Number 23: Heat



An incredibly viseral experience and a showcase for Mann's considerable directing chops Heat is far more then just two living Legends in De Niro and Pacino being paired together. The Bank Heist Sequence definetly goes into my top 10 all time scenes.

Number 22: Le Temps du loup (The Time of the Wolf)



Michael Hanake's trek through a devestated doomsday senario France is an unrelenting tale of misery and darkness. It rolls around in its own primalism and never offers a chink of light, but in a way thats why I love this film. It doesn't pander to the audience in any way and its a fasinating examination of how humanity might reduce itself to barbarism should the worst happen.

Number 21: Shutter



Took me a while to get a copy of this (only being released officially at us Euro's now) before getting a version with Italian dubbing and English Subtitles, and I'm glad I did because this film terrified the bejesus out of me. Its not very inventive, I mean its standard enough Asian horror (dark haired girl and the like) but its so well executed I was ready to keel over from a heart attack at points. I'll be wary of all photo's after this.

Might do the rest tomorrow. That will do for now.

ROTK is the only one where I think the extended edition is worse. It makes the film way too long and most of what was added wasn't needed. FOTR + TTT both have better EEs.

Ok, youre on a mega roll now

I disagree whole heartedly... wait, did we have this argument before?

Not with me.... but go ahead Squee, tell me why you're right.

Because the theatrical feature was the worst edited of the 3, and the extended edition fixed that problem. One example is that the movie had all these shots of the supposedly "bad ass" deformed Orc, but you don't see him killed.

Also I find the Mouth of Sauron and Voice of Saruman scenes to be quite excellent (and even 2 of my favorites in the entire movie). You also see Merry kicking ass after falling off his horse.

Even though I think TTT is the worst edited, I see where you're coming from. I agree ROTK needed a bit more, but it certainly didn't need the Healing Houses sequence, or showing Aragorn getting on the pirate ship, or Frodo + Sam almost getting caught by Orcs. The Mouth of Sauron, Witch King stuff, sure, but the rest of it? Not needed. A film can only be so long, and 4 1/2 hours is too long.

I'm bored........and have Insomnia so might as well continue (I'll die at work tomorrow)

Number 20: Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark



Pure bred popcorn fun that evokes the pulp serials of the 1930s The Inidana Jones trilogy didn't pretend to be anything more then good old boys fun and was all the better for it. Raiders is the best of the 3, a mix of Nazi's, feisty females and Fords almost scondrel persona combined to make this one hell of a ride. Even if they screw up number 4 we'll still have this.

Number 19: Airplane



Flat out the funniest film I have ever seen, I'm convinced the Zuckers must have sold their souls to the devil to have a gag rate this high. They come at a relentless rate and never let up, and the way they employed serious character characters like Bridges and Neilson to keep a sombre face with all of the lunacy just adds to the comedic effect. Watched countless times, never gets old.

Number 18: The Outlaw Josey Wales



The best directorial effort of Eastwood's career its a terrible shame this film doesn't get more praise. Despite all the wise cracks and wry winks this is a pretty downbeat film at times. It doesn't force its points on you though, instead laying them out asking you to make your own observations and the dogged chase of Wales never desends into a repetitive slog. A 70s classic if ever there was one.

pfft, only 4 hours.

Number 17: The Good The Bad And The Ugly



Sergio Leone's conclusion to the Dollar's trilogy is as fine a piece of Cinema as you'll ever find. Epic, engrossing, existential and many more things besides it takes the more intimate nature of the first two films and stretches it out to encompass the US civil war along the way. Eastwood may be the frontman but you won't find better support then Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef. And the 3 way standoff doesn't even need discussing, just sit back an take it in.

Raiders and Airplane are two films that I desperatley need to rewatch, I can remember totally loving them, but my last viewing was long enough ago that I couldnt rank them on my 100 properly without seeing them again.

Semantics, my point remains.

Number 16: Back To The Future



This isn't a film that leans itself to deep analysis in my mind. Its not a James Joyce novel or a Greek Poem, what it is instead is multiplex brilliance (ack one uses these word way to much in a top 100, but hey my grasp of English will not allow for more) and a good time. Thank God they eventually went with Fox as Marty, anything else would have been a travesty and Christopher Lloyd was my own personal hero when I was but a young buck, he was like a genius superman in my eyes. The sequels were very solid in their own right but the opening was the best. If only Huey Lewis was as enduring.

Number 15: Die Hard



It seemed for a time in McTiernan's career all he touched turned to gold and this is no exception. This film is one of those once in a blue moon occurances, it relies on a number of rare alignments to be the sheer action cinema genius it is.

Rickman's memorable main villian, a simple story that avoids clutter, a young turk in the form of Willis acting out of his skin, German's as terrorists!! (admit it German is the best language for these films, sounds so urgent and angry) and a buddy dyanmic with Al Powell and Mclane that never falls into scmaltz. All combine to make Die Hard what it is.

Number 14: Mad Max 2



The supreme template for any self respecting lo-fi Apocalypse film Mad Max 2 doesn't quite live in reality but I can live with that, I mean one can only take so much raw end of days drama, and the car chases are hard to beat. If you've seen it no need to elaborate further instead take in the prologue narration.

My life fades. The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior. The man we called "Max". To understand who he was, you have to go back to another time. When the world was powered by the black fuel. And the desert sprouted great cities of pipe and steel. Gone now, swept away. For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all. Without fuel, they were nothing. They built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. The cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear. Men began to feed on men. On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice. And in this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed. Men like Max. The warrior Max. In the roar of an engine, he lost everything. And became a shell of a man, a burnt out, desolate man, a man haunted by the demons of his past, a man who wandered out into the wasteland. And it was here, in this blighted place, that he learned to live again...

Number 13: The Shawshank Redemption



Yes its a very obvious choice but this film is loved for many valid reasons. Its a pretty dark tale when you think about it. Murder, Rape, Isolation, and Madness, they are all covered here. So its to this films great credit that it can cover all those area's and yet also be a supremely uplifting experience. Morgan Freeman conveys more emotion with nothing more then his eyes then most actors would have to work a lifetime to equal, and even Tim Robbins a man that can irritate me still brings a lump to my throat. A modern classic.

Number 12: The Big Red One



One of those films I've learn to appreciate more and more with each viewing, Sam Fullers ode to the fallen of the Second World War is a massively character driven affair, the actual battle sequences are low key and are dwarfed compared to the Ryan's of this world. What this film has in spades is those little memorable moments that stay with you. The interlude in the Sicilain village, The insane asylum raid, The desert town tank battle, The German Boy as a sniper. Countless moments that add up to a sublime whole, and Lee Marvins performance is his own personal penance for The Dirty Dozen and his memorial to his own fallen friends in battle. The Reconstruction edition is the best by far, the original release an insult to Fullers vision.

Number 11: Apocalypse Now



You can tell this film had an extraordinary shoot, the palpable sense of insanity hangs in the air at every turn. Its not a pure bred Vietnam movie, hell its not a full bred war movie. Its more a trip through the human sub-conscuise then anything. The imagery is laid on thick and fast, The swooping choppers, the surreal party at the river holding post and of course the final confrontation with Kurtz. (and if you see the redux version a freaky interlude with the ghosts of the colonial past). I'm a sucker for a story relying big time on the visual aspect to carry through and Apocalypse Now is rich candy for the eyes.

Number 10: 12 Monkey's



Gilliam's best and one of the most convincing end of days visions put to screen, 12 Monkey's is a lurid Desent into madness with even a drooling lunatic Pitt hitting all the right notes. The soundtrack deserves major praise as well, it fits perfectly its screeching tones heighening the sense of urgency. Oddly being a dolt I found the ending to be a massive downer for years because I never noticed the women on the plane was one of the scientists. I felt rather stupid when I realise that.

Number 9: Idi i Smotri (Come and See)



I've seen this film twice, and its unlikely I will ever watch it again. So how is it in my top 10 all time? Put simply this is the most brutal unfliching depiction of the evils of war I have ever seen, and like war you will not get enjoyment out of this. Instead you'll feel completely drained and beat up by the end. It never stops, never relaxes for a second it shoves it in your face and makes you experience all the trauma. The people burning in the barn will stay with me for a long time, the cinematic equivalent of starring into hell.