4. Raging Bull (1980)
I'm not much of a boxing movie fan (but I'll have to be as Rocky is in the Top 100 and I have yet to watch it), so the appeal of viewing this one was low. But since it's #4, I figured it had a good message or some other reason it was a good movie. Raging Bull is a true story that portrays the famous boxer Jake LaMotta and his life in the ring and outside of the ring, the former going well but the latter declining as time goes by. It has a younger Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, and by watching the special features I learned that De Niro had to gain 60 lbs. for the scenes that were supposed to take place later in LaMotta's life in addition to actually training with LaMotta for the filming. They apparently stopped filming for 2 months and De Niro went to Europe to accomplish the weight gain. Crazy!
Why It's in the Top 100: Turns out, it does have a good message! From early on in the movie, we see that LaMotta is very selfish and self-centered, and if it weren't for his caring manager & brother, Joey, he would be in a lot more trouble. Eventually, LaMotta discovers that he can't have everything and treat people the way he does because they all eventually leave and give up on him. The ending has some hope, as well, and by all records I could find, the real LaMotta is still alive.
5. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Besides the annoyingly-catchy song of the same title, I didn't know much about this film before viewing it. However, since I'm big into development and history and learning how things, practices, and procedures evolved, this was a treat. Set in 1927, the film chronicles the transition from silent films to films with sound. Before the switch, it was your classic film a scene while mouthing the words and then a slide came up with the words that were spoken. When a small silent film production company makes the switch to sound (the "new revolution" in film!), they discover their main actress sounds awful. Drama ensues and of course, so does romance.
Why it's in the Top 100: Besides chronicling the transition and development of film with sound matched to the actions, it's also a cute tale of difficulties and triumphing over them. I really enjoyed the historical aspect of the film, and of course, the famous scene with Gene Kelly singing his song. A all-around fun movie!
6. Gone With the Wind (1939)
If you know me well, you know that this is my FAVORITE MOVIE EVER. PERIOD. It all started when I was reading Ya-Ya Sisterhood and was confused by their references to GWTW, so being the reader I am, started reading the book. And of course, after reading the book, I had to watch the movie. I actually remember being at JBU and taking almost a whole day to watch the movei (4 hours) and the special edition extras (4 hours). Ridiculous, I know. For those who have been living under a rock, this movie is the story of Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and their romance and drama, set in the South during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Why it's in the Top 100: 1. Notice that this movie was filmed in 1939. Do you know what kind of technology they had available then? Not much! It's amazing to see how well they did with what they had! 2. Clark Gable. 3. It was such a box office hit, as well as Margaret Mitchell's book success, that anyone who was alive when it was released would've known about it. 4. Several famous quotes, the best being, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." (While reading the book, I kept waiting and waiting for that quote to appear. It's actually one of the last lines!) All in all, this movie is a CLASSIC and everyone should at least have seen part of it if not all. LOVE IT!
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