Antioch Forever

Lucainan's Top 100 Favorite Movies, Part I

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Part I (100–71)
• Part II (70–41)
• Part III (40–11)
• Part IV (Top Ten)

Part I (100–71)

100. Big Fish (2003) Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lang, Helen Bonham Carter, Steve Buschemi, and Danny DeVito

Kicking off the list is Tim Burton's Big Fish. From my experience with Tim Burton films, visually, it is both a departure and staying the same ground. While it still has the amazing visuals that leave you awestruck as in all his movies, Big Fish is bright and colorful. This is unlike his previous films like Batman, Sleepy Hallow, and Beetlejuice which were rather dark in both scenery and subject matter. This film chronicles the life of Ed Bloom (Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney) or at least his own version of it. What is truth and what is fiction is pretty unimportant as we are so engrossed in his story and his fantastical world and the equally fantastical characters he meets that we never want to leave.

BONUS POINTS: Steve Buschemi, Danny DeVito turning into a warewolf.
"There are some fish that can't be caught. It's not that they're bigger or faster then the other fish, they're just touched by something extra."

099. Run Lola Run (1998) Directed by Tom Tykwer
Starring Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri, and Armin Rohde

Style over substance. That pretty much sums up this film. However, Run Lola Run (Lola rennt is its original German title) is so fast paced and engrossing that it literally puts you on the edge of your seat for all of its eighty minutes. The film's central message is something that I've always been fascinated with: that even our smallest actions can have an enormous impact. Beyond that message, Run Lola Run doesn't have too much to say, but it's just a pleasure to not think and go along for the ride.

BONUS POINTS: Further proves my theory that somebody dies in every German movie ever made.
"But in the end, isn't it always the same question and always the same answer?"

098. Blazing Saddles (1974) Directed by Mel Brooks
Starring Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, David Huddleston, Madeline Kahn, and Mel Brooks

After thirty years, this film can still be considered offensive to people who have no sense of humor. Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks's third movie is the one that truly began his style and what he's been known for, his spoofs, this one being his best (though I will always have a soft spot for Spaceballs). What really distinguishes the film is the finale. Blazing Saddles has one of the best, if not the best, ending of a comedy movie ever. The kind of ending that makes impossible not to like this movie. But what's interesting is that screen legend John Wayne loved the script and wanted to play Gene Wilder's part of the Waco Kid, but turned it down because it didn't coincide with his image. He took that regret to the grave, I'm sure.

BONUS POINTS: The French Mistake.
"Hey, where the white women at?"

097. Dirty Harry (1971) Directed by Don Siegel
Starring Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, and Andrew Robinson

If you were to ever see Clint Eastwood on the street, you would not screw around with him. If you did, there is no doubt in my mind that he would kill you. He's Clint Eastwood. In Dirty Harry, even moreso than any of his Westerns, he solidifies the fact that he is the coldest, stone-faced badass ever to appear on screen. If there were to be a movie called Dirty Harry vs. Predator, the Predator would soil itself as soon as Harry raised his .44 Magnum. In addition to having one of the best lines in cinema history, this film is also 100% pure 1970's camp, which adds a whole new dimension of entertainment to viewing this. The cheese makes this one a classic.

BONUS POINTS: Making you fear someone who wears a sweater vest.
"I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinking, 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, I've forgotten, myself, in all this excitement. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"

096. JFK (1991) Directed by Oliver Stone
Starring Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, and Joe Pesci

When watching a film like this, one wonders what is truth and what is fiction. This being an Oliver Stone picture, you realize that some liberties have been taken, but if even if only 10% of the information about the Kennedy assassination is true, it's still pretty disturbing. Every moment of this film is so fascinating, every technical detail, every angle, every person that doesn't fit quite right is incredibly fascinating. The other thing about this movie is it's almost as if every actor in Hollywood at the time was in it, even for a two minute bit part, which would be kind of distracting, if it weren't perfect for a movie like this.

BONUS POINTS: A Kevin Costner movie that doesn't suck, and Joe Pesci as a gay southern man in a bad wig. I don't think it gets much better.
"People are suckers for the truth. And the truth is on your side, Bubba."

095. Heat (1995) Directed by Michael Mann
Starring Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Val Kilmer, John Voight, Tom Sizemore, and Diane Venora

This is probably one of the smartest crime movies to come out in years. It is not just a story of a master criminal planning a heist and the cop who must catch him. It takes us into their lives, their motivations, why they chase and why they steal. And in their very first scene together in any film, the theif Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro) and the cop, Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) sit in a diner discussing their lot in life, they both know what must happen in the end.

BONUS POINTS: Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in the same shot. YES.
"There is a flip side to that coin. What if you do got me boxed in and I gotta put you down? Cause no matter what, you will not get in my way. We've been face to face, yeah. But I will not hesitate. Not for a second."

094. Groundhog Day (1993) Directed by Harold Ramis
Starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, and Stephen Tobolowsky

Andie MacDowell could possibly be the worst actress in Hollywood, she's completely vacant of emotion or expression in anything she's in, but she isn't bad here and this movie is hilarious. The premise is that Phil Conners (Bill Murray), a local TV weatherman is doomed to repeat the same day over any over again for all eternity. Bill Murray is absolutely perfect, going from various stages through depression and anger to sheer benevolence and if he wasn't in this movie, I don't think it would be anywhere near this list.

BONUS POINTS: Animal cruelty at its most hilarious.
"Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today."

093. Spider-Man 2 (2004) Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Tobey MacGuire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, and J.K. Simmons

Spider-Man 2 is everything why we go to the movies. Action, adventure, romance, comedy, Bruce Campbell, drama, everything. The film is a vast improvement on its predecessor, which was good, but not great. The sequel, however, is the perfect summer blockbuster action flick. Instead of giving us a hero who is nothing more than a killing machine (which isn't always a bad thing), Peter Parker (Tobey MacaGuire) is a real human being with real emotions and motivation. We root for Parker because we care, not just because we like watching things explode.

BONUS POINTS: BRUCE CAMPBELL!
"Go get 'em, tiger."

092. Rocky (1975) Directed by John G. Avildsen
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) a near washed up, nothing boxer gets a shot at the the world championship. It's not hard to see where a movie like this is going. But movies, especially ones like this, are not meant to be watched to see what happens next, but how it happens. To see Rocky's complete turnaround after given a shot by complete chance is both amazing and inspiring to watch.

BONUS POINTS: It gets points for resisting the overwhelming urge to go cheesy.
"You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!"

091. A Hard Day's Night (1964) Directed by Richard Lester
Starring John Lennon, Paul MacCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr

This movie isn't here to appease the Beatles fans here on the forum. A Hard Day's Night is here because it is so silly and fun that it makes you sit there grinning for its entire duration. Its plot is basically The Beatles running around all day ignoring their manager with musical numbers interspersed throughout. It is so energetic that it really doesn't matter that it was made as an obvious cash-in on the band's budding popularity.

BONUS POINTS: What John Lennon writes on the reporter's paper who ask him what his hobbies are. (See below.)
"TITS."

090. Ben-Hur (1959) Directed by William Wyler
Starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harereet, Stephen Boyd, and Hugh Griffith

Some may fault this film for laying on the Christian message a tad thick, but those people couldn't see epic filmmaking if it slapped them across the genitals. Sooner or later, everyone has to see Ben-Hur. It's a must. And when you do, you will soil yourself upon viewing the chariot race, which is still much cooler than most car chases to come out today. And it has Charlton Heston, who has the odd typecast of playing several thousand year old Jews.

BONUS POINTS: You can go down a list of "Epic Movie Cliches" and mark every single one of them for this film.
"You can break a man's skull. You can arrest him. You can throw him into a dungeon. But how do you fight an idea?"

089. His Girl Friday (1940) Directed by Howard Hawks
Starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, and Porter Hall

His Girl Friday is often credited for the lightning fast delivery of its jokes and one liners. I think it just brings me to a time and place when romantic comedies were actually good and not known for sucking. The problem with so many romantic comedies is that they are "cute" and that somehow makes up for them being not funny. His Girl Friday is a definite exception to the rule.

BONUS POINTS: As stated above, a rom com that's actually really good.

088. Das Boot (1981) Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, and Martin Semmelrogge

No submarine movie is radically different from the next, but of all that I've seen, this one is by far the best. No other had the sense of despair and clostrophobia (not to mention accents that didn't sound fake) like Das Boot. Beware the dubbed version, though. For that matter, beware any dubbed version of anything.

BONUS POINTS: Further proves my theory that somebody dies in every German movie ever made.
"I am not in the condition to fuck!"

087. Alien (1979) Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, and Ian Holm

I'm usually not scared by horror films, but this one freaked the hell out of me. It wasn't because of the usual "monster jumps out of the dark and startles you," it was because the mood and the tension and the unknown made it scary. We never actually fully know what the alien looks like or what it is capable of. Watching people get killed isn't what makes this kind of film entertaining. It's the wait in between the kills.

BONUS POINTS: The fact that I'd seen Fellowship of the Ring before this film. BILBO'S A ROBOT?!?
"Mother... you bitch."

086. Bubba Ho-tep (2002) Directed by Dan Coscarelli
Starring Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, and Bob Ivy

If there's ever been a film so outlandishly absurd, yet completely straight-faced at the same time, Bubba Ho-tep would be it. As it turns out, Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) is still alive and residing currently in a nursing home, not dead as we all believe. Campbell makes you believe without a doubt he is Elvis with his tasteful and respectful performance. What I love about this movie is that it could take the route of being completely ridiculous, but it actually is a realistic account of what would happen if a geriatric Elvis Presley teamed up with a black JFK and fought the forces of eternal evil.

BONUS POINTS: BRUCE FUCKING CAMPBELL
"Nobody fucks with the king."

085. Sunset Boulevard (1950) Directed by Billy Wilder
Starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olsen, and Fred Clark

This is a film about a crazy old bitch. But it's a great film about a crazy old bitch and her obsession with the past. It is a film noir, a term which describes primarily describes cinematography, not subject matter or themes. The eeriness of the shots, the sharp contrasts between black and white make her world that more lonely, and her passing fame that much more fleeting.

BONUS POINTS: The whole thing of seeing a movie with an over-quoted line and realizing that's where it's from.
"I'm am big. It's the pictures that got small."

084. Jurassic Park (1993) Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, and Martin Ferrero

Generally, I like movies a lot more than books that they're based on. Jurassic Park is no exception. Sure, it's cool to read about blowing up raptors with rocket launchers, but does that come even close to the amazement of seeing that shot of the brontosaurus for the first time? Or the terror of T-Rex chase? Or any of the fantastic visuals in this movie, for that matter? And even after eleven years, the CGI in this movie holds up better than that in the films of a certain revisionist hack.

BONUS POINTS: Sam Jackson, bad motherfucker.
"I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you want to sell it!"

083. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Directed by John Woo
Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Chang, and Sihung Lung

I'm not too well versed in the whole wire fu genre, much less Chinese film at all, so when I saw this movie, I was completely blown away. I hadn't seen and still haven't seen anything quite like it. (Well, there's Hero, but all the Communist propaganda really detracted from the imagery.) We watch our heroes who seem to exist in a world where gravity does not, with fights so full of grace and beauty that they seem to fight just because they enjoy doing it.

BONUS POINTS: Yo-Yo Ma plays cello on the sound track. Hah hah, his name is "yo-yo."
"Without Green Destiny, you are nothing!"

082. Throne of Blood (1957) Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Starring Toshiro Mifune, Isuz Yamada, Takashi Shimura, Akira Kubo, and Hiroshi Tachikawa

The first Kurosawa film to make the list, this one's pretty much a straight retelling of Macbeth. What sets it apart is the samurai setting and the great performances, especially from Toshiro Mifune, who I consider to be one of the greatest actors of all time. The other thing that's different than a straight telling of Macbeth, which is the ending. It has one of the best death scenes I've ever seen.

BONUS POINTS: Yeah. Toshiro Mifune. That's all.

081. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999) Directed by Trey Parker
Starring Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, and Isaac Hayes

Yes. This is supposed to be here. Not only is it a hilarious film, but the songs are equally fantastic. They day I bought the movie on DVD, I went out and got the soundtrack on CD and it makes a regular appearance in my car's CD player. In my opinion, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are comedic geniuses, the last six seasons of South Park have been pure brilliance. They make the one show on TV that I still watch. (That'll change when Family Guy comes back, though.)

BONUS POINTS: Proving that no film will ever get NC-17 for language.
"I'm sorry, Wendy. I just can't trust something that bleeds for five days and doesn't die."

080. Mean Streets (1973) Directed by Martin Scorcese
Starring Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, Dave Proval, Amy Robinson, and Richard Romanus

A brutal look at a low level hood making his way through the mafia. This film isn't about the mafia, though, it's about Charlie Cappa (Harvey Keitel), his girlfriend, his family, his deadbeat friends and how he keeps all those things in check as he struggles to succeed. The film also gives us a look at Robert De Niro and the signs already of him becoming a great actor. His performance in this film is just one of many that are the highlight of the entire production.

BONUS POINTS: The beginning of my beloved De Niro / Scorcese partnership.
"You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it."

079. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) Directed by James Foley
Starring Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, and Alec Baldwin

This is one of the things that cemented for me that I could never work in an office. Glengarry Glen Ross is about several salesmen, all in their own state of varying mental and emotional breakdown. One nearing the end of his is Shelley Levene who is played by Jack Lemmon, in what might be his greatest performance. Once a great salesman, Levene struggles both with trying to make a sale and with his sanity. What's interesting is that the reoccurring role of the salesman in The Simpsons is based on Jack Lemmon's performance.

BONUS POINTS: I didn't know "fuck" could be used so many times in such a short period.
"A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing."

078. Full Metal Jacket (1987) Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, and R. Lee Ermey

This movie kicks ass. There's not a whole lot I can say about it, other than it kicks serious ass. Oh yeah, R. Lee Ermey should be in every movie. Just to yell at people.

BONUS POINTS: R. Lee Ermey yelling at people.
"What is your major malfunction, numbnuts?" (Thanks, Mack.)

077. Serpico (1973) Directed by Sidney Lumet
Starring Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, and Barbara Eda-Young

Based on a true story, Serpico isn't an unfamiliar one. Frank Serpico is an honest cop among corruption. His desire for change in the police force warrants him beatings and threats on his life and eventually leads him to a grand jury proceeding. This film comes on the heels of The Godfather and Pacino gives us another powerhouse performance and along with De Niro, proves he is the best actor of his generation.

BONUS POINTS: There are some boobs in it? I don't know. This is getting hard.
"What's this for? For bein' an honest cop? Hmm? Or for being stupid enough to get shot in the face?"

076. The Red Violin (1998) Directed by François Girard
Starring too many people. Samuel L. Jackson's in it.

This story chronicles the journey of a priceless violin over hundreds of years and how it comes to an auction in Montreal and why the auctioneers competing over it have such an interest in the instrument. Each of the stories chronocling its history is as interesting as the next. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson's in it and he's just plain cool.

BONUS POINTS: Duh, Sam Jackson.
"What do you do when the thing you most wanted, so perfect, just comes?"

075. Se7en (1995) Directed by David Fincher
Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, and R. Lee Ermey

The film starts out normally enough. Two cops, one old, one new, you know the deal. But Se7en soon turns into one of the most inventive films I've ever seen. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the ending yelling at my TV, "NO! DON'T DO IT! DON'T DO IT!" That never happens. Well, not usually.

BONUS POINTS: There's R. Lee Ermey, but he doesn't seem to do much yelling.
"A woman... so ugly on the inside she couldn't bear to go on living if she couldn't be beautiful on the outside. A drug dealer, a drug dealing pederast, actually! And let's not forget the disease-spreading whore! Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that's the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I'm setting the example. What I've done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed... forever."

074. Singin' in the Rain (1952) Directed by Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly
Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connors, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, and Millard Mitchell

I'm convinced that Singin' in the Rain is the perfect film for a bad mood. For the whole course of the movie, it's nothing but lighthearted and joyful, but not in a sickening way. It's the kind of movie that you sit and watch and smile at while the stars break into song and dance about things like Hollywood and love and whatever else they feel warrants singing and dancing and smiling.

BONUS POINTS: Being a movie about making a movie of the same title.
"Why, I make more money than - than - than Calvin Coolidge, put together!"

073. City of God (2002) Directed by Kátia Lund & Fernando Meirelles
Starring Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, and Jonathan Haagensen

Changing directions completely for this next one, I bring you City of God. A powerful and depressing masterpiece, the film chronocles the overwhelming crime and gangs in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. These gangs are comprised mostly of children, who wield guns and murder, deal drugs and become addicted and ultimately get killed in place of newer gangs before they reach adulthood. But the film is also about escape, getting away from the slums and the drugs and violence that go with it.

BONUS POINTS: Just for all the great nicknames.
"I smoke, I snort, I've killed and robbed, I'm a man."

072. Apocalypse Now (1979) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, and Frederic Forrest

At the core of any Vietnam movie is its message, and this is the case with Apocalypse Now, which out of all the films about that war I've seen, it has the most to say, but not just through words, the movie has equally powerful images and sequences that stay with you and you never forget. Along with a supposedly half-assed performance by Brando that manages to steal the whole film.

BONUS POINTS: Ride of the Valkyries.
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

071. Fargo (1996) Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, and Harve Presnell

Fargo is about the ineptitude of criminals and a series of murderes in a small town. Aside from the great performances from McDormand and Macy, the thing most striking about the picture is the vast emptiness. The sky and the ground sort of blend together in as Han Solo would say, "A big white part."

BONUS POINTS: If Steve Buscemi weren't a man and so damn ugly, I'd marry him.
"Yeah."

—Lucainan

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Edited Sunday, November 7th, 2004 at 10:43 AM by Lucainan.

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