Blade Runner (1982) - #97
This continues my journey through the AFI top 100. For those who care, #100 Ben Hur is on my desk, still awaiting me to take the 3 1/2 hours to watch it, and #99 Toy Story was intentionally skipped.
I watched Blade Runner on DVD at home yesterday evening. It was the first time I had ever seen the film, and I had no spoiler information.
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott depicting semi-retired blade runner Deckard (Harrison Ford) taking on the assignment to kill four escaped replicants (artificial human-like machines).
I was expecting to see a top science fiction film, something that potentially inspired the Matrix. Instead, I was treated to the slowest movie I’ve ever seen. Despite all the depth fans of this film claim it has, it completely escaped me. Here’s what I got out of it:
1) Drecker has been dragged into service for one last mission
2) Drecker kills some robots whom demonstrate various levels of human likeness
3) Drecker falls in love with one robot whom initially didn’t realize she was in fact a robot. It didn’t hurt that she was hot.
4) Drecker finishes the mission, and runs off with his new fugitive love machine.
The one thing I did enjoy was the depiction of 2019 Los Angeles. Considering it is a mere 11+ years away, I can already tell there is some serious errors. Between the flying cars, the off world colonization that is so vast it leaves LA into a wasteland, and the austere nature of the world depicted, it was by far the most interesting part of the film.
This is the first film that I’ve watched in the top 100 that I’ve been disappointed in, and I question its inclusion in the list. I give it a 1 1/2 out of 5.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) - #98
This continues the series of AFI top 100 movie reviews. While I should be reviewing #100 Ben-Hur, that film is 3 1/2 hours long, and I haven’t gotten to it yet.
I watched Yankee Doodle Dandy on DVD at home Sunday evening. It was the first time I had ever seen the film, and I had no spoiler information.
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a biographical musical surrounding the life and works of George M. Cohan (James Cagney). Because the works of Cohan have strong patriotic themes (”Yankee Doodle Boy”, “You’re a Grand Old Flag”, “Over There”), the movie carried a strong patriotic theme as well. Clearly this would have been an uplifting film when it was released the summer after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I don’t typically enjoy musicals, but I will happily make an exception for Yankee Doodle Dandy. There were several points where I found myself laughing, and I was engaged in the film through its entirity. I even have had several of the songs from the film stuck in my head the last few days. It certainly belongs on the list, and if it is any indication, I’m in for a treat as I begin my journey through the top 100. I give it a 4 out of 5.
Psycho (1960) - #14
This begins my review of the top 100 movies. I intend to watch them beginning at 100, and working backwards, however, I may skip movies that I am familiar with, the first such example being #99 Toy Story.
Psycho is the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, which centers around Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a young woman who embezzles from her employer and while on the run stays at a quiet off highway motel and interacts with its lonely owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). It’s famous for the very abrupt Shower Scene, when the movie quickly turns from a story about a girl on the run to a story about a maniac serial killer.
I enjoyed the film and found it quite deserving of its place in the top 100. Expecting to see a horror film, I was quite pleased that Psycho is much more intelligent and suspenseful then just the slasher films it may have inadvertently spawned. I’d give it a 4 out of 5.