100 of Something

And so... Easy Rider, we meet again. College days, hippie chicks delusions of artistic understanding... Today, a mess of a film, shot from a skeleton of a script... a noble effort or a windmill for tilting?... See how easy artistic prattle is? Anyway... Dennis Hopper co-wrote (with Peter Fonda) and directed this 1969 meditation on living the free life, what it represents and stab at a post-modern western... ... ellipsis...

Folks, the comedy Gods have answered our prayers and have sent us respite from the harrowing brain-plague that was Bringing up Baby... Spilling forth into our cups is the veritable ambrosia of the 1935 Marx Brothers' "A Night at the Opera." Their first MGM picture, their first picture with a plot that included actual points, their first picture without Zeppo--who left the team to become an agent. Co-starring opera singer Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones in a bona-fide sub-plot fit for the most dramatic of films! Ladies and gentlemen I give you--a please don't forget to give them back when you're finished with them--the Marx Brothers...

Oliver Stone's 1986 meditation on war and what it's good for, Platoon is up today. Does it hold up? Should maybe they turn the Oscar for Best Picture in? Find out!

Due to some scheduling issues, we haven't been able to get the latest episode of the 100 of Some(Movie)Thing podcast out to you, our loyal listeners, but fear not! It will be dropping very very soon! So keep those feeds poised! - @misterbowen

Edit: What the fracking frack? I just discovered that Episode 14 had no *episode* attached! That should be fixed now! Please listen, it's a good one! Sitting here @LAPodfest in the Sheraton Delfina, but it's time to post! So here we go! Just a short write-up today since I'm on my phone. More later.

Well, it had to happen sometime. We finally ran into a stinker. Honestly I didn't expect it. Really, 400 movies to choose from an this one made it to #88? Seriously, this film has everything it needs to be successful; Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, directed by Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday, Rio Bravo), a leopard. Yes. A leopard. Named Baby. The titular "Baby" in fact. Though what it's really doing in the picture is a mystery. As is the reason this film is on the list. I can't figure it out. @the_Fro can't figure it out. But maybe you can help. Give a listen. Let us know what you think.

Edit 10/05/2012: Looks like the last seven minutes of the podcast was cut off. It has been lovingly and painstakingly restored. Enjoy. Oh holy crap does this movie hold up! We watched M. Night Shayamalan's (got it on the first try) Oscar-nominated debut, The Sixth Sense. Even knowing how it ends while watching doesn't dull this creepy little masterpiece. Oh, and there are spoilers contained in this podcast. You are warned. You will be warned several more times while listening... so in all we've given you 13 years and the first several minutes of this podcast to watch it. If you haven't yet, go do that now. We'll wait. We'll just look at this poster...

Swing Time! This 1936 gem, originally titled "Never Gonna Dance," was the *sixth* collaboration between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and is probably their best.  Classic songs, exceptional dancing and just the bare minimum of plot to hold it all together. See if you can spot the plot of pretty much every dance-themed movie made since! Also, the title had virtually nothing to do with the content of the film, it was re-titled to capitalize on the Swing craze that was sweeping the nation at the time.

Meet Stingo, he's new in town. He's here to write the Great American Novel™ He meets his upstairs neighbors Sophie and Nathan. They became the best of friends. And then... Sadness. And sadness. And more sadness. And Nazis. Sophie's Choice.

Well kids, after much debate we decided to just go ahead and re-record this one. The original was pretty messed up. So here it is, the grand-pappy of buddy-cop, procedure-be-damned, go-with-your-gut, angry captain is angry, trope films; William Friedkin's The French Connection (1971).