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but it’s still a knockout. I can’t believe I neglected this one for so long!

What a picture! With characters played by people with the real experiences Wilder wrote for them, it becomes more real than the lives which inhabit it. When life and art cohabit the same experience, it becomes somehow transcendent – and this movie is.

Giant, was a L O N G experience. It was James Dean’s last movie before his untimely death. Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor play well opposite each other, and a youthful Dennis Hopper make this a worthy experience. A good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

This was my second shot … the first attempt was with the version starring John-boy Walton. That didn’t seem right, so I finally dug out the 1930 version.

With 78 years of making war movies, much of this one seemed over-played and trite – yet it held together surprisingly well.

It is a testament to the power of the original movie that it is still moving nearly 80 years later.

I forgot that I had seen this delightful movie years ago. I enjoyed it this time, too, especially the young Kate Hepburn.

I can’t believe I’ve never seen this movie before. It was a powerful experience. What a character study! De Niro was amazing – gaining 60 pounds for part of the movie. Jealousy. Hubris. Diminishment. Existential Tragedy, worthy of the great Greek tragedians.

Easy Rider, All About Eve, and From Here to Eternity. Whew! Gotta go catch some Zzzzzs before work tomorrow.

4. Gone with the Wind

12. Sunset Boulevard (3/8/08)

16. All about Eve (11/24/07)

17. The African Queen

21. Grapes of Wrath (5/19/07)

24. Raging Bull (12/28/07)

31. Annie Hall

33. High Noon

36. Midnight Cowboy

41. Westside Story

43. King Kong (1933)

44. Birth of a Nation

47. Taxi Driver

51. The Philadelphia Story (1/28/08)

52. From Here to Eternity (11/24/07)

54. All Quiet on the Western Front (2/29/08)

63. Stagecoach

66. Network

68. An American in Paris

69. Shane

73. Wuthering Heights

74. The Goldrush

76. City Lights

78. Rocky (3/14/08)

80. The Wild Bunch

81. Modern Times

82. Giant (3/1/08)

87. Frankenstein

88. Easy Rider (11/24/07)

90. The Jazz Singer

92. A Place in the Sun

96. The Searchers

97. Bringing up Baby

100. Yankee Doodle Dandy