Top 120 Movies, Continued

We have reached the first installment in top 100! These movies are on the cusp of greatness for various reasons. I love all 10 of them, and strongly urge you to check 'em out.

99. Finding Neverland. Is it me, or is Johnny Depp really one of the best character actors in the history of humankind? For those that do not know, this movie is about the writer of Peter Pan, James Matthew Barrie, and his search for inspiration. Of course, his life is dull and tiresome as he deals with being in the middle class of Victorian England; he yearns for his own freedom from the constraints put on him by genteel society. His wife, a status seeker looking for upward social mobility, only makes things worse for him. He is the true artist...yearning for what he doesn't have, while having it pretty good.

He meets a family, sans father, and immediately takes to them. He has no ill intentions towards the widow, but Victorian society cannot understand his obsession with spending time as a surrogate dad/friend to the children and the widow. A rare movie that I would recommend that tugs at the heart strings in predictable Hollywood fashion. I suppose Depp saves the movie, though Kate Winslet pulls her weight.

98. Spies Like Us. Yes!! The first Chevy Chase flick...and Dan Aykroyd. The name test: Chevy as Emmett Fitz-Hume; Aykroyd as Austin Millbarge. Two great fake CIA names! The cast is awesome, with some very memorable scenes. First, the scene where Fitz-Hume and Millbarge meet: taking an exam to move up in the government ranks, Millbarge the anal, studious test taker finds himself late and sitting next to Fitz-Hume the slacker. Fitz-Hume has arrived with an eye-patch, a fake broken arm, and cheat sheets in every orifice and hiding spot possible. (Frank Oz, the voice of Kermit and Yoda is the test proctor). Fitz-Hume, realizing he cannot pass it, fakes a heart attack while Millbarge tries to save him thinking he really is in trouble.

Other classics. Every scene with the General, played by Tom Hatten is awesome. His seriousness is key to good comedy as everything else is incongruous he is playing the standard cold war general. The scene where Fitz-Hume and Millbarge meet the doctors in Afghanistan...Doctor, Doctor...Doctor, Doctor...awesome. And, I laugh everytime they go into training. Not Chase or Aykroyds best, but so good.

97. The Neverending Story. What do I have to say about this movie that you do not already know? In the childrens-fantasy-yet-adult category, a story that is eternally great. I refuse to ruin it for those who have never seen it, or rehash what those who have already know. Watch it.

96. Melinda and Melinda. Woody Allen at his cleverest. A strange cast, with Will Ferrell being the only person aside from Amanda Peet of real note. Set in a restaurant, some good screen writer/director friends are hanging out debating the classic Allen (stolen from Ernest Borgnine and, of course, the Greeks) question: are all stories really comedies and tragedies depending upon the perspective? Of course, all movies and stories must decide this at some point, but what if the same story was told from both angles? Allen proceeds to have both storytellers at the table build a story about a girl named Melinda; one a comedy, the other a tragedy. But, in standard Allen fashion, by the end, the viewer is still unsure which is the comedy and which is the tragedy. In life, what is ironic can often be construed either way. An overlooked Allen movie, and a great vehicle for Ferrell to not be funny. Many of Allen's life long themes are here, but the stories and the creative way he spins them dominate the movie hiding the redundancies that are the primary source of his bad movies failing.

95. Gran Turino. Clint Eastwood's most recent installment. I know it is said often, but think about this. A guy goes from being the lead character with no name in a trilogy of westerns, then follows this up with alternating westerns and vigilante cop movies, then some terrible comedy efforts (Every Which Way But Loose). Out of the murkiness of the '80s, he writes/directs/stars in The Unforgiven, one of the greatest movies ever made and he hasn't looked back since. I do not think Million Dollar Baby deserved the acclaim, but still, his career arc is unreal. Gran Turino uncoincidentally takes place in Detroit, MI, where Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) has lived nearly his whole life. Representative of the working class in the entire US, Kowalski's name speaks of early twentieth century immigrant parents (likely from Poland), again pointing to the historical trajectory of an immigrant people and their success through hard work. He stands for everything lost among the heterogeneity of a highly diverse and complex American society; his beautifully kept Gran Turino represents the lost halycon days of US manufacturing might, of the craftsmanship that the US was once known for, and at the same time, the disappearance of an entire sector of the economy and with it the jobs, livelihood, and security of the entire working class.

Exacerbating this are two intersecting trends. On the one hand, Kowalski's children are soft, white collar types who have little time for their father, nor do they understand his choice to remain in the city of Detroit. Of course, he is Korean war vet who was likely the patriarchal version of father -- lacking close ties with his kids and lacking emotions. At the same time, the neighborhood he raised his kids in has become Hmong (a Chinese ethnic group found in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Burma). He is separated emotionally from his children, physically from his wife (whose dead), symbolically and ethnically from his neighbors. The ultimate irony is that he spends so much time denigrating the Hmong only to find that the kid he befriends has every bit of a work ethic as he did, and acts like any Eastern/Southern European immigrant every acted. The affinity he finds with this kid, as painfully opposed to his own kids, is amazing and so out of place as the neighborhood and everything else around him seems to be decaying. Sad ending...sort of; good movie...definitely.

94. The Three Amigos. The name test. Lucky Day (Steve Martin); Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase); Ned Nederlander (Martin Short); El Guapo (the enemy); Jefe (his right hand man); the German (enemy); Harry Flugleman (studio exec played by Joe Mantegna). Awesome all around. Especially the bad guys. This movies humor is not as sharp as some of the solo projects the all-stars did, but damn, who denies the Singing Bush and the Invisible Swordsman wasn't the funniest thing? Or, what about when they break into the studio with Steve Martin doing the best bird calls..."Hey you...look up here...look up here!" Brilliant.

And, in great eighties fashion, the enemies were absurd stereotypes of Mexicans and Germans. While un-P.C., stereotypes go a real long way in comedy. Comedy is the irony behind incongruent elements of social life, and stereotypes are always paradoxical (the lazy Mexican always put up against the hard working, four job having Mexican...no one can win!). This is a delightful movie, and I think that word delightful was invented simply for this movie.

93. The Man on the Moon. Jim Carrey being a real actor...hard to believe, but true. Moreover, Courtney Love off drugs and actually convincingly good for a few minutes. A little too long, but a great story about Andy Kaufmann that does little to settle the real debate: was he insane, a genius, accidently funny, or a guy with a good schtick? Kaufmann is a mystery, and Carrey's portrayal (especially when one can watch Kaufmann's old SNL routines on DVD finally) is dead-on. Perhaps even underrated. I liked it because it was a good character study that actually enveloped Carrey's usual larger than screen, larger than role acting. No rubber face or crazy movement; just Kaufmann. Just the dark, confused slash impish grin and eyes.I actually think this movie changed Carrey's career for the best. 


92. The Mighty Aphrodite. What, another Woody Allen flick? Yes...it's my list, so too bad. This movie is great on so many levels, and it is great because Allen used a different style to tell a somewhat familiar story of his: smart, older man meets naive, nearly stupid girl; attempts to raise her up. The key to the movie is the use of old Greek device of having a chorus tell part of the story, narrate to the audience, and provide some unique space in the story. Mira Sorvino won an Oscar for her role and deservedly so. She really plays the Hooker with the Heart of Gold perfectly.

91. Pirates of the Caribbean. The rare Hollywood blockbuster makes this list. Harkening back to the ol' swashbuckiling flicks of yore, Depp revives (forget the sequels...they were terrible) a great genre that every little boy grew up loving. What makes this movie great is that it combines a really good story, with superb acting from Depp and Geoffrey Rush (who, by the way was in a great movie called Shine that was about a pianist who was a savant, but totally crushed by real life...not making the list, but worth a check out). Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly are good, but the supporting cast is much better. Jonathan Pryce (from Brazil) was great as the gov'nor, Lee Arnberg and British Office alum Mackenzie Crook as the two supporting pirates, and Jack Davenport as Norrington were all great at playing their roles.

Key to this movie was the way that no one took it too seriously. Russell Crowe, in every movie he makes, is so serious that he ruins the movie. Master in Commander is a great example of his nonsense. Depp brings his strange idiosyncratic behaviors culled from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and adds some cool Blackbeard stuff. I swear, when I watch it I can just make out that coconut smell you get on the ride at Disneyland as you turn the corner from the restaurant.

90. Tombstone. Aside from the cheesy scene where Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) walks across the water and no one can shoot him, this is a badass movie. Val Kilmer is perfect as Doc Holiday..."I'll be your huckleberry." Johnny Ringo, Ike, and Sam Eliot all stand out. The Shootout at the O.K. Corrall is awesome; the dialogue is memorable and quotable; and regardless of what you think, Russell is a macho mofo and Kilmer is the coolest dude in the west. Watch this...over and over and over again. You know you wish you were Earp or Holiday. The question I have to ask is, if you identify with one of them ove rthe other, what does that say?