And the countdown continues in my quest to watch and find something inspiring in every single one of Yahoo’s 100 Movies to See Before You Die.
Lee: You have offended my family and you have offended the Shaolin Temple.
H likes to pretend that I haven’t seen this movie a million times. What he tends to forget is that when we first moved in together, we had a handful of VHS tapes to watch, and this was one of them. It was also his favorite movie. So when we sit down to watch it for the 100 Movies, he says, “I bet you don’t even remember what this movie is about.” Well, H, you have offended my memory! The plot: Bruce Lee is a Shaolin monk who infiltrates former student Han’s island to take place in a martial arts competition. Of course Han is up to no good on this island. He has many evil plans, including drug trafficking and prostitution. When Bruce Lee discovers Han was to blame for his sister’s death years earlier, he works his one-man kung fu magic, freeing Han’s prisoners and finally facing Han himself in a room full of mirrors. I love this scene because it is a masterful work of photography and it makes me want to set up my own fabulously overdone photoshoot. Maybe soon …
Jeff: He killed a dog last night because the dog was scratching around in the garden. You know why? Because he had something buried in that garden that the dog scented.
Lt. Doyle: Like an old hambone?
Jeff: I don’t know what pet names Thorwald had for his wife.
OK, this is officially my favorite Jimmy Stewart movie. His sullen, sour demeanor comes to a head when he plays a wheelchair-bound photographer turned neighborhood spy in this amazing one-set film. After sitting by the window day and night with a broken leg, he witnesses suspicious events in the apartment building across the way. Naturally he sets out to prove a murder took place by employing the help of his long-suffering girlfriend, his home nurse and his detective friend. But what happens when the so-called murderer gets wise to Jimmy’s game? Well, let’s just say it’s the first time I’ve ever seen flashbulbs used as weapons. If this plot sounds familiar that’s because there have been numerous homages, including “Disturbia” and a recent episode of “CSI: New York.” Homages are inspiring, true, but what’s most inspiring to me is what a determined person can accomplish in a confined space, and in the face of naysayers! We would all do well to remember this, whether the confined space be a physical room or a merely a state of mind.
