Lord of the Rings

Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellon, Christopher Lee
Rank: 50

There is one extremely significant difference I have found between The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and every other movie on AFI's list that I've watched so far: This film does not belong on the list!

Whether or not I personally like a film that I watch for this project, I always try to watch the film objectively and write about it fairly as to why it is on the list. There have not been many films for this project so far that I have not liked, but the few that I didn't care for I was still able to find a reason that it had earned a place on AFI's list. With The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring there is absolutely no good reason I can think for its presence on the list.

I tried to find a reason, though, but I just couldn't justify this movie being on there. I thought maybe it's because of the story, but it was a book first and therefore the movie isn't the main medium for the tale. Then I thought about the fact that it is an epic movie, but there are already several other (much better) epic films on the list. Perhaps it's on the list because of the visual effects, but there are so many other films that could've been on the list that have much more astounding visual effects. It's definitely not on the list for the acting, because although the performances for the most part are just fine, I've seen just about all these actors in other features give much stronger performances to much more memorable characters.

Then I thought "Maybe The Lord of the Rings is on the list because of how much money it's made, and how popular it is." That thought was quickly tossed aside. The list is the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time" not the "Most Popular Movies of All Time" or "The Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time." If it were based on popularity or gross, then on the 2017 list we'd be seeing such films as The Hangover, Twilight, Transformers, and Shrek 2. While those may be popular and high-grossing movies, frankly, they don't deserve a place on the "100 Greatest Movies" list.

So why was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring included in AFI's list? I still don't have an answer for that, and probably never will. I've tried to watch this movie several times over the years, but it just doesn't hold my interest. Sure, it's a finely made movie, but it feels more as though it was made for people who were already fans of the book and the stories. There's a abundance of elements to the story, and it's easy to get lost and not follow along if you are not already familiar with it. I didn't enjoy this movie, nor have I ever in the few times I've tried to sit through it. I don't hate the movie, I just do not care for it. The only thing that I did enjoy about this film was the sets and the visual effects, but like I said, there's tons of other movies that have amazing visual effects that are much more deserving to be on AFI's list.

Trivia:
•This is the only film on AFI's list that was made after the turn of the millennium. All of the other films are 1999 and before.

Movies to Go: 76

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Producer: Walt Disney
Starring: Adriana Caselotti, Lucille La Verne, Roy Atwell, Pinto Clovig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Scotty Mattraw
Rank: 34

Every so often, a film comes along that changes the way people look at its genre. For the animation genre, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs not only changed the way people look at animation, but really created the animated film genre. Before Walt Disney came along, animation was a simple novelty- people would see cartoon shorts before the main feature when they went to the theater. Sure, cartoons were cute, but Disney turned animation into an art.

It doesn't really matter that the story is specifically Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney could've easily decided to do Hanzel and Gretel, or The Princess and the Pea, or anything else for that matter. Yes, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a great story, and the characters are very memorable, but the importance of this film comes from the contribution it has made to the cinema world. Because of this film, the multiplane camera was invented, giving more depth and realism to animation. (See video below.) Never before had such care, devotion, and passion been dedicated to a cartoon. In fact, most people don't even think of Disney features as "cartoons," but as "animation." Really, there is no difference, except for the fact that Disney films have the highest standards of quality animation, and people view them as so much more than "just a cartoon."

Many in Hollywood even dubbed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with the nickname "Disney's Folly," certain it would be a complete failure and send the Disney Studios into bankruptcy. After all, who would ever want to sit through a cartoon that's an hour and a half long? But of course, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a huge success, paving the way for all of the other Disney classics, such as Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and The Lion King, among the others. It paved the way for all of the other animated feature favorites: The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Spirited Away, Panyo, and many others.

Could you imagine, though, if Walt Disney had listened to his critics and pulled production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Could you imagine if he had decided not to build Disneyland, as his creditors had advised? There would, most likely, not be a Disney Company around today. If you have passion about something, don't let anyone else tell you that you can't do it. If you believe you can do it, then it doesn't matter if anyone else believes you can do it. Go out and prove them wrong. Do it for your self! If anyone who had ever been criticized for a new idea or invention had decided to give up at the first sign of another person's doubt about it, we certainly would not have much. What if someone had told Neil Armstrong that he'd never be an astronaut? What if someone told John F. Kennedy that he wasn't smart enough to be president? What if Abraham Lincoln was told it was a waste of time to try to free the slaves because he'd never be able to? The thing is, all of them were probably at one point told that, but they didn't take the criticism to heart, and changed the world. Besides, most of the time when someone tells you "You can't," what they're really saying is "I hope you don't because I know I can't." Live your dreams, pursue your passions, make the world a better place. Nothing is impossible unless you believe it is! As Walt Disney once said: "It's fun to do the impossible."

Here to tell you a bit about the multiplane camera is Walt Disney:

Trivia:
•Pinto Clovig, who provides the voices for Grumpy and Sleepy, also provided the original voice for Goofy in the Disney cartoon shorts.
•Although often credited as the first-ever full-length feature animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was actually not. The first was done by a female director in Germany, and it was the story of Pinocchio. However, Pinocchio was silent, black and white, and extremely unsuccessful.
•Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first film ever to have a soundtrack album released.
•In 1938, Walt Disney received an Honorary Academy Award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The award inscription read "For Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field." There was one tall statue and seven miniature ones given to him.


Movies to Go: 77

Intolerance

Movie: Intolerance (1916)
Director: D.W. Griffith
Starring: Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Margery Wilson, Frank Bennett, Josephine Crowell, Alfred Paget, Howard Gaye
Rank: 49

"Your political views are different than mine, so I don't have any respect for you."

"I have different beliefs about the existence of a higher power than you do, so you must not be as smart as I am."

"My paycheck is much bigger than yours, and it must be because you're not as deserving as I am."

"You don't look as good as I do, so therefore I don't have to be nice to you."

"I don't understand your sexual orientation, so I don't think you should have access to the same things I do."

Yesterday morning, you went outside. You took a leisurely stroll down the street, enjoying the beautiful weather. While you were out, there was someone who judged you because of what you were wearing. Later in the afternoon, you got in your car and ran a few errands. As you drove down the street, someone tailgating you judged you because of your bumper sticker. That night, you went to dinner with a friend without realizing you had a stain on your shirt, and someone judged you because of it.

That sounds fair, right? I mean, isn't it easy to know who isn't our equal just by looking at them? It gets even easier when we find out little bits of information about them. It's safe to assume that anyone who is a Christian just isn't that bright, just like anyone who is an atheist is immoral. Illegal immigrants are the sole ones responsible for our current economic woes. The homosexuals are destroying the morals of the nation and are going to corrupt our children. Obese people, well, they're just too lazy to make a worthy contribution to society.

Sometimes, it feels as though we label each other because we are just too busy with life to be bothered to get to know who a person really is. We make judgments based on one past experience that we've exaggerated in our own minds or some out-dated stereotype that was never based in reality to begin with. Sometimes it seems like we fight so hard to eliminate anyone who is not like us. The world would be easy if we all shared the same ideas and beliefs, right?

Wrong.

Life has never been, nor will ever be, easy. (Personally, I think that's one of the things that makes life beautiful.) But if we were all the same, new ideas would never evolve. If we all agreed, if no one ever stood up and questioned why things are the way they are, we'd still be living in caves. If life were like that, it would be dull, and cease to exist.

I doubt if many of you have seen the film Intolerance. To be frank, I'm certain most of you never will. Sitting through a three-hour silent film about hate and injustice isn't many people's idea of a Sunday afternoon, but if there were any lesson I'd hope you would get out of my 100 Movies project, I hope it's from this film here. I'll be honest and say that I was both excited about seeing this film and dreading it at the same time. In cinema classes of years past, Intolerance always comes up as a point of discussion at one time or another, yet none of my film teachers ever showed it in class. Most likely, I'll never watch this film again, but it will stick with me for the rest of my life.

Intolerance follows four stories. All of the stories are long and involved, and moving, but I'm not going into plot synopsis. (If you really want the plot, you should look for it through Google or IMDb.) All four of the stories deal with intolerance, of looking down upon another human being because of a difference of opinion, class, culture, and religion. In all stories, love in blocked by injustice and bigotry, and in two of the stories the lover's die without ever being able to be with the one they desire. It is because of blind hate that love cannot bloom, because of judgments of trivial details rather than who a person really is.

Throughout the film, there is a shot of a woman rocking an empty cradle, and the words "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking" appear on the screen. This is a reference to a poem by Walt Whitman, about a bird who loses his mate. The bird has an unyielding love for his mate, and when she disappears he searches for her, anxious to find her once again. But they cannot be together because of forces larger than themselves, and so the bird eventually gives up, and in a way, he dies. Much like this poem, the love that could've conquered the world is crushed by the evil of judgment in Intolerance.

The sad thing is, though, that even though this film is just six years shy of being a century old, the same thing still happens in the world today. We are constantly judged for the little details about ourselves. And whether or not we want to admit it, there has been a time when we ourselves have judged others for something on the surface. The beautiful thing about being human, though, is we have a choice about how we view people. You may not be able to help how people view you, but you can control how you choose to see others.

Do you want to know how things will change, seriously? What could possibly make the world a better place? Us!! We can change the world, really. We cannot change others, but we can change the things we do. There are so many forms of discrimination and prejudice out there, but it's not something that is built into human nature, it is something that is learned! Stop saying sexist jokes, stop using racial slurs, because even if you don't believe yourself to be prejudice you are still fueling the fire by keeping the stereotypes alive. You never know who may be taking you seriously, or who may be hearing what you are saying! People who judge others based on superficial trivia learned to do so from someone else. Don't let it spread! Hate ends here, if we want it to.

Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking


Movies to Go: 78

Star Wars

Title: Star Wars (a.k.a. Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope, 1977)
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Rank: 13

To all of you out there who are over twenty-five and still get a rush of glee at the thought of adding another piece to your action figure collection, to anyone who makes electronic sounds as they mime swordplay, to anyone who has ever been called a scruffy-looking nerf herder- you owe a debt of thanks to George Lucas.

I know there are several people out there who would throw out AFI's list without hesitation had Star Wars not been included. Of course, it's on there, and in the top 15 nonetheless! And with good cause, too. Any self-proclaimed film buff, sci-fi fanatic, or cultural history major would be mocked if they had never seen at least one (often times, if they had not seen ALL) of the films from the Star Wars franchise.

But what makes Star Wars such a cherished piece of cinematic history? Several things, actually. It could be the epic battle scenes in space, the hot princess, the clever dialogue, or the memorable characters and special effects. Really, though, Star Wars is great because it's a story about the underdog defeating a monster much bigger than himself by just having faith.

Underdog stories are always a hit, especially when the underdog comes out on top, because we all feel like we are the underdog at times. The world is big, and we are just one person, and sometimes it may feel like we make no difference. Get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, get up, go to work, come home, pay taxes, go to bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. We are just one little, replaceable cog in the wheels of the world. But when we see someone who is, as we often feel ourselves to be, an unlikely hero stand up for what is truly right and come out ahead, we feel hope, and a deep satisfaction that someone was able to "stick it to the man." I know I don't need to tell any of you what happens in Star Wars (and if I do, then it's time to take a day off work and watch the films, but don't worry I won't tell anyone), I'm sure many of you are more familiar with the details that I am.

Not only is it an underdog story, but Star Wars also has a political consciousness. The Rebels fighting against the Empire is essentially the "everyman" fighting against the corrupted government. Especially with the current state of things, the government has always taken criticism from the citizens. The government is big and powerful, and often it feels as though we just have to sit back and take whatever they decide to dish out. But, like Luke, Leia, Han Solo, and the rest of the Rebel Alliance, we do have power. Binding together and standing up for what is right is one of the most amazing things a group of people can do. Even the little things can make a difference in morality, and encourage us to never give up.

Star Wars also deals a lot with faith in oneself, in the form of the Force. Luke cannot defeat the Death Star with the computer, but when he closes his eyes and takes that leap of faith, he is triumphant! It isn't until we believe in ourselves that we can accomplish anything. If you believe you can do it, then you can, regardless if anyone else believes you can. As Yoda said "Do or do not; there is no try."

Star Wars is a legacy to film and fandom. No other series has been admired, parodied, or referenced in other films as much as Star Wars films have. I could list pages of projects that have taken inspiration from the Star Wars franchise (Spaceballs, anyone? Or how about FanBoys?), endless arguments of Star Wars vs. Star Trek, and hundreds of thousands of people out there who share the hero's name that have constantly heard the line "Luke, I am your father" throughout their lives.

Thank you, George Lucas, for making it cool to be a nerd. And to all my readers out there, may the Force be with you!




Movies to Go: 79

The Sound of Music

Title: The Sound of Music (1965)
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer
Rank: 40

"If you have faith and persevere, you can follow every rainbow."
-Julie Andrews

Those are the words that introduce the Special Edition DVD of The Sound of Music, spoken by the star herself. Personally, I had been looking forward to seeing this movie for years, and never took the time to sit down at watch it. Now, I wish I would've watch it years ago, as it easy is now one of my favorite films.

There are so many reasons that The Sound of Music is on the list. First off, the production value is spectacular- beautiful sets, great script, and an excellent cast make this movie a joy to watch. Of course, the music is astounding! Add to that the worst kind of villians in history (the Nazis, which appear in several movies on the list, one of which being The Raiders of the Lost Ark) and a splendid story and it makes The Sound of Music easily one of the most memorable films of all times.

But what I particularly like about The Sound of Music are the bits of inspiration it has to offer. The character of Maria is so full of spirit. She has strength, courage, and a genuine lust for the beauty of life. When she enters into the Von Trapp household, she changes them. Bringing back music to their house is not just bringing back and art form, but bringing back the intimacy the family shared before their mother passed away. There is something truly magical about music, something that has the power to bring people together. My family shares a connection with music: each time we have a family reunion, we spend time singing old American folk songs together- TV off, cell phones silenced, and a couple of uncles playing the guitar as the rest of us sing along. To many people, this may seem a bit corny, but some of my fondest memories with that part of the family is when we're sitting around singing "Grandfather's Clock" or "Grandma's Feather Bed," songs that are all much older than I am. We may not be quite as musically inclined as the Von Trapp family, nor do we ever break out in synchronized dances while we sing those old songs, but the connection is the same. As The Sound of Music illustrates time and time again, family is of the utmost importance. The children all band together each time a new governess comes into the house, the family looks out for each other throughout their daily activities, and eventually Maria becomes a part of the family (literally- she married Captain Von Trapp). The most important time the family bond comes into play is when they are fleeing from the Nazis, heading towards an uncertain future in the hopes of keeping their safety and freedom. They know that no matter what they face, as long as they face it together, they can conquer even the hardest of situations.

Through Maria, we see that just as important as family is the tendency to be true to oneself. Life is too short to live it as someone the world expects you to be, and far greater things can be accomplished when we just be ourselves and stop worrying so much about "presentation." Maria starts the film as a nun, but realizes that this is not the path for her. There's nothing wrong about being a nun, but there's also nothing wrong with being Maria. Some of us may feel out of place, sometimes even a bit odd, but who isn't? And as Sister Margaretta says "After all, the wool from the black sheep is just as warm." Be yourself, no one else can do you as well you can.


Movies to Go: 80