Gandhi

I always think of my mom when I think of Gandhi. We have this inside joke when we watch Jeopardy that if we don't know the answer we always guess Gandhi. Not sure how that started but always makes me laugh. I have been pretty busy lately and wasn't sure I was going to have time for a 3 hour movie. But I managed to get it in. Glad I did. It is a great movie.

The movie follows the life of Gandhi from small time lawyer to leader of a major movement.  The movie starts off with Gandhi in South Africa fighting for the rights of Indians there.  He challenges the authority of the British and ultimately wins.  He uses what would become his trademark non-violent resistance.  After his victory in South Africa he returns to India a reluctant hero.  The leaders of India see him as a person who can help them gain their Independence from England.  Meanwhile Gandhi decided to travel around India to see what real India is like.  There he sees poverty and devastation all around and fights for the causes of the people in the individual areas.  As his notoriety grows we see him begin to change as a person.  No longer looking like a lawyer he dresses like the people he meets in the streets and prisons.  This only add to his popularity among the people.  When the leaders finally realize his immense popularity they want him to support their revolution. He agrees with their cause but doesn't want to use guns but the non-violent civil resistance methods he used in South Africa.  He organizes a day where they refuse to work and effectively shut down the country.  This really gets the English to notice and the English struggle to know what to do with him.  If they throw him in jail it only encourages the masses but if they don't do anything he continues to speak to great crowds.  After numerous ups and down he eventually gets the whole world to notice and gets lots of press coverage of the atrocities that the English commits on them.  Eventually leading to the forming of a free India.  The formation of the new government does not come without consequences. While everyone was united against Britain as soon as they try to take control of their own country the old untrust between Hindu's and Muslim's comes to the surface and leads to the creation of India and Pakistan much to Gandhi's displeasure.  It is the conflict between the two religions that ultimately leads to Gandhi's assassination in 1948. 

The movie starts with a disclaimer of sorts that says "No man's life can be encompassed in one telling...least of all Gandhi's whose passage through life was so entwined with his nations struggle for freedom.  There is no way to give each event its allocated weight, to recount the deeds and sacrifices of all the great men and women to whom he and India owe such immense debts.  What can be done is be faithful in spirit to the record of his journey, and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man..." I think something like this should start all biographical films.  All movies take some creative license in their telling but the goal is always getting at the spirit of the subject.  I think this movie definitely does that.  Even if you know there is a lot missing from the story you feel like you really get to know the man and his philosophy.  The story is really engrossing and keeps you captivated the whole three hours.  Ben Kingsley does a brilliant job as Gandhi and deservedly won Best Actor. His transformation on screen was amazing.  He truly embodied the essence of Gandhi.  Everything thing in this movie is amazing. 

1982 was a crowded year for great movies.  There were a number of other movies that could have easily won Best Picture.  In fact Richard Attenborugh who won Best Director for Gandhi was not expecting to win either Best Picture or Best Director.  Instead he thought that Steven Spielberg would and should have won for E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial.  E.T was nominated for 9 awards and won 4 including Best Score for John William his fourth Oscar.  Also released that year were other favorites Tootsie, Victor/Victoria, Das Boot and The Verdict.  It is hard to say the Academy made a mistake by selecting Gandhi as Best Picture but I have heard it a few times that it should not have won.  As much as I like E.T. and Tootsie I still think that Gandhi should have won. 

Oscar Facts:
Tron was disqualified from Best Visual Effects because it used computers.  It was considered at the time that computers were cheating over hand drawn effects.  (ET won Best Visual Effects beating Blade Runner and Poltergeist).
Jessica Lange was nominated for Best Actress for Frances and Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie. The first time that the same person had been nominated in both a main and supporting acting category since Barry Fitzgerald did it in Going My Way in 1944. (she only won Best Supporting Actress).

By The Numbers
Gandhi is currently ranked #183 on IMDB Top 250 but did not make AFI's Top 100 List
E.T. The Extraterrestrial was ranked #25 on AFI's Top 100 Movies in 1997 and #24 in 2007.
Tootsie was ranked #62  AFI's Top 100 Movies in 1997 and #69 in 2007.

Listomania Sunday: Best Part 4's

With Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides coming out this weekend and Scream 4 coming out last month it made me ask is it ever a good idea to make a 4th movie. While I haven't seen either Pirates 4 or Scream 4 yet all I could think of are the really bad part 4's like Batman and Robin,Terminator: Salvation, Alien: Resurrection. So it begs the question have there been any good Part 4's?  And there are not very many good part 4's so I had to ask a few friends of mine to come up with ideas. To make it clear why I consider a part 4 because there was some debate over this. Part 4 has to be the 4th movie to come out in a series chronologically.  Star Wars IV: A New Hope does not count since it was the first movie to come out in the series. Even if George Lucas decided it was the 4th movie in the series it doesn't count towards the list. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace would count towards the list, but unfortunately it was not that good proving once again that Part 4's are hard to make.  So, here is the list of my favorite Part 4's.

1.  Star Trek IV:  The Voyage Home- Thanks Chris for reminding me of this one. I almost forgot. This was actually the first Star Trek Movie I had ever seen and I loved it.  Still stands as the best example of a part 4 telling a new and fun story.

2.  Live Free or Die Hard-Sometimes coming out 12 years after part 3 makes the movie franchise feels fresh. This one had everything you would expect in a Die Hard movie was fun, crazy, and had some cool lines.

3.  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-A part 4 that is in the middle of an eight part movie series. Since it is part of a larger story doesn't really fit with the other part 4's that had to tell a new story and make it feel fresh. But still among Harry Potter movies it is one of the better ones.

4.  Thunderball-The 4th James Bond movie with Sean Connery at his best. This movie has everything you expect in a Bond movie. In fact every time you see a parody of a bond movie(Austin Powers) it is usually this one that they are referencing.  And Connery has some of the best lines.  Like when he shots a guy with a harpoon and says " I think he got the point" classic Bond. 

5.  Rambo-Another suggestion from my friend Chris. I had actually not seen this one yet and instantly put it on my Netflix Que when he said it was a good movie.  Again like Live Free or Die Hard it has the time factor on its side. Coming out 20 years after the third Rambo it feels fresh and still true to the original. I was pleasantly surprised about how violent it was. 

Since I asked my friend Chris for his suggestions I think its only fair that I share his Top 5 list.  These are all good movies and the ones that didn't make my list came very close.  The only other movie that came close to making my list was Fast and Furious another movie that stayed true to the original but still felt fresh. 

1) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
2) Rocky IV
3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4) Live Free or Die Hard
5) Rambo

Chariots of Fire

I know what's in your head right now guys running on the beach in slow motion with the iconic music playing.  That’s what everyone thinks when they first think of this movie.  It’s almost like some weird music video that is ingrained in everyone’s subconscious. Well after watching the movie again I realized that is because it is one of the best parts of the movie. And I am not sure how this movie won best picture. It was a major upset beating Reds, On Golden Pond, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Reds was the favorite to win with Warren Beatty getting a total of 4 nominations for himself as Director (which he won), Actor, Producer, and Screenplay. The second time he did that the first time was for Heaven Can Wait in 1978 and the only other person with that distinction is Orson Welles for Citizen Kane.

Well enough about Reds a movie that I still have never seen. Chariots of Fire is about 2 runners from different worlds trying to get into the 1924 Summer Olympics.   Both runners come from different backgrounds.  Liddell is a Christian Missionary and Abrahams is a Jewish student at Cambridge.  Each one is trying to prove something to the world with their running.  Abrahams is fighting the anti-Semitism he sees around him while Liddell is running for the glory of God.  In Abrahams quest to make it to the Olympics and win a Gold he hires a professional coach which upsets people at the school who think that to remain an amateur you can’t hire someone who is a professional.  In the end they both end up making the team.  After getting to the games in France Liddell finds out that the qualifying run is on a Sunday and refuses to run.  This causes some great disappointment to the head of the British Olympic Committee who doesn’t understand what Liddell is trying to do.  Luckily one of the other contestants steps out of a different race to let Liddell participate.  Both runners end up winning Gold Medals.

The movie for some reason doesn’t work real well.  The two stories end up being boring and I found it hard to care about either runners.  Besides for the music it is hard to find much to like about the movie.  The movie was the first of five movies about real people to win Best Picture in the 80’s.  I personally think that On Golden Pond should have won Best Picture although I still have not seen Reds.  On Golden Pond would have made for an interesting counter point to the previous two winners where the mother walks out on her family. Here instead of walking out the family grows closer.  With great performances by Katherine Hepburn and Peter Fonda who both earned Oscars for their roles.

Listomania Sunday: 80's Movies I Loved as a Kid

This week for my Best Picture challenge I watched the Ordinary People which won in 1980. Since this is the first movie of the 80’s to win and the 80’s is the decade that I grew up in, I thought I would do my Top 5 movies from the 80’s I loved as a kid. This is not a list of the best movies from the 80’s just the ones that when I was growing up I watched a lot. We had the Disney channel for a little bit while I was growing up so there are some movies that I saw a lot on Disney and really liked. Looking at this list you will see a theme that I think carries over to the movies I love now.

1. The Goonies-A classic. About a bunch of kids who go on a treasure hunt for pirate gold. Every kid’s fantasy.

2. Stand by Me-Another classic. I always thought of this like The Goonies only a lot darker. Here instead of going on an adventure looking for gold they are looking for a dead body. Also instead of the feel good ending there is a depressing ending that I always like.

3. Antarctica-This is one of those movies they showed a lot on Disney. Very few people ever heard of it and it’s not even available in the U.S. on DVD. It is the story about a Japanese dog sled team that have to leave their dogs in Antarctica . If that sounds familiar Disney remade the movie in 2006 as Eight Below. But that movie doesn’t have the emotional impact as Antarctica that might have something to do with the music by Vangelis(the same guy who did the theme to Chariots of Fire). But great movie and I don’t remember it being in Japanese but they might have dubbed it for Disney. Probably the first movie to make me cry.

4. The Princess Bride-Almost more of a chick flick I know but just like the Grandfather says in the movie its got "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles". I felt like the grandson in the movie  you don't mind the little bit of "kissing stuff" by the end of the movie. 

5. Explorers-What a surprise another movie about kids going on an adventure. This time they have a dream about some gizmo that lets them fly into space where they encounter strange aliens. River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke’s first movie.

Honorary Mention
The NeverEnding Story- This was the first movie I ever rented on VHS tape so it is a special movie to me. A fantasy story about a kid who constantly gets picked on and teased at school then gets sucked into a book and becomes a hero in this other world. A classic tale of going from zero to hero. Don’t know about anyone else but I could relate to wanting to go someplace else and be the hero.

Other movies that just missed the top 5.
Flight of the Navigator-Another movie about aliens and probably Sarah Jessica Parker’s best movie.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure-came out in 1989 but it’s still an 80’s movie.
Bloodsport-I remember watching this movie then wrestling with my friends.

Ordinary People

The 80's started off the same way the 70's ended with a family drama winning Best Picture.  This one directed by Robert Redford who never won an Oscar for his acting but ended up winning for Best Director for this movie.  One of the few people to win a Best Director Oscar for their first movie. 

Ordinary People is about a family being torn apart by grief and depression after one of their sons die in a boating accident and the other one try to commit suicide.  The focus of the movie is Conrad the son.  After a failed suicide attempt he moves back home to his parents who just want to be normal.  Feeling lost back in the real world he starts going to see a psychologist who helps him deal with the guilt he is feeling after his brother died.  When his father Calvin goes to see the psychologist about Conrad he realizes that he is dealing with issues also.  The only one that refuses to confront their feelings is the mother Beth.  Beth just wants to forget about the whole thing and pretend everything is normal. She refuses to go to therapy and has a hard time to dealing with her son and her husband. 

This is a very well acted movie. Everyone gives a heart wrenching performance. Mary Tyler Moore earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for playing Beth. Known for her comedy this was a very different role for her and earned her only Oscar Nomination.  Donald Sutherland for some reason didn't get nominated for his role as the father Calvin. His characters transformation from oblivious to understanding is the biggest character arc in the movie.  Timothy Hutton gave an amazing performance in his film debut. He earned the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal as depressed and confused Conrad. Also in a great supporting role was Judd Hirsch as the psychologist.  A little unorthodox at first but he manages to help both Conrad and Calvin make breakthroughs and get to a better close.  Hirsch was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor.  The oddest thing was that the movie was that Timothy Hutton was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and not Best Actor. Meanwhile Mary Tyler Moore was nominated for Best Actress even though she has less screen time then Hutton.  This probably has a lot to due with Hutton being an unknown. This was probably better for Hutton who wouldn't have stood a chance of winning best Actor against Robert De Niro in Raging Bull.

Speaking of Raging Bull a dark drama filmed in black and white showcases the rise and fall of Jack La Motta. It is another movie with great acting and was nominated for a total of eight Oscars.  Including Best Picture, Best Director for Martin Scorsese, Best Supporting Actor for Joe Pesci, and Best Supporting Actress for Cathy Moriarty. Robert De Niro won the Best Acting award his second Oscar but first for a leading role.  Martin Scorsese lost the Best Director to Robert Redford and would also lose in 1990 to another actor turned director Kevin Costner.  Raging Bull was the favorite to win that year and is still considered the better movie. Recently Entertainment Weekly named Ordinary People one of the most overrated movies to win Best Picture. 

The interesting thing about watching the best picture movies in a row is seeing different trends.  This is the second family drama to win in a row.  But they have more in common then that. In both movies the mother is portrayed as the bitch and the father is the sensitive one.  Not sure what this means but seems to me to be a backlash against the feminist movement of the early 70's.  Clearly the message of Kramer vs. Kramer is that the dad can be just as good of a parent as the mother or that the feminist movement has negative effects.  With Ordinary People it is not as clear what the point is.  The point seems to be that psychologist are an important part of dealing with ones feelings. Because the mother is the only one that refuses to see the psychologist she is the one that ends up feeling alienated and ends up walking out.  So, maybe it is just a coincidence that the two movies have the mother walking out. But, I still think that watching these two movies back to back you get a real sense that filmmakers around that time did not like women. Would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this. As I was just 3 years old when Ordinary People came out I have no clue what the culture was at that time. So, anyone else have more insight on it let me know.  But I do recommend watching these two movies back to back to see what I am talking about. 

Listomania Sunday: Best Natural Disaster Movies

The weather has been crazy lately and every time the news interviews someone they always say its like a movie.  So I was trying to think of what the best natural disaster movies are.

1.  Twister- Probably the coolest movie about tornadoes. Who could forget the flying cow scene.

2.  The Perfect Storm-Sort of based on true events. The storm scenes are really cool.

3.  Dante's Peak-Came out the same year as Volcano with Tommy Lee Jones but I think this one was better.

4. Outbreak-Took me a while to decide if this was a natural disaster movie or not. A movie about a virus outbreak is natural but is it a disaster? With towns quarantined I decided it was.    

5. The Day After Tomorrow-This was a good movie but it had a lot of logic flaws that bothered me. But overall it was a fun movie and there wasn't any other natural disaster movies that I could come up with that would be better.  

It turns out that there aren't that many great natural disaster movies.  I had to ask my friend Chris for help in trying to think of good movies. The one suggestion was Earthquake with Charlton Heston but I have never seen it so I don't know how good it is. Another suggestion was Armageddon. While I had thought about Armageddon and it is a great movie and would make the list if I considered it a natural disaster movie. While a meteor striking Earth would be considered a natural disaster the movie takes place almost entirely in space and there is very little disaster scenes on Earth. Deep Impact another asteroid movie would qualify if it was a better movie. The one movie that almost made it was The Poseidon Adventure but wasn't sure if I wanted to have two movies about big waves. Plus besides the ship there was not much of disasters other places.  So I guess my final opinion on that was no enough disaster to make it on the list. 

My friend Chris' picks are almost the same as mine.

1) Twister

2) The Perfect Storm
3) Outbreak
4) The Day After
5) The Black Hole

In my opinion a natural disaster movie needs to take place on Earth so I wouldn't include The Black Hole but it is a natural occurrence and it is a disaster. 

Any other movies people think should be on here. Would love to hear your opinions. 

Kramer vs. Kramer

The last movie of the 70's was the little family drama Kramer vs. Kramer.  Nominated for 9 awards and winning 5 including Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep. 
This small budget family drama beat out two big budget darker movies Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz.  Family drama was a hot topic around this time with three movies about family's winning Best Picture. The year after Kramer vs. Kramer Ordinary People another family drama won Best Picture and 3 years later Terms of Endearment won Best Picture

Kramer vs. Kramer is a movie about a family who mother leaves unexpectedly and the father has to raise their 5 year old son.  Of course at first the father has no clue what to do since the mother use to take care of things like breakfast and getting ready for school. Also the extra responsibility at home takes a toll on his work. His work begins to decline and he misses a few deadlines and he ends up being fired.  But he gets a new job and he gets into a nice routine with his son and they begin to bond and heal the wounds that occurred when the mother left.  After 18 months Mrs. Kramer returns and wants complete custody of their son.  Obviously after spending all this time with their son the Mr. Kramer puts up a fight and the case ends up in family court. 

This is  Another movie that speaks for the times. The strong feminist movement in 70's inspired this movie.  The reason Joanna gives for leaving in the first place was that she was unhappy in her marriage and needed to go find herself. A sentiment that echos the feminist movement. The movie deals with some of the harsh realities of the movement. Like if a mother leaves her child does she have the right to come back? It also deals with the discrimination against men to be good parents. During the court scenes the court finds in favor of the mother basically because she is a women.  I am not sure if the feminist like this movie as it shows mostly the mans perspective and negative consequences of the movement. 

Over all this is a good movie. But the question is should it have won?  In my opinion no. Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz were better movies.  I think that Apocalypse Now was the best picture of 1979.  Dealing with dark subject matter and horrors of war it is another gritty movie.  All That Jazz is also a dark movie dealing with the demons in the head of a Broadway director. It is a semi-autobiographical movie by Bob Fosse. This marks the third time that Director's Bob Fosse and Francis Ford Coppola were both nominated against each other.  Bob Fosse won in 1972 for Cabaret and Francis Ford Coppola won in 1974 for The Godfather Part II.  This year they both lost best director to Robert Benton who won for Kramer vs. Kramer. 

Most of the principle cast of Kramer vs. Kramer was nominated for an award. Dustin Hoffman won Best Actor and Meryl Streep won Best Supporting Actress.  Justin Henry who played the kid that the parents were fighting over was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. At age 8 he is the youngest acting nominee in Oscar history.  Also nominated for Best Supporting Actress was Jane Alexander who played the neighbor that helps out Mr. Kramer.