Man, there are a buncha movies on that list that I remember watching, & liking very much,
but I can't recall 'em enough to figure out what kind of ranking I'd give 'em.
If I didn't have to do my pain-in-the-ass job or even yet, if I didn't have to do my even bigger pain-in-the-ass girlfriend,
I'd probably have some spare time in my life to revisit some of these flix:
- The Remains of the Day
- The Sandlot
- The Age of Innocence
- King of the Hill
- Manhatten Murder Mystery
- Groundhog Day
- True Romance
- Shadowlands
- Philadelphia
- The Piano
- Menace II Society
- Farewell My Concubine
So as it stands so far, these are my fave from that bunch:
10. Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong Trousers - By the time we get to The Were-rabbit, these characters may have begun to wear thin, but the Wrong Trousers was my first exposure to these guys, so I still have a soft spot in my gut for this feature. Still has the ability to bring a smile this otherwise usually indifferentiated face.
9. Tombstone - Mostly because of Val Kilmer's performance than anything else. As Doc Holliday, he steals every scene that he's in this movie account of Wyatt Earp & Co.'s shootout at the O.K. Coral (a depiction that allows itself plenty of liberties, mind you). Kilmer's portrayal as a sureshot who alcoholism doesn't seem to affect his aim too much, remains memorable in this film as one of the coolest cowboys in recent film history. Sure, he might not be the kind of doctor you'd expect to make house calls,
but he'll be your huckleberry.
8. Searching For Bobby Fischer/ A Bronx Tale - Tie. Two endearing tales of young people learning to be themselves in the midst of backdrops of expectations that seem to often run against those paths of self-discovery.
7. The Fugitive - Great movie, but I gotta be honest with y'all ....
I could easily take on the man with arm. With one arm tied behind my back.
6. Iron Monkey - Monkey see, monkey fu.
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas - IMO, Tim Burton's best film, by far. Such a great cast of characters. Innocent enough for kids who can still see the world thru bushy-tailed bright-eyed glasses, yet twistedly dark enough to keep the interests of those of us adults who've had that part of our spirits crushed a long time ago.
A holiday movie for all ages on either side of the perspective spectrum.
4. Short Cuts - One of my fave Altman flix. Great metaphorical title, too.
3. Schindler's List - Simply put, a great movie to make out to.
2. Six Degrees of Separation There are 3 scenes in this movie that make it such a standout for me: confidence man, Paul "Poitier's" (Will's Smith) observations on Catcher In The Rye; the phone call dialogue between he & Ouisa Kittredge ( Stockard Channing): & finally, a speech that about our tendency to turn experiences & anecdotes.
Who would've thought that a film with this much philosophy could be this entertaining? Plus, not only is this a performance by Will Smith that first revealed his ability to act against other other big screeners, but this is also one of Stockards finest efforts. At this point in her career, she has honed her craft to the point where, in this particular movie, it really allows her to shine. I don't used the word under-rated when it comes to subjects that are based so much on relativity/subjectivity, such as the catergory of films, but if I could, this movie would be one of the main ones that would inspire me to do so. I really, really like this movie alot. Great performances by Will Smith & Stockard Channing along with Mr. Donald Sotherland coming in to provide the final piece of high mark acting to a high quality level movie.
1. The Joy Luck Club - I was supposed to take my girlfriend at the time to go see this movie, but she was one of those type of girls that in order to get attention, whenever I would call her to tell her that I was on my way to pick her up, she would always tell me to come right over, but that she couldn't guarantee that she would still want to go out when I arrived. Cuz as always 4 her, she was feelin' like she was comin' down with some sort of sickness or somethin'. So, on this day, I had decided to that I had had enough, called her on her bluff, & then told her to that we would just skip the whole thing & she can stay home & get better (when in actuality what she wanted was for me to go "Aww, you poor thing!" & then come over & "baby" her *eyes roll*). So instead, I went to go see this movie by myself, just to p#ss her off. By the time this stunningly moving Oliver Stone epic-fare was over, my hairy pimp-ass self could feel that my eyes had actually become substantially watered.
Right there & then, I knew that my relationship with my girlfriend was over.
Cuz no one makes me cry my own tears.
No one.