Recap - Movies I could watch over and over (and have)

There are people who can watch movies over and over and over, I am usually not that person. Even before I started this project, with over 700 on the list, there are few movies I need or want to see more than once. However, the movies listed below are the exceptions to my self-imposed rule.

The Wizard of Oz, Best Original Score, Best Song, 1939

No question, 1939 was a fabulous year for movies: Gone with the Wind, Wuthering Heights, Beau Geste, and The Wizard of Oz to name just a few. The Wizard of Oz used to be an annual movie event for my family (this is before cable, where it's probably shown several times a year). Apparently I used to sit transfixed for the whole movie, barely moving. It has everything a great movie should have: great characters, music, a story that kids can totally relate to, scary scenes, and flying monkeys. I've lost track of how many times I've seen it, but I did have the opportunity to see it on the big screen, and that was the best viewing ever. I'm sure most of you have seen it, but if for some reason you have avoided it, you should check it out. Judy Garland (native of Grand Rapids, Minnesota) was Dorothy, and Somewhere Over the Rainbow (winner for Best Song) is such a part of the American psyche, it is almost imperative to hear it in its original context. Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Bert Lahr (as Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion) are forever in my memory. And, lastly, Cleveland native, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch scared the hell out of my younger self. The film was nominated for several of the visual awards as well, but lost out to Gone with the Wind. That would have been a really tough vote to make, because they are both visual masterpieces, especially in hindsight, looking over 70 years ago and the lack of computer aided effects.

Bridge on the River Kwai, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay, Best Music - Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, 1957

This movie is a must see for film buffs and those interested in World War II. The movie is set during World War II in the Pacific theater in Thailand in a Japanese prison camp with mostly British soldiers. Alec Guinness (winner of Best Actor) is Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson, whose firm grip on the protections and rules in the Geneva Convention get him in trouble with the camp commandant. The prisoners are forced to work on a railroad bridge. Some prisoners try to escape, and one, an American, Shears (played by William Holden) There are a lot of things happening in this movie with the relationships between the colonel and his men, the colonel and the commandant, Shears and military command. Guinness is chilling as Nicholson and he is riveting until the very last scene. Most Americans, perhaps just most people today, are not familiar with the war efforts in countries like Burma and Thailand, so, while the movie is not 100% historical, there were camps in that part of the world at that time and the conditions incredibly harsh and brutal. Seeing this movie made me interested in learning more about it. Alec Guinness (perhaps best known to modern audiences as Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars or PBS audiences as George Smiley the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy series) was one of the most amazing actors. I will watch any of his movies just to see him, luckily, many of them are Oscar winners. Bridge was directed by the legendary David Lean (Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, Passage to India); this movie, and those listed above, are not short, 90 minute flicks. You have to make time for them. Lean sets the stage and tells a story, and unlike many movies that I lambaste for being too long and self-indulgent, Lean uses the time to bring the audience into the narrative.

Lawrence of Arabia, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, 1962

It's probably not an accident that this is another Oscar-winning David Lean film, which coincidentally also has Alec Guinness, this time in a supporting role. I think the first time I saw this was on the big screen in a re-release of the original director's cut. T.E. Lawrence was a real person who served in the British military during the First World War in the Middle East. Peter O'Toole plays Lawrence, and once you watch the movie, you will never forget those eyes. They are piercing, observing, mesmerizing, and aloof. O'Toole seems almost otherworldly as Lawrence becomes part of the Arab world. Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif have supporting roles, and Sharif, in particular, is incredible to watch (he was also in Dr. Zhivago). This movie is as vast as the Arabian desert, at almost four hours long, it has great action as Lawrence and his 'army' fight the Turks (in World War I, the Ottoman Empire/Turkey was on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary), and beautiful scenes of the desert. The score, by the inimitable Maurice Jarre helps tell the story, especially during the may periods of little or no dialog. I have read different things over the years about Lawrence and this movie. There are complaints that Lean did not cast Arabs in the main Arab roles (both Quinn and Guinness play leaders in the Arab world), and the O'Toole was not at all like Lawrence, and I could probably go on. But I won't because it is an amazing movie, perhaps not amazing history, but that is for another time. And while I will concede the movie is not a strict historical application, I think it does shed light on the complexities of what is going on in the Middle East today. I think that is the best thing an historical/biographical movie can do, make the viewer want to learn more (so, while people were focusing on the inaccuracies in Lincoln, they may have missed the point that people were discussing things that aren't discussed any more).

Cool Hand Luke, Best Supporting Actor, 1967

I don't know if I can really explain why this movie is so good and why I can watch it over and over, except two words 'Paul Newman'. Newman was nominated as Best Actor and lost to Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night; Steiger was good, no question, but I'm bitter, even 45 years later. Newman IS Luke, and he brings the defiance he showed in Hud and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Luke's relationship with George Kennedy (Best Supporting Actor winner) as Dragline starts out rocky but the bigger man eventually realizes that Luke is a worthy opponent, but a better ally. Luke's relationship with the Captain, Strother Martin, is not quite so cordial and results in one of the best lines EVER in filmdom, (right up there with Rhett Butler's 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn') 'What we've got here is failure to communicate'. Luke may be a prisoner, but he's a lovable scoundrel with a twinkle in his eye and a seemingly unbreakable spirit, even when he his put in the hot box. I root for Luke to escape every time, cheering him on to evade the bloodhounds on his trail. The thing I love about Newman is when he was on, he was on, you didn't see an actor, you saw him AS that person, whether he was Cool Hand Luke or Fast Eddy Felton.

Creature Comforts, Best Animated Short, 1989

I laugh so hard every time I see this short, in fact, I loved it so much, I actually bought it - on VHS. Creature Comforts tells the animals' side of the story of living in a zoo. It was done by Nick Ardman, the same genius who brought us Wallace and Gromit (there may be a whole post devoted to them since they have won several Oscars). The animals are interviewed on what it's like living in the zoo; some of them like it, some of them do not. My favorite is the jaguar from Brazil, although I love them all. The funniest are usually the observations of the baby animals. My only complaint is sometimes I cannot understand the words and my VHS does not have subtitles. But, that just gives me an excuse to watch it again; perhaps today. My version is on a collection of shorts, but I saw it first on a big screen as an opener to another movie. I don't know how Ardman's mind works, but I hope he keeps making shorts. They tried to make Creature Comforts into a weekly television series and it didn't work; I'm not sure why.

I get asked a lot where I get the movies to watch. I use Netflix, although I am so cheap I refuse to increase my subscription; I also use RedBox for more recent releases, especially if I get codes for free movies, the theater, of course, but mostly I use the Galaxie branch of the Dakota County Library System. Most of the older movies are free, even rentals are only $1.00. You can't beat it. Public libraries are the best community investments; they provide opportunities for education, community meeting places, many free resources including computer access. I love that my library has a line every Sunday before it opens. I love seeing kids dragging their parents inside to go get their favorite books or videos, and I love seeing a variety of cultures using the library. People keep saying libraries are obsolete. Call me naive, but I don't think they are. Support your local library.