Mulholland Drive: 2001 (R) NEW USA / Universal 81% (CF)
We move from the film directors of my childhood, to a film director who has become one of my favorites only recently; the strange and surreal David Lynch. And while I was first exposed to his work when I was a kid via the Sci-Fi Channel with Dune; that is a film that is still pretty far and away from his usual oeuvre. This film on the other hand is much closer to his usual style, and many people (MoFo or otherwise) consider it his masterpiece. This film does have that Lynchian touch to it, but it does not go FULL Lynch the same way Eraserhead and Inland Empire did. It is a perfect balance between the surreal nature of his films, and a somewhat traditional narrative. Showing enough restraint where you have enough to go on to try and follow a story (in this case an erotic mystery), but still plenty of surreal images and sequences. And let’s face it; I am still trying to find out the meaning to a lot of this movie. But that is half the fun of Lynch’s work. His films are meant to be rewatched, multiple times if needed to try and get a better understanding of his work. And even though you may not know what exactly is going on, the films are still beautiful to watch. Whether you see this film as some sort of commentary on the Hollywood system, or the comparison of the fantasy and reality of becoming a big star in Tinseltown; the man is certainly unique in his vision and execution. I really wish he would make another movie. This is the first, but not the last Lynch film on this list.
Honorable Mentions #1 Disney Mania: The Third Man who made me fall in Love with Film
As I said this is more than a Top 50, it is also an exploration of my personal journey through the cinema. And I am rounding out my official top 50 favorite films with about 30 or so honorable mentions to show my progress and wide range of movies I enjoy. But unlike the other films present, instead of doing Honorable Mentions one post at a time, I will do one giant one. And what better place to start then at the beginning of my cinematic experiences. As I said with my reviews of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Empire Strikes Back; that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were synonymous with my childhood. But there was a third man who helped shape my love of movies, and that was the architect of the House of Mouse, Walt Disney. I did not start watching films as a kid by jumping in head first with Scorsese movies; I had to walk before I could run and Uncle Walt was there to see me through.
Also keep in mind: I was not born in the United States; I was actually born in Japan, and was raised for the first five years of my life in Asia, particularly Seoul South Korea. And since we did not speak Korean (and a lot of what was in Korean cartoons were not quite kid friendly), my brother and I were forbidden from watching any form of Korean television. As such we were raised on VHS tapes sent over from my grandparents living in the States. They contained movies, box sets, and some taped children’s programming. And since we only had so many tapes, we would watch them over and over again. This is particularly true of the first two honorable mentions.
Sleeping Beauty 1959 (G) USA / Disney 91% Of all the classic Disney movies (IE pre Disney Renaissance) this is the one I watched the most as a kid. This movie is based off the classic fairy. So why did I like this one so much? The excellent score and third act! Prince Phillip rides to her rescue with the help of the fairies to fight my favorite Disney villain of all time Maleficent! And the music is absolutely beautiful, using the classically composed music of Tchaikovsky from the ballet of the same name. I saw this movie recently for the first time in two decades. Before that I could barely tell you anything about Princess Aurora. Maleficent on the other hand I distinctly remembered and could describe in detail how evil and scary she was! And as a young boy, it was awesome to see the Prince ride his horse through the thorns and ultimately fight Maleficent as a dragon and coming out on top! After the battle all is well and we get our big happy ending. Classic Disney and I look forward to the live action version Maleficent coming out this summer.
The Little Mermaid: 1989 (G) USA / Disney 92% (CF) Now of ALL the Disney movies I watched on VHS in Asia, this is easily my favorite. The animation is fantastic, the songs are timeless, and we have a Disney princess that is actually proactive and not asleep for half the flick. Ariel was even praised as being proactive and adventurous. She actually does stuff besides being a passive individual waiting for the movies deus ex machina. Granted she is doing it for reasons important to a 16 year old fangirl, but still progress was being made. And while Maleficent is my favorite Disney villain, Ursala easily takes second place. Although of all the villain designs, Ursala’s is my favorite. She was modeled after John Waters star and drag queen Divine. The prince was a bit of a bore though. No getting around that.
Beauty and the Beast: 1991 (G) USA / Disney 93% (CF) Beauty and the Beast not only represents another classic film in the Disney Renaissance, but was also part of the turning point where Disney princesses became more modern, and not feminist punching bags. Becoming less damsel in distress (Princess Aurora), or “wishing for my prince to come” (all of them really) and began to knock the typical mold of the past princesses. Bell also has more personality then past Disney princesses. She is intelligent, likes to read, and is not just a pretty face. She is not looking for prince charming, and while she does end up with the Beast at the end, it only becomes a romance after the Beast starts to ease up on being a prick. Also, due to the fact that I did live overseas, I never got to go to the movies until my family moved back to the States. And when I got here, this became the first movie I got to see in theaters; starting a love of going to the movies. A childhood treasure.
Aladdin: 1992 (G) USA / Disney 94% (CF) While the three movies listed above are indeed important films to me, this is my favorite animated movie from Disney. Yet another movie I remember seeing in the theater. This had two very good protagonists in Aladdin and Jasmine, an excellent villain, and probably one of the best supporting characters ever with the Genie (voiced by Robin Williams). The story sets up a very compelling fantasy world in old school (but Disney-fied) Arabia with lots fantastic imagery, excellent animation, and arguably the best Disney song ever written, “A Whole New World.” Not only did I have the toy line, a stuffed animal of Raja the tiger, and other various merchandise; but this was the only one of the Disney movies where I actually bothered to watch the direct to video sequels. And wouldn’t ya know it they were actually pretty good. Something that cannot be said of other Disney direct to video sequels. Heck I even watched a fair amount of the TV show. Can’t say that about other Disney movies that is for sure. Making Aladdin my favorite childhood Disney movie.
Now around the time I was 10 or so, I like many kids wanted to establish myself as older and not seen as a child. At this point in time that meant to me and my friends started turning our backs on Disney. We wanted to watch movies and other media that we thought were not “kids stuff.” And at that time we had gotten Super Nintendo, and what was synonymous with cool was Mortal Kombat (both the game and the first movie). Defiantly not kids stuff. As such after the Lion King I turned my back on Disney animated movies for the most part and the fandom was gone at this point. Never cared to see movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame or Pocahantas. Exceptions to the rule of course applied. The two exceptions were when I saw Hercules because at that time I was heavy into Greek myths, and Mulan which was shown actually years after its release while I was in high school. And that was because my world history teacher wanted to do something cool for us. Both good films, but none of them great or particularly spectacular. At least not to me. And with Pixar movies unable to replicate what made Disney a big part of my childhood and the Dreamworks movies I actually saw generally being one and done; for well over a decade my cinema fandom was absent of the brand of films Disney made when I was a kid. Even the movies I have listed I had not watched in well over two decades. That was until I started hearing a lot of good things about this movie on the internet…
The Princess and the Frog: 2009 (G) USA / Disney 84% (CF)
So I eventually rented this movie via iTunes, and I got to say it was a very good film. Not only was the main character Tiana played by Anika Noni Rose from Dreamgirls (which is an excellent movie), but it reconnected me with the 2D Disney style that dominated a large chunk of my childhood. A rediscovery if you will. It was a return to the fairy tale premise that they had strayed away from, updated to modern times, lots of musical numbers and funny characters, and it stayed very close to the usual Disney formula (for better or worse). The villain was played by Keith David (which is always a plus) and his villain song “Friends on the Other Side” was friggen awesome. As I said, a very good flick worth checking out; but I would not officially return to Disney fandom until this next movie.
Frozen: 2013 (PG) USA / Disney 89% (CF) This is the film that put the final nail in the coffin. Where The Princess and the Frog, started the reconnection with Disney, this is the one that help reignite the spark I long felt was lost and got me excited for the future. From traditional animation to digital animation, 2D to 3D, and showing a continual evolution of the Disney formula. Still close to the tried and true Disney princess brand, but putting plenty of twists to keep it fresh and up with modern times. The set up to the film has you expecting a typical Disney version of a Hans Christian Anderson story. But by the end of the movie all those expectations you had in the first 20 minutes have been turned upside down, making for a very clever story. And the singing is simply fantastic helped in large part by the Broadway alumni. Kind of hard to complain about the singing when the Witch from Wicked is in one of the leads. Also, I started laughing my ass off when I realized Olaf the Snowman was voiced by Josh Gad who played Elder Cunningham in the Broadway hit “The Book of Mormon.” This was not just another great movie, but I really got into the story and the world they lived in. Which sounds silly for a 28 year old man to say about a kid’s movie but it is true. I want to see what happens after this story and it would be awesome if I got a legit sequel and not some straight to DVD crap. Plus seeing this in 3D in the theater really gives you a greater appreciation for the film and what can be done with 3D. This not only was just a really good family film, it is the film that makes me excited for future Disney releases, returning me once again as a fan of the House of Mouse. Definitely my number 2 favorite Disney movie. What can I say other than it is great movie.
Last edited by The Gunslinger45; 07-07-14 at 03:12 PM.
The Little Mermaid: 1989 (G) USA / Disney 92% (CF) Now of ALL the Disney movies I watched on VHS in Asia, this is easily my favorite. The animation is fantastic, the songs are timeless, and we have a Disney princess that is actually proactive and not asleep for half the flick. Ariel was even praised as being proactive and adventurous. She actually does stuff besides being a passive individual waiting for the movies deus ex machina. Granted she is doing it for reasons important to a 16 year old fangirl, but still progress was being made. And while Maleficent is my favorite Disney villain, Ursala easily takes second place. Although of all the villain designs, Ursala’s is my favorite. She was modeled after John Waters star and drag queen Divine. The prince was a bit of a bore though. No getting around that.
You need to watch On the Air. It's Lynch's take on the sitcom, obviously it didn't last long. It's on youtube. Only 6 episodes. It's great.
Thanks for reminding me! I was meaning to watch it for a long time now!
__________________
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.
This will be my final entry for today as I have already gotten off to a great start. Expect a few more every day for the next week or so.
44.
The King of Comedy: 1983 (PG) -10
USA / 20th Century Fox
93% (CF)
I first saw this movie towards the end of what I like to call “The Scorsese Binge.” A period of time after I joined this site where I resolved to watch the rest of Scorsese’s impressive feature filmography. Which amounted to a total of fifteen films. During which time I saw many films that were good like Kundun, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and Cape Fear (which was on my last Top 50); plus some bad ones (New York New York). But the real stars were quite a few under appreciated gems like After Hours and Bringing Out the Dead. But this movie was my favorite film I saw during this period and most certainly is Scorsese’s most under appreciated work. When most people think of Robert De Niro in a Martin Scorsese movie, usually they think of films like Raging Bull or Goodfellas. These are movies where De Niro plays a very macho character in a film with themes of urban crime and grit; generally also accompanied by an endless stream profanity. This film in many regards is the anti Scorsese / De Niro movie, and for that reason a lot of people stayed away from this movie at the theater. But it is because of these same reasons, why it is also so brilliant. De Niro is not some tough guy, he is a nerd in this film. Urban crime is not discussed, this is not a gangster picture, and the movie is rated PG with very little if any profanity. And while it does have a protagonist who is probably more mentally disturbed then Travis Bickle (let that sink in); he is nowhere near as violent. It does make for some very awkward and creepy moments, but the movie does touch on subject matter that was ahead of its time. Here we have a guy who will do ANYTHING to get his fifteen minutes of fame and the film highlights the part of our culture OBSESSED with celebrities. Dear Lord, Scorsese practically predicted the Octo Mom's, Kardashians, and the like who will go to extreme lengths to get famous. And the lengths Rupert Pupkin went to get his slot in the spot light resemble it more then a little. And credit to Sandra Bernhard for putting on one heck of a performance. A pity she did not do more movies (although I am sure Hudson Hawk helped with that). Either way this is a brilliant and criminally under discussed movie when compared to the rest of Scorsese’s work.
Last edited by The Gunslinger45; 07-07-14 at 03:12 PM.
Love your picks, Gunslinger! Ikiru is one of my personal favorites, Dogma is OK (although it's not one of my favorite Kevin Smith films, I still think it's worth watching), the Indiana Jones series and the Star Wars series are of course awesome, Mulholland Drive is great and I should definitely rewatch it in the very near future as I feel that I will love it instead of only liking it the second time around and of course you know that I'm also a big fan of Disney animation and Scorsese!
Just one thing: why didn't you like New York, New York? I watched it a few months ago and I though it was fantastic. I'm a fan of (classic) musicals and I thought Scorsese did a great job revitalizing that classic genre, but in a typical Scorsese-like dark way. What were your main issues with the film?
I was expecting a typical musical and I only got that toward the end of the movie (best part of the movie). De Niro's character seemed to be generic compared to his other roles he has done with Scorsese, and it was way too long for me. Liza was great, but the rest of the movie is a let down. At least for me it was.
I was expecting a typical musical and I only got that toward the end of the movie (best part of the movie). De Niro's character seemed to be generic compared to his other roles he has done with Scorsese, and it was way too long for me. Liza was great, but the rest of the movie is a let down. At least for me it was.
I see.
I also thought the third act was the best part (from the moment Liza becomes a star), but somehow I also appreciated all the other stuff a lot. Maybe it were the visuals that enchanted me so much that I didn't care for the film's tiny flaws. I can see why you think this film is a little bit too slow, especially in the beginning. It didn't bother me personally, but I guess it indeed has certain pacing problems.
Thanks for clarifying your thoughts on it! Looking forward to the rest of your top!
I am enjoying your list so far and I love the details you give about why the films made a impact to you. The ones in your list that made a huge impact on my cinema film experiences so are Raiders of the Last Ark and The Empire Strikes Back so far.
Evil Dead II: 1987 (R) -1
USA / Rosebud Releasing
98% (CF)
The man… the legend… The chin. My friends this is the perfect blend of two awesome genres; horror and comedy! With all the blood and practical effects of a slasher flick with all the slapstick of The Three Stooges; and when you add in the charisma and sheer awesomeness of Bruce Campbell and some one-liners; you get a pretty spectacular movie. If the premise of a man reading from an ancient tome that resurrects undead beings called the Deadites in a cabin in the woods, and he has to fight them off with a chainsaw and a boom-stick does not appeal to you, you can pass on this one. It is just as it sounds, and I absolutely love it!
This is another movie that was discovered on the shelves of Blockbuster Video. Though it was not through this movie, I was first introduced to this series via Army of Darkness. Fell in love with the premise and character, and eventually saw the other two movies. But my clear favorite is this installment. A reimaging of the first Evil Dead rather than a true sequel, this is a fan favorite for any true fan boy.
Last edited by The Gunslinger45; 07-07-14 at 03:13 PM.
The Ten Commandments 1956 (G) -2
USA / Paramount
91%
While I touched on Dogma as a film that inspires faith in a very unconventional sense, this movie does so in far more traditional terms. A true classic in every sense of the word. This tells the Book of Exodus in the form of a Biblical epic with all the scale and ambition one would expect from Cecil B. DeMille. I first saw this movie when I was 12 or so and visited my aunt and uncle in Santa Fe. We were given free reign of the TV room and my uncle’s computer which at that time had dial up AOL. And since AOL took an hour to load a single page back in those days, we watched this movie after trying the web. This was back when long movies like this came in a double VHS box. I liked it then, but I admit my love for the movie grew as my own personal journey with my faith has progressed.
Subsequent viewings allowed me to appreciate the film more; not only in its inspiring message but in the production values and design. I have a special place in my heart for old school big budget studio pictures before the rise of computer generated effects. The scene where Moses parts the Red Sea is a breath taking scene and has become iconic in its own right. And who better to play the lead of Moses then one of my all time favorite actors, Charlton Heston; a man with the voice, stature and talent to pull of playing one of the most important Judeo-Christian figures. I will throw this movie on every so often and I still get chills when Moses climbs Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God. Epic, grand, and inspirational, The Ten Commandments remains one of my all time favorites.
Last edited by The Gunslinger45; 07-07-14 at 03:13 PM.
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