JayDee's 100 Favourite Films

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Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Welcome everyone to JayDee's 100...and 8! 108 Favourite Films


I did have the list cut down to 100 but in the few weeks it's taken me to get organised to post it I've either remembered or seen 8 other films that I wanted to include. But I then felt bad about cutting films that had already made it. So I didn't cut them. So we have 108.

Now as you can see by my percentages on the movie lists I still have a lot of films, many supposed classics, to see. As a result I was planning on delaying making a list for a while until I had seen a larger selection of them. However I decided to post a list just now and then in a year or two, when I will hopefully have seen a lot more, post a new list and compare the two. Similar to what Ash has done recently.


One thing I'd like to make clear is that this is my favourite films list. Not a list of the best films I've seen or must-see films - my favourite films. As a result we have a mix of critically acclaimed, award winning films, big popular blockbusters, small little films, guilty pleasures, some absolute garbage etc.

When it comes to artistic merit there are some that are full of it, some that are lacking in it and then some which are completely devoid of it!!!

I think it's quite an eclectic little mix. Hopefully even if you don't like many of the films on here you'll enjoy reading through it. Any comments (however abusive they may become with some of these picks! ) are welcome.

Oh and trying to write something for so many films means that I repeat myself quite a lot I believe. In particular look out for the word charm/charming which I use 183 times!!!

Anyway, I think that's enough of an introduction. On with the films...



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave

108. Over the Top

“I drive trucks, break arms, and arm wrestle. It's what I love to do,
it's what I do best.”

Ok now I realise that I risk losing a lot of you with my very first pick, but just hear me out. I admit, without any shame, to being a huge Stallone fan. I just find him to be a very likeable guy, someone I like to root for. There are a number of his cheesy, but awesome films I love – Tango and Cash, Demolition Man, Cobra etc but I plucked for this one.

The reason being is that I have fond memories of watching this with my sister when I was a kid. My sister is quite a bit older than me and moved out very young, so I don't have many memories at all of her when she actually lived here. And watching Over the Top numerous times is certainly the most vivid one. For some reason she loved it and I just kind of got caught up with it.

And let's be honest; it is after all the greatest arm-wrestling movie of all time!!!



107. In the Line of Fire

“Think, Frank. Think. The same government that trained me to kill trained you to protect. Yet now you want to kill me while up on that roof I protected you. They're gonna write books about us, Frank.”

I think this is a fantastic thriller and probably one of the most underrated going by how little I hear about it from other people. It's a thriller full of smarts and tension. One I've always found to be quite riveting

I'd say my reason for enjoying it so much is definitely John Malkovich's performance as the menacing and unhinged assasin. The cat and mouse game that develops between him and Clint Eastwood makes for very entertaining viewing.



106. Raising Arizona

“Give me that baby, you warthog from hell!”

Like a Tex Avery cartoon brought to life this is wild, wacky fun. An outrageous screwball comedy with a number of the Coen brothers usual touches thrown in. It also has a touch more heart than a number of their other efforts.

Nicholas Cage is always very hit and miss for me, mostly miss if I'm honest, but he is very good in this, really throwing himself into the spirit of the film. For me this is the kind of film he's best suited to as opposed to a romantic lead or big action hero. And Coen's regular John Goodman is always rather awesome. Just a pretty hilarious film.


105. ‘Three Amigos!

“Wherever there is injustice, you will find us. Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there. Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find... The Three Amigos!”

As you'll see as we go through this list I enjoy a really stupid comedy. And this is certainly up there as one of the most gloriously stupid. And one of the funniest.

The film brings together three of the biggest comedy stars of the 80s – Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chevy Chase – and unleashes them to be at their hilarious best. The three men make for a great comedic team in a film full of daft, comedy highlights. Particular favourites of mine are the singing bush, the invisible swordsman, singing My Little Buttercup and singing Blue Shadows in the desert with all the animals showing up and joining in

Anyone else who likes it please join me in the Three Amigos salute!


104. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...and Spring

“Lust awakens the desire to possess. And that awakens the intent to murder.”

A beautiful, visually stunning film that contemplates life, death, love, redemption and everything in between. It's a simple little film, with just one set and only a handful of characters but is so tranquil, poetic and ethereal that it really leaves a mark. The film is full of incredible images, most notably of the Buddhist monastery which floats in the middle of a lake surrounded by mountains.

The film is wonderfully performed by the actors, especially considering how sparse the dialogue is. Yeong-su Oh as the Old Monk is notably excellent. A wonderful little gem.


103. Restless Natives

“Gentlemen, I have here the 17th most wanted man in Scotland.”

When it comes to comedies Scotland seems to specialise in those of a gentle, whimsical nature and this certainly falls into that category.

It has a couple of impressive performances by two unknowns in the lead roles, some stunning Scottish scenery and a cracking soundtrack from Big Country. And it's just a fun story as two young lads, bored with their lives, don some fancy dress masks and start robbing buses full of tourists. As a result they become cult heroes, international news and tourist attractions in their own right.

I'll admit that it's mostly just the Scottishness of this film that gets it a place on this list. If it weren't Scottish I wouldn't like it anywhere near as much.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Well formatted.

I'll keep checking in to see how it progresses.
__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Thank you.


In The Line Of Fire is a great choice. Love that film.
I think it's an excellent film


Will perhaps try and post another few films shortly before the end of the night



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave

102. Harvey

“Years ago, my mother used to say to me, she'd say “In this world, Elwood, you can be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.”
Well, for years I was smart...I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.”

James Stewart displays his trademark charm and loveable nature in this gentle, offbeat and heart-warming comedy.

Stewart plays an alcoholic whose best friend just happens to be an invisible 6 foot tall rabbit. While being sweet and touching the film is also very, very funny at times, especially whenever Harvey decides to introduce his 'friend' to strangers. And Josephine Hull is a hoot as Harvey's brother

I also like the idea that as long as people are happy and aren't causing anyone any harm they should just be allowed to get on with it. And you have to ask who is crazier – the happy man with the imaginary rabbit, or the people who want him to be 'sane' but immensely less happy.

Oh and just a little hint for later – it's not the last giant rabbit you'll be seeing on here.



101. Kung Fu Hustle

“All I want is to kill you, or be killed by you.”

Gloriously bonkers film! Mixing Hong Kong action, physical humour that wouldn't be out of place in silent comedies and the ridiculous logic of Tex Avery cartoons it's one of the most entertaining films I've seen this century. It doesn't take itself seriously whatsoever and is a joy for it.

The film is full of colourful and memorable characters and wonderfully orchestrated fights/dances. It takes the groundwork laid out in Shaolin Socccer and improves on it in just about every department.

You know what, when you get rid of the laws of physics you can have a hell of a lot of fun!



100. Ed Wood

“Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams?

For the most part I'm not a huge fan of biopic films. Too often for me they come across just as prestige projects were lots of Oscar-hungry people flock just desperate for their little gold, bald man. Of the few I do like this is definitely one of my favourites

The reason for that is that the director (Tim Burton) has a very obvious and genuine affection for the subject (famously bad director Ed Wood). He shoots the film in glorious black and white and lovingly recreates the Hollywood of the 1950s. And he is helped greatly by the excellent performances of Johnny Depp and Martin Landau.

A very funny, touching and rather melancholic little film about Hollywood's ultimate hack, and why we should admire and love him for it.



99. The Fugitive

“Alright, listen up, people. Our fugitive has been on the run for ninety minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground
barring injuries is 4 miles-per-hour. That gives us a radius of six miles...Your fugitive's
name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him.”

Classic, gripping thriller. A very suspenseful film which is propelled along by the back and forth relationship between the characters played by Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. And both actors are terrific. With some excellent set-pieces and plenty of thrilling moments it really is an exhilarating ride.

And while it is an action film and a blockbuster it is one that has a fair bit of intelligence about it, with an impressive script and elements which make it more of a character study at times. Just great stuff



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Thank you everyone so far for the compliments and +rep. Will try and get at least one more batch of films up today.

I like Over The Top good pick
Really? I thought I was going to get absolutely slaughtered for that pick.

Some good films there, but Ed Wood is one of the few Burton films I like (actually, I love it) and it's so good to see it here.
Thanks HK. I actually feel now it should be a lot higher on the list, so hard to work out the order.

I can sort of split the Burton films at the turn of the century. I like Beetlejuice, Batman, Batman Returns, Ed Wood of course and Edward Scissorhands (look for that much, much later). After that not so much although I think I liked Big Fish. Only seen it once and it was years and years ago so don't really remember



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave

98. The Night Strangler

“What's a few lives compared to immortality Mr Kolchak?”

I'm a big fan of the tales of Karl Kolchak. The inspiration for my favourite TV show ever; the X-Files, the character starred in two TV movies and a series which ran for one season. Of the two movies this is the one I prefer. Most favour the first but I just find this story; written by sci-fi legend Richard Matheson, to be much more interesting.

Like the X-Files, the stories on Kolchak always attempted to have a mix of supernatural, spooky thrills with a vein of comedy running throughout, most of it resulting from the run-ins Karl would have with his editor. While the first film had a vampire, this sequel brings the thrills with a 100 year old alchemist who kills women and extracts their blood so he can live forever. A story which inspired the classic X-Files villain, Eugene Victor Tooms.

My favourite element of the film would definitely have to be the lost, original city underneath Seattle. It is a wonderfully atmospheric, macabre location which really helps with the tone of the film. Just a really fun ride with a great performance from Darren McGavin as Kolchak.



97. Heart and Souls

“Hey, life's tough. Sometimes, you don't get what you want. Mostly, you don't get what you want.”

I'm amazed by how few people seem to have heard of this film, especially taking into account the amount of well known actors. It's a cracking little movie. Really funny, really sweet stuff.

Robert Downey Jr. is on top form here, showing off his touch for physical comedy; that he put to good use in Chaplin, when he is inhabited by all the different spirits. Some of the escapades he then gets involved in are very entertaining, pure slapstick stuff. While others are quite moving.

It's a film that is both hilarious and very touching.




96. Hot Shots/ Hot Shots: Part Deux

"You know, I've personally flown over 194 missions and I was shot down every one of them.
Come to think of it, I've never landed a plane in my life."

Just a stupidly funny series of films. They have kind of melded together in my memory so I can't differentiate between scenes and lines just now, so just putting them both on here. The first is a Top Gun spoof while the second takes aim at Rambo and both are incredibly funny. Charlie Sheen is very funny here, hopefully being entertaining and charismatic is how he will be remembered one day and not for his latest stuff.

Lloyd Bridges steals the show any time he's on screen. The running gag about all his injuries is just fantastic - “My eyes are ceramic. Caught a bazooka round at Little Big Horn. Or was it Okinawa? The one without the Indians.”; “My ear canals are very sensitive. They're stainless steel. Took a bullet in Corregidor. Passed straight through.”; “I have a shell the size of a fist in my head. Pork Chop Hill. The only way I can make this ******* toupee to stay on is by magnetizing the entire upper left quadrant of my skull.” and on and on and on.

The sequel also has one of the great movie meta moments. You have Charlie Sheen essentially playing Rambo, giving a voiceover about the horrors of war which is then interrupted by Martin Sheen's voiceover Apocalypse Now style. They pass each other and together shout “I loved you in Wall Street.”

Just hilarious stuff. But then I do have a rather simple mind!




95. Speed

“Get your ass behind the yellow line!”

Classic high-concept action. One of the iconic films of the 90s and for me one of the classics of the action genre. It could just have been another run of the mill action film that went straight to TV or something but everything just came together. A wonderfully ludicrous premise, the adorable and feisty Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves in one of his best performances (perhaps not many to choose from to be fair), a fantastically psycho Dennis Hopper and just some fantastic set-pieces brought to life by Jan De Bont.

Just like Die Hard did, the film set a template for these kind of high-concept actioners which was followed a number of times over the following years, but never with such success. The less said about the sequel however the better


So still quite a mixed bag I'd say. Will try and post the next four films later so that would be me down to a top 90. From then on will try and do 5 at a time



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave

94. The Faculty

“If you were going to take over the world, would you blow up the White House 'Independence Day' style,
or sneak in through the back door?”

I'm not going to make any great argument for this being a good film. It's not. It's a guilty pleasure B-movie, which I've always just gotten a kick out of. It also happens to have a fairly amazing cast of already established stars (Robert Patrick, Famke Janssen) and people who would go on to become stars (Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Salma Hayek and two quite odd ones – Jon Stewart and Usher!) All directed by Robert Rodrguez.

I just find it to a really fun film, with a cool cast and a pretty awesome soundtrack, which is probably one of my absolute favourites



93. The Cable Guy

“I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You seem to prefer the latter.”

Too dark and offbeat for many (or just not funny) but I rather love this odd little film. As you'll learn as we go along I'm a little bit of a Jim Carrey obsessive. This is his first film on here but it's far from the last.

As I said it is a very dark comedy with quite a sinister edge to it, played up by Carrey's rather off-centre Chip. The plot isn't much to speak of and you could argue it plays more like a series of skits but they do provide a lot of very funny scenes. Scenes that demand particular mention are the basketball game, the bathroom assault on Owen Wilson, the fantastic medieval battle with Carrey providing the music used for Kirk V Spock in “Amok Time”, and Carrey's fantastic, bizarre rendition of “Somebody to Love.”

Certainly not for everyone. But it is for me.



92. Bottle Rocket

“Here are just a few of the key ingredients: dynamite, pole vaulting, laughing gas, choppers -
can you see how incredible this is going to be? - hang gliding, come on!”

A charming, sweet-natured little gem. It's a daft caper movie full of dry, deadpan humour, engaging characters, fun dialogue and a rather touching romance. The film perhaps isn't as polished as some of Wes Anderson's later films but I think the fact that it is a bit rough and raw actually helps its appeal.

I've always liked Owen Wilson and this is perhaps my favourite performance of his, a man so engulfed in his dreams and goals that he doesn't realise just how ridiculous he and his plans are. Along with his brother Luke they make for an entertaining double act.

And their attempted big heist at the end which goes horribly wrong is quite wonderful, full of great little moments. Kumar rules!!!



91. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

“Even great men have to pee.”

There were a lot of great thrillers from the 70s, many of which still stick in the minds and hearts of movie fans today. From those that I've seen so far this is my favourite. I like it so much that I have actually avoided seeing the remake so far.

It's a classy, quality, old school edge of your seat thriller. The acting is fantastic; in particular from Walter Matthau, and the film is laced with both humour and tension throughout. It also has a lovely ending, which is kind of low-key in a way, but puts a little grin on your face.



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Thanks Ash. I really wasn't sure how this list was going to go down on here considering the lack of classics you'd find on the AFI list, and also the personal picks I made that I doubt have shown up on any other list posted here



I think I'd have + repped you just for having Kolchak on the list (though like most I prefer the first tv movie) but throw in Speed as well and it more than passes the mark. 'Pelham' is a brilliant film, too. Loving this list.



Good whiskey make jackrabbit slap de bear.
Wow, great list so far, loving your choices, especially The Cable Guy.
__________________
"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
Wow, great list so far, loving your choices, especially The Cable Guy.
Thank you. Always nice to find a fellow fan of The Cable Guy.

I think I'd have + repped you just for having Kolchak on the list (though like most I prefer the first tv movie) but throw in Speed as well and it more than passes the mark. 'Pelham' is a brilliant film, too. Loving this list.
I understand why people think the first is better. It's just that I found the story in the second more interesting than a classic vampire tale. And the underground old Seattle is really cool.

Glad you're loving the list. Happy to hear I've not disappointed you!