My Top Ten Favourite Films Ever….Part Deux
So, just to recap…
Last time I was expressing the virtues of my personal top five films of all time. Everyone has their own favourite movies, but these were mine, for better or worse. My top five came in no particular order, other than being preferred over my next top five, which again will come in no particular order (if that makes any sense!). So the top five, nothing controversial here…
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
Jaws
Apocalypse Now
Blade Runner
The Shining
These were easy to choose, they’ve been my favourites for years now, but the next five, they are in constant flux. The first in my next five, comes from a pick of films which have recently blown my mind in terms of pushing the boundaries of what to expect from narratives.
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
This narrowly pipped Memento and Magnolia to the list. A film like Eternal Sunshine does everything I think a good movie should do. It has great twists, great acting, awesome spectacle and a mind-bogglingly audacious story. For those of you who haven’t seen this movie, I won’t try to summarise further than it’s a beautiful bitter-sweet tender love story at the core, built around a twisted narrative mind-wiping science fiction yarn. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy finds out they’ve been in love before, but had their minds wiped of each other and their memories…that old chestnut. It has a great cast, Kate Winslet is never better, Jim Carrey pulls off his straight role with sad aplomb, and great support from Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst and Tom Wilkinson. Scriptwriter Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) proving once again that you don’t have to stick to rules when it comes to screenplays. Beautifully shot by Michael Gondry, I’m even considering it for my top five as we speak, this film astounds and touches me every time I see. Bravo Gondry. Also see Science Of Sleep, but not Be Kind Rewind for more Gondry magic.
Ghostbusters
What is there to say about Ghostbusters that hasn’t been said before? This is quite simply one of the funniest films of all time, and at the same time one of the best action adventure movies ever. The cast is perfect, and features a few of my favourite 80’s actors ever, not only Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Sigourney Weaver (who is hot in this!) but also the don. The one and only Rick Moranis. There was a time and place in my childhood where I probably believed that he was in every movie that came out (Ghostbusters 1 & 2, Brewsters Millions, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs, Honey I Shrunk the Kids etc), and in Ghostbusters he cements his position, in my opinion, as one of the finest comic actors of the era. The movie itself is perfectly balanced between comedy, action and horror, and even has a bit of romance thrown in for good measure. You’ll never find a better ensemble cast, and the soundtrack!!! If there’s something strange…and it don’t look good…who you gonna call?
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
George Lucas’ second and last good original idea (American Grafitti not counted). Again, there are no suprises here. This is undoubtedly the daddy of all action films since then. Unrelenting pace, awe inspiring action, cracking script and the finest leading man of our times (pre-ear ring). This movie takes you to a world you’ve never seen, sets it in a time and place unseen by most of us, yet makes it 100% believable. And this is down to Spielberg and Ford. Ford is just so damned cool in the Indy films, the hat, the jacket, the whip, the stubble, everything is just perfect, and the one liners and vulnerability just make him and the movie. Can you imagine Tom Selleck now in the role? Spielberg is one of my favourite directors, and this is the perfect show reel for him. Its got the action, its got the romance, the relationships and its got it in spades. Bravo.
PS I’ll not vent about Crystal Skulls here just yet, there’s an essay to be written there, and plus, it still hurts too much to talk about it.
Jurassic Park
The third and final Spielberg on my list (told you I was a fan), but for many different reasons. This movie came out when I was 11, year five of primary school. Children are all into different things as they grow up, some its computer games, others its bikes and rollerskates. For me, as long as I can remember it was dinosaurs. It still is to a degree, if I go to the Natural History Museum I head straight for the dinosaurs, I can’t help it. Also at that age, I was devouring books as if there was no tomorrow (all thanks to Roald Dahl), so when I heard that there was a movie coming out called Jurassic Park, and the science behind it, I was enraptured. My mum bought me the hard back book, and I read it in about 5 days, even reading some on my sports day if I remember correctly. For the first time, this was a book which seemed to contain real people, and could conceivably be a real situation. I longed to be in the jungles of Isla Nublar with the dinosaurs, even if it would have meant mortal danger, I wanted to be there so much. Once I’d finished the book, the wait for the movie was agonising. I went to see it the Ritz cinema in Lincoln, this was pre chain cinemas, and it had one massive screen instead of ten tiny ones. There was press interest in the movie, as it was going to be the first movie to be shown without an interval! That was unheard of then. So we got our ice creams first, the lights went down, and my little dinosaur socks were blown off. Spielberg captured the awe and magic that I had felt whilst reading the book. He’d trimmed all the bloated bits, and added some immense extra stuff not in the book. Exactly how a good adaptation should be done. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it. I even thought 2 and 3 were cracking movies, and I want a campaign to re-unite the original cast and director to make a 4. It would probably be as bad as Indy 4, but at least I could relive my childhood excitement once more.
Donnie Darko
Last but not least, Donnie Darko. A movie about…a movie about… well what exactly? This is the question that pickled my mind the first time I watched it, and made me sit there, and watch the whole thing over again. The first time I’ve ever done that (and the last time I think!). If you’ve not seen it, shame on you. Richard Kellys debut is an astonishing film, like Eternal Sunshine, that just totally pickles your head, and pushes all reasonable boundaries of what is expected of a movie narrative. It’s about being a teenager, a disaffected one at that. It’s about families, a dysfunctional one at that. It’s about young love. It’s about time travel, mental illness, wormholes, bullies, paedophiles, regrets, redemptions and relationships. Show me another movie that manages it so beautifully. Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal staked their claim as best brother sister acting team since John & Joan Cusack in this movie and have both gone from strength to strength since. This is what movies are all about, being sucked in, caring for your protagonists, then finally being blown away by the story twists and turns. Plus its set in the 80’s and has a great soundtrack, so that’s the icing on the cake for me!
So there you go.
The Top Ten.
Empire Strikes Back
Jaws
Apocalypse Now
Blade Runner
The Shining
Eternal Sunshine
Ghostbusters
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Jurassic Park
Donnie Darko
Six science fiction films, five 80’s films, four Harrison Ford films, three Spielberg films, two Lucas productions, and Jim Carrey in a Gondry.
So in theory my ideal film would be a Harrison Ford/Jim Carrey science fiction film, directed by Spielberg, produced by Lucas and set in the 80’s. But you know that would be shit!
I think what you can derive from the list is I am a science fiction fan, I like modern blockbusters, as well as cerebral films, and a kick ass soundtrack is essential!
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