MovieBUFFering's 101 Favorite Movies - 2019

→ in
Tools    





11

Collateral - 2004



"A guy gets on the MTA here in L.A. and dies. Think anybody'll notice?"
This may or may not be surprising but this is my favorite Tom Cruise movie. It's not his most popular movie and maybe he has taken on heavier roles but to me this is his best. He is so damn cool as a mysterious hitman for hire Vincent. This is one of Jamie Foxx's best movies/roles as well as an unassuming cab drive Max. Jamie got nominated by the Academy for his role and he was very deserving but I feel like they snubbed Cruise. He was so damn believable as the enigmatic for hire assassin. Their chemistry is great in the flick.

This movie is just really slick from the story to the acting to how it was shot. Michael Mann does an incredible job directing this movie. It's over one night in LA and Los Angeles feels like a character in the movie as well. If you have never been to LA it feels like you spent a night there after this movie. Whenever they are in the cab Mann has some really cool shots of them, like the pic above. I just really dug how this movie looks. The story also keeps you super engaged as you explore this one night with Vincent and Max. The music in the movie also hits just right to me.

I just find this movie super underrated. It's just a really cool flick with a really engrossing story and some stellar performances by Foxx and Cruise. Recommend it highly.

On to the top 10

Director - Michael Mann
Best Performance - Tom Cruise as Vincent
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 86%
Factoid - According to Michael Mann, Vincent is a man able to get in and out of anywhere without anyone recognizing or remembering him. To prepare for the movie, Tom Cruise had to make FedEx deliveries in a crowded Los Angeles market without anyone recognizing him.
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene
__________________
I came here to do two things, drink some beer and kick some ass, looks like we are almost outta beer - Dazed and Confused

101 Favorite Movies (2019)



10

The Bourne Trilogy - 2002, 2004, 2007



"Listen, people - do you have any idea who you're dealing with? This is Jason Bourne. You are nine hours behind the toughest target you have ever tracked."
Slip into the top 10 by sort of cheating one more time. The Bourne Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum are simply my favorite movie trilogy. They actually feel like one big movie to me. (Lets forget about the dog do do that was the Legacy and the meh that was Jason Bourne). It's freaking hard to make a great trilogy, but damn if this isn't to me. What is even more impressive are these movies had two different directors. If you had to hold a gun to my head I'd go Ultimatum then Identity then Supremacy but they are all fantastic to me. The end of Ultimatum always gives me chills.

Damon owns this role through the first 3 movies. I reluctantly watched the first one because a friend made me and I was memorized by the story. A trained top notch CIA assassin that knows all these badass skills but has no clue who he is. Hell yea. It's so entertaining following Damon as he has all these crazy instincts kick and yet no clue why or how he knows them. Damon is just pitch perfect as Bourne as he goes through these three movies discovering who he is and where he came from. It's just brilliant and the 3 movies feel like a complete story yet each movie feels like it's own. I just think it's top notch entertainment all the way around.

I am mixed on them continuing this saga. On one hand I think they could be America's answer to Bond. A more realistic take on the spy/assassin genre. On the other hand as I stated earlier Legacy should have never been made as it sh*t all over the first three. I despise it so much. I just pretend it didn't happen. And the last Bourne was just so-so. They should have just like Matt's version die with the original trilogy it was a perfect complete story. Don't know how they can go forward, but I can't get enough of the original 3. It's too hard for me to separate those 3 movies, so I cheated, oh well it's my countdown

Director - Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass
Best Performance - Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 83%, 81%, 92% in order.
Factoid - Jason Bourne's final line ("Look at us. Look at what they make you give.") echoes The Professor's (Clive Owen) dying words in The Bourne Identity (2002).
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene



10

The Bourne Trilogy - 2002, 2004, 2007



"Listen, people - do you have any idea who you're dealing with? This is Jason Bourne. You are nine hours behind the toughest target you have ever tracked."
Slip into the top 10 by sort of cheating one more time. The Bourne Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum are simply my favorite movie trilogy. They actually feel like one big movie to me. (Lets forget about the dog do do that was the Legacy and the meh that was Jason Bourne). It's freaking hard to make a great trilogy, but damn if this isn't to me. What is even more impressive are these movies had two different directors. If you had to hold a gun to my head I'd go Ultimatum then Identity then Supremacy but they are all fantastic to me. The end of Ultimatum always gives me chills.

Damon owns this role through the first 3 movies. I reluctantly watched the first one because a friend made me and I was memorized by the story. A trained top notch CIA assassin that knows all these badass skills but has no clue who he is. Hell yea. It's so entertaining following Damon as he has all these crazy instincts kick and yet no clue why or how he knows them. Damon is just pitch perfect as Bourne as he goes through these three movies discovering who he is and where he came from. It's just brilliant and the 3 movies feel like a complete story yet each movie feels like it's own. I just think it's top notch entertainment all the way around.

I am mixed on them continuing this saga. On one hand I think they could be America's answer to Bond. A more realistic take on the spy/assassin genre. On the other hand as I stated earlier Legacy should have never been made as it sh*t all over the first three. I despise it so much. I just pretend it didn't happen. And the last Bourne was just so-so. They should have just like Matt's version die with the original trilogy it was a perfect complete story. Don't know how they can go forward, but I can't get enough of the original 3. It's too hard for me to separate those 3 movies, so I cheated, oh well it's my countdown

Director - Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass
Best Performance - Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 83%, 81%, 92% in order.
Factoid - Jason Bourne's final line ("Look at us. Look at what they make you give.") echoes The Professor's (Clive Owen) dying words in The Bourne Identity (2002).
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene
My brother is obsessed with these and my Dad owns them all, but I’ve never gotten around to watching them. I’ll have to someday.



My brother is obsessed with these and my Dad owns them all, but I’ve never gotten around to watching them. I’ll have to someday.
They are so entertaining to me. Don't bother with the last two they made. The first 3 are great though.



Agree. The Bourne trilogy is and always will be in my top 10!
__________________
"It's too bad she won't live...But then again, who does?" - Gaff



09

As Good As It Gets - 1997



"You make me want to be a better man"
If you don't like this movie, don't be pessimistic, it's not your style. Oh man this movie is so damn quotable. Jack won an Oscar for his role as well as his co star Helen Hunt. Both were completely well deserved. Greg Kinnear was also nominated for an Oscar and possibly should have won as well. Cuba Gooding Jr was also fun in his small role. But this all starts with Jack. With so many memorable roles in his long career this has to be at the top if not damn near close. This movie is completely different without his touch as the really dislikable character that you actually can't help but to root for. And casting young Hunt, who was amazing as well, with a older Jack also makes this movie work even more for some reason. I think the unlikely pairing makes it even more impressive they made the chemistry work between the characters. Bought it hook line and sinker.

I think I like this movie so much because I sort of see myself in Melvin, not the bad manners or being an ass parts . But he has a problem with intimacy, when he starts to get close with Helen Hunt he would say something stupid or offensive to push her away from those moments. I don't think I am as bad as him but I tend to be uncomfortable in sentimentality or some intimate moments. I have to be extremely comfortable with people. But I might say something stupid to avoid a situation. I don't know it was very relateable to me .

To me these are my favorite type of romantic comedies, which I would say this one sort of is. It feels real, it's not hammed up, it has some weight to it while being entertaining at the same time. With phenomenal performances mixed in. This will always be one of my favorite movies and pretty solid footing in my top ten.

Director - James L. Brooks
Best Performance - Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 85%
Factoid - Jack Nicholson wasn't supposed to kiss Helen Hunt, but James L. Brooks yelled to Nicholson, "Kiss her, man!"
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene



08

Up In The Air - 2009



"All the things you probably hate about travelling -the recycled air, the artificial lighting, the digital juice dispensers, the cheap sushi- are warm reminders that I'm home"
Man, this movie is so interesting to me. Reitman said he wanted it to be his first feature he wrote it about a decade before it came to fruition. However, the delay may have been fortuitous because the movie came out right when America was in the middle of an economic crisis. A movie about firing people as a job couldn't have come out at a better time, except maybe The Great Depression . The whole premise is extremely interesting to being with. A movie about an industry that fires people. A movie about a guy who is only home 43 days of the year and flies the rest. That's not a normal life and is worth exploring.

Clooney to me is a very good actor, I feel like there are better actors. However, I think he has made such good choices with his movies he has surpassed other actors just with his choices. He is super charismatic to beginning with and it oozes off the screen in this movie. Plus Anna Kendrick is the best she has ever been in this movie, but that's because Reitman wrote the role with her in mind . Vera Farmiga is also amazing in the film. Also have minor roles with J.K. Simmons before he blew up, Zach Galifianakis right after The Hangover, Danny McBride shortly after Pineapple Express and Jason Bateman is in a fun little role as well.

I just think it's a fun little movie that has actually a lot to say. I think the film sort of battles with the fight between freedom and commitment. Clooney's character's lifestyle affords him a ton of freedom, however it is a lonely freedom. Kendrick's character is there to argue with him for commitment. It starts to resonate with him once his way of life is threatened and he meets Vera's character. But I love the less than fairy tale ending . Feels real. I think it is also a film about pessimism and optimism. It's all about perspective. I just think Reitman crafted a classic little flick with a lot of big themes and great performances. It will be in my top 10 for a long time.

Director - Jason Reitman
Best Performance - George Clooney as Ryan Bingham
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 91%
Factoid - A large number of the people we see fired in the film are not actors, but people who were recently laid off. The filmmakers put out ads in St. Louis and Detroit posing as a documentary crew looking to document the effect of the recession. When people showed up, they were instructed to treat the camera like the person who fired them and respond as they did, or use the opportunity to say what they wished they had. A way to discern who are the actors, and who are the real people, is that the real people do not have dialogue with George Clooney or Anna Kendrick, as they were shot separately. Jason Reitman did this intentionally, feeling that the real people would freak out Clooney and Kendrick.
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene



07

The Prestige - 2006



"You never understood why we did this. The audience knows the truth: the world is simple. It's miserable, solid all the way through. But if you could fool them, even for a second, then you can make them wonder, and then you... then you got to see something really special. You really don't know? It was... it was the look on their faces..."
Number 7 on the countdown is my 7th and highest Christopher Nolan movie. Didn't even mean for it to be number 7 . If you can't tell Nolan is my favorite director. I think he is the greatest director working in his prime right now but I am bias. His movies challenge the audience and he crafts jaw dropping spectacle because he insists on practical effects. Crazy thing is dude isn't even 50 yet and already has an insane filmography. We still hopefully have 3 maybe 4 decades worth of his work left, fingers crossed. The only movies that didn't make it are Dunkirk, which I haven't revisited enough yet but was awesome and TDKR which in my opinion is fun but his weakest flick. I think he had Heath in mind for the 3rd one in some capacity but had to audible at the last second.

Anyways this is Nolan's greatest work yet I believe. I would have said The Dark Knight in my early 20s but the older I have gotten I have gravitated towards this movie as his greatest achievement yet. It is compelling as hell and Nolan tells the story just about flawlessly to me between jumping in the story to the dialogue to the beautiful shots it's a masterpiece to me. About two rival magicians at the very end of the 19th century in London. He tells the story like a magician, it's basically a trick. It's about obsession and rivalry. It's spell binding...like the tag line "Are you watching closely?" I think it gets better on repeat viewings because your brain isn't scrambling around trying to figure out what is going on.

Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman both give performances of their career, if not damn near it. Both on their absolute A game. Competing magicians, Bale is probably the better magician, while Jackman is the better showman. I'd edge out Bale by a nose as the better performance because his performance was a little bit more tricky but Jackman is phenomenal as well. Micheal Caine is also superb and delivers some great lines. Rebecca Hall and Scarlet Johansson both deliver underrated performances (and by God is Scarlet sexy as hell in this flick). Also Andy Serkis has a fun part as Tesla's assistant who is played by a spot on David Bowie (wow was he good in his brief moments). The Tesla vs Edison thing was fun as well and maybe a little truth to it .

Listen I can't recommend this film enough, especially if you haven't seen it and seen other of Nolan's more popular movies. It's just a master class in film making to me. It's a film that requires repeat viewings and to me gets better every time I see it. The end scene gives me chills every time I see it, the dialogue is pitch perfect and so satisfying. I can't gush about this film enough.

Director - Christopher Nolan
Best Performance - Christian Bale as Alfred Borden
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 76%
Factoid - Chung Ling Soo was a stage character created by William Ellsworth Robinson, a white man who disguised himself as a Chinese man to cash in on audiences' enthusiasm for the exotic. Robinson lived as Chung, never breaking character while in public. He died in March 1918, when a bullet-catch trick went wrong. "My God, I've been shot" were both his last words and the first English he had spoken on stage in nineteen years.
Stock In Countdown - Riser

Memorable Scene



06

Catch Me If You Can - 2002



"Dear Dad, you always told me that an honest man has nothing to fear, so I'm trying my best not to be afraid."
This is by far my favorite Spielberg film. This movie is so damn slick and entertaining thanks to Spielberg. However, it's one of those movies that falls under the it's too crazy to be true but most of it is. Based on the con man Frank Abagnale Jr in the late 60s it's too crazy to be true. However, he con'ed his way into becoming an airline pilot, doctor and lawyer all before he turned 21. It's all insane. He then spent time in jail and was brought out by the FBI to work for them in bank fraud.

This movie just gets better every time I see it. To me Leo should have won his Oscar for this. He is stupidly good as Frank. He was 28 when he shot this movie and had to pretend to be 16-20 and some how pulls it off. It's almost like he thrives in acting while acting like someone else lol if that makes sense. He brings enough swagger to Frank to be completely believable. Tom Hanks is like wise incredible as Carl Handratty the FBI agent chasing Leo. He is no nonsense guy who is constantly fooled by Leo. The crazy thing about the movie is it's surprisingly a sweet end to the movie. That's the result of Tom and Leo's performances I believe. Christopher Walken is also great as Leo's dad.

It's also crazy how many small roles women have in this movie that went on to big careers shortly after. Amy Adams, Ellen Pompeo, Elizabeth Banks, Jennifer Gardner. That's some crazy star power before they blew up. There is an interview somewhere were the real Frank Abagnale says he has a picture signed by Spielberg where it says this is the only movie in his career he wouldn't reshoot a single scene. Might be worded a little but I can't find it, but that is some high praise from someone like Spielberg with his resume. I just think it's a classic which is severely underrated. It's always going stay in my top 10.

Director - Steven Spielberg
Best Performance - Leonardo Dicaprio as Frank Abagnale Jr.
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 96%
Factoid - The FBI officer who was chasing Frank, and was the main inspiration for "Carl Hanratty," was really Joe Shea. Frank Abagnale, Jr. used the pseudonym "Sean O'Reilly" in his book because Joe Shea was still in the FBI. He has since passed away.
Stock In Countdown - Riser

Memorable Scene



05

Out Of Sight - 1998



"It's like seeing someone for the first time, like you can be passing on the street, and you look at each other for a few seconds, and there's this kind of a recognition like you both know something. Next moment the person's gone, and it's too late to do anything about it. And you always remember it because it was there, and you let it go, and you think to yourself, 'What if I had stopped? What if I had said something?' What if, what if... it may only happen a few times in your life."

"Or Once."
My 2nd Clooney movie in the top 10. Told you he knows how to pick flicks. And this is the movie that proved he could be a movie star. Leading man oozes out of his pores in this movie. The movie might be the most criminally underrated film I know. It is kind of my go to movie when people ask to watch a movie because nobody has seen it. It has a star making turn by Clooney. It's the best movie and best Jennifer Lopez has ever been. Soderbergh directs the hell out of the movie. The story is fun as hell to unpack, it has a lot of different characters and twists. I always thought the two locales of the movie Miami and Detroit makes for almost two different movies in a good way.

The real strength of this movie is the chemistry between Clooney (a bank robber) and Lopez (an FBI agent). For this movie to work the two leads need to have an extreme chemistry and man does it sizzle on screen. This is the sexiest feature film there is and it really has nothing to do with being slutty or overtly sexual. It's the fact the characters know they aren't suppose to be together but the attraction is so strong they can't help it. It's about temptation and risk and it just resonates, at least to me. Clooney could go to jail for life if he gets involved with her and Lopez could lose her job and go to prison herself if she gets involved with him. It's just extremely sexy and dangerous. It also helps Clooney and Lopez are two of the most attractive humans on earth in their primes. . Soderbergh really handles the different tones in this movie extremely well.

That's not all the movie does, the cast is awesome. Don Cheadle is great. Steve Zahn is fun. Ving Rhames does a great job. Catherine Keener has a nice little role. Albert Brooks is great. Luis Guzman has a fun character. Micheal Keaton and Samuel L Jackson have amusing cameos...especially Jackson. The cast is just stellar as hell. Oh and Viola Davis has a small little role before she below up! There is just too much talent in this film. The end is crazy as well. For my money it's the most underrated movie in Hollywood to come out the last 30 years. Can't recommend it enough. Just don't let it become popular so I seem cool when I recommend it to other people . Top 5 well deserved.

Director - Steven Soderbergh
Best Performance - George Clooney as Jack Foley
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 93%
Factoid - Sandra Bullock almost got the part of Karen Sisco, but Director Steven Soderbergh was against it. He said: "I spent some time with Clooney and Bullock, and they actually did have a great chemistry. But it was for the wrong movie. I'm sure they could do a movie together. But not an Elmore Leonard movie." Clooney and Bullock appeared in Gravity (2013). Bullock would also appear in Ocean's Eight (2018), a spin-off of the Clooney/Soderbergh "Ocean's" franchise, as the sister of Clooney's character, Danny Ocean.
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene



04

Silver Linings Playbook - 2012



"The only way you can beat my crazy was by doing something crazy yourself. Thank you. I love you. I knew it the minute I met you. I'm sorry it took so long for me to catch up. I just got stuck."
Sometimes a movie comes along and just hits you right. . David O'Russell directed the sh*t out of this movie. I think it's the best job I've ever seen of a movie walking the tightrope between comedy and drama. The film is emotional, troubling, funny and romantic all at once. It's a comedy then a drama about family, then a drama about mental illness, then a romantic comedy. It's hard to juggle all those at once without at some point becoming a tonal mess, but it never happens in this movie. It feels real. Feels like you are just looking in on a real family/courtship. It doesn't feel all dolled up Hollywood style to make a movie entertaining.

I think the courtship between Cooper and Lawrence is my favorite aspect of the movie because it feels real and I feel like there is an important lesson here. You can have all these elaborate plans on how you think life will go like Cooper in this movie, but life is what unexpectedly happens when you aren't trying. Let the unexpected happen, it might be the best thing to happen to you.

This might be the most important movie in Cooper's career. It set his career on a different trajectory other then just a straight leading man in a comedy. After this movie he was just a straight up leading man in Hollywood that could go there dramatically. He does a great job as Pat Solatano Jr. He leads you through all the different emotions throughout the movie perfectly. But Lawrence is the most memorable performance to me. The movie starts to pickup after she shows up about 30 minutes into the movie. She is memorizing to me, can't take your eyes off her for whatever reason. It might be the most important movie in her career as well as she won the Oscar for best performance from this movie. They have incredible chemistry in the movie and really sell their courtship. Di Nero and Weaver are great as an old Philly married couple and Chris Tucker is funny in a small role, it was great to see him on screen again.

This movie was as far up as #2 on my list a little after I saw it. I liked it that much. It has since retreated just a little bit to #4 on my countdown. But it tells you how much I really freaking enjoyed this movie. Everyone I recommend it to usually has good things to say, it made my buddy cry at the end when I watched it with him . Oh! And also I made a fun drinking game out of the movie. Every time Cooper says Nikki, you take a drink. . Don't get too drunk, but do enjoy the movie as much as me :wink:

Director - David O'Russell
Best Performance - Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany Maxwell
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 92%
Factoid - David O. Russell was drawn to the story because of the family relationships, and also because of the connection to his own son Matthew Antonio Grillo Russell, who has bipolar and O.C.D. Who appears in the movie as the kid neighbor who wants to interview them about mental illness.
Stock In Countdown - Sinker

Memorable Scene



03

O' Brother, Where Art Thou - 2000



"Is you is, or is you ain't, my constituency?"
My avatar finally comes into play at number 3. Also my George Clooney triple crown of movies is here by complete with this addition, all in my top 10. I adore this flick so much. You just get completely immersed in this movie's setting. From the acting to, the directing to the dialogue, to Roger Deakins cinematography, to the music it all adds to immersion of the setting in Mississippi during the Great Depression. You feel like you are in the sh*t with them. The dialogue and the way it is written and performed is probably my favorite part of the movie . I can quote a ton of this movie by heart. It's just brilliantly written and acted, it kills me. It brings me so much joy

~"These boys is not white! These boys is not white! Hell, they ain't even old timey!"
~"Momma said he's bonafide. What are you?"
~"I ain't no ******* FOP man, I am a Dapper Dan man!"
~"I'll tell you what I am - I'm the damn paterfamilias!"
~"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can curse at my fiance!" "Well you can't marry my wife!"
~"Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!"
~"Woooooooo-wee. Boy, that was a miiiighty fine a-pickin' and a-singin'. I'll tell you what, you come on in here and sign these papers here and I'm a gonna you ten dollars a piece."
~"Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin'?"
~"It's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"
~"This band of mistreants, this very evening, interfered with a lynch mob in the performance of its duty."

I could go on and on

Now the movie itself is loosely based of the Oydessy which once you think about it makes sense. John Goodman as the Cyclops and the women as the Sirens. The music is grade A. I've been wanting to go as the Soggy Bottom Boys for awhile as Halloween costumes but can't find 3 other people to do it with. Clooney is amazing as the slick talking Everett and Tim Blake Nelson is funny as hell as the slow witted Delmar. John Turturro is just as good as Pete to round out the trio of the chain gang. Their chemistry is amazing. The music in the film is almost like another character in itself. It adds to the identity of the film while also be pretty damn great music. "A Man Of Constant Sorrow" has to be the most famous song synonymous with the movie itself.

I believe this is the 3rd or 4th Coen Brothers movie on my countdown. They can be a little hit or miss for me, but damn when they hit, they hit grand slams. This movie is just timeless to me. Starting with this movie my top 3 is pretty rock solid and might never change. Silver Linings threaten the hierarchy of this countdown briefly but eventually fell just out of the top 3. I absolutely never get sick of watching my top 3 starting with this movie.

Director - Coen Brothers
Best Performance - George Clooney as Everett McGill
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 77%
Factoid - Tim Blake Nelson was Joel Coen's neighbor. Joel hadn't really seen him act in anything. When the Coens sent him the script, he thought they were asking his advice as a former Classics major.
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene



02

Forrest Gump - 1994



"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time."
I did not think it was possible to dislike this movie but the older I've gotten the more I've met people who disliked this movie. I know it's pretty polarizing on this board too I think, with most not liking it I'd say, but I could be wrong. Again this hit tv screens in what 1995-1996? And it never went off since then. I've grown up with it on tv damn near about everyday, I was about 8 in 1995. I ALWAYS stop when it's on tv, I never get tired of it. I think most people don't like it because it romanticizes our history or being mentally ill or whatever their beef is. I'd consider myself a pretty cynical person but even my cynicism gets washed away when I watch this movie. I just think it's an insanely sweet entertaining movie.

I don't think anyone can question Hanks is spectacular in the role of Forrest Gump. He had already had a pretty amazing career with some commercial hits and an Academy Award for Philadelphia the year before. This role and winning back to back Oscars however cemented him as one of the best actors of our generation and proved he could do about any type of movie you wanted. He is still going mighty strong almost 3 decades after this movie. Gary Sinise may not have had the same success as Hanks after, he has done alright, but his role as Lieutenant Dan is practically as famous as Hanks is as Forrest Gump. He was flawless as Dan. Jenny and Forrest are synonymous with one another and Robin Wright as excellent. I remember wondering what happen to her in the mid 90s and early 2000s, but she has since had a stellar career. Sally Fields was great as his mom and who the hell doesn't love Mykelti Williamson as Bubba?

This movie is quotable as hell just like O' Brother, Where Art Thou was. Everyone was saying "Run Forrest, Run" growing up or "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you going get" or "Stupid is as stupid does". It's just full of them and you hear them all in Hanks voice if you read the quotes. Much like Silver Linings Playbook to even a greater extent with this movie I think life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. But I think this flick is a lesson in just being genuine. If you are genuine and accept opportunities present to you like Forrest did your life might turn out ok. Being genuine is probably my favorite quality in a person and Forrest displays that in spades. I just love this movie and think it's an absolute classic and I am not a shamed to say it . It jumped to 4 for awhile after SLP came out but after reexamining the movie it jumped right back up.

Director - Robert Zemeckis
Best Performance - Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 72%
Factoid - Tupac Shakur auditioned for the role of Bubba while Dave Chappelle and Ice Cube passed on the role. John Travolta, Billy Murray and Chevy Chase passed on the role Forrest Gump. Meanwhile Tom Hanks passed on the role Andy Dufresne in Shawshank because he was shooting Forrest Gump. Jodie Foster, Demi Moore and Nicole Kidman passed on Jenny role. Crazy alternate universes
Stock In Countdown - Riser

Memorable Scene



What's number 1 going be?!?!? Stay tuned! haha not that anyone cares. But people could probably guess what it is from the list what it will be. This damn thing has taken almost half a year to complete. Be glad when it's over and off my chest. Probably post sometime tomorrow hopefully.




What's number 1 going be?!?!? Stay tuned! haha not that anyone cares. But people could probably guess what it is from the list what it will be. This damn thing has taken almost half a year to complete. Be glad when it's over and off my chest. Probably post sometime tomorrow hopefully.

Sorry, I would comment more, but I haven't seen many of these! I honestly don't know what your #1 is, maybe if there was a complete version of the other 99?
__________________
Lists and Projects
Letterboxd



Sorry, I would comment more, but I haven't seen many of these! I honestly don't know what your #1 is, maybe if there was a complete version of the other 99?
haha no worries....I have an updated list every 20 movies if you go back you can see. I'll do another updated list after I do number 1



01

The Shawshank Redemption - 1994



"Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
I remember the very first time I saw this movie, it's burned into my cerebellum. It was the scene at the end where Red is walking in the Buxton field and finding the wall. I just remember being completely fascinated by the whole scene, I was engrossed. The scenery was beautiful, I was wondering what the hell he was doing and why he kept looking around and what he was looking for? I was probably like nine or ten and I remember this vividly. Strange. Anyways I would probably just catch bits and pieces of it for a couple years, always intrigued by every scene until I finally a few years down the road caught the whole thing on TNT, back then it was an event if a movie was on TV. (TNT would play the thing all the time if you remember, still do, plus other channels now). Listen, I've come along way since my early years with appreciating good movies but I knew instantly this movie was a f*cking special.

94 was a helluva year for movies. This Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump. I mean it's hard to top those 3 movies in one year. If any of those 3 were made in just about any other year they would have won the Oscar. Instead they had to compete with each other. I obviously love the other two, hell Forrest Gump is my 2nd favorite movie, but lets be honest. Shawshank should have won for best movie. You can debate the other categories but it should have won best picture. It's a damn travesty Shawshank got shutout. I am certainly bias but for my money Shawshank is the best movie ever made. Every aspect of the movie is flawless to me. Cinematography, story, direction, acting, writing...etc. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it disturbs you, it lifts you up and most importantly it stays with you long after you finish it. It's just the full package of what a movie should do to you. Create emotion.

It's a toss up between Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins for best performance. You could go either way. It was just perfectly cast. Narration can be tricky, but it just works like knife through butter in this film. Freeman's narration and voice is so iconic now and it's all because of this movie. You can also make a case for Bob Gunton to have the best performance in the movie. Him as the Warden of Shawshank has to be one of the best villain performances in cinema history. The guys that play the other inmates and the guards are all seamless as well. It's just one well oiled machine. There are so many iconic quotes and scenes it's hard to list them all.

It's crazy how much this movie took off after TNT bought it and played it all the time on tv. It's funny to think this movie was considered a failure after it's theatrical run. It's amazing how long it's been atop of the IMBD Top 250, which shows I am not the only one who cherishes this film. This film has pretty much never wavered from the top spot when I put it there like 20 years ago. It's going take one colossal movie to up heave it. It's such a great movie and at this point has so much nostalgia packed in it for me I don't see it ever getting moved from it's perch. It's the reason I love to watch movies so much



Director - Frank Darabont
Best Performance - Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 90%
Factoid - After the film gained popularity, Ted Turner sold the television rights to TNT, his own network, for much lower than normal for such a big film. Because it is so inexpensive to show, the film is broadcast on TNT extremely often.
Stock In Countdown - Neutral

Memorable Scene