Those of you who keep up with the various internet cult news blogs and sites may have seen that Quentin Tarantino recently produced a list of his top 20 favourite movies of the last 17 years (the period he has been making movies). Those of you who don’t; well, Quentin Tarantino recently produced a list of his 20 favourite movies that have been produced since 1992.
Never one to miss jumping on the bandwagon for a new internet trend, here’s my Top 20. Like Joe Mallozzi, I’m going to put mine in alphabetical order, because I hate ranking things. Also, because I’m annoyed that one of my favourite movies doesn’t fall into that time category, I’m going to add five years to the start, and list all the movies that have been released since the year I was born: 1987.
Oh, I should probably also note that these aren’t necessarily the “best” movies of that period. They’re not necessarily my “favourites”, either. I haven’t included any of the Star Wars films, or the TNG movies. And I’ve cheated, and lumped certain films together. But hey. Here we go:
A Knight’s Tale: Maybe I’m just including this because it has Heath Ledger in. Or maybe its because of Alan Tudyk. Or Paul Bettany. Or that dude who played Mark Anthony in Rome. Maybe its because we did the Cantabury Tales in GCSE English, and I appreciate the efforts of film-makers for taking the piss of it on my behalf. However, I’d like to think that it’s because I have taste in movies. Right from the off, AKT doesn’t take itself seriously. While waiting for the jousting competition to begin, we hear the medieval crowd chanting We Will Rock You. Later, there is a fantastic dance routine to a David Bowie song. And yet, you don’t care. It all works, somehow. The story is a rehash of the old “boy meets girl” scenario. Some of the scenes are a little twee. But its immensely, intensely enjoyable. One of those movies that I could probably watch over again, as soon as the disc finished.
Apollo 13: This is a somewhat unusual inclusion, you must be thinking. Many of you may not have seen it. It isn’t – as far as I know – a massive splash of a movie. But frankly… why the hell not? For starters, the story is true: they went to great pains to inject it with realism, and the Apollo 13 story is one that has been borrowed by Science Fiction ever since. Not only does it capture you with its tale of three (well, four) Astronauts and their dream to go to the moon, it wrenches you when that gets ripped away from under them. The special effects are incredible for a movie of its age, and they win bonus points for using the vomit comet – the plane that simulates zero gravity for its passengers – to film some of the weightless scenes. And on top of that, look at the cast: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinese, Ed Harris. I mean, c’mon: that’s an ensemble of awesome talent. I challenge you all to find the movie, watch it, and not have your heartstrings tugged when Gary Sinese finds out that he won’t be going. It may not be the “best” movie of the last 22 years, but it’s one that will definately endure.
Armageddon: Don’t worry: they don’t all begin with A. I had a tough choice picking this one – I almost went with The Fifth Element as my token “Bruce Willis” movie. I could have gone with The Sixth Sense, or Die Hard. All I enjoyed. Hell, Armageddon has Liv Tyler (who, though sexy, is much more appealing when she isn’t trying to act) and Ben Browder in it. But there’s something about the premise of Armageddon that just appeals. Its just so silly. Its everything that Deep Impact was, but with added entertainment value. The characters – played by some truely fantastic and entertaining actors – make the preparations for the mission fun, and you think its going to keep the same tone the whole way through. But as soon as they get to the asteroid? Sure, some bits are a little cheesy, but there’s action and drama. There are emotional bits that actually succeed. Somehow, the movie just manages to work. Its also the first of my “The Only Movie That” films; in this instance, its one of the few movies that makes me cry “happy tears”. How the hell did this movie make me that happy, because Ben Affleck *didn’t* die?!
The Dark Knight: I should probably point out that I’m treating this and Batman Begins as one and the same film; though I did think that TDK was the better of the two. Again, Heath Ledger makes an appearence, and lets admit: his portrayal of the Joker was pretty iconic. But the entire series thus far is iconic in the way it puts things together. It inspired this whole new “gritty” attitude for Superhero movies that have, lets face it, always been bright and shiny and spangly. They took characters that we already knew, and put a new twist on them. Two-Face in The Dark Knight was so easy to associate with; he was a guy who’d lost everything, and didn’t deserve any of what had happened to him. The movie was incredibly ambitious, and they pulled it off. Both of Nolan’s movies thus far have been as iconic and impressive as the original Batman movie, back whenever it was when it was made – the Jack Nicholson one. You know what I mean. And lets face it: how many of us made it to the end of those 2+ hours of The Dark Knight and thought: “Its over? Nooooooo!”
Dogma: I don’t know why I like this movie. Alan Rickman is a massive redeeming feature, but it has Matt Damon in it. And Ben Affleck, my dislike for whom has already been mentioned. I’m not a massive Chris Rock fan. But it just works. The premise is silly. The mockery of the Catholic Church is probably in poor taste. I hate religion. Despite all of that, somehow the movie pulls it all together, and makes for a fun and funny hour or two of TV. They also deserve a prize for “Funniest Line In Movie Delivered By Character Who Doesn’t Talk”.
Galaxy Quest: If you haven’t seen it, rectify that. Now. Even if you don’t like sci-fi. It sets out to make fun of all of the cheesy clichés in science fiction television. It succeeds. Somehow, it also manages to also be an awesome movie as well, and a fantastic piece of sci-fi in its own right. Its the tale of a bunch of people who, after the cancellation of their show, spend the rest of their lives at conventions and what-not, with their roles in the series overshadowing their lives. Then, a bunch of aliens who have watched the show – and believed that it was real – abduct them, asking for their help in some interstellar adventure. Its silly. Its awesome. It works. And yet again, its an awesome cast. And is it just me, or is this one of the only movies that Sigourney Weaver actually seems “hot” in?
Harry Potter: This is a contravertial choice, I’m sure. Its one of a number of movies based on fantasy books, and turned into movies; a genre that includes Lord of the Rings, The Golden Compass, Twilight, Eragon, and all sorts of others that I can’t be bothered to think of right now. I picked this one as the representative for a few reasons. I like gritty, dramatic, and visually astounding movies. I like stories that take the source material, and conjure them into reality on the screen. Lord of the Rings certainly delivers that. But they’re long movies, that take a lot of effort and focus to make it through. Harry Potter on the other hand has an injection of fun and humour that the others don’t provide. You get the drama, you get the sense of scale, and you care about the fate of the characters; but they actually make you laugh a few times. The emotional side of things works too; even if it is a bit teen-ansty. It isn’t one of those situations where it is “the best” at something specific: its just a fantastic all-rounder, particularly in its last few incarnations. Lord of the Rings is one of those movies you save for a special occasion; Harry Potter you could casually watch any time.
Hero: There have been a lot of movies that conform to the ye-olde eastern style of martial arts movie: martial arts with wirework that goes beyond the believable, and doesn’t bother to use science fiction as an excuse. Of those, Hero is my favourite. I usually don’t get on with subtitled movies. That initially tripped me up with Crouching Tiger. But Hero is visually artistic; you don’t really need the script at all, because what is displayed on the screen paints the picture of what you need to know. The premise is fairly simple: a man claims that he has killed three powerful assassins, and is there to collect his reward from the Emperor (of China). The Emperor asks him to explain; but when he does, the Emperor doesn’t believe him, offers his speculation of what happened, and then the story is told again. Each segment we here is painted in a different colour, with the characters wearing according colours. It sounds weird, but its visually beautiful. I couldn’t tell you what anyone said; it reached the point where I just didn’t see the subtitles anymore, and just let the music and the visuals tell me the story. Its just stunning. If you’re only going to watch one of the movies from this list that you haven’t seen, I urge you to make it this one.
Hot Fuzz: This is my token “British” movie; and also my token “Simon Pegg” movie. Like Galaxy Quest and A Knight’s Tale, it doesn’t take itself seriously, and makes fun of the genre it is depicting – in this instance, action movies. Its fun and funny; its also action-packed and awesome. The cast is again brilliant. I know some people don’t like Hot Fuzz, or they prefer Shaun of the Dead to it. For me though, this is the example of their work that I can, and have, watched several times in one day.
The Incredibles: I am a firm believer in the notion that everything Pixar touches turns to CGI gold. Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Cars, and all the other ones that I can’t remember, were all fantastic movies. The Incredibles is my favourite, though. I think its the way that it takes the Superhero genre, and pulls a “Galaxy Quest” on it. I suppose you’ll have spotted the theme by now: I like watching movies poke lighthearted fun at themselves. The notion of these characters trying to live a normal life in superhero retirement is fantastic. The family dynamic that makes shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy appeal to me is there as well. There’s comedy that is actually funny. There’s action that is actually cool. All I can say is that its a shame that Pixar decided to do Cars 2 instead of The Incredibles 2: I’d have really enjoyed seeing more of the particularly compelling characters they created here.
Independence Day: Like Pixar, Will Smith has the movie Midas touch, in my opinion. He’s a diverse actor, managing to succeed in the action and drama of Enemy of the State, Hancock, and I Am Legend, just as well as he coped in the comedy setting of Wild Wild West and Men in Black. For me though, Independence Day is the movie that started it all. It covers pleanty of bases: there’s a global threat from aliens; some cool and (in some instances) iconic visuals; Will Smith being funny and cool; some proper “Fuck Yeah!” moments; a speech from the President that makes you proud to be American (even if you aren’t); and appearences by awesome actors like Data, Jayne, and President Roslin for those of us with eagle eyes and geeky brains.
Iron Man: Seems only fair that if DC Comics’ millionaire superhero with no powers aside from his high-tech armoured bodysuit gets mentioned, I extend the same curtosy to Iron Man. I knew who the character was, going in. I’d seen a few episodes of the cartoon series, and I’d read up on Marvel stuff when the movie was announced (so I knew what to expect). I wasn’t nearly as much of a fan of Iron Man as I had been with X-Men, Spiderman or Fantastic Four, though. Like many, I went along because the effects they showed in the trailer were pretty cool. I was blown away. Robert Downey Jr is fantastic. Industrial Light and Magic produced some effects that were so good that frankly, the only way you knew what they were was because you knew such feats were impossible. Jon Favreau is an awesome director, and apparently he encourages his actors to ad-lib, which apparently worked: the dialogue seemed natural and spot on. I saw this movie two or three times in the cinema; I was still buzzing by the time the movie came out on DVD and, as I sit here writing, I’m buzzing now. I watched Iron Man a couple of days ago; I’m sorely tempted to put it on again and watch it now. I LOVE this movie; by far my favourite superhero flick, and a hot contender as my favourite movie of all time.
Jurassic Park: I love dinosaurs. My sixth or seventh birthday (I forget which) was spent at the Natural History Museum in their dinosaur exhibit; when I visited recently with Rosie, nearly fifteen years on, it hadn’t lost any of its awesomeness. So of course, I’m going to love the movie about the dinosaur theme park. Like Iron Man, Jurassic Park has some truely fantastic special effects; phenominal, given the time. Even now, when I watched the show on television the other day, I was blown away by how good it was. As a kid, I knew it was CGI, and none of it bothered me… right up until the Velociraptor’s breath started condensing on the glass window of the kitchen, and it opened the door. To this day, Jurassic Park remains one of the only movies that genuinely scares me. For that reason alone, it deserves its spot in my Top 20.
Lord of the Rings: I had a big rant earlier about Harry Potter, saying it was “better” as an all-round movie than Lord of the Rings. In truth, I’d forgotten that I’d included LOTR later down my list, so you’ll have to pretend I didn’t say some of the stuff I said then. When I was 11 – in my final year of Primary School – our teacher read the Hobbit as our class story; complete with voices and everything. That summer, I read Lord of the Rings. Like most people who’ve read the books, I was stunned and blown away by the “visuals”; so when Peter Jackson announced his plans to try and bring them to the screen, I was both excited and worried, wanting to see my belovéd book brought to life, but worried he might not have done it “right”. To be honest, I’m not sure if he did or not; the bastard interpreted the book in a way far better than I ever could, and instantly blasted my imagination out of the water. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is just… well, its one of the best movies ever made. Visuals? Awesome. Acting? Awesome. Story? Awesome. Movie? Awesome. Nuff said.
Matrix: When Quentin Tarantino did this list, he said that the fact that there were sequels to the Matrix spoiled it for him, and thus reduced the standing of the movie in his list. I have to agree, if I’m honest. As a stand-alone movie, it was artistic and iconic. I was excited that the sequels were being made, but because the bar had been set so high by the first movie, they unfortunately didn’t live up to that standard. Even so, the initial movie remains one of those integral features of pop culture; and its still cool, iconic, and all that jazz.
The Princess Bride: Here’s the movie that made me change the start date from 1992 to 1987. Its another of those silly, self-mocking movies; presented as a book being read by a grandfather to his sick grandson. Its based on a novel (which I should really get around to reading); but in short, its basically hillarity incarnate. It isn’t spectacular. It isn’t artistic. But its damned funny. If your name is Inigo Montoya, someone killed your father, and you aren’t left-handed either, you probably won’t enjoy this film. For everyone else though, you should probably watch it. Or not. *shrug* As you wish. Inconcievable!
Serenity: What kind of nerd would I be if I didn’t find a way of venerating Firefly, even when it is inappropriate? In truth, Serenity is what got me into the franchise. I’d heard of Firefly, but never bothered to watch it. Boy did I feel stupid about that when I left the cinema. Serenity was everything I later discovered the series to be. I still have no idea how Joss Whedon managed to produce a film that managed to be accessable to people who hadn’t seen the series, and yet not boring to those who had. The characters were introduced swiftly and beautifully, and in such a way that in moments, you already cared enough about what happened to them for the storyline to make you genuinely worried about what might happen to them. I thought it was a fantastic movie when I first saw it. Having watched the series, it now seems that fantastic was an understatement. If you haven’t done so yet, go get yourself indoctrinated into the Firefly fandom. You won’t regret it.
Stargate: How could I not include this? Its the movie that got me hooked on a series that was based on it (but not quite). As well as dinosaurs and science, I love mythology. Stargate provided the latter two (I really need to talk to Joe Mallozzi about getting him to cover the dinosaur base, and achieve the trifecta). The story is a classic adventure, with villains that are blatantly evil, a cool but conflicted hero, the cliché socially awkward genius who ultimately comes through and saves the day, a boy-meets-girl scenario… oh, and body-snatching aliens who fly around in giant space pyramids. If I’m honest, I prefer the rendition of the TV series; but the movie itself was outstanding, given the time, format, etc. Definately deserves to be in here somewhere.
Starship Troopers: Just in case you were worried that my list wasn’t full of enough cheese and naffness, here’s Starship Troopers. Its charmingly rubbish; so gorey it becomes funny; its one of those movies that should probably have been a pile of crap, but that knows that it should be, and so shoots you a subtle wink about it that makes everything okay. Its like Chandler from Friends: in spite of his personality and sense of humour, he’s still somehow incredibly awesome, in an inexplicable way.
Star Trek: Appropriate that the alphabet should compel me to list the most recent movie at the end. I was born the year that The Next Generation first aired. Deep Space Nine started when I was a kid – Voyager too – and got watched fairly religiously by me and my mum. The old Star Trek was on reruns by that point, so I was introduced to that as well. I’ve always liked the franchise, and I’m something of a Trekkie. So, when Rosie offered to take me out to the cinema to see Star Trek (having seen it already once herself), I was prepared to hate every moment. By the end of the USS Kelvin scene, I was so blown away by the visuals – and the soundtrack – that I was almost moved to tears. That’s, what, ten minutes in? Kudos to JJ Abrams for winning me over so swiftly. By the time I got to the end of the movie, I was buzzing even more than Iron Man. The characters, though in completely different situations, were spot on; better than spot on, in fact, since they’d conjured up whole extra dimensions to their characters in explaining their origins. It was as if they’d gone back to the source material – to the original ideas in Gene Roddenbery’s head – and recreated the franchise based on that, rather than doing a “remake” of the old series. Just like Nolan’s Batman having gone back to the source material, rather than being a remake of the earlier Batman movies, etc. I cannot wait until the DVD release, so that I can watch the movie again and again.
There’s my list, anyway. Its no doubt subject to change, particularly if you ask me to be more specific, I’ll probably come up with a different list of twenty. And yes, I cheated and grouped some franchises together – technically the above is my Top 28 Movies. But still. Shurrup and go watch them! *shakefist*
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