Rocky

1976.
#78 / #57
Winner of 3 Academy Awards.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) trains for his title fight against Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). But really, he's falling in love with the pet store girl, Adrian (Talia Shire).

Sarah: Eddie insisted we watch this movie together, even though I told him I've already seen it. I ended up being glad to re-watch it because I had forgotten a few details (spoiler: I had forgotten that Rocky loses the fight). One thing I had blocked out was how stressed this movie makes me feel. Stallone manages to make Rocky so vulnerable and helpless, which is why this movie made it to the list. It's not just a sports movie. However, there were two things I didn't understand:

1. Apollo Creed's evil plan.
2. Boxing in general. (There are judges? What?)

All in all I was glad this was on the list, it's fun, simple, and sweet.

Eddie: Lately, Sarah and I have been watching a lot of movies that are good, but don't deserve to be on the list (or don't deserve to be listed as high as they are). ROCKY is just the opposite. Not only does it belong on the list, it should be much, much higher. ROCKY is more than a boxing movie. It's a love story. And it's a story of redemption. The Rocky-Adrian love story dominates the first hour of the movie, with only cursory scenes about boxing. Both Stallone and Shire turn in such brilliant performances - he as the hulking oaf and she as the shy pet store girl - that you are rooting for them to get together.

And the redemption story is palpable throughout. The good ROCKY movies (I, II, V, and VI) are all about the Italian Stallion redeeming himself. Rocko is a guy from the gutter of Philadelphia. He gets a shot at the title, and he makes the most of it. "No one's ever gone the distance with Creed," he tells Adrian. And then he does. Pure inspiration.

My only guff with the AFI is their omission of ROCKY II from the list. I think that the sequel raises the stakes of the love story and the quest for redemption (without going over the top like ROCKY III and IV do).

Why You Should See It: Rocky and Adrian's first date ice-skating. So uncomfortable, yet so charming.

It's A Wonderful Life

1946.

#11 / #20

Nominated for 5 Academy Awards.

George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) has a pretty tough life. When he contemplates suicide, Clarence (Henry Travers) - an angel - shows George what his life would be like if he had never been born.

Eddie: I had never seen IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. I had seen the ending and the parodies, but never the whole flick. First, I thought the movie was terrifyingly slow. It takes a solid hour to recap George's life and another half-hour to fill you in on why things are so bad at the moment. It's not until ninety minutes in that we finally get to the bridge. Secondly, the score is terrible. The composer, Dimitri Tiomkin, has a knack for hitting a scene a little too hard on the nose, and I think it takes away from the emotion of the movie. The performances are so good, the flick doesn't need "Mickey Mouse" music to oversell its sentimentality.

Despite that, I thought it was great. It was a lot darker than I expected it to be, and I loved it. Stewart's performance is light years ahead of its time. This, coupled with THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, prove that there's more to a Stewart performance than just that iconic voice. He is the master of understatement, saving it for a big explosion. In the case of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, it comes when he barrels through his house, "Why did we have to have so many kids?".

In the end, the movie pays off all of the tension that it has wound up. When Harry comes in and offers a toast, "To my brother, George, the richest man in town," I wept.

Sarah: I hadn't seen this movie since middle school. I remember thinking it was a bit cartoonish. That is still true. Frank Capra's Bedford Falls is like a Norman Rockwell picture. Between Clarence the clumsy angel, and the Scrooge-like villian, Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore) (saying "you're a wizard Henry" never got old to me), this seems like it should be a kid's film.

But then the film takes a sharp twist to darkness and depression. These are scenes I didn't quite grasp as a kid. When you're young, you can't fully understand George Bailey's tragedy - giving up his own dreams in order to fulfill his obligations. It's startling to see this change, and though it feels a bit bi-polar, the scenes where George really starts to lose it are what gives the film its staying power. I was wondering how I went from watching a silly Christmas movie to watching a movie about a man reckoning with his disappointments in life. How had this annoyingly cheery film arrived here? But, that's what is fascinating about IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

And of course the end makes the whole film worth it. As the town pours in to support George and Mary (Donna Reed), I was becoming just as overwhelmed as they were.

Why You Should See It: We try to avoid clichés in this part of our review, but if we said anything other than the last reel of the movie, we'd be lying. The ending of the movie, starting with Bert discovering George on the bridge, all the way to Clarence getting his wings - it's pure gold.

Wuthering Heights

1939.

#73 / Unlisted

Winner of 1 Academy Award.

The housekeeper at Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the story of Heathcliff (Rex Downing and Laurence Olivier) and Catherine (Sarita Wooten and Merle Oberon) and their lifelong relationship. Heathcliff was an orphaned Gypsy boy who gained wealth to win Catherine's heart, and Catherine was a rich girl who married a wealthy husband, Linton (David Niven).

Eddie: WUTHERING HEIGHTS reminded me a lot of the 1998 film version of GREAT EXPECTATIONS. Even though the first hour drags its feet, the movie delivers a great heartbreak story. The Heathcliff-Cath love story is up there with Rick and Ilsa and Alvy and Annie as one of my favorites. HEIGHTS had the misfortune of being released in 1939, so I think it got lost in the shuffle of the other huge movies released that year.

I don't think I had ever seen Olivier in a non-Shakespearean role, so it was nice to see him exercise a little more leeway with his character. Both he and Oberon did a great job. Oberon, in particular, finds all the nuances between the two sides of her character - spoiled, rich princess and vulnerable sweetheart. (Reminded me of someone I know.)

Sarah: Can you find a more tortured, brooding love story than Wuthering Heights? No, you can't. It is one of my favorite books, so I was really excited to see how the film adaptation handled it. This version has some pretty awesome moments, including our "Why You Should See It moment," as well as the closing shot. A great portion of the dialogue is straight from Bronte's masterpiece, so the script is powerful and heartbreaking.

All that said, I think this movie is due for an update, and I never say that about the classics. The film is so condensed that the story seems rushed and unnatural. The old-timey acting style turns the film to melodrama. I think if given more time, the film could really explore everything from passion to the crazy, ghostly obssesion. Why isn't this a mini-series? Ohhhh Colin Firth as Heathcliff! Make my dreams come true BBC!

Eddie: Ask and you shall receive. Andrea Arnold is currently directing an adaptation of the novel. Also, there is no shortage of Wuthering Heights adaptations, the most recent including a 1998 British version, a 2003 MTV modernization, and a 2009 PBS version.

Why You Should See It: In the scene where the candle flickers, Heathcliff stands outside the door, listening to Catherine describe why she hates him so much. Then she admits, "And yet, he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. And Linton's is as different as frost from fire... Ellen, I am Heathcliff."

But Heathcliff has already gone.

The Searchers

1956.

#96 / #12

Nominated for 1 DGA Award.

A Comanche tribe kills his brother's family and kidnaps Ethan Edwards' (John Wayne) two neices, Debbie (Lana and Natalie Wood) and Lucy (Pippa Scott). Edwards and his adopted nephew Martin (Jeffrey Hunter) search for them. Years later, they find Debbie living as one of the Comanche. They rescue her and take her back home.

Eddie: THE SEARCHERS is a paper champion. The story sounds compelling and suspenseful. John Wayne has an impressive track record. John Ford has a knack for great Westerns. And Natalie Wood is never terrible. In fact, she's usually pretty good.

But paper is as far as this movie should've gone. I think it's incredibly boring. Twice, I fell asleep watching it. The story labors along, spending inordinate amounts of time trying to convince you that years have passed. Then, when the story gets itself into a jam from which it can't escape, they suddenly rescue Debbie and the movie is over, leaving you with a general feeling of WTF?. Jeffrey Hunter and (my fellow USC Trojan) John Wayne hold the movie together, especially Hunter's performance. And the first and last shots are remarkable. Beyond that, THE SEARCHERS gets a big meh from me.

Sarah: Though I'm the one to usually squirm in my seat during slow films, I actually did not find this film boring. But I was still highly disappointed in the movie, even more so when I realized that it wasn't taken off the second list (as I had hoped) but actually moved up 84 spots.

This film is incredibly racist. I love John Wayne but his character is despicable here. (I also love Natalie Wood, but again she is miscast here. Fun fact: her sister, Lana Wood plays young Debbie.) He calls the Comanche "half-breeds" and "blanket heads" (this last one is more absurd than offensive) and shoots their buffalo in hopes they will starve. The actor's playing the Comanche are white, but are so made-up to look native American they come out orange, like Snooki.
The worst part about the film, and in my opinion why it should be removed from the list, is that it sells out. Ethan is a racist who doesn't even care that his niece might be killed in a raid. Only Martin seems to have accepted that Debbie is Comanche now. Then, Ethan does save Debbie (while brutally slaughtering ever other Comanche) and takes her home. The end implies "See, she didn't really want to be Comanche Savage." Of course, the violence between the Comanche and white settlers was complicated, but the film just sticks a happy ending on it, ignoring many of the true stories about captives.

Why You Should See It: Any scene involving Martin and Laurie Jorgenson (Vera Miles) is pretty hilarious.

2 vs. 100: The Halloween Decision

Which AFI 100 screen couple should Sarah and Eddie dress up as for Halloween?

Despite an 11th hour surge from C-3PO and R2-D2, Sarah and Eddie are already hard at work on our Snow White and Grumpy costumes for Halloween.

Thanks to everyone who voted.

The Apartment

1960.
#93 / #80
Winner of 5 Academy Awards.

C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) lets his bosses use his apartment to carry on their affairs. Baxter falls in love with Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), one of his bosses' mistresses, after Baxter comes home to find her overdosed on sleeping pills. It's a romantic comedy!

Eddie: Back before I learned to appreciate a good black-and-white movie, THE APARTMENT was one of the few old movies that I thought was worth watching. Jack Lemmon moves through the film's emotional highs and lows with the grace and precision of a sculptor. Billy Wilder and Izzy Diamond weave a great story, simple and symmetrical. Nearly every joke, gag, and story in the first two acts are paid off in the third. And Wilder's reliance on the long take and dolly moves makes the movie feel more like a Broadway play than a movie. (The movie was later adapted into the Broadway musical PROMISES, PROMISES.) I could talk forever about the dolly moves in the movie. I think they reflect a patience that has completely evaporated from movies. At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old-timer, few directors today (namely M. Night Shyamalan and Woody Allen) rely on the master shot the way Wilder did back then.

Sarah: Unlike Eddie, I've always appreciated the classics. And this is a sweet one, though not my favorite. It's not the funniest romantic-comedy, it's not the most romantic, but it is the Jack Lemmon-ist. I think this film had landed on the list largely due to Jack. He is easy to fall in love with and acts as the heart of the film.

Why You Should See It: Jack Lemmon. No scene in particular. Really the whole movie.

The Maltese Falcon

1941.

#23 / #31

Nominated for 3 Academy Awards.

Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) has to investigate two murders while searching for the Maltese Falcon, a five-hundred-year-old statue alleged to be made of pure gold.

Eddie: THE MALTESE FALCON requires a lot of patience. The first hour of it is pretty slow, and the movie doesn't really bother to keep you up to speed. It's full of vague misdirection, which, of course, pays off in the last forty minutes. Bogart's performance kept me interested well enough, although Sarah was practically pulling out her hair because of the film's snail pace. As good as the story's twists and double crosses turn out to be, that first hour is brutal. However, FALCON is quintessential film noir - bleak, dark, and mysterious. ("Bleak, dark, and mysterious" is how I would describe myself if I ever joined an online dating service.) I think that neo-noirs like CHINATOWN, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, and even BRICK handle complex stories better than FALCON does. At least those movies don't leave you scratching your head for seventy minutes.

Sarah: This film defines the film noir genre and includes all its trademarks. From that perspective it is quite impressive. And Bogart shows again how versatile he is.

Still with all that said, I did not enjoy this film. The dialogue is spoken faster then the Gilmore Girls at their best. I have a feeling that even if I understood all of the dialogue, I'd still be bored. What is there to care about? The Falcon? No, it's just a MacGuffin. The characters? That's tough, too, because none of them have any cares outside of money and deception. If you are a big film person and love studying genres, then watch this film. Otherwise, I'd say pass to something else on the list. Something more viewer friendly.

Why You Should See It: Sam Spade's ability to disarm his enemies is priceless. He slaps Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) into a tizzy, and he takes Wilmer Cook's (Elisha Cook, Jr.) guns by trapping him in his own trench coat. Both episodes are pretty silly.