One Hundred Nights At The Cinema: Nos. 80 - 61Dec 16 '02 (Updated Jan 27 '03) Write an essay on this topic.
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Previous installment(s): Nos. 100 - 81: http://www.epinions.com/content_2970853508 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This is the second entry (of five) in my 100 favourite movies of all-time countdown. The introduction to this list, and the first 20 spots in the countdown, can be found at the link above. After the publication of the first entry, I got great joy reading the comments from those who couldn't fathom my rankings. "*Two* Neil Labute films better than North By Northwest?" crowed d_fienberg. "[W]here did Shallow Grave come from?" asked an incredulous st_patrick. "I don't know how anybody could not worship Kubrick," lamented Wokelstein. There was also a flurry of consent that I should get my head out of my butt and rank "Casablanca" higher than #98. All good points. But like I've said before, this is my list, and I can make it as ridiculous as I want. My tastes are my tastes. So, to all those who scratched their heads after the first entry, get ready for some truly appalling picks with list #2… 80. Sullivan's Travels directed by Preston Sturges, 1942 The thing that impresses me most about Preston Sturges' masterpiece (I make that distinction with confidence, even having never seen "The Lady Eve" or "Hail the Conquering Hero" or "The Palm Beach Story") is that it dances from tone to tone with the ease and grace of a champion prizefighter. At times it is a screwball comedy. At other times it is a dramatic satire. Then it shows off its verbal wit. While later it mines the depth of physical humour. It is at once a parody of the filmmaking business, an ironic commentary on the upper class' altruism (or lack thereof), and a love story. Joel McCrea plays the Everyman movie director (I found him to be a bit too Everyman; weren't the great directors of the day bombastic blowhards, with personality to spare? In this light, John L. Sullivan is kind of dull), who falls for wannabe starlet Veronica Lake. Together, they slip and slide through a marvelous tale that ends about half an hour in, starts up again, ends, starts, ends, starts… etc., until you the audience is so in a tizzy, that Sturges can take you anywhere he wants to go. And he does. http://www.epinions.com/content_75642801796 79. Field of Dreams directed by Phil Alden Robinson, 1989 I remember being skeptical about "Field of Dreams", coming hot on the heels of Kevin Costner's other baseball flick, "Bull Durham". But it's such a shockingly sweet and magical tale, and Kev is so irresistibly goofy and sincere as the Iowa farmer manqué who, after hearing mysterious voices, plows under his corn field in favour of a baseball diamond. And when Amy Madigan and James Earl Jones and Timothy Busfield and even Burt Lancaster all turn from hardened cynics to baseball-lovin' fools, you can't help but get drawn in by the glorious narrative. And any viewer, who was once a little boy in the backyard playing catch with his dad, will not (I repeat: WILL NOT) be able to suppress the hard-won tears sure to flow by the end of the final scene. I dare you. I double-dog dare you. 78. Midnight Run directed by Martin Brest, 1988 At one time, from about 1988 to 1991, if you'd have asked me what my favourite film of all time was, this might have been my answer. True, I wasn't the same knowledgeable and well-versed cinephile back in my early teens as I am now, but the memory of seeing "Midnight Run" in the theatre was still so fresh and vibrant and exhilarating, I couldn't help but declare it a masterpiece. And I still think it is, only not nearly as much as back then. Now I see it mainly as a genre masterpiece: mismatched buddies Robert De Niro (the gruff bounty hunter) and Charles Grodin (his neurotic bounty) drive cross-country, eluding the FBI (led by Yaphet Kotto), the mob (in the form of Dennis Farina), and a rival bounty hunter (John Ashton). Martin Brest, who has been pretty awful in recent years, turns in far and away his best effort. It's slick, witty, sly, and heart-pounding. Just what this at-the-time 13-year old needed. 77. Hudson Hawk directed by Michael Lehmann, 1991 I suspect this is the first real surprise of the list, my including probably the most critically loathed movie of the eighties. But I had to include it; I love the "Hawk". Saw this one while on a week-long trip to Boston with my Grade 10 American History class. One afternoon, with no tours or activities planned, a bunch of us lazed over to the movie theatre by our hotel, to check out the latest Bruce Willis actioner. You have to remember, at the time, "Hudson Hawk" was being derided as a big budget mess, one in which the star was bickering with the director, rewriting the script to suit his own whims, and generally doing his best to poop on everything and everyone with his prima donna attitude. You also have to remember that I didn't know any of this going in (if the movie had been released today, you can bet I would know the whole backstory, and my perception of the film would most assuredly be much different). So I went in with a clean slate, and a bunch of excited buddies at my side. And we loved it! Bruce, despite the behind-the-scenes shenanigans, was truly in his element. He was still in happy-go-lucky, quick with a wisecrack "Moonlighting"/"Die Hard" mode, only amplified to the nth degree. He had great chemistry with Danny Aiello. Richard E. Grant, Sandra Bernhard, and James Coburn make some deliciously over-the-top villains. The story globetrots from New Jersey to London to the Vatican and back again. And our heroes -- world-class cat burglars -- time their robberies by singing Tin Pan Alley pop nuggets! C'mon! You gotta love a film that scores its first great action sequence to "Swing on a Star"! (okay, maybe "you" don't "gotta", but I certainly do) 76. 2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick, 1968 The first time I saw "2001", it bored me silly. Maybe I had just watched "Star Wars", and was armed with preconceived notions of what a space opera should feel like. "2001", with its contemplative metaphysical side, just didn't jibe with those notions. The second time I saw "2001", I was a bit older, a bit wiser, and a bit more patient. I dug the visuals, allowing the visceralness of the filmmaking to wash over me, without concerning myself much with the fact that not much made sense. Liked it a lot better this time. Before I saw "2001" for a third time, I did some background reading. Found out just what Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke intended the story to mean (I know, I know; for a stalwart post-modernist like me, relying on the authority of the author just isn't done anymore; too bad, I say). And you know what? With that knowledge, the plot (yeah I know, what plot?) falls into place, the symbols gain a deep meaning, and the questions the film poses (and the answers it offers) become exhilarating. Third time's a charm, as they say. 75. True Romance directed by Tony Scott, 1993 "True Romance", not "Reservoir Dogs" or "Pulp Fiction", was my first encounter with screenwriting wunderkind Quentin Tarantino. When I first saw the flick back in '93, I expected little more than another Christian Slater-doing-Nicholson-fest, and another Tony Scott "Top Gun" rehash. Which in a way, it kind of is. But it was the screenplay that elevated this bit of pulp to knock-me-down status. References to Elvis, Chop-Sockey flicks, Hollywood bombast, "Badlands", and (I realized in hindsight) the rest of the Tarantino universe abound. The one scene shared by Chris Walken and Dennis Hopper is a killer (literally and figuratively). And Patricia Arquette, who, at the time, I hadn't heard of, shines, delivering quirkiness and sexiness in equal portions, her platinum blonde hair brightening up the Detroit day and fitting in perfectly with the California sun. http://www.epinions.com/content_76758355588 74. The Tall Guy directed by Mel Smith, 1989 “The Tall Guy” begins a trilogy of films, each written by Richard Curtis, in which Yanks fall in love with Brits. It’s much less familiar than it’s successors, “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Notting Hill”, but definitely their equal in the quality of its romantic comedy. Jeff Goldblum, in the title role, is a far less cool and together character than he normally plays, but he pulls it off. His Dexter King -- an American actor hardly working in England -- just can’t do anything right. Until one day, Emma Thompson’s Nurse Kate falls in love with him. Thompson is clever, witty, terribly cool and efficient. These two actors work wonderfully well together, most notably as they share a scene of prodigious humping that does more damage to a bedroom than anything this side of Orson Welles in “Citizen Kane”. It’s quite ridiculous but very amusing, just like the rest of this quirky little comedy. 73. What's Eating Gilbert Grape directed by Lasse Hallstrom, 1993 We didn’t know who Leonardo DiCaprio was when “Gilbert Grape” came out. Okay, maybe the “we” who avidly watched “Growing Pains” knew him, but I can’t imagine anyone who would include themselves in that group bothering with a touching little film like this. I remember public perception being so taken in by his performance as a mentally-challenged teenager that they thought he really was a mentally-challenged teenager. It was only when he showed up at the Oscars that the majority of us got our facts straight. But don’t get me wrong. Leo isn’t the only thing worthwhile in this film about a down-on-their-luck family living out the clock in Endora, Illinois (but, like I said to Stephen_Murray in the comment section of my original review, “For a family named ‘Grape’, they did relatively little 'whining'” ain't I clever?). Johnny Depp, who’s made a career out of essaying quiet, troubled souls, plays the heck out of the titular quiet, troubled soul. His solemnity, juxtaposed against DiCaprio’s manic shenanigans, make for a winning yin and yang acting pair. http://www.epinions.com/content_71973834372 72. On Golden Pond directed by Mark Rydell, 1981 I used to have this e-friend, made while I was still writing for Amazon.com, who would lament my adoration of this film. He first came to know Henry Fonda as the archetypal American good guy in such films as “The Grapes of Wrath”, “Mister Roberts”, and 㥸 Angry Men”, but had that perception forever altered by Hank’s persona-shattering role in “Once Upon a Time in the West”. He couldn’t understand how I could adore the aging curmudgeon of “Golden Pond”, when a rough-and-tumble performance like that was kicking around. Well, I’ve seen “Once Upon a Time in the West”, and I still prefer Hank as Norman Thayer, Jr., the only role he ever won an Oscar for. Sure, it helps that Katherine Hepburn is around to look adoringly at him, while giving back as good as she gets. And Doug McKeon, despite fulfilling all your notions of what kid actors usually do, has some great chemistry with his octogenarian co-star. And Dabney Coleman triumphs despite being saddled with a powder blue suit. The only problem is that Jane Fonda turns up, in a feathered ‘do, to work out some of her own daddy issues on screen. Thankfully, old Hank so dominates that you’ll barely notice she’s there. 71. Tootsie directed by Sydney Pollack, 1982 Look at that: back-to-back flicks featuring the early-eighties work of Dabney Coleman (Could ׇ to 5” be coming up soon? Yeah, right…). “Tootsie” has a lot of things working against it. It’s a film by actors about actors, complaining about how hard it is to be an actor (self-indulgent claptrap.) It’s a cross-dressing comedy (overused and overdone). And it’s a partial satire on the soap opera industry (too easy a target). So why does it work? I’d hazard to guess that Larry Gelbart’s script (remember, he also created “M*A*S*H”) is one of the smartest and funniest of the eighties. Dustin Hoffman, the prototypical successful character actor, plays the prototypical unsuccessful character actor. Bill Murray turns up as his sarcastic playwright roommate, Teri Garr does a loopy turn as a crush-prone friend, Jessica Lange is quite sexy and vulnerable as a soap star, and Charles Durning is just plain vulnerable as her lonely father. Add to that Sydney Pollack’s solid direction (plus his turn as an exasperated agent), and you’ve got a wickedly tasty stew that threatens to bubble over, but never does. 70. You Can Count on Me directed by Kenneth Lonergan, 2000 Lemon_lime (a.k.a. Chad), in the comment section of my full review, notes that both he and I, independently of course, pointed out the fact that the last line of the movie, which doubles as the title, is alluded to but never said. The audience, if they’ve been paying attention, has the chance to follow the path without the actors or the script leading them like sheep. Chad and I both appreciated the fact that the film respected its audience. Great minds think alike, right? (Or, as my mother might say, “Fools seldom differ.”) Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, and Rory Culkin form an overly-effective acting troika. Linney holds down the fort as the conservative Sammy, Culkin never resorts to Macaulay-fied buffoonery as he delivers one of my favourite kid-acting performances, and Ruffalo is dingy and dirty (but lovable) as the prodigal son returned. http://www.epinions.com/content_67039760004 69. Almost Famous directed by Cameron Crowe, 2000 The further and further away from high school I get, the less and less I like "Almost Famous". See, I was the guy, sitting in the back row of class, with mangy long hair, ripped jeans, and a binder emblazoned with the logos of Led Zeppelin and The Who. I had subscriptions to Rolling Stone and Spin Magazines, back when that meant "Rock n' Roll Served Here". The music (or rather, The Music) was the be all and end all, a delivery system to a place where we weren't uncool and unpopular and unusual. I still appreciate Cameron Crowe's paean to his rock and roll childhood. It's idealistic and sincere, without ever being schmaltzy. I appreciate the performances, too. Patrick Fugit, who with every passing year I get the sneaking suspicion that we'll never really hear from him again, is open and honest as Crowe's on-screen doppelganger, Kate Hudson is made of pure light as his muse, and Billy Crudup is note-perfect as the tortured genius rock God (I would have given him Pete Townshend's aura instead of Glenn Frey's, but this is Crowe's movie not mine). And my Goddess on Earth, Frances McDormand, brightens every scene as the overprotective mom who's not as overprotective as she'd want to be. http://www.epinions.com/content_70515003012 68. The Matrix directed by Andy & Larry Wachowski, 1999 Dave and I used to go to the movies together. A lot. We were film snobs, dissecting every little bit of every little film, and turning our noses up at bloated blockbusters. Okay, that's only partially true. Every once in a while we'd deign to check out the latest Hollywood hooey, in an effort to reinforce our superiority. This one time in particular, we headed up to the Colossus Theatre. You had to take the highway to get there, and once inside, you'd find thirty theatres, at least that many fast food stands, blaring music, an arcade, and a laser show. A hideous place for a couple of cinephiles like us. The fact that we were there to watch "The Matrix", the latest no-brainer Keanu Reeves vehicle didn't help. Well, I can't say I remember a time being more surprised by the quality of a movie. It was well beyond my expectations (and Dave's too). We ended up going for coffee afterwards, trying our best to deconstruct the head-trip that we'd just been subjected to. You've all seen "The Matrix" by now, so I probably don't need to go further. But remember: at the time, because of the commercials, I thought it a movie where Keanu goes "Whoa" every five minutes. What I got, of course, was a whole lot more than that. 67. Election directed by Alexander Payne, 1999 It saddens me that the squeaky-clean "Legally Blond" took credit for Reese Witherspoon's stardom when it was really "Election", Alexander Payne's dark and deft high school politico-comedy, that laid the groundwork. Witherspoon plays Tracy Flick, gung-ho student body president candidate, a steamroller in knee-highs willing to flatten everything in her path. Doesn't matter if it's Matthew Broderick's teacher Jim McAllister (miles and miles from Ferris Bueller territory) or the purposefully bland Chris Klein as the terminally bland Paul Metzler. Payne's smart script tackles high school politics, the education system, adultery, lesbianism, and, of course, bee stings. I recently found Tom Perrotta's source novel in the cheapie bin at the local bookstore, and upon finishing that slight tome, found that it actually included less content than the movie based on it. Can anyone else think of a similar situation? If you can't, that's fine. Console yourself with a season of "Election". 66. Donnie Brasco directed by Mike Newell, 1997 You might be looking around at this point, thinking, "Has he listed GoodFellas yet? Is it on its way soon?" The answer, to both questions, is 'no'. Not that I particularly dislike Martin Scorsese's look inside the modern gangster life, or that I don't watch it every time it comes on TV. But I like "Donnie Brasco" a lot more. Johnny Depp is a more appealing, and more layered, protagonist than Ray Liotta could ever be. His Joe Pistone is so deep inside the mob that he no longer recognizes himself, his friends, or even his wife (a powerful Anne Heche). The menagerie of mobsters that surround him are no less stereotypical than what "GoodFellas" has to offer, but to me they're just a tad more real. And Al Pacino, as the mentor in Donnie's life, injects such weariness and sadness and desperation and charisma into the character, that he manages to overshadow Robert De Niro's similar role note-for-note. It's Pacino's best late-career performance (rivaling his Michael Corleone for depth of character). True, "Donnie Brasco" has no answer for Joe Pesci, but quite frankly, it doesn't need one. Director Mike Newell, who we'll be hearing from again shortly, slyly keeps everything at a fever pitch. 65. The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont, 1994 In some ways, I'm not surprised by the failures Frank Darabont has encountered trying to follow up his overwhelmingly successful big-screen feature-length directorial debut ("The Green Mile" overwhelmed me with its pretentiousness, and "The Majestic" was just a bore). "Shawshank" is long, weepy, loaded with characters, and always on the brink of toppling over under its own good intentions. But Darabont, and I'll chalk this up to beginner's luck, manages to keep everything even-tempered, despite the multiple opportunities for disaster. Tim Robbins does pretty much the same thing. His Andy Dufresne, a banker sent to prison for twenty years for killing his wife, tends to toe the melodramatic line a bit too much here. But he never crosses it. I guess I have to credit Morgan Freeman for that. As always Mo is spot-on perfect as another lifer, and friend to Andy. I know it's gooey and sentimental, but I watch "Shawshank" right to the end whenever it comes on the Superstation (which is like every 15 minutes, it seems). And I can't help but tear up when that end does come. Despite my best intentions, this darn movie never fails to make me feel. 64. Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg, 1975 "Jaws" is both the zenith and the nadir of Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. On the one hand, it was the first film to hit the zeitgeist so squarely in the gut that everyone and his mother saw it. On the other hand, it ushered in the era of boffo-box office filmmaking, where the opening weekend gross is of utmost importance, and the mise en scene is merely an afterthought. Not that Steven Spielberg's mise en scene was too shabby here. The wunderkind director first showed his wares, while hampered by a tight budget and a non-existent villain (Bruce the shark was unwilling to work during most of the shoot), but still getting a lot of mileage out of what little he had. And what he had was plenty thrilling. I actually dig the second half of the movie a lot more than the first (I imagine this is a popular sentiment). It all seems so drab and dull until Robert Shaw, as the crustiest of crusty sea captains, comes on the scene. Match him up with bookish Richard Dreyfuss and scaredy-cat Roy Schneider, and you've got a crew worth going to sea with. 63. Searching for Bobby Fischer directed by Steve Zaillian, 1993 There's been a lot of talk lately about the dubiousness of voice-over narration as a rhetorical device in cinema. Most feel it's a cheat, a shorthand way for filmmakers to get inside a character's head the same way a novel can. When it's done badly, voice-over can be the bane of the film's existence. But when it's done well (I'm thinking "Fight Club", "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Bull Durham" off the top of my head), it adds an extra layer of meaning to the film, clarifies some issues, and provides additional entertainment. Steven Zaillian, a renowned script-doctor making his directorial debut, gives the voice-over job to his 9-year old star, Max Pomeranc. And it works magically. Thankfully, "Searching for Bobby Fischer", the greatest child chess prodigy movie I know, surrounds young Max (who plays real-life Josh Waitzkin) with a plethora of solid character actors. Joe Mantegna is the sportswriter dad, who's finally found a way to bond with his quiet son. Joan Allen is the protective and nurturing mom (it's not nearly as dull a character as that little sketch might make you think). Ben Kingsley is the hyper-critical teacher (in moments, you almost expect him to go "Sexy Beast" on the little kid). And Laurence Fishburne is a streetwise speed-chess motormouth who teaches Josh about passion. The drama is palpable, the chess scenes are dynamic (!), and the characters are complex. 62. Four Weddings and a Funeral directed by Mike Newell, 1994 I'm as shocked as anyone to see that Mike Newell, acclaimed British television director and now working American film director, has not one but two films in this section of my list. Just four slots back you read of my admiration for his "Donnie Brasco". Now let me tell you about the near-flawlessness of his "Four Weddings and a Funeral". This was the crossover box office hit that introduced Hugh Grant to this side of the pond (I am in the camp who thinks that's a good thing). It also features quirky character studies by Simon Callow, John Hannah, Kristen Scott Thomas, and Charlotte Coleman. And it is solidly built around a witty script, written by Richard Curtis (one of my favourite living screenwriters, who, a dozen slots back, got much of the credit for "The Tall Guy"). Despite the fact that Andie MacDowell once again tries to poop on the proceedings (her insipidness nearly ruined films 84 and 77), I still get a jolly old kick out of watching these bumbling and fumbling fools try to find love. 61. Wo hu cang long, a.k.a. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon directed by Ang Lee, 2000 The most surprising thing to me about "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (besides the fact that it lost prestigious Oscars to the inadequate "Traffic" and the pedestrian "Gladiator") is that it features a leading actor, Chow Yun Fat, at the top of his powers charisma-wise as a legendary Wudan warrior. He's adept at playing both emotionally repressed love scenes and innovative fight scenes. His steely gaze would stop even the most cold-hearted villains in their tracks. He holds all this insurmountable qualities, and yet I am surprised because he is overshadowed by not one by two powerful female performances. Michelle Yeoh matches Chow note for note in their quiet scenes together, while outdistancing him in the fight sequences. And Zhang Ziyi, who is listed at 5'5" but can't be more than 5'2", manages to be the most fearsome thing here, spunky and spirited enough to destroy a three-story restaurant full of warriors looking to maim her. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has been criticized for its cliché story. I can't do that, for it uses said story as a jumping off point, to show us (us in the West, at least) things we've never seen before, passions we've never felt, and cinema to die for. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [In the next installment: Two Girls, Two Nights, Two Fish, and Two Deaths] Nos. 60 - 41: http://www.epinions.com/content_3034226820 Nos. 40 - 21: http://www.epinions.com/content_3058999428 Nos. 20 - 1: http://www.epinions.com/content_3078004868  |
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