'Me and My Girl'

One of the few films on the 1,001 list that unintentionally flopped at the box office. By the mid-30s, Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett were well into their acting careers, but neither had tipped the scales.

There’s no real gargantuan impact on the film industry here. Raoul Walsh directed and other than being prolific as a director, his greatest hits include portraying John Wilkes Booth in Birth of a Nation and discovering John Wayne.

The film is nice and easy, though. Just 79, it flies through witty dialogue and a pretty entertaining, but simple plot. If for no other reason, revel in the glory that is Spencer Tracy in a comedic role.

'The Ladies Man'

I wanted to write something about Jerry Lewis here, but, as it turns out, the guy is rather boring.

He is most notably one of the most well-known comedic actors of the 20th and 21st centuries. He teamed with straight man Dean Martin for years on the stage and on film. He then went solo and really made a name for himself.

Lewis was rejected for service in World War II for a heart murmur, which might have had a role in his supposed heart attacked in 1960, when he was 34, the other two heart attacks he's had since. Needless to say, had he gone into the service, if the Nazis didn't kill him, his own troops would've. No doubt he would've been incredibly obnoxious in a foxhole.

Lewis has been married twice, the first time 26 years and his sequel has lasted 19. The only bad or shocking thing I can say about the guy is that he's completely obnoxious. I can't imagine another actor out there that drives me as bananas as Lewis does with these kooky, idiotic characters, who are all easily duped and stumble into fortune or narrowly miss the disaster of death or shame.

No matter what you might think about him, Lewis seems to be a guy that's done things the right way for the vast majority of his career, which has spanned eight decades. Maybe he's loved the drugs, drink or girls (or guys), but over that length of time in his high-profile and often philanthropic image, it'd be hard to stuff all those skeletons into the closet.

I wish I could dislike Lewis as a person as much as I do a comedic actor, but it's impossible.

'Sons Of The Desert'

I write about this film realizing that I probably like the movie posters more than I might like the actual movie. 

However, that’s just the nature of the film poster of the 1930s and that should not take away from the fact that I enjoyed this very much. 

Despite the physical, sophomoric nature of the comedy, I found myself laughing throughout and I really think that Stan Laurel (who is actually an Englishman) is one of the funniest men to walk this Earth. His scene eating the fake fruit is quite funny. 

 Both guys started in show business in their teens, Laurel in Scotland and Hardy in Georgia. Hardy particularly was successful in the early years of film making more than 300 shorts. Only about 150 still survive. 

They first acted together in The Lucky Dog in 1921 and they both signed with Hal Roach later on. Six years later, Roach had teamed them and made them into the duo that they would become for 20 years. 

Their final film was Atoll K, released in 1951. It was hampered with language barriers and the declining health of Laurel (61 at the time) and Hardy (59 … a hard 59). 

At his death, Hardy weighed 138 pounds and had several strokes. He died in 1957 and Laurel lasted until 1965. 

They filmed hundreds of films together (short- and long-form) and about three are considered lost, meaning they’ve haven’t been seen in 80 years. 

The International Laurel & Hardy Appreciation Society is named "Sons of the Desert." 

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'

I really can't imagine a more timeless, perfect movie than Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I enjoyed it 12 years after it was released in 1986 as a high school senior and I enjoyed it 25 years afterwards, when they decided to do a car commercial starring Matthew Broderick in a Bueller-type getaway day.

It's perfectly written, directed, a dark underbelly of self-loathing and doubt mixed with his cheerful, innocent and carefree effervescence teeming to the brim.

Directed and written by John Hughes, maybe more than any of his films, it is a promotion video for the city of Chicago as Ferris, Sloane and Cameron go to the trade floor, art museum, Wrigley Field and a downtown parade.

Said Hughes: "Chicago is what I am. A lot of Ferris is sort of my love letter to the city. And the more people who get upset with the fact that I film there, the more I'll make sure that's exactly where I film. It's funny—nobody ever says anything to Woody Allen about always filming in New York. America has this great reverence for New York. I look at it as this decaying horror pit. So let the people in Chicago enjoy Ferris Bueller."

Got to admit, Chicago holds a lot of charm even if a lot of Hughes' films are set in the suburbs and don't necessarily detail the beauty of the city quite like Ferris. 

The most interesting character in the entire film is clearly Cameron. Based on a real person, it's never clear his issues with his parents, particularly his bad, or how it is that he's dealing with all of this, like pretending to be sick.

Cameron's dad is no different from quite a number of other days. Cameron, however, is a lot more sensitive, who never follows in the callous attitude of his father toward having a relationship. The evidence in Cameron's angst is evident in, actually, Ferris' father. He is attentive and caring. He looks in on Ferris and calls in the middle of the day. He gets home early from his corporate job in a downtown high rise just to make sure that his son is OK after having a pretty mild cold (even if it was fake).

However, what is pretty evident with Ferris and his parents is completely lost and seething under the skin with Cameron and his parents. We would only assume he would get in serious trouble for wrecking the car, but we really don't know what that means, what that entails. And is Cameron really "standing up" to his father as much as spiting him for loving a car more than he loved his own son, or so Cameron thinks.

'Whiskey Galore!'

This is a film about an island in the Outer Hebrides that has run out of whiskey considering the rationing during World War II and embragoes on shipping and whatnot.

Desperate, the island finds hope after a ship off the coasts wrecks and the contents -- whiskey -- are looting by the island's inhabitants and the adventure in keeping the contents from military and police officials.

It is based on real life: The SS Politician shipwrecked off an island in the Outer Hebrides and the inhabitants abscond with the spirited contents.

Watching these films and reading these books, you get to learn about places from all over the world. I try to research the settings as much as possible because I would think there are some meaning in how the author or director set his characters in a specific place and time.

The Outer Hebrides are a group of islands located northwest of Scotland. There are 15 inhabited islands in the Outer Hebrides. The islands were actually inhabited before the Romans came through, mostly by Norse invaders and the island was handed over to Scotland in the 13th century. Some structures on the islands, including the Callanish Stones, date back to 2900 BC.

Most of the 26,000 inhabitants speak Scottish Gaelic. On the island if Eriskay, the wreck site of the SS Politician, there are currently 133 residents. It should be noted that 28,000 cases of malt whiskey was made away with.

'There's Something About Mary'

I wish I had some historical (relatively speaking, of course) context for There's Something About Mary.

I'm going to be honest, I don't remember what I thought this film was. I did not see it in theaters, which is odd. It was released the summer after I graduated high school.

At the time, I was flush with money and I went to an obscene amount of films. I must have thought this was a chick flick. I wasn't one to read reviews so if I made a very shallow evaluation about the film as being one thing, I never learned it was another. Therefore, I can't place it within the right context.

I do remember it being very popular and making a ton of money. Watching it now, I can't believe there was a comedy such as There's Something About Mary. I can't imagine there being a more irreverent film. Nor do I remember something with so much physical humor.

When Warren goes bananas and attacks Ben Stiller during hte prom scene it is an example of the funniest physical humor in quite a long time.

I also remember it being Cameron Diaz' coming-out party. At least for me, she was in The Mask in addition to some lower-budget films. However, I remember Diaz from There's Something About Mary.

Nowadays, I can't stand her. Does nothing for me. Then, she was one of the hottest women on the planet. With that little haircut and those little outfits. Cripes. She was gorgeous.

'Meet The Parents'

It's a mystery to me as to why Meet the Parents is included on this list of the best films of all time.

It's poorly acted full of slapstick, predictable humor with a hodgepodge of funny jokes. It was highly successful and it spawned two sequels, neither of which I've seen, but I've only heard bad things about them.

It's not signficant. It's not the funniest movie. There's no breakthroughs in film making outside of insinuating that a cat can use a toilet.

The film does mark the downfall of Robert DeNiro's career. He's done stinkers the last decade, but this one might take the cake. You have to think he would've turned this down in 1979.

Two noteworthy items: The sister who is getting married and his smacked in the face with Ben Stiller's water volleyball spike, died five years after the film's release due to pneumonia. She was 30. Apparently, it was misdiagnosed until the point doctors couldn't do anything.

Also, the MPAA forced producers to prove there were actual people with the last name "Focker" before they would allow Stiller's character to have the perpetual zinger of a surname. Apparently, somewhere, there's at least one person with the last name "Focker."

'Clueless'

I'm happy that Clueless made the 1,001 list because I think it's a highly underrated film and one that was unfairly pigeonholed as a film about spoiled teenagers in Beverly Hills that grow souls.

This is not right.

Clueless is intelligently written and done. It's directed by Amy Heckerling, who also directed Fast Times at Ridgemont High. If anyone knows about the attitudes of teenagers, it's her.

The fact is, the main characters of Clueless -- Cher and Dionne -- are not completely ignorant, shallow and spoiled children, unaware of their environment and how they impact it. In fact, these two are incredibly aware, giving and unselfish.

Consider this, they're only 15. The fact that Dionne in real life is like 30 and Alicia Silverstone pulls off a 21 vibe, they are both trying to get their licenses so that makes them 15 years old.

Tell me, what were you like at 15? I would generally argue that the base attitudes of a 15 year old in Beverly Hills or the hills of the Appalachian Mountains are generally the same: They know everything, don't try to tell them otherwise and get them what they want, now.

However, Cher and Dionne are not like this. Yes, they are ditsy, spoiled only because they've known one way of life -- but this can be explained by the fact that they are 15. Their world purviews are short and distorted.

Both are good people. Cher is a virgin, waiting for the perfect man to have sex with. Both try to expand their vocabulary by working in one new word everyday.

Cher works to keep her father healthy and takes on a motherly role, especially due to her own mother being deceased. It seems stereotypical and shallow, but the fact that they take the new kid, Tai. They call her a project. However, they're actually doing her more good by making her a "project" in the hyper-critical world of a Beverly Hills high school.

For 15 year olds, Cher and Dionne are actually very good people.

The soundtrack is fucking awesome (Radiohead, Supergrass, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, David Bowie, Luscious Jackson).

I also want to comment on Alicia Silverstone. At the time of the release of this film, she was my all-time, No. 1 babe in the history of females. I've moved on, but I stand by my obsession of the time. Some of those dresses she wears in Clueless make her a total knockout. I can't believe my pants stayed on the whole time. This was also during the time she was on the Aerosmith videos.

I would have never thought she'd have the least successful career out of Donald Faison, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Sisto and Breckin Meyer.

'The Muppet Movie'

It's hard to put into words how good a film this is, mainly because it stars a bunch of puppets.

The Muppets were so extremely poular in the 1970s that they could pull in some of the foremost actors of the time to cameo in their film. They could pull off a weekly variety show on primetime network television.

Puppets!

Yet, they were a throwback. A nod to the heyday of entertainment and vaudeville. The bad comic. The frog of song and dance. The prima donna female lead. The guy that throws fish. The wise-cracking old men. The Muppets themselves had more in common with Milton Berle, Edgar Bergen and Bob Hope than Elliott Gould, James Coburn or Richard Pryor. The Muppets actually had more in common with our grandparents than they did with a 6-year-old in 1979.

At the same time, the Muppets were progressive enough to address modern art and music (as seen with the incredibly awesome Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem). They also take multiple shots at breaking down the fourth wall -- the invisible divide between the audience the the film itself.

For example, when Kermit and Fozzie encounter the Electric Mayhem in the church and the band asks the strangers what they are doing and why. When Fozzie begins to go through the whole story, Kermit instead suggests they let the band read the screenplay of the film, not unlike Lord Helmet and Colonel Sanders rent a copy of Spaceballs to find out where the protoganists have escaped to.

The Electric Mayhem do read the entire screenplay up until that moment. They later use it to find Kermit and his crew in the desert with the broke-down car.

The Muppets worked on various levels among different generations in different ways. It just didn't work. It wasn't popular in the way that a lot of things are popular. They were a true phenomenon and the fact that they're still relevant and interesting (and funny) is fascinating and a tribute to Jim Henson's vision.

Also, the music is really, really good.

'Airplane!' & 'The Naked Gun'

The reason why American entertainment -- no matter how ridiculous it gets -- works is because we're perpetually making fun of it. One thing is counteracted by something coming from the other direction.

I don't immerse myself in the media and entertainment of other countries, but, for many, they don't have the resources or desire to be as ridiculous because they have nothing coming from the other direction, knocking it on its ass.

Filmmakers like the David Zucker-Jim Abrahams-Jerry Zucker triumvirate helped put American media and entertainment in its place. Along with the likes of Mel Brooks and spawning the Farrelly Brothers, the "South Park" creators, Seth McFarlane, Seth Green and others, we're able to take the super-serious films, music and art and counter it with the surreal, with satire.

We probably don't realize it, but shows featuring Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and any of these talentless socialites are no different. We watch them because their manufactured lives are far more interesting than our everyday lives and because these people are jokes. They're lampooning themselves and Hollywood in general and we enjoy this.

However, the Zuckers invented it. Airplane! and The Naked Gun being their centerpieces. One pokes fun at every film noir and police show or film in the history of the moving picture.

The other presents the ridiculous notion of the disaster movie: From terrorists, natural disasters, aliens, mythical monsters and everything in between.

As long as directors, actors and producers keep taking themselves too seriously and fans keep taking it all too seriously, there will always be a place for the Zuckers and folks like them.

'Real Life'

See, the idea of making real life into art and/or entertainment was not an idea created by reality TV producers.

Actually Albert Brooks' film was a spoof onf the TV show, An American Family, the first reality TV. I've never heard of the show, but I find myself fascinated and Netflixing all I can about it.

The show simple filmed a "typical" American family, the Louds of Santa Barbara, Calif. during 1971. The 12-episode series was released on PBS in 1972.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), the Louds seperate and divorce during the filming. It also stars their eldest son, Lance, who was one of the first if not the first openly gay American TV character. Lance would die at the age of 50 due to liver failure -- a combo of hepatitus C and HIV. He also smoked crystal meth for 20 years. Full throttle.

There were several follow-up documentaries made since and HBO is apparently making a fictionalized series about the making of the show. I'm sure there's tons of fucked up background behind all of this.

My favorite part of Real Life is when Brooks is ranting to the camera man wearing the camera headpiece and he reasons to himself that the best move is to burn the family's house down.

'Big'

Big is an interesting film because of two things: 1) the lesson and 2) Tom Hanks.

Nobody talks about Tom Hanks but his early stuff (from TV to the early films) are really good and he's a really great comedic actor. I can actually see why some people don't like him. He's safe, for one. He also has a tragic streak in him. He plays the retarded do-gooder (Forrest Gump), the fight-for-your-rights AIDS victim (Philadelphia), the love-lost Robinson Crusoe (Castaway) and the "We follow orders!" wise war veteran (Saving Private Ryan).

My point is that Hanks was once in a movie where he jumped around on a giant piano in one film and had a octopus stuck on his face in another, but all we can get out of him anymore are this big, sweeping epic films about humans overcoming great odds. We'd much prefer him dressed like a woman living in an apartment.

By the way, Hanks was nominated for an Oscar for his performance.

Big is about a boy, who attempts to get on a ride at the carnival that he is very much too short to ride. He wants this because this girl he likes (who is apparently two feet taller than him) is on the ride. In a fit of rage, he makes a wish at a "Zoltar Speaks" booth. He wants to be big.

Fast forward seven hours and he wakes up as a 28-year-old Tom Hanks. He's forced to move to the city and get a job. Fear turns into acclimation which turns into outright upwards career movement and sex. He not only gets used to adulthood, but he embraces it wholly. He wears suits, ignores his former friend and goes to dinner parties.

Seemingly on a whim, he goes back to his old neighborhood where he witnesses kids playing in leaves, teenagers jumping in a car planning their next escapade and others playing baseball. He realizes that he wants to live the 20-odd years he missed because they were all filled with wonder and excitement.

Big has two core audiences: The kid (despite some adult themes ... but you don't give Tom Hanks a Pepsi machine in his apartment unless you want kids to watch) and the 30-year-old yuppie. This is because the kid always wants to be big so he can have a job and buy Pepsi machines to put in their apartment. And 30-year-olds would watch it because its adult themes placed in a kid's mindset.

However, the lessen (regret, reminiscing, good old day syndrome) is something lost on the kid. They don't understand the magic behind a first date, one's first concert, living free and easy. Whereas the 30-year-old knows what its like being 30 (of course) and 12. But the 12-year-old still doesn't think they're going to miss too much between 12 and 30. Big manufactures this feeling of reminiscence for the 12 year old despite them not knowing what it is.

'Up In Smoke'

I was not born until long after Cheech and Chong's magnum opus Up in Smoke was released. And it was another 18 years after I was born until I entered some phase of acknowledgement towards illegal drugs.

Therefore, it's quite impossible for me to comment upon the ideas and perceptions of illegal drugs in the 1970s. I would only assume two things:

1. That despite the end of the 1960s and the hippie thing, that drugs were still very much a fringe thing, widely unaccepted among most mainstream folks.

2. That Up in Smoke was the first film that was almost solely about drug use and painted at lease a semi-positive portrait of drug takers.

I would thus presume that Up in Smoke was pretty seminal toward making recreational illegal drug use -- or at least marijuana use -- semi-acceptable even to many squares and old ladies. Or maybe it was just going to be a typical transition over time.

I'd still like to think that Cheech and Chong helped changed the perception that marijuana use caused egregious maniacal and lascivious behavior. But, instead, made everyone kind of dumb.

This, we decided, wasn't as bad as we think and now marijuana will probably be legalized some time in my lifetime.

All thanks to Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.

'Judge Priest'

I never realized that Will Rogers had such a long filmography. I just always thought he'd do theater stuff and wrote books.

Rogers, funnily or tragically enough, lived to only 56 and he completed eight films the final year of his life. Judge Priest is the only inclusion on the 1,001 list. He was born in Oklahoma in 1879 before it was a state. He died in a plane crash in 1935 in Alaska before it was a state.

I don't remember what Judge Priest was about because it was really dumb. I assume I needed to watch it because why should we omit Rogers from this list.

The film also co-stars Hattie McDaniel, who would win an Oscar five years later in Gone with the Wind. I assume by this time she had perfected the role of the sassy black maid. Did'nt know that McDaniel was married four times, divorced thrice.

'The Nutty Professor'

The first and foremost "detail" in The Nutty Professor is color.

I say "detail." The color is actually a giant punch to the gut from the first five seconds of the film to the very last.

From the beakers and boiling liquids in the lab, to the students' clothing and the jazz club, Jerry Lewis and Co. decided that if they were going to pay for Technicolor, they'd better get every last penny out of it.

So they jazzed everything up. Costumes were brighter. Random classroom or club items looked fresher and brighter. When Jerry Lewis grins as Buddy Love, it beams off the of the screen. His skin looks like a freshly oiled catcher's mitt.

The rest of the film I can live without. Lewis does impress, however. Creating that laborious voice for Professor Kelp only to skip over to Buddy Love's smooth croon and then at a drop of a dime revert back to Kelp's warble and squeak had to be pretty hard.

'Life Of Brian'

Although Holy Grail is probably the more popular film, Life of Brian may actually be a bit better only because of the commentary on religion and society and whatnot.

Of course, that's probably a big reason the film's not as popular and it doesn't go for the cheap jokes as was the case in Holy Grail (killer rabbits, et al.).

I owned Life of Brian, but I was forced to borrow the copy for this viewing because my copy was VHS and I'd sold my VHS with the intentions of purchasing DVD copies. Honestly, there's probably a dozen films unreplaced.

My top 10 most memorable moments:

1. The group (including Brian and mother) listening to Christ's Sermon on the Mount unable to hear and eventually getting into a heated argument all the while misinterpreting Christ's words. The analogy is crystal clear.

2. Eric Idle's People's Front of Judea character arguing for equal rights for women in addition to the acknowledgement of his right to have a baby.

3. The centurion guard -- upon fear of death -- correcting Brian's poor Latin.

4. The Augustus Caesar Memorial Sewer.

5. Michael Palin's centurion character in charge of handing out the crosses as if he were an airline stewardess.

6. The haggle.

7. Terry Jones as Brian's mother. Who is apparently a whore.

8. Idle's stuttering character. Probably the most insane bit to be performed in the film.

9. Bigus Dickus. Then having Bigus actually show up.

10. The Judean People's Front suicide squad.

'The Jerk'

I imagine there are funnier films out there. But it's a short list.

Few have put forth a comedic effort quite like Steve Martin does in The Jerk and he's never come close to replicating that effort.

Yes, there's the writing. It's perfectly irreverent without having to be Mel Brooks, slap you across the face.

Foremost, I think Martin's delivery clearly turns this into an instant classic in terms of comedies. The way he can distort his fact. The way he scampers around like a woman being chased by a bee as the sniper is taking out the oil cans ("Stay away from the caa-uns!"). His gawky, geeked-out way he danced on the disco dance floor.

Martin's character, Navin Johnson, makes you completely forget that he's a fictional character being created out of thin air by a comic genius. The way he lights up when he thinks something good is happening or his utter disappointment (like a kid seeing a puppy kicked) when he thinks something is going wrong. It was a role and an opportunity of a lifetime.

Moreso, I like the title. The Jerk. We often use that term for someone who is discourteous or mean. However, it's used here to describe someone who is clueless, foolish, naive and ignorant. Kind of an archaic denotation that couldn't describe Navin Johnson any more perfectly.

'Playtime'

Jacques Tati really did not dig the direction that Paris and France went int during the middle of the 20th century.

In three straight films of his that I've seen of his, they all star Tati as Mr. Hulot, the bumbling, mostly silent Frenchman, who finds himself in a number of different scenarios and circumstances because ... he's so bumbling.

As funny as it can get, Tati readily indicates his utter disdain for modern Paris and the ton of tourists that were coming in and eating away at the charm and uniqueness of his home country.

As admirable as this may appear, it's really pointless and petty. Does he not want people to be soulless and obnoxious? You have enough babies over time and a number of them are going to be dumb.

I don't know what Tati expected. Maybe these films are just his statement. Had he not made them, he would've regretted it forever. I'd like to think so.

Despite his disenfranchised view of modern living, his sets are visually mesmerizing.

"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure'

In 1,000 years, do you think our ancestors will "get" Pee-Wee Herman.

He's a man-child living an easy-as-it-goes lifestyle, with no discernible job, but the ability to have a pretty neat apartment, the time to set up the "Mousetrap"-like breakfast contraption, a pretty awesome bike, a stale wardrobe, a woman that's still interested in him and a whole stable of friends that love and support him unconditionally.

We have no history or reason as to why he's like he is. Herman has no real story or talent. If anything, he's an obnoxious eight-year-old boy in a red bowtie. Of course, the man behind Pee-Wee would get caught jacking off in a movie theater.

It would not shock me if future humans didn't quite get Pee-Wee.

As a historical note, Big Adventure was a huge financial boon as it cost them only about $7 million to make. Tim Burton was a nobody at the time. Once the success of Big Adventure came through, he balked at doing Big Top and the studio gave Burton the keys to the Batman film, which would blow the socks of everyone.

Burton's career, clearly, has certainly grown since.

'It Happened One Night'

I can't imagine there being a more disrespected film among the people involved at the time.

Myrna Loy and Constance Bennett turned down the role of "Ellie." Robert Montgomery turned down the "Peter" role. Of course, other actors and actresses turning down scripts isn't that big ofa deal.

But apparently Claudette Colbert hated the film so much that she didn't even attend the Academy Awards. Clark Gable alleged grumbled through the production.

Meanwhile, it turned out to be the first film to win the Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Screenplay Academy Awards. Realizing she was going to win, Loy apparently showed up to the awards show late in her travelling clothes.

Five years later, Gable and Colbert rprised their hated roles for a radio adaptation. Maybe doing screwball comedies wasn't so bad after all.