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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films

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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 30/5/2011 2:55:24 PM   
Deviation


Posts: 26908
Joined: 2/6/2006
From: Enemies of Film HQ
quote:

ORIGINAL: Rebel scum

Best start planning my escape. Maybe if I mentioned that the Pirates sequels were just average...


It will be useless to escape if you do so.....


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

quote:


ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates

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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 30/5/2011 6:58:42 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
Well, given Gimli's reactions to some of Sword's choices, I think my next one will destroy any goodwill.

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Post #: 32
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 30/5/2011 7:05:40 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
94-Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001)



Confession time: I have seen very, very few Ghibli films. Currently, I’ve seen Howl’s Moving Castle, half of Grave of the Fireflies (I don’t remember why I stopped watching it, because it was aces), Princess Mononoke and this, my personal favourite of the lot. I know that there’s a lot of anime fans who deride Spirited Away as it was immensely popular in places that aren’t Japan, but as this was my first exposure to anime (Pokémon excepted!) and it blew me away.

There’s an inventiveness here rarely seen in non-Pixar animation, and even then rarely to the extent seen here. Miyazaki creates a world filled with unique and wonderful creations, as great an achievement in world-building as Middle-Earth or 2019 Los Angeles. Indeed, most of the film seems to be inspired by Alice in Wonderland, in showing our young heroine wanders bemused around a world that operates on its own logic. The difference is that Chihiro has a goal beyond “escape crazy fantasy world”, in that she wants to get her parents changed back from pigs to humans. In order to do so she has to work at a bathhouse for the denizens of the spirit world, leading to some achingly beautiful moments of animation, my favourite of which is in “best scene” below.

What is also admirable is that we aren’t immediately expected to like Chihiro straight away. In fact, early on she acts her age-that is, somewhat demanding and a teensy bit annoying-but her quest to free her parents leads her to new levels of maturity, which is an interesting theme for what is a somewhat plotless film.

That’s not to say that nothing happens, the film is full of incident and never stops being entertaining, but the connecting storyline and even Chihiro’s parents occasionally get forgotten amongst the beautiful imagery and constant procession of interesting characters. But this isn’t a film about plot, it’s about style and beautiful animation, and the animation here is as beautiful as anything America has to offer.

Also, I promise these will stop being so recent-centric soon, I’m grimly aware that the last six entries are all post-2000!

BEST SCENE: The train scene. It’s the scene everyone picks for a reason, as it provides a quiet, meditative break between more frantic episodes, with some of the best animation in the entire film-and considering what it’s up against, that’s quite an achievement.


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Post #: 33
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 31/5/2011 12:08:23 AM   
Gimli The Dwarf


Posts: 73480
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From: Central Park Zoo
 Monsters!

Spirited Away

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Post #: 34
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 31/5/2011 9:35:03 AM   
chambanzi


Posts: 441
Joined: 31/8/2010
Spirited Away is amazing. People do tend to love the train scene as you said, it is an amazing scene but I always love the scene where she washes the water spirit.

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Post #: 35
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 31/5/2011 12:01:52 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
93-The Green Mile (Darabont, 1999)



The Green Mile is so much more than Darabont’s “other prison movie”. If you were to watch The Green Mile expecting another Shawshank, you’ll inevitably be disappointed. Instead of an examination of friendship that takes place in a brutal prison, this is more focussed on the prison, and it takes a while for the plot to get going. This isn’t a criticism as the time spent just hanging out on Death Row is unfailingly interesting, the film happy to set up characters and relationships before setting the plot wheels turning.

Said plot involves a man condemned to death who can heal the sick. Yes, that is supposed to remind you of something, but to the film’s credit it never dwells on the Christ allegories to the extent that it does in the book. Instead, it offers an examination on what right the protagonist has to kill one of God’s miracles, and the various plot twists only serve to emphasize how difficult of a decision it is, right up to a surprisingly nihilistic ending. There’s also an anti-death penalty subtext, but again it’s not heavy-handed in its moralising, asking what kind of system would condemn a miracle to death and leaving the audience to draw its own conclusions.

What is particularly ironic is that the biggest bastard of the film, and the closest it comes to a conventional villain, is Percy Wetmore, one of the guards of Death Row. Doug Hutchinson deserves heaps of credit for playing one of the best villains in any film, his Percy not evil in any conventional sense, but just horrendously mean-spirited and petty, in direct contrast to the other guards-in particular David Morse’s kind and considerate Brutus, whose only acts of violence throughout the film are directed not at the convicted murderers, but at Percy. While I’m praising actors, special mention must also go to Sam Rockwell (Who had a great 1999!), playing Bill Wharton on just the right side of OTT craziness, providing a contrast to the quiet, often polite John Coffey and Delacroix.

While it doesn’t reach the heights of Darabont’s debut, it is still a haunting movie, unafraid of asking serious questions and spending time with its characters.

BEST SCENE: SPOILERS! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!


Delacroix’s death. It hammers home just how much of a selfish prick Percy is, as well as being horrifying to watch just because of how realistic the portrayal of a botched execution is.


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Post #: 36
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 4:29:02 PM   
Rebel scum


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Joined: 2/1/2006
THREAD RESURRECTION!

The reason this thread stopped where it did was because my top 100 has been very versatile in the last few months, with so many new entries that all the films in the list so far now sit at 106th (Green Mile)-113th (Maltese Falcon), thanks to the influx of new entries. It seems to have calmed down recently, so I'll give my all to finishing it (Which probably will mean even shorter write-ups, since I'm not gifted in finding multiple ways of saying "See this, it's good")

For those who are interested, the films between 106th and 101st are
105-Full Metal Jacket
104-High Fidelity
103-Ran
102-Citizen Kane
101-Let The Right One In.

And with a little luck, I'll have the next couple up shortly.

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Post #: 37
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 4:37:58 PM   
matty_b


Posts: 12897
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From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.
 Good, good.

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Post #: 38
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 4:40:59 PM   
Snake-Eyes


Posts: 9970
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: ZONE 2
 PLATOON - Greatest Vietnam War Film ever made.
 
THE GREEN MILE - A fantastic, haunting, emotional journey. Snake-Eyes' Second chosen Darabont Masterpiece.

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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 4:57:42 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
100-Evil Dead II



I think I said earlier in the thread that this wasn’t on the list, and the reason it is now is because I recently watched this with a group of people who’d never seen it before. Around the time the headless corpse attacks Bruce Campbell with a chainsaw, I was hit with the realisation that Evil Dead II is a film that improves immensely when watching it in a group-the entire film from that point was punctuated with laughter, cries of “what the fuck?”, and everyone musing about how awesome Bruce Campbell is, and the overall atmosphere only improved the viewing experience enough for me to slot it in here. Maybe I only love it because of how fun that rewatch was, but looking at films to come, a lot of them are high only because of memories tied with them.

So basically, this whole write-up is a roundabout way of saying that if the atmosphere you watch a film in ties majorly into its impact, and Evil Dead II is definitely one that benefits from a group of people all willing to have fun.

The film’s also bloody brilliant, but you know that already.

BEST SCENE: The hand. Anything and everything to do with the possessed hand is hilarious-especially its final, wonderful appearance at the finale, which damn near brought the house down.


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Post #: 40
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 5:13:28 PM   
MovieAddict247


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I've never seen the Evil Dead II. In fact, I've never even seen The Evil Dead.

I feel like I'm missing out.


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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 5:13:39 PM   
Rebel scum


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Joined: 2/1/2006
99-It’s A Wonderful Life



(Some spoilers, but everyone knows the plot anyway)
It’s A Wonderful Life is a film that gets accused regularly of being nothing more than schmaltzy crap that gets peddled out every Christmas, but I think a lot of people forget just how dark this film actually is. Sure, it has that classic moment at the end (Is it even worth putting a spoiler warning up for this?) where James Stewart decides he wants to live and runs triumphantly through the streets to find everyone’s chipped in to help him out, but it’s hard not to feel that he’s earned himself his happy ending, considering his plans to see the world have been dashed at every turn. Thinking about it, 75% of the running time focuses on George Bailey slowly breaking down as again and again he is thwarted from leaving town-his breakdown in front of his family is absolutely heartbreaking, as is his realisation of what he’s done. This film is possibly the codifier of the phrase “The darkest hour is just before the dawn”.

That’s not to say it’s all a massive downer, as there’s regular comic relief and punch-the-air moments before the finale. The character of Uncle Billy is used to great effect early on, his bumbling being both endearing and funny (especially in the unscripted moment where he stumbles over something offscreen and yells out “I’m allllright!”). The love story between George and Mary is also touching, and their falling in love feels believable-especially compared to what passes for “romance” in most modern rom-coms. On the other hand, the film later uses the light relief to devastating effect-Uncle Billy loses the money and provides the catalyst for George’s despair, and Mary’s failure to recognise him in the alternate, George-less universe is the final straw that makes George want to live again (And yes, yes it is a bit sexist that Mary becoming a librarian who never married is TERRIBLE AND WRONG, but it doesn’t get in the way of the moment as much as some would say).

Overall, It’s A Wonderful Life is a great film, showing the darker side of existence and then providing reassurance that it’s all worth it.

BEST SCENE: George finally snapping, shouting at his family and storming out into the night-his nice-guy image that we’ve had for the entire film disappears here, and it’s both heartbreaking and terrifyingly real.


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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 5:14:32 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: MovieAddict247

I've never seen the Evil Dead II. In fact, I've never even seen The Evil Dead.

I feel like I'm missing out.



I wasn't particularly fond of The Evil Dead, but you're definitely missing out by not seeing the second one!

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Post #: 43
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 5:18:44 PM   
Snake-Eyes


Posts: 9970
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: ZONE 2
quote:

ORIGINAL: Rebel scum

100-Evil Dead II





Can I get a "F**K, YEAH!!"? Yep. EVIL DEAD II is a solid, cult classic. Sam Raimi's 1987 horror-spoof practically re-invented a sub-genre which I personally feel was almost a prototype / blueprint for FROM DUSK TILL DAWN and this really is the finest example of his insane, kinetic style (by the way, I s**t on DRAG ME TO HELL - f**king epic failure with about as much suspense as an episode of 'Doctors') There's a healthily loaded new special edition blu-ray due soon too!

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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 5:20:14 PM   
Snake-Eyes


Posts: 9970
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: ZONE 2
quote:

ORIGINAL: MovieAddict247

I've never seen the Evil Dead II. In fact, I've never even seen The Evil Dead.

I feel like I'm missing out.



WHAAAATT?!!! MA247 - Watch 'em BOTH ASAFP! ARMY OF DARKNESS (EVIL DEAD III) was just average but the first two are UNMISSABLE.

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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 5:34:58 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: Snake-Eyes

quote:

ORIGINAL: MovieAddict247

I've never seen the Evil Dead II. In fact, I've never even seen The Evil Dead.

I feel like I'm missing out.



WHAAAATT?!!! MA247 - Watch 'em BOTH ASAFP! ARMY OF DARKNESS (EVIL DEAD III) was just average but the first two are UNMISSABLE.


I actually preferred Army of Darkness to The Evil Dead, maybe because it's got one of the wittiest B-movie scripts ever and maybe because the final battle is almost exactly the same as Helm's Deep .

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Post #: 46
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 6:04:44 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40229
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 Two strong choices, but no love for the first Evil Dead? 

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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 6:06:55 PM   
matty_b


Posts: 12897
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.
 Great write up for It's a Wonderful Life. 

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ORIGINAL: Cool Breeze
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Post #: 48
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 6:33:05 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
98-The Fly (1986)



The Fly is the newest entry on the list, having shoved its way in on a rewatch, and the main reason it’s in here can be laid at the feet of one man: Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum makes this film, always being 100% credible as a man turning into a fly and desperately clinging onto his humanity. The fact we get to spend plenty of time with him before tits go inevitably up and the transformation starts serves to improve the film, as we have a reference point for what he was like-a loner coming out of his shell after meeting someone who both a) cares about his work and b) is willing to sleep with him. This only makes the transformation even more heartbreaking-especially his speech about insect politics, climaxing in “I’m an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it, but now the dream is over, and the insect is awake.” Even under layers of prosthetics Goldblum sells the hell out of it, and that he didn’t even get an Oscar nomination is criminal.

That’s not to say he’s the only good thing about this film-the effects are some of the finest ever put on film, Cronenberg directs the hell out of it, making the familiar location of Brundle’s lab ore and more threatening as the film goes on, and the supporting players are excellent-with particular mention to John Getz, who starts out an asshole and winds up as someone who genuinely cares about Veronica without any heavy-handed expositionary scenes and renders it believable. But without Goldblum it would be a far lesser film, he takes the part and runs with it, effectively getting The Fly into my top 100 all on his own.

BEST SCENE: The ending. If the previous best scene is heartbreaking, the ending here is sad enough to bring tears to the eyes of a jaded war veteran with no eyes. Cronenberg had to change to this ending from an alternative one where Veronica dreams about giving birth to a butterfly, and thank god he did, because that ending sounds really, really stupid.


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Post #: 49
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 6:35:42 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

Two strong choices, but no love for the first Evil Dead? 


Sadly not, it was OK (I think in my list of films this year I gave it a 6) but it didn't grab me and make me care about the people in the film as much as the other two. I think comedy greatly benefited the series.



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

Great write up for It's a Wonderful Life. 


Thanks!

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Post #: 50
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 6:36:15 PM   
rawlinson


Posts: 40229
Joined: 13/6/2008
From: Timbuktu. Chinese or Fictional.
 Great review, though I'd have to disagree with you about Getz. I think he's one of the most loathsome supporting characters in mainstream 80s cinema, only outdone by people like Walter Peck.

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quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

I would plough my way through MonsterCat



quote:

ORIGINAL: matty_b

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Post #: 51
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 6:44:14 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: rawlinson

Great review, though I'd have to disagree with you about Getz. I think he's one of the most loathsome supporting characters in mainstream 80s cinema, only outdone by people like Walter Peck.


I'd agree for most of the film, but I reckon by the end he's getting involved because he genuinely cares about Veronica. Sure, he's insistent about her getting the abortion, but given her complete and utter terror at what might be inside her body, that's understandable. And Brundlefly ensure that he gets punished for his dickishness in the first three quarters of the film.

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Post #: 52
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 8:59:29 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
97-The Mist



The Mist is Stephen King by way of H P Lovecraft, and is exactly as good as it sounds. The central premise of a bunch of survivors of a cataclysmic event holing up in a store to attempt to wait out the apocalypse sounds familiar to any Romero fan, but The Mist plays it somewhat differently and is actually the better movie. One thing that they do share is the concept of humanity being far worse than whatever the monster is, as shown by the bikers in Dawn and Mrs Carmody here. She’s one of the hissable villains in movie history, some kind of hybrid of Professor Umbridge and the Westboro Baptist Church, and Marcia Gay Harden acts the hell out of it. The film also benefits from not going the route where everyone immediately latches on to Mrs Carmody as a way out, instead favouring a slow build-up as the survivors split into groups, bicker and gradually the number of survivors dwindle.

That said, there are obviously monsters in the mist, and the film doesn’t disappoint, featuring some genuinely brilliant monster design and effects, with special mention to the tentacles (Which are attached to something we don’t see, increasing their impact), and in particular the monster that the heroes only catch a glimpse of, and all we as an audience see is that it’s fucking huge. The monster set-pieces are spread conservatively throughout the film, and like the tension in the supermarket, escalate into full-blown bloodbaths by the end. The battle in the pharmacy is a particularly fine one, easily the best monster-attack set piece in recent memory.

What makes this a truly great film, though, is that it never loses focus on the human cast. Thomas Jane is probably the best he’s ever been here, Marcia Gay Harden I’ve already praised and Toby Jones, one of the most unsung support actors, is the ensemble standout as the timid man who also knows how to fire a gun.

And because I expect it’ll get mentioned, the ending does work. It shows that cowardice and giving up all hope in the face of the unknown only leads to bad decisions and worse consequences-the only person in the whole film who acted totally altruistically is the only one we know gets a happy ending.

BEST SCENE: As I said, the spider attack is the best action scene, but the final confrontation with Mrs Carmody is one of the tensest standoffs outside a Western, and the way it pans out ALWAYS gets a round of applause.


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Post #: 53
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 2/10/2011 9:22:20 PM   
Snake-Eyes


Posts: 9970
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: ZONE 2
quote:

ORIGINAL: Rebel scum

97-The Mist





And this would be Snake-Eyes' favourite Darabont film. By far one of the best Horror Films of the last two decades and it is still, in my opinion, somewhat underrated. I can't add much else to what you've pointed out, Rebel Scum - it's a classic.

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Post #: 54
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 3/10/2011 10:46:36 AM   
matty_b


Posts: 12897
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.
 Two more great choices. Glad you singled out Harden's performance in The Mist, she's spectacular.

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Post #: 55
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 3/10/2011 10:51:12 AM   
MovieAddict247


Posts: 3359
Joined: 5/6/2009
I've haven't seen The Mist or The Fly either! This is getting embarassing.

It's A Wonderful Life is pretty good though.


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RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 3/10/2011 11:37:48 AM   
Gimli The Dwarf


Posts: 73480
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Central Park Zoo
 LOTR > ED, It's A Wonderful Life is superb, The Fly's funny, The Mist is excellent.


_____________________________

So, sir, we let him have it right up! And I have to report, sir, he did not like it, sir.

Fellow scientists, poindexters, geeks.

Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!

Much more better!

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Post #: 57
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 3/10/2011 11:57:35 AM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
96-La Jetee



La Jetee has the honour of being the only short film on my list. Initially I wasn’t going to include any at all, but this half-hour film told by still images and narration has stuck with me to the extent that I broke my own system so I could include it. It’s more famous as the inspiration for Twelve Monkeys, and while the remake is excellent and made the initial shortlist La Jetee is the superior product.

The story it tells is simplistic-a guy goes back in time after a devastating third world war and falls in love-but the combination of the still photographs (pretty much all of which could be framed and put on display somewhere) and a soundtrack of narration and sound effects works surprisingly well, to the extent that the lack of motion never bothers you. It’s obviously a more “arty” short, but it never feels that way, being far more entertaining than the format would suggest.

And really, that’s all there is to it. There is no performances to praise (Bar the narrator, who is excellent), no clever dolly shots, no big action set-pieces or special effects. Just a great story told uniquely and fascinatingly.

BEST SCENE: The images of a destroyed Paris as mournful music plays in the background. We've seen Earth be destroyed by spectacular set-pieces far too many times, and this is quite possibly the most effective.


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Post #: 58
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 3/10/2011 11:58:09 AM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gimli The Dwarf

LOTR > ED



You'll be delighted to know that I agree .

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"We are not safe! A dark menace rises to the east! Duckies go quack! Cows go moo! I want ice cream. Verily, will you two hobbits join my quest?"

(in reply to Gimli The Dwarf)
Post #: 59
RE: Rebel Scum's Top 100 Favourite Films - 3/10/2011 12:15:08 PM   
Rebel scum


Posts: 3033
Joined: 2/1/2006
95-Beauty and the Beast



Disney, like any other studio, has proven itself to be perfectly capable of churning out crap film after crap film. Before Beauty and the Beast came out, they’d had a grand total of one good animated film in the past decade (Basil the Great Mouse Detective) and no great ones since 1973’s Robin Hood. But by building on the formula from the pretty rubbish The Little Mermaid, they made one of animation’s masterpieces.

Indeed, it’s tempting to view the film as Disney sending up itself, to a certain extent. The all-American, badass, epically-chinned guy is also the primary antagonist, and the monster that’d usually be wheeled out in the third act as some kind of minion is our romantic lead. The biggest change, though, is to have a heroine who isn’t a princess, or royalty, or wealthy, but instead is the daughter of a slightly eccentric inventor who loves reading-which helps make her one of Disney’s most likable protagonist, and certainly the best female role model Disney had produced up to that point. Never in the film does Belle look out over some lovely vista wanting some pretty boy to come find her, she’s perfectly happy with her lot and her only desire is success for her papa. This only serves to make the central romance all the more affecting, as this is a girl who wasn’t looking for love, who found it anyway.

That said, it does maintain some classic Disney values-a great support cast who provide comic relief (Beauty and the Beast’s being perhaps Disney’s best), and memorable musical numbers, the standouts being the title song and “Gaston”-primarily because it’s so wonderfully narcissistic. One other thing is pilfers from Disney tradition is great animation, with the ballroom scene being the best example, seamlessly blending hand-drawn animation with subtle CGI to beautiful effect. I love Ghibli and all, but THIS is animation at its zenith.

Not for nothing is this the only hand-drawn film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars-this was Disney in fine form, drawing in a streak of classics that encompassed almost all of the 90s and came to a dead stop at the turn of the century (One of which is coming up much later).

BEST SCENE: The ballroom scene, as already mentioned, is fantastic, but I’m tempted to give this to the moment where Beast gives Belle the library. The sense of wonder and the subsequent number about how the Beast is rediscovering his humanity is genuinely wonderful, and all too often gets overshadowed by the rest of the film.


_____________________________

"We are not safe! A dark menace rises to the east! Duckies go quack! Cows go moo! I want ice cream. Verily, will you two hobbits join my quest?"

(in reply to Rebel scum)
Post #: 60
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