Friday, November 7, 2008

#55. Amadeus (1984)


Director: Milos Forman
Screenplay: Peter Shaffer (Based on the play by Peter Shaffer)
Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice, Simon Callow, Christine Ebersole, Jeffery Jones, Charles Kay

Quote: "Mozart! Mozart, forgive you assassin! I confess, I killed you..."

Based on the hit play of Peter Shaffer, the film focuses mostly on Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), a composer during the Mozart days, who only has one thing to do when he's not writing his music, be jealous of the world renowned composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) who seems to be getting everything before him, and in a young age too. As he tells the story throughout the years, as he experiences Mozart depressing life, great times and even worst times, we get an amazing Best Picture winner that introduces us into the disturbing emotion of obsession.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actor in a Leading Role (F. Murray Abraham), Best Director (Milos Forman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound

Monday, November 3, 2008

#56. Requiem for a Dream (2000)


Director: Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay: Hurbert Selbry Jr. & Darren Aronofsky (Based on the novel by Hurbert Selby Jr.)
Cast: Jared Leto, Ellen Burnstyn, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Louise Lassar, Sean Gulette, Keith David

Quote: "I like the way I feel. I like thinking about the red dress and the television and you and your father. Now when I get the sun, I smile."

Visionary director, Darren Aronofsky, gives us another disturbing but beautiful piece with this masterpiece about 4 drug addicts who are bound together by a special connection. We have Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burnstyn), an old widow, who starts taking speed as weight-loss pills when she learns she might be on TV and wants to fit into an old red dress. Her son Harry (Jared Leto), who has a business of dealing and an arm that can shock plenty. His girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) who will do absolutely ANYTHING for drug money. And their best friend, Tyrone (Marlon Wayans), haunted by his pass and makes the wrong moves when dealing with the wrong people.

#57. Catch Me If You Can (2002)


Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Jeff Nathanson (Based on the book "Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing True Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit" by Frank Abignale Jr. & Stan Redding)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Natalie Baye, James Brolin, Jennifer Garner

Quote: "I'm not a doctor. I never went to medical school. I'm not a lawyer, or a Harvard graduate or a Lutheran. Brenda, I ran away from home a year and a half ago when I was 16."

Based on the life of young con-man Frank Abignale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who started stealing and faking his way to the good life when his parents had a bitter divorce in the early 60s. As he runs away, makes new friends, wears the finest clothes, drives the hottest cars and have the sexiest girls all before he turns 21, we also follow the footstep of Special Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) who tries to hunt Abignale down and try to put an end to his very expensive operation.

#58. Little Women (1994)


Director: Gilliam Armstrong
Screenplay: Robin Swicord (Based on the novel by Lousia May Alcott)
Cast: Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Christian Bale, Gabriel Byrne, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Trini Alvarado, Samantha Martis, Eric Stoltz, John Neville, Mary Wickes

Quote: "I go around throwing away perfectly good marraige proposals!"

In a way, it is like "Pride in Prejudice", set in the Old South. During the Civil War, hard working mother Abagail March (Susan Sarandon), copes with her husband's leaving to fight for their side and must take care of their 4 growing girls, who are at the brink of becoming women. The 2nd eldest daughter, Jo (Winona Ryder), is however high-strung and is a woman-of-women, a brilliant person and amazing playwright. But as the world turns and there is no room for a female in the world of men, she tries her best to do what's best for her, her family and love.

#59. Grease (1978)


Director: Randal Kleiser
Screenplay: Bronte Woodard (Based on the musical by Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey)
Cast: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conway, Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci, Kelly Ward, Didi Conn, Jaime Donnelly, Dinah Manoff, Eve Arden, Frankie Avalon, Joan Blondell, Edd Byrnes, Sid Caeser, Dody Goodman, Sha-Na-Na, Lorenzo Lamas, Eddie Deezen, Annette Charles

Quote: "Tell me about it, stud."

Set in the late 50s, when grease and poodle skirts were in, on the Beach during summer, there lays the beautiful romance of Australian Sandy Olson (Olivia Newton-John) and Danny Zucko (John Travolta). But when its time to go back to school, the very different cliches they belong to, Sandy being too "goodie-two-shoes" and Danny being the campus "cool guy", tears them apart. But they realize that their love shouldn't be torn apart by what people think. Could one of them change? The story could only be told by the funky, bubbly 1978 teenage musical classic.

#60. Misery (1990)


Director: Rob Reiner
Screenplay: William Goldman (Based on the novel by Stephen King)
Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall, Graham Jarvis, Jerry Potter

Quote: "This isn't fair! HE DIDN'T GET OUT OF THE COCK - A - DOODIE CAR!"

Kathy Bates' Oscar winning performance is definitely a creepy and distorted one. When a famous novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan), finishes the last book of his MISERY series, he goes out but unfortunately gets into a car accident in the snow. But "unluckily" he gets "saved" by his number 1 fan, Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). But as Annie nurses him to "good" health, her mind messes up and she begins torturing him to make more books so that her favorite story will have a never ending plot line...unless one of them dies, that is.

OSCAR winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Kathy Bates)

#61. Taxi Driver (1976)


Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenplay: Paul Schrader
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybil Shepherd, Peter Boyle, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Albert Brooks

Quote: "I got some bad ideas in my head."

Martin Scorsese's night film about taxi driver Travis Bickle was unexpected and the film ended with a blast of a finale. Driving at night, Travis helplessly becomes the portal for crime, prostitutes and evil things. Here, we join Travis' adventure and experiences to get the girl he wants, the amazing political Betsy (Cybil Shepherd) and save a child from prostituting herself (Jodie Foster). But what happens when you feed on too much evil experiences? Answer: A whipping lash out.

#62. Easter Parade (1948)


Director: Charles Walters
Screenplay: Sidney Sheldon, Frances Goodrich & Albert Hacket
Cast: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Peter Lawford, Ann Miller, Jules Munshin, Clinton Sundberg

Quote: "Miss Brown, what idiot ever told you you were a dancer?"

A lovely musical tale about unconventional love, we start in Easter 1911, where we see dancer Don Hewes (Fred Astaire), excited about seeing his lady love, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller). But unfortunately, Don is crushed when Nadine tells him that she's leaving the act and signing up with the Ziegfield Follies as their "star". But Don is convinced that he just "created" Nadine's image and chooses a random chorus girl, Hannah Brown (Judy Garland), and swears to himself that by next Easter, she will be talk of the town because their dance act will be way better than Nadine's. What Don doesn't know is that dancing is just to help Hannah get by, her real passion is singing.

OSCAR winner for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture

#63. The Little Mermaid (1989)


Director: Ron Clements & Jon Musker
Screenplay: Ron Clements & Jon Musker (Based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson)
Voice Cast: Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Rene Auberjonois, Paddi Edwards, Buddy Hacket, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Edie McClurg, Will Ryan, Ben Wright

Quote: "If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again."

Yet another brilliant, Oscar winning soundtrack by power team Ashman & Menken in this classic Disney tale. Young mermaid, Princess Ariel of the 7 Seas does not understand what her father, King Tritan, fears about in the world of humans. After falling in love with a human, Prince Eric, when she saves him from a sea wreck, she knows that the only way to get him is to become human herself. So she goes to the infamous sea witch, Ursula, and makes a deal that she'll becomes human for 3 days without her voice. But if he doesn't kiss her in those day, she'll turn back into a mermaid and she'll be part of Ursula's plan to secure King Tritan's throne.

OSCAR winner for Best Original Score, Best Original Song ("Under the Sea")

#64. American Beeauty (1999)


Director: Sam Mendez
Screenplay: Allan Ball
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher

Quote: "Look at me, jerking off in the shower...This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here."

This Best Picture suburban drama is about the Burnham residence in a quite and beautiful upstate neighbourhood. Once-happy married couple Lester (Best Actor winner Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn Burnham (Annette Benning) are the main topics. As much as they want to rekindle the flame in their marriage, unfortunately their differences will not move aside for love. We also meet their messed up daughter Jane (Thora Birch), who has recently fell for their next door neighbour and weirdest boy in school, Ricky Fitts (West Bentley) who has been obsessing about her. Lester also begins obsessing about Jane's best friend Angela (Mena Suvari), who becomes his sexual target. Move aside, for "AMERICA'S WEIRDEST HOME VIDEOS!"

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Kevin Spacey), Best Director (Sam Mendez), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography

#65. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)


Director: Howard Hawks
Screenplay: Charles Lederer (Based on the musical comedy by Joseph Fields & Anita Loos)
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn, Elliot Field, Tommy Noonan, George Winslow, Marcel Dailo, Taylor Holmes, Norma Varden

Quote: "I always say a kiss on the hand might feel very good, but a diamond tiara lasts forever."

Howard Hawks' 1953 musical comedy about a dumb blond named Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) didn't only provide 1953 with a funny performance by the two leads, but gives Marilyn her signatures "Diamond's Are A Girl's Best Friend" number. When gold-digger, Lorelei Lee decides to marry millionaire Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan) in Paris, she starts sailing without him, with a chaperon, her ambitious best friend Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell). But on a high-class boat full of rich old gentlemen with boring wives and a stock of diamond tiaras, there's bond to be trouble when you introduce them to a blond who cannot say NO.

#66. Terms of Endearment (1983)


Director: James L. Brooks
Screenplay: James L. Brooks (Based on the novel by Larry McMurty)
Cast: Shirley McLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow, Danny De Vito, Lisa Hart Carroll, Betty King, Huckleberry Fox, Troy Bishop

Quote: "My daughter is in pain, can't you understand that! GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!"

A touching mother-daughter tale and a Best Picture to boot, with a brilliant, stellar cast. We meet Aurora Greenway (Shirley McLaine) and daughter Emma (Debra Winger), facing difficulties about leaving each other when Emma decides to get married. Following several years in their lives, we see them in their unhappy states of their life, but they make excuses for themselves to continue on living. But as the end draws to a near, they realize that maybe all they have is each other. Especially when they face something quite fatal.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Shirley McLaine), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Nicholson), Best Director (James L. Brooks), Best Adapted Screenplay

#67. To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything - Julie Newmar (1995)


Director: Beeban Kidron
Screenplay: Douglas Carter Beane
Cast: Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes, Stockard Channing, Chris Penn, Blythe Danner, Arliss Howard, Jason London, Melinda Dillon, Beth Grant, Alice Drummond, Jennifer Milmoore, Jamie Harrold, Mike Hodge

Quote: "Little Latin boy in drag, why are you crying?"

3 of the straightest actors EVER, put on their drag and stiletto heels and take a trip from New York to LA as Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze), Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) and the hooker-like Chi-Chi Rodriquez (John Leguizamo) for this delightful road-comedy. After tying the Miss New York Drag Contest, Vida and Noxeema take pity on Chi-Chi and decide to take her/him with them to the Miss Drag America finals in LA. Not having enough for their plane tickets they find a mode of transportation and have memorable trip with just the 3 off them. But things get shaky when they are accused of murder and are stranded in a small town with no color or "fabulous" clothing.

#68. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)


Director: David Lean
Screenplay: Michael Wilson & Carl Foreman (Based on the novel "Le pont de la riviere Kwai" by Pierre Boulle)
Cast: Alec Guinness, William Holden, Sussue Hayakawa, Jack Hawkins, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, Andre Morell, Pete William

Quote: "One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people that use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers, British soldiers, Clipton, even in captivity."

Set in a war torn-world, David Lean's first Best Picture winning masterpiece is set around Colonel Nicholson (Best Actor Alec Guinness) and his men, under captivity by the Japanese but still living and trying to keeps themselves from torment. But as the evil Colonel Saito (Sussue Hayakawa) forces them to make a bridge on the River Kwai, their allies, the Americans have something unexpected for all of them.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Alec Guinness), Best Director (David Lean), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Score

#69. Love Story (1970)


Director: Arthur Hiller
Screenplay: Ernest Segal
Cast: Ryan O'Neil, Allie McGraw, John Marley, Ray Millard, Russell Nype, Katharine Balfour, Sydney Walker, Robert Mdicka, Tommy Lee Jones

Quote: "Loves means never having to say you're sorry."

This unconventional romance tells the heartbreaking story of Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O'Neil), a rich Harvard hockey player and the simple Jennifer Cavalleri (Allie McGraw), a musically inclined, steady-in-cash Radcliffe student. As the movie progresses we follow the ups and downs of Oliver and Jennifer's relationships: the facts that they are not approved by his parents, why she can't get pregnant, their struggle for money and the biggest disaster of them all...death.

OSCAR winner for Best Original Score

Sunday, November 2, 2008

#70. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (19975)


Director: Milos Forman
Screenplay: Lawrence Hauben & Bo Goldman (Based on the play by Dale Wesserman and book by Ken Kesey)
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Sydney Lassick, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd, Will Sampson, Danny De Vito

Quote: "Which one of you nuts has got any guts?"

This 1975, Best Picture gem, based on a play and book feature two brilliant Oscar winning performances by Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher is a timeless classic directed by Oscar winner Milos Forman. Set in a Mental Institution, we follow the highly rebellious R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) who doesn't believe he should be in the institute, so does his very best to gather the other "loons" and bring down the dictatorship of the bitchy Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Acrtor in a Leading Role (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Louise Fletcher), Best Director (Milos Forman), Best Adapte Screenplay

#71. Interview with the Vampire (1994)


Director: Neil Jordan
Screenplay: Anne Rice (Based on the novel by Anne Rice)
Cast: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, Thandie Newton, Domiziana Giordano

Quote: "I'm flesh and blood, but not human. I haven't been human for two hundred years."

Anne Rice adapted her own masterful novel in the eventual hit that made the likes of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst bigger stars then they already were. Starting in a modern day city, we meet Louis (Brad Pitt), who is being interviewed by a brave soul (Christian Slater). Louis tells him his many adventures of gain and loss, starting way back in the 1700s. He tells this because he is a vampire. In the story we see Louis journey into the unknown, how time has changed, his "like-daughter" Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) and the man that ruined everything for him, the evil and gruesome vampire Lestat (Tom Cruise).

#72. Chicago (2002)


Director: Rob Marshall
Screenplay: Bill Condon (Based on the musical play by Bob Fosse & Fred Ebb)
Cast: Renee Zelwegger, Catharine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, Taye Diggs, Dominic West, Colm Feore, Christine Baranski, Chita Rivera, Lucy Lui

Quote: "This trial...the whole world...it's all...show business!"

Seen through the mind of the delusional Roxie Hart (Renee Zelwegger), we are given the first musical since 1968's "Oliver!" to win Best Picture in the Academy Awards. Set in the 1920s Jazz Age, we meet Roxie with her love whom she kills after he doesn't keep a certain promise to make her a star. But when she gets to jail and her suit with most popular lady-killing lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) takes off, she's a smart girl to know that if you can't be famous...be infamous. With that, she has a hateful relationship with another jazzy babe in jail for murdering, Velma Kelly (Catharine Zeta-Jones), her once-idol now turned enemy.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Catharine Zeta-Jones), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cotume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound

#73. Calamity Jane (1953)


Director: David Butler
Screenplay: James O'Hanlon
Cast: Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn Ann McLerie, Phillp Carey, Dick Wesson, Paul Harvey, Chubby Johnson, Gale Robbins

Quote: "I got a strange feelin' somebody's bein' hustled."

Filled with song and dance and the lovely Doris Day, the film is about title character, Calamity Jane (Doris Day), a tomboy-ish, happy-go-lucky cowgirl who can out shoot any man and any "injun" in the West! Off course, except the infamous Bill Hickok (Howard Keel), who happens to be her love-hate best friend. She's always had her eye on Lt. Danny Gilmartin (Philip Carey), but when she brings a beautiful, suave new singer from Chicago, Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie), all eyes are to her and Calamity it ignored. Could Calamity finally change her ways and become a beautiful woman of the West and will she actually tell her "secret love" her true feelings for him?

OSCAR winner for Best Original Song ("Secret Love")

#74. Toy Story (1995)


Director: John Lasseter
Screenplay: Joss Whendon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, John Lasseter, Peter Doctor & Joe Ranty
Voice Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzennberger, Annie Potts, John Morris, Erik von Ditten, Lauie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Sarah Freeman

Quote: "You are a child's play-thing!"

What began the whole Pixar mania is this, the first CGI movie and beginner of Disney's hit way of making a lot of CASH. This is all owed to the wonderful tale of toys. Set in Andy's room, we meet Woody (Tom Hanks), a cowboy doll and Andy's favorite toy, making him the leader of everyone else. But when he's replaced during Andy's birthday with a newer and more grander Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) action figure, a fire starts coming and not only are friendships ruined but toys will be hurt too. Who will prevail as Andy's number 1? The arogant, but practicaul Woody? Or the concieted, thinking-he's-real Buzz? Only Andy will decide.

#75. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)


Director: Michel Gondry
Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth
Cast: Jim Carey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, Thomas Jay Ryan, Jane Adams, David Cross

Quote: "Meet me...in Montauk..."

The crazy world of visionary French director, Michel Gondry, is finally put into full glory with this film about a unhappy man named Joel (Jim Carey), who under goes a brainwashing experiment to get rid of the memories of his ex-girlfriend, the ambitious Clementine (Kate Winslet). But as his thoughts begin to disappear bit by bit as he lives in them again, he only realizes what he had great to begin with.

OSCAR winner for Best Original Screenplay

#76. Out of Africa (1985)


Director: Sidney Pollack
Screenplay: Kurt Luedtke (Based on the books "Out of Africa", "Shadows on the Grass" & "Letters from Africa" by Karen Blixen with the alias of Isak Denesen)
Cast: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Malick Bowens, Jospeh Thiaka, Stephen Kinyanjui

Quote: "If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the field and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me?"

Directed by the late Sidney Pollack, this Oscar winner for Best Picture, is basically a love story for a beloved contenent, Africa. We meet Karen (Meryl Streep), a rich Dutch woman who moves to a farm in Africa after marrying a coffee planter, Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer), who she thought she was going to be happy with. But when the marraige is unsucessful, Karen doesn't give up what is now her home and the man that inspires her to live, a handsome, mysterious hunter (Robert Redford).

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Director (Sidney Pollack), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Adapted Screenplay

Friday, October 31, 2008

#77. Mean Girl (2004)


Director: Mark Waters
Screenplay: Tina Fey (Based on the book "Queen Bees and Wannabes" by Rosalind Wiseman)
Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Amanda Seyfried, Jonathan Bennett, Tim Meadows, Amy Phoeler, Lacey Chabert, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Franzese, Ravjiv Surendra, Niel Flynn, Ana Gasteyer

Quote: "I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me...but I can't help it that I"m popular."

Making one of the most quotable movies of All-Time, was upcoming director Mark Waters and popular SNL actress Tina Fey. The movie is about Cady (Lindsay Lohan), home-schooled all her life and was living in Africa, finally moves back to the United States for some regular way of life. But when she gets stuck with the high school's most infamous clique, The Plastics, headed by the very popular, very evil but very sexy Regina George (Rachel McAdams), she does not know what "Girl World" has in store for her.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

#78. Pal Joey (1957)


Director: George Sidney
Screenplay: Dorothy Kingsley (Based on the musical play by John O'Hara)
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, Barbra Nichols, Bobby Sherwood, Hank Henry, Elizabeth Patterson

Quote: "What about my billing? I mean my picture!"

Sweet and sentimental, and featuring an absolutely amazing soundtrack with songs like "The Lady is a Tramp", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and "I Could Write a Book", we follow Joey Evans (Frank Sinatra) a nightclub singer who tries to settle into a new town after being kicked out of his old one for seducing the governors daughter. But Joey finally gets his karma when he needs to choose between a sweet, poor chorus girl, Linda (Kim Novak), whom he has fallen in love with, or Vera Simpson (Rita Hayworth), a socialite who is fulfilling all of Joey's dreams of owning a night club of his very own.

#79. Walk the Line (2005)


Director: James Mangold
Screenplay: Gill Dennis & James Mangold (Based on the book "Man in Black" by Johnny Cash and "Cash the Autobiography" by Johnny Cash and Patrick Carr)
Cast: Joquin Pheonix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Dallas Roberts, Dan John Miller, Larry Bagby, Tyler Hilton, Waylon Payne

Quote: "I only want to take care of you. I will not leave you like that dutch boy with your finger in the dam."

Based on the life of country singing legend Johnny Cash (played amazingly by Joaquin Phoenix), we follow the good and bad of his life. His unhappy days when his brother was accidentally and brutally killed, his way to the top and his sad/unsuccessful marriage to a woman who was pulling him down, and off course, his legendary romance with the one-and-only, charming and beautiful June Carter (Reese Witherpoon in her Oscar winning performance).

OSCAR winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Reese Witherspoon)

#80. Schindler's List (1993)


Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Steven Zaillian (Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally)
Cast: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall, Jonatahn Sagall, Embeth Davidtz, Malgoscha Gebel, Shmuel Levy, Mark Ivanir, Beatrica Macola

Quote: "I could have gotten one more person...and I didn't. And I...I didn't!"

Winning the Oscar for Best Picture in 1993, the films remains to be one of the most depressing and disturbing of the time. We follow the encounters of the German Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who, with his good heart, miraculously saves thousands of Jews from being killed by the Nazi invasion during World War II. We also meet the absolutely terrible, Amon Geoth, a General with only one passion...death, that Schindler must work with and betray, all in the name of what he knows is right.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

#81. Fight Club (1999)


Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Jim Uhls and Chuck Palahnuik (Based on the novel by Chuck Palahnuik)
Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Zac Grenier, David Andrews, George Maguire, Richmond Arquette

Quote: "The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - DO NOT talk about Fight Club!"

Based on the popular novel "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahnuik, we follow the life of a bored and unsophisticated man (Edward Norton) who has nothing to look up to anymore, whose whole life completely changes when he meets the vivacious Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), the man who inspires him to be a bad boy and then helps him to make one of the biggest Fight Clubs in the world, to help other suffering men deal with their bored lives.

#82. The Band Wagon (1953)


Director: Vincente Minnelli
Screenplay: Berry Comden & Adolph Green
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nannette Fabray, Jack Buchanan, James Mitchell

Quote: "The shows a big hit, Tony...it's going to run a long time. As far as I'm concerned, it's going to run forever."

A wacky take on putting up an overly extravagant show in Broadway, we join the journey of 5 "show-people" who does everything that would eventually lead to the shows biggest downfalls. The exaggerating director Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), the aging Hollywood star who wants a comeback, Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire), the beautiful but disagreeing ballet dancer/leading lady Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse) and the high tempered, always fighting, man-and-wife writers (Oscar Levant and Nannette Fabray). Will they ever put their show "The Band Wagon" up?

#83. Beauty and the Beast (1991)


Director: Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise
Screenplay: Linda Wolverton & Roger Allers
Voice Cast: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Peirce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Hal Smith, Jo Anne Worley, Mary Kay Bergman, Brian Commings, Alvin Epsien, Tony Jay

Quote: "Well some people, use their imagination."

The first and only animated movie to get nominated for Best Picture is this classic Disney tale about a poor girl named Belle, who is forced to be a slave to the once-great-prince turned Beast. As she lives in the house, she makes friends with the talking objects and realizes there's a good side in everyone, even the beast himself. The whole movie is accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

OSCAR winner for Best Original Score & Best Original Song ("Beauty and the Beast")

#84. Aladdin (1992)


Director: Ron Clements & John Musker
Screenplay: Ron Clements, John Musker, Tedd Eliot & Terry Rosio
Voice Cast: Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglad Seale, Bruce Adler, Brad Kane, Lea Salonga, Charles Adler, Corey Burton, Philp L. Clarke, Jim Cummings

Quote: "But oh, to be free!"

Disney's translation of the tales of the Arabian Nights translates into a animated film masterpiece with this movie, the story of a young, parent less boy named Aladdin who is meant to find the magical lamp which contains the mystical Genie who would grant him 3 wishes. But the boy must think wisely now, because the evil Jafar just might have what it takes to get the lamp and use it against him and the whole kingdom. Let's not forget, to force Princess Jasmine, Aladdin's love to be his wife so he could be king! (Featuring a brilliant soundtrack by song masters Alan Menken, Howard Asham and Tim Rice).

OSCAR winner for Best Original Score & Best Original Song ("A Whole New World")

#85. Into the Wild (2007)


Director: Sean Penn
Screenplay: Sean Penn & Jon Krakauer (Based on the book by Jon Krakauer)
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jean Malone, Brian H. Dierker, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, Hal Holbrook, Jim Gaillen

Quote: "Happiness only real when shared."

One of the most underrated films of 2007 comes from a rising director and an amazing rising star. Based on true events, we follow the life of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a bright boy going to Harvard and has everything going for him...except for the few, "small" divorce problems his parents are having. Deciding to step out of the box, Christopher burns all his cash and deletes his identity to go travel to Alaska and finally feel ALIVE, meeting amazing and real people along the way, Chris learns his life lesson...

#86. The Great Gatsby (1974)


Director: Jack Clayton
Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola (Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Cast: Robert Redford, Sam Waterston, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, Scott Wilson, Lois Chiles, Howard Da Silva, Robert Blossom, Edward Herrmann

Quote: "Come for the party with a simplicity of heart that was it's own ticket of admission."

Based on the Roaring' 20s novel of brilliant writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film adaption of the extravagant parties and relationships of the Great Jay Gatsby did not stray far from the book. Set in Long Island, during the 20s, we are brought along the journey of a middle-class onlooker, Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston), who is interested about the mysterious and extravagantly filthy rich, Great Gatsby (Robert Redford) and his past love, Daisy (Mia Farrow), who is married at the moment.

OSCAR winner for Best Costume Design & Best Adapted or Original Song Score

#87. Roman Holiday (1953)


Director: William Wyler
Screenplay: Ian McLellan Hunter, Dalton Trumbo (story) & John Dighton
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power, Harcourt Williams, Margaret Rawlings

Quote: "At midnight, I'll turn into a pumpkin and drive away in my glass slipper."

Audrey Hepburn in her Academy Award winning role as Princess Ann, the princess who runs away from the palace for one night and one day to discover the real world and what she has missed. We also follow reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), who is "supposedly" showing her around, but he's dependent to maintain friends with her to sell an interesting expose to a major paper. What he doesn't realize is that he'll fall in love, with a woman who isn't allowed to fall in love...unless he's royalty.

OSCAR winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Audrey Hepburn), Best Motion Picture Story & Best Costume Design

#88. An Affair to Remember (1957)


Director: Leo McCarey
Screenplay: Leo McCarey, Donald Ogden Stewart & Delmer Daves
Cast: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Richard Denning, Neva Patterson, Cathleen Nesbitt, Robert Q. Lewis, Charles Watts

Quote: "The Empire State Building is the closest thing to heaven in this city."

Playboy Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and rich nightclub singer Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) start an unconventional, beautiful romance aboard a ship where their scandal is kept, even when they leave. Not ready for a relationship, they promise each other that if they still have the same feelings for each other, they'd meet on the top of the Empire State Building in exactly 6 months. But what happens when Terry meets a terrible accident that leaves her a vegetable forever? Only one of the best romance films in movie history.

#89. Swing Time (1936)


Director: George Stevens
Screenplay: Howard Lindsay & Allan Scott (Based on the story "Portrait of John Garnett" by Erwin S. Gelsey)
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, Betty Furness, Georges Metaxa

Quote: "Listen. No one could teach you to dance in a million years. Take my advice and save your money!"

When the down-on-his luck Lucky (Fred Astaire) needs to raise $25,000 to marry his enchanting fiancee Margaret (Better Furness) and goes to New York to start a dance team in order to raise the funds. But as he learns and dances with beautiful, aspiring dance teacher and partner, Penny Carroll, he wonders if the wedding is even worth it anymore? And could he bend himself out of the fix?

OSCAR winner for Best Original Song ("The Way You Look Tonight")

#90. It Happend One Night (1934)


Director: Frank Capra
Screenplay: Robert Riskin (Based on the short story by Samual Hopkins Adams)
Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolley, Rosco Karns, Jameson Thomas

Quote: "I'll stop a car and I won't use my thumb!"

The first romantic comedy to win Best Picture is the story of reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) who gets mixed up with socialite and heir Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) when she runs away from home and they bump into each other on the night bus. But as she thinks they're getting closer as friends, what she doesn't know that he's just cooking up a story about her and her upcoming wedding to a rich tycoon. But the unexpected happens (Fine. It's a bit expected), they fall in love. Gable and Colbert both won Oscar for their heartfelt roles that they didn't even want to accept to do at first.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Clark Gable), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Barbra Streisand), Best Director (Frank Capra) & Best Adapted Screenplay

#91. Funny Girl (1968)


Director: William Wyler
Screenplay: Isobel Lennart (Based on the musical by Isobel Lennart)
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Walter Pidgeon, Lee Allen, Mae Questel, Gerald Mohr, Frank Faylen

Quote: "Hello, gorgeous."

Based on the life of Ziegfield star and comedian Fanny Brice, Barbra Streisand turns her hit Broadway role into an Oscar winning performance. We are first introduced to her pre-stardom as young girl struggling in Brooklyn, to Ziegfield star and comedian and then we focus on her relationship with millionaire Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif) who not only gambles their fortune away, but makes Fanny suffer unconditionally. Despite all the heartache, she just can't stop lovn' him. She cannot stop loving "her man".

OSCAR winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Barbra Streisand)

#92. Hairspray (2007)


Director: Adam Shankman
Screenplay: Leslie Dixon (Based on the Broadway musical by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan)
Cast: Nikko Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, Taylor Parks, Jayne Eastwood, Paul Dooley, Jerry Stiller

Quote: "I think knowing you is the start of a pretty big adventure."

Based on the hit 2002 Broadway musical that was based on the John Waters' 1988 film, the film returns once more on the big screen as a bigger and more splashier cinematic event. We experience the musical adventure of Tracy Turnblad (Nikko Blonsky), who stops at nothing to fulfill her dream as a dancer on a none-integrated 60s dance show called "The Corny Collins Show", despite the fact that she's not like everyone else. Tracy's experiences also lead to the revolution of African-Americans wanting to be on TV too and the barrier that pretty boys don't always like the pretty girls...they like the pretty big ones.

#93. Annie Hall (1977)


Director: Woody Allen
Screenplay: Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Collin Dewhurst, Christopher Walken, Donald Symington, Helen Ludlam

Quote: "A relationship, I think, is like a sharp. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got in our hands is a dead shark."

Winner of the Academy Awards for Best Picture, the movie is followed by weird comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) who is a modern 70s man, who looks back in his relationship with the high-spirited Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) to see why and what made their relationship die. Breaking into talks, animation and weird moments, Alvy's world is turned Topsy-turvy as was his relationship with a girl completely different then him.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actress in a Leading Role (Diane Keaton), Best Director (Woody Allen) and Best Original Screenplay

#94. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)


Director: Jim Sharman
Screenplay: Jim Sharman and Richard O'Brien (Based on the Broadway musical by Richard O'Brien)
Cast: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Jonathan Adams, Meat Loaf, Peter Hinwood, Charles Grey, Charles Grey, Jeremy Newson, Hilary Labow

Quote: "And crawling, on the planet's face, some insects, called the human race. Lost in time, and lost in space...and meaning."

Named the numero uno Cult Movie and Midnight Movie of All-Time, the film takes you into the real f'd up world of Science-Fiction-Gone-Wrong. We meet Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) a engaged couple who make their way to find the man who brought them together, but when their car breaks down they enter a mad house of transsexuals, cheap rock music, cannibal eating, buff men and weird sexual encounters...all ran by the craziest of them all, a mad-"man" known as Dr. Frank-N-Furter...

#95. As Good As It Gets (1997)


Director: James L. Brooks
Screenplay: Mark Andrus & James L. Brooks
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich, Shirley Knight, Yeardley Smith, Jill the Dog

Quote: "You make me want to be a better man."

When the single, OC, arogant, old man Melvin Udall's (Jack Nicholson) homosexual neighbour Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear) gets beaten up in his own apartment, Melvin is asked to take care of him and his annoying pooch till he recovers. Not wanting to do it alone, he drags in the lovely waitress Carol (Helen Hunt), who serves him everyday during Breakfast in a local resturant, to help him. The three then go on a journey of self discovery, love and a friendship that they will all never forget.

OSCAR winner for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jack Nicholson) & Best Actress in a Leading Role (Helen Hunt)

#96. Casablanca (1943)


Director: Michael Curtiz
Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein, Phillip G. Epstein & Howard Koch (Based on the play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison)
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Viedt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorne, Dooley Wilson

Quote: "We'll always have Paris."

Known to be one of the most popular movies AND Best Picture of All-Time, the film takes us deep into the the town of Casablanca, where an American, Rick (Humphrey Bogart), has put up a successful business after being caught up their and not being allowed to go home in these hard times of World War II. But when the love of his life, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) with her husband, show up unexpectedly, Rick faces an ultimatum that either tends to his heart or save the world from crumbling in War.

OSCAR winner for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Director (Michael Curtiz) & Best Screenplay

#97. Jerry Maguire (1996)


Director: Cameron Crowe
Screenplay: Cameron Crowe
Cast: Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kelly Preston, Jerry O'Connell, Jay Mohr, Bonnie Hunt, Regina King, Jonathan Lipnicki, Todd Louiso

Quote: "You had me at hello."

After a fatal mistake of writing a "memo" that angers the Agency company that Agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is working at, he stars with nothing on his back except for a kind hearted woman named Dorothy (Renee Zellweger) who inspires him to be big. Most of his old clients would not go to his indie company, so he casts the most arrogant, most difficult and most conceited player on the planet, football "star" Rob Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.). Who, if he doesn't break into the football scene this season, will bring Jerry and his company down.

OSCAR winner for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Cuba Gooding Jr.)

#98. A Star is Born (1954)


Director: George Cuckor
Screenplay: Moss Hart (Based on the 1937 screenplay "A Star is Born" by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell & Robert Carson)
Cast: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford, Tommy Noonan, Lucy Marlow, Amanda Blake, Irving Bacon, Hazel Shermet

Quote: "Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine."

Judy Garland gives a spectacular Best Actress nominated performance as the heartbreaking Esther Blodgett, who is discovered by an aging Hollywood screen legend, Norman Maine (James Mason) who does everything in his power to make her a star. On the the journey to fame, they fall in love, but Norman's addiction to alcohol gets worst when everyone forgets about him and his new wife becomes the talk of the town AND an Oscar winning actress.

#99. Death Becomes Her (1992)


Director: Robert Zemickis
Screenplay: Martin Donovan & David Koepp
Cast: Bruce Willis, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Ogilvy, Adam Strorke, Nancy Fish, Alaina Reed Hall, Michelle Johnson

Quote: "Drink that potion, and you'll never grow even one day older. Don't drink it, and continue to watch yourself rot."

The story of Hollywood, but in a darker sense. We meet aging movie star Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) and aging writer Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) who when young and beautiful fought over a meek plastic surgeon Ernest (Bruce Willis). Now, older and wrinkled, both take a magic potion to make themselves young and sexy forever. But when they start killing themselves for Ernest, they don't know that the potion has a sign affect. No matter what...you cannot die.

OSCAR winner for Best Visual Effects.

#100. The Way We Were (1973)


Director: Sidney Pollack
Screenplay: Arthur Laurents
Cast: Barbra Stresiand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O'Neil, Viveca Lindfors, Allyn Ann McLerie, Murray Hamilton, Herb Edelman

Quote: "People are more important than their principle."

Taking us into the relationship of man and woman so different, the ambitious Hubbell Gardner (Robert Redford) and the political Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) who have a wonderful romance during college and ends up getting married after World War II. Though they have an amazing run, their relationship gets tangled and destroyed when their political and concieted views get in the way.

OSCAR winner for Best Original Dramtic Score, Best Original Song ("The Way We Were")