Best Movies Alphabetically T part 2 Review

Here are some more movies that begin with the Letter T that I believe are worth owneing and sharing with friends and possibly family.  They also make great gifts.  Not all of them are for everyone, but they each represent a unique and worthwhile viewing experience in my opinion.

Enjoy.... more ideas and choices are on the way.

El Topo (1970)Alejandro Jodorowsky

This is one of the most extreme movies on my list.  Odd, quirky, gory, sexual, strange, at times it might even seem like a baaaad movie-- stick with it.   Filmed over a course of nearly three years, the filmmakers twice were stranded for weeks without supplies and without money. This film was started in 1965/66, completed and originally set for release in 1968, it predates The Wild Bunch, Easy Rider and other 60's landmarks.... It was a true labor of love to finish the film. And then the film was banned in several countries. What does it mean? It's often brutal, sadistic and extremely gory. It's first half is an allegorical journey through most of the Eastern religions via a mysterious almost Christlike gunslinger. Midway through the film the tone changes and it becomes a blasphemous re-telling of the new testament. The film is a mess and at times seems ridiculously amateurish and hoplessly dated-but at other times, it remains powerful and beautifully done. It goes beyond anything Fellini ever did and that's both good and bad. It was the film that first began the midnight movie phenomona. It's been out of circulation and nearly impossible to see for more 25 years because of a personal dispute between the producer and Jodorowsky. The feud continues as legal action was taken to prevent Jodorowsky from using Sons of El Topo as the title for a sequel he was filming in 1999. There's nothing else like El Topo-- For many that's a darn good thing. The other Jodorowsky worth  (but it's also quite gory)  is Sante Sangre. This and his next film Holy Mountain were recently made available on DVD after nearly 30 years of only being availalbe on grey market videos and DVD.  Unique movie.. NOT for all tastes.

Tokyo Story (1953), aka Tokyo Monogatari, Japan directed by Yasujiro Ozu

Ozu created several masterpieces (which weren't ever widely seen in the U.S.). This is a subtle quiet story about an elderly couple traveling to Tokyo to visit their children and finding out that their children do not take time out of their busy lives to appreciate their parents. The film is quiet, understated, devastating and tragic. Don't miss it. 


The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) Director John Huston

Huston wrote and directed this superb adaptation of B. Traven's story of gold, greed and macho human nature at its very worst. Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim Holt are the team of jealous, greedy backstabbing prospectors. A young Robert Blake (out of the Little Rascals and years before Baretta) can briefly be seen as a child selling lottery tickets. John Huston won Director and Screenplay Oscars, his father Walter won Best Supporting Actor.


Trouble in Paradise (1932) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch Starring Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charlie Ruggles. Edward Everett Horton.

The term sophisticated comedy was defined by movies like this one. If you've heard of ‘the Lubitsch touch' here's one of the best examples of the unique director at his best. Two jewel thieves (Marshall and Hopkins) have fallen in love, but their relationship is threatened when he starts flirting with the thieves newest females victim. They wish they could make them like this again.


The 39 Steps (1935- British) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

The Classic Hitchcock mystery (mistaken innocent man caught up in intrigue) ala The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) is improved with additional bits of light comedy and romance. It all worked perfectly and consequently was copied, ripped off and re-made many, many times: Mr. And Mrs. Smith ??? Nahhhh. It became Hitchcock's favorite formula and his derivations on the theme include Saboteur, The Man Who Knew Too Much (remake) , The Wrong Man (without much humor), and North by Northwest. where everything clicked into place with overtones of light comedy and romance. Innocent guy Robert Donat doesn't realize he's become involved in spy ring activities. There's fast-paced memorable banter between Donat and Madeleine Carroll (like a screw-ball comedy) who has come to believe he's a dangerous criminal. John Buchan's novel was adapted by Charles Bennett and Alma Reville; additional dialogue by Ian Hay. It's dated and you'll want to avoid public domain copies of the film where the sound quality is horrid.


Twentieth Century (1934) Directed by Howard Hawks

Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore) is a Broadway star and an egotistical ham. He has made a star of former shop-girl, Lily Garland (Carole Lombard). Oscar who is in a career slump meets Lily again on board the Twentieth Century Limited Train and decides he'll re-sign his former star. Lily however is as temperamental as Oscar is and isn't sure she wants to reunite with her former mentor. She's on her way to Hollywood to be in the movies!!! A delightful screw-ball comedy directed by Howard Hawks featuring Edgar Kennedy Walter Connelly and Charles Lane.


2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Directed by Stanley Kubrick

This utterly unique masterpiece slowly moves from a science fiction drama (with moments of comedy) into a taut suspense thriller and then an experimental film. It moves from creation and pure light through a cycle of darkness and re-birth. Kubrick details the several encounters mankind has had with unseen aliens. It begins with the dawn of man, and then to 2001 when a strange alien object is found on the Moon. An expedition tracks a radio signal to Jupiter and along the way, HAL the computer malfunctions. Oscar winning special effects. It was based on Arthur C. Clarke's The Sentinel. It really should be seen on the largest movie screen with the best sound system possible. It is diminished when viewed even on a great home theater system. You haven't seen it until you've seen it on the big screen with an audience.

The s's are on deck.