The Verdict #4 on AFI's Top Ten Courtroom Dramas

I decided to watch The Verdict after seeing it on American Film Institute's top 10 list of courtroom dramas. The beautiful Paul Newman looked a little haggard but was impressive as the alcoholic lawyer who takes one last stab at winning a case. My friends and I who watched the movie were struck by the datedness of the movie -- the slow pace-- the long camera shots -- the dial phone (printed out phone bill), the absence of computers, and the politically incorrect comments. I thought it was it going to be great, but I was only so so impressed with it. There was some falling asleep while we watched it (not me). Is it that we are so used to modern movies that we cannot sustain attention to the pace? After I learned that the movie was written by David Mamet, I thought, hmm, I should have paid better attention to the dialogue and should have been more impressed. Other AFI top ten in the courtroom dramas are . . .
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Twelve Angry Men
3. Kramer Vs. Kramer
4. The Verdict
5. A Few Good Men
6. Witness for the Prosecution
7. Anatomy of a Murder
8. In Cold Blood
9. A Cry in the Dark
10. Judgment at Nuremburg

Lawrence of Arabia

The American Film Institute extols Lawrence of Arabia as one of the greatest films, EVER. Since I had never seen it, I figured I'd better. Especially after I read somewhere that it was compared to Reds, which is one of my favorite films, EVER. It took me three nights to get through Lawrence, it is after all nearly 4 hours long. And while I liked all the cool desert visuals, and thought Peter O'Toole was super cute in it. I didn't really get its greatness. Actually, I didn't 100% get it, at all. There were a lot of battles that had to do with Arab tribes, Turks, stuffy British dudes, grunting camels etc. And it is one of the AFI's number one of ten top epic movies.
AFI Top 10 Epic Films
1. Lawrence of Arabia
2. Ben-Hur
3. Schindler's List
4. Gone with the Wind
5. Spartacus
6. Titanic
7. All Quiet on the Western Front
8. Saving Private Ryan
9. Reds
10. The Ten Commandments

AFI 10 Top 10

The American Film Institute recently came out with top 10 movie lists by genre. The genres include Animation, Romantic Comedy, Western, Sports, Mystery, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Gangster, Courtroom Drama, Epic. You know I like a good list and was most interested in their Romantic Comedy List:
1. City Lights
2. Annie Hall
3. It Happened One Night
4. Roman Holiday
5. The Philadelphia Story
6. When Harry Met Sally
7. Adam’s Rib
8. Moonstruck
9. Harold and Maude
10. Sleepless in Seattle

Roman Holiday, Philadelphia Story, and Adam’s Rib are also on my list of Classic Romantic Comedies (see side bar). I know little about the Charlie Chaplin silent film, City Lights, and question the addition of Sleepless in Seattle, but overall I think it seems like a respectable list. Except Moonstruck, while I thought it was good movie, I never really liked Cher and Nicolas Cage as romantic leads.