I was going to write a post entitled "The 100 Greatest Movies Evar" but then I figured I wasn't really egotistical enough to declare, by myself, the greatest movies ever. (Truthfully, I do think that highly of myself, but it seemed like a lot of pressure.) I revised it into a list of "My 100 Favorite Films". This would seem to suffice for most people, for me it quickly devolved into a series of sub-lists of particular directors and genres, so as to not skew the main list one way or another. Having 6 or 8 Hitchcock films on the list might start to do just that thing, but I couldn't very well just write 'Hitchcock Films' as an entry. First of all I haven't seen all of them, secondly some of his movies just wouldn't make my top 100 list. Ok, so we can all tell that the 100 faves list would probably turn into an essay on classification systems and the applications thereof.
I decided to free myself and create a list that I am calling "100 Movies That I Love But Which Are Not Necessarily My Favorite Films, Nor Would They Be My Votes For The Greatest Movies Of All Time, Although Some Of Them Certainly Could Be." Or "100 Movies" if you're into the whole brevity thing.
My wife mocked me for not only feeling the need to make such a list, but that I would need to both quantify and qualify the list itself. Then she mocked me for being able to make several lists that would all contain 100 movies and would have so little overlap that I would need to define them as discrete items. I realize that to most people this stuff is trivia but it's what I dig on.
Enough hullabaloo, on with the 100 Movies.
(Oh, and just because this is a numbered list, that does not in and of itself denote any sort of ranking system, these are just some movies I love, off the top of my head.)
1. Leon: The Professional
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. True Romance
4. In America
5. MASH
6. Raging Bull
7. When Harry Met Sally
8. Vertigo
9. To Kill A Mockingbird
10. Spirited Away
11. Jaws
12. 12 Monkeys
13. Dog Day Afternoon
14. Interiors
15. The Evil Dead
16. A Very Long Engagement
17. Glengarry Glen Ross
18. 28 Days Later
19. Bullitt
20. Oldboy
21. Armageddon
22. Usual Suspects
23. Sin City
24. Empire Records
25. The Big Lebowski
26. Clue
27. Carlito's Way
28. The Thin Man
29. L'Avventura
30. Night of the Living Dead
31. THX 1138
32. Cabin Fever
33. The Royal Tenenbaums
34. Punch Drunk Love
35. Charade
36. The Tingler
37. Lethal Weapon
38. Rosemary's Baby
39. A Slipping Down Life
40. Children Of Men
41. The Limey
42. Taxi Driver
43. The Color Of Money
44. Cool Hand Luke
45. The Exorcist
46. Do The Right Thing
47. Tideland
48. Psycho
49. Zodiac
50. American Grafitti
51. Romeo+Juliet
52. Nightmare On Elm Street
53. Brick
54. Blood Simple
55. The Village
56. Sunset Boulevard
57. El Mariachi
58. Clerks 2
59. The Goonies
60. Breakfast At Tiffany's
61. Annie Hall
62. A History Of Violence
63. La Femme Nikita
64. Pan's Labyrinth
65. Primer
66. The Departed
67. The Shining
68. Tombstone
69. King Kong
70. L.A. Confidential
71. Pet Sematary
72. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
73. The Jerk
74. Heat
75. Pi
76. The Commitments
77. The Lady Vanishes
78. True Grit
79. Nashville
80. Barton Fink
81. Dr. Strangelove
82. Children of the Corn
83. Halloween
84. Spartacus
85. Intacto
86. The World According to Garp
87. Ghostbusters
88. The City of Lost Children
89. The Terminator
90. Alien (s) (3) (Resurrection)
91. The Verdict
92. The Abyss
93. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
94. Rashomon
95. Run Lola Run
96. Stalag 17
97. Rififi
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley
99. The Fly (Cronenberg)
100. Ginger Snaps
8.24.2007
8.23.2007
I Guess I'm Not the Only One
Thank you, Gawker contributer for your quick posts that court both sides of how I feel about this movement. In theory I like it, in practice, not so much.
8.22.2007
A List of Somewhat Random Facts About Me
1.I have a son, born 3/12/03. (Connor Night)
2.I have a daughter, born 9/18/05. (Keira Bryce)
3. I married an amazing woman on 07/01/00 (Mari Gayle)
4.We got married less than 5 months after meeting.
5. We have 2 dogs (Scully and Charlie)
6. We have 2 cats (Orson and Wanda)
7. We also have a hermit crab (Coochie-coochie)
8. I am a geek (as evidence, dig the fact that both children and all but one pet were named after pop culture refrences.)
9. I am a stay at home dad.
10. I am a writer/director.
11. I wrapped production on my first short earlier this year.
12. Being a stay at home dad is the hardest job I've ever had.
13. Trying to be creative and find time to write while being a stay at home dad is the second.
14. And I used to be a brick layer.
15. Also, a cab driver, computer tech, cook, welder, shoe salesmen, set builder, and on, and on and on.
16. I never proposed to my wife, I just assumed she'd want me.
17. I was right.
18. I love coffee.
19. The first clear memory I have was watching television with my dad, the show was "The Twilight Zone" the episode was called "Passage on the Lady Anne."
20. The second thing I remember watching on TV was the making of the "Thriller" music video.
21. For better or worse these two experiences shaped much of what I am today.
22. Perhaps unsurprisingly I love "The X-Files"
23. Perhaps surprisingly I also love "The Gilmore Girls"
24. I think that "Good Eats" is one of the best shows on television.
25. Growing up I had a compulsion to mentally spell all the words I was speaking out loud.
26. I once worked with a man who believed that Count Chocula was an embodiment of the Devil, and therefore would not take his children down the cereal isle at the grocery store. He also believed that the bible stated that other races (non-white) should be looked down on.
28. I once broke his nose with a can of 7-Up.
29. The one thing I hate is intolerance.
30. I often get distracted in the middle of the sock and shoe taking off process. It's not uncommon to see me wandering around my house in one stocking foot and one shoe.
31. Or two stocking feet but one sock half off.
32. Converse Chuck Taylors are my all time favorite shoes.
33. Cap'n Crunch is my all time favorite cereal.
34. Raisin Bran is a close second.
35. I have broken all my toes, some more than once.
36. I broke my leg as a toddler, my parents didn't take me to the hospital for 3 days because there was no bruising or swelling. My dad broke down crying in the parking lot of his work when we went to pick him up and he saw the cast on my leg.
37. I competed in the Jr. Olympics for Tae Kwon Do.
38. I got my first guitar for christmas when I was 10 years old.
39. I originally went to college to study classical guitar.
40. I am currently taking jazz guitar lessons.
41. I also played the trumpet, trombone, tuba, violin, and various percussion instruments in high school and college.
42. I took piano lessons in grade school.
43. I've never learned to read music, I either played by ear or rote memorization.
44. As a child I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.
45. In third grade my favorite authors were Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle, and Judy Blume.
46. By fifth grade Stephen King bumped Judy Blume off the list.
47. In middle school a friends older brother introduced me to The Pixies, Soundgarden, Monty Python, Doom, The Sandman comics, and speculative fiction literature in general. He also tried to get me to watch Star Trek, but I had to draw the line somewhere.
48. I still haven't seen a whole episode of any iteration of Star Trek.
49. Despite the fact that Wil Wheaton is one of my favorite bloggers.
50. I have a tattoo based on artwork from an issue of The Sandman.
51. Neil Gaiman is now one of my favorite authors.
52. I want to get another tattoo based on my love of film.
53. My mom introduced me to horror movies at a young age.
54. Probably too young.
55. I'm glad she did.
56. I've never smoked a cigarette.
57. Or anything else.
58. Or done any illicit drugs.
59. Or played a drinking game.
60. I did however start going to bars when I was 19.
61. I rarely drank though, mostly I played pool with friends from work.
62. I never got carded until the day of my 21st birthday.
63. In second grade I fell off the neighbors porch and landed on a rock, on my forehead.
64. I have a scar nearly in the middle of my forehead from it.
65. It is vaguely shaped like a lightning bolt.
66. I think that's awesome.
67. I dislike getting hair cuts, I think they never turn out right.
68. My wife thinks I look cute in baseball hats.
69. I am getting tired of writing about myself.
70. I like to cook.
71. I am actually pretty good at it.
72. I also know how to knit.
73. Not well, but I did make a camera holder for my wife.
74. Plums are probably my favorite fruit.
75. Unless blue raspberry flavoring is considered a fruit.
76. I've had my tongue pierced 3 times.
77. I often have dreams in which my tongue is pierced.
78. I also often have dreams where I can fly but only by concentrating very hard, I generally wake up tired and sore after these dreams.
79. I'm done.
2.I have a daughter, born 9/18/05. (Keira Bryce)
3. I married an amazing woman on 07/01/00 (Mari Gayle)
4.We got married less than 5 months after meeting.
5. We have 2 dogs (Scully and Charlie)
6. We have 2 cats (Orson and Wanda)
7. We also have a hermit crab (Coochie-coochie)
8. I am a geek (as evidence, dig the fact that both children and all but one pet were named after pop culture refrences.)
9. I am a stay at home dad.
10. I am a writer/director.
11. I wrapped production on my first short earlier this year.
12. Being a stay at home dad is the hardest job I've ever had.
13. Trying to be creative and find time to write while being a stay at home dad is the second.
14. And I used to be a brick layer.
15. Also, a cab driver, computer tech, cook, welder, shoe salesmen, set builder, and on, and on and on.
16. I never proposed to my wife, I just assumed she'd want me.
17. I was right.
18. I love coffee.
19. The first clear memory I have was watching television with my dad, the show was "The Twilight Zone" the episode was called "Passage on the Lady Anne."
20. The second thing I remember watching on TV was the making of the "Thriller" music video.
21. For better or worse these two experiences shaped much of what I am today.
22. Perhaps unsurprisingly I love "The X-Files"
23. Perhaps surprisingly I also love "The Gilmore Girls"
24. I think that "Good Eats" is one of the best shows on television.
25. Growing up I had a compulsion to mentally spell all the words I was speaking out loud.
26. I once worked with a man who believed that Count Chocula was an embodiment of the Devil, and therefore would not take his children down the cereal isle at the grocery store. He also believed that the bible stated that other races (non-white) should be looked down on.
28. I once broke his nose with a can of 7-Up.
29. The one thing I hate is intolerance.
30. I often get distracted in the middle of the sock and shoe taking off process. It's not uncommon to see me wandering around my house in one stocking foot and one shoe.
31. Or two stocking feet but one sock half off.
32. Converse Chuck Taylors are my all time favorite shoes.
33. Cap'n Crunch is my all time favorite cereal.
34. Raisin Bran is a close second.
35. I have broken all my toes, some more than once.
36. I broke my leg as a toddler, my parents didn't take me to the hospital for 3 days because there was no bruising or swelling. My dad broke down crying in the parking lot of his work when we went to pick him up and he saw the cast on my leg.
37. I competed in the Jr. Olympics for Tae Kwon Do.
38. I got my first guitar for christmas when I was 10 years old.
39. I originally went to college to study classical guitar.
40. I am currently taking jazz guitar lessons.
41. I also played the trumpet, trombone, tuba, violin, and various percussion instruments in high school and college.
42. I took piano lessons in grade school.
43. I've never learned to read music, I either played by ear or rote memorization.
44. As a child I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.
45. In third grade my favorite authors were Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle, and Judy Blume.
46. By fifth grade Stephen King bumped Judy Blume off the list.
47. In middle school a friends older brother introduced me to The Pixies, Soundgarden, Monty Python, Doom, The Sandman comics, and speculative fiction literature in general. He also tried to get me to watch Star Trek, but I had to draw the line somewhere.
48. I still haven't seen a whole episode of any iteration of Star Trek.
49. Despite the fact that Wil Wheaton is one of my favorite bloggers.
50. I have a tattoo based on artwork from an issue of The Sandman.
51. Neil Gaiman is now one of my favorite authors.
52. I want to get another tattoo based on my love of film.
53. My mom introduced me to horror movies at a young age.
54. Probably too young.
55. I'm glad she did.
56. I've never smoked a cigarette.
57. Or anything else.
58. Or done any illicit drugs.
59. Or played a drinking game.
60. I did however start going to bars when I was 19.
61. I rarely drank though, mostly I played pool with friends from work.
62. I never got carded until the day of my 21st birthday.
63. In second grade I fell off the neighbors porch and landed on a rock, on my forehead.
64. I have a scar nearly in the middle of my forehead from it.
65. It is vaguely shaped like a lightning bolt.
66. I think that's awesome.
67. I dislike getting hair cuts, I think they never turn out right.
68. My wife thinks I look cute in baseball hats.
69. I am getting tired of writing about myself.
70. I like to cook.
71. I am actually pretty good at it.
72. I also know how to knit.
73. Not well, but I did make a camera holder for my wife.
74. Plums are probably my favorite fruit.
75. Unless blue raspberry flavoring is considered a fruit.
76. I've had my tongue pierced 3 times.
77. I often have dreams in which my tongue is pierced.
78. I also often have dreams where I can fly but only by concentrating very hard, I generally wake up tired and sore after these dreams.
79. I'm done.
8.21.2007
AotO #2: Movies!
This one has been bothering me for a while, and it's kind of a two parter.
Mutual Appreciation in specific and the Mumblecore movement in general.
The thing is, the makers of these films are so open and amicable about their processes that it makes it hard to judge them at all. I follow their production blogs and root for them when (inevitable) troubles set in. I admire them as filmmakers who have a vision and stick to it. I just can't get into most of the movies at all. I find it hard to get into a movie with a lack of drama, action or plot. I understand they are going for a 'realistic' dynamic, however just because it's like real life doesn't mean it's interesting.
A friend recommended that I re-watch Mutual Appreciation with an eye towards the underlying meaning of what the people are saying (or more accurately, are stuttering, slurring and, yes, even mumbling). I just couldn't do it though. For me to even begin to care about what may or may not be laying below the surface I have to be interested at least somewhat in the surface. Car chases and boobs are a good start, but really, I would settle for a character that I wouldn't walk away from during a conversation.
I realize that it's probably silly to spend so much time thinking about a rather obscure (to the mainstream, at least) cinematic genre, but hey, someone has to.
Mutual Appreciation in specific and the Mumblecore movement in general.
The thing is, the makers of these films are so open and amicable about their processes that it makes it hard to judge them at all. I follow their production blogs and root for them when (inevitable) troubles set in. I admire them as filmmakers who have a vision and stick to it. I just can't get into most of the movies at all. I find it hard to get into a movie with a lack of drama, action or plot. I understand they are going for a 'realistic' dynamic, however just because it's like real life doesn't mean it's interesting.
A friend recommended that I re-watch Mutual Appreciation with an eye towards the underlying meaning of what the people are saying (or more accurately, are stuttering, slurring and, yes, even mumbling). I just couldn't do it though. For me to even begin to care about what may or may not be laying below the surface I have to be interested at least somewhat in the surface. Car chases and boobs are a good start, but really, I would settle for a character that I wouldn't walk away from during a conversation.
I realize that it's probably silly to spend so much time thinking about a rather obscure (to the mainstream, at least) cinematic genre, but hey, someone has to.
Academy of the Overrated #1: Music!
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, mine is no more valid than yours. There are no absolutes in the arts. The common definitions of what is 'good' or 'bad' have no place when it comes to personal taste, either something speaks to you or it doesn't.
That being said, here are is a list of musical artists who receive way more credit than they deserve.
The Greatful Dead
The Velvet Underground
Guns 'n' Roses
Metallica
Nirvana
Black Sabbath
Elvis Presley
I would like to write a scathing diatribe condemning these artists, but I can't even get that passionate about them. They all just leave me cold. Cold and scratching my head in wonderment. I plan to write the first Academy of the Underrated post soon, seeing as how those are artists that I really dig, I'm sure it will be far too long and rambley, which should, in theory make up for the shortness of this post. Feel free to yell at me because of my choices or add your own!
That being said, here are is a list of musical artists who receive way more credit than they deserve.
The Greatful Dead
The Velvet Underground
Guns 'n' Roses
Metallica
Nirvana
Black Sabbath
Elvis Presley
I would like to write a scathing diatribe condemning these artists, but I can't even get that passionate about them. They all just leave me cold. Cold and scratching my head in wonderment. I plan to write the first Academy of the Underrated post soon, seeing as how those are artists that I really dig, I'm sure it will be far too long and rambley, which should, in theory make up for the shortness of this post. Feel free to yell at me because of my choices or add your own!
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