My TEN BEST
I figured I must have seen hundreds and hundreds, of films. So I figured it would be time to post up my choices for the 10 best films I have ever seen. Mind you, I have only taken 2 film classes in college and am just a film fan, so there are going to be massive misagreements with my pics, and if anything better comes along until I keel over, I will post them up!
#1:The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring: The first time I saw it, I thought it was good but too long. However the second time I viewed it, I was just enthralled with the enormous scope of the storytelling, the powerful visuals, the incredible cinematography, and actors who have an incredible emotion for the roles they are playing. A Hobbit is charged with the transport of the most powerful tool in all Middle Earth, The One Ring To Rule Them All. As he risks life and limb many times, the peoples of middle earth decide to form a protective fellowship to see that the ring sees its end in the fire of Mordor's Mount Doom. What results is at times heroic, heartbreaking, sacrificial and hopeful. This film is what the whole medium of film making was created for. And the best scene in the film really doesn't involve and special effects at all!
#2:The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers: As the first one was an introduced the characters and their struggle to see the end to evil which results in the fellowship split into three different factions, so this film sees each faction trying, in their own way to seek preservation, destroy evil, and give faith and hope to those whose are seeping away. Frodo and Sam meet up with and convince the creature Gollum to lead them to Mordor: Aragorn, Gimili, and Legolas encounter a resurrected Gandalf whilest trying to find Merry and Pippin: the two end up in the protection of an ent named Treebeard. Eventually all their paths lead them in the arms of conflict against the forces of Sauron and Saraumon, culminating in a massive defense of the fortress of Helm's deep against 10,000 orcs and Urak hai. The effects have been uped, the battle sequences blow your mind, and the acting is still up to par, as it should be for the whole filming being done at once. Leaving the viewer patiently waiting for The Return of The King.
#3:Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back: Up until the previous film came out, this was always what I considered the best film ever. Sure one can say it has all the familiar characters and it's a given beacuse of the source material, but the reason why it's the pantheon of the Star Wars films is simple. Good does not always triumph over evil. The plot of the film revolves around the heroes trying to do what they can to thwart a relentless evil. Whether it be the Millenium Falcon being hunted throughout space, or Luke Skywalker trying and clawing his way to even survive the mega powerful Darth Vader, good only manages to escape on a lucky whim.
#4:Der Kabinet De Dr. Caligari: Have you ever been a fan of a film, genre, or era, and you have never even seen the film save pictures in film books? All my childhood and straight through now, I will always head for the film section of a bookstore, library, etc first. Usually I will look through a horror/sci-fi film book and there will always be at least one picture of this film in a book. I knew of the silent films of Germany and their use of the horror genre throughout the early days of film. But for one reason or another, I never saw one of them. Until 1993 when I was shown the film in an art history class and was completely and utterly blown away. True the story involves the search for a killer predicted by a "sleepwalker", but the look of the film has influenced just about every single gothic and horror ever made! The sets, the story goes, were done by German expressionists to save money on building expensive ones and the look is cinematic brilliance!
#5:Unbreakable: Yes, you may think of it as being a complete shock that I would put a film that got a universal lukewarm reaction in my top ten films of all time, but I understood what this film was trying to say. Evry person has some kind of meaning for existing, we may not be able to find it on our own, we just might need help from strangers to find out who we are. And when we find it, we may not like what we have become or the results. In this case, the lead character is the sole survivor of an enormous train derailment, and he doesn't know why. He goes through the film trying to find answers, seeking the help of a frail art dealer who has a fantastic belief. I will use this last sentence to say it may just be the best comic book film ever made.
#6:The Shawshank Redemption:Everytime this film is on tv, I have to watch it. I don't know why. It's almost like I was hypnotised everytime and just have to watch it again. Maybe it's because of the story and the unnerving determination of the character of Andy to not lose hope in the one place where it really is more than destroyed. Or maybe it's how his older friend Red discovers what it feels like to hope after years and years of putting that word deep into his subconscious. I don't know what it is, but it is a powerful piece of filmmaking worth repeated viewing.
#7:The Crow: I, like everyone else, had only heard of the film when the lead actor, Brandon Lee, was killed in a freak gun accident on the set of the film. I, like most people who learned about what the film was about, wondered if the film would be finished, let alone released. I, like most curious people, went to see the film just out of wonderment. I, like most comic book fans, was blown away by the visuals and the over the top performance of the late actor. Of course, I was bummed out when I first saw it, but with repeated viewing, appreciated the film for what it was, an actual comic book landscape brought to cellluloid life.
#8:The Iron Giant: A cartoon is in the top ten and not an anime???Now before you call me crazy and say it's an atorcity, I will explain my reasoning: I have never been brought to tears by a cartoon before. C'mon, it's a drawing. But somehow the character of the Giant has so much life in it, probably better acting than some real actors in the business. The animator went above and beyond to create emotion into the being, which strikes me as amazing. And here's a tidbit for you, the voice of the Giant: Vin Diesel!
#9:Monty Python and The Holy Grail:The funniest film ever made! It has everything in it to be made fun of: well maybe not personal computers, but if they were around back then, perhaps. In the dark ages, King Arthur, The Knights Of The ROUUUNNND Table, and their cocoanut shell bearing "horsemen" are charged by god with a quest to retreieve said religious artifact. Along the way highjinks, some social commentary, and a killer rabbit all make their prescence known along the way. All added up probably the most quoted film ever, (well it is for any young man in college)
#10: Clerks: The film that showed that a great film does not need any extras, but excellent writing. And it's really just a simple story. Two slackers work a long day at their respective stores adjactent to one another, talking about pop culture, life, love, and berating customers. Outside, two drug dealers just hang out, one who doesn't shut up, one who won't talk. The best low budget film ever.
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