Sunday, July 31, 2011

Togas, Lepers, and Jesus, Oh My!

Ben Hur was filled with everything a great movie should be: thoughtful writing offering simple yet meaningul pearls of wisdom, a dynamic portrayal of the many dimensions of family and friendship, a heart-pounding, high-speed race, and a lead character's dedicated search for vengeance.  Another plus is that for 1959 the acting wasn't over-inundated with "cheese".  I became invested in the character's stories because they seemed realistic instead of overdramatic, one of my main complaints about classic films.

The love-hate relationship between the film's two lead characters, Judah and Messala, was portrayed in a way that most people would appreciate: two friends that grew up together but end up in a vicious personal battle due to differing political views they acquired during their long time apart... Apparently its common for old friends to grow apart regardless of time period or reason.  These days we handle our differences a tad bit more gracefully (i.e. not sending an old friend off to be condemned to slavery and throwing their families members in a dungeon where they contract leprosy), but nevertheless people continue to grow apart every day.



It is also no secret to anyone that knows me well that I am an atheist, and some wondered what my reaction to the religious references in this film would be.  I have to admit, the portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth, his preachings, as well as the Crucifixion, were handled with spectacular taste and added an element to the story that set it apart from just a typical story set during the reign of the Roman Empire.  Although the man playing Jesus was only shown vaguely and awkwardly from behind, identificable only by his robes and long wavy brown hair, the distraction of the rest of the movie makes it easy to get over that small detail.

Overall, Ben Hur offered what most typical movie-goers would find appealing.. It being three and a half hours long would definitely deter anyone with a short attention span (which I am definitely a victim of), but if rented on DVD you always have the option of pausing for a lunch, bathroom, exercise, or my special favorite, cocktail break ;)  The high-speed race in this film is also one of the best I've seen despite obvious cruelty towards the horses used :( sad puppy...  I definitely recommend this film to anyone willing to dedicate the time, and have a feeling I would have ranked it much higher than #100... why it fell 28 spots when AFI revamped the 1998 list I'll have to find out for myself.

Personal Rating:

Visual: 8
Acting: 6
Script/Plot: 9
Attention: 8
Emotional Response: 9

Total - 40/50

Sunday, July 24, 2011

My Very Own Rating System

My attempt at viewing all 100 films starts tonight, and I decided to come up with my own little rating system so that by the end I can create another Top 100 list.

My categories (scored from 1 to 10):

Visual/Stylistic Appeal
Acting Performances
Script/Plot Quality
Ability to Hold My Attention
Emotional Response to the Film

These are what I consider to be some of the most important components of film when the average movie-goer decides the level of entertainment a movie had to offer, and I hope that these categories will help me to decide which movies I truly believe belong on the Top 100 list.

Example:  A Love Song for Bobby Long
V: 9
A: 7
S: 7
A: 10
E: 9
Total:  41/50

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Cure-All? Let's See.

I moved from New York City to Milford, CT about 8 months ago, and let's just say that, in comparison, Milford isn't the most "happening" of places.  Being used to the so-called "hustle and bustle" of the city, small-town Milford just doesn't give me that old zsa zsa zsu, doesn't have that pizzazz, that spark.  I've started doing new things, some good, some bad.  Good: subscribed to an online yoga class, attempted to continue reading the stack of novels i've collected over time, etc.   Bad: spending a lot of my time sitting in front of the television watching more reality TV than any one person ever should.  Good/Bad: lots of baking.

Today on my day off I was stumbling upon many things, dear god help me, when I came across AFI's Top 100 Movies of all time.  Looking through it I realized how very few of the movies I had actually seen and decided to challenge myself to watch them in order from 100-1, and then had a "Julie and Julia"-type urge to document this challenge online.  Whether or not anyone other than me actually reads this, I feel a very visceral need to do SOMETHING with my time instead of wallow in my grievance of my life in NYC.

A little inside info on my current movie knowledge:  My favorite movies of all time (two-way tie) are Amelie and A Love Song for Bobby Long.  I have never seen some of the most classic movies ever made, and usually get the mouth-gaping, wide eyed response from people upon admitting I've never sat down to experience such films as Shawshank Redemption, Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, the Goonies (?), Back to the Future, Rocky, Good Will Hunting, etc.  I have, since getting this exact response one too many times, seen Shawshank, and now I know why people were so appalled.

My goal:  AFI's Top 100 Movies (2007 list), One per Week
First on the List:  Ben Hur