Welcome back to those who are eagerly anticipating/have absolutely nothing better to do than to read the second instalment of my top 10 greatest movies ever. Just a quick note to point out my ever expanding blog has a new page showing what the ratings I give my movies actually mean. I know, I also thought that might come in handy to you lot as well. Anyway first off a quick reminder from 10 to 6 of my top 10 to save you from reading or, if you really are in a bit of a crazy/delirious state, rereading the previous crap that I wrote.
So we kick off with another classic about a family in suburbia and the seemingly normal life that they lead to the outside world but which is starting to fall apart behind the scenes. The movie is narrated by Lester (Kevin Spacey), who deservedly won the 1999 Oscar for best actor for his role, as he comes to terms with his mid-life crisis and subsequent revival through infatuation for his daughter's friend (Mena Suvari). I have always felt this movie is over analysed with people reading to much into specific scenes and accompanying dialogue (the plastic bag scene for example) for hidden meanings that are not there. However this movie does get you thinking and had a very good ending intertwined with several intriguing sub-plots. Add to that the fact that it has a naked girl lying on a bed of rose petals and you are onto a winner everyday of the week!
The solitary entry for a comic book hero in my list now in a film that was dominated by the arrival of one character, the Joker (Heath Ledger). The Joker returns to Gotham City for this chapter of the Batman series proceeding to reawaken several underground criminals in the process. Ledger steals the show as the depraved on-edge lunatic, winning an Oscar in the process and despite his untimely death the cynical part of me still wonders if the movie was more of a success because of this. Time will tell with the release of The Dark Knight Rises only around the corner in 2012. Regardless, Alfred (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) bring a touch of comedy to what is otherwise a very dark movie with the main reason for this hitting the highs of number 4 is down to the writing. It's so chock-a-block full of twist plots (look no further than the opening bank heist) and second guessing that I seriously do not know how they managed to fit it all in. Finally, the music (Hans Zimmer) is excellent and reverberates through you whilst you're watching adding to the experience that is The Dark Knight.
The second appearance on the list for director Christopher Nolan having also directed the above and who can be considered to be on some what of a roll on the movies front at the moment (Batman Begins, The Prestige, Inception) with everything associated with him being of a very high standard. This movie is about Leonard (Guy Pearce) who is involved in an accident and subsequently is no longer able to form long term memories. His memories prior to the crash are intact but now he can only remember things for 15 minutes before he forgets them. Where the sheer brilliance of this movie occurs is that it starts with the ending and then works backwards in short memory bursts whilst still somehow keeping the mystery and intrigue and giving nothing away. Each new burst shatters your previous illusions and you are constantly reforming your beliefs and loyalties throughout the movie. It's a real thinker but stick it out and its fantastic.
I've always enjoyed movies set in prisons from The Green Mile to Cool Hand Luke but this one takes the biscuit and everything else for that matter every time. The story begins with Andy Dufresne (sure as hell didn't think it was spelt like that) played by Tim Robbins who is incarcerated into Shawshank Penitentiary for a crime he says he did not commit. Cue Red (Freeman) and Andy's friendship over the next 40 years as the men grow accustomed to life in jail. Probably one of the first films that sent narrating in movies into overdrive but the strength of this film lies in the fact that it doesn't have special effects or cockamamie ideas, only the quality and detail in both the main plot/sub-plots being told and superb acting all around.
And so finally we reach number 1. Drum roll please...
What's not to love about this movie? It has absolutely everything any other movie has and more. Whether you are looking for a war film, sports film, comedy, action, adventure, fantasy, drama, romance this movie has it all I tells ya! It's centred around the lovable Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a simple minded man who crosses paths with many greats and events throughout history interwoven with the search for the love of his life, Jenny (Robin Wright). There are so many amazing characters- Bubba, Lt. Dan that always make me laugh and that's not even including the genius of Forrest himself. This movie will have affected everyone in some way even if it's just because at some point in your life you have uttered "RUN (insert word here) RUN" or another catch phrases associated with it. Forrest Gump is the classic, is the best, end of!!!
Ta da. So there are my top 10 films of all time. What have we learnt then? Old school definitely seems to be kicking new school right in the family jewels with years 1994 + 1999 hogging 6 out of my top 10 and only one entry forcing its way in during a decades worth of new movies. Who thinks I've nailed it on the head and who thinks I'm missing out a glaringly obvious classic- The Godfather perhaps, I don't rate it that highly myself, it was OK don't get me wrong but nothing special. If all goes to plan there should be a poll somewhere at the bottom of this page, so why not cast your vote and see how much the masses agree with me or not as the case may be.
Until next time... which will be tomorrow (got rid of the palpable suspense right away there didn't I) where I will be reviewing the recently released Battle: Los Angeles. Here is a sneak peak to get you in the mood...
Farm
Are you fanatical about film? Then follow this site on Twitter @ FAbFilms
So I'm still here and going strong less than 24 hours later, who would have thought it! I decided that since I'm just setting off with this blog I would let everyone know about my favourite films (thereby immediately alienating anyone with different tastes to me, cheers to the 4 people who somehow stumbled onto this page and quickly left again) by giving a run down of my top 10 movies of all time. A nice simple task to get the ball rolling then... unsurprisingly this has not turned out to be the case with my cut down list hitting a stumbling block at 34, that's nearly 10 right? Damn!
I'll be honest, if I watched this film now it probably wouldn't make it into my top 10 so why does it merit it's place amongst the best? Especially with the fact that if I were to do a top 10 worst films ever, I'm sure M. Night Shyamalan would have a couple of entries. Timing is everything and this was one of the first films that truly stumped me. I did not work out what was going on right until the film told me and that very rarely happens to me. Add to that the storyline of a boy who can see the dead and it just scrapes itself into the top 10. Random fact... the colour red is used subliminally in the movie to relate to everything with connotations of being bad or evil).
A story of a serial killer using the seven deadly sins to murder seemingly random people as detective Morgan Freeman and his rookie Brad Pitt fight to catch him before he can strike again- what's not to love about this? The film goes so much further than other odd-couple detective pairings with the relationship between them developing intensely alongside the plot. The killers methods add a dark depravity to the film not unlike some of the games from the Saw franchise giving Kevin Spacey lots to work with and boy does he pull off evil genius (dependant on your viewpoint) ever so well. Top that off with an excellent finish unlike many similar movies and David Fincher's Se7en is surely one of the best around.
Slight change of pace now with what can only be described as a gangster crime thriller with a strong sense of dark humour underbelly running throughout. Guy Ritchieproduces another gem whereby four hapless Londoners get themselves in a spot of bother with the local mob boss which results in them having to pay off a half million pound debt and with only a week to do it in. What follows can only be described as chaotic as our four happy go lucky characters drag themselves into the crime world without ever really knowing what they are doing and leaving a wake of plot twists, cunning schemes and rip-off's that culminates towards the end with a whole lot of guns to the background music of Zorba the Greek. Not forgetting the scene with the much loved traffic warden leading me to say I could have summed up this film in one word... immense!
No list would be complete without just that little bit of Disney to brighten the day and this is where The Lion King wins hands down over other Disney films in my eyes. Surely a controversial statement for some there but not me! Aladdin and Robin Hood may run it close but The Lion King definitely has the whole package as far as Disney goes. Loveable characters, evil characters, lots of comedy and of course some classic songs to back it up. If you don't think 'hakuna matata' is one of the best of the Disney songs then please leave this blog, I'm not saying 'bear necessities' isn't right up there but add 'I just can't wait to be king' and your onto a winner. Now yes it could be argued that The Lion King absolutely ripped off Kimba the White Lion but still I love it all the same.
Granted the less said about the sequels the better (except the car chase in the second, that was class) but that is only because The Matrix was such an original movie in the first place that nothing was ever going to be able to top it. The sequels were destined to fail. I'm sure everyone knows the plot but just in case, Neo is the one who is destined to free humans from their machine captors who harvest the humans for their energy and imprison them in an artificial reality known as the Matrix. This movie brought us slow mo effects which is nearly enough in itself to place it in the top 10 but it made everyone bring up the reality 'am I real, are we real' debate, in school at least, for over a year and opened up a whole new perspective that I and others had rarely thought about before. Still waiting for the Wachowski Brothers to get back to their original best despite the very good V for Vendetta but they have some projects on the go so fingers crossed.
Well that's enough for now so I will leave you guessing at the rest until my next post...
[UPDATE: Click here for the second half]
Farm
Are you fanatical about film? Then follow this site on Twitter @ FAbFilms
