Monday, October 31, 2005

Top 100 Favorite Movies

This one is for Marisa as well as for anyone who is trying to educate themself in film. These are my top 100 favorite movies... in no particular order. Though the ones on the top I consider must sees. With no further ado:

1. Psycho
2.
The Godfather
3.
The Usual Suspects
4. Pulp Fiction

5. Citizen Kane
6.
Big Lebowski
7. Raiders of the Lost Arc
8. Memento
9. North By Northwest
10. American Beauty
11. Fight Club
12. The Matrix
13. Dark City
14. Being John Malkovich
15. Seven Samurai
16. I Heart Huckabees
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
18. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
19. Annie Hall

20. Apacolypse Now
21. Run Lola Run
22. Sin City
23. Snatch
24. Swingers
25. City of God
26. Nightmare Before Christmas
27. The Shining
28. Dead Poet Society
29. Shawshank Redemption
30. Ground Hog Day
31. Igby Goes Down
32. Scarface
33. Clockwork Orange
34. Edward Scissor Hands
35. Casablanca
36. Blue Velvet
37. 2001: A Space Odyssey
38. Hudsucker Proxy
39. Ed Wood
40. Amelie
41. Mullholland Drive
42. Amores Perros
43. Adaptation
44. Princess Bride
45. Saving Private Ryan
46. Death to Smoochie
47. Royal Tennanbaums
48. Akira
49. Rear Window
50. Se7en
51. Labyrinth

52. Chinatown

53. Requiem For a Dream

54.
L.A. Confidential
55. Singin' In the Rain
56. The Maltese Falcon
57. American History X
58. The Sting

59. Brazil

60. Braveheart

61. Ran

62. The Wizard of Oz

63. Back to the Future
64. The Graduate
65. Charade
66. Trainspotting
67. Twelve Monkeys
68. Sideways

69. The Ninth Gate
70. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
71. The Last Crusade
72. The Silence of the Lambs
73. The Great Escape

74. Cinema Paraidiso
75. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
76. Cool Hand Luke

77. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
78. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
79. Duck Soup
80. Y Tu Mama Tambien
81. 21 Grams

82. Mystic River

83. Spartacus

84. Grave of the Fireflies
85. Pirates of the Carribean
86. This is Spinal Tap

87. Don Juan
88. Star Wars
89. Dr. Strangelove

90. Taxi Driver

91. Alice and Wonderland

92. Amadeus

93. Vertigo

94. Tootsie
95. Easy Rider
96. Mad Max
97. Wall Street

98. Natural Born Killers

99. M

100. Goodfellas

Review of Mirror Mask

Mirror Mask: D-

Oh, Jim Henson Studios, what were you thinking!? This was one of the most incoherent, abismal, bowel-loosening, vomit-inducing pieces of garbage I have ever sat through. Granted that it was tailored towards children, but even they would watch this and immediately soil themselves with disgust. I watched this movie because the trailer made it look visually stunning, but this just goes to prove that trailers are composed of lies. The plot was non-existant and the part I was looking forward to, the visuals, were, save a few exceptions, absolutely sub par. Who would have ever imagined that Jim Henson Studios would ever resort to digital instead of puppets? I wag my finger at you Jim. You screwed up and now I have to rub your face in it. No plot plus uninspired visuals equals bad movie. This was the most horrible regurgitation of Labrynth I have ever seen. The capstone of the movie was this brilliant final piece of dialogue:
"You would make a lousy waiter anyway."
"Ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha... What?"
The End

That is exactly how I felt. What? You made me sit through this!? Shame on you Jim Henson Studios. The only reason I don't give you an F is because I feel sorry for you.

Mime Monkey

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Review of History of Violence

I figure that I can also use this site as a place to post my opinions on movies that I have seen recently, for those of you that are interested. Thus I will be posting my reviews of films and feel free to write in with your own comments.

History of Violence: A-

I have to say that I enjoyed this movie. David Cronenberg does an excellent job of portraying the reality of the situations he presents, absurd as they may be in theory. As the title suggests, this is a violent movie, though not in the Tarantino sense of the word violence. Cronenberg's version is much more empassioned and rapid and certainly not as stylized. He spends thirty minutes building up to the action and then two minutes showing it. I felt that this tactic worked very well in the framework of the film and is a welcomed deviation from Hollywood action movies. The result of this way of portraying violence is an emphasis on character development, which in my opion is the driving factor in this film. The other interesting choice that Cronenburg makes is to include two of the most brilliant sex scenes I have ever seen in a film. They are both realistic and hauntingly erotic. Though the film seems to move slowly at points, the pay off is worth the wait and well earned. The only things I didn't like about the film were the child actors, everything else was well done. This is a must see for indie film buffs, but not for the weak of heart... sorry Mom, not your kind of film.

Black and White

The World Erodes

Stick Arms

Monkey Boy vs. Evil Rooster

Hook Nose

Demon Joe

Blob Boy

Me

Joker James

Inspired by the Joker

Pretty Teeth

Two Suave Devils