100 Favourite, Part V: 30-21

Brodie Fanns:

Bueno news for you all. We're closing in on the Top 20 Films. AND, I have no more last minute additions. So the math all adds up now. Good times had by all.

So here we go... 30-21.

30) 28 Days Later...
Danny Boyle fuses the perfect collaboration of horror film and social commentary. But he succeeds where most others have failed. It's relevant, poignant, meaningful and effective. Taking the old standard of the zombie movie, and equating it to modern times in two separate ways. One: by making it a pandemic, which is medically and scientifically possible. (In fact, Read this article for an in-depth analysis of how a zombie invasion could plausibly happen.) Two: Rage. We live in a wound up world, where there's air rage, road rage, phone rage, work rage, everything rage. It's perfect. And the scares are never cheap, and dialog never cheesy. And the climactic scene forces you to come to a disturbing realization. Watch the whole movie to get the full context... but this scene is just beautiful.



29) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Easily one of the most beautiful love stories ever told. It poses the question of fate and how it affects the lives of everyone around you. Yet also addresses the age old question, if you could erase your painful memories, would you? Jim Carrey gives the performance of his career, one that he had been gearing up for since The Truman Show, and is the perfect opposite for Kate Winslet in exceptionally bizarre form. Tom Wilkinson, Marc Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst and a post Lord of the Rings Elijah Wood keep us grounded in the real world while we're exploring the inner workings of Carrey's mind. Michel Gondry gives us a visual treat while working from Charlie Kaufman's mind-bending script.



28) Field of Dreams
One of a few films to make me cry, Field of Dreams is not just about baseball. It's about that special bond fathers and sons share through baseball. It's about the classic sense of the American Dream, paying homage to a simpler time, back when the American Dream meant something. Kevin Costner before he became the biggest movie star in the world gives a touching performance as a confused man, guided by a mysterious voice in a corn field, just wanting to reconnect with his father, who has unfortunately passed. Scott Ian of metal band Anthrax said it best: "If you don't cry after watching Field of Dreams, then you have ice in your veins."



27) Almost Famous
A sweet, endearing, sentimental look at when rock was good: mid-70's. Cameron Crowe's mostly-autobiographical look at a young man's tour with an up and coming rock band as a guest writer for Rolling Stone magazine. Billy Crudup scores as the enigmatic, charismatic frontman of Stillwater, and Kate Hudson makes us wonder, what the hell happened to her as she showed so much promise, but has done nothing but bubbly rom-coms for the past 8 years. Crowe's talent for honest writing shows through in his best script since 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High. And can this guy put together a soundtrack or what?



26) A Night at The Opera
I'm feeling particularly lazy today, so I'll just repost what I said yesterday BUT with a different clip: You can make a case for just about any one of their films. From Duck Soup to Animal Crackers to A Day at the Races, they're all classics. But my personal favourite is A Night at the Opera. It's got classic site gags, amazing physical comedy and some of the best one liners ever put to film. It's classic. I unfortunately have to use the same clip, as the poster of my first choice had his damn YouTube account suspended. Jerk.



25) Blazing Saddles
When asked to play The Waco Kid, John Wayne said this to Mel Brooks: "Naw, I can't do a movie like that but I'll be first in line to see it!" Thankfully he turned it down, because the teaming of Gene Wilder (as The Kid) and Cleavon Little is priceless, and is one of the greatest comedy duos in cinematic history. Meshing the sublime and the ridiculous, mostly ridiculous, Brooks' classic send up of the most beloved genre of the time will keep you laughing from start to finish, and it has great repeatability. DIFFERENT CLIP THAN YESTERDAY!



24) JFK
Oliver Stone takes a good, hard look at the JFK assassination and alleged conspiracy through the eyes of the only man ever to bring someone to trial in connection with the assassination, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, grippingly played by Kevin Costner. Stone takes some artistic license, but one must keep in mind that while it heavily relies on facts, it is still a work of fiction. It's one of the more ambitious films ever made, with every detail painstakingly recreated, even if it never showed on screen for more than a matter of seconds. And at 3.5 hours, the director's cut is the version to watch. Good for the politically minded, and the conspiracy enthusiasts in us all. Not to mention the all star cast.



23) Memento
Christopher Nolan, is perhaps the most engaging filmmaker of the new millennium. Watch one of his films, be it Memento, The Prestige or Batman Begins. It's hard to describe exactly how it works, as I don't think a word or phrase exists to describe it, but the way he crafts his films, really puts you in with the character. He has this way about him, and I wish there was a simple way to describe it so you could see what I'm trying to say. But in Memento, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) has lost his short term memory, and can only remember things for 5-10 minutes at a time, unless he writes it down or takes a picture. What we're given is a gripping, edgy thriller that is told backwards, scene by scene, in 5-10 minute bursts, so we're right there with Leonard, not knowing what comes next. Or, not knowing what just happened. It's confusing, but the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning and if you have the collector's edition DVD, you can actually go through and watch it put into correct chronological order.



22) 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet (again) directs his masterpiece. It's also his feature film debut. But he comes out in force to make the film that set the standard for all courtroom dramas, and that's a bar that has yet to be topped. He pulls a Hitchcock and shoots the entire thing in the jury room, giving you that added sense of claustrophobia, heightening the tensions among the men, and subsequently the audience. Henry Fonda gives a stand-out performance as the compassionate Juror number 8, standing up to 11 other men and the bull dog of Lee J. Cobb's Juror number 3.



21) All the President's Men
The gold standard for political thrillers, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman expertly portray Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they try to uncover the greatest presidential scandal in history. And of course it took Redford and Hoffman to make journalists interesting. It's a fascinating look into history, and it's a wonderfully compelling tale that is honestly the precursor to The X-Files. You want to sit on the edge of your seat with one of the finest films of the 70's? Look no further than All The President's Men.



So that's it.... 30-21. See you next week with 11-20.

-Brodie Mann