My Favorite Movies

One of the most perfectly complete movies ever made.

The King of B-movies and Spielberg's greatest achievement. It's no surprise that this was brought together by both Spielberg and George Lucas, two of the greatest director/writers ever. It doesn't hurt that Harrison Ford is perfect as Indiana Jones either.

It's hard for me to write about Star Wars. I grew up on the original trilogy and have an obvious bias towards it. With that said, there's much more to this timeless film - it is a cultural icon of the '70s and all of cinema. Go try to find one person who has ever seen a movie and ask them if they have ever heard of Star Wars. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone that will say no. Between classic characters, a heartfelt and exciting story, and just plain awesomeness I can't understand why anyone would dislike these movies.

Lucas created a living, breathing universe. Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of projects and products have been split off and created even more amazing works (Knights of the Old Republic anyone?). Names and places get thrown at you left and right: Dantooine, Endor, Hyperspace, Yaven, etc. Bet you never heard of Yaven. It's mentioned like once but that's where the rebel base is.

More to be continued later...

It sends chills down your spine. The closing shot ends and the credits start to roll. If you love film at all, your completely breathless when the movie ends. In all honesty, it's the best film of the last 10 years, without a doubt.

Basically every single shot in the movie serves a significant purpose and not one of those shots are ever boring or repetitive. The cinematography helps make that happen. Robert Elswit is a genius and deserved the oscar he received, bringing immense beauty to the movie.

The musical score is also something to praise greatly. Every piece of music fits perfectly into place into every single scene. The story is amazing anyways, but with the music in the right places, it feels like the whole movie transcends the boundaries of normal film making.

It's obvious that Anderson gets his influences from the greats, like Kubrick and Altman; but his own style mixed with his influences help craft a superb movie that is easily his most ambitious work to date.

And of course the performances. Oh D-Day. You are spectacular. I could easily say he's my favorite actor ever, but I have not seen him in enough movies to truly justify that claim. However, whoever he portrays he doesn't just play another character, he IS that person. But mostly anybody with a love of film already knows all about Daniel-Day Lewis so there's no point in explaining anymore. The inclusion of a phenomenal supporting cast along with the man carrying the movie himself, adds even more to an already modern day masterpiece.

If I ramble, I don't mean to. It's just that this movie can seriously not get enough praise. I've watched the movie now for a 2nd time, and it's so much better this time around. Moving on from here, I really don't know what P.T. Anderson can do to top himself. It's obvious though that he has a knack for superb story-telling and directorial skill. Anything he does is gold. Can't wait to see what he comes out with next.

It's ridiculous how amazing this movie is. Watching back some clips on Youtube, I notice the subtle things that just pop out at you without even realizing it. Woody Allen is a comic genius, and this is his masterpiece hands down.

Let me get this out of the way: Alan Rickman is a total badass. Yes, yes Bruce Willis is badass as well but Rickman's two best character performances are Professor Snape and the one in Die Hard. But besides Rickman and Bruce, this redefined the cop/action movie genre, for better or worse.

1/3 comedy, 1/3 character study, 1/3 love story, this is an all-time classic. Simon and Garfunkel's music is classic/perfect and Dustin Hoffman is in the performance of his lifetime.

Complex love story done by Hitchcock that's just absolutely stunning. Made even better by a 2nd viewing, a sign of a masterpiece.

I could watch this a thousand times and still not get tired of it. It's a classic for any generation and should be appreciated by all for what it is. I would consider this, along with Raiders and Empire Strikes Back, as Pantheon movies, meaning they are movies that I will never grow tired of, no matter what. When I watch these movies, they bring a mix of nostalgia, joy, thrills, and a sense of wonder. These movies are the reasons why I will always love cinema to the day I die.

UPDATE - After watching the original cut on a whim, all I have to say is...wow. Ford's VO is so obnoxious and stupid it ruins such a beautiful film. Thank God for the Final Cut.

The Sci-Fi genre is easily one of my favorite genres to watch. These movies usually offer one of two things: either a completely different world in which the director immerses the audience into full of wonder and excitement, or a futuristic look at the way our world is progressing and different possibilities of how certain aspects of society, if not all of mankind, could turn out to be. These type of social commentaries are always interesting to watch and give the audience an insight into the world of ethics. Blade Runner is one such movie.

Genius minds like Fritz Lang, George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick, and Ridley Scott have all contributed immensely to the Sci-Fi genre. Scott first made his impact with a little film called Alien. All throughout the 70's, many filmmakers were trying to bring back the classics that the 50's brought about like Forbidden Planet and The Time Machine, but attempts like Soylent Green and The Omega Man failed commercially and failed at what they were attempting to do. But at the end of the decade, Ridley Scott entered with his sublime masterpiece. How was he to top that after shaking the genre forever? With this of course.

From the get go however, Blade Runner was plagued with way too many production problems. Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott did not get along. Producers were pushing ideas on to the film that made no sense and dumbed the film down. Companies backed out of financing the movie. It seemed like a disaster. Scott did manage to salvage a great movie and managed to polarize critics, whether it was a masterpiece or just another sci-fi piece. And from there everyone knows the stories about the future releases of The Director's Cut and so on. Finally the Final Cut came out in 2007 and Scott's true vision fully realized. But enough about the history. Why is the movie brilliant?

The visuals from Blade Runner, much like 2001, hold up even to this day. They simply blew most people away and had a truly unique view of the future and how globalization will affect us all. The cinematographer knew what he was doing and the dark, surreal atmosphere is the stuff of brilliance.

Harrison Ford gives one of the best performances of his life here as the confused and torn Deckard. Without the stupid VO, he really shows that he has the acting chops to be a serious actor. All the supporting cast were great as well, especially Rutger Hauer who seems like he was born for this role.

The movie keeps up enough ambiguity to have viewers constantly questioning what is real and what is not. The obvious big moral issue is over genetic engineering, or cloning, and the religious and moral debates that ensue over the topic. It's definitely interesting to see these clones have some of the same feelings as real humans and how its unclear whether what our scientists are doing are moral or not. All these issues make Blade Runner as relevant as the day it came out, reinforcing its status as a classic.

I could go on all day about the magnificence of Blade Runner, but most of it has to be viewed for yourself. One of my closest friends watched this once and said it felt generic to him and he didn't see its significance. But I respect his opinion. You are either going to see Blade Runner as one of the best sci-fi movies ever or just another run-of-the-mill movie. If you find it as something special though, you will most likely have the same thought running through your mind: utterly mind-blowing.

My favorite Wes Anderson film as of now. You've got to give credit to Jason Schwartzman's performance as Max, as he was a completely unknown actor at the time. It was the start of a great collaboration between him and Anderson. Oh and Bill Murray is in too. This has classic written all over it.

It's not as amazing as Part 1, but it sure as hell is amazing, with great performances by Pacino and Cazale. But what really makes the sequel hold up with me is the sequences with De Niro as a young Don Vito. They're brilliantly executed and show a beautiful and gritty 1920's where the mobs ruled in almost all impoverished areas. Fantastic.

Besides having an all-star cast, this Scorsese film completely delivers everything you could possibly want, music, editing, etc.. Honestly there's not one thing wrong about this film that I can point out. Jack in this movie is the reason why De Niro and Pacino have no reason for sucking in their old age.

(There will be spoilers, but not major ones, just fyi.)
The masterpiece I was hoping for. At first as the movie went on, I thought it was going to not trump Batman Begins, but my god was I wrong. Just like the Joker's constantly changing background story about his scars, the movie seems to constantly continue to present twists and turns that are brilliant beyond words.

The cast: Christian Bale is brilliant as always with his charming, yet conflicted nature storming him with personal vendettas that only the greatest heroes could ever trump. Bale is the most talented actor working in Hollywood right alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, even if that man is a monster of a god among actors. The supporting cast (Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Michael Caine) are all fantastic and help keep the foundation of the story amazing. Sadly, despite him being one of my favorite actors, Michael Caine suffers from not having enough involvement. Don't get me wrong, he's still spectacular, but I didn't get to see all the charm he brought in the first film as much. That's probably the movie's weakest point. Still, everything scene Caine is in stands as a highlight of the whole movie. Next comes Freeman who I especially love and his performance is full of depth that the first movie did not show. Really great stuff. Then there's Maggie. Wow. So much better than Katie Holmes even though I still admire her performance in the first one. It was brilliant as well.

Then there's Gary Oldman. If the man wasn't a legend already, he cements himself in the records as a brilliant actor in the role he seemed born to play, as Gordon. The man cannot be praised enough, juggling his constant duties as a police officer who is around people who hate the Batman, and cooperating with him at the same time.

Two of the biggest performances most people were most anxious to see were Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart. Heath Ledger, how can I put this, deserves every Oscar of the last ten years. Okay so obviously he doesn't, but it is definitely true he needs the nomination at the least. I obviously can't speak for him winning it right now because all the movies of the year have not been released but still, it's the best performance of the year so far. The chaotic, psychotic nature of the Joker is so masterfully done that Jack Nicholson's performance of the Joker is put to shame, no matter how much I like it as well. Nicholson got nominated for the Joker in '89 so Ledger better get it as well, or I'll be mad as hell and won't take it anymore.

The biggest surprise though was Eckhart. He did not have the best performance, however he came in a pretty close second and blew me away. He should not have been as overshadowed as he has been from Ledger's performance because it has the power and emotion that any great performance has. Brilliant stuff. The performances are what make this movie truly spectacular and a shining example of what an actor should bring to the screen.

Nolan is a top director and his script shows it. He now has three masterpieces on his hands (the other two being Batman Begins and The Prestige) so anything he does from now on has to be watched closely because it will probably be great. But seriously though, this is a prime example of a harrowing tragedy, with everything around Batman falling down around him, the Joker one step ahead of him. Never have I been on such a roller coaster of an experience with a story in a theater with suspense that I have not seen since the days of Hitchcock.

The cinematography is gorgeous, the score genius (seriously), and just about everything you could think of. The Dark Knight shows that comic book movies are no longer just light summer fluff, no. TDK has set a standard that if future comic book adaptations don't even come near to this movie, they will fail because they don't feel like art, which this movie is. I can only imagine where they will go from here (if Nolan and Bale do not come back, I will be furious), but there are plenty of avenues to explore that could make the next Batman film just as bloody brilliant as this one. If you don't think this is as close to perfect as you can get, you obviously do not appreciate movies. God bless you Heath Ledger.

2nd Viewing Response - Not only is it just as good, but scenes that seemed a little weak were made stronger by knowing where the movie was going. Morgan Freeman's performance wasn't as good as I remembered though. It was great of course, but not AMAZING. And I have to give Bale more credit than I did because nothing was going to top his performance in the first one, his origin story.

Before Mel Brook's became a total sellout starting with Life Stinks, he directed three perfect comedy classics and a few funny little gems, this being one of the classics. Gene Wilder is brilliant as always and Brooks drives joke after joke in a near perfect two hours of film. The front cover of the movie ad doesn't lie when it says it's the funniest comedy of all time.

A grand sweeping epic that can't be topped in shear awesomeness. Sure, there are better movies than this, but not many.

The quintessential of all horror movies, this is one of Jack Nicholson's best performances. You'll never see anything like it again, at least in terms of quality, and you'll watch it over and over again. It's just that good.

Hitchcock is the master of suspense, but you can't help but laugh when the man is "falling" down the stairs. Gotta love the '60s!

Stunning, breathtaking, and very disturbing. Kubrick at his best. Like art, it just keeps getting better and better with each viewing.

This is easily the best Vietnam war movie ever made and it's not even mainly focused on the war. It's more of a journey into the darkness of the human psyche and the soul, done very well I might add. Back in the time when Coppola made really compelling and important movies, this shines as one of his most important works. The whole cast is amazing, and you gotta love the appearance of an out-of-his-mind Dennis Hopper. Then again, does he really play any other type of character? Despite all the troubles of the production of the movie (nearly going bankrupt and an overly-fat Brando, to name a few), Coppola achieved his grand vision, despite how convoluted the Redux seems to be at times.

Joel and Ethan Coen are the masters of ambiguous and "non-pleasing endings to the mass audience". I could tell you some stories.

The 2nd of the great Vietnam epics, Walken gives the performance of a lifetime and De Niro, Streep, and yes, even John Cazale, no matter how far he has a stick up his ass, give great performances as well.

No matter what year you happen to have, or will, watch this movie in, it will draw you in completely. From the moment Kane mutters the word "Rosebud", to the very end, you'll want to start all over again from the beginning. Nothing overrated about this masterpiece.

Surprisingly still entertaining and thrilling, despite being re-spun into a thousand different other types of robbery movies, i.e. The Inside Man. Pacino delivers and a well thought out movie through and through.

If the world is destroyed by a giant monster, I vote for Stay Puft the Marshmallow Man to lead the destruction.

Some of the best on-screen deaths ever filmed on camera. From a technical stand point, easily Carpenter's best film, full of creepy ambiance that still has the same impact as it did 25 years. So I guess to sum it up all in one word: Brilliant.

My favorite period piece set before the 20th century. Everything about this movie is brilliant in every shape and form, and yes, that includes the story which is fantastic as well. Kubrick never disappoints.

Lee Van Cleef is a total badass and Clint Eastwood is the coolest man alive, no doubt.

Basically Will Ferrel's best comedy. He hasn't been able to match this sort of talent yet.

I love Tokyo.

Thank you Bill Paxton for delivering one of the greatest, most quotable lines ever. The world is forever in your debt.

Whether its the vibrant cinematography, superb acting (by none other than Gene Wilder), or the witty dialog (again mostly by Wilder), Willy Wonka stands as one of the most imaginative and delightful movies of the 70's.

Fucking incredible. Danny Boyle is a genius and is one of the most promising directors around, right next to P.T. Anderson and Christopher Nolan. But I think Boyle thought he was making part of 28 Days Later during the filming of the final part of Sunshine. It's the only explanation.