My 100 Favorite Films Part 2: #81-90

I'm back with the next group of ten films from my 100 favorite films of all time. Sorry that it has taken me so long to get this up. I hope that you are enjoying reading these articles and I'll try to get them up quicker.

Before we get into it, let's review the list so far.

100) His Girl Friday
99) 2001: A Space Odyssey
98) Adaptation
97) Being John Malkovich
96) Groundhog Day
95) Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
94) Boogie Nights
93) Apocalypse Now
92) Barton Fink
91) The Big Lebowski

Let's just jump right back into it shall we.

90) Breathless (1960)


One of the first films in the French New Wave movement and an important film that helped influence a whole new generation of filmmakers.

Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut both put their theories to work when they made their first films that started the New Wave movement. Where The 400 Blows is a more personal story to Truffaut, Godard is more style with his first film Breathless.

The story is simple. Michel, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, kills an officer and needs go on the run, but first he must convince the girl Patricia, played by Jean Seberg, to come with him. There is lots of sexual tension between them that delays any action on Michel's part.

Godard takes the camera into the street to shoot on real locations. He uses lots of long takes and jump cuts to let the actors tell the story. It's a fun movie that detours from typical Hollywood film making of the time and introduces new techniques that seem only natural today. I'm just now starting to discover many of the films from the French New Wave and so far I'm hooked, just as those were who went on to change Hollywood.

#89) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

A fun western that works for so many different reasons, but mostly because of the chemistry between it's stars Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The banter between these two, with lots of help from William Goldman's script, is extremely funny and you can't help but root for these two outlaws.

Butch and Sundance are bank robbers finding it hard to adapt to a changing time. As they are hunted down they go on the run and relocate to Bolivia to try to start over, but as is usually the case, they can't deny their true calling in life. The cinematography is beautifully photographed by the great Conrad Hall. It's not a typical western by any means, but it's just a fun and entertaining film. Makes me wish Newman and Redford had made more than two films together because their chemistry shines on the screen.

#88) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)



Nobody writes dialogue quite like David Mamet. Based on his own play, the film is a hard look at the pressure of working in a competitive sales office where closing the deal is everything.

The film has a great cast, including Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Jack Lemmon, and Kevin Spacey. The banter between the characters is written with a certain rhythm that is quick and hard hitting. Dialogue is everything in a Mamet piece. The characters are defined by their speech and nothing is held back in the language. The movie is a wonderful example of what great actors are capable of when given good characters and dialogue to work with.

#87) Apollo 13 (1995)


I have a thing for space travel. Long ago in my youth I wanted to be an astronomer or do something that required working for NASA. Then I realised how much studying that would take and there went that idea. But within that same passion I have a particular fondness for this Ron Howard film.

The movie tells the story of the Apollo mission where everything that could go wrong did. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris give great natural performances that bring life to these real people and it draws you into the story. Helping their performances is the use of in camera special effects that helps create a sense of realism that adds authenticity to the movie. They used a special free fall technique in real aircraft's that created short moments of weightlessness for the actors so that they really are floating, no strings attached. It's the little details like this that make the film work. Even though you know the outcome there is real tension and suspense that makes the movie really entertaining. It's just a great heroic story.

#86) Rashomon (1950)


A classic tale from the master Akira Kurosawa. The movie is about a murder and the trial to figure out who did it. We see the incident over and over again from the various points of view from those involved, including the victim's ghost.

Nonlinear story telling had been done before this film in such classics as Citizen Kane, but not to this extent. In Citizen Kane we see various points of the character's life told from differing points of views, but in Rashomon we see the same incident from different points of view. It's a strong example of the influence our own perspectives and experiences has on events in our life. Nobody sees things the same way, just like nobody interprets a film or song the same way.

It's also a strong example on the ways films can tell stories. The plot does not have to be a straight A to B linear story, but structure can be changed to add dramatic effect. It's a style that has been imitated and borrowed for such films as Pulp Fiction, Run Lola Run, and Vantage Point. It's an important film from one of the all time greats of cinema.

#85) Pink Floyd's The Wall (1982)


When I was in the sixth grade one of my brother's friends was playing the tape of The Wall in his car and I was captivated. I made a copy of it for myself and listened to it nonstop for several months straight. My taste in music was changed forever.

The power of the film lies in the strength of the music from which it is based. The album tells a story of isolation and eventual madness, withdrawing oneself from those around you until you are trapped by your own fears and anger. The metaphor for these feelings are played out in the film by Bob Geldof who plays the main character of Pink, a troubled rock star who becomes more and more withdrawn, building an internal wall around himself to shut the world out. His descent within his mind is portrayed through the animation in the film. The odd and abstract characters help to bring to life Pink's own internal demons. It is ultimately a tale of great sadness as there appears to be no help for Pink. It's a feeling of loneliness that I'm sure we have all felt at some points in our lives when you feel completely helpless and the only way to get out of it is to shut everyone else out. I know it's something I have felt and have been able to relate to.

Director Alan Parker brings great pacing and gets a strong performance from Geldof. As wonderful as the movie looks, it is the music that is the strength of the film. Two different mediums, music and film, blend perfectly to make a thoroughly enjoying and meaningful movie.

#84) The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)


Clint Eastwood's westerns have always had a different feel to them than more traditional westerns. There is a bit more darkness to the characters rather than the heroic types that John Wayne perfected. Of all of Eastwood's westerns, this is one of my favorites.

Eastwood plays a Missouri farmer who's family is murdered by Union soldiers. He goes on the run with some former Confederate fighters before exacting his own revenge against the murderers of his family. There are plenty of good shoot out scenes and the obligatory Eastwood one liners he deals out before opening a can of whoop ass on his enemies. There are hints of the character traits that made Dirty Harry so intimidating and dangerous. It's a fun dark western that was a good precursor to Eastwood's more successful Unforgiven.

#83) Rope (1948)


One of the greats yet under appreciated films from the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. It's a bit more style over substance but the technical aspects of the film are totally appropriate and help to enhance the story.

Two young men strangle one of their other friends and hide his body in their apartment just before the victim's friends and family come over for a dinner party. They wish to challenge the perfection of their crime by proving they could not only get away with it but do it right under every one's nose. At the dinner party is a former professor played by James Stewart who grows suspicious of the two men and weary that the victim is not present. The story becomes a chess match between Stewart and the two men to see who can out wit the other.

Hitchcock chose two important film and story techniques to help add to the suspense. The movie is done in real time, which means that the amount of time in the story that passes is the exact amount of time the movie runs. Doing this puts the viewer in a time restraint and you are left to wonder who will out duel who before time is up. It's a clever technique to increase the suspense. Hitchcock adds to this by also filming the movie in one single shot. We are forced with only one perspective by the wandering camera throughout the party. There is no closeups or quick cuts to trick us into when we should be feeling tense. We are observers and it is the story and characters left on their own to thrill us. It's a clever technique that never really feels showy. With today's ability to shoot digital it would be easier to film one long uncut shot, but on film you can only get about ten minutes worth of footage before you need to change the reel. Hitchcock got away with this by picking certain moments where the camera would move and do things like focusing in on the back of a character as they walked, cut, and pull out with a new reel so that it feels seamless. You can catch the cuts and changes if you pay attention. It was something new and different and only something that Hitchcock could pull off. It works for the story and is truly inventive and unique and helps make the movie much more suspenseful. It's not one of his films talked about often but it's really one of his many hidden gems.

#82) Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)


George Clooney suffers no sophomore slump in his second film as a director. Clooney not only directs and costars but he also takes on writing duties in this relevant film about an important phase of our country's history.

David Strathairn plays journalist Edward Murrow who during the 1950's took on Senator Joseph McCarthy and his communist witch hunt. In a time when it was unpopular to speak out and express your opinion against something like he did was very risky but important in maintaining not only our freedoms but our sanity. The country was so crazed over the threat of communist infiltration that anyone who did not agree with the status quo was labeled communist and wrongly shun from society. Several people lost their jobs and lives were ruined for having any hint of a connection to communist ideals and sympathy towards those who were punished. Murrow stood up to the bullying Senator and not only called him out but also the American people, basically saying that we as a nation are better than this and the moment we let fear guide our decisions then all is lost.

The film and it's subject matter are just as important today as it was when Murrow was first reporting on McCarthy. At the time of the Iraq occupation it was extremely harmful for one to oppose the war and the actions of the administration. You were considered un-American or a terrorist if you disagreed with the action. People let themselves be manipulated by fear mongering and let themselves be duped rather than looking at the matters logically. We live in a time where nobody wants to think for themselves but are more comfortable being told what to feel or who to hate or who to fear. This is dangerous and can be detrimental to the success and future of our country. This film reminds us that we must question and stand up to our leaders and always back that which is morally right and just, whether the sentiment is popular or not. We must learn from our history, not repeat it.

#81) The Wild Bunch (1969)

I feel this Sam Peckinpah western is just as important a film in the transition from old Hollywood to the new Hollywood as Bonnie and Clyde is. It stands as a symbol of change from the old standards to the new edgier style.

The movie is about a gang of old outlaws, lead by William Holden, who are looking for one last big score. Their ways of doing things are no longer viable as the old west has changed and grown more sophisticated for their standards. They are no longer able to adapt and find that the world has passed them by. Rather than let it slip away they go for one last big score that could change everything for them.

Just as the old west has changed for these characters, old Hollywood standards changed as well and The Wild Bunch attacked the traditional sense of the western head on. In this film people that got shot actually bleed out. There was much more violence shown on screen than had ever been done in any John Wayne western. The main characters weren't exactly the prototypical western heroes either. They were bad and ruthless men, a sort of anti hero that thumbed it's nose at the establishment. It helped wave in a new era of protagonists that were not typical role models. A new darker and edgier type of story telling was happening in Hollywood and this film helped lead the charge into a new era.

That wraps up this group of films. I'll begin work on the next set right away and try to get that posted as soon as possible. And as always, thanks for reading. Until next time...