Top Ten Tuesday – My top ten movies of all time.
Today I’m bringing you my top ten movies of all time.
I’m so happy to put this list together as I’m a big movie fan…
1) Unbreakable – Definitely one of my favorite films which is why I list it here as #1. In this film Director M. Night Shyamalan’s understated, creepy affecting, powerful take on the superhero story has arguably Bruce Willis’ best screen performance, and a twist which is cleverer than the end of The Sixth Sense. “It was the children… they called me Mr. Glass.” If you’re like me who grew up watching super heroes and reading comic books, you’re going to love this film!
2) Scream – Now I know this sounds a tad familiar: a teenage girl home alone; a telephone call that moves from sexy banter to psychotically violent threat; a Steadicam that never seems to stop peering edgily around corners; and a disemboweled boyfriend oozing offal onto the patio. For my generation who grew up with Michael Myers and who would list Camp Crystal Lake as a favoured holiday spot there would seem to be no surprises in the crimson tidal-wave of torn nubile flesh that an opening sequence like that promises. But what distinguishes Scream from the rest of the slew of teen slashers that still haunt the lower reaches of Blockbuster’s shelving is that it’s bloody. Bloody funny, that is
3) Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Without a surprise Johnny Depp is once again an unmitigated joy as Captain Sparrow, delivering another eye darting, word slurring turn with some wonderful slapstick flourishes. Rossio and Elliot smartly exploit these in some wonderful action set pieces, the best seeing Jack attempting to escape from a cannibal village while tied to a pole that’s also skewering a selection of exotic fruits, and hurtling down a chasm Wile E. Coyote style.
4) Batman – A 1989 film by my favorite director Tim Burton. In this film Burton’s noir nightmare re-established the franchise for the ’90s. Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton are wonderful as they turn into freak villain and Gothic hero. This film is full of imaginative violence, clever rethinking of familiar characters, astonishing sets and witty lines.
5) 28 Days Later – A revival of the zombie apocalypse movie. This film was shot fast and cheap and digital. Which instantly established a new style for low budget horror films. But has room for eerily depopulated cityscapes and character horror as well as ferocious monster attacks.
6) Casablanca – A 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. It’s set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in the words of one character, love and virtue. He must choose between his love for a woman and helping her and her Czech Resistance leader husband escape from the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis.
7) Dumb And Dumber – A film by the Farrelly brothers, this is a high (or low) watermark in the history of gross out, scrambling the frenzied talents of Jim Carrey and the Farrelly brothers, with Jeff Daniels gamely pitching in. It is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen!
8) Finding Nemo – A 2003 film by director Andrew Stanton. This is Pixar’s fifth feature and is in my opinion remarkable for being both cute and, at times, surprisingly harsh. Also, it’s time to reconsider Ellen DeGeneres’ memory-loss-plagued Dory as one of the studio’s finest creations.
9) Men In Black – This film is a comedy hit that slyly spoofs that X-Files mix of government conspiracy, secret agents and E. T.s on Earth. But I having grown up watching super heroes absolutely loved it.
10) Dirty Dancing – A 1987 film by director Emile Ardolino. Let’s see if I can get through this without any mention of “Baby” and “corner”. Oh, well guess not. This film has great tunes, a romantic wish fulfilment and a ’60s innocence that makes this an evergreen populist classic.
And there my friends is my list of the Top Ten Movies of all time for me. What are your top ten?