Blog Assignment Finale

Here are the links to my top 10 blog posts along with a brief description on why I chose each post.

• City of God Review - This is my favorite movie of all time.
  
• American Beauty Review - I loved everything about this movie. This is Kevin Spacey's at his finest.
  
• Goodfellas Review - Martin Scorsese is one of my favorite directors and this was his best movie.
  
• How the Web Changed My Life - I liked thinking about what my life would be like without the internet.
  
• Gran Torino Review - This was a really powerful movie and one that most people haven't gotten a chance to see yet.
  
• Once Upon a Time in the West Review - This movie was a masterpiece and It was difficult picking out all of the little details that made me like it so much.
  
• 50 Best Movies - It was fun to look back through the movies I've watched and rank them.
  
• Amadeus Review - I love classical music and this movie was great.
  
• The Changing Web - It was fun thinking of all the things I used to do on the internet.
  
• Schindler's List Review - This was the first movie post where I took the time to add multiple links to outside sites.
  

Before this class, I had a web design blog that I updated occasionally. However, my posts would be few and far apart. After posting 2+ times a week for this class, I got into a habit of writing posts and it became easier.

When writing blog posts, I tried to keep paragraphs to a max of 3 sentences. Any block of text much larger than that got hard to read. I also tried to make all of my movie poster images have the same size and alignment to keep the site consistent. I definitely like the freedom and control of writing to my own blog much more than posting on a discussion board. I also like being able to go back and revise posts if I think of something different the next day or two.

Because I was writing on a schedule, I would keep a list of all the things I hadn't blogged about yet. This worked well with Blogger since I could create drafts of all of these posts and only publish them when I was finished. This way, whenever I had some free time, I could add a little to one of my drafts.

50 Best Movies

My IMDB Top 100 Challenge is done tomorrow and I was reminiscing about all of the great films I've seen in the past few months. Here is a list of the best 50 movies I've seen in the past year.

50. Into the Wild (2007)
    


49. Reservoir Dogs (1992)


48. The Maltese Falcon (1941)


47. Unforgiven (1992)
    


46. Oldboy (2003)
    


45. Pulp Fiction (1994)


44. Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)


43. The Downfall (2004)


42. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
    


41. Requiem for a Dream (2000)


40. Apocalypse Now (1979)


39. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)


38. The Dark Knight (2008)


37. Amadeus (1984)


36. No Country for Old Men (2007)


35. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)


34. The Wrestler (2008)


33. Raging Bull (1980)


32. Saving Private Ryan (1998)


31. The Departed (2006)


30. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)


29. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)


28. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)


27. 12 Angry Men (1957)


26. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)


25. Sin City (2005)


24. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)


23. Seven Samurai (1954)


22. L.A. Confidential (1997)


21. Léon (1994)


20. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)


19. Taxi Driver (1976)


18. The Lives of Others (2006)


17. The Godfather (1972)


16. Schindler's List (1993)


15. The Pianist (2002)


14. Gran Torino (2008)


13. Life is Beautiful (1997)


12. The Prestige (2006)


11. Chinatown (1974)


10. American History X (1998)


9. Goodfellas (1990)


8. The Sting (1973)


7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)


6. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)


5. American Beauty (1999)


4. The Godfather: Part II (1974)


3. Memento (2000)


2. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)


1. City of God (2002)

Schindler's List - #7

With this movie, I finished off the top 10 films of all time according to IMDB.

IMDB rating: 8.8
My rating: 9.0

Schindler's List was a movie I knew a lot about but had never gotten around to watching it. This is Spielberg's masterpiece and deserves its spot near the top of the list.

The majority of the film was in black and white which was an interesting directing choice. After watching another great Holocaust film, The Pianist, I think it was the right one to make. The vivid colors in The Pianist distracted from the storyline and didn't quite fit with the theme. Schindler's list had to rely on acting and a riveting story to make the most of its 2 colors and boy did it succeed.

Liam Neeson was fantastic as Oskar Schindler, a Nazi party member and factory owner during World War II. Some other great performances by Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes rounded out the film.

It was really inspiring to know that not all humanity was lost in Hitler's Germany. At the same time, it was depressing to realize that despite the enormous efforts of Oskar Schindler, 6 million people still died.

The ending of this movie was unconventional. Each of the actors came back on screen escorting the actual person they were portraying in the film. It was a fitting way to end this masterpiece. Schindler's List is near the top in most movie lists for a reason. Even if you know what's going to happen, the experience is still worth it.

There are many disturbing images and scenes from the Holocaust in this film, so you may have to turn your head away at a few parts. Also, Schindler's List is over 3 hours long, so make sure and plan ahead before watching this. That being said, this is one of the greatest movies ever made and everyone should watch it.

American History X - #39

IMDB Rating: 8.5

My Rating: 9.1

American History X was a movie I've been wanting to see for a while. I finally found a copy and was not disappointed. The film was very emotional and thought provoking.

Edward Norton gave a powerhouse performance and proved himself as one of the greatest actors alive today. He was able to portray a troubled teenager, a hardened criminal, and a caring brother flawlessly. Each of his roles were completely believable. The supporting cast was great too, but they couldn't compete with Norton for the spotlight.

There is brief nudity, some violence, and a lot of adult language. If you are easily offended, you may want to stay away from this film. That being said, I highly recommend this and would rank it in the top 10 movies of all time.

Once Upon a Time in the West - #19

This was only the second real Western movie I've seen, besides The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

IMDB rating: 8.7

My rating: 9.6

Once Upon a Time in the West was a masterpeice. Sergio Leone, also the director of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, is now one of my favorite directors, right up there with Christopher Nolan.

The recurring musical themes and visual elements made watching this film a surreal experience. Each character had their own music and visual styles associated with them. When two or more characters met, their musical themes were woven together, creating a unique experience. Once Upon a Time in the West was one of, if not the best examples of film making I've ever seen.

The great directing along with a great cast and a compelling story made this film a pleasure to watch. When I watched Once Upon a Time in the West, I had just seen Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men. It was interesting to see him as a villain after being the ultimate good guy.

After 5 minutes of watching this movie, I was ready to turn it off. It starts out pretty slow, but stick with it. You'll be glad you did. I can't decide between City of God and this movie as my favorite of all time. If you like Westerns or just great film making you have to see Once Upon a Time in the West.

12 Angry Men - #9

IMDB rating: 8.8
My rating: 8.8

12 Angry Men was a great movie. I don't usually like old movies, but this is such a classic that I had to watch it.

Almost the entire movie takes place in a single room with 12 jurors sitting around a table. Without changing scenery or music, 12 Angry Men had to rely primarily on acting. Luckily, this movie has some of the best acting of any I've seen. Henry Fonda led the pack with a memorable performance.

It is only 96 minutes, so there really isn't any excuse to not see this movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you really have to.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - #60

IMDB rating: 8.4

My rating: 8.7

I really liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I wasn't too interested in watching it when it first came out in theaters, but I'm glad I finally did.

Kate Winslet and Jim Carey were great together. They had an on-screen chemistry that I couldn't have imagined before seeing the film. Other big names include Elijah Wood (his 5th top 100 movie), David Cross, and Kristen Dunst. Some of the roles didn't quite seem to fit the actors, but overall it was pretty good.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was one of the stranger movies on this list. Not everyone is going to like it, but you should definitely give it a shot.