FILM #3 - ENTER THE DRAGON (1973)

FILM #3 - ENTER THE DRAGON (1973)

Dir: Robert Clouse

Starring: Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, John Saxon

Very few people have been enshrined into our culture like Bruce Lee. I didn’t really notice until after I finished watching ‘Enter The Dragon’ that it was 40 years this week since his untimely death. What’s stranger is that only a few weeks ago, his co-star Jim Kelly passed away. It seems like the timing was right to be watching this movie for the first time.

Arguably the greatest Kung Fu film ever made, or at least the most popular, ‘Enter The Dragon’ is Bruce Lee’s swan song.  This flick is easily one of the best I’ve ever seen. It is absolutely flawless. But this film could easily fit into the 'blaxploitation' genre that emerged in the seventies. Clearly not of that exact genre, it is the eastern counterpart of films like 'Coffy', 'Shaft' and 'Black Dynamite'. The films soundtrack has a big part to play in that cross over.

What is most apparent in this film though, is Lee’s athleticism. Here is a man who devoted his entire life to keeping fit and learning new martial art techniques, as well as inventing his own style called ‘Jeet Kune Do’. 

Bruce Lee, although he only made a handful of feature length films, brought Eastern values, eastern culture and philosophy to Hollywood. The things he achieved in such a short time has rippled out through the decades and arguably made stars of people like Jet Li and Jackie Chan (who by the way was in ‘Enter The Dragon’ along side Lee).

It’s not difficult to give this film ten out of ten. This isn’t just because it’s a well made film, but because of the star it made of Bruce Lee and the impact he himself and the film had on western culture. You don’t have to look far to see that this film in particular has inspired generations of film makers and actors.  

Lee passed away only weeks before the films premiere. Made on a shoe string of only $850,000, the film grossed over $200 million worldwide and cemented itself as one of the greatest films of all time. In 2004, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry.

RATING 10/10

FILM #2 - GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997)

Film #2 - GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997)

Dir. Gus Van Zant
Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck

This was first released when I started secondary school. It was the film that put Affleck and Damon on the map by giving them the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. And rightly so, considering the films that it was up against. 

The first half of the film was great. The bar scene where Will (Damon) steps in to save his friend Chuckie (Affleck) is hilarious. I was hoping the film would be filled with more scenes like these, where he uses his gift for the greater good. But as the film went on I realised it was about making choices and Will Hunting chose not to do that.

There was a great casting choice in Robin Williams. This film was made not long after Mrs Doubtfire and Aladdin where Williams had become known for his funnier roles apart from the occasional serious film like Dead Poets Society. I think this is where he started to branch out to show what he could do as a serious actor. And he pulled it off. As did Damon and Affleck, although I think if they had hired another two people to play those characters, it wouldn’t have made much difference. Their efforts were in the script. And fair play to them.

RATING 7/10

FILM #1 - GLADIATOR (2000)

Film #1 - GLADIATOR (2000)

Dir: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Richard Harris, Oliver Reed

Thirteen years after it’s release, I finally got around to watching Gladiator. There are no particular reasons why I hadn’t watched it, maybe because I was more a fan of Tony Scott than Ridley Scott, but I wish I’d have seen it sooner. It was amazing. 

I got the extended, three disc version which has an extra seventeen minutes of added footage. Even though the year 2000 wasn’t that long ago, it amazes me how such an epic film could have been made. I’m making this sound like it was made in the Middle Ages, but back then all I remember was a dial up internet connection and the Nintendo 64. The fast paced world we live in now, it’s hard to see how something of that magnitude could have been made at all. If the exact same film was shot today, I don’t think a better job could have been done. Apart from maybe the footage of Oliver Reed that was super imposed onto a body double after he passed away during filming. I could tell straight away that this was the case, but I already knew about that and was probably looking for it. The scenes that were shot after his death and the work that went into the effects added an extra $3 million to the already staggering $100 million budget. It didn’t really hurt it though seeing as it took over $450 million at the box office.

All in all, the story line was fantastic. Well written, great characters. Joaquin Phoenix was, in my opinion, the only person who could have pulled off Commodus like that. Just a dirty, vile character whose head you want to see on the business end of a sword!

The scope and scale of Gladiator is something that will be replicated but unmatched, although I will admit, I do like my films a little shorter, but what else is a guy to do on a Saturday night in? This is probably another reason I might have put off watching it, but believe me when I say that having watched it now, it was worth every second.

What I am sure of is that I will watch every last drop of the special features. I want to know how in the hell Ridley Scott pulled that off. The choreography of the fight scenes, the costumes, the extras, the scenery all came together for one bad ass movie. Absolutely stunning, and a great tribute to Oliver Reed. 

RATING
8/10

101 Classic Flicks...that I haven't seen!

Welcome,

I like films. But judging from this blog, you probably wouldn't have guessed that. Recently, I've noticed when people ask me if I've seen a certain film, I tend to say no. I want to say yes, but that would be lying, and lying is wrong.

So, in order to expand my knowledge of cinema I have compiled a list of 101 'should see before you die' movies that I am going to watch within the coming months. Some may say I have been living under a rock. Someone has already asked if I was brought up in a cave, and they made that judgement from the list of films I haven't seen. So I am going to right these wrongs and watch 101 of the worlds most classic films, both old and new, compiled by myself, my friends and the IMDB Top 250 rated films!

There are no rules. I won't be watching them in any particular order, unless they are part of a trilogy. But the great thing about this is most of these films are diffrent genres, so if one day I'm in the mood for a Western, out comes 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'.

I will also be writing very short review for each film and scoring them out of 10. There are a bunch of films I would love to go back and watch for the first time. But alas, this is not possible. My mission is to now watch classic films for the first time and appreciate cinema in all its glory.

Here's the list...

12 Angry Men
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
300
A Few Dollars More
A Fish Called Wanda
A Fistful of Dollars
A Streetcar Named Desire
Alien
Alien 2
Alien 3
Amadeus
Amelie
American Graffiti
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Ben Hur
Blade Runner
Blue Velvet
Blues Brothers
Braveheart
Bullitt
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Cool Hand Luke
Das Boot
Dirty Harry
District 9
Do The Right Thing
Dog Day Afternoon
Dr No
Easy Rider
Enter The Dragon (1972)
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Fist of Fury
Full Metal Jacket
Ghandi
Gladiator
Gone With The Wind
Good Will Hunting
Harvey
Heat
Howls Moving Castle
Indy Jones - Temple of Doom
Indy Jones - The Last Crusade
It’s a Wonderful Life
Jacobs Ladder
L.A Confidential
Leon
Life of Pi
Lord of the Rings
Lord of the Rings 2
Lord of the Rings 3
Matrix 2
Matrix 3
Memento
Metropolis
Monty Python Holy Grail
Monty Python Life of Brian
Monty Python Meaning of Life
Once Upon A Time In America
Papillion
Platoon
Psycho
Raging Bull
Requim For A Dream
Rosemarys Baby
Saving Private Ryan
Scarface
Schindlers List
Singin’ In The Rain
Slumdog Millionaire
Some Like It Hot
Spirited Away
Stand By Me
Taxi Driver
The Artist
The Big Lebowski
The Birds
The Bourne 1
The Bourne 2
The Bourne 3
The Colour of Money
The Deer Hunter
The Elephant Man
The Godfather II
The Godfather III
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
The Grapes of Wrath
The Great Escape
The Hobbit
The Italian Job
The Kings Speech
The Silence of the Lambs
The Thing
The Untouchables
The Warriors
The Way of the Dragon
True Grit
Vertigo (1958)