Wednesday, August 19, 2015

AFI Top 100, #s 72, 71, 70

This time, I have three that I’ve previously reviewed, all of them for my Best Picture Project. Below is the pertinent information about each: the movie stats, plot summary, and the rating I gave it.

BEN-HUR - AFI #72
Movie Stats:
Released 1959 (USA)
American, in English
Director – William Wyler 
Stars – Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet

Plot Summary:
Set in ancient Judea, when Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) is betrayed by his childhood best friend Messala (Boyd), a Roman who is part of the force that has conquered Judea, he vows to return to exact his revenge. Also, there’s a bunch of stuff about Jesus Christ. Hawkins co-stars as Quintus Arrius, a Roman consul who later adopts Judah as his son, and Harareet as Esther, Judah’s love interest.

Rating:
3.5 stars

Full review HERE.


FORREST GUMP - AFI #71
Movie Stats:
Released 1994 (USA)
American, in English
Director – Robert Zemeckis
Stars – Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson

Plot Summary:
The life and times of Forrest Gump (Hanks), a man born with a slightly-below-average IQ. Field co-stars as his mother; Wright as his love interest, Jenny; Sinise as his the leader of his Vietnam-era Army platoon (and later friend), Lt. Dan Taylor; and Williamson as his best Army buddy, Bubba Blue.

Rating:
3 stars

Full review HERE.


THE FRENCH CONNECTION - AFI #70
Movie Stats:
Released 1971 (USA)
American, in English (some subtitled French, a little non-translated French)
Director – William Friedkin
Stars – Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider

Plot Summary:
When NYC cops Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Hackman) and Buddy Russo (Scheider) stumble upon a massive drug ring, they discover that it has a French connection.

Rating:
2.75 stars

Full review HERE.

3 comments:

Patricia said...

The French Connection was just name-dropped in one of the smart smut books I've been reading.

balyien said...

What's a smart smut book? And what was the mention? I'm curious how this movie and "smut" go together, lol.

Patricia said...

Smart smut is Heidi Joy Tretheway calls her genere. Basically a lot of sex with a plot. When I get the August Book post up, you will see how I've been spending my time. The book in question is "Off-Campus" by Amy Jo Cousins, which I heartily recommend, due to hot sex and excellent character development. The movie connection happened when the two main characters were watching the movie because it supposedly had the best chase scene.