18. The Music Man (1962)

There are great stories, great actors and great music, but they seldom all come together. When they do you get incredible results. The Music Man is definitely one of them. From the very first I was caught up in the flim flam of the incomparable Robert Preston. As Professor Harold Hill, the sometimes salesman, sometimes conman and sometimes band director he is nothing but a smooth talking miracle.

Shirley Jones on the other hand is the exact opposite. The quintessential school marm: repressed, scared of change and finally Harold Hill’s biggest defender. She is almost too good for the role and it shows, but opposite Preston she has to be! The chemistry between them is magic, and The Music Man is a “watch any time to cheer” up type film. Oops, I almost forgot the music. Music Man is certainly one of the best musicals but the music is almost secondary to the wonderful characters and great story. What stands out is 76 Trombones and You Got Trouble (Right Here in River City). If you can listen to those tunes with out tapping your foot, there’s something wrong with you. Oh, and check out little Ron Howard and his, almost to cute for words, lisp.

19. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

One of Disney’s most beautiful films, Beauty and the Beast not only has an incredible score, but the character’s are amazing. I fell in love with Belle (Paige O’Hara) and the Beast (Robby Benson) of course, but every bit as much with Lumiere (Jerry Orbach) and Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury) the animated characters. It’s also the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award’s Best Picture.

When watching the Beauty and the Beast for the first time it wasn’t like I was watching a cartoon or even an animated film, instead I was transported to another reality where dreams really can come true. Corny and cheesy, yes, but isn’t that what love stories are all about and I love a good love story.

Grab on to your seat, hold onto your water and get ready for a pulse pounding, heart stopping non-stop action flick! Furious 7 is one of the best of the breed, except you have to leave your mind (maybe your whole brain) at the door. My own theater had a little box by the door iced and ready for mine. It was quite convenient.

Don’t ever get me wrong, this movie was obviously about a galaxy far, far away and maybe a different universe. Obviously physics works entirely different in that universe, because there is nothing in Furious 7 that remotely resembled our Earth. The only thing that makes this work for me is all of the Furious movies flirt with impossible happenings. With Furious 7 it not only flirts, but takes it to bed and wakes up early next morning for breakfast with it. I’m not kidding: guns that fire with out power and with unlimited cartridges, cars that fly without wings and bad guys that should star in Terminator movies.

7 has the same old crew, Dominic and the boys (and girls), but there’s some nice additions, Kurt Russell and Jason Statham, good guy and bad guy respectively. Russell is the crusty old government agent that just won’t stop and Statham the Energizer Bunny of villains. He just keeps running. Somehow, and that’s never explained, he shows up wherever the team is and, no matter how much he gets stomped, he seems to keep fighting.

Furious 7 is classic old school film magic, like the six shooters that fired eighteen or the horse and rider that died several times in the same western, only 2015 style. Just remember when you walk into the lobby that Furious 7 is part of a “persistent world” where Dominic Toretto is king and his “family” manages to defy physical limitations. Accept that and you will really like this film. If you cannot, don’t even bother. I’ll give you that this one is great with popcorn and peanut M&Ms!

Rating: 3 out of 5 and this should be seen in the theater!

Not much to say about the Furious 7 trailer except, oh my god how do they expect us to believe it. Truth is, they don’t. They don’t even care. In fact, the harder it is to believe the better the movie will do. Illogical? I suppose, but this movie looks awesome! Miss it at your peril…we’ll be watching for you.

This trailer looks brilliant, but how could it not? Helen Mirren is one of the world’s premier actor’s in a role that was made for her! Ryan Reynolds joins her as costar in Woman in Gold, the true story of Maria Altmann’s (Mirren) fight to get back the painting stolen from her family by the Nazis. Reynolds is Randol Schoenberg the lawyer that helps her. Barring a cruel April Fool’s joke, the film will be out Wednesday, April 1st.

20. Top Hat (1935)

It would be tragic to pick the top 25 musicals and not include at least one with the most famous dance team in movie history: the very defining duo of grace and elegance, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers! Top Hat is the best in a great series of films starring the pair. Great music, incredible dance sequences and some of the best chemistry on screen, make this film unmatched in pure ballroom joy.

Top Hat is also one of their funniest. When Rogers mistakes Edward Everett Horton for Astaire the action is hilarious and that is only one of the great scenes. I love this film. The story is great, the characters excellent and, of course, the dancing is some of the best you will ever see in a movie. I’ve watched Top Hat a dozen times and never get tired of it.

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21. Showboat (1951)

Once again, Howard Keel stars in a sometimes grim, sometimes funny take on the grand old days of the great Mississippi paddle wheel steamboats. Showboats once traveled “Ol’ Man River” picking up audiences, gamblers and travelers and presenting some of the best melodramas of the time. There was always plenty of dancing, singing, food and drink at, usually, a reasonable price. Having grown up on the Mississippi, just twenty miles from Hannibal, Missouri, I have a special love for the great waterway and it’s history.

Showboat captures much about that history and also the joy and pain of the time. Add in one of the greatest casts ever collected: Keel, Ava Gardner, Kathryn Grayson, Joe E. Brown, Agnes Moorehead and Robert Sterling, among many others; it’s no wonder that Showboat commands an important place in Americana, and American film. And, it’s a really good story too.

One note: if you’ve never seen (or heard) William Warfield singing Ol’ Man River you should immediately stop in your tracks…march right to your computer and get on Youtube. Type in William Warfield and Ol Man River and be thrilled. I get chills and can’t think of anything that lasts three minutes that’s any better! You will thank me. Or better yet, here it is!

Hey, check out the Home trailer that’s causing such a buzz. Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez star in Dreamworks latest attempt at animation and it looks like it might just be a hit, at least with the 3-8 year old demographic (blue bathroom mints and toilet lemonade notwithstanding)! I’m reserving judgement-not ready for a prediction-but I do think it’s worth a look, if only for the beautiful artwork.

Okay, I’m not much of a Kevin Hart fan, but Get Hard comes out March, 27th and looks a little funny, if unlikely. With Will Ferrell costarring I’m sure it will be a box office hit and I’ve decided to take a risk. I’ll head there this weekend. I wanted everyone here at Movie Madness to get a quick look and make up their own minds. Check out the trailer:

22. Oliver! (1968)

Charles Dickens is one of the best known writers in the history of the world. His bleak depiction of the British Isles, and particularly London, combine with a transcendent ability to create brilliant characters to make his work uniquely suited to stage and film. A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield and, of course, Oliver Twist, among many others, have reached countless millions of fans.

Oliver! Is one of the best of these: with great music, a wonderful cast and the best Fagin (Ron Moody) and Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) I’ve ever seen. Fagin’s Reviewing the Situation makes Oliver! a must pick in the top 25!