Not long ago, I gave myself what I thought was going to be a relatively easy challenge.
I said to myself, “Okay, you love movies. Lord knows you’ve seen a LOT of them. Now, make a list of your top five!”
So, I got to work and figured I’d start by compiling a list of the movies that I really love. From there, I’d shave off movies here and there until I was left with five. My list started with over forty movies and right away, shaving some of them off was like killing children. I had an immensely difficult time justifying the elimination of any of them! So, I made a deal with myself.
Pick your TEN favorite movies of all time.
Hmmm? Well, that certainly was better, but here again, there were just so many movies that I couldn’t imagine leaving out of such a prestigious list. So, here for your mild amusement…… are my top TWENTY movies. Even that was hard, but to make myself feel a little better, I tried to place the ten better ones above the other ten in this list, so know that numbers one through ten have, in my humble opinion, just a little something extra going for them.
Perhaps they’re the kind of movies I can watch over and over again even today. I don’t know. But in compiling this list, I noticed a couple of things. Quite a few of these movies remain my favorites today because of the profound impact they had on my when I was a kid. Also notice how many of my favorites spawned subsequent sequels.
Yes, some of my faves won’t surprise anybody, but I’ll bet a few of them might. I’m not gonna get too heavy into plot lines. Rather I’ll summarize or otherwise allude to them when I’m pointing something out. The reasons I give will be what make these movies MY favorites – not what makes them everybody else’s. If you disagree with my reasoning, well.... make your own list. Having written all of that, let’s begin:
1.) Superman: The Movie (1978): Ahhhh, yes! My all-time favorite movie about my all-time favorite comic strip character. The Man of Steel has been, for pretty much as long as I can remember, the one guy I’ve always wished I could be, but knew I never would be. Yet, that never discouraged me from thoroughly enjoying this movie. It literally has everything. It’s crazy, but it’s almost like you’re watching three distinct movies, all wrapped up into one.
You start off on the planet Krypton where everybody is highly civilized, technologically advanced, sophisticated and speaks as if they all had their doctorate degrees. The planet explodes and before you know it, you’re in Part II of the movie – something that looks like it’s coming straight out of Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World. We spend some time in the nothingness of Smallville at the Kent farm and before too long, BAM! – right into the heart of Metropolis where the fast-paced comic strip world begins and ushers in the third major part of the movie.
Now, the action begins and doesn’t let up until the closing credits. For those who expected to see camp, they didn’t get it, or at least not nearly as much as they might have expected. They saw moving, realistic performances and they witnessed a virtual nobody named Christopher Reeve become immortalized as the new Man of Steel. And if the great backdrops, top-notch script, innovative special effects and excellent cast weren’t enough, you have the essential topping on the cake – the music!
I really credit the movies of my youth like Superman, Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark for instilling me with the love of orchestral music that I have today. I mean, who in this country can hear the opening notes of the main title march and not immediately tell you that it’s from Superman? Literally every single piece from the Superman soundtrack is a recognizable, timeless masterpiece of symphonic harmony and grace. This was the movie that had me, at the age of like six, running around my neighborhood with arms outstretched in my blue thermals and my Superman Underoos, almost convinced that I could fly.
Couple that with my best friend’s mother who was handy enough with a needle, thread and Velcro to fashion us both with kid-sized Superman capes, and I was forever enchanted with this movie. Of all of the movies I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching in my 32 years of life, none thus far have quite managed to top this 1978 classic. So far, the movie has spawned four other sequels (…one that just came out in June, 2006), but you always remember your first. Superman II was almost as good as the first one and Superman Returns was, in my humble opinion, not too shabby, either (…I won’t even discuss the abysmal numbers III and IV). Even rip-off ideas such as “Super Fuzz” weren’t too terrible, but none came close to Superman.
2.) Back to the Future (1985): Great Scott! What an AMAZING movie to see on the big screen. The year was 1985 and my dad took me to this one. Why do I love this movie? Well, along with flying like Superman, my other biggest fantasy as a kid was to travel through time. Bill and Ted are good, but for my money, I gotta go with Doc Brown and Marty McFly. In an odd way, it’s actually a little like Superman. Marty’s in 1955 and quickly learns that, to blend in better, he must don the clothes of the average 50’s kid. He’s really a kid from the future, but nobody can know his secret. To reveal that he’s from the future would unravel the very fabric of the universe! Whoa, this is heavy!
Even his car – the DeLorean time machine – must be hidden at all costs. A few seemingly innocuous actions cause a disruption just big enough to endanger Marty’s very existence and it makes me wonder what kind of small ripple in history would have been necessary to prevent my own birth. I love movies that make you think and, for its time, this one was a thinker for sure. Knowing where a lightning bolt will strike is the key to getting Marty home, but here again, a great movie is likely to spawn a sequel… and this one spawned two of them. What’s strange is that, in my mind, both sequels are virtually as excellent as the original, which is extraordinarily rare when it comes to movie sequels.
3.) Star Wars (1977): I know what you’re thinking. Which one? There’ve been six Star Wars movies, after all. But for now, we’re just dealing with the one from 1976 - the one that got the ball rolling and helped make George Lucas the Godfather of special effects masturbation. Given how very limited George and company were in the seventies with regards to special effects, the original Star Wars is still the one to beat.
You gotta give it to the guy.
He had this really big idea for an epic sci-fi film, had tons of ideas as to what he wanted to see, didn’t have the technology to match… so he literally had to will into existence the various effects he needed to realize his vision. As for campiness, movies don’t have nearly as much of it these days as they once did, but Star Wars was different. Think of the old Batman television shows with Adam West and compare them to Batman Begins with Christian Bale. Batman went from ultra-campy to having a dark, haunted past, right? Well, Star Wars started with Han Solo bringing a realistic, yet cocky attitude that lent credibility to the movie and by the time the nineties rolled around, we got hit with Super-Camp Jar Jar Binks.
Proof positive that, just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should.
4.) The Matrix (1999): The second one was decent and the third one may have sucked, but the first one was, by far, the most impressive. It’s another thinker of a movie, which I like. Imagining that the world as you know it has all been digitally fabricated and that you’re nothing more than a glorified battery is a mind-blower for sure. Then, of course, we have our hero – Neo. Guess what he does by the end of the movie. That’s right. He flies! See? Everybody’s a Superman fan... and it’s a formula that always seems to work.
And, in the event that people needed more, they got Carrie-Anne Moss dressed in shiny black latex from head-to-high-heeled boot, kicking everybody’s ass. This, no doubt, made the “dominant woman in leather” fetishists happy. I think that this movie, along with introducing everybody to this new “digital world” concept, also appealed to the audience because they got to see Neo’s development from ignorant office slave to savior of Zion, endowed with amazing powers he never knew he could possess.
Again, it took that winning Superman formula and added some new flavors.
5.) Vanilla Sky (2001): Another movie along the lines of “the world you know is not real,” Vanilla Sky is one of the few movies I saw where, at the closing credits, everybody else around me in the theater was like, “I don’t get it.” I loved this movie because, well…. I did get it. In fact, I think this movie would have been a much bigger hit if the majority of people who went to see it got it the first time around.
One of my favorite scenes comes at the very end of the movie. Not only are the details of David Aames’s confusing world elucidated (the part of the movie that was supposed to help more people “get it”), but they’re done so while ascending in a glass elevator that just never seems to stop going up and up and up (…David is acrophobic). Getting him to conquer his last fear of heights by jumping off of this ridiculously tall New York skyscraper to make his choice was a stroke of genius and also allowed for an amazing visual.
It was also where an unknown Icelandic band known as Sigur Rós made their mark on mainstream America with an unintelligible yet fascinating song called Njósnavélin, otherwise known as “The Nothing Song.” It’s the song that starts shortly before David takes that final leap. Give it a listen if you can, though oddly enough, you won’t find it on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll forward you the one I downloaded a while back.
6.) Rocky (1976): The quintessential million-to-one-underdog movie! So good was this movie that it spawned five sequels. From the streets of Philadelphia, a mediocre Italian boxer punches his way to earning a meager salary on fight nights, then works in a run down gym and does loan-sharking work to cover rent in his dingy rat’s hole of an apartment. Rocky’s life is basically going nowhere and nobody is more aware of it than he is. Meanwhile, the heavyweight champion of the boxing world is looking for a total unknown to trade jabs with him for the bicentennial event in Philly because his original opponent canceled on him.
So, the champ (…knowing that he’s gonna kick his opponent’s ass) worries more about publicizing the event than training for it and, not surprisingly, Rocky trains balls-to-the-wall. The end result? Rocky gives Apollo Creed a handful and nearly, nearly upsets him for the title. But, in a final attempt at realism, they award Creed the decision by virtue of him “outscoring” Rocky. Awesome, awesome movie and, as we all very well know, ripe for sequels.
7.) Nothing in Common (1986): Now, here’s a movie that I’m guessing many people have never even seen, though it starred five fairly well-known actors: Tom Hanks, Jackie Gleason, Eva Marie Saint, Sela Ward and Hector Elizondo.
This movie made it to my top ten primarily because it reminded me never to take my own father for granted, though it also happens to be a great story. Tom Hanks plays David Basner; a guy who has become so preoccupied with being a partner in the advertising firm for which he works that he’s pretty much forgotten his familial roots. He’s got a new girl in his bed every week, yet never stops yearning for his high school sweetheart.
Anyway, his parents suddenly give him a sobering reminder that they still exist…. by separating. He spends the next several weeks basically getting to know his mom and dad all over again. Before David realizes it, he’s become the parent and his folks have become a couple of old, but very needy “children.” Sometimes, his folks are petulant and stubborn and other times, they’re competing for his time and attention.
Along with a great story, this movie carries with it a brilliant and quick-witted performance by Tom Hanks and what I also believe was Jackie Gleason’s last movie before he passed away. It’s definitely worth watching and, in my mind, this is one of Tom’s best movies out there, along with the next movie on my list.
8.) Apollo 13 (1995): I’ve probably watched this movie at least fifteen times. I wouldn’t have been nearly as impressed with it if it hadn’t been based on a true story. In the spirit of those “thinker” movies, I was just floored with how intelligent those NASA guys had to be to put all of the little (...yet essential) pieces together to bring the Apollo 13 crew home. Excellent movie and excellent acting.
Most importantly, if you have the DVD and you’ve already seen the movie before, watch it again with Jim Lovell’s audio commentary. He assures the audience that, with the exception of a few liberties that the director took with minor details, the movie is an extremely accurate account of the entire odyssey from launch prep to landing.
9.) Training Day (2001): Yes, it’s good against evil, but where’s the line that separates the two? The reason why I think this movie is so great is because it challenges you to decide for yourself which path you’d take if you were in Jake’s shoes. How far would you bend the rules to catch the bad guys? Because, like Alonzo (…played to perfection by Denzel Washington), you could just as easily spend enough time in the gray to the point where you no longer know what’s black and white anymore.
Having been a criminal justice major in college, I did my fair share of studying about being an honest cop, an honest detective, an honest corrections officer, an honest judge, an honest prosecutor, etc. Along with that studying came the knowledge that, more oftentimes than not, the legal system favored the criminals because they could often find a minor loophole that could set them free. It was easy to see how tempting it would be to falsify evidence or otherwise buy justice, knowing full well that following the letter of the law was something akin to trying to do your job with both hands tied behind your back.
10.) The Karate Kid (1984): Campy music aside, this is a feel good movie with a climactic, albeit predictable, ending. The wimp wants the girl who happens to be dating the villain of the story. The wimp is getting his ass handed to him on a daily basis, so the geriatric neighbor downstairs (...who just happens to be a master of martial arts) tutors him on how to kick ass the old-fashioned way. The wimp overcomes all obstacles, beats the bully and gets the girl. The end. But still, it’s got that certain quality that allows you to watch it over and over again before you get tired of it.
11.) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): This movie gets props for originality, as well as for its stunt work. It has that weekly serial feel to it, complete with cliffhangers and aforementioned stunts, but it’s not exactly a story that’s been done too often, if at all. I mean, how many archaeologists do you know carry a bullwhip with them? This is another movie that not only spawned some excellent sequels, but also managed to burn itself into my memory with a fantastic soundtrack and excellent action sequences.
12.) Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995): This movie struck a chord with me (…no pun intended) primarily because suspending disbelief wasn’t at all difficult with Richard Dreyfuss. You could actually believe that you were looking at the same man aging over the span of thirty years. Plus, the ending of the film was tear-jerking greatness. In a very dramatic way, Mr. Holland sees just how many lives he's managed to touch over the course of his thirty year teaching career, proving once and for all that it was a life well-lived.
The lead character also deals with having to decide when the school comes first and when his deaf son does. As you can imagine, his own son resents the father for not spending more time with him, but as you’ll see near the end, he figures out a way to combine his school life with his son’s to finally reconcile the two.
13.) The American President (1995): Near as I can tell, this movie was directly responsible for the television series called “The West Wing.” I minored in Political Science and have always had a fascination with the American presidency, but I figured that this would be a boring movie and almost never gave it a chance.
Michael Douglas showed the kind of confidence, strength and charisma that we all wish our presidents could have and he almost single-handedly carried the movie from start to finish. The rapid-fire script keeps you interested in the goings-on within the confines of the White House and the story’s not too bad, either. As a bonus, here's my favorite line from the movie:
Robin: "Fellas, we haven't slept in three years. Can't we forget work for one night and take this moment to enjoy each other as friends? It's Christmas."
Lewis: "It's Christmas?"
Kodak: "Yeah. You didn't get the memo?"
14.) The Truman Show (1998): It’s literally a Sociologist’s dream scenario. Build a domed structure so big that it’s visible from the moon, build an entire world within that dome and throw thousands of cameras in there with thousands of actors and one adopted baby who unwittingly spends his entire life on film. The Truman Show is what you get.
The title character is completely unaware that the world in which he lives is fake and that millions of people watch him on their televisions every day. Think EdTV, but on a massive grand scale and without the awareness of his situation. It’s another thinker because they find cruel ways to keep him from wanting to explore beyond his picture-perfect town.
One particularly funny visual is when he goes into the travel agency (…fake, of course) and as he’s waiting for service, you see a poster in the background, showing an airplane with a lightning bolt going through one of the wings. The caption says something along the lines of, “It could happen to you” and you just have to laugh because they’ll obviously never sell airline tickets THAT way. They even have his TV father act out a scene where he drowns to give Truman the fear of water that, of course, petrifies him enough to stay on solid ground.
15.) Sin City (2005): In my opinion, this is the first movie based on a comic strip that actually plays like a comic strip. It’s mostly in black and white, but has color splashed in here and there, just like in the comic. It’s hard-hitting and not even remotely campy. The lighting of the characters really brought out the features in their faces and, with some digital assistance, even broke a few rules (i.e.: how the dark shadow on left side of Clive Owen’s face doesn’t prevent you from seeing the white of his eye).
In my opinion, the storyline involving Marv was the best of the bunch and it also managed to do something that I wouldn't have thought possible - portray Elijah Wood as somebody you could actually be fearful of. It's an awesome and visually stunning movie with a decent soundtrack.
16.) Saw (2004): This is one of those movies that, when it ends, the only words you can think of to say are, “That’s really f**ked up!” I never fully understood why the guy goes to such lengths to make people die in such elaborately f**ked up ways, but it’s a bone-chiller of a movie for sure. Just how much and to what extent would you maim yourself in order to save your own life? What's unique about the movie is that the guy responsible for the deaths of all of these people doesn't actually do the killing at all, leading one to wonder if he could be classified as a killer.
The other crazy "mess with your mind" part was at the very end of the movie, especially if you happened to catch Saw II. It’s obvious that the screaming dude at the end of the first movie never gets out of that room because you see his decaying remains in a scene from the second movie. It’s a messed up movie, but messed up in a good, freaky kind of way.
17.) Paycheck (2003): This one kinda plays to my love for anything to do with time travel and figuring sh*t out. The way the title character engineers his own survival plan (…by seeing into the future and equipping himself with seemingly innocuous tools to use at the right moment) was, in my opinion, really well thought out. It also reminded me that, while being able to see your own future would be cool, knowing how your life will go and how it will end would most definitely remove all hope from your existence. And, in doing so, would probably also remove your reason for living as well.
18.) Threesome (1994): It’s tough to say exactly why this movie appealed to me the way it did, especially with the whole “gay” element thrown in. I thought the movie was good because it gave you an interesting glimpse into a world of false reality.
Think about it.
When you’re a kid, your life is pretty much mapped out for you and is not fully yours to control. When you’re in the real world as an adult, working for a living and keeping up with the bills, you live an equally structured existence. College life seems to represent a gray area of your life when you have more control over your existence. The only caveat is that the world around you seems totally out of control.
Sure, you go where you want, eat what you want, live how you want, pick the courses you want, go to those classes when you want, pursue who you want, f**k who you want, yet in the grand scheme of things, you’re not entirely sure what you want out of life. It’s a crazy time and this movie shows just how crazy and random the life of a college kid can get.
It reminds me of my college days, only without the f**ked up roommate or the deviant sexcapades.
19.) Before Sunrise (1995): Speaking of college, I first saw this movie as an extra credit assignment for my Sociology course at Northeastern University. Our professor told us to meet him at a theater that NU owns to watch this movie. The plan was that, after watching it, we were gonna head over to a café or pizza shack nearby to “bullsh*t about the movie,” compare ideas and give insights. What was funny was that, when the movie ended, our professor was so disappointed in the movie that he told our class, “You guys can just take off. You’ll get full credit for showing up and sticking this movie out.”
Apparently, he found nothing remotely fulfilling about this movie to justify taking up anymore of his or our time. In an odd twist, I actually came away from the theater, thinking it was a pretty decent flick. A casual glance between two people on a train (...blasting through Europe) leads to an adventure that wasn’t even remotely planned by either person. They just interrupt their lives, like a fissure in the timeline, to disembark in Vienna and get to know each other, allowing for only that one night.
They spend that whole night and early morning just talking each other to death and sharing all kinds of hidden secrets with each other. I also liked it because the crap they talk about only really seems to matter to those f**king nouveau-riche, hummus-eating college students who read Nietzsche and think that their thoughts are so f**king deep. To the rest of the planet, it's just a lot of hot air.
On the plus side, this movie served as a sobering reminder of just how awkward it can be when a guy and a girl meet for the first time and try to find out if they click. It reminds you of how good that first spark feels and how nervous it makes you feel in the pit of your stomach when you actually think you've stumbled onto a new love connection.
20.) The Fighting Sullivans (1944): This is another movie that I saw as a kid and it just stuck with me. This film is based upon a true story of five brothers, brought up in a close-knit family in Iowa, during the days of the Great Depression. It's your typical, Irish-American, Catholic family in the 1930's. The boys are inseparable. They spend all of their time together, they do yard work together, they go fishing together and they get into trouble together. When one of the boys gets into a fight, the other four jump into the fray.
Fast-forward several years and now the boys are young men. Life seems to be going very well. Then, Pearl Harbor happens. The brothers decide that they just can't sit idly by as our country enters the war. They all enlist and against the recommendation of the Navy, they all get assigned to the same ship. The youngest brother by this time even has a wife and child, but that doesn’t deter him from staying right by the side of his four older brothers.
The actors who played the mother and father were awesome. The father busts his ass every day to feed his family, but like any human, he can sometimes let his emotions get the better of him. The mother is loving, but strict and seems to act as the glue that keeps everybody together. You gotta love how the father reacts whenever the boys do something wrong or, in one scene, damn near wreck the house. The movie ends sadly with all five brothers dying on the ship, but it strikes a very patriotic chord. As far as movies go, The Fighting Sullivans is about as apple pie as they come.
Okay, I'm officially burnt out. Maybe I should have just stuck to the top ten.
Labels: Flying, Homosexuality, Movies, Superman
