100 Films

I suppose the AFI can have their 100, so I get mine, admittedly biased. I guess it is not quite fair to the books, poems and songs, but this seemed a better cross-section, and since I have been seeing movies since before I could read (I understand that 'Jaws' was the first movie I was taken to in a theater... I don't remember... the first movie I remember is 'Star Wars' at age 4, which, by then, I had been reading for a year).

So, due to my love of films, and it is Oscar season and all that, I give you, my dedicated readers, 100 films that affected me in how I saw the world or in what I wanted to be... or I just liked them a lot, and while in a particular order, know that outside the top 10, the order could change at a whim :)

I will also try and keep the commentary on these to a minimum lest my post start resembling the prior short story posts :)

1) The Empire Strikes Back- I am not sure I need to explain this :) One of the main reasons I am still a sci-fi nerd.
2) Star Wars- Without it, I would have no #1.
3) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers- Ok, so I am a big fan of middle movies of trilogies
4) Almost Famous/Untitled- Something about this film always inspires me... and it was set in a very good year (1973). Oh, the director's cut (Untitled) is worthy though significantly longer.
5) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring- I should point out that when I mention the LOTR movies, I mean the extended versions :)
6) Glory- Such an amazing, stirring soundtrack... contrasting the stark realism of the film itself.
7) Last of the Mohicans- If ever a soundtrack made a movie light years better...
8) Return of the Jedi- Would be higher were it not for Ewoks.
9) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- Would be higher if the movie did not feel like it was going to end 4 times in the last half hour.
10) Aliens- The best hard sci-fi movie ever... mmm... pulse rifles.
11) Raiders of the Lost Ark- Weren't the early 80's great?
12) Dances With Wolves- The cinematography really made the film come alive, aside from it also being amazingly good.
13) Unforgiven- 'Deserve ain't got nothin' to do with it.' -- As good a line, to me, as 'Go ahead, make my day'.
14) Ben-Hur- More epic than other films when epic was a going concern, but what really set the film apart was its acting, something a lot of epic films lacked at the time.
15) Letters From Iwo Jima- One of the best films I have seen in years, and such an amazing look at the hopelessness of war and the contrasting ideals of duty. While it will probably lose, to me, it deserves Best Picture this year.
16) Superman- There is only one Superman.
17) We Were Soldiers- Forget the Mel Gibson bias, this was simply an excellent film that told the stories of the soldiers involved in the Vietnam War with little bias on both sides.
18) Spartacus- What 'Gladiator' wanted to be... ok, that's not fair. 'Gladiator' was a great film in its own right, but 'Spartacus' was able to transcend the spate of films that imitated it, while 'Gladiator' had no real competition.
19) Full Metal Jacket- The first half, with the amazing R. Lee Ermy, was almost perfect... the second half, while good, was a little bit of a let down.
20) The Last Samurai- As much as it pains me to put anything up with Tom Cruise :) Thank goodness for Ken Watanabe.
21) Real Genius- Orbital lasers, nerds, liquid nitrogen, a house full of popcorn, no other cheesy 80's movie could top that :)
22) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan- I don't even need to say the line.
23) Schindler's List- I still get choked up every time I see it.
24) Batman- Jack Nicholson as the Joker, 'nuff said.
25) Excalibur- Merlin has the best lines...
26) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home- Kirk and Spock doing their best Laurel and Hardy it seems... just amazingly funny.
27) The Outlaw Josey Wales- A little dated, but one of Eastwood's best.
28) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade- Can't wait for 'Indy 4'.
29) The Untouchables- Speaking of Sean Connery.
30) Somewhere In Time- Ok, so I like sappy quasi-sci fi romances set in the early 1900's. But it stars Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour... how could that be bad? (and some music by Rachmaninoff)
31) The Fog of War- A documentary, true, but released in the theaters... about the life and regret of Robert S. McNamara. Highly recommended.
32) The Shootist- John Wayne's last film, but one of his best performances.
33) Dirty Harry- Ah, the vigilante cop craze... and the obsession in police forces with the .357 or .44 Magnum.
34) Braveheart- Might be higher if it had some sense of historical accuracy, and if I was still married (we used the music from the film in my wedding... yay.)
35) Clerks- The original and still the best, though the new one was pretty funny.
36) Field of Dreams- I still need to visit the cornfield in Iowa.
37) Robin and Marian- Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn... need I say more?
38) Alien- Scared me stupid when I was 6.
39) Ghostbusters- I probably watched this too much as a kid.
40) Poltergeist- Ibid.
41) The Cowboys- John Wayne at his best (would not say his prime, but certainly his best).
42) Hoosiers- We used to watch this before many a game to get inspired... sadly, we still lost a lot of the time.
43) Henry V- I sort of liked Kenneth Branagh's version better... so sue me.
44) Wizard of Oz- Many of the films above owe a lot to this film.
45) 2010: The Year We Make Contact- I liked this better than 2001... I also liked the book better than 2001.
46) 2001: A Space Odyssey- but not much better.
47) Caddyshack- Would be higher were I a golf fan... since I am not, it still is darn funny thanks to some great comedians in their prime.
48) Platoon- Well done... one of the few Oliver Stone films that does not feel like an Oliver Stone film.
49) A Bridge Too Far- A fantastic film, and had quite the cast at the time... Robert Redford, Anthony Hopkins, Sir Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, to name a few, plus directed by Richard Attenborough.
50) Eight Men Out- The reason Shoeless Joe goes to Iowa.
51) And the Band Played On- Another film with an excellent cast, about the early struggle and history of AIDS.
52) 300- when history and fantasy collide, fantasy always wins it seems :) but a great movie nonetheless.
53) Batman Begins- One of the most well-written superhero films I have seen.
54) Jurassic Park- Loved the book, but the dinosaurs weren't bad :)
55) A Time to Kill- Some intriguing questions about justice and vengeance in this film.
56) Thunderball- Still my favorite Bond film.
57) The Muppet Movie- A movie for lovers, dreamers and me :)
58) Outland- A lot of Sean Connery films on this list...
59) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory- Johnny Depp is no Gene Wilder :)
60) The Ten Commandments- Were I more religious, this would be higher... but I'm not.
61) Borat: Make Benefit etc, etc,- Sascha Baron Cohen is a disgusting, revolting genius. I laughed my self silly.
62) Gladiator- It won a lot of Oscars in a thin year, nonetheless enjoyable, though.
63) Troy- I know, one of about 100 people that liked this, but I'm a fan of the period.
64) The Insider- The movie Russell Crowe should have won his Oscar for.
65) Boogie Nights- Burt Reynolds was great in this... plus some fantastic music too.
66) Mystery Men- One of my favorite Geoffrey Rush films.
67) Die Hard- When you need cheesy action in the late 80's, call Bruce Willis.
68) Bloodsport- Or Jean Claude Van Damme :)
69) Better Off Dead- One of those really quirky 80's films that never took itself too seriously, and it worked.
70) Richard III- A 1930's fascist England version with a very evil Sir Ian McKellan.
71) Revenge of the Sith- The prequels will be on the list... just face facts. I'm too big a Star Wars nerd to not let that happen. Besides, there were things I liked in all of them.
72) Grave of the Fireflies- One of the best, and most harrowing animes ever made. About two very young siblings trying to survive the firebombing of Tokyo.
73) Seven Samurai- I admit, I have not seen a lot of Kurosawa, but I have seen this one.
74) Hotel Rwanda- A tough film to watch, but worth it.
75) The Last King of Scotland- See it if only for Forest Whitaker's stellar performance as Idi Amin.
76) Akira- Still one of the best animes ever.
77) Much Ado About Nothing- Ah, nothing like a good Shakespearean comedy...
78) Top Gun- Blast Tom Cruise...
79) Tombstone- 'I'm your huckleberry...' Val Kilmer should have at least been nominated for his performance as Doc Holliday... robbery I say.
80) The Phantom Menace- Darth Maul...
81) Star Trek: First Contact- One of the few TNG movies that actually worked and did not feel like an overblown TV episode.
82) Airplane!- Such a great spoof of disaster films.
83) The Final Countdown- I wonder if it inspired the 'Guns of the South'?
84) Gettysburg- While 4 hours long, I rather enjoy it, especially Jeff Daniels as Col. Joshua Chamberlain... and Martin Sheen is great as Robert E. Lee (though Robert Duvall portrays him slightly better in 'Gods and Generals').
85) Major League- One of the funnier baseball movies around... though the Cleveland jokes aren't as fresh anymore. Maybe if they made one about the Rangers.
86) Princess Mononoke- Another fabulous anime from Hayao Miazaki, and some great voice acting in this one.
87) My Neighbour Totoro- If you have kids, make them see this... see it even if you don't have kids.
88) The Silence of The Lambs- Anthony Hopkins is still so chilling in this... never gets old.
89) First Knight- Sean Connery as King Arthur... very cool.
90) Big Trouble in Little China- How do you describe this film?
91) Dogma- I enjoyed it more for the jabs at organized religion than Smith's humor.
92) The Longest Day- Fantastic film about the invasion of Normandy... much like 'A Bridge Too Far' in its casting... too many to list.
93) In the Mouth of Madness- One of the few 'horror' films on the list, and this one has a bit of Lovecraft in it to make it better :)
94) The Matrix- More for what it changed in special effects than anything else... good plot twist too. But it loses spots thanks to its sequels.(actually, mostly 'Revolutions')
95) Planet of the Apes (1968)- 'Don't look for it, Taylor. You may not like what you will find.' I know I was surprised when I saw it the first time (but I was seven, sooo...)
96) The Sting- I can sort of play 'The Entertainer'... about the only thing I can play on the piano.
97) The Thin Red Line- Much praise was given to 'Saving Private Ryan' over this film, but the dreamy, hazy quality contrasting the realism of battle was intriguing.
98) Jaws- How could I leave the first film I saw off the list?
99) Rocky- Or the second? (whether I remember them or not).
100) Attack of the Clones- I told you I would put all the prequels on the list... besides, I like Tyranus' fighting style (Form II for the uninitiated :).


Ok, if you made it this far, I thank you for you might even be braver than I.

C.