| The Exorcist - Sure, you've heard it all before, but when all is said and done, this is still quite simply the greatest horror movie ever made. If you can see through the green vomit, the profane blasphemy, and the hundred or so crappy ripoffs, there is also a story about conflict, faith, and redemption, not to mention a clever detective story. The onslaught of copycat possession flicks tried to cash in on the brilliance of this film for over 30 years, with the lamest of success. Note the ingenious use of sound effects and creeping camera zooms to bring on a brooding feeling of demonic despair. So what if the hype has killed the shock value of this once unique film, it still remains an excellent study in filmmaking that really scares. The DVD director's commentary on both versions is a must if you care at all about what makes a film great. Your mother sews socks that smell. |
| Saving Private Ryan - Forget all the controversy, the hype, and the Hollywood ending, and you still have a truly remarkable film. Regardless of what you may have heard, or how you feel about 'war movies', this film will remain one of the most powerful pieces of filmmaking for a long, long time to come. How Spielberg can crank out something so amazing, and at the same time something as lame as Lost World, is light years beyond me. I think it's an important film in many different ways, and seeing it in Germany had an altogether different effect on me. Sacrifice, honor, mortality, and the horrors of war make for an unforgettable film experience worthy of multiple viewings. Without getting too deep into controversial waters, the film as also technically superb, giving a true meaning to DVD and 5.1 surround. When I first got this disc, there was war in my living room for a week straight. Simply awesome. If nothing else, Saving Private Ryan stands as a technical achievement of the highest kind, and I pity the fool without a sub-woofer. Thanks, Uncle Steve! |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Milos Foreman and Michael Douglas had the right idea when they cast Jack Nicholson as Randall P. McMurphy, the phony, convict nutcase in this brilliant film about human nature and overall moral decency. Nicholson (along with a cast of soon-to- be-celebtities) shine as they transcend their dreary reality with the help of Nicholson's antics. And will there ever be a nurse as evil as Rachet? Cold, sterile, and strangely moving, this film will never lose it's appeal or it's message of spiritual freedom. And Christopher Lloyd never looked stranger. |
| Star Wars - The Movie Gods were kind and blessed me with the ability to see Star Wars when I was a perfect 8 years old, and life was never the same since. What a perfect age to experience and be brainwashed by such great magic. I can never see the film without feeling like a kid again, and it still possesses the same captivating, hypnotic magic that attracted me in the first place. I remember every action figure, lunchbox, T-shirt, comic book, jigsaw puzzle, movie poster, book, record, and trading card, and owned all of them at one time. I saw the film so many times that I stopped counting when I was in the fifties, and that was when I was around 14. I can still hear today John Williams' beautiful score and recite every line, whiz, buzz and whistle along with every note. I get so nostalgic and giddy, but then I think of Phantom Menace and....aw George, how could you do it to us? Hey, I didn't even say 'may the force be with you.' |
| The Empire Strikes Back - Boy, as a 11 year old, was I blown away to find out that Vader was Luke's father. Cripes all mighty! I think I crapped my chewbacca underwear. My Universe was never the same after that. Treachery and betrayal was everywhere. I can't even talk about the cinematic worth of these films because there is no way I can be objective anymore. The Imperial March will go down in history as the greatest villain music ever written. I still hum it when I chop up food. Ironically, the theater in which I first saw Empire is now a, you guessed it. . . a suck-ass Blockbuster. How truly, truly sad. I find their lack of taste disturbing. |
| Citizen Kane - And no, I'm not just including it to sound like I know what the hell I'm talking about (because I really don't). I first saw Citizen Kane only about 10 years ago on cable. It was well after midnight and I was going to bed and had tuned in right after the opening credits. I had no idea what I was watching, but I was captivated, and remained hypnotized for the next 2 hours. It wasn't until it was over that I found out that I had finally seen the fabled Citizen Kane. I read up on Orson Wells and his passionate efforts to realize his masterpiece onto the screen and have only managed to see it several times since, but each time I find it to be splendid enjoyment. It has such an aesthetic quality about it in it's use of angles and camera work that it's somehow hard to turn away from it. Why the hell it's not on DVD yet is a mystery to me. |
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| Back to the Future - Who can really resist this film (or the series for that matter)? While it may be flawed and not exactly be 'oscar material', I still enjoy every moment of this clever, witty film. Christopher Lloyd plays one of my all time favorite movie characters, Doc Emmett Brown, and Fox is just right as Marty McFly. Everything about this movie jives, including the time travel paradoxes, and the script is so full of humor that it takes at least a half dozen showings to absorb it all. It's got a spot in my favorites for it's originality and it's overall coolness. Einstein would be proud. |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark - Ok, so I majority of my favorites are Lucas / Spielberg money grabbing business ventures. Sorry, but Raiders still kicks ass. Indiana Jones was so great because he could take a decent beating a still be so damn cool. The action never stops, and this film defines what this genre is all about. In case you forgot how great a film this was, I suggest you dig it out, darken the lights, crank (and spark) it up, and enjoy. Where oh where is the DVD? Bastards. |
| Braveheart - When I first saw this movie in the theaters, I thought it was standard, gimmick laden, Hollywood crap. A year later I watched it again and saw it differently. Trying not to be sucked in by Horner's tear jerking score, I couldn't help myself finding all it's merits and realizing that it did indeed possess all the attributes of a great film. Love, honor, betrayal, sacrifice and a good dose of violence make for perfect ingredients, regardless how it veered from factual history. Hey, it's the movies. And it sure didn't have the typical happy ending. Mel Gibson should be commended for outstanding work. I'm not sure if I will see it again for a long time to come, but it has left it's mark and made it all the way here, to my list of greatest. |
| Terminator 2 Judgment Day - The best film Cameron will ever make. Explosive, touching, intelligent, and violent (a recurring theme in many of my favorite films). I love the idea of human kind combating technology that we've created. Again, one of the few films whose time travel plot makes a bit of sense and doesn't leave you with a headache thinking about it. Arnold kicks serious ass from start to finish; tossing people around and splatting them into walls, blowing away kneecaps to prove that he's a nice cyborg, and doing battle with that shin\y, T-1000 metal dude. The ILM breaktrhoughs in CG were mind-blowing for the time, and still hold up even today. One can really see every penny of the hundred million dollar budget up on the screen. Great sound, great effects, great stuff indeed, and tell me, isn't Linda Hamilton smoking in this flick? Go with the Exteme Edition DVD, it's worth it. |
| ...in my humble opinion of course |