The Great Movie Challenge

Well we are still here.  Yes I've been walking and eating spicy food and everything else overdue women are supposed to do.  Baby Hutson just really likes the home that I have made for it, and I can't blame him/her.  It's like living in a hot tub.

Though I haven't been able to do much beyond bouncing on my exercise ball and getting my brother to do our lawn work (it's his spring break after all...gotta keep him busy), Johnny and I have been able to keep up with our latest endeavor -- watching all the Academy Award Winning films for Best Picture.  Here's a little list with my reviews so you can decide if you too would like to see them.

Marty 1955

http://www.amazon.com/Marty-Ernest-Borgnine/dp/images/B00005AUKB

Marty is about a middle-aged guy who's never been able to find love.  He meets a girl that he likes, but his super Italian mother and his friends don't like her.  That's pretty much the whole movie.  It's a great movie if you enjoy well-written characters, but if you want something to happen as far as the plot, it's probably not for you.  I give it a C+.

My Fair Lady 1964

http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/my-fair-lady.html 

Now I have seen My Fair Lady numerous times, but I don't think I've actually ever sat down and watched the entire thing in one sitting until this recent time.  It is one long movie, let me tell you.  For those of you who don't know, My Fair Lady is the story of a wealthy linguistics professor who takes a poor flower girl under his wing and teaches her how to speak and act properly.  Audrey Hepburn is superb in this role, and the music is excellent.  Johnny particularly liked the songs "I Shall Never Let A Woman in My Life" and "Why Can't A Woman Be More Like A Man?"  I give it an A-.

Midnight Cowboy 1969

http://criminalmovies.blogspot.com/2011/11/midnight-cowboy.html 

So when this one came in the mail from Netflix, I said, "Johnny, what's this one about?"  He started reading the summary: "Midnight Cowboy is the only X-rated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture."  We kind of looked at each other, thinking, "What have we done?"  I will say, however, that the X rating is not necessary.  Midnight Cowboy is the story of a young man from Texas who travels to New York City to become essentially a male prostitute, assuming there are a whole bunch of rich women in New York who would want him.  His plans go awry, and he eventually teams up with a con-artist, played by Dustin Hoffman, to try to make ends meet.  I'm not saying you should go rent this for your elementary schooler, but the X rating seems to come from some homosexuality that probably today wouldn't earn more than a PG-13 rating.  Because I love Dustin Hoffman, I give this one a B-.