Movie Update (#24-43)

It's been a while since I posted the movies I've been watching, so there's quite a bit of ground to make up...here we go:

#24. Gone With the Wind: This 1939 Victor Fleming classic is, simply put, excellent. Vivian Leigh makes a Scarlett O'Hara that you love to hate, and Clark Gable is a smooth, roguish Rhett Butler. One of the greatest books ever written becomes one of the greatest movies ever made.

#25. Dave: A fun comedy about a presidential impersonator (Kevin Kline) who is drafted to actually be the president when the real one is incapacitated. Also starring Sigourney Weaver as the First Lady.

#26. I.O.U.S.A.: Documentary about the truly scary levels of the US national debt, how it's gotten to where it is, and how we might be able to reduce it. Very informative and yet intimidating. Check out the website of the Concord Coalition for more info.

#27. Johnny English: Spy comedy starring the bumbling Rowan Atkinson as Britain's top secret agent, who has an over-inflated opinion of himself but still somehow manages to save the day.

#28. Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Classic comedy starring a young Matthew Broderick as a boy who decides to simply take the day off from school with two of his friends. Fun and sweet.

#29. Minority Report: Excellent psychological suspense thriller starring Tom Cruise. Set in the future in Washington, D.C. when special cyborg-like beings can detect murder before it happens.

#30. Ten Things I Hate About You: An old favorite of mine, starring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. Chick flick based on Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew.

#31. Matilda: Disney-esque break! Brilliant but underappreciated by her family, Matilda uses her considerable mental powers to get back at those who belittle her.

#32. The Godfather: This is one of those movies that I felt I absolutely had to see, and I don't regret that decision. EXCELLENT Mafia movie starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. I'll just say this: there's a reason this movie regularly competes with Citizen Kane for the top spot on the American Film Institute's top 100 movies list.

#33. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: The latest film installment of the Harry Potter saga...this was by far my favorite of the HP movies since Prisoner of Azkaban. David Yates did an excellent job directing, and the cast was as usual superb. Well worth seeing if you're a Harry Potter fan...but I still wouldn't reread the book too close to seeing the film. It's always disappointing, no matter what.

#34. Saving Private Ryan: Another Top 100 movie that I'm glad I got to see. Tom Hanks plays Capt. John Miller, the leader of a squad that was assigned to go behind enemy lines to retrieve a private (Matt Damon) whose brothers had been killed in action. I'm not usually much for war movies, but this was just a top-notch film.

#35. Bridget Jones's Diary: A favorite chick flick starring Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Colin Firth. Based on the book by Helen Fielding, about a single girl who resolves to turn her life around by losing weight and finding a nice, sensible boyfriend.

#36. High Society: Classic Cole Porter movie musical (based on The Philadelphia Story) starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Louis Armstrong. How does it get better than that?

#37. Made of Honor: Another fun chick flick with Patrick Dempsey. Tom (Dempsey) is asked by his (female) best friend to be the maid of honor at her wedding. The catch? He's in love with her.

#38. High School Musical 3: Senior Year: The third and (presumably) final installment of Disney's High School Musical series. Troy and Gabriella's final year at East High is almost over, and the accompanying emotional turmoil of the end of high school ensues.

#39. Fame: 1980 music/dance flick about a school of performing arts in New York City that is geared toward mostly underprivileged students with talent. The movie follows a few of these students from the auditions to get in through the end of their senior year. A remake is coming out later this year.

#40. The American President: Michael Douglas plays a widower president and Annette Bening his lobbyist love interest in this sweet and funny Aaron Sorkin romantic comedy. This was the movie that sparked the hit series The West Wing, and you can tell-- it's the genius of Sorkin. The president in The West Wing, Martin Sheen, plays the Chief of Staff in this movie.

#41. Mrs. Doubtfire: Robin Williams comedy about a divorced man who really, really wants to spend time with his kids-- to the point of dressing up like an elderly woman to be able to do so.

#42. Pretty Woman: Julia Roberts and Richard Gere romantic comedy. Roberts plays a street prostitute in Hollywood; Gere plays a wealthy businessman who picks her up and then hires her to be his date for the week he's in town.

#43. Mamma Mia!: I had my doubts about this film. Not because I dislike Abba music or any of the actors/actresses, but because Pierce Brosnan is a singing male lead in it-- and I really think James Bond should not sing. But I was pleasantly surprised, and wound up really, really enjoying this movie based on a musical based on a story encompassing hit Abba songs.