Toy Story

Title: Toy Story (1995)
Director: John Lasseter
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Jim Varney, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger
Rank: 99



Change is inevitable, as we all know. Yet, even though we know change cannot be stopped, we often still fear change. It can be scary when the life you are used to and love suddenly changes, just as Woody's life changed. He was always Andy's favorite toy, until Buzz Lightyear arrives and captures Andy's playtime affections, threatening to leave Woody in the toy chest to collect dust. It doesn't matter if a king suddenly loses his wealth and becomes a peasant, or if a poor man wins the lotto and has riches beyond his dreams: change can be difficult for anyone. As humans, we tend to get used to things and like what we are familiar with, which is why it is so easy to fall into routines. But, as Woody learned, change isn't always a bad thing.

Through an amazing toy-journey, Woody and Buzz both discover new things about themselves. Change can be, and often is, a good thing. Woody and Buzz become the greatest of friends because of change. If we always stay in our comfort zones, we will never develop or evolve as people. My life is vastly different from what it was five years ago, and I know my life will be greatly different five years from now. To me, this is an exciting thing. I love life, I love where my life is right now, but if I thought that I was going to be here for the rest of my life it would make me sad. Change comes either by force or by choice, and adapting to change can be greatly rewarding, if we face the things that we fear about change. Life is not frozen- it's constantly moving, constantly growing and developing. It's a beautiful thing, really. Life without change would be uninteresting and nothing new would ever happen.

Toy Story may be about change, but it also made changes to the face of animation. It was the first full-length feature film to be completely computer animated. Toy Story paved the way for films like the Shrek tetralogy, the Ice Age trilogy, Kung-Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, How To Train Your Dragon, and of course all of the other gems PIXAR has given to the world (A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and coming June 30th is Toy Story 3). Even Beowulf could fall into this category, as well as a slew of others that have already been made and are being released in the coming years. Toy Story gave birth to a new generation of films, ones which the entire family can enjoy: kid-friendly, but just as appealing to adults, with a few adult-aimed jokes hidden throughout the films (I noticed this time that at one point Woody mockingly calls his friend "Buzz Light-Beer" instead of "Lightyear"). These films are admired by fans of all ages, bringing families and friends together once again. See? Change isn't always a bad thing.

Trivia:
•Every PIXAR movie has four things in common: 1) A visual reference somewhere in the film to another one of their projects. 2) A list of "Production Babies" (babies that were born to people who contributed to the film while it was in production). 3) A short film that accompanies it in the theaters. 4) John Ratzenberger does the voice of one character.
•In Toy Story, the visual reference to another PIXAR project is in Andy's room: among the books on his bookshelf (can be particularly seen when Woody is hosting the toy-meeting) there are books whose titles are PIXAR shorts, one of them having John Lasseter (the director) listed as the author. Also, the gas station Buzz and Woody fight at is Dinoco- the company that Lightening McQueen hopes to be sponsored by in PIXAR's Cars (2006).
•Toy Story was the first film to be completely computer animated. Each frame took between four to thirteen hours to render. (There are 24 frames in each second, the film is an hour an twenty minutes- you do the math.)
•There's a nod to Disney on Andy's wall: he has a Mickey Mouse clock.


Movies to Go: 82

BEN-HUR

Title: Ben-Hur (1959)
Director: William Wyler
Starring: Charlton Heston, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd
Rank: 100

First, let me say thanks for sticking around during this hiatus. I've missed my 100 movies project deeply, and I've missed writing about the movies! Today I'll be (finally) writing the posts for the five movies I've watched since writing up The Grapes of Wrath nearly two months ago. Hopefully, there will be no more breaks after this!

Ben-Hur is an amazing film, one that molded the face of epic cinema. These days, it is common for film budgets to reach into the tens of millions, but back in 1959 MGM spent the astronomical price of $15 million to produce Ben-Hur. No expense was spared, and the results were well worth the price. It grossed an estimated $70 million, and saved MGM from bankruptcy. (source: IMDb/B.O.Mojo) But aside from saving one of the best-known studios from going under, Ben-Hur is a legacy, leading the ways for such films as Spartacus, Shindler's List, Titanic, Lord of the Rings, (all of which are on AFI's list) and many other appreciated epic movies. Every detail of this film was planned out and given careful attention, making it an absolutely beautiful film to view. The extras, the soundtrack, the sets, the script- everything about this film is grand and glorious! (Just make sure you have some time: Ben-Hur runs about three and a half hours long.) Ben-Hur raised the bar for films, calling them to be grander and push the bar of greatness.

The plot of Ben-Hur is one that touches many people. Judah Ben-Hur (played by Charlton Heston) is a man who, though wealthy, respects all people. Even though he is offered security and a high official rank if he gives the names of Jewish people who speak against the emperor, he turns it down without second thought and assertively protests the emperor to free all the Jews. Later, a controversy arises and he is made a slave. After three years of torture, he saves the life of the man who had beaten him down all those years when a boat accident nearly kills him. He never loses faith, never gives up hope, even when there is nothing he can see to hope for. He is freed after saving his slave-driver's life, and uses his freedom and new found social rank to fight for the rights of the people.

The story of Judas Ben-Hur parallels a story that is one of historical importance. Whether or not a Christian, nearly everyone is familiar with the story of Jesus Christ. Throughout Ben-Hur's journey, he comes across Jesus several times, and even though it is seemingly insignificant in gesture, Christ influences Ben-Hur each time they intertwine. When Jesus is being led to crucifixion, Ben-Hur is there watching in agony over the torture he is witnessing. Risking his own life, he gives Jesus a drink of water, returning the same favor Jesus gave him years prior. What is great about this is that the audience never sees Christ's face nor hears his voice, which instills the power of this man on the people, the mystery, and faith.

An epic movie is nothing without a good story to tell, but with an excellent and compelling story, Ben-Hur is a film that defines what an epic really should be. Fifty-one years after it was made, it still continues to be a major piece of discussion in any cinema class and a powerful influence on filmmakers today.


Movies to Go: 83

Pulp Fiction

Title: Pulp Fiction (1994)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Harvey Keitel
Rank: 94

auteur: [oh-tur] a filmmaker whose individual style and complete control over all elements of production give a film its personal and unique stamp.

It takes a lot for a director to become an auteur, but Quentin Tarantino will be considered one of the most unique directors of his time. Pulp Fiction, probably his most famous work (at least up until Inglourious Basterds), is certainly reeking of Tarantino's unique style and touch.

What I like about Pulp Fiction is that it is an artistic film rather than a film created to entertain the masses. It has become a classic, not just a novelty that people forget about a year after its release. These days, the films that come out of Hollywood seem to be based on previously made films, books, comics, toys, or just have a bunch of vampires in them. Hollywood rarely has a fresh taste nowadays. Hundreds of movies come out each year, only a few of them seem to have a flavor that isn't bland. With so many films coming from other sources over the past years, it is good to see Tarantino has his own style and is not afraid to try anything in his movies. He makes them to his own liking, without worrying whether or not the masses are going to like them. (I'm sure Tarantino couldn't care less how many screaming teenagers he can get to go to his movie's premiere.)

Pulp Fiction has a unique feel to it. Some parts of it resonate 1970's spy movies, while others it is difficult to put a finger on what kind of style it is similar to. For some reason, the first time I see one of Tarantino's films, I usually don't like it much. The first time I saw Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, I hated them. After rewatching them, though, I fell in love with them. (Inglourious Basterds is one of my favorite films of all times, even!) Perhaps the reason I didn't like his films the first time around is because Tarantino's style is an acquired taste. There is a certain mindset you must have when watching a Tarantino film- they can't be taken too seriously or you miss the subtle dark humor, and they can't be taken to lightly or they will fly over your head.

With Hollywood churning out so many films that taste like steamed rice, it is nice to have directors out there like Tarantino who give us some authentic new flavors. I can't wait to see what Tarantino is going to serve up next!



Movies to Go: 87


Please Note: Due to a slight medical condition that is currently causing me a lot of pain, I won't be watching and writing about another film until later on in the week or early next week. I have not left or forgotten about you all, I am just in need of a little break while I recover. See you soon!

The Last Picture Show

Title: The Last Picture Show (1971)
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman, Ben Johnson
Rank: 95

I really enjoyed watching The Last Picture Show. It's a black and white feature, made in the seventies but set in the fifties, about a small town in Texas. The people in the town grow, learn, and collide with each other throughout their lives. It's a coming of age story about two best friends, as they go from boyhood into manhood together.

There's always a point in our lives where we feel it is the official end of our childhood and the beginning of adulthood. Most people have that one defining moment when they feel they have become an adult, marking an official close to their adolescence. For Sonny and Duane (Timothy Bottoms and Jeff Bridges), that time comes when they watch the final showing of a second-run movie in the town's tiny cinema. Watching the last picture show (where the title comes from) in the cinema before it closes forever marks the close of their teenage years and their entry into manhood and the next phase of life.

The story is full of awkward sex scenes, most have the character's intention of trying to use sex as a sign of maturity. The group of boys, lead more often than not by Duane, tries to lose their virginity and conquer different sexual feats. Even Jacy (played by Cybill Shepherd in her film debut) tries to grow up using sexuality. She is the most desirable girl in the school, and she knows it. She wants to lose her virginity to Duane just so she can sleep with another (older) man, but something goes wrong with Duane and he is unable to perform. Jacy lies to her friends and tells her that the sex was the most indescribable experience she's ever had, making them envy her. It is not uncommon for teenage girls and boys to use sexuality as a vehicle to make them seem more grown up. Through experience I can tell you that it isn't the sex that makes a person mature, though. Maturity comes through developing yourself as a person and treating others in the best way you know how.

Part of learning and growing comes from colliding with other people in our lives. In the film, everyone knew each other and was involved in one another's lives. Like Miss Mosley said, "A person can't sneeze in this town without someone offering them a handkerchief." There are no secrets in a small town. Everyone knows about the different shenanigans of the boys, everyone knows about Sonny and Ruth's affair, everyone knows about the sexual promiscuity of Jacy. The people of the town conflict in what they want, and they clash with each other often. If we all had the same desires, views, opinions, and beliefs, life would be extremely boring and offer little opportunity for personal evolutions. When we meet someone who disagrees with us, then it makes us think, and making us think helps to form new ideas and new opinions. Meeting someone who has ideals that conflict with ours can be a very positive thing, so next time someone disagrees with you, listen to them! This doesn't mean that you have to change your ideals to match theirs, but it means you should have a respect for what they are saying, and see if you can understand their reasoning. You might be surprised on the things you can learn.

In the end of the film, Duane and Sonny both reach manhood, better because of the experiences they have lived through. People never have to stop learning and growing, as long as they are alive. Just because we feel a certain way today doesn't mean we will feel the same in ten years, five years, or even one year from now. It all comes down to how open-minded we allow ourselves to be. I, for one, hope I never stop learning and growing up, because I know there is still so much more out there that I have yet to experience.



Movies to Go: 88

Do the Right Thing

Title: Do the Right Thing (1989)
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Bill Nunn, John Turturro
Rank: 96

I saw Do the Right Thing when I was a teenager in a History of Cinema class, and from what I remembered from it, I was not looking forward to watching it again. I was actually glad that it came so early in the year so that I could get it done and over with. When I watched it that first time, I walked out of the class feeling low, depressed, and a little dirty. Now, though, after a few years of growth and a little bit of wisdom under my belt, I watched this film with a different perspective. As soon as I saw Do the Right Thing on the list, I told myself that even though I didn't want to see this movie again, that I would watch it with an open mind and try to leave out all of my previous feelings about it.

It is without a doubt that Do the Right Thing will be one of the more intense films on AFI's list. Set in Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year, the subject matter of this movie is as heavy as the temperature is high. It deals with several groups of people- blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Italian-Americans, and one white guy with a stutter, all of whom are mostly portrayed as the utmost stereotypes of their group. It isn't easy to watch this film- there is a lot of anger, hatred, racial slurs, and violence. I am a self-proclaimed egalitarian- I believe in equality for all, that we are all human and no one is better than another. (Some people who do terrible things fall below the human level, but that's a whole other story.) Watching a movie so full of tension was difficult for me, and at times I wanted to shut it off.

The movie has a general orange-yellow color to it, showing the heat of the day and also creating more of an uncomfortable feeling for the audience. Do the Right Thing is blunt about the violence, racism, and hate that exists. Spike Lee (who wrote, directed, and starred in the film) didn't hold back or censor anything, which actually is good. Sadly, racism still exists today, there are still people who do abominable things to another just because of skin color. With all the progress the human species has made in the past one hundred years- splitting the atom, curing so many diseases, amazing technological advances- it's amazing that racism can still be a problem. It is so easy to send a man to the moon, to talk to someone on the internet who lives on the other side of the world, and yet it is still difficult to reach out to a next door neighbor who is a little different from us.

Since this film has brought into light such a difficult and touchy subject so bluntly and forward, I'm going to share something personal that I am very ashamed of: I once held a fear of men of a particular race because of an event that happened to me. A few years ago, I was working as a teller in a bank and one day we were robbed at gun point. The robbers happened to be three young black men, and for a couple of weeks after the robbery, I would always find something else that "had" to be done when a young black man walked into the bank, myself being afraid to help him. It wasn't too long before I realized how irrational and idiotic I was being, and I am very embarrassed that I once held those feelings, even though it was only for a brief period. I know so many people of so many different races, all of them are wonderful people. (I even have members of the family who are black, Asian, and Hispanic! One of my grandfathers even told me that there is African in our bloodline several generations back, among so many other races that run in my veins.) In any group, there will always be good and bad apples. If you were to separate all people into groups- blacks, whites, Asians, Christians, Jews, atheists, blondes, red-heads, homosexuals, heterosexuals, bisexuals, people with curly hair, people with straight hair, smart people, dumb people, beautiful people, ugly people, skinny people, fat people, etc- in each group there would be people who are amazing, kind, and generous and also people who are mean, hypocritical, and manipulative. These traits (whether they are good or bad) don't come from the features that puts them into one group or another, and so it is illogical to base judgments on physical traits.

Thinking about it, though, watching a film like Do the Right Thing can be beneficial. It isn't always a good thing to live in a bubble and deny that violence from racism still happens. The sad truth of it is that there are still people who judge each other all the time based on things that a person can't help, whether it is the color of their skin, their sexuality, their religion, or the shape of their body. It is time we moved past these things, and embraced our differences for the wonderful things that they are. If we were all the same, life would be pretty damn boring. By bringing attention to a situation like this we can move forward to help dissolve the problem. I know it will still be years before racism (or any other negative -ism) is a thing of the past, but one positive step forward is still worth it. Besides, as Confucius once said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." If we all make a single step, then together we can make that thousand miles.

I'll leave you tonight with this, a quote from Do the Right Thing. Radio (Bill Nunn) is talking to Mookie (Spike Lee), and Radio wears knuckle rings on each hand: on the left, one that says "HATE" and on the right, one that says "LOVE":
Radio Raheem: Let me tell you the story of "Right Hand, Left Hand." It's a tale of good and evil. Hate: It was with this hand that Cane iced his brother. Love: These five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love. The story of life is this: Static. One hand is always fighting the other hand; and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, Love, is finished. But, hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back. Yeah, he got the left hand on the ropes, now, that's right. Ooh, it's the devastating right and Hate is hurt, he's down. Left-Hand Hate K.O.ed by Love.

Trivia:
•Samuel L. Jackson has a small part as a radio disc jockey, and he is credited as "Sam Jackson."
•Supposedly, President and Mrs. Obama saw this movie on their first date in 1989.

Movies to Go: 96