No wrong answers, no obvious spots. I don't care if the "Academy" liked it. If anything, points for originality. Don't put a top 10 on here that everyone is gonna know and agree with, be your own person. But so help me, if you put Citizen Kane up here without a damn good explanation, I'm gonna call you out on it. Henry V Kenneth Brannagh's version. Probably the first movie I obsessed over. Watched it when I was nine years old. It will forever be on my list and most likely at its top. Casablanca Sometimes the perfect movie is recognized by people as a great film. This happens to be true for Casablanca. Aside from having one of the most savage Bogart chars, it is filled with amazing actors and pithy dialogue. Forbidden Planet The very first movie to truly scare me and my favorite Sci-Fi film. Walter Pigeon, Leslie Nielson and Robbie the Robot all in a film based on Shakespeare's The Tempest? Yeah, it's on here. Suspiria I love Argento and nearly put three different movies of his in this spot. But I have to go with Suspiria, not only for the color, art house horror and style... But it makes the best use of Claudio Simonetti and I'm a fan. In The Mouth of Madness John Carpenter was going to be up here. I went to his old Alma Mater stomping grounds. Most people I guess would put The Thing here. But I like Sam Neil and I thought this movie was creepier. Gosford Park Don't get on my case for this one. I have no idea why it's on this list. It's a comfort movie for me. It's a period piece by Altman and I think it goes on here for the sheer coziness it brings me. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Love both the film and miniseries. Don't care. The book is amazing. Ever iteration of this tome in visual media is a masterpiece. Let The Right One In Visually destitute, but relate-able, somehow. Very tense film and yet very sedate at the same time. It follows strange rhythms. Blue Velvet David Lynch goes on this list. He goes on this list with this one instead of Eraserhead because I can stand rewatching this film a lot easier. The Big Sleep Second Bogart film, but it's Phillip Marlowe. If you consider yourself a fan of the Mystery genre at all... If you like Film Noir. Or hell, if you just like Bogart... Watch this. HMs: My Favorite Year; Trainspotting; Johnny Dangerously; The Frisco Kid; The Maltese Falcon; Murder on the Orient Express; The Bird with the Crystal Plumage; Deep Red; The Beyond; THEM!; The Thing; Prince of Darkness; Batman: Mask of the Phantasm; Glass; Masque of the Red Death; Castle of Cagliostro; Logan's Run; Dune; Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse; Haxan; Metropolis -SIN
1. Blade Runner - Science fiction noir gets me right in the soul. The cinematography is the biggest thing that stands out but everything really is great. The dystopian, the broken characters, the confusion on identity. 2. Joker (2019) - I was absolutely floored when I saw this. It's so beautifully edited and perfectly subtle when it needs to be. There is no part of this movie I was bored with, no part that wasn't important. I'm a very psychological person and also, obsessed with trickster archetypes (which you will notice as you continue to read my last). It's a masterpiece for me. 3. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) - I've spent many years cursing fate for not making me Willy Wonka as played by Gene Wilder. He is responsible for creating my obsession with the trickster archetype. I watched this on repeat for nearly a decade. I used to get drunk and begin screaming like I was carting children down a dark river tunnel. 4. Rocky Horror Picture Show - Tim Curry, my god. I sometimes wish I was Tim Curry. The music, comedy, and oversexualization. If Blade Runner calls to my soul Rocky Horror calls to my gut. 5. Interview With A Vampire - Bare with me...so this is my Twilight. You've got those girls fanning themselves when that barbarian Edward glitters on the screen (shivers). Lestat, Tom Cruise's Lestat, I'm pretty sure shaped everything I wanted in a man. He's got that trickster air about him that is absolutely fantastic and in just the right way to find me leaning towards the screen, wiping drool from my chin. He stomps around doing whatever he pleases without caring what the supposed rules are. He takes and takes and smiles devilishly and surrounds himself with beautiful people. I read all the books just to better enjoy Tom Cruise's Lestat when he flashes that toothy, predator smile. That character probably ruined me. 6. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas - I was previously a drunken creative writing student. I feel like that's explanation enough. I watched it on repeat while drinking absinthe and when I was sober enough I'd read the book instead. 7. Clockwork Orange - I felt very strongly about this when I watched it. My first tattoo was a Clockwork Orange tattoo so I have to put it on the list. I can't really pinpoint one thing in particular but it does seem to keep with the theme developing on my list. 8. American Psycho - I found this movie during a dark time in my life and found it absolutely delightful. I still find it delightful. It's an amazing dark comedy. I'm laughing right now just thinking about some of those scenes. 9. My Neighbor Totoro - Studio Ghibli films are exceptional and this movie has stuck with me since I was about six or seven. It's such an uncomplicated, simple movie about childhood and life. It was made ages ago in terms of cartoons but doesn't feel old at all. Ghibli films are always my kids first favorite movie. 10. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - I always need a feel good movie on my list and this one has been my current favorite. Ben Stiller and Tom Hanks are usually involved with this category.
Oh man. . in no specific order, except Mad Max. 01. Mad Max 02. Beverly Hills Cop 03. Idiocracy 04. 1984 05. Gremlins 06. Malificent 07. Terminator 2 08. Guarding Tess 09. Dragonheart 10. Down Periscope It was a bit tough, those were the ones I recalled, though I'm sure there was some I forgot
01: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) 02: The Founder (2016) 03: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) 04: The Matrix (1999) 05: The Back to the Future Trilogy (1985, 1989, 1990)
06: Enter The Dragon (1973) 07: Taxi Driver (1976) 08: Beetlejuice (1988) 09: The Harder They Come (1972) (Jamaica) 10: Little Nicky (2000)
Jaws The Cabin in the Woods The Outlaw Josey Wales North Dallas Forty Saving Private Ryan Dumb and Dumber 2001 A Space Odyssey Rocky The Driver A Star is Born (James Mason and Judy Garland)
1917 Boondock Saints John Wick Pride and Prejudice (2005 version) Coco Moana The Mummy (Brendan Fraser version) Spiderman: into the Spiderverse Howl's Moving Castle Little Miss Sunshine
I don't know...top 10 films of all time? 1. Annie Hall - I feel weird putting this at number 1. It's a romantic comedy and it's all over the place. Has flashbacks, animated stuff, breaking the fourth wall. It's essentially sweet at it's core. Woody Allen changed me when I was a teenager - he made me feel like it was okay to be an awkward nerdy guy. It comforted me, though it probably should have been something I tried to change more than actively indulged. I don't know whether this is the 'best' movie ever - it just had a big effect on me. Probably the biggest effect any one movie has had. 2. The Godfather- This is a movie that gets better every time you watch it. Every scene is iconic. It's a masterclass of storytelling and has one of the best tragic character arcs I have ever seen put to film. How come a movie that's about death/grizzly murders and going to the 'dark side' isn't just depressing? Cos it's also about family and family values - at it's core, a conservative movie in a way. Family comes first and we follow their traditions even if it means stifling our better selves! 3. Trees Lounge This is a weird movie to say is my third favourite of all time but it's a movie I often ruminate over. Before Bukowski and all those literary drunks I read I encountered Buscemi's barfly. A young vibrant guy lost in a world of alcoholism. I think this movie is about stunted ambition. But it also presents a little bit of the fun that can be had while you're avoiding responsibility in your damn life. It isn't ALL bad and sometimes, when the right song comes on the jukebox, you tell yourself that this non-life is actually what life is about afterall! I guess this is high for me because I lived a variation of this life in my early 20's. 4. Parasite It DOES feel weird putting such a new movie in the top 10 of all time but I saw it twice in the cinema. It just worked for me, that's all I can really say about it. Genius writing that makes me realise that a good premise can always have extra levels to push the story to new heights of tragedy. 5. It's a Wonderful Life How many movies are there that really make you want to appreciate your god damn life? The message is a good one - treat others with kindness and have gratitude for what you have. I think it's wish fulfillment for a lot of us to be able to have divine intervention help us to appreciate our lives more. Cos when your life appears awful it's like 'yeah I know it's a wonderful life tells us to appreciate life but...this situation sucks!!' And I don't look at this movie as an excuse to just accept some bad version of life instead of taking chances or doing difficult things. It's just that whatever plans you lay down may not pan out - in fact likely won't - but you need to find a way not to let bitterness take over. How do you do that? Gratitude. 6. Groundhog Day In a world of relativism, what is the meaning of life? Is it to be really good at an instrument? Or to have sex with a beautiful woman? Or to do ice sculptures? This movie tells us that maybe it's to have a positive effect on the people around you. I try to remember that message when I lost in a sea of self-absorption 7. Manhattan I probably shouldn't put two Woody Allen movies here but...that final scene...'I'll be a good memory'...haunts me. You have this selfish main character who is able to be selfless at the very end and let her go, want her to go. Sometimes in life you have to sacrifice what you want for the greater good. 8. The Matrix So much in this movie has proved prescient. Red pilling is now used in everyday language. It's classic hero's journey storytelling and for me, the message of this movie is you can accept a fake comfortable easy life or you can challenge that and go the hard road where the rewards will always be much greater. But it's tough cos even watching this movie it's like...why would you want to get out of that slimy pod thing? It's really not an easy choice at all. In life as well... 9. Inside Out I go back and forth between this one and Toy Story 3 for the best pixar...and what does it say that our more psychologically probing mainstream movies are done by Disney? But I think the message here was that we cannot repress our emotions. There's no joy without sadness. Attempts to pretend negative emotions aren't there cause us to cut off all emotions - we can't selectively turn them off. 10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest Will never get old. Nurse Ratchett's are everywhere. We like to think ourselves Nicholson's and perhaps many of us are. Problem is not enough of us are chiefs! Chinatown/Casablanca/Goodfellas/Taxi Driver/Crimes and Misdemeanors should all be in the list too!
The Godfather is the best film ever. Apocalypse Now Hereditary Taxi Driver The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner The Elephant Man Slumdog Millionaire Goodfellas The Deer Hunter Deliverance
Forbidden Planet Kwaidan Ran A Chinese Ghost Story (1987, dir. Ching Siu-Tung) Suspiria (the original, of course) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954, dir. Richard Fleischer Beauty and the Beast (1946, dir. Jean Cocteau) Princess Mononoke Excalibur Alice (1988, dir. Jan Svankmajer)
1. The Mist 2. Nightmare on Elm Street (80's) 3. Jaws 4. Misery 5. Killer Klowns from Outer Space 6. Paranormal Activity 7. Split 8. Cloverfield 9. Silent Hill 10. Beetlejuice
Cloud Atlas Aliens Gladiator Saving Private Ryan Pan's Labyrinth Children of Men The Shawshank Redemption One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The Outlaw Josey Wales High Plains Drifter
Man, do I see some other people who overlap my choices! (And some of them are admittedly weird. The choices, not the other people. haha) It's kind of surprising to know I'm not alone. I can't do 10. I'll do 20. (If I went to 50 then you'd see some strange stuff.) Amadeus Pan's Labyrinth Fight Club Nightcrawler The Sting The Outlaw Josey Wales Slingblade Shawshank Redemption The Witch Hereditary Leon: The Professional Cloud Atlas One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Parasite The Sixth Sense The Wrestler Mad Max: Fury Road Matchstick Men The Platform Sunshine I'll just say that story-wise, Slingblade is perfect. Mmm-hmm. (Reckon I'd like some fried taters.) Looking at these as a whole, I like stories about transformation. The MC either turns into someone new, or dies. Sometimes both.
Yeah, I couldn't believe you picked Cloud Atlas too. That movie follows the book more than I would think possible. It's uncanny. I know the result is somewhat weird, but the book is weird, and I would have considered it to be impossible to film, and yet the Wachowskis (Are you kidding! Those two?) pulled it off. I mean, I like the Matrix, but this one came from out of nowhere. Very underrated. The best visual future-world I've ever seen too. That includes "The Matrix."
Ive seen it twenty times and still greatly enjoy it. Had the luck to find it in an independent theater when it first came out. Excellent book, but I just love the movie. All time favorite. You also get theaddedbenefit of trying to spot all the main actors in minor bits. My favorite is stil susan sarandon as the professor.
It took me a little while to realize they were ALL playing multiple roles. Tom Hanks was unrecognizable in the ship scenes. In some ways that makes it trickier than the book. The format is so odd that it leaves you off balance, but it works. (Kind of like "Memento," which would have been in my top 30. haha)
In no order: Apocalypse Now Goodbye Lenin Jacob's Ladder Agora Dr Strangelove Lord of the Rings (the three films together) No Country for Old Men Downfall Momento The Thing
1. War and Peace 1966-67. The mega epic of all historical epics. There won't ever come anything to rival it because A. half the scenes would be done with cheap CGI and B. because (apart from China possibly) there exists no country with power as centralized as the Soviet Union capable of diverting the same amount of resources to a movie as the Politbüro did. Simply stunning. There is hardly any other movie with 200+ people dressing a waltzer in costumes, there is NO other movie with 10,000+ extras all dressed in war uniforms moving in formations. This movie had a cavalry charge scene larger in numbers than the one in Peter Jackson's LOTR - without CGI. It is also a unqiue relic where the cinematography, the acting and the cutting is so different from Hollywood. I espexially adore the long shots where the actors play out whole scenes and speeches without a cut or shift in perspective. Some real performance there. That and the source book is phenomenal in its own right. 2. The Wicker Man Superb acting, super music and a phenomenal story that has since become a classic. One of those stories that felt "novel" in the way the setting and the storyline didn't feel like they were done before. The idea of positioning rural pagans as a source of horror dread is something still done / imitated today. 3. Grand Budapest Hotel I appreciated the cinematography greatly and the story is simply ... chaotic, but aforable. Characters are memorable and have that immediate connection a movie needs. 4. Shawshank Redemption Prime acting and really one of the best endings in cinema history. Also the only ever movie I shed a tear for (you know which scene it was). 5. War and Peace 2016 (BBC miniseries) Definitely a good watch and a very good adaptation. Not as grandiose as the 1966-67 one, but morr modern and the quality is to today's standards. Easier to digest as well. 6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail If you haven't seen it, watch it. Little else to be said other than the sheer number of memes and pop culture fads BORN from MP. 7. Joker For sure controversial at the time but I do believe it grasped on something insidious about our society and the pacing of the movie was just phenomenal. 8. Snatch A personal favourite; I just love to re-watch it over and over. Characters stick with you forever (Mickey? Brick top?) and the whole chaos portrayed is entertaining. 9. The Big Short There's hardly any movie that accurately portrays economics with educational value /and/ is incredibly entertaining at the same time. Especially love the endless cameos and the fact the behavioural economist appearing in the movie (with Selena Gomez) has since received a nobel prize. 10. Mad Max: Fury Road Appreciated the idea of an action movie solely focused on action, action scenes and action plot. The costumes are wonderful, the worldbuilding even better. Only thing to find out is whether people actually live like that in central Australia...
1: Kes 2: Withnail and I 3: Stranger Than Paradise 4: Back to the Future 5: Catch Me if you Can 6: Smoke 7: Back to the Future 2 8: Taxi Driver 9: Pinocchio (Disney 1940) 10: The Elephant Man
I'm bemused by the love for Hereditary - not just here, I read so much gushing about it when it came out. It's not like it was bad, it was just... fine. Aside from one standout sequence it felt like such an aggressively OK film.
I went into Hereditary knowing nothing about it, thinking it would be just another in a recent crop of crappy American horror movies with adjectives for titles. I thought it was excellent. I loved the premise and there was so much memorable imagery (this to me is maybe the most important part of a movie, more than quality of acting, a coherent plot, etc). Headless mother floating up into the tree house is one of my favorite horror movie images. Of recent horror films though my favorite would have to be Na Hong-Jin's 2016 film The Wailing. His previous two films Chaser and The Yellow Sea are outstanding neo-noirs.
I’m just bemused cos I’ve never even heard of it. Then again I hardly ever watch anything made after the 80s, so it’s no surprise - assuming it’s a modern film.
