'Amarcord'

Many consider this Federico Fellini's finest film, which is saying something considering he was responsible for about 10 of the films on this 1,001 list including Nights of Cabiria, La Strada (my favorite), 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita.

This is a satire of a town in fascist Italy as it paints the people (adults, children) as the idiotic, simple-minded and child-like imbeciles as they saunter through life with no real worries. Meanwhile, Fellini takes a number of shots at Mussolini, 30 years after he was shot and hung upside down.

More importantly, Fellini, I think, is making more a statement about the indifference and apathy of the people as they do worse than nurture fascism, they ignore it.

It could also be construed as a comment on Germany. A country that somehow came out better than the French (it's shocking that Americans tended to and still consider the Chinese, Russians and French as "enemies" and yet we buy all of the Japanese TVs and think Germany is okie dokie).

Still, through the Nuremberg trial and the years of seeking Nazis in hiding, Fellini makes that point that the whole of Germany (or any people that tolerates hate and the obstruction of freedom) as being guilty of a most serious war crime of nonchalance.

'Country Life'

I purchased this album about 10 minutes after hearing the opening track ("The Thrill of it All") on one of NPR's music shows, in which the panel were discussing the greatest opening tracks of all time.

Someone, clearly, nominated this one. And it's a good one. Good enough for me to go on iTunes almost immediately and purchase it.

Later, as I was listening to and enjoying the album, I tried to remember how I discovered bands in the past. Obviously, Roxy Music had done great albums years before I was born and disbanded when I was toddler. And they weren't exactly hit machines, so their music wasn't played over and over on classic rock radio like Boston or Fleetwood Mac.

Some bands gain new listeners just out of sheer influence, like the Sex Pistols or The Ramones. Others -- by sheer luck -- get popular based on new music taking influence from others (think how many people bought Television albums when The Strokes hit in the early 2000s).

But it's easy to get into a band with the Internet and iTunes that can give you instant samples and even illegal downloads. The truth is, the Internet is pretty fantastic, especially for music fans. There's little risk on illegally downloading a Roxy Music album, hating it and never listening to it again. Whereas 15 years ago, you had to have guts to spend $12 on a cassette tape, listen to it and still hate it. And chances are, you didn't have buddies listening to Roxy Music when you were 14 living in a small Texas town.

God bless the Internet and God bless Roxy Music.

'Die Hard'

I could probably write about 15,000 words on this film.

For one, it's probably the perfect action-adventure film. It's not horribly acted, nor did the writers/director put the actors in any position to act poorly. With these type of films, it's the director's job to be like a coach in the NBA: Put your players in the best position possible to make a play.

Director John McTiernan (who also did The Hunt for Red October, Predators and the very underrated Thomas Crown Affair). Cut out any fluff. It's not a blast-a-moment film, but it has an excellent pace.

Finally, to make a good action-adventure film, you need clever, punchy writing. Again, never should the action-adventure slow down. But you also need dialogue. The clever bon mots flow from Bruce Willis with the ease of the Amazon River.

Willis, however, makes the film. Willis isn't the most awesome actor of all time, but there are thousands much worse. Willis, more often than not, takes bad roles in bad movies. The guy likes getting paid and I have little wrong with that.

In Die Hard, Willis took the perfect role. And I think he puts forth a really fine effort. What sells John McClane and, thus, the film, is Willis own vulnerability.

Once the hostile takeover begins and Willis realizes that he's in an impossible situation, his own insecurity to handle things comes out. McClane isn't some badass (although he plays one on TV), and is very scared of never seeing his children or wife again.

Once he and Karl have the big fight, that frustration and carnal anger explodes from McClane as he is repeatedly punching Karl on the stairs, screaming "Motherfucker! I'm going to kill you!!"

It's raw. And it's exactly what any of us would do if it were life or death.

Two character actor notes:

1. Karl is in fact played by Russian actor Alexander Godunov, who died at the age of 46 of "natural causes." He was trained early as a ballet dancer, and was quite good considering where he danced and the leads he got. He also danced in competitions internationally. After roles in Die Hard and Witness, he was offered a ton of roles but turned them all down because they were all for ballet dancers or villains.

2. One of the more understated roles in Die Hard is that of Harry Ellis, the asshole, coke-snorting co-worker of Holly, who gets shot in the head by Hans Gruber. He is played by Hart Brochner. He's a smartass. And he's coked up. And he nails the role perfectly. Brochner's probably better known (or acknowledged) for directing PCU.

'Return Of The Jedi'

The third -- or sixth, depending on how you look at it -- installment of the Star Wars saga typically takes the most criticism.

However, I'm here to defend it. The biggest point of concern for those with opinions: The Ewoks.

The furry little creatures that assist the rebellion in knocking out the Empire on Endor were the last straw for most fans, who saw the ploy -- cinematically -- as being a way for George Lucas to make it more of a family film.

This is a good film. Maybe not as good as The Empire Strikes Back, but little is. You can't compare them because it's like comparing apples to giraffes. Like comparing Godfather III to Godfather II. Typically, the second in a trilogy is better. It's the apex of the plot. Where the rubber meets the rode. It's the orgasm. Everything else is foreplay and cuddling.

Therefore, Jedi and the Ewoks were already behind the proverbial eight ball. It's the unsatisfying cuddling. It's necessary after getting laid.

So, the Ewoks were necessary. Not only for the cuddling, but because they represent every indigenous people in this world that have never quite gotten the chance to fight back, to defeat the big guy.

What we never think about is that the British, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portugeuse, American and German empires went around the world and took over countries and pumped out the natural resources to make money and pad the pockets of a select few. But it's not like there were a billion armed, equal Indians taking on the British empire. Or a bunch of Vietnamese in the position to take on the French.

They had no chance. And that's why many of these countries are in total disrepair.

In a cute way, the Ewoks represent these people and the battles they've been fighting for centuries and have been losing more often than not. It's thin analogy, but, then again, it is George Lucas. Hell of a storyteller, but a half-assed filmmaker.

'Hearts And Bones'

Over the past year, no one's become a bigger fan of Paul Simon than me. His first several solo albums have simply become several of my favorites of the past several years and, probably, all time.

However, modern times did not do Simon any favors. Hearts and Bones and Graceland both show the same symptoms: Overproduced, overdone, over-'80s, keyboards, synths, basslines that don't quit and lyrics that don't seem to connect on the same level.

That's what's most depressing: Everything we absolutely love about those early albums seem lost on these later albums. Like a musician going through a mid-age crisis thinking he needs to out-produce everything he's done before. And it doesn't work. Simply doesn't work on any level.

Two things I am thankful for is that one song is about Carrie Fisher, and, generally, most people at the time thought the album sucked, too. See, I'm not crazy or jaded.

'King Kong'

Leave it to a bunch of dumb Americans to see the first dinosaur in three million years only to automatically (without even talking about it!) blow it away and kill it.

That's what I don't undrestand about films where the characters are placed in a super unbelievable set of circumstances and there's never that moment of adjustment and contemplation as they grapple with ... well, seeing a fucking dinosaur.

Wouldn't that blow your mind? Or were people in the 1930s simply not that impressed with dinosaurs? Eh. I tend to believe they were.

The ironic note here is that the characters in King Kong were capable of being amazed. Before they start their journey, they discussed the myth of the Kong and they simply dismiss it as poppycock. Giant gorillas seemed out of the realm of reason. So, shouldn't stegosauruses also boggle the brain?

Later, the sailors and filmmakers come up upon the natives performing a sacrificial dance in front of the giant wall that protects them from dinosaurs, giant snakes and giant gorillas.

The visitors stand there in amazement of the whole thing.

But a dinosaur? Shit. Let's blow it out of the water.

'The Hissing Of Summer Lawns' & 'Heijra'

Some time in the mid-1970s, Joni Mitchell made a bold decision that would forever change the trajectory of her career.

She went jazz. She released these two albums completely turning her back on the folk sound that put her on the map.

I don't know if these albums necessarily hurt her career (in album sales, or general popularity). I konw they sold pretty well, but did she lose fans by really changing things around? I don't know.

I do know that she lost me. Granted, the threshold for me to keep listening to Joni Mitchell is low. Blue I like. Otherwise, it's a crapshoot.

So, when she went all jazzy with those jazz basslines, horns and keyboards, I checked out mentally.

It is worth noting that Heijra was written as she drove by herself from Maine to California.