65. THE USUAL SUSPECTS
A twisty-turny mob movie that makes you want to watch it again immediately after it ends. I still don't quite have the whole thing perfectly worked out in my head, and I've watched it a dozen or more times. Kevin Spacey is the main guy here, starring as Verbal Kint, the lone survivor of what can only be described as a massive clusterfuck. He tells the story of being mixed in with a group of career criminals and how they came to work for the notorious Keyser Soze. Terrific ensemble cast includes Benicio Del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollack and Chazz Palminteri.
Fun fact: In a poll on IMDb, the movie was voted as having the best plot twist, beating out The Sixth Sense, The Crying Game, and Witness for the Prosecution.
Quote: "Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone."
64. E.T.:THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
I know I saw this movie at some point before the 2002 rerelease into theaters, but for whatever reason I don't really remember it and I didn't think much of it. Anyway, when Lisa and I saw it on the big screen, it was an amazing experience of just pure joy and kid-dom that can make Steven Spielberg movies so incredible. And I really can't say enough about John Williams' score, which is so tone-perfect in every single scene, but especially on that flight/chase portion of the climax.
Fun fact: Elliot's last name is never mentioned.
Quote: "I just hope we don't wake up on Mars or something surrounded by millions of these little squashy guys."
63. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE
This is kind of like when Return of King won the Oscar and we all knew that it was really for the entire Lord of the Ring series (although that's not how I handled LOTR here), but this is the one HP movie on the list and it really stands for all of them in what has, in my mind, become one extremely long movie. I chose this one because of the sense of wonder and innocence that permeates throughout, much moreso than the rest of the series. Here we get to see everything for the first time and wonder what the hell is happening. I think my love for the series is aided by the complete lack of having read the books, which I long ago decided to skip until seeing the final film.
Fun fact: The Hogwarts motto, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus" means "never tickle a sleeping dragon."
Quote: "I can't be a wizard. I'm just Harry, just Harry."
62. HIGH FIDELITY
John Cusak is fantastic as a record store owner who is a compulsive list maker. As the tagline says, it's "a comedy about fear of commitment, hating your job, falling in love and other pop favorites." That pretty much sums it up. Also, this is almost certainly Jack Black's best performance.
Fun fact: The "Cosby sweater" line will never grow old at Swine Lair.
Quote: "What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"
61. RESERVOIR DOGS
A heist movie that doesn't show you the heist, this is a brilliant Quentin Tarantino film that shows you the before and after of a bloody bank job that goes bad. It features, predictably, some brilliant F-bomb-filled writing, a terrific ensemble cast highlighted by Harvey Keitel and Steve Buscemi as Mr. White and Mr. Pink, respectively.
Fun fact: The F-word is used 272 times in the movie, including a few times below.
Quote: "I'm very sorry the government taxes their tips, that's fucked up. That ain't my fault. It would seem to me that waitresses are one of the many groups the government fucks in the ass on a regular basis. Look, if you ask me to sign something that says the government shouldn't do that, I'll sign it, put it to a vote, I'll vote for it, but what I won't do is play ball. And as for this non-college bullshit I got two words for that: learn to fuckin' type, 'cause if you're expecting me to help out with the rent you're in for a big fuckin' surprise."
60. THE AVIATOR
Here's the link to my original review. In it, I wrote: One plot deals with the transformation of Howard Hughes (DiCaprio) from a young man who inherits a fortune to a visionary superstar of movies, air travel and numerous other ventures. The other plot deals with his fall into insanity, which overcame Hughes down the road. The film moves between the two, showing Hughes put his neck (and money) on the line time and again in risky proposals he is sure will work - and usually do. He is also sliding into serious obsessive compulsiveness and is battling it more and more in the movie.We get a glimpse of how bad it truly got, of the movie stars he made time with, of the battles over air travel and the shrewdness of his enemies.
Fun fact: The second highest-rated DiCaprio film on the top 100.
Quote: "Sometimes I truly fear that I... am losing my mind. And if I did it... it would be like flying blind."
59. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Alongside Clint Eastwood's sister piece, Flags of Our Fathers, this is an incredible piece of storytelling of the famous battle from Japan's point of view. Partnered with FOF, it's interesting to see how each side went into the battle, what was important to each side and what happened from the different POVs. The back stories are just haunting, too.
Fun fact: FOF is rated just a little higher on the top 100.
Quote: "For our homeland. Until the very last man. Our duty is to stop the enemy right here. Do not expect to return home alive."
58. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
A huge epic starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a white man who was adopted by Native Americans and fighting in the French and Indian War. The main story if about three trappers who have to protect a British officer's daughters and everything works. The score, the acting, the cinematography. The final scenes are incredibly chilling and Day-Lewis is, not surprisingly, absolutely perfect.
Fun fact: To get ready for this movie, DDL lived in the wilderness where his character might have lived, hunting and fishing and living off the land for several months prior to shooting.
Quote: "Death and honor are thought to be the same, but today I have learned that sometimes they are not."
57. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
I can't believe I hadn't seen this before last Christmas, but it is absolutely one of those classic movies that everyone must see and still works incredibly well even today. The film, which came out in 1946, stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, who is given a glimpse of what would have been had he never lived. It's touching and sweet, but also a bit grittier than I was expecting. And I really can't say enough about the chemistry between Stewart and Donna Reed, especially in one scene where she is on the telephone.
Fun fact: Capra and Stewart didn't really see this as a Christmas movie the way everyone now looks at it.
Quote: "Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!"
56. FAHRENHEIT 9/11
Michael Moore's biggest piece of blatant propaganda, I reviewed it here. It's one of those time and place movies that aren't really the same now, but I tried to give it a spot here based on my original viewing. The world, hopefully, is a little different now. Here's a bit more from the original review: "It’s a terrific anti-war documentary that shows how kids get trapped by our system into thinking the army is the only way out, how they justify killing people and burning cities and how the families are shattered when they are killed in action. The most touching moment of the movie comes toward the end, when Moore is with a woman whose son has died and she reads a letter he wrote home from the week before his helicopter crashed. Then, he follows her to Washington, D.C."
Fun fact: Michael Moore was still fighting with the MPAA over their verdict of giving the film an "R" rating during time it was being played in limited release. Because of the MPAA's indecision, the film was initially released as "Not Rated" until the surprise box office success and inevitable wide release. Moore lost his bid for "PG-13" and the film carried an "R" rating from then onward.
Quote: "While Bush was busy taking care of his base and professing his love for our troops, he proposed cutting combat soldiers' pay by 33% and assistance to their families by 60%. He opposed giving veterans a billion dollars more in health care benefits, and he supported closing veteran hospitals. He tried to double the prescription drug costs for veterans and opposed full benefits for part-time reservists. And when Staff Sergeant Brett Petriken from Flint was killed in Iraq on May 26th, the army sent his last paycheck to his family, but they docked him for the last five days of the month that he didn't work because he was dead."
0 comments:
Post a Comment