Sunday, February 20, 2011

My 100 Favourite Movies of All Time

The title is pretty self-explanatory, so I'm going to just get started with the movies. This may be long, so you just can skim through it if you want to. Remember, this list is always subject to change.

#100- THE WIZARD OF OZ- A true classic in every possible definition of the word and most likely the first movie I ever saw. It's clear that anyone who does not like this movie has no soul. However, I do put it pretty low on the list because there are a lot of movies I like more.

#99- I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS- Those of you who have read my review of this movie know that it is a fairly recent entry onto the list. However, it definitely deserves to be there because it is a wonderful love story that showcases Jim Carrey in one of his finest roles to date.

#98- CORPSE BRIDE- My second favourite Tim Burton film, and my favourite of his animations. TNBC is higher on the list, but I don't consider that a Tim Burton film, I consider it a Henry Selick film. Anyway, it is superbly animated, gleefully morose, and voiced wonderfully by a cast of Tim Burton regulars.

#97- ED WOOD- Another Burton film, another relatively new entry onto the list. Ed Wood is a wonderful film about a horrible director (although the Boll is worse). I just wrote a review of it, so if you want to you can check that out. It's superbly acted, superbly funny, and superbly directed.

#96-ERASERHEAD- My first Lynch film, maybe my last? I don't know. Eraserhead is off-putting in a lot of ways but that's kind of what drew me and my friend into this picture. The film isn't great as a film, but its great as a spectacle of weirdness and an accomplishment of sound technology and asking.....why?

#95- HAIRSPRAY- One of my favourite movie-musicals and one of the best movie musicals made in my opinion. I still think the title of best goes to Singing in the Rain but this one is pretty damn good. The songs are wonderful, the cast is wonderful, and it's just a great movie. Not perfect, but pretty good.

#94- ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW- Another musical that has recently earned itself a place on the list. It may be gross in some parts, but it is still an irreverent, fun romp through the 70's that can stand the test of time through its music and fun memorable performances.

#93- TOY STORY 2- I love the Toy Story series, and I am comfortable calling all three films classics, but I put this pretty low on the list seeing as I found it not as good as the other two. The second film in a series of three is often the weakest, and I think that is so with Toy Story 2. Don't get me wrong, I still think it is a brilliantly made film by the brilliant people that are Pixar, but I just didn't like it as much as the first and third.

#92- EASY A- Part Diablo Cody, part John Hughes, Easy A is an incredibly good movie and one of the three best teen films of the 2000's. I personally think it is better than Mean Girls but not better than Juno. It was a very wonderful story, although for those who grew up in liberal areas, it may seem a bit implausible. Anyway, it's a very good movie relying on its wonderful script and wonderful cast.

#91- ZOMBIELAND- I have not yet seen Shaun of the Dead, but from what I have heard of it, Zombieland seems like American Shaun of the Dead. Anyway, Zombieland is a great movie with an even mix of laughs and gore brought up by its four wonderful lead actors. Plus, every zombie movie should have a Bill Murray cameo.

#90- MULAN- Not one of my favourite Disney Renaissance films, but definitely not the worst in that time frame (to me, that title goes to Tarzan). It is also groundbreaking as a Disney film in terms of exploring new things like gender and cultural identity. The film is technically brilliant and filled with wonderful memorable characters and wonderful musical numbers.

#89- SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD- I know, I know, Scott Pilgrim is essentially a videogame movie, but can you blame me? For many reasons, I adored this movie much more than the rest of the box office and the Academy did. If you have read my review then you know the reasons, so I'm not going to elaborate. I know there was a minor controversy over the fact that I gave this a 100, but I stand by my rating. Anyway, its a great movie.

#88- HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE- My least favourite Harry Potter film, although still great. It is obvious why this was the weakest one, they were just starting out and starting out with kid actors that hadn't been in any movies before. However, this is still great and the start to the second best fantasy franchise ever made.

#87- UP- One Pixar film I wasn't really looking forward to. However, once I saw it, I was not disappointed. Up has a story and homour that would please the kids but enough adult (not racy adult, but general adult) material to please all audiences and result in one of Pixar's finest films to date. Even though this is my sixth favourite Pixar film, it is still a brilliant piece of animation and one of the greatest ever made.

#86- FANTASIA 2000- I as of now haven't seen the first Fantasia, but since it is apparently better than this one it must be damn amazing. Anyway, Fantasia 2000 is a continuation of Fantasia and features wonderful animated sequences accompanied by brilliant classical music. The only thing that really pissed me off was the annoying celebrity cameos and Bette Midler calling Salvador Dali the "melting watch guy". However, that was the only thing that annoyed me in an otherwise really good film.

#85- THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS- The first movie I saw on DVD in the New Year (followed by an unfortunate accident with a flight of stairs) was a pretty good one. The movie had wonderful visuals, strong performances, a great story, and an interesting mind-bending concept. It's no Inception in terms of mind-bending, and it was much easier to follow in the first time. This was also my first taste of Andrew Garfield as an actor, and may I say he was damn amazing. All in all, can't wait to rewatch it.

#84- CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE- I liked Prince Caspian more personally, but I still realize that this one is the better made film and the best of the three, even though it isn't my personal favourite. To me, Narnia is the third best fantasy franchise ever made and are some of the best kids films ever made. Anyway, this film combines strong visuals, a great story, and some decent performances from some relatively new child actors.

#83- ADVENTURELAND- If Kristin Stewart's role had been played by a different actress, then this would pretty much be a perfect teen film, but not a perfect film all together. Jesse Eisenberg has once again proven himself to be a far superior actor than the one he has been compared to, Michael Cera. The rest of the performances (outside Kristin Stewart) were all pretty good and the movie was funny and serious without being laugh-out-loud hilarious or overdramatic.

#82- PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL- This is the only good POTC film thus far, lets hope the fourth will be better than the second and third (thankfully no Keira or Orlando). I liked Keira and Orlando in this film, but I ADORED Johnny as Jack Sparrow and Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa. That's the thing, Elizabeth (Knightley) is technically the main character of the film series, but nobody cares about her because her story is boring. We don't want to watch a pirate movie to see romance, we want to see pirates, and that's what we see in this film.

#81- THE HANGOVER- A new comedy classic and one of the funniest movies ever made. I know this may seem kind of a weird choice seeing as it isn't one of the great epics of American cinema, but it was an enjoyable movie and it had me in stitches from beginning to end. There was something about this film that just worked when it so easily couldn't have. Was it its easy quotability (it's been done people, stop it already)? Was it the chemistry between its cast members? I  think its a combination of all the elements that make this type of comedy work and just made it into a wonderful movie. Needless to say, I can't wait for the sequel

#80- HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN- This is when the Harry Potter films really started to get good, although this isn't my personal favourite. This also introduced Gary Oldman to the series only to have his character killed off two films later. Gary Oldman is a wonderful actor and his performance is one of the best I have seen in a fantasy franchise (not LOTR-related). The movie also has a slightly different tone due to the change in directors and it also shows a maturing Harry to shift in the role of the leader in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh films. All in all, a great movie.

#79-  A BUG'S LIFE- It is one of Pixar's weaker entries into their brilliant animated canon, and it does bare some similarities to Antz (plus, they were released within months of eachother). However, despite being weaker, it is a known fact that it is impossible for Pixar to make a bad movie, so naturally the movie is still stunning. I haven't seen it in a while, and i desperately need to rewatch it, but it is still brilliantly animated, with a great story, and featuring a wonderful voice cast.

#78- THE ADDAMS FAMILY- I love both of these films very dearly, but I put this one lower on the list than the second one because the second one was an improvement. However, I'm not here to talk about the second one (yet), so I will say that The Addams Family is one of the best dark comedies I have ever seen and one of my personal favourite dark comedies. It has a spectacular cast, spectacular comedy, and spectacular characters. Like I said in the review, it's not perfect, but its still great and deserves to be remembered amongst the other one as one of the best duos of all time

#77- HERCULES- Another one in desperate need of a rewatch. I don't really remember it too well, but I always remembered watching it as a kid and absolutely adoring it. It may not have been the best that Disney had to offer in the 1990's, but everything made by Disney in the 90's was great (with the exception of Tarzan IMO) and naturally this was too. It had decent animation, some decent jokes, a great villain, although it was not accurate at all to Ancient Greek History. Anyway, its a great movie that I would still watch at any time if given the chance.

#76- TANGLED- Another Disney, a rather recent one at that. I was fully expecting Tangled to be a decent cute movie, but mostly a movie meant to sell toys and another Princess to add to the list. Technically, it did sell a lot of toys, but its actually a very good movie that should have won Best Original Song at the Oscars (it should have been nominated for Best Animated Feature, and it would, alongside Despicable Me, if there were five animation slots like Last Year). The animation is absolutely beautiful, the princess is a decent role model, and TV's Chuck plays a great prince with a combination of Aladdin daringness and Naveen flair. It paid homage to other DP movies while trying to be different from them and it definitely succeeds. Not Disney's greatest film, but it is a very entertaining, highly beautiful entry into their string of classics.

#75- SHREK- I like the second one better, and by the time the third one came along they were just milking the franchise for all its worth, but there will always be this one to show us that fairytale parody can be very well done and Dreamworks can hold its own against Disney and Pixar. It probably won't age well, seeing as the jokes are very pop-culturey, but its great now. I probably won't be seeing the Puss in Boots spinoff, but I recently rewatched all the Shreks and I still stand by my comment on the fact that they were to Dreamworks what Snow White was to Disney and Toy Story was for Pixar. Anyway, not the best movie ever made, but a damn good one that earned its spot on the list

#74- HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE- Don't be unnerved by the fact that I have been putting three of these films fairly low on my list. All seven films are on this list and I need to spread them out. Anyway, Half Blood Prince is set in the Harry Potter universe where people have begrudgingly accepted the return of Voldemort and is setting the stage for the dark tone of the seventh film. Like all the other films, it also introduces new characters without forgetting to develop the old ones. It's also occasionally quite funny, and the most light-hearted of the second wave of Potter. It shows Harry and Ron for pretty much the first time acting like the horny teenagers they are and it also shows Ron's growing feelings towards Hermione despite his relationship with Lavender Brown. It's a great movie in the second best fantasy franchise of all time.

#73- HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY- I have not as of now seen the first Hellboy, and I intend to rewatch both of the films as soon as possible, but Hellboy II is a great dark superhero film. Ron Perlman gives a great performance as Hellboy and the same goes for Selma Blair as Liz and Doug Jones as Abe Sapien, one of the few roles where you get to hear him speak. Namely because Doug Jones is the master of all things that require at least two hours of makeup. Anyway, it has great visual effects, a great story, great performances, and great acting to make an overall great movie.

#72-  TRUE GRIT- The Coen Brothers version, not the John Wayne version. I am a novice of the work of the Coens, but I was intrigued by this film from the minute I saw the TV commercials. I also had the great experience of seeing this in a nice comfortable theatre with good sound so I could hear every bit of wonderful dialogue uttered by Bridges, Steinfeld, Damon, Brolin, and others. True Grit is a wonderful film that can be both serious and delightfully funny in parts. However, it would not be as awesome despite all the powers of the Coens if it weren't for the awesome performances of its cast, especially Bridges and Steinfeld. I really hope Hailee Steinfeld has a career into adulthood and True Grit wasn't a fluke. I was also kind of upset that this didn't win one Oscar but hey, it was loved and the Coen's most commercially loved film yet.

#71- X-MEN- X-Men was my favourite film series until Lord of the Rings came along, but I still love this movie and delight in watching them as often as I can. I even kinda like the third one (although it is not on this list). X-Men is a great starting comic book movie that opened the door that was later kicked open by Spiderman the year after. It had wonderful performances, great special effects (although everything improves in the second film, which is higher on the list). It also has some deeper social parallels, the most obvious being the paralleling of the history of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. It also may be a good starter franchise for new comic-book fans, not unlike Spiderman. This and Spiderman were the first two comic films of the 2000's, and they are two of the best of all time despite their sequels being better. Plus, the minute Senator Kelly opened his mouth I knew he was a dead man.

#70- SPIDERMAN- Everything I said about Spiderman in my spiel about X-Men was entirely true. It is one of the two first great comic book movies of the 2000's and made people interested in Marvel comic movies like they were with DC comic movies in the 70's-90's. Tobey Maguire brings a considerable amount of charm and geekiness to the role of Peter Parker and the story is very well paced and put together with an entertaining, albeit very silly villain. It is a great starter franchise for those who want to get into comic book movies. It's not too dark-hearted like Batman and its not too......I don't know like Superman. It's the perfect amount of goofy light-hearted fun and a serious message. Anyway, it definitely deserved to make its way on the list.

#69- THE TROTSKY- A very enjoyable little Canadian comedy with a charming lead turn from Jay Baruchel as a teenager that truly believed he was the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. This film gets right what most American comedies get wrong. This movie aims for subtle hilarity, as opposed to the basic equivalent of having an 'Applause' sign in the theatre. Anyway, everyone (both Canadian and American) should see this movie because it is a rare comedy gem and should be treated as such.

#68- STAR WARS EPISODE III- REVENGE OF THE SITH- My favourite of the prequels for sure.  I try not to compare it to Return of the King, seeing as they are entirely different genres, but I can safely say that they both had the exact same effect on me after viewing. I am also one of the opinion that Ewan MacGregor was a tremendous asset to the prequel trilogy and the movies would have been a hell of a lot worse without him. Neither of the other prequels are on this list, but all of the originals are, so you can tell I love this series. Anyway, it was definitely a fitting end to the best science fiction series of all time with one of the best movie climaxes I have ever seen.

#67- A MIGHTY WIND- Christopher Guest is freakin' awesome, one of my favourite directors ever, and I actually recently acquired a DVD copy of Best In Show, which is his best work. However, that doesn't make A Mighty Wind any less significant as one of my favourite comedies. It's probably the least funny of his work, but its also quite heartfelt and still very entertaining due to a cast of his regulars. All in all, Waiting For Guffman and Best in Show are better (and higher on the list) but this one is still fantastic and has earned its spot on this list with all its heart.

#66- RATATOUILLE- The entirety of Pixar's filmography is what I would consider my expertise on in terms of movies, and Ratatouille is definitely one of their best. Charming Parisian set pieces, a talented voice cast, memorable characters, and generally stunning animation as well as a strong story with deeper emotional context  make for one of Pixar's finest films and a film that definitely deserved Best Animated Feature (has there been a single year where Pixar hasn't deserved to win?) and has deserved the critical and commercial acclaim it has received. On a bit of a side note, I wish people would stop complaining about how children's movies are just made to sell toys. Toy Story sold toys, but that didn't decrease the quality of the film. Maybe that's why people have hated on Cars (not everyone, just some people) because it did sell a lot of toys.

#65- BEETLEJUICE- Talk about a fun movie. I enjoy Tim Burton's earlier work a bit more than his later work, and this and Ed Wood (as well as his work with the Batman series) are prime examples why. Beetlejuice takes a wacky situation, adds some very dark creepy comedy, dark visuals, and a stellar cast including one of my favourite comedic actresses, Catherine O'Hara. I don't really like Beetlejuice the character, even though Michael Keaton's performance was terrific, because he was a very annoying supernatural fast-talking asshole, but the rest of the characters were very enjoyable and I couldn't enjoy this movie more.

#64- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST- I do like this movie, but it did nothing for Disney that The Little Mermaid didn't. Alan Menken did improve on his score, but everything else that people say BATB did for Disney, The Little Mermaid did exactly the same. But hey, I'm not here to compare them, so moving on. Beauty and the Beast is still a stunning piece of animation, probably my fourth favourite Disney Princess movie and my sixth favourite Disney movie. It does have a sprightly heroine, a sympathetic romantic interest, and funny secondary characters, as well as one of the best villains in the Disney Villain canon. Anyway, I do enjoy this and I need to watch this again, but I just think that it was slightly overrated, but maybe a second viewing will change that.

#63-  MEET THE ROBINSONS- Easily Disney's best non-Pixar CGI feature. From the minute I saw the trailer for this I wanted to see it because it looked incredibly fun and I hadn't developed my current taste in movies. Anyway, it was incredibly fun with an interesting story and eccentric characters, plus a twist I wasn't thinking of. As a child, I liked the funny characters like the singing frogs and as a teenager, I appreciate the funny characters as well as the beautiful animation and the decent story. The story was where the movie had some weakness, but all in all, this was a damn great movie.

#62- THE BREAKFAST CLUB- I know I should probably have a movie like this higher on the list, and I am not very well versed in the works of John Hughes, but I wish to be. Anyway, this is a great movie and its definitely one of the best teen movies of all time. It didn't overdramatize the problems of teenagers, and it brought depth to the otherwise stereotypical teenagers. It was well-written, well-acted, and brought us one of the finest made teen movies ever, like I said, with it's low budget, simple story that probably wouldn't get greenlit in Hollywood today. All in all, one of my favourite teen movies that has earned its spot on this list 100%.

#61- MARY AND MAX- One of my favourite claymation films of all time and probably one of the best ones ever made that wasn't from Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit creator). It's a tragic tale about a young girl in Australia and her pen pal, an adult male in New York, and their friendship that lasted into her adult life and ended with his tragic death. It was both funny and heartwarming while maintaining beautiful animation, and it's just all in all a great movie. It was also much better than its counterpart Harvie Krumpet, which isn't going to be on this list.

#60- RANGO- I know this is a very new release, but I had very high expectations for Rango and even then, I wasn't expecting what I saw. Rango was a fantastic movie, the best animated movie not from the three big animation companies since Coraline, and that was all the way back in 2009. Anyway, it was telling a familiar story, but it knew it was telling a familiar story, so it put some fun twists on it and made for an overall fun movie. Seriously, this was very entertaining, and some of the best computer animation I have ever seen. This movie has also kind of got me interested in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It also had a splendid voice cast and was an overall great movie

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Why Katherine Heigl still acts

I hate Katherine Heigl, and it is a total mystery how she still has a job seeing as pretty much every film she has been in is a shitty rom-com (except Knocked Up, that was good apparently). I think that Katherine Heigl is a device used to act in a movie and make her male lead look more charming, sexy and lovable by comparison. Don't believe me? Here's every rom-com Katherine Heigl has been in and her male lead. I have seen a good number of these movies and I know that all her characters are just shrews and are eventually loosened up by the sexy, charming, lovable:

- Seth Rogen in Knocked Up
- Ashton Kutcher in Killers
- Josh Duhamel in Life as We Know It
- James Marsden in 27 Dresses
- Gerard Butler in The Ugly Truth

Look at this blog and tell me this isn't true. Anyway, if you have any thoughts you can message me back on RT or something.