60. Ulysses' Gaze (1995) -
Theo Angelopoulos
When it comes to slow
pretentious European filmmakers, few can touch Theo Angelopoulos, it just so
happens I happen to love his work a whole hell of a lot. The first film of his I saw was Landscape in
the Mist and for years it was my favorite, but the last time I got around to
watching Ulysses' Gaze it just hit me in that special place that the truly
great movies do. The "story"
is about a film director who returns to his native Greece after a 35 year
absence and well he has a bit of a self reflective journey. Angelopoulos is known for his extremely
intricate tracking shots that can not just last minutes but even begin and end
in different eras. The film is more
metaphysical than anything but if you like things a bit ambiguous and at a
hypnotic pace, then I couldn't recommend this film enough.
59. On the Waterfront (1954)
- Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan is one of those
directors who became a favorite of mine not so much for his particular style or
virtuosity, but mainly because he just made a lot of fantastic movies. Sadly I'm down to only one of his films on my
top 100 now, but good God it's a great one.
On the Waterfront won about 50 billion awards when it came out and
further cemented Marlon Brando as the greatest actor of his generation. People have always questioned the motives
behind the film, which essentially makes snitching seem like the only viable
solution to anything, but well sermonizing or not the film is still great. The cast is all outstanding, and the way they
shot in cramped spaces, on rooftops, on the docks, in back alleys makes this
one of the most glorious but claustrophobic films of the era. I've seen it half a dozen times or so and it
never ceases to amaze me, especially the subtle ways Kazan just lets his actors
do the work. Woody Allen once said that
a great movie is all in the casting, I suppose this film would prove his point.
58. Seventh Seal (1957) - Ingmar
Bergman
My introduction to Ingmar
Bergman is one of those films that lets you know they made films differently
over in Europe, particularly Sweden. Like
A Clockwork Orange and Taxi Driver I first heard of this through Danny Peary's
Cult Movies 2, but didn't see it until years later. Within the first few minutes you see corpses
washed up on a beach and a knight being a game of chess with death, it really
didn't matter what happened after that I was sold. It was made during Bergman's crisis of faith
phase where he began to question more and more angrily if there is a god and
why is god always silent. The film is
not all pondering god's existence and the plague, Bergman does allow a little
humor, particularly with his theatrical troupe who seem to get in light hearted
trouble throughout. Arguably the
defining moment of the film comes when a girl is going to be burned as a witch
who claims to have had sexual relations with the devil. Antonious Block (Max Von Sydow before he was
a million years old) looks in her eyes hoping to see something, but just sees
fear.
57. Fight Club (1999) - David
Fincher
It's pretty standard to say
David Fincher is a great filmmaker.
After Se7en and The Game however you still had to convince some
people. Fight Club is the one that did
it for me. A compulsively watchable
film that makes me sadly realize no one will probably do a Chuck Pahlaniuk book
justice quite like this. The book is
such a portrait of young white masculinity but the way it's told is what makes
it unique. Fincher brought all of that
to the screen without losing anything.
Rather than compare one to the other they're both complimentary pieces. There are life lessons galore here and perhaps
one of Pahlaniuk's biggest questions was "what are we doing with our
lives". If you watch the film you
should at least be inspired to get your ass in a gym, worked for me. It runs the gamut from self help, to
corporate meetings, instructions on how to make soap, and of course underground
fight clubs, but as you know the first rule of fight club is . . .
56. Kill Bill (2003-2004) -
Quentin Tarantino
Sometimes a filmmaker takes
his sweet ass time making a movie, and all you can do is hope it's worth
it. After QT seemingly made a movie or
wrote a screenplay several times a year it all but dried up for 6 years. We heard the occasional rumor about several
failed projects and eventually a massive revenge epic that would mix Hong Kong
action with samurai swords, and a little Sergio Leone to boot. This was the first of what can be called
Tarantino's throw-back genre homages and it's the best (so far anyways). Uma Thurman goes through hell and we're with
her every step of the way. To cut back
on some of the gruesome violence Tarantino even mixed in some anime and put a
few sequences in black and white, but hey it worked, not only in getting the
film a box office friendly(er) R-Rating, but also making those sequences a
little more unique. He has largely
abandoned the out of sequence storytelling tactics he used, but I think it is
employed well here. We get a good dose
of set-up and a whole lot of carnage in the first part, before digging much
deeper into everything in part 2. Taken
as a whole though this is the finest epic of the last decade.
55. LA Confidential (1997) -
Curtis Hansen
I've spoken quite recently
about how awesome this movie is and well now you have a bit of a reference
point to exactly how much. An absolutely
brilliant period film that's part throw back detective story, neo-noir, and
modern action film set in old LA it is the film that I can only imagine
Gangster Squad hoped to be. Led by two
Aussies the cast is stellar and features a whole lot of players with A-list
credentials. What is most remarkable
isn't just how well the film holds up on multiple viewings, but how much
information and names are thrown at you without losing you at all. It's rare for a film to have this much of a
complicated plot with so many players yet still be instantly comprehensible on
the first viewing. I believe this is
where Hansen's skills as a director come in, although he's never done anything
else even remotely as good as this, sorry 8 Mile fans. It may also be that it's just so damn
fascinating that I was more than willing to pay attention.
54. Touch of Evil (1958) -
Orson Welles
It doesn't really matter
which of the 18 different versions of this film you watch, you can't hide a
masterpiece. Like Blade Runner it was
butchered, re-released, then restored and re-released some more and well who
knows what the "definitive" version is. I will say this has undoubtedly the greatest
opening shot in the history of cinema and well you can't argue with that, it's
a fact. What amazed me last time I
watched this was just how damn good Orson Welles is. It's easy to dismiss Welles as the director
of Kane and a favorite of the older generation who constantly got more praise
than he deserved. You can also view him
as a self destructive would be genius who squandered his talents. However watching Touch of Evil you realize he
very well might have been the greatest director to ever life. It's mind boggling how much better he was at
everything than everyone else. Maybe his
style draws attention to itslef, but is that a bad thing? The fact that he made a studio assignment
based on a throwaway story with the "believable" casting of Charlton
Heston as a Mexican into one of the all time greatest films ever just shows how
great he could be. Of all the film noirs
from the 40s and 50s I reckon there aren't any better than this, even if Dennis
Weaver's inexplicable performance still drives me nuts.
53. The Best Years of Our
Lives (1946) - William Wyler
William Wyler's second best
picture/best director winner was just as timely as his first, the war time propaganda film Mrs. Minniver, but the difference is that film didn't age so
well whereas The Best Years of Our Lives is still an incredible film. This was not just a film about returning
soldiers, it was film BY returning soldiers.
Both Wyler and legendary cinematographer Gregg Toland served during WWII
and their personal experiences helped add to an already great film. Real life veteran Harold Russell steals the
show from stars Frederic March and Dana Andrews but it's that old favorite
Cathy O'Donnell who helps make his scenes so incredibly touching. The best film that'll probably ever be made
about returning veterans it is somewhat dark but with a streak of eventual
optimism based on three people with different backgrounds and very uncertain
futures.
52. Duck Soup (1933) - Leo
McCarey
Leo McCarey made some pretty
great films as a director, but it's odd that his best film he really didn't do
anything on but point a camera and get out of the way. The Marx Brothers were ending their
incredibly brilliant tenure at Paramount with this box office disaster that has
since been widely recognized as their masterpiece. Technically speaking this is a musical, but
that's like saying technically speaking Blazing Saddles is a western. Like many Paramount musicals this is also set
in an imaginary kingdom, but unlike any of those other ones all hell breaks
loose all the damn time. Groucho Marx
plays Rufus T. Firefly the leader of Freedonia and with a name like that you
know things are going to get silly. It's
damn near impossible to keep up with Groucho and Chico for that matter, and I
spent so much time laughing at Harpo it took about three viewings to catch
everything. This film was rediscovered
by college students in the 60s and it's sense of free wheeling anarachy is just
the type of timeless thing educated youths can always appreciate. If nothing else you'll finally know where
that famous mirror scene came from.
51. The Grapes of Wrath
(1940) - John Ford
Well here's our friend Greg
Toland again. This was one of three
films he shot with John Ford, the others being The Long Voyage Home and the
little known wartime documentary December 7th, which Toland also got credit for
co-directing. It's no secret why Orson
Welles wanted him to shoot Citizen Kane, his work here is as good as any film
ever. It's so expressionistic and
there's all the deep focus that seems to catch every crack and wrinkle in those
dust bowl battered faces. It's odd to
think that John Steinbeck's book was barely a year old when this film was made,
but both of them have put the finishing touches on the Great Depression mainly
on what the farmer's went through.
Steinbeck was usually a downer, but Ford is a relentless optimist, so
it's no surprise that he ends the film a little earlier than Steinbeck, but
censorship wouldn't have allowed Steinbeck's ending anyways. Still this film has that same familiar down
home charm that all Ford films have, good or bad, he was simply one of the all
time greats. For a director known
primarily for his westerns this film is easily his best outside the genre,
although the fact that it's about a move out west and much of it takes place on
the open road makes it seem like not too much of a stretch for him. Every time I see this film it gets better and
better, so who knows where it'll rank whenever I update this list next decade?
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