51. The Wrestler
52. Pan's Labyrinth
53. Synecdoche, NY
54. A History of Violence
55. Memento
56. Head-On
57. Zodiac
58. American Splendor
59. Capturing the Friedmans
60. Sugar
61. Morvern Callar
62. Zidane
63. Last Resort
64. Wall-E
65. Freddy Got Fingered
66. Superbad
67. Dark Days
68. Brick
69. My Summer of Love
70. The Piano Teacher
71. In Bruges
72. Tell No-one
73. Ghost World
74. The Squid and the Whale
75. Chopper
76. Last House in the Woods
77. Late Marriage
78. Birth
79. Gone Baby Gone
80. Jindabyne
81. Touching the Void
82. Persepolis
83. Hidden
84. Happy Go Lucky
85. Funny People
86. Idiocracy
87. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
88. Salvage
89. The Son
90. Hunger
91. Let the Right One In
92. In this World
93. Avatar
94. Requiem for a Dream
95. Lantana
96. Dog Soldiers
97. The Devil's Backbone
98. A Serious Man
99. The Son's Room
100. No Country for Old Men
This first section reads like a list of films that I liked but never loved. How sad. It's pretty hard to separate this lot in my estimation - apart from numbers 56 to 51 you could jiggle the order about quite a bit and it wouldn't make much difference to me.
Most people seemed to like No Country for Old Men a bit more than I did. It was gripping enough, but it really didn't mean anything as far as I was concerned. Javier Bardem was given all sorts of mad props, but his performance was typical of the film as a whole - stylish, a bit unsettling, but somewhat lacking in any recognisable emotion. I mean, he might has well have had a bag over his head rather than that silly 'do'. I suppose that that's kind of the point, that he's supposed to be a ruthless, implacable psycho, but I don't think that the guy should be winning awards for a performance without humanity or emotion or anything really, other than scariness.
There's a couple of cheap, nasty, mean-spirited horror films on the list, Salvage and Last House in the Woods (Home-Sick came pretty close to making the cut too.) You'd be hard pushed to say these films mean anything either of course, but that's not really the point. Their purpose is to showcase imaginative mutilations and to make you feel slightly abused. They both serve their purpose handsomely. Incidentally, I think that Last House in the Woods might have the lowest user rating on imdb.com of all the films that appear on the list (4.8). Clearly an underrated genre; very much maligned and misunderstood, as Mr. C would put it.
Actually, I'm mistaken. Freddy Got Fingered has an even lower user rating (3.9). I'd be prepared to accept that this isn't a great movie by any conventional measure. It's a piece of shit by any conventional measure. Nevertheless, it's touched by genius in the way that it keeps on delivering jaw dropping moments, again and again, from the second scene onwards (you'll recall that's the scene where Gord encounters his first horse cock.) And it's just funny. Like that bit in the delivery room! It's just funny!
Ok, so the top 50's coming up soon.
Monday, 1 February 2010
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So any of those horror movies a Charlotte-film? And who is Mr C?
ReplyDeleteHmm, probably not Charlotte-on-her-own-films. Too scary for you.
ReplyDeleteThe surprises here for me are as follows:
ReplyDeleteThe Wrestler - thought it would be much higher up.
Synecdoche NY - to me, this was a film about a man disappearing up his own arse that itself disappears up its own arse. Strange that, because one of Charlie Kaufmann's other films, Being John Malkovich, is almost literally about someone disappearing up his own arse. Seems to be a recurring theme.
History of Violence - Viggo M is my favourite actor at the moment, he's just incredible. Would have it higher up.
Zidane - I'd have thought you'd rate a film about yourself much higher.
In Bruges - would be in my top 10, though I am a Spurs fan so I'm biased (it's the only film I can think of with a Spurs joke in it). Have you seen Six Shooter? And would a short like that count in this list?
Ghost World - I watched that again recently and didn't like it quite as much as the first time. But at the time, it completely shone for me. I think you need to be barely out of your teens to really get that one. And a little bit more of an idealist.
Happy Go Lucky - I thought it was completely joyous.
Hunger - an insane and unforgettable experience, I've never seen anything like it. Amazed it's possible to 'like it but not love it'! I'd have thought it was love or loathe.
Let The Right One In - everyone seems to think it's like the greatest film of the decade. I'm not so sure, but again it's so unusual I'd have it higher. And the scene in the swimming pool is unforgettable, as is the scene in the forest.
Requiem for a Dream - I love the cinematography in this; beautiful dreamlike images when they're in the early stages of smack addiction get gradually more grotty as it turns into a nightmare. V clever. And I can still see that image of the fairground in my head years after watching it.
Dog Soldiers - Emma loves this film, I hated it.
No Country For Old Men - 100?! I'd have it WAAAAY higher, if only for the way it manages to be so meanacing in the car parts shop without really saying anything.
To be honest, I put in Ghost World very near the end of the list. It just sprang to mind and I thought, yes, got to get that in somewhere. But I haven't seen it for years to be honest. I've only seen Synecdoche once, but something about it got to me, really sucked me in. I'm not sure what it was all about, maybe the limitations of art and the importance of life, but I found it really affecting especially the bit where he goes to see his daughter in hospital. sob.
ReplyDelete