Where we've been:
50. Total Recall
49. The Wrestler
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
47. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
46. The Game
45. Saw
44. Shrek
43. The Hills Have Eyes
42. Fletch
41. The Fifth Element
40. True Romance
39. The Usual Suspects
38. The Dark Knight
37. Evil Dead II
36. Sin City
35. The Silence of the Lambs
34. Office Space
33. Minority Report
32. American Beauty
31. National Lampoon's Animal House
Where we are today:
30. Saturday Night Fever - When we first got HBO, they used to play two versions of this mega-blockbuster - the original R-rated version and, during the day, an edited PG-rated version that had been theatrically released by Paramount after the astonishing success of the original. Growing up, the sanitized cut of Saturday Night Fever was all I ever knew; even then I thought it was a pretty good movie. Engaging story and characters and, of course, an amazing, hit-packed, era-defining soundtrack. At the time, it just seemed like a feel-good story about down-and-out kids making the best of it. It wasn't until the 2002 theatrical re-release that I saw the real version and realized just how dark and depressing this movie actually is. Sure, the dancing and dreaming are still there - but so is the drug addiction, the foul language, and the date rape. In this form - the only one commercially-available today - Saturday Night Fever shines a harsh light into the darkness and, just like in life, doesn't necessarily get a reflection in return.
The Moral of the Story: Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching.
29. Pulp Fiction - First things first: has anyone got any idea what is supposed to be in that damned briefcase? That's been driving me crazy for fifteen years, since I first saw Pulp Fiction in the theater. Anyway, this movie is so well-known and so culturally significant that I probably don't need to explain why it made this list. Regardless, here are a few of my favorite things about it: "'What' ain't no country I've ever heard of. Do they speak English in What? ... English, motherfucker, do you speak it??"; the adrenaline injection; Christopher Walken's 'gold watch' monologue; Winston Wolf, the cleaner; the gimp; Fox Force Five. If Quentin Tarantino has his hand in it, it's a pretty sure bet that it's going to rule (aside from Death Proof and the last half of Kill Bill 2, that is), and Pulp Fiction wins that wager handsomely.
The Moral of the Story: Anything that can possibly go wrong, does.
28. Iron Man - Superhero movies exist, generally speaking, in the world of fantasy - radioactive spiders, men from space, schools for mutants. Iron Man is a welcome change of pace, in that it is completely plausible on every level (Batman movies also get some credit here, although the technology sometimes strains the boundaries of credibility). Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as Iron Man, and I can't think of anyone else who could so ably pull off Tony Stark's mix of intelligence, charm, and cockiness. It's also nice to see a movie adaptation that stays true to the idea of the comics while, at the same time, updating/altering them for the big screen (ie., comics set in NYC, movie set in L.A.; comics set during Cold War, movie set in Afghanistan, etc.). This movie also gets much love for awesome extra- and intra-movie cameos (Tony Stark in The Incredible Hulk; Agent Nick Fury in Iron Man) that tie the Marvel movies together and make me suspect that the upcoming Avengers movie is going to be a serious contender for any Top 50 lists I might do down the road. But this review is about Iron Man, and to make a long story short, it's easily the best superhero movie yet.
The Moral of the Story: Brains are better than brawn, but it's best to have both.
27. Return of the Jedi - The first act of Return of the Jedi - Han Solo's rescue and the escape from Jabba's palace on Tatooine - are the most thrilling and flat-out awesome moments ever captured on film. Had George Lucas quit there, Return of the Jedi would have rocketed immediately and permanently to #1 on this list and no other film would have even come close. As it is, though ... not quite. There's nothing really inherently wrong with this movie, it's just that it had the misfortune of following the (far superior) swashbuckling adventure of Star Wars and brooding ambiguity of The Empire Strikes Back. Endor is cool, but not as cool as Bespin, Hoth, Mos Eisley, or Dagobah; Wicket J. Warrick is a fine Muppet, but falls far short of Yoda and doesn't match up to Chewbacca in the 'hairy creatures' category, either; the Speeder Bikes are pretty awesome, but slightly less so than the AT-AT Walkers, Sandcrawlers, Landspeeders, and Cloud Cars ... you see my point. It's certainly ten times better than any of the prequels and I'll gladly watch it any day, any time, but Return of the Jedi is just not quite great enough to justify putting it any higher.
The Moral of the Story: A father's love knows no bounds.
26. V for Vendetta - It's rare enough to find a futuristic political action thriller that is as visually striking as this movie, but it's even more rare to find one whose dialogue is equally inspiring. Many of these lines would fit comfortably alongside any canonic political philosophy text - if someone somewhere isn't offering a "Political Theory in Film" course that includes this movie, I would be shocked. Best line: "Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof." I'm also pretty in love with, "A building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by the people. A symbol, in and of itself, is powerless, but with enough people behind it, blowing up a building can change the world" and, "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." Dialogue like that, combined with such stellar acting and amazing special effects, pretty much guaranteed that V for Vendetta was going to be brilliant, and it is.
The Moral of the Story: One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
Where we're going tomorrow: #21-25. [[justin]]
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