08/08)
1950
Sunset Blvd. (02/08/07)
1953
From Here to Eternity (02/28/07)
1974
Chinatown (03/02/07)
The Conversation (03/01/07)
1976
Network (02/09/07)
1978
Midnight Express (02/16/08)
1987
Broadcast News (02/06/07)
1993
The Piano (10/02/07)
1994
Four Weddings and a Funeral (03/03/07)
1998
Shakespeare in Love (03/10/07)
2000
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (11/04/07)
2004
The Aviator (03/09/07)
2005
Capote (09/13/07)
2006
The Departed (08/30/07)
Little Miss Sunshine (07/21/07)
The Queen (09/03/07)

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posted by m/a/z/e  [2:02 PM]   0 comments
Friday, March 09, 2007
Oscar Meme Redux
Blame it on that stupid Oscar meme that floated around the 'net about a month or so ago. Blame it on Turner Classic Movies 31 Days of Oscar Marathon. Blame it Milli Vanilli, blame it on the rain. At any rate I found myself watching a lot of old movies as of late, only now coming out the other end of an often black and white tunnel.

If you're a true cinephile, and I make no claims to be one, you've probably already seen most of these films. Me? Anything that could have been referred to as a "talkie" in its day and age, I tend to have no use for. What can I say? I was a child of the eighties.

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - I must have heard a thousand Bogie impersonations in my time, but up until now, I've never seen a Bogart movie. The Maltese Falcon wasn't included on the Oscar meme - the meme only went as far back as 1944 - but it was nominated for Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor at the 1942 Academy Awards. Great dialogue, even if after 66 years, it comes off far more campy than originally intended. ("When you're slapped, you'll take it and you'll like it.") The Maltese Falcon was also my first introduction to Peter Lorre - how great is he? Joel Cairo made this film in my eyes.

Casablanca (1942) - Another Bogart/Lorre teaming. Another great Lorre performance, although he dies relatively early in the film which is a disappointment. What is up with all the soft-lighting in these old movies? In the pitch of night or high noon in the desert, all the actresses manage to find themselves bathed in fuzzy lighting. Bizarre.

Harvey (1950) - I've mentioned this before, but you know that feeling you get when you see a movie for the first time and all you can do is wonder what took you so fucking long to see it in the first place? That's the feeling I had watching Harvey. This movie is 21 years older than I am, so the opportunity was always there, but it took me until now to see it. I feel like a total chode. C'mon, Jimmy Stewart, a 6'3" invisible rabbit, great dialogue...what's not to love? (See Harvey quotes at the bottom of this entry.)

Sunset Boulevard (1950) - I dug Gloria Swanson's over-the-top performance as silent film star Norma Desmond, but beyond that, I thought the movie was just okay. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't great, it was just sort of there.

From Here to Eternity (1953) - Wow, Burt Lancaster sure was a big ape of a man. Until watching this movie, my only exposure to Lancaster was Tough Guys and The Island of Dr. Moreau. Seeing him in his prime really changed my perception of him. Frank Sinatra was great as well, but I can watch any movie with Sinatra and enjoy myself.

North by Northwest (1959) - Another movie not on the meme, but I've heard enough about the film to warrant a viewing and the pushers over at TCM were obliging, so.... I vaguely remember seeing Psycho a long, long time ago, but until now I hadn't seen any other Hitchcock movies. Obviously it's a great film, but what really impressed me is how well it held up over the years. Most older movies - and sadly, most modern movies - have a very distinct shelf-life (The Maltese Falcon anyone?). The dialogue doesn't hold up, the acting comes off like vintage baseball films, what's serious becomes camp and vice-versa, etc. I'm happy to say that's not the case in this, err, case. North by Northwest was as enjoyable as any movie out today, more so than most.

The Conversation (1974) - Snooze. The first half of this movie was way too arty for my tastes, to the point of appearing forced. The second half I liked, the artiness was toned down just enough to let the plot shine through, but by that time the damage had already been done. It's weird, the older I get, the more I like Gene Hackman. This movie wasn't bad enough to interrupt that rising arc of fandom, but it came close.

Chinatown (1974) - I realize this will get me kicked out of dozens of film clubs I would never join in the first place, but I can't stand Jack Nicholson. I realize he can act circles around just about anyone and I recognize his contribution to plenty of brilliant films - some of which are personal favorites - but he just annoys the shit out of me. I can see why people rank Chinatown as one of the top movies of all time, but for me, I could take it or leave it. The acting was okay, especially Faye Dunaway, and the story was interesting enough, but nothing really reached out and grabbed me. I could really have done without the nose slashing scene however.

Network (1976) - "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" All right. I was five when this movie came out, perhaps if I was in my late teens to early thirties it would have had a more profound impact on me. As it was...eh. People go nuts on television all the time now, 90% of all reality shows are based on that premise. Maybe in '76 it was new enough to be interesting, but nowadays we just call it prime time. The saving grace of the movie for me was Ned Beatty - I can't get enough of him.

Absence of Malice (1981) - Another movie that wasn't on the meme as it wasn't nominated for Best Picture. I'm a huge Paul Newman fan, so it's no surprise I liked this movie. One thing that did occur to me is that I keep forgetting how great an actress Sally Field is. I don't know why it never occurs to me until I'm actually watching one of her films, but she smokes.

Broadcast News (1987) - It's kind of hard to go wrong with Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter in the same flick. There were a few dry parts, but other than that, this flick rocked.

Four Weddings & a Funeral (1994) - To this day I cannot understand the appeal of Andie MacDowell. In my eyes she's second only to Darryl Hannah as far as being completely devoid of personality - Darryl Hannah at least has Blade Runner to her credit. Four Weddings is a little too cute for my tastes, but I managed to refrain from clawing my eyes out, which is a point in its favor. I begrudgingly accept this movie because, without it, there would not be the brilliant Love Actually. Saved by a technicality.

Harvey Quotes:

Elwood P. Dowd: Harvey and I sit in the bars... have a drink or two... play the juke box. And soon the faces of all the other people they turn toward mine and they smile. And they're saying, "We don't know your name, mister, but you're a very nice fella." Harvey and I warm ourselves in all these golden moments. We've entered as strangers - soon we have friends. And they come over... and they sit with us... and they drink with us... and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they've done and the big wonderful things they'll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. And then I introduce them to Harvey... and he's bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back; but that's envy, my dear. There's a little bit of envy in the best of us.

The Taxi Driver: ...I've been driving this route for 15 years. I've brought 'em out here to get that stuff, and I've drove 'em home after they had it. It changes them... On the way out here, they sit back and enjoy the ride. They talk to me; sometimes we stop and watch the sunsets, and look at the birds flyin'. Sometimes we stop and watch the birds when there ain't no birds. And look at the sunsets when it's raining. We have a swell time. And I always get a big tip. But afterwards, oh oh... They crab, crab, crab. They yell at me. Watch the lights. Watch the brakes, Watch the intersections. They scream at me to hurry. They got no faith in me, or my buggy. Yet, it's the same cab, the same driver. And we're going back over the very same road. It's no fun. And no tips... After this he'll be a perfectly normal human being. And you know what stinkers they are!

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posted by m/a/z/e  [2:34 AM]   0 comments
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
100 Things About Me (76-100)
I realized I never finished my little 100 Things About Me posts, so here's the last batch.

76. I have conservatively been hired for a hundred or so jobs. I haven't worked at hundred jobs, but I've been hired for them - some I never showed up for, some I went through training and bailed, others I just wanted to see if I could get the gig. It sounds like a large number until you take into account I've been working more or less since I was 14. I'm 35 now, so that averages around five gigs a year.
77. I'm seriously thinking about going to culinary school.
78. The logic behind culinary school is if I get a gig doing something I actually like doing, I might go through fewer jobs.
79. Still, I kind of enjoy being a jack-of-all-trades. I don't have a great deal of experience in any one thing, but I can do a little of everything.
80. I don't believe in regret.
81. My favorite TV show to date is Northern Exposure. Props to Universal HD for airing reruns.
82. Twin Peaks is a very close second.
83. I always thought it was ironic that my two favorite shows were filmed miles apart from each other.
84. I've been to both filming locations.
85. Speaking of Twin Peaks, when the hell is Season Two going to come out on DVD? (Okay, I just checked Amazon and found out it's coming out in April... about time!)
86. I live in perpetual fear of bad air. I can't eat Whoppers anymore and when opening Pringles, I hold the can as far away from me as possible then poke it with a knife to avoid inhaling any canned air.
87. This paranoia is a major source of entertainment for my daughter.
88. The paranoia is made even more ironic by the fact that I smoke.
89. I'm trying to quit... for real this time.
90. I like to blame John for lots of stuff, he's like a pusher. Garth Brooks 'Friends in Low Places', American Chopper, Flickr. Fuckr.
91. For some reason I left Phoenix, Arizona from the number one entry on this list. I lived there for a couple months back in '89. I was attacked there, harassed by cops and temporarily arrested for a mob fight I had nothing to do with. Fun town.
92. I think there should be a law requiring any movie with narration to be narrated by Morgan Freeman. In a separate bill, all movies not requiring narration shall have Morgan Freeman providing the DVD commentary tracks.
93. Along with a friend, I tried to steal an entire hospital piece by piece. Over time, I managed to get a small suitcase worth of loot - stethoscopes, tongue depressors, etc.
94. I've always wanted a telescope. I'd love to get into astronomy, I just haven't gotten off my ass to pursue it.
95. And a submarine. Every year I ask Santa for a submarine, but never get one.
96. I have some kind of reading disorder. I used to think it was dyslexia, but after doing some research, I don't think it is. I'll do a post explaining it in a day or two, maybe someone out there will know what it is, if anything, and can fill me in.
97. I've been obsessing on the Beach Boys lately. I always like Good Vibrations, Kokomo, etc., but I never realized just how mind-blowingly amazing they are until just recently.
98. I'm making sourdough bread as I'm typing this.
99. I made a sourdough starter a few days ago. I wish I realized how nauseating that stuff smells.
100. This space intentionally left blank.

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posted by m/a/z/e  [8:22 AM]   3 comments
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Oscar Meme
One bored m/a/z/e plus one halfway interesting meme =

Below is a list of all the films nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award since 1944 with the winning picture at the top of the list for each year (with the exception of 2006). Bold the ones you've seen

(I've been meaning to see some of the movies on this list, so I figured I would keep updating this as I go on, using the list as a guide.)

(03/07/08 - updated list to include all the Oscar ceremonies.)

1928 (1st)
Wings
The Racket
Seventh Heaven

1929 (2nd)
The Broadway Melody
Alibi
The Hollywood Review of 1929
In Old Arizona
The Patriot

1930 (3rd)
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Big House
Disraeli
The Divorcee
The Love Parade

1931 (4th)
Cimarron
East Lynne
The Front Page
Skippy
Trader Horn

1932 (5th)
Grand Hotel
Arrowsmith
Bad Girl
The Champ
Five Star Final
One Hour with You
Shanghai Express (06/15/08)
The Smiling Lieutenant

1933 (6th)
Cavalcade
42nd St.
A Farewell to Arms
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Lady for a Day
Little Women
The Private Life of Henry VIII
She Done Him Wrong
Smilin' Through
State Fair

1934 (7th)
It Happened One Night
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Cleopatra
Flirtation Walk
The Gay Divorcee
Here Comes the Navy
The House of Rothschild
Imitation of Life
One Night of Love
The Thin Man (06/15/08)
Viva Villa
The White Parade

1935 (8th)
Mutiny on the Bounty
Alice Adams
Broadway Melody of 1936
Captain Blood
The Informer
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Le Miserables
Naughty Marietta
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger
Ruggle of Red Gap
Top Hat

1936 (9th)
The Great Ziegfeld
Anthony Adverse
Dodsworth
Libeled Lady
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (10.12.08)
Romeo & Juliet
San Francisco
The Story of Louis Pasteur
A Tale of Two Cities
Three Smart Girls

1937 (10th)
The Life of Emile Zola
The Awful Truth (04/07/08)
Captain Courageous
Dead End
The Good Earth
In Old Chicago
Lost Horizon
One Hundred Men & a Girl
Stage Door
A Star is Born

1938 (11th)
You Can't Take it With You
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Boys Town
The Citadel
Four Daughters
La Grande Illusion
Jezebel
Pygmalion
Test Pilot

1939 (12th)
Gone with the Wind
Dark Victory
Goodbye Mr. Chips
Love Affair
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (05/27/08)
Ninotchka
Of Mice & Men
Stagecoach
The Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights

1940 (13th)
Rebecca
All This, and Heaven Too
Foreign Correspondent
The Grapes of Wrath (03/15/08)
The Great Dictator
Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman
The Letter
The Long Voyage Home
Our Town
The Philadelphia Story (06/22/08)

1941 (14th)
How Green Was My Valley
Blossoms in the Dust
Citizen Kane (06/01/08)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Hold Back the Dawn
The Little Foxes
The Maltese Falcon
One Foot in Heaven
Sergeant York
Suspicion

1942 (15th)
Mrs. Miniver
49th Parallel
Kings Row
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Pied Piper
The Pride of the Yankees
Random Harvest
The Talk of the Town
Wake Island
Yankee Doodle Dandy

1943 (16th)
Casablanca
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Heaven Can Wait
The Human Comedy
In Which We Serve
Madame Currie
The More the Merrier
The Ox-Bow Incident
The Song of Bernadette
Watch on the Rhine

1944 (17th)
Going My Way
Double Indemnity (02/24/08)
Gaslight
Since You Went Away
Wilson

1945 (18th)
The Lost Weekend
Anchors Aweigh
The Bells of St. Mary's
Mildred Pierce
Spellbound

1946 (19th)
The Best Years of Our Lives
Henry V
It's a Wonderful Life
The Razor's Edge
The Yearling (06/22/08)

1947 (20th)
Gentleman's Agreement
The Bishop's Wife
Crossfire
Great Expectations
Miracle on 34th Street

1948 (21st)
Hamlet
Johnny Belinda
The Red Shoes
The Snake Pit
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (03/10/08)

1949 (22nd)
All the King's Men (02/08/08)
Battleground
The Heiress
A Letter to Three Wives
Twelve O'Clock High

1950 (23rd)
All about Eve
Born Yesterday
Father of the Bride
King Solomon's Mines
Sunset Blvd. (02/08/07)

1951 (24th)
An American in Paris (07/11/08)
Decision before Dawn
A Place in the Sun
Quo Vadis
A Streetcar Named Desire

1952 (25th)
The Greatest Show on Earth
High Noon (02/27/08)
Ivanhoe
Moulin Rouge
The Quiet Man

1953 (26th)
From Here to Eternity (02/28/07)
Julius Caesar
The Robe
Roman Holiday (03/16/08)
Shane (02/28/08)

1954 (27th)
On the Waterfront
The Caine Mutiny
The Country Girl
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Three Coins in the Fountain

1955 (28th)
Marty
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Mister Roberts
Picnic
The Rose Tattoo

1956 (29th)
Around the World in 80 Days
Fiendly Persuasion
Giant
The King and I
The Ten Commandments

1957 (30th)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Peyton Place
Sayonara
12 Angry Men
Witness for the Prosecution

1958 (31st)
Gigi
Auntie Mame (03/07/08)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Defiant Ones (04/30/08)
Separate Tables

1959 (32nd)
Ben-Hur
Anatomy of a Murder
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Nun's Story
Room at the Top

1960 (33rd)
The Apartment
The Alamo
Elmer Gantry
Sons and Lovers
The Sundowners

1961 (34th)
West Side Story
Fanny
The Guns of The Navarone
The Hustler
Judgment at Nuremberg

1962 (35th)
Lawrence of Arabia (03/13/08)
The Longest Day
Meredith Willson's The Music Man (07/03/08)
Mutiny on the Bounty
To Kill a Mockingbird

1963 (36th)
Tom Jones
America America
Cleopatra
How the West Was Won
Lilies of the Field (03/31/08)

1964 (37th)
My Fair Lady (07/19/08)
Becket
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (05/11/08)
Mary Poppins
Zorba the Greek

1965 (38th)
The Sound of Music
Darling
Doctor Zhivago
Ship of Fools (03/06/08)
A Thousand Clowns

1966 (39th)
A Man for All Seasons
Alfie
The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming
The Sand Pebbles
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967 (40th)
In the Heat of the Night (04/12/08)
Bonnie and Clyde
Doctor Dolittle
The Graduate
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

1968 (41st)
Oliver!
Funny Girl
The Lion in Winter
Rachel, Rachel
Romeo and Juliet (07/06/08)

1969 (42nd)
Midnight Cowboy (03/30/08)
Anne of the Thousand Days
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Hello, Dolly!
Z

1970 (43rd)
Patton (04/06/08)
Airport (06/17/08)
Five Easy Pieces
Love Story
MASH

1971 (44th)
The French Connection (03/30/08)
A Clockwork Orange
Fiddler on the Roof
The Last Picture Show (03/05/08)
Nicholas and Alexandra

1972 (45th)
The Godfather
Cabaret
Deliverance
Sounder
The Emigrants

1973 (46th)
The Sting
American Graffiti
The Exorcist
A Touch of Class
Cries and Whispers

1974 (47th)
The Godfather, Part II
Chinatown (03/02/07)
The Conversation (03/01/07)
Lenny (03/11/08)
The Towering Inferno

1975 (48th)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Barry Lyndon
Dog Day Afternoon
Jaws
Nashville

1976 (49th)
Rocky
All the President's Men
Bound for Glory
Network (02/09/07)
Taxi Driver

1977 (50th)
Annie Hall
The Goodbye Girl
Julia
Star Wars
The Turning Point

1978 (51st)
The Deer Hunter (07/13/08)
Coming Home
Heaven Can Wait
Midnight Express (02/16/08)
An Unmarried Woman (03/06/08)

1979 (52nd)
Kramer vs. Kramer
Apocalypse Now
All That Jazz
Breaking Away
Norma Rae

1980 (53rd)
Ordinary People
Coal Miner's Daughter
The Elephant Man
Raging Bull (03/08/08)
Tess

1981 (54th)
Chariots of Fire
Atlantic City
On Golden Pond
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reds

1982 (55th)
Gandhi
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Missing
Tootsie
The Verdict

1983 (56th)
Terms of Endearment
The Big Chill
The Dresser
The Right Stuff
Tender Mercies (07/20/08)

1984 (57th)
Amadeus
The Killing Fields
A Passage to India
Places in the Heart (05/13/08)
A Soldier's Story

1985 (58th)
Out of Africa
The Color Purple
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Prizzi's Honor
Witness

1986 (59th)
Platoon
Children of a Lesser God
Hannah and Her Sisters
The Mission
A Room with a View

1987 (60th)
The Last Emperor
Broadcast News (02/06/07)
Fatal Attraction
Hope and Glory
Moonstruck

1988 (61st)
Rain Man
The Accidental Tourist
Dangerous Liaisons
Mississippi Burning
Working Girl

1989 (62nd)
Driving Miss Daisy
Born on the Fourth of July
Dead Poets Society
Field of Dreams
My Left Foot

1990 (63rd)
Dances With Wolves (07/06/08)
Awakenings
Ghost
The Godfather, Part III
Goodfellas

1991 (64th)
The Silence of the Lambs
Beauty and the Beast
Bugsy
JFK
The Prince of Tides

1992 (65th)
Unforgiven
The Crying Game
A Few Good Men
Howards End
Scent of a Woman (06/11/08)

1993 (66th)
Schindler's List
The Fugitive
In the Name of the Father
The Piano (10/02/07)
The Remains of the Day

1994 (67th)
Forrest Gump
Four Weddings and a Funeral (03/03/07)
Pulp Fiction
Quiz Show
The Shawshank Redemption

1995 (68th)
Braveheart (03/04/08)
Apollo 13
Babe
Il Postino
Sense and Sensibility

1996 (69th)
The English Patient
Fargo
Jerry Maguire
Secrets & Lies
Shine

1997 (70th)
Titanic
As Good as It Gets
The Full Monty
Good Will Hunting
L.A. Confidential

1998 (71st)
Shakespeare in Love (03/10/07)
Elizabeth (02/27/08)
Life Is Beautiful
Saving Private Ryan
The Thin Red Line (04/09/08)

1999 (72nd)
American Beauty
The Sixth Sense
The Cider House Rules
The Green Mile
The Insider

2000 (73rd)
Gladiator (03/02/08)
Chocolat
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (11/04/07)
Erin Brockovich
Traffic

2001 (74th)
A Beautiful Mind
Gosford Park (03/19/08)
In the Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge!

2002 (75th)
Chicago (08/26/08)
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist

2003 (76th)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

2004 (77th)
Million Dollar Baby
The Aviator (03/09/07)
Finding Neverland
Ray
Sideways

2005 (78th)
Crash
Brokeback Mountain
Capote (09/13/07)
Good Night, and Good Luck
Munich

2006 (79th)
The Departed (08/30/07)
Babel (03/18/08)
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine (07/21/07)
The Queen (09/03/07)

2007 (80th)
No Country for Old Men (03/16/08)
Atonement
Juno (07/03/08)
Michael Clayton (03/03/08)
There Will Be Blood

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posted by m/a/z/e  [1:53 AM]   0 comments
Friday, October 27, 2006
100 Things About Me (1-25)
  1. I was born in Los Angeles, California, raised in Anchorage, Alaska and have since lived in Portland, Seattle, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Reno.
  2. Ethnically speaking, I'm a mutt - a mix of Irish, Mexican and Scottish.
  3. Spiritually speaking, I'm a mutt - a little Taoism here, some Buddhism there, toss in a handful of particularly poignant song lyrics, and a fortune cookie slogan or two and you pretty much get the idea.
  4. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything more evil in this world than organized religion. Except maybe politics.
  5. I truly believe you can learn everything you need to know about being a good person and how to treat others and the world around you from Kermit the Frog.
  6. I can't stand compliments.
  7. I have no contact with either of my biological parents or siblings. There's an unspoken agreement that it's just better that way.
  8. Consequently, I've had to redefine and reorganize my concept of "family." I think I've done a pretty good job.
  9. I met Molliwogg in a high school photography class. We wound up dating for a couple months, then broke up. Eight years later she called me out of the blue while I was living in Seattle. I moved to Alaska for a couple months, she later moved down to Portland with me, and we've been married ever since. Life goes in cycles.
  10. I've known my best friend for twenty years now. I don't know why, but that blows me away.
  11. I listen to Christmas music everyday.
  12. The craziest drug experience I've had was in high school when, along with three friends, I took 6-8 over-the-counter motion sickness pills and hallucinated for the next 16 hours straight. I've dropped a lot of acid in my time and the this trip put the others to shame. It's the difference between an old-fashioned black and white TV and HD. Highlights include a group hallucination of two kids fighting in the middle of the street at four in the morning over a piece of steak, and stalking about my house Willard-style unplugging every appliance I could find in an effort to turn off the music that wasn't playing in the first place.
  13. I had a gun pulled on me while tripping on acid once. I'll never forget that.
  14. Unfortunately, that's not the only time I've looked down the business end of a gun.
  15. Despite my experience with guns, despite being a bleeding-heart-pinko-commie-liberal, I'm all for the second amendment and have zero problems with firearms (unless they happen to be pointed in my general direction). I just think making the argument that AK-47's and other automatic weapons are for "hunting" is pretty retarded.
  16. In the 8th grade I got into my first real fight. During the course of the fight I slammed my opponent's face into a locker and smashed out his front teeth. I carry a lot of guilt over that to this day - there's nothing more sickening than knowing someone is carrying around that kind of permanent reminder of you. At any rate that fight pretty much turned me on to pacifism in every situation other than pure self-defense.
  17. I've worked for MTV, Kodak, Xerox, adidas and a handful of software companies you know by name. Essentially, I'm a corporate whore with a spotty resume.
  18. The day gigs serve no other purpose than to pay for the dream gig - writing. I have zero career aspirations other than to gain the ability to print my own books.
  19. I'm a pretty kicking cook. I went vegetarian for about three years in an attempt to jump start the way I think about food. The end result was a healthy (literally and figuratively) passion for cooking.
  20. For reasons I don't fully understand, complete strangers have a tendency to come up to me out of the blue and tell me their life stories and problems. This has happened more times than I can count. I'm not sure if I have the face of a psychologist or what, but I've had people tell me things they wouldn't tell the people who are closest to them. Makes going down to the neighborhood tavern fun.
  21. I have a severe love/hate relationship with Portland, Oregon. Everyone in that town is fucking nuts. If you've ever lived of visited PDX, you know I'm not exaggerating. Intellectual rednecks is a term that comes to mind and depending on what day of the week you ask, that's either an insult or the highest compliment. Still, Portland knows how to drink and for that I have to give it props.
  22. The first concert I went to I accidentally set someone's hair on fire.
  23. While an accident, it was probably symptomatic of a greater leaning towards pyromania. When I was a kid I set a couple empty fields on fire and burned down the garden section of the local Pay-n-Save. Now I conduct my "experiments" only in the fireplace.
  24. Based on those experiments I can tell you that burning chicken bones will make your entire house smell like B.O. for a minimum of a week and that Levi jeans retain their shape even while transformed into glowing embers.
  25. Although I haven't watched it regularly in a while, I have an unabashed love for professional wrestling.
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posted by m/a/z/e  [2:44 PM]   0 comments
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
The Great Movies
I finished reading Roger Ebert's The Great Movies and The Great Movies II a couple of days ago. Most of the movies I've never heard of - old silent films, various foreign flicks, etc. I've never had any real interest in silent films, and ever since I watched Babette's Feast, I've been gun-shy of foreign films.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to make my own "great movies" list - not a top 100, just flicks I dig. I don't claim to be a film expert or anything like that, so please don't think I'm trying to come off as some kind of authority (I've listed a Muppet movie in the list, that alone should toss any notions of film snobbery out the window). The only criteria I have for this list is that I have to a) like the movie enough to reccomend it to someone else, and b) have watched it more than a handful of times.

I cross-referenced my list with both of Ebert's books and with IMDB's top 250 films. Movies in bold are in Ebert's books, movies in blue are on the IMDB list. Can you guess what blue and bold mean? If so, pat yourself on the back.

The list...
  1. 12 Monkeys
  2. American Beauty
  3. American History X
  4. American Movie
  5. Apocalypse Now
  6. As Good As It Gets
  7. Batman II
  8. Beetlejuice
  9. Being John Malkovich
  10. Beyond The Sea
  11. The Big Lebowski
  12. Blade Runner
  13. Blazing Saddles
  14. Blow
  15. Blue Velvet
  16. The Blues Brothers
  17. Boogie Nights
  18. Boys Don't Cry
  19. Boyz n the Hood
  20. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
  21. Casino
  22. Chaplin
  23. A Christmas Story
  24. A Clockwork Orange
  25. Comedian
  26. Do The Right Thing
  27. Dogma
  28. Drugstore Cowboy
  29. Ed Wood
  30. El Mariachi/Desperado/Once Upon A Time in Mexico (Trilogy)
  31. Elf
  32. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  33. Fargo
  34. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
  35. Fear of a Black Hat
  36. Finding Nemo
  37. Forrest Gump
  38. From Dusk Till Dawn
  39. Garden State
  40. Goodfellas
  41. Grease
  42. The Green Mile
  43. Hair
  44. Halloween
  45. Hotel Rwanda
  46. Indiana Jones Trilogy
  47. Jaws
  48. The Jerk
  49. Johnny Got His Gun
  50. Koyaanisqatsi/Powaqqatsi
  51. L.A. Confidential
  52. L.A. Story
  53. Leaving Las Vegas
  54. Lord of the Rings (All)
  55. Love, Actually
  56. Malcolm X
  57. Million Dollar Baby
  58. Misery
  59. Monster's Ball
  60. The Muppet Christmas Carol
  61. Mystic River
  62. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  63. Office Space
  64. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
  65. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
  66. Permanent Midnight
  67. Pirates of the Carribean
  68. Planes, Trains and Automobiles
  69. The Polar Express
  70. Pulp Fiction
  71. The Rat Pack
  72. Repo Man
  73. Reservoir Dogs
  74. The River's Edge
  75. The Road to Perdition
  76. Rocky
  77. Runaway Jury
  78. Se7en
  79. The Shawshank Redemption
  80. Sid & Nancy
  81. The Silence of the Lambs
  82. A Simple Plan
  83. Sin City
  84. Singles
  85. Sixteen Candles
  86. The Sixth Sense
  87. Sling Blade
  88. Spider-Man II
  89. Spy Kids II: Island of the Lost Dreams
  90. Star Trek II: THe Wraith Of Kahn
  91. Star Wars (All)
  92. Summer of Sam
  93. Swingers
  94. Thelma & Louise
  95. This is Spinal Tap
  96. Unbreakable
  97. The Usual Suspects
  98. The Warriors
  99. When Harry Met Sally
  100. Wings of Desire/Faraway, So Close!
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posted by m/a/z/e  [12:07 PM]   0 comments
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Bangkok Shakes, Saigon Quakes, Cleveland Rocks
I'm having a bit of a High Fidelity moment here folks so bear with me. I present my all-time top five most (and least) favorite cities.

Favorite:

Astoria, Oregon/Reno, Nevada (tie): Both are small towns (Astoria being significantly smaller), both with their own unique culture and attitude. To tolerate either city you need to have a certain fortitude. Being on the Oregon Coast isn't all kite flying and Haystack Rock, you have to be able to handle some hurricane-like storms as well. Reno's 5000 feet up and seemingly positioned directly under the sun and trust me when I say at this altitude, the sun has a bit of an attitude problem. I haven't spent a winter here yet, so I don't have anything to say about that - yet. I've always maintained that crazy people in small towns are far more nuts than crazy people in larger towns-Portland, Oregon being the exception as the whole damn city is off their rocker. Astoria and Reno have proven themselves true to this theory, something I find infinitely charming.

Cleveland, Ohio: I cannot stress enough how nice the citizens of Cleveland are. Scarily nice. So nice that one starts to ponder what dark secret they must be hiding, because surely no city can be that nice all the time-it has to be a ruse. Do they eat tourists? Is there something to the abundance of hot wings and the noticeable lack of chicken farms? What's in Lake Erie? During my stay there I remained vigilant, afterwards I spent hours on the internet conducting searches looking for clues. I am happy to report that my efforts were fruitless, the citizens of Cleveland are not part of a vast conspiracy, rather they are actually truly nice people.

Seattle, Washington: I lived in Seattle for about nine months, and if weren't for Molliwogg calling me out of the blue, I'd probably still be there. Bumpershoot is cool. The Vogue is Cool. The Hurricane Cafe is one of my favorite places to eat in the country. Just about the only bad thing I can say about Seattle is what they've done to my former neighborhood, Capitol Hill. The Yuppie machine has taken a once quirky neighborhood and turned it into another sterile shopping/mixed-use nightmare. You used to be able to walk down the street and see gutter punks standing next to grandmas standing next to drag queens, it was beautiful. Now the main drag just looks like a pin-striped nightmare. Gross.

Portland, Oregon: I've lived in Portland the longest-off and on since I was eighteen. Certainly not the most perfect town in the world, for every positive thing you can say about the place there are at least three negatives. But it's been home for the most part. It rains a lot, the summer's are unbearable, at times it seems everyone is an alcoholic and the cops have this nasty habit of shooting unarmed black people. At the same time, it's one of the greenest places you'll ever see in your life, it's close to Astoria and some of my best friends live there. You take the good with the bad and you call it home.

Ashland, Oregon: I'm cheating here as I have not spent much time Ashland, but I defy anyone to drive down the I-5 corridor through Ashland (Southern Oregon in general really) and not fall in love. Rolling hills, a sea of green in the summer, amber and red in the fall. It's awesome.

Least Favorite:

Phoenix, Arizona: In the three months I lived in Phoenix the following events happened-I was almost arrested for starting a gang fight/riot that not only did I not commit, but was rather innocently talking to my girlfriend in Alaska a full half-block away at the time. I was stopped by the local cops for such nefarious crimes as walking down the street and running up to the Circle K to get a soda. I was assaulted by a crazed relative of my roommate, caught in a bizarre love triangle between two of my bosses who wanted to sleep with me, followed by countless skinheads, yelled at by old people for painting my jacket in the local mall as well as a dozen or so other incidents. I would rather walk around naked in Detroit with an armful of hundred dollar bills than ever go back there.

Anchorage, Alaska: I grew up in Anchorage and I'm still working my way through the damage that did to my psyche. In second grade one of my friends hung himself off the jungle gym at school and while you may not think it possible, things got progressively worse from there. On the other hand I met Molliwogg in high school in Anchorage and we've been married going on six years now, so I guess there are positive things to say about the place.

Portland, Oregon: See above. I've got a bit of a love/hate thing going on here.

Yakima, Washington: Nothing against the people of Yakima-I'm sure they are all fine citizens. It's just that I got food poisoning here once after seeing Lollapalooza in the Columbia Gorge. For a solid week I had all sorts of nasties spurting from every part of my body, one of the handful of times I thought I was going to die. For you road-weary travelers out there, stay away from the Taco Bell, they put the yak in Yakima.

Albany, Oregon: You can smell this town from five miles out while driving down I-5, I don't know how the residents stand it. There's some kind of wood-processing plant off the side of the highway belching out the foulest potpourri known to mankind, it's like a cross between dead skunk and feet.

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posted by m/a/z/e  [8:28 A