Since a few of my friends keep asking me to compile and comment on my favorite top 100 movies and I keep stalling because I've seen too many movies to narrow it down to just 100, I've decided to sort of meet them half way by compiling and commenting on my 300 most memorable movies to date. Rather then going by some absolute ranking, I've decided just to list them numericaly for record keeping purposes and to try to have a balanced represantation from the many different categories. Although some of you may think that the movies listed at the top would necessarily be better than the ones listed at the bottom, this for me will not be the case as each of the movies I mention here is truly among the most memorable for me.
This will take a while for me to complete so bear with me as I go along a few movies at a time and feel free to make your own comments and observations.
To start, I will start with the top 10 movies I listed as my favorites.
1. The Godfather
To me, this is the epitomy of the American gangster movie. The Italian culture is richly dispalyed in the wedding scenes and inter-personal relationships. The cinematagrophy and the detailed environment were superb.Coppola's multiple action sequences, cut to cut, towards the end of the movie ushered in a new style of action movie making. What can one say about Brando other than that he was Don Corleone.
A continuation of Godfather I but also a prequel, introducing the young Vito Corleone , superbly etched by Robert Di Nero, who forever leaves his mark as the the new star of his generation.
From Italy to the America of the roaring twenties, as De Niro becomes the aged Brando and the young Pacino takes the mantel from his father and consolidates the power of his family.
Powerfull screen story telling, so true to the original book, written by Mario Puzo.
What do you get when you take a burger loving hitman, his philosophical partner, mix them up with couple of diner bandits, a drug loving gangster's moll and a washed up boxer? You gert Pulp Fiction, the dawn of new age cinema. Quentin Tarantino never shined so bright.
The epic Vietnam war movie that takes us into the lives of group of friends fom a small Russian American steel mill community before, during and after. Cristopher Walken with a stunningly vulnerable prformance emerges as a household name and Streep and Di Nero reafirm their acting greatness with enviable support from John Cazale and John Savage.
What can you say about a real good feel crime movie that has Joe Pesci in a serious role as a walking time bomb mobster, Ray Liotta as the anti-hero that winds up in the Witness Protection Program and Robert De Niro as an authentic wise guy? All that and based on the real life mobster Henry Hill story and directed to perfection by Martin Scorcese.
Last edited by cinemaafficionado; 04-12-2012 at 02:32 AM.
Based on the true story of Thomas Edward Lawrence, this epic and timeless master piece ws directed by master director David Lean. It's a fascinating study by Peter O'Toole as he unites the Arab tribes against the Turks.
A breathtakingly filmed movie, it won an Oscar for best cinematagrophy in 1995 and it's director, Edward Zwyck and lead actor Brad Pitt got nominated for Golden Globes.
It's an epic new age western set in the rural mountain plains of Montana, where three brothers vie for the love of a same woman.
This movie has a life of it's own as it goes through highs and lows, romance, tragedy and death.
The main character played very well by Brad Pitt is as wild and free as the mountains he lives in and it's hard for men not to admire him and women not to fall in love with him. Julia Ormond, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quin and Henry Thomas top off the great cast.
This is probably the most overlooked western of all time. Maybe because it was considered the remake of the Gunfight At The OK Coral (1957) by John Sturges, starring Burt Lancestar and Kirk Douglas, one of the best westerns of it's time. Actually, the same director, John Sturges, tried a re-make in 1968, with James Garner, Jason Robarts and Robert Ryan and called it Hour Of The Gun.
Tombstone was made in 1993 and directed by George P. Cosmatos, who was largely known for directing Silvester Stalone in Rambo: First Blood 2 and Cobra.
The cast was phenomenal and included: Kurt Russel (as Wyat Earp ), Val Kilmer ( as Doc Holliday ), Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Powers Booth, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestly, Thomas Hayden Church.
The action was great and Val Kilmer gave the performance of his life and all he got for it was a nomination for Best Male Actor MTV Awards 1994.
That's basically it for the whole movie, which I consider to be one of the best westerns of all time. Go figure!
Of course, I'm including some of my favorite films in my most memorable movies. They certainly wouldn't be my favorites if they weren't most memorable to me. At least that's how I see it. That's why they are " mine " whichever way you look at it. And that's why I need clarity to deal with sticklers for semantics.
Remember these are my choices and you can agree or disagree all you want and that's your prerogative. What you can't change is how I feel about them.
This is one movie that really resonated with me. I like history and believe in past lives. If true, then surely I was a Roman and can identify with the arena.
In 2001 this movie garnered 5 Oscars which included Best Picture and Best Actor. I felt Russel Crowe to the bone and enjoyed the whole feel of the movie. I know some of you didn't feel this movie and that's ok. Even our fingerprints are unique, so why would anyone expect to feel the same?
I love epics and this movie is an epic in the true sense of the word.
Ben Kingsley did a marvelous job portraying a real life legend.
How can anyone forget the originator of passive resistance?
In 1982, this movie garnered 8 Oscars, including Best Actor ( Kingsley ), Best Director ( Richard Attenborough ) and Best Picture.
A visualy stunning movie that stayed with me a long time after I saw it. Peter James won The Australian Cinematographer Of The Year (1992) and also won the AFI Award for Best Achievement In Cinematography 1992.
An inspiring prison drama about a framed white banker, played by Tim Robbins and his friendhip with a wisened old black inmate, flawlessly portrayed by Morgan Freeman. The banker proves to be an upstanding kind of guy that has an unquenchable desire for hope and redemption.
More than any other movie I've seen, this movie truly is a movie about male bonding and intrepid resolve.
In 1995, it was nominated for 8 Oscars and won the ASC Award - Outstanding Achievement In Cinematography.
Great list so far. I could chatter away about most of these but for now I'll just mention that I think Gandhi is one of the greatest films I've ever seen. Even though it's a classic and won many awards, I still feel it doesn't get enough shout-outs.
__________________
Sniping zombie Jesus from my space harem.
In 1966, Sergio Leone, an Italian director, go figure, would make one of the best westerns of all time and usher in the era of spaghetti westerns and make Clint Eastwood a household name.
Although, Leone had allready made two westerns with Eastwood, A Fisfull Of Dollars And For A Few Dollars more, it took the signature musical score and the zany and colorfull characters of the Good, The Bad and The Ugly to bring Leone and Eastwood to the full attention of the world.
Interestingly, at the time ( 1959-1965 ) Eastwood had allready been starring in the television series Rawhide in the US, when Leone gave him the chance to become a serious cowboy and a legend, forever subsequently cast as the deadly quiet loner.
Linear Mode
