Rocks that Move

30. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946)
directed by Jean Cocteau
starring Jean Marais, Josette Day

No, not the Disney film, though I like that version fine. Don't feel bad. I thought the same thing when I saw "Beauty and the Beast" listed on Goatdog.com's top 100 films. That is what inspired me to watch this, and I am glad I did. Loved it. Goatdog comes through again... though I still don't know about "The Lady Eve" being on his list.

This is what I hate about computer effects (often, but not always): although it CAN be artistic and it CAN be creative... it usually is not. It is just too easy sometimes. You imagine what you want, and it becomes so. It is to the point where everything has been done, and the effects tend to bore me. "Ho-hum, been there, done that." Some of the suspense is gone in some scenes, especially action films, because you do not have a real sense of danger. It is essentially just a cartoon. "Spiderman" and "Return of the King" come to mind, and those are examples of GOOD films that use special computer effects.

Whoa. Dude! Why the attack on special effects all of a sudden? Well, the director of the French "Beauty and the Beast" did not have the luxury of computer effects, and the results are breath-taking. A real magical world is created, and the fantasy is complete. The creativity that had to go into this film is amazing. It is not that computer effects do not have their place, but when they are not at your disposal, you are forced to make due. I was really impressed with what this film was able to accomplish, and the story is done in such a way that it is really poetic and beautiful. This film may be the quintessential fairy tale. The story is still "Beauty and the Beast," but it is performed almost like a live-action poem. It might not be for everyone, but I consider it one of the greatest fantasies I've ever seen. It was magical.

29. SE7EN (1995)
directed by David Fincher
starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow

This movie is definitely on my top 10 scariest movies list. It is gruesome and terrifying... and you never even see the bad guy kill anyone. It is a psychological thriller, with both "psychological" and "thriller" stressed. It is not a movie that I would recommend to just anyone. The slasher film crowd might find it dull and too "smart." It may be too deep with not enough "action." Yet, the art and romance crowd might find it too gory and violent. Yes, I am generalizing too much, but the point is simply this: it is the type of film you either love or hate. I, obviously, loved it.

If I haven't said it already a hundred times, two things can really make a movie for me: mood and characters. The mood in this film is perfect; dark and hopeless. Yet there are moments of light and hope, though they ultimately get dashed. The characters are deep and well-developed. Morgan Freeman is brilliant as the intelligent, burned out, lonely cop that is ready to retire. Brad Pitt plays his foil, the young and ambitious cop who has it all. They are very different people, and this easily could have turned into another "Odd Couple" buddy cop film. But it didn't. Their characters are played against each other in a realistic and complex way. It is the depth and complexity of this movie that make it great.

Then there are the crimes. The sadistic serial killer is committing crimes based on the "seven deadly sins." You do have to question the ability of someone to really commit some of these crimes, and that may be the one weakness in the story, but the idea is creative and well done. It is that "what if" aspect of the serial killer that is so terrifying. What if a man COULD do these things? Who are these serial killers that live amongst us? Is that lonely man down the street one of them? Is that overly-friendly guy down the hall? Is my family safe? These questions lie at the heart of most people, deep down inside, and this movie brings those questions to the surface in a way that impresses on your psyche. You spend the entire movie trying to envision how the seven sins can be completed, and the conclusion is a marvelous, but horrifying surprise.

28. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
directed by Robert Mulligan
starring Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall, Mary Badham

Mary Badham, who plays Scout in the film, is all grown up and still calls Gregory Peck "Atticus" to this very day. This is the quintessential role of one of America's greatest actors. Gregory Peck practically IS the film. He is larger than life; the father you wish you had: idealistic and understanding to the very end. Atticus Finch was even picked as the AFI's #1 hero in motion picture history, and Peck beat out one of the other all-time best acting performances in movie history for the best actor Oscar. It is difficult to imagine "Atticus Finch" and not picture Peck, unless you have never watched the movie.

But who has not seen it? It is shown in high schools across America. In fact, this movie is easy to play down due to its popularity and the popularity of the book it is based on. It becomes one of those things you "had" to watch when you were a kid. It is easy, then, for it to feel commonplace, but in the context of when it came out and the very fact that it is such a big part of our education and culture, it is a significant and important work. So much so that most people still remember the movie and book fondly, despite "having" to watch it in school.

My favorite scenes in the film are the ones where Atticus is with his children. The way Peck talks to them like children, and yet like adults, all at the same time... it is exactly how I picture myself speaking to my children. His rapport with them is awe-inspiring. Perhaps my own upbringing (or lack thereof) makes me overly-attracted to this aspect, but there you go. With the story of the children and the mystery of Boo Radley, it is easy to forget what this movie really is about: racism and prejudice. My father turned into a racist when I was a teen. Perhaps he always was, but I didn't notice. I am ashamed of him. I want a redo. I want a new dad. I want Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch to be my father. I'll have to settle for the DVD. I think my DVD owes me allowance for my report card last semester.

27. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
directed by Francis Ford Coppola
starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Robert Duval, Laurence Fishburne

In a way, this movie is a lot like the above listed movie, "Seven." It is a psychological thriller that explores the deepest and darkest potentials of our mind. It is based, of course, on the Joseph Conrad book "Heart of Darkness." The film is dripping with symbolism, references to the book, and references "The Hollow Men," which was based on the book, and other poems by T.S. Eliot. It is a war movie, but a complex literary piece as well, so that it satisfies the intellectual in you, while providing intense entertainment as well. This is what I want. I want my brain to do some overtime when I watch a film. I want to feel raw emotion. I want to be scared or overjoyed or full of despair... but I also want to be entertained. "Apocalypse Now" is one of those few films that makes you feel just about every emotion in the world, all conveniently placed before you in a package. You get drawn into this dark and unpredictable world, but you are still safe in the comfort of your seat.

When you consider the pain and suffering than went into the making of the film, you appreciate the work itself as well. Francis Ford Coppola produces a masterpiece, and he did so under harsh circumstances. Isn't that how most masterpieces are created? It was filmed on location in the jungles of the Phillipines. Marlon Brando was a fat ass, literally and figuratively, who arrived overweight and didn't even learn his lines. There were audio problems and serious budget problems. Martin Sheen had a heart attack during filming. A typhoon destroyed the sets. The shoot took 16 months, instead of 6. Coppola even became suicidal during filming. "The horror... the horror..."

The movie is seeping with cameos and odd characters. I love a movie with an array of odd ball supporting characters. My favorite was the drugged-up, babbling journalist played by Dennis Hopper. He tries so hard to sound deep, but comes across as a lunatic... because he is a lunatic. "One through nine, no maybes, no supposes, no fractions," he babbles, "You can't travel in space, you can't go out into space, you know, without, like, you know, uh, with fractions - what are you going to land on - one-quarter, three-eighths? What are you going to do when you go from here to Venus or something? That's dialectic physics."

The most famous supporting character, of course, is the iconic Lt. Colonel Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall. Everyone knows his line, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." All he wants is to find some good surfing... in the middle of a battle. The scene with the helicopters blasting the "Ride of the Valkyries" is one of film's classic moments. One day when I was playing tennis at Central Michigan University, four Hueys flew over us for a local air show. I started shouting at the top of my lungs, "De de de dah dum, de de de Dah dum, de de de DAH dum..." Everyone at the tennis court cracked up laughing. They all knew exactly what I meant.

26. GOJIRA (1954)
directed by Ishiro Honda
starring Fuyuki Murakami, Akira Takarada

I had wanted to see this film ever since I was ten. When I was a kid, I was a HUGE Godzilla fan. I loved all the campy movies of the 1960s and 1970s, and even the Americanized version of the original with Raymond Burr spliced in. My favorites were "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" and "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero." But the original Japanese version was never available to me. Eventually I outgrew the old, campy movies, but I jumped at the chance to see the original when it played at the FSU movie theater a couple of years ago. The movie lover that I am not, as well as the kid still alive inside me, was not disappointed. (The film is now available on DVD).

One thing that was frustrating a little at the theater was how much people laughed. Most people today have a hard time putting a movie like "Gojira" into context. In one scene Gojira looks like a puppet. In another scene you can see the cable moving his tail. It comes across as being silly, but it is actually quite a serious film. It is an anti-atomic weapons movie that was filmed in Japan itself, less than a decade after the atomic bombs dropped. "Gojira" symbolizes the danger of nuclear warfare. His roar is an explosion. His breath is nuclear winter. He is the destruction off all people by a soul-less beast, a beast that was very real in the minds of the people of Japan. Gojira is death.

The movie does not lack in real humor, however, and it really is as much about the people as it is about the creature. One of my favorite scenes is when the male lead tries to ask the professor for his daughter's hand in marriage... at the worst possible time. Hilarity ensues... but not for long. The professor is torn. Gojira is destroying the city, but he is an scientific bonanza, and a living being. Gojira should be spared and studied, he believes, but it is impossible. Then an even more important question arises: what if the only way to stop him is with technology that could potentially be used later to destroy us, too? It is a crisis situation.

Gojira is actually a man in an unbelievably heavy, rubber-foam suit. It was difficult to move in, and it was so hot that they sometimes had to drain as much as a cup of the actor's sweat from the suit between takes. The sound of his walking was made by banging on a large kettle-drum. The iconic Gojira roar was created by reverberating the sound of a leather glove being rubbed up and down the strings of a contrabass. The monster is yet another example of creative special effects in an age without computers. In this case, it is obvious the monster is a fake.... but the fears, symbols, and issues involved were very real. They still are.