Truly A Classic!

I've never been much of a true believer for lists which titles begin with "10 Greatest.." or "100 Best..", especially after Vogue's '10 best dressed on Oscar red carpet' includes Nicole Kidman and the horrifyingly red dress with its horrifyingly red gigantic neck ribbon. i mean, what the heck?? Anyway...i stumbled upon the list of '100 best film of all time' in one of my brother's film literature. To some of the entries I absolutely agree, but there are many entries to which i literally beg to differ. The thing about such lists is that they just piss you off in a certain level and makes you really want to make your own list.

Due to ADHD, i cannot collect myself enough to put down a 100 items list. Behold the power of laziness i.e. here's my 5 items list:

1. Singin in the Rain (1952)
I just love love lurveeee this musical! I think it beats the crap out of 'the Sound of Music' in this imaginary battle for the title 'best musical in hollywood history'. Singin in the Rain has all the everyone-is-so-unexplainably-happy quality that a musical should have, minus the creepy slash annoying pug-faced Von Trapp kids (I still can't get over that they try to pass the eldest daughter as a 16 YEARS OLD..nay, an INNOCENT NAIVE 16 YEARS OLD THAT NEEDS SOMEONE TO DEPEND ON. Haksss...she looks old enough to be the mother!). Anyhooo..Singin in the Rain! the title itself represents the true merit of this film: being happy despite whatever crap happens in life! I love all the tracks, and the dances (v.v.precise to an almost mechanical-extent yet graceful), and the wardrobe (those wonderful dresses in the 'Beautiful Girl scene!), and the set...and of course the story. Everything is so vibrant, lucid and Technicolor. This movie has the ultimate feel-good atmosphere that it's so hard to believe that the cast didn't get along together behind the scene. Gene Kelly turned out to be angelic-heartthrob on screen and bossy-tyrant in real life. But I think he made it up with that monumental title scene: he was having an almost-40-Celcius-degrees FEVER during the take and still able to nail the scene.

2. The Hustler (1961)
Upon completion of this movie, I have to admit that I haven't completely grasp the concept/philosophy of hustling. It's one of those make-you-ponder film, but the most memorable thing about this film is of course the pool room scene: the marathon between Fast Eddie and Minnesota Fats in the poolroom, condensed with smoke and tension. AND how can Paul Newman still convey his whimsical blue-eyes charm in this black and white movie?? I think his character is very interesting; he's got the look and also the edge. Definitely not the typical pretty boy out to save the world, Eddie Felson's like a pendulum swinging from the 'faithful lover wanting to repent from gambling habit' to 'cocky pool shark just wanting to show the world that he's da thing and just screw everything else'. His battle within between the good and the bad is very subtle and keeps viewer guessing who will win (in addition to the actual feud between Eddie and Fats). In the end, nobody really wins.

3. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
While Singin in the Rain is a very sunny (ehh..pun not intended) take of the transition from silent movies to talkies happening in Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard is sitting on the other extreme. It's a v.v.v.noir story about the aftermath: has-been silent-movie starlet who's lives in the past and anxious for her comeback (or 'return' as she said), which apparent to everyone but her, is not going to happen. Her disillusionment is almost painful to watch, poignantly tragic yet it's not her body that ended up floating on the swimming fool. Every corner in Norma Desmond's mansion is drenched with this somewhat putrid Hollywood glory. Among the cast, even though it's William Holden who after all made it to the '10 Greatest Actor of all Time' (here we go again with the lists..), it's Gloria Swanson who successfully ruled every scene. Despite her neurotic over-dramatizing persona and kooky facial expression (her glaring to the camera that ending scene is almost haunting!), she makes us 'feel' the pain of being forgotten but not yet gone.

4. Cool Hand Luke (1968)
Another Paul Newman piece :)) A rather beatnik spirited story about finding purpose of your life and finally getting this 'epiphany' that maybe there is no purpose. It really is depressing when you think of it and I really gasped when Luke got shot by The Boss, after all the painful struggle and those happy moments with following prisoners....but the epilogue by Dragline really somehow made it all worth-while...I suppose! Actually I'm still questioning "WHYYY? whyy wouldn’t the wardens give him a break??(sob sob) he's not a serial killer, he just cut off a parking meter during a drunken night...he's really a good person, he (sob sob) loves his Ma and he gives hope (sob sob) to his friend". But I guess that's what the Beat generation is all about, beats me (although this film is actually from a different era with, say, Kerouac's 'On the Road'). Anyway...I really admire Paul Newman for his always-earnest depiction of cool-as-ice character who is actually having a battle within. The most interesting part is the egg eating contest and continued to the scene when Luke found out that his mother has passed away. Normally, I would definitely crack up giggling and let out a 'blattt!' every time someone in a film, out of sorrow and misery, start strumming his guitar (or banjo!) and start singing. I usually find it very artificial and 'sinetron bgt!', but this scene serves as an exception.

5. Annie Hall (1977)
Probably the most accomplished Woody Allen's work, this film got me at the first scene:
Alvy Singer: [addressing the camera] There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly. The... the other important joke, for me, is one that's usually attributed to Groucho Marx; but, I think it appears originally in Freud's "Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious," and it goes like this - I'm paraphrasing - um, "I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member." That's the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationships with women.
Enough said! :D I never knew that one can develop such deep empathy to a little, sweaty, obsessive, neurotic, skittish man.

Un-finished list of Classics that everyone cant stop talking and praising about but surprisingly I found them to be very annoying:
1. Citizen Kane: yeahh even if everybody boo me and call me the most uncultured hillbilly, it won’t change my mind: I'm profoundly annoyed by this movie! I can't even endure further than the iconic 'Rosebud' OPENING scene. It's all too neurotically intense.
2. Bringing up Baby: I just don't get it. What's so funny about an annoying stubborn histreonic woman and a supposedly-smart-but-actually-seems-a-bit-annoyingly-dim-witted man making a big fuss about an annoying leopard?

Another un-finished list about classics that I haven’t finished watching but definitely will try to:

Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Sophie’s Choice - Buster Keaton's works - Fellini's works…

Whoa! I really need a movie fix!