ash_is_the_gal's Top 100

Nice top ten.

Well, I can still remember not so long ago when you had a Favorite Movie list connected with each post and what most of them were. (Maybe you can go ahead and put up the new one now?) But there were a few changeups on here, unless I'm really going Alzheimer's (I probably am.)

Well, the six which would qualify for me are Children of Men, The Sound of Music, Aladdin, Spirited Away, Breakfast at Tiffany's (even w/ Mickey Rooney) and Amélie. The thing which I really loved about Aladdin, and I'm guessing that you may have seen it as a wee youngster in the theater, is the stuff at the beginning where everything is so dark, and then the stars and the gold all start glowing. That's really cinematic to me and would be a good way to turn somebody on to movies, no matter what their age.

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Great list Ash... you have a lot on there I still need to see and some that are also favorites of mine...

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your right, my favorite movie list was different to the top 10 here. albeit, most of them found their place on my top 100 somewhere. but there were a few that didn't make the cut at all. well, only two that i can think of, really. when i made that list though, i literally just listed the first ten movies that came to mind. i hadn't strategically thought out a real top 10 list or anything. now that i have, i should re-do it with the new list!

Aladdin probably isn't the best Disney movie ever, but it will always be my ultimate favorite. i was about 11 or so when it came out--wait, let me do the math--about 10-years-old.

the Wizard of Oz is the first memory i have connected to movies. i think it's literally the first movie i ever saw. i was about four. i loved it so much, i think i watched it every single day for a year or something. and i was in a play when i was in the second grade. and i was in a play of the Sound of Music in the fourth grade!

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letterboxd

Well, I thought the intro was quite stunning in a dark theater. This is what I'm talking about, here; say, about from the 2:45 mark to the 6:15 one.


Glitch, click this instead:

it looks like Jafar is growing a second head in that Youtube stand still up there!

We all know that Jafar is a MoFo. Does that mean that he'd fit right in here?

oh, this Youtube clip made me feel all happy. that talking sand-head thing is the best thing ever.

Yep! It's super cool. Way cooler than the crap I watched in 1964 (for the most part . )

I'm really glad you loved Muriel's Wedding. I think your top two are amongst the two most perfect film ever.

Thank God you included Breakfast At Tiffany's and Amelie. 25th Hour and The Station Agent are two films that I wouldn't mind seeing sometime. I have Children Of Men sitting, unwatched, on one of my shelves (one of my many unwatched dvd's I'm afraid.) As for the other 5 films... Erm... I'm glad you like them? Seriously though, I know that they're many people's favourites, but I really can't stand them and, if I never see them again, it'll be too soon.

Not a bad list though, I've just had a count and I liked 30 of them, which isn't bad when you consider that I haven't seen almost half of them, for one reason or another.

Thanks for sharing ash.

Great list!

You have two Polanski films on there, you're definitely okay in my book

thank you Toosey Woosey.

i keep meaning to update this list, i've seen a few list-worthy films i wanted to write about. ill try to get to that tonight!

That's my problem with making one... can't nail it down to 100 and if i could I couldn't order them very well. Favorites depend on mood for me and it changes daily.

i think a lot of people feel like that. mark said when he made his list, on any other day he could have listed a number of other movies. i realized if i kept worrying about that too much i'd never make one, so i finally bit the bullet and did. but i like the idea of adding new additions to the list, deeming them 'list worthy'

this thread will probably turn into my own little review thread. yay!

i've watched a couple movies that i think appropriately need to be praised, so here goes.

Pride and Prejudice (2005)



i'd just first and foremost like to say that i really went into this not even thinking i'd be all that thrilled with it. the only reason i actually watched it is because a friend of mine [a male friend, no doubt!], kept going on and on about it.

i had no real reason to think i wouldn't like this; i hadn't really heard anything bad about it, actually i know it was well received. i think i was just being a snob; i have a hard time watching Keira Knightly; and while i do like movies set in this time period usually, i don't usually fall in love with them.

well, i fell in love with this one. let me just say i've never even read the book it is based on, but i'm certainly going to be picking up a copy of it sometime in the future. it was heartwarming, sweet, delightful, and Keira Knightly literally blew me away--i can't believe i'm saying that, but her performance was so much fun to watch. there were even a few times, when all she did was have a certain look or smile on her face, and i literally said 'wow' out loud. she was quite literally a breath of fresh air.

the ball room scenes, [a cliche norm for any period peice as this!] were entertaining as hell, and the dialogue between all the characters was sharp, witty, and really-well done. the cinematography was gorgeous and enough reason alone to watch. there were a number of scenes that were so well done, for instance the scene with Elizabeth Bennet/Kiera Knightly on the swing when she is approached by her friend to hear she is engaged to Mr. Collins, the raining scene, and of course the ending [which made me smile and feel all schmooply].

i feel like having not read the novel i can't really say how much of a likeness it was to it, but i have heard some complain that it is very condensed compared to it--which is something you can usually expect from a classic novel.

for sure, i'd say this is a must-see, i really have a hard time thinking anyone would go away from this without liking it--but i recommend if you're male, to watch it with your girlfriend/wife/fiance! i think it would be more well-received on both ends.

Heavenly Creatures (1994)



i actually had a hard time with this one.

i went into it not knowing what to expect; all i knew was i had heard really good things and was expecting brilliance, but i didn't really know anything about the film itself. upon first viewing, i was so overwhelmed with the subject matter, and the actors performances it was almost hard for me to say that i enjoyed it. i didn't think it was badly done, but i guess i didn't really know what the director was trying to really say, and i really didn't know what to think of our two lead actresses. these two girls, who were in much more of a fantasy land than me and my friends ever were at that age [the fantasy bits in the movie were absolutely breathtaking, by the way]; it was a mixture of awe and fear.

however, after watching the ending, i nearly **** myself. it was so abrupt, and raw, much different than the rest of the movie. even at this point i didn't really know what to think about it, but it left me with such a queer feeling [the first sign of a successful film!] that i went straight to Google to do some reading. that is when i found out that it was actually based on a very true story, which even made me more in awe. i went to bed that night thinking about it still, and i think i even had a dream. when i woke up in the morning i was still thinking about it, all through work, and when i got home that night i rewatched it.

my second viewing was different than the first. i was still in awe, and i realized i actually really loved this movie, but watching it wasn't exactly what i would call enjoyable. it left me with a really unsettling feeling, even still. there was something terrifying about it, and it's almost like a train-wreck that i can't quite make myself turn away from.

after i read the Heavenly Creatures debate on Mofo i realized i wouldn't be able to write a proper review on it. this is a bit of a mess, actually. i recommend everyone should read the debate that some other members had on it a year or so ago [found here]; and after you've read it, i dare you not to get the urge to watch it yourself.

I loved Heavenly Creatures, I still think it's Jackson's best film. Can't say the same about Pride & Prejudice though, a pretty average, by-the-numbers version as I remember it, though I can't say that I'm a fan of the source material either. Glad you liked it though and, may I suggest seeing the mid 90's BBC production of Pride & Prejudice. As I said, I'm not a fan, but that's the one that most people rave about over here.

Interesting list, and I could agree with many of your selections. But the ones I am going to single out are Repulsion, Network, and A Fish Called Wanda. I like seeing them there.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Some good films on the list (Audition, The Shining, more) also some stinkers though (The Decent, The Mist).