Antioch Forever

Lucainan's Top 100 Favorite Movies, Part II

Table of Contents

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

Part II (70–41)

070. The Lion King (1994) Directed by Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff
Starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, and Nathan Lane

This is my favorite Disney movie. It's probably because the film does not condescend; it doesn't feel like a movie made for children. It is my belief that a children's movie is a movie too stupid and bad to entertain adults and people who write movies specifically for children are hacks, because anything can entertain a child. A family movie is something that can be appreciated by all and The Lion King is a great one.

BONUS POINTS: Timon and Pumbaa, the first two outwardly gay lovers in a Disney movie.
"Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connnected in the great Circle of Life."

069. Snatch (2000) Directed by Guy Ritchie
Starring Jason Statham, Alan Ford, Brad Pitt, Vinnie Jones, Dennis Farina, and Benicio Del Toro

This movie's just cool. And I actually feel cool watching it. Just ... cool. I love this movie because it has such great characters. I love characters that exist in the real world, but themselves are just beyond reality. Plus, they all have cool names. I hate it when characters have boring names and you don't remember them, so you refer to the characters by the actor who plays them. Snatch doesn't have that problem.

BONUS POINTS: It's so COOL.
"Now, dicks have drive and clarity of vision, but they are not clever. They smell pussy and they want a piece of the action. And you thought you smelled some good old pussy, and have brought your two small mincey faggot balls along for a good old time. But you've got your parties mangled up. There's no pussy here, just a dose that'll make you wish you were born a woman. Like a prick, you are having second thoughts. You are shrinking, and your two little balls are shrinking with ya. The fact that you've got "Replica" written down the side of your gun. (withdraws his gun) And the fact that I've got "Desert Eagle .50" written on the side of mine, should precipitate your balls into shrinking, along with your presence. Now... Fuck off."

068. Yojimbo (1961) Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Starring Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, and Daisuke Kato

Before there was Dirty Harry, before Jules Winfield, before John McClane, before The Terminator, the original lone badass was Sanjuro. Before even showing them The Seven Samurai, I'd show any skeptic Yojimbo and challenge them not to think it was out and out awesome. Most people, though, would better know it as its almost exact remake A Fistfull of Dollars.

BONUS POINTS: See next line.
"Cooper. Two coffins... No, maybe three."

067. 25th Hour (2002) Directed by Spike Lee
Starring Edward Norton, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin, and Brian Cox

Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) is a drug dealer on his last night before he gets sent to prison who only seems to be sorry that he got caught. Full of anger and hatred, he lashes out in a monologue so emotional, it needs to be seen by everyone. It's one of the best monologues and sequences I've ever seen.

BONUS POINTS: Anna Paquin's hot. Like, seriously.
"No. No. Fuck you Montgomery Brogan. You had it all, and you threw it away, you dumb fuck!"

066. Aliens (1986) Directed by James Cameron
Starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Bill Paxton

As haunting and scary as the original Alien was, James Cameron was wise to know he couldn't just rehash the plot for the sequel. So, he went in a completely different direction and made a better picture as a result. He kept the unknown and tight and dark spaces of the original, but instead of going the horror route, Cameron makes an an action film and a superb one, at that.

BONUS POINTS: "Ohhhh, so THAT'S where all the Dropship's lines came from."
"I'm ready, man, check it out. I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do NOT want to fuck with me. Check it out! Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Whoa! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, base plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks..."

065. Memento (2000) Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Larry Holden

People say this film isn't as good the second time. I'd really have to disagree. Sure, a lot of the pleasure of watching the movie is not know what's going to happen next, but as with all movies, the true joy is seeing how the events transpire. This film has been criticized for the fact that it wouldn't be interesting if not for the gimmick. Those people are stupid and are pretty much stating the obvious.

BONUS POINTS: For being the most ambiguous film. Ever. Well not EVER, but you know what I mean.
"Now, where was I?"

064. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) Directed by John Frankenheimer
Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, and Henry Silva

I've not seen the remake yet, but the message and themes in this film are still relevant to this day, it's not a surprise there was a reinterpretation. Frank Sinatra delivers his usual cool performance and Angela Lansbury once again proves that she could be the most evil person alive.

BONUS POINTS: C'mon. Frank Sinatra.
"Why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire? "

063. Forrest Gump (1994) Directed by Robert Zemekis
Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field

After seeing this several times in school, Forrest Gump kind of grew on me. What's great about the movie is that it doesn't fall into the trap of being the heartwarming journey of a retard, it's about the period Forrest lives in and how he takes everything he sees as it is, because he is probably too stupid to do otherwise.

BONUS POINTS: Changing the whole meaning of the song, "Imagine."
"Mama always said life was like a box a chocolates, never know what you—" "Stupid is as stu—" No. Nevermind.

062. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) Directed by Sergio Leone
Starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Luigi Pistilli, Rada Rassimov, and Enzo Petito

There are so many things about this movie stick with you. Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name, Ennio Morricone's score, or the vast landscapes really not like anything you've seen in a traditional western. One scene that comes to mind is the finale in the cemetary, one of the most amazing I've ever seen.

BONUS POINTS: The score, man. The score.
"There are two kinds of people in the world, my friend: Those with a rope around the neck, and the people who have the job of doing the cutting."

061. Back to the Future (1985) Directed by Robert Zemekis
Starrings Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Crispin Glover

Is there a person alive who doesn't like this movie? And if there is, do I want to meet them? Back to the Future has to be one of the most fun movies I've ever seen. It's the kind of movie that you have to watch every single time it comes on TV, no matter how many times you've seen it.

BONUS POINTS: Points just for time travel.
"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit."

060. Goldfinger (1964) Directed by Guy Hamilton
Starring Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, and Harold Sakata

Ahh, Goldfinger. The best of the Bond films. Back in the days when Bond movies weren't about a lifeless meat bag who makes bad puns while outrunning the earth's rotation in a motorcycle. Goldfinger was made in a time that Bond movies set the trends in action films and didn't try desperately and rather pathetically to follow them. This is back when Bond was really, truly, absolutely cool.

BONUS POINTS: Facing supervillians, banging random women, playing with cool toys. Isn't this every man's fantasy?
"You're a woman of many parts, Pussy!"

059. Blade Runner (1982) Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, and Daryl Hannah

This is one fantastic looking movie, even after twenty years. The smoggy, blackened Los Angelis is almost prophetic in this sci-fi cyberpunk film noir masterpiece. I haven't read any of Philip K Dick's stories, but they make such good movies, I'll have to check them out. If I actually read books. Or anything. Bah!

BONUS POINTS: The Millenium Falcon was turned into a building in this movie. AWESOME.
"They don't advertise for killers in the newspaper. That was my profession. Ex-cop. Ex-blade runner. Ex-killer."

058. The French Connection (1971) Directed by William Friedkin
Starring Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, and Marcel Bozzuffi

I love car chases. There's a reason that there's a chase sequence in almost every action movie — because they are so incredibly electric and exciting. But for a chase to work, there absolutely must be tension and that tension comes from the characters. And The French Connection has great ones. Part action police drama, part character study of Det. Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman), the film is both our minds and our testosterone glands.

BONUS POINTS: The French are the bad guys. The way it should be.
"Brooklyn is loaded with guys that own candy stores, two cars, and like to go to nightclubs!"

057. Gone With the Wind (1939) Directed by Victor Fleming
Starring Clark Gable, Thomas Mitchell, Vivian Leigh, Barbara O'Neill, and Leslie Howard

After adjusting for inflation, Gone With the Wind is the highest grossing film of all time. (Titanic is number six, so this movie's never getting touched.) This is a long, bloated film with a main character that is so lacking in likable qualities that I actually enjoyed watching her in misery towards the end. And it is the film's ending that made it for me. I don't care what happens in the sequel to the book, the ending of this movie is so perfect, I'm happy to pretend that sequel doesn't exist.

BONUS POINTS: Clark Gable is a badass.
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

056. Airplane! (1980) Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Jerry Zucker
Starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen, and Robert Stack

What can I write about this movie without giving into the urge of quoting it endlessly? This movie is a classic. If you haven't seen it, you haven't lived. God, just go see it! It's Airplane!!

BONUS POINTS: There are too many.
"Joey, do you like movies about Gladiators?"

055. Enter the Dragon (1973) Directed by Robert Clouse
Starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Kien Shih, Ahna Capri, and Angela Mao

There's not much you can say about a Bruce Lee movie other than copious amounts of ass is kicked and Lee is doing the majority of that kicking. I love martial arts films much for the same reason that I love all action films. Watching people get killed is entertaining. And to watch skilled, cold, and calculating killing, well that's something completely different.

BONUS POINTS: A pre-fame Jackie Chan makes an appearance.
"Don't think. Feeeeeeeel. It is like a finger pointing away to the moon."

054. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Directed by James Cameron
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, and Earl Boen

This movie is ... AWESOME! Awesome action sequences, awesome one-liners, and an ending so great it could bring a tear to the eye of even the manliest of men. Arnold Shwarzenegger was put on this Earth by God to play this role. He was meant to fumble over hilarious lines like, "Why do humans cry?" and "I know now why you cry. But it's something I can never do." But seriously, he's good in it.

BONUS POINTS: One word. Budnick.
"Come with me if you want to live!"

053. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, and John Clive

Have you ever seen a movie and after it ends, you just sit there and think, "What the hell was that?" That was me with A Clockwork Orange. I understood it and what it was saying, but it was just such an experience that it really blows you away. Everything thing about it. The synthesized score, the brutal depictions of violence and rape, and the eerieness of just about everything in the whole damn movie. An amazing ride.

BONUS POINTS: British slang is hilarious to listen to.
"We were all feeling a bit shagged and fagged and fashed, it being a night of no small expenditure."

052. 8 1/2 (1963) Directed by Federico Fellini
Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee, Sandro Milo, and Rossella Falk

This is greatest movie ever made about making movies. The director, Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) is coming right off a hit and must deal with actors, producers, and crew as he glides seemlessly through dreams and reality, avoiding the inevitable that this film must be made or he will pay for it. To give you an idea, this movie is what every pretentious film school nerd wants to make, but fails miserably at.

BONUS POINTS: Claudia Cardinale is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Ever.
"I thought my ideas were so clear. I wanted to make an honest film. No lies whatsoever. I thought I had something so simple to say. Something useful to everybody. A film that could help bury forever all those dead things we carry within ourselves. Instead, I'm the one without the courage to bury anything at all. When did I go wrong? I really have nothing to say, but I want to say it all the same."

051. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Jerry Zucker
Starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban, George Kennedy, and O.J. Simpson

I know I'll probably get flack for putting this above Airplane!, but I love this movie so much. Everything about it. Oh my God, this movie is so hysterical. This movie would be a guilty pleasure if I actually felt guilty for putting this a space above Fedrico Fellini's masterpiece. Again, like Airplane! this is the kind of movie that I could go on and quote forever, but I'll just leave it at this.

BONUS POINTS: KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
"It's true what they say: Cops and women don't mix. It's like eating a spoonful of Drano, sure it'll clean you out, but it'll leave you hollow inside."

050. Reservoir Dogs (1992) Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Chris Penn, and Lawrence Tierney

In 1992, Quentin Tarantino hit the independent film scene hard with Reservior Dogs. While not original in plot (apparently, it's a ripoff of the 1987 movie City on Fire), what's notable about this film is the dialogue. The way each character talks is essential to his background and characterization. Tarantino does this with his smart, rapid fire pop culture references, which is often copied, but never matched.

BONUS POINTS: Steve Buschemi is a beautiful man. On the inside.
"Okay, let me tell you what Like a Virgin's about. It's all about this cooze who's a regular fuck machine, I'm talking morning, day, night, afternoon, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick."

049. The Seventh Seal (1957) Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Starring Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Max von Sydow, and Bibi Andersson

Antonius Block (Max von Sydow), a knight returning home from the crusades challenged Death (Bengt Ekerot). This is the kind of classic film that you can't really describe well enough, because it's such an experience. I'm not saying that it'll change you or anything, it's the kind of movie that'll stay in your head for a few days and you'll think a lot about.

BONUS POINTS: Well, it's not German, but EVERYONE DIES!
"I want to confess as best I can, but my heart is void. The void is a mirror. I see my face and feel loathing and horror. My indifference to men has shut me out. I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams."

048. Die Hard (1988) Directed by McTiernan
Starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald Veljohnson, and Alexander Godunuv

What makes Die Hard different from your normal action picture is that John McClain (Bruce Willis) is not your run of the mill superman action star. He's a regular guy who got into his situation by mistake and is desperately trying to get out of it. And what filmmakers don't get is that it isn't outrageous stunts or technique that make an action film exciting, it's tension. There was no tension in the Matrix sequels, so there was no excitement, even though the actions scenes were extremely well done. In Die Hard, the action is much, much simpler, but infinitely more exciting.

BONUS POINTS: Hey, it's Carl Winslow!
"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker."

047. Becket (1964) Directed by Peter Glenville
Starring Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Donal Wolfit, and Martita Hunt

Becket is a film about friendship. Though those friends just happen to be King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) and Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Cantebury (Richard Burton). They eventually get seperated by time and it seems most movies about male friendship go like this one, but they don't end up like it. Peter O'Toole is a fantastic actor and gives a very entertaining (and funny) performance. Sexism abound!

BONUS POINTS: Peter O'Toole is gay, isn't he? I don't really think that applies as a bonus, does it?
"I'm as useless as a woman."

046. Unforgiven (1992) Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, and Jaimz Woolvett

This is a film made in the twilight of the western about western outlaws in their twilight. Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) is a former thief and murderer who was redeemed by his now dead wife and supports his children as a hog farmer. Circumstances force him back into old habits and the film resolves itself in the classic western showdown of good versus evil. A brilliant tale about men doing what they feel the must and what they were born to do.

BONUS POINTS: So many more movies could be made about these characters when in their prime.
"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."

045. Army of Darkness (1993) Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, and Richard Grove

Since he is far more eloquent than I, I'll just post what Maddox has to say about the film.

"For those of you unfamiliar with Army of Darkness, go away. I don't want to have anything to do with you. Seriously, if you haven't seen Army of Darkness yet, what the hell? It's the best movie ever. Starring Bruce Campbell as Ash (picture top); featuring over an hour and a half of Campbell kicking ass.

Where do I start? Everything about this movie rules. I won't give away too much, but I'll say that the beginning of the movie is awesome. Campbell finds himself a prisoner in a castle, and gets thrown into a pit with a zombie. He kicks the zombie's ass with his chainsaw, climbs out of the pit, kicks some more ass, yells at some villagers, scares the shit out of this old guy, and then insults their hospitality.

Just when you think things can't get cooler, about half way through the movie, Campbell hacks his evil twin to pieces and throws him in a pit. You'll have to watch the movie if you haven't seen it to witness the best one-liner ever: "Hey, what's that you got on your face?" just as Campbell shovels dirt into the pit, covering his decapitated foe's head.

The movie even ends with Campbell kicking ass. I won't give it away if you haven't seen it, but trust me, it kicks ass. Also worth mentioning are the Evil Dead series that spawned Army of Darkness. Anyway, this is probably one of the few (if any) positive movie reviews you'll see me do, so take my word for it and check it out if you haven't. Drop me a line and let me know what you think."

—Maddox, http://maddox.xmission.com/aod.html

BONUS POINTS: You guessed it. BRUCE MOTHERFUCKING CAMPBELL!!!
"See this? This is my boom stick! The 12-gauge double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart. You got that?"

044. Kill Bill (2003–2004) Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Vivica A Fox, Daryl Hannah, and Michael Madsen

I'm including this as one film, because it is one film. Unlike most movies and their sequels, since neither are a complete story without the other, they are considered as one. Much like all of Tarantino's movies, Kill Bill in nice terms is an homage, in harshers ones, a ripoff. However, it's a highly entertaining and often hilarious ripoff with some of the coolest fight scenes in years. The standout being the House of Blue Leaves. But the film isn't just about revenge and great fights, it's also about characters and how they relate to each other. It was brilliant of Tarantino to make Bill (David Carradine) a likeable character, maybe even more likeable than Beatrix (Uma Thurman), to make the inevitable ending all the more heartbreaking.

BONUS POINTS: Pai Mei. YES!
"Your Mandarin is lousy. It causes my ears great discomfort. You bray like an ass! You are not to speak unless spoken to."

043. Adaptation (2002) Directed by Spike Jonze
Starring Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Cara Seymour, and Tilda Swinton

Being something of a screenwriter myself, I appreciated this film more than an average person would. Charlie Kaufman is a fantastic writer and you can always expect something quite different from him. In Adaptation, it's brilliant how he weaves the adaptation of the novel, his struggle with writing it and the Hollywood ending together seemlessly for something that turns out hilarious.

BONUS POINTS: The Three is something that I think most people would like.
"I don't want to cram in sex or guns or car chases or characters learning profound life lessons or growing or coming to like each other or overcome obstacles to succeed in the end. The book isn't like that, and life isn't like that, it just isn't."

042. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Directed by Sergio Leone
Starring Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti, and Paolo Stoppa

Best western ever. Wait. Let me check the rest of the list. Yeah. Best western ever. A movie filled with love triangles, grudges, ambitions, seedy characters, dreams, Charles Bronson killing people, Claudia Cardinale being hot and it's not until the last hour of the film that we truly know what's going on in full. A masterpiece in every sense of the word.

BONUS POINTS: Claudia Cardinale looks like Britney Spears would be if being a dumb whore and a cokehead didn't catch up with her.
"How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? The man can't even trust his own pants."

041. On the Waterfront (1954) Directed by Elia Kazan
Starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and Pat Henning

Is Marlon Brando really the greatest film actor of all time? I'm not really in a position to say, but he's one of the best that I've seen and his brilliant career spanning decades which is highlighted in several films on this list makes his death that much more tragic that he had do die in enormous debt and without work. On the Waterfront has been hailed as his best performance. With a career like Brando's, that claim is a difficult one to make.

BONUS POINTS: See below.
"You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley."

—Lucainan

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Edited Sunday, November 7th, 2004 at 10:45 AM by Lucainan.

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