As promised, here are my top 10. Enjoy!
10. THE DARK KNIGHT – I’ve long been a fan of Batman, as
have most men under 90 that grew up in America, but this I feel is the best
movie made featuring him. It’s dark,
it’s dramatic, the world that’s created is brilliant. This is basically what I think of when I
think of perfect directing. The way
Christopher Nolen nailed everything perfectly, from lighting to location to
dialogue, and yes, the casting. Every
person in this movie could easily be transported into the pages of a Batman
comic with zero adjustment.
I love how this isn’t your typical comic book movie, meant
to be some summertime popcorn movie done in 3D that’s more concerned with
making money than actually telling a story.
And I love the way that marketing to kids played little to no role in
this film’s creating. It’s as dark as
its title implies.
While some are quick to criticize Christian Bale’s
performance as Batman, I really feel that he nails it. We see a Bruce Wayne that’s not just the
millionaire playboy, but a superhero and a man who is deeply conflicted. He questions his actions, whether or not
society is just, whether or not life itself is fair. He’s nothing short of spectacular.
Of course, no mention of The Dark Knight can go on without
talking about Heath Ledger as the Joker. Honestly, he can’t really be compared
to any previous rendition of the Joker.
Nicholson was more comical.
Ledger was just twisted and downright evil. I was a bit hesitant when I heard of this
casting decision, but upon seeing the movie, I was floored. This is simply one twisted son of a
bitch. He’s all about creating chaos,
about making us question choice and free will.
He almost acts with this air of himself being humanity fully realized,
and the end result is frightening. It’s
no wonder he posthumously won an Oscar for his performance.
What else can I say but I love this rendition of Batman, and
all it has to offer.
9. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE – It’s common knowledge that Stanley
Kubrick is a cinematic master, and while I had two of his films duking it out
for a position in my top 10 (the other being his final work, Eyes Wide Shut)
this is his undisputed masterpiece. It’s
an unsettling movie, to say the least, but also one that leaves you questions
so many things in life, as any great film does.
We’re introduced to Alex, easily the most twisted and
sadistic character in cinematic history.
He’s so vile and despicable, and what’s especially shocking is his
age. He’s meant to just be a high school
kid, yet he actively enjoys violence, torture, and rape. Pretty messed up for somebody so young, but
that’s just the disturbing atmosphere that Kubrick set out to create.
So what happens when Alex has his freedoms taken away, and
becomes a guinea pig in an experimental rehabilitation program? Well, we find him trying to live his life by
making amends and become an upright citizen, only to be torn apart again by
those he has wronged in the past. Is
his twisted mid a product of his environment? Of society? The film doesn’t really tell you, but rather
leaves the viewer as the judge. There is
a great scene where a writer tells Alex that the way society has treated him is
downright barbaric. But when he finds
out that Alex has wronged him in the past, he quickly becomes one of these
so-called savages of society that are responsible. It’s really just brilliant.
Some of the film hasn’t aged well. It’s meant to be set in a dystopian future,
and a lot of the tech looks like leftovers from Lost in Space, but when you
look at the perfect shots, shadows, story, and acting, you’re really quick to
forgive.
This was Kubrick’s best film, and God bless each twisted
minute of it.
8. BLOW – Easily my favorite movie of Johnny Depp’s, this
film is the quintessential drug movie.
Cheech and Chong is a comedic look at drugs. Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting are a
look at the horrors of drug use. This
movie is about the business of drugs, and the dizzying highs and lowest of the
lows that come with it. Plus, it sticks
really close to the story of the real George Jung, as evidenced in the DVD
commentary.
Johnny Depp plays George Jung, an infamous cocaine dealer of
the golden age of coke, that sleazy time known as the late 70s and early
80s. In fact, he was so big that the
movie gives us the real stat that if you bought coke during this time, there
was an 85% chance it was courtesy of George Jung.
This actually starts out as kind of an everyman movie. The young George has a typical
childhood. He thinks the world of his
old man, and plays with his best friend.
Him and his friend move out to California in the late 60s and not
wanting to get jobs, they start selling weed on the beach. The stuff they sell is weak, so they’re
introduced to Derek Ferreal, played by Pee Wee himself, Paul Rubens, who makes
them the premiere pot dealers of California.
This eventually leads to them selling marijuana to those back east, and
eventually forms a cocaine syndicate.
What so impressed me was how quick George was able to think of
things. When his old friend said they
couldn’t get that good of pot back in Boston, he starts having his stewardess
girlfriend smuggle it, knowing her bags aren’t checked. When there is a feeding frenzy on his hands
and he needs to move more product than his girlfriend’s two suitcases will
allow, he buys an RV and does it himself.
And when he wants direct access to the Mexican source? They steal a damn
Cessna! He always seems to be one step
ahead of the law, at least for most of the film, which I won’t spoil for you.
The end is downright sad, and you really feel bad for
him. He tried to do all the right things
and make amends, only to be brought down by those closest to him.
7. INTO THE WILD -
This was somewhat of a life changing movie for me. It really made me question what we’re doing
to our world, and whether or not we all complicate our lives too much with
materialism and consumerism. Much like
in Fight Club, when Tyler Durden states that in time “the things you own begin
owning you” this movie takes a more naturalistic approach to that, and makes
the viewer question whether their own lives are needlessly complicated. Any book or film that makes you question your
own life? That’s just fucking great
writing!
We’re introduced to Chris McCandless played by Emile
Hirsch. He’s brought up in a well to do
family, and afforded every opportunity.
Yet, upon graduating college, he chooses to cut up his credit cards,
burn his money and ID, ditch his car and trek off, as the film’s name states,
INTO THE WILD.
Becoming a modern day Thoreau, we see him adopt the name
Alexander Supertramp, and set off on a plethora of beautiful places, from the
Pacific Crest Trail in northern California, to the Grand Canyon, and the film
even manages to make the wheat fields of South Dakota look downright beautiful.
One of my favorite scenes in this movie involves him and a guy he’s working for
in South Dakota. They’re sitting on a
combine at sunset, as some high clouds move in.
The characters and the machinery are just shawody figures against the
spectacular sunset. There is no
dialogue, yet this scene simply works! It hits you on so many levels.
Along the way, Alex meets various people, from some hippies
living out near the Salton Sea, to farm hands in South Dakota, and an
especially touching friendship with a widowed veteran. All throughout the movie, Alex’s goal is to
get to Alaska. To be far removed from
everybody and everything.
Do you admire him for leaving everything behind, living
without any money, and just being free?
Or do you hate him for alienating his friends and family? Well, the movie doesn’t really plead one case
or the other. It just presents the facts
on an interesting human being and lets you decide.
“Things were more exciting when I was penniless” writes
Alex. And there are days I look out at
the mountains, the river, or the forests and wonder what that must feel
like. Luckily, I always have this movie
to take me there.
6.) CASABLANCA - I
know it’s a bit of a cliché to have a movie like this on a favorites list, but
I can’t help it. This is probably where
the term cinematic gold hails from. The
characters, dialogue, and especially the atmosphere are all incredible.
What more can I say about this? This film holds such a
tremendous presence in movie history it is amazing. Upon seeing the movie it
made complete sense what all the hype was about. I never saw this until I was in my 20s, and I
remember thinking “OK cinematic masterpiece, show me what you’re all about!” I
ate those words, and couldn’t be happier. What more could you want than Bogey,
Bergman, Casablanca, and some of the greatest quotes ever said? Do not forget
the the French Captain Louis played by Claude Rains or the immortal tune of As
Time Goes By. This movie has conflict and the uncertainty of war practically in
every scene. We have a rogue gallery of everybody under the sun from Peter
Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet to German soldiers. There is a broken romance and
a forlorn hero who shows his courage in the end. If you take into consideration
when this movie was made, it truly is wonderful to watch. You do not need
explosions and violence only great characters and a story with both drama and
humor. Up until the final moments of the movie you are captivated the entire
time. Then fittingly you are left with the two men walking off into the night
with the words, "Louis I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
5. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – The Cohen Brothers are just
great. No matter what they’ve made, I’ve
enjoyed it. What I really like is how
they capture the atmosphere of where they’re filming. In Fargo, they simply
nailed the upper Midwest, from the overly nice people, to the accent, to the
places they ate at. The Big Lebowski was
their LA movie. Raising Arizona? Self explanatory. This is their Texas movie, specifically the
border region between south Texas and Mexico.
It’s still very much the wild west, even today, and this film set in
1980, portrays that.
What happens when a simpleton comes across $2 million cash
in a briefcase? Well, a lot can happen
apparently, and thus we’re introduced to one of the film’s more frightening
characters, Javier Bordem as Anton Chigurh.
This guy is very, very quiet yet so intimidating at the same time. He thinks nothing of killing those in his
way, and sometimes acts like he’s doing it just for fun. I’m sure most people remember the coin toss
scene. How can something so simple like
a coin toss become so frightening? Well,
when Anton Chigurh tells you that “you stand to win everything” while not
saying anything about what a loss results in, that’s just creepy.
There are some great action scenes, and a large portion of
the film is a simple game of cat and mouse between the protagonist and death
incarnate, Chigurh. Two things stand out
the most whenever I revisit this movie.
The first is surreal imagery.
There are some scenes that look like they’re just out of a dream, for
example, Anton is driving across a one lane bridge at night. The surrounding country is dark, save the
soft humming light illuminating the bridge.
It’s a simple shot, yet it really builds atmosphere. And speaking of atmosphere, this film has no
soundtrack. None. There isn’t any classical music used as a
backdrop, there are no songs playing, this entire movie is devoid of any
background noise, and it just freakin’ works! It just makes each tense moment
that much more tense, and every moment of dialogue that much more
powerful.
4. UP - I love Disney
movies. My wife loves Disney
movies. I’m sure my son will, like the
two of us, grow up on a regimen of Disney movies, and why not? They tell good stories, they often leave you
feeling good, they’re colorful, and have an innate whimsy to them. One of the best moves Disney has made in the
past decades is their partnership with computer animation studio Pixar. They’ve churned out such classics as Toy
Story, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and what’s, in my opinion, they’re
undisputed masterpiece, UP!
This movie is a relatively simple story. A little boy meets a little girl and they
fall in love. Disney enough for you
yet? Well, maybe it’s not THAT
simple. He’s a bit of an introvert, and
she’s completely eccentric. But they do
share their love of adventure, and hope to someday visit the mythic Paradise
Falls in South America.
You might have ice water flowing in your veins if you’re not
moved by the first 10 minutes of this film, for it gives us one of the best
love stories I’ve ever seen. It’s a
story of their lives together, and how, dispite wanting to travel to Paradise
Falls, but so many of life’s events keep tapping their travel fund, that they
eventually succumb to just being happy well into old age. There is no dialogue at all for this long
montage. It’s just music and imagery,
yet it tells an incredible story. If
they had rolled the credits after this, Up would still be in my top 10 films,
easy.
Well, you can guess what happens next, this is after all,
Disney. She dies, and the little boy,
now a grumpy old man, spends his days isolated and missing his wife. When court ordered to leave his home after an
incident, the man rigs thousands of balloons to his house, lifting it into the
sky in search of Paradise Falls. Along
the way, he befriends an energyholic boy scout, and a talking dog named
Dug. I loved the latter! They way they nail a dog’s thoughts and
personality with a voicebox is a riot.
I won’t spoil any more of the story, short of saying there
are so many hilarious, action packed, and downright touching moments throughout
the movie. This is easily Pixar’s finest
work to date.
3. LOST IN TRANSLATION – I still have yet to identify what
it is about this movie that is so powerful.
There isn’t much of a story, but it’s more about sharing an
experience. It’s about the isolation and
loneliness that comes from being on the road, or winding up in a place you
didn’t expect. Bill Murray plays Bob
Harris, an aging American action star who is in Tokyo to shoot an ad for
Suntory Whiskey. He’s facing a bit of a
midlife crisis, and meets Charlotte, a young wife who is traveling with her
celebrity photographer husband, who often neglects her. They find comfort in each other’s company, as
they spend the days exploring the city, and we see a romance begin to blossom.
It’s also really refreshing to see a relationship between an older man and a
younger woman that doesn’t involve sex at all.
Who’d have thought in movies today any director would opt for that? Their relationship is all about conversation,
and being in a foreign land together, making the most of it.
What I really love is the surreal atmosphere created by
Tokyo, at times it seems like our characters are in a hotel bar in any American
city, but venturing out and it’s suddenly a very foreign, surreal looking
backdrop.
I’ve long been a fan of Bill Murray, and think that he’s
really at his best in dramatic roles versus comedic. This is my favorite movie of his, because of
the way him and Scarlett Johansen play off each other. Plus, you feel a bit sorry for him at times
as his wife back home is bothering him about mundane things like carpet
samples, and constantly chewing him out.
On the same token, Johansen is in similar straits, being neglected by
her husband, who seems more interested in the female starlets he photographs
then he is her. I think the isolation
they each feel, and the connection formed by it, is what really makes this
movie memorable.
2. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA -
While this might be another cliché to have on a list, like Casablanca, I
can’t help myself. I love everything
about this movie. I long knew it was a
Hollywood classic, and a true epic, but for the longest time I never could
bring myself to invest the time in watching it. When I finally did, I was blown
away.
The score couldn’t possibly be better. Each note played syncs up perfectly with
what’s happening on the screen. The
scenery is equally perfect, with sweeping views of the desert that just cry out
adventure. One of the best, and most
famous scenes in cinematic history, can be found in the first 10 minutes. We find ourselves watching a slow sunrise
over the desert, again accompanied perfectly by the musical score. The sun rises and we’re treated to a sweeping
view of the desert, the characters just a mere speck among the size of the
dunes.
Peter O'Toole gives a star-making performance as T.E.
Lawrence, the eccentric British officer who united the desert tribes of Arabia
against the Turks during World War I. Director David Lean orchestrates sweeping
battle sequences and breathtaking action, but the film is really about the
adventures and trials that transform Lawrence into a legendary man of the
desert. Lean traces this transformation on a vast canvas of awesome
physicality; no other movie has captured the expanse of the desert with such
scope and grandeur. Equally important is the psychology of Lawrence, who
remains an enigma even as we grasp his identification with the desert. Perhaps
the greatest triumph of this landmark film is that Lean has conveyed the
romance, danger, and allure of the desert with such physical and emotional
power. It's a film about a man who leads one life but is irresistibly drawn to
another, where his greatness and mystery are allowed to flourish in equal
measure. He was one of the most fascinating people of the 20th
century, but there haven’t been many movies or books dedicated to him. Perhaps that’s because this was so perfect,
that nobody else has ever wanted to step up.
1. GOODFELLAS - I’m
sure a lot of people who know me already know this, but Goodfellas is my
favorite movie of all time. No matter
when it’s on, how butchered it is by censors, I will gladly plop myself down
and enjoy it. And, each time I do, I
notice things that I didn’t previously notice.
That’s the mark of a good film!
While I know a lot of people argue that the best mob movie
ever made was The Godfather saga, and it was great, I still feel this is far
superior. Director Martin Scorcese does
such a great job with this, the movie is like a great book. You keep wanting to know what happens next,
you’re so immersed in the story right off the bat. Every single thing works. The characters are all perfectly cast, the
story is ironclad, the scenery is perfect, and the dialogue is memorable. I’m still afraid of little Joe Pesci to this
day after seeing this movie! “I’m funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you, I
make you laugh?!” That line taken in
context is downright terrifying.
It’s a movie about an Irish kid who grew up as an associate
in the Italian mafia. He goes from a
small time gangster helping the local capo run numbers and selling hijacked
cigarettes, to a big shot helping in one of the largest heists in American
history. We witness his eventual
downfall, brought on by drug smuggling and increasing paranoia that comes with
it, but even until the final moment, you find yourself needing to know what
happens next.
I really love the detail Scorcese put into each shot. The essence of each decade that progresses
throughout the movie are really captured. For example, there is a scene that
takes place in a bar in the early 60s.
The whole Tiki theme was very popular around that time, and this bar is
a mecca of Tiki kitsch, and even though we’re being introduced to several
auxiliary characters, you’re drawn to the loud Hawaiian shirt the bartender is
wearing, the fake plastic tiki torches, and the acrid smoke filling the entire
place. Anybody wanting to go into a
creative medium, especially film, need to watch this movie to learn how to
properly create atmosphere.
It’s violent at times, it’s crude and vulgar at times, it is
a movie about the mob, after all. But
it’s also got some of the best acting, best storytelling, and most memorable
dialogue out of any other movie I’ve ever seen.
I just love how each time I watch it I notice something different. I love how I still flinch a bit when they
whack one of the main characters. I know
it’s coming, but it’s so well done, that there is still that element of shock.
What else can I say but this is what I think of when I think
of a perfect movie.
