First off, excuse my overuse of the word "awesome", but when it fits the best, I'm sorta stuck with it.
40. Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 1991)
Disney's greatest traditional animation since the 1950s has gorgeous artwork, a wonderful score and plenty of action, humor, and suspense.
39. An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 1981)
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Truly horrific tale which just happens to be incredibly sexy and witty. Really, it's a once-in-a-lifetime flick since none of the newer attempts at such a thing are nearly as successful or complex.
38. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
Polanski is a master, but screenwriter Robert Towne has to take a bow for his great original script. Nicholson and Dunaway are terrific, but bringing in John Huston (
The Maltese Falcon) was a stroke of genius.
37. Deliverance (John Boorman, 1972)
Awesome film about man's interaction with nature seems to have passed into some psycho folklore full of snide jokes. Even if you think there's something "funny" about this film, it's very serious, exciting, scary, beautifully-photographed and strangely poetic. Wonderful use of "Dueling Banjos" at the beginning to set the mood.
36. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)
Hilarious, uplifting, disturbing and tragic reinvention of Ken Kesey's novel. I LOVE Jack Nicholson, and this may well be his greatest performance. Just him, sitting in front of a turned-off TV set, giving play-by-play of the World Series, is enough for someone to fall in love with the movies.
35. American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973)
My favorite coming-of-age film, with just about the coolest use of a soundtrack, and a wonderful collection of characters and performances.
34. The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962)
Damn, what a great movie! The Chinese kidnap and brainwash American soldiers during the Korean War to have one ticking time bomb do their bidding when required. An awesome combo of political satire, suspense and dark comedy which has never remotely been duplicated, unless you count
Dr. Strangelove. This one has Angela Lansbury though.
33. The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961)
I've discussed this film many places around the site, including its own thread twice, so maybe this is overkill to mention it again, but I just watched it with someone who has never seen it, so I'll try to post something new and thoughtful, if I can. The bottom line for me is that this is the creepiest, scariest, most-unsettling horror film I've ever seen.
The Innocents is so frightening because it's open to so many interpretations, and no matter which way you interpret it, it's just as disturbing as possible. It's based on Henry James'
The Turn of the Screw which tells the story of a new governess, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr), and her effect on two angelic children who seem to be far more mature than their ages would allow. The boy Miles (Martin Stephens) is sent home from school for being "an injury" to the other boys, and the girl Flora (Pamela Franklin) seems to realize that Miles is coming home before anyone else does. This is only the beginning of many incidents which seem to possibly have more than one explanation, and as the film progresses, it becomes more-difficult to decide what the truth of the situation is.
The photography is spectacular and the sound design awesomely conveys what could either be Miss Giddens' deepening madness or a presence of unspeakable evil which threatens to possess and corrupt the children in the form of two dead servants who formally helped to raise the children while freely carrying on an open S&M sexual relationship in front of them. Since the film was made in 1961, you have to pay attention to pick up all the plot nuances and possibilities, but all you have to have are eyes and ears to be transfixed and lost in another world of a large house full of rooms of whispers and scary "games" of hide-and-seek. Make sure you watch this one after it gets dark.
32. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
Bogart, at the center of WWII, deciding who lives and who dies. Is he the ultimate Anti-Hero or just a plain old romantic? Does he stick his neck out for anybody or not? Is Ingrid Bergman gorgeous beyond belief? Are the cast and script the most perfectly-oiled machine ever conceived by classic Hollywood?
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
1. The script is probably the greatest which Hollywood ever concocted and comes closest to the complete, utter wit level which rivals playwrights such as Oscar Wilde and Bernard Shaw. This, despite the fact that it was constantly being rewritten all the way up to the final day of shooting.
Casablanca is a film with dialogue so good that many people still do not comprehend how entertaining it is because the whole thing comes across as effortlessly amusing while feigning seeming seriousness.
2. The technical acumen gathered together for the film is mind-boggling. This includes everything from Don Siegel's montages to the special effects utilizing midgets to convey proper scale, cool matte paintings, the light tower at the airport, the biff, bang, pow of the editing, the super costumes, Max Steiner's musical score, the sets of the various locations and even Sydney Greenstreet's flyswatters and Peter Lorre's haunting eyes. This is certainly the apotheosis of Curtiz's Warner Bros. career.
3. The romance is compelling in far more significant ways than the usual melodrama. The three main characters all are confused about each other's motives and it's unpredictable what will happen right up to the final scene. Yet, everything seems almost inevitable once you watch and rewatch this perfection. Take, for example, the scene where Rick gets Ilsa's letter in the rain as the train prepares to roll out of the station... how could anything ever be topped for emotional power? Look closely at Bogie's face as he tosses the "bleeding, crying" note to the ground.
4. Dooley Wilson's Sam is a hell of a singer and a perfect partner for Bogart's Rick. The scenes where Sam sings "As Time Goes By" are wonderfully nostalgic and even were when the film came out. Add to that the fact that's the one song which stabs Rick in the heart every time he hears it.
5. Speaking of music, the scene where "La Marseillaise" is sung at Rick's always generates lots of emotion and shivers down the backbone. Victor is able to rally the crowd to overcome the Nazis' singing of their patriotic song with an onslaught of honesty and newfound patriotism from the seemingly jaded crowd in the "saloon".
6. The supporting cast is unrivaled in films of the era. Maybe it seems as if there are better casts, but character-for-character, the casting could scarcely be more perfect, and Claude Rains' Louis has to take extra bows for the perfection of his line deliveries, character development and rapport with Bogie's Rick. "I'm shocked... shocked to find gambling going on here!" "Your winnings, sir." "Oh, thank you."
7. Ingrid Bergman is so damn beautiful. She's obviously younger than Bogie, but their relationship seems destined to be and what he gives her in security, she gives him in pure love. They're able to humanize and improve each other in ways far beyond the simple cliche. By the way, did I mention that Bergman is incredibly gorgeous?
8. Bogart is THE MAN in this film. He had played the cynical lead before in the wonderful
The Maltese Falcon, but this solidified him as the leading man, the hero, a romantic icon, and the man far more together and capable than even our current role model -- The XX Man.
9. The finale is probably the greatest ever presented in a Hollywood film or anything even resembling a romantic thriller. Rick is able to work everything out to a T and make it all happen, all the while sharing some of the greatest lines in film history. "Round up the usual suspects." "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." If you don't dig the final scene, I don't know what to say...
10.
Casablanca is many viewer's gateway into the films of Humphrey Bogart and classic films in general. It may be difficult for some people to realize this, but Bogart was probably in more films which stand the test of time than any other actor of his day and perhaps even ever. Besides that, he was a character actor who was able to straddle the line between cynicism and heroism and create a very-flawed sort of hero which eventually became the Anti-Hero so well popularized by later actors such as Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The thing about Bogie though was that he was a far-huger romantic leading man than any of them ever proved to be, and that is mind-boggling in and of itself. Movies would not be the same if Bogie and
Casablanca did not exist.
31. Richard Pryor Live in Concert (Jeff Margolis, 1979)
First off, Richard Pryor released a few concert films; or at least, people trying to make money off his talent did. This review is only concerning the very first film, and it's called exactly this title. This will always be my "go-to" film when I need to just laugh and feel a bit better about life. I've talked to many people of many ages, and they all have their fave stand-up comics, but I find it hard to believe that a truthful person could watch this film and not tell me that Pryor is the funniest, most-honest person on the face of the Earth here. If you deny that, then tell me somebody who can remotely perform so many human and animal characters on stage. The man pours his entire soul out in this wonderful movie, and I feel privileged to relive it two or three times a year with my friends and family. R.I.P.