The Mighty Celestial's Top 100 Movies

Since joining this site, I've been meaning to add my contribution to this subject, but since I didn't begin to express myself in any written form until only about a year & half or so ago ( I mean, y'know.... expressing myself more creatively that just filling out forms or signing checks & stuff....), to take on what appeared to be such a monumental undertaking for a beginner such as muhself, I couldn't seem to find the motivation to put the time aside to create one.

Also, there were several movies on my "must-see" list that I always felt I should see before I began concocting such a list.
However, just when I think that I've finally seen those films that are generally considered as necessary viewing for movie aficionados, a new title then comes into my awareness or sense of radar. Even right now, at the time of this writing, I'm 30 minutes into Memoirs Of A Geisha (these days, I watch DVDs in half hour installments, since the only space of time I can find to fit 'em into is during the treadmill part of my workouts) and I currently have Fear(s) In The Dark on my waiting list. Two films that seem like they might have a possibilty of making it in my top 100, & therefore may disturb the order that I've come up with so far.
But, I figure that that's a situation that always gonna be there, no matter when I decide to do this. So, since my list of faves is always gonna be in flux, now seems like as good a time as any to put one up.
Therefore, without further ado......




100. Glory
"And what are you? So full of hate you just wanna go out and fight everybody. 'Cause you been whipped and chased by hounds. Well, that may not be livin', but it sure as hell ain't dyin'. And dyin's what these white boys been doin' for goin' on three years now. Dyin' by the thousands, dyin' for you, fool. I know 'cause I dug they graves. . . .
The time's comin' when we gonna have to anti-up. Anti-up and kick in like men.... LIKE MEN!"
Simply one of my favorite civil war films of all time.





99. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior


A bad-ass lead character, a feral wolf-boy and his boomerang, a "junk-yard" fortress, an ayatollah of rock-n-rolla, a kick-ass car-chase, Australian accents, & more S&M costumes than a German hardcore porn video (or so I heard...).
In otha woidsm The Road Warriah is everything you need to make a solid thrill-ride of a post-apocalyptic action movie, "mite".




98. His Girl Friday
The genre of the romantic comedy comes to an early peak with this story about two reporters, once divorced from each other, but still carrying a shared torch as fiery as their shared passion for their jobs. Old skool movie dialogue so quick & full of wit, that despite any dated slants in the material, comes off sounding contemporarily sharp & filled with as much energy as if it were written for today.





97. The Blair Witch Project


First of all, I couldn't care less how over-hyped this movie was. Anyone's whose opinion of this movie was as an adverse effect from this, it's their fault for giving it any attention in the first place. No hype, no matter how well-founded, should ever be believed.
Secondly, as kid, sure, but as an adult, I really can't get scared from movies anymore. Especially, if there's a monster or a Jason/Freddy/Michael Myers involved. The minute I see any of these guys on the screen wearing some kind of fright-enhancing mask or wielding a sharp object with a screaming Abercrombie & Fitch-looking teenager's name all over it, I am instantly reminded that I'm watching a movie, & thereby negating any chance of suspending my belief enough to being frightened anymore. However, Blair Witch tried to bring the horror of cinema as close to the real world as any fright flick could since Night Of The Living Dead (IOM, that is), thus making it seem like this situation could actually happen in this frame of reality. Plus, a major part of the fear-factor for this story's premise is that the lead characters, or even the viewers themselves, never actually get to see the witch in question. And as it has been stated many times over centuries, "The unknown is one the greatest fears to the human mindset".
So while it still didn't scare me, TBWP probably came as close as it possibly can come to at this point in my life. As far as I can remember, I've never had any real inclination to go out on a camping trip of any sort.
But now, because of this film, sleeping under a tent overnight in the middle of the woods, is a situation that I can definitely say that I will never expect to try & initiate.
Ever.
And for me, The Blair Witch Project earns a couple of extra points just for that.



Not only is Deep Throat a codename for a central figure in All The President's Men, it's also the name of one of the first x-rated flix I ever watched, back when puberty was knocking at my adolescence.
Now here I am, years later, wasting my life away in front of the computer, if not spending vast amounts of time downloading onion booty porn,
then I'm either posting up classless ghetto girlfight videos on youtube
or I'm here on this site, aimlessly commiseratin' with all of my fellow MoFos.
So, yeah....
I know exactly where that particular "left turn" was that led me down the empty road of existence that is currently my life.

Which I know has almost next to nothing to do with this movie, but I guess that term "Deep Throat" sparked off a nerve or something.

Anyways,
back to the list.....

96. All The Presidents Men







Anyways,
back to the list.....

__________________
Right now, all I'm wearing is a mustard-stained wife-beater T-shirt, no pants & a massive sombrero.

95. Akira


My first look at anime. Well, kick ass anime that is.
When I first saw this, I realized that, if I didn't have to work for a living, I would spend all of my time lookin' up at what those crazy asians were concocting on the animation tip, yo.





94. Amadeus
I avoided this film for years, under the assumption that it's subject matter was just something that I would absolutely no interest in.
Then one day, as it aired on one of those "classic" movie channels on T.V., I decided to finally give it a chance, just to see what all that Oscar hype back in '84 was all about.
Turns out, this film isn't so much a historical retelling of classical-music pioneer, Mozart as it a homage to the creative process of a genius who's talent was masked by both his almost hippie like eccentricity & by the conservativeness of the times. The ease of Mozart's ability to conjure up music that would stand the test of time was only recognized & appreciated by his "best friend" & rivalous contemporary, the more forgotton Salieri.
For me, the true test of any film that centers on the art of artist is the ability for it to make me appreciate (and maybe even like) the art more than I did before I watched the film. Maybe, in my case it was more the result of ignorance than anything else, I wasn't into Mozart's stuff. After viewing this movie though, as far as his music, I walked away with my eyes a little more opened & my ears a little more enriched.
Rock me, Amadeus.*



* Don't any of you dare roll your eyes at that last sentence. You knew it was gonna come sometime.



93. Sin City


The weird thing about this movie is that the male lead characters are all practically the same guy. And the stories don't seem to stray too off to far from each other or from a theme that we've all seen on the big screen millions of times before. The thing is, the visuals on this thing are so ******* striking that, for me at least, it almost felt like I was watching a much more unique set of plotlines that was actually being told. Rather than trying to bring the Sin City graphic novel into movie "reel life", it seemed almost like this was more an exercise to bringing reel life into Sin City. That the actors weren't trying to portray comicbook characters as much as they were trying to intergrate their 3-D physicality into 2-D flat-figured Frank Miller drawings (as was most evident with the make-up jobs on Marv & the Yellow Man). I know that there are some people who criticized the simplicity & graphic "pointlessness" of this movie,
but it's art direction was so full of energy & depth (for my visual senses, at least) that I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen & found myself truly embedded in the illusion that I was watching something original.





92. Pan's Labyrinth


Pan's Labyrinth is a film whose creativity & emotion are elegantly entwined in a manner that blurs the barrier between the "real" world & the fantasy dimension, almost beyond physical distinction.
Just an absolutely beautiful movie that successfully takes the constant air of peril that comes with living under the grim realities of war & overlays it with the macabre & twisted influence that such a situation can have on a young creative mind's fairy-tale-like imaginations.



91. Bugsy
Bugsy is a mob flick that doesn't even try to compete with other mob flicks. And therefore, it succeeds as a gangster movie that stands out on its own. It almost completely removes the realistic-type dialogue & the grittiness that is usually associated with this genre. I can almost sense the same sheen that the old black & white mafia films used to use to screen over the mobster characters & give em that "romanticized" look that they became famous for back then. For all their ruthlessness, the major players in this story come off as very likeable people.
And along with Warren Beatty & Annette Benning, you just can't beat the acting by the supporting cast of Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliot Gould & Joe Mantegna.

Wow. Great start. I can't wait to read the rest.

__________________
We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

Excellent list so far, MC. I like how you set your pictures up more than anything, though. I guess I should get working on my new list again.

Carn the Road Warrior, top list so far keep up the great work

__________________
"Tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper."

Excellent start, man. I STILL haven't seen Glory, actually. Maybe now is the time to put it on the wanted list. I've heard that Denzel Washington is something else in it.

People who like Pan's Labyrinth tend to have it in their top 20 on their lists, so it's fairly surprising seeing it at the start. Very intrigued to see how this turns out.

Very nice list so far, MightyCelestial. I like the layout and entries so far. Particularly:

I no longer think that I'm the only one here who likes this film well enough to consider it a favorite. Nice to see The Blair Witch Project in your Top 100, affecting you similarly to how it has affected me.

__________________
"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
John Milton, Paradise Lost

My Movie Review Thread | My Top 100

Thanx for the comments, everyone.


Yeah,
I kinda surprised myself with it's ranking too.
But I think that it may be because, unlike the majority of entries on my list, I've only seen Pan's Labyrinth once so far. So I don't think that I've been able to develop as strong as an emotional connection to Pan's as I've done with the rest of the other movies.
I'm sure that when I finally get a chance for more viewings, it'll probably move up higher on my picks for favorites.

90. High Noon
Real time in the Old West.
A simple tale of suspense building tension, as a newly wed marshall must make a decision between a new life by flying the Coop, or staying and standing as a "lone star" until the strike of twelve, in a town that has turned its back against him.
High Noon is a film that for me, falls under the category of being based more on sentimental value than anything else since it was one the first black & white cowboy flicks I saw & enjoyed as a kid.





89. Little Miss Sunshine


A suicidal gay uncle, an unspoken emo brother who dreams of flying jet fighters, a motivational-speaking dad who always seems to be out of touch, a seven year old out of shape, pangeant-contesting "super-freak", and a heroin-addicted grandpa with the power to spout out Oscar-worthy expletives, all capped off by a mom who tends to serve popsicles for dessert.
Everything you need to provide a big yellow vehicle such as this one with a solid push.





88. Night Of The Living Dead
This was almost the "Blair Witch Project" of it's time, in that had a very documentary realism style to it that was later further advanced by the shaky camera genre of recent years.
And to my mind, it was the first time I had ever seen the depiction of zombies as truly scary. Because, let's be honest here. Even though everyone always makes fun of the fact that they're easy to escape, the truth is, if any of us were to be confronted by a husk of rotting flesh that stood upright, just the idea that we were actually witnessing one of the "living dead" would be enough to makes sh#t out our own skeletons.
Or at least, scare us to a point of not being to think as straight as one would during such a situation.
As it is convincingly depicted in the behavior of the various characters in The Living Dead, & thus, successfully enhancing the fear of dread in this staple of the horror movie classics.




87. Whale Rider


An island heritage that is already desperately trying to hold onto it's own identity, finds itself even more challenged when a little girl tries desperately to fit into it in a manner that would break one if it's fundamental "rules". For, in order to triumph, she must dispel the ages old belief that to achieve the mantle of a chieftain, one must be a male. And in the process, she ends up making both that old tradition and a pack of whales, her b#tchez.
Yay for Girl Power!





86. The Straight Story


What do you get when you put a true tale of a man who unconventionally travels on a unconventional journey, with an unconventional director?
You get an unconventionally "conventional" yet moving film by David Lynch, in which he simply goes about telling you a straight story.

Loving this list so far MC. Good work.

BTW, The Straight Story, All The Presidents Men and Glory. Worth the + rep for those three alone.

Lovely, well presented thread so far mate. Filled with some great flicks as well - High Noon, The Straight Story, Amadeus, All the Presidents Men etc. Good stuff.

85. Boyz N The Hood
IMO, by far, the best in the film category of the modern street gangsta genre.
Directed by John Singleton (remember when he was considered a director to look out for?) and starring Cuba Gooding Jr. (remember when he was considered an actor to look out for, before anyone showed him the money?), Ice Cube (remember back before he went Hollywood and was actually hardcore?) & Lawrence Fishburne (who's still the same).





84. Die Hard 2
It's the holiday season, & for John McClane that means that it's time for him to become a pain in the collectives asses of a group of sophisticated terrorists, to a police force of typical movie bumblers, not to mention to that one guy who played the dad on Good Times.
Bruce Willis reprises the role of the lone wolf "modern cowboy" cop who always manages to find himself crawling through air-vents, systematically taking out bad guys one by one, and escaping the one clutch after another of death-defying situations that, for some reason he can't grasp, seem always to only happen to him.
IMO, it's always a real joy to write about this movie &/or it's predecessor because it always gives me the chance to use the phrase "Yippy-ky-yay, mother-f#cker".
And let's face it, that's just always fun.





83. Some Like It Hot
Being a movie from the late 50's, with it's screwball comedy centering on the now-over-used theme of cross dressing men, you'd think that Some Like It Hot would've gone cold by now.
And yet, in large part due to Billy Wilder's sharp-edged yet still slapstick script, it hasn't.
And let's not forget that adding fuel to fire, as always, is Marilyn Monroe. Even through modern eyes, the way she seems to always melt perfectly into her dress throughout the entire film is still an important contribution to the movie's enduring high heat factor.





82. The Nightmare Before Christmas


IMO, the best thing by far to have Tim Burton's name on it. Such a great cast of creative & endearingly maniacal characters. Innocent enough for kids who can still see the world thru bushy-tailed bright-eyed glasses, yet twistedly dark enough to keep the interests of those of us adults who've had that part of our spirits crushed a long time ago.
An inter-holiday movie for all ages on either side of the perspective spectrum.





81. The Magnificent Seven
Y'know, there may be cowboy movies that are better filmed, with stories that are better written, that capture the western history more accurately, that have an impact that is more poignant or even have characters that are more iconic.
But, for me, very few other cowboy flicks (some of them being the ones that were made with a dash of spaghetti sauce on 'em) were more bad-ass than this one.

Wow great list almost half of them i want on my own list

80. Schindler's List


I got a confession to make here....
me & my girlfriend once made out during this movie.





79. Primary Colors
Primary Colors is somewhat of a satire based on the real life behind the scenes shenanigans that can go on when one in occupying The White House. The kind that can get a Commander In Chief into trouble no matter how close he is to the constituents or how closed the doors of the oval office may be. Featuring some really solid performances from a really solid ensemble cast of some really solid actors (including John Travolta, B.B. Thornton, Cathy Bates, Paul Thompson & Larry Hagman).
In fact, the solidity of this upstanding political drama is so dense that it almost has a feel that seems like could it be more solid than Travolta's big ol' Clinton-like tummy.
Oh,
and he doesn't dance in this movie, either. Which, considering the state of physique these days, is always a plus.





78. Short Cuts
I love movies with ensemble large casts & loosely intersecting stories like Nashville, Two Days In The Valley & of course Pulp Fiction.
And while this is a genre of film that we don't get to see much of these days,the few times that we do, it seems like that there are more good being produced that bad. Maybe it's b'cuz the idea of such a type of film can intimidate all but the most talented & those more suited to such an often complicated cinematic undertaking. The fact that the logistics of such a project requires handling people of a profession which allows egos to manifest almost unhindered only adds to the complexity of the task.
Whatever the reason,
Short Cuts is a prime example of all the resulting benefits that the eyes of those who first pioneered the idea of these types of films envisioned when they conceived of the genre in the first place.
All the stories intertwine just loose enough to provide an energetic patchwork of distinctive individual stories,
yet close enough to make the movie work thematically as a cohesive whole, with the added benefit of allowing the title "Show Cuts" to do it's job both as a movie description and as a multi-literary metaphor.






77. Ghostbusters


The dead are starting to rise on the streets of New York. Well, moreso that usual that is. And at the center of it all, is the head ghost demon known as Gozer The Destructor. Who, even in marshmellow form, is still a destructor. So when ol' Goze decides to start giganticly rampaging down through the avenues of the Big Apple, you know who you're gonna call....
The only guys around who know how to show this prehistoric b#tch how we do things downtown.
Ghostbusters is a fun, 80's summer-blockbuster defining sci-fi comedy that not only features Bill Murray at his sharpest & Sigourney Weaver at her sexiest (even though at one point, she does turn into a dog....), but also cool specials effects, a couple of proton packs, sliming goblins, a key master, a gatekeeper, streams crossing, cats & dogs living together, not to mention one really big "Twinkie".





76. Fargo
....and speaking of "who're you gonna call", if blood has been shed in the small town of Brainerd, Minnesota, it's gonna be Marge Gunderson.
A police chief & expectant mother who, when there's a crime to investigate or a hotel buffet that's reasonably priced, she'll make sure to be there in a jif.
That is, if, well, y'know.... her car doesn't need a jump or somethin'.

So far you've got a lot of movies I really love here. Awesome list.

Good job on the list so far Mighty, really liking how you post the images.

__________________
"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."

75. Hu$tle & Flow


Take Flashdance, replace the female construction worker/stripper lead character with a male loser-pimp (loser even by bowery street standards) whose portrayal was nominated for an Oscar. Then remove the dancing & put in rappin' instead. Replace the implausibility of the plot with a straight forward script that pulls no punches & booyah....there you have it. A hard-nosed "makin' your dreams come true" film that is about as far away from that Jennifer Beals torn sweatshirt-a-rama that I first began this entry with.
And if comparing these two movies seems like an incredibility poor choice on my part for a comparison, cut me some slack, yo.
It's hard out here for a pimp.




74. Midnight Run


This is one of those movies that I never get tired of watching. If I'm flipping thru channels and come across even just the last minutes of Midnight Run, I have to watch it.
And even though it's a good film to watch on TV, I really recommend watching it uncensored. Robert Deniro's use of the F-word is really crucial in depicting his absolute frustration with Charles Grodin's character. I laugh every single time to DeNiro's facial reactions whenever Grodin pushes him to the limit. Words are not enough to describe the slight pause in Deniro's expression every time he says, "Shut up.... just shut the f#ck up!!"
So for me, I say screw the "Meet The Parents" franchise. IMO, Midnight Run is the road to travel if you really want to see Bobby Dee at his comedic best.




73. Marathon Man
Is it safe?




72. Roman Holiday


Audrey Hepburn's American film debut as a European princess who, overstressed by the demands of her royal duties, decides to unwind by going "slumming" about all over Rome. And not once throughout the entire journey, does she fail to exude the radient beauty that not only contributed to forever mark her place in film history, but also, that epitomizes the phrase "Lighting up the screen".
Therefore, as a result, I find that, even with it's well-written script, direction, supporting cast & chemistry,
at least 80% of the success of this movie's depiction of romance still belongs to Hepburn's presence alone.




71. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
To say that the Leatherface clan is the type of family you would want as neighbors is quite obviously, about as an understatement as it gets.
If anybody in this household (particularly, the one wears a mask of that gives this clan their namesake) ever wants to borrow any of your tools (particularly any that you have to yank to get started), don't expect to ever see it again.



As someone whom is often very frustrated with most horror flicks, I was very pleased that this movie's plotline came off as very genuine. While most slasher flicks tend to make it's audience yell things to the screen like "Idiot! Run outside, not to the upstairs!" or "Don't go in there, you moron!", this movie actually made the situation of the onscreen victims seem logistically believable. Therefore, their fright & inevitable demise doesn't come off as deserving as the mindless teenage victims featured in other films, who make the viewer feel that their stupidity justified their grisly end. The intent of TCM's story was aimed more at making the observer feel the fear thru the fright of the victim, not just thru the singular idea of a mad demonic slash-object-wielding maniac.

I trust that's the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre you're referring to, since you use an image from both...?

__________________

Thanx for the heads up, Tramp.

I shoulda caught that since I knew that image was from the newer one too. Cuz that was a pic that I had in my photobucket, which I used once when on a discussion thread about remakes that didn't need to be done or bad sequels or something like that.
I just didn't notice (obviously).


Fixed.

Wow I am loving this Mighty

__________________
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha