my heart is, and always will be, yours

Average rating: 8.25

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - "A comedic send-up of the grim circumstances of the Middle Ages as told through the story of King Arthur and framed by a modern-day murder investigation. When the mythical king of the Britons leads his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail, they face a wide array of horrors, including a persistent Black Knight, a three-headed giant, a cadre of shrubbery-challenged knights, the perilous Castle Anthrax, a killer rabbit, a house of virgins, and a handful of rude Frenchmen."
length: 1 hour, 31 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from a friend's collection
I watched it because: it's been a while, and it's an old faithful

    previously mentioned here
IMDB: 8.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 95%
my IMDB: 8/10

MPAA rating: PG

notable quote: 

King Arthur: ...who is your lord?

Peasant Woman: We don't have a lord

King Arthur: What?

Dennis: I told you, we're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as sort of executive officer for the week...

King Arthur: Yes

Dennis: ...but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting...

King Arthur: Yes, I see

Dennis: ...by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs...

King Arthur: Be quiet!

Dennis: ...but by a two thirds majority in the case of more...

King Arthur: Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!

Peasant Woman: "Order", eh? Who does he think he is?

King Arthur: I am your king.

Peasant Woman: Well, I didn't vote for you.

King Arthur: You don't vote for kings.

Peasant Woman: Well, how'd you become king, then?

King Arthur: [An angelic choir begins...] The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. [singing stops] That is why I am your king.

Dennis: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Arthur: Be quiet!

Dennis: You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!

Arthur: Shut up!

Dennis: I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!

Arthur: [grabs Dennis] Shut up! Will you shut up?!

Dennis: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!

Arthur: [shakes Dennis] Shut up!

Dennis: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

Arthur: Bloody Peasant!

Dennis: Ooh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn't you?"

directed by: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

my notes: ridiculous, still funny, and familiar. So familiar, in fact, that I can barely stand to watch it anymore. It's such a part of my past, and people in my past.

overall:  recommended

 

Meet John Doe (1941) - "Mad with anger for having to compose one last article after being fired, the calculating columnist, Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck), pens a flaming but utterly fictitious letter by the fictional author, 'John Doe', who protests against the world's perpetual injustices. Threatening to commit suicide on Christmas Eve, John's desperate manifesto strikes a chord with an army of captivated readers all over America, and as a result, the newspaper decides to embody the ultimatum's spirit in the person of the down-at-the-heels vagabond and former pitcher, Long John Willoughby (Gary Cooper)—the nation's next-door hero. Now, as Ann's creation and the 'John Doe Movement' take the country by surprise, artful manipulation, rampant corruption, and above all, corporate greed, threaten to put a premature end to the noble idea. Will the world ever find out the truth?"
length: 2 hours, 2 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I was looking for something quieter than the last one, and only as it started recalled the (several) loud sections!

    previously reviewed here
IMDB: 7.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 92% Audience: 82%
my IMDB: 7/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Cheers (2006) #49

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "Look, I'm just a mug and I know it, but I'm beginning to understand a lot of things. Why, your type's as old as history! If you can't lay your dirty fingers on a decent idea and twist it and squeeze it and stuff it into your own pocket, you slap it down! Like dogs, if you can't eat something, you bury it!"

directed by: Frank Capra

my notes: terribly prescient, it disturbed me greatly this time around, considering current events. I still like it, but it is newly heartbreaking now.

Academy Award nominee: Best Writing, Original Story—Richard Connell, Robert Presnell, Sr.
overall:  recommended

Sense and Sensibility (1995) - "When Elinor Dashwood's (Emma Thompson) father dies, her family's finances are crippled. After the Dashwoods move to a cottage in Devonshire, Elinor's sister Marianne (Kate Winslet) is torn between the handsome John Willoughby (Greg Wise) and the older Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman). Meanwhile, Elinor's romantic hopes with Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) are hindered due to his prior engagement. Both Elinor and Marianne strive for love while the circumstances in their lives constantly change."
length: 2 hours, 16 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I've seen it several times before and it never fails to jab me in the heart

    previously reviewed here
IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 97% Audience: 90%
my IMDB: 8/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Passions (2002) #70

MPAA rating: PG

notable quote: "He is the kindest and best of men."

directed by: Ang Lee

my notes: love this one. I believe the cast is perfect, the script is beautifully done, the locations and settings and props are so wonderful. The light and angles, the weather, the costumes.... I weep for the last quarter of the film, every time.

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I disagree. We can't agree on everything!

Academy Award winner: Best Writing, Screenplay based on material previously produced or published—Emma Thompson
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Lindsay Doran

• Best Actress—Emma Thompson

• Best Supporting Actress—Kate Winslet

• Best Cinematography—Michael Coulter

• Best Costume Design—Jenny Beavan, John Bright

• Best Music, Original dramatic score—Patrick Doyle
overall: highly recommended

Mystic Pizza (1988) - "Sisters Kat and Daisy work along with Jojo at the pizza parlour in Mystic, Connecticut. Kat, shortly off to Yale, finds herself drawn to a local architect she is babysitting for, while her more tearaway sister starts dating a guy from the money side of the tracks. Jojo leaves her man at the altar; she loves him but shies away from commitment. Meanwhile the fame of the pizza continues to spread; it seems to contain something almost . . . mystic."
length: 1 hour, 44 minutes

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: it's been a couple years since I've seen it, and I needed to immerse myself in the magic of this movie

    previously reviewed here (and mentioned a few dozen other times)
IMDB: 6.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 78% Audience: 55%
my IMDB: 10/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "'I fucked up.'

    'Yeah, but you gave it 100% effort.'"

directed by: Donald Petrie

my notes: this film came upon me at just the right time in my life for me to fall in love, immediately. Each character is perfect. 

    And, at its most basic: I love this film because when I see it, I remember someone looking at me the way that Bill looks at Jojo.

    Roger Ebert's review is here, with which I completely agree.

overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Sense and Sensibility]