"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates

Well, maybe that was not the best way to sell my project. I am getting old and cranky. In a few years it will be endearing. You wait. But, hey these are my recommendations for a summer of viewing pleasure. You will benefit because (a) these are great movies and you will meet people who will talk about them; (b) these are great movies and you will recommend them to other people who will think you are very wise and discerning about your movie picks; (c) these are great movies and the world you inhabit will allude to them; (d) I said so. (Am I endearing yet? Ah, well , . . . .)

In No Particular Order:

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Joan Allen, Winona Ryder; screenplay by Arthur Miller. Directed by Nicholas Hytner.

Here you have a screen adaptation of one of the great plays of American theater written by the playwright himself. This is one of the best movies of the past decade. It tackles important themes and illuminates them. You will be a better person for understanding this story. See it often.
 
 

Casablanca (1942)

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains. Directed by Michael Curtiz.

One of the great love stories of all time is also one of the great movies of all time. People talk about it all the time. Do you know to what they are referring?
 
 

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Starring Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains; directed by Frank Capra.

This movie is about as corny as you are going to get and I love it. Sure it is unbelievable, but I want it to be true. I have a more important reason for putting this movie on my summer viewing list. You are going to be studying American literature and you will be asked what IS American literature. Understanding the themes of this movie will help you next year with this FINAL EXAM QUESTION. Also, you will understand the meaning of the word Capraesque.
 

The Killing Fields (1984)

Starring Sam Waterson, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich. Directed by Roland Joffe.

 This is another story based on a true story, but there are stories within stories for this film. This movie is about a piece of history that most students do not know even happened, the secret US bombing campaign in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and the bloody massacre that occurred during the Cambodian reign of Pol Pot. One of the stars of this film, Haing S. Ngor, was not an actor but a doctor who himself had survived the killing fields, though he was tortured and he experienced the starvation and death of his real-life family during the time that this film covers. This is not a fun adventure film but a drama that offers a bit of catharsis. You will be happy at the end of the film that you are not the Cambodian character at the center of the film. Please use this film as a spring board to learning about the world of the 1970s and 80s.
 

Tootsie (!982)

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Bill Murray. Directed by Sydney Pollack.

This is one of the all-time best comedies ever made. It is the story of a man who becomes a better man by being a woman. See it with the family or with a group of friends. Never see movies that are interrupted by commercials, and never see comedies without  a group of friends who know how to sit through a movie (no phone calls, no talking - laughter is okay).
 

Rocky (1976)

Starring Sylvester Stallone. Written by Sylvester Stallone.Directed by John G. Avilsen.

Everybody thinks this is a boxing movie. It is not. If you want proof, count the number of minutes actually devoted to boxing. It is not about boxing. It is about the attainment of a personal dream, a personal triumph, that is decided not by society or the world, but by the individual. It is an American movie and the themes that make it an American movie also make it a good movie. I place it on the 2002 list of summer movies because it will help you with the theme of junior year which is "What makes American literature American?" I also place it on the list because few people have actually seen the first movie of the awful series and because it is the only good movie of the bunch. If you saw it on television with commercials, it doesn't count.
 
 

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Starring Judy Garland, et. al. Directed by Victor Fleming.

Just in case you haven't seen this, don't you think it's time?
 
 

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Starring Humphrey Bogart. Directed by John Huston.

This is the original Sam Spade detective movie. It is quick, sharp and witty. The plot line is complicated but fun. Watch it for the style and the wit. Watch it so that you get an idea of what Humphrey Bogart was like and know that you are watching an American icon at his best. You will hear a ton of allusions to this movie and you will want to know what people are talking about. Watch it that when you hear the term film noir you will know that you have seen an example of it. (For more examples, click here)
 
 

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Watch this movie before the next one listed. Many of you have seen it or most of it. Watch it again. This is a clever version. It is accessible. It is not the way Shakespeare would have made it, but he doesn't have a say in it any more. It is also a shortened version of the play, but the words that are left are the same as are in the text. Look at the different ways that the film maker makes the old references fit the modern world. Notice the "Queen Mab" speech by Mercutio. It is shortened an given the context of drugs. Look at how they get to keep the words "sword" and "rapier" and "dagger" in the dialogue. To what do these words refer in the movie? My favorite piece of acting is by the person who plays the reporter on television. She has all the cadence and inflection of voice of a news reporter, but all of her words are Shakespeare's prologue. One thing about this version that I have noticed is that the director, Baz Luhrmann, seems to be copying Zeffirelli as much as he is interpreting Shakespeare. There are few scenes that have a very different feel from the Zeffirelli movie in tone and mood. One notable exception is the fight among Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo.
 
 

Romeo and Juliet (1968)

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

This is a more traditional version of the play and it is my favorite. Franco Zeffirelli cast teenagers in the roles of Romeo and Juliet which had not been done before. Usually older, more mature actors were used to play the parts of the two fourteen year olds. The performances of Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey are excellent and lend a realism to the play. This version also eliminates many of the lines of Shakespeare (as movies should do, because it is a different art form), but it is fuller than the newer version with DiCaprio. Once you have the story down from the 1996 film, you will find this version even more accessible. Even if you had never seen the newer movie, you would enjoy this film. When the two fall in love, the audience believes it because the audience also wants to fall in love with the characters. The fight scene between Mercutio and Tybalt has a different tone about it and takes away a bit from the motivation for Romeo's anger with Tybalt. If Mercutio's death is an accident as it appears in this film, then Romeo is less "Fortune's fool," and more a hot-headed kid.
 
 

My Left Foot (1989)

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Directed by Jim Sheridan.

This is based on the true story of Christy Brown. Trust me. Watch it. You know of no other story like it that is told as well.
 
 

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Starring Paul Scofield, John Hurt and Robert Shaw. Directed by Fred Zinnemann.

This is a story of true integrity and honor. I have asked you to see The Crucible which has complementary themes (and has Paul Scoffield in a supporting role), but that story is about a person who must struggle mightily to find his honor and self. This story is about a person who has it and must battle to keep it. This is the version of the film I ask you to see, not the 1988 film starring Charlton Heston. This version won the Best Actor Oscar for Scofield.
Historical footnote: Thomas Moore's final words were on the block. As he approached, he said to the lieutenant of the gallows: "I pray thee see me safely up, and for my coming down, let me shift for myself." On the gallows he moved his beard from the block on the grounds that "it has never committed treason." He died with grace and courage.
 
 

The Right Stuff (1983)

Starring Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris. Directed by Philip Kaufman.

This is for your science class. It is also for your history class. It is also for you. This is an inspiring movie about the original astronauts and what they had to go through. You will enjoy this movie, but even more enjoyable is the book by Tom Wolfe called The Right Stuff.
 
 

The Great Escape (1963)

Starring James Garner, Steve McQueen, Donald Pleasance, et. al. Directed by John Sturges.

This is one of the great adventure movies of all time. Based on a true story (which means you should not believe what you see, but read up on the real adventure), this movie is entertaining from beginning to the last. I add it to the film list because it is an example of how to make a great entertaining film.
 
 

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