From: a movieville reader
Subject: My Top Ten Favorite Films
Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 15:04:14my favorite ten, at least for now...
ANNIE HALL (1977) Woody Allen proves here why he is one of the best filmmakers to have ever lived. The first of Woody's 'serious' period, it establishes a delicate balance of romance and comedy that is outshined only by Diane Keaton's absolutely magnetic performance. If there is one film that repeatedly delivers for me on all levels it's this one. ANNIE HALL is also the only film that I can still watch repeatedly, and have.
DR. STRANGELOVE or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964) I couldn't admit to liking this even after three mandatory viewings in three different mandatory film classes, but then I rented it and everything worked. This was my first introduction to Kubrick or Peter Sellers, and I couldn't have asked for a better one. Range doesn't even begin to explain what Sellers demonstrated in this performance, not just because he pulled off three different characters, but because he played them all so well, and to such great and varying comedic effects.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) As others have noted, it's difficult to yank apart the holy trilogy, but as a singular text, this is the best of the three. The magic and mystery created by STAR WARS really took hold in EMPIRE. I anticipated the opening night more than I did Christmas that year, and it didn't let me down. EMPIRE also really made me realize, even at the age of nine, how much I liked non-happy or ambiguous endings. I was never the same moviegoer again.
FARGO (1996) From the tiny opening titles set against the stunningly stark white background, FARGO had me truly engrossed. Frances McDormand was great, but Billy Macy's Jerry Lundegaard deserved the Oscar far more. Believe me, I've witnessed many a throw-a-frothing-fit-while-chipping-ice-offa-windshield incidents and Mr. Macy nailed it. The Midwesterner in me loves this film a bunch, ya know.
THE GRADUATE (1967) I always had a pretty hard time relating to 'old' movies until I saw this one in college. Being familiar with growing feelings of general alienation at the time, I guess the film just really hit the spot. In spite of its very deliberate and sometimes clumsy stylings, the mood of this film, aided by the Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack, is one of the most intoxicating I've ever experienced.
PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) A one-dimensional jokester Paul Ruebens is not. Paul's hilarious script, co-written by Phil Hartman, and some Tim Burton mood combined to make this film soar beyond my wildest expectations. I distinctly remember seeing it at the same Hillside, IL, theatre on opening night, just as I had seen E.T. in its first night of action, but the crowd was easily twice as large and twice as responsive for Mr. Herman. I didn't know much about Pee Wee prior to seeing this, but I soon became a huge fan.
PULP FICTION (1994) With the exception of a midnight show of WAYNE'S WORLD, this was probably the most fun I've ever had at the movies. This is an amazing piece of work, which, upon repeat viewings works very well, especially in short bursts on cable. Plus, I'm always a sucker for jumbled chronology.
A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964) For me, few have delivered pure laughs better than Peter Sellers does in this film. Despite its otherwise only above-average qualities, SHOT is almost a textbook example of how to be funny on screen. For that reason alone, I consider it one of my favorite ten pieces of celluloid.
TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969) Woody Allen's funniest of his 'funny' period is also, in some ways his very best. Virgil Starkwell, the inept criminal, is brilliantly suited to Allen's comedic talents. With his first bona-fide film, he effortlessly brought to life the fumbling persona that would take shape over the years. This was the first Woody Allen film I ever saw, stumbling upon it while channel surfing at 2 AM, so I have a particularly soft spot for TAKE and its faux-documentary style, the first of its kind that I had ever seen.
THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984) Being an enormous music fan & record collector at the age of thirteen, for a long time I actually avoided this film for fear that it would hit too close to home or that it wouldn't be very good (I can't remember which). Eventually the film caught up to me on cable and more than won me over. Perhaps more than anything else, the soundtrack of original music was pure genius, and stands, for me, as one the best albums of the decade in its own right. This is both the definitive mockumentary and rockumentary (even though it's fake).
in case the above ten films cease to exist, ten alternates...
AIRPLANE (1980) My friends and I would sit around with hand-held tape recorders and record the dialogue in order to play it back later in an attempt to memorize it. We were definitely ill, but this is still a damn funny movie.
THE GENERAL (1927) Once THE GRADUATE broke down my resistance to old stuff, I had no problem going back way further to find this Buster Keaton gem, having heard someone compare Dustin Hoffman to Keaton. Not that Charlie sucks or anything, but Buster kicks Chaplin's ass.
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964) If not for the lip-synching, this would easily have made my top ten. The Beatles were, among many other things, hilarious personalities. This film goes a long way to effectively showcasing this in a manner that many other Beatle vehicles, even real news footage and interviews, failed to do.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) In addition to this being a beloved annual Xmas tradition at the Woods household which is why its included here, this is the only film that has the ability to make me cry each and every time I see it. And Donna Reed--grrrrh.
LOLITA (1962) Proving that insinuation is often far more powerful than demonstration (which the 1998 remake seemed to forget), this film really continues to impress me. Gotta love Kubrick being edgy before it was an accepted (or abused) practice. And Shelly Winters--grrrrh--NOT.
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) Perhaps it was the lingering effect of Michelob or lack of sleep, but despite the middle-of-the-night, hurried circumstances surrounding my viewing of this picture, I was really mesmerized by Marlon Brando for the first time. It wasn't just because he wasn't the size of a house for once or because he spoke even funnier back then than he does now, but because he was just so damn cool as a young dude.
THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1986) My favorite movie about movies. And since I work with the movies and love Woody Allen, 'nuff said.
RAIN MAN (1988) I've always liked Barry Levinson's films, but never really realized it until recently (no, SPHERE didn't make me come to this conclusion). In particular, something about this movie and the interplay of the two brothers really grabbed me and hasn't yet let go. Plus, I can sometimes count straws just like Dustin Hoffman's character did.
STAR WARS (1977) Despite being bored to sleep after the trash compactor sequence the first time my parents dragged me to see SW, this was the first film I eventually saw multiple times. And I mean multiple. I vividly remember thinking that it was very 'adult' every time I saw it, which only served to reinforce its greatness to an impressionable youth like me. And like all boys my age, I wanted to be Luke Skywalker and have Princess Leia as my girlfriend.
STARDUST MEMORIES (1980) Easily Woody Allen's darkest picture, I think I liked it so much because I saw THE SEVENTH SEAL immediately before I saw this for the first time. It's Woody's hate letter to the movie industry and its hangers-on, and since I work in the movies...well, it's still one of my favorites.