An update to regular readers here at I Can’t Unsee That Movie. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be pausing all activity through the month of September, both reviews and movie related news. If I’m able to return sooner than that I will, but for now that appears to be the safe estimate. I hope to see you all again on the other side in October.
The BBC is starting to make this an annual event.
Exactly one year ago, the UK’s flagship media network announced their list of “The 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century” (so far). Now they’ve followed that up by unveiling their choices for “The 100 Greatest Comedies of All Time“.
The decision to go for Comedy was made by BBC Culture after they saw how few films from the genre actually landed on their 21st Century list.
This year, they asked 253 film critics (118 women and 135 men) from 52 countries across six continents to compile their own personal Top 10 Lists for the best comedies of all time.
Averaging those choices out, the BBC ended up with its Top 100.
Interesting stats:
So here they are, in ascending order, The 100 Greatest Comedies of All Time:
100. (tie) The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982)
100. The Ladies Man (Jerry Lewis, 1961)
99. The Jerk (Carl Reiner, 1979)
98. The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
97. The Music Box (James Parrott, 1932)
96. Born Yesterday (George Cukor, 1950)
95. Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984)
94. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)
93. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Trey Parker, 1999)
92. The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)
91. What’s Up, Doc? (Peter Bogdanovich, 1972)
90. A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)
89. Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966)
88. Zoolander (Ben Stiller, 2001)
87. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)
86. Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer, 1949)
85. Amarcord (Federico Fellini, 1973)
84. Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest, 1996)
83. Safety Last! (Fred C Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, 1923)
82. Top Secret! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, 1984)
81. There’s Something About Mary (Bobby and Peter Farrelly, 1998)
80. Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999)
79. The Dinner Game (Francis Veber, 1998)
78. The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987)
77. Divorce Italian Style (Pietro Germi, 1961)
76. Design for Living (Ernst Lubitsch, 1933)
75. The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges, 1942)
74. Trading Places (John Landis, 1983)
73. The Nutty Professor (Jerry Lewis, 1963)
72. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (David Zucker, 1988)
71. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
70. In the Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009)
69. Love and Death (Woody Allen, 1975)
68. Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939)
67. Sons of the Desert (William A Seiter, 1933)
66. Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright, 2007)
65. Caddyshack (Harold Ramis, 1980)
64. Step Brothers (Adam McKay, 2008)
63. Arsenic and Old Lace (Frank Capra, 1944)
62. What We Do in the Shadows (Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, 2014)
61. Team America: World Police (Trey Parker, 2004)
60. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
59. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
58. Zelig (Woody Allen, 1983)
57. Mean Girls (Mark Waters, 2004)
56. Broadcast News (James L Brooks, 1987)
55. Best in Show (Christopher Guest, 2000)
54. Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
53. The Blues Brothers (John Landis, 1980)
52. My Man Godfrey (Gregory La Cava, 1936)
51. Seven Chances (Buster Keaton, 1925)
50. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar, 1988)
49. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972)
48. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932)
47. Animal House (John Landis, 1978)
46. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
45. Big Deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli, 1958)
44. Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011)
43. M*A*S*H (Robert Altman, 1970)
42. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937)
41. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Larry Charles, 2006)
40. The Producers (Mel Brooks, 1967)
39. A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood and Edmund Goulding, 1935)
38. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)
37. Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941)
36. A Fish Called Wanda (Charles Crichton and John Cleese, 1988)
35. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)
34. Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995)
33. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay, 2004)
32. Raising Arizona (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1987)
31. Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, 1982)
30. Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953)
29. When Harry Met Sally… (Rob Reiner, 1989)
28. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)
27. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
26. Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)
25. The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)
24. Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson, 1987)
23. The Party (Blake Edwards, 1968)
22. Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
21. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
20. Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)
19. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)
18. Sherlock Jr (Buster Keaton, 1924)
17. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)
16. The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, 1940)
15. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)
14. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)
13. To Be or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942)
12. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
11. The Big Lebowski (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998)
10. The General (Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton, 1926)
9. This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)
8. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)
7. Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, 1980)
6. Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
5. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)
4. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
3. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
2. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
1. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
For more interesting info about this list, check out these links:
Ben there, doing that?
Lucasfilm is officially developing a brand new Star Wars anthology film that will focus on Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi. Rumored to be a possibility for a long time now, in large part due to prequel-star Ewan McGregor‘s outspoken desire to make one, Lucasfilm announced their plans to move forward with the concept.
Although no details were given (not even McGregor was confirmed in the press release), a lead creative has been tapped to spearhead the project: Stephen Daldry, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker of movies such as Billy Elliot, The Hours, and The Reader (those last two efforts earned Academy Awards for Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet, respectively). Daldry is also an award-winning theatre director, and recently helmed early episodes of the Netflix series The Crown.
No deal has been finalized, but Daldry is negotiating to direct from a script that he writes (or at least oversees). The likelihood is that this latest Star Wars stand-alone would focus on Kenobi’s time as a hermit on Tatooine, between the events of Episodes III and IV, when the Jedi Master kept a distant eye on the young Luke Skywalker.
If this ends up being the approach, as most expect, it’ll be interesting to see if a young Luke Skywalker would be woven into that narrative as well, and if they’d cast a young boy as opposed to a young teenager. Going younger would allow Lucasfilm to pursue sequels if that first anthology effort strikes a chord.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that the story would go much further back to a very young Obi-Wan, perhaps with his master Qui-Gon Jinn, but that seems less likely as that’s not really the story that Star Wars fans are clamoring for. People want to see McGregor’s Kenobi outside of George Lucas’s flat tonal confines. Plus, McGregor would sell more tickets.
Whatever the Obi-Wan movie ends up being, let’s hope it’s some damn fool idealistic crusade.
Now they’re really teasing us.
Actually, it’s more than that. Depending on your aversion to spoilers, Entertainment Weekly’s new multi-article exclusive look at Star Wars: The Last Jedi could provide way more Episode VIII dirt than you’re looking for.
From Luke’s motives to Snoke’s backstory to Finn’s crisis of purpose, the EW scoop gives us more about then next Skywalker chapter than most people were likely expecting. If you want to dive in, click on the following links.
But if you just want a sneak peak at the new photos published in EW’s 2017 Fall Movie Preview (following these recent stills and behind-the-scenes video), you can see them in the gallery below.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens on December 15, 2017.
Click on any photo for a larger image gallery.
They’re heeeeere. Oh, wait, wrong Spielberg joint.
In 1977, the big sci-fi phenomenon was Star Wars, but where George Lucas went mythic his best friend Steven Spielberg went existential. Now for its 40th Anniversary, Columbia Pictures is re-releasing Close Encounters of the Third Kind back into theaters for a one-week run, digitally remastered in a 4K restoration.
Made for $20 million (a huge budget at the time, nearly twice that of Star Wars), Close Encounters earned $303 million worldwide and was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning Oscars for best cinematography and a special achievement in sound effects editing.
Last year in my Spielberg Retrospective, I ranked Close Encounters of the Third Kind in the Spielberg Canon as his second best movie ever, behind only Schindler’s List.
The short nationwide run will begin on September 1, 2017, followed by its premiere on blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on September 19.
Just wanted to provide a brief notice as to why you won’t see new Movie Reviews for a couple of weeks at I Cant Unsee That Movie.
Due to scheduling challenges, I won’t be able to screen and write new movie reviews for the next two weeks or so, probably through the end of July. My hope is to return to my regular schedule by the first of August.
Along with picking back up with the latest releases, I also plan to write belated catch-up reviews for titles like Dunkirk, Valerian, War For The Planet of the Apes, The Big Sick, and more.
I will be posting a review of A Ghost Story soon, the experimental low budget Casey Affleck indie that’s been a festival favorite. I’ve already submitted that review to The Tulsa Voice.
Beyond that, I will continue to make posts for movie related news (trailers, images, reports) to the extent my schedule allows.
First footage of the live action Lion King just screened at Disney’s D23 convention. It’s not available to the public yet, but the rave reviews from attendees are all over the interweb Pridelands. This one, from Mark Ellis (Collider, SchmoesKnow), is as pure and exciting a fan reaction as you could hope for, and indicative of every other reaction I’ve read. The Lion King (live action) opens in two years on July 19, 2019.
