Category: Top Ten Tuesday

Valentine’s Day TOP TEN TUESDAY: Most Romantic Scenes

The cinemas are overflowing with Amore this week with the nationwide screening of TITANIC in 3D tonight, the true-story romance of THE VOW and the sexy THIS MEANS WAR opening Friday. While this genre has never been my cup of tea, there’s no denying the emotional impact of these scenes that make them noteworthy. So if you’re still thinking of a gift for that certain someone on this Valentine’s Day, here’s 10 romantic scenes to consider while searching for that special movie. But first this holiday message from Miss Piggy and Kermit.

Nothing says enduring love better than the story of BRAVEHEART and the Scot who gave his body and soul to his country and woman he loved. William gives Muron the thistle she had given him at his father and brothers funeral when they were children. Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but I can watch this movie all day long and twice on Sunday.

Moviegoers found the Heart of the Ocean in Best Picture winner TITANIC. While the ship and Rose and Jack were ultimately doomed, the transitional scene at the bow of the ship from hopeful beginnings to icy grave still goes down as one of the ultimate heartbreakers of all romance films.

That kiss in THE NOTEBOOK is one you can feel right down to your toes. Unrequited love is a powerful aphrodisiac in the combination of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams – and so apparently is a rain storm.

“And they Call it Bella Notte” the enduring sweetness of the LADY AND THE TRAMP Spaghetti Kiss scene. Walt Disney’s “Best In Show”.

The kindling of their affair was played out for the world in 1963 in this passion filled scene from CLEOPATRA. The biggest scandal of the decade became one of the most intense, romantic moments when Burton literally yanks the coined necklace from an unflinching Taylor.

No list would be complete in making your super-hero hearts beat loudly without the first flight of SUPERMAN and Lois. Having us “Believe A Man Could Fly” while circling the World Trade Center left audiences with soaring feelings of pride.

Every girl’s dream – a pretend wedding.

What could be more dreamy than George Peppard pining for Audrey Hepburn as she sings “Moon River” from BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S. In true fairy tale fashion, Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly ultimately found her “rainbow’s end”.

If there’s any simpler way to say I Love You than with the lyrics “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face,” I’d like to hear it. An ingenious way by songwriters Lehrner and Loewe in MY FAIR LADY to get across Professor Higgins’ futile realization that he’s fallen in love with Eliza Doolittle. A smitten man who’s “grown accustomed to the trace…Of something in the air; Accustomed to her face.”

The girl. The guy. An Italian wheat field. More than 25 years later, Merchant/Ivory’s A ROOM WITH A VIEW still ranks among the best “Happily Ever After”.

A final honorable mention goes to GHOST. Put the pottery wheel and Unchained Melody to the side…far off to the side. The celestial kiss by Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, along with the Maurice Jarre/Alex North soundtrack, make for the tissue-filled ending and perfect Valentine’s Day film.

 

TOP TEN TUESDAY: The Best Of Clint Eastwood (The Actor)

When J. EDGAR was released last Fall, We Are Movie Geeks published our Top Ten Tuesday article on Clint Eastwood’s best films as director. With word that Eastwood has come out of acting retirement, it’s time for another Top Ten list, this time of movies that Clint has starred in. TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE is currently filming and stars Clint as an ailing baseball scout in his twilight years who takes his daughter (played by Amy Adams) on the road for one last recruiting trip. This will be Clint’s first acting role since GRAN TORINO in 2008.

Super-8 CLINT EASTWOOD Movie Madness will be a great way to celebrate the life and films of this legendary American actor. It takes place February 7th at the Way Out Club in St. Louis (2525 Jefferson in South City). Condensed versions of these memorable Clint Eastwood films will be shown on a big screen on Super-8 sound film: WHERE EAGLES DARE, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, and THE EIGER SANCTION each run 18 minutes, and HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER runs 35 minutes. We’re also bring our 16mm projector and showing a 16mm print of an episode of RAWHIDE, the western TV series that Clint Eastwood starred in in the 1960’s and 8-minute versions of TARANTULA and REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, two ’50s sci-fi films that Clint Eastwood had small roles in early in his career. We’ll have Clint Eastwood trivia with prizes, and much more. The Way Out Club is located at 2525 Jefferson Avenue (at Gravois) in South St. Louis. Admission is only $3.00.

Clint Eastwood has appeared in 67 films in his six (!) decades as an actor, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:

Honorable Mention: HONKYTONK MAN

By the 1980s, Clint Eastwood was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.  With his own production company, directorial skills, and economic clout, Eastwood was able to make smaller, more personal films.  A perfect example is the underrated HONKYTONK MAN, which also happens to be one of Eastwood’s finest performances.

Drawing upon Eastwood’s love of both music and period history, MAN tells the story of Red Stovall, a consumptive but hard-living country singer, set sometime during the Depression.  While on his way to Nashville for a shot at the Grand Ole Opry, Red stops to collect his nephew Hoss (charmingly played by Eastwood’s son, Kyle) from his sister’s farm in the Oklahoma dust bowl.  Also tagging along is Hoss’s grandfather (John McIntire), who wants to return to his family homestead in Tennessee.  From that setup, the film is essentially a road trip full of adventures—both comic and tragic—that will affect Hoss forever.

This fairly simple story is told with great affection by Eastwood the director.  The period detail and setpieces are wonderful, with Eastwood again showing a keen eye for both comic timing and character-driven drama.  He even throws in some suspense, as once again Eastwood the actor wields a gun—but this time with humorous results.  And a traffic stop which begins with some tension ends with an extended punchline.  Eastwood also handles his actors with ease, drawing first-class performances from a group of great character actors, including Eastwood “regulars” Verna Bloom (HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER) and Matt Clark (JOSEY WALES), plus Barry Corbin, Tim Thomerson, and Gary Grubbs.  As grandpa, the veteran McIntire was never better; the scene where he recalls the Land Rush of 1893 is simply perfect.  Also giving a fantastic performance was Alexa Kenin as Marlene, a young stowaway on the road trip who provides much comic relief.  A familiar face on 1970s TV, Kenin was a rising young supporting actress (PRETTY IN PINK) who was found dead in her apartment a few years later at age 23.  Her cause of death has never been disclosed.

MAN is also peppered with some of the brightest stars of country music.  Ray Price, Shelly West, David Frizzell, and Porter Wagoner all make brief appearances, and Marty Robbins, who died a short time after filming, had a Top 10 country hit with his rendition of the title song.  In addition to the country music which fills the soundtrack, there is a healthy shot of blues in the form of Linda Hopkins.  Eastwood does all his own singing for the film, and has a pleasant enough voice to make his performance entirely believable.  Relaxed and funny, Eastwood seems right at home with the period dialogue, such as “my raw-boned Okie girl,” and “double damn tarnation!”  Whether he’s on stage singing, or teaching his nephew the ways of the world, or stealing chickens (!), Eastwood dominates the film and shows just what a great screen presence he is—sometimes rough, sometimes sensitive, but always likable.

10. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ

Fact: Alcatraz is an impenetrable island fortress. Fact: No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz. Fact: Clint Eastwood doesn’t care much for facts! In ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ Eastwood gave one of his best screen performances; distinctive, persuasive, and powerful. We know very little of his Frank Morris except that he has escaped from prisons before and has been sent to Alcatraz because no one gets off the Rock. Eastwood’s fifth and final film with director Don Siegel has aged well, with no sentiment or melodrama to get in the way of the details of the escape. ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ doesn’t proceed at the break-neck pace of your typical action film. Siegel follows the breakout plan with meticulous detail. Even when Morris and his two comrades manage to get out of their cells, the story doesn’t focus on the suspense of the chase between escapees and guards. In fact, the prison officials are not seen until the discovery on Angel Island, and at that point, the prisoners are never seen again. Instead, the battle is between men and the physical space they have to conquer. It’s less about avoiding guards and more to do with navigating heights and depths and barriers. The prison itself, rather than those who oversee it, becomes the antagonist. When Eastwood won his first directing Oscar, he thanked Siegel (and Sergio Leone) and when watching ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, a masterful piece of storytelling in which the characters say little, letting the camera explain the action. the older director’s influence is apparent.

An 18 minute condensed version of ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ will be screened at Super-8 CLINT EASTWOOD Movie Madness February 7th at The Way Out Club

9. IN THE LINE OF FIRE

As Clint Eastwood’s movie career neared the fifty year mark, his characters eased into old age, slowed down physically, and were haunted by their ghosts of the past. This is definitely the case with Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan in Wolfgang Peterson’s IN THE LINE OF FIRE. Frank’s still on the job, and he sweats and wheezes as he joins the much younger agent s in running alongside the presidential limo. Besides his shortened stamina, he’s haunted by that Fall day in Dallas over thirty years ago, when he couldn’t shield the young Commander-in-Chief in time. As Frank puts it, ” If I had taken that bullet, it would’ve been alright with me”. Unfortunately a deranged assassin played with gusto by John Malkovich knows of Frank’s past and taunts him ( ” I see you standing over the grave of another president’ ) in several encounters. Eastwood’s registers Frank’s every emotion ( shock, disgust, fear while trying to keep him on the line long enough for a trace ) during several phone conversations with the threatening gunman. Besides these scenes with Malkovich, Eastwood shows a different side with two of the other young actors in the film. With the novice agent played by Dylan McDermott, Eastwood’s a teacher, mentor, and father figure, while with Rene Russo’s Lilly Raines, he attempts a gentle, hesitant friendship that becomes a tender romance. Peterson has crafted a gripping, edge-of-your-seat action thriller anchored by one of Eastwood’s best, mature, vulnerable performances.

8. THE BEGUILED

THE BEGUILED was a gothic tale of deception and horror from 1971 set in the time of the Civil War. Clint Eastwood played John McBurney, a wounded Union soldier who takes refuge in a Southern school for ladies whom he must keep beguiled or risk being turned over to the Confederates. Directed by Don Siegel, this gothic horror story ends with the captive paying dearly for his ingratitude towards his captors’ sick brand of Southern hospitality. In addition to the implied sexual situation, there is an explicit seduction followed by a gruesome amputation scene. Siegel (whose DIRTY HARRY would open a couple of months after this box-office failure) not only paces THE BEGUILED with a solid mix of sexual tension, eroticism and black humor, he fits the female cast perfectly to their roles – from Geraldine Page’s yearning spinster (with a very dirty secret), to Elizabeth Hartman’s naive nineteen-year-old with chaste romantic fantasies, to Jo Ann Harris’s seductive teen slut. The characters Eastwood played in his career survived Nazis, lynchings, assassins, and gangsters but John McBurney never stood a chance in a house full of scorned women.

7. HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER

One of the headstones in a graveyard in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER bears the name Sergio Leone as tribute as the first western that Clint Eastwood directed exudes the mythical aura of many of Leone’s genre offerings. Basically reprising his “Man With No Name” persona from the Leone trilogy, Eastwood took the standard Western revenge story to new levels. In HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER Eastwood is “The Stranger” who wanders into the small mining town of Lago to merely have a few drinks, a quick shave, and bath. Before long, he’s killed three bad guys, raped the town tramp, forced the town to rename itself ‘Hell’ and has literally painted it red. And he’s the hero! Almost all the characters in HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER are repellant and unlikeable especially the cowardly townsfolk who stood by idly and watched as three gunmen bullwhipped their sheriff to death. No wonder John Wayne, after seeing HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, wrote an angry letter of protest to Eastwood complaining about the negative depiction of Wayne’s beloved “spirit of the West”. Too bad Duke, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is one of the greats!

An 35 minute condensed version of HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER will be screened at Super-8 CLINT EASTWOOD Movie Madness February 7th at The Way Out Club

6. MILLION DOLLAR BABY

For a fella that’s long past most folks’ retirement age, Clint Eastwood is full of surprises. And great performances. In 2004’s MILLION DOLLAR BABY, which he also produced, directed, and scored, Eastwood is grizzled old boxing medic Frankie Dunn. Like many of his later characters Dunn is haunted by the past. But it’s not just the memories of big fights and title bouts, it’s his estrangement from his daughter. In his golden years his only family is another former boxer Eddie ‘ Scrap-Iron’ Dupris played by Morgan Freeman who helps in running Dunn ‘s seen-better-days training gym. Just as in  UNFORGIVEN the two actors have a great relaxed rapport as they wax nostalgic about the good ole’ days ( correcting each other’s recollections ) and disparage the lack of class and grit in the new kids. And then Hilary Swank’s Maggie enters their lives. We see Eastwood act casually dismissive of the ” lady ” boxer, but he gradually responds to her spirit. Reluctantly he becomes her stern trainer and slowly becomes a surrogate father to Maggie. In one terrific sequence Maggie’s greedy, ” trashy”, relatives berate and bully them. The Eastwood of a couple of decades ago would’ve put that young ‘mouth-y’ punk through a wall, but the older, wiser man knows this thug isn’t worth the effort or abbreviation. He’s worth no more than a hard, disgusted stare. In the film’s heartbreaking final scenes we get to see a tender, loving Eastwood that he’s rarely shown on screen. The final encounter between Frankie and Maggie may have the most macho movie fan reaching for his hankie. Although Eastwood earned no acting gold , his co-stars Freeman and Swank both earned Oscars. It’s quite a testament to Eastwood’s acting ( and directing ) skills – he’s so good he pushes his fellow thespians do their best work.

5. GRAN TORINO
In 2008, Clint Eastwood made GRAN TORINO, both as a director and as an actor, but Eastwood himself pronounced this would be the last time he stars in one of his films. Whether or not that holds true is yet to be seen, given rumors about his next film TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE. What was, perhaps painfully clear however, is that Eastwood is no longer a spring chicken. Much like his character in the film, Walt Kowalski is an aging and stubborn man, set in his ways. Walk sets out to teach a teenage neighbor a thing or two after he attempts to steal Walt’s pride and joy, a sweet 1972 Gran Torino muscle car. The tension arises as Walt, a Korean War veteran, builds an unlikely friendship with the boy of Hmong ethnicity, both of whom live in a crumbling urban neighborhood. Walt sees the world around him falling apart in his eyes, but eventually comes to terms with his own prejudice through his actions in the teenage boy’s benefit. Eastwood plays the crotchety curmudgeon with a natural ease, drawing a bit from Dirty Harry’s own sense of charm and manners. It’s great to see Eastwood expanding his storytelling craft into more meaningful films, while also embracing his age as an actor in a less flattering role, giving the film a stronger resonance.

4. DIRTY HARRY

“You’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” Clint Eastwood muttered his most famous line in DIRTY HARRY, starring as Harry Callahan, the hard-working San Francisco cop who can’t finish his lunch without having to stop a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum (“the most powerful handgun in the world”). Harry must take the law into his own hands when a psychotic killer is released on a technicality and the cat and mouse play between Harry and the killer ‘Scorpio’ is taut, suspenseful and horrifying but critics in 1971 attacked the movie for evading the complex legal problems and moral issues of vigilante justice. Clint’s cynical superhero is basically irresponsible in endangering the lives of innocent people in his personal crusade against criminals but that just made Harry more endearing to most audiences and the movie was a smash success, spawning four (excellent) sequels. Director Don Siegel keeps the action tightly-wound and fast-paced and Andy Robinson is one of the most vicious, warped, and complex villains in cinema. Due to Callahan’s fascist nature, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman all reportedly turned down the part. Eastwood stepped in to the role and when he’s twisting Scorpio’s broken arm (“I have a right to a lawyer!” Scorpio whines), he smiles just a little and we behold the perfect match between actor and character.

3. THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES

In 1976, the nation’s Bicentennial received a special gift with the release of THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, arguably Clint Eastwood’s best Western film, and one of the best Westerns ever made.  There is so much about JOSEY WALES that is remarkable, compelling, and downright entertaining, that I reckon we’ll begin with the making of the film.  Based on a novel by Forrest Carter, the film follows the books’ mixture of vengeance tale, travelogue, buddy story, Old West folklore, and realistic Native American characters, with a sprinkling of actual historical figures, such as the great Comanche leader Ten Bears.  (The author himself is a fascinating story, as he was originally a segregationist speechwriter named Asa Carter, who worked for George Wallace and even ran for public office before reinventing himself as an award-winning author sympathetic to Native American causes.  For years, “Forrest” denied that he was Asa Carter and even tried to give the impression that he was Native American.)

The film’s production is also a grand tale of Hollywood lore.  Originally, Phil Kaufman (RIGHT STUFF) was hired to direct the movie with Eastwood and his company producing.  Kaufman worked on the pre-production and casting, rewrote the script, and began principal cinematography.  However, less than a month into shooting, Kaufman was unceremoniously fired from the production, and Eastwood took over as director and finished the film.  The Director’s Guild became involved and created a new rule that prohibits anyone working on a film to replace a director fired from the same film.  This rule (unofficially called the “Eastwood rule”) is still in effect today.  According to legend, Kaufman was fired because both he and Eastwood were smitten with a pretty young actress in the film named Sondra Locke.  In fact, Locke and Eastwood became a couple afterwards and worked together on five more movies before their relationship crashed and burned in a stormy public breakup 10 years later.  However, a more likely reason for the firing was Kaufman’s detail-oriented style using multiple takes.  An economy-minded Eastwood supposedly had his fill when Kaufman drove miles back to town from an isolated set to acquire a small prop he wanted to include in a scene.

Whatever its origins, JOSEY WALES has become a modern classic.  One of the few Western films to be included in the National Historic Registry, the movie succeeds on all levels.   JOSEY WALES begins as a post-Civil War revenge tale, but this plotline is soon more or less resolved in what is the first of many amazingly filmed gun battles.  The story then becomes a road movie, with Wales on the run from the evil bluecoats.  It is interesting to note that in nearly every other film treatment of the Missouri/Kansas border wars, the pro-Union Kansas abolitionists are portrayed as the good guys, while the Missouri rebels are the bad guys.  JOSEY WALES neatly flips this model so that we immediately sympathize with the outlaw.  During his flight to safety in the Indian Nations, Wales collects a ragtag group of citizens (a Native American man and woman, two Kansas women, a Mexican, etc.) who seem willing to forgive whatever crimes are in his past and follow him.  It also doesn’t hurt that Wales is mighty handy with a pistol, and has saved many of their lives.

The film is built as a series of misadventures, and Eastwood the director shows an exceptional flair for character-driven comedy, and for staging some of the coolest gunfights ever to hit the silver screen.  Eastwood the actor gives one of his best performances as Josey Wales, a man who has lost everything but finds he is not alone.  As the film progresses, we see the brittle hardness of the outlaw soften into a man with hope for a future.  The supporting roles are uniformly excellent as well.  John Vernon (POINT BLANK, ANIMAL HOUSE) is the turncoat who comes to sympathize with Wales.  Bill McKinney (DELIVERANCE) is the obsessed evil bluecoat leader.  Sam Bottoms, Woodrow Parfrey, Sheb Wooley, and Royal Dano are all great character actors who are marvelous here.  Locke is simply wonderful in her scenes and brings a sweet note of innocence to the movie.  But special mention must go to Chief Dan George (LITTLE BIG MAN), the great Native American actor as Wales’ first new friend, Lone Watie.  Part Scarecrow of Oz, part spokesman for the Native American plight, and part action hero, George steals every scene he is in.

And the classic dialogue- much of it lifted right from the novel –is simply unforgettable:   “Dyin’ ain’t much of a living.”  “Hell is coming to breakfast.”  “Endeavour to persevere!”   Most important of all, the film has a big, bold heart as Eastwood unabashedly shows both his love for this period of American history and his love of film, never shying away from softer moments, such as with Locke, or from the violence of the frontier which could happen at any moment.  In the meeting with Ten Bears, the thematic climax of the film, these elements combine beautifully in a brilliantly executed scene that contains the wonderful “There is iron in your words of death” speech delivered by actor Will Sampson.  The struggles of the modern world may not be life or death, but we as moviegoers and Americans can certainly relate to stories of friendship, adversity, and everyday human truths.

2. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

In 1964, Clint Eastwood accepted the lead role in a Western being filmed in Spain titled “The Magnificent Stranger.”  The part had been offered to many of Hollywood’s most rugged actors, including Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, and Charles Bronson.  Eastwood, on break from his TV series RAWHIDE and looking for a film project, immediately recognized the story as a remake of Kurosawa’s YOJIMBO.   When the movie was finally released in the US, the title had changed to A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, and both a star and a new genre, the “spaghetti Western,” were born.

The “Man With No Name” series of Westerns directed by Sergio Leone and starring Eastwood came to a spectacular conclusion with THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY.   Set amid the turmoil of the Civil War, the story follows three men (hence the title) on a quest for gold treasure.   Leone directs with his usual dramatic flair, filling the screen with landscapes, gunfights, closeups of dangerous men, treks through the desert, prison camps, Civil War battles, and an incredibly suspenseful and satisfying conclusion.  With cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, who would later shoot films for some of Europe’s greatest directors (Louis Malle, Roman Polanski, Lina Wertmuller, etc.) and composer Ennio Morricone (who topped his previous two No Name Westerns with one of the great film scores of all time here), Leone created what some critics regard as his masterpiece.  Yes, even better than ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.

Eastwood’s “No Name” character fills the good role of the title, while great character actors Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach are the bad and the ugly.  Van Cleef, the co-hero of Leone’s and Eastwood’s previous Western FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, here perfectly personifies evil.  Ruthless and calculating, with his “devil eyes,” Van Cleef is a great screen villain.  Wallach gives the performance of his career as Tuco, the ugly.  Whether he’s faced with death on the hangman’s noose, or confronting his Catholic heritage, or trying to revive his “friend,” the marvelous Wallach always makes Tuco sympathetic and likable—so much so that you’re alarmed when Eastwood’s character is mean to him.

Eastwood has joked that the small cigarillos he had to smoke kept him in character as The Man With No Name because (a) he’s a non-smoker, and (b) they tasted really, really bad.  In his final Leone Western, Eastwood shows the same laconic squint that made him so famous.  But he also shows a bit of the same compassion we only glimpsed in the previous No Name Westerns, here in his relationship with Tuco, and in smaller moments, such as witnessing the carnage left after warfare.  In its final images of Eastwood riding off into the sunset, rich and invincible, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY capped an incredible trilogy in the annals of film mythology.

1. UNFORGIVEN

In the 1960’s Clint Eastwood broke free of his television work and helped redefine the movie Western ( along with film maker Sergio Leone ). Nearly thirty years later Eastwood decided to close the door on his work in the ‘oaters’ with the character of William Munny in UNFORGIVEN. While most of his Westerners were anti-heroes or rebels, Munny is a full-fledged outlaw who’s tried to change his ways. You can see the toll this life has taken on Munny’s face : exhausted by his failure at farming during the day and from sleepless nights haunted by the ghosts of his victims of his lawless years. Eastwood has great rapport with his co-stars. Morgan Freeman shares the trail ( and criminal memories ) during the trip to avenge the “working” ladies. The two old saddletramps are almost an elderly married couple who calls out the other on their B.S. without hesitation. Eastwood becomes the teacher/ mentor with Jaimz Woolvett as the full-of-bravado ‘ Schofield Kid’. After a bloody shoot-out they exchange the film’s best lines. The visibly shaken Kid : ” Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming.” The weary Munny replies, ” We all got it coming, kid “. And then there’s the scenes with the town Sheriff, ” Little” Bill Daggett expertly played by Gene Hackman ( earning a well-deserved Oscar ). After Bill shows his true colors, Eastwood releases his inner beast from his younger violent days in a memorably brutal, bloody climax. His ” Man with no Name” may be his most famous Western character, but Willian Munny makes for an exceptional final act for Eastwood’s work in this genre.

Clint Eastwood has made so many great films and runner-ups for this list would have to include A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, BRONCO BILLY, TIGHTROPE, and WHERE EAGLES DARE.  Stop by the Way Out Club February 7th for more Clint mania.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Worst Films Of 2011

 

Why, hey there all you fancy kids out there… It’s time for another delicious Top Ten brought to you by the WAMG gang!

So sit back, relax, and enjoy our picks for the

TOP TEN WORST FILMS OF 2011

In our opinon, anyway… I mean, we are just a bunch of movie lovers who were less than fond of the films below. Hey, they aren’t all winners! So let’s jump right in and start with number 10.

10. Red Riding Hood

Opened March 11, 2011

Opening Weekend: $14,005,335

Domestic Box Office: $37,662,162

In Theaters: 77 days / 11 weeks

The tagline on the poster read, ‘Believe the Legend. Beware the Wolf.’ It left off ‘Be ready to lose two hours you’ll never get back’. A bloodthirsty werewolf terrorizes a rural village and the paying public in this terrifyingly awful take on the classic fairytale of RED RIDING HOOD. Director Catherine Hardwicke (TWILIGHT, yeah, need we say more??) has set a bunch of modern characters into the days of old, only to be made more cringing with foolish overacting, dreadful dialogue and the ripping off of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST lines – “Let’s Kill the Beast!!” Either British thespians Julie Christie and Gary Oldman lost a bet or were in desperate need to make their house payments. There’s a big, bad wolf – only this time he and the full moon should’ve been left from rising.

09. Conan The Barbarian

Opened August 19, 2011

Opening Weekend: $10,021,215

Domestic Box Office: $21,295,021

In Theaters: 49 days / 7 weeks

No Arnold Schwarzenegger – no CONAN THE BARBARIAN! It’s that simple. Not only was the re-imagining silly and unnecessary, the 3D did nothing but hamper Lionsgate’s attempt to bring one of history’s most iconic action heroes to back to life. Fans became the hell-bent avengers to the memory of the original 1982 version of the boy born on the battlefield who grows into a hulking warrior seeking retribution for his father’s death. With all its ferocious beasts, CONAN THE BARBARIAN left the audience facing the most horrific of monster of all – the movie itself.

08. Dream House

Opened September 30, 2011

Opening Weekend: $8,129,355

Domestic Box Office: $21,302,340

In Theaters: 49 days / 7 weeks

DREAM HOUSE was a mystery story that had very little actual mystery, a thriller with few thrills. This stretched-thin, often deeply labored ghost story made its 85 minutes feel like 12 days as it weaved around situations of suspense and straight up horror. With a plot that hinged upon recycled twists from far better movies and a twist you could see coming in your sleep, DREAM HOUSE never worked as a thriller because it had no element of surprise. Stars Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz met on this movie and married and while I’m glad to know that DREAM HOUSE was a positive experience for someone, I just wish it had been the viewer.

07. The Hangover Part II

Opened May 26, 2011

Opening Weekend: $85,946,294

Domestic Box Office: $254,464,305

In Theaters: 113 days / 16 weeks

Todd Phillips made such huge waves with the edgy, comedic THE HANGOVER, so much so there was actually some buzz for Oscar recognition. So, how does THE HANGOVER PART II fail so miserably when it’s directed by the very same person? It’s simple, really. The filmmakers made absolutely no effort to do anything original This is formulaic shlock on a level that redefines the textbook definition. THE HANGOVER PART II quite literally takes the first script, pulls out all the key details, but leaves the plot, characters and dialogue the same, replacing the empty spaces like blanks on a game of Mad Libs. Part I: Alan cares for a baby. Part II: Alan cares for a monkey. Part I: Stu loses a tooth. Part II: Stu gets a face tattoo. We could go on all day doing this, but you get the point. If HANGOVER PART II were actually HANGOVER PART I, it would have succeeded, but its not and therefore feels like an unwelcome episode of cinematic deja vu.

06. Zookeeper

Opened July 8, 2011

Opening Weekend: $20,065,617

Domestic Box Office: $80,360,843

In Theaters: 112 days/ 16 weeks

The concept of Kevin James as stumbling likeable boob who talks to animals may have seemed like a winner on paper but James, a graceful fat funnyman in the John Candy/Chris Farley mold, was unable to transcend the thin story and weak script that the lightweight, family-friendly comedy THE ZOOKEEPER gave us. The film lacked the disarming silliness, adorable critters, and inspired gags kids crave and wasted the sheer personal appeal of James and Rosario Dawson. At 102 minutes, it seemed to run for several hours as James bumbled his way through a story that made less and less sense by the minute. THE ZOOKEEPER was the worst live-action kids movie of 2011.

05. Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil

Opened April 29, 2011

Opening Weekend: $4,108,630

Domestic Box Office: $10,143,779

In Theaters: 84 days / 12 weeks

HOODWINKED TOO!:HOOD VS. EVIL is everything awful about modern feature animation in one loud, obnoxious, unending package. The character designs are ugly, the script is jammed with dated pop culture gags, and each character, no matter how insignificant, has to be voiced by a celebrity. Tedium and torture for movie audiences of all ages and a waste of artistic talents.

04. I Don’t Know How She Does It

Opened September 16, 2011

Opening Weekend: $4,402,201

Domestic Box Office: $9,662,284

In Theaters: 70 days /10 weeks

I DON”T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT is a limp, whiney mess trying to pass itself off as a modern working mom comedy. The film can’t decide on a tone (characters being interviewed as in a ” mockumentary”, then the lead breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience ) and wastes the talents of great comic actors ( Seth Myers, Olivia Munn, and as a drippy hubby Greg Kinnear ). Sarah Jessica Parker adds yet another entry to her growing list of movie misfires.

03. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Opened December 25, 2011

Opening Weekend: $72,348

Domestic Box Office As Of January 9th: $508,738

Still In Theaters

Two insufferable hours of sanctimonious Hollywood mush, EXTREMELY CLOSE AND INCREDIBLY LOUD aims so high and so has that much further to fall.  A self-important look at one boy’s experience with the 9-11 tragedy, the end product has the oily feel of a cynical politician contemptuously reciting platitudes to a hopeful audience. It’s a picture that looks to be tailor-made for Academy consideration, with the supporting players, including Tom Hanks, Max Von Sydow, and Sandra Bullock, given big emotional scenes that are practically variations on their most lauded turns. But it’s this kid Thomas Horn, who’s in every scene, who gives the whiniest, most precocious, and unpleasant performance by a child actor in cinema history. You’re supposed to feel sympathy for him but I just wanted to knock him down and stomp on his neck!

02. Larry Crowne

Opened July 1, 2011

Opening Weekend: $13,096,065

Domestic Box Office: $35,608,245

In Theaters: 49 days / 7 weeks

What happened to Tom Hanks, the director of BAND OF BROTHERS? For that matter, what happened to Tom Hanks the actor? Hanks directed a pleasing debut feature in THAT THING YOU DO, but his sophomore effort falls with a loud thud. Co-written with Nia Vardalos (MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING), Hanks also stars as the title character, a down-on-his luck, happy-go-lucky do-gooder returning to school, with a hint of Andy Griffith, as subtle as garlic. Hanks draws on a heavily stereotypical performance to develop his dopey character, while Julia Roberts musters every ounce of her being to give a cold, emotionless and otherwise completely unlikable performance as Hanks’ love interest and college teacher. The story and the dialogue is so riddled with cliches you’d get more originality watching a marathon of B-grade film noir. Predictable, sappy, painfully unfunny… all accurate descriptions of this Hollywood romantic bomb.

01. Jack and Jill

Opened November 11, 2011

Opening Weekend: $25,003,575

Domestic Box Office: $71,974,493

In Theaters: 59 days / 8 1/2 weeks

If you went to the theater expecting this to be a good movie, then we can’t be friends anymore. Adam Sandler has knocked some funny films out of the park, but this might be the biggest blunder of his career. When did Sandler decide to take the Tyler Perry, Martin Lawrence cross-dressing route, and why did  his friends not stop him? I could sit here and talk about the horrible acting, and Sandler’s annoying girly voice, but I would rather just throw my hands in the air and be done with it!

What do you think? What movies dissapointed you this year? We’d love to know!

Till next time,

WAMG

Top Ten Tuesday: Best of 2011

Another year has come and gone and with it passes another year of movies, good and bad, but today we focus on the best films to have hit theaters in 2011. Of course, the very phrase “best of…” is subject to widely varying opinions, which is why we choose to do things a little differently. While we do consider these the best films, that’s merely how they’re seen in our eyes. You may, heck… we even encourage you to disagree. For what it’s worth, here’s our Top Ten list of the Best Films of 2011.

How it works: We five Movie Geeks each have compiled our own lists of the top ten films of 2011. From these lists, we’ve tabulated votes based on a point system, resulting in our Movie Geeks Top Ten Films of 2011. Each of the individual geeks’ lists can be found at the end of our compiled list. *Our lists are based on the selection of films released theatrically in Saint Louis during the 2011 calendar year. (*This is why you will not see SHAME represented on our list.)

Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Best of 2011

Top Ten Tuesday: The Best of Michael Fassbender (So Far)

Michael Fassbender is perhaps the most talented, fastest rising international star. Originally born in Germany, Fassbender has grown rapidly from being primarily a television actor into a worldly thespian of staggering proportion, garnering ecstatic praise both in Europe and the United States for his unflinching, intense performances in roles that are often controversial and extraordinarily demanding. Fassbender has received some of his breakout roles in genre films, a cinematic place that only rarely produced tremendous genre-spanning talent.

In honor of this tremendous new acting force, we’ve compiled our list of Top Ten performances from Michael Fassbender. His latest role may prove to be his most stellar, even controversial one yet. Appearing in his second film directed by Steve McQueen, SHAME has Fassbender portraying a sex addict. SHAME is opening soon, with dates varying depending on your location.

Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: The Best of Michael Fassbender (So Far)

Top Ten Tuesday: 2011 Holiday Movie Geek Gift Guide

Welcome to the 2011 Holiday Movie Geek Gift Guide! What is this? No, it’s not my personal gift wish list made public in hopes that readers will bury me in their affection — although, I wouldn’t be disgusted if you did — no, this is guide to finding that perfect, special gift for the Movie Geek in your life. You know who I mean. We all have at least one friend who obsesses about movies, someone who spouts a movie quote or a director factoid every other breath. What does one buy a person so firmly entrenched in the culture of movies? I hope this guide helps you with your shopping ideas, but don’t expect to find the typical, no brainer ideas — such as gift cards — on this list. Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: 2011 Holiday Movie Geek Gift Guide

Top Ten Tuesday: Special Edition THE MUPPETS Hall of Fame

Once upon a time not long ago, in a living room not so far away, was a television set that opened up a magical, comical, crazy world filled with fuzzy, funny make-believe characters too great to simply be called puppets. No, these were The Muppets, and we loved them completely. Great thanks goes out to Jason Segel for making his dream of a Muppets return come true this Wednesday, but most importantly, boundless thanks should be given to Jim Henson himself, creator of The Muppets, on the holiday of gratitude. We Are Movie Geeks would like to extend our own thanks, and in doing so, presents out Top Ten MUPPETS Hall of Fame. Continue reading Top Ten Tuesday: Special Edition THE MUPPETS Hall of Fame

Top Ten Tuesday: Our Man Clint!

J. EDGAR opens in theaters this Friday and it is the 33rd film directed by Clint Eastwood. Beginning with the thriller PLAY MISTY FOR ME in 1971, Eastwood has directed  westerns, action films, comedies, and dramas. From the very early days of his career, Eastwood had been frustrated by directors insisting that scenes be re-shot multiple times and perfected, and when he began as a director in 1971, he made a conscious attempt to avoid any aspects of directing he had been indifferent to as an actor. As a result, Eastwood is renowned for his efficient film directing and to reduce filming time and to keep budgets under control.

As seen through the eyes of Hoover himself, J. EDGAR explores the personal and public life and relationships of a man who could distort the truth as easily as he upheld it during a life devoted to his own idea of justice, often swayed by the darker side of power. Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the title role. J. EDGAR also stars Academy Award® nominee Naomi Watts as Helen Gandy and the screenplay is by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black (MILK)

Here are, according to We Are Movie Geeks, the top ten best films directed by Clint Eastwood

10. A PERFECT WORLD

A PERFECT WORLD was Eastwood’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning UNFORGIVEN and was a complex, fascinating essay on the irreconcilable tension between being drawn to someone with charisma and being repulsed by someone, sometimes the same person, who is evil. Clint took a back seat to star Kevin Costner who played smart and charming as an escaped con/kidnapper. The little boy who he snatches grows to like his abductor, but the guy is a violent criminal. The ending was tough, because the movie is showing us the nastiness the guy is capable of and it’s hard to take. But it’s true to the lesson here: we admire people for their charms not their morals.

9. BRONCO BILLY

BRONCO BILLY is Clint Eastwood’s loving tribute and sly send up of the western movie heroes he grew up watching as a lad( and perhaps a parody of his own early film cowboy image ). This 1980 from from a script by Dennis Hackin stars Clint as the owner star of a down-on-its-luck traveling wild west show. although he can’t afford to pay them, his crew is fiercely loyal especially Doc Lynch( the delightful Scatman Crothers ). Along the way they are joined by a now penniless spoiled, rich gal played by Clint’s frequent co-star Sondra Locke. Of course she falls for the gruff, no nonsense cowpoke and becomes part of the trick shooting act( after the regular girl quits after Billy botches the trick in a very funny opening scene ). In another memorable sequence Billy foils a bank robbery after one of the robbers breaks the piggy bank of a young boy. This film didn’t fare well at the box office perhaps because movie audiences wanted to see Clint blow away the bad guys with his magnum or punch them out with the help of his orangutan pal, Clyde, but it’s gained a reputation as an almost Capra-like love letter to the myths of the  old West.

8. GRAN TORINO

“Get me another beer, dragon lady. This one’s empty!” is my favorite of many great lines from GRAN TORINO and the one that I growl at my wife daily. GRAN TORINO manages to list seemingly every slang word for every ethnic group that there is (it avoids the N-word, choosing “Spooks” instead). It has themes similar to Clint’s THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES in that both movies deal with an angry, lonely man gradually allowing people back into his life after bottling up his emotions for a long time following a trauma (both characters also spit beef jerky constantly and have to deal with a cantankerous old woman who doesn’t like them very much). It’s also a kind of urban Western update of THE SHOOTIST (directed by Clint’s old friend and mentor Don Siegel and John Wayne’s last movie) in that Clint’s dying character Walt Kowalski picks a fight with the evil local gang in the hope he’ll catch a bullet and go out in a blaze of glory rather than succumb to the slow agony of cancer (just like John Wayne did). If it’s his last acting role, like he’s said, Clint will have gone out with a blaze of glory himself.

7. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

When Clint Eastwood announced that while he would be making the film version of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS by James Bradley and Ron Powers he then stated that he would also be working on a film which would tell the story of the battle from the Japanese side called LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. this news caught many film-goers by surprise. This major World War II battle would be brought to the screens twice and the great All-American director Clint Eastwood would devote one version showing the view of our Pacific enemy. Not many thought he could pull this off, but FLAGS and LETTERS opened within months of each other in 2006 and while both enjoyed terrific notices, some critics and academy members thought that LETTERS was the superior film.

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA focuses on the weeks leading up to and the days after the allied forces invading the island occupied by the Japanese forces. The conflict is seen primarily through the eyes of lonely soldier named Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) who just wants to return to his life at home as a baker and commanding officer General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) who spent time in the United States. The General has been given the hopeless task of defending the island after his superiors inform him that no food, or troops will be sent to help. He and his men are expected to die for the honor of Japan. The film shows the great importance of honor to these people. The soldiers are taught that being captured alive would bring shame to their family. In a horrific scene several soldiers discharge grenades they are holding rather than be taken. While sending letters back to his family, the General tries to stop some of the brutal measures inflicted on the foot soldiers from the other officers. As the end nears, Saigo will do anything to survive while the General reflects on the happy times he spent with the people who are now his enemy. This is a rare film about World War II told from a perspective not often presented and Clint Eastwood showcases his superb filmmaking skills in telling this engrossing story.

6. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is one of WAMG’s top ten picks for a number of reasons. First off the film has an amazing cast; Kevin Spacey, John Cusak, and Jude Law. It was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood in 1997. John Kelso (John Cusak) is sent to write a magazine story about a prominent Savannah citizen, Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey), Christmas party. Kelso attends the party and is intrigued with Jim Williams and other people at the party, especially Williams’ young and violent lover, Billy (Jude Law). Later, Billy is found dead and Jim Williams is accused of the murdering him. Kelso decides to stay on in town to cover the murder trial and the ensuing characters that he meets along the way makes for an interesting journey through the streets and alleys of Savannah. Clint Eastwood does a great job of showcasing the city of Savannah; it too has a starring role in the film. I love this movie because of its overall beauty in an otherwise ugly situation. The characters are believable and interesting. No matter how many times I have watched this film, I never grow tired of it.

5. THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES

“Well, you gonna pull those pistols or stand there whistling Dixie?” Eastwood starred in and directed, THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES in 1978 and his direction shows him at a sort of tipping point between Sergio Leone and Eastwood’s own later films. Gigantic close ups of wet faces and glistening teeth alternate with grandiose high shots of galloping horses. Eastwood’s Josey Wales is his familiar Western figure, taciturn, slightly mean, given to spitting tobacco juice on dogs, full of provocative lines; Bounty Hunter: “A man’s got to make a livin” Josey: “Dying ain’t much of a living, boy”. When he tries to speak in ritualized and poetic English to the Comanches, while making a peace proposal, he fails. Perfumed speech is not his forte. And when he rides off into the sunset, it’s without any suggestion of remorse for the hundred or so dead bodies he’s left in his wake.

4. MILLION DOLLAR BABY

One of the great qualities of Clint Eastwood’s directing career is his way of surprising moviegoers. A case in point can be found in 2004’s MILLION DOLLAR BABY. The screenplay by Paul Haggis based on the short stories of F.X. Toole seems to be the standard rags to riches sports flix this time set in the world of woman’s boxing. Clint gets some terrific performances out of Hilary Swank as the plucky, determined boxer Maggie Fitzgerald and Morgan Freeman as wise, world-weary ex- boxer Eddie “Scrap Iron” Dupris. Both actors were awarded Oscars for their work. Even with his great work behind the camera, Clint gives one of the best acting performances as Maggie’s tough, grizzled coach Frankie Dunn. Maggie works hard to finally convince Frankie that’s she worthy of his mentoring. After Frankie finally agrees there’s the expected grueling training sequences inter-cut with scenes of the two getting to know and respect each other. It’s shown that Frankie is estranged from his own children while Maggie’s family is un-supportive and highly dysfunctional. Soon Frankie and Maggie’s relationship grows into a father-daughter bond. As the film builds to the boxing movie cliche finale of the win at the big championship bout it takes a completely unexpected tragic turn and the bond between Frankie and Maggie is put to the ultimate test. MILLION DOLLAR BABY takes the sports movie and turns it into a tender, family drama and is one of Clint Eastwood all-time great cinema triumphs. BABY joined THE UNFORGIVEN as an Oscar winning Best Picture and another well deserved Best Director award winner for Eastwood.

3. HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is probably Clint Eastwood’s darkest western and that’s saying a lot. The hero is a mysterious, ghost-like figure and he fights against the evil and corruption that infests a small town in the middle of nowhere. Eastwood is fighting a lone battle , and his only sidekick is the midget Mordecai, while almost all other inhabitants of the town of Lago are corrupted or/and cowardly. This is Clint Eastwood’s first Western film that he directed, and it’s clear and evident that the guy not only loves the genre that made his name, but he also knows what makes it work. When working for Sergio Leone, Eastwood was obviously taking notes because HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER oozes the mythical aura of many of Leone’s finest genre offerings

2. MYSTIC RIVER

3 childhood friends, Jimmy, Dan & Sean, drifted apart after a terrible tragedy & grew up in the same city. Destiny pitted them again & it’s brutal tragedy again. Jimmy’s 19 year old daughter murdered & Dave is the strong suspect. Sean is a cop trying to solve the crime before something unusual done by uncontrollable with situational fix. Its superb script & screen play & I must praise Dennis Lehane for it. But the real laudable act is done by old macho cowboy named Clint Eastwood. This is Clint Eastwood’s finest achievement as a director along with his other Oscar winning nuggets like Unforgiven & Million Dollar Baby. With awesome cast & finest performances of Sean Penn, Tim Robbins &Kevin Bacon he shapes a master crime thriller. Robbins and Penn both recieved Oscars for their roles. Marcia Gay Harden has done amazing justice to her role as psychologically confused wife of Tim Robbins. A must-see modern Greek tragedy.

1. UNFORGIVEN

In many interviews Clint Eastwood has said that UNFORGIVEN is his Western swan song, and it’s that’s the the case heâ’s left the genre with an all time classic. Clint plays an outlaw named Bill Munny who has given up that life for his late wife and is struggling to make a go out of farming and raising his two children.When a group of prostitutes in the town of Big Whiskey offer a bounty on a cowboy who cut up one of their own, Bill feels he must take up his guns again. Picking up his old partner Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) rides into the town, meets a young upstart named The Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolett), and incurs the ire of the town sheriff Little Bill Dagget (an Oscar winning performance by Gene Hackman). “Little” Bill has no tolerance for bounty hunters and demonstrates by brutally beating English Bob in the town square. The script by David Webb Peoples is a thoughtful meditation on the consequences of revenge and violence. In one memorable scene Munny and the Kid have gunned down several of the thugs from the brothel incident. Gasping and shaking the Kid says,”They had it comin!” to which Munny soberly replies, “We all got it comin’, kid.” At the end of the movie, Clint dedicates the film to his two cinema mentors, Sergio Leone (FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) and Don Siegel (DIRTY HARRY). The Motion Picture Academy thought this film was in the same class as the films of those two great directors and awarded Clint a well deserved directing Oscar along with Best Picture.

Top Ten Tuesday: Robots In Film

Do the robot, yo!

ro·bot
noun /ˈrōˌbät/  /ˈrōbət/
robots, plural

  1. A machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, esp. one programmable by a computer
  2. (esp. in science fiction) A machine resembling a human being and able to replicate certain human movements and functions automatically
  3. Used to refer to a person who behaves in a mechanical or unemotional manner

Well, maybe not the third one!

With the release of REAL STEEL this Friday, October 7th, WAMG has come down with robot fever… and what better way to celebrate than to share our Top Ten Robots with you!

Set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, REAL STEEL stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

So, let’s get our ROBOT on and boogie into our TOP TEN ROBOTS IN FILM!

HONORABLE MENTION: ROBOCOP (ROBOCOP 1987)

He’s a robot… who’s a cop! What more could you want???

10. JOHNNY 5 (SHORT CIRCUIT 1986)

Hello Bozos… Something wonderful has happened! Johnny Five is ALIVE!

09. TERMINATOR (THE TERMINATOR 1984)

The thing that won’t die, in the nightmare that won’t end. He’ll be back!

08. DATA (STAR TREK)

Earth. Population Nine Billion. All Borg… and Data!

07. WALL-E (WALL-E 2008)

After 700 years of doing what he was built for – he’ll discover what he’s meant for… melting our hearts!

06. ASH (ALIEN 1979)

Sometimes the scariest things come from within… like the stuff dripping down his head!

05. GORT (THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL 1951)

A robot and a man . . . hold the world spellbound with new and startling powers from another planet! Hey, for 1951 with was terrifying!

04. IRON GIANT (THE IRON GIANT 1999)

It came from outer space!… befriended a little boy names Hogarth! If your name is Hogarth, you need an alien robot friend!

03. BISHOP (ALIEN 1979)

A word of warning… don’t play with knives (Unless you’re Bishop!)

02. ROBBY (FORBIDDEN PLANET 1956)

AMAZING! If you do not speak English, Robby is at your disposal with 187 other languages along with their various dialects and sub-tongues. If only people worked that way…

01. C-3PO and R2-D2 (STAR WARS)

You just can’t choose, or separate these two! See… A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… C-3PO and R2-D2 became robot best friends!

So, what do you guys think? Is there any-BOT-y that we forgot? (Yes, we realize that our jokes are nerdy! Who would you pick?
We now leave you with this gem of a PSA from our number one bots… STAY FANCY KIDS!

TOP TEN TUESDAY: 10 Things You Never Knew About THE LION KING

With The Lion King 3D about to be released for the first time in theaters on September 16, 2011 and on Disney Blu-ray™, Hi-Def and Blu-ray 3D™ October 4, 2011 we step back in time to uncover some fun facts and top secrets about the animated blockbuster!

SECRET NUMBER ONE… THE ORIGINAL TITLE OF THE MOVIE WASN’T ‘THE LION KING’

“When I first started work on The Lion King, the movie was called King Of The Jungle,” reveals the film’s producer Don Hahn. “King Of The Jungle was a metaphor for this allegorical story about human behavior. We were thinking about the idea of how it’s a jungle out there and Simba has to exist in this jungle. However, there was no jungle in our story; they’re out on a savannah. Another title we looked into was King Of The Beasts, which made more sense because a lion is the king of beasts – but then we threw that out because we wanted to focus on a simple story about a lion king. At that stage we thought, ‘Why not call it The Lion King?’ The story is about a kid who wants to be king and his uncle frames him for murder, so he grows up in the wilderness and then he has to come back to claim his throne. That’s the whole story, and it’s all about a lion king, so the name stuck.”

SECRET NUMBER TWO… PRIDE ROCK WAS CREATED IN BURBANK!

“We took a trip to Kenya to research the animals and the landscape for the movie,” explains The Lion King co-director Roger Allers. “There wasn’t much time for sketching during the trip because the animals were always very quick, but we did a lot of photo research and we absorbed the feel of the landscape and the weather. In the movie, Pride Lands is modeled after many different areas of Kenya. There are certain things lifted from the landscape around the Samburu District, but we used a variety of inspirations. Many people try to say, “Pride Rock is based on this mountain here.” But they are wrong. An artist in Burbank invented Pride Rock.

SECRET NUMBER THREE… ZAZU WAS ORIGINALLY A SMALLER SPECIES OF BIRD

“In the early stages of development, Zazu was a little, pointy-beaked bird,” reveals co-director Roger Allers. “I can’t remember the exact species, but we decided to change him into something very different after our research trip to Africa. We kept seeing these wonderful hornbill birds hopping around the place and they had so much character. The upward curve of their beak suggested a sense of haughtiness to them; and at the same time they had wonderful feathery legs that looked like they were wearing pajama bottoms. They looked so funny and they had so much personality that we knew Zazu would have to be a hornbill. It really added to his character.”

SECRET NUMBER FOUR… IT TOOK NINE MONTHS TO CONVERT THE MOVIE INTO 3D

“When I first heard that The Lion King was going to be converted into 3D, I wasn’t sure it could be done,” reveals producer Don Hahn. “However, I was blown away by the results. It looks fantastic! All in all, it took about nine months to complete the process. We spent the first three months preparing and testing the shots, followed by six months of actual production work.”

SECRET NUMBER FIVE… THE CREATIVE TEAM BROUGHT REAL LIONS INTO THE ANIMATION STUDIO TO RESEARCH THEIR MOVEMENTS

“When Walt Disney worked on Bambi, he brought a variety of forest animals into the animation studio for research,” reveals The Lion King co-director Rob Minkoff. “The artists could see how the animals looked up close and they could observe how they moved around, so it was a great way to study the wildlife. That inspired us to bring real lions and cubs into the studio to research the animals of The Lion King. A very famous animal expert called Jim Fowler, who was the host of a television show called Mutual Of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, brought the animals in for us. It was very exciting and very informative for all of the animators working on the movie.”

SECRET NUMBER SIX… RAFIKI WAS A VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTER IN EARLY VERSIONS OF THE STORY

“In the early stages of production, the character of Rafiki was very different to the character you see in the finished film,” admits co-director Roger Allers. “In early versions of the story, Rafiki was a serious counselor to the king. He was a very wise man, so we hired the actor Robert Guillaume to do the voice. However, by the time Robert came into record the voice, the character had completely changed. We had come up with the idea of Rafiki being more of a crazy hermit monk. He was now a wacky and mysterious character with a mystical side and a wisdom that shows through occasionally – but a very playful, nutty side too. Robert is a very dignified person and this wasn’t what he had signed up for, so we spent the first recording session trying to find the voice and the laugh of Rafiki. Robert nailed it that day and the rest is history.”

SECRET NUMBER SEVEN… NATHAN LANE AND ERNIE SABELLA ORIGINALLY AUDITIONED FOR THE ROLE OF THE HYENAS

“The casting process for The Lion King was extremely long and very involved,” explains co-director Rob Minkoff. “We went through lots of different ideas for the various roles in the movie, but two of the great successes were Timon and Pumbaa. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella were performing in a Broadway production of Guys And Dolls in 1992, when The Lion King was being made. They came to an audition in New York and they bumped into each other in the lobby, which is when they discovered they were both auditioning for the roles of hyenas. They asked the casting director if they could audition together and they were hilarious as they read their lines, but they didn’t seem right for the hyenas. That’s when we thought, ‘What if we use them as Timon and Pumbaa?’ It was the perfect fit.”

SECRET NUMBER EIGHT… THE HAKUNA MATATA SONG WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT

“In the early stages of production, we had a song called He’s Got It All Worked Out in the movie,” reveals co-director Rob Minkoff. “We wanted a fun, bug-eating song because we wanted to convey the idea that Simba is not being a lion when he meets Timon and Pumbaa; he’s giving up his lion ways and he’s moving into this new life away from his home. However, we couldn’t convince everybody that making the entire song about eating bugs was a good idea. Soon after, the research team came back from their trip to Africa with the phrase ‘Hakuna Matata’. We talked about it in a meeting with Tim Rice – and that’s when the idea struck. I remember Tim saying, ‘Hmmm… Hakuna Matata. It’s a bit like Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.’ A song was born!”

SECRET NUMBER NINE… PUMBAA’S BELLY-RUBBING WAS INSPIRED BY AN ANIMATOR’S WIFE

“My wife was pregnant with our first child during the time I was working on The Lion King,” explains animator Tony Bancroft. “If you watch a pregnant woman –– you’ll notice that they like to rub their bellies. It makes them feel comfortable. It’s appeasing. Well, I used to watch my wife rubbing her belly and it made me think, ‘That would be such a fun element to put into Pumbaa since he’s a big, fat guy.’ When you see Pumbaa lying on his back staring up at the stars in the movie, you’ll notice he does that gesture. I animated that scene and I had him stroking his stomach softly like a pregnant woman because it seemed so natural. It makes him more human and relatable.”

SECRET NUMBER TEN… THE FILMMAKERS ORIGINALLY WANTED CHEECH AND CHONG TO PLAY THE HYENAS IN THE MOVIE

“We had a really tough time finding the right voices for the hyenas in the movie,” reveals co-director Rob Minkoff. “Gary Trousdale, one of the directors of Beauty And The Beast, helped us out in the early stages of development and he created an entire storyboard of the hyenas as if they were played by Cheech and Chong. It was hilarious, but Cheech and Chong weren’t working together at the time, so we knew we wouldn’t be able to book the pair for the roles. Around that same time we heard that Whoopi Goldberg was interested in the film and when we asked her if she’d like to voice a hyena she said, ‘Yeah, great.’ So we got Cheech and Whoopi instead of Cheech and Chong!”