Deadite's 50 Cool Movies for Cool People

Been thinking about doing this one for a while...

I fell in love with movies when I was a boy, experiencing their power to create moments that stuck with me throughout my life, captivating me with people and worlds that never existed. It was magic, and I still carry them with me in my mind.

So I thought I'd throw together a little highlight reel of movies that made an impression on me over the years, the stuff that stuck, that seemed to keep on living inside my head long after I left the theater or turned off the TV. In other words, the really frikkin cool stuff. Whether they're outrageously funny, wickedly fun, eyeball-poppingly amazing, badass, or just plain crazy, they all sum up everything I love about movies.

So, in no particular order of preference...

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

I'm not really cool, can I still view your list?

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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."

50. True Romance



A crackling noir thrill-ride with energetic and unforgettable performances throughout, True Romance probably shouldn't work half as well as it does, but its intense yet quirky style locks you in while the believability of its loser lovers-on-the-run gives it an unexpected depth. The music is great, the dialogue is sharp, the danger is palpable, and the stakes feel very high indeed as we root for Clarence & Alabama to make it out alive. A great comic turn by Brad Pitt as the burn-out roommate Floyd and Gary Oldman oozing menace as the sleazy drug-dealing pimp Drexl are just two reasons to see this movie.

Bottom line: It's extremely cool.

Nice start.

It's been a very long time since I last watched True Romance, but I do remember liking it very much. It's in my collection and it's way past due for a rewatch.

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That unfortunately goes for me as well.

I haven't seen True Romance, not even sure if I still own it or gave it away.

49. Casino Royale (2006)



For my money, this is the definitive James Bond film. Much as I love the mythology, this movie perfectly strips the franchise to its core, creating a Bond who is empathizable in his flawed humanity yet still a plausible agent and killer. The film also strikes just the right balance between grittiness and glamour; Bond's world is entrancing without the nastier aspects being romanticized, darkly sinuous and intoxicating in its flow from quiet confidence to sudden violence, superficially beautiful but ultimately deadly, like a venomous snake.

Okay, maybe that's a bit much. Bottom line: The stunts are great, the plot sweeps you along, the characters intrigue and surprise, and it all feels effortlessly cool.

Yeah well, you know... it's just, like, my opinion, man.

48. Akira



Seminal, groundbreaking, a masterpiece; Akira has long been highly praised as one of the most influential and deep animes ever made.

But never mind all that. Akira works for me because at the center of its epic yet murky apocalyptic sci-fi tale is its portrayal of an underclass of young hoodlums, both noble and vicious, caught up in events far beyond their understanding or control. Akira is richly imagined, dense with meaning, filled with nightmarish visuals and infused with a sense of foreboding and majesty by its brilliant musical score.

Simply put, it's one of the coolest animated films of all time.

Not seen Akira, but True Romance and Casino Royale really are cool films, good stuff so far, Deadite.

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Akira is not among my top 10 favorite anime films (I think it lacks some emotional depth compared to other anime films) but it is still an excellent film.

Also, the quality of animation is among the best ever.

Thanks, Daniel! My main aim is to highlight movies that have their own unique "personality" or vibe that make them cool for me. They may not all be the best films ever or even necessarily the best of their individual genres, but are significant in their impact they've had on me. And if my list gets anyone interested enough to check out a film that they've never seen before, I'll consider that a bonus.

Not a big fan of True Romance or Casino Royale, but Akira is a fantastic film.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

47. Fright Night (1985)

A winking ode to classic horror, Fright Night deftly mixes goofy charm, supernatural evil, fantastic FX and excellent performances to spin a vampire yarn that could've come straight out of a Tales From The Crypt comic. Nimbly walking a line between horror and comedy to alternately produce tension and relieve it with laughter, it fondly recalls a time when the scares were above all fun and the suspense was in the set-ups, not the bloody outcome. With shades of Rear Window and a hint of Blue Velvet, Fright Night wonderfully captures the subtle clash between innocent teen Charley Brewster and his suavely sinister neighbor Jerry Dandridge, who he discovers is a monster in sheep's clothing.

"You're so cool, Brewster."

Love Akira, and Fright Night is immensely enjoyable. I enjoy True Romance as well, but it's been so long since I've seen it that I don't remember a lot of it.

Can't comment on Casino Royale. I've only seen one Bond movie and that wasn't it.

Yeah, that's both a motivation and the trickiest part, since I myself haven't re-watched in years quite a few of the movies I'm planning to include, but although they may be hazy in some ways, they're all embedded in my mind as moments/characters/ideas that stand above the rest of the stuff I've seen over the last two-and-a-half plus decades. They're all just sort of hanging out, and I figured it's high-time to give them their due. So this is more a personal tribute to my own history with movies than any attempt at objective ranking, and it's also fun to refresh my own recall of them as I go and consider why/how they've impacted me so much.

Exactly! When I finally get around to doing my list that will be the approach I take.

Fright Night is absolutely brilliant

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Love Fright Night and True Romance; haven't seen the other two.

Fight Night And Akira are prob my faves out of the list so far.

Akira particualrly is one of the most enjoyable and edgy animated films I've seen.

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