Directed By Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Scoop, Vicky Christina Barcelona) This one actually will be my first marathon out of coincidence. A couple of nights ago, I noticed both Annie Hall and Manhattan were on TV so I recorded them on my DVR. I chose Scoop because it was up next on my Netflix queue, and I own Vicky Christina Barcelona, and figured Woody's most recent outing would be a good way to wrap up the marathon. Plus, I like the idea of comparing Woody's muses - Diane Keaton and Scarlett Johansson. The only film I have not seen here is Scoop, but it has been a long time since I have seen the others listed here.
The Oscars Present: Gene Hackman (French Connection, Unforgiven, Bonnie and Clyde) Gene Hackman is an actor everyone knows, but is past his days as one of the most in-demand actors around. So I decided that in the months surrounding the Oscars, I would tip my hat to one of the finest actors of his generation. I think these three movies show him in great supporting roles, which makes sense because he was nominated for all of these films. The only one of these films I have not seen yet is French Connection, but I will enjoy revisiting Bonnie and Clyde and Unforgiven.
Pillow Talk Movies (Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, Send Me No Flowers, If a Man Answers) I don't know if anyone else calls these Pillow Talk movies. These are the Rock Hudson/Doris Day, or Sandra Dee/Bobby Darin romantic comedies of the sixties. This is the era of romantic comedies that fell between the screwball comedies (Bringing Up Baby, It Happened One Night) and the more independent woman-themed romantic comedies that we see today. I think I own all of these movies except for Pillow Talk - I bought them at Costco when they were $12 a pair - but I have only watched Lover Come Back. This will be an all-new marathon for me.
Katharine Hepburn: She Rules (Woman of the Year, The Lion in Winter, Adam’s Rib, the African Queen) It's only fair to feature a marathon with the greatest actress of all time (next to Meryl, that is). I tried to select some of her most well-known movies, while not necessarily her best movies. Believe it or not, I have never seen any of these. Geez, what kind of a movie lover am I? Wait, that's the point of these marathons!
Paul Newman: Dead or Alive, I’d Do Him (The Long Hot Summer, Hud, Harper, Road to Perdition) I fell in love with him the first time I saw "The Hustler." I loved how cool and suave he is, even when he was tortured and miserable, like in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." We all know what a wonderful man he was in real life, so let's take the time to enjoy some of his cinematic greats.
Fred and Ginger (Top Hat, The Gay Divorcee, Follow the Fleet, Swing Time) I wanted to do movie musicals, but that would have meant mostly Gene Kelly films, and I have seen so many of those that it would not have been the rediscovery I was hoping for. There are so many I could have chosen from, but I thought it would only be fitting to feature the king and queen of the movie musical: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I've seen Top Hat and Swing Time before, so The Gay Divorcee and Follow the Fleet will be the new ones for me.
Bond: James Bond – 1 film from each Bond Actor (Connery: Dr. No; Lazenby: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; Moore: Octopussy; Dalton: The Living Daylights; Brosnan: GoldenEye; Craig: Casino Royale) I have never been much of a Bond fan, so this will almost be completely new for me. In order to do a proper Bond-a-thon, I thought it would be most fitting to compare all of the Bonds to each other. I didn't necessarily go with the ones that were arguably the best; I chose the ones I thought would be the most interesting. I may be wrong on some of them, like Octopussy, but I don't know. The only obvious choices here were Dr. No because it was the first, Secret Service because it was Lazenby's only Bond outing, and Casino Royale because I didn't like Solace that much. I am looking forward to covering this one, probably over the summer when school is not going because it's the longest.
The Boys of Summer: The Best Baseball Films Ever Made (Bull Durham, The Natural, Field of Dreams, Pride of the Yankees, A League of Their Own, Eight Men Out) This is the only movie marathon where I have already seen every one of these films. As baseball is the ultimate summer sport, I decided to revisit each of these baseball movies and decide, once and for all, which is my favorite of all time. And I would not be surprised if the ladies take this one. This is another long marathon, but since the topic is worthy and I am already familiar with these movies, I will definitely enjoy this one.
The Art of War (Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, All Quiet on the Western Front) This will probably be the most difficult marathon for me to get through because I am not big into war movies. I wanted to make sure I only included classics in this marathon because I wanted to appreciate war movies from the time the biggest world wars were going on. If I wanted to add in one more from a modern era, I would have included The Hurt Locker, a movie from last year that I heard excellent things about. Maybe for 2011's marathon schedule.
Would I Want This Man As My President? (The American President, Mars Attacks!, Independence Day, Dave) I almost did a marathon of presidential biopics, but the thought of sitting through JFK or Frost/Nixon again didn't thrill me. I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. The president had to be a major character in the movie, and he had to be fictitious. He had to act in a presidential manner, too - not escaping from a hijacked plane or being guarded by the secret service (Air Force One and In the Line of Fire are two of my all-time faves, by the way). I have never seen Mars Attacks! or Dave. Forgive me.
Directed By Stephen Spielberg (Schindler’s List, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, ET) Not wanting Woody Allen to be the only director on this list, I chose Spielberg because picking from the elite would mean an enjoyable marathon, no matter what. If it wasn't him, it would have been Ron Howard, but I've seen almost all of his films. The only film here I have not seen is Close Encounters - I think I tried once and kept falling asleep. These are four different themes and styles, and I chose them to compare.
Russell Crowe: Do I Like Him Now? (LA Confidential, Gladiator, Master and Commander, The Insider) I've never really understood Russell Crowe. To me, he's a big, oafy dude who keeps landing not totally oafy roles. However, he's gotten praise for all of these roles, so I decided to watch all of them and decide, once and for all, if I like him as an actor. It has been a long time since I have seen all of these movies, so this will be a fresh comparison for me. However, I love LA Confidential. I will have fun watching that one again.Oh-kay, that's what my year in movie marathons is shaping up to be. They may change, I don't know. I have a busy school schedule still and hopefully a better job or second job in the near future. With that in mind, I will do my best to fulfill my cinematic goals in 2010. If you play along too, let me know. It will be great to compare notes.
