Top 120 Movies Continued, (59-50)

 This next set are on the cusp of greatness, but don't quite cross the threshold. In some ways, I am simply quibbling of good, great, and superb...but, someone needs to make these distinctions.


59. Beetlejuice. Michael Keaton; Wynona Rider; Catherine O'Hara; Alec Baldwin; Geena Davis; Tim Burton. What else do I have to say? Burton, who can sometimes go awry with that much talent and his propensity towards strangeness, sticks it out in a pseudo-comedy with some fantasmagoric undertones. Not sure what to say about this movie, as it lacks subtext that makes it a "deep" movie...But, it is entertaining, and Michael Keaton (who has basically dropped off the planet) delivers a phenomenal performance.

58. The Naked Gun. What happened to comedies with older men and women? The days of Rodney Dangerfield and Leslie Nielsen are gone. The creation of demographic targeting has led to younger comedians dominating, and teens becoming less and less able to get adult humor and therefore American Pie like movies proliferating. The Naked Gun was classic. The "name" test? Frank Drebin (Nielsen); Vincent Ludwig (the late Ricardo Mantalban); Nordberg (the criminal O.J.); Pahpsmir (the evil bad guy hiring Ludwig). The plot? Awesome! Drebin is a gun-happy idiot cop who once shot a bunch of actors re-enacting Caesar in the park because he thought they were stabbing a guy. His job: to protect the queen of England, while also busting the drug dealers who put Nordberg in the hospital. Memorable scenes? How about when he breaks into Ludwig's office and destroys everything? Or the baseball scene when he is the umpire? Or any scene with Mantalban? Re-watchability? You bet. The one-liners are classic, the plot doesn't take over the humor, and the actors all embrace their roles nicely.

57. Full Metal Jacket. Two movies in one. The first is the best drill sergeant crushes army recruits movies ever. Kubrick was known for perfection and realism, and he does not fail to deliver. Using real life former drill sergeant R. Lee Emery (who is a super crazy gun nut on the History channel), Kubrick gives as close to a real presentation of what basic training is like (or as far as I can tell). We see everything, to a certain extent, through the eyes of Matthew Modine (Pvt. Joker) who is never fully committed to the army and it is not certain whether he wants to really be there or not. In the second half of the movie, or the second movie as it may be, Joker becomes a journalist in Vietnam but is thrust into action. The second half is as violent as intense as any war movie, but the first movie is the fascinating one.

An overweight soldier Pvt. Pyle (played excellently by Vincent D'Onofrio) wants so badly to fit in, but he becomes Emery's target of derision because he is overweight, sneaking chocolate bars, and is everything the army is not about. At first the others soldiers care, but his transgression begin to affect the other soldiers in negative ways, and the sanction him themselves. This can only end terribly, but it is so powerful. The human mind is fragile.

56. Darjeeling Limited. Wes Anderson's movies are either brilliant or terribly dry. I cannot decide. Like the Coen brothers and Scorsese, Anderson has certain repeat actors who seem to understand his goals and, aside from Life Aquatic, tend to work well towards meeting them. I was tempted to put the Royal Tennebaums here, because that movie is really a good movie (especcially after the second viewing), and I know Rushmore has cult status, but I liked this most recent movie because he used some older actors and some newer ones (specifically Adrian Brody). The movie revolves around three rich brothers who all have serious daddy issues -- as in they could never get out from under his shadow, as demonstrated by their carrying around his matched luggage -- and considerable neuroses and their "journey" to make sense of their anomie and their intra-familial issues. Anderson does not like to reconcile the tensions in Hollywood ways, which I like; nor does he like to give heavy handed messages like Kubrick. Instead, like the Coen brothers, he delights in character studies that are a bit unconventional, but not quite as unconventional as the Coen brothers.

Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Brody are all great; as are Anjelica Huston and Bill Murray as bit players. The plot is fascinating. But, I think what sells me is the cinematography. Every shot is carefully constructed; beautiful when necessary, claustrophobic in other shots.



55. Bananas. Yes, yes...another Woody Allen movie. This one features a very young Allen, neurotic as always, trying to woo a young activist whose primary concern is with a Latin nation which is on the verge of revolution. Allen fails, of course, and decides to go to the island to win her over. In the process, he accidentally joins the revolution and when its leader is deemed insane, he becomes the de facto leader. The movie is purely absurd and while we have all become desensitized to his humor, you must keep in mind this was one of his first comedies ever. If you view it through that lens, the movie retains its pricelessness.

54. Groundhog's Day. Harold Ramis' last great movie (though some may argue Analyze That was great....). Everyone likes this movie. It was near the end of the first iteration of Bill Murray before he  recreated himself. Funny, clever, and intriguing to the point where you could re-watch it; especially on a cold, wintery day.



53. High Fidelity. The second greatest breakup movie for men. Not only is the music awesome, but it was a breath of fresh air for Cusack, his career, and his return to relevance. A decade (the 90's) of crap and nonsense culminated in a great movie about a guy with a perfect girl who dumps him because he doesn't know how good he has it. He yells out the window she is not even in the top five of breakups in his life. The device for the movie, of course, is top 5 lists as Cusack is the owner of a vinyl shop with Jack Black and Ted Louiso (Dick) and they engage in music snobbery whenever possible. Cusack goes through the list as the movie goes forward, recognizing that Laura (his ex) indeed makes this list and he was an idiot for letting this one go. I am not sure what is better, the terrible girlfriends he dated in the past (Catherine Zeta-Jones takes the cake for hilarity, audacity, and conceit) or Tim Robbins character Ian!

52. Raising Arizona. The only Nicholas Cage movie worth watching...ever. An early Coen brothers flick with all of their usual flair, but with the early attempts at honing their comedic styles. Jon Goodman, as always, is great as is Holly Hunter. The "name" test? H.I. McDonnough; Edwina McDonnough; Nathan Arizona; Gale and Evelle Snoats (Goodman and William Forsythe respectively). The plot is great, but in standard Coen fashion, the whole movie pushes the meaninglessness of life without escaping to nihilism or existentialism. We see a window into the typical idiocy, benign nonsensical nature of normal people -- whose normalcy pushes their comedic value through the roof.


51. Pink Floyd's The Wall. Yeah, I put a music movie on the list...and, yeah, it's this high. Conceptually, there will never be a band like Pink Floyd. Their uncanny ability to tap into the human psyche and lay bare the malignancy of existence is unmatched. The Wall delivers an amazing amalgamation of music, film (with a great performance by former Rat Scabies lead man and current Live 8 head man Bob Geldof as Pink Floyd), and animation (thanks to Gerald Scarfe's ahead of their time drawings). The film is part autobiographical catharsis by front man and lyric writer Roger Waters, part critique of the music industry and arena rock, part critique of the banal evil that befalls every rock band over time, part critique of the fans of rock bands, and finally, a general statement about the way the world devours the human soul.

In the beginning, we find a burned out Geldof sitting in a hotel room with a lit but unashed cigarette. The story quickly takes us back to the beginning. As a child, Roger Waters lost his father in World War II before he even knew him...the way war and government destroy the lives of women and children is explored and considered the first "brick" in the wall. The second brick comes from the modern public school system which pushes all shaped blocks into square pegs. The use of cattle cars with children wearing uniform masks being led to a meat grinder reveals Waters' understanding of the education system and its lack of interest in individualism, creativity, or autonomy. The movie shifts point of view to the rock band and the alienated artist. Having achieved fame at the cost of his marriage, the metaphorical Pink Floyd descends into his own hell. The final bricks are put in place as he grows further and further from his fans, his wife who is cheating on him, his past, and his own band. The second half begins with Pink behind a wall...he has a serious breakdown, but is still pushed to go on stage. The machine has deemed his personal feelings unimportant when considered in terms of concert revenues, album sales, and merchandise. He is pushed so far and so hard, he becomes a tyrant of sorts, demanding more from his fans than is reasonable. At the end, he puts himself on trial; finding he is guilty of alienating others, he is forced to tear down the wall. But, in the end, we see children fishing through the rubble, presumably to begin building their own personal walls.

50. Sweet and Lowdown. Sean Penn + a mute Samantha Morton + Woody Allen = Genius. An underrated and perhaps ignored movie in Allen's catalog, Sweet and Lowdown is a fictional biography told in documentary style of a 20s/30s jazz guitarist named Emmit Ray who was only surpassed by the very real Spanish gypsy Django Reinhardt (whose music is, incidentally, used throughout). Penn plays the classic artist whose real life is an utter failure, whose only real love is his art, and whose plans are grander than his ability to implement them. He is a drinker, a gambler, a lowlife, yet we cannot help but feel sorry for him. Allen invites real jazz critics and radio personalities to help tell the story, which like any great mythological legend has holes, inconsistencies, and often competing versions (the ending has three different versions). Uma Thurman's character is excellent, but Morton's mute laundress is the best, earning her an Oscar nod (Penn was nominated as well). I think this, and I am being honest, is one of his top 10 movies and deserving of more attention. It was lost in the strange late 90s period for Allen and buried because of the weaker movies at the turn of the millennium (see Curse of the Jade Scorpion).