Updating my Top 100: 100-88

While top 10 lists are pretty attainable to keep in your head, it's near impossible to really keep a Top 100 although somewhere in my archives I did tackle the task of trying to create the top 100 films I've ever watched.

I decided recently to try redrafting it, since I've seen many more films and my take on films has changed as I've gone along. The first time I ever made a top 100 list was in 2003 (the cut was a much lowered bar: films like Cool Runnings and Aspen Extreme made it) and because a) it really is hard to squeeze all the new films into 100 and b) films need some time to age, I'm going to go with greatest films up to 2003. A lot of the newer films are just going to surface in the bottom ranks of the list just because comparing classic films and recent films are like apples and oranges.

This entry was tiring and I'm not sure if I'll make it all the way to one even though I have the list written out. Leave comments and click on my links and I might be inspired to continue!

100. Cider House Rules, 1999, dir. by Lasse Holstrom, starring Tobey MaGuire, Michael Caine, Jane Alexander, Charlize Theron, Kathy Baker, Paul Rudd
A beautifully shot coming-of-age period piece that my coworker at Blockbuster made fun of me for liking and that I'm still ashamed to say that I have a lot of reverence for. It's not necessarily a profound film and if Miramax succeeded in getting the film an Oscar win over Dreamwork's American Beauty (fresh off the heels of Saving Private Ryan vs Shakespeare in Love, the two were engaged in a fierce marketing battle) then there might really be reason to hate this film. Nevertheless, it is a good film.

99. You Can Count on Me, 2000, dir. and written by Kenneth Longorean, starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, John Tenney
This character piece is about how little of an adult you feel like when you're in the presence of your adult sibling. Laura Linney plays a "responsible" single mom and Ruffalo (in his breakout role) plays the "irresponsible" brother coming for a visit. Both characters are full of doubt about themselves in different ways that creates a meaningful contrast that serves as the soul of the film. I watched this for the first time when I was a high school senior and apprehensive about the concept of adulthood itself so it has a somewhat curative effect on me to see such a truthful image of these adults as goofballs. Matthew Broderick also provides ample comic relief and serves as a foil of sorts.


98. 25th Hour, 2002, dir. Spike Lee, starring Ed Norton, Rosario Dawson, Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin
It's been a somewhat frustrating experience originally liking and championing this film when it first came out and then watching it get praised in retrospect for all the wrong reasons. When publications such as The AV Club, RogerEbert.com, Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine and others came out with Best Films of The Decade list* 25th Hour seemed to come at the top of many of these lists because a lot of people wrongly hailed this film as the definitive cinematic artifact of 9/11. In truth, its connection to  9/11 is more relegated to behind-the-scenes minutia (Spike Lee filmed it in New York right after when other filmmakers wouldn't) and subtext that isn't universal to every viewer (the symbolism of the skyline without the Twin Towers). Instead, it's best to appreciate 25th Hour as a film with a superb premise and a great sense of dramatic tension. The story takes place over a single night as protagonist Ed Norton enjoys one last night of freedom with his girlfriend, father, and two friends at a seedy bar. Taking us miles away from the early works in Lee's repertoire stylistically (it works more as a commercial film), Lee's works in the 198

*I don't have the time to look up specifically which ones named it so high. I believe AV Club had it listed at #2 and Roger Emerson of Roger Ebert ran a poll in which 25th Hour placed pretty high for the wrong reasons.

97. Sunshine State, 2002 dir. John Sayles, starring Angela Bassett, Alan Rickman, Mary Steenburgen, Edie Falco, Timmothy Hutton, James McDaniel, Gordon Clapp, Jane Alexander

I love good ensemble films and I love films that have a great sense of place. There's also no place I love more than Florida which is what this film is about. It's about a seaside town is an unrealized slice of paradise to a lot of people. The beachside town has historical significance for the black residents because it represented a civil rights victory enabling them to get a "piece of the beach." From that subpopulation, a woman forced into exile through a teen pregnancy (Bassett) and the much more succesful ex-NFL player who impregnated her are both returning to town because a decision has to be made as to whether to sell their land to make way for a new development. In the meantime, there's a seaquarium mermaid entertainer who's bored to death of living in the same town too long (Falco) and a tightly wound spokeswoman for the new development freaking out that no one's sharing her enthusiasm (Steenburgen) and failing to notice that her husband is repeatedly attempting suicide (Clapp).

96. Our Man Flint, 1966, starring James Coburn, Lee J. Cobb, Gila Gollan

It's difficult to quantify just why this is a great film except by the measure that I've watched it over and over and over and still enjoyed it. It's camp, which I previously wrote (in my post about Glee and the 1960's Batman show) is something you enjoy because it's consciously bad. The film is a parody of James Bond films that is played straight in a way, but is ultimately very silly and I find the film both hillarious and very classy. The actor, James Coburn (Great Escape among other films), was a very slender actor who stood out for me in the films I saw him and like the actor who played James Bond he won an Oscar well after his superhero days. He won in 1998 and was a very pudgy old man when he appeared on the podium to accept*.

*I saw his acceptance speech only in retrospect

95. Birth of a Nation, 1915, dir. by DW Griffith, starring Lillian Gish
This film prompts an interesting debate: It's undoubtedly a historic artifact, being the first major epic, the first silent film to tell a story, the first movie that approached feature length, and a number of other firsts. It's also a very racist and misguided film that helped launch the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan. I omitted this film the last time I made my list but I recently reconsidered because the film has great historical value. More importantly, there's just a certain magic existent in it: you're watching the experience of right and wrong change right from under your eyes.


94. Catch Me If You Can, 2002 dir. by Stephen Spielberg, starring Leo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Amy Adams, Martin Sheen, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Pompeo
I thought it was a great time capsule and one of many great examples of how Spielberg's films are always solid stories that rarely dissapoint. Beware, there are always a lot of Spielberg haters out there.
Link to a review

93. X-Men 2, 2003, dir. by Bryan Singer, starring Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Famke Jannsen, Hugh Jackman, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Halle Berry, Shawn Ashmore, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, Kelly Hu, Rebecca Rojmain

I wasn't a comic book geek growing up. Of the few superhero series I was exposed to as a kid, X-Men was one of my enthusiastic favorites and I was delighted to see the cartoon (or rather the comic) translated cinematically so well. X-Men 2 was superior to the first in working the kinks out. I've enjoyed the scientific bent, the realistic modern tone, the sleek visuals and the great special effects. Most importantly, the cast is incredible.

92. Evita 1996 dir. Alan Parker, starring Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce

I remember watching this in a movie theater when I was in 8th grade. I was in my third year of Spanish and I have always had an interest in Latin Ameircan culture and history (I later took courses on Latin American history and geography in college) but I was dissapointed with this film because they almost never spoke. I didn't know the difference between a musical (songs interspersed with dialogue) and an opera (all songs) back then. This film has grown a lot more on me in subsequent viewings. One of the few Non-Disney musicals to be made in the 25 or so years prior to the genre's return with "Moulin Rouge" and "Chicago", this film wins me over for its great musical numbers and because it's rich in historical context. Although it's merely song and dance, the film has almost as much to say about the period as a history textbook.


91. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962 dir. Robert Mulligan, starring Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford

I was struggling with placement here and whether to put this at all. The film is ranked 58th on imdb and it's on the AFI top 100, so others haven't hesitated to list this as a classic. My brief conflct, aside from taking up a space on the list, was that the book (which I've personally read) itself is a masterpiece. Is this just something to watch if you're too lazy to read the book? I think in this case, the performances elevate it. Gregory Peck competed against Peter O'Toole of "Lawrence of Arabia" and won at the Oscars, and it was because he took an iconic figure and made it his own (O'Toole did the same thing too, to be fair). I also do like a good courtroom drama (even though I detest lawyers and being in court).

90. Master and Commander, 2003 dir. Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany
In a way, this movie is the best historical epic I've ever seen because even though it doesn't serve the story, it serves history. For example, in a story set in the Napoleonic Wars on the high seas (where every minute of this film takes place) we would naturally be looking forward to seeing exciting naval battles amd while we do get our share of exciting naval action, we mostly experience the HMS Surprisespending their time waiting and trying to maintain their sanity so that when a battle actually does come, you realize the magnitude of it. The human element of the movie, the multi-layered friendship between Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, doesn't disspaoint either

89. Wait Until Dark, dir. Terrence Young, starring Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin

Audrey Hepburn is such a sweet, precious concoction that it's hard to imagine her in a thriler. That is, it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to kill her. In "Charade" (which also makes my list), the villains are so quirky and (even cute in a Looney Tunes kind of way) that you never really feel like she's in danger. Wait Until Dark is a great thriller that really does push that line. The film is also very minimalist in its use of space. Audrey Hepburn plays a blind women and the film takes place almost entirely in her apartment. As the audience, we are privy to more than she is and are given the point of view of the villains. A pair of thieves willing to kill for a valuable stash of trafficked drugs in Hepburn's possession. With their mark being blind, they set up their ruse in our plain sight. It's a brilliantly suspenseful film


88. Gangs of New York, 2002 dir. Marty Scorsese, starring Leo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson, Jim Broadbent, John C Reilly, Brendan Gleason, Gary Lewis
Review Here

50 best actors of all time

A pretty objective list, I think, of the top 50, I’m surprised I made it all the way to 50 and it was a really hard assignment since actors come in different types: mainly those who create a persona and are a personality and those who are character actors, so it's really hard to make a standard list. You also have people who are more prolific and people who made each picture count. Stars who are very bankable, stars who are confined to one niche (i.e. The Western, etc.)

I think i might keep working on providing descriptions and stuff but that would probably take a lot of time, and come on, i can't be here all day writing. Some notes though:

1. Marlon Brando-Notable Roles: Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata, Apocolypse Now, Last Tango in Paris, On the Waterfront, The Godfather, Favorite Director: Elia Kazan
2. Humphrey Bogart-Notable Roles: Sabrina, African Queen, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, To Have and Have Not, Key Largo, The Big Sleep. Favorite Director: John Huston
3. Jimmy Stewart-Notable Roles: It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, Vertigo, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Winchester '73, Favorite Director: Frank Capra/Alfred Hitchkock
4. Lawrence Olivier-Notable Roles: Hamlet, Richard III, Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, Favorite Director: Himself
5. Cary Grant-Notable Roles: Arsenic and Old Lace, The Awful Truth, North by Northwest, Charade, His Girl Friday, Bringing up the Baby, Favorite Director: Nomadic
6. Gary Cooper-Notable Roles: The Westerner, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Pride of the Yankees, Seargent York, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, High Noon, Favorite Director: Nomadic
7. Alec Guiness-Notable Roles: The Lavender Hill Mob, Bridge on the River Kwai, Star Wars, Dr. Zhivago, Favorite Director: Mostly British directors
8. Robert De Niro-Notable Roles: Once Upon a Time in America, Deer Hunter, Godfather II, Mean Streets, Raging Bull, New York New York, Goodfellas, Casino, Favorite Director: Martin Scorsesee
9. James Cagney-Notable Roles: White Heat, Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Public Enemy, Favorite Director: Nomadic
10. Henry Fonda-Notable Roles: Young Mr. Lincoln, Grapes of Wrath, My Darling Clementine, 12 Angry Men, Once Upon a Time in the West, On Golden Pond, Favorite Director: John Ford, pehaps
11. Orson Welles-Notable Roles: Citizen Kane, Magnificent Ambersons, Lady from Shanghai, Othello, Third Man, Touch of Evil, Favorite Director: Himself
12. Clark Gable-Notable Roles: It Happened One Night, Mutiny on the Bounty, Gone with the Wind, Favorite Director: Nomadic
13. Charlie Chaplain: Modern Times, City Lights, Gold Rush, Great Dictator, Favorite Director: Himself
14. Peter O’Toole: My Favorite Year, Lawrence of Arabia, Beckett, Lion in the Winter, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Last Emperor, Favorite Director: Nomadic
15. Jack Lemmon: The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses, Mr. Roberts, Some Like it Hot, Save the Tiger, Odd Couple, Glengarry Glenn Ross, Irma la Douce, Favorite Director: Billy Wilder
16. Kirk Douglas: Spartacus, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Out of the Past, Lust for Life, The Champion, Paths to Glory, Favorite Director: Nomadic
17. Dustin Hoffman: The Graduate, Tootsie, Midnight Cowboy, Lenny, Papillon, Kramer vs Kramer, Rain Man, Wag the Dog, Favorite Directors: Barry Levinson, Mike Nicholls
18. Jack Nicholson: Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, The Shining, Prizzi's Honor, Terms of Endearment, A Few Good Men, As Good as It Gets, Favorite Director: Roman Polanski
19. Gregory Peck: Duel in the Sun, Twelve O'Clock High, Gentleman's Agreement, Roman Holiday, To Kill a Mockingbird, Favorite Director: Nomadic
20. William Holden: Network, Bridge on the River Kwai, Sabrina, Stalag 17, Wild Bunch, Towering Inferno, Favorite Director: Billy Wilder
21. Gene Kelly-Notable Roles: Anchors Aweigh, On the Town, Summer Stock, American in Paris, Singing in the Rain, It's Always Fair Weather, Favorite Directors: Stanley Donen, Vincente Minelli
22. John Wayne-Notable Roles: Stagecoach, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, Rio Bravo, The Searchers, The Alamo, True Grit, Favorite Director: John Ford
23. Tom Hanks-Notable Roles: Splash, Big, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, Road to Perdition, Favorite Directors: Rob Zemeckis, Ron Howard, Stephen Spielberg
24. Sean Connery-Notable Roles: The Hill, Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Murder on the Orient Express, The Untouchables, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Favorite Director: Sidney Lumet
25. Edward G. Robinson-Notable Roles: Little Ceasar, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Double Indemnity, Key Largo
26. Spencer Tracy-Notable Roles: Boys Town, Woman of the Year, Adam's Rib, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Bad Day at Black Rock, Inherit the Wind, Favorite Director: Stanley Kramer
27. Fred Astaire-Notable Roles: Flying Down to Rio, Top Hat, Swing Time, Holiday Inn, Barkleys on Broadway, Band Wagon, Towering Inferno, Favorite Director: Whomever was assigned by RKO
28. Burt Lancaster-Notable Roles: The Killers, From Here to Eternity, Elmer Gantry, Atlantic City
29. Sidney Portier-Notable Roles: The Defiant Ones, Lillies in the Field, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Favorite Director: Stanley Kramer or Norman Jewison would be my gues
30. Robert Redford-Notable Roles: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Natural, The Sting, The Candidate, The Way We Were, All the President's Men, Out of Africa
31. James Dean
32. Clint Eastwood
33. Paul Newman
34. Al Pacino
35. Montgomery Clift
36. Albert Finney
37. Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
38. Michael Caine
39. Harrison Ford
    
40. Gene Hackman
41. Ben Kingsley
    
42. Frank Sinatra
43. Denzel Washington
44. Walter Matthau
45. Tom Cruise
46. Robert Duvall
47. Anthony Quinn
48. James Coburn
49. Ernest Borgnine
50. John Voight

-I might call this a best actors and actresses of the 20th century list, simply because recent great actors like Russell Crowe, Jonny Depp or Scarlett Johannson who have been much bigger since 2000, have had a much
-Although, i am capable of independently thinking about this, i did consult two sources: AFI's twenty five legends and Premiere's April 2005 issue of top 50 movie stars
-For those keeping track, i basically have Robert De Niro as the best actor today. Obviously, it doesn't look as good with his last few comedic movies but look back before Analyze This
-Among my immediate family, Cary Grant is controversial but oddly enough Premiere Magazine ranked him #1 star of all time and AFI named him the #2 screen legend.
-Walter Matthau was a tough cookie to place, cause what do you have of him without Jack Lemmon
-This isn't really my opinion, although it's a balance between my opinion and popularity
-Ever notice how Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck and Jimmy Stewart are all very alike? Gregory Peck has some great performances but he was so cheesy in Gentleman's Agreement
-I would say that the two biggest actors i grew up with are Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks, and it's interesting to put them up against the greats. If you think about movies that are entertaining and exciting, Harrison Ford is always front and center, though admittedly he hasn't had a hit in years. Hanks, to me, is the best, but i weighed that against other stuff. He's my personal favorite, put it that way
-Admittedly Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire aren't the best actors, but keep in mind that those were the only 2 guys out of the entire MGM roster of stars who can act, sing and dance at a level that made those musicals work. Donald O'Connor could dance but he couldn't act that well. Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra could sing but couldn't dance.

-Tom Cruise isn't the best actor, no, but he's done enough good work that he deserves a place on the list. Remember when he used to not be so universally reviled and thought of as one of the biggest stars in the world. It is pretty interesting because Premiere's April '05 (before Oprahgate) Issue ranked Tom Cruise as the greatest living star of today, so it wasn't that long ago. I wonder if the magazine editors who had pages and pages praising Tom Cruise would have changed their minds like the rest of the American public within the following 18 months

-I don't think number of oscars equals greatness. Jack Nicholson isn't number one although some people might say he is. He's good, i like him, he's definitely extroadinarily talented but I think late in his career he's relied on just being Jack. Also, i think i disagree with other people over his best performances (i like 5 Easy Pieces and Chinatown, not As Good as It Gets or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). I also perfer Robert Redford to Paul Newman even though Newman's been nominated a million times.

-James Coburn is interchangable with a number of stars from his era who were in The Great Escape or Magnificent Seven or similar Western/War movies with him-James Garner, Jack Palance, Charles Bronson, etc. It was a close call. I went for Coburn because In Like Flint just blew my mind. Was I supposed to take it seriously or was it a spoof? I couldn't figure out which.

-Sean Connery is also tough to nail down and evaluate outside of Bond. Is he a one-trick pony? The truth is he's done way more than 7 films in his career (that's how many Bond films he did), so it's a shame that he's so associated with Bond. His best acting performance outside of James Bond that i've seen is The Man Who Would be King. He's also not bad in Murder on the Orient Express