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:
  1. I'd really like to hone my skill in writing about film, so writing 100 mini-essays should help in that regard
  2. I'm really quite obsessive compulsive and simply love making lists.
  3. 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)