The 50 Greatest Movies of All Time, pt. 9 (#11-15)

The Top 50, so far:

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
30. Saturday Night Fever
29. Pulp Fiction
28. Iron Man
27. Return of the Jedi
26. V for Vendetta
25. Caddyshack
24. Seven
23. Die Hard
22. Goldfinger
21. Dawn of the Dead
20. 28 Days Later
19. Boogie Nights
18. From Russia With Love
17. 12 Monkeys
16. The Godfather Part II

And now, #11-15:

15. Shaun of the Dead - Talk about crossing genre lines: Shaun of the Dead is a romantic horror comedy about relationships and adulthood. Which, now that I write it, actually sounds ridiculous but, paradoxically, also makes me realize even more acutely just how perfectly awesome this movie is. Blurring this many lines could have made for a shiftless, unfocused mess of a film, but Shaun of the Dead plays each component well and combines them seamlessly: the dialogue is funny - best line: "Kill the Queen! NO, the jukebox!" - but doesn't detract from the suspense of the zombie scenes; there's lots of gore but not at the expense of the genuinely touching stories about Shaun and Ed's friendship and Shaun and Philip's evolving relationship; the Ed and Liz romance scenes are sweet but never take themselves so seriously that the jokes get lost. Shaun of the Dead also gets extra credit points for flawlessly inserting so many pop culture references, some subtle (a clip from The Smiths' "Panic" playing on the TV during the beginning of the zombie uprising), some not so subtle (um, duh, see #21 for the title of the movie). I didn't care much for Hot Fuzz or Run, Fatboy, Run, but if nothing else, I'll always love Simon Pegg for giving us Shaun of the Dead. Priceless.
The Moral of the Story: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

14. Reservoir Dogs - If there's one adage that Quentin Tarantino lives by, it's, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Reservoir Dogs was his first movie and it contains all the elements that make up the reliably enjoyable (if not always outstanding) Tarantino formula. Retro music? Check - "Stuck in the Middle with You." Stylish ultra-violence? Check - the still-makes-me-cringe-uncomfortably scene with Mr. Blonde and Marvin Nash. Overly wordy and vulgar, yet highly memorable/quotable, dialogue? Check - how about, " I'm very sorry the government taxes their tips, that's fucked up but that ain't my fault. It would seem to me that waitresses are one of the many groups the government fucks in the ass on a regular basis. If you ask me to sign something that says the government shouldn't do that, I'll sign it; put it to a vote, I'll vote for it. But what I won't do is play ball. And as for this non-college bullshit, I got two words for you: learn to fuckin' type. Because if you're expecting me to help out with the rent, you're in for a big fuckin' surprise." It's rare that a filmmaker's first movie turns out to be their best, but that's Reservoir Dogs for you.
The Moral of the Story: Just because things can't get any worse doesn't necessarily mean they're going to get any better.

13. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - As noted before, some 1970s horror movies have had good remakes recently (see Dawn of the Dead (#21) and The Hills Have Eyes (#43)); The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not one of them. Perhaps that's because the original is so perfect that even a good remake would seem like crap in comparison. This movie creates an unmatchable sense of dread and suspense from the moment it starts and actually manages to increase that uneasy feeling as the movie goes on. In fact, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has four of my top ten favorite horror movie scenes in history: the camera flashbulb opening shots (also in my top ten greatest movie introductions); the sudden appearance of Leatherface behind the steel door when Kirk enters the house; the family dinner; Sally's run through the woods and jump into the pickup truck. What's even more impressive about this movie is that almost all the horror and violence are implied - there's so little gore here that the filmmakers, when they took it to the MPAA, were hoping to get a PG-rating! The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the greatest horror film of all time and is one of the few that I can always count on to freak me out, every time.
The Moral of the Story: If you think your family is crazy, think again.

12. Star Wars - Let's get one thing straight: I'm not buying into any of this revisionistic bullshit that George Lucas is trying to pull on us by officially retitling this movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. No no no. This movie was, is, and always will be Star Wars, simple as that. OK. Now that I've got that off my chest, I don't really know what more I need to say to justify its inclusion here - the term "self-evident" almost seems like an understatement. I think everyone already knows that it's a story that grabs your attention, sucks you in completely, and is thoroughly enjoyable and exciting to watch. Still, it's worth pointing out that the technological innovations in Star Wars changed the movie industry forever; no post-1977 film with special effects would have been the same, if even possible at all, without it. It was also the first film that truly recognized and capitalized from the marketing tie-in possibilities; games, toys, fast food promos - no one really did it before and I'd say that no one has done it as well since. Star Wars certainly wasn't the first sci-fi/space movie, but it might well be the most influential and is easily one of the coolest.
The Moral of the Story: Let the Wookiee win.

11. The Muppet Movie - I shudder to think what children's entertainment - and, by extension, my childhood - would have been without Jim Henson. Probably more of the same kind of sanitized, mainstream, heavy-handed, conformist crap that Disney has been pumping out since mid-century. Yikes. Although best-known for Sesame Street, I would argue that the Muppets were Jim Henson's greatest invention; The Muppet Movie is the high point in a Muppet legacy full of high points. Every song is fantastic ("Rainbow Connection" makes my top ten greatest musical moments list; "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along" and "Can You Picture That?" are no slouches either). Every cameo is perfect, although Richard Pryor and Steve Martin kind of steal the show with theirs. This movie - and the show itself, more generally speaking - pioneered and perfected the art of aiming equally at kids and adults without losing the interest of either. The dialogue is a perfect example - one of my favorite movie lines of all time is when Fozzie offers a hitchhiking Big Bird a ride to California and Big Bird responds, "oh, no thanks, I'm on my way to New York to try to break into public television." Ha! I totally just laughed out loud even as I typed it. Brilliant line, and brilliant movie.
The Moral of the Story: Anything is possible if you work hard and believe in yourself.

The Top Ten starts tomorrow! [[justin]]