ahwell's Top 100 Movies - 2020

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I thought Rebecca was okay but found it pretty forgettable. I actually had to look up my review of it to even see what I'd thought of it and found that the last line of my review was "It's just not something that I'm likely to ever watch again and, to be honest, I will probably have forgotten most of it by next week."



So far your list rocks! Rebecca is a 5 star film for me and for all the reasons you mentioned in your review. Nice writing in your review too.
Thanks!! Glad you're a fan too
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The trick is not minding
I remember about 10 years ago now, a movie theater outside of Leola, Pennsylvania shows old classic every spring, fall and winter.
One of those times I dragged my buddy to watch Rebecca, which was one of their selections. Both of us came away impressed.
George Sanders was great in it!



Hitch is one of my favorite directors and I really like Rebecca a lot. It’s not near the masterpieces like Vertigo or Psycho but then again I’ve only seen it once unlike those two. So who knows.

But having Hitch on the list you can do no wrong.





96. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

It's fascinating, that Kubrick, from one film to the next, tackles his themes in such a new, introspective, way. With 2001: A Space Odyssey he deals with ****ing evolution itself, in A Clockwork Orange violence and social learning, Barry Lyndon fate and the choices we make, Dr. Strangelove war and sex. That's precisely why I find of the Kubricks I've seen so far, Eyes Wide Shut and Dr. Strangelove are the most closely connected. Both deal with sex - one more implicity, the other more explicit - in a way I haven't seen on screen before.

But it's silly trying to compare any of Kubrick's films with each other. They're all unique, all completely new worlds in of themselves. That's why I love them. And that's why I loved this. The orgy scene! Wild! It was so creepy, so fascinating, and honestly disturbingly funny once they got to the actual, uh, ****ing part.

The soundtrack is something I always admire in a Kubrick movie, and it didn't disappoint here. Right from the start we get the famous and surreal Waltz from a Ballet Suite by Shostakovich. I played this piece in my orchestra, and it being used here made it even weirder due to the "innocent" personal connection. And then we get a bunch of cool jazz background music (listen for the orgy and the party scene!!! - it's the same music, or at least very similar). And then the performance of Mozart's Requiem as he walks in the shop at the end - masterful.

The cinematography - especially in the ritual scene - was stunning. Bizarre, often long tracking shots... just absolutely effective for what Kubrick was trying to do. I loved the acting from both Kidman and Cruise of course, funny seeing these "populist" actors in such an odd odd movie.

And the characters and their motivations, they're sexual desires, they're OPINIONS on sexual desire. Kubrick, like usual, gives us no easy answers, and instead, we're left to decide what we want to about the characters and how they deal with what happens in the movie. I'm not pretending to have it figured out, I don't even really know where to start when analyzing the themes and motifs of this... I just know I was drawn in to all 2 hours and 40 minutes. That's what Kubrick always does, and I wasn't expecting anything less. I wasn't disappointed.



I'm enjoying this countdown, but am still waiting for a movie we can agree on.
Shocked to hear you don't like EWS



Eyes Wide Shut was the last Kubrick I was missing so I thought I’d finish in grand style. Therefore I caught a screening of the film on 35mm. It was GLORIOUS.

I love Kubrick. He’s an absolute genius and he evokes a lot in me. He even brought out the best in me in terms of my reviews. He challenges me on so many levels. I’m always fascinated. Always searching, always looking.

Good pick.





95. Eraserhead (1977)

E-e-e-e-raserh-h-h-e-a-ddddddd.... So i was walking my dog one morning and this GUY walks up to me and says "come with me I have something to show you but don't bring the dog" so i was like where do i put the dog and he tells me to tie it to the fire hydrant which i did but now that i think about it it wasn't the greatest idea since what if a fire happened and they had to use the fire hydrant but the dog was tied on. anyways so i followed the guy and we walk up this orange and blue striped house (well at least i think, everything's in black and white), and he tells me to knock so i do, but this lady opens the door and starts coughing cat fur all over me. i'm allergic to cat fur so i started coughing and choking naturally, and the guy started yelling at me because you know i wasn't making a great impression. but the lady let me in anyways and she asked me what kind of tea i wanted; ginger, mint, raspberry, strawberry, lemon, 7up, cat fur, or hotdog and i said mint because that always calms me. but some of the cat fur got in the mint tea so i had to leave the table and go to the bathroom. problem is the guy was already in the bathroom having sex with the cat lady's sister so i just sat and waited but they took a LONG time so i asked the cat lady if there was another bathroom. she told me there wasn't but the old president next door had one. i knocked on his doorknob but the instant he opened it he started shoving political propaganda down my throat. like who needs that right now, he started telling me about if he was elected president he could change all the policies i hated so i asked him well how do you even know the policies i hate and he says well he's a mind reader. to prove it he sat me down and played a card game with me. the cards had these little wriggling dots on them, and if you tried to brush them off they just got angry so i didn't bother. the president played a couple cards and then told me exactly what i would play. he was wrong of course but he insisted he was right. anyways, at that point my cat fur allergy was gone but the dots sort of you know well started attacking me. and that damn president wouldn't tell them to lay off unless i promised to write him a check for a couple thousand dollars to help with his campaign. well you can be sure i got the hell out of there but the cat lady had gone shopping by the time i got back to her house. she left a note on her door that said "rutabaga olive oil raspberry jam blueberry jam strawberry jelly crisp and crunchy peanut butter smoked ham raw ham chives onions green beans milk spoiled eggs spoiled milk sliced butter melted cheese".i figured it was her shopping list but since she'd left it at her house i assumed she must have forgotten it. so i stole a bike from this kid wearing a blue t-shirt and black sweatpants who was drinking pink lemonade and i rode to the grocery store (these are all stories for another time since trust me i had plenty of misadventures) and i found her fretting in her car since she HAD forgotten her grocery list. well i naturally gave it to her and she hurried inside (late for mass late for work late for vacation late for school) and i realized i was late too (late for dinner late for bread late for time late for late) so i biked back but by that time the dog was gone so i walked home and got a spanking and spent the rest of the night sulking and wondering where the dog went good night the end

So, uh, yeah, Eraserhead is one hell of an experience, David Lynch creating a literal nightmare, creating something out of nothing. For those who haven't seen it, bring a couple tissues since it's a heartbreaker; This slice of life drama is about how a young man and his lover accidentally have a small child who is slightly deformed. However, after getting married, his wife leaves him to care for the child by himself. Stricken and confused, the poor man turns to sex, addiction, and much more. The spiral of depression leads to the man questioning his own identity and validity as a parent.

Ding! Time for dinner. Nope, you can't trust me. Listen closely, though, I said it's time for dinner. Guess what we're having!!!! Chicken!!!

Ding [2]

Ding [3]

Ding [4]

I'm done with dinner, don't want any more. Go ahead, finish the apple core.

It's wild. Eraserhead is just wild. And I could never describe it in words. It's visual poetry and my attempts at surrealism here just show how it's likely better suited in the hands of masters like David Lynch - and on the screen. It's a movie drained of all light, of all hope. There is a giddy joy, a sort of Miyazaki-esque creativity, but the dark twists make it one of the most enjoyable nightmares I've ever had. If this is David Lynch's style, I am already head over heels in love.

Well, Good night folks!! I've got to go, my girlfriend just asked me over to her parent's house for dinner.



I watched Eraserhead a few years back when I foolishly decided to watch everything I hadn't seen from Camo's top ten (at the time). Let's just say that didn't go very well.



@ahwell I just read your review of Eraserhead...did someone have too much caffeine today That was one impressive block of stream of conciseness writing, glad you liked the film. I was totally impressed by Eraserhead, such a beautifully odd movie. I'd spam your thread with my review but I don't want to do that to you...But you might enjoy reading it, I'd be curious as to what you'd think.

Anyway...you got good taste, so far nothing cheesy!



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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Good start to this list! I really like Rebecca, Eyes Wide Shut, Kind Hearts and Coronets and Elmer Gantry too.

I'm with Miss Vicky on Eraserhead, though. Not for me.



@ahwell I just read your review of Eraserhead...did someone have too much caffeine today That was one impressive block of stream of conciseness writing, glad you liked the film. I was totally impressed by Eraserhead, such a beautifully odd movie. I'd spam your thread with my review but I don't want to do that to you...But you might enjoy reading it, I'd be curious as to what you'd think.

Anyway...you got good taste, so far nothing cheesy!
LOL yeah I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote it but oh well guess it works!!

I will check out your review!