75. The Dish
“No offence, but NASA spends fifteen years, hundreds of millions of dollars so that we can watch
man walk on the moon and in the end it falls to you blokes!”
man walk on the moon and in the end it falls to you blokes!”
Just a lovely wee film. Really sweet and charming. A film that was sadly very over-looked.
Telling the story of the moon landing from a unique perspective it's a cracking little film. Warm, quirky and with a really nice nature to it, it just puts a smile on my face whenever I watch it. Similar to something Scotland might produce (Local Hero for example). Sam Neill has always been an actor I've liked and he's very good here as are much of the cast who portray the likeable small town characters.
While much of its humour is of a fairly gentle nature there are some really good laughs to be found. The main one that comes to mind being the band being asked to play the American national anthem, but instead coming up with the theme song from Hawaii Five-O.
If you haven't seen it I'd recommend you give it a go some day.
74. Little Big Man
“There is an endless supply of white men. There has always been a limited number of human beings.”
This is a very curious film, like no Western I've ever seen before (not that I've seen that many).
It reminds me of films like Forrest Gump and North in that it tells the tale of one man's incredible and fantastical life, a film where you feel it may be revealed at any time to be a fantasy or fable. It's a very sad and touching movie at times but is also wildly funny
The film's great strength without doubt is Dustin Hoffman's wonderful performance, charting the character's life from a teen through to old age. He is also given great support from Chief Dan George as Old Lodge Skins and Richard Mulligan as a fantastically nuts General Custer.
A very engrossing and moving film.
73. Catch Me If You Can
“An honest man has nothing to fear and I am trying not to be afraid of anything.”
I think this has to be one of the best, and certainly most underrated, films of the noughties. It is good breezy fun, looks great, has snappy dialogue, two very engaging central performances and an excellent opening credits sequence.
It's a very interesting story, telling of the incredible true life exploits of Frank Abagnale, Jr. Set in the 60s it has a lovely warm, nostalgic tone to it, full of vibrant colours and a jazz inspired score. Immediately after watching the film I went out and bought the book it was based on, a definite sign of how much sheer enjoyment I found this to be
72. The Wedding Singer/ 50 First Dates
“Well, I have a microphone and you don't, SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY!!” ~ The Wedding Singer
“Can I have one last first kiss?” ~ 50 First Dates
An Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore double bill here. Two really great, funny romantic comedies. And as HoneyKid does I love Drew Barrymore, which makes me love these films more than I would if it was just about anyone else. I just find her so adorable. So she outweighs the sometimes annoying tendencies of Adam Sandler.
The Wedding Singer is perhaps the 'better' film; and has a fantastic soundtrack, but I think I just prefer 50 First Dates. Just find it to be a nicer, sweeter little film.
Special mention too for another couple of Drew's films - Never Been Kissed and Our House (aka Duplex). Mostly for Drew!
71. Austin Powers – The Spy Who Shagged Me / The Mask
“I can't believe Vanessa, my bride, my one true love, the woman who taught me the beauty of monogamy...was a fembot!”
I had to put one of the Austin Powers films in here and decided to go with this one. I find the whole series to be just ridiculously funny, not very big or clever but damn funny!
Mike Myers is of course the star, the man that makes this all work. His performances in multiple roles are hilarious, particularly Dr Evil. He doesn't hog all the laughs however as each character is given their moments to shine – Scott Evil, Frau Farbissina, Number Two, Basil Exposition, Mini Me etc. And finally Heather Graham as Felicity Shagwell, perhaps the main reason I prefer this over the first. As well as being very funny she is sexy as hell!
“It's party time! P-A-R-T-whY? Because I gotta!”
You get films that seem to exist for no other reason than to act as a showcase for a comedian. A lot of the time they don't really work but this one certainly does. Well for me at least.
I am a massive Jim Carrey fan and this is the film that introduced me to him. I just couldn't get enough of his craziness as this character. In fact for a while I was a little bit obsessed with it, with my mum renting it every few months for us to watch together while we sat through on her bed stuffing our faces. I'm not even sure she particularly liked the film that much but would go with it just for me.
Outside of Carrey's rubber-faced antics there is also a lot more to like here. It is one of those films that doesn't seem to exist in a particular era, mixing elements from different periods. Along with the glamour of Cameron Diaz there are also fun turns by Peter Green and Peter Riegret. And then of course there is Milo, the adorable little dog who threatens to steal the scene any time he appears. The film also features some excellent special effects, coupled with some impressive song and dance routines