98. Goodfellas (1990)

Stars:  Ray Liotta (Henry Hill), Robert DeNiro (Jimmy Conway [James Burke]), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito [Thomas DeSimone]), Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), Paul Sorvino (Paulie Cicero [Paul Vario]), Samuel L. Jackson (Parnell "Stacks" Edwards)

Director:  Martin Scorsese

Awards / Honors

• 1 Oscar win - Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci)
• 5 Additional Oscar Nominations - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Lorraine Bracco), Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Editing
• #94 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (1998)
• #92 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (2007)
• #2 on AFI's 10 Top 10 lists - Gangster films (2008)
• In 2000, Goodfellas was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"

Genre:  Drama / Gangster film

Running Time:  2 Hours, 26 minutes

Format:  DVD, Blu-ray

Odyssey Rating:  5 Stars (John - 5 Stars, Beth - 5 Stars)

John's Take

I love this movie. I mean, I really LOVE this movie.  If I were actually compiling this list – instead of just collating two pre-existing lists – Goodfellas would, without a doubt, be somewhere in my Top Five.  I have lost track of the number of times I have seen this movie over the last 20 years.  It probably has to be around 40 times or more (once every six months or so sounds about right).  I do / have owed copies of this film in VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray – I am like K is with the Beatles’ White Album when it comes to this film.  If you watch this film and don’t walk away saying, at the very least, “That was pretty good…”, then you need to seek professional help because something is very wrong with you.

Now, the problem is, what do I write about this movie?  I mean, this is one of those movies that everyone pretty much universally loves.  Not only is it on both of AFI’s greatest American movies list, but is currently #17 on IMDb, list of best movies and Rodger Ebert named it “the best mob movie ever”.  So, instead of just rehashing well-covered cinematic aspects of the film, here are some interesting facts about the movie Goodfellas that you may not have know before.

The Scorsese / DeNiro / Pesci Connection

When these three work together, they cannot help but produce classic work.  Robert DeNiro has been in eight Martin Scorsese films (Mean Streets; Taxi Driver; Raging Bull; King of Comedy; Goodfellas; Cape Fear; Casino; New York, New York).  Joe Pesci has been in three (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino).  Of the three Martin Scorsese films that have made the AFI’s list of the top 100 films of all times, DeNiro was in all three while Pesci was in two (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas).

The Goodfellas / Sophie’s Choice Coincidences

It is probably inaccurate to say that Goodfellas was the Sophie’s Choice of the 1990’s, but there is no doubt that there are some striking parallels between these two movies .  OK. maybe not striking, but intresting is a silly sort of way: 

• Both movies are perfect examples of the dominate genre of their respective decades.  The 1980’s, the decade of Sophie’s Choice, was the era of big, heart-wrenching historical films such Amadeus, Gandhi, A Passage to India, Dangerous Liaisons, The Color Purple, The Last Emperor, Empire of the Sun, Driving Miss Daisy, The Elephant Man, Reds, and Out of Africa.  The 1990’s, the decade of Goodfellas on the other hand, was the decade where criminal dramas were king – The Godfather Part III, The Green Mile, Bugsy, Hoffa, L.A. Confidential, Tombstone, Fargo, Casino, Unforgiven, Silence of the Lambs, Donnie Brasco, and The Shawshank Redemption. 
• Both movies are basically three-man shows – Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol in Sophie’s Choice; Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci; and Ray Liotta in Goodfellas.
• Sophie Zawistowski is considered by many to be Meryl Streep’s signature role.  Tommy DeVito is generally considered to Joe Pesci’s signature role.
• While both Ray Liotta and Peter MacNicol, both have very successful film and television careers, neither have been able to capture the critical success they both had in these films.  Both roles came up relatively early in their film careers and while both may be the “weakest link” in their little threesomes, neither movie would have been as good with someone else playing those roles.

The Goodfellas and Music Connection

There are approximately 45 or so songs featured in the movie Goodfellas – ranging from artists like Tony Bennett and Dean Martin to The Rolling Stones and The Who.  In fact, there aren’t too many films out there that are better examples of how music can influence a film.  To quote Wikipedia:

Martin Scorsese chose the songs for Goodfellas only if they commented on the scene or the characters "in an oblique way".  The only rule he adhered to with the soundtrack was to only use music which could have been heard at that time.

For example, if a scene took place in 1973, he could use any song that was current or older.  According to Scorsese, a lot of non-dialogue scenes were shot to playback.  For example, he had "Layla" playing on the set while shooting the scene where the dead bodies are discovered in the car and the meat-truck.  Sometimes, the lyrics of songs were put between lines of dialogue to comment on the action.

Some of the music Scorsese had written into the script while other songs he discovered during the editing phase.  There is no music once Henry is arrested in his driveway by the DEA, until the end credits.

The Movie Characters vs. The Real People

• While a number of the minor characters in the film are referred to by the real names of the people that their characters were based upon.  Henry and Karen are the only major characters that use people’s real names.
• Jim Colella, Detective Ed Deacy, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed McDonald all play themselves in the movie.
• Despite being described in Henry Hill’s testimony, there is no evidence that Michael "Spider" Gianco ever existed or that he was murdered by Tommy DeSimone (Pesci’s Tommy DeVito character in the movie).
• Tommy DeSimone / Tommy DeVito was in fact killed in reprisal for the murder of two of John Gotti's close friends (Billy Batts, like in the movie, and a guy named Ronald “Foxy” Jerothe).  While January 14th, 1979 is often citied as the day he died, that date has never been officially confirmed.  January 14th is the he was reported missing and Henry Hill’s testimony places the time of his death as “a week after Christmas”.  Tommy’s body was never recovered, so the whole part of the narration describing Tommy being shot in the face, was just created by Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi.  Henry Hill claims that John Gotti himself killed Tommy, but that has never been confirmed.
• The “Lufthansa Heist” was a real robbery perpetrated by the characters the movie is based upon and, as mentioned in the movie, was the largest robbery in American history at the time (1978). Approximately 6 million dollars had been stolen.  Also, just like in the movie, James Burke (DeNiro’s character Jimmy Conway) became paranoid and greedy and started knocking off the other participants in the crime.  For a time the police believed that Burke had killed Tommy DeSimone (or that Tommy was in hiding from Bruke) due to Tommy’s participation in the robbery.
• Of the three major characters only Henry Hill is still alive.  Henry divorced Karen (who I presume is also still alive) and both are no longer in the witness protection program.  Henry has been to rehab multiple times for a drinking problem. 

That is one of the great things about this movie. It is just one of those cases where the real stories are just as fascinating as the ones the movie tells.  The screenwriters (Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese) didn’t have to embellish the story – they needed to simplify it.  If you have some free time, I highly recommend you perusing the Wikipedia entries concerning the real people / events depicted in Goodfellas.  It is a heck of a read.  As far as the movie is concerned, as one of my all-time favorites, of course Goodfellas gets a solid rating of 5 Stars from me.

John

BETH'S TAKE:

Great movie! I am a little morbid of a person...I love to watch "Murder Shows" (48 hrs, Wicked Attraction, Most Evil...Discovery ID is my favorite channel)...and I have a HUGE fascination with the mob. So this movie was right up my alley.
Henry Hill was determined not go live a life like his mother & father. He became a part of the mob family and enjoyed every bit of it..no matter what that meant. Unlike alot of other mobsters however, Henry was compassionate. He truly cared about the "Family". And I also believed he truly loved his wife, Karen. He did everything he could to please her and give her what she wanted. She may have hated knowing the fact he had a girlfriend or many girlfriends, but she was not willing to go back living like "common folk" either.

One questions, does Joe Pesci have to play the same arrogant mob character in every mob movie he plays in?? LOL...remember him in Casino...freaked me out when the shanked him over the head with a baseball bat then, barely clinging to life..they buried him alive...YIKES!

But anyway, back to Goodfellas...I think everyone loves this movie..how could you not. It great!

Two thumbs up!

100. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Stars:  Sidney Poitier (Detective Virgil Tibbs), Rod Steiger (Police Chief Bill Gillespie), Lee Grant (Leslie Colbert), Warren Oates (Officer Sam Wood )

Director:  Norman Jewison

Awards / Honors

• 5 Oscar Wins - Best Picture, Best Actor (Rod Steiger), Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Film Editing, Best Sound
• 2 Additional Oscar Nominations - Best Director, Best Sound Editing
• #19 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villians list  - Virgil Tibbs, Hero (2003)
• #16 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list - "They call me Mister Tibbs!" (2005)
• #21 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers list (2006)
• #75 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (2006)
• In 2002, In the Heat of the Night was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Genre:  Drama

Running Time:  1 Hour, 49 minutes

Format:  DVD (not yet available on Blu-ray)

Odyssey Rating:  5 Stars (John - 5 Stars, Beth - 5 Stars, Jon - 5 Stars, Becky - 5 Stars)

John's Take

In my review of Patton, I chastised the American Film Institute for what they included and didn’t include on their list of 100 greatest movie quotes.  If I am going to chastise them when they get it wrong then I need to applaud them when they get it right, and they certainly got it right when they included a quote from In the Heat of the Night.  Myself, Beth and Official Friends of Beth and John’s Movie Odyssey, Jon and Becky, all together, unprompted, and in perfect unison mimicked Sidney Poitier as he responds to being sarcastically asked what they call him in Philadelphia with the line: "They call me Mister Tibbs!"  That is a great line.  It so great, it has so worked our way into our public psyche that Beth was able to mimic the line along with the rest of us and she hadn’t seen the movie before!  When lines from movies you have never seen make it to your subconscious – that when you know you have something special.  And In the Heat of the Night is something special. 

For those of you who don’t know, In the Heat of the Night is the story of Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a Philadelphia police detective who just happens to be passing through the fictional small town of Sparta, Mississippi and finds himself – slightly unwillingly – helping the local police force solve a murder case.  Needless to say, many of the fine folks of Sparta are not thrilled with the idea of an African American leading the investigation, including the Chief of Police, Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger).  Released in the same year as another Poitier classic (and #124 on our list), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, these two movies are very different takes on race relations in America. Guess Who was the happy fable – the view of how things could be.  In the Heat of the Night was (and sadly still is in some cases) a more realistic presentation of how things actually were.  While it is not exactly fair to compare the two films since Guess Who is a comedy and In the Heat of the Night is a drama, it is clear that In the Heat of the Night is aging better. 

That is because Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner ultimately fall victim to the After-School-Special-Syndrome, a condition very prevalent among “issue films”.  The identifying symptom of this condition is the one-dimensionality of the characters – absolutely good or absolutely evil.  This one-dimensionality is particularly true of characters such as Joey Drayton, Dr. John Prentice and nearly all the minor, supporting characters.  In the Heat of the Night, on the other hand, has very well developed characters.  Chief Gillespie is a prejudiced man who is actually sympathetic and capable of growth.  Virgil Tibbs is also shown to be capable of prejudice, as he pursues Endicott without sufficient evidence.  Virgil isn’t above using the local population’s fear of the police to his advantage either (“Now listen, hear me good mama. Please. Don't make me have to send you to jail... There's white time in jail and there's colored time in jail. The worst kind of time you can do is colored time.”). 

It is the fact that the movie portrays an entire spectrum of prejudice, from the crazy extremists to the more subtle forms, which is what ultimately sets it apart from not only from Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, but  To Sir, Sir With Love (another Poitier movie released that year – 1967 was big year for Sidney Poitier), The Chase, and Hurry Sundown.  Virgil, Gillespie, and the other characters all come off as real people. Nobody is completely good. Nobody is completely evil. 

The first of the 25 movies we watched, Toy Story, garnered a perfect rating of 5 Stars.  It is a pleasant coincidence that this film, the first of the second set of 25 also gets the same score.  If you haven’t seen this film, I cannot recommend it enough. In the Heat of the Night gets a rating of 5 Stars.

John

BETH'S TAKE:

Awesome film! I also like the TV show.

My problem with movies of this topic and of this time is that I didn't grow up in this era. I do get fustrated watching such films. I have never seen obvious prejudice, at least that I know of. I have always been around so many races and cultures that I can't even believe people believed that one race/culture is better than another. I praise my parents for raising myself and my siblings so humbly if that is even a word :)

103. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Stars:  John Travolta (Vincent Vega), Samuel L. Jackson (Jules Winnfield), Uma Thurman (Mia Wallace), Ving Rhames (Marsellus Wallace), Bruce Willis (Butch Coolidge), Harvey Keitel (Winston Wolf), Christopher Walken (Captain Koons)

Director:  Quentin Tarantino 

Awards / Honors

• 1 Oscar win - Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
• 6 Additional Oscar Nominations - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (John Travolta), Best Supporting Actor (Samuel L. Jackson), Best Supporting Actress (Uma Thurman), Best Film Editing
• #95 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (1998)
• #53 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills list (2001)
• #94 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (2007)
• #  6 on AFI's 10 Top 10 list - Gangster movies (2008) 

Genre:  Drama

Running Time:  2 Hours, 34 Minutes

Format:  DVD (not yet available on Blu-ray)

Odyssey Rating:  5 Stars (John - 5 Stars, Beth - 5 Stars, Jeff - 5 Stars, TJ - 5 Stars)

  

John's Take

Back when I first started this blog, I sort of imagined that upon reaching Pulp Fiction I would write a post that didn’t run in chronological order in an attempt to be cute.  After writing a couple of different drafts I decided to bail on that approach and just write a normal post.  Expressing coherent thoughts out of sequence and having it not seem lame is a great deal harder than one might expect which makes Quentin Tarantino and Rodger Avary’s work on this film all the more impressive.

While I had seen parts of this film many times on cable, I had never actually watched it from beginning to end before now.  In addition, Beth and I were joined by Official Friends of Beth and John’s Movie Odyssey, Jeff and TJ in this viewing and it is always nice to watch these movies with friends.

There are many, many, many good things to say about this movie.  I love this movie.  It is a great movie.  However, all of the nice things, I could think of saying had all been said somewhere else before.  I guess you could say that most of my posts, but for some reason, I everything wrote felt REALLY like I was just cutting and pasting someone else’s comments.  I had already used the “is this a noir film or not” angle on Fargo post and had already discussed my belief that Bruce Willis is an under-appreciated national treasure in The Sixth Sense post – and it felt way too soon to revisit those subjects – so it was turning out to be surprisingly difficult to write about a movie that I enjoyed so much.  Thus, I finally decided to stop trying to write about the things I loved about Pulp Fiction, and instead write about the stuff I didn’t like about the movie.  Or more to the point, the things that die-hard fans of this movie do that bug me because the rantings of Tarantino fanboys played a part in me not wanting to make the effort to see its movie in its entirety.

First, why oh why, must die-hard fans of this movie feel the need to tell you what they think is in the briefcase?  It doesn’t matter.  It is a just a Macguffin.  It has no relevance to anything that happens in the movie.  Whatever significance you think it has – is just your imagination.  It isn’t Marsellus’ soul or any other meta-physical nonsense.  It is just a plot device!!!  It is no different than the statue in The Maltese Falcon or the secret government papers in North by Northwest.  Even Tarantino says that it has no meaning!  So please fanboys, get over the stupid briefcase already.

Second, while I like non-linear way the story is presented in this film, it doesn’t seem to be just a stylistic choice, as in say Kill Bill.  It is almost as if Tarantino uses the non-linear approach to help hide the fact that there is no clear narrative in this film.  I am perfectly OK that the movie is really just a bunch very entertaining stretches of dialogue all tied together with a vague story arch, but please lets just all acknowledge it for what it is.  Fanboys – there is no deep meaning or message to this movie! It is simply just a couple days in the life of some interesting characters that are just as likely to spout long series of monologues at each other as they are of actually conversing.  Is it all very cool?  Yes, it is very cool, but the non-linear nature of the film isn’t being used express any particular theme.  It is being in used, at least in part, to hide the fact that it would be a pretty weak, front-loaded story if you told it linearly.  Aside from the fact that doing too many drugs may require you be stabbed with an adrenaline needle, there is no wisdom to be gained from this movie – no matter how badly you want there to be.

Side Note:  I can’t watch the adrenaline needle scene.  I just can’t.  In fact, while watching the film with Jeff, TJ and Beth I had to get up and leave the room once that scene approached.  I have no reason as to why I find Uma Thurman flopping around so disturbing, but I do.  Not sure if that has any relevance to anything or not, but there you go.

Lastly, I get really tired of hearing how “original” this movie is.  Listen, fanboys, there is in fact very little that is actually original in this film.  Quentin Tarantino films are all just big homages to other films. Is this a bad thing?  No, not at all. Tarantino is a master at homage. It seems like he makes movies just so that he can share with the audience his favorite scenes from other movies – but does it in such a way that it doesn’t feel like he is simply cutting and pasting.  He certainly puts his own unique spin on things, so in that sense he is original, but that isn’t really what it seems like the fanboys are talking about.  They seem to think that things like the aforementioned briefcase are original – it isn’t. It is homage to the movie Kiss Me Deadly.  Maynard and Zed are straight out of Deliverance.  Ving Raimes seeing Bruce Willis on the street could have been lifted right out of Psycho.  Christopher Walken plays a traumatized Vietnam vet just like in The Deer Hunter.  And of course Travolta dances ala Saturday Night Fever.  Again, all of this is done with care and skill and makes for a wonderful film.  Just please get what is original and what isn’t straight – all the better, let us all just shut up about it and enjoy the movie.

There, I have gotten that all out of my system. I feel better now.  I think I have picked on Tarantino fanboys enough.  Pulp Fiction gets a ranking of 5 Stars from me and joins Toy Story and A Night at the Opera as the only movies to have gotten a perfect ranking of 5 Stars.

John

111. A Night at the Opera (1935)

Stars:  Groucho Marx (Otis B. Driftwood), Chico Marx (Fiorello), Harpo Marx (Tomasso), Kitty Carlisle (Rosa Castaldi), Allan Jones (Ricardo Baroni), Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Claypool)

Director:  Sam Wood

Awards / Honors

• #12 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list (2000)
• #85 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list (2007)
• In 1993, A Night at the Opera was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Genre:  Comedy

Running Time:  1 Hour, 33 Minutes

Format:  DVD (not yet available on Blu-ray)

Odyssey Rating:  5 Stars (John - 5 Stars, Beth - 5 Stars)

John's Take

You have to respect comedy film that even 40+ years after its release, still inspires two rock bands to name albums after it (Queen and the German heavy metal band Blind Guardian).  Neither Beth nor I had seen this movie before our little Odyssey began.  It has since become the “surprise hit” of the list.  This movie, considered one of the best of the Marx Brothers movies (along with Duck Soup -- # 66 on our list), is truly hilarious.

I feel sort of bad since I am now entering my second short post in a row, and both posts are for movies that I really liked, but I think this is just a case where the movie speaks for itself and anything I say is extraneous.  Jokes come fast and furious in this film.  Beth and I found ourselves having to pause and rewind the movie a bit to hear the jokes that we missed because we were laughing. 

I have said in earlier posts that if one has to use the “for-its-time” caveat to describe a movie, then perhaps it wasn’t really a great movie to start out with.  I think his movie drives that point home.  The spiritual predecessor of Airplane!, Naked Gun, and all the other Zucker & Abrahams comedies, it hasn’t missed a beat despite being 75-years old. 

In the movie, Groucho Marx's and Margaret Dumont's characters are boarding an ocean liner, Dumont asks Groucho, "Have you got everything?" Groucho replies "I've never had any complaints."  You won’t hear any from me either, Groucho.  A Night at the Opera gets a standing ovation and a rating of 5 Stars.

John

125. Toy Story (1995)

Stars:  Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), John Morris (Andy), Erik von Detten (Sid), Don Rickles (Mr. Potato Head), John Ratzenberger (Hamm), Wallace Shawn (Rex)

Director:  John Lasseter

Awards / Honors

•  1 Oscar Win – Special Achievement 
• 3 Additional Oscar Nominations – Best Original Score (Musical or Comedy), Best Original Song ("You've Got a Friend in Me"), Best Writing (Original Screenplay) 
• #99 on AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list (2007)
• #6 on AFI’s 10 Top 10 lists – Animated Movies (2008)
• Toy Story is approximately the 108th highest grossing movie of all time, accounting for inflation (see Box Office Mojo)
• In 2005, Toy Story was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".  

Genre:  Kids / Animated
Running Time:  1 Hour, 21 minutes
Format:  DVD, Blu-ray

Odyssey Rating: 5 Stars (John – 5 Stars, Beth – 5 Stars)

John’s Take

I believe that any person that saw this movie and didn’t give it at least 4 Stars must just be dead inside. Also, if you don’t get at least a little misty-eyed when Buzz starts to believe he can’t fly – well, I just feel bad for you, I really do.

That being said, this movie was also a marketing execs wet dream. Released during the Christmas season of 1995, I am not sure there is a parent alive during that period in history that does not have a few Toy Story related scars – “I want a Buzz / Woody / Mr. Potato Head / etc. doll, and I want it now!”. My parents are just lucky I was 28, or so, when this movie came out. Believe me, I would have been horrific.

Speaking of me as a child, an event that always comes to mind when I watch this movie, is some vague memory I have of my mother desperately trying to convince me that my toys could not move on their own. The memory is a bit fuzzy – I was pre- kindergarten in age and it wasn’t that I was afraid of my toys (no clowns dragging under my bed ala Poltergeist or anything), I was just absolutely convinced they could move on their own. I suspect this belief was due to me having seen some toys move in a cartoon on TV. At this period of time in my life, if I saw it on TV, it was absolutely true.

For example, at about the same time, I was absolutely convinced I could fly if I just flapped my arms fast enough. Unlike the situation concerning toy-locomotion, I know for a fact that Wile E. Coyote and host of other cartoon characters are to blame. As I understand it, it used to drive my parents to distraction that my faith in the Warner Bros.-school-of-physics was so strong that I was convinced that it wasn’t my personal lack of aerodynamics, but the lack of height my take-off platforms had that contributed to my failure to achieve flight. I can vaguely remember my parents freaking out about me jumping off a fairly tall (at least to a 3 or 4 year old) deck in the back yard. I don’t remember much after slamming into the concrete slab under the porch, other than being undeterred and my parents being fairly exasperated at that.

I seem to remember my mother also being fairly exasperated with me concerning the question of whether toys could move on their own as well. Apparently, I was difficult child.

This movie, however, vindicates my childhood stubbornness. :)

With vast amounts of computer animation dominating the cinema these days (Avatar, anyone?), it is easy to forget that basically this is the movie that started it all. The same mix of animation, kid’s humor and kid-friendly adult jokes has been used many times since its release (The Incredibles, Ice Age, Cars, etc.) so, it is easy to forget just how much of a “wow” factor surrounded this movie. Having just watched it again, especially when compared to those later movies, you can start to see that the visual affects are starting to become a little dated and those more recent movies are just a little bit hipper and cooler. It is still very funny, however, and deserves praise for being the first of a successful formula and for changing the very way animation itself is done.

So, without thinking twice before I jump to the end of my first review, I give this movie – 5 Stars!

John

Beth's Take

This movie was sooo cute! Although it was released in 1995, I am ashamed to say I didn't watch it until many years later. I know...shame on me! But when I finally watched it, I loved it. Silly as it may seem, John is right...it made you think back to your childhood and all the toys you just had sitting around. I actually felt quilty, because there were so many that I never played with. After watching the movie, I felt sorry for them. Like my Cabbage Patch Doll, Stacey...I begged my parents for this doll..you know, like every other child back in the day when parents were literally fighting over them at Christmas LOL. But when I actually got her, I didn't want to play with her..she was too pretty and too clean to drag everywhere. I just wanted to put her on my cleanly made bed and have her just sit there and look pretty. After watching Toy Story, I wondered if she ever got lonely and it made me sad :( I still have her, I will have to remember to take her out of the storage closet and tell her "I'm Sorry!"...I know that is sad huh!

Let me tell you how hard it was to find this movie to watch...
First of all, I can't believe we don't own this movie...we only have a gazillion movies..but no, not "Toy Story"...WHAT???
We looked everywhere for this movie..Blockbust, Amazon, Netflix, Ebay, FYE...come to find out, the clerk at FYE said that Disney had put the movies back into vault because they were making Toy Story 3. Well, that hardly seems fair. Nobody we knew had a copy.  But my sweetie John was persistant, and after a long while of looking, he finally found a copy on Amazon..whew! That was a close one there..this was the first movie on our list to watch and we came close to not being able to watch it.

I rate this movie of course 5 Stars...can't see how anyone couldn't!!
Beth