Patton - Although I am not ranking these
shows, I’d have to put this one in my top 10 and maybe right at the top of
that short list... if I had such a list. Even as a young kid sitting in a Hill
AFB theater, I was riveted to the seat by George C. Scott and the sweeping,
epic war that came across the screen.
The movie contains possibly the greatest opening scene ever written
(Francis Ford Coppola wrote the script) and my favorite war movie theme music
and score. Director:
Franklin J. Schaffner, Cast: George C. Scott, Karl Malden. 1970
Phase IV - Where did Pat come up with this movie? I’m not sure. I’m not even sure where I saw this thing - but
it fascinated me. Do all young boys think ants are cool and play with them
until they get bit a few times - and then still keep messing with them? That was me, many years ago. So maybe that’s why this weird little
piece is on the list. A super intelligent breed of ant has been discovered -
scientist come to investigate - hmm... - Yep, your right, the experiments don’t
go quite as planned. Amazing bug footage - Twilight Zone good. Director:
Saul Bass, Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy. 1973
The Pink Panther Strikes Again - I’m cheating here a bit. This is really a combo entry for Peter Sellers and the Pink Panther series (minus the first Pink Panther), which has given me much joy and innumerable laughs over time. None of these movies are perfect, but Return of the Pink Panther (1975) and Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) are the best of the group in my opinion with Strikes again winning by a nose. The beginning and ending scenes of Strikes are priceless comedy. I was falling off of the theater chair laughing when I saw them in high school down at the old Trolley Corners and I am still laughing at them today Director: Blake Edwards, Cast: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom. 1976
Planes, Trains andAutomobiles - John Hughes’ most intelligent and human film and my favorite of his offerings. I’ve always been a huge Steve Martin fan and have enjoyed almost anything he’s in. But matching up Martin with John Candy in this odd-couple vs. mass transit comedy makes for a dream-team one-two punch. There’s slapstick but also surprising nuance that makes this a smart, laugh-out-loud, and feel-good classic Director: John Hughes, Cast: Steve Martin, John Candy. 1987
Predator - “Into the Chawpper!” This
is great shoot-em-up Sci-Fi and ranks up there with (but not quite as high as)
Arnold’s first two Terminator roles as one of his best action films. Predator
actually has a very cool and unique (at the time) theme - an alien assassin is picking off an
American military unit embedded in a Central American jungle. But the killing
is not for defense or offense; the alien is hunting the humans for sport. The flick is imaginative with straight
forward, edge-of-seat action. It’s
one of those see-once-a-year shows for me. Director: John McTiernan, Cast: Arnold
Schwarzennegger, Jesse Ventura. 1987
The Prestige – Director
Christopher Nolan goes back to back on my list, following up my top-100 super-hero
flick Batman Begins in 2005 with the Prestige in 2006. The Prestige is a
magic trick. And, as we are instructed in the opening scenes, there are always
three parts to a good one. First "The Pledge," where we’re shown something
real but ordinary, like a rabit. Then, comes "The Turn," where something
extraordinary happens and the rabbit disappears… and the audience aahs. And
finally "The Prestige…” the final surprise where the rabbit reappears in
the most unexpected way… and we cant help but applaud. The Prestige has all three pieces twisted around each other in a
tale of obsession and deceit. It’s an incredibly engaging, mess-with-your-brain
flick. Watch closely now… nothing up my sleeve... Abracadabra. Director: Christopher Nolan, Cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman,
Michael Caine. 2006
The Princess Bride - One of those shows
that I can watch over and over. If I stumble on to it while channel surfing, I
cannot help but stop and watch the rest of it. It may be one of the most fun movies ever made. It is not quite a satire - not a spoof
or send up - It’s a bed-time tale and adventure, brought to life with
sophisticated humor and unforgettable characters. And Peter Faulk narrating it is icing on the cake. Director:
Rob Reiner, Cast: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright. 1987
Prizzi’s
Honor - “Do I
ice her or do I marry her... which one of dese things?” Superb dark, cynical
comedy/drama placing the mobster hit man (Jack Nicholson) both in love with,
and, obligated to kill another paid killer (Kathleen Turner). Insidiously sly, the writing and
direction are sharp as a tacks and you don’t get to know the answer to above
question until the lightening-bolt end.
Director: John Huston, Cast: Jack Nicholson, Kathleen
Turner, Angelica Huston, 1985
Raising Arizona - The Coen’s tackle trailer parks, prisons, and the southwest
desert and turn it into strange fun.
I find that some get this stuff and some hate it, with just a few folks in
between. I am in the first group.
It’s typical Coen paced, wacky and semi-darkly comic (there’s my dark
comedy weakness again). A
childless couple unable to adopt decide that a couple who just had quintuplets
won't mind if they steal one of the babies... and the movie turns out to be even
crazier than its wacky plot line. Great
end scene. Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, Cast: Nick Cage,
1992
A River
Runs Through It - River is a story
about a family, with, like most families, members that are as different from
each other as day and night, and about the ties that bind them together. The strongest and most consistent
binding in River is fly
fishing. Each character in this
film is owned by the actor that plays him: Tom Skerritt as the minister father
Rev. Maclean, Craig Sheffer as the conservative-natured son, and Brad Pitt as
his daring sibling Paul. Rev.
Maclean describes Paul at one point in the film as beautiful... the whole film
is beautiful and completely involving. Director: Robert Redford Cast:
Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt. 1992
The Road Warrior - Sequel to Mad Max
and the better of the two movies.
My favorite post-apocalyptic film.
Max (Mel Gibson) is surviving in post-nuclear-war Australia and
reluctantly helping protect a small band of survivors and their all important
fuel supply. Super simple plot, but Gibson is great as the reluctant hero in a
bizarre future world where it’s all about vehicles, fire power, and fuel baby. Super chase scenes. Director:
George Miller, Cast: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence. 1992
RoboCop - Insanely brutal, darkly comic
(boy, I seem to have a lot of this dark comedy stuff on my list), sci-fi
western, punctuated with
comic-book satire. A cop (Peter Weller)
is literally shot to pieces while on duty but is rebuilt into a
super-high-tech, crime-fighting robot.
There’s just enough of the real guy left in him to cause serious issues
with his new programming... wholesale destruction ensues. The film is violent and the humor
somewhat demented and off the wall, but truly edgy clever. Director: Paul Verhoeven, Cast:
Peter Weller, Nancy Allen. 1981
RocketMan - Odds are high that no other person in the known universe has
this flick in their top-100 list. Generally panned as comedy suitable only for
those under 12 - I say phooey (granted I am just a kid at heart) to the stuffy
critics. All I know is that I laughed hard, long, and over and over at
this bombastic mash up of low-brow
and high-grade humor. Stand-up
comic Harland Williams plays a smart but goofball NASA scientist who is thrust
into the role of astronaut on a Mars mission. Many of the stupidest lines in this Disney-produced film
have made their way into my family’s standard vocabulary. Director:
Stuart Gilliard, Cast: Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy. 1991
Schindlers List - Steven
Spielberg's stunning drama of World War II Holocaust survivors is a difficult
film to watch.
Emotionally wrenching and heart rending, some of its scenes come upon
you like a terrible nightmare. A hugely-evocative and noble accounting.
Super-highly recommended. Director:
Steven Spielberg, Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley. 1993
Scrooge - My all time favorite holiday
movie. I must watch this each Christmas.
Few are familiar with this musical rendition of “A Christmas Carol” but
for me, it’s a gem. Albert Finney
is the most despicable Scrooge, and Alec Guiness provides an amazingly bizarre
version of Marley’s ghost. The film’s theatrical roots are apparent but the
songs are better with movie production than the stage versions. When scrooge
sings his lament for losing the love of his life because of his greed I have
to get out the Kleenex... oh the heart ache. Director: Ronald Neame Cast: Albert Finney,
Alec Guiness, 1970
Searching for Bobby Fischer - Searching
is about a young boy with a special talent and the balance between cultivating
the genius and cultivating the child.
You would not think a story about a kid who was good at chess would be
much, but Searching is intelligently executed. An intriguing story of
how muddled the path to decency can get and the triumph of finding it. This is a sleeper special. You will
not be disappointed. Director: Steven Zaillian Cast: Joe Mantenga, Max Pomeranc, Ben Kingsley,1993
Shawshank Redemption - I have a couple of
prison movies on this list but Redemption is my favorite - or at least
the one I like to watch over the most - I don’t tire of it. Everything that this movie tries for
seems to work and the film contains big emotional impact. Redemption has great pace - maybe
that’s an odd observation, but it really does seem to move very patiently and
seriously - taking its time to beautifully flesh out its characters and their
spirit, and move us cleverly to a just end. Director: Frank Darabont Cast: Tim Robbins,
Morgan Freeman.1994
The Silence of the Lambs - Unmatched
creepiness. The first 20 minutes
rivet you in and the rest chills and shocks you to the end. Beautiful mental and moral tug-of-war
between Jodie Foster’s sharp but wound-up FBI Agent and Anthony Hopkins’
Hannibal the Cannibal. Classically
disturbing. Director: Jonathan Demme, Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony
Hopkins, 1991
Silent Running - I doubt that many
have seen this early 70’s sci-fier, but Silent Running is an out of the ordinary
thing that should be seen. Bruce
Dern plays plant-loving botanist Freeman Lowell who happily carries out his duties
on the spaceship Valley Forge, a giant orbiting greenhouse which contains the
last remaining samples of flora from a now-barren Earth. When Lowell is ordered
to destroy his cargo and return home, he mutinies and sets out for the far
reaches of space with his robot companions Huey and Dewey in tow. The midget robots are Lowell’s “Wilson”
soccer ball but by the end you feel like they’re your kids. Director: Douglas Trumbull, Cast:
Bruce Dern, Ron Rifkin, 1972
The Silent Partner - Super sleeper. A Toronto bank teller takes advantage of a thief’s plans to
hold up the bank and stashes some of the would-be booty for himself. But the
gunman is determined to get it back.
The two are plunged into a tense and deadly game of cat and mouse. It’s an unknown and rare thriller with
two great characters created by Gould and Christopher Plummer as the bank
thief. Won Canadian Academy Awards
for best picture and director. Director: Daryl Duke, Cast: Elliot
Gould, Chirstopher Plummer, 1979
Silverado - Old style western
with better cameras and film, and a little more sophistication. The movie has all the key ingredients
to tell the western story that’s been told before; high
spirit and lots of horse riding and shooting. There are plenty of bad guys and
good guys and love and loss, all told through a superb cast. Even Kevin Costner was good. But this
was before he was a hit and became effected (as my mom would say). Great looking film and great fun to
watch. Director:
Lawrence Kasdan Cast: Kevin Cline, Scott Glenn, Lina Hunt. 1985
Singin’ in the Rain - This is
it. This is like the acme of
musical, like our mom’s apple pie, the baseball park hot dog, the
pound-for-pound best prize fighter.
High energy, great music, and the dancing... oh the dance numbers. I don’t think the Hollywood musical
gets any better than this. My only
regret about this film is that I have not watched it enough. I’m heading right down to the rental
store to get a copy. Director: Stanely Donn, Gene Kelly, Cast:
Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor. 1952
Star Trek II - The Wrath of Kahn represents sweet redemption from the disaster that was the first Star Trek
movie. And maybe it is the satisfaction of seeing that the ol’ crew of the
Enterprise could hit their stride again that puts Kahn on my list.
Ricardo Mantalban creates a top-10 villain and the film is pumped full of cool
add-ons; the Kobyayashi Maru Scenario, Spock dies (temporarily), and Khan’s
giant chest. Ahhh... I feel very satisfied. Director: Nicholas Meyer Cast:
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy. 1982
Stripes - My second military comedy in the list, if you count Kelly’s
Heroes as a comedy (it was certainly satire). The film is stuffed with Saturday Night Live cast
members and the hook of the movie, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis join the
Marines, has a skit-like fell initially.
Stripes, however, somehow goes beyond those potential limitations to surface, at least in this film genre, as a classic. The movie is made for Bill Murray’s skills.
It’s clever, sharp, and a laugh-a-minute. Great military score (even comedy war movies have to have a
good march theme song to make the list) and the use of “where are they now”
pieces for the ending is fine icing. Director:
Ivan Reitman, Cast: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates. 1981
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