Top Gun (1986)

Title:  Top Gun (1986)
Run Time:  110 minutes
Cast:  Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, John Stockwell, Barry Tubb, Rick Rossovich, Tim Robbins, Clarence Gilyard, Jr., Whip Hubley, James Tolkan, Meg Ryan and Adrian Pasdar
Writer:  Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr.
Director:  Tony Scott

Everything I heard about this film prior to watching it, turned out to be grossly exaggerated. I learned that the things we think are great when we're kids, probably aren't that great later on in life.  The majority of the people I talked to about this movie were colleagues within my age category.  Most of them spoke about how cool they thought the film was when they were younger. A  few were able to admit that viewing it now, as an adult, the film lacked a lot of substance. Interestingly enough, they still considered it to be a great American classic.  How disappointed they all were to hear that I did not like this film.

Just when I thought I was alone in my disdain for Top Gun, I discovered there was actually a contingent of viewers that also disliked the film.  Similarly to myself, they're reason for disliking the film centered around the incredibly shallow storyline, the unbelievably bad acting and the lack of overall entertainment.  This not to suggest that the film did not have it's entertainment moments, for sure it did.  There were even three moments during the film when I really wanted to like it.  The first was the entire bar joining in with Maverick to sing "You've Lost that Lovin Feeling," when he met Charlotte Blackwood.  The second was when Goose died.  The third was during the final dogfight scene.  In this particular scene, you wanted Maverick to succeed and of course he did.  However, after the fight is over, you're hit with what it probably the cheesiest movie line from the 80's, if not of all time ("You can be my wingman anytime").  It's those types of moments that made this film not a great one for me.

If giving the option to watch this film again, I'd have to emphatically decline, unless I was getting paid for the waste of my time.  My time would have been better spent just taking a nap.  Hopefully, my viewing of this "American classic" will prove useful in future trivia outings.  In the end, this movie is worth 1/5 stars and the D grade I'm giving it.  Granted, I realize that I should probably just look to it for entertainment purposes, but even those moments were minimal.  Without the planes, this movie would have been a complete disaster.  Maybe it will be better if I watch it on mute and just turn on the volume when the planes are playing.

1) Did you like the film?  No
2) Would you watch it again?  No
3) Would you recommend it to others to watch?  Yes
4) Would you add this film to your library?  No
5) If I had free time, would I watch this film?  No

Bonus Question:  Would you immediately watch this film again?  No
Did you understand the film?  Yes
Do you need to watch the film again because you didn't understand it?  No
Do you want to watch the film again to understand it better?  No

Road House (1989)

Title:  Road House (1989)
Run Time:  114 minutes
Cast:  Patrick Swayze, Ben Gazzara, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott and Marshall Teague
Writer:  David Lee Henry and Hilary Henkin
Director:  Rowdy Herrington

This movie came to me as a recommendation from one of my buddies.  I was telling them about another popular 80's movie that I'd watched and they mentioned that this one had to be next.  It was sold to me as not being one of best, but I would beg to differ.  This film caught my attention within the first few minutes and this film kept my interest for the entire duration.  Sure, the storyline was not anything profound, but it was certainly entertaining.

In my opinion, older movies have a way of being good, even when they're really bad, because of the writing and the acting.  To me, the acting was fairly decent in this movie, as it made me enjoy the narrative as I watched it develop on the screen.  Obviously, there were some really great action scenes, with a few comedic spots as well.  Overall, this film would be a solid B or a 4/5 stars in my book.  I think the entertainment and action factors really help in boosting the grade.  Just for reference, you can see the answers to my movie review questions below:

1) Did you like the film?  Yes
2) Would you watch it again?  Yes
3) Would you recommend it to others to watch?  Yes
4) Would you add this film to your library?  Probably Not (No)
5) If I had free time, would I watch this film?  Sure (Yes)

Bonus Questions:  Would you immediately watch this film again?  No
Did you understand the film?  Yes
Do you need to watch the film again because you didn't understand it?  No
Do you want to watch the film again to understand it better?  No

Ghostbusters (1984)

Title:  Ghostbusters (1984)
Run Time:  105 minutes
Cast:  Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Ernie Hudson and David Marguiles.
Writers:  Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
Director:  Ivan Reitman

Today, I was feeling a bit nostalgic and I decided to revisit films from my childhood.  I'm an 80's baby and therefore a 90's kid. Many films from these two decades are among some of my favorites.  I was only a one year old when this summer movie was officially released.  I doubt I remember seeing it in theaters.  More likely than not, I probably remember watching this movie because one of my older siblings rented it on vhs from the local video store.  What I do remember watching is the Ghostbusters cartoon series.  I'm pretty sure this is where those strong feelings of nostalgia are coming from.  I can imagine that Saturday morning cartoons were a huge part of every 80's kid childhood, just like they were for myself.  Either way, watching this movie today definitely provided me with some awesome memories and entertainment.  (Now I'm in a 80's mood because I'm already on to the second 80's movie lol)

The scoring today is both shocking, yet completely understandable.  As usual, I considered the following questions after finishing the film: 

1) Did you like the film?  Yes
2) Would you watch it again?  Yes
3) Would you recommend it to others to watch?  Yes
4) Would you add this film to your library?  Yes
5) If I had free time, would I watch this film?  Yes

Bonus Question:  Would you immediately watch this film again?  Yes
Did you understand the film?  Yes
Do you need to watch the film again because you didn't understand it?  No
Do you want to watch the film again to understand it better?  No

Based on those answers, it clear that this is an A+ movie for me.  Without a doubt, it's very easy to give this movie 5/5 stars.  I say it's a bit shocking because I normally don't care for science fiction or fantasy films.  I think this film is able to overcome my general disinterest in the genre because it was well written, highly entertaining and it's from my childhood.  All of these factors contribute to my positive opinion of this film.

I know this is not my music blog, but the theme song from this movie was/is so great that I had to include it with this post.  Maybe I'll explore doing a few posts about movie soundtracks and great songs we remember from them.

My Movie List

While writing out my list of favorite movies from the various genres, I thought it would also be a good idea to make a list of all of the movies that I've ever watched.  By no means is this a complete list of every film, but it will be as close as I can possibly get it (just depends on how many movies I can actually remember watching).  I thought about placing the foreign films on a list of its own, but for now I'll just list them here.  Also, I'm going to institute the following key codes:

WA - Means I've watched it before, but I need to watch it again.
?? - Seems like I may have watched or should have watched, but I can't remember for certain.

*For international films, I've tried to list the country that they're from beside them.

12 Years A Slave
17 Again
21 Jumpstreet
40 Year Old Virgin, The (2005)
50 First Dates
101 Dalmatians
300
300:  Rise of an Empire
2001:  A Space Odyssey
10,000 BC

A Bug's Life
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
A Christmas Story
A Madea Christmas
Ace Ventura
Aladdin
Alice in Wonderland
All About the Benjamins
* All the President's Men
Alvin and the Chipminks
American Pie (1999)
American Pie 2 (2001)
American Wedding (2003)
American Reunion (2012)
American Gangster
American Hustle
American Sniper
Anaconda
Anchorman
Anchorman 2
Annie
Antz
Are We Done Yet?
Are We There Yet?
Argo
Avatar
Armageddon
Aura, The (El Aura - Argentina)
Autobiography of Jane Pittman, The

Bad Boys
Bad Boys 2
Bad Grandpa
Bad Santa
Bad Teacher
Bambi
Barbershop
Barbershop 2
Batman
Batman Returns
Be Cool
Beauty and the Beast
Bee Movie
Beethoven
Beethoven's 2nd
Beetlejuice
Beverly Hillbillies, The
Big
Big Mama's House
Big Mama's House 2
Biker Boyz
Billy Madison
Blades of Glory
Blind Side, The
Blue Streak
Bodyguard, The
Body of Lies - WA
Book of Eli, The
Boyz N the Hood
Brave
Breakfast Club, The
Bucket List, The
Bug's Life, A
Bus 174 (Brazil)

Caddyshack
Campaign, The
Captain Phillips
Carandiru (Brazil)
Cars
Casper
Chappie (2015)
Charlie's Angels
Cheaper by the Dozen
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Cinderella
City of God (Cidade de Deus - Brazil)
City of Men (Cidade dos Homens - Brazil)
Class Act
Clash of the Titans
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2
Clueless
Coach Carter
Coming to America
Coneheads, The
Cop Out (2010)
Coraline
Couples Retreat (2009)
Crooklyn
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The

Diary of A Mad Black Woman
Death at a Funeral
Deliver Us From Eva
Despicable Me
Despicable Me 2
Devil Wears Prada, The
Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
Django
Do the Right Thing
Dr. Doolitte
Dr. Doolitte 2
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Dodgeball
Don't Be a Menace to Society While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
Driving Miss Daisy
Drumline
Dumb and Dumbmer

Easy A
Edward Scissorhands
Elite Squad, The (Tropa de Elite - Brazil)
Elite Squad 2, The (Tropa de Elite 2 - Brazil)
Emperor's New Groove, The
Equalizer, The
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
E.T. The Extra-Terrestial
Eve's Bayou
Expendables, The
Expendables 2, The
Expendables 3, The

Fantastic 4
Fantastic 4:  Rise of the Silver Surfer
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Field of Dreams
Final Destination (2000)
Finding Nemo
First Sunday
Focus
Footloose
Forrest Gump
Free Willy
Friday
Friday After Next
Fried Green Tomatoes
Friends With Benefits
Fruitvale Station
Fury

Get Him to the Greek
Get Shorty
Get Smart
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
Ghost Ship
G.I. Jane
G.I. Joe
Gladiator
Gods Must Be Crazy, The (South Africa)
Godfather, The
Godfather Part II, The
Gomorrah (Gomorra - Italy)
Gone Girl
Great Debaters, The
Green Mile, The
Grown Ups
Grown Ups 2
Gulliver's Travel

Hangover, The
Hangover Part II, The
Hangover Part III, The
Happy Feet
Harlem Nights
Heat
Help, The
Hercrules
Hero, The (Un Heros-Angola)
Hitch
Hocus Pocus
Hollowman
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Home Alone 3
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Honey We Shrunk Ourselves
Honeymooners, The
Hot Tub Time Machine
House Party
House Party 2
How High
How To Train Your Dragon
Hunt for Red October, The

I Am Legend
Ice Age
Ice Age 2
Identity Thief (2013)
Immortals
Incredible Hulk, The
Incredibles, The
Indiana Jones:  Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones:  Temple of Doom
Iron Lady, The
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
It

J. Edgar
Jack and Jill
Jackie Brown
Jaws
John Wick
Jumanji
Jurassic Park
Juno

Karate Kid
Karate Kid
King Kong
King's Speech, The
Knocked Up
Kung Fu Panda

Lady and the Tramp
Lakeview Terrace
Last Airbender, THe
Last Samurai, The
Legally Blond
Legally Blond 2
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon 2
Lethal Weapon 3
Lethal Weapon 4
Liar, Liar
Lion King, The
Lion King 2, The
Little Fockers
Little Man
Little Mermaid, The
Longest Yard
Longshots, The
Lottery Ticket
Lucy

Madagascar
Madagascar 2
Madea's Witness Protection
Maid in Manhattan
Mama Flora's Family
Man on Fire
Marley & Me
Mars Attacks
Mask, The
Matrix, The
Matrix Reloaded, The
Meet the Parents
Meet the Fockers
Men In Black
Men In Black II
Mr. Woodcock (2007)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Miss Congeniality
Miss Congeniality 2
Mission:  Impossible
Mission:  Impossible 2
Monsters, Inc.
Monsters University
Mulan
Mummy, The
Mummy Returns, The
Mummy 3, The
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
My Cousin Vinny
My Super Ex-Girlfriend

Napoleon Dynamite
Nebraska
Neighbors (2014)
Next Friday
Night and Day (2010)
Night at the Museum
Night at the Museum:  Battle of the Smithsonian
Nightmare Before Christmas, The
Nutty Professor, The
Nutty Professor 2, The

Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Thirteen
Old School
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Original Kings of Comedy, The
Other Guys, The
Over the Edge

Pacifier, The
Paper Chase, The
Pelham
Pelican Brief, The
Percy Jackson & the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson
Peter Pan
Philadelphia
Pink Panther
Pink Panther 2
Pirates of the Caribbean
Players Club, The
Pocahontas
Polar Express, The
Police Academy
Police Academy
Princess and the Frog, The
Pulp Fiction

Queen

Ratatouille
Real Steel
Red
Red 2
Remember the Titans
Reservoir Dogs
Ride Along
Rio
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
River Runs Through It, A
Road House
Road Trip (2000)
Role Models (2008)
Roll Bounce
Romeo + Juliet(1996)
Roots
Royal Tenenbaums, The
Rugrats, The
Rush Hour (1998)
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 3

Salt
Sandlot, The
Saturday Night Fever
Scarface
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
School Daze
Scooby Doo
Scorpion King, The
Scorpion King 2, The
Scream
Scream 2
Serpico
Shark Tale
Sherlock Holmes
She's Gotta Have It
Shrek
Shrek 2
Shrek the Third
Shrek Forever After
Sister Act
Sister Act II
Sleeping Beauty
Sleepless In Seattle
Smurfs, The
Smurfs 2, The
Snow White
Something About Mary
Something New
Sound of Music, The
Space Jam
Spider-man (2002)
State of Play
Steel Magnolias
Step Brothers
Stomp the Yard
Stomp the Yard 2
Stuart Little
Stuart Little 2
Swordfish

Taken
Taken 2 (2010)
Taken 3
Taking of Pelham 123, The
Tammy
Tarzan
Taxi
Taxi Driver
Ted
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
Terminal, The
There's Something About Mary
Three Caballeros, The
Tigger Movie, The
Titanic
Time to Kill, A
To Kill A Mockingbird
Top Gun
Tower Heist
Town, The
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3
Training Day
Traitor
Transformers
Transformers:  Age of Extinction
Transformers:  Dark of the Moon
Transporter, The
Transporter 2, The
Transporter 3, The
Tropic Thunder
Troy
Twins
Twister

Up

Watch, The
Waterboy, The
Wedding Crashers, The
Wedding Planner, The
Wedding Singer, The
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
White Chicks
Whitehouse Down
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Wizard of Oz, The
Wiz, The
Wolf of Wall Street, The
World War Z

X-Men
X-Men 2
X-Men:  First Class
X-Men:  The Last Stand

Yaaba
Yes Man
You Got Served
You, Me and Dupree

Zoolander

My New Rating/Grading System

When I first set out to write this blog, I did not anticipate that I would actually provide any critiques for the films that I watched.  However, as the blog has developed over the past few months, I realized that I was becoming an amateur movie critic.  Around the time that I was having this epiphany, I released my second film review.  In that review, one of my movie buddies suggested that I implement a ratings system, which would allow for some recognizable system among the various reviews.  I researched a few of the standard rating systems currently being used and I also thought about developing something unique for myself. For now, however, I'll just use a combination of some of the more popular ones.

I've found that I like to ask myself five basic questions after I watch a film.  Thus, when I'm reviewing a film, I will ask myself the following:

1) Did you like the film?
2) Would you watch it again?
3) Would you recommend it to others to watch?
4) Would you add this film to your library?
5) If I had free time, would I watch this film?

I feel that answering these five questions provide me with the framework to give any particular film a final rating.  Additionally, I also realized that there was a sixth question that I asked myself, which will serve as a bonus question.

Bonus Question:  Would you immediately watch this film again?  (Meaning as soon as the film is over, would I put it on instant repeat or would intentionally try to watch it within a twenty-four period).   Like the other five before it, this bonus question should solicit a yes or no answer.  Answering no to this question will not have any impact on the final results of the rating.  However, if I answer yes to this particular question, then that answer will have the possibility of elevating the rating to higher rating.  For instance, if I grade a movie with an A, answering yes to the bonus question would elevate the final rating to an A+.  Essentially, if the film already has a high rating from me, a yes answer to this question will likely reflect that I believe this to be a perfect movie or as close to perfect as possible.

Scarface

Title:  Scarface (1983)
Run Time:  2 hours, 10 minutes
Cast:  Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Miriam Colon, F. Murray Abraham and Paul Shenar.
Writer:  Oliver Stone
Director:  Brian De Palma

Well, I finally watched the film that most consider to be one of the greats.  So, what did I think?  I went into watching this film with the expectations of seeing Pacino do a great job playing his character and watching a great story develop from the beginning to the end.  I can honestly say that I was not disappointed.  Having watched a few Pacino films now, I feel he does a good job of selling the character to the audience.  My only complaint for this particular film would be the "Cuban" accent he tried to use.  To me, it felt extremely forced and it was a little distracting at times.  However, I don't feel that it negatively impacted his performance.

When I watch a film, I expect to feel like I'm watching the character, not the actor trying to play a character.  I've heard some say that "Pacino has become really good at playing Pacino."  I'm not sure when he fell into that description, but I don't feel that he was quite at that point here.  However, I think I may have caught some hints at why some would make this statement.  There were a few moments in the film that felt very "Godfather-ish."  (e.g. the wedding scene)  I didn't think too much about it, but I have to recognize that the feeling was there.  I guess it may be the Hollywood formula that Pacino films started to follow at a certain point in his career.

One of my movie buddies suggested that I implement a ratings system, but I have not decided on the one that I like the most.  For now, I'll just use a combination of some of the more popular ones.  When I'm grading a film, I like to ask myself five questions: 1) Did you like the film?; 2) Would you watch it again?; 3) Would you recommend it to others to watch?; 4) Would you add this film to your library?; and 5) If I had free time, would I watch this film?  Answering these five questions provide me with the framework to give this film a final rating.  So, here goes:  Generally, I liked the film and I would gladly watch it again.  I definitely feel that others should watch it and I believe it would be a good film to have in my movie library.  The issue for me is with the last question, because I would not seek this film out to watch during my free time.  For me, if I have nothing to do and this film is not already playing in front of me, I'm not going to think about watching it.

Overall, Scarface was a very decent movie.  There is nothing really bad to say about it, other than I didn't like Pacino's "Cuban" accent.  I feel the film accomplished what it set out to do.  It had a decent story, with some good 80's action (meaning I'll show you that I'm going to saw someone's head off without actually showing the head being sawed off).  Honestly, it was a good movie, with some spectacular scenes.  In my opinion, it was definitely better than good, but less than perfect, yet not quite excellent.  For me, the thing that really makes this particular movie shine are a few really great scenes.

The best scene for me was Mama Montana fussing at her son about his lifestyle and kicking him out of her house.  She even threw his money back at him.  His mother, played by Miraim Colon,  did not take any mess from anyone.  Obviously, an extremely close second good scene is the final one, which was well worth the wait of the entire movie just to hear that classic line, "Say hello to my little friend."  Another scene that completely changed the dynamic of the film was when Montana made the deal on behalf of his boss.  At that point, you knew he would take over the organization soon.  One last scene I feel is worth mentioning would be the one with Montana being in New York with the killing expert.  Despite his chosen occupation, by refusing to allow the expert killer to blow up the vehicle with the official's family, Montana demonstrated that he still had some part of him that was good.

With that said, Scarface gets a 4/5 stars from me.  If I'm using grades, it would get an A/A-, with the curve being implemented.  Basically, it's the situation where I know I have a good student, but they missed one too many questions on the exam.  Fortunately, they're such a good student that they curve automatically bumps them up to the A range, so as not to effect their average.

Serpico

Title:  Serpico
Run Time:  2 hours 10 minutes
Cast:  Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, Tony Roberts, John Medici, Allan Rich, Norman Ornellas, Edwards Grover, Albert Henderson, Hank Garrett.
Writer:  Peter Maas (Book); Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler (Screenplay)
Director:  Sidney Lumet

I believe that we are sometimes pushed into certain directions by nature, often not knowing exactly why.  Today I experienced such a prodding from the movie universe.  I started my evening by reading a few news articles, coincidentally related to the recent issues involving police brutality across the nation.  While reading one article in particular, I noticed some interesting comments made by various posters.  One such comment mentioned the name of a former police officer named Serpico.  I read what the poster stated and I thought that their comment deserved some further research at a later time.

At this point, I went into my movie choices to find something interesting to watch for the evening.  As it sometimes happens, nothing was grabbing my attention.  So, I randomly went to go look at the suggestions of things I would potential like, based on prior movie choices.  To my surprise, I noticed a film called Serpico.  Some may not believe it, but I felt the movie universe was leading me to watch this particular film.  Man, was I not disappointed.

Generally, Serpico looks into the issue of police corruption.  The film was set in New York City and starred noted actor Al Pacino.  In this film, Pacino's performance is absolutely amazing.  He deliver every line with conviction and zeal.  This was one of those performances in which you felt the emotions from the actors, as if you were speaking to them in person.  

Other than the fact that I knew I was watching this film in my living room, I would have felt that I was actually in the room in a few of the scenes.  One such scene was the one when Serpico was being brought back from surgery and his parents were waiting to see him.  

Overall, an outstanding film!  This will likely be one of my top choices for cop movies now.

The Screen is Blank

Wow, I thought writing a blog about my movie watching experience would be easy.  Needless to say, it has not been as simple as I anticipated.  First, there's the actual movie watching.  I have no shortage or films to watch.  Several dozen have been suggested from numerous sources and quite a few were already on my personal list.  The issue I find is how to carve out at least a two hour section of my day to actually watch the freaking movie.  There have been times that I've wanted to turn one on, but I definitely would not have been given it any attention.  To me, that would defeat the entire purpose of making myself watch a film.

Second, where's the time?  I know, I know.  If you really want to do something, you make the time for it.  However, between family, work, daily responsibilities and being a chronic insomniac, when do I have time to actually watch anything?

I'm not exactly sure how this blog is going to progress over the next few months.  As of today, it seems to be static.  It's completely frustrating for me because I had so much motivation and excitement when I started this journey.  I will continue to make the effort, but it looks like even more of my energy will be needed to make this blog work.  I have thought about starting another involving music, but I'll continue to focus on this one for now.

As always, thanks for the support from my movie experts.  I'll try very soon to give you more material to critique and analyze.

JB

Why Watch It In the First Place

This is a follow-up from my post about my perspective on film watching.  One of my esteemed movie experts presented to me a very thought provoking issue.  To wit, if my criteria for watching movies is so narrowly tailored to specific subject matters, then this may serve as the thing that is limiting my love for a diverse grouping of films.  This observation is both enlightening and a little problematic for me.  I will concede that if a film is about a subject I enjoy, it is more than likely going to be one that I love.  However, there are some that fall into the category of being the subject matter I enjoy, but for some reason I didn't like film, e.g., Django Unchained, Birth of a Nation, Beloved.

The difficulty I'm having is with the idea of my love of films being limited to only one or few subject matters. In my opinion, my unique perspective on film watching allows me to transcend industry defined movie genres.  While I may view films with a philosophical eye, meaning I want to understand the deeper meaning of a film, this does not preclude me from recognizing the other qualities of a film.  If an actor/actress is good in their role, they're going to evoke a certain level of emotion out of the movie watcher.  Watching a movie and looking for the meaning or thing that it represents in society does not necessarily mean that one is watching the film in a cold emotional state.  It may be possible to separate the two, but I don't believe this is what I do when I watch a film.

When the film credits begin to roll, I believe we all should be able to give the film a thumbs up or thumbs down.  How we arrive at our individual opinions is the part that makes movie watching interesting.  I believe it speaks volumes for a film to have an impact on a vast majority of society.  If we're all using various methods to rate a film and the film is able to impress each of us, then I think that it would have to be considered one of the greats.

My Perspective on Films

While speaking with one of my favorite movie experts yesterday, I realized something very important.  This blog came into existence because I wanted to record my journey into a diverse movie world.  Admittedly, my tendency is to gravitate towards a certain genre of films.  Similar to my book reading, I enjoy watching historical pieces, especially those about race, the civil rights movement, slavery, etc.  It is probably for this reason that I've been limited in the types of films I venture to watch.  (The same thing happens with reading books)  That's not to say that I don't enjoy other films, more than if given a choice, you can probably guess which ones I'll watch first.  However, I'm going to make a much better effort to force myself into watching other films now.

In a completely separate conversation with another one of my movie experts, I thought it would be helpful to explain how I watch movies.  When watching a film, I'm not usually impressed by the technical aspects or graphics.  Actors, actresses, directors, producers and all the many others who make movies possible are usually in the background for me as well.

For me, I see movies in a more philosophical way.  I was a Biology and Philosophy major in college, so this likely explains why I view movies in this manner.  The meaning behind the story is what often captures my attention.  Oscar Wilde is noted for saying "life imitates art far more than art imitates life."  Considering the implications of the story presented in a film intrigues me the most.  I'm of the opinion that every film represents something, whether it be a moral value or a complex societal issue.  When watching movies, I'm the person who often takes many mental notes about things I think are being reflected by the various scenes.  After watching a movie, asking me for a quote or for a synopsis of one's acting is likely to result in very little conversation.  However, I'm sure you'll get more of a discussion if you ask me to give a philosophical dissection of how the film connects with existence.

I say all of this to say that my movie reflections will probably follow a different path from the norm (yet another characteristic I am prone to display).  Honestly, to watch a film and just comment on the acting, scriptwriting or production seems like a waste of time.  Of course, I will mention those things from time to time, but I'll probably do more discussing of the social, economical, political, historical or cultural issues I see.  If I haven't said it before, I'm very appreciative that you all are willing to put up with me on this journey.  The insight you, my movie experts, provide is invaluable.  It definitely goes a long way in forcing me to step outside of my way of thinking.

JB

Ruby Bridges

Title:  Ruby Bridges (1998 TV Movie)
Run Time:  96 minutes
Cast:  Chaz Monet, Lela Rochon, Michael Beach, Penelope Ann Miller, Jean Louisa Kelly, Patrika Darbo, Diana Scarwid and Kevin Pollack.
Writer:  Toni Ann Johnson
Director:  Euzhan Palcy

*I will try to add more discussion to this particular review at a later time, but I wanted to stop my procrastinating of actually posting something about an actual film.  Here goes...

Today, I write about a 1998 made-for-television film about a little girl named Ruby Bridges.  This film recounts her courageous journey in 1960, to integrate the public school system in New Orleans, Louisiana.  I considered this film to be a great one because it highlights many of the important social issues faced by the United States during the twentieth century.

It should not be a surprise that the first movie I'm actually going to write about is one involving the civil rights era.  For those who know me, studying issues concerning race, politics and law is something I've done for many years.  Historically speaking, this particular era in United States history is one of my favorites.  I enjoy reading and learning everything possible about this tumultuous time.  For this particular film, my reflections will not be a critique of the acting,

Admittedly, it is sometimes difficult to watch the scenes involving adults berating Ruby, as she enters and exits the school building.  Moreover, the looks of disdain by the faculty and administration within the school add even more angst to the movie watcher.  However, the resolve of this young lady is quite an inspiration.  Her display of courage and pride in herself, along with the invaluable support of her family and community, teaches us that any and all obstacles can be overcome.

I would recommend this film to everyone, especially if you want something to show to a younger audience.  I believe films such as this one allow all watchers to identify with the obstacles that the main character experiences.  Most, if not all, individuals have been a student at some point in their life.  As such, it fairly easy to understand many of the aspects of being a young elementary student entering a new school.  Without a doubt, this film should be considered one of America's most prized examples of how we have evolved from our once dark past.

Society is that much better because of individuals like Ruby Bridges, who stood up to the tyrannical societal construct of segregation.  Hiding from the history of racism in America is not going to allow us to move forward.  However, with intelligently designed reminders such as this film, we can learn to achieve the highest ideals of human existence--peace, understanding and love for all.

JB

My Update Four Months Later

Four months ago I set out on what I thought would be a remarkable journey.  To date, my film blog writing has fallen by the wayside.  I would say that it is not for lack of enthusiasm, but more so just needing to make more of an effort to actually sit down and write about the films I've watched.  Yes, I've been watching some good films during the past four months, but I didn't take time to write about them.

I must note that my film watching was severely interrupted when I decided to embark on a quest to watch the Starz series, Boss.  I blame it on my going through withdrawal of not having a new season of House of Cards to watch.  Of course, after watching the two seasons of this thrilling windy city political drama, I was hooked to watching shows about politics.  Naturally, the next step was to watch the entire West Wing series.  That's right, all seven seasons, although the latter ones were difficult to watch. 

Now, almost four months after starting on my quest to get through a long list of movies, I'm going to start watching some new and old films.  Nothing is necessarily off limits, but I'm sure I'll start down the road of watching some political film.  I did manage to squeeze in quite of few of them when I needed a break from the West Wing. 

Sidenote:  I just made the mistake of looking for a list of political dramas on google.  Now I have a new list of tv shows to watch.  I think I may take a friend's advice and turn this into a blog project on tv shows instead...smh (facepalm)