781. Superman (1978)

So I don't like Superman, I generally don't like superheroes or their movies so I am coming from a place of bias. But Superman just always seemed so lame to me. He's basically a robot in a leotard, who suffers no emotional crises, and outside of the whole kryptonite thing is unstoppable. There's no emotional connection for me. There's no suspense either.

I managed to make it 26 years without watching Superman, or if I did I saw it when I was like 5 and that doesn't count. I was hesitant to watch it last night, mainly because Superman is stupid and the movie is long.

The first hour is pretty boring, Marlon Brando living in some crystal city that blows up, Clark flying to earth in some crystal thing. And those dicks that get banished from Krypton at the beginning and get placed in some stupid mirror. That graphic looks like it's straight out a Steve Miller video, and then those guys don't even show up. Then we have Clark Kent growing up and learning about his powers. I like Brando alot but sometimes he's just so crappy, and what gives with the luminescent jump suit?

I wonder what Superman would have been like if his parents weren't so kind. Like say his earth dad was abusive and tried to take advantage of his powers. Or hell what if his dad actually let him play football. What if Clark used his powers for evil or at least his own gain, that would be way cooler to me. Seriously there is so much potential for conflict in that kind of story. Instead we get Clark becoming an emotionless robot.

That being said Christopher Reeves was surpisingly good. He is pretty charismatic and has a good comedic sense. I actually liked him in the role. Margot Kidder was also quite good, still not hot or anything, but she has moxie.

But Gene Hackman made the movie for me. He was just awesome as Lex Luthor, and had some awesome lines. I particularly liked when he told Ned Beatty that "200 is a common number for both of us, it's my IQ and your weight". He just was what a bad guy should be, just gleefully evil and smart.

It also became clear that this movie serves as the template for how many other superhero movies have been constructed since. First hour is exposition, how the character got his powers, plus light hearted demonstration of those powers, and hints at the conflict of the character, and the introduction of the love interest. Second hour has a crime fighting montage and the introduction of the main villain(s). Third hour has the hero overcoming the odds, beating the villain and realizing that he can't marry the love interest.

So I almost liked the movie but Superman still sucks.

88. Gone With The Wind (1939)

I always get intimidated by movies that are 3 hours or more. It just always seems to me a movie can get done in like 2 hours what it can do in 3 hours. Plus I have an impatient streak, and constantly check how much time is left in any movie I watch.

So that being said I was procrastinating about watching this movie, because it's almost 4 hours long. Honestly who makes 4 hour movies? It just seems like a bad idea.

So at 3 AM last night I determined that I would watch this movie. And I really dug it. The pace is good and the characters are great and well realized, and the story gets going right away.

I like Scarlet's character alot. Like she was so despicable and petulant that you really shouldn't like her, but somehow I never ended up hating her. I think it's because Vivian Leigh does such a good job with her, and the story makes it clear what she is doing and why she does it. I really liked the scene early in the movie when Scarlet is flirting with all this mutton-chopped douchebags just because she wants to make Ashley jealous. Man she's such a debutante. But she's always awesome cause she shoots a guy in the face.

I also thought Clark Gable was awesome. It's weird with him in that for some reason I don't want to like him, maybe it's the moustache, or just some vibe of insincerity I get when I look at him, or maybe it's just the realization that Dave Foley does Clark Gable as well as Clark Gable does. But fuck he's good. He was such a pimp in this movie, and I loved how condescending he was to Scarlet. There was so much comedy in that, and that whole scene where he brings Ashley back with a bullet wound under the guise of being drunk was so genius. Rhett is just an awesomely realized character.

Mammy too was amazing. Calling everyone 'po white trash' and shit. Paul Mooney in "Mooney on Movies" explains her awesomeness better than I ever could:

Mooney claims after the women say Gone with the Wind is a classic that the best scene in the movie is when Mammy tells the white people to "get off my po'ch, white trash." He then informs the women that in real life Hattie McDaniel was not allowed to attend the opening and "she's dead but everybody comes back to get their money. She came back as Oprah Winfrey to get her money."

Another thing that I liked was the shot of Scarlet going to find Dr. Meade and being surrounded by all the dead bodies as the camera pans out to reveal just how much devastation there is. It's a powerful shot but what I appreciate most is that the Simpsons paid homage to it in the episode where Homer gets a trampoline and all the kids of the neighborhood use it to their peril. Good stuff.