Another Top 100 [Archive]

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 04:53 AM

My Top 100 Films
a list by Sycophant/John D. Moore/your mom

This is the part of the list where I unveil my true mission statement in compiling this list. Really, I ought to get into something about my personal history with cinema, some of my earliest memories, a rough chart of when I realized how important it was to me and how I wanted that to be my main focus of studies and creative energies, and confess that I think all other media are pretty much inferior.

I'm going to pass on that for now. If/when I finish this list anywhere from eight months to three years from now and I get all sentimental, I'll write just that kind of sap.

For now, I'll let you in on the three main purposes for making this list:

I'd really like to hone my skill in writing about film, so writing 100 mini-essays should help in that regard
I'm really quite obsessive compulsive and simply love making lists.
I'd like to revisit a lot of these films and this provides a swell opportunity for just that.

Here's the format this list will take: Before I get to my top 100 films, I'm going to write up a little something for ten special mentions. They're things (not always movies) that just couldn't quite make the cut. Then I'll get to the top 100, starting--weirdly enough--at number 100, then onto 99, 98, 97, and so on (to stop at number 1). They'll each be accompanied by one to ten paragraphs about the film and why it's there. I expect they'll be rambly and inconsistent in terms of quality and tone.

This is a snapshot of my tastes as of today. Or, more specifically, seven hours ago, when I last fidgeted with the ordering. Changes may be made along the way, but we'll see how that goes.

Special Mentions:
1. The Great Mouse Detective (Mattison, Michener, Musker & Clements, 1986)
2. The Calamari Wrestler (Minoru Kawasaki, 2004)
3. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (Francis Ford Coppola, 1988)
4. Paranoia Agent (Satoshi Kon, 2004)
5. Take the Money and Run (Woody Allen, 1969)
6. Address Unknown (Kim Ki-Duk, 2001)
7. The Wire (David Simon)
8. The Interconnection of Mr. Daily (Moore, 2007)
9. Harvey (Koster, 1950)
10. The Matrix (Wachowskis, 1999)

100. Infernal Affairs (Lau & Mak, 2002)

Philosophe_rouge

11-07-2007, 04:57 AM

Sounds good although part of me was sad because I was planning on starting a list sometime next week. Maybe I'll just blog it for now. I love lists though, making and watching/reading so I'm too excited at the moment. Best of luck!!

D_Davis

11-07-2007, 05:16 AM

Sweet!

Spinal

11-07-2007, 05:19 AM

My Top 100 Films
a list by Sycophant/John D. Moore/your mom

My mom contributed? Expect a high placement for Camelot and Vegas Vacation!

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 05:19 AM

Special Mention No. 1
The Great Mouse Detective
http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/thegreatmousedetective.jpg

Why it's here: To represent Disney.

If I were to jump into a time machine and deliver a copy of this list to my high school self, I'd probably completely break the poor kid's psyche. Who is this long-haired, bebearded freak? And why's he watching so many vulgar movies? And where's all the Disney?

I've been sketching top film lists for as long as the concept of ranking was known to me. The vast, vast majority of what was watched in my household as we were growing up were the Disney animated "classics." There is nary a line from any films from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through to Hercules that I probably couldn't recite for you. As a result, they're a little difficult for me to view today, as I learned many of these before I encountered long division.

This is a token mention, as I'm sad to say none of Disney's "masterpieces," "classics," "cash cows with golden udders," or whatever you want to call them were able to secure a place on my main list. I have a great deal of fondness for many of these films. I was able to view Sleeping Beauty, which nearly got this spot, with new eyes a few years ago, finally seeing it in all its Cinemascope glory and having a real appreciation of the masterstrokes of artistry that enliven every frame.

But there are few films I've had more fun with than The Great Mouse Detective. In my teen years, I actually assigned myself a once-monthly dietary regulation for this picture. No, no one really liked me. But, goshdarnit, I really liked this movie. It's a blast from start to finish, a thorough and jaunty exploration of its own genre.

Frankly, it deserves to be here if for no other reason than the scene in which Professor Rattigan, voiced deliciously by Vincent Price, ties Basil of Baker Street and Dawson to a fabulous Goldbergian death device, to be initiated when a record playing the wildly infectious "Goodbye, So Soon."

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 05:22 AM

Sounds good although part of me was sad because I was planning on starting a list sometime next week. Maybe I'll just blog it for now.
Aw. I don't see any problems with you proceeding with your list in the near future. I have an insatiable appetite for lists, and certainly would love to see what graces yours.

Philosophe_rouge

11-07-2007, 05:22 AM

Not my favourite Disney (it would probably be Sleeping Beauty, which just missed your list), but a more than stellar choice.

Watashi

11-07-2007, 05:23 AM

This is a token mention, as I'm sad to say none of Disney's "masterpieces," "classics," "cash cows with golden udders," or whatever you want to call them were able to secure a place on my main list. I have a great deal of fondness for many of these films. I was able to view Sleeping Beauty, which nearly got this spot, with new eyes a few years ago, finally seeing it in all its Cinemascope glory and having a real appreciation of the masterstrokes of artistry that enliven every frame.

"Token" and Great Mouse Detective do not belong in the same sentence.

This list fails.

FAILS, I tell you!

Philosophe_rouge

11-07-2007, 05:23 AM

Aw. I don't see any problems with you proceeding with your list in the near future. I have an insatiable appetite for lists, and certainly would love to see what graces yours.
I'll consider it, yours is off to a lovely start btw. I'm sure it'll continue as such :)

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 05:38 AM

Special Mention No. 2
The Calamari Wrestler
Directed (and story) Minoru Kawasaki; written by Masakazu Migita.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/thecalamariwrestler.jpg

Why it's here: For being exactly what it is.

This film would probably never come close to my true 100 greatest list. It's technically flawed, often limply acted, and sophomore director Minoru Kawasaki couldn't stave off some pacing issues.

But, dear God, do I ever love it. The film has one major saving grace. Listen, carefully, my friends. That grace is:

Silliness.

The Calamari Wrestler is ridiculously, unabashedly, giddily silly. Essentially, it's a send-up of spiritually uplifting sports movies, with a stoic hero, a bitter rival, and all the odds stacked against him. With a guy in a bad squid costume. According to the film, it's actually a squid (in case we weren't sure it was really supposed to be a squid, they do us the favor of running the actor's voice through some bubbly audio filter).

Some other anthropomorphic characters factor into the picture later. Soon, there's speculation that perhaps this wrestling calamari that's shaking up the professional wrestling world might, in fact, be a reincarnation of the reportedly dead, former champion. Gasp!

The picture wouldn't work so well if it didn't--while still being extremely silly--take itself extremely seriously. There's very little winking irony here. Everything that matters to these characters matters. Watching this movie was a minor revelation for me: It's okay to be this gol-danged silly.

If there's one scene that sold me on this movie, it's a very quiet one. The squid, now living in Japanese society, finds himself living in a friendly urban neighborhood. He goes grocery shopping at the sidewalk markets, a bag draped around one of his tentacles. As he walks down the street, children and old women wave hello to him, in the warmest, friendliest manner possible. The squid waves back. Truly, he is a hero of the people.

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 05:39 AM

"Token" and Great Mouse Detective do not belong in the same sentence.

This list fails.

FAILS, I tell you!I knew this would get your ire up. I did mention I love the film, right?

I do have a Pixar film in my top 100...

Bosco B Thug

11-07-2007, 05:48 AM

Special Mention No. 2
The Calamari Wrestler
Directed (and story) Minoru Kawasaki; written by Masakazu Migita. Hmm, I really had high hopes for this movie when I Netflixed it, but I'm sad to say it tried my patience and left me thoroughly disinterested.

The Great Mouse Detective's great, though!

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 05:52 AM

Hmm, I really had high hopes for this movie when I Netflixed it, but I'm sad to say it tried my patience and left me thoroughly disinterested.

The Great Mouse Detective's great, though!Yeah, I should probably temper my endorsement of this film with a disclaimer that, more than pretty much any movie I'm going to talk about here, this one is really not for everyone.

But isn't The Great Mouse Detective wonderful? :)

Winston*

11-07-2007, 06:02 AM

I believe I would like to see The Calamari Wrestler.

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 06:10 AM

I believe I would like to see The Calamari Wrestler.What the hell is in your avatar, son?

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 07:35 AM

Special Mention No. 3
Tucker: the Man and His Dream
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Written by Arnold Schulman & David Seidler. 1988.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/tucker.jpg

Why it's here: For sticking with me so long.

Look, I'm sorry, Tucker. But, hey. You and I, we've had a good run. What, something like five years, we were inseparable? I had three different copies of you. There could be no discussion with both me and movies where I didn't bring you into the conversation, proudly flaunting your merits and boasting of our acquaintance.

You taught me a lot, helped to mold my impressionable mind. I studied you and took you in in a way only a young man of that age could. You were the one who made me begin to understand what cinema, as a medium, really was and that it had limits that had yet to be explored. Your gorgeous cinematography, elaborate stagings, and dazzling production design will always be with me.

I saw you again two years ago, my heart still very much with you, though we had long been apart. I still love you and I always will. Perhaps I've changed. You've stayed the same and I wouldn't have it any other way.

You helped me to be where I am today. Thank you.

And, like, I'll still watch you from time to time. Really, you're a pretty damn good movie. Just maybe not the movie for me.

Anymore.

ledfloyd

11-07-2007, 10:56 AM

ha, tucker is my grandfather's favorite movie. but it's certainly no great mouse detective.

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 03:58 PM

Special Mention No. 4
Paranoia Agent
Directed by Satoshi Kon. 2004.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/paranoiaagent.jpg

Why it's here: For being Kon's best work.

There's no dearth of Satoshi Kon on my list. At the old site, in wet, hot anticipation for Paprika, I declared Kon to be one of the most important and interesting artists working today. Despite my state of feverish lust at the time, I still agree with that statement.

Kon has an impeccable visual sense and a firm understanding of the hopes, anxieties, and fears that occupy the human psyche. Yet his work does not allow us to observe as the outsider; these things are all played with a great deal of empathy.

I hope that Kon considers doing another series in the future, as the format he works with here is well suited to his storytelling and, I believe, represents his best work to date. These thirteen episodes fly by quickly and cover a lot of ground. Indeed, it is a sprawling work. In its curious structural nature, it explores its main themes of guilt, remorse, justification, and pacification, while offering case studies and ruminations on these and other related themes.

Kurosawa Fan

11-07-2007, 04:08 PM

My mom contributed? Expect a high placement for Camelot and Vegas Vacation!

If it's my mom, expect Overboard to make the top 5.

Seriously, this is cool Sycophant. I'm looking forward to the list.

Rowland

11-07-2007, 04:10 PM

Good luck.

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 04:14 PM

Good luck.Thanks. I worry about my stamina on this one. :P

dreamdead

11-07-2007, 04:17 PM

Looking forward to the list. Though I suspect there will be too much Miike and not enough Ozu. :evil:

Rowland

11-07-2007, 04:19 PM

Thanks. I worry about my stamina on this one. :PIf signs of fatigue begin to show, we'll cheer you on like the male bimbos that we are until your intestinal fortitude replenishes.

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 04:20 PM

Looking forward to the list. Though I suspect there will be too much Miike and not enough Ozu. :evil:Your suspicions are valid. Though I'm going to be seeing some Ozu in the next month or so here, and I just bumped some things off the list last night, so if something blows me away, there's a little room.

There will be a wealth of Miike, though. :)

Raiders

11-07-2007, 07:58 PM

Speaking of Miike, I actually was going to be watching Happiness of the Katakuris soon. I have never really been sure what to do with his films since I found Audition just OK and didn't care for Ichi the Killer. His filmography is so diverse sounding it is tough to gauge where to go next.

Sycophant

11-07-2007, 08:02 PM

Oh! Happiness of the Katakuris is among my favorite Miikes. He's a difficult director in terms of figuring out how to approach him. Might I suggest The Bird People in China as, perhaps, a fourth attempt?

Gizmo

11-07-2007, 08:05 PM

I'm just curious as to where my mom fits into all this :P

Rowland

11-07-2007, 10:00 PM

Mr. Valentine

11-08-2007, 02:11 AM

Your suspicions are valid. Though I'm going to be seeing some Ozu in the next month or so here, and I just bumped some things off the list last night, so if something blows me away, there's a little room.

There will be a wealth of Miike, though. :)

yay!!

Sycophant

11-12-2007, 10:29 PM

Special Mention No. 5
Take the Money and Run
Written and directed by Woody Allen.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/takethemoneyandrun.jpg

Why it's here: For being so damned funny.

Comedy and I have a funny relationship. When I compile my year-end best-of lists, I don't generally throw comedy much of a bone, which is kind of stupid, because I love a good laugh. I have all these lofty ideas about great movies and them being all serious and blah, blah, blah. Woody Allen's one of my absolute favorite directors, yet I (and the Woodman himself, it seems) tend to favor his more dramatic (though somewhat fun) stuff, as to be evinced in my top 100. But there's something to be said for his first two directorial outings (excepting What's Up, Tiger Lily?, which I regret to admit I haven't seen), this film and Bananas, that are unabashedly ridiculous and over-the-top. It's a style of comedy too often ignored in American cinema and Allen soon abandoned it as well. But these two films have a very special place in my heart.

Marley

11-12-2007, 10:56 PM

A solid Allen flick from his early career. The bank robbery scene is a total riot.

D_Davis

11-13-2007, 12:45 AM

Mr. Valentine

11-13-2007, 05:46 AM

Paranoia Agent is indeed awesome. i'm a big Allen fan but have never seen that one, i'll add it to my queue.

Qrazy

11-13-2007, 06:05 AM

Still working on paranoia agent, only 3 episodes in.

I love the theme song of Take the Money and Run and quite like the film as well.

Sycophant

11-13-2007, 06:53 AM

Take the Money and Run is the only Allen flick I really like, and I think it is quite good. I should also note that it is the only Allen flick I've watched all the way through, he's just not my thing.
Awww... not even Bananas or Love and Death?

My favorite Take the Money and Run gag would probably have to be the repetition of his glasses being smashed. This film really just had a manic sense not quite found elsewhere in his work.

Sycophant

11-13-2007, 06:54 AM

Still working on paranoia agent, only 3 episodes in.

I love the theme song of Take the Money and Run and quite like the film as well.Speaking of theme songs and Paranoia Agent, isn't its theme song/sequence just about the most awesome thing ever? After going through the series three times (and thereby seeing it nearly forty times that way alone), I sometimes watch just the opening. Because it's that awesome.

Qrazy

11-13-2007, 06:57 AM

Speaking of theme songs and Paranoia Agent, isn't its theme song/sequence just about the most awesome thing ever? After going through the series three times (and thereby seeing it nearly forty times that way alone), I sometimes watch just the opening. Because it's that awesome.

It is indeed pretty awesome and also incredibly creepy no matter how many times I see it.

I also love the soap gun gag in Take the Money and Run.

Sycophant

11-13-2007, 07:05 AM

Special Mention No. 6
Address Unknown
Written and directed by Kim Ki-Duk.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/addressunknown.jpg

Why it's here: For being so relentlessly bleak.

This is the flipside to the previous post.

Roger Ebert has said that "no good movie is depressing; all bad movies are depressing." While I understand what Master Ebert is saying with that first bit, there's something to be said for a film that pulls you into the most horrible, frustrating, and downright sad human behavior and leaves you to wallow in it. When I finished this movie, I wanted to kill myself. But don't misunderstand me; it's an almost exhilarating kind of depressing. Depressing, though, nonetheless.

Spinal

11-13-2007, 07:16 AM

That's one Kim film I have not seen. I'll have to see if I can find it. Despite the warning that I might want to kill myself.

Sycophant

11-13-2007, 07:36 AM

Special Mention No. 7
The Wire
Created by David Simon.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/thewire.jpg

Why it's here: For being just about perfect.

The great American novel has been written, and it exists in the form of a (once completed) sixty-hour movie.

Yes, it's a television show, but by the beginning of the third season, that distinction seems to exist solely to make it digestible. All pretense of ending each episode on a cliffhanger is over. There's no A-plot or B-plot to serve an individual episode, but rather thing weave in and out as the larger narrative demands. When our hour's up, we know it's time to tune into next week.

And, oh, what a narrative it is. The show starts small by necessity. But gradually, it's revealed that this isn't cops and robbers, the desk vs. the street, 1s or 0s. This story is the story of a city, and in a larger context, America, her institutions, her people, and the brutal relationship between them.

I haven't been to Baltimore, but I can only assume that the show nails its setting. It's certainly nailing something. David Simon, a Baltimore native, and his team have truly crafted a very evocative, authentic world for the series to take place in. The cast--many non-professional actors before the series began--fits perfectly.

There's still one season (10 episodes) to go for The Wire. Season 4 provided the best 13 episodes of television I'm privy to. Throwing four children into the show, and letting the show's themes of systematic and human failure wreak their havoc on their lives is breathtakingly and achingly tragic. The show, while always great, has managed to improve every season, which raises expectations for Season 5 to an almost impossibly high level. I believe The Wire is up to it.

Favorite scene: In one of the pre-credit sequences in the fourth season, after new kingpin Marlo steps out of a card game, he swings by a convenience store where--for no other reason than to exercise his power and agitate authority--he steals a cheap sucker in plain view and for the benefit of the on-site security guard. The security guard confronts Marlo outside the store not to disrespect Marlo, the guard assures him, but rather to plead with him not to so brazenly and wantonly disrespect others like himself.

Later in the episode, Marlo has the guard killed for confronting him.

origami_mustache

11-13-2007, 07:55 AM

Sycophant

11-13-2007, 08:03 AM

Such a poignant film dealing with issues such as race, gender, war, violence, sex, nostalgia, tradition, and poverty, but perhaps most importantly is the effect the American occupation has left on the people of Korea.Oh, yeah, all that as well. In highlighting its depressing tone, I may have glossed over how much the film has to say and how it's actually a pretty great film.

Marley

11-13-2007, 01:05 PM

I'm so out of the loop when it comes to television shows. The Wire sounds really good.

Mr. Valentine

11-13-2007, 01:39 PM

That's one Kim film I have not seen. I'll have to see if I can find it. Despite the warning that I might want to kill myself.

it has a region 1 release. the blockbuster i used to work at even carries it.

Sycophant

11-27-2007, 06:30 AM

I'm going to blow throw my next three special mentions in the next twenty minutes--all of which I'm feeling reluctant about--without too much thought, because I'm tired of questioning them and I can just move on to the list proper.

Rowland

11-27-2007, 06:37 AM

Sycophant

11-27-2007, 06:38 AM

Special Mention No. 8
The Interconnection of Mr. Daily
Directed by John D. Moore. Written by Joseph Schlegel. 2007.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/theinterconnectionofmrdaily.jp g

Why it's here: For teaching me so much.

This is the biggest film I've attempted to make to date. After a month-long production process, nearly everything I thought or didn't think could go wrong did just that. It spent four months in post-production and was just recently released. I barely even like it anymore, and I feel I utterly failed the brilliant script my friend Joe wrote. Oh, well. I learned so much about so much, that the experience was invaluable and the two films I've shot since then have certainly benefited from the knowledge I gained. People tell me I actually did alright with it, but eh... I'll do something better in the future (the writer and I are already talking about a possible remake/total retooling a couple years down the road).

This is the only short film that will be on this list.

(iosos edited and was in this)

Sycophant

11-27-2007, 06:40 AM

Special Mention No. 9
Harvey
Directed Henry Koster. Written by Mary Chase and Oscar Brodney. 1950.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/harvey.jpg

Why it's here: For that rabbit.

I've loved this film for probably longer than I can remember what film or love is. Someone here recently told me it actually sucks. It's been about four years since I watched it. It would severely dismay me if that were the case.

Jimmy Stewart thinks he has a rabbit friend.

Sycophant

11-27-2007, 06:43 AM

Special Mention No. 10
The Matrix
Written & directed by Andy & Larry Wachowski. 1999.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/thematrix.jpg

Why it's here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/Pete_rocking_Out20.jpg

IT RULES!!!

Admission: What inspired me to do the special mentions in the first place was this very entry--just so I could steal this joke from Spinal. I don't even like The Matrix that much.

Qrazy

11-27-2007, 11:21 AM

Melville

11-27-2007, 01:55 PM

Who told you that, Melville? I was equally surprised, lives on fondly in my nostalghia... but haven't seen it in an even longer time... maybe 8 years or so.
If it was me, you probably should ignore my opinion. I don't think our taste is very similar (mine and the Sycophant's, that is, although it might be true of mine and Qrazy's as well).

Mysterious Dude

11-27-2007, 02:38 PM

You're still on the special mentions?! Good lord.

Sycophant

11-27-2007, 02:41 PM

You're still on the special mentions?! Good lord.That was the last of them. Number 100 will be coming later this week.

Thanks for the assurance, Qrazy. I believe it was you, Melville, who said that. I'll try to see it again in the near future and see how I respond.

Spinal

11-27-2007, 03:13 PM

IT RULES!!!

:cool:

Philosophe_rouge

11-27-2007, 03:25 PM

I remember really liking Harvey, but like you it's been forever and a bit since I've seen it (forever = 3 years)

Mysterious Dude

11-27-2007, 03:57 PM

IT RULES!!!
You forgot this picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/Pete_rocking_Out20.jpg

Sycophant

11-27-2007, 04:26 PM

You forgot this picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/Pete_rocking_Out20.jpgReally? That's strange; I can see it on both my home computer and my work computer. I guess I'll just hotlink it from Spinal's account instead of my own.

Kurosawa Fan

11-27-2007, 04:27 PM

Really? That's strange; I can see it on both my home computer and my work computer. I guess I'll just hotlink it from Spinal's account instead of my own.

I can see it too.

Sycophant

01-06-2008, 08:48 AM

100. Infernal Affairs
Directed by Andrew Lau & Alan Mak. Written by Alan Mak & Felix Chong. 2002.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/infernalaffairs.jpg

This film is slick. If features slick commercial stars that have ruled the Hong Kong box office for about two decades, ageless Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. It features a slick directing team that has brought us such slick films as the Young & Dangerous series. It's got Chris Doyle's slick and beautiful cinematography. It's got a slick, tightly written script. And it's got a slick, misleading American DVD cover. Damn, this film's slick.

If you're on this site, you've probably seen The Departed, which was a pretty direct remake of this film. However, I'd happily contend that what that film does, this film does pithier, with more resonance (compare what happens to Sheen to the same thing with Wong), and, yes, slicker. It's interesting to watch both films deal with the same plot elements and introduce a lot of similar themes, but to read entirely different in its view on those themes. Strangely, the Hong Kong incarnation comes off as much bleaker, not indulging in such luxuries as justice. That this occurs in a wildly successfully motion picture is a nice thematic callback to the heroic bloodshed films of John Woo (a scene atop a roof is even lifted directly from Hard Boiled, even involving Leung's character again) of old, with high tension and mistrust taking the place of the high octane gun battles.

The elements really all come together for this one. Doyle's cinematography is claustrophobic and desolate at once. I've never seen the directing team so on their game. There are several action pieces (particularly the warehouse scene) that just sing.

Look for my next post, coming February 15, 2008!
This list will be complete on on November 9, 2018.

D_Davis

01-06-2008, 03:27 PM

megladon8

01-06-2008, 06:34 PM

Great, Sycophant!

I really like Infernal Affairs, but not as much as The Departed.

Melville

01-06-2008, 08:34 PM

If you're on this site, you've probably seen The Departed, which was a pretty direct remake of this film. However, I'd happily contend that what that film does, this film does pithier, with more resonance (compare what happens to Sheen to the same thing with Wong), and, yes, slicker.
But you have to admit that The Departed is a lot funnier. Plus, it has Alec Baldwin.

And thanks for giving me something to look forward to in 2018.

Sycophant

01-06-2008, 08:38 PM

But you have to admit that The Departed is a lot funnier. Plus, it has Alec Baldwin.I'll happily admit that The Departed was a good deal funnier. I'll also say that Baldwin gave a great comedic performance. I'll also say that The Departed wasn't all that funny. :P

Eric Tsang trumps Nicholson's hamming hands down and no one should ever have to take on the unfortunate task of filling a role originated by Anthony Wong.

I did love the very final scene of The Departed by the way and felt it really worked with the film that came before it. But it's not nearly as emotionally involving as IA is.

Qrazy

01-06-2008, 08:41 PM

Can't stand the 80's throwback synthy score of IA or the editing techniques and over use of dissolves. If that hadn't irritated me to no end, maybe I could have enjoyed the flick.

Sycophant

01-06-2008, 08:41 PM

Nice choice. IA almost made my list, but after a recent rewatch, I just didn't love it like I use to. It's still really good though. Anthony Wong is just awesome, as usual. One of the best actors working today.
On my last viewing, right after The Departed (Jesus, that was like a year ago now or something), I was struck by how much Leung's character's story tore at me. Lau's character is a tragic one as well and I love that the film makes me feel for him in the end.

I do think it is superior to The Departed in every way possible.:pritch:

Sycophant

01-06-2008, 08:42 PM

Can't stand the 80's throwback synthy score of IA or the editing techniques and over use of dissolves. If that hadn't irritated me to no end, maybe I could have enjoyed the flick.I love Hong Kong movies so much. :pritch:

Melville

01-06-2008, 08:46 PM

I'll happily admit that The Departed was a good deal funnier. I'll also say that Baldwin gave a great comedic performance. I'll also say that The Departed wasn't all that funny. :P

Eric Tsang trumps Nicholson's hamming hands down and no one should ever have to take on the unfortunate task of filling a role originated by Anthony Wong.

I did love the very final scene of The Departed by the way and felt it really worked with the film that came before it. But it's not nearly as emotionally involving as IA is.
Yeah, The Departed isn't emotionally involving at all, but not all that funny? Come on, Alec Baldwin taking that guy aside to pummel him, Jack Nicholson suddenly appearing covered in blood that gets no emphasis or mention in the scene, the absurd sequence of bullets to the head, Alec Baldwin at the golf course, and the general tone of escalating absurdity, leading to that completely over the top final shot—that's all comedy gold!

Not that I think the dark comedy really makes the movie work as a whole. It's one of my least favorite of Scorseses' films. If I saw Infernal Affairs again, I would probably agree that it's better than The Departed.

Qrazy

01-06-2008, 08:51 PM

Yeah, The Departed isn't emotionally involving at all, but not all that funny? Come on, Alec Baldwin taking that guy aside to pummel him, Jack Nicholson suddenly appearing covered in blood that gets no emphasis or mention in the scene, the absurd sequence of bullets to the head, Alec Baldwin at the golf course, and the general tone of escalating absurdity, leading to that completely over the top final shot—that's all comedy gold!

Not that I think the dark comedy really makes the movie work as a whole. It's one of my least favorite of Scorseses' films. If I saw Infernal Affairs again, I would probably agree that it's better than The Departed.

I prefer The Departed but don't think it's a particularly wonderful film or anything. To be fair, the blood bit is mentioned by DiCrapio's character later.

Sycophant

01-06-2008, 08:51 PM

Yeah, The Departed isn't emotionally involving at all, but not all that funny? Come on, Alec Baldwin taking that guy aside to pummel him, Jack Nicholson suddenly appearing covered in blood that gets no emphasis or mention in the scene, the absurd sequence of bullets to the head, Alec Baldwin at the golf course, and the general tone of escalating absurdity, leading to that completely over the top final shot—that's all comedy gold!Maybe my memory's just hazy, but I remember most of the laughs in Baldwin's character. I generally found Nicholson irritating on a near-Robin Williams level (when he popped up with his dildo, I think I lost my ability to find him amusing).

However, you've got valid points. I'm probably just being obstinate.

Melville

01-06-2008, 08:52 PM

I prefer The Departed but don't think it's a particularly wonderful film or anything. To be fair, the blood bit is mentioned by DiCrapio's character later.
But it's not mentioned in the scene where it appears, right? Because that's what makes it funny, as I recall.

Qrazy

01-06-2008, 08:53 PM

But it's not mentioned in the scene where it appears, right? Because that's what makes it funny, as I recall.

True. On another note, I found the final shot just stupid though, not funny.

Melville

01-06-2008, 08:53 PM

Maybe my memory's just hazy, but I remember most of the laughs in Baldwin's character. I generally found Nicholson irritating on a near-Robin Williams level (when he popped up with his dildo, I think I lost my ability to find him amusing).

However, you've got valid points. I'm probably just being obstinate.
Oh, I totally agree that Nicholson's hamminess was generally pretty irritating. But it did result in a few moments of inspired absurdity.

Melville

01-06-2008, 08:54 PM

True. On another note, I found the final shot just stupid though, not funny.
It was a pretty fine line between the two, I'll admit.

D_Davis

01-07-2008, 02:51 AM

Can't stand the 80's throwback synthy score of IA or the editing techniques and over use of dissolves. If that hadn't irritated me to no end, maybe I could have enjoyed the flick.

It's only an 80's throwback score when looked at from a western POV. In HK, it's contemporary. This is something that a lot of outsiders forget when viewing the cinema of another culture.

D_Davis

01-07-2008, 02:52 AM

Maybe my memory's just hazy, but I remember most of the laughs in Baldwin's character. I generally found Nicholson irritating on a near-Robin Williams level (when he popped up with his dildo, I think I lost my ability to find him amusing).

However, you've got valid points. I'm probably just being obstinate.

Nicholson's portrayal of the character is a total embarrassment to Tsang's awesome and brief performance in the original.

Qrazy

01-07-2008, 03:00 AM

It's only an 80's throwback score when looked at from a western POV. In HK, it's contemporary. This is something that a lot of outsiders forget when viewing the cinema of another culture.

Whatever way it's described, I hate that shit.

Raiders

01-07-2008, 01:19 PM

The Departed is a wickedly awesome film in which the characters and narrative are nothing on Scorsese's best films (and admittedly a little weaker than Infernal Affairs), but the filmmaking is almost spotless. I think Nicholson's performance is perfect in the context of Scorsese's black comedy underlinings. The whole film feels like an absurd bit of mayhem. It's about 10x more entertaining and memorable for me than the original HK film.

megladon8

01-07-2008, 01:21 PM

I absolutely love that opening line, "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me."

It's a line which just sets the scene so damn well.

It's a dynamite script, and I've been using it all year as a guide with my own writing.

Li Lili

01-08-2008, 09:43 PM

I love Hong Kong movies so much. :pritch::pritch:

I will check your list, maybe it will make me want to make one, one day.

D_Davis

01-08-2008, 10:33 PM

I wonder who will end up having more Hong Kong cinema on their list, you, or me?

Sycophant

01-09-2008, 06:44 PM

I wonder who will end up having more Hong Kong cinema on their list, you, or me?I haven't tabulated my Hong Kong films, but I think it's safe to say it's gonna be you. When I put my list together, I was kind of shocked how little Hong Kong there was. Regardless, it'll be more Hong Kong than almost any other list on this site.

D_Davis

01-09-2008, 06:50 PM

I haven't tabulated my Hong Kong films, but I think it's safe to say it's gonna be you. When I put my list together, I was kind of shocked how little Hong Kong there was. Regardless, it'll be more Hong Kong than almost any other list on this site.

I'll have a full tally of mine soon. I bet about 3/5 of my list is HK.

Sycophant

01-09-2008, 06:51 PM

I'll have a full tally of mine soon. I bet about 3/5 of my list is HK.
Heheh. You're definitely ahead of me. My list is something like a third Japanese and a third American. Not exactly, but something approximating that.

D_Davis

01-09-2008, 07:00 PM

Heheh. You're definitely ahead of me. My list is something like a third Japanese and a third American. Not exactly, but something approximating that.

Actually, I think 3/5 is too high now that I think of it. Damn fractions.

I don't know, I'm curious to get a tally now.

D_Davis

01-09-2008, 07:18 PM

I was way off. Right now, it is exactly 1/3.

Sycophant

01-25-2008, 08:27 PM

99. A Goofy Movie
Directed by Kevin Lima. Written by Jymn Magon, Chris Matheson, Brian Pimental. 1995.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/agoofymovie.jpg

A Goofy Movie has terribly inauspicious roots. Goof Troop was one of the more frivolous, slightly embarrassing products of the "Disney Afternoon" block of cartoons in the early nineties. It mashed up Goofy slapstick with wacky sitcom plot rehashes borrowed from The Flintstones and contemporary family prime time shtick, with heavy reliance on groan-inducing, stereotypical easy jokes (Pegleg Pete as a grimy used car salesman... get it?). Admittedly, the sexual tension between Goofy and Pete's wife, Peg was pretty interesting.

That's beside the point, though, because even if Goof Troop wasn't much to write home about, it spawned this wonderful film. Thanks to a binge I went on while detained at home for a month with illness in high school, it will probably always be the film I've seen the most. Still, I can pop it in for its smooth 78 minute runtime.

The film excels as a teenage movie and easily one of the most enjoyable musicals--animated or otherwise--in the last twenty years. Its broad depictions of the teenage experience are much easier to buy in the naturally hyperbolic style of the film's animation. Seriously, who could be better to illustrate the classic well-meaning-but-thoroughly-embarrassing-stuck-in-the-past dad than Goofy? A Goofy Movie takes all its basic, tried-and-true formula elements and makes them sing.

Raiders

01-25-2008, 08:29 PM

:|

I waited all that time for that?

What is this, "masturbate to Watashi" day?

Sycophant

01-25-2008, 08:29 PM

Too low. You fail.

Everyone else, I swear I'll get to some entries that make this list a little easier to take seriously soon.

Marley

01-26-2008, 12:15 AM

I've always been curious about who Max's mother is. I can only speculate that she had a drunken one night stand with Goofy because it haunts me to think someone would willingly sleep with him.

Sycophant

01-26-2008, 12:19 AM

I've always been curious about who Max's mother is. I can only speculate that she had a drunken one night stand with Goofy because it haunts me to think someone would willingly sleep with him.I've always thought Goofy would be a very giving and tender lover.

Mysterious Dude

01-26-2008, 12:32 AM

I've always been curious about who Max's mother is. I can only speculate that she had a drunken one night stand with Goofy because it haunts me to think someone would willingly sleep with him.
I, too, have trouble imagining Goofy putting his penis into somebody's vagina.

Sycophant

02-25-2008, 12:05 AM

98. In the Company of Men
Written & directed by Neil LaBute. 1997.

http://whatnot.bombdotcom.net/top100/inthecompanyofmen.jpg

Neil LaBute fascinates me, if for no other reasons than we share alma mater and spent time in the same programs (several years apart of course, and uh, he graduated, I didn't) at Brigham Young University. I don't know if sharing that kind of background makes me predisposed to like his work (God knows it doesn't for Jon Heder or Jared Hess), but I'm sure it informs my understanding of his work to a degree.

I'm trying not to include a lot of films that I've only seen once on this list, but my lone viewing of this film several months back was harrowing and stomach-churning, making the anonymous everyday corridors of a bland office building into a grotesque field of sexual bloodsport.

Aaron Eckhart looms large in this movie as the perfectly-named Chad, an almost impossibly good-looking figure whose duplicity, sleaze, and malice are all readily apparent but like Matt Malloy's pathetic, simpering Howard, orienting your alliances against him is almost counter-intuitive.

Stacy Edwards gives a complementary, heartbreaking performance. Her naked vulnerability stands in stark contrast to the obvious machinations of both Chad and Howard.

The film presents a vulgar and horrific exploration of the unfairness of natural and calculated advantage. In this world, the only ones left unbroken are those naturally strong beings whose self-interest surpasses all.