30. Memento
Christopher Nolan’s first feature to hit the mainstream was the incredible and unique Memento, starring Guy Pearce as Leonard, a man suffering from a rare condition which prevents him from making any new memories. Within a convention defying narrative structure, told in short ten minute sections in reverse order, we follow this tortured soul on the trail of the illusive John G, the man he suspects is responsible for the murder of his wife. Lead by clues that he has both tattooed to his body as permanent reminders, and from polaroid pictures he carries with him, he sets to the mission at hand.
Carrie Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano back up Pearce’s incredible performance, both of whom further project us into the mystery that surrounds Leonard and his quest. Based on a short story penned by his brother Jonathon, Nolan’s film is truly innovative, original and inventive, a seriously dark noir, but that takes place in the glaring Californian sunshine, it combines thrills, tension, a hint of humour and tonnes of mystery, with an ending that has us questioning the unfortunate protagonists own motivation, in fact it raises more questions than it answers.
29 – Adaptation
This is the second film to feature in my top 50 from the warped mind of screen writer Charlie Kaufman, and his follow up to the successful Being John Malcovich. Also directed by Spike Jonz, its not a sequel to Malcovich, but its clever incorporation is a unique twist, and one in which see’s Kaufman write himself into the film. Nicolas Cage gives a great performance as Kaufman, a sad and pathetic screenwriter that we join on the set of Malcovich, and his fictional yet more outgoing identical twin. The mounting rivalry between the two brothers amounts to some great comedy moments, which you can appreciate more when you bear in mind that Cage gives two of his finer performances and all in the same scenes.
In the film Kaufman adapts the actual non-fiction novel The Orchid Thief, and the film follows his struggle running alongside the story of the Orchid Thief with Meryl Streep playing the books author, and Chris Cooper playing the orchid thief, as well as a line up of great roles from a whole array of great actors leaping at the chance to take part in this bizarre yet complex film.
I think it’s an outstandingly original take on adapting a book, and to choose a work of non fiction and make it so outrageously off the wall blurring the lines of reality and fantasy is a master stroke, and with such a strange and frighteningly degrading deconstruction of his own character and the torment of the task of adapting a book, this film is unlike any other that I have ever seen. With his unique style of out of the box thinking, Kaufman really is a genius.
28 – The Tree Of Life
Terrence Mallick’s Tree of Life is an interesting and original look at the lives of a typical American family, centered around the childhood of three brothers but told against the back drop of the history of the universe. It makes for a completely unique and visually stimulating experience. Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain give outstanding performances as the two parents of the children, whilst also representing the themes of Grace and Nature that run through the film.
The film works on so many various levels, and isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I am in awe of it, and Mallick’s skilful use of this medium to create a brand new dimension rarely seen in film, a dimension that forces its audience to contemplate what is being shown to us, and also question our importance and significance in the grander scheme of things. Effects godfather Doug Trumball created some spellbindingly beautiful imagery to accompany Malick’s vision of the dawn of the Universe, which will remain to me some of the most dazzling and moving shots ever to be shown on film.
27 – The Graduate
Mike Nichols classic coming of age rom com is one that has become such a monumental moment in modern western cinema. The seduction of the young Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) by the aging Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the Simon and Garfunkle soundtrack, the jilted wedding, by now it’s been parodied so many times that even if you haven’t seen the Graduate, you can recognise all of these aspects. But if you haven’t seen this film yet, well, shame on you.
This clever, well devised and extremely dry little social comedy drama is so enjoyable and fresh, and all the players here are excellent, not just Dustin Hoffman who’s awkward uncertainty is so uproariously comical, or Anne Bancroft, who’s persistence and control over this lost young man is so perfectly domineering, or the young Katherine Ross, who as Mrs Robinsons young and sensitive daughter Elaine is endearing, but the rest of the cast also play their roles perfectly, essential cogs in Benjamin’s own social imprisonment and adolescent dilemma.
It’s another of those films that even at its resolution, you know its story isn’t over.
26 –Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock practically invented the slasher flick with this incredible thriller. We follow Marion Crane, a famous role by Janet Lee, as she steals money from her work and escapes into the sunset. What begins as an intriguing tale of guilt and consequence, is soon cut down along with the female lead when she decides to stop off at the wrong motel.
Anthony Perkins is the Psycho in this classic Hitchcock film, which is as creepy and tense as it is important, creating the many conventions of the slasher genre, as well as being repeatedly parodied and used as a significant reference point in many horrors since.
Everything about this film is effectively skilful, the use of Bernard Herrmans all string soundtrack, the use of framing Perkins to look like his stuffed animals, symbolising his isolation to the hotel, the 70 camera shots during the infamous shower sequence, but it is the whole use of dragging us in with one story and then discarding it half way through that really intrigued me, and even though it has been imitated since, most notably Dusk ‘Til Dawn, and even to a lesser extent, The Worlds Greatest Dad, I don’t think it has ever been matched. I only wish I was around in 1960 when it was first released to feel the true power of this incredible film.
25 – M*A*S*H
Robert Altmans war satire follows the zany antics of a group of wayward but dedicated doctors who exploit their much required positions as emergency surgeons on the Korean battlefield by cooking up a storm of pranking, drinking, and showing a general disregard for senior ranking officers. Altmans classic adaptation of Richard Hookers Book see’s Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould and Tom Skerret as Hawkeye, Trapper and Duke, characters that seem to have been designed just for them, and designed to infuriate Robert Duvall’s character the banal Frank Burns and his love interest Hot Lips Houlihan.
Altman’s film achieves a frantic yet naturalistic atmosphere and a style of direction which seems to be unique to this director. Watching an Altman film with his use of lengthy wide angle shots and his insistence that the actors talk and act over each other’s performances, always gives the impression that I’m watching the real life unfold from across the road, a unique perspective that suits no film better than it does M*A*S*H.
Since its been made famous through the long running TV sitcom, this films importance and post Vietnam satire has been somewhat over shadowed by a legacy of canned laughter and watershed criteria. Its themes of hypocrisy and sanity testing frustration felt by the surgeons who save lives only to turf them out to battle again made quite an impact at the time of its release, and the famous theme tune has also withstood times erosion, and its poignant lyrics, also by Altman, still bare as much significance today.
24 – Platoon
Based on his own experiences of Vietnam, Oliver Stone’s heart felt movie follows Charlie Sheen as the youngster from a privileged family who chooses to sign up for the Vietnam experience. Many consider this to be the ultimate Vietnam movie, as well as Stone’s magnum opus, and one of the few films that realistically depict the horrors of the war.
Having the cast of actors put through a rigorous boot camp helped to solidify the authenticity. Stone took every precaution to ensure that this film was as accurate a portrayal of his experiences as possible. And with the actors being pushed to their limits in the uncompromising preparation, we really feel the sense of kinship and rivalry of the platoon, with each actor giving outstanding performances.
The energy, humour and classic Vietnam soundtrack found in Platoon give a much welcome release from the films tension and graphic violence, and Stone’s keen eye for character depth, as well as for filmmaking, and his compelling taste for controversy make Platoon a frighteningly honest and truly brilliant masterpiece, so much more than a just war film.
23. King of Comedy
Scorsese and DeNiro’s fifth collaboration, directly preceding the classic Raging Bull, was a slight change of direction, with this brilliant but often overlooked little comedy. Again, their home turf of New York is the back drop for the movie, as we follow nerdy autograph collector and celebrity wannabe Rupert Pupkin in his misguided and deluded quest to become a famous comedian.
After a brief encounter with his idol, talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) Pupkin believes that he is in with a shot of the top, and hounds Langford for a slot on his show, and when he realises he’s not getting anywhere he decides to kidnap the star to get what he wants. It’s a great comedy, with a hilarious insight into the fantasies of this pathetic little man, and DeNiro is in top form giving an awkward and cringe worthy performance that makes for enjoyably uncomfortable viewing.
A gem of a film that I enjoy time and time again and its use of merging reality with Pupkin’s own imagination is a great technique that leaves us questioning Pupkins sanity as well as the films resolution.
Its only failing I believe is that it was ahead of its time, and hardly the comedy that you would have expected to see at the time of its release, but by now, its comedy is clearly evident, and its style of cringe inducing comedy is now ten a penny.
22 – The Blues Brothers
John Landis’s comedy musical of the Belushi / Akroyd characters created for Saturday Night Live has since become a cult classic, which is hardly surprising, really. It’s a great comedy picture, full of energy, chaos, some great music and musical set pieces, and not forgetting some of the best car chases in cinema’s history.
It featured and revitalised the careers of some of blues and souls most legendary performers, such as Cab Calloway, James Brown, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, but its Akroyd and Belushi as the lowlife criminally minded siblings on a mission from God who give the film its comedy strength.
With police, the army, Nazi’s, country and western singers and ex-girlfriends in pursuit of the lowly duo, this film never lets up, and never stops entertaining. All the elements are put in place to make this a timeless classic, shame they felt that they had to make a sequel all those years later to mar the majesty of this fine film.
21 – Natural Born Killers
I absolutely love this anarchic Oliver Stone film and its melding of graphic violence, visual poetry and its experimental vandalism of the medium of film. Stone used to be the king of controversy, and this film was possibly his most controversial. He has effectively created a stimulating analysis of violence in our culture and the media.
Based loosely on a story by Tarantino, I think that despite Tarantino’s public outcry against the film, only Stone was capable of creating such a psychedelic trip of a film, and one that is so much fun.
Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis head the cast, and are phenomenal as the psychotic couple, sometimes dangerous, often endearing, these two actors bought these characters to life in ways that I don’t think any other actors could have. Also, bare in mind that before this Harrelson had mainly been the comic relief, here he is truly unnerving, and so convincing that during the interview scene you begin to really identify with him.
And then you have three incredible supporting roles from Robert Downey Junior, Tommy Lee Jones and Tom Sizemore. Downey’s Wayne Gayle is one of my favourite comedy characters ever, and a perfect hypocritical contrast to the two lovers.
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