The Apartment (1960)

Star Rating: 2
Length of Film: 125 minutes
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Watson, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Johnny Seven, Joyce  Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White, Edie Adams
Oscars: Billy Wilder (best picture), Billy Wilder (director), I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay), Alexandre Trauner, Edward G. Boyle (art direction), Daniel Mandell (editing)
Oscar Nominations: jack lemmon (actor), Shirley MacLaine (actress), jack Kruschen (actor in support role), Joseph LaShelle (photography), Gordon Sawyer (sound)
Venice Film Festival: Shirley MacLaine (volpi cup- actress), Billy Wilder (Golden Lion nomination)


C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is an accountant at a firm and is loaning out his apartment to executives so they can rendezvous with their mistresses. In the beginning, he has no backbone, he actually leaves his bed at 11 pm, when one of his guys telephones him stating he has a woman that looks likes Marilyn Monroe. At work, it's rows and rows of desks, with a Rolodex, and typewriter on the desk. The office reminds me soooo much of the tv show Mad Men. Baxter is sitting at his desk, worried that his long awaited promotion won't actually happen.

Baxto\er was called into personnel director Mr. Sheldrake's (Fred MacMurray) office where he offered him a job, IF he received a key to Mr. Baxter's apartment, for tonight. He then offers him 2 tickets to The Music Man. Excited about the promotion, he rides the elevator down to his floor to pack and he chats with elevator operator Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), inviting her to The Music Man. She informs him she's meeting someone for a drink, but she'll meet him at the theater. Her date is with Mr. Sheldrake. Fran is the lady that Mr. Sheldrake wants to bring over to Mr. Baxter's.



Mr. Sheldrake ( Fred MacMurray)

 Christmas rolls around and Mr. Sheldrake breaks it off with Fran, leaves her with $100 cash as a Christmas gift and leaves her in Mr. Baxter's apartment. The next part will SHOCK YOU! Desperate Fran...

The neighbor Mr. Dreyfus, Fran, & Baxter 

From watching all these movies from the 1,001 movies you must see before you die, I've noticed a pattern; a pattern where movies that are shocking for the time period, make the list. This movie is about adultery executive men (5 of them) who all have another woman on the side. They conned an innocent, naive man into letting them borrow his apartment so they don't get caught by their wives. This movie also touches on the topic of suicide. I'm sorry, but a movie about adulters and women who try to commit suicide that their married boyfriend breaks up with them, isn't a movie that I'd consider "amazing".


The funniest part of the movie was when Baxter was making spaghetti and uses a tennis racket as a strainer.

Easy Rider (1969)

Star Rating: 4
Length of Film: 94 minutes
Director: Dennis Hopper
Cast: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Antonio Mendoza, Jack Nicholson, Phil Spector, Mac Mashourian, Warren Finnerty, Tita Colorado, Luke Askew, Luana Anders, Sabrina Scharf, Robert Walker Jr., Sandy Wyeth, Robert Ball, Carmen Phillips, Ellie Wood Walker
Oscar Nominations: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern (screenplay), Jack Nicholson (actor in support role)
Cannes Film Festival: Dennis Hopper (best first work, Golden Palm nomination)



This movie is the epitome of the 60's. Drug abuse, communes, prejudices against individuals with "long hair". I watched it with my parents and they enjoyed the movie, just remembering the gas stations and the the Benjamin Franklin stores. Wyatt, "Captain America" (Peter Fonda), and Billy (Dennis Hopper), sell some drugs, roll the bills into a plastic tube, and put it in the gas tank and decide to take a road trip across the country to go to Mardi Gras.




Billy (Dennis Hopper) starred and directed the movie


Very handsome, Peter Fonda

Captain America is the quiet type, and very mellow throughtout the whole movie (not unless it was the influence of the drugs), while Billy is more high strung and vocal.  The boys were driving and picked up a hitchhiker (Luke Askew) who they graceously drove back to his commune where there was 20+ people living together with barnyard animals and trying to grow crops in the desert with no water. It's actually quite funny because they were so high and dense...they just threw the seeds on the ground without burying them. The two guys go skinny dipping with 2 of the commune girls. You see their butts and the their boobs through the water, but no nipples.

They pass through a town where there's a parade going around and they ride right through them, getting arrested for "parading without a permit". While in jail, they meet George Hanson (Jack Nicholson) in a role that makes the movie. He plays a lawyer who has a drinking problem and knows calls the officers by their first names. He graciously gets Wyatt & Billy out of jail, and the boys inform them of their journey to Mardi Gras, and tells them about a whorehouse that's supposed to be the best. They invite him to come and he joins the boys wearing his old football helmet.



After riding for a couple of days, the 3 men look a little ragged and scruffy. They walk into a diner where the townies do not take well seeing 3 men on a bike not clean shaven and having long hair. They were talking loud enough where they could hear, and the boys decided to leave to not cause any problems. It's so ignorant how individuals are treated just because they look different. I understand if they were worried about the safety of their daughters, thinking they were going to take advantage, I'd understand but all these men wanted to do was sit down and have a decent meal. The men of this town...took it too far.

While experiencing Mardi Gras, they took LSD with 2 whores and the cinematography, showing what it's like to be on LSD was unreal! LSD is supposed to distort perceptions of reality and produce hallucinations...they showed it. Captain American was being lovey dovey with a statue, while one of the whores recited to Lord's Prayer.

Every time the men were on the motorcycle's, we heard the greatest music of that time period. I recommend watching the movie with subtitles, because the lyrics of the songs go hand in hand with the subjects of the movie. Here's a list of the soundtrack.


"The Pusher"-Steppenwolf
"Born to Be Wild" -Steppenwolf
"The Weight"- Smith
"Wasn't Born to Follow"- The Byrds
"If You Want to Be a Bird (Bird Song)"-The Holy Modal Rounders
"Don't Bogart Me"- Fraternity of Man
"If 6 Was 9" -The Jimi Hendrix Experience
"Kyrie Eleison/Mardi Gras (When the Saints)"- The Electric Prunes
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" -Roger McGuinn
"Ballad of Easy Rider" -Roger McGuinn

This movie has many surprises that will shock you, and you'll never forget this film. Like i've said before, Jack Nicholson and his quirkiness are a huge part of why I enjoyed this film, seeing how individuals lived in the 60's and how prejudiced individuals were in that time period.

High Plains Drifter (1972)

Star Rating: 3
Length of Film: 105 minutes
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitch Ryan, Jack Ging, Stefan Glerasch, Ted Hartley, Billy Curtis, Geoffrey Lewis, Scott Walker, Walter Barnes, Paul Brinegar, Richard Bull, Alex Tinne, John Hillerman






The stranger (Clint Eastwood) rolls into the town of Lago for a shave and a bath, and is confronted by three men who are bullying him, interrupting him while he's being shaved. So he kills them. The stranger sees pretty blonde, Callie (Marianna Hill), snatches her right up. Takes her to a barn, and has his way with her. At first she fights it, and then gives in and enjoys herself.  

The Sheriff Sam Shaw (Walter Barnes) approaches the stranger and offers him a job as sheriff and mayor; all expenses paid if he helps protect the town against some outlaws. He marches himself to the general store, gives an older native american blankets, and orders himself 3 pairs of boots.

The stranger befriends Mordecai (Billy Curtis) a little person, who he makes combined Sheriff & Mayor.

While in charge, he drives the town crazy. He orders 200 gallons of red paint. Destroys a barn to make tables for a picnic, and kicks all the guests out of the hotel, leaving him to the rooms to himself. He grabbes Sarah, and takes her upstairs to her bedroom. She grabs a pair of scissors and stands in the corner of the room, farthest away from the stranger.

Sarah: It's no secret what you did to Callie Travers.
The Stranger: Did?
Sarah: The other day in the stable.
The Stranger: As I recall, she enjoyed that quite a bit.
Sarah: I promise you, I won't.
The Stranger: Well, you flatter yourelf, lady.
Sarah: I flatter myself?
The Stranger: Yeah, I'd love to oblige you, but a man's got to get his rest some.
Sarah: Oblige me?
The Stranger: But if you come back in a half an hour, I'll see what I can do, all right?

From the picture below, you see that Sarah gives herself to him willingly. With the town painted red, and the town sign saying "Hell", the 3 outlaws come to steal money and kill the residents of Lago. With picnic tables with food set up, and a banner saying "Welcome Home Boys".

This movie is about a town of cowards who are so fearful that they don't even know how to protect themselves against 3 men. The women are very loose, and are willing to give themselves to strange men that ride into town. The strangers sidekick, Mordecai's confidence rises throughout the film, especially when being befriended and not treated as someone different, but as an equal. Clint Eastwood plays the mysterious, cowboy very well; never showing any emotion. Will the stranger save the town of Lago or or will they banish under the hands of the 3 outlaws?

Casablanca (1942)

Star Rating: 3
Length of Film: 102 minutes
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine LeBeau, Dooley Wilson, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois
Oscars: Hal B. Wallis (best picture), Michael Curtiz (director), Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howart Koch (screenplay)
Oscar Nominations: Humphrey Bogart (actor), Claude Rains (actor is support role), Arthur  Edeson (photography), Owen Marks (editing), Max Steiner (music)


This movie is SOOOO overated. I was expecting more from this movie, especially since it's such a classic. The best parts of the movie was Ingrid Bergman, she was so pretty! Also, the famous quotes.

Ilsa: I can't fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can't do it again. Oh, I don't know what's right any longer. You have to think for both of us. For all of us.
Rick: All right, I will. Here's looking at you, kid.
Ilsa: [smiles] I wish I didn't love you so much.

 

 

 

Rick: Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Rick: We'll always have Paris.

Rick: Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

 

Here's the SHORT plot of the movie. In Paris, Rick (Humphrey Bogart), and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) were a couple, she was married, but thought her husband was dead. They were going to leave together, during the brink of WWII, but she found out that he was alive, and fled to be with him. Rick moved to Casablanca, and opened a bar.

 

 

Ilsa, of course, walks into Rick's bar, accompanied by her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a  fugitive Czech Resistance leader who has escaped from a Nazi concentration camp. She asks Rick to help her husband to escape, and when he refuses to help. She pulls a gun on him. She confesses she still loves him, but in the end, he sacrifices his feelings for her, and sends her off with her husband, on a plane, to America.

 

 

This movie is about love; a man who gives up his happiness for the safety of the woman he loves, and gives her to another man.

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Star Rating: 3

Length of Film: 105 minutes
Director: Robert Benton
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Meryla Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry, Howard Duff, George Coe, JoBeth Williamms, Bill Moor, Howland, Chamberlain, Jack Ramage, Jess Osuna, Nicholas Hormann, Ellen Parker, Shelby Brammer, & Carol Nadell
Oscars: Stanley R. Jaffe (best picture), Robert Benton (director), Robert Benton (screenplay), Dustin Hoffman (actor),  Meryl Streep (actress in support role)
Oscar Nomination: Justin Henry (actor in support role), Jane Alexander (actress in suport role), Nestor Almendros (photography), Gerald B. Greenberg (editing)



This movie will pull at your heart strings. Ted (Dustin Hoffman) was just promoted to a big account as an advertising executive. His wife, Joanna (Meryl Streep) packs up her bags, and leaves her husband, and 5 year old son Billy (Justin Henry). Ted was in a whirlwind of emotions, because he is now the sole parent to a child that he doesn't even know. The first morning with each other, Ted decides to make french toast, but forgets the ingredients. He mixes the eggs and milk in a coffee mug, but ran into a problem when the piece of bread wouldn't fit. Ted was out of practice. He didn't know how to raise a child, because he was breadwinner, and Joanna was the one that took care of the child.

15 months pass, Ted and Billy finally have a routine down, and are happy! That's when Joanna comes back and reaches out to Ted. She invited him to lunch, they sit down, and she tells him how shes got her life back on track, going to see a therapist, and has a job. She tells Ted that she's taking him to court, to get custody of her child. He of course, doesn't take it well.

Ted gets himself a lawyer, and he flat out tells him it'll cost $15,000 and his chances of getting custody is slim, since the court usually sides with the mother. The court scenes are rough, intense, and emotional! I was Team Ted the whole time, and when the prosecutors brought up every negative thing about Ted, in his personal life, but nothing about him being a father. One of the sweetest and heart breaking moments, was when Ted had to tell Billy what was going on, and he started crying. Pulled at my heart strings! I come from a divorced family, so I know how hard it is, on a child, having two houses, and splitting your time between two parents. It was hard seeing a child of 7 years old, have to go thorugh that.

At the end of the movie, we get to see Ted and Billy, yet again in the kitchen making French Toast, but they work as a team, and you see the growth between the two individuals. It's a beautiful moment between a father and son.

 

Midnight Cowboy

Star Rating: 2
Length of Film: 113 minutes
Director: John Schlesiner
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Gilman Rankin, Gary Owens, T. Tom Marlow, George Eppersen,
Al Scott, Linda David, J.T. Masters
Oscars: Jerome Hellman (best picture), John Schlesinger (director), Waldo Salt (screenplay)
Oscar Nomination: Dustin Hoffman (actor), Jon Voight (actor), Sylvia Miles (actress in support role), Hugh A. Robertson (editing)
Berlin Internation Film Festival: John  Schlesinger (OCIC award, Golder Bear nomination)


This movie was AWFUL!!! I don't understand why this movie was even made, I could see why people would see the movie, because the plot line is about prostitution. Joe Buck (Jon Voight) grew up in Texas, and decides to move to New York, to make a lot of money, selling himself to rich ladies. He carries one suitcase with him and heads to New York confidently. Once in New York, he struts around the city in his cowboy hat, snapped collar shirt, and fringed jacket.

On the street, he met a woman using the line, "Do you know where I could find the Statue of Liberty? Joe meets Cass, who she invites up to her Park Avenue apartment. Joe thinks he's finally made it big. They have sex, and while she gets dressed, she opens her purse, shows Joe she has no money for her taxi fare, to meet her next "date" with sugar-daddy Maury:

Cass: I hate to ask you, but you're such a doll.
Joe: You know, Cass, that's a funny thing you mentioning money. 'Cause I was just about to ask you for some.
Cass: (shocked) You were gonna ask me for money? Huh?
Joe: Hell, why do you think I come all the way up here from Texas for?
Cass: (now indignant and throwing a fit) You were gonna ask me for money? Who the hell do you think you're dealing with? Some old slut on 42nd Street? In case you didn't happen to notice it, ya big Texas longhorn bull, I'm one helluva gorgeous chick.
Joe: Now, Cass, take it easy.
Cass: You heard it. At twenty-eight years old. You think you can come up here, and pull this kind of crap up here! Well, you're out of your mind!

Ignorant of the ways of street hustling, he opens up his wallet and displays all the bills. Taking advantage of him, she reaches for a $20.

At a bar, he meets Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a conman bum who lives on the street. They get to talking about what Joe does, and Rizzo tells him he needs a manager. If he paid him $10, he would set him up with a guy that he knows. Rizzo walks Joe to the apartment building, and then says he needs another $10. Naïve about New York, Joe loses another $20. He ends up tracking down Rizzo, and demands his money back, but Rizzo only had $.64 left of the $20. Having no money to pay for his hotel room, Joe is homeless with none of his possessions. Joe agress to Rizzo's proposition to stay with him, in his squat. In the beginning of Rizzo and Joe's relationship, Rizzo took care of Joe, later on the roles reverse.

You see, Rizzo is a cripple, and has an awful cough. Together they team up to steal food from a fruit stand, while Joe still tries to make it as a prostitute. There's this one scene where a teen boy approaches Joe, and they see a movie together. The teen ends up going
down on Joe, but you don't ever see anything. Joe has constant flashbacks of his past, his mother who abandoned him dropping him off at his grandma's. Grandma leaving him in the house alone to go out on dates, and his girlriend, Annie, who duplicates the kissing and intimate moments with the teen. The flashbacks are really strange, and hard to comprehend, because we only see certain pictures at a time.

Rizzo becomes weaker and Joe takes on the role as his caretaker. Before a party, Joe smoothes Rizzo's hair with his shirt, a very intimate, and what a true friend would do to help out his buddy.

It's really great the bond that develops between Rizzo and Joe, but it's not a memorable movie. I mean...a movie about a male hustler, gets your attention, but the sex scenes aren't explicit, and when he goes off with other males, they don't show anything. I know that this movie was a big deal, in 1969. Heck...they gave the film an "X Rating", because of the drug using, and prostitution but it sucked!

I would NOT recommend this movie, and I disagree with the individual whomever reviewed this movie, and recommended it to be apart of the "1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die". Sylvia Miles never should have been nominated for her role for the 10 minutes of screen time for the film. It wasn't Oscar worthy, THANK GOD she didn't win. Jon Voights accent was fair, but I give him props for being intimately close to the other actors in this movie, especially having the topic of gayness and hustling.

 

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Star Rating: 4

Length of Film: 183 minutes
Director: Michael Cimino
Cast: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspegren, Shirley Stoler, Rutanya Alda, Pierre Segul, mady Kaplan, Amy Wright, Mary Ann Haenel, Richard Kuss,, & Joe Grifasi
Oscars: Barry Spikings, michael Deeley, Michael Cimino, John Peverall (best picture), Michael Cimino (director), Christopher Walken, (actor in support role), Peter Zinner (editing), Richard Portman, William L. McCaughey, Aaron Rochin, C. Darin Knight (sound)
Oscar Nominations: Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn, Louis Garfinkle, Quinn K. Redeker (screenplay), Robert De Niro (actor), Meryl Streep (actress in support role), Vilmos Zsigmond (photography)



I was absolutely blown away from this movie! The ending is a downer, but they had scenes in this movie that were so memorable, that I'll never forget it! The Deer Hunter is a 3 hour movie, but it goes by really quickly.

The movie is split up in 8 parts. Meeting the boys of Clariton, Pennsylvania, Steven and Angela's wedding, Deer Hunting, Vietnam War, back home to Clariton,  back to Saigon, and then they end the movie back in Clariton.

Sgt. Michael "Mike" Vronsky - Robert De Niro
Cpl. Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich- Christopher Walken
Cpl. Steven Pushkov-John Savage
Linda- Meryl Streep
 Stanley ("Stosh")- John Cazale.  All scenes involving Cazale, who had terminal cancer, had to be filmed first. Because of his illness, the studio initially wanted to get rid of him, but Streep, whom he was dating at the time, and Cimino threatened to walk away if they did.^[22][23] He was also uninsurable, and according to Streep, De Niro paid for his insurance because he wanted him in the film. This was his last film, as he died shortly after filming wrapped. Cazale never saw the finished film.^[22]
John Welsh- George Dzundza
 Peter "Axel" Axelrod- Chuck Aspegren. Aspegren was not an actor, he was the foreman at an East Chicago steel works visited early in pre-production by De Niro and Cimino. They were so impressed with him that they offered him the role.

The Deer Hunter is about a group of 5 friends, who idiotic guys...cussing all the time and pulling pranks on each other. Michael, Nick, and Steven are set to fight in the Vietnam war, and Steven marries Angela, before his departure. Angela is pregnant with another mans baby! It is a Russian Orthodox ceremony, which was really cool to see different wedding traditions. Their tradition included crowns for the bride and groom. The choir singers were awful! I could not stand it...they were so out of tune! The wedding reception was a lot of fun! Traditional Russian kick dancing, and a lot of drinking! At the reception, Nick proposed marriage to Linda, and she promised to wait for him to return from war. As Nick, Michael, Stanley, John, & Axel ran after Steven and Angela in their car, Michael starts stripping and you see bush! Sorry... I tried finding pictures, but couldn't find any :o(

The boys, minus Steven, go Deer Hunting for the last time, and then it flashes to the Vietnam War, where Michael is confident and kicks ass, and let me tell you...quite attractive! My eyes were glued to the screen as Robert De Niro was dirty, in military uniform, and with the bandana on his head! Yum!

This is when the movie gets really good!!! Michael, Nick, and Steven were captured by Vietnamese men, and thrown into a life or death game of Russian Roulette. The put one bullet in the gun, spin the gun on the table (like spin the bottle), and wherever the barrel ends up, that individual has to put the gun up against his forehead, and pull the trigger! It was intense! I was sitting on the couch, and I could feel my shoulders raising up toward my cheeks because I was stressed out for them. Steven held the gun above his head, and grazing his head, and is thrown in a cage with rats and the contestants who lost, as punishment. Michael never showed any fear, he tried to be the strong one for Nick, who was an emotional mess. Michael talks the natives to put 3 bullets in the gun, and Nick and Michael kill them all and escape with Steven.

While floating down the river, an American helicopter spots, them, Nick climbs aboard, Steven looses his grip, and falls...Michael lets go, to grab Steven. In the fall, Steven breaks both of his legs, and they have to amputate them. Nick was taken to a military hospital, but is so emotionally damaged, that he forgets what his parents names are, and their birthday. Nick gets himself involved in Saigon's underworld of Russian Roulette and becomes numb, no fear, no emotion, no talking. It's like no one is there. Which is why I think it's bull shit that Christopher Walken won an Oscar. He didn't do anything to earn the award!

Michael separates himself from Steven, so he can seek medical attentions, and he goes on the search for Nick. Not knowing where Steven ended up, he ends up going back home, where he falls in love with Linda, and Linda seeks comfort in Michael, because of her loss with Nick. Nick had not written any letters to Linda, while he was gone. Michael visits Angela, who is so distraught about Steven, that she couldn't even answer his questions. She just wrote down a number, a number where Michael could reach Steven at a Veteran's home, where he's learning to deal with being an amputee and having a wheelchair. I was actually really impressed with this wheelchair, because it actually looked like actor John Savage, was an amputee, you couldn't tell at all that his real legs were hiding.



In the end, Michael flies back to Saigon, to find Nick. He know that he's alive, because every month, Steven received cash from anonymous, he knew the money had to have come from Nick. In Saigon, Michael travels to the underworld, being bribed for a lot of money, for the location of the American who plays Russian Roulette. I hate to leave you at a teasing moment, but in order to find out what happens, you'll have to watch the movie.

All in all...watch the movie for the Russian Roulette scene. It's apart of cinema history, that you'll never forget.