I've decided to put together a list of my top ten favorite films of all time. The key word here is favorite. Not best, not greatest, but favorite. These are the films that hold a lot of meaning to me. The ones that I can always go to and never get bored with. Now, there are definitely some films out there that I believe are better than some on this list. But even though the quality of filmmaking may be higher, they don't make this list because they are not held as close to my heart as the following ten are.
It was difficult putting this list together. I started it at the beginning of the year, and started narrowing down what pictures would make it or not, often times, re-watching a lot of them. I had a hard time choosing some over others, but at the end of the day, or at least at the end of today, these are the films I picked, and in this order.
Some films that I absolutely love but just missed the cut are: Donnie Darko, Chasing Amy, Road To Perdition, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spider-Man 2, Zoolander, Wet Hot American Summer, The Dark Knight, and The Grey.
As always enjoy, and beware of light spoilers!
Directed by Peter & Bobby Farrelly - 1994
"Yeah I called her up. She gave me a bunch of crap about me not listening to her, or something. I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention."
The only comedy on my list and by far the funniest film I have ever seen. Since it’s been over 20 years since it’s release, there is a solid chance it will stay the funniest. Unfortunately the Farrelly Brothers weren’t able to strike gold with the sequel, or any of their films in the last 15 years to be honest, but at least this film helped launch Jim Carrey’s career and proved to the world that Jeff Daniels is a comedic genius. Who knew?
The film remains to this day the most quotable film on this list. There is pretty much something daily that I can turn around and bring up a reference to this film. The combination of Carrey and Daniels is an interesting one on paper, but they just work so damn well together that it's absolutely perfect on screen. Daniels was such an oddball choice for this role. He had only done minor comedy before this film, but never on this scale and never this physical. As fantastic as Jim Carrey is here, Daniels steals every scene they are in together, and that is pretty much the entire film.
It's a perfect comedy that came out at the perfect time, and I hope that we can all collectively erase the sequel (and prequel, even though no one here was involved) from our collective memories and embrace this comedy classic.
Directed by Billy Bob Thorton - 1996
"I studied on killing you. Studied on it quite a bit. But I reckon there ain't no need for it if all you're gonna do is sit there in that chair. You'll be dead soon enough and the world 'll be shut of ya."
Another film that launched a career... Billy Bob Thorton’s southern masterpiece is a wondrous work of slow-burn cinema. In an unrecognizable performance, Thorton’s Karl Childers is a character that you are always expecting to snap at any given moment, especially when he is surrounded by the angry, hateful, and violent Doyle in a completely underrated performance by country music star Dwight Yoakam. The subtlety to Thorton’s performance is exemplary and the heartbreak to his character’s fate is unfortunate, yet understood.
The film lacks any visual flourishes and the camera rests static for the majority of the shots, and it works. The important thing here is the story and the characters, and they are written and performed perfectly. John Ritter's closeted Vaughan is a real stand out. I never expected the dad from Problem Child to hold so much screen presence in a dark serious drama like this one. He is great.
There is a scene about halfway through the film, where Doyle is drunk and angry at his bandmates and completely loses it, screaming at them to leave. For me it's tough to call it the best scene in the film because the film is littered with moments of sheer raw emotion like this. But if there is a scene that shows how violent Doyle can turn on a dime, this is it. It's easily the most frightening scene, and one that I can't turn away from. Poor Randy, that tunin' son of a bitch.
Again, it's a really terrific film with a great score, and a surprise cameo from a Hollywood legend. I can't recommend it enough!
Directed by Danny Boyle - 2007
"At the end of time, a moment will come when just one man remains. Then the moment will pass. Man will be gone. There will be nothing to show that we were ever here... but stardust."
Danny Boyle’s sci-fi thriller about a ship heading to the sun carrying a nuclear bomb in cargo with the hopes of “reigniting” the dying star is just a flat out incredible film. John Murphy’s score is one of my absolute favorites, it’s heavy emotion pulses through the film, and at times carries it on it’s own. While a lot of people complain about the third act, and yes, it does tend to veer from what came before, I like that Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland have the boldness to try to do something different, and in my opinion, succeed with it.
The cast is absolutely bonkers with Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Mark Strong, Cliff Curtis, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Michelle Yeoh leading. The set pieces are expertly directed with the tension constantly building leaving almost no way for our characters to succeed. The basic plot premise of the film is quite interesting and makes me wonder if it at all is even feasible. Believable in a film? Sure... but feasible in real life? Can we send a nuke to keep our sun going? It's a cool idea and one that definitely keeps the film moving forward.
The thing that I absolutely love about the film is the idea that the characters become obsessed with watching the sun. Slowly and incrementally adjusting the amount of light they see, burning their flesh as they refuse to stop staring into it, and slowly going mad. It's a side-plot that drives the disregarded third act and I absolutely love the idea behind it.
While not the most regarded Boyle film, I feel it is unfairly underrated and wish it had been more successful. The special effects are done very well which is surprising for the budget constraints the filmmakers had while making the movie. The Icarus ship they inhabit feels real and lived in; and more than most cinema spaceships, its design serves a purpose which I found to be pretty cool.
If you're looking for an interesting thought provoking sci-fi thriller with intense action and great acting, look no further. Sunshine is the end of the line.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis - 2000
"And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?"
With any other actor in the lead role, I truly don’t believe that Robert Zemeckis’ film (which deserved way more Oscar recognition than it got) would have been as successful as it was. Tom Hanks is incredible as Chuck Noland, a man marooned on a deserted island after the plane he is in crashes into the ocean. His driving force of survival: the woman he loves; and after he is rescued five years later, the film has the audacity to break your heart.
Look, I understand that after that length of time, Helen Hunt's character, Kelly, would have moved on. I mean, who wouldn't have? But after spending two hours with Hanks alone on an island, the pocket watch photo of her guiding his light, it was such a downer that they didn't end up together. But, again, she addressed the fact that he was the love of her life, but their timing was just off. Understandable, but heart wrenching nevertheless.
I love Hank's commitment to his director and the film. By taking a year long break from filming, he is able to lose an insane amount of weight to further show how long his character has been on the island, and what it has done to him physically. Hank's has pretty much no one to act off of, and the film lives or dies on his performance. Thankfully, he is Tom Hanks, and he commands attention when he is on screen. Even if his co-star is a volleyball.
Speaking of that damn volleyball, arguably the scene that destroyed me the most is when he loses Wilson at sea. This was his only friend on that island. This was his partner, and one of the few things to keep him from going completely mad. Even if it was an inanimate object. Either way, the scene where he loses Wilson, damn... apparently there is a lot of dust in the air each time I watch that scene. Strange, right?
Directed by David Gordon Green - 2003
"Pretend you're standing over the ocean. You're a millionaire. Pretend you're running over the ocean. You're jumping across mountains. You're jumping across mountains. Everybody loves you."
David Gordon Green’s film about relationships and first loves lost is obviously, another heartbreaker. Paul Schneider plays the town lothario who falls in love with his best friend’s little sister played by Zooey Deschanel. And even though this is a guy who has been around the block a bit in his day, it's this young woman that has the power to break him from his mold, and make him a better man.
Out of all of the films on this list, this one feels the most real, with the most lived in world. The character say and do things that I say and do. Short lines of dialogue that hold no meaning to the plot or to the development of who says them, further exemplify the realistic world that these people live in, even if they are simple throwaways.
A real stand-out here in the film is Shea Wigham, Zooey's older brother and Paul Schneider's best friend, Tip. I had never seen him in anything before and he absolutely destroys in it. When he finds out that his friend is dating his sister he loses his mind because he knows the kind of person that Schneider's Paul is, and he wants to keep his sister safe. Little does he know is that Paul is the one who needs to be kept safe from Deschanel's Noel's heartbreak. It's an interesting twist, and one that leads to many moments of sadness and anguish for Schneider's character.
Green gives his film a quiet subtlety with a laid back charm. The slow paced nature of it works well with the realistic dialogue and exceptional performances. By the story’s end, not one character is where they were when we met them, each having their own arc to reach the end of. It may not be perfect endings for all, but there is at least a sense of hope for each.
Directed by David Fincher - 1999
"This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time."
David Fincher’s punk rock opera defies most expectations by being better than the novel it is based on. This stylized and dark ride into the psyche of a broken man, driven to madness by the consumer obsessed world that he lives in, is a movie that blew most seventeen year old young males's minds. When I first saw this film, I was in high school and I became obsessed with it. Its rock star quality and zero fucks given attitude empowered me and well, the film still holds up even after all these years.
While some may say it’s too violent for its own good, I believe that was kind of the point. By showing us such gratuitous violence so nonchalantly, it brought attention to what we watch and how hypocritical we are in our censorship. A film with men just beating the ever living hell out of each other, with no punches pulled (pun intended), is more a less of a coming of age story of sorts. Our narrator, as flawed of a person as he is, is finding himself in this world, and becoming his own person, not what the world (and others) want him to be.
While the film served most as a dark thriller in its marketing, it definitely falls more in line of a black comedy, a movie that is always funny it's in's own weird way, and constantly carrying a nihilistic attitude towards the world. To some, that may be a huge turn off. It may come off as a film with no hope or promise to it, but to be honest, I feel like it's quite the opposite. To me, the film holds a lot of hope. Hope that we can all break away from the mass-mold of what our government and corporations want us to buy and who they want us to be. To me, Jack, our narrator, represents each and every one of us, and Tyler Durden, well, he is the door we have to open to be our own person.
Directed by Steven Spielberg - 1975
"You know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye."
This film changed everything. It changed how movies were marketed, it changed how much money movies were able to make, it changed how release dates for films matter, and it put the man who is in my opinion, the greatest film director of all time, Steven Spielberg, on the map. The film is also expertly acted and delivers one of the finest monologues ever put on the silver screen.
It’s a simple story. A shark is terrorizing a small island town, and three men: a fisherman, a marine biologist, and the town’s police chief set out on an mission to hunt it down and kill it. The film is thrilling and fun, and manages to be scary without being over the top or gratuitous. Unfortunately the sequels never lived up the the original, yet I am not surprised. Without Spielberg at the helm, how could they?
The behind the scenes stories about trouble with Bruce, the animatronic shark led to Spielberg having to limit the creature's screen time. And thank God. The fact that we don't really see the great white until much later in the film adds to the tension of the picture, and it benefits it entirely.
The trio of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw is impeccable. As I mentioned above of the monologue, Shaw's Quint, a perfectly grizzled fisherman whose history with war and sharks leads to an unreal true life account of the torpedoing of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and how eleven hundred men went into the water and three hundred and sixteen came out is just perfect dialogue delivery; and that is just one scene. The film as a whole is acted and treated with such respect which is surprising because the picture could have been a random monster movie of the week lifted with camp and cheese. But it's not, the film is a prestige picture camouflaged as a monster movie, and I give credit to the director and the cast he chose for elevating it to what it is.
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson - 1999
“This happens. This is something that happens.”
Paul Thomas Anderson’s third film, an intimate epic following a handful of loosely connected people over a single day in the San Fernando Valley, is an ambitious and strange modern masterpiece.
At only 29 years old, Anderson expertly directs his ensemble with the authority of a well seasoned filmmaker. Every beat, every line of dialogue, every movement of the camera, is executed for a specific point and reason. With the number of actors involved, and the numerous plots interweaving in and around each other, the opportunity for the film to fall off the rails was at every turn. Yet, Anderson holds everything together, keeping the film moving at a breakneck pace for over 180 minutes without feeling like it’s a dragging bore.
While Tom Cruise (nominated for his performance in the film) received all of the acting accolades when the film was released, I tend to think that it is really John C. Reilly who is the breakout performance from the ensemble. He is the moral center of the film, probably the one single good person in the film, just trying to hold himself together. It would be easy to see his adoration of Melora Walters’ character as a forced point in the film with any other actor, but Reilly really sells the lonely, disparaged, pathetic type so well that you can see his blindness to her strung out-drug fueled waif. They are just two broken people in need of someone to love, to help fix, and be there for the other.
It has been said, and it is quite evident, that the film was a personal project for Anderson. The story arc of Jason Robards’ character, Earl Partridge, is loosely based on Anderson’s experience with his own father’s death. He grew up in the area the film is set in. He knows Magnolia Avenue.
In the end, relationships are broken, relationships are made, and hopefully some people are set on the correct path. Magnolia is a beautiful film that got lost in the wave of greatness that cinema gave us in 1999. It surely deserved a Best Picture nomination, I’d say over a few of the other nominees that year. Luckily for us, Paul Thomas Anderson is continuously making films, venturing out into various genres, all the while giving me the hope that he can make another film half as good as Magnolia is.
Directed by Cameron Crowe - 2001
“Even in my dreams, I’m an idiot who is about to wake up to reality.”
When I first saw Cameron Crowe’s adaptation of Alejandro Amenábar’s “Abre Los Ojos” I was completely floored. For the better part of two and a half hours, my eyes were glued to the screen as my mind was being fucked by what was happening. When the credits started to roll, my life was forever changed.
I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but for those who know me, they will understand how much cinema plays a part in who I am - and this film really shaped my personality in the years to follow. Not only did I call it my "favorite film of all time" for nearly a decade, it introduced me to my favorite band of all time
The film has been called a “vanity project” for Tom Cruise, and I kind of think it’s more of an “anti-vanity project”. For a large part of the film, we hardly see Cruise’s face, and when we do, it’s a scarred, horrific version of what we all are familiar with. His character is a self-centered, selfish man, who in the end, I’m not fully convinced has been fully redeemed. But at the very least, he chose reality over a superficial life, so maybe he did… but then again, there was the promise of beauty. It’s an interesting film to look back upon and really wonder if his character followed through with an arc or not.
As always, Crowe infuses the film with his musical flourishes, giving scenes a bravado that could have been otherwise underplayed. I think in this film, more than some of his others, the music tells the story which we are seeing.
The acting all around was top notch. While Cruise is quite fantastic in the film, he is still playing Tom Cruise. Penelope Cruz is gorgeous as the one woman who can possibly lock down this playboy, but it’s really Cameron Diaz who steals the movie with the limited screen time she has. She plays such a convincing mentally disturbed woman who believe this man is the only way she can be happy, and when she sees him pulling away from her, she will do ANYTHING to make sure he makes no other woman happy. She truly is a lost cause.
While I may have taken away the title of "favorite movie ever" from Vanilla Sky, the film is such a powerful experience for me that I will cherish the fact that it was even made at all. It definitely has it's critics and is called one of Cameron's worst in his career, but I think this is an under-appreciated gem that deserves a second look. Some day I wish to gaze upon the true vanilla sky.
Directed by Steven Spielberg - 1993
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic adventure about man playing God and the consequences that come of it is by far, my most favorite film of all time. It is a timeless epic adventure so thrilling, so awe-inspiring, and so entertaining that I can't think of any other film I love more or would ever want to watch more.
I remember the first time I saw it. It was in a packed theater house in its second week of release. Already I had heard outstanding responses to the film and I could not have been more excited. I went with a cousin who had seen it the week before and was as nearly excited as I was to see it again. I just remember the very opening, the low ominous score from John Williams, a sort of screeching effect, letting me know that yes, this movie was probably going to be a bit scary. And as a twelve year old boy, I was totally thumbs-up, on board, and ready to go.
The great thing about this film is how Spielberg and producing partner Kathleen Kennedy were able to fill the film with relatively unknown movie stars. Sure, people knew who Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum were, but they weren't marquee names and it gave the film a bit of a believability that these were normal, real people on the island of Isla Nublar.
Speaking of believability, as a twelve year old, I could totally get behind the science of creating these dinosaurs. When Michael Crichton wrote his novel, I wonder what sort of research he had done to make it seem so possible that dinosaurs could be cloned and replicated in this manner.
Probably what I love the absolute most about Jurassic Park is the fact that it is so awe-inspiring. The scene where doctors Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm arrive on the island and are shown the field full of roaming and grazing dinosaurs (accompanied by John William's epic and soaring score) by Richard Attenborough's John Hammond... well I tear up every time. That is what the power of cinema is to me. Showing us the unknown, the unbelievable, and yet making it believable, and fill it with emotion. God. I'm practically crying right now thinking of it. Also I am listening to the film's soundtrack as I write this so that connection is there as well.
I remember wearing out the VHS tape of this film as a kid. My three sisters and I were all equally obsessed with the film, and while most kids our age were bored during the first 45 minutes or so, just waiting for the T-Rex scene to kick off the action of it all, I wasn't bored at all. Like I said before, the science behind it all is fascinating, and while I understand the scene more now, when the four main characters are all having dinner and discussing the moral implications of creating dinosaurs from scratch, well I find that as equally fascinating as watching a velociraptor attack it's prey.
My appreciation for the film has only grown over time, and I have a feeling that will continue the older I get. It's the perfect summer blockbuster. A movie that is an entertaining thrill ride with moral questions, and characters that feel real when they react to this absolutely over-the-top unreal situation they are in. While the sequels were entertaining in their own right, none of them captured the imagination, the awe, and the sense of adventure that Spielberg's original has, and I am okay with that. Jurassic Park is without a doubt my favorite film of all time.
What's yours?
