#025 The Silence of the Lambs

"I can't decide between Lamb or Duck"

"Well, of course, Lambs are scarier, otherwise the film would've been called 'Silence of the Ducks'."

I actually thought this film was going to be scary. The name sounds very scary. It's a reference to the lead character's childhood, when she ran way from home on the farm in order to escape the awful sound of the crying lambs. Or something like that.

Hmm, so its a crime thriller about a Cannibal and a dude that takes collects bits of people and puts them together in a Frankensteinian way. I didn't at first realise that it was a part of a series of movies, but now that I know it seems to make more sense. It seemed rather random and kind of oddly paced. It dives right into a story about a student who's made to go see a crazy, albeit brilliant, psychology doctor slash cannibal. Isn't that just odd? I'm told this is the highlight of the series, which doesn't exactly tempt me to see the rest. It wasn't bad, but not good enough that I'd want to watch the rest.

It definitely seemed unfinished. It ends with a cliffhanger. It seemed as there were really two plots going on at once. What should've been the main plot, the hunt for Buffalo Bill, seemed to be more like the sub-plot and felt kind of half-hearted. The second plot was of course about the escape of Hannibal Lecter, which is also the cliffhanger at the end, when he succeeds. The movie really felt like an extended TV show episode, where there was a plot for that episode, but it was part of a bigger plot for the whole series.

I was a little disappointed, although I guess I had no reason to be. No-one had told me anything about the film so I didn't know what to expect. I guess I'd just heard a lot about it from popular culture (hence the quote above) and assumed that it would be brilliant. Also being in the top 250 movies of all time (or even, the top 25) is enough for me to have high assumptions.

I guess it was an interesting character study, if you look at it that way. The psychology of the three main characters (Agent Starling, Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill) was explored extensively and it was quite interesting to see from this perspective.

#014 Fight Club

People were surprised that I hadn't seen this film before. Having just seen it I can see why. Its friggin' awesome. I've now heard from two different people, that in order to get the full effect, you have to watch it again because once you know the ending, there are clues throughout. I actually said the same thing about "Shutter Island" (#239) so definitely agree that this could be the case, so I will watch it again, but perhaps not immediately.

I can safely say that I'm glad I watched this movie and its now up there with my own personal favourites. I really like all these Character-study type movies, especially, apparently, when it turns out that the guy's crazy. Also the fact that what you're seeing isn't actually whats happening seems to effect me at the core. The only films that ever truly terrify me are ones where someone personally isn't responsible for their own actions, and remembers events differently, but what actually happened is shown later on. If you've seen "Blair Witch 2", "Shrooms" or (to some extent) "Shutter Island" you'll understand the sort of thing I'm talking about. Perhaps its some deep fear of the unknown, or of my own sanity. Hmm...

It surprised me that throughout the whole film I hadn't noticed that the lead character had never said his name. We actually checked, and in the credits he's down as "Narrator". Actually now that I think about it, I hardly ever remember the names of people from movies. In fact right now I'm having trouble remembering the character's actual name. Tyler Something. But I would usually have thought about it, like: "what's that guy's name again?". It never occurred to me. It must just have been very cleverly disguised. I mean the film was so weird that there's so many questions all the time so I guess the lead character's name got pushed back behind other things, like "What kind of sick person gets their kicks by pretending to be ill and going to support groups?"

I kind had my suspicions early on but I worked it out probably toward the end. The guy I was watching it with was very good about not spoiling it for me, ignoring my questions.

I liked the mention of the "cigarette burns" (the cue marks that appear as a black circle with a yellow border on film reels) because I've actually seen them in films before and wondered what they were. I'm told they don't often exist any more, because most films these days use digital cameras.

#169 Casino

Watching a movie with someone constantly complaining about how terrible it is really disorientates you. At the minute I feel like I actually quite enjoyed it but I might just be comparing it to the person sitting next to me, clearly feeling like he's being tortured (again, you know who you are!)

I mean I guess when I think about it there wasn't a lot that I enjoyed about it, but it seemed strangely captivating. The narration was sightly odd. Essentially when it started there were some fast -moving establishing shots, with narration over the top, sort of giving you an idea of what the film would be like. I assumed that this would then eventually come to a natural stop and the dialogue would start, but that never really happened. The whole film ended up being in this weird fast-paced story-telling style. There was some dialogue but it was always very short scenes that were skipped over quickly.

But from what I gathered it was basically a mediocre gangster movie, made slightly cooler by Robert De Niro in his comfortable position as the caring but brutal lead role.

I don't have a lot to say about Casino. It got pretty interesting towards the end, but again, a 3 hour epic which doesn't capture the imagination enough to warrant its length.

#037 Toy Story 3

I've decided to give up on the idea of watching all these movies in order. Its just not realistic because I'm borrowing a lot from friends that don't have them all and I'm wanting to watch all the multi-part movies in order.

And also I'm apparently inadvertently watching films that I didn't even realise were on the list, such as this one.

Just a quick note - I'm not going to put big signs up that say "spoilers!" every time I talk about the plot of a movie, mainly because I'm assuming that most people have already seen these movies and also because I assume most people don't really care. But if you do, please check whether or not you've seent he movie before reading the review.

So I've loved the toy story franchise since I was very young. (wow...the first one came out when I was 3!) And the original's a classic, the sort of film that gets played every christmas. But lets not talk about that film just now, since its on the list too.

The spacing between the films has been rather large which to me is very peculiar because its not the same generation of people that are enjoying each movie. The first one came out in 1995, the second in 1999 and the third in 2010! Actually now that I think about it, it makes sense that Andy would be going to college, since we've essentially been literally following him through time. Heck, he's around the same age as me!

Also, throughout each one I haven't actually noticed any improvement in the CGI but perhaps if I re-watch the old ones I'll be able to see it getting better. I guess the fact that this one was released in 3D is definitely a difference. I didn't watch it in 3D though, in case you're wondering.

How do we feel about 3D by the way? Does it add depth or is it just an annoying gimmick that gives you a headache? I reckon the idea is cool and will work someday, but the technology isn't quite advanced enough at this precise moment. The animated 3D films definitely look better than the live action 3D films, so I think I would've enjoyed watching this film in 3D, albeit mildly headache-inducing.

So the film...I think the premise that starts out the movie is pretty depressing to be honest. Andy is all grown up and isn't playing with his toys anymore. The toys set up a little scheme in order to trick Andy into playing with them, but it never happens. The toys must now meet their fate, either in the attic, donated to the day care centre or in the rubbish.

So what makes this movie the best of the series you ask? I think what people enjoy about it is the emotional rollercoaster. There are funny bits, sad bits and happy bits throughout (although these are less so when the person you're watching it with is totally unmoved - you know who you are!) There aren't many movies that would make me cry...and this one isn't included, but its close. Those toys were willing to accept death! That's some powerful stuff there.

Yeah, its cheesy but its a friggin' kids film! Come on! Give in to the child within! I loved this film.

#004 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This thing sure is gonna have a whole lot of 3 hour long epics isn't it?

Well I gotta say these older movies are the ones that I don't look forward to watching. I guess I should try to ignore the outdatedness of it all and try to enjoy the movies for what they are.

So how do I feel about spaghetti westerns? I guess I haven't really seen many, and the ones I have seen, I've only been half watching. I think they're more for people who think cowboys and guns are cool and just love it when someone's hat gets blown off by a bullet or when Clint Eastwood acts aloof and slowly lights a cigar while someone points a gun at him. And you know what? It is kind of cool but I do enjoy movies that have plots and as far as I can tell this is what this movie lacks.

Basically from what I gathered its about 3 cowboys who like killing people and collecting gold. Two of them end up teaming up in an extremely untrusting partnership in order to find buried gold, while the third hunts them down and attempts to acquire the gold for himself.

People in these old western's are always shooting each other. Thats no way for society to build itself. I guess the quiet selfless ones who stay out of trouble are the ones that survive.

Ok so the concepts mildly cool but the story could've been told a lot faster. There isn't really much constantly engaging plot to keep an eye out for that justifies its length. This is why its perfect to have on in the background while doing the ironing. You can keep up with whats going on without having to pay close attention.

Also, the dubbing is funny. But dubbing always is.

#003 The Godfather Part II

If you've ever played Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic II this film represents a similar philosophy. The original is a great game, and contains many elements not typical of other platform games of the same era. There are 7 zones and a final boss at the end. The game is suitably easy to start off with, then gets harder as it goes.

Then, after having the original game be a giant success, the makers decided it would be a good idea to make a sequel. The game is essentially for people who have completed Sonic and want more. There are more levels, harder bosses and hey, while we're at it, let's chuck a new character in there! And so Tails was born. Nothing about the game is original, because it needs to be in keeping with the predecessor in order to gain approval.

Basically the Godfather II is like the Godfather one, but everything is bigger. The movie is longer, there is a higher death count, much more guns and less of a build up at the beginning. Michael Corleone's character, drunk with power, became even colder and basically ordered the execution of anyone that threatened him or generally made him unhappy.

The flashbacks to Vito Corleone's rise to power I found very interesting. It is typical in these types of movies for that type of character, one with a grim background, to take on such a powerful position. I guess a character that has had to make it on his own all his life would be better taking care of himself, eliminating enemies and any other threats. Plus there was the fun of being like: is that a young Robert De Niro? Nah...It couldn't be...wait, I think it is! no....is it?

The scene in the courtroom where Michael is making his defense speech is, in my opinion, quite shocking. He mentions, amongst other things, that he loves living in America and that he fought in a war. The judge responds saying that it was "very moving, especially the part about your love for this country". I mean Scottish people are patriotic but Americans LOVE their country. The fact that standing up and proclaiming your love for America would have any sway in a courtroom is insane. A lot of American pop culture is starting to make sense to me now. We've all heard it, its in the Simpsons, Friends, How I Met Your Mother (weird examples) but at some point or another, in a lot of movies and TV shows, there's that moment where someone's making a speech about how great the United States is, there's a fanfare playing in the background, and once they're finished, an audience full of people stand up and cheer. There's an American flag swaying in the background. We've all seen it. The friggin' Space Race! I never understood why a country would spend so much money just to copy what another country has already done. It didn't even seem like the Russians wanted to win, they were just going about normal scientific business, when the Americans decided to make it into a contest. It's like a massive round of "Anything you can do, I can do better".

Americans, we love you, but calm the heck down, drink some tea and stop eating so many hot dogs....Alright that last comment was unnecessary and the whole thing's a sweeping generalisation, but you get the point.

Wow this review did not go the way I expected it to. Perhaps I'll get back the Godfather II

Basically, its awesome. Perhaps a little more story would have kept me interested. I'm not really an "all action" kind of guy so the increased gun usage doesn't really appeal to me. I understand why its below the first movie on the list; I think the first definitely needs credit for getting the ball rolling, but I feel the second movie is better.