#11 Soylent Green (1973)

Alright, so I'm really starting to think that the 70's produced some of the worst movies ever, and I'd pay real money to find out what bet Charleton Heaston lost to have to be in Soylent Green. Sure, the premise is ok. Futuristic society that is over populated and over polluted, and police detective Thorn, while investigating a murder, discovers (ok...fine...spoiler if you've had your head in the sand for the last 37 years) that the main food supply is made of people.....Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!!!

George says Heaston must have believed it was a better script than the movie turned out to be, my guess is he thought he'd have some passionate love scenes with Leigh Taylor-Young. Hell, I'd have done the movie for that. Seriously though, it was poorly acted..by Heaston of all people. I mean for crying out loud, he was freaking Moses. We know the man can act..or could. The set designs were horrible, the costumes were even worse, and well, it was just a bad movie. At least now I can say I've seen it, and the only reason I watched it was for that very last line. IT'S PEOPLE!!!

Would I recommend it? I dunno. Sure, there is an important social commentary about taking care of our earth, taking care of each other, how we treat women, and if you're basically going to have a death camp where people go to die, make it nice. People will want to go to that death camp.

I'll say this, if you want a movie to make fun of, or you're a hard core sci-fi junkie, see it. Otherwise, you now know that it's people, and that's really all you need to know.

#10 It Happened One Night (1934)

So it's 1934, you're Frank Capra and you want to make what will be one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time so who do you get? Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert of course. Talk about a power trio, wowsers! How can you not love Frank Capra, you know, the guy that would later bring you "It's a Wonderful Life". And course Gable would go on to become Rhett Butler in "Gone With the Wind". Although I can't pull any other amazing, the whole world will know film, out of my hat for Colbert, she is simply amazing. Funny, witty, and beautiful. She is easily the mold to which the likes of Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock are cast from.

So Gable stars as Peter Warne, a newspaper man, whose great story literally falls in his lap, when he shares a bus, a room, a stolen car, and a bale of hay with Colbert's runaway heiress Ellie Andrews. Like vinegar and oil these two are, but through their shared adventure they find love. Hey....I never promised not to give it away.

This is one of those movies that everyone seems to have seen but me. I mean, Capra, Gable and Colbert all won Oscars for their work, and it won Best Picture. How could I not put it on the list. Honestly, this was one of those movies up there with The Godfather and The Maltese Falcon in the list of movies I'm embarrassed I haven't seen.

This is definitely a must see. It's funny, it's romantic, it's over 75 years old and it's still good. Sure, it's surprising to see the way men treat women, and what their place is 76 years ago, but it's no Streetcar Named Desire that's for sure.

Rent it, buy it, watch it with your sweetie, but must importantly, watch it. Capra, Colbert and Gable....how can you go wrong.

#9 Vantage Point (1971)

Normally I try to follow a 3 paragraph format. What the movie is about, why I picked it, and whether or not I think you should watch it. This would be the paragraph I tell you what the movie is about, but I'll be honest, I haven't a freaking clue. I mean, the broad strokes are this, a former cop and race car driver named Kowalski who works as a car transporter and he has a get a car from Denver, Colorado to Cisco, California in like 15 hours. On his way he comes across a number of obstacles and develops an ally in a blind radio DJ who provides him intel for his journey. What I can't tell you is why he has to get to Cisco, why the time limit. I also can't tell you why he got fired from the police force, or what the point of the damned movie was. I mean, if they had made the 70 Challenger he was driving be more of a character, at least there would have been that. It was a cool car, ok, a 1970 Challenger is an amazing car, but they never did anything with it. Ok...whatever.

A few years ago, Rodriguez and Tarentino did a set of movies called Grindhouse. In the segment Death Proof, one of the characters wants to test drive a white 1970 Challenger, just like the one used in Vanishing Point. Before that I'd never heard of it, and to be honest I wasn't very well educated on Challengers. Now I have an 09 Challenger, so I had to know this movie as well. While this probably doesn't fall anywhere near the same category as The Godfather or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but it is a classic none the less, so it made the list.

Alright, so unless you own a Challenger, I can't recommend this movie unless you just like movies with bad dialog, interesting chase scenes, and 1970's nudity. I know my fellow car guys are going to bash me for bashing this film, but I could have done without. I might however watch Death Proof again. And yeah....I'll probably get my license plate changed to OA-5599 next year. I'm kinda lame like that.

#8 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Based on the acclaimed play by Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando stars as Stanley Kowlaski and Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in this tale of carnal attraction and classism. After loosing the family plantation to creditors, Blanche moves in with sister Stella and husband Stanley to escape from her past, but instead is faced with it by her brute of a brother in law as they continually go head to head.

I gotta say this has been the hardest so far to write about because I'm still not really sure what it was about. This is one of those films that time has an affect on. Heck, this was made almost 60 years ago. Although the issues that they deal with are relevant today (domestic abuse, racism, classism) it still felt very um, confusing as to what the point of the movie was. Either way I got to see a very young, very good buff and good looking Marlon Brando yell out "STTTTTEEEEEELLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

Well worth watching for no other reason than for Karl Malden's performance. It's no wonder he won an Oscar. I gotta admit, that even though I've seen Gone With the Wind like 12 times, I didn't realize that Vivien Liegh was playing Blanche. I think that is a the sign of a great actor when they so become the role that you don't know who they are. Gary Oldman is a genius at that.

Can't wait to go back to New Orleans now.

#7 One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Starring Jack Nicholson, Cuckoo's Nest is a jarring look inside a 1960's mental institution. Nicholson's McMurphy is a petty thug who pretends ( I think) to be a little nutty to serve out the rest of his sentence in a mental hospital. When he is evaluators can't decide if he should stay in the hospital or return to the work farm, it is nemesis Nurse Ratched, played brilliantly by Louise Fletcher, who decides that he should be committed to the hospital.

This film, is just an poignant and important today as it was 35 years ago. The same truths shown in this film can be applied to the current state of the PIC, or Prison Industrial Complex. I won't get all preachy, but it has a powerful message about how we treat those who often don't have the ability to stand up for themselves.

One of the reason's I chose this movie is because years ago I remembered being fascinated that Michael Douglas won an Oscar this film as producer when it one Best Motion Picture. Knowing Douglas' involvement in the film, I thought it interesting that this was also one of the early breaks for long time Douglas pal Danny DeVito, who plays Martini. I also enjoyed the fact that one of the patients was Christopher Lloyd, who also played an escaped mental patient in the Michael Keaton film Dream Team.

This is probably not a date night movie, although a couple of the nurses were kinda cute and you get a really young Brad Douriff and Jack Nicholson before he got old. This is one of those movies you should watch in some sort of sociology class in college and wonder why you never saw it before. Actually, I'm wondering why I haven't seen it before now. Oh, probably because it came out in 1975 it's not one of those movies TBS plays when they aren't playing The Fifth Element 34 times a week.

I probably won't see it again anytime soon, and it's too bad the language is what it is, or I'd say it'd would be a must see for my students. So the bottom line is...yeah, watch it sometime. Just don't eat a box of Mike and Ike's while watching it, there is enough in the movie to make your stomach queesy without the additional help. Now to find the Alka-Seltzers.

#6 Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957)

Considered by many the worst movie of all time, Plan 9, starring Bela Lugosi, Vampirya, and Tor Johnson is about aliens who are trying to destroy the Earth by raising the dead, before the Earth develops the technology to destroy the universe. Not that it matters. At all.

I really can't believe that I've never actually seen this movie. Almost as much as I can't believe I actually watched this movie. Surprisingly, while it probably is the worst movie of all time, I don't think it was as hard to sit through as other things I've seen. Sure the special effects aren't as good as 2012 and the story isn't as well developed, and it surely wasn't acted as well....but I think 2012 was harder to sit through. So now I can say I've watched Ed Wood's masterpiece, the worst movie ever made.

Now is the part where I tell you whether you should watch it. Will you be any better for seeing it? No. Will this create great banter at the water cooler Monday morning? Probably not. Will you hate me if you see it? Most definitely. If you watch it, you'll get to say you've watched it. But watch it as a sequel to the Johnny Depp film about the director, Ed Wood. It will make you appreciate that movie so much more and know why Martin Landau won an Oscar for his portrayal of Lugosi.

#5 The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Tom Ewell stars opposite of Marilyn Monroe in this Billy Wilder directed romp, about Richard Sherman, a married man who sends his family off to the country for the summer, and then becomes friendly with his new neighbor, the very shapely and beautiful Monroe. Sherman vacillates between wanting to pursue Monroe and trying to rid her from his life and the complications her presence brings.

Ok, so the only reason I picked this film is because of the iconic subway grate scene which ultimately lead to the divorce between Monroe and the Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio. Part of the purpose of watching some of these titles are because they have important cultural significance, and there are few things more culturally significant the Marilyn Monroe having her dress blown up by a passing subway. It wasn't until I saw the opening credits did I realize that legendary director Billy Wilder was at the helm of this piece.

Although I am only five movies into this journey, this is by far and away the best of them I have seen. I already have plans to see it again with a friend. It's funny, witty, and the ideas presented in it are just as easy to relate to in 2010 as they were in 1955. I was shocked at how much I laughed at the movie, especially the end when Sherman mentions the blonde in the kitchen. Priceless!!

My recommendation is to watch this on a date night, just remember guys, play it cool and never lead on that these thoughts have ever crossed your mind, especially if you've been together a good seven years or so. Just sayin.