Casablanca

 AFI Ranking: 3rd
Release Year: 1942

One of the things that I like about watching Classic movies is I realize that I have heard the famous lines from them before, but now I actually get the context of the line.  Casablanca is a great example of this.  "Here's looking at you kid" and "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" are both quotes I had heard before, but now I know the story behind each of these.

Same thing with these actors such as Clark Gable and, in this case, Humphrey Bogart.  I have always heard of this guys but never actually seen them in action.

Although I wouldn't say that Casablanca has been my favorite of the AFI films we have watched, I definitely enjoyed watching it more than the film that beat it out for number one, Citizen Kane (Although Citizen Kane is likely number one for it's technique and not plot).  According to Roger Ebert, Casablanca is "probably on more lists of the greatest films of all time than any other single title, including Citizen Kane" because of its wider appeal; while Citizen Kane is "greater", Casablanca is more loved

Casablanca was actually released the year after Citizen Kane.  In fact, it was rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks later.

Interesting facts about Casablanca (from good ol' wikipedia.)

• No one involved in the production of the film expected it to be anything great.
• This was the first time Humphrey Bogart played a romantic lead (he had been typed cast as a gangster early in his career).
• Ingrid Bergman (who plays the leading lady) was actually 2 inches taller than Bogart.  As a result, during their scenes together, Bogart, rumor has it, stood on blocks or sat on cushions during their scenes.
• The famous line "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", which is the last line of the film, was actually written after the final script and Bogart had to come in the studio a month after filming had completed to dub it.
• One rumor is that Ronald Reagan was actually the original actor chosen for Bogart's lead role.

Happy Father's Day!

JP and I have both been blessed with super cool Dads who have both been very good to us!

Citizen Kane

AFI Ranking: 1st
Release Year: 1941

Citizen Kane is often considered the greatest film of all time.  Of course, because of this, there is much debate on whether or not it should hold this title. 

JP and I watched it with his family when we were at Hilton Head.  JP and I both felt as far as the plot goes it was somewhat anticlimatic at the end and overall somewhat boring. However, as I've read about it, I've discovered that apparently the film did a lot for the film industry.  It's flashbacks, its uses of symbolism, its camera moves, its cuts, its deep focus, its structure, its sets, its sound track are a vitrual catalogue of superb examples of what you can do in a film.  Everything that matters in cinema since 1940 has been influenced by Kane.(source)

At least now we know the significance of the word Rosebud.  I always wondered where the people who made SimCity got that word as a secret secret passcode.

It Happened One Night

AFI Ranking: 46th (3rd ranked romantic comedy)
Year Released: 1934

I'm pretty sure I had never seen a movie starring Clark Gable (if I had, I don't remember).  It Happened One Night was a fun movie to be introduced to him.  I loved this movie and definitely recommend it!

One of the most famous scenes:

Ellie attempts to get a car to stop so they can hitch a ride...

Interesting facts:

• After completing the film, Claudette Colbert, the leading lady, stated, "I just finished the worst picture in the world."
• At one point, Clark Gable takes off his shirt to get ready for bed.  When he does, he does not have an undershirt on.  An urban legend claims that, as a result, sales of men's undershirts declined noticeably.
• In Sex and the City 2, Carrie and Mr. Big watch It Happened One Night on a flat-screen TV in a hotel. Later in an attempt to get a taxi, Carrie uses her leg as a way to flag down a taxi.

Psycho

Ranked: 14th
Released:  1960

The first movie we watched on the list was Alfred Hitchock's Psycho.  Of course I was familiar with the infamous shower scene, but I had never actually seen the movie.  Overall, I really liked the movie, and it kept my attention (I have a tendency to get bored in some movies).  Of course, it wasn't nearly as scary now as I'm sure it was when it came out.  Also, I sort of knew the twist at the end, but I can't imagine how shocked those who watched it when it first came out were.

I really enjoy reading what Wikipedia has to say about the classic movies we have been watching.  Some random, interesting things I learned about Psycho from good ol' Wikipedia:

• Alfred Hitchcock actually makes a cameo in this film (as in most of his films.)  You don't have to wait long for it as it happens seven minutes into the film.  He can be seen through a window, wearing a Stetson hat, standing outside Marion Crane's office.  Honestly, I didn't pick up on this.
  
• There are a number of references to birds. Marion's last name is Crane and she is from Phoenix. Norman's hobby is stuffing birds, and he comments that Marion eats like a bird. In British slang, a young woman is called a "bird."
  
• Psycho is actually based on a book that is based on a true case.
  
• The book Pyscho is based on has the protagonist Mary Crane being from Dallas, TX (my fav city).  The movie, however, has the protagonist being from Phoenix, AZ (JP's home town).  However, at the time there was a lady named Mary Crane living in Phoenix so they renamed the protagonist Marion Crane for the movie.
  
• There were several controversies surrounding the movie (mostly the shower scene) but one of the most humorous one to me involves a toilet.  Marion is shown flushing a toilet with its contents of torn up paper fully visible.  Up until that time, in film and television, a toilet flushing was never heard and definitely not seen.

The Classics

JP and I recently decided to watch films from the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.  The original movie list was released in 1998 and an updated list in 2007.  We are using the 2007 list.  According to Wikipedia, every ten years a new list will be released "to mark changing cultural perspectives"  We are using Netflix to complete this task, and currently have added many to our Queue.  Although there are a lot of films we are familiar with and some we have even seen, there are many that we are unfamiliar with.  As we have gone through the list there are a few that we have decided we have absolutely no desire to see... such as the 3 hour silent film Birth of a Nation... so we aren't sure we will complete the entire list but we will come close.

I plan on doing a post on each of the movies we watch from the list... so watch out for them!

Define: Frolic

According to Webster's Dictionary, the verb frolic means: to play and run about happily.  To JP the verb frolic apparently means...

 

While we were at the beach, JP's brother Michael wanted to do a photo shoot of us on the beach.  When Michael told us to frolic on the beach, well, you saw what he got. These pictures make me laugh every time I look at them.

We did get a few fun shots, but not many due to JP being so very silly.  I told Michael it's just good practice for a non-cooperative groom.