rohanaka

You must have been posting at about the same time I did because I didn't catch what you said until afterwards... What you say makes perfect sense I'm glad! Ha--that's not something I hear eveyday! :-)

Oh my golly--I got so distracted about posting my reply for Shenendoah that I forgot to mention HOW LATE I stayed up to watch The Way West last night. I'd never seen this one before and it had some really good moments in it. I can't say it was the best Western I'd ever seen but some of the characters were really good and the scenery was VERY beautiful. I missed the first 20 minutes or so, and was actually about to turn off the tv and go to bed, but I sat down and started watching because I was trying to figure it all out....and I sort of got sucked into it. Wish I'd seen the beginning so some of the things that happened later would have had more meaning to me, but still found it worth watching. (And boy--oh boy--it took a while for old Kirk Douglas to come down off his high horse--now there was somebody who could be described as "smug and arrogant" but in the end he finally figured out it was better to motivate than to "browbeat"--took him long enough.)

Good observations! I haven't seen this film in a long while but I do agree bitter might be a better description. And I think I remember the scene you mention with Doug McClure. I also wonder if maybe I should have put a disclaimer on my post because although I found his character "hard to like" I also think in some respects it almost makes him seem a bit more sympathetic. (going back to his graveside conversations, etc) As in--he's the way he is because of the way his life is...etc. One nice thing about movies is that you don't always have to "like" the character you are watching if you can appreciate how their "less likeable qualities" drive the story or affect the outcome of events. This is one of those films (at least for me) where I think maybe it doesn't matter so much if I "like" the character but it's more important if I understand what makes him the way he is. (does that make sense??) And Miss G--with regard to what you said about how Stewart sometimes comes off a little "smug" in other films as well--I have that impression too sometimes (such as portions of The Spirit of St Louis or maybe even parts of Rear Window)...and again it may or may not always be because the character calls for it. (Although in Shenendoah I think it does.)

Sam Spade In keeping with the theme... The Breakfast "Club" or "Daimonds" Are Forever

I believe the judges are usually very generous about allowing you to borrow from other posts to complete your link if you are going for such a long multiplepost like that--so 13 it is!! :-) It does get harder to avoid the repeats though when you start reading through all the ones everybody has already come up with--it's bound to happen sooner or later! :-) Here's a "5-er" to keep things rolling... The Quiet Man with a Million Dollar Baby Makes Three Bad Men of Honor Keep on posting!! :-)

This time all his seething and zeal is channeled into finding his boy and I love that. I agree. I think that is what makes this story so intense--the way he (Stewart) focuses his attention. He sees the entire war--both sides of it--as a threat to his family and his way of life, (if I am remembering it correctly) so the war itself is more or less the antagonist of the story rather than the "north" or the "south". Maybe that lends more believability to the reasons he has for not choosing a "side". I was thinking of other films that have this as part of their storyline as well (Friendly Persuasion and Mel' Gibson's The Patriot were the first two that popped to mind) but they are both much different movies--(The Patriot isn't even set in the Civil War)--so they really aren't good comparisons. So again--I struggle with seeing the almost "selfish" mindset that way of thinking implies when the entire Civil War is raging off in the background, and Stewart's character is only on his own side (and his family's). But for me, I think he is sort of a "hard to like" type of character from the beginning anyway--at least in my memory. He's almost smug...certainly a bit arrogant. As in, "look what I did....look what I built for my family" Even when he prays he has an air of ingratitude to God for most everything he has) Again--I am speaking from memories that are several years old, so will have to apologize if I have him pegged wrong. It's not what you expect from a typical Jimmy Stewart role but I think he plays it very well. And I agree with you about the graveside conversations. I think they make him less "unlikeable"--if you will--and bring out more of the human side that I wanted to see in him. I don't have the Western Channel (I did not even know there was one!) :-) --but I will be on the lookout for a chance to catch this one again.

Is that how you do it? Exactly!! (I know you said you were new, but I'd say you are a natural!!) Great job and welcome aboard. :-)

Boy- I haven't seen Shenedoah in a long time. I was thinking about it the other day though after reading something posted by somebody somewhere on here...(there's so much to sift through, I can't always remember where I read stuff.) :-) This rendition of that song is so "of the period" :-) My dad used to have a lot of old records that had songs on it that sounded like a chorus singing in an echo-chamber! :-) It actually makes me feel very nostalgic to listen to it. (Especially after all our talk the other day about the music we listened to from our growin' up days. ) This movie is sort of unsettling in spots for me....I think when you see films about the civil war you automatically try to view it from the North side or the South side depending on how the story gets told. History has taught us (and movies have also shown) how the rights and wrongs on both sides of this war were all played out. So you can sometimes understand a character's motivation if they choose the "wrong side" for the "right reason". But you don't expect the lead character (especially when you are used to seeing him be a "hero" in other films) to be so determined to stay out of what others were so willing to fight and even die for--no matter what side they chose. I used to really struggle with seeing Stewart's character act in a way that to me almost seemed "selfish" --only looking out for his own interests (and his family's.) But it may not really have been such a selfish act--at least not in the way I used to perceive it. Now as a parent...and perhaps a little older and wiser...I can at least appreciate his mindset--even if I may disagree with it. Another one of those gray moments--right up a certain someone's alley.:-) I probably need to see it again to tell if I am remembering it correctly. PS--I watched Liberty Valance again last night. It was almost like seeing a whole new side of things watching it again after reading through all the discussions I've seen on here. There are aspects to both Tom and Rance's character's that I'd never even really considered before. It made all the conflicts (within and without) for both characters seem even "deeper" to see if from this new perspective. :-)

Oh April--I am very serious here...there are tears in the corner of my eye right now from watching those doors swing closed behind Jimmy Stewart's back...and in John Wayne's face....OH MY-OH ME!! Now I know we've all talked this movie back and forth many times... but I forgot what a powerful moment that really is...and when coupled with the words of that song....I have no other choice...I am going to have to log off this computer in just a few minutes, break out my tape and watch this movie again. And PS--grey guy--no badmouthing the video....the "Peacemaker" is watching!! :-)

That sounds like a great idea!! I just took a look at the selections you made for me...there's still a few left to go around! We could all have a nice long visit and on Saturday afternoon, you are all invited over to my lawn to play croquet. :-)

people were being mean to me all over the place and actual random imployees were coming up to me verbally abusing me. Oh Theresa!!! Who was being mean to my little friend??? I'm so sorry you had a bad day. I hope things improve. If not, you send those folks over to talk to me...I spend a good part of my day dealing with mean-spirited, foul-tempered, nasty, arrogant, immature people (of all ages) I can be very persuasive and intimidating when I have to be....(in some circles I am even called "The Colt 45 Peacemaker"--but usually not to my face!) :-) You tell those folks to ease up on you or they will have to answer to me. :-) Hope things are better soon.

mere amateur Not so!! A double and a quadruple..you are ready for the "masters!!" :-) A few more little doubles: Native Son of Flubber Tugboat Annie Get Your Gun The Girl Said No Time For Sergeants and a triple: Witness to a Murder by Death Takes a Holiday.

Is there any doubt? Well...judging from this picture here....let's not call it doubt...more like "a reason to believe otherwise!!" :-)

so behave. I promise. (And you????)

Oh grey guy...now you had to go and post that Quiet Man pic...I was just on my way to hit the hay. I had actually logged out, and then I popped in under the radar because I wanted to remember something I saw on here earlier....and there you were. What stands out about that picture???? Well of course it would have to be how WONDERFUL it is to get my "Quiet Man movie on this "important" film thread!! Ha! :-) (I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I really tried to figure out a way to work it into my list of "5 most importants" somehow..but now see...you managed to get it in here for me!! What a pal!! ) I love this picture. They are out on their little walk and are just about to leave the old guy in the dust. Seeing this makes me think I just might have to pull my tape out and watch it this weekend....it's been a little while. Everyone here is doing fine, but I am ready for summer to be over. I don't like all the heat and humidity. How is everything with you? PS--What does an orange and yellow sky mean anyway??? I've heard all those "sailor" things about what the different sky colors mean...but don't recall. Our sky here is pitch tonight--but we've got a nice slice of the moon and some stars going on, so it's not too bad right now. Nice to hear from you again.

it ain't just you Whew!!! Glad to hear that--But I don't know though...the other day I forgot about something I told someone else I would do for them, and I felt really bad about it. I had to apologize (it wasn't life threatening, so she forgave me!!) :-) And I told her that lately I felt like a had a "colander" brain....stuff pours in there and just drains right back out. :-) Well... the hour is late...I think I will head for the old pillow. (Maybe if I try to get more sleep--some of those "holes" in my brain will close back up....nah!!) :-)

I haven't seen Mr Smith or It's a Wonderful Life for some time now, Well--we've both got some movie watching to do then don't we!! :-) I really do need to see TKAM again. And I agree that the little girl was just perfect. All the characters are. I've never read the book, but really ought to sometime. I love at the end of the trial when they tell her to stand up because her daddy is walking by. That is just too powerful a statement to even really describe well. But it says a lot just because it is kept simple. And I crack up everytime I think of the "ham" costume. Although that is the only amusing thing about that part of the story. Will have to check the TCM schedule --or see if I can find the DVD sometime soon. (I probably missed it the other day when it was Gregory Peck day, didn't I????) Leave it to me to forget to think about stuff like that until it is too late.

I never struggled with the whole "why didn't he know she was his daughter" thing....SHE didn't even know her real identity. Somewhere--I think it was in "Jedi"--Luke asks her what she remembers of her childhood or something like that and she says something to the effect that she doesn't remember her mother except that she was very beautiful and that she died when Leia was young. Now she would still have to be talking about her adoptive mother wouldn't she...since her birth mother died when she was born and Leia would probably not have known what she looked like. (I don't know--is there ever any mention of what happens to Organa's wife after they take Leia in as an infant??) So I think she was just as much in the dark about everything as Vader was so she had no secret to keep and no thoughts to betray...and maybe Vader was just too distracted by building and testing the deathstar to "sense" it on his own!! :-) But I agree that probably the main reason he doesn't figure it out is because Lucas did not think of it sooner. He probably never dreamed in his wildest imagination that he would have to develope so detailed a story line to follow using a "backstory" that was mostly just a some ideas on paper. I think he probably had a lot of concepts to help him come up with character motivations and such....but I doubt he realized he would need to follow up with things from the 1st movie over 20 years later in order to pick up and show how it all got started.

you just have good taste Thank you for saying that--I don't get accused of that very often!! :-) But if I do, you must have it too, because 3 of the films you listed on your timeless list are among some of my most favorite movies of all time. Of course....the one we've already said...TWofO..but I also fell in love with Sunrise the first time I ever saw it. I've only been fortunate enough to watch it a couple of times...but it is a very wonderful story and it is also one of the first silents I ever recall watching all the way through. And of course....The Searchers....it almost made my list of 5 most important...the only reason I chose Liberty Valance over it was because I'd seen it more times....( I have it on tape...Someday I hope to get the Searchers either taped or buy the DVD) I haven't seen the other two films you mentioned, but have seen them discussed on here before. Will need to learn some more about them sometime. They will likely have to be added to my long and ever growing list of "movies I want to watch someday". I am thinking of doing some sort of "wall hanging" with the notebook paper when it gets long enough!! :-) PS--Hello Frank Grimes...I've seen you posting on here a few times today...hope you are having a nice evening!! Is the sky "gray" where you are???? :-)

Hi Miss Musical...Haven't run into you in a while... I liked several of your choices. To Kill a Mockingbird is a film I haven't seen in some years....but it is a very good selection. And we share a mutual choice in GWTW. ( I've seen that on several people's list..must be a reason for that) :-) I would have had a hard time choosing between the two Jimmy Stewart films...in fact...I thought briefly about Mr. Smith when I was making my own list, but went a different route. The two stories are quite a bit different in content, but they are both similar in what makes them good...intersting plot, great acting, terrific characters, wonderful "atmosphere" to go along with the story. I bet it was a tough call for you for sure!! :-)

Whichever one of you ends up seeing this first--or if you watch together--let me know how you like it--(or is that going to be a dumb question!!) :-) I have already added it to my list of "movies I want to see someday" but would not mind hearing some of your comments about it...and also--I have to say --after seeing that one picture posted again--(and in no way do I mean this in any inappropriate fashion)----Whoa baby! :-)

say a prayer Done! I don't think we've ever chatted, but I wish you well, and hope you find all the right solutions to the situations you mentioned. Blessings to you. :-)

Wizard of Oz Ha--I should have kept on reading before I responded to your first post because I didn't see the next comment until after that. If I were making a list like that, TWofO would definitely be on it-- (but you obviously already guessed that one!!--I'm pretty predictable!) :-) Message was edited by: rohanaka

His career as a whole is extremely important- but I guess I can't peg any of his movies as "Most Important". Hi Jack--Regarding Hitch--I don't know if anyone would have him on their list or not--But I maybe should have worded my post a little better--because I really wasn't even implying that--I was just being ornery in response to April talking about how she managed to get two Fords on there--and I know I've seen her talk a lot about Hitchcock too) Just me trying to have a bit of fun....sometimes it loses something between my brain and the keyboard--sorry if it was confusing!! :-) April-I think you got that from your response--but in case you didn't--I was in no way implying your list was lacking--I still think it's first rate! :-)

Oh--Murray had some funny moments--but there were just too many "fourth grade" gags in this movie to make it appealing for a wider audience. And it was almost like two movies in one because there was one story involving eveything happening to Bill Murray on the outside...and the rest of the movie was just about what happens to his body "on the inside" as a result. So Murray's character was clueless about the good guys vs bad guys fight going on inside him. It's been a long time since I saw Innerspace but I remember it being a lot funnier because of how Martin Short reacted (by freaking out) to finding out something was going on inside him (and then how he and Dennis Quaid sort of teamed up to fight the bad guys). Just my opinion--but if I had to choose the better movie--I'd go with Innerspace. (unless of course...I was a fourth grader). :-)