WALL*E = AWE*SOME

I saw WALL*E earlier today and really enjoyed it. It's one of the best of Pixar's movies, in my opinion. And "Presto", the short film before WALL*E, is awesome too. :)

AFI's 10 Top 10 - Part 3

Finishing up posting the lists...

Mystery

1 Vertigo
2 Chinatown
3 Rear Window
4 Laura
5 The Third Man
6 The Maltese Falcon
7 North by Northwest
8 Blue Velvet
9 Dial M for Murder
10 The Usual Suspects

Mostly okay. The Usual Suspects seems like it might belong more on the 'gangsters' list.

Romantic Comedies

1 City Lights
2 Annie Hall
3 It Happened One Night
4 Roman Holiday
5 The Philadelphia Story
6 When Harry Met Sally...
7 Adam's Rib
8 Moonstruck
9 Harold and Maude
10 Sleepless in Seattle

Harold and Maude?! I like Harold and Maude but I don't think I've ever considered it a romantic comedy.

Courtroom Drama

1 To Kill a Mockingbird
2 12 Angry Men
3 Kramer vs. Kramer
4 The Verdict
5 A Few Good Men
6 Witness for the Prosecution
7 Anatomy of a Murder
8 In Cold Blood
9 A Cry in the Dark
10 Judgment at Nuremberg

In Cold Blood should be on the 'gangsters' (i.e. crime movie) list. Kramer vs. Kramer doesn't really fit either. And where the heck is Inherit the Wind?!

Epics

1 Lawrence of Arabia
2 Ben-Hur
3 Schindler's List
4 Gone with the Wind
5 Spartacus
6 Titanic
7 All Quiet on the Western Front
8 Saving Private Ryan
9 Reds
10 The Ten Commandments

Another list that's no really a genre. And there's some weird stuff on this one too. Schindler's List? A good film, certainly, but an epic? I guess Titanic and Saving Private Ryan are close to what I'd call 'epic' but I don't think I would have included either one.

The really odd thing to me is that there's no 'Horror' list. They could have called it 'Suspense' if they wanted to separate themselves from today's horror movies but it really strikes me odd that there's a list of fantasy movies and no list of horror movies.

AFI's 10 Top 10 - Part 2

Continuing posting the latest AFI lists...

Sports

1. Raging Bull
2. Rocky
3. The Pride of the Yankees
4. Hoosiers
5. Bull Durham
6. The Hustler
7. Caddyshack
8. Breaking Away
9. National Velvet
10. Jerry Maguire

Jerry Maguire seems a little out of place on this list, as does The Hustler. And it just seems kind of weird that the top two movies are boxing movies.

Westerns

1 The Searchers
2 High Noon
3 Shane
4 Unforgiven
5 Red River
6 The Wild Bunch
7 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
8 McCabe and Mrs. Miller
9 Stagecoach
10 Cat Ballou

Each of these lists seem to have at least one odd choice on there. Cat Ballou and McCabe & Mrs Miller seem a little odd for this list but at least they're Westerns.

Gangsters

1 The Godfather
2 Goodfellas
3 The Godfather Part II
4 White Heat
5 Bonnie and Clyde
6 Scarface (1932)
7 Pulp Fiction
8 The Public Enemy
9 Little Caesar
10 Scarface (1983)

Seems like this one should really be called "Crime Movies" but they didn't ask me. My main problems with this list is that the way over-rated Scarface (1983 version) is on it. I just don't get the facination with the film.


To be continued...

AFI's 10 Top 10

The latest American Film Institute tv special was on tonight and it was the usual 'list o' movies.' This time it was the top ten movies in ten different movie genres. Kinda wacky. Here's the lists plus some random commentary from me.

Animation

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2. Pinocchio
3. Bambi
4. The Lion King
5. Fantasia
6. Toy Story
7. Beauty and the Beast
8. Shrek
9. Cinderella
10. Finding Nemo

Nothing too shocking here, but nothing too exciting either (at least to me). It is kind of irritating that they still don't realize animation isn't a genre.

Fantasy

1. The Wizard of Oz
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. King Kong
5. Miracle on 34th Street
6. Field of Dreams
7. Harvey
8. Groundhog Day
9. The Thief of Bagdad
10. Big

Kinda wacky list. It would've been nice if there was at least one Ray Harryhausen movie.

Science Fiction

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
4. A Clockwork Orange
5. The Day the Earth Stood Still
6. Blade Runner
7. Alien
8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
10. Back to the Future

Two Kubrick movies? Two Ridley Scott movies? Back to the Future? That's our top ten? I really don't know about this particular list.

I'll post some of the other lists later but feel free to comment on what you've seen so far.

HULK

I saw THE INCREDIBLE HULK today and thought it was pretty good. I think Ang Lee's HULK still might be a better movie but this one was entertaining, plus it had lots of little Easter Eggs for fans of the characters, either in comics or on tv. However, for me, IRON MAN is still the movie to beat this year.

BEA Highlights

As I mentioned earlier, not a whole lot to report from this year's Book Expo but I'll mention a few things that happened or that I saw.

I had a few travel problems that ultimately lead to me getting my suitcase about 12 hours after I'd gotten to Los Angeles. The day after I got there was mostly filled with meetings, which included Ed Begley Jr. speaking at a morning meeting and one on graphic novels that included Scott McCloud.

I had a little free time between meetings the first day, so I walked around some. The hotel was in Hollywood and part of a complex that includes the Chinese Theater (where the footprints are). The Hollywood Walk of Fame also passes by the area. I guess the thing for some folks to do is put on costumes and hang out on Hollywood Blvd near the Chinese Theater in hopes someone will want a picture of you or with you. I saw Batman, Superman, a couple Spider-Men (regular and black costume), some Supergirls, Catwomen, Marilyn Monroe, Freddy Krueger, Laurel & Hardy, and an Iron Man who looked like his suit was cobbled together from a Stormtrooper and Boba Fett. It was like a mini science fiction convention.

The next couple days were the trade show, which is huge. Lots of booths and lots of free stuff. I saw William Shatner and Alec Baldwin, and got a book signed by Tim Reid. I went to a graphic novel breakfast that featured Jeff Smith, Mike Mignola, Art Spiegelman and Jeph Loeb. I continued my BEA tradition of talking to my mailing list buddy, Jim Salicrup. I can't remember all the goodies I picked up and the box hasn't arrived yet so I'll have to mention those later.

All in all, it was an okay time. LA is my least favorite BEA place because the trip is so long and the authors tend to be more the celebrity type than ones I wanna meet. Next year, it's back to New York, which at least seems to give me better stories to tell. :)

Back from Hollywood

Got back from Book Expo America in Los Angeles last night and I'm still tired. Book Expo is a huge trade show for book sellers, publishers, and librarians. It lasted three days, plus there was a day of seminars I attended.

No really cool stories to tell this year but I'll post a few tidbits over the next couple days.