one comment i need to make. and that's simply this. fast & furious made $72.5 mil. last weekend. read that again. are you fucking kidding me? that blows my mind. never before has such a collection of talentless hacks conspired to commit such an atrocity on the american public. paul "the personality" walker? vin "the meatball" diesel? michelle "the snarl" rodriguez? what the fuck? this is bad comedy. the fact that fast & furious, made for no other purpose than to rake in dough and be a completely forgetful piece of trash is going to wind up making more money than "watchmen" (which, say what you want about it, but at least it was made with the right intentions) makes me want to give up, take a warm bath and open a couple of veins or at least cry a little bit. jesus christ. it's moments like this i feel like daniel plainview: "i look at people and see nothing worth liking" -- at any rate, land, ho! let's move this bitch along.
40. Leon: The Professional (1994) - 73% on RT, 8.6 (#34) on IMDB
a little girl's (a brilliant 12 year old natalie portman) family is murdered by dea agents (gary oldman), and she winds up with a loner french hitman (jean reno) who schools her in the art of killing and leads her on a mission of revenge. a strange concept, and an even stranger relationship (a love story between a 12 year old girl and a 40 year old french loner is unorthodox, to say the least), but it all works, and beautifully so. highly stylized shots and action sequences add to the story, but this is all about characters and is really a heartfelt film. watch the director's cut... it has a lot more of the awesome hitman training. beautifully shot, a terrific story, outstanding performances from the leads. these elements combine to make a film that rises above its elements and becomes something much more than a revenge tale.
39. The Usual Suspects (1995) - 89% on RT, 8.7 (#22) on IMDB
who is keyser soze? outstanding cast. kevin spacey, gabriel byrne and benicio del toro are on their A-games. one of the truly great crime thrillers, a brilliantly told story through some narrative techniques that will have you on the edge of your seat. a star making turn for the director, bryan singer, as well as del toro, this film is smart, stylish and clever, and you won't regret watching it in the end. a true modern classic that is on basically everyone's "best-of" list.
38. Memento (2000) - 94% on RT, 8.7 (#27) on IMDB
christopher nolan steps onto the scene in a big way. an incredibly original, tight, clever, trippy, mesmerizing psychological thriller. guy pearce is brilliant as leonard, a man with short-term memory loss struggling to piece together what happened in the wake of an attack on he and his wife. through the use of tattoos, notes and polaroids, leonard attempts to make sense of it all, although he's unable to remember the most trivial things. the audience travels along, attempting to piece the narrative together through the clues we, along with leonard, receive. really, a masterful piece of filmmaking. if you haven't seen this one, please, do so.
37. Rear Window (1954) - 100% on RT, 8.8 (#16) on IMDB
a master filmmaker at his best, hitchcock creates an eminently watchable classic. jimmy stewart is a photographer stuck in an apartment while recovering from a broken leg one hot summer. to pass the time, he looks out of his window and watches the people who live on the courtyard behind the apartment. he becomes convinced that something dastardly is underway and seeks to get to the bottom of it. tense, entertaining, and creepy as hell. this is a film that works on so many different levels, truly a timeless masterpiece.
36. Apocalypse Now (1979) - 98% on RT, 8.6 (#35) on IMDB
the film that almost killed martin sheen and francis coppola. loosely based on conrad's heart of darkness, this film is truly a masterwork about the horrors of war. martin sheen plays a u.s. commando sent deep into the jungle of cambodia to "terminate the command" of a u.s. colonel who has basically become a warlord for his own private kingdom and the horrors he encounters along the way (not to mention those he finds upon arrival). brilliant performances from sheen, brando and duvall. is this a war movie? not really... it's more of a commentary on the nature of man. this film is utterly transfixing.. and when brando finally makes his appearance, it's completely unforgettable.
35. No Country For Old Men (2007) - 94% on RT, 8.3 (#104) on IMDB
the brothers coen return to the list w/ the film that brought them oscar gold. a crime thriller w/ the coen bros' touch, this film is beautifully shot, with some powerful performances. josh brolin is terrific as llewlyn moss, a down on his luck small town guy who stumbles across a drug deal gone bad in the wilderness and winds up with $2 million in cash and the wrong men on his tail. javier bardem is terrifying as anton chigurh, a cold-blooded killer who is part angel of death, part force of nature. this is filmmaking done right, a great mix of suspense, humor and gravitas. on first watching, there aren't too many better films than this one.
34. Dances With Wolves (1990) - 77% on RT, 7.9 on IMDB
unquestionably costner's best work as both an actor and director. this beautiful film took home a boatload of oscars, and is really a love affair with the american west and the way things were. a man, wounded in the civil war, moves west, and winds up close with the wildlife and natives near his post. as you can imagine, when the army comes back, they aren't too happy with their colleague. the plot is really secondary to the beautiful shots and scenes... i cannot emphasize enough the natural beauty of this film. the sioux nation made kevin costner an honorary member after this film came out... that really tells you all you need to know about its depiction of native americans and the american west. and honestly, two socks getting killed is one of the saddest fucking things i can think of... i'm tearing up a little right now just thinking about it. there's something eminently beautiful about a film that powerful. wow... i didn't really realize how much i love this film until i started typing about it.
33. Infernal Affairs (2002) - 95% on RT, 8.1 (#250) on IMDB
the film that gave us the departed. two men, one a criminal, one, a cop, are placed in each others organizations and charged with finding the other. the men deal with the pressures, personal and otherwise of living these double lives in a tight, thrilling narrative leading up to an ultimate showdown. this film is more of a suspense film than the departed, and honestly, probably the only reason this is rated this low is b/c reading movies gets annoying after a while, and subtitles just sound like shit. so call me lazy, sorry, but this is truly a terrific film.
32. It's A Wonderful Life (1946) - 91% on RT, 8.6 (#30) on IMDB
"to my brother george, the richest man in town". one of the few brenner family traditions is watching this film either christmas eve or christmas day. sentimental? sure.. but capra and jimmy stewart (in his first film after WW2) created a timeless american classic that will always mean a lot to me, and millions of other people. a man who sacrificed and compromised his hopes and dreams for years feels as if he's at the end of his rope and is contemplating suicide after his hapless uncle lost the family savings & loan's monthly deposit and left them with a huge deficit, in swoops a goofball guardian angel who shows him how rich he truly is. if you haven't seen this movie, wait until sometime when you're really depressed (dumped, fired, whatever) and/or around the holidays, and take a couple of hours and check out a real classic.
31. Requiem for a Dream (2000) - 78% on RT, 8.5 (#63) on IMDB
the hairbrained schemes, the delusions of grandeur, the lying, cheating, stealing. this is a brutal, hard-hitting, authentic use at drug addiction. a young man, his girlfriend, best friend and mother see their lives spin out of control due to their various addictions (heroin, coke, and diet pills/speed). this is THE film that should be shown to all highschoolers... if jennifer connelly doing a double sided dildo in the ass for coke doesn't scare you away from drugs, nothing will. completely authentic, riveting, and utterly terrifying, requiem for a dream pulls no punches and will leave you with that "wow" feeling afterwards, because your world was just shaken. darren aronofsky is truly a modern master (even if the bastard did steal my girl).
30. Full Metal Jacket (1987) - 96% on RT, 8.3 (#93) on IMDB
"The ones that run, are VC, the ones that stand still are highly disciplined VC"
"how do you shoot women? and children?" - "it's easy, you don't lead 'em as much" stanley kubrick makes his entrance to the list with a modern american antiwar classic. this film follows a group of recruits from bootcamp to combat in vietnam and shows the various degrees of mind-fuck that take place along the way. midway through, it abruptly switches from parris island, sc. to the skies, fields and streets of vietnam. a troubling look at the effects of war and the training for war on young men, this film is highly upsetting, and it should be. a terrific piece of filmmaking that pulls no punches and just puts it all out there.
29. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - 96% on RT, 8.6 (#33) on IMDB
the epic quest becomes an epic war in part II of cinema's greatest trilogy. our heroes encounter one of the most epic battles ever seen on screen, more villains and creatures of middle earth, as well as some new (and old) friends as the battle draws nearer to its conclusion. also, if you are not in the right place mentally, beware walking, talking trees. they will freak you out. some terrific acting, especially from viggo mortensen and ian mcklellan, and of course, the film is ridiculously beautifully made and shot. really, do yourself a favor and take a weekend and watch all three over the course of a day or two. you won't regret it. i enjoy the second film significantly more than i enjoy the first... and that's saying something.
28. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - 95% on RT, 8.4 (#69) on IMDB
world, meet quentin tarantino, quentin tarantino, meet the world. the film that brought QT onto the scene. derivative? sure. stylized? you betcha. but he makes some films that are fucking fun to watch and pretty damn cool. in this film about a crime caper gone bad, Q shows you what he's all about, some smart, snazzy dialogue, non-linear narrative, stylized shots, great soundtrack and gratuitous violence (the "stuck in the middle/ear" scene is awesomely fucked up). sign me up, check it out if you haven't already.
27. Gangs of New York (2002) - 76% on RT, 7.4 on IMDB
a favorite of mine that keeps me coming back and back again. scorsese is ambitious as hell with this one, part historical study, part character study, part commentary on who we were.. this film has so much to offer. an AMAZING performance from the batshit crazy daniel day-lewis as one of the greatest movie villains of all time... but is he really even a villain? he's a bad guy, sure... but who isn't in this film? great characters, great dialogue, beautiful sets and shots... simply a great film. it's not the tightest script and plot in the world, but hey, when a film manages to take you to another place like this one does, who's complaining? one of two decent performances cameron diaz has ever given. there's a quote on IMDB about how George Lucas told Scorsese while Scorsese was building the sets for Gangs in italy: "you don't have to do that anymore, they can do everything on computers now". that, george, is why your prequels suck, and why martin scorsese continues to bring the goods in film after film. not to mention that this is the movie where leo went from boy to man and stepped into the ranks of my favorite actors. granted, he can't hold the screen with DDL, at least he couldn't in 2002, but he's on his way there.
26. A Clockwork Orange (1971) - 90% on RT, 8.5 (#50) on IMDB
stanley kubrick, welcome back. a great book, a great film, about violence, depravity, maturity and youth. a true master of cinema takes you on a troubling, psychadelic nightmare through a dystopian future where lawlessness is rampant and "ultraviolence" and sociopathic behavior is the norm. malcolm mcdowell shines as alex, the ringleader of a wild gang of "droogs" who embark on a journey or rape, murder and mayhem through a chaotic and hypersexualized near future. after inadvertently murdering a woman, alex receives a prison sentence, where he is "reprogrammed" and released, only to be "cured" again after the sins of his past catch up with him. a trippy, crazy movie that will just stay with you. heavy with symbolism, its own orwellian dialect and allegory, kubrick's take on the dystopia has a lot to offer.
25. Blade Runner (1982) - 94% on RT, 8.3 (#109) on IMDB
a truly beautifully shot film, ridley scott gives the world a noir/sci-fi classic. i'm blogging about "the final cut", which just came out a couple of years ago. in my opinion, this cut is perfection. in this dark, polluted, dreary of 2019 L.A., harrison ford plays a detective hunting "replicants", life-like androids who are used as slaves. deckard gets in WAY over his head, and deep philosophical issues abound, like all great sci-fi. this is a true classic that only gets better on re-watching.
24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - 94% on RT, 8.7 (#18) on IMDB
probably the best, if not necessarily the most fun, of one of the great film series of all time. spielberg and lucas combine to bring the adventure film to life in a true classic. karen allen is terrific as dr. jones' comedic/romantic foil, and hell, fighting nazi's is always awesome. people (and me) love the judeo/christian mythology, combine that with some awesome action sequences, cool dialogue, some legitimately funny scenes, and the sense of adventure and awe the differing locales bring the table, and "Raiders" stands up there as an all-time classic.
23. Raging Bull (1980) - 98% on RT, 8.4 (#72) on IMDB
scorsese + deniro, does anything else really need to be said at this point? a truly devastating look at the dark side of masculinity. deniro is absolutely out-of-his mind BRILLIANT in this role as self-destructive boxer jake lamatta. deniro and scorsese create a completely unsympathetic protagonist and it's sometimes hard to watch as the same attributes that make lamatta a champion boxer cause his life to spiral violently out of control as he ruins his relationships one by one. it's not always fun to watch, but you cannot take your eyes off the screen.
22. Gladiator (2000) - 77% on RT, 8.3 (#116) on IMDB
this is a film that got completely lucky with its casting. russell crowe breaks onto the a-list in a big way, joachin phoenix is completely evil as the emperor commodus, and dijimon honsou is great as the companion with a heart of gold. ridley scott creates a film that is grandiose and great in scope. even if the plot is entirely fictional, everything looks like it should look.. you are taken to ancient rome and the grandeur of the coliseum. in my opinion, the ending is a little weak, i would have much rather maximus led his army against the emperor's at the gates of rome, but hey, who am i to complain. an awesome film that really sticks with you. russell crowe's greatest role, and truly one of the best films of the 2000's. it took home a shit-ton of oscars for a reason.
21. Schindler's List (1993) - 96% on RT, 8.9 (#7) on IMDB
spielberg's dramatic masterpiece is also the definitive work of fiction on the holocaust. powerful, gripping, and horrible. oskar schindler (liam neeson) hires jews to work in his factory in poland, saving them from destruction by the nazis. beautifully shot, powerfully acted (neeson, ralph fiennes and ben kingsley are all outstanding) and a powerful story make this one of the truly unforgettable films that will stay with you long after the final credits roll. this film depicts the horrors of the second world war in a manner that is neither intended to shock or disgust, but merely to document. spielberg brings his usual tender touch to the most horrible event in human history, with unforgettable effect. another film that should be required viewing in america's schools... sometimes a (motion) picture speaks 1,000 words. there's a reason why this film brought home a boatload of oscar's. haunting score, haunting shots, just devastating... you will not forget this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment