This is the complete and "final" list I will make. Sadly this is one of those things where the longer you wait and see things, the more revisions and edits you make and in the end you're not convinced that the list is what you truly feel. This has been my first REAL decade of movie watching where I truly looking for style, substance and all that other jazz in film and got to experience some great, great things. There will be ten posts for this done throughout december and split between reviews (I've got one for "The Men Who Stare At Goats" coming up soon). By the way the 'rough cut' list I posted a few weeks ago... is pretty chopped up so I'll probably take it down soon. Any ways... enjoy the list(s)!100. "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
This is the first of many team Apatow flicks on the list. Really this is such a brilliant spoof film and a brilliant music picture rolled into one. A big thing that helped me add this to the list was re-watching the director's cut, which I love far more than the theatrical version. It's fully re-cut and uses more jokes, that flow better and involve a lot more character interaction. John C. Reilly has done tons and tons and TONS of amazing character roles, but somehow or another for me I think Dewey Cox will remain a staple because of just how outlandish and yet firmly grounded in the farce he is in the film. And I just can't express how great Jenna Fischer of "The Office" does as well. She' knows how to play sexy and stupid funny without going too over the top or too long to destroy the humor. Oh and less we forget the millions of supporting roles from Frankie Muniz to Jack White to... well Jack Black.
99. "Training Day"
The film in which Denzel Washington won his second Oscar, but first Best Actor Oscar. Director Antoine Fuqua knows grit. The man simply has the eye for it and this is a gritty as shit crime drama. Not to be outdone Ethan Hawke also reminds us that, hey I can act too; and plays a role that could have easily become prime second banana to Denzel, but instead takes the film into full rogue ghetto badass territory in the final act. Oh yeah and Dr. Dre was in it too. That's just a nice bonus though.
98. "One Hour Photo"
Prime example of Robin Williams' acting talent. This film is unnerving to no end. I mean really... take one look at Williams with bleach blond hair, standing with a plastic smile behind the counter of the impossibly white store he works in and tell me the man doesn't strike you as a ticking time bomb. And yet there is so much restraint in this film. The final act could go in a thousand different, much darker directions and yet it doesn't. Whether it's a flaw or not is debatable, but regardless the final decision of what happens is bizarre and endless interesting.
97. "Body of Lies"
I've learned that most Ridley Scott films need a few viewings to really take in. Some don't. Some are instantly awesome and entertaining and you've got the point so you're done. However the some of the best ones ask to you see and re-see things and catch a whole other world. "Body of Lies" came out last October, I reviewed it and liked it but not much more than that. Recently I gave it probably... my third watch and this time I felt like I got it. The film is complex... I mean complex to where you'd need a scorecard to figure out who's working for who and what their real motives are. And yet that is the nature of spying. The world of a modern spy is dirty and complicated and often unfair. Leonardo DiCaprio's Agent Ferris character is so hard boiled and tired of being ignored and screwed over by his boss Hoffman (Russell Crowe) that it's no wonder he leaves the way he does in the end. On a side note Mark Strong plays an excellent middle easterner.
96. "Pirates of the Caribbean" (trilogy)
Here's one for the pop crowd. Here's an entire franchise that has re-launched adventure films for years because it proved that pirate movies could sell. And that's because Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney are very smart. Johnny Depp was re-born to a new audience and a character that was easily entertaining was born. And the best part was that no one thought it would be even a fraction of as popular as it became so it was kind of a sleeper success. But I'll say it, I like em'. They're not perfect by any means, but they're fun escapism that tires and succeeds most of the time. It's epic adventure in B-movie style and I can respect that.
95. "300"
Turned Zack Snyder from the guy who remade "Dawn of the Dead" (which I also liked) into the new God of action. Okay 'God' is a bit strong, but the meatheads of the world grabbed this film by the balls and placed it on a golden altar. And as much as I hate that, that's happened I do still love the film. It's original and brooding with qusi-gay undertones due to all the dudeness all hangin' out, but hey... that was a different time. Snyder helped redefine and reuse slow motion camera techniques and the special effects crew and technical crews did wonders. "300" is just one of those uber popular films that for years to come will be mentioned for it's style and action and hopefully it's artistry.
94. "The Devil's Rejects"
As is stands this was Rob Zombie's cinematic peak. I hate "House of 1000 Corpses" and had no plans to watch the sequel, until this strange flow of good word of mouth kept coming in so I gave it a shot. "The Devil's Rejects" is a truly down and dirty 70's movie. Zombie directed those scenes at times like a voyeur and at times like Billy Badass blowing the shit out of everything on screen. He made the Firefly family actually interesting to be around and gave them one hell of a send off.
93. "Shaun of the Dead"
Edgar Wright's second best film of the 2000's. The man knows comedy and his teaming with producer Nira Park and actor/ writers Simon Pegg and Nick Frost just fits like a glove. The only streak I have against "Shaun..." is that is seemed to open the flood gates to a million and one different comedies that involved zombies. The difference was most of those either didn't know how to manage horror and comedy or didn't care. Luckily Wright and team DO know and DO care and even know how to deliver some great homages to other films without making it too obvious or distracting. You'll see this gang again on my list.
92. "Cast Away"
Tom Hanks is great actor and for my money you can't beat him in "Cast Away" without a fight. He loss a ton of weight and for a two and a half hour movie talked to a volleyball. And made us give a damn... no easy feet. Beyond that it was Robert Zemeckis' last live action film to date and his best since his Oscar winning "Forrest Gump". The technical aspect and scouting for this picture is perfect and there are a ton of magnificent images that stick out every time I watch it.
91. "Blood Diamond"
Here's a conflicting piece. Director Edward Zwick is one of the best people to direct dramas with action. This is because he gets some killer performances from actors by letting them take chances and have some fun and because he is a top notch action director. The conflict occurs during some scenes of stunning violence that are unpleasant and yet shot in such an exhilarating fashion. Dicaprio's accent is still a point of question. Mainly why was it needed, but it goes back to that taking chances and having fun. Personality I don't care about a flimsy voice or something if the character is good. I've actually met people with hardcore accents that I often think they're faking, but who am I to question them. His Archer character is badass and badass in the way that Dicaprio can play em'. But it is Djimon Hounsou who sticks out the most and provides a stellar performance as an African native who finds one of the blood diamonds after beging enslaved and having his son taken from him and put into the brainwashing camps. This was a huge dramatic and emotional action picture with one bang up final act. This is how these pictures should be made.
90. Return to "The Matrix" (Reloaded and Revolutions)
My personal wildcard. I hold the two sequels higher than the original for these reasons; 1: because the true nature of this series becomes known, 2: because less people accept them so I feel better and better about liking them, 3: conceptual designs and ideas about religion that are about as cyber punk as it gets and 4:... I really dug visuals this time around. I'm sorry, but I'm sucker for certain things of the science fiction world. Mainly I'm a sucker for trying something different and for some reason ones that are seen publicly as failures, I tend to like. I'm not sure if it's out of some want to go against the grain, but I feel like I'm just attracted to it's ideas more because they're different and those type of things in the past are usually shunned needlessly. The Wachowski brothers furthermore seem to know what they have, understand the flaws and love it anyway. Love it enough to have a DVD commentary for critics that hated the movies added to the trilogy box set collection. Now that's a love of ones work coupled with an understanding of differing opinions that I aspire to reach.
No comments:
Post a Comment