If you know me this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise for you. Ok sure I’m a well publicized Scorsese fanatic, but I’ve gone on record countless times to say “yes I do think Ordinary People deserved the Oscar in 1980”. It’s hard to say it’s a better film than Raging Bull but I just give it the slight edge. Of all the actors turned director I don’t know if any where better than Robert Redford aside from maybe Clint Eastwood. His first offering was easily his best. A somewhat simple but incredibly moving tale of a rather comfortable family that’s torn asunder by the death of their oldest son and the suicidal tendencies of their youngest. Maybe it was the fact that I saw this film at the same age as Timothy Hutton’s character, or maybe I didn’t grow up too far from where the film was set (although I’m far from a Lake Forest resident). Whatever it is this film just touched a raw nerve in me and I was convinced a second viewing would reveal it as just one of those one-time reactions. Well I watched it again and figured I’d be god damned if it still wasn’t a better film than Raging Bull and the best American movie of the 80s.
29. Psycho (1960) - Alfred Hitchcock
So here’s the best film from the most famous director the world has ever seen. I’ve never wavered on what my favorite Hitchcock film is and frankly I’ve never understood how anyone could say it was something different. The film still packs a few genuine shocks today, Bernard Hermann’s shrieking score was effective before too many other lesser directors started borrowing from it. It’s plot is absolutely brilliant and it’s taken for granted just how unorthodox of a movie this was. Sorry that it dropped a bit this time, not that I dislike it or anything, but these things happen. I’ve gone into great detail my problems with the psychological explanation at the end and a few of the holes in the Dr.’s logic, but it’s just an afterthought. This film opens brilliantly with a good looking couple wearing barely anything and ends with such a deliciously creepy shot of Anthony Perkins it’s damn brilliant. Hitchcock was a director who would use any tactic or trick to make his film successful, he never adhered to one particular style, lens, or lighting, etc. Here he seems to empty his bag of tricks for the best damn film of his brilliant career.
28. The Searchers (1956) - John Ford
I typed my review of this on another computer already, but well to hell with it, I’m cooking with gas here. John Ford was known for his Westerns and he was known for shooting in Monument Valley. Even today when you see shots of that famous spot out west the first thing that runs through your mind are all those great Westerns made by Ford along with John Wayne a man more synonymous with the cowboy than the Marlboro Man. This film is considerably darker than most of their work, about the obsessive quest to find a niece who may or may not be dead after she was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. Wayne plays Ethan Edwards who is as openly racist as any Western hero you’re likely to see whose character is deep down just the other side of the coin to Scar’s Indian chief. I’d say none of Ford’s color films look better than this, courtesy of Winton C. Hoch. Damn near the best Western ever made, damn near.
27. Casablanca (1942) - Michael Curtiz
Well this is the film that started it all for me. The one that convinced me it would be a good idea to become completely obsessed with film and to try and see every damn brilliant movie I could. So I can’t overestimate the importance this film has had in shaping my life and if I ever wanted to blame my obsession for some negative consequences this is the most glaring culprit, but I could never be mad at Casablanca. This is another in a seemingly long line of classic Hollywood films that are so good people just blatantly take it for granted. Despite it’s best picture status it actually took awhile and the emergence of cult movies for this to really catch on to the fanatical devotion it has now. It makes sense when you consider how much fun it is to watch this film over and over again. Hell I watched it two days in a row the first time I saw it, and well I haven’t been the same since. I can’t really add anything new to it’s lexicon, but good heavens if you don’t like this movie you clearly have no soul.
26. Napoleon (1927) - Abel Gance
Another in my long list of shockingly brilliant films this one still apparently needs some publicity. Abel Gance was a fairly virtuosic director, one who was so above and beyond all his contemporaries that it seems like he’s taking delight in toying with their prehistoric notions of how to make a movie. This film’s brilliance tends to beat you over the head with it’s innovation and style, but oh what a joyous ride. A monumental production that was going to be the first of several parts about Napoleon’s life but alas Abel Gance never made another part. In fact I can’t think of anyone whose made a film about Napoleon coming anywhere near this good, although I’ve always wondered what Kubrick could have done. The debate continues to rage over who owns the rights to which version of this film and which score it should have, etc so it’s been in film purgatory for years, but if you ever get a chance to see it, preferably with all the three-screen projection glory there’s no doubt you’ll be amazed. Abel Gance deserves to be as highly recognized and praised as any filmmaker ever, and this is his masterpiece to end all masterpieces.
25. Mulholland Drive (2001) - David Lynch
Well I couldn’t leave Blue Velvet all alone on this list could I? My favorite film of the 00s, this is one strange trip, but good god is it worth it. It’s like a dream within a dream that gets pretty damn weird, slips back to reality, then just when you think the whole puzzle is figured out, there’s just one or two things that you can’t quite figure. Thus is the conundrum of David Lynch. The wtf quality of his films is part of the joy, but the sinister music, the dreamlike pace, the brilliant visuals are what really make his films tick. It’s hard sometimes to put into words just how special his work really is. In some ways I consider Blue Velvet like a Bachelor’s Degree in Lynch, whereas Mulholland Drive is your Masters. I suppose Inland Empire is the PhD, but it’ll take decades to figure that one out. If nothing else this is the film we can thank for having Naomi Watts in our lives. She had made several films to no avail before but she’s certainly done well since. Words really fail to do this film justice.
24. All that Jazz (1979) - Bob Fosse
There will never be another Bob Fosse. No matter how much many, many, many people will try he was truly unique. Although he only made five films as a director, one was a remake of Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria, and his final film was bashed by nearly everyone, this was his best. Yes I realize Cabaret won a million Oscars (even won best director over The Godfather), but All That Jazz is something truly special. It was agonizing sitting through the film of Nine which was an embarrassing attempt to make a musical out of 8 ½, I just thought “They already did that, it’s called All That Jazz”. Fosse takes the semi-autobiographical approach here and even prophesizes his own death (he died of a heart attack 8 years after this film was finished). His on screen counterpart of Joe Gideon is a type A man with far too much on his plate. Roy Scheider has the performance of his life as Gideon and he runs through all of it as though it were actually Fosse on screen. A chain-smoking, pill-popping, skirt chasing genius with some intricate fantasy sequences and some truly unique musical numbers. There was only one Fosse.
23. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) - Sergio Leone
I can’t explain why this film is so low other than to say I guess I think all the upcoming films are just a little bit better. Sergio Leone’s third film in the “not technically a trilogy” Dollars Trilogy is in my opinion the greatest Western ever made. It’s a film that clearly distinguishes which one of these three leads are the “good”, the “bad”, and the “ugly” but you see pretty clearly all three fit each description. An epic set during the Civil War about three despicable men all out for the same prize and their never ending quest to screw each other over for their own gain. Leone’s still of Western was a new breed, full of superhuman gunfighters, where everyone was in need of a shave, they all needed a bath, and antiquated ideas of nobility were nowhere to be found. It made Clint Eastwood a star and eventually a legend. One of the perfect “guy” movies that’s just as brilliant after the 12th time as the first.
22. Goodfellas (1990) - Martin Scorsese
One of the requirements for this list was I had to see every film at least more than once. It makes sense because I figure a great film should stand up on closer inspection or repeated viewings. So it stands to reason that some of the films on this list are movies I’ve seen way more times than I can possibly count. Goodfellas is one of those films that I can’t not watch if it’s on TV. I turn it on, stop what I’m doing and there we go, cancel all appointments until coked up Henry Hill turns snitch. The film is fast paced and has a genuine nostalgic longing courtesy of the narration. So many things in the film are hilarious in a very black comedy way but things do tend to balance between the psychotic and the hilarious tipping over from one side to the next almost without warning. At the end of the day these are all horrible people who pretty much all deserve what they got, but my goodness is there a better way to spend two and a half hours?
21. Los Olvidados (1950) - Luis Bunuel
Sometimes when I watch a movie again I truly am amazed. I loved Los Olvidados the first time I saw it. It wasn’t as surreal as many of Bunuel’s French films, but it was damn good. So I figured I’d take another look before doing my 50s list. Well on second thought, this damn near topped my list and it instantly became my favorite Bunuel film, where it’s likely to stay at least for the next decade. This was the return of the prodigal son in some ways. Bunuel was a brilliant filmmaker who debuted towards the end of France’s golden age of surrealism. He went into seclusion for nearly two decades, working odd jobs shooting Spanish language versions of Hollywood films and eventually getting to direct in Mexico. This film however, made as a response to the over sentimental treatment of the poor in Italian neo-realist films was his triumphant return to notoriety. It was his masterpiece and firmly established him as the greatest surrealist of them all, but unlike his first couple of films this demonstrated beautifully that he could tell a great story aside from just being bizarre. You’re not likely to ever see another movie about kids like this or one that so defiantly sticks it’s middle finger up to poor people. Just damn brilliant, and yes there are two dancing dogs for like 10 seconds.
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