Friday, November 29, 2013

With Apologies to Poets Everywhere

The following is an embarrassing set of haiku about my favorite films by each letter of the alphabet. These aren't specifically my favorite films on from The List--I picked a representative for each letter of the alphabet as well as one for the films that start with a number instead of a letter. How many can you identify?

#
Henry Fonda sits.
Lee J. Cobb flails angrily.
Quiet patience wins.

A
Sexy French woman
Makes other people happy.
Now she is happy.

B
A river, a bridge,
And a plot to blow it up.
Poor Alec Guinness!

C
This could be the start
Of a beautiful friendship.
Play it, Sam. Play it.

D
There are 10 short films.
There are 10 Commandments, too.
Coincidence? No.

E
"I am your father."
The greatest movie moment
Of my whole childhood.

F
Nothing makes me bawl
Quite the same way as, "Do you
Want to have a catch?"

G
The most iconic
Movie of the Seventies.
Take the cannoli.

H
Two young men play games.
They hope to keep playing them
But real life is cruel.

I
I will [censored] you
If you don't toe party line
On the [censored] war.

J
Nice day at the beach
Suddenly the day turns dark.
Surf goes blue to red.

K
Hemingway story
Given legs, guns, guts, and dames.
Source good, film better.

L
Want an epic film?
Here is the definition.
Vast desert expanse.

M
Film noir started here.
Bogart plays the game so well,
We all keep guessing.

N
Biplane in cornfield,
Statue holding microfilm,
Cary Grant rules all.

O
Screenwriting credit
Assigned to Homer. O, you
Wacky Coen bros!

P
"As you wish" becomes
The most romantic saying
Of all '80s film.

Q
I missed the death of
Lady Di. Some folks think that
The royals did, too.

R
The single greatest
Archaeological find
Also kills Nazis.

S
It all comes down to
Asking over and over,
"What's in the damn box?!"

T
Arctic winter's cold
Suddenly heats up thanks to
A non-canine dog.

U
Clint Eastwood's career
In cheap spaghetti Westerns
Comes to fruition.

V
Regrette rien--
A story of hard luck and
Beautiful music.

W
Trucks drive mountain roads.
Going too fast or too slow
Means explosive death.

Y
Castle at midnight.
Marty Feldman steals the brain
Of Abby Normal.

Z
Dirty politics
Is a dirty business, like
A rock to the head.

13 comments:

  1. Nice! Let's see what I can figure out...

    # - 12 Angry Men
    A - ?
    B - Bridge over the River Kwai
    C - Casablanca
    D - ?
    E - Empire Strikes Back
    F - Field of Dreams
    G - Godfather
    H - ?
    I - Inglourious Basterds?
    J - ?
    K - ?
    L - Lawrence of Arabia
    M - Maltese Falcon
    N - North by Northwest
    O - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
    P - Princess Bride
    Q - The Queen?
    R - Raiders of the Lost Ark
    S - Se7en
    T - The Thing
    U - Unforgiven?
    V - ?
    W - Wages of Fear
    Y - ?
    Z - ?

    Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know at least 17 for sure.

    The above minus The Thing, The Queen and Wages of Fear. Plus:

    A - Amelie
    J - Jaws
    y - Young Frankenstein

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blah, I figured out Amelie and felt stupid for not realizing it. Came back to respond but you beat me to it.

      Delete
  3. I got them plus (I think)

    D - Dekalog
    H - Hoop Dreams
    K - The Killers
    Z - Z

    Is V - La vie en rose?

    ReplyDelete
  4. All correct.

    The only one missing now is "I."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Neat!

    A wild shot:
    I .- In the Year of the Pig

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've always been more of a limerick man myself. In fact, I met this man from Nantucket one time...but that's a story for another day. Anyway, here goes:

    There once was a man named Steve
    Many film reviews did he weave
    He wrote them for years
    And got very few jeers
    And now he's enjoying his leave.

    Off the top of my head, and without reading the other responses yet:

    12 Angry Men
    Amelie
    The Bridge on the River Kwai
    Casablanca
    The Decalogue
    The Empire Strikes Back
    Field of Dreams
    The Godfather
    Hoop Dreams
    In the Loop
    Jaws
    K ?
    Lawrence of Arabia
    The Maltese Falcon
    North by Northwest
    O Brother Where Art Thou
    The Princess Bride
    The Queen
    Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Se7en
    The Thing
    Unforgiven
    V ?
    Wages of Fear
    What? No xXx with Vin Diesel? :-)
    Young Frankenstein
    Z

    Okay, in reading the earlier responses I don't feel bad for not getting K and V. And assuming I'm right I got the last letter left - I.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The only ones I didn't get were 'K' and 'W' (I haven't seen them yet). A fun start to my week, thanks for that Steve.

    ReplyDelete