The movie Norton was forced to do was 'The Italian Job'. More great picks, Gun: Dirty HArry, Minority Report

55. Planet of the Apes- 1968



This movie is what the Apocolypse is all about, but you don't know that until the end. It is easily one of the most important Science fiction films to ever come around, and it remains influential. The sets were great, as was the makeup for its time. The performances are top notch as the lone human from our time is treated like a slave under an species of advanced apes.
And lets talk about the ending. Easily the most shocking and craziest ending when the movie first came out. And it still is an ending to beat even today. So influential it spawned 4 sequels, Beneath being awesome but after that it got progressively worst, a short lived TV show, and a remake by Burton, that is merely all right, and the biggest WTF ending of all time, and not in the good way.

I'd love to have been around during the original run of Planet of the Apes just to experience that ending raw.

Funnily enough the remakes ending followed the novel closer then the original film.

Hooray for Pee Wee! Still one of my favourite films.

I like to think part of what made it so brilliant was Phil Hartman's hand in writing it.

Anyone else love the Simpsons spoof, the spoof song of Amadeus with Dr. Zaius was absolutely amazing, and might be my favorite reference, with Troy McClore as Taylor.

He can talk, he can talk, he can talk, he can talk
AND I CAN SING!

I still don't understand Burton's ending. It's got something to do with wormholes and time travel and electromagnetic storms and it's just too complicated to figure out. It's a twist ending just for the purpose of having a twist ending, that's it. It's cool, but completely illogical.

The original still rules all.

I think it was designed to be a sequel lead-in. I beleive it had something to do with Earth having been conquered by the Apes from the Oberon. But I'd agree it made no sense in terms of execution.

Perhaps they were going for a sequel approach, but that never came to fruition. And my god, did I really post the same thing 4 times, sorry about that, I thought I was just editing it, not making new ones,

Burton's ending was just about the most retarded ending I've ever seen to a movie

Ironic when comparing it to the original, which has the best.

But if that was the case, then why would they make a monument to Thade? Makes no sense...

I remember I really liked it when I first saw it, but now? Not so much. I do think the movie's not all that bad, though, just ruined by making all the humans talk and having an incredibly clichéd climax.

54. Shaun of the Dead- 2004



A film when I saw the first time, I didnt think it would ever come onto my list. First time I saw this I was never more disappointed hearing it was the messiah. The 2nd time, I didnt even want to watch it buy my friend never saw it. I tried to convince him to watch the punisher instead, but it prevailed. 2nd time, I was like, you know what, that was a lot better than I originally thought. 3rd time, I found it better, funnier, and a pretty great film. I've never had a film pull such a 180 on me. I love Zombie Films and I love spoofs, so I dont know what happened, but the awesomeness of the film finally caught onto me and I was hooked. Since then I became huge fans of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as Edgar Wright. I watched the entire series of Spaced on Youtube, and now Hot Fuzz is at the end of this list after a few months.

-It takes the simple story of getting from point A to B with not only excessive violence and genuine thrills, but hilarity. The suporting cast and the leads are real people and you care about them. Just an all around great film. And If you find yourself not liking it, try it a few more times. It really worked for me, and I love it now.

53. National Lampoons Vacation- 1983



Easily one of the best posters of all time.

There is simply not enough praise for this movie and its counter part, Christmas Vacation. No film has captured the insanity of family vacations like these two films, whether it being the dreaded Road trip, or staying home for the holidays. Chevy Chase is in the role of his life and uses his usualy charm, swagger, and sarcasm and is the ultimate good father, who sometimes gets pushed over the edge. He wants his family to be happy, and God Dammit, he'll do anything. He has smoking hot Beverly D Angelo (I miss her, Entourage makes me sick thinking what she used to be) as the wife who follows her husband throughout. The kids that change ages and whose older is always a great joke, because thats the brillance of families. Age doesnt matter, its almost always the same. The original is by far one of the best American comedies ever made, and Christmas Vacation is one of the best Christmas films ever made. You watch these thinking about your own trips as well as laughing hysterically.

And Cousin Eddy- Enough Said.
I think my favorite line comes when Clark was trying to find a gas station after his montage walking through the desert. The reuniting of the family is hysterical and Chase does the best reactions he's ever done. He screams his daughters name looking at her "Audrey, my god have you grown" and then asks them "Hey kids are you thirsty?" With probably the funniest dehydration scene of all time. But the whole movie is classic, and I could watch it right now thinking about it.

52. Noises Off- 1992



The funniest play ever made was given a great onscreen transformation. The hilarity is still here, and the play was updated a little to American audiences. The cast is superb and their strengths are played to extremes.

Michael Caine- Perfect dickhead director that tries to date everyone
Carol Burnett- Superb as the over the hill actress looking for one last big one
The Great late John Ritter- Physical Acting unheard of, He is hysterical in this movie
The Great Late Christopher Reeve- Taking his Clark Kent image to a whole new level as a Swell Guy
Denhelm Elliot- His last role before he died as a drunk over the hill actor was superb
Nicollete Sheridan- Hot Hot Hot Hot and a great ditzy blonde

The suporting cast is just as strong and every character turns the play upside down bringing the three acts to pefection. the directing is not that inspired, but it's really the type of play that would have only worked if it was shot from a stage perspective. I love Love LOVE this movie. Check it out if you never have, if at least to see two legends perform some of their best work.

Lunch break at work, TBC.

51. Catch Me if You Can- 2002



The 2nd part of Spielberg's Stellar 2002. Its just a great movie, and the funnest film Spielberg has made since the first Jurassic Park. But where it leaves the fantasy realm, it enters a stylish and fun cat and mouse movie. Di Caprio returned from his hiatus of Titanic Media for Christmas 2002 and has since become one of the most impressive actors right now. Gangs of New York, This, Departed, Aviator, and Blood Diamond were all solid to great. Tom Hanks got off of his ass and brought out two great films in 2002, and I stand by he hasn't made a great film since this and Road to Perdition. He plays a great cop that is not just a cop. He's obsessive in catching his man and ruthless, but at the same time seems like a genuine guy just doing his job. The chemistry between the two leads is great that ultimately led to a friendship. The ending is actually very brilliant, with Di Caprio returning from further exploits.

And Christopher Walken and the rest of the supporting cast is great to watch. Awesome movie in my opinion.

50. Tremors- 1990



I know theres Tremors love on this site, so lets hear why.

This is the catalyst on how to make a horror comedy. It's this idea that you have to come up with an actually scary idea and just find enough humor in it to bring it out of flat out horror. That is exactly what Tremors does. The characters themselves are perfect and never stop feeling like real people (All right Burt is an exception). The monsters themselves are perfectly executed like never seen before. It's a brilliant concept that you can't touch the ground or you'll be killed most likely. We've all played a game like that, but for real it's almost nightmarish. It works so well because the monsters themselves are never made fun of or cheesy enough to be laughed at. They are smart creatures that are disgusting, relentless and ruthless. For it's mere 10 million budget it was executed to pure perfection as few horror films match the brilliance of tremors.

And need it say more about Kevin Bacon, Burt Ward, and of course Michael Gross, they've each secured themselves in Cult hero status. And if you haven't seen Tremors 2, please get off your ass and check it out, its equally funny and creative, if slightly inferior, but still the best DTV film ever made in my opinion. One of my most watchable films, this is a tops for me. And a Perfect film to close my first 50 with.

Best B-Movie of the past 40 years. I love it.

40-50 Coming today

Top 50

49. Rudy- 1993




Before he was Samwise, and long after his times of being a Goonie, Sean Astin made this spectacular film that is probably the best underdog film, since the Rocky franchise. Superbly acted, and is an ultimate tail of determination and the will to make a dream come true. Its a long and hard tale for Rudy to get to play on the Notre Dame football team, and when he finally makes, I dare you not to feel great about it. The closing game is awesome to watch and is great payoff after the amazing true story comes to an end. This is when True Story sports movies still had some clout.

One of the funniest things I ever heard was from a friend of mine when we were watching 24 last season and Sean Astin's character died. After the show went to a commercial, we were sad that he died, but he had a great final act, but he said "Since 2006, no other CTU member has ever been carried off like Lynn McGill" I laughed at that one for quite some time.

Let's not forget RUDY has a magnificent, magnificent music score by Jerry Goldsmith that has been used many times in trailers.

Great choice!

48. Get Shorty- 1995



Lets talk about an underrated film. Most people on here you would never find this movie on their lists, which I have to say is surprising. I think if you post on KJ you like movies a lot, and this movie simply represents that love. Now up there with the TV show Entourage, Get Shorty is a great look on how Hollywood life is lived, particularly from the lesser known actresses, directors, and producers. Delroy Lingo says it best "Whats the point of living in Hollywood if you don't make movies" Everyone wants to make it big, no matter what the consequences are. We are brought in through the life of Chili Palmer, an ultra cool John Travolta back in the best resurgance a career has ever seen after Pulp Fiction. Add into that a great supporting cast including the legendary Gene Hackman, Danny Devito, Rene Russo, Delroy Lingo, James Gandolfini Harvey Keitel, and Dennis Farina. The gangster portion of the film is played out well with the regular Elmore Leonard charm. Its funny, clever, stylish, and just all around great.

Be cool is basically Get Shorty but in the music business, which lets face is not as interesting as the movie industry, and it shows. Chili Palmer was still cool, but no where near with as much passion in movies.

47. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom- 1984



Who didn't see these coming? Equally impressive as the other Indiana Jones films, and probably my favorite growing up, it comes in at #47. The reasoning of course is that while I hold it as high as the other Indiana Jones films, it has everything the others have, except of course any real depth. What is it replaced with, pure escapism and thrills. Like the other Spielberg and Lucas sequels ESB, lost World, Temple of Doom goes a darker root.

Why does this entry ring to highly, because its easily the boldest sequel ever made to a blockbuster. Almost every sequel ever made to a blockbuster tries to cash in on the success of the original, resulting in ultimately a rehash of characters, storylines, and just making it bigger, but never better. Temple of Doom on the other hand takes everything from Raiders of the lost Ark, and pulls a 180 only remaining in the principle of making a 1930s serial in the 1980s. Indiana Jones is rarely a professor in this film, and more of a pirate. He has a bitch/ treat of a female companion this time, and very funny young side kick, that actually can kick ass, rather than just gets caught. Add into that a darker more supernatural storyline including voodoo, possession, and slavery, Temple of Doom is certainly a bold effort. That being said, its hardly as dark as people make it out to be. Its still filled with great humor, amazing action (mine cart chase and the bridge were spectacular), and Ford in his most famous role is still the best character in this outing. Sure it has less reality than the last one, but this certainly the only Indiana Jones film that got the closest to what Spielberg and Lucas were originally trying to make.

PS. Thank this film for creating the coveted PG-13 rating. Could you imagine if films were still only PG or R? My childhood would have been fucked up for sure.