Tim's Top 5:
I've not seen much in the way of movies this year in the theater (I think a total of six), but by my count I've seen 37 movies for the first time this year through finally watching DVDs I own, Netflix, or going to the theater.
1. Elevator to the Gallows - Louis Malle's debut film captures the inevitability and femme fatale aspects of film noir, but spins it in an unforeseen direction. The absurdism is certainly convenient and it requires suspension of disbelief, but the whole saga seems so plagued with fatalism that it feels real. The characters are a bit stock, but the scenario feels fresh 40 years later, and the Miles Davis score is unmatched. I'm embarrassed it took me this long to watch the movie, since I'd owned it since law school.
2. The Last Waltz - To make a concert film of The Band excellent was not something I anticipated would be all that easy, I was hardly a fan of their work. So after they'd played The Weight and Up on Cripple Creek, I really didn't think there'd be any reason to watch. Not so much. It's a fantastic concert from start to finish and the segments where Scorsese interviews The Band are pretty interesting as well.
3. United 93 - If 7 years of misguided responses to September 11 seem to have robbed you of how the day felt, this movie might just reopen those wounds. It brought a lot of gut responses back to me and put me right back in the place where I had been that morning. You know how the movie will end, but it's relentless and forces you to make a serious emotional investment in its outcome. It's a triumph of a film that feels heroic and disastrous all at once, but if nothing else, serves as a reminder of one of the most gut-wrenching days in American history.
4. Once - A nearly perfect film, even if it is functionally plotless. The charm of the two leads is immeasurable and their chemistry is flawless. Add Grafton Street and some other Dublin locales that made it feel relate-able, and you've got a can't-miss film. It doesn't, either, and refuses to take the most obvious path at any point.
5. The Dark Knight - I don't know if Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar, because I haven't seen much of any movies that came out this year, but it was a transformative performance. Though it reads as a political screed as much as a film, Batman's moral ambiguity and the willingness to destroy the sequel that was seemingly being set up pays off in spades. Like Casino Royale, it breathed new life into a film series that had a chance of going too far off the rails. The bad news is that the next film is almost certainly going to be worse (hence, the middling Quantum of Solace not appearing on this list).
Honorable mention: Pan's Labyrinth - I never would have thought it possible to like this movie based on what I'd read, but it's superbly-made and plays very straightforward for what is effectively a fairy tale; Standard Operating Procedure - one of Errol Morris' weaker films, but it personalizes the Abu Ghraib saga more than I'd have imagined possible; The Battle of Algiers - a surprisingly even-handed treatment of the Algerian conflict that relates a story others should have learned from in later conflicts like Vietnam; Iron Man - if anyone is ever cast as me in a movie, I'm hoping it will be Robert Downey Jr. He carries this movie single-handedly and brings a lot of humor to what could have been an overly fawning superhero film. Jon Favreau's direction recognized the humor available in the premise and maximizes it while making it modern.
Dan's Top 5:
As far as I can tell, I've watched 60 movies this year, so this is really hard.
1. Schindler's List - I thought that I wouldn't get this movie. It's about the Holocaust, after all, to which I feel no personal connection at all. But really, this is an excellent film showcasing the essentials of human decency amidst the most senseless of human ferocity. That Steven Spielberg made it is even more astounding, since he had mainly been a director for family-friendly blockbuster movies. At least he doesn't have to worry about which of his movies will be remembered as his best.
2. The Dark Knight - Very seldom is it that I go into a movie theater expecting to be blown away. (Even Best Picture contenders lately leave a lot to be desired.) Even more seldom is the case when the film in question surpasses that already high expectation. What likely seemed a strong movie on paper was taken to a completely different level by the performance of Heath Ledger, which turned the movie into a psychological - and at times philosophical - thriller reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs..
3. Wall-E - Every time Pixar releases a movie, I end up saying it's their best yet. I was fully convinced that Ratatouille was going to be the studio's peak and that the narrative quality would start to decline. The movie manages to accomplish so much with the bare minimum of dialogue, expressing character and emotion through imagery alone. It also accomplishes the remarkable feat of getting you to think about environmental concerns and consumerism without making it some forced political message in disguise. Oh, and if Peter Gabriel doesn't get an academy award for "Down To Earth," I will probably destroy something in my apartment.
4. Network - I didn't really know what to expect of this film going in, other than it was a classic. The level of farce in the story increases ever-so-gradually from completely believable to a level of absurdity matched only by the Bush administration. Personally, I think it would make for a good stage adaptation. It remains a powerful movie even now, when there are starting to emerge people, like me, who don't even watch television.
5. Dark Days - This is, to date, the best documentary film I've seen. It follows a series of homeless people who have taken refuge near abandoned Amtrak tracks near Penn Station. All the characters are engaging and often funny in the face of very hard circumstances. The film actually follows a natural plot rather than meandering from one didactic segment to another a la Bowling for Columbine (which I did like). Most importantly, it ends up being pretty uplifting and shows you what human potential really can be. Feel free to use this movie when battling conservatives.
Honorable Mention: Juno, There Will Be Blood, Do The Right Thing, The Third Man, Into The Wild
Ryan's Top 5:
Perhaps solely for this blog, and to feed my ever-growing OCD, I should start keeping track of movies I watch. (I don't.) So these are my top 5 as best as I can recollect.
1. There Will Be Blood - As much as I disdain anything that's not a comedy, this movie was truly brilliant and veritably flawless. You don't see many true modern tragedies, but this surely was one, and a stellar one.
2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - This movie was A) hilarious, B) heartwarming, C) well-acted with funny actors, and D) funnier than 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up (comparative as all are Apatow movies). Jason Segel and Russell Brand are particularly great. It also boasts a Dracula musical with puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
3. Wall-E - Differs slightly in tone from my choice for #1. I can't say that I circle calendar dates in anticipation of PIXAR movies, but they really deserve praise for their writing. Animation aside, they rarely make bad movies; some are better than others, sure, but have they ever made anything completely bad? I don't think so, and there have been plenty of shit-tastic 3D animation movies (that shark piece of trash that I actually saw in a theater comes to mind). Anyway, Wall-E may be their best effort to date. I don't have kids, but if I did, this seemingly would be the perfect movie to take them to.
4. The Dark Knight - I think Tim and Dan said it better than I could. I will say that when movies are talked up so much it almost always affects my reaction to the film adversely. This was not the case here, though, as The Dark Knight delivered. And for days after the film I was wiki'ing Batman and hypothesizing who would be the villain in the sequel.
5. Be Kind Rewind - Did critics dislike this movie? I guess it wasn't as funny as you'd hope a Jack Black/Mos Def movie would be, but... on second thought, wasn't it? I dunno, I loved it. Michel Gondry does not disappoint.
Honorables: Run, Fatboy, Run (probably a dumb movie, but I laughed a lot); No Country for Old Men (saw it on DVD in March or so); Dewey Cox (honorable in that I really thought it would suck and it was actually worth RedBoxing, pretty funny); W. (either I'm not smart enough or not politically-inclined enough to expound on the film's realism/lack thereof, but I enjoyed it...the press conference scenes, taken from Real Actual Life, are pretty damn painful); Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., is one of my favorite actors, and Tim's right, this film minus him is forgettable).
Dishonorables: Semi-Pro (do not watch this film--repeat, do NOT watch this film); Strange Wilderness (I wasted money on renting this, blagghgh); 21 (classic case of I-read-the-book-first-and-therefore-this-movie-sucks, but come on, they distort reality so much it hurts); Leatherheads (should have been better/funnier than it was); Harold and Kumar Escape... (not a good movie, at all, in any sense, and I liked the first one); Made of Honor (N.B. I did not actually see this movie but I conjecture it is the worst Pile of Suck ever created, look at the fucking title and forget about it, Jesus, do not see this movie); Indiana Jones (we waited 20 goddamn years for THIS?!?!); An American Carol (see my critique of Made of Honor).
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Top 5 Spielberg Movies
Tim's Top 5:
Few people can make movies that alternate so completely between astounding and horrible as Steven Spielberg. He's all over the map genre-wise and has made everything except a pure comedy that anyone laughed at.
1. Saving Private Ryan - Ok, using this film to cram down a World War II monument was a little bit absurd, particularly considering the hasty monument they erected that lacks any of the emotional weight of the Vietnam Memorial. But there's not much doubt that it is one of the greatest war movies ever concocted. The D-Day sequence was unmatched, Spielberg gets adequate performances from people who have no business being in a movie (Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi), and it's not as cut and dry as most of Spielberg's work. Even if it's simplistic, it's a stunning achievement that was robbed at the Oscars by a movie that was memorably primarily for just being better than one would expect, but little more.
2. Catch Me If You Can - If you were going to express total disbelief that Spielberg directed a film on his resume, this would probably top the list. Nothing about it feels Spielbergian except that it involves parent-child relationships. It's a film that I can watch over and over again. Tom Hanks is sufficiently cartoonish for a composite character, Leonardo DiCaprio gives the performance of a career, and Christopher Walken actually gets to play someone that's not all that weird for a change. A superb accomplishment.
3. Jurassic Park - This is one of the movies I remember seeing in the theater most clearly. It's not a masterpiece of drama, but the special effects were unprecedented and I think few directors would have dared to accomplish adequate work with the source material.
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - I'm not really a big Indiana Jones fan, Raiders really just had a great climax going for it, the rest of the movie was pretty dry. But adding in Sean Connery here is one of the best examples of a character being integrated in the middle of a series of films without seeming glaringly out of place. Frankly, though, Indiana is still a weird name for a dog, too.
5. Schindler's List - I watched this movie once, it's a touching and depressing film that has some exceptional performances (particularly Ralph Fiennes), but it's also not a particularly difficult task to make a sad movie about the Holocaust. It told a story that needed to be told in an interesting and largely successful fashion.
Honorable mention: Munich, Jaws
Tory's Top 5:
Let me start my list by saying that I don't care for Spielberg, and am rather glad to see that there are a lot fewer movies of his that I liked than I thought (I had always assumed he did liked films that I never knew he directed, but he didn't.)
1. Hook - This is the quintessential retelling of the Peter Pan tale, with a pretty good performance by Robin Williams, and an outstanding dual-performance by Dustin Hoffman (who plays both Hook as well as a tall person.)
2. Catch Me If You Can - I agree with Tim on just about every point. This movie is amazing, and definitely one of Leonardo Dicaprio's best, even though I do believe he has had some other noteworthy performances that could rival this one. It definitely feels like it was done by a director with a much better film vocabulary.
3. Saving Private Ryan - Not my favorite WWII film, but definitely it would definitely make the top 5 WWII films list. I am also a huge Matt Damon fan, and I am somewhat affectionate towards Rabisi and even a bit towards Barry Pepper (at least after he did Three Burials.)
4. A.I. - I have a confession: I have not seen this movie, nor do I want to. The reasons that it made the top five are two-fold. The first being that I am having trouble finding movies on his IMDB that I liked enough to make a top 5, and the second being that the first half of this film was made with Stanley Kubrick. So Stephen Spielberg gets the credit (since it's his list.)
5. Empire of the Sun - Another confession: I haven't seen this one either. However my desire to see this film greatly outweighs my appreciation of any of his other films, as well as my desire to see or rewatch any of his other films.
Ryan's Top 5:
I'll preface this list with the fact that I am moderately drunk right now. I don't know where that will lead us.
1. Amistad - In all honesty, I haven't examined the historical accuracy of this one as closely as I have others (e.g., Quiz Show); I do know, for example, that Morgan Freeman's character is completely fictional (and not God, the President, or the narrator). That said, the portrayal of the Middle Passage in this film is pretty damn spot on, and thus, gruesome. Also, an excellent score. Anthony Hopkins is good as JQ, and Djimon Hounsou is good as Cinque. Matthew McConaughey also stars.
2. Catch Me If You Can - I agree with what everyone has said. I too can watch this over and over and over.
3. Jurassic Park - I just watched this recently on TBS for the first time in about a decade. It actually ages a lot better than I thought it would, despite some of the special effects. This is what Spielberg is best at, good summer blockbusters. You know, like A.I.
4. Jaws - I actually like this movie a lot and feel kind of bad ranking it so low. I feel bad in that I can't really think of a reason to disparage it... it's another good blockbuster. How about, I saw on Mythbusters that the part where the shark gets blown up after he shoots the oxygen tank is bullshit. (Frustratingly.) But I do love the line, "Smile you son of a bitch!"
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and in my mind is by far the best Indiana Jones movie. The action and chase scenes are good but not too outlandish, and they don't overwhelm the film at the expense of character development (see: Crystal Skull).
Honorable mention: Saving Private Ryan, Hook
Dan's Top 5:
Wow, everyone really swarmed on this one. I just feel embarrassed to be the fourth one posting. Unlike most everyone else here, I still like Spielberg. Though not the greatest of all time, the films that he's good at directing are legendary.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark - This will forever be my favorite Indiana Jones movie. The Connery-heavy Last Crusade seemed a bit too cheesy for me, and relied a bit more on gags. I'm not saying it's bad, but I liked Raiders a lot more. Ranks as #1 on this list because the action is so memorable, and I imagine that such a movie would be pretty difficult to direct.
2. Hook - Everything about this movie is brilliant, and I mostly agree with Tory on this one. Unlike most family movies, it's actually enjoyable for any age group watching it. Furthermore, it doesn't resort to just retelling the Peter Pan story the way everyone has heard it a million times before. Loses points for the Rufio character, but gains them right back for the youthful ragtag-wildness of the Lost Boys, captured perfectly by the dinner scene (possibly my favorite in the movie.) Also, the soundtrack is a must-own.
3. Jurassic Park - I remember watching this movie when I was younger (9 years old) in the theater with my grandmother, and we both had a blast. (Screw you if you think I was a loser for not seeing this with friends; me and my grandma were close.) It was probably the most memorable movie experience I had in the theater growing up. To date, it's still the only CGI that has ever looked "real" to me, and as Ryan said, it really ages well.
4. Schindler's List - I feel bad putting this so low, as I watched it only recently and really enjoyed it. I agree with Tim about the exceptional performances, though my personal favorite was Kingsley's character. I had always worried that I wouldn't fully identify with this movie if I weren't Jewish and had no personal connection to the Holocaust. I was proven wrong, as it's really a film about human character more than anything else.
5. Jaws - Though I really liked Catch Me If You Can and feel it does deserve some mention, there's no way I can leave off Jaws. Keep in mind that there were no summer blockbusters before this movie. Of course, the suspense of this film is legendary - you never really get to see the killer shark until the end - to the point that you don't even care how fake the shark looks. At least, I don't anyway.
Honorable mention: Catch Me If You Can, Saving Private Ryan
Few people can make movies that alternate so completely between astounding and horrible as Steven Spielberg. He's all over the map genre-wise and has made everything except a pure comedy that anyone laughed at.
1. Saving Private Ryan - Ok, using this film to cram down a World War II monument was a little bit absurd, particularly considering the hasty monument they erected that lacks any of the emotional weight of the Vietnam Memorial. But there's not much doubt that it is one of the greatest war movies ever concocted. The D-Day sequence was unmatched, Spielberg gets adequate performances from people who have no business being in a movie (Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi), and it's not as cut and dry as most of Spielberg's work. Even if it's simplistic, it's a stunning achievement that was robbed at the Oscars by a movie that was memorably primarily for just being better than one would expect, but little more.
2. Catch Me If You Can - If you were going to express total disbelief that Spielberg directed a film on his resume, this would probably top the list. Nothing about it feels Spielbergian except that it involves parent-child relationships. It's a film that I can watch over and over again. Tom Hanks is sufficiently cartoonish for a composite character, Leonardo DiCaprio gives the performance of a career, and Christopher Walken actually gets to play someone that's not all that weird for a change. A superb accomplishment.
3. Jurassic Park - This is one of the movies I remember seeing in the theater most clearly. It's not a masterpiece of drama, but the special effects were unprecedented and I think few directors would have dared to accomplish adequate work with the source material.
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - I'm not really a big Indiana Jones fan, Raiders really just had a great climax going for it, the rest of the movie was pretty dry. But adding in Sean Connery here is one of the best examples of a character being integrated in the middle of a series of films without seeming glaringly out of place. Frankly, though, Indiana is still a weird name for a dog, too.
5. Schindler's List - I watched this movie once, it's a touching and depressing film that has some exceptional performances (particularly Ralph Fiennes), but it's also not a particularly difficult task to make a sad movie about the Holocaust. It told a story that needed to be told in an interesting and largely successful fashion.
Honorable mention: Munich, Jaws
Tory's Top 5:
Let me start my list by saying that I don't care for Spielberg, and am rather glad to see that there are a lot fewer movies of his that I liked than I thought (I had always assumed he did liked films that I never knew he directed, but he didn't.)
1. Hook - This is the quintessential retelling of the Peter Pan tale, with a pretty good performance by Robin Williams, and an outstanding dual-performance by Dustin Hoffman (who plays both Hook as well as a tall person.)
2. Catch Me If You Can - I agree with Tim on just about every point. This movie is amazing, and definitely one of Leonardo Dicaprio's best, even though I do believe he has had some other noteworthy performances that could rival this one. It definitely feels like it was done by a director with a much better film vocabulary.
3. Saving Private Ryan - Not my favorite WWII film, but definitely it would definitely make the top 5 WWII films list. I am also a huge Matt Damon fan, and I am somewhat affectionate towards Rabisi and even a bit towards Barry Pepper (at least after he did Three Burials.)
4. A.I. - I have a confession: I have not seen this movie, nor do I want to. The reasons that it made the top five are two-fold. The first being that I am having trouble finding movies on his IMDB that I liked enough to make a top 5, and the second being that the first half of this film was made with Stanley Kubrick. So Stephen Spielberg gets the credit (since it's his list.)
5. Empire of the Sun - Another confession: I haven't seen this one either. However my desire to see this film greatly outweighs my appreciation of any of his other films, as well as my desire to see or rewatch any of his other films.
Ryan's Top 5:
I'll preface this list with the fact that I am moderately drunk right now. I don't know where that will lead us.
1. Amistad - In all honesty, I haven't examined the historical accuracy of this one as closely as I have others (e.g., Quiz Show); I do know, for example, that Morgan Freeman's character is completely fictional (and not God, the President, or the narrator). That said, the portrayal of the Middle Passage in this film is pretty damn spot on, and thus, gruesome. Also, an excellent score. Anthony Hopkins is good as JQ, and Djimon Hounsou is good as Cinque. Matthew McConaughey also stars.
2. Catch Me If You Can - I agree with what everyone has said. I too can watch this over and over and over.
3. Jurassic Park - I just watched this recently on TBS for the first time in about a decade. It actually ages a lot better than I thought it would, despite some of the special effects. This is what Spielberg is best at, good summer blockbusters. You know, like A.I.
4. Jaws - I actually like this movie a lot and feel kind of bad ranking it so low. I feel bad in that I can't really think of a reason to disparage it... it's another good blockbuster. How about, I saw on Mythbusters that the part where the shark gets blown up after he shoots the oxygen tank is bullshit. (Frustratingly.) But I do love the line, "Smile you son of a bitch!"
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and in my mind is by far the best Indiana Jones movie. The action and chase scenes are good but not too outlandish, and they don't overwhelm the film at the expense of character development (see: Crystal Skull).
Honorable mention: Saving Private Ryan, Hook
Dan's Top 5:
Wow, everyone really swarmed on this one. I just feel embarrassed to be the fourth one posting. Unlike most everyone else here, I still like Spielberg. Though not the greatest of all time, the films that he's good at directing are legendary.
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark - This will forever be my favorite Indiana Jones movie. The Connery-heavy Last Crusade seemed a bit too cheesy for me, and relied a bit more on gags. I'm not saying it's bad, but I liked Raiders a lot more. Ranks as #1 on this list because the action is so memorable, and I imagine that such a movie would be pretty difficult to direct.
2. Hook - Everything about this movie is brilliant, and I mostly agree with Tory on this one. Unlike most family movies, it's actually enjoyable for any age group watching it. Furthermore, it doesn't resort to just retelling the Peter Pan story the way everyone has heard it a million times before. Loses points for the Rufio character, but gains them right back for the youthful ragtag-wildness of the Lost Boys, captured perfectly by the dinner scene (possibly my favorite in the movie.) Also, the soundtrack is a must-own.
3. Jurassic Park - I remember watching this movie when I was younger (9 years old) in the theater with my grandmother, and we both had a blast. (Screw you if you think I was a loser for not seeing this with friends; me and my grandma were close.) It was probably the most memorable movie experience I had in the theater growing up. To date, it's still the only CGI that has ever looked "real" to me, and as Ryan said, it really ages well.
4. Schindler's List - I feel bad putting this so low, as I watched it only recently and really enjoyed it. I agree with Tim about the exceptional performances, though my personal favorite was Kingsley's character. I had always worried that I wouldn't fully identify with this movie if I weren't Jewish and had no personal connection to the Holocaust. I was proven wrong, as it's really a film about human character more than anything else.
5. Jaws - Though I really liked Catch Me If You Can and feel it does deserve some mention, there's no way I can leave off Jaws. Keep in mind that there were no summer blockbusters before this movie. Of course, the suspense of this film is legendary - you never really get to see the killer shark until the end - to the point that you don't even care how fake the shark looks. At least, I don't anyway.
Honorable mention: Catch Me If You Can, Saving Private Ryan
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Top 5 Lines from Back To The Future
You may think this is completely out of left field, but did you notice it's our 88th post? Immediately, my mind jumped to the connection to Back to the Future (i.e., 88 mph) and I had to dedicate a Top 5 list to one of the movies that shaped my persona. Think it's not quote-worthy? Think again...
Dan's Top 5:
1. Marty: "Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?"
Doc: "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" - Half the reason the movie was so cool was because of the DeLorean. The car is metal and you open its doors vertically! Man, what will the 80's think of next? Anyway, DeLorean fanaticism still runs rampant to this day, mostly because of this blockbuster.
2. "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." - Actually a piece of useful advice. I highly doubt that the writers came up with this originally. It was probably a common pearl of wisdom before 1985. They probably stole it from a high school yearbook or an episode of Mr. Wizard. But if I ever say this maxim, I feel like I'll need to credit the quote to Marty McFly.
3. Principal Strickland: "No McFly ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley!"
Marty McFly: "Yeah, well, history is gonna change." - Foreshadowing, anyone? I remember when foreshadowing in movies wasn't so painfully obvious as it is today. For example, I just saw Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (read: the only good Star Trek movie), when after a failed training exercise Kirk asks Spock, "Aren't you dead?" What was I talking about? I tend to get distracted. Hey, look! A Top 5 List about Back To The Future.
4. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads." - The perfect set up for a pair of sequels to come out in another four years, both of which were very entertaining. What sucks is that this led me to believe that any movie that ended in such a fashion would eventually come out with sequels, no matter how shitty they are. As a result, I'm still waiting for Jumanji 2 and Super Mario Bros: The Movie 2. Thankfully, Back To The Future got it right.
5. "How did I ever expect to get back? One pallet, one trip! I must be out of my mind!" - Uttered shortly before Doc heads back in time, this seems like a really pointless line, until I recall an incident my friends were in at KFC one day. They had placed their order and then asked if they could add something else. The register clerk jokingly said, "Nope. One pallet, one trip." Even though it's probably one of the most obscure lines in the movie, the reference wasn't lost and my friends called him on it. It just goes to show you how much of a big deal this movie was.
Tim's Top 5:
I don't like this movie. I like Back to the Future Part II and the other two were like a kick to the teeth when I saw them and I didn't have any desire to go see them again. So, since I'd be forced to rely solely upon IMDb users quote submissions, I instead recuse myself.
Ryan's Top 5:
Unfortunately I have not seen this movie in about a decade, so I'm at a bit of a loss for good quotes.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Marty: "Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?"
Doc: "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" - Half the reason the movie was so cool was because of the DeLorean. The car is metal and you open its doors vertically! Man, what will the 80's think of next? Anyway, DeLorean fanaticism still runs rampant to this day, mostly because of this blockbuster.
2. "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." - Actually a piece of useful advice. I highly doubt that the writers came up with this originally. It was probably a common pearl of wisdom before 1985. They probably stole it from a high school yearbook or an episode of Mr. Wizard. But if I ever say this maxim, I feel like I'll need to credit the quote to Marty McFly.
3. Principal Strickland: "No McFly ever amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley!"
Marty McFly: "Yeah, well, history is gonna change." - Foreshadowing, anyone? I remember when foreshadowing in movies wasn't so painfully obvious as it is today. For example, I just saw Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (read: the only good Star Trek movie), when after a failed training exercise Kirk asks Spock, "Aren't you dead?" What was I talking about? I tend to get distracted. Hey, look! A Top 5 List about Back To The Future.
4. "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads." - The perfect set up for a pair of sequels to come out in another four years, both of which were very entertaining. What sucks is that this led me to believe that any movie that ended in such a fashion would eventually come out with sequels, no matter how shitty they are. As a result, I'm still waiting for Jumanji 2 and Super Mario Bros: The Movie 2. Thankfully, Back To The Future got it right.
5. "How did I ever expect to get back? One pallet, one trip! I must be out of my mind!" - Uttered shortly before Doc heads back in time, this seems like a really pointless line, until I recall an incident my friends were in at KFC one day. They had placed their order and then asked if they could add something else. The register clerk jokingly said, "Nope. One pallet, one trip." Even though it's probably one of the most obscure lines in the movie, the reference wasn't lost and my friends called him on it. It just goes to show you how much of a big deal this movie was.
Tim's Top 5:
I don't like this movie. I like Back to the Future Part II and the other two were like a kick to the teeth when I saw them and I didn't have any desire to go see them again. So, since I'd be forced to rely solely upon IMDb users quote submissions, I instead recuse myself.
Ryan's Top 5:
Unfortunately I have not seen this movie in about a decade, so I'm at a bit of a loss for good quotes.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Top 5 Worst Best Picture Nominees 2000-present
Tim's Top 5:
I was going to say films to win best picture, but since I'm quite certain I'm the only person on here who can tell you definitively how much worse The English Patient was than Cimarron...I figured I'd keep it current.
(For convenience sake, at the end, I've included all the films that fall into the category. For the record, I've not seen Babel nor Atonement. This completes the list of movies I haven't seen on said list. I suspect both might crack my top 5 list)
1) The Hours - This movie reads like a lifetime original motion picture. Nicole Kidman got an Oscar for being ugly in the same way Bill Murray almost came away with an Oscar for not being funny (see #2), and a movie that's supposed to be about women comes off as being one of the most chauvinistic films in decades. Women get by because of their gay friends with AIDS (Ed Harris in a truly punishing performance), or they don't get by at all. Meryl Streep comes off as an awful stereotype of the independent woman who is, as I wrote in my initial review "perpetually smug"...aw, hell, I have to quote me here "[Streep] occupies the screen like she's paying rent there, and emotes her way through an agonizing, yet critically-acclaimed performance." But since Streep is the focal point of the movie, there's little else to say. It's a dreadful assemblage of thin characters and obvious motifs.
2) Lost In Translation - Sofia Coppola has made three films, two of which I've had the misfortune of seeing. But while The Virgin Suicides suffered from a creepy narrator and not much of a story, Lost In Translation suffers from the fact that no one bothered to check whether the movie was finished before releasing it. You watch Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, they do things, they develop a bit of a relationship, and then the oh so touching ending THAT NO ONE WROTE. If you invite me to pay $10 for a movie, the least you can do is actually have a beginning, a middle, and an end -- not just make the entire movie hinge on words that no one hears. I love this -- someone trying to defend the movie on the IMDb said "pointless, plotless, and boring?" to try and defeat a straw man. But actually, they summarized it pretty beautifully -- I'll strike the question mark and this movie finally has an ending.
3) The Green Mile - Few movies have the gall to be so openly manipulative as The Green Mile, which is a woeful failure in all the ways The Shawshank Redemption was successful. Tom Hanks tries to play a bladder infection for laughs and fails, the Christian allegory is horrifically transparent, the movie is three hours long, and it manages to make every character unlikeable. Then throw in some heavy-handed Hollywood nostalgia. Also, if possible, try to make the movie completely anachronistic in geography and time period. Hey, you did it. Thanks.
4) No Country For Old Men - Few movies have left me feeling so angry. I walked out of there pretty much holding my head with anguish at what had just been declared a massively successful film achievement. While The Departed was a profound disappointment that amounted to little more than a bloodbath, there was a point...sort of. Nearly everyone's dead, you get to watch a lot of gruesome deaths, the sound is horrifying (I'll give them props, they were robbed at the Oscars, listening to this movie made me ill), and Bardem is pretty good at playing the remorseless psychotic with no purpose in killing, but it still adds up to a movie that leaves you pretty much where you started or worse. Fatalism and nihilism doesn't make for good filmmaking unless there's some sort of devolution throughout the film.
5) A Beautiful Mind - So how do you make a terrible biopic? Well, cast someone really unsuitable for a role -- wiry mathematician...enter Russell Crowe. Wipe their life story of anything the least bit controversial -- take that communist tendencies and homosexuality. Throw in a love interest that's not believable -- Jennifer Connelly with mathematician...check. Now add things that are utterly preposterous (like a mythical roommate) and change everything about the story to make it more Hollywood. Shudder. This is fish-in-a-barrel drama, but it's still executed as badly as Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile.
Honorable mention: Finding Neverland - Enough with the Johnny Depp blowing, film critics, it's been a while since he's made a good movie; The Sixth Sense - when you've got a one-bit premise, try not to make it totally obvious. Unbreakable was infinitely better; Chocolat - a film that was so painfully American in attempting to be French or Italian. Harvey Weinstein definitely engaged in sexual favors for it to be nominated; Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - what happens, exactly? I'm not a fan of LotR, so I could go on, but all others like opaque cinema where you can actually see Peter Jackson making decisions with extreme close-ups, slow motion, soft focus, and everything but a constant barrage of center wipes; The Departed - it sucked. Scorsese needs to stay out of Boston.
Best Picture Nominees:
2000-2008
American Beauty
Atonement
The Aviator
Babel
A Beautiful Mind
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Chicago
Chocolat
The Cider House Rules
Crash
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Departed
Erin Brockovich
Finding Neverland
Gangs of New York
Gladiator
Good Night, and Good Luck
Gosford Park
The Green Mile
The Hours
The Insider
In the Bedroom
Juno
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World
Michael Clayton
Million Dollar Baby
Moulin Rouge!
Munich
Mystic River
No Country For Old Men
The Pianist
The Queen
Ray
Seabiscuit
Sideways
The Sixth Sense
There Will Be Blood
Traffic
Ryan's Top Five
I have not seen but 30-40% of this list. I shall persevere.
1. "The Sixth Sense" - Tim's right--"Unbreakable" was a lot better (read: good, not bad).
2. "Lost in Translation" - I only saw this once, but damn, this movie was boring. I have to like characters to get involved, and I didn't like any of these people.
3. "Ray" - Jamie Foxx deserved to win best actor. That said, biopics BORE THE BEJESUS out of me.
4. "The Fellowship of the Ring" - I really liked "The Two Towers," this one as boring as sin. Seriously.
5. "Little Miss Sunshine" - I do really like this movie and Steve Carell was great, but the ending was a bit too off for it to be a "best movie." (Keep in mind there are probably many movies I could see that would knock this one off the list.)
Dan's Top 5:
I actually like all the films in the list that I saw in the aforementioned list, with exception of what is noted below.
1. Mystic River - I just flat out didn't like it.
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - All I remember was seeing a bunch of flying around on wires. I didn't get to see the full movie, but I doubt I would have liked it.
3. Erin Brockovich - I like this movie, actually. But I get it already - the main character is a woman.
4. Little Miss Sunshine - Probably one of the worst endings ever, especially for india cinema.
5. Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World - I can't remember the main conflict of this movie. I've seen it, but nothing stuck. I was really expecting more out of this movie.
Honorable mention: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
I was going to say films to win best picture, but since I'm quite certain I'm the only person on here who can tell you definitively how much worse The English Patient was than Cimarron...I figured I'd keep it current.
(For convenience sake, at the end, I've included all the films that fall into the category. For the record, I've not seen Babel nor Atonement. This completes the list of movies I haven't seen on said list. I suspect both might crack my top 5 list)
1) The Hours - This movie reads like a lifetime original motion picture. Nicole Kidman got an Oscar for being ugly in the same way Bill Murray almost came away with an Oscar for not being funny (see #2), and a movie that's supposed to be about women comes off as being one of the most chauvinistic films in decades. Women get by because of their gay friends with AIDS (Ed Harris in a truly punishing performance), or they don't get by at all. Meryl Streep comes off as an awful stereotype of the independent woman who is, as I wrote in my initial review "perpetually smug"...aw, hell, I have to quote me here "[Streep] occupies the screen like she's paying rent there, and emotes her way through an agonizing, yet critically-acclaimed performance." But since Streep is the focal point of the movie, there's little else to say. It's a dreadful assemblage of thin characters and obvious motifs.
2) Lost In Translation - Sofia Coppola has made three films, two of which I've had the misfortune of seeing. But while The Virgin Suicides suffered from a creepy narrator and not much of a story, Lost In Translation suffers from the fact that no one bothered to check whether the movie was finished before releasing it. You watch Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, they do things, they develop a bit of a relationship, and then the oh so touching ending THAT NO ONE WROTE. If you invite me to pay $10 for a movie, the least you can do is actually have a beginning, a middle, and an end -- not just make the entire movie hinge on words that no one hears. I love this -- someone trying to defend the movie on the IMDb said "pointless, plotless, and boring?" to try and defeat a straw man. But actually, they summarized it pretty beautifully -- I'll strike the question mark and this movie finally has an ending.
3) The Green Mile - Few movies have the gall to be so openly manipulative as The Green Mile, which is a woeful failure in all the ways The Shawshank Redemption was successful. Tom Hanks tries to play a bladder infection for laughs and fails, the Christian allegory is horrifically transparent, the movie is three hours long, and it manages to make every character unlikeable. Then throw in some heavy-handed Hollywood nostalgia. Also, if possible, try to make the movie completely anachronistic in geography and time period. Hey, you did it. Thanks.
4) No Country For Old Men - Few movies have left me feeling so angry. I walked out of there pretty much holding my head with anguish at what had just been declared a massively successful film achievement. While The Departed was a profound disappointment that amounted to little more than a bloodbath, there was a point...sort of. Nearly everyone's dead, you get to watch a lot of gruesome deaths, the sound is horrifying (I'll give them props, they were robbed at the Oscars, listening to this movie made me ill), and Bardem is pretty good at playing the remorseless psychotic with no purpose in killing, but it still adds up to a movie that leaves you pretty much where you started or worse. Fatalism and nihilism doesn't make for good filmmaking unless there's some sort of devolution throughout the film.
5) A Beautiful Mind - So how do you make a terrible biopic? Well, cast someone really unsuitable for a role -- wiry mathematician...enter Russell Crowe. Wipe their life story of anything the least bit controversial -- take that communist tendencies and homosexuality. Throw in a love interest that's not believable -- Jennifer Connelly with mathematician...check. Now add things that are utterly preposterous (like a mythical roommate) and change everything about the story to make it more Hollywood. Shudder. This is fish-in-a-barrel drama, but it's still executed as badly as Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile.
Honorable mention: Finding Neverland - Enough with the Johnny Depp blowing, film critics, it's been a while since he's made a good movie; The Sixth Sense - when you've got a one-bit premise, try not to make it totally obvious. Unbreakable was infinitely better; Chocolat - a film that was so painfully American in attempting to be French or Italian. Harvey Weinstein definitely engaged in sexual favors for it to be nominated; Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - what happens, exactly? I'm not a fan of LotR, so I could go on, but all others like opaque cinema where you can actually see Peter Jackson making decisions with extreme close-ups, slow motion, soft focus, and everything but a constant barrage of center wipes; The Departed - it sucked. Scorsese needs to stay out of Boston.
Best Picture Nominees:
2000-2008
American Beauty
Atonement
The Aviator
Babel
A Beautiful Mind
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Chicago
Chocolat
The Cider House Rules
Crash
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Departed
Erin Brockovich
Finding Neverland
Gangs of New York
Gladiator
Good Night, and Good Luck
Gosford Park
The Green Mile
The Hours
The Insider
In the Bedroom
Juno
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World
Michael Clayton
Million Dollar Baby
Moulin Rouge!
Munich
Mystic River
No Country For Old Men
The Pianist
The Queen
Ray
Seabiscuit
Sideways
The Sixth Sense
There Will Be Blood
Traffic
Ryan's Top Five
I have not seen but 30-40% of this list. I shall persevere.
1. "The Sixth Sense" - Tim's right--"Unbreakable" was a lot better (read: good, not bad).
2. "Lost in Translation" - I only saw this once, but damn, this movie was boring. I have to like characters to get involved, and I didn't like any of these people.
3. "Ray" - Jamie Foxx deserved to win best actor. That said, biopics BORE THE BEJESUS out of me.
4. "The Fellowship of the Ring" - I really liked "The Two Towers," this one as boring as sin. Seriously.
5. "Little Miss Sunshine" - I do really like this movie and Steve Carell was great, but the ending was a bit too off for it to be a "best movie." (Keep in mind there are probably many movies I could see that would knock this one off the list.)
Dan's Top 5:
I actually like all the films in the list that I saw in the aforementioned list, with exception of what is noted below.
1. Mystic River - I just flat out didn't like it.
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - All I remember was seeing a bunch of flying around on wires. I didn't get to see the full movie, but I doubt I would have liked it.
3. Erin Brockovich - I like this movie, actually. But I get it already - the main character is a woman.
4. Little Miss Sunshine - Probably one of the worst endings ever, especially for india cinema.
5. Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World - I can't remember the main conflict of this movie. I've seen it, but nothing stuck. I was really expecting more out of this movie.
Honorable mention: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Top 5 Movies of 2007
Having now seen all but a few movies that I want to see, I felt authorized to concoct my all-too-uninformed list.
Tim's Top 5:
1. Into the Wild - Certainly, there could have been more of this movie, and it would have been welcome, but it's still a well-orchestrated masterpiece of a story with some fantastic ensemble performances, evocative photography and a wonderful score. Above all, it captures the tragedy of Christopher McCandless without forgetting the other people that his life touched, both for the positive and the negative. A masterful adaptation of a fantastic book.
2. There Will Be Blood - I knew literally nothing going in, but I could have known it all and it'd have mattered none. It's a slow movie, taking 15 minutes to get to a line of dialogue (though it doesn't seem like that was the case), developing its story for nearly an hour before reaching much of a conflict, but the frenzied energy that Daniel Day-Lewis lets loose through the latter hour and a half of the film make it well worth the wait. Not what you'd expect from Paul Thomas Anderson, by any means, but it's an extraordinary experience nonetheless.
3. Michael Clayton - If you made The Firm into a believable movie, this is probably what you'd have come up with, but George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson do the job. Sydney Pollack is too low-key in his role (perhaps bitter that he directed The Firm and not this movie), but for the most part, everyone fits their parts and does a good job with an interesting script. It's rare to come across a movie for which you've already seen its climax, but it worked here. The ending is a bit trite, perhaps, but it gives you both ends of what you expect into a solid Hegelian dialectic of an ending that's as Janusian as the practice of law.
4. Zodiac - Making a murder mystery where there isn't necessarily an answer is a difficult task. Making a murder mystery with no answer and making the protagonist a cartoonist? Nigh on impossible. But David Fincher does a great job of capturing the story and the feeling of 1960s-70s San Francisco, or at least conveying what it seems like it should feel like. An underrated gem that was mistakenly released in the spring, where it was guaranteed to be ignored by critics and moviegoers.
5. American Gangster - Not a fantastic movie, but a well-acted movie that would be even more enjoyable if it weren't pure fiction (having read that even more of it was false than I expected does take away from it), but in a very down year for movies, it should have generated more buzz than it did. A great score and a good script, combined with two dynamic lead performances, makes for an enjoyable, if flawed film.
Honorable mention: Knocked Up, Superbad, and Transformers were all well beyond expectations. Ratatouille was less than expected, but that speaks volumes about the expectations I have for Pixar. (I've not seen Cars nor Meet the Robinsons, I don't intend to change either, so they've yet to miss with me.)
Dan's Top 5:
1. There Will Be Blood - Everyone loves a good tycoon story - the American Dream at it's most successful and its most heartless. Daniel Day-Lewis makes this one to remember and brings to life a genius character who always waits to hide his cards until the very moment he can use them to their full effect - even if it's years later.
2. Ratatouille - My favorite Pixar movie yet, and that's saying something. I may be giving the movie an edge because it's a Pixar film, or because my favorite stand-up comedian voices the lead role, or because I think it got cheated out of the Best Picture category at the Oscars. Anyway, it strikes me as very real and human, probably a testament to the direction of Brad Bird. Great, now I'm going to have to see The Iron Giant.
3. Juno - I normally like indie films, which I consider to be a guilty pleasure by now. What I like about this movie is that the sense of humor seems sincere and doesn't often force the dramatic emotions that come along with the comedy. I liked it better than Little Miss Sunshine, if only for the fact that there's a subject to dwell on apart from family dysfunction.
4. No Country For Old Men - I was so astounded by how much I liked this movie that I'm surprised I didn't put it higher. For me, it took on a new level when I realized that Bardem's character, Anton Chigurh, represents the sum total of sin in the world - murder, greed, etc. - to the point that he could even be Satan. And his emotionless belief in order and fate only further the comparison. Loses points because the film is mostly a character study, and the plot isn't polished.
5. 3:10 to Yuma - A film I don't think any of my fellow Top 5 authors saw. I've never been a fan of Westerns, apart from the later Spaghetti Westerns, and I especially hate John Wayne films. This movie, however, is another fine character piece with good acting from Bale and Crowe. The plot is much more forgiving than No Country for Old Men, because Westerns tend to have the simplest plots ever. Based on an Elmore Leonard short story, if that's any incentive.
Honorable mentions:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - My favorite musical yet. However, the progression of the plot suffers from being interrupted by song too often. In other words, things take too long to happen. Great film, though, and I'd recommend it unless you're allergic to musicals.
Hot Fuzz - Loses points only because it wasn't a "quality" movie that would be considered for awards. It revels in absurdity, and that's what makes it so damn good.
The Darjeeling Limited - I could very easily bump out #5 and place high on the list, but Ryan will surely include it, thus giving me a chance to talk about a more-overlooked movie in 3:10 to Yuma.
Ryan's Top Five
I always forget to put the heading. Whoops. In the spirit of disagreement, I'll go with five new movies. (I also have not seen There Will Be Blood.)
1. Once - I am forcing myself not to pick The Darjeeling Limited in this spot. If you haven't seen Once yet, do yourself a favor and buy it. It's really a great little movie, a simple plot with simple dialogue and excellent songs. Glen Hansard penned a good number of the songs before the movie was even an idea, so they don't feel like songs written for a specific movie.
2. Hot Fuzz - Damn it, it deserves mention. There was a debate about whether or not to consider "40-Year-Old Virgin" for serious awards, as people think comedy deserves more play. If this is true, then Hot Fuzz was the best comedy I saw last year, bar none (and better than 40-Y-O-V). (I've accepted that Shaun of the Dead is a better/funnier movie, but still...the last thirty minutes of Hot Fuzz are sheer joy.) Edgar Wright basically does the same thing Quentin Tarentino does, albeit less arrogantly; he knows how to master a genre, and, having done so, subvert it. The result is brilliance.
3. The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson doesn't garner critical support anymore, but who cares. I wouldn't have liked this movie as much without the flashback scene, and the timing of the flashback scene was spot on. Wes Anderson's soundtrack is, again, amazing.
4. The Bourne Ultimatum - In my book, this is about as close to perfect as a pure action/spy thriller movie can get. There apparently was dialogue, but there really didn't have to be. The fight scenes hook you--they don't bore you, like most fight scenes do (for me, anyway). Paul Greengrass really knows how to shoot chase scenes, as well. The plot has some holes in it, but you really couldn't care less. You don't have time to stop and think anyway, lest you miss any Jason-Bourne-ass-kickery. (Note to self: draft Michael Bourn, rename team.)
5. Superbad - I can safely say this was a lot better than I thought it would be. The first time I saw the preview, I wasn't very interested, as it looked like a teen movie and I have a natural aversion to them after The She's All That Incident of 98 (read: I saw She's All That in a theater in 1998). Superbad, however, is legitimately hilarious. If I tried to explain how, it wouldn't be funny, so I'll not try.
Honorables: No Country For Old Men (I gotta rep the haircut...I have a tough time ranking things that aren't comedies, though), Knocked Up (upon further viewing, not as good as Superbad), Dan in Real Life (good in an In Good Company kind of way), Juno (I don't think I liked it as much as everyone else did, but it was good).
Tim's Top 5:
1. Into the Wild - Certainly, there could have been more of this movie, and it would have been welcome, but it's still a well-orchestrated masterpiece of a story with some fantastic ensemble performances, evocative photography and a wonderful score. Above all, it captures the tragedy of Christopher McCandless without forgetting the other people that his life touched, both for the positive and the negative. A masterful adaptation of a fantastic book.
2. There Will Be Blood - I knew literally nothing going in, but I could have known it all and it'd have mattered none. It's a slow movie, taking 15 minutes to get to a line of dialogue (though it doesn't seem like that was the case), developing its story for nearly an hour before reaching much of a conflict, but the frenzied energy that Daniel Day-Lewis lets loose through the latter hour and a half of the film make it well worth the wait. Not what you'd expect from Paul Thomas Anderson, by any means, but it's an extraordinary experience nonetheless.
3. Michael Clayton - If you made The Firm into a believable movie, this is probably what you'd have come up with, but George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson do the job. Sydney Pollack is too low-key in his role (perhaps bitter that he directed The Firm and not this movie), but for the most part, everyone fits their parts and does a good job with an interesting script. It's rare to come across a movie for which you've already seen its climax, but it worked here. The ending is a bit trite, perhaps, but it gives you both ends of what you expect into a solid Hegelian dialectic of an ending that's as Janusian as the practice of law.
4. Zodiac - Making a murder mystery where there isn't necessarily an answer is a difficult task. Making a murder mystery with no answer and making the protagonist a cartoonist? Nigh on impossible. But David Fincher does a great job of capturing the story and the feeling of 1960s-70s San Francisco, or at least conveying what it seems like it should feel like. An underrated gem that was mistakenly released in the spring, where it was guaranteed to be ignored by critics and moviegoers.
5. American Gangster - Not a fantastic movie, but a well-acted movie that would be even more enjoyable if it weren't pure fiction (having read that even more of it was false than I expected does take away from it), but in a very down year for movies, it should have generated more buzz than it did. A great score and a good script, combined with two dynamic lead performances, makes for an enjoyable, if flawed film.
Honorable mention: Knocked Up, Superbad, and Transformers were all well beyond expectations. Ratatouille was less than expected, but that speaks volumes about the expectations I have for Pixar. (I've not seen Cars nor Meet the Robinsons, I don't intend to change either, so they've yet to miss with me.)
Dan's Top 5:
1. There Will Be Blood - Everyone loves a good tycoon story - the American Dream at it's most successful and its most heartless. Daniel Day-Lewis makes this one to remember and brings to life a genius character who always waits to hide his cards until the very moment he can use them to their full effect - even if it's years later.
2. Ratatouille - My favorite Pixar movie yet, and that's saying something. I may be giving the movie an edge because it's a Pixar film, or because my favorite stand-up comedian voices the lead role, or because I think it got cheated out of the Best Picture category at the Oscars. Anyway, it strikes me as very real and human, probably a testament to the direction of Brad Bird. Great, now I'm going to have to see The Iron Giant.
3. Juno - I normally like indie films, which I consider to be a guilty pleasure by now. What I like about this movie is that the sense of humor seems sincere and doesn't often force the dramatic emotions that come along with the comedy. I liked it better than Little Miss Sunshine, if only for the fact that there's a subject to dwell on apart from family dysfunction.
4. No Country For Old Men - I was so astounded by how much I liked this movie that I'm surprised I didn't put it higher. For me, it took on a new level when I realized that Bardem's character, Anton Chigurh, represents the sum total of sin in the world - murder, greed, etc. - to the point that he could even be Satan. And his emotionless belief in order and fate only further the comparison. Loses points because the film is mostly a character study, and the plot isn't polished.
5. 3:10 to Yuma - A film I don't think any of my fellow Top 5 authors saw. I've never been a fan of Westerns, apart from the later Spaghetti Westerns, and I especially hate John Wayne films. This movie, however, is another fine character piece with good acting from Bale and Crowe. The plot is much more forgiving than No Country for Old Men, because Westerns tend to have the simplest plots ever. Based on an Elmore Leonard short story, if that's any incentive.
Honorable mentions:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - My favorite musical yet. However, the progression of the plot suffers from being interrupted by song too often. In other words, things take too long to happen. Great film, though, and I'd recommend it unless you're allergic to musicals.
Hot Fuzz - Loses points only because it wasn't a "quality" movie that would be considered for awards. It revels in absurdity, and that's what makes it so damn good.
The Darjeeling Limited - I could very easily bump out #5 and place high on the list, but Ryan will surely include it, thus giving me a chance to talk about a more-overlooked movie in 3:10 to Yuma.
Ryan's Top Five
I always forget to put the heading. Whoops. In the spirit of disagreement, I'll go with five new movies. (I also have not seen There Will Be Blood.)
1. Once - I am forcing myself not to pick The Darjeeling Limited in this spot. If you haven't seen Once yet, do yourself a favor and buy it. It's really a great little movie, a simple plot with simple dialogue and excellent songs. Glen Hansard penned a good number of the songs before the movie was even an idea, so they don't feel like songs written for a specific movie.
2. Hot Fuzz - Damn it, it deserves mention. There was a debate about whether or not to consider "40-Year-Old Virgin" for serious awards, as people think comedy deserves more play. If this is true, then Hot Fuzz was the best comedy I saw last year, bar none (and better than 40-Y-O-V). (I've accepted that Shaun of the Dead is a better/funnier movie, but still...the last thirty minutes of Hot Fuzz are sheer joy.) Edgar Wright basically does the same thing Quentin Tarentino does, albeit less arrogantly; he knows how to master a genre, and, having done so, subvert it. The result is brilliance.
3. The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson doesn't garner critical support anymore, but who cares. I wouldn't have liked this movie as much without the flashback scene, and the timing of the flashback scene was spot on. Wes Anderson's soundtrack is, again, amazing.
4. The Bourne Ultimatum - In my book, this is about as close to perfect as a pure action/spy thriller movie can get. There apparently was dialogue, but there really didn't have to be. The fight scenes hook you--they don't bore you, like most fight scenes do (for me, anyway). Paul Greengrass really knows how to shoot chase scenes, as well. The plot has some holes in it, but you really couldn't care less. You don't have time to stop and think anyway, lest you miss any Jason-Bourne-ass-kickery. (Note to self: draft Michael Bourn, rename team.)
5. Superbad - I can safely say this was a lot better than I thought it would be. The first time I saw the preview, I wasn't very interested, as it looked like a teen movie and I have a natural aversion to them after The She's All That Incident of 98 (read: I saw She's All That in a theater in 1998). Superbad, however, is legitimately hilarious. If I tried to explain how, it wouldn't be funny, so I'll not try.
Honorables: No Country For Old Men (I gotta rep the haircut...I have a tough time ranking things that aren't comedies, though), Knocked Up (upon further viewing, not as good as Superbad), Dan in Real Life (good in an In Good Company kind of way), Juno (I don't think I liked it as much as everyone else did, but it was good).
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Top 5 Things to Look Forward to in 2008
Dan's Top 5:
1. Bush's Final Year - I don't care if we collectively decide to elect a seedless Chia Head of Richard Nixon next November. I can't see how even the worst (and there are some pretty bad choices in the primaries) of potential candidates could be anywhere close to the atrocity that has been the George W. Bush administration. I echo the sentiments of David Cross, who claimed that he may go down as the worst American President ever.
2. The Summer Olympics - Sure, it's in China, but who gives a shit? (Other than Communist-fearing Republicans) This is the Olympics, and it gives us all a chance to be distracted and actually proud of our country for a few weeks. It also gives me a chance to listen to Bob Costas (winner of the Not Joe Buck award) for some decent commentary and enjoy a free four-hour concert in the form of the opening ceremonies.
3. Fantasy Baseball - This needs no explanation. The only reason it isn't any higher is because it's an annual occurrence.
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Reported release date is next summer, and you're going to have to go see it. You have no choice. Either you want to see a fourth awesome movie from the Indiana Jones series, or you want to see who you should blame for making the two-decade effort fall flat on it's face. I have no idea how the movie will be, but it's probably going to be either extremely awesome or extremely poor.
5. The Last Game at Yankee Stadium - There will undoubtedly be a lot of talk about how the final Yankee Stadium game will be the end of an era. While the Yankees of yesteryear might not have been pure evil (I'm not entirely up to date on my baseball history...) the new Yankee Stadium will doubtlessly be tainted with the spirit of the Evil One from day one. Here's to you, Yankee Stadium, and those fabled players of old of whom it is said it's possible not to hate them.
Ryan's Top Five
1. The NFL Draft - How will Carl Petersen fuck this one up? Does Ryan Sims have a younger brother? I don't know, but we have a very high draft pick (as we fucking blow), so I am, of course, intrigued.
2. KC Royals Improbable World Series - KU football wins Orange Bowl, anything on God's Green Earth can happen.
3. KU Basketball National Championship - I still argue that jinxing things is bullshit. Why? I've intentionally NOT jinxed things for most of my life, and what has it gotten me? That FSU Championship in 1993 and nothing else.
4. Fantasy Baseball - Dan said it all.
5. Ryan Fox Fantasy Football Championship Repeat - Damn straight, homey.
Tim's Top 5
Note: I'm posting this in June of 2008.
1. Its inevitable end. - God, this year has been awful.
2. Phillies playoff tickets - Oh man, I really need to do that again this year. I really enjoy playoffs, and it's clear the Indians are screwed.
3. The Indians trading C.C. Sabathia for magic beans - We all know it will happen, I just want to know if we get anything in return.
4. The Bengals falling into the first pick in the 2009 draft. - Welcome back, Bengals.
5. Josh Hamilton winning a triple crown - I'm pulling for him.
Honorable mention: Hopefully economic recovery of some sort. Some of us pay our bills...doesn't that do something?
1. Bush's Final Year - I don't care if we collectively decide to elect a seedless Chia Head of Richard Nixon next November. I can't see how even the worst (and there are some pretty bad choices in the primaries) of potential candidates could be anywhere close to the atrocity that has been the George W. Bush administration. I echo the sentiments of David Cross, who claimed that he may go down as the worst American President ever.
2. The Summer Olympics - Sure, it's in China, but who gives a shit? (Other than Communist-fearing Republicans) This is the Olympics, and it gives us all a chance to be distracted and actually proud of our country for a few weeks. It also gives me a chance to listen to Bob Costas (winner of the Not Joe Buck award) for some decent commentary and enjoy a free four-hour concert in the form of the opening ceremonies.
3. Fantasy Baseball - This needs no explanation. The only reason it isn't any higher is because it's an annual occurrence.
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Reported release date is next summer, and you're going to have to go see it. You have no choice. Either you want to see a fourth awesome movie from the Indiana Jones series, or you want to see who you should blame for making the two-decade effort fall flat on it's face. I have no idea how the movie will be, but it's probably going to be either extremely awesome or extremely poor.
5. The Last Game at Yankee Stadium - There will undoubtedly be a lot of talk about how the final Yankee Stadium game will be the end of an era. While the Yankees of yesteryear might not have been pure evil (I'm not entirely up to date on my baseball history...) the new Yankee Stadium will doubtlessly be tainted with the spirit of the Evil One from day one. Here's to you, Yankee Stadium, and those fabled players of old of whom it is said it's possible not to hate them.
Ryan's Top Five
1. The NFL Draft - How will Carl Petersen fuck this one up? Does Ryan Sims have a younger brother? I don't know, but we have a very high draft pick (as we fucking blow), so I am, of course, intrigued.
2. KC Royals Improbable World Series - KU football wins Orange Bowl, anything on God's Green Earth can happen.
3. KU Basketball National Championship - I still argue that jinxing things is bullshit. Why? I've intentionally NOT jinxed things for most of my life, and what has it gotten me? That FSU Championship in 1993 and nothing else.
4. Fantasy Baseball - Dan said it all.
5. Ryan Fox Fantasy Football Championship Repeat - Damn straight, homey.
Tim's Top 5
Note: I'm posting this in June of 2008.
1. Its inevitable end. - God, this year has been awful.
2. Phillies playoff tickets - Oh man, I really need to do that again this year. I really enjoy playoffs, and it's clear the Indians are screwed.
3. The Indians trading C.C. Sabathia for magic beans - We all know it will happen, I just want to know if we get anything in return.
4. The Bengals falling into the first pick in the 2009 draft. - Welcome back, Bengals.
5. Josh Hamilton winning a triple crown - I'm pulling for him.
Honorable mention: Hopefully economic recovery of some sort. Some of us pay our bills...doesn't that do something?
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Top 5 Lines from Office Space
I thought of this when I landed on Office Space on Comedy Central while I was flipping through the channels tonight. And it is rather appropriate, as this site has taken a nose-dive over the past month or so, and I'm guessing the biggest reason for all of us (assuredly, the biggest reason for me) can be summed up with Office Space's tagline: Work Sucks.
1. "It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care." - Peter Gibbons - For me it's really impossible to put this anywhere but #1, even though #2 makes me laugh the most. Not only is it hilarious, it's really a statement of philosophy that has guided my academic and professional life since I first saw Office Space at 3:30am on a Sunday night (read: Monday morning) while I was in high school.
2. "You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear." - Peter.
3. "I can't believe what a bunch of nerds we are, we're looking up money laundering in the dictionary." - Peter.
4. Bob: "Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately Peter."
Peter: "I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob."
5. Bob, to Tom: "What would you say, you DO around here?" I love this line even more after becoming a teacher, as I wanted to repeat it to about half of my students around the time I was entering grades for progress reports.
Honorable mentions: literally everything else in the movie.
Dan's Top 5:
1. "I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be." - Peter Gibbons
2. "No way. Why should I change? He's the one who sucks." - Michael Bolton
3. "What am I gonna do with 40 subscriptions to Vibe?" - Peter Gibbons
4. "The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care." - Peter Gibbons
5. "This is a... fuck!" - Samir Nagheenanajar
Tim's Top Five:
1) "There was nothing wrong with it... until I was about 12 years old and that no-talent ass clown became famous and started winning Grammys." -- this entire sequence warrants quotation, see Dan's #2, but, alas. No-talent ass clown has been in my vernacular because of this line.
2) "Well, the type of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do."
3) "Shit. I'm a free man and I haven't had a conjugal visit in six months."
4) "You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear."
5) "No. No, man. Shit, no, man. I believe you'd get your ass kicked sayin' something like that, man."
1. "It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care." - Peter Gibbons - For me it's really impossible to put this anywhere but #1, even though #2 makes me laugh the most. Not only is it hilarious, it's really a statement of philosophy that has guided my academic and professional life since I first saw Office Space at 3:30am on a Sunday night (read: Monday morning) while I was in high school.
2. "You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear." - Peter.
3. "I can't believe what a bunch of nerds we are, we're looking up money laundering in the dictionary." - Peter.
4. Bob: "Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately Peter."
Peter: "I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob."
5. Bob, to Tom: "What would you say, you DO around here?" I love this line even more after becoming a teacher, as I wanted to repeat it to about half of my students around the time I was entering grades for progress reports.
Honorable mentions: literally everything else in the movie.
Dan's Top 5:
1. "I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be." - Peter Gibbons
2. "No way. Why should I change? He's the one who sucks." - Michael Bolton
3. "What am I gonna do with 40 subscriptions to Vibe?" - Peter Gibbons
4. "The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care." - Peter Gibbons
5. "This is a... fuck!" - Samir Nagheenanajar
Tim's Top Five:
1) "There was nothing wrong with it... until I was about 12 years old and that no-talent ass clown became famous and started winning Grammys." -- this entire sequence warrants quotation, see Dan's #2, but, alas. No-talent ass clown has been in my vernacular because of this line.
2) "Well, the type of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do."
3) "Shit. I'm a free man and I haven't had a conjugal visit in six months."
4) "You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear."
5) "No. No, man. Shit, no, man. I believe you'd get your ass kicked sayin' something like that, man."
Friday, August 31, 2007
Top 5 Films to Watch When You're Depressed
The title makes it pretty straightforward, but I'll do a little intro. Whether it's troubles with women or with money, there are movies that when watched offer a catharsis. This list is dedicated to those movies powerful enough to make you forget about things like "bills" or your most recent flat tire that you're not sure you can afford at the moment, but have to afford regardless.
Tory's Top 5:
1. Sideways - The only way I can explain this film is that even though I've never been in such a situation, I have been in times when I wanted to drink. Also, the two characters take actions that any high school student in a similar, representative-of-high-school situation would take, and thus makes it a very relateable movie with Paul Giamatti's character being one of the most real characters in a movie.
2. Stranger than Fiction - I finally bought this on DVD for ten dollars, but for some reason this actually was a limited edition and I didn't get all of the special features (I checked wal-mart, best buy and Target.) Either way, I haven't seen it too many times, but I did wait tables during it, and every time I watched the ending that same feeling that the other movies on this list produce was produced.
3. Once - OK, so I just saw this movie two nights ago, but it was one of the best and most touching movies. There is a single action taken by the boy towards the end of the movie that puts this movie on the list.
4. The Fountain - I am not sure how this got so far down on the list (perhaps I ranked prematurely) but it's on here now. This movie doesn't necessarily have that punch only at the end, but the feeling comes towards the beginning (with the first future scene) and then lasts until the end. It might also get to do with the fact that I think Rachel Weisz is the luckiest woman on earth (for being married to Darren, not for being in this movie.)
5. Rushmore - Returning to a comedy, this movie is one of the funnier ones on this list, and it's probably that comedic element to it that helps get it a spot on this list. I love this movie, and can watch over and over and over and over, which is another reason it got on this list. Plus, the ending is wrapped up so nicely.
Honorable Mentions: Amelie, Punch Drunk Love.
Dan's Top 5:
I really can't explain these films at all, except that they are what I turn to when I am down, and for differen reasons - some are funny, some are about a personal triumph, some are just movies I just know and identify with.
1. High Fidelity
2. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
3. Clerks
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Better Off Dead
Honorable Mention: Jackie Brown
Ryan's Top Five
These are the movies that make me happy.
1. Office Space - Not just a movie but a state of mind.
2. Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead - I am sick of choosing between the two so I will cheat.
3. The Full Monty - Excellent picker-upper.
4. Wonder Boys - I think I get the same feeling watching this movie that I get while I watch Quiz Show--I feel somehow smarter, more academic. I am a tough nut to crack. (Today is International Idiom Day.)
5. Rushmore - This and Office Space are my two favorite movies, so I have no idea why I ranked them as such.
Tory's Top 5:
1. Sideways - The only way I can explain this film is that even though I've never been in such a situation, I have been in times when I wanted to drink. Also, the two characters take actions that any high school student in a similar, representative-of-high-school situation would take, and thus makes it a very relateable movie with Paul Giamatti's character being one of the most real characters in a movie.
2. Stranger than Fiction - I finally bought this on DVD for ten dollars, but for some reason this actually was a limited edition and I didn't get all of the special features (I checked wal-mart, best buy and Target.) Either way, I haven't seen it too many times, but I did wait tables during it, and every time I watched the ending that same feeling that the other movies on this list produce was produced.
3. Once - OK, so I just saw this movie two nights ago, but it was one of the best and most touching movies. There is a single action taken by the boy towards the end of the movie that puts this movie on the list.
4. The Fountain - I am not sure how this got so far down on the list (perhaps I ranked prematurely) but it's on here now. This movie doesn't necessarily have that punch only at the end, but the feeling comes towards the beginning (with the first future scene) and then lasts until the end. It might also get to do with the fact that I think Rachel Weisz is the luckiest woman on earth (for being married to Darren, not for being in this movie.)
5. Rushmore - Returning to a comedy, this movie is one of the funnier ones on this list, and it's probably that comedic element to it that helps get it a spot on this list. I love this movie, and can watch over and over and over and over, which is another reason it got on this list. Plus, the ending is wrapped up so nicely.
Honorable Mentions: Amelie, Punch Drunk Love.
Dan's Top 5:
I really can't explain these films at all, except that they are what I turn to when I am down, and for differen reasons - some are funny, some are about a personal triumph, some are just movies I just know and identify with.
1. High Fidelity
2. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
3. Clerks
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Better Off Dead
Honorable Mention: Jackie Brown
Ryan's Top Five
These are the movies that make me happy.
1. Office Space - Not just a movie but a state of mind.
2. Hot Fuzz/Shaun of the Dead - I am sick of choosing between the two so I will cheat.
3. The Full Monty - Excellent picker-upper.
4. Wonder Boys - I think I get the same feeling watching this movie that I get while I watch Quiz Show--I feel somehow smarter, more academic. I am a tough nut to crack. (Today is International Idiom Day.)
5. Rushmore - This and Office Space are my two favorite movies, so I have no idea why I ranked them as such.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Top 5 Pythons
From wiki: "The group's influence on comedy has often been compared to The Beatles' influence on music." So I think a Top 5 is in order. I came up with this idea when I landed on PBS, which was airing the German episode of Flying Circus. Let me preface this list with the obvious, that there aren't remotely any "bad" Pythons in my book, but I'm assuming we might disagree on the ranking scheme.
Ryan's Top 5:
1. Michael Palin - I give Palin a slight nod over Cleese, so that someone else can change the order. Palin wrote a pretty good novel in Hemingway's Chair. He was, notably, the dead parrot salesman, the transvestite lumberjack, and the lead cardinal of The Spanish Inquisition.
2. John Cleese - Probably the most talented of the bunch, if we're being objective, which isn't exactly something I pride myself on (hi, my name is Ryan). Played loads of roles, but the ones that come to mind are the Minister of Silly Walks and the double vision leader of the proposed expedition to Kilimanjaro. He was also essentially the host of a lot of the episodes and And Now For Something Completely Different, and frequently narrated. Fawlty Towers is also hilarious, and really so is anything else he's in.
3. Graham Chapman - Probably the most dead of the bunch, if we're being objecti... oh, wait. Played King Arthur and Brian, and he was The Colonel.
4. Eric Idle - He wrote "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life," which really could make him #1. Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more.
5. Terry Gilliam - I thought about putting Jones here but The Pythons really wouldn't have been the same without their trademark cartoon animation, which even now is eminently and immediately recognizable. He was also great as Patsy in The Holy Grail.
It feels wrong not including Terry Jones, because he was a principal writer of some of the best sketches and also earns bonus points for penning the Labyrinth screenplay. But someone had to go to fit in the animator.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Michael Palin - Unlike Ryan's reasoning, mine is that he truly is my favorite Python. He seemed the most versatile, as well as the most Charismatic. Played practically everything in The Holy Grail, and a number of memorable roles in the television series.
2. Graham Chapman - Probably my favorite of what seemed to be the two "leaders," Chapman and Cleese. I loved the juxtaposition of straight-faced and absurd. Co-wrote “The Ministry of Silly Walks”, "Raymond Luxury Yacht", and “Dead Parrot.” Oh, and here is part of his memorial service.
3. Eric Idle - The musical talent of the group (apart from Neil Innes) and perhaps the most unique of the bunch (he wrote his material alone). Also responsible for "Spamalot," which I would love to see.
4. John Cleese - I really feel bad putting him this low, as it seems like he's one of the smartest of the bunch. However, he's been tremendously successful outside of Monty Python, so I'm sure he'll cope.
5. Terry Jones - I hate to leave out Gilliam, but half of my esteem for him comes from his non-Python directing efforts. So, I feel it's better to have Jones included for his terrific acting and cross-dressing.
Ryan's Top 5:
1. Michael Palin - I give Palin a slight nod over Cleese, so that someone else can change the order. Palin wrote a pretty good novel in Hemingway's Chair. He was, notably, the dead parrot salesman, the transvestite lumberjack, and the lead cardinal of The Spanish Inquisition.
2. John Cleese - Probably the most talented of the bunch, if we're being objective, which isn't exactly something I pride myself on (hi, my name is Ryan). Played loads of roles, but the ones that come to mind are the Minister of Silly Walks and the double vision leader of the proposed expedition to Kilimanjaro. He was also essentially the host of a lot of the episodes and And Now For Something Completely Different, and frequently narrated. Fawlty Towers is also hilarious, and really so is anything else he's in.
3. Graham Chapman - Probably the most dead of the bunch, if we're being objecti... oh, wait. Played King Arthur and Brian, and he was The Colonel.
4. Eric Idle - He wrote "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life," which really could make him #1. Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more.
5. Terry Gilliam - I thought about putting Jones here but The Pythons really wouldn't have been the same without their trademark cartoon animation, which even now is eminently and immediately recognizable. He was also great as Patsy in The Holy Grail.
It feels wrong not including Terry Jones, because he was a principal writer of some of the best sketches and also earns bonus points for penning the Labyrinth screenplay. But someone had to go to fit in the animator.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Michael Palin - Unlike Ryan's reasoning, mine is that he truly is my favorite Python. He seemed the most versatile, as well as the most Charismatic. Played practically everything in The Holy Grail, and a number of memorable roles in the television series.
2. Graham Chapman - Probably my favorite of what seemed to be the two "leaders," Chapman and Cleese. I loved the juxtaposition of straight-faced and absurd. Co-wrote “The Ministry of Silly Walks”, "Raymond Luxury Yacht", and “Dead Parrot.” Oh, and here is part of his memorial service.
3. Eric Idle - The musical talent of the group (apart from Neil Innes) and perhaps the most unique of the bunch (he wrote his material alone). Also responsible for "Spamalot," which I would love to see.
4. John Cleese - I really feel bad putting him this low, as it seems like he's one of the smartest of the bunch. However, he's been tremendously successful outside of Monty Python, so I'm sure he'll cope.
5. Terry Jones - I hate to leave out Gilliam, but half of my esteem for him comes from his non-Python directing efforts. So, I feel it's better to have Jones included for his terrific acting and cross-dressing.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Top 5 Directors of English-Language films
Tim's Top 5:
Given the slowing of the posts on this blog, I'm going to resuscitate it with an overly accessible and simple topic. Enjoy. Moreover, I'll arbitrarily narrow this category in a manner that affects my top 5 list in no way, shape, or form, even with the recent passing of my man Ingmar. Incidentally, I think my next pet will need to be named Ingmar.
1) Alfred Hitchcock - Sorry, his worst movies (Frenzy and Family Plot come to mind) are still worth watching, even though the people in Frenzy are as ugly as they come on screen without the involvement of Tod Browning (Freaks). North by Northwest, Shadow of a Doubt, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, I Confess, Rope, Strangers on a Train, Notorious, Psycho, Vertigo...hell, even Rebecca. No question here. I can't put anyone else on par with him. They're all eminently watchable, enjoyable, and he told better stories than anyone else has ever mustered.
2) Billy Wilder - Better than anyone on the list for covering all genres of film with his mastery. Nobody else was going to put together One, Two, Three and Double Indemnity, let alone be able to toss in Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Stalag 17, and yeah, Some Like It Hot. And, with all apologies to My Cousin Vinny, which is the most realistic litigation-based movie ever made (no, I'm not kidding), Witness for the Prosecution is probably still the best courtroom movie ever made.
3) Stanley Kubrick - Demoted to #3 because his missteps are so blatant -- the absurdly slow ending of Eyes Wide Shut, that ended about 40 minutes too late and ruined the quality of the film in the process; the second half of Full Metal Jacket, which is only passable; The Shining -- a film everyone else loves, but which effectively abandons the source material that has Jack as something other than a monster at the beginning of the film. But every film he's made is defensible, even Lolita, and he took chances where Hitchcock didn't feel a need to. There simply is no other director who could have made A Clockwork Orange, 2001, or Dr. Strangelove...and that alone makes for a fine career.
4) Woody Allen - This is a difficult choice, because if I had to take all the movies a director had directed and put them on my resume, it's much easier to include Scorsese, as he has never directed Celebrity, Anything Else, Interiors, September, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, or Alice, for instance. That said, 1970s Woody Allen excluding Interiors may be one of the finest decades of any director's work -- Love and Death, Manhattan, Sleeper, Annie Hall... yeah, I'd be hard-pressed to turn that down so that I can say I directed Nic Cage in Bringing Out the Dead (albeit an underrated film). Also, Woody Allen won an Oscar for making a good movie, not a really mediocre one.
5) Errol Morris - It's hard not to push him up to #2, but his first two films, including the over-hyped Gates of Heaven just aren't up to par with his later work. And, quite frankly, he doesn't have that much of an ouevre, so it's hard to say that he's accomplished more than Woody Allen, because when Woody Allen had only made eight movies, his resume was better than it is now. He's simply the most impressive documentarian on this earth, and aside from Vernon, Florida, all his movies are intriguing on some level. My favorite is Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, though The Fog of War is worth the Oscar he took home for it. Bonus points for his series First Person, which was uneven, but was occasionally the most fascinating thing that's ever been on television. Negative points for directing too many Miller High Life commercials (e.g., more than zero).
Honorable mention: Martin Scorsese (GoodFellas alone is a magnificent career, throw in Raging Bull and I'm an ass for dumping him off the list -- but what has he done lately??? Not much that's more than ordinary.); Charles Laughton (he is batting 1.000 and now he's dead, well done for directing Night of the Hunter); Orson Welles (almost certainly would fall down this list if I ever managed to get Blockbuster online to send me his actual movies that aren't The Magnificent Ambersons, Citizen Kane, and Touch of Evil, but they wouldn't cooperate...so he stays).
Dan's Top 5:
1. Stanley Kubrick - I've not seen anything bad by this director, unless you count the second half of Full Metal Jacket.
2. Alfred Hitchcock - I've only seen North by Northwest, but that, coupled with tons of Tim-praise, is enough for me to feel confident with him at #2.
3. Wes Anderson - There hasn't been a bad Wes Anderson movie. I am guessing there never will be.
4. Terry Gilliam - Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. There are many who hate them and many who think they're brilliant. I fall into the latter category.
5. Martin Scorcese - I actually liked The Departed, goddamn it. Of course, Raging Bull and Goodfellas were excellent, and I keep kicking myself for never having watched Taxi Driver.
Honorable Mention: Quentin Tarantino. Essentially, he does popular "cover versions" of older movies, only they're originals. To me, he's the "Go! Team" of movie directors.
Ryan's Top Five
I'll use the "I'm going with different people to change things up a bit" ruse to hide the fact that I'm, as Jack Black would say, a cinematic idiot who hasn't seen nearly enough to make this a viable list. Anyway...
1. Wes Anderson - His four movies are four of my favorite movies, and (I think, anyway) exceptionally crafted. He's hilarious and a great cinematographer, and the best soundtrack director ever.
2. Alexander Payne - The fact that I lived in Omaha and still visit often probably pushes him higher than he'd be on most lists. Anyway, I love Election and About Schmidt, and of course Sideways. He really, really gets Midwest life.
3. Edgar Wright - Because Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz rule.
4. Nick Park - OK, technically Curse of the Wererabbit was the only film he's directed, but you could include The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, and A Grand Day Out. Anyway, when I have kids, they will know and love Wallace and Gromit (and Arthur).
5. Christopher Guest - Though I haven't seen For Your Consideration... Everything else has been good: Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman.
Tory's Top Five
1. Stanley Kubrick - Besides Lolita, I enjoyed everything that he made (including Eyes Wide Shut, even if it's ending didn't justify it's incredible journey to it; also including the second half of Full Metal Jacket, which I found to be a good portion of a movie.)
2. Darren Aronofsky - Other than Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Darren is definitely my favorite director, and Jeunet is bumped for speaking "French." He has only made three films, but he started out with a cult bang in Pi, arguably the best movie ever made about math/science (10000000000000000x better than What the Bleep do we know, which had a production value that was on par of a educational film made for health class.) He then went on to direct Requiem for a Dream, which is one of the darkest and dreariest movies ever. His most recent is The Fountain, which I loved even if it got a lot of bad reviews.
3. Wes Anderson - The most formulaic director I can think of, but he makes it work. His style lends itself to making each movie have the same feel more so than any other director I can think of, and it's a feeling I will never get tired of and that I am looking forward to in the Darjeeling Limited.
4. PTA - No, guys, not the Parent-Teacher Association, Paul Thomas Anderson. He is bumped down to number four because his movies aren't as rewatchable as most movies I enjoy are. As good as boogie nights is, I can't think of the next time I will take 2 1/2 hours out of my life. However, the fact that he followed Magnolia up with Punch-Drunk Love and didn't get crucified by all of his fans speaks volumes for his potential. There Will Be Blood should be in the top 5 movies of the year.
5. David Lynch - This is obviously simply in terms of him as a director, and definitely not as a writer. I hate the story behind Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, but the look (Mulholland Drive at least; Lost Highway looks like it has the quality of a home movie) he gives his movies is immeasurably dark. Eraserhead, despite it's awkward storyline, look incredible and for some reason I am drawn to his awkward surrealist-like direction. Even when he doesn't do his own films, he can succeed (at least with The Elephant Man; I haven't seen Dune or the Straight Story.) He also triumphed with Blue Velvet. I haven't seen Inland Empire yet, nor have I ever seen Twin Peaks.
Honorable Mentions: Quentin Tarantino - I will never forgive him for Death Proof, the most boring movie ever made.
Given the slowing of the posts on this blog, I'm going to resuscitate it with an overly accessible and simple topic. Enjoy. Moreover, I'll arbitrarily narrow this category in a manner that affects my top 5 list in no way, shape, or form, even with the recent passing of my man Ingmar. Incidentally, I think my next pet will need to be named Ingmar.
1) Alfred Hitchcock - Sorry, his worst movies (Frenzy and Family Plot come to mind) are still worth watching, even though the people in Frenzy are as ugly as they come on screen without the involvement of Tod Browning (Freaks). North by Northwest, Shadow of a Doubt, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, I Confess, Rope, Strangers on a Train, Notorious, Psycho, Vertigo...hell, even Rebecca. No question here. I can't put anyone else on par with him. They're all eminently watchable, enjoyable, and he told better stories than anyone else has ever mustered.
2) Billy Wilder - Better than anyone on the list for covering all genres of film with his mastery. Nobody else was going to put together One, Two, Three and Double Indemnity, let alone be able to toss in Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Stalag 17, and yeah, Some Like It Hot. And, with all apologies to My Cousin Vinny, which is the most realistic litigation-based movie ever made (no, I'm not kidding), Witness for the Prosecution is probably still the best courtroom movie ever made.
3) Stanley Kubrick - Demoted to #3 because his missteps are so blatant -- the absurdly slow ending of Eyes Wide Shut, that ended about 40 minutes too late and ruined the quality of the film in the process; the second half of Full Metal Jacket, which is only passable; The Shining -- a film everyone else loves, but which effectively abandons the source material that has Jack as something other than a monster at the beginning of the film. But every film he's made is defensible, even Lolita, and he took chances where Hitchcock didn't feel a need to. There simply is no other director who could have made A Clockwork Orange, 2001, or Dr. Strangelove...and that alone makes for a fine career.
4) Woody Allen - This is a difficult choice, because if I had to take all the movies a director had directed and put them on my resume, it's much easier to include Scorsese, as he has never directed Celebrity, Anything Else, Interiors, September, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, or Alice, for instance. That said, 1970s Woody Allen excluding Interiors may be one of the finest decades of any director's work -- Love and Death, Manhattan, Sleeper, Annie Hall... yeah, I'd be hard-pressed to turn that down so that I can say I directed Nic Cage in Bringing Out the Dead (albeit an underrated film). Also, Woody Allen won an Oscar for making a good movie, not a really mediocre one.
5) Errol Morris - It's hard not to push him up to #2, but his first two films, including the over-hyped Gates of Heaven just aren't up to par with his later work. And, quite frankly, he doesn't have that much of an ouevre, so it's hard to say that he's accomplished more than Woody Allen, because when Woody Allen had only made eight movies, his resume was better than it is now. He's simply the most impressive documentarian on this earth, and aside from Vernon, Florida, all his movies are intriguing on some level. My favorite is Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, though The Fog of War is worth the Oscar he took home for it. Bonus points for his series First Person, which was uneven, but was occasionally the most fascinating thing that's ever been on television. Negative points for directing too many Miller High Life commercials (e.g., more than zero).
Honorable mention: Martin Scorsese (GoodFellas alone is a magnificent career, throw in Raging Bull and I'm an ass for dumping him off the list -- but what has he done lately??? Not much that's more than ordinary.); Charles Laughton (he is batting 1.000 and now he's dead, well done for directing Night of the Hunter); Orson Welles (almost certainly would fall down this list if I ever managed to get Blockbuster online to send me his actual movies that aren't The Magnificent Ambersons, Citizen Kane, and Touch of Evil, but they wouldn't cooperate...so he stays).
Dan's Top 5:
1. Stanley Kubrick - I've not seen anything bad by this director, unless you count the second half of Full Metal Jacket.
2. Alfred Hitchcock - I've only seen North by Northwest, but that, coupled with tons of Tim-praise, is enough for me to feel confident with him at #2.
3. Wes Anderson - There hasn't been a bad Wes Anderson movie. I am guessing there never will be.
4. Terry Gilliam - Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. There are many who hate them and many who think they're brilliant. I fall into the latter category.
5. Martin Scorcese - I actually liked The Departed, goddamn it. Of course, Raging Bull and Goodfellas were excellent, and I keep kicking myself for never having watched Taxi Driver.
Honorable Mention: Quentin Tarantino. Essentially, he does popular "cover versions" of older movies, only they're originals. To me, he's the "Go! Team" of movie directors.
Ryan's Top Five
I'll use the "I'm going with different people to change things up a bit" ruse to hide the fact that I'm, as Jack Black would say, a cinematic idiot who hasn't seen nearly enough to make this a viable list. Anyway...
1. Wes Anderson - His four movies are four of my favorite movies, and (I think, anyway) exceptionally crafted. He's hilarious and a great cinematographer, and the best soundtrack director ever.
2. Alexander Payne - The fact that I lived in Omaha and still visit often probably pushes him higher than he'd be on most lists. Anyway, I love Election and About Schmidt, and of course Sideways. He really, really gets Midwest life.
3. Edgar Wright - Because Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz rule.
4. Nick Park - OK, technically Curse of the Wererabbit was the only film he's directed, but you could include The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, and A Grand Day Out. Anyway, when I have kids, they will know and love Wallace and Gromit (and Arthur).
5. Christopher Guest - Though I haven't seen For Your Consideration... Everything else has been good: Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman.
Tory's Top Five
1. Stanley Kubrick - Besides Lolita, I enjoyed everything that he made (including Eyes Wide Shut, even if it's ending didn't justify it's incredible journey to it; also including the second half of Full Metal Jacket, which I found to be a good portion of a movie.)
2. Darren Aronofsky - Other than Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Darren is definitely my favorite director, and Jeunet is bumped for speaking "French." He has only made three films, but he started out with a cult bang in Pi, arguably the best movie ever made about math/science (10000000000000000x better than What the Bleep do we know, which had a production value that was on par of a educational film made for health class.) He then went on to direct Requiem for a Dream, which is one of the darkest and dreariest movies ever. His most recent is The Fountain, which I loved even if it got a lot of bad reviews.
3. Wes Anderson - The most formulaic director I can think of, but he makes it work. His style lends itself to making each movie have the same feel more so than any other director I can think of, and it's a feeling I will never get tired of and that I am looking forward to in the Darjeeling Limited.
4. PTA - No, guys, not the Parent-Teacher Association, Paul Thomas Anderson. He is bumped down to number four because his movies aren't as rewatchable as most movies I enjoy are. As good as boogie nights is, I can't think of the next time I will take 2 1/2 hours out of my life. However, the fact that he followed Magnolia up with Punch-Drunk Love and didn't get crucified by all of his fans speaks volumes for his potential. There Will Be Blood should be in the top 5 movies of the year.
5. David Lynch - This is obviously simply in terms of him as a director, and definitely not as a writer. I hate the story behind Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, but the look (Mulholland Drive at least; Lost Highway looks like it has the quality of a home movie) he gives his movies is immeasurably dark. Eraserhead, despite it's awkward storyline, look incredible and for some reason I am drawn to his awkward surrealist-like direction. Even when he doesn't do his own films, he can succeed (at least with The Elephant Man; I haven't seen Dune or the Straight Story.) He also triumphed with Blue Velvet. I haven't seen Inland Empire yet, nor have I ever seen Twin Peaks.
Honorable Mentions: Quentin Tarantino - I will never forgive him for Death Proof, the most boring movie ever made.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Top 5 Movie Punches
I came up with this list while watching Wedding Crashers, and anyone familiar with this movie should be able to link the title to the scene. I suppose it could be a tough list, but I'm including a good deal of honorable mentions to help with options. Unfortunately, I didn't have that luxury, but I did go through all of my netflix rated movies to look for all my options. The idea of this list is the top five singular punches, or knockout punches. If it is a few punches from one guy to another, like he's just beating the shit out of him for a couple punches, I will accept it, as I have one or two like that. If you want to break this rule, you can, but I'm setting that none of these punches have a counter from the victim.
Tory's Top 5:
1. Wedding Crashers - Vince Vaughn punching Sack - There are punches that are perhaps prettier, but none of them come with quite the cathartic "Go, Vince Vaughn." kind of reaction. I'm still not sure if his name is Sack or Zack, but I know Vince punched the shit out of him.
2. Groundhog Day - Bill Murray punching Ned Rier - Not sure how to spell his last name, but this ranks number two as it is definitely the funniest punch in movie history.
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Sirius Black punching whoever - You've gotta commend someone who is an insanely powerful wizard and then in order to save his Godson, casts magic and spells away and just knocks the hell out of Malfoy (I think that's who he hits.)
4. Rushmore - Max Fischer getting punched - "Don't fuck with my play." ::Whack::
5. Fight Club - Norton punching Pitt - A good deal of these are comedic punches, and this is no difference. Norton, forced to punch Brad Pitt, not sure of what he's doing and hitting Pitt in the ear. Though I've never been in a fight, I have been hit in the ear, and vastly funny reaction by Pitt is understood.
Honorable Mentions - Mr. Smith goes to Washington, the punch montage; Life Aquatic, the sucker punch scene; Snatch, gorgeous George getting hit by Pitt; Hustle and Flow, Terrence Howard's beatdown on Skinny Black; Mallrats, Ben Affleck getting punched by Jason Lee.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Back To the Future - George McFly punches Biff Tannen - The one punch that changed history... literally. This one punch lunched an entirely different course of history wherein George is successful and Biff is timid. Violence may not solve life's problems, but it can make your life a hell of a lot better thirty years down the road.
2. Snatch - "Iron" Mickey O'Neil punches Horace "Good Night" Anderson - Just as important as the punch is the underwater shot of Brad Pitt, having momentarily been knocked unconscious and summoning up a final blow from nowhere. Equally important is the best piece of narration in the entire movie, "Now, we're fucked."
3. Rocky II - Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed punch each other - A boxing match with a dramatic conclusion? Either you're watching an old Muhammad Ali fight, or you're watching a boxing movie. Throughout Rocky II, you're pulling for Rocky just as much as - if not more than - during the first movie. In a way, I was also pulling for Creed as well, so the fight to get back to their wobbly legs is edge-of-your-seat suspense.
4. Independence Day - Capt. Steven Hiller punches an alien fighter pilot - Nothing says "I'm a badass American" than letting humanity's first contact with an alien species be a knockout punch to the head. What's amazing about this punch is that it knocked the alien pilot out for a really long time, right until it was about to die on the operating table.
5. Blazing Saddles - Mongo punches a horse - I take #4 back, this is how you indicate being a badass. Punch a defenseless animal for no apparent reason, other than to punch something. This answers that question, "what the fuck was that for?"
Honorable mentions: Everything Tory mentioned.
Ryan's Top Five
I'll try to think of some new ones...
1. High Fidelity - Dick punches Ian with a telephone - Hilarity, pure and simple. Those are some of my favorite scenes from any movie.
2. Office Space - Michael Bolton punches the printer - What I love is that you can really see the rage right after he throws away the bat and starts punching the machine. Who on earth has watched this and not wanted to participate?
3. Snatch - One-Punch Machine Gun Mickey gets knocked down by Good Night Anderson - Really the other punches from Snatch are better, but this one is an awesome shot. Notably, Brad Pitt's body is at one point parallel with the ground, in mid-air. Also the sound effects are cool.
4. Breakfast Club - Judd. T. Nelson punches the sky at the end - BWA HA HA I THOUGHT OF THE BEST ANSWER EVER! Don't you, forget about this scene...don't don't don't don't...
5. The Simpsons - Drederick Tatum punches Homer on top of his skull - Yes, this is cheating, because it's from a TV show, but The Simpsons managed to make a cartoon punch cringe-worthy. That's pretty good.
Side note: I haven't seen many boxing movies.
Tory's Top 5:
1. Wedding Crashers - Vince Vaughn punching Sack - There are punches that are perhaps prettier, but none of them come with quite the cathartic "Go, Vince Vaughn." kind of reaction. I'm still not sure if his name is Sack or Zack, but I know Vince punched the shit out of him.
2. Groundhog Day - Bill Murray punching Ned Rier - Not sure how to spell his last name, but this ranks number two as it is definitely the funniest punch in movie history.
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Sirius Black punching whoever - You've gotta commend someone who is an insanely powerful wizard and then in order to save his Godson, casts magic and spells away and just knocks the hell out of Malfoy (I think that's who he hits.)
4. Rushmore - Max Fischer getting punched - "Don't fuck with my play." ::Whack::
5. Fight Club - Norton punching Pitt - A good deal of these are comedic punches, and this is no difference. Norton, forced to punch Brad Pitt, not sure of what he's doing and hitting Pitt in the ear. Though I've never been in a fight, I have been hit in the ear, and vastly funny reaction by Pitt is understood.
Honorable Mentions - Mr. Smith goes to Washington, the punch montage; Life Aquatic, the sucker punch scene; Snatch, gorgeous George getting hit by Pitt; Hustle and Flow, Terrence Howard's beatdown on Skinny Black; Mallrats, Ben Affleck getting punched by Jason Lee.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Back To the Future - George McFly punches Biff Tannen - The one punch that changed history... literally. This one punch lunched an entirely different course of history wherein George is successful and Biff is timid. Violence may not solve life's problems, but it can make your life a hell of a lot better thirty years down the road.
2. Snatch - "Iron" Mickey O'Neil punches Horace "Good Night" Anderson - Just as important as the punch is the underwater shot of Brad Pitt, having momentarily been knocked unconscious and summoning up a final blow from nowhere. Equally important is the best piece of narration in the entire movie, "Now, we're fucked."
3. Rocky II - Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed punch each other - A boxing match with a dramatic conclusion? Either you're watching an old Muhammad Ali fight, or you're watching a boxing movie. Throughout Rocky II, you're pulling for Rocky just as much as - if not more than - during the first movie. In a way, I was also pulling for Creed as well, so the fight to get back to their wobbly legs is edge-of-your-seat suspense.
4. Independence Day - Capt. Steven Hiller punches an alien fighter pilot - Nothing says "I'm a badass American" than letting humanity's first contact with an alien species be a knockout punch to the head. What's amazing about this punch is that it knocked the alien pilot out for a really long time, right until it was about to die on the operating table.
5. Blazing Saddles - Mongo punches a horse - I take #4 back, this is how you indicate being a badass. Punch a defenseless animal for no apparent reason, other than to punch something. This answers that question, "what the fuck was that for?"
Honorable mentions: Everything Tory mentioned.
Ryan's Top Five
I'll try to think of some new ones...
1. High Fidelity - Dick punches Ian with a telephone - Hilarity, pure and simple. Those are some of my favorite scenes from any movie.
2. Office Space - Michael Bolton punches the printer - What I love is that you can really see the rage right after he throws away the bat and starts punching the machine. Who on earth has watched this and not wanted to participate?
3. Snatch - One-Punch Machine Gun Mickey gets knocked down by Good Night Anderson - Really the other punches from Snatch are better, but this one is an awesome shot. Notably, Brad Pitt's body is at one point parallel with the ground, in mid-air. Also the sound effects are cool.
4. Breakfast Club - Judd. T. Nelson punches the sky at the end - BWA HA HA I THOUGHT OF THE BEST ANSWER EVER! Don't you, forget about this scene...don't don't don't don't...
5. The Simpsons - Drederick Tatum punches Homer on top of his skull - Yes, this is cheating, because it's from a TV show, but The Simpsons managed to make a cartoon punch cringe-worthy. That's pretty good.
Side note: I haven't seen many boxing movies.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Top 5 Comedies Since 2000
I almost went with "Top 5 Movies Since 2000," but after checking my list and seeing that they were all comedies, I figured I'd give myself a chance of being in line with normal movie-going folk.
I only ever watch comedies--given, some darker than others--now, it seems.
Ryan's Top 5:
1. Hot Fuzz - OK, this one may be a bit premature...but it just feels more complete than Shaun of the Dead, what can I say. This is a tie, really.
2. Shaun of the Dead - See above. These guys are immensely talented comedians. The scripts are so intricately woven...I really don't know how 1 or 2 could be better.
3. High Fidelity - Great book, great movie. Nick Hornby writes books that just beg to be made into movies that don't involve baseball.
4. Snatch - I forgot to include what used to be my favorite movie. Really funny, and the soundtrack kicks ass.
5. Wonder Boys - Great book, great movie. Katie Holmes doesn't ruin it, and Robert Downey, Jr., actually creates a better character in the movie than the novel's counterpart, in my mind. I know this isn't a book-movie comparison, but the movie is certainly more light-hearted--and more directly concerned with comedy, albeit the dark variety.
=================================================
*6. Sideways - My impulse is not to include this, but then I think about Thomas Haden Church...every line he says is funny.
Honorable mentions/I wasn't sure how much "comedy" they actually were, in no order:
About Schmidt
Love Actually
The Royal Tenenbaums (comedy?)
About a Boy
Life Aquatic (comedy? I still stand by my assertion that I've had since it came out: this movie is like Wes Anderson made a feature-length Max Fischer play)
Wallace and Gromit
Dan's Top 5:
1. Snatch - Probably the best use of plot ever, full of hilarious situations.
2. High Fidelity - The film that supplements my music addiction.
3. Hot Fuzz - I loved this film even better than Shaun of the Dead, and that's saying something.
4. Sideways - A good film that reminds me I'm never as depressed as I could be.
5. For Your Consideration - Christopher Guest and crew are hilarious in this unscripted parody of modern moviemaking.
Tory's Top 5:
1. Sideways - The best movie ever made.
2. Amelie - Beautiful in every way. It is hilarious and brilliantly made. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a genius.
3. High Fidelity - I don't need to explain as it's on every other list here.
4. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny - Let's face it. Despite it not being number one on my list (that is because it didn't have Alexander Payne, Jean-Pierre or Stephen Frears at the helm in favor of Liam Lynch) it is still the funniest movie ever made (for Ryan's sake I'll say tied with Office Space.)
5. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - You all put it in honorable mentions, but I think that it is hilarious, and of course extremely well done since Wes Anderson directed it.
I only ever watch comedies--given, some darker than others--now, it seems.
Ryan's Top 5:
1. Hot Fuzz - OK, this one may be a bit premature...but it just feels more complete than Shaun of the Dead, what can I say. This is a tie, really.
2. Shaun of the Dead - See above. These guys are immensely talented comedians. The scripts are so intricately woven...I really don't know how 1 or 2 could be better.
3. High Fidelity - Great book, great movie. Nick Hornby writes books that just beg to be made into movies that don't involve baseball.
4. Snatch - I forgot to include what used to be my favorite movie. Really funny, and the soundtrack kicks ass.
5. Wonder Boys - Great book, great movie. Katie Holmes doesn't ruin it, and Robert Downey, Jr., actually creates a better character in the movie than the novel's counterpart, in my mind. I know this isn't a book-movie comparison, but the movie is certainly more light-hearted--and more directly concerned with comedy, albeit the dark variety.
=================================================
*6. Sideways - My impulse is not to include this, but then I think about Thomas Haden Church...every line he says is funny.
Honorable mentions/I wasn't sure how much "comedy" they actually were, in no order:
About Schmidt
Love Actually
The Royal Tenenbaums (comedy?)
About a Boy
Life Aquatic (comedy? I still stand by my assertion that I've had since it came out: this movie is like Wes Anderson made a feature-length Max Fischer play)
Wallace and Gromit
Tim's Top 5
My list is relatively unpredictable precisely because three of the five on the list aren’t really comedic in the ha ha sense.
1) Catch Me If You Can – There’s not a joke in the film, but it’s lighthearted enough that it’s really hard to call it anything but a comedy. I think it’s undoubtedly Spielberg’s best effort at filmmaking. He’s made more significant films, but he actually made this one what it was.
2) About a Boy – It’d have to be #1, if it weren’t for the weak ending. That said, the book upon which it was based suffered from the same deficiency…and the ending of the book, like all of Hornby’s novels, is just flat out mediocre.
3) Wonder Boys – A movie I really didn’t care much for the first time I saw it, but it’s grown on me and become one of my favorite movies, and one of the few that I watch with any regularity.
4) Team America: World Police – I took ages to see it, but it was well worth the wait. It has its shortcomings – it’s overly crude and targets too many people, but Kim Jong Il’s panthers, “Matt Damon!”, The End of An Act and freedom costing a buck o’five work magic for me.
5) Stranger Than Fiction – Again, it’s not a pure comedy, but it’s one of the most literary films in ages and just seems pitch perfect from start to finish. Will Ferrell’s performance really warranted a film that more than a dozen people would see, but it was rightly 2006’s Best Picture. And yet it's only fifth on this list...which tells you a lot about 2006.
Here’s four more that could have made the list, only the first three are really comedies in their pure form.
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Meet the Parents
Thank You For Smoking
Big Fish
Love Actually
For the record, I've seen neither Hot Fuzz nor Shaun of the Dead.
Dan's Top 5:
1. Snatch - Probably the best use of plot ever, full of hilarious situations.
2. High Fidelity - The film that supplements my music addiction.
3. Hot Fuzz - I loved this film even better than Shaun of the Dead, and that's saying something.
4. Sideways - A good film that reminds me I'm never as depressed as I could be.
5. For Your Consideration - Christopher Guest and crew are hilarious in this unscripted parody of modern moviemaking.
Tory's Top 5:
1. Sideways - The best movie ever made.
2. Amelie - Beautiful in every way. It is hilarious and brilliantly made. Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a genius.
3. High Fidelity - I don't need to explain as it's on every other list here.
4. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny - Let's face it. Despite it not being number one on my list (that is because it didn't have Alexander Payne, Jean-Pierre or Stephen Frears at the helm in favor of Liam Lynch) it is still the funniest movie ever made (for Ryan's sake I'll say tied with Office Space.)
5. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - You all put it in honorable mentions, but I think that it is hilarious, and of course extremely well done since Wes Anderson directed it.
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