Fifteen down:
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
Five more for today:
35. The Silence of the Lambs - It was hard to determine where to rank The Silence of the Lambs. On one hand, almost everything about the movie is brilliant. The story is fast-paced, engaging, and, while not particularly shocking, always keeps you on the edge of your seat. No matter how often you see it, the night-vision scene is still uncomfortably creepy and suspenseful. And I can't think of any better villain than Hannibal Lecter, who is equally repulsive and likeable, and delivers the best closing line ever captured on film ("I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner."). On the other hand, the film's only real flaw is a biggie: Jodie Foster's "accent" is laughably bad, sounding constantly like someone using a fake voice. Put a better actress in the lead role and The Silence of the Lambs could easily, easily have risen into the top five; as it exists, I think this is the perfect placement for it.
The Moral of the Story: Never offer roadside assistance to anyone driving a van.
34. Office Space - Just about every minute of Office Space offers some new, compelling piece of evidence for its inclusion on this list, but none is finer than the following exchange, which perfectly captures, I think, man's near-universal attitude towards work:
Consultant - "It looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately."
Peter - "I wouldn't say I've been 'missing' it."
Need more? How about Lumbergh, the O-Face, the Jump to Conclusions Mat, "two chicks at the same time", and, of course, "... I realized that ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's the worst day of my life." Office Space is realistic and relatable, always hilarious, and I'm hard-pressed to think of many better comedies.
The Moral of the Story: Work is the curse of the drinking classes. And everyone else, too.
33. Minority Report - You can't really go wrong with Philip K. Dick as your source material - Blade Runner, anyone? - and with Steven Spielberg directing; it should go without saying that the script and direction are second to none. In addition, the sets, costume design, and effects are plausibly futuristic - this is one of the few sci-fi movies that looks like it is set in a world that we might realistically inhabit one day. It's also refreshing to see a major Hollywood hit raise the question of free will vs. determinism and not be too heavy-handed in its attempts both to arrive at an answer and to assess the moral implications that the debate raises. The only potentially fatal flaw in Minority Report was the presence of Tom Cruise (the fourth worst actor, and sixth most annoying celebrity, of all time), but for once, he rose to the occasion and completely nailed it. Kudos.
The Moral of the Story: A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.
32. American Beauty - Like The Wrestler (#49), American Beauty is a poignant look at one man's attempts to reconnect with his youthful glory years. The reason that American Beauty ranks higher is that it is also a movie about the death of the modern family, changing gender roles, and the undercurrent of moral corruption in suburbia; in short, it's the story of the rise and fall of the American Dream. With a lesser cast, the ambition of the script could have gone unfulfilled or, even worse, become ridiculously overwrought; clearly, this was not the case here. Quite the opposite, in fact - the acting is subtly nuanced, almost understated, which not only creates an extraordinary sense of realism but also perfectly illustrates the larger messages about resignation and acceptance. In this and other ways, American Beauty is part comedy and part drama, but is always thought-provoking and emotionally involving.
The Moral of the Story: You can't go home again.
31. National Lampoon's Animal House - Innovation is (almost) always better than imitation, no matter how good. This movie is no exception: Animal House was the first comedy to really push the limits of so-called 'good taste' (the popping zit, the horse in the office, Otter with the Dean's wife and then impersonating a grieving boyfriend, "you mind if we dance with your dates?", and on and on) and now, more than 30 years later, it's still as fresh and entertaining as ever. Where it excels - and where the great majority of its followers failed - is that the crass humor is always used to serve the scene, not as the entire point of the scene itself. Plus, it's fun to see a movie in which there's no attempt whatsoever to subtly shade the characters - the good guys are the good guys, the bad guys are assholes, no exceptions. The best of both: Tim Matheson as Otter (though you can't help but love John Belushi as Bluto Blutarsky) and Mark Metcalf as Niedermayer (later, of course, reinvented in two fantastically silly Twisted Sister videos).
The Moral of the Story: When things seem hopeless? Toga party. When things are hopeless? Road trip.
Stay tuned - #26-30 tomorrow. [[justin]]
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
The 50 Greatest Movies of All Time, pt. 4 (#36-40)
The top fifty, so far, are:
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
Marching on:
40. True Romance - I could say a million good things about the story and the dialogue and the cinematography, but you can't discuss True Romance properly without talking about the casting. Off the top of my head, I can't immediately think of a movie with more star power, even in the smallest roles. Special recognition goes to Brad Pitt as Floyd the stoney roommate ("Get some beer ... and some cleaning products ..."), Christopher Walken as the mafia lawyer ("I'm the anti-Christ and you got me in a vendetta kind of mood."), and the never-disappointing Gary Oldman as Drexel the pimp ("He must've thought today was white boy day. It ain't white boy day today, is it?"), but really, there's no one out of their league here. Written (but not directed) by Quentin Tarantino, True Romance is the dictionary definition of what a love story should be. That is to say, it's full of guns, cocaine, Los Angeles, and vulgar language. I guess that makes this a "chick flick" for dudes?
The Moral of the Story: All you need is love. Love is all you need.
39. The Usual Suspects - "Who is Keyser Soze?" was one of the best marketing campaigns I can remember, and the buzz around this movie seems, in retrospect, much more organic and honest than the whole "midnight screening event" thing that has taken hold of the movie industry. The Usual Suspects is one of the rare cases in which the movie lives up to and exceeds the expectations created by the hype. It's got one of the most engaging stories on this list, exceptional acting (Kevin Spacey, of course, is amazing, but the entire cast owns it), and you just can't say enough about the ending. If I were making a list of the best plot twists of all time, this would easily be in the top five, if not number one - no matter how many times I watch this movie, watching it all unfold never gets any less enjoyable.
The Moral of the Story: Never judge a book by its cover.
38. The Dark Knight - Everybody loses their mind over Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker, which is certainly understandable but a bit of a disservice to the rest of the cast. Honestly, every time I watch this movie, it's Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face that really blows me away. And whenever Gary Oldman is in something, he is great and the movie usually is, too. As far as huge-budget blockbuster films, it doesn't get any better than this but there's one problem with The Dark Knight that kept it from ranking higher on the list: Christian Bale as Batman. Don't get me wrong - I think he's a good actor, and he's definitely handsome and charming enough to be peerless as Bruce Wayne. But then he puts on the Batman suit and drops his voice an octave and it's just a little too over-the-top for my taste. In the grand scheme of things, this is still a freaking excellent movie, though.
The Moral of the Story: When life hands you lemons, flip out and go psychotic.
37. Evil Dead II - All three of the movies in the Evil Dead series made my short list, and any could have easily made the top fifty - for that matter, Sam Raimi's lesser-appreciated but equally magnificent Darkman also could have made the cut. But I only had one space open so I went with the middle installment of the trilogy primarily because it is, hands down, the single most bizarre movie I have ever seen in my life: demonic tree possessions; limbs self-severed by, and replaced with, a chainsaw; flying eyeballs; the boomstick; a teleportation vortex back to the Middle Ages. Yet no matter how off-the-wall the plot becomes, it never gets unfocused or loses the balance between horror and humor. Topping it all off: Bruce Campbell, the only man alive who can say "groovy" and still be cool.
The Moral of the Story: Always expect the unexpected.
36. Sin City - Most books lose something in translation to film. This is especially true for graphic novels, which are already so tightly bound to images and visual composition that it's hard to either reinvent them or to recreate them faithfully. Sin City is the exception to that rule. Robert Rodriguez (and, to a lesser extent, Quentin Tarantino and series creator Frank Miller) beautifully recreated the world of the novel, shooting most of the movie digitally against green screens to allow him to fill in the backgrounds with the radical camera angles and semi-exaggerated set pieces in the original work. The high-contrast black and white presentation - using only brief flashes of color from scene to scene - is absolutely gorgeous to watch; of all the films on this list, this might well be my favorite, aesthetically. It would also land somewhere on my list for "best casting" - Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Clive Owen, and another amazing comeback performance by Mickey Rourke, to name just a few. Just about every minute of Sin City is filled with something awesome and it's about as close to flawless as movies get.
The Moral of the Story: Crime doesn't pay, except when it does.
Tomorrow: #31-35. [[justin]]
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
Marching on:
40. True Romance - I could say a million good things about the story and the dialogue and the cinematography, but you can't discuss True Romance properly without talking about the casting. Off the top of my head, I can't immediately think of a movie with more star power, even in the smallest roles. Special recognition goes to Brad Pitt as Floyd the stoney roommate ("Get some beer ... and some cleaning products ..."), Christopher Walken as the mafia lawyer ("I'm the anti-Christ and you got me in a vendetta kind of mood."), and the never-disappointing Gary Oldman as Drexel the pimp ("He must've thought today was white boy day. It ain't white boy day today, is it?"), but really, there's no one out of their league here. Written (but not directed) by Quentin Tarantino, True Romance is the dictionary definition of what a love story should be. That is to say, it's full of guns, cocaine, Los Angeles, and vulgar language. I guess that makes this a "chick flick" for dudes?
The Moral of the Story: All you need is love. Love is all you need.
39. The Usual Suspects - "Who is Keyser Soze?" was one of the best marketing campaigns I can remember, and the buzz around this movie seems, in retrospect, much more organic and honest than the whole "midnight screening event" thing that has taken hold of the movie industry. The Usual Suspects is one of the rare cases in which the movie lives up to and exceeds the expectations created by the hype. It's got one of the most engaging stories on this list, exceptional acting (Kevin Spacey, of course, is amazing, but the entire cast owns it), and you just can't say enough about the ending. If I were making a list of the best plot twists of all time, this would easily be in the top five, if not number one - no matter how many times I watch this movie, watching it all unfold never gets any less enjoyable.
The Moral of the Story: Never judge a book by its cover.
38. The Dark Knight - Everybody loses their mind over Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker, which is certainly understandable but a bit of a disservice to the rest of the cast. Honestly, every time I watch this movie, it's Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face that really blows me away. And whenever Gary Oldman is in something, he is great and the movie usually is, too. As far as huge-budget blockbuster films, it doesn't get any better than this but there's one problem with The Dark Knight that kept it from ranking higher on the list: Christian Bale as Batman. Don't get me wrong - I think he's a good actor, and he's definitely handsome and charming enough to be peerless as Bruce Wayne. But then he puts on the Batman suit and drops his voice an octave and it's just a little too over-the-top for my taste. In the grand scheme of things, this is still a freaking excellent movie, though.
The Moral of the Story: When life hands you lemons, flip out and go psychotic.
37. Evil Dead II - All three of the movies in the Evil Dead series made my short list, and any could have easily made the top fifty - for that matter, Sam Raimi's lesser-appreciated but equally magnificent Darkman also could have made the cut. But I only had one space open so I went with the middle installment of the trilogy primarily because it is, hands down, the single most bizarre movie I have ever seen in my life: demonic tree possessions; limbs self-severed by, and replaced with, a chainsaw; flying eyeballs; the boomstick; a teleportation vortex back to the Middle Ages. Yet no matter how off-the-wall the plot becomes, it never gets unfocused or loses the balance between horror and humor. Topping it all off: Bruce Campbell, the only man alive who can say "groovy" and still be cool.
The Moral of the Story: Always expect the unexpected.
36. Sin City - Most books lose something in translation to film. This is especially true for graphic novels, which are already so tightly bound to images and visual composition that it's hard to either reinvent them or to recreate them faithfully. Sin City is the exception to that rule. Robert Rodriguez (and, to a lesser extent, Quentin Tarantino and series creator Frank Miller) beautifully recreated the world of the novel, shooting most of the movie digitally against green screens to allow him to fill in the backgrounds with the radical camera angles and semi-exaggerated set pieces in the original work. The high-contrast black and white presentation - using only brief flashes of color from scene to scene - is absolutely gorgeous to watch; of all the films on this list, this might well be my favorite, aesthetically. It would also land somewhere on my list for "best casting" - Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Clive Owen, and another amazing comeback performance by Mickey Rourke, to name just a few. Just about every minute of Sin City is filled with something awesome and it's about as close to flawless as movies get.
The Moral of the Story: Crime doesn't pay, except when it does.
Tomorrow: #31-35. [[justin]]
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The 50 Greatest Movies of All Time, pt. 3 (#41-45)
To recap so far:
50. Total Recall
49. The Wrestler
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
47. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
46. The Game
And now, today's installment:
45. Saw - It's not always easy to be a fan of the horror genre. There's not a lot of new ground to cover at this point, and most modern efforts tend to confuse unique, escalating violence with actual innovation (see, for instance, the entire "torture porn" movement). Saw, on the other hand, was, and still is, a story unlike any other: without skimping on the gore, it also gives us unforeseeable plot turns, social commentary, and a serial-killing antihero whose raison d'etre is, frankly, kind of admirable. It almost seems like a disservice to the film to simply label it "horror," since it's so much smarter (and better) than most of the rest of the genre. In addition, the set design is flawless - every location is realistically dirty and Jigsaw's contraptions look like they could actually work. Saw is an ambitious film on every level and although none of its sequels have lived up to its promise (though several are quite good), there's no denying the greatness of the original.
The Moral of the Story: The unexamined life is not worth living.
44. Shrek - Why is Shrek such a great movie? Partly because it's made for children but aimed at adults, and somehow manages to never pander to either. Partly because it's full of clever and hip pop culture references without being like, "oh, wink wink, look at us and how clever and hip we're being with our pop culture references." Partly because it is, simultaneously, a fairy tale, a love story, a buddy movie, an adventure movie, and a comedy. Partly because it's one of the few movies of the last twenty years (along with Life and Bowfinger) that prove that Eddie Murphy, once the greatest stand-up comedian in the world, still has the potential to be funny. And partly because no matter how many times I see it - and with a four-year-old running around, believe me, I've seen it a lot - it never gets old and I still laugh every time.
The Moral of the Story: It isn't easy being green.
43. The Hills Have Eyes - The 2006 remake was surprisingly good, but it's the 1977 original that takes the prize here. Wes Craven's directorial resume is nothing if not a who's who list of outstanding horror films (the atrocious Vampire in Brooklyn being the exception) and this, his second film, is the best of the bunch. Made for less than a quarter million dollars and using relatively unknown actors, The Hills Have Eyes looks and feels like you're watching a real event unfold; the plausibility of the plot and solid writing and acting support that sense of realism handsomely. Perhaps that's why it is still so genuinely creepy and frightening 30+ years, and repeated viewings, later. Or maybe it's the mutated cannibal rape and infant snatching scene - a shocking sequence that modern horror films, in spite of their escalating gore and tendency towards the extreme, have yet to better. Also, this one has the best horror movie poster tag line ever: "They wanted to see something different ... but something different saw them first." Awesome.
The Moral of the Story: Never take a road trip without your AAA card. And an arsenal.
42. Fletch - Hard to believe now, but once upon a time, Chevy Chase was an unstoppable comedy god. Deadpan condescension has never been done better, and this film is his tour de force performance: Dr. Rosenrosen, John Cocktoastan, Mr. Poon, "the familiar red Oldsmobuick of one Arnold J. Pants, esquire", "you don't mean Communists, do you, Sam?" I guess I should admit that I tried really hard to master this kind of quick-witted, understated delivery as a kid (Fletch was released when I was 12). I don't know how successful I was, but after watching this one again, I'm struck by just how many of the lines from this movie have become part of my everyday vernacular. Having said that, though, it's important to note that Fletch is about more than just one-liners. The script, based on the novel by Gregory McDonald, is engaging and clever; aside from the jokes, it's actually a pretty decent little mystery movie. It's definitely worth adding to your movie collection even if you're strapped for cash these days - just charge it to the Underhill's bill!
The Moral of the Story: If you don't like who you are, just be someone else.
41. The Fifth Element - In a nutshell, this one is about a plot to eradicate humanity that can only be stopped by a superhuman perfect being who appears in the form of a beautiful girl; she is aided in her quest by an awkward, bungling priest and a bad-ass cabbie/former Army major. They are thwarted by a wealthy, corrupt arms dealer who makes deals with forces of pure evil, and everything comes to a climax on an interstellar cruise hosted by a flamboyant radio DJ who sings Lionel Richie songs. Oh, and did I mention that the latter three roles are played by Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Chris Tucker? And that it was written and directed by the peerless Frenchman Luc Besson? And that Jean-Paul Gaultier did all the costumes? I did the math twice here, and I have to tell you, I don't see any way that The Fifth Element could add up to anything other than completely brilliant and amazing. And that it is, indeed.
The Moral of the Story: Nothing good ever comes of a night at the opera.
Coming tomorrow, #36-40. [[justin]]
50. Total Recall
49. The Wrestler
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
47. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
46. The Game
And now, today's installment:
45. Saw - It's not always easy to be a fan of the horror genre. There's not a lot of new ground to cover at this point, and most modern efforts tend to confuse unique, escalating violence with actual innovation (see, for instance, the entire "torture porn" movement). Saw, on the other hand, was, and still is, a story unlike any other: without skimping on the gore, it also gives us unforeseeable plot turns, social commentary, and a serial-killing antihero whose raison d'etre is, frankly, kind of admirable. It almost seems like a disservice to the film to simply label it "horror," since it's so much smarter (and better) than most of the rest of the genre. In addition, the set design is flawless - every location is realistically dirty and Jigsaw's contraptions look like they could actually work. Saw is an ambitious film on every level and although none of its sequels have lived up to its promise (though several are quite good), there's no denying the greatness of the original.
The Moral of the Story: The unexamined life is not worth living.
44. Shrek - Why is Shrek such a great movie? Partly because it's made for children but aimed at adults, and somehow manages to never pander to either. Partly because it's full of clever and hip pop culture references without being like, "oh, wink wink, look at us and how clever and hip we're being with our pop culture references." Partly because it is, simultaneously, a fairy tale, a love story, a buddy movie, an adventure movie, and a comedy. Partly because it's one of the few movies of the last twenty years (along with Life and Bowfinger) that prove that Eddie Murphy, once the greatest stand-up comedian in the world, still has the potential to be funny. And partly because no matter how many times I see it - and with a four-year-old running around, believe me, I've seen it a lot - it never gets old and I still laugh every time.
The Moral of the Story: It isn't easy being green.
43. The Hills Have Eyes - The 2006 remake was surprisingly good, but it's the 1977 original that takes the prize here. Wes Craven's directorial resume is nothing if not a who's who list of outstanding horror films (the atrocious Vampire in Brooklyn being the exception) and this, his second film, is the best of the bunch. Made for less than a quarter million dollars and using relatively unknown actors, The Hills Have Eyes looks and feels like you're watching a real event unfold; the plausibility of the plot and solid writing and acting support that sense of realism handsomely. Perhaps that's why it is still so genuinely creepy and frightening 30+ years, and repeated viewings, later. Or maybe it's the mutated cannibal rape and infant snatching scene - a shocking sequence that modern horror films, in spite of their escalating gore and tendency towards the extreme, have yet to better. Also, this one has the best horror movie poster tag line ever: "They wanted to see something different ... but something different saw them first." Awesome.
The Moral of the Story: Never take a road trip without your AAA card. And an arsenal.
42. Fletch - Hard to believe now, but once upon a time, Chevy Chase was an unstoppable comedy god. Deadpan condescension has never been done better, and this film is his tour de force performance: Dr. Rosenrosen, John Cocktoastan, Mr. Poon, "the familiar red Oldsmobuick of one Arnold J. Pants, esquire", "you don't mean Communists, do you, Sam?" I guess I should admit that I tried really hard to master this kind of quick-witted, understated delivery as a kid (Fletch was released when I was 12). I don't know how successful I was, but after watching this one again, I'm struck by just how many of the lines from this movie have become part of my everyday vernacular. Having said that, though, it's important to note that Fletch is about more than just one-liners. The script, based on the novel by Gregory McDonald, is engaging and clever; aside from the jokes, it's actually a pretty decent little mystery movie. It's definitely worth adding to your movie collection even if you're strapped for cash these days - just charge it to the Underhill's bill!
The Moral of the Story: If you don't like who you are, just be someone else.
41. The Fifth Element - In a nutshell, this one is about a plot to eradicate humanity that can only be stopped by a superhuman perfect being who appears in the form of a beautiful girl; she is aided in her quest by an awkward, bungling priest and a bad-ass cabbie/former Army major. They are thwarted by a wealthy, corrupt arms dealer who makes deals with forces of pure evil, and everything comes to a climax on an interstellar cruise hosted by a flamboyant radio DJ who sings Lionel Richie songs. Oh, and did I mention that the latter three roles are played by Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Chris Tucker? And that it was written and directed by the peerless Frenchman Luc Besson? And that Jean-Paul Gaultier did all the costumes? I did the math twice here, and I have to tell you, I don't see any way that The Fifth Element could add up to anything other than completely brilliant and amazing. And that it is, indeed.
The Moral of the Story: Nothing good ever comes of a night at the opera.
Coming tomorrow, #36-40. [[justin]]
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The 50 Greatest Movies of All Time, pt. 2 (#46-50)
No need for a long intro here; let's just jump right in:
50. Total Recall - Let's get something straight: Arnold Schwarzenegger is not a bad actor (a claim that is, you understand, very different than saying that he is a good actor, which he is also not) but his success in a role is heavily dependent on his script. Give him something good, like Predator or The Running Man, and you'll get something good; give him something bad, like any of his "comedies," and it's the cinematic equivalent of swine flu. So what happens when you give him something great? Total Recall, that's what. Thought-provoking and intelligent, but still fast-paced and full of futuristic gadgets, cool effects, and cinematic action hero bon mots (ie., "Consider that a divorce."); this is a model of what all sci-fi should aspire to be.
The Moral of the Story: Everyone goes on vacation and hates to come home. Be careful what you wish for.
49. The Wrestler - Jessica will tell you, I couldn't stop talking about this one for a solid week after we saw it, and even now, writing this, I'm still fairly moved. Darren Aronofsky knows a thing or two about affecting his audience with multidimensional characters and gorgeous cinematography; this movie demonstrates that even more so than his others. The title character - outstandingly portrayed by Mickey Rourke in an unexpected but welcome late-career resurgence - is the epitome of a fuck-up who lives in the past, but he's so charismatically sincere and well-meaning that you can't help but root for him all the way. This film perfectly illustrates one of the most basic human experiences: we all have to grow up, move on, let go, and accept our pasts; The Wrestler is about one man's struggle to do just that. Bonus points for an ambiguous ending that lets the audience decide the outcome, followed by Springsteen's brooding, Nebraska-esque title song.
The Moral of the Story: Maybe it actually is better to have never loved at all than to have loved and lost.
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey started to get existential on us in The Truman Show and really, these two movies explore the same themes from different angles - The Truman Show about seeking out the present and future truth as it actually is, Eternal Sunshine about creating your own present and future truth by reinventing what came before. Really, both of these movies are excellent and it wasn't easy to pick one over the other, but ultimately, I chose Eternal Sunshine because Michel Gondry is an important and groundbreaking director, Charlie Kaufman's scripts never fail to make an emotional connection with the audience, and the last part ("Meet me in Montauk") is, without question, one of the most heartbreaking sequences ever put to film. I tear up every time, don't you?
The Moral of the Story: We'd all like to erase our memories of Ace Ventura, but maybe we shouldn't.
47. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - John Hughes was untouchable in the 80s and although there's also a pretty solid argument to be made in favor of Sixteen Candles, this one gets the nod as the best of the bunch for one reason: it's universal. Every one of us, at any age - school, work, retirement - has, at some point or another, fantasized about a day exactly like this. A day of total irresponsibility, of wild abandon, of getting one over on authority, of living life completely and absolutely in the current moment. Moreover, you can't deny the lasting impact that Ferris Bueller had on pop culture: "Bueller ... Bueller ... Bueller"; Save Ferris; "... something-d-o-o-economics ... voodoo economics"; Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago; "If you had a car like this, would you take it back right away?" And if all that isn't enough to convince you of this film's genius, I have two words for you: Ed Rooney.
The Moral of the Story: Anything is possible with a good friend, a beautiful girl, a shit-hot car, and absolutely no plan.
46. The Game - Of all the films on the list, this is the one that most people probably haven't heard of, and that's a real shame. Michael Douglas and Sean Penn star - reason enough, I think, to go look it up, no? - as brothers who become involved with a company called Consumer Recreation Services that crafts real-life adventures for the bored and wealthy. In that sense, I guess, it's sort of loosely similar to the plot of Total Recall, but the similarities end there: this is a real-world thriller, full of unexpected (and, more importantly, unpredictable) plot twists, set in San Francisco in the late 1990s. Some critics compared it to "The Twilight Zone"; I'm more inclined to call it the logical heir to Alfred Hitchcock. High praise in either case (and damn fine company to keep!), and this one more than lives up to it. Fantastic.
The Moral of the Story: Trust no one.
Up next: #41-45. [[justin]]
50. Total Recall - Let's get something straight: Arnold Schwarzenegger is not a bad actor (a claim that is, you understand, very different than saying that he is a good actor, which he is also not) but his success in a role is heavily dependent on his script. Give him something good, like Predator or The Running Man, and you'll get something good; give him something bad, like any of his "comedies," and it's the cinematic equivalent of swine flu. So what happens when you give him something great? Total Recall, that's what. Thought-provoking and intelligent, but still fast-paced and full of futuristic gadgets, cool effects, and cinematic action hero bon mots (ie., "Consider that a divorce."); this is a model of what all sci-fi should aspire to be.
The Moral of the Story: Everyone goes on vacation and hates to come home. Be careful what you wish for.
49. The Wrestler - Jessica will tell you, I couldn't stop talking about this one for a solid week after we saw it, and even now, writing this, I'm still fairly moved. Darren Aronofsky knows a thing or two about affecting his audience with multidimensional characters and gorgeous cinematography; this movie demonstrates that even more so than his others. The title character - outstandingly portrayed by Mickey Rourke in an unexpected but welcome late-career resurgence - is the epitome of a fuck-up who lives in the past, but he's so charismatically sincere and well-meaning that you can't help but root for him all the way. This film perfectly illustrates one of the most basic human experiences: we all have to grow up, move on, let go, and accept our pasts; The Wrestler is about one man's struggle to do just that. Bonus points for an ambiguous ending that lets the audience decide the outcome, followed by Springsteen's brooding, Nebraska-esque title song.
The Moral of the Story: Maybe it actually is better to have never loved at all than to have loved and lost.
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey started to get existential on us in The Truman Show and really, these two movies explore the same themes from different angles - The Truman Show about seeking out the present and future truth as it actually is, Eternal Sunshine about creating your own present and future truth by reinventing what came before. Really, both of these movies are excellent and it wasn't easy to pick one over the other, but ultimately, I chose Eternal Sunshine because Michel Gondry is an important and groundbreaking director, Charlie Kaufman's scripts never fail to make an emotional connection with the audience, and the last part ("Meet me in Montauk") is, without question, one of the most heartbreaking sequences ever put to film. I tear up every time, don't you?
The Moral of the Story: We'd all like to erase our memories of Ace Ventura, but maybe we shouldn't.
47. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - John Hughes was untouchable in the 80s and although there's also a pretty solid argument to be made in favor of Sixteen Candles, this one gets the nod as the best of the bunch for one reason: it's universal. Every one of us, at any age - school, work, retirement - has, at some point or another, fantasized about a day exactly like this. A day of total irresponsibility, of wild abandon, of getting one over on authority, of living life completely and absolutely in the current moment. Moreover, you can't deny the lasting impact that Ferris Bueller had on pop culture: "Bueller ... Bueller ... Bueller"; Save Ferris; "... something-d-o-o-economics ... voodoo economics"; Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago; "If you had a car like this, would you take it back right away?" And if all that isn't enough to convince you of this film's genius, I have two words for you: Ed Rooney.
The Moral of the Story: Anything is possible with a good friend, a beautiful girl, a shit-hot car, and absolutely no plan.
46. The Game - Of all the films on the list, this is the one that most people probably haven't heard of, and that's a real shame. Michael Douglas and Sean Penn star - reason enough, I think, to go look it up, no? - as brothers who become involved with a company called Consumer Recreation Services that crafts real-life adventures for the bored and wealthy. In that sense, I guess, it's sort of loosely similar to the plot of Total Recall, but the similarities end there: this is a real-world thriller, full of unexpected (and, more importantly, unpredictable) plot twists, set in San Francisco in the late 1990s. Some critics compared it to "The Twilight Zone"; I'm more inclined to call it the logical heir to Alfred Hitchcock. High praise in either case (and damn fine company to keep!), and this one more than lives up to it. Fantastic.
The Moral of the Story: Trust no one.
Up next: #41-45. [[justin]]
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The 50 Greatest Movies of All Time, pt. 1
Jessica and I recently decided to, over the next year or so, make our way through the AFI Top 100 Movies list. While looking at the list, though, two things struck me. First, I've already seen about half of them. Second, I would only put about ten of their choices on my list of the greatest movies of the last 100 years. So what better way to inaugurate The Front Burner, v.2, than with my own list of the 50 greatest movies of all time?
Before we start, though, I should point out straight away that I'm neither a film critic, nor a film student, nor a filmmaker; I'm not trying to assess these movies on any standard other than my own subjective assessment of their rank-ordered greatness. So there are lots of films that, while I love them and certainly agree that they are technically brilliant (Blade Runner) or culturally significant (It's A Wonderful Life) or genre defining (pretty much anything by Alfred Hitchcock) or paradigm shifting (Citizen Kane), just didn't make the cut. Also, I decided to do a Top 50 rather than a Top 100, mostly because, after going through my DVD collection and a bunch of critics' and bloggers' lists, I could only come up with about 60 movies that I would consider "great" enough to merit inclusion. So why pad the list just to get to an even hundred? Plus, with fewer movies to write about, I'll have more time to talk a little bit about each, and why I love them so much.
It should, of course, go without saying that I fully endorse every movie on this list and would recommend all of them without hesitation to everyone reading. Argue or agree with the ones you've seen, and make a beeline to your Netflix queue on the rest. I welcome your comments and recommendations on films I might have missed along the way!
I'll be posting five movies per day, in ascending order, beginning tomorrow. Today, I thought I'd look at a few of the near-misses; six movies that for one reason or another just didn't quite make the cut.
The Near-Misses
(in no particular order)
* Gremlins - You could put this anywhere on your list and I wouldn't argue: it's a Christmas movie that isn't about Christmas; a horror movie for kids; a comedy about violence. It pretty much hits everything that I like in a movie - anarchy, laughs, scares, sentimentality, Phoebe Cates. The effects still look cool (and believable!) and the Mogwai are adorable without being adorable, if you know what I mean. Dropping this was, therefore, a real heartbreaker but, put up against the other movies in the Top 50, I couldn't find anything that in a head to head match, I didn't like just a tiny little bit better. So let's call this our honorary mention and put it at number fifty-one.
The Moral of the Story: High maintenance pets + low responsibility kids = chaos.
* A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - "The Old Man" and Clark Griswold are my two favorite movie dads. A Christmas Story is every bit as much of a sentimental classic as any other holiday movie; for my money, it's the best Christmas movie of all-time. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is sweet in its own way, and is still as hilarious as it was when it was released twenty years ago. Plus, Randy Quaid steals every scene of every movie he's in, so the second half of this movie, after Cousin Eddie arrives, is pure comedy gold. I watch both of these movies multiple times every Christmas. Ironically, that's the only reason they didn't make the Top 50 - because I only watch them at Christmastime. The greatest movies of all time, it seems to me, should probably have year-round appeal.
The Moral of the Story: (ACS) You can always count on your family to make the holidays magical. (NLCV) You can always count on your family to make the holidays stressful.
* Requiem for a Dream - The first time I saw this movie, I felt sick to my stomach at the end. Subsequent viewings have been less visceral, but no less disturbing. Every piece falls into place perfectly here - beautiful direction (Darren Aronofsky is easily my favorite modern director), great acting (who knew that a Wayans brother could do anything other than comedy? Nice casting, that.), and superb rapid-cut editing and sound design, especially during the final act. There's really nothing wrong with this movie, other than the fact that it is so relentlessly intense that I rarely find myself in the headspace to want to watch it. Artistically, that's probably strong evidence for its inclusion rather than its exclusion, but like the Christmas movies, I kind of felt like the Top 50 should be ones that I could watch any day, any time.
The Moral of the Story: Drugs are bad, mmmkay?
* Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - I'm a little sad that Johnny Depp didn't land anywhere on my list because he's probably the best actor out there nowadays and his sense of quality control is usually pretty solid (see also: Blow, Donnie Brasco, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Dead Man). And since we're paying tribute to actors, let's not forget the ever-excellent Benicio Del Toro - who does show up in the Top 50 - barely recognizable here as Dr. Gonzo. Pretty much every piece of dialogue in this movie is a quotable, portable manifesto for social deviants (ie., "As your attorney, I advise you to rent a very fast car with no top. And you'll need the cocaine. Tape recorder for special music. Acapulco shirts."), but this is definitely an exercise in pulling the wheat (the movie) from the chaff (the book) - Hunter S. Thompson's writing is an acquired taste, and although I love the movie, I'm not really too big on much of the narration. A worthy film, no doubt, but not quite up to the standards of the big list.
The Moral of the Story: Drugs are good, mmmkay?
* Ghostbusters - This is an ensemble film but make no mistake about it, Ghostbusters is Bill Murray's show. I like pretty much all of his movies, although I have to admit, I prefer his early populist comedy era (this, Stripes, Meatballs, etc.) to his current "serious actor" incarnation (Broken Flowers, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Lost in Translation, etc.). There's a lot more to this movie than just Dr. Peter Venkman, though: great performances from the entire cast (especially Rick Moranis as Louis Tully/Vinz Clortho, The Keymaster), a clever and relatively plausible story, a sweet car and headquarters, and perhaps the coolest theme song in movie history. Unfortunately, we watched this movie after its recent Blu-Ray release and while all the aforementioned elements stood the test of time, the special effects most definitely did not. Even judged against the standards of the then-existing technology, Gozer and the proton packs look fairly low budget and, frankly, cheesy. True, that didn't make the movie any less enjoyable, but it did make it a little less cool.
The Moral of the Story: If that swanky NYC apartment seems too good to be true, it probably is.
So there you have it, the six that just missed the cut. Coming tomorrow, we'll start the actual list with #46-50. [[justin]]
Before we start, though, I should point out straight away that I'm neither a film critic, nor a film student, nor a filmmaker; I'm not trying to assess these movies on any standard other than my own subjective assessment of their rank-ordered greatness. So there are lots of films that, while I love them and certainly agree that they are technically brilliant (Blade Runner) or culturally significant (It's A Wonderful Life) or genre defining (pretty much anything by Alfred Hitchcock) or paradigm shifting (Citizen Kane), just didn't make the cut. Also, I decided to do a Top 50 rather than a Top 100, mostly because, after going through my DVD collection and a bunch of critics' and bloggers' lists, I could only come up with about 60 movies that I would consider "great" enough to merit inclusion. So why pad the list just to get to an even hundred? Plus, with fewer movies to write about, I'll have more time to talk a little bit about each, and why I love them so much.
It should, of course, go without saying that I fully endorse every movie on this list and would recommend all of them without hesitation to everyone reading. Argue or agree with the ones you've seen, and make a beeline to your Netflix queue on the rest. I welcome your comments and recommendations on films I might have missed along the way!
I'll be posting five movies per day, in ascending order, beginning tomorrow. Today, I thought I'd look at a few of the near-misses; six movies that for one reason or another just didn't quite make the cut.
The Near-Misses
(in no particular order)
* Gremlins - You could put this anywhere on your list and I wouldn't argue: it's a Christmas movie that isn't about Christmas; a horror movie for kids; a comedy about violence. It pretty much hits everything that I like in a movie - anarchy, laughs, scares, sentimentality, Phoebe Cates. The effects still look cool (and believable!) and the Mogwai are adorable without being adorable, if you know what I mean. Dropping this was, therefore, a real heartbreaker but, put up against the other movies in the Top 50, I couldn't find anything that in a head to head match, I didn't like just a tiny little bit better. So let's call this our honorary mention and put it at number fifty-one.
The Moral of the Story: High maintenance pets + low responsibility kids = chaos.
* A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - "The Old Man" and Clark Griswold are my two favorite movie dads. A Christmas Story is every bit as much of a sentimental classic as any other holiday movie; for my money, it's the best Christmas movie of all-time. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is sweet in its own way, and is still as hilarious as it was when it was released twenty years ago. Plus, Randy Quaid steals every scene of every movie he's in, so the second half of this movie, after Cousin Eddie arrives, is pure comedy gold. I watch both of these movies multiple times every Christmas. Ironically, that's the only reason they didn't make the Top 50 - because I only watch them at Christmastime. The greatest movies of all time, it seems to me, should probably have year-round appeal.
The Moral of the Story: (ACS) You can always count on your family to make the holidays magical. (NLCV) You can always count on your family to make the holidays stressful.
* Requiem for a Dream - The first time I saw this movie, I felt sick to my stomach at the end. Subsequent viewings have been less visceral, but no less disturbing. Every piece falls into place perfectly here - beautiful direction (Darren Aronofsky is easily my favorite modern director), great acting (who knew that a Wayans brother could do anything other than comedy? Nice casting, that.), and superb rapid-cut editing and sound design, especially during the final act. There's really nothing wrong with this movie, other than the fact that it is so relentlessly intense that I rarely find myself in the headspace to want to watch it. Artistically, that's probably strong evidence for its inclusion rather than its exclusion, but like the Christmas movies, I kind of felt like the Top 50 should be ones that I could watch any day, any time.
The Moral of the Story: Drugs are bad, mmmkay?
* Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - I'm a little sad that Johnny Depp didn't land anywhere on my list because he's probably the best actor out there nowadays and his sense of quality control is usually pretty solid (see also: Blow, Donnie Brasco, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Dead Man). And since we're paying tribute to actors, let's not forget the ever-excellent Benicio Del Toro - who does show up in the Top 50 - barely recognizable here as Dr. Gonzo. Pretty much every piece of dialogue in this movie is a quotable, portable manifesto for social deviants (ie., "As your attorney, I advise you to rent a very fast car with no top. And you'll need the cocaine. Tape recorder for special music. Acapulco shirts."), but this is definitely an exercise in pulling the wheat (the movie) from the chaff (the book) - Hunter S. Thompson's writing is an acquired taste, and although I love the movie, I'm not really too big on much of the narration. A worthy film, no doubt, but not quite up to the standards of the big list.
The Moral of the Story: Drugs are good, mmmkay?
* Ghostbusters - This is an ensemble film but make no mistake about it, Ghostbusters is Bill Murray's show. I like pretty much all of his movies, although I have to admit, I prefer his early populist comedy era (this, Stripes, Meatballs, etc.) to his current "serious actor" incarnation (Broken Flowers, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Lost in Translation, etc.). There's a lot more to this movie than just Dr. Peter Venkman, though: great performances from the entire cast (especially Rick Moranis as Louis Tully/Vinz Clortho, The Keymaster), a clever and relatively plausible story, a sweet car and headquarters, and perhaps the coolest theme song in movie history. Unfortunately, we watched this movie after its recent Blu-Ray release and while all the aforementioned elements stood the test of time, the special effects most definitely did not. Even judged against the standards of the then-existing technology, Gozer and the proton packs look fairly low budget and, frankly, cheesy. True, that didn't make the movie any less enjoyable, but it did make it a little less cool.
The Moral of the Story: If that swanky NYC apartment seems too good to be true, it probably is.
So there you have it, the six that just missed the cut. Coming tomorrow, we'll start the actual list with #46-50. [[justin]]
Monday, August 10, 2009
Reinventing the Wheel
It's mighty hard to write a cooking/food blog when you live in Philadelphia, on the fourth floor, with no air conditioning, in the summer; under those conditions, I can think of many things we'd rather do than run a 400 degree oven for an hour! I offer that statement both as an apology and a reason for our neglect of the blog recently. That, and, frankly, I think we were both feeling a little bit limited by the tight constraints of TFB as it existed - a strictly culinary blog doesn't really leave room for the other topics we might be interested in discussing here: who's the most overrated artist of the 20th century; is Radiohead better with guitars or computers; why is Sarah Palin such an unredeemable toolbox? Fear not, we still want to share our favorite recipes and restaurants with you. But from here on out, we'll be doing more, and different, things with it. We hope you enjoy it as much as we think we will.
More to follow. [[justin and jessica]]
More to follow. [[justin and jessica]]
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Daddy-o
"Think about your dad! I wanna meet that dad!"
But seriously, today is the day you think about your dad and hopefully reflect on the good, bad, and horrifically embarrassing yet hysterical moments of your youth.
Personally, my dad likes to sneak random canned food items into my purse before I leave the house, so every time I see a 24oz can of fire roasted stewed tomatoes I think of him.
Thanks Dad.
And if your dad is like my dad, it's impossible to shop for him so I made him a sweet thing instead. This recipe is a little labor intensive, but so is parenting so it's worth the effort. [[jessica]]
Sugar Daddy Vegan Toffee Bars
Crust:
Cooking Spray for the pan
1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
4 Tb vegan margarine
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer and 2 Tb warm water, blended
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
Sugar Daddy Toffee Layer:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup evaporated soy milk*
4 Tb vegan margarine
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Topping:
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 Tb brown sugar (optional)
1 cup pecans (optional)
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 9x13 in baking pan with cooking spray.
- To make crust, beat brown sugar and v. margarine in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until blended. Add the egg replacer mix and continue to beat. On a low speed add the flour and salt, beat just until the mixture forms fine crumbs.
Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the baking pan.
-Bake crust 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. When done, remove from oven and keep oven on.
- To make the toffee layer, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated soy milk, and v. margarine in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of sauce pan. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent scorching, until the toffee reaches 265 degree, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and spread the toffee evenly over the crust.
Bake until bubbling throughout, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
-Combine the chocolate and brown sugar in a double boiler or heat proof bowl nested on top of a sauce pan of boil water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water as it will scorch the chocolate). Stir occasionally until the chocolate melts. Remove from the heat. Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee layer and sprinkle with pecans.
-Let cool and chill until chocolate layer sets.
*Evaporated Soy Milk
1 1/2 cups soy milk
-Put in a sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until it reduces to 1/2 cup
-let sit approximately 5 minutes to set
Let's not forget our fellow Frontburner blogger this father's day...
Happy Father's Day Justin!
But seriously, today is the day you think about your dad and hopefully reflect on the good, bad, and horrifically embarrassing yet hysterical moments of your youth.
Personally, my dad likes to sneak random canned food items into my purse before I leave the house, so every time I see a 24oz can of fire roasted stewed tomatoes I think of him.
Thanks Dad.
And if your dad is like my dad, it's impossible to shop for him so I made him a sweet thing instead. This recipe is a little labor intensive, but so is parenting so it's worth the effort. [[jessica]]
Sugar Daddy Vegan Toffee Bars
Crust:
Cooking Spray for the pan
1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
4 Tb vegan margarine
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer and 2 Tb warm water, blended
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
Sugar Daddy Toffee Layer:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup evaporated soy milk*
4 Tb vegan margarine
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Topping:
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 Tb brown sugar (optional)
1 cup pecans (optional)
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 9x13 in baking pan with cooking spray.
- To make crust, beat brown sugar and v. margarine in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until blended. Add the egg replacer mix and continue to beat. On a low speed add the flour and salt, beat just until the mixture forms fine crumbs.
Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the baking pan.
-Bake crust 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. When done, remove from oven and keep oven on.
- To make the toffee layer, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated soy milk, and v. margarine in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of sauce pan. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent scorching, until the toffee reaches 265 degree, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and spread the toffee evenly over the crust.
Bake until bubbling throughout, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
-Combine the chocolate and brown sugar in a double boiler or heat proof bowl nested on top of a sauce pan of boil water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water as it will scorch the chocolate). Stir occasionally until the chocolate melts. Remove from the heat. Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee layer and sprinkle with pecans.
-Let cool and chill until chocolate layer sets.
*Evaporated Soy Milk
1 1/2 cups soy milk
-Put in a sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until it reduces to 1/2 cup
-let sit approximately 5 minutes to set
Let's not forget our fellow Frontburner blogger this father's day...
Happy Father's Day Justin!
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