When someone goes to your house and starts pawing through your collection of movies does that make you nervous? Do you start preparing a series of excuses as they begin to comment on you taste. “That was a gift, that one is my wife's/kids. That one came with the house.”
“How the heck did something like that get in there!”
I am opening up my whole DVD cabinet for your inspection and sectioning off some categories of my favorites into top fives among just the movie I actually own. I'm no film critic, as you will see, but I will try to express what it is I like about these 50 favs of mine.
My Top Five Music Movies
I'm a musician, I should have a ton of music movies but frankly I find a lot of them pretty boring. Of those I own here are the five that stand out for me:
1. Sting, Bring on the Night -1985
A Steadicam moves down a long drive up some steps and into a huge French mansion while a band jams the intro chords of a upbeat tune. The shot moves through opulent rooms. Unlikely snakes of cables and road cases can be seen amongst baroque décor. Soon mixing consoles and roadies can be seen sitting about and the camera enters a grand high-ceiling room with. Sting and a band of all-American all-black jazz musicians are playing the music we've been hearing. Then the drummer kicks in full. I was hooked from that moment on. Even of you're not a Sting fan this is a cool movie that manages not to lionize it's star and even makes him look a little silly at times. The Branford Marsalis interviews alone are worth it.
2. Rush, Beyond the Lighted Stage -2010
If you're not a Rush fan, this is a well-done documentary that pulls you into the characters. If you are a Rush fan this is freakin' AWESOME!
3. Joe Bonamassa at Royal Albert Hall -2009
Joe was a child prodigy blue guitarist from Central New York State that I remember hearing about when I lived back East. Unlike most 'prods', instead of collapsing under the weight of expectations and falling into drugs and ego, Joe grew up well and put out some great, well-written, well-produced albums that just rock! Even without the 'local boy makes good' factor and the Eric Clapton walk-on, Joe is an amazing guitarist and great showman on the stage of the grand round hall without forgetting chubby kid he used to be, or the guitar geek he still is.
4. The Commitments -1991
To get all the jokes make sure you have the captions on for this great Alan Parker film about out-of-work Irish kids playing if a soul band. No it's not a doc, but accurately captures the essence of being in a band better than any documentary I've seen. It's also really funny.
Another Irish music film that feels more real than any doc. Like the commitments, the actors are real musicians but unlike the Commitments these musicians are always playing on camera and wrote their own wonderful songs. It's also a love story that has a nice innocent quality to it but never gets close to being sentimental or sappy.
My Top Five Travelogue Movies
I love to travel, so naturally I like my movies to hit the highway as well. A journey can really move a story and parallel the characters' inner journeys, plus a change of scenery is always nice.
6. Midnight Run -1988
A foul mouthed bounty hunter (Robert DeNiro) and a mild-mannered but annoying accountant/white collar criminal with a heart of gold (Charles Grodin), handcuffed together on a cross country journey with the police, the mob and everyone else on God's green earth hunting them. What's not to love?
7. A Sure Thing -1985
Another unlikely pair forced to endure each other cross country but with college sexual tension this time. One of them is cute (Daphne Zuniga), the other is a wise-cracking John Cusack. Done and done!
8. Planes Trains & Automobiles -1987
Like with all John Hughes movies, I'm beginning to see a pattern with my favs here as well; opposites forced together through some sort of journey. On this occasion the journey is literall as well as symbolic on the road... “They're on a crash course with whAAAAAkiness.” This is as funny and quotable as it is touching. If you're one of the six people who haven't seen this movie do yourself a favor and take yourself off the list.
9. Rain Man -1988
See this movie for the quotes and love it for everything else. Of all my road movies, this one makes me feel the most like I am traveling with these wonderful characters.
10. Coupe de Ville -1990
Three brother's who could not be more different or at odds with one another drive home in a convertible Coup De Ville to their father who has purchased it for his wife's birthday. This coast to coast tale is different from the others in two respects. 1. It's one of the only American travelogues I know of that go West to East. 2. You've never heard of it. Daniel Stern, the guy most known for getting repeatedly klonked in the “Home Alone” movies, shows not only a completely different side of his acting but that he really truly is an excellent actor. To be honest I broke the rules with this one. I don't actually own it yet but that's not for lack of trying; astonishingly it isn't available on DVD for some reason. It's such a gem of a movie I had to include it.
My Top Five Laugh Therapy Movies
The Blues Brothers -1980
I am trying not to repeat any movie in these different categories. Here's one that could have been in my top five in several. It's sort of a travelogue, it's definitely a music movie, great quotes, etc... the bottom line is that it always has the laugh endorphin meter in the red so here it resides.
11. LA Story -1991
I loved this movie before I moved to LA. After I'd lived here a few years it got 32.8% funnier.
12. A Christmas Story -1983
This movie makes me nostalgic for a time I wasn't even around for, but I don't need to tell you how funny it is because you've either seen it ten times or you were brought up in Gdansk.
A ridiculous movie about a ridiculous premise that I laugh ridiculously hard at. My fav in this movie: Tony Shaloub!
14. The Burbs -1989
One of my wife's favorites and consequently on of mine. I'm not doing her any favors though, this is a character rich environment. I love Bruce Dern as the over militarized Vietnam vet and Rick Ducommun as the over-enthusiastic, clueless neighbor with the unabashed Canadian accent who manages to take Tom Hanks from a rational guy trying to keep to himself, to a unstrung paranoid neighbor... but are you paranoid if they really are out to get you?
15. Harold & Maude -1971
These are the films I turn to when I come home from a lousy day.
16. Sabrina -1995
There's not an unloveable character anywhere in this movie but maybe it's the fairytale quality that makes it the cinematic equivalent of mac and cheese... You understand that's a good thing right?
17. Fools Rush In -1997
This is the funniest movie Matthew Perry has ever acted in. It's a great story too but there are plenty of laughs per minute that never feel forced or unnatural.
18. A League of Their Own -1992
When we first moved to Hollywood, we were holed up in a Motel 6 for the first couple weeks. That time was stressful and down-right scary. At the same time HBO was running “A League of Their Own” and we watched it at least four times. It's a great movie on it's 'own' but the comfort I associated with it escaping those rough times still make it a go-to film when I just need to escape for a while.
19. The Big Chill -1983
Ah, this one's no chic flick. Clearly, the concept of Glenn Close setting her husband up to impregnate her best friend is the brainchild of a man. It's more the atmosphere of the weekend visit of good friends that I find comforting somehow.
There are hundreds of English weekend-at-the-huge-mansion-who dunnits but this one is different in many respects. It's smarter and it's plot and characters more intricate. I think it's the fact that by the time we had seen it enough times to keep track of the characters and all the little nuances, we were hooked. That never would have happened if it wasn't an awesome movie to begin with though.
Five Top Movies I can't stop quoting (and a quote from each)
21. Juno -2007
Juno is shaking a developed pregnancy test strip. The convenient store clerk (Rainn wilson) responds: “that ain't no Etch-A-Sketch, this is one doodle that can't be undid homeskillet.”
Juno is shaking a developed pregnancy test strip. The convenient store clerk (Rainn wilson) responds: “that ain't no Etch-A-Sketch, this is one doodle that can't be undid homeskillet.”
22. Garden State -2004
“Don't pick on me for my hobbies, I don't pick on you for being an asshole.”
“Don't pick on me for my hobbies, I don't pick on you for being an asshole.”
23. Blazing Saddles -1974
“Mongo only pawn... in game of life.”
“Mongo only pawn... in game of life.”
24. Office Space -1999
“It seems you've been missing a lot of work lately.” “I wouldn't say I've been missing it Bob.”
“It seems you've been missing a lot of work lately.” “I wouldn't say I've been missing it Bob.”
25. Young Frankenstein -1974
“SEDAGIVE??!!!”
“SEDAGIVE??!!!”
My Top Five 'By Accident' Movies
We all have movies in our collection that got there through means other than our deliberate efforts; some that we can't even explain how they got there. That doesn't mean we can't fall in love some of them.
26. Them -1954
During a visit to Cambridge, MA. to visit my aunt and my TV savvy cousins, they were watching “Them” a fifties horror lick about giant ants. Being a ten or eleven-year-old country bumpkin with only a hour of daily TV rations, I found the movie pretty intense and scary. Later when all the kids were bunked together in one room. One voice was heard in the darkness, it was mine: “I keep thinking about them stinkin' ants!” To this day I can't visit my cousins without getting ribbed about that. This past summer, my cousin DJ presented me with the DVD of “Them”. I watched it and was amazed by how tame it was compared to so many things I had seen in the past thirty-five years. I also came to realize, unlike many of the horror/monster movies of the fifties, “Them” was actually a pretty good movie.
27. A Hard Day's Night -1964
I also remember seeing “A Hard Day's Night” on TV as a kid. All I remember was a helicopter and four guys running around a field and falling down. I didn't fully understand who the Beatles were but it was obvious that they were having fun. Many years later I married a Beatle fan and it wasn't too long before I saw HDN again as an adult. Yep, they were still having fun and so did I watching them.
28. Rejected -2000
I also married a girl with interesting, quirky and artistic tastes. She also has a great sense of humor. Words cannot describe the over-the-edge hilarity of the Oscar nominated “Rejected” aptly so...
Here is a link to the entire nine minute film if that wasn't enough for you.
29. Eraserhead -1977
I married a girl with with really, interesting, really, really quirky and really really really artistic tastes. David Lynch's Eraserhead is considered one of his masterpieces and if you thought Twin Peaks was inexplicably strange, that, my friends, was child's play.
30. Sneakers -1992
This is a video I borrowed from someone and... well you know years went by and by now trying to return it would be just... you know, awkward. In any case it's a bit of a sleeper. I'd never heard of it before. I shouldn't have to say any more than the cast of Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn (Hollywood's best kept secret), Dan Akroyd, and River Phoenix less than a year before his demise, but maybe it will help to hear that it's about a band of misfit security operatives (each with his own speciality) who suddenly find themselves in hot water and.... say it with the voice... you know THAT voice... "A world of intrigue and mystery!" Charmingly, funny... Great movie!
The Five Top Movies I Don't Want You to Know That I Love
Then there are those movies towards the back... no not that far back. The ones I love but I wouldn't want you to see them without my being able to explain a little bit. Here's my chance both to embarrass and redeem myself.
31. Flight of the Navigator -1986
My wife cued up this movie and I thought, “Well, it's a live-action Disney movie from the eighties that I've never heard of. Maybe it won't be terrible. It wasn't. The missing Oscar nod perhaps not, but it's charming and sincere with an intriguing story about a kid that falls down in the woods and comes home to discover that eight years have gone by and he has an ESP connection with an alien space ship that sound suspiciously like Pee Wee Herman. Okay, okay, still not convinced. How about a young Sarah Jessica Parker? Yeah I know, she got hotter with age, but still.
32. A Goofy Movie -1995
Another surprise. And it's a yet another travelogue! Seriously, the folks who did this movie sincerely cared about what they were doing and told a great story that happened to fit in the Goofy universe.
33. Twister -1996
I once made the mistake of telling a graduate film school student friend of mine that I like this movie. I think he's thought I'm some sort of low-brow yokel ever since. Twister is supposed to be this horrible movie and I can plainly see all the things wrong with it. There's only one problem: I love it! There just something about a bunch of misfits chasing down storms in there busted up cars and ad-hoc equipment but it more than that. The story always has me riding down the road with them. Sure, there are a few moments I cringe at but they're well worth the trip. Oh and by-the-way: travelogue.
34. The Brave Little Toaster -1987
A little known Disney animation, it's a story about a group of misfit appliances on a journey of trials redemption and expired warranties. Misfits, and (guess what?) a travelogue Yay! Jon Lovitz plays an obnoxious radio (can you imagine) the the late “Theeeeey're Greeeeat!” Tony the tiger guy, Thurl Ravenscroft, plays a vacuum cleaner named, of course, Kirby.
35. A Little Princess -1995
My taste in movies has made some wonder if I am a chic. This fav may peg me for a ten year-old girl as well. But wait, this story, if you know it, has all sorts of Dickensian cruelty, injustice, suffering and ultimately REVENGE! Yay, revenge! Not exactly Rambo in a dress with ribbons in the hair (wait! actually, Rambo did have ribbons in his hair) but it's a nice story and I like it, so there!
Top Five Movie's You Probably Haven't Seen -But Should
Okay now that I'm through that embarrassment let me redeem myself--though the film students have long since moved on--with some off the beaten path films in my humble collection that I absolutely love that maybe you haven't heard of but aren't too terribly esoteric either.
This film is so clever and intricate you'll have to see it a couple times to figure everything out. What I like about primer is that it treats a subject like time travel, not in a glitzy adventurous sci-fi way but views it from the perspective of engineers and treats engineers the way they really are from their quest to find a new technology in their off hours and launch their own successful company, to the growing mistrust and the vortex of chaos they enter when they start to mess around with time. You'd never guess that the writer/director only spent a few thousand dollars making it.
37. The Dish -2000
Maybe everyone has actually heard of this but it's a great little sleeper about a sleepy little town in Western Australia that just happens to have a large satellite dish that just happens to be in the right orientation during Neil Armstrong' historic moon walk. There are some challenges along the way and a wonderful collection of quirky characters in a friendly little town.
38. Secretary -2002
This one may be a bit racy for the kids and the chaste at heart, but if you allow yourself an open mind for an hour and and forty-four minutes these characters will get to you and you will no longer think of this subject matter the same way.
39. The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra -2001
What if you made a fifties black and white sci-fi horror film that was soooo horribly bad that it was wonderful and in-fact hilarious. Oh by-the-way it's 2001 and you're shooting on DV. The dialogue in this movie alone is priceless here's a quick sample:
40. Bubble -2005
Let's say your a successful director... we're talking Ocean's 11, 12, 13, and a best director Oscar on your mantel, but you like to 'keep' it real once in a while with an experimental project where you show up in economically depressed West Virginia city and cast non-acting locals to more-or-less play themselves in a micro-budget indy film that doesn't have a script and relies heavily on improv. If that were the case, your name would be Steven Soderberg and you would end up with a one-of-a-kind really cool film called "Bubble".
My All-time Desert Island Top Ten (among the movies I own)
...and not including the preceding forty I already mentioned that I managed to sneak onto the desert island in a secret compartment in my volley ball along with a DVD player, a five kilowatt solar panel and a change of underwear.
41. Raising Arizona -1987
You won't hear dialog like this anywhere; not evenin other Coen Brothers' films. Though I'm not positive I can say that this is my favorite film of all time, I often do when pressed for an answer. I can still remember seeing this movie for the first time being continually delighted as the Coen brothers took me on a series of unexpected turns that were at once hilarious, Disneyesque whacky, and deceptively deep and meaningful.
42. Lars and the Real Girl -2007
What if people really cared for one another? Without being the slightest bit sappy, this movie will make you expect the world to be a better place when you're done falling in love with everyone of the people (and one whose not) in this film. Explaining the interesting premise would only mislead you.43. Brick -2005
This is a noir film containing all the classic elements but set in a modern day high school. That description doesn't do much to prepare you for some of the best dialogue I've heard in a long time and a story that sucks you into it's rabbit hole. This movie and it's characters are wall-to-wall cool. Even though this trailer (like all trailors) make it look far more conventional than it really is, it will give you an idea.
44. It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World -1963
This could have been in four of the categories I listed above (yup, another travelogue). Talk about a crash-course with whackiness! Also the cameo movie to end all cameo movies.
45. The Big Lebowski -1998
If you don't love the Dude there's no explaining it.
Sublime imagery, music and Sean Young tell me that the dark, rainy, corrupt future isn't all bad.
47. The Hunt for Red October -1990
Lots of great quotable lines and of course the awesome Tom Clancy plot line, well imparted by Connery's and Baldwin's characters doesn't hurt either.
48. North by Northwest -1959
Another Travelogue from the man who wrote the definitions of intrigue and suspense: Alfred Hitchcock.
Quinton Tarrantino showed us what over-the-top was, then he went over, over-the-top -just cuz..
I was always a big Carl Sagan and Jody Foster fan so I guess it was inevitable that this movie would do it for me. I had no idea much though. I actually saw this in the theater four times dragging someone new with me on each occasion. Perhaps I found comfort in the fact that her mind bending journey across galaxies made my impending move to LA seem that much more manageable.
The Top Ten Movies I don't own but should
For whatever reasons some of my very favorite films are not a part of my library. If I owned these movies they surely would have made the list:
Maverick -1994
The Gods Must Be Crazy -1981
The Triplets of Bellville -2003
The Wizard of Oz -1939
Rat Race -2001
Gregory's Girl -1981
While You Were Sleeping -1995
Tombstone -1993
Henry V -1989
Clerks -1994
So there you have it... what's that? I promised full access to my video cabinet? I guess I did didn't I. Well, you asked for it:
A Christmas Story • A Goofy Movie • A Hard Day's Night • A League of their Own • A Little Princess • A Prairie Home Companion • A Simple Twist of Fate • African Queen • Alfred Hitchcock -Early Collection • Alice in Wonderland • All of Me • American Beauty • American Pie • American Pie 2 • Animal House • Bagdad Cafe • Band of Brothers • Beetlejuice • Benny and Joon • Bitter films Volume 1 • Blade Runner • Blazing Saddles • Blue Velvet • Breakfast at Tiffany's • Brick • Brief Encounter • Bubble • Bugsy • Capote • Cartoons that Time Forgot The Ub Iwerks Collection Vol 2 • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • Contact • Dark and Stormy Night • Dead Poets Society • Death Proof • Dirty Dancing • Donnie Brasko • Donnie Darko • Dr Katz Season 1 • Edward Scissor Hands • Emergecy -Season 1 • Empire of the Sun • Eraserhead • ET • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind • Everythingwillbeok -Don Hertzfeld • Failure to Launch • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas • Ferris Bueller's Day Off • Flight of the Navigator • Flight of the Navigator • Fools Rush In • Forrest Gump • French Kiss • Frida • Fried Green Tomatoes • Funny Face • Galaxy Quest • Garden State • Ghost • Girl Interrupted • Good Will Hunting • Gosford Park • Gran Torino • Grosse Pointe Blank • Groundhog Day • Harold and Maude • HELP! -The Beatles • Heman Masters of the Universe • High Plains Drifter • History of the World Part I • Home Alone • Home Alone 2 • I Love You to Death • I'll Be Home for Christmas -JT Thomas • I'll Do Anything • Icestorm • Imposters • It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World • It's a wonderful Life • Jeff Dunham, Arguing with Myself • Joe Bonamassa at Royal Albert Hall • Johnny Dangerously • Julie and Julia • Juno • Karate Kid • Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 • LA Story • Lars and the Real Girl • Life with Father • Little Miss Sunshine • Little Women • Lolita • Lost in Translation • M -Fritz Lang • Magnum PI Season 3 • Man with a Movie Camera • Matilda • Melody Time -Walt Disney Animations • Memphis Belle • Mermaids • Mickey's Christmas Carol • Midnight Run • Monsoon Wedding • Monty Python and the Holy Grail • Monty Python's The Meaning of Life • Moulin Rouge • MST3K -Vol 1 • MST3K -Vol 2 • MST3K -Vol 3 • MST3K -Vol 4 • MST3K -Vol 5 • MST3K Red Zone Cuba • MST3K The Movie • Much Ado About Nothing • My Neighbor Totoro • Night Shift • North By Northwest • Nothing but Trouble • Office Space • Once • Overboard • Pee Wee's Big Adventure • Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea • Primer • Rain Man • Raising Arizona • Rear Window • Rejected -Don Hertzfeld • Romeo & Juliet -Baz Luhrman w/ DiCaprio/Danes • Roseanne Season 1 • Rumor Has It • Rush R30 • Rush, Beyond the Lighted Stage • Sabrina • Schizopolis • Scrooged • Secretary • Sense and Sensibility • Shine • Sin City • Sister Act • Sixteen Candles • Sleepless in Seattle • Snatch • Sneakers • Snowball Express • So I Married am Ax Murderer • Somewhere in Dreamland -Max Fleischer' s Color Classics • Spaceballs • Speechless • Spirited Away • Starring Donald -Walt Disney • Steamboat Bill Junior -Buster Keaton • Sting -Bring on the Night • Stranger Than Fiction • The Abyss • The Adventures of Pete and Pete Season 2 • The American Gangster • The Big Chill • The Big Lebowski • The Blues Brothers • The Bodyguard • The Brave Little Toaster • The Burbs • The Changling ('70s) • The Commitments • The Dish • The General -Buster Keaton • The Ghost and Mrs. Muir • The Golden Girls Season 1 • The Haunting • The Hours • The Hunt For Red October • The Jerk • The Kid -Charlie Chaplin • The King and I • The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra • The Lost Skeleton Returns Again • The Miracle Worker • The Nativity Story • The Nightmare Before Christmas • The Others • The Princess Bride • The Red Shoes • The Red Violin • The Rocky Horror Picture Show • The Secret Garden • The Sure Thing • The Upside of Anger • The White Stripes -Under Blackpool Lights • Them • Thoroughly Modern Millie • Three Men and a Little Lady • Three Men and Baby • Tillie's Punctured Romance -Charlie Chaplin • Tin Cup • Titanic • Topper Returns • Toy Story 3 • Twister • Ulysses' Gaze • Uncle Buck • Walk the Line • Wall E • Waynes World • Waynes World 2 • What About Bob • Wild Child • Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory • You've Got Mail • Young Frankenstein •
5 comments:
So now I know why I never get any of the quotes. I have seen (don't even own all of them) exactly 6 of your top 50. Confess that I didn't read all the small print other than to note that we do at least seem to share parts of the Steve Martin collection, but then, who doesn't? I'm no movie connoisseur though. I dare not confess the last one I saw in a theater!
No worries Daphne, I'm kind-of a movie freak. I wanted to pick movies that were new to a lot of folks.
I wouldn't push any of these movies on you... except one: "Lars and the Real Girl". It's completely family-friendly, I promise, and it's positively wonderful and uplifting.
Joel,
I simply cannot forgive the glaring omissions of "Stand by Me", and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". Giant ants have nothing on Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago.
Signed,
Your former friend,
Bill
Agreed Bill. Those are serious omissions.
Going to have to find that one, Joel! Seems auspicious. There's a family joke about the "real girl."
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