Klenakis – at the movies

Sunday night was the Oscars and, for those of us who stay up after 8:00pm (occasionally), it presented an opportunity to view what the Academy believes were the best pictures of 2019. I thought I would take this opportunity to provide my viewpoint on the great movies I have seen in my lifetime to see how that might compare with your most memorable movies. Let me know your thoughts about the movies on my list, whether they belonged there or not, and if you agree (generally) with the ranking order. Also, is there a favorite movie of yours I missed?

But, before I go there, I wanted to mention two movies we have seen while in Florida – yes, I actually do things besides golf and blogging. Annie and I recently saw “Knives Out” and “Ford versus Ferrari” and found both quite enjoyable. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the absolute best, I give a rating of 9 to “Knives Out” and 8 to “Ford versus Ferrari”. Anything above a 7 on the “Klenakis-o-meter” movie rating is an absolute must-see. So, get off your keister, pop some corn and allow a little escape into your life by seeing a good movie.

Oh, and one other thing. My nephew, Garo Setian, wrote and directed a movie that was recently released titled “Automation”. If you have a Smart TV and can access Amazon Prime, you can rent or purchase it. Fair warning: it’s a horror flick but it’s also more than a little funny. Without giving too much away, it’s about a robot who has been deployed to work in a factory, displacing the jobs of a number of humans, causing more than a little workplace conflict. One day, he overhears the owners of the company discuss bringing in more robots to replace even more humans plus the new robots are newer models so “he” will be replaced as well. Needless to say, that last piece of information doesn’t go over well with “him”. If you do view it and you have the courage to see it through to the end, you will notice that the names of “John and Ann Klenakis” are contributors when the credits roll. Just saying.

Okay, enough of the blatant plug. Now, on to my list:

1. The Godfather – The original, with the great Brando. You are on the edge of your seat every minute of the movie.
2. Godfather 2 – This may have actually been a better story than the original, but it was not the original.
3. Bang the Drum Slowly – Probably doesn’t belong this high up but it’s a sentimental movie for me because it was a story about friendship, sacrifice, and baseball. It was also the first movie for Robert DeNiro.
4. The Graduate – The year was 1967 and we were all making our way into the adult world. It sent a statement that the old ways of doing things would not necessarily apply to us.
5. Dr. Strangelove, or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. A movie that is hysterically funny and really scary at the same time. It showed us what a genius Peter Sellars was.
6. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – This heartwarming and uplifting 1968 movie, based on Carson McCullers debut novel, was about a deaf man in the 1930’s and the people he meets in a small town. It starred Allan Arkin.
7. Rain Man – The Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise classic takes us on a captivating journey cross country and teaches us a lesson about, what else, empathy.
8. Annie Hall – Produced in 1977, it both starred and was directed by Woody Allen. While purported to be about modern love, it also was a love story to New York and made Dianne Keaton a star.
9. Midnight Cowboy – Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voigt star in a movie about two unlikely friends trying to survive in a gritty New York.
10. All the President’s Men – A great political “whodunit”. Redford and Hoffman star as Washington Post Reporters trying to figure out the real reason for the Watergate break-in.
11. A Shot in the Dark – I saw this movie with classmates at a drive-in and literally fell out of the car laughing. Peter Sellars as Inspector Clouseau, was brilliant.
12. Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Another movie that will put you on the floor laughing. The scene with the fight with the Black Knight was hilarious.
13. To Kill a Mockingbird – A powerful Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize novel about racism in a small southern town.
14. The Natural – Another great baseball movie starring Robert Redford as the immensely talented Roy Hobbs whose boyhood dream to play professional baseball gets sidetracked by a somewhat unstable Barbara Hershey, only to try again 16 years later.
15. Good Will Hunting – A troubled genius (Matt Damon) is helped along by a Professor (Robin Williams) who struggles with his own demons.
16. Nashville – In this mid-seventy movie, the lives of numerous people intersect in Tennessee’s capital city famous of its country music. I am still haunted by the song “I’m Easy” sung by Keith Carradine.
17. Star Wars – A space movie about “good versus evil” that follows Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in their quest to find Princess Leia.
18. Chinatown – A movie about the California Water Wars that was a multi-layered part mystery, part psychological drama. Jack Nicholson was brilliant.
19. The Big Chill – The death of a mutual friend brings folks together who were once radical students at the University of Michigan. The different path each had taken since college weighs upon their new-found relationship.
20. Lawrence of Arabia -Produced when we were just sophomores, David Lean’s brilliantly directed move is about a quirky lieutenant who is asked to act as an emissary between an Arab prince and the British.
21. ET the Extra Terrestrial – We are introduced to a friendly and gentle alien who is a bit lost and who falls ill while on Earth. The movie made Steven Spielberg a force in Hollywood.
22. Forrest Gump – How one very simple southern boy lived an exciting and complicated life participating in a number of seminal events in the sixties and seventies.
23. Hannah and her Sisters – Another Woody Allen film that explores the intertwined lives of family members centering around Mia Farrow and her younger sisters. This is probably the last time Farrow and Allen spoke to each other.
24. Spaceballs – Mel Brooks’ hilarious takeoff of Star Wars about a planet starved of oxygen trying to steal it from another planet. Rick Moranis’ portrayal of “Dark Helmet” was beautiful.
25. Rounders – Matt Damon stars as a law student who really wants to be a professional poker player and this story follows his journey through that transition.
26. 2001, A Space Odyssey – A futuristic science fiction movie produced in 1968 about a black obelisk that holds the key between the past and the future and the two astronauts plus its computer system (HAL) tasked to find out the obelisk’s mystery.
27. 12 Angry Men – Henry Fonda showed us what it means to stand up all alone against an angry crowd in this courtroom drama about justice, prejudice, and conflict.
28. Blue Jasmine – Released shortly after the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal, this Woody Allen film explored what it might have been like for Mrs. Madoff after the scandal occurs. Cate Blanchett was outstanding.
29. Young Frankenstein – Mel Brooks’ funny take on what happens when the descendant of Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) re-creates the monster (Peter Boyle). Another funny Mel Brooks creation.
30. Miller’s Crossing – Gabriel Byrne (one of my favorite actors, by the way) plays an advisor to a mob boss (Albert Finney) involved in a feud between Irish and Italian mobsters.
31. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Another story involving friendship between two guys who are also outlaws on the run from a posse that takes them to far away Bolivia. Newman and Redford at their best.
32. Midnight in Paris – Another Woody Allen film that takes on the topic of time travel. The protagonist, Owen Wilson, finds he is more interested in the past than the present.
33. French Connection – Gene Hackman stars in a fast-paced crime drama centered around police detectives trying to track down the origin of narcotics entering the United States.
34. Apocalypse Now – A movie about Vietnam with a young Martin Sheen tasked with assassinating a Colonel gone rogue (Marlon Brando).