For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.

No. 92 - Goodfellas

I feel like Robert De Niro is the kind of guy I could be friends with in real life, and that he would let me affectionately refer to him as Bob, instead of Robert. We would meet for coffee every Sunday and talk about the movies we'd watched that week, and then on Wednesdays I would get together for family dinners with he and Grace. A girl can dream, right?

Synopsis

The story of Irish-Italian American, Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta), and how he lives day-to-day life as a member of the Mafia in New York in the 1960's-1970's. Based on a true story, the plot revolves around Henry and his two unstable friends, Jimmy Conway (played by Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (played by Joe Pesci) as they gradually climb the ladder from petty crime to violent murders.

Fun Facts, Compliments of IMDB:

  • According to Nicholas Pileggi, some actual mobsters were hired as extras to lend authenticity to scenes. The mobsters gave fake Social Security numbers to Warner Bros. and it is unknown how they received their paychecks.
  • After Joe Pesci's mother saw the film, she told her son that the movie was good, then asked him if he had to curse so much.
  • Every one of Robert De Niro's outfits had a watch and a pinkie ring to go with it.
  • In 2014, the Lufthansa heist was solved, and most of the still-surviving members were arrested.

Ryen's Review - Drop what you're doing and go see it right now

This is honestly one of the best movies I've ever seen. The fact that it's based on a true story just makes it that much better, and the fact that Martin Scorsese is the one who brings this story to life is the icing on the cake. Scorsese's use of voice-over narration, freeze-frames and flashbacks throughout the film help to transport you to 1960's New York. You can't help but imagine what life in the mob would be like, and even though you might say to yourself "I wouldn't last one day..." you just can't help thinking that maybe, all you REALLY have ever wanted is to be a gangster...

You ever been to Poughkeepsie?

frenchconnection_large.jpg

Guess who's baaaaaack? It's been a while, ya'll. I have no excuse, other than to say that I lost myself somewhere along the way, and this became a chore instead of a fun, creative outlet. But guess what? This is Trump's America now! Grab life by the pussy! Don't put parameters around your life! (I really hope you all know how much sarcasm is dripping from those last few sentences...). If you're not upset about the fact that you just read the word pussy (now for the second time) soldier on to find out how I feel about The French Connection.

Synopsis

William Friedkin's gritty police drama portrays two, tough New York City cops trying to intercept a huge heroin shipment coming from France. An interesting contrast is established between Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle (played by Gene Hackman), a short-tempered, alcoholic bigot who is nevertheless a hard-working and dedicated police officer, and his nemesis Alain Charnier (played by Fernando Rey), a suave and urbane gentleman who is nevertheless a criminal and one of the largest drug suppliers of pure heroin to North America. During the surveillance and eventual bust, Friedkin provides one of the most gripping and memorable car chase sequences ever filmed, which leads to a showdown between police and mobsters outside of the city. 

Fun Facts, compliments of IMDB:

  • All of the extras used in the first bar scene were real-life police officers.
  • According to William Friedkin, Gene Hackman had a hard time saying Doyle's racist language without cringing.
  • Cameras and equipment would often freeze during shooting, due to near freezing temperatures during the winter shooting in New York City and Brooklyn.
  • Roy Scheider (who plays Gene Hackman's partner in the film) was convinced he had lost the part as he stormed out of his audition. That, in fact, was the reason why he was cast.
  • The first R-rated film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, in 1971.

Ryen's Review - Meh

Ok, I'm just going to come right out and say it: I don't think this film should be included on AFI's top 100. Was Gene Hackman outstanding? Yes. Was the car chase totally epic? Absolutely. That being said, I feel like there are plenty of other "police drama's" that are better. An example, you ask? Well, honestly....The Departed. Now THAT is a "police drama" worthy of it's salt, IMHO...

Also, this film came out in 1971, and over the next 9 years, we were also introduced to masterpieces such as Jaws, Star Wars, Taxi Driver, Annie Hall, Rocky... (all of which are on AFI's top 100 list as well) so how on EARTH did this film make the list?! 

If you're a fan of the 70's, car chases, bar fights, drug smuggling, foul language and New York City, I have a feeling you'll enjoy this film. If you're not, steer clear - this one ain't for you, bud.

They call it a Royale with Cheese.

No. 94 - Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino is one of my favorite directors. He's bold, inventive, dynamic, totally weird, and his films consistently boast an all-star cast. He pushes the envelope and makes you feel uncomfortable. While I realize that many of these are traits that keep people from seeing his films (minus the all-star cast), these are all reasons I run to the box office. 

Another reason why I love him is that he made a surprise appearance at an evening showing of The Hateful Eight at our very own Hollywood Theatre here in Portland, Or back in December 2015. 

It was as if he were just another film buff eager to take in the spectacle of the first feature film shot in the Ultra Panavision 70mm format in nearly 50 years.

I feel like he genuinely wants us to enjoy the cinematic masterpieces that are the object of his affection, hence why he's given us such titles as the prodigious Pulp Fiction.

Synopsis

Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) are two hit men who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Wallace has also asked Vincent to take his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out a few days later when Wallace himself will be out of town. Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) is an aging boxer who is paid by Wallace to lose his next fight. The lives of these seemingly unrelated people are woven together, comprising of a series of funny, bizarre and uncalled-for incidents.

Fun Facts, Compliments of IMDB:

  • Uma Thurman originally turned down the role of Mia Wallace. Quentin Tarantino was so desperate to have her as Mia, he ended up reading her the script over the phone, finally convincing her to take on the role.
  • The movie cost $8 million to make, $5 million of which went to pay the actors' salaries.
  • Bruce Willis worked on the film for only 18 days.
  • Selected for preservation in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
  • Marsellus and Mia never actually speak to one another on-screen, even though they are seen together poolside and are husband and wife.
  • One of the first movies to use the Internet for advertising.

Ryen's Review - Loved It

You already know by now that I am a yuuuuuge Tarantino fan, so it shouldn't come as a shock to you that I loved this film. The fact that Tarantino wrote the script so that each character was somehow involved in one another's lives throughout the film never felt planned, it always felt like a magical accident. I was consistently surprised by each plot-turn; consistently surprised each time Samuel L. Jackson delivered his lines that included the passage in Ezekiel, with how much fervor and emotion seemed to emit from his vocal chords; consistently surprised that I could never distinguish between the "good guys" and the "bad guys" during the two hours and fifty eight minutes I was glued to the television screen.

With any Tarantino film comes graphic violence, and so I will warn you that if you are averse to blood and violence in film, proceed with caution. That being said, I highly recommend this film and know for next time that I'll need to watch it as I enjoy a "royale with cheese". 

Never you mind, honey. Never you mind.

YOU GUYS. My last post was 2 months ago. 2 MONTHS. I promise I haven't abandoned you, and I have no excuse except that life has been busy lately and I haven't been making the time to post like I should. I'm feeling very behind, but am going to get my ass in gear and keep at it. 

A few side notes: the picture above accurately describes my feelings about the film, which I'll explain in a minute. Second, I went and saw the Queen Bee (Beyoncé, for those of you who are not aware of her amazingness) in Seattle last week and it was everything I've ever wanted and more. If you follow me on snap chat, you would have caught a few snippets of an epic 2.5 hours. 

Synopsis

It's the 1950's in West Texas, and a group of high schoolers are looking for a way out of their bleak, isolated, and atrophied town. With the town slowly dying, both economically and culturally, the teenagers learn how to cope with heartache, loss and growing up as they move on to the next chapter of their lives.  

Fun Facts, Compliments of IMDB:

Ryen's Review - Meh

While this story is about young love and growing up (normally one of my favorite movie plots), I just couldn't find the "wow" factor. I made what some would call a "bad move" and read Roger Ebert's review of The Last Picture Show. For Ebert, this movie was nostalgic. It brought him back to his childhood; the smell of buttered popcorn, jubilees, and his days spent at the Princess Theatre (the theatre of his childhood) in Urbana, IL. While this movie was filmed in the 1970's, it was set in the 1950's and I feel like this is why it resonated with him so much. I'm pretty sure I've learned my lesson though: don't read movie reviews by famous movie critics. You'll lose your mojo.

I didn't have those same warm and fuzzy feelings of nostalgia with this film as ol' Roger did. I will say that there was a fantastic cast (shout out to Jeff Bridges) but other than that, I felt that it was just your average, run of the mill, black and white film. Maybe one day I'll give it another shot, but for now, I have about 94 other movies to watch.

Extra Cheese is Two Dollars

I feel like I start every post talking about food (sorry, not sorry), and this post will be no different. I think it's because a large majority of my day is spent around food (thinking about it and eating it) and because I feel that food is meant to be an experience, just like a movie is meant to be an experience; why not put the two together for an even MORE meaningful experience?! Also, can we just take a moment to truly appreciate how unbelievable the above photo is?

 A very good friend of mine, who has seen this film before, told me that in order to "get the full experience" (weird that that word keeps popping up...) I needed to make sure I enjoyed a pizza while I contemplated the complexity of this masterpiece. So, I most certainly took his advice and ordered a half corn, half sausage and veggie pizza from Dove Vivi, my favorite pizza place in Portland by far, and DOVE in (see what I did there) quite literally. 

Synopsis

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione (Danny Aiello) is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. Mookie (Spike Lee) is the delivery boy at Sal's, lives in Brooklyn and knows all of the locals. A neighborhood local, and friend of Mookie's, Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), becomes upset when he comes into Sal's for a slice and sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

Fun Facts, Compliments of IMDB:

  • Spike Lee wrote, produced, directed and starred in this film.

  • Spike Lee wrote the script in two weeks.

  • The title comes from a Malcolm X quotation that goes, "You've got to do the right thing."

  • Martin Lawrence's feature film debut.

  • The word "fuck" is used approximately 240 times in this film, a rate of two a minute. (you've been warned...)

  • The entire shooting of the film took place on one commandeered block in Brooklyn. Extra care was taken to ensure the experience was palatable to the residents of that block and the production even hired a couple residents on that block.

Ryen's Review - Drop what you're doing and go see it right now

I can hardly describe to you how much I loved this film. I'm trying to figure out how to put my thoughts into words, but all I can really say is that the relevance of this film, in light of current events across America and around the globe, speaks volumes to the radical change that is needed in order to rid the Earth of racism and prejudice for good. What is unfortunate is that this film was written and released in 1989, and here we are in 2016, 27 years later; same shit, different day. TWENTY SEVEN YEARS people...I guess this isn't so much of a review as it is a disassembly of the process of my thoughts.

Without getting myself too overly worked up, I'll leave you with a plea to watch this film. Watch this film and be inspired. Be angry. Be shocked. Be concerned. Be encouraged. Be the change. Be ready to fight the good fight.

The end. 

"More human than human." That's our motto.

No. 96 - Blade Runner

Rachael and Rick. Together forever. *SIGH* Fun fact: the name of the actress that played Rachael is Sean Young. I love that her name is Sean. I love learning of women who have "boy" names; Daryl Hannah, Blake Lively, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore....these are just a few of my favorites. 

Blade Runner was another movie that was enjoyed with dear friends. It just so happened to be Fat Tuesday when our viewing party commenced, and my wonderful husband made a delicious dinner of jambalaya and cornbread. We drank wine, we ate too much food, we paused the movie about 17 times because we kept talking, we had banana cake from New Seasons for dessert (which was actually delicious even though I don't like bananas) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I think I might make viewing parties a bi-monthly ritual...

Synopsis

It's the year 2019 and cities around the World are in shambles. We see that 4 "Replicants" have escaped from the colonies where they've been sent, and have come back to Earth on a killing spree. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is forced by the police chief to continue his old job as a Replicant Hunter in Los Angeles and bring down the escapees. Before he can devise a master plan, he travels to the Tyrell Corporation to learn more about how these replicants were created and meets a young replicant named Rachael, who he ends up falling head over heels for.

Fun Facts, Compliments of IMDB:

  • Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as probably his most personal and complete film.

  • To ensure that he didn't have to wear a hat in the film (having just come off Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)), Harrison Ford went out and got a contemporary haircut which Ridley Scott didn't care for but was essentially stuck with.

  • The term replicants is used nowhere in Philip K. Dick's writing. The creatures in the source novel are called Androids or Andies. The movie abandoned these terms, fearing they would sound comical spoken on screen. Replicants came from David Webb Peoples' daughter, Risa, who was studying microbiology and biochemistry. She introduced her father to the theory of replication - the process whereby cells are duplicated for cloning purposes.

  • There are only 90 special effects shots in the entire film in every version.

  • It took 3 hours to glue all the sequins onto Joanna Cassidy.

  • The 'snake scale' seen under the electron microscope was actually a marijuana bud.

Ryen's Review - Liked It

This film was unique in the sense that it gave me a different "view" into the future than other movies I've watched from the 80's that are futuristic. While other futuristic films make light of what's to come, Blade Runner was a mix between film noir and science fiction; mysterious, symbolic, dark, speculative, and dramatic with an over-emphasis on the dramatic, but in a good way. The incorporation of religious symbolism in this film is prominent, and only adds to your curiosity in hopes that there is a means to an end for the task set before Rick Deckard. This film is not short of twists, turns and thrills and will keep you guessing up until the very end. 

 

Ham makes me self-conscious

You may be wondering about the title of this post. Ham makes me self conscious? What does that even mean? I'm the worlds worst spoiler-alerter (usually) so I'm going to show some restraint and not explain the meaning behind this. 

My dear friend Mickaela joined me for the viewing of this film, as she had never seen it either. She brought a bottle of wine to enjoy and stopped to grab this delicious bottle of said vino at one of our favorite places, Cyril's.  If you live in Portland and you've never been, I highly recommend you check it out. Anyway, they asked what we were having for dinner and, naturally, Mickaela said "Popcorn." So they said "Ok...well, you better have a red. Here's a lovely bottle that pairs phenomenally with butter, so make sure you put a lot of butter on your popcorn and sip the wine right after you've had a few kernels. It will make the wine taste buttery as well." (I'm sure they said this much more eloquently than I just did). I also like that they told her "make sure you put a lot of butter on your popcorn." As if we wouldn't put enough butter on our popcorn?! What do they think this is, amateur hour?

Ok, I'm getting off track here. Back to the review.

Synopsis

A patriotic and entertaining musical that tells the story of the Cohan family: Four Vaudeville entertainers (mom, dad, brother and sister) who sing and dance their way to stardom in the early 20th century. George Cohan (played by James Cagney) is the narrator and lead of the film, and proceeds to tell his rags to riches story to none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt, who invites him to the Oval Office for a meeting following the opening of George's new play. From here, you're taken through the birth of George Cohan (who just so happens to be born on the 4th of July, and who is named after George Washington), his childhood, his life lessons, the meeting of his wife Mary, the ups and downs of the vaudeville entertainment industry, and then finally back to present day. Well, that is, the present day of the early 20th century...

Fun Facts, Compliments of IMDB

  • James Cagney became the first actor to win the Best Actor Academy Award for a musical performance.

  • This film marks the first time a living US President was depicted in a film.

  • A hugely patriotic film, production was already underway when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took place.

  • Fred Astaire was first offered the leading role but turned it down.

  • James Cagney was 11 years older than his screen mother Rosemary DeCamp.

  • Despite failing health, the real George M. Cohan acted briefly as a consultant on the film. He lived long enough to see the finished result and approved wholeheartedly of James Cagney's depiction of himself.

Ryen's Review - Meh

I have to admit, this film was not my favorite. While patriotic, upbeat and most likely every musical-fanatic's dream, I was confronted with some things that I was not expecting. For instance, the use of blackface in the film. Before this film, I was unaware that Vaudeville used blackface in their productions. Hell, I didn't even know what vaudeville was if I'm being 100% honest. After a bit of research, I found that blackface was widely used in Vaudeville theater in the 1930's and 1940's. However, witnessing this in the film made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. 

James Cagney won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Musical for this film, and was in blackface (as was the rest of his family) during a performance as "The Cohan's" in later scenes. That, to me, is just utterly bonkers... Meanwhile, every African American who was cast in this film was cast as the "hired help." There were no lead or heroic roles given to African American actors for Yankee Doodle Dandy. 

I did not enjoy this film as much as I thought I would. It's one I think you can miss. It's one you don't need to write home about, and while it was the first musical to receive an award for Best Actor, I don't really agree with it being on the Top 100 list. Even though this wasn't the best film ever, I did enjoy it with wine and a dear friend; two of my favorite things.  

To infinity...and beyond.

No. 99 - Toy Story

YOU GUYS. How did I forget the amazingness that IS Toy Story?! I hadn't watched it for probably 10 years...maybe even longer than that. Not surprisingly, it was just as wonderful this time as it was the first time I saw it. Fun fact: I was 8 years old when this movie came out. PRIME Disney time in my life, I'd say. Speaking of the prime Disney time in my life, don't let me forget to tell you the story of my mom "snowing out" the dragon scene in Sleeping Beauty some time... 

I don't think I could possibly spoiler-alert this movie for you (considering most of you who are reading this are more or less my age; give or take a few years, and have definitely seen this movie), but I'll refrain from giving you a play-by-play anyway and start, once again, with a brief synopsis and fun facts about the film.

Synopsis

A cowboy doll named Woody becomes jealous and threatened when a new "space ranger" action figure named Buzz Lightyear takes over Andy's room as top toy. In an effort to reclaim his title, Woody crafts a plan to get rid of Buzz that goes horribly wrong, leaving he and Buzz stranded in some unfortunate, yet comical situations. After finding themselves locked away in Sid's room (a.k.a the crazy neighbor kid who ruins toys for fun) they realize that they must overcome their differences and work together in order to return to their beloved Andy. 

Fun Facts, compliments of IMDB

  • The highest-grossing movie of 1995.

  • This was the first animated film in Oscar history to be nominated for a Best Screenplay Academy Award - Adapted or Original.

  • What attracted Tom Hanks to the role of Woody was the fact that, during his childhood, he would always wonder if his toys were alive and moved around when nobody was in his room. What attracted Tim Allen to the role of Buzz Lightyear was the fact that, before him, they offered the role to his biggest influence in his career, Chevy Chase, who turned it down.

  • All of the cars in Toy Story have license plate stickers that are dated November 95 - the same date the movie was released.

  • The character of Andy is named for Andries "Andy" Van Dam, a Brown University professor and computer science and animation pioneer who taught many of the makers of this film.

Ryen's Review - Loved It

OF COURSE this movie is supposed to be on the top 100 list - it's one of the greatest movies of the 20th century AND it's animated! Honestly, I would rank this movie at like, 50. It doesn't deserve to be no ninety-nine. As the first animated feature in Oscar history to be nominated for a Best Screenplay Academy Award (adapted or original), you better believe that this film brings it's A game. Toy Story reminds every child to believe in magic. It reminds every adult what it was like to be a kid. There were so many unknowns back then; so many fears and hopes and dreams and pre-pubescent challenges. But yet, you don't mind remembering those things because it reminds you of how far you've come and that there's more life to live. More fights. More laughter. More tears. More movies. More friends. More hard times. More hard work. More finding yourself.

Geez...Toy Story getting DEEP. Prepare to be just one big ball of love and emotions after you finish this film. Call your mom. Hug your brother. Make up with the friend or loved one you've been fighting with. If you don't agree with me, well, then...this town ain't big enough for the two of us. 

:)

Never heard of HUR...

No. 100 - Ben Hur

I watched this movie in two parts, as an argument broke out between my husband and I when I initially started watching it. He wanted to watch the Blazer game, and I wanted to finish Ben Hur. Our conversation went a little something like this:

Brenton: "Ryen, can't you just watch Ben Hur on your lap top? The Blazer game starts in an hour. Sam's coming over and we're planning on watching it."

Ryen: "No babe! The Romans are like, taking over shit! I need to watch this on the big screen!"

No joke, I actually said that. Anyway, in the end we compromised and I ended up watching the Romans "take over shit" on the big screen for half the movie, and eventually finished it on my lap top a few hours later (hashtag, up past my bed time). Before I give my review, here is what Ben Hur is "basically" about as well as some fun facts:

Synopsis

The story of a wealthy, Jewish aristocrat (that's Judah Ben-Hur) from Jerusalem who ends up in jail after one of his childhood friends (a pompous but good looking Roman soldier named Messala) throws him in jail for a crime he didn't commit. In an insane turn of events, he escapes prison, works on a slave ship, winds up being adopted by a Roman general, moves to Rome and becomes a Roman, then says "Eff you Rome, I want revenge" and goes back to Jerusalem to find his mother and sister (who have now been banished to a leprosy colony, FYI) along with a plan to kill Messala, mainly because he's just not a nice person and Judah Ben Hur thinks he deserves it.

Fun Facts, compliments of IMDB -

  • This is the first of three films to have won 11 Academy Awards, including the Best Picture Oscar. The second was Titanic (1997) and the third was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Several of the categories won by "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" didn't exist in "Ben-Hur"'s day, making its 11 wins that much more impressive.

  • Paul Newman was offered the role of Judah Ben-Hur but turned it down because he'd already done one Biblical-era film, The Silver Chalice (1954), and hated the experience. He also said it taught him that he didn't have the legs to wear a tunic.

  • The chariot race required 15,000 extras, on a set constructed on 18 acres of backlot at Cinecitta Studios outside Rome. Tour buses visited the set every hour. Eighteen chariots were built, with half being used for practice. The race took five weeks to film (are you kidding me?!)

  • Three hundred sets, five years of research and 14 months of labor were required for the sets.

  • MGM commissioned over 40 scripts for the film over a period of six years.

My favorite fun fact is that Paul Newman felt he "didn't have the legs to wear a tunic." Don't worry, Pauly. You may not have had the legs, but you sure as hell had the looks. You'll always be a mega-babe to me. 

Ryen's Review - Liked it

While this film could have been at least an hour shorter, I have to admit that it does deserve to be on the top 100 list. I wasn't sure how I felt during the first 2.5 hours, but the last 45 minutes (arguably the best 45 minutes) really sealed the deal for me. Full of drama, shocking betrayal, revenge, forgiveness and unrequited love, this movie is sure to give you #allthefeels. Whether über religious, hardcore Atheist, or somewhere in between, Ben Hur will speak to your soul in a way that few other films can. If you're planning to watch this film (and I really hope you are), make sure you clear your Saturday afternoon schedule and have a box of tissues at the ready. To quote Larry the cucumber "I laughed...I cried...it moved me, Bob."