The List: 14-10
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 by patrickdonohueBefore I continue the countdown, I think it’s important to firmly establish what my criteria was for making this list. My number one rule (contrary to what my girlfriend may believe) is that there is no pretension allowed on this list. What follows in the list, as you’ll see, is a no-frills list of my favorite movies ever. Pure and simple. You won’t find Terrence Malick or Antonioni on this list. Ditto for The Bicycle Thief and Lawrence of Arabia. If I didn’t genuinely enjoy a film, it’s not going to be on the list regardless of how cool its inclusion would make me look. Second, I have to have watched each of these movies at least twice (with the exception of one movie, which I will explain later). Let’s get on with the show.
14. Match Point - I remember the first time I saw this movie back during the Industry Outsider days and having seen Woody Allen’s 2005 film a couple times since that initial screening, my enjoyment of the picture has never diminished. I love the look of this film, the way it’s shot, it’s perfectly timed use of Pre-World War I arias and most of all the ending. The ending of Match Point is as suspenseful and as gut-wrenching as any film I’ve ever seen. Many critics of the film claims that this film is a simple re-telling of Crimes and Misdemeanors but I think this film succeeds in all the areas where Crimes and Misdemeanors fell short for me. Jonathan Rhys Meyer’s character, unlike Martin Landau’s character in Crimes, is a sympathetic character. Growing up a working class Irish kid turned tennis pro now finds himself in way over his head mingling with the English upper class. It’s because you feel for this character and want to see him succeed that the end of the film is so gripping. If you haven’t seen Match Point, give it a go. If you don’t understand the beginning, wait ’till the end.
13. Ratatouille - Brad Bird’s spectacular follow-up to The Incredibles is the notable exception to my second rule. I haven’t even made it through this movie. After watching the first hour of film on a flight back to Indiana, I raved to my girlfriend about the film’s lush animation and realism and the storytelling and how good it was. She scoffed at the notion that I had watched the flick without her and I vowed, for the sake of my relationship, that I wouldn’t finish the film and would wait to watch it with her. That being sad, Ratatouille is one of the most amazing, beautiful movies I’ve ever seen and after the complete viewing, will probably snake its way into the top 5 but for now Remy sits at 13.
12. Children of Men - It wasn’t until I saw Children of Men that I began eying the HD add-on for my XBox 360. Alfonso Cuaron’s brilliant film about the future world in which women have become infertile and the human race is dying out has a little bit of everything. Poignant social commentary (though the obvious Abu Ghraib reference made me roll eyes), nail-biting action and compelling drama (and Clive Owen’s best performance of his career) make for one of the best movies of last year. Between this movie and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which, before this year’s Order of the Phoenix was my favorite of the Potter flicks, I am fast becoming a fan of Cuaron’s work.
11. Rear Window - My favorite Hitchock film by far, this thriller starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly hasn’t aged for me at all. Hitchock’s plays on boredom, curiosity and suspicion are masterful and well-constructed. If you want to see a better made, better-acted Disturbia, you must Netflix, rent or just flat out buy Rear Window. Also keep a close eye out for Hitchock’s cameo in the flick.
10. The Departed - Ultra-violent, lots of cursing and the Irish mob in Boston, what more could you want out of a Scorcese film? The greatness of The Departed is that there is not a bad actor or a bad performance in the film. Jack Nicholson, Mark Whalberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin are all obviously terrific but more than that, the dayplayers, the supporting cast’s performances are all amazing. Truthfully, this was the film that deserved to win Best Picture last year for Scorcese. It’s an exponentially better film that Gangs of New York and The Aviator and the film’s pacing really makes you forget that this is a nearly three-hour movie, which would typically spell disaster for yours truly.
