Thursday Thirteen #42

I have done a few TTs featuring some of the DVDs in my collection, and may well do so again if I run out of ideas.  But  before DVDs, of course,  there were videos.  I am so old I can remember the days when you had to watch a TV show when it was broadcast or else you didn’t see it at all (I can also remember when you had to get out of your chair and walk up to the TV set to change the channel, but that’s another matter).  Then along came the VCR, and all of a sudden we were set free from the shackles of TV schedules.  You could tape a show and watch it when you wanted to, as often as you wanted to.  And we could buy or rent movies on tape to see in the comfort of our own homes.  Some people said that would kill the movie industry but that never happened (Mind you those same people said that TV would kill the cinema, tape recorders would destroy the record industry and that file sharing would demolish live music, but none of that took place).  Before we bought a DVD player, we watched films on VHS tapes, and we still have about 100 of them – both pre-recorded and stuff we have lifted off TV.   Over time we will get them replaced by DVDs but until then, as we have four VCRs in our home, we enjoy them in VHS format.  Here are a few of them.

  Thirteen Movies On VHS We Still Watch

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“Amadeus”  Peter Schaffer’s brilliant play about Mozart, transferred to the screen.  The first time I saw this it stayed with me for a long time.  Tom Hulce plays Mozart, and F. Murray Abraham won an Oscar for his portrayal of the second-rate composer Salieri, who was accused of poisoning Mozart.  Beautifully filmed in Prague, with great supporting performances from Roy Dotrice and Jeffrey Jones.  Well worth seeing if you haven’t already.  Well, there it is.   IMDB link

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“Groundhog Day”  Bill Murray at his best in this comedy about a man who finds himself living the same day (Groundhog Day, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania) over and over again.  He knows what is happening but no one else does, including his love interest, played by Andie MacDowell.   A typical Murray performance, and that means it is good.   IMDB link

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“The Guns Of Navarone”  Based on a novel by Alistair Maclean, this is one of the best war films ever.  A band of Allied soldiers, behind enemy lines, have to destroy a pair of huge German artillery pieces on an occupied Greek island.  Lots of action, suspense, tension and excellent performances all round.   IMDB link

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“Four Weddings And A Funeral”  The most successful British film ever, when it came out.  Hugh Grant plays his usual inoffensive but slightly confused nice chap role that he used to do so often, as we follow his love life for a few months, during which several couples get married and someone drops off the twig.  It all takes place in a
wealthy, upper middle-class England, where it never rains – almost a never-never land.   IMDB link

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“The Full Monty”  This film broke the record set by “Four Weddings” for most successful British movie.  A surprise hit, I would have thought.  Probably everyone has heard what this film is about. Set in a grim, grimy Sheffield, it’s about a number of men who are thrown out of work when the steel plants close. The dole is all very well but they need to find a way to make money… so they do.  They form a band of male strippers.  The real story is about adversity and survival, with some very funny moments thrown in too.   IMDB link

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“Mulholland Drive”  Anyone who knows David Lynch’s work knows that you can’t expect anything to be straightforward.  This film, set in LA, is very obscure in parts.  In fact, the first time I saw it, I had no idea what was going on.  It was the same the second time.  I am not nearly clever enough for this movie. My wife, though, was intrigued, and she persevered, and after a couple more viewings, from which I absented myself, she worked it all out, right down to the last bit of symbolism.  Maybe you’ll be able to as well.   IMDB link

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“Inside The Third Reich”  I don’t think this is available on DVD, so we may have to get it transferred specially, or else stick to VHS indefinitely.  This was a miniseries based on the memoirs of Albert Speer (played by Rutger Hauer), Hitler’s favourite architect and from 1942 the German Minister of Armaments (unfortunately for the Allies, a very efficient one).  In 1946 he received a prison sentence of twenty years for war crimes, including the use of slave labour.   Derek Jacobi’s portrayal of Hitler is a real tour-de-force.  It is fascinating and enjoyable, but one has to bear in mind that it is based on one man’s recollections (Speer) and is probably rather self-serving.  Also, it was made when Speer’s widow Margarete (played by the delicious Blythe Danner) was still alive; they portray her as decidedly hostile to the Nazis, which may have been more out of deference than accuracy.   IMDB link

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“Fried Green Tomatoes”  Fanny Flagg wrote the screen play to this film, based on her own novel.   The excellent Kathy Bates stars with the late Jessica Tandy, who plays an old lady in a nursing home who tells her about the life of a relative of hers (Mary Stuart Masterson).  Excellent performances all round.  Very likely this film will one day be regarded as a classic.   IMDB link

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“The Shawshank Redemption”  Rightly, in my view, this is one of the most highly regarded movies based on a novel (in this case a novella) by Stephen King.   The Shawshank is a prison in Maine, which has been mentioned in more than one of King’s stories.  In this one, an innocent man is sentenced to life for murder, and because he was an accountant on the outside, he ends up doing tax returns and other financial work for the guards.  All along, he is plotting to escape.  There’s a lot more to it than this bald summary. It is an excellent film, well worth seeing.  IMDB link

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“Best In Show”  is another of Christopher Guest’s gentle spoof documentary comedies with his usual band of players: Fred Willard, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara et al.  This one pokes gentle fun at the world of dog shows.  Lots of fun.  Like all the others, this will make you smile happily rather than roar with laughter.   IMDB link

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“Bandits”  An amusing story with several dark moments about two bank robbers and the woman they hook up with.  Will they get away with their crimes?  Will they even survive?  You’ll have to see it to find out.  Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton in the title roles with Cate Blanchett as the moll.   IMDB link

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“Memento”  A man’s wife is murdered and he resolves to find her killer.  The drawback is that he sustained head injuries that mean he cannot retain short term memory for more than a few minutes, so he has to leave notes for himself everywhere to remind himself of… just about everything.  This is a complex, intelligent thriller that moves in two time streams – one forwards and one backwards. To explain more would give too much away.  If you want to see a film that makes you use your brain, do see this.   IMDB link

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“Shakespeare In Love”  Do you remember Gwyneth Paltrow crying her eyes out in a completely over-the-top manner when she won the Oscar for best actress a few years ago? Well, this is the film she won it for.  An improbable but delightful story of the Bard when young, the Globe Theatre, writer’s block, debtors and creditors, “Romeo & Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter” and a brief appearance by Queen Elizabeth I (Judi Dench, also taking home an Oscar for her performance).  Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson and Colin Firth, among others, also give excellent performances.  Great fun from start to finish, and we get to see Gwyneth’s boobies.  Sigh!   IMDB link

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Comments

[SJ Reidhead]

I think Best in Show is a hoot!

Good list. When I was renovating my bookshelves last summer I gave away all but 2 of my tapes. I just have no room.

SJR
The Pink Flamingo

[Chelle Y.]

Your lists are always so entertaining!

[The Gal Herself]

I just rented Bandits! It's one of those movies I have always meant to catch -- first at the theater and then on cable -- and always somehow missed. Good to see it has your endorsement. (Thanks for visiting my TT)

[Adelle Laudan]

I've seen several of these, but Shawshank Redemption is one of my alltime favs. Happy T13!

[ellen b]

Shawshank was and is great. I need to watch Amadeus again. Have a great rest of your week...

[Comedy Plus]

I've seen most of these and I must say that Amadeus must be my favorite of all of these. Excellent list as always. Have a great TT. :)

[Lazy Daisy]

I love Ground Hog Day....it's so funny.

[Greatfullivin]

Amedeus is one of my favorites as is the Shawshank Redemption. I have the Albert Speers book (very good) but have never seen the movie. I also own and love Fried Green Tomatoes.

[SandyCarlson]

We have many of these on VHS as well. Fried Green Tomatoes is a favorite. Hard to believe how old it is!

[pussreboots]

We have Shakespeare In Love on DVD and it is probably in our top ten of most watched films. Happy TT and thanks for stopping by.

[Rian Fike]

I have seen all of these, and you saved the best for last!

Great reviews, it made me remember some great moments.

[Morgan]

I love Fried Green Tomatoes! :) That is a fave of mine! And, RE: your comment: You've seen Alice in Wonderland, right? And, the Unbirthday thing does work. I've had a party before on my unbirthday! :) LOL

[Titania]

Hi Nicholas,
Quite an eclectic selection. I am ashamed to say that I have only watched a few of these.

I loved "Fried Green Tomatoes". Jessica Tandy is a sweetie and I Kathy Bates is a fabulous actress. They picked a phenomenal group to play in this film. I could watch it over and over again.

"Best In Show" was good but I barely recall too much. I think you were right to say it makes you smile but not roar with laughter.

"The Shawshank Redemption" was very good. I usually do not like Stephen King novels made movie but this was an exception.

I like your Thursday Thirteen Header. Very creative.

Take care and have a nice weekend.

[Nicole Austin]

Great list. My VCR stopped working not too long ago and I'm in the process of buying my favorite movies in DVD.

[On a Limb with Claudia]

It's always a little frightening that we see the same movies, read the same books.... laugh at towns in Austria.... Our VHS collection includes the spaghetti westerns - the Outlaw Josie Wails (great movie) and vampires (all the Blades, and a couple others - I have a vampire thing). Oh and a lot of guy movies - read guy suffers a lot for no apparent reason.

Happy TT - did you see I gave you an award last Sunday?

[Lori]

Fried Green Tomatos is one of my favorite movies. Great list. Happy TT and thanks for stopping by:) Have a great week.

[Lara]

I remember those days too -- our first VCR was about the size of a small Chevy. My mom worked for Zenith and we used to get all the new stuff to try out. It was so amazing to put the tape in and watch a movie -- but it took us about a year to figure the thing out!
I still have tons of VHS tapes -- I just can't part with them!
Great TT!

[pjazzypar]

"Fried Green Tomatoes" and "Shawshank Redemption" are definitely two of my favorites. Good List and Happy TT to you.

[Wylie]

You hit a number of faves of mine: Shawshank, Shakespeare, Green Tomatoes, Amadeus, Groundhog Day, Full Monty and Memento.

My mother still has about 500 VHS tapes - entire MGM Classic collections, etc... Sadly it'll all end up on e-Bay soon!

Hey N -- you must visit my blog. I've given you an award -- you lucky bastard ;)

[Journeywoman]

Some of these (Amadeus and Shawshank) are on my all time favorite movies list.

Memento is almost better on DVD where you can watch it in sequence.

[Cheerio]

Not so familiar with any of them. I'm very sorry.
Thanks for the visit.

[Cricket's Hearth]

Memento sounds very interesting. I can not tell you how many times I have watched Shawshank Redemption, I lost count! Part of that movie was filmed about 35 miles from where I live at the Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio. The prison has been closed for many years but they still give tours and really play up the movie being filmed there. Happy TT

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

Ooh, Nicholas. This is an awesome list. Lots on here that I really like!

[Natalie]

When we moved this past year we gave away all our VHS tapes, we realized we really never were watching them. It's amazing how technology changes things.

[susiej]

I don't think I have ever watched a movie more than once! However, I see home here, that reminds me that I really wouldn't mind seeing them again -- like Groundhog Day, SIL. I have not seen the David Lynch film you mentioned -- and I would love to see Memento.