Kalo's monthly actor challenge (and a taste of the past). May = 1950s/60s JGL - already saw 2 of them

[Kalo]

Hey everyone, so I've been meaning to watch pre 1980s movies, but I keep getting stuck (mostly in the 90s) 

 

So I decide to make monthly challenges for myself. each month I will try and watch a certain amount of movies from a decade. or perhaps a certain actor. I have trouble only sticking with one decade for a whole month (well before the 90s). so I won't try anything too crazy. Jandrew's movie watching list inspired me to do this that and if I have something like this maybe I will actually do it.

 

 

So March was already pretty much a 1990s watch.

 

I watched:

Trainspotting (1996)

Edge of Seventeen (1998)

Fight Club (1999)

and Leon: The Professional (1994) 

 

all for the first time in March.

 

for April I want to watch 1970s movies. 

 

I have the hardest time with this decade, mostly because most of the greats I hear of from that decade are incredibly dark and grim. not my favorite kind of movie, though I still would like to watch a few of them, I watched The Godfather, for the first time in January and loved it. so Godfather Part II is already one I am planning on seeing. 

 

So I would like some suggestions of 1970s movies to watch, maybe not super well known, and some a little more cheery than most, but feel free to suggest what you want. 

 

I am planning on watching: 

 

Taxi Driver

The Godfather Part II

Solaris

Silent Running  

 

Here is a list of 1970s films I've already seen:

 

Deliverance 

Annie Hall

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (well most of it)

Freaky Friday

Logan's Run

Watership Down

Tim

Star Trek: The Motion Picture 

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi 

Jaws

The Aristocats

Grease

Candleshoe 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 

Mad Max

Charlotte's Web 

Alien

Fiddler on the Roof

Rocky

Rocky II

The Rescuers

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Robin Hood

Superman 

The Godfather

and of course Star Wars

 

 

To keep a bit of variety I will choose two actors to catch up more on, for April I choose Natalie Portman (since I just watch Loen and it was great!) and Brad Pitt (because Fight Club was incredible and I love him) so if you could give me some suggestions for them.

 

Natalie Portman movies I've seen:

 

Leon: The Professional

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Anywhere But Here

Where the Heart Is

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Cold Mountain

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

V for Vendetta (although it was a long time ago, think I need to rewatch it)

Thor

Thor: The Dark World

 

Brad Pitt movies I've seen

Seven

Fight Club

Ocean's Eleven

Troy

Ocean's Twelve

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Ocean's Thirteen

Inglourious Basterds

Megamind

Moneyball

12 Years a Slave

Fury 

 

 

So my goal is to watch 10 movies first viewing released from 1970-1979. as well as 10 movies first viewing between Portman/Pitt in the Month of April. 

 

So can ya guys help me?

 

 

Edited May 15, 2015 by Kalo

[TalismanRing]

Brad Pitt: 12 Monkeys, Interview With A Vampire, Thelma & Louise, Kalifornia

 

 

Some suggestions for the 1970s:

 

I'll break them down by genre though there is genre cross over.

 

There are for more comprehensive lists in the topic on A Guide To 2002 Cinema Essentials topic by mahnamahna and also at the link to top 1000 movies that's in the topic.

 

 

Action

The Poseidon Adventure

The Seven-Ups

Dirty Harry

The Taking of Pelham 123

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

 

Adventure

The Three Musketeers

The Four Musketeers

The Man Who Would Be King

The Black Stallion

The Wind & The Lion

 

Caper

The Sting

 

Comedy

Animal House

Blazing Saddles

Young Frankenstein

Sleeper

Bananas

The Ruling Class (satire/black comedy)

What's Up Doc

The Jerk

The Life Of Brian

Smokey & The Bandit

Harold & Maude

Slap Shot

10

 

Drama

American Graffiti

Coming Home (also romance)

Kramer vs Kramer

Dog Day Afternoon

Serpico

Deliverance

Network

Kramer vs Kramer

The Longest Yard

The Great White Hope

Brian’s Song

The Paper Chase

Alice Doesn’t Live Here

Norma Rae

 

Musical

Cabaret

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Saturday Night Fever

Hair

1776

 

Political Conspiracy movies:

All The President's Men

Three Days Of The Condor

The Marathon Man

The Conversation

 

Sci-Fi

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

The Andromeda Strain

Silent Running

Soylent Green

Westworld

Colossus: The Forbin Project

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Time After Time (romance)

 

Thriller/Suspense/Mystery

Chinatown

The Day Of The Jackal

The French Connection

The Anderson Tapes

Escape From Alcatraz

Murder on the Orient Express

Play Misty For Me

 

War

The Deer Hunter

Apocalypse Now

MASH (also black comedy)

 

Westerns

Jeremiah Johnson

Little Big Man

A Man Called Horse

Soldier Blue

McCabe Mrs. Miller

The Life Times of Judge Roy Bean

The Shootist

The Outlaw Josey Wales

Two Mules For Sister Sarah (comedy, romance)

Support Your Local Gunfighter (comedy)

 

 

Romance

Heaven Can Wait

The Goodbye Girl

Last Tango In Paris

The Electric Horseman

The Way We Were

 

[Jandrew]

[Kalo]

tails thank you that is quite a list! I have already seen Close Encounters.. loved it. Rocky Horror is definitely one I wanna watch. Three Days Of The Condor too. also I actually watched part of American Graffiti and i hated it.. what is the verdict on THX 1138? I have heard mixed things about it. 

 

You're not the only one who is special. 

[Jandrew]

Copycat. Jk jk. Youll end up watching more than 10 a month. I started 2 weeks ago and have already logged 33 going on 34.

[TalismanRing]

tails thank you that is quite a list! I have already seen Close Encounters.. loved it. Rocky Horror is definitely one I wanna watch. Three Days Of The Condor too. also I actually watched part of American Graffiti and i hated it.. what is the verdict on THX 1138? I have heard mixed things about it. 

 

You're not the only one who is special. 

 

I think American Graffiti is Lucas's by far his best job as a director working with actors and he contributed to the screenplay, though I don't know how much, and it's certainly the best and most natural one in any of his movies.  I saw THX-1138 only once so long ago and barely remember anything about it so I can't really give an opinion on it except I guess it's not very memorable.

[Kalo]

Copycat. Jk jk. Youll end up watching more than 10 a month. I started 2 weeks ago and have already logged 33 going on 34.

 

I did try and make mine different than yours to make it seem not so copycatish

[Plain Old Tele]

I was gonna say something, but TalismanRing dropped the mic. If you're feeling up for existential foreign films, the 1970s is the age of Tarkovsky (try MIRROR, STALKER, or SOLARIS).

[Kalo]

I was gonna say something, but TalismanRing dropped the mic. If you're feeling up for existential foreign films, the 1970s is the age of Tarkovsky (try MIRROR, STALKER, or SOLARIS).

Solaris is already on my watchlist. I love foreign films so I may check those out.

 

Just watched Taxi Driver.. it was just whoah. beyond amazing. incredible film.  

Edited April 1, 2015 by Kalo

[Kalo]

Okay I completely failed my April challenge, probably shouldn't have given myself so much, with me starting a new job plus finals in April, but School is over! yay!

 

I will give myself an easier challenge for May, I also decided to make this more of an actor driven challenge. 

 

2 Movie from the 1950s (Probably Vertigo, and Rebel Without a Cause, because I own them) 

1 Movie from the 1960s (probably Lawrence of Arabia, maybe Psycho too) 

 

5 Joseph Gordon Levitt Movies (partially complete) 

 

Already saw this month:

 

1. Latter Days (2003) (5.9) - quite good despite some cheese and cliches but for a pretty low budget "gay" film it was, quite decent, with (mostly) bearable acting, with quite a bit of suspense and an extremely powerful ending, got a little hazy eyed, JGL only had a supporting rule, not his best performance by any means, but he was decent in it. 87/100 (B+)

2. Mysterious Skin (2004) (5.15) - Tragic, haunting brilliantly paced, well written and down right scary at times, this was an excellent film, deals very realistically and at times graphically with the themes of child abuse, and the horrors of being a gay prostitute, it is perhaps the best performance I have ever seen JGL give, and the entire cast was well rounded it's a very raw real feeling film, and probably not something everyone could take, the ending was just crazy, tears rolling down my face crazy, very highly recommend 98/100 (A+) 

 

Others I plan to see (note these are all first viewing for me)

 

1.(500) Days of Summer

2. Brick

3. 10 Things I hate about you 

if I can squeeze another in 

4. Looper. 

 

if anyone has any more recommendations I would be glad to hear them. 

Edited May 17, 2015 by Kalo

[Spidey Freak]

50/50 (I think it's his best film yet, if I weren't so grateful to (500) Days of Summer for saving my love life). It's hilarious to think that the directors of both my favorite JGL movies may very well be helming their own Spidey series.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Spidey Freak

[Kalo]

50/50 (I think it's his best film yet, if I weren't so grateful to (500) Days of Summer for saving my love life). It's hilarious to think that the directors of both my favorite JGL movies may very well be helming their own Spidey series.

 

Oh right 50/50 may have to check that out too!

[chasmmi]

10 things i hate about you is vastly underrated in my opinion.

Really nice good hearted film

[Kalo]

bought it for my mom for mother's day actually so I will be watching it soon. 

[Films]

If you haven't seen it yet, I definitely recommended 10 things I hate about you, one of my favourite movies ever

[Kalo]

I finished my 1950s challenge and Watched Rebel Without a Cause and A Streetcar Named Desire.  

 

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) ,first off I really liked the set pieces in this movie they gave the film a real feel, and there was a lot of color, I really liked Jim Stark's red Jacket and wanted it, I see there were a few acting noms for it, the acting was pretty good actually,  but there were two things in this film that reminded me why I don't care much for most pre 1960s films, the way the cast is made to act is over the top at parts and they yell really loud, they do this a lot in films of this era, and yes people do yell, but I'm not sure they would go quite so ballistic over some of the things, maybe, two it seems like the writers try and shock the audience by making the film so darn depressing. I can handed depressing but the way the do it was a little too much. however overall I did enjoy the film, it was engaging and interesting and quite well done. 87/100 (B+)

 

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). 

 

This movie was something, wow I must say Vivien Leigh, playing blache a perpetual liar was outstanding in her role, perhaps the best performance of that era I've seen, the entire cast was outstanding, yeah I thought some of it got a little over the top, but I blame the writers of the era for that, Marlon Brando was great, a being at know it all bastard. quite the looker too I might add . This movie was really quite scary when it comes down to it, it was almost a psychological thriller. maybe a bit too dark for me too love it, but it was a very solid film. 89/100 (B+)

 

I also watched 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). I really enjoyed this movie, it was really funny, and liked to make fun of high school stereotypes, also the characters were not all one dimensional like they can be in a lot of romantic high school films. Heath Ledger was great, probably the standout in the cast, but Joseph Gordon Levitt Julia Stiles, and even Larisa Oleynik were all really good. sure it still had some of the generic pitfalls of films like this, but it was so entertaining and the cast was so likeable that it was easier to overlook. 89/100 (B+)

 

I still didn't complete make my goal, I'm giving myself a few days to catch up. I did have family visiting in my defense. 

 

I did however watched two films with actors from my March challenge.

 

Twelve Monkeys (1995) (Brad Pitt challenge) Okay here I go.. I didn't like this movie very well. maybe I need to watch it again, but I heard all these great things about it and felt let down, I found the plot to be really onclear all over the place and never really staying on the subject that it was meant, instead taking all these sidesteps, when Brad Pitt first showed up I loved his whole intro scene, and thought yeah here we go now it's going to pick up... well he's there like five minutes and then gone for like a half hour, Bruce Willis is character was also very bland here, which I usually like him, he's not my favorite actor by any means, but he's solid, there was enough that I liked to say I probably liked more than I disliked, but a lot of it was boring and confusing to me and I did not find it even close to the gem some people make it out to be. 82/100 (

 

Black Swan (2010) (Natalie Portman Challenge) This movie was crazy! everything is blurred twisted. Natalie Portman was outstanding as Nina Sayers, playing the shy, determined ballerina perfectly, she would be this timid little girl like person then solidly she does something terrifying. Mila Kunis really stood out to me here to, but I think the biggest winner here was probably the director, it was paced perfectly, I liked Natalie Portman, but she is not always great in everything she does, and I think a lot of that goes to Darren Aronofsky's direction, when she has a good director with her and a well written character she can really spread her wings (pin intended). I don't wanna give anything away but that ending damn! It's not a film I would revisit often but it was very well done and engaging. 91/100 (A-)

[TalismanRing]

This movie was something, wow I must say Vivien Leigh, playing blache a perpetual liar was outstanding in her role, perhaps the best performance of that era I've seen, the entire cast was outstanding, yeah I thought some of it got a little over the top, but I blame the writers of the era for that,

 

 

You blame Tennessee Williams?   Embrace the drama from our Southern Gothic Master playwright. 

 

Read the original plays and see all the gay not so subtext that was mostly stripped from the plays when made into movies. Like.... Why did Blanche's husband commit suicide and how that plays into sex, cruelty, insanity and guilt?  Why is Paul Newman so upset over Skipper when he has Elizabeth Taylor in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof?

 

Vivien Leigh is magnificent in the role though her own battle with mental illness makes it even more uncomfortable viewing.

[Jake Gittes]

Streetcar is amazing. 

[Kalo]

You blame Tennessee Williams?   Embrace the drama from our Southern Gothic Master playwright. 

 

Read the original plays and see all the gay not so subtext that was mostly stripped from the plays when made into movies. Like.... Why did Blanche's husband commit suicide and how that plays into sex, cruelty, insanity and guilt?  Why is Paul Newman so upset over Skipper when he has Elizabeth Taylor in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof?

 

Vivien Leigh is magnificent in the role though her own battle with mental illness makes it even more uncomfortable viewing.

 

I actually didn't know Vivien suffered from Mental Illness, that is kind of creepy. and yeah I heard there was some gay subtext in the play that they took out of the film, thats pretty ballsy for that time.