Marty Scorcese establishes his directorial dominance by forcing Bobby DeNiro to drive him around town
Are these the ten best movies ever made? No. Are they ten damn fine movies that everyone should see? Yes. Are they mindless entertainment that leaves you sitting slack-jawed and drooling for an hour and 45 minutes while your brain shuts down? No. Do they require you to watch, pay attention, and think a little bit? If you want to actually get something out of watching them, yes. Does anyone care about this preamble? No. Should I shut up and get on with the damn list? Yes. Should you shut up and get off my back? Proabably...
Marty Scorcese establishes his directorial dominance by forcing Bobby DeNiro to drive him around town
2. Blade Runner - Remember what I said about Taxi Driver? If you don't, you suck. Either that or you are sticking the Q-Tip in too far when cleaning your ears. The same praise for Taxi Driver applies to Blade Runner, except it's even more visually stunning. Also, Robert DeNiro isn't in it and there are no mohawks. The attention to detail in every shot is amazing. Exactly what you'd expect from Ridley Scott (see Alien if you don't know what I mean). A great detective film noir, with religious allegorical implications, centered around God, Christ, and Man, and what it means to be human. See the director's cut, see it letterboxed, or don't bother because you'll miss too much. I've actually heard some people say this movie is boring. They're retarded and can go to hell.
3. Pulp Fiction - Not too surprising I'd pick this, given the name of my page, huh? This is the only movie that I couldn't wait to see again immediately after I saw it (my legs were even shaky as I left the theater). I've heard a lot of my film student's dismiss this movie as a cheap, one-trick-pony-time-switching gimmick and not much else. That's typical of film students. What a bunch of wankers. They look at camera angles and crap like that and don't pay any attention to the story. That's how we end up with movies like Armeggedon and Twister. This film works as terrific entertainment and as a study of morality. As much as I like Tarantino, I don't think he'll ever top this one. Like Taxi Driver and Blade Runner, the story and the shots are carefully crafted. You can read the different analyses of this film and the myriad theories as to what's in the briefcase all over the web, so I won't bore you with that... yet. It also gave us the classic line: "English, mother f***er, do you speak it?!"
"What ain't no country I ever heard of, they speak English in What?"
4. Barton Fink - I have a feeling most people leave this movie saying: "What the--? Who was that--? So, was that guy--? I-- grrrk-- chrrrk--" Then the person like, falls down and starts twitching. I could tell you what I think it's about, but it would take too long and you would probably want to punch me in the face by the time I got done. So I'll tell you about this one later. This is another film that makes extensive use of visual symbolism. The movie is funny and entertaining even if you don't understand what's going on all the time. (Okay, it's a movie about the inherent falseness of the creative process esp. vis-a-vis Hollywood, egotism, the subjective nature of hell, selling out, and about ten other things.) John Goodman is OUTSTANDING, as is John Turturro. The best movie from the best production team (The Coen Brothers). John Goodman is such a pathetic bastard, with his runny ear and tubby physique, until he decides to "show you the life of the mind..."
5. Citizen Kane - I know people who think this film is boring (of course, they all suck, so don't listen to them). Even after half a century, this film's visual style is unparalleled, with beautiful deep focus shots, detailed close-ups, and all-around stunning mise-en-scene. Orson Welles pioneered visual and storytelling techiniques in this film that have become standards today and haven't been improved upon since. The story structure, in which most of the information is revealed through flashbacks, can be seen in more movies than you can shake a stick at. A greater technical and narrative achievement fifty years after it was made than Titanic and The Phantom Menace combined. Plus it's fun to see Orson Welles before he became the tubby bastard everyone probably remembers him as.
6. The Godfather - another movie that combines all the right elements: great acting, a great story, great direction, great cinematography, um, great catering probably... not the deepest film ever made, but it's got the best performances and a terrific story. Sorry, Brando is already a tubby bastard in this movie...
7. It's a Wonderful Life - I already talked about this movie here.
8. Do the Right Thing - the best movie by a too-often overlooked filmmaker. Okay, so there's a little too much "speechifyin'" at points. So what? This movie is carefully and lovingly constructed. Hell, I feel like I've actually been to Brooklyn after I see this movie. It hits right to the heart of intolerance, shows how even people who can peacefully coexist every day still harbor racial and ethnic bigotry. Next time, I'll tell you why Mookie throws the garbage can (to divert the mob's target of violence from Sal's family to the symbol of gentrification in their neighborhood). Always do the right thing, doctor...
9. 8 1/2 - The only Fellini movie I've ever seen. Isn't that sad? Especially since the only one I've seen is so brilliantly conceived and executed. It's (very) basically the story of a film director who's run out of ideas. He retreats into his own mind, revelling in his own egotism and self-centeredness, and at the same time regretting all the people he's hurt in his life. His memory ends up enspiring his art. Woody Allen has been making autobiographical movies like this forever. But Fellini did it first, and better (that's not a knock on Woody, oh jesus, what did I just say...). Oh, the movie's very funny, too, and has an underlying sweetness, even though at times you'd like to strangle the main character...
10. Psycho/North by Northwest/Rear Window (tie!) - picking my favorite Hitchcock film is too hard, so I'm cheating and not choosing. Both movies have great performances (too bad Anthony Perkins never got another good role EVER... well, maybe that's not entirely true...anyway, he's great as Norman Bates), great scripts, and great suspense. Psycho has a lame, tacked on, explain-everything ending, and North by Northwest has an equally lame section toward the beginning that over explains the identity of George Kaplan until it's PAINFUL. So what? All three movies are brilliant suspense films. Cary Grant is hilarious. Jimmy Stewart is great, as always. Plus Psycho has Janet Leigh, and she's hot. Rear Window has Grace Kelly, and she's even hotter. And Raymond Burr, and he's even -- er, it's got Raymond Burr.
