Top 100, F-J

Fargo - Hmm... corpses being shoved into a wood chipper.  Nope, it’s not a slasher movie (there are none of those on the top 100 list). It is, however, another great, tragic, hilarious, wacked out, disturbing tale by the Coen Brothers.  I believe wry might be the best word to describe this film.  As with Blood Simple, Fargo revolves around murder, with doses of odd, dark humor and a line-up of extremely interesting characters.   Director:  Joel Coen, Cast: Francis McDormand, William Macy. 1996

Finding Neverland - A true dramatic tearjerker. But your tears are extracted without heavy sentimentality.  Neverland is a fictional look at the creation of Peter Pan.   There is something special about this movie, which is based on events in the life of Scottish author James Mathew Barrie.  Neverland seems extremely sincere. It tugs emotionally, but the pull seems a natural result of what you’re experiencing... not exploitation.  Beautiful and heartfelt. Director: Marc Forster, Cast: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet. 2004

Forest Gump - Watching Forrest Gump is good for the soul plain and simple.  We follow the simpleton Gump as he moves through three decades of stormy American history.  Surrounded by hate, war, pain, and loss, his guilelessness and childlike belief in simple virtues prevails.  Sentimental for sure, but carried out with superb grace.  The meeting with Jenny in the DC reflection pool is truly heartwarming... yes he “knows what love is”. Magical! Director: Robert Zemeckis Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright. 1994

The Fugitive  - Loved it! As a young kid, the TV series fascinated me. The movie had the same effect. As far as suspense movies go, its nearly perfect. You know the story - a good doctor has been falsely accused and convicted of his wife's murder.  We all believe the doctor... the one-armed man really did it. But where is he?  The Doc escapes and it’s a race between him and the U.S. Marshalls.  Constant action and constant tension.  Tommy Lee Jones is the same character regardless of the movie, but he’s perfect as the U.S. Marshall hunting down Harrison Ford’s able but vulnerable fugitive. Director: Andrew Davis, Cast: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones. 1993

Full Metal Jacket - You get two movies in one in this Kubrick film, and both hit like a sledge-hammer to the forehead.  The first half of the film is a true jaw dropper.  Jacket is riveting and shocking as Kubrick, once again, looks at the behavior of men in battle. It’s definitely not your standard war movie.  It is bleak and icy cold.  Brutal, powerful, intense, and superbly made. Director:  Stanely Kubrick Cast: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey. 1987

Galaxy Quest - Maybe this on is on the list just because of the  sheer surprise of how good it was.  Quest is an unexpectedly clever spoof and celebration of the Star Trek phenomena, its geeky fans, and the washed up actors they adore.  A long-canceled TV sci-fi series cast is mistaken as the real deal by an alien race trying to defend itself from a hostile takeover.  The resulting ridiculousness yields truly top-notch comedy. The cast is outstanding and the aliens are irresistibly charming.  The family took in this movie one day because the show we wanted to see was sold out. - glad we did, loved it, and have watched it over and over again. Director: Dean Parisot, Cast:  Steve Allen, Sigorney Weaver. 1999

Gattaca - Wait, another science-fiction film with no monsters or laser beams?  That’s right. I believe Gattaca to be a modern sci-fi classic even without acid-for-blood bugs. Gattaca looks at a possible future and the wages of technology.  The film is visually impressive but also carries a weighty story that positions very human things up against the cold logic and rationalization of scientific progress.  Complex, intelligent and emotionally engaging. Director: Andrew Noccoi, Cast: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman. 1997

Get Smart - Ok, this may be on here because of some nostalgic bias (I was a huge fan of the Don Adams TV series), but Get Smart is shoot-Dr. Pepper-out-your-nose funny. It also has the funniest airplane bathroom scene of all time (even better than Tommy Boy). An overweight dance of between Max and 99 at a bad-guy-studded party is hilarious. Rent it. Enjoy it. If you're young, good for you... it will still be funny. Carell crosses all age lines on this one. Director: Peter Segal, Cast: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway. 2008

Glory - Story of Civil War’s 54th Regiment of Massachusetts, a troop of free black men who fought to help win liberty for enslaved others. This is the best Civil War film I’ve seen.  Well acted by the star-studded cast and beautifully shot.  A thrilling tribute to the courage and bravery of the black soldiers of the Civil War.   Director: Edward Zwick, Cast: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan. 1989

Grosse Pointe Blank - This is good, fresh stuff.  Good things usually happen when John Cusack and his sister Joan team up and Blank’s quirky and dark style is a natural fit for its leading man.  A reflective hit man heads out on an assignment in the same location as his 10-year high school reunion in the high-end suburb of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He decides to attend to both. Dark and different - Blank is a very peculiar and bullet-ridden trip to self-discovery,  but well worth the ticket. Director: George Armitage,  Cast: John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd, 1997

Groundhog Day - Groundhog Day may be the perfect movie. It is thoroughly entertaining even after the umpteenth viewing.  I can find no flaw in it.  Plus, its a surprise (like Haydn’s symphony). At first glance it appears to be just another light romantic comedy with a goofy lead.  But it really is much more. Its a myth-tale on the progression of a flawed soul, told through Bill Murray’s perfectly nonchalant comic style.  Murray’s jaded weatherman moves through the same day (Groundhog day) over and over and also moves through denial, selfishness, opportunism, and finally sense of purpose.  He is us - we’re all just trying to finally get it right - or at least we should be.  Director: Harold Ramis, Cast: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, 1993

Hairspray - This movie slips onto the list just because I feel so good when I watch it.  From Nikki Blonsky opening “Good Morning Baltimore” I was hooked on the upbeat journey of the plump Tracy Turnblad and her dream and realization of dancing on the popular Corny Collins TV Show.  I just broke out into a smile that I could not get off my face for the rest of the movie.  There is a lot of song and dance talent set free in this make-over and they’re topped off by the killer combo of Christopher Walken and John Travolta as Tracy’s parents.  Travolta can shake a leg even in heavy suite and drag.  Its great fun. Director: Adam Shankman, Cast: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken. 2007

High Plains Drifter - My favorite Eastwood western.  Sure, most would pick The Good Bad and Ugly or Pale Rider, but this movie is oddly special.  A mysterious stranger appears in a mining town that has recently conspired to murder their own sheriff out of greed and then framed their hired killers, prompting the hired gunmen to seek revenge. The townsfolk look to a dark stranger to rid them of their bandits but get more than they bargained for.  Its both Western and ghost story - or is it?  Who is the stranger? He has his own agenda - but what is it and why? Director: Clint Eastwood, Cast: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom. 1973

Hoosiers - I love this show.  The movie is based on the true story of a very-small-town Indiana high-school basketball team’s journey to the 1954 Indiana State Championship. Although certainly sentimental, Hoosiers’ themes are solid and pure – it’s about team work, perseverance, friendship, redemption, and personal triumph.  Such films, especially the sports true story depictions, usually have interesting tales but lack consistent intrigue. But each scene of this movie is compelling.  I stand and cheer each time they run that picket fence and I’m never “caught watching the paint dry”  Director: David Anspaugh,  Cast: Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey. 1986

Interstellar - Big and bold and beyond us sometimes, Interstellar mixes the cold science and beauty of 2001 and the heart of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Saving human kind is a very, very ambitious work and sometimes the goals of this film seem just out of reach--but the attempt to get there is way more than enough to get it onto this list. Director: Christopher Nolan, Cast: Matthew McConaughe, Anne Hathaway (2014)

In the Line of Fire - Clint just keeps showing up on my list, and this time he is match up against John Malkovich... my what a combo. Malkovich is at his best as a would-be assassin vs. Eastwood’s aging and vulnerable secret-service agent charged with pretecting the President.  Taut cat-and-mouse stuff with Malkovich turning in a top-10 villain performance.  There are so many would-be suspense thrillers that are just neither suspenseful or thrilling - but Line of Fire is both squared.  Tight, smooth, and highly entertaining.  Director: Wolfgang Petersen, Cast: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich. 1993

The Incredibles - Just another wonderful film from Pixar. Granted my high rating of Incredibles may have been helped by my fondness for old super-hero stuff - but it really is a good movie. The story appeals to kids and adults (and adults who act like kids especially), a trick that Pixar seems to have mastered. But the movie is smarter than, say, Finding Nemo for example. Great animation, humor, and a lot of heart. Director Brad Bird: Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter.  2004

The In-Laws - “Serpentine Shell! Serpentine!”  Sleeper, zany, buddy comedy.  The worlds of a wacky CIA agent (Peter Faulk - who may be just crazy and not a CIA agent) and his son's father-in-law-to-be, Alan Arkin, a New York City dentist, collide just days before their children’s wedding.  The collision thrusts the dentist unwillingly into the agent’s mad world.  Love the Faulk/Arkin pairing.  Smart hilarity.  Director: Arthor Hiller, Cast: Peter Faulk, Alan Arkin. 1979

Jason and the Argonauts - Another film from my childhood.  Come on now, who can resist the sword wielding skeletons. And how about when Jason unscrews that giant things heal and all of the sand runs out of him... and the six-headed Hydra, how cool is that.  The movie was just irresistible for a 10-year old kid with a black and white - and its still the best stop-action adventure on film. Its all about Ray Harryhausen's special effects: Director: Don Chaffey, Cast: Todd Armstrong, Gary Raymond. 1953