Top 100: 100-91

     I have been wanting to do my own "Top 100 movies" list for a long time now. Lists like these have become an obsession in pop culture over the last decade or so, and while ranking any great art does somewhat of a disservice to the art, and all lists are more likely to start arguments more than anything else, the fun of seeing great films ranked and debating what should and shouldn't make the list ultimately outweighs the negative aspects in my mind. With any two individuals, their opinion on what constitutes a great movie is going to vary somewhat, and I would be shocked to find any two human beings on earth with the exact same list of their 100 favorite films, but that's kind of the point with these lists. There meant to start debates, and more than anything, they get people thinking and talking about good movies, which is definitely a positive thing.

     The only other negative aspect of making a top 100 list, and the only reason I considered not making the list, is that there are always more great films to see. In fact, three of the films that made my list I saw for the first time just within this last month, so unless you have seen every film in existence, your list is never really complete. I know for me at least, there are a lot of famous films I have yet to see, so every once and a great while, I may make updates to my top 100 list as I see new films and my opinions on older films change. I would also like to take the time here to make a little disclaimer: There were a lot of really great films that didn't quite make my top 100. It doesn't mean I don't think they're really good movies, but they just happened not to be in my top 100. So once I finish releasing my whole list, if one of your favorite films is not on it, it doesn't necessarily mean I didn't like it. In fact, I may love it, but once you have seen a lot of movies, 100 isn't as big a number as it sounds. This means a lot of really great films were left off my list, so after you see my complete list, let me know of some films that would be in your top 100, and I will let you know my thoughts on the films and whether they just missed my top 100 list.

     Before we get started, I thought I would just list some interesting facts about my list. The decade with the most movies in my top 100 was the last decade. It doesn't necessarily mean the last decade was the greatest in cinema history, but it makes sense that the decade I have seen the most movies from would have more films in my top 100 than any other. That being said, the 1970's had only one film less than the 2000's, so like most big top 100 movies lists, I guess I am a pretty big fan of the movies that were made during the 1970's as well. In terms of directors (or auteurs since this is auteurfan), there is a four way tie for the most movies directed in my top 100 list. Each of these auteurs directed five movies each on my list, but I don't want to give any hints as to which movies are on my list, so I won't mention their names yet (if you have any guesses though, feel free to guess).

     And now finally, the list. Each week I will be revealing 10 more movies on my list and writing a bit about why I love them. I will reveal the list in countdown fashion, so I will start with 100 and count my way down to my all-time favorite film. This week I will be revealing 100-91. Out of the ten movies for this week, five of them are comedies (although two of the comedies are a little on the serious side), one is a Best Picture film, and another is a foreign film that was a co-production between two different countries. All the films skew a bit older this week, as the newest film on here comes from the mid-80's. Enough teasing though, it is time to get to movies!

100. "Manhattan" (1979)

     "Manhattan" is Woody Allen's least favorite film he has ever directed. In fact, he disliked the movie so much, he tried to get United Artists to not release the film. This seems baffling to many people, as it is one of his highest regarded films critically, and was his most successful film commercially. I suspect the reason Allen dislikes the film so much is it probably accurately portrays the real Woody Allen more than any other of his films. In the movie, Woody Allen falls in love with the mistress of his best friend (Diane Keaton), while at the same time, dating a high school student (Mariel Hemingway, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance). Woody Allen is now notoriously infamous for having married his adopted daughter, and his attraction towards and views on younger woman are starkly honest in this film. Also, "Manhattan" more than any other of Allen's work shows him at his most vulnerable. Woody Allen never comes off as a particular confident man in any of his films, but "Manhattan" in particular shows Allen as not only a man who is unsure of himself as a member of society, but as a man who genuinely doubts himself in solitude as well. This is a side of Woody Allen that rarely is as evident as it is in "Manhattan"

     Aside from the psychoanalysis of Mr. Allen, "Manhattan" is really well made. The film is shot in a beautiful black and white and there is no other film I have seen that makes New York City look more appealing (no small feat in my opinion). The opening sequence of Woody Allen narrating his attempts to write a novel, while shots of Manhattan flicker across the screen to the music of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is a brilliant opening, and whole-heartedly deserves the fame it has received. As a comedy, the film is a lesser version of Allen's "Annie Hall", but with the interesting introspection on Allen and some of the cinematic flair with which the movie is made, it stands on its own right as a great film. If you're a Woody Allen fan and you haven't seen this movie yet, you need to rent this now, and if you haven't seen any of Woody Allen's films, it is still worth checking out (although it's more meaningful if you see some of his other movies first).

99. "Blazing Saddles" (1974)

     "Blazing Saddles" is my favorite Mel Brooks film. In almost every Mel Brooks' film, you're bound to get at least one good laugh, but his films also have the tendency of being a tad too silly at times. In the case of "Blazing Saddles", his patented zany sense of humor is as alive and well as ever, but it is better written than most of his other films and is extremely well acted. The high quality of the writing is likely due to the fact that a team of writers wrote "Blazing Saddles", as opposed to some of Mel Brooks' other films that he wrote on his own, and one of the writers on the team was Richard Pryor. Pryor, who is a god to most modern day comedians, was extremely controversial at the time for his stand-up routine and even though Brooks wanted Pryor to be the film's star, no studio would put up the funding for a movie staring Richard Pryor, so Brooks made him a writer instead. It was unfortunate for Pryor, but his replacement Cleavon Little does a great job alongside Gene Wilder (one of the most under-rated comedic actors), and the racial humor in the film's script is some of film's funniest material (although according to Brooks, "I wrote the black jokes and Richard wrote the Jewish jokes").

     There are so many classic scenes in this film that I won't go over all of them, but I will quickly highlight some of the film's best. The most famous scene that seems to get referred to the most is "the farting scene", where a bunch of bean-eating cowboys let it rip as they sit around the fire. A little childish without a doubt, but still funny. My favorite two scenes though have nothing to do with flatulence. The first is a scene where Cleavon Little, to keep himself from being hung by the shocked white townspeople who refuse to have a black man as their sheriff, holds himself hostage to slip away and once he makes his escape, states to the camera, "Ooh, baby, you are so talented! And they are so dumb!" The other scene is near the beginning when the white railroad bosses tell the black workers to sing one of those "slave songs" like "Swing Lo'" and instead they break into "I Get a Kick Out of You", only to revert back to "Swing Lo'" as they go away on the railroad tracks. There are so many other great lines in this film, so instead of me explaining them to you, you're best bet is just to see the movie.

98. "The Sting" (1973)

     1973's Academy Award winner for Best Picture is the ultimate con-artist movie. It's so good at the scam game, it even scams the audience at the end, but that's all I will say about the ending so as not to spoil it for anyone who has not seen the movie. "The Sting" is second outing for actors Robert Redford, Paul Newman, and director George Roy Hill, and like their first film, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", a lot of the movie's strength is in the chemistry between the two actors. In "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", the two are more or less equal partners, but this time around in "The Sting", Newman plays the mentor role to Redford, teaching him the tricks of trade in the con-artist game. Both actors do a great job, but a lot of the credit also should go to David S. Ward's script, which is very sharp and always keeps the audience's attention.

     "The Sting" does a great job in setting up a sense of time and place. The story is loosely based on the real life grifter brothers Charley and Fred Gandorf and some of the scams they ran during the 1910's, but the film actually takes place during the Great Depression and the art direction of the film gives it that authentic 1930's film. "The Sting" is helped out tremendously too by the use of Scott Joplin's ragtime music (which is technically another historic inaccuracy as Joplin's music was composed between 1900 and 1910). It helped bring back ragtime to the national consciousness, and the music along with some of the other details of the film, help make this an enjoyable period piece, as well as a great con movie.

97. "Bananas" (1971)

     This is my second Woody Allen film on the list, but it is world's apart from "Manhattan". This was "early Woody Allen", when he made straight up comedies, almost in the style of Mel Brooks. "Bananas" is a crazy, crazy movie that is a satire of both Communist rebels, and fervent anti-Communist, but "satire" is a strong word, as the movie is always very light-hearted and just too silly to be anything other than comedy. The movie stars Woody Allen, is directed by Woody Allen, and is co-written by Woody Allen (along with Mickey Rose, but supposedly most of the film was improvised by Allen on-set), and the film really shows just how great a comedian Woody Allen is. It tells the story of Allen's character, who falls in love with a young left-winger, but becomes extremely depressed when she dumps him. To try to win her back by gaining her respect, he goes to the fictional Latin American country of San Marcos and joins the rebels to try to overthrow the government.

      The movie gets crazier from there, but like any great comedy, it is not about the story but the scenes that stick with you, and there are many hilarious scenes in "Bananas" that you will not forget. Howard Cosell has a great cameo at the beginning of the film "announcing" a Latin-American revolution, and again at the end, announcing a sex scene between Allen and his girlfriend. Near the beginning, there is a great physical comedy sequence (heavily inspired by a scene from Charly Chaplin's "Modern Times") where Allen tests out a new exercise product that let's you exercise while working at a desk. Another great sequence involves Allen interrogating himself on the stand where he delivers the line, "I object, your honor! This trial is a travesty. It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham". This is just one example of the great lines from the movie, along with lines such as:

"I once stole a pornographic book that was printed in braille. I used to rub the dirty parts",
"Doing a sociological study on perversion. I'm up to Advanced Child Molesting",
"I love Eastern philosophy. It's... it's metaphysical, and redundant. Abortively pedantic", and
"Can you believe that? She says I'm not leader enough for her. Who was she looking for... Hitler?".

     "Bananas" also contains what I consider to be the single funniest line in any film ever. During a hilarious commercial sequence for "New Testament Cigarettes", a Catholic priest speaks to the audience, "I smoke them", and then looks to the sky and says, "He smokes them" (click here to see the fake commercial). If he had wanted to, "Bananas" proves Woody Allen could have gone the commercial comedy route.

 96. "Tootsie" (1982)

     I saw this movie about a year ago, and even though it is a pretty famous film, I had delayed seeing it for a long time, because I was not expecting to like it. With movies like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Big Momma's House", the whole cross-dressing thing did not appear to be a winning formula, but I guess that's why originals are usually the best (with my apologies to "Victor/Victoria" and "Some Like It Hot"). "Tootsie" does a great job of walking the fine line between comedy and story, and the reason why this film works where the others fail, is that "Tootsie" creates genuine characters you actually care about, and doesn't solely rely on gags to get laughs. It also helps a lot to have Dustin Hoffman!

     Dustin Hoffman once again proves why he is one of the most highly regarded actors of his generation, delivering a flawless performance as struggling actor Michael Dorsey, and daytime soap opera actress Dorothy Michaels. He strikes the perfect balance between comedy and drama, making us simultaneously sympathize with, and judge his character. The rest of the cast does a great job as well. Bill Murray (who improvised all his lines) is perfectly cast as Hoffman's friend, Jessica Lange plays the sweet Julie Nichols just as the film needs her to, and Teri Garr gives an outstanding performance as Hoffman's neglected girlfriend. Sydney Pollack does a good job as Hoffman's agent, and as a director, "Tootsie" is without a doubt his best film. "Tootsie" makes you sympathize with woman without getting too preaching or feministic, and with the exception of the terrible 80's song in the middle and at the end of the film, this is a great movie all-around.

95. "Brazil" (1985)

     "Brazil" is the best sci-fi dsytopia movie outside of "A Clockwork Orange" (which you can read more about at the bottom of this article). In fact, it plays a lot like a more humorous version of Kubrick's famous film, which isn't surprising given director Terry Gilliam's background with Monty Python. The one thing that stands out the most about the film, and the thing that Gilliam is most known for as a director, is the amazing imagery. The film does look a bit dated now, but the overall feel of this 1984-esque society (Gilliam originally wanted to call the film 1984 and one-half), where bureaucracy and commercialism rule the day and anyone who steps out of line is crushed by the watchful eyes of the government, is very clearly expressed through the art direction. The only part of the film where the imagery is too present is during the dream sequences, which are a bit too long and self-indulgent for my taste, but overall the art direction, along with the screenplay, strike the right balance between dark humor and serious commentary. The acting in film is also top-notch, especially by the film's star Jonathan Pryce, who also sings the most hauntingly beautiful version of the song "Brazil" you will likely ever hear.

     One great part about the film is its dark ending, which famously almost did not happen. The producers of the film wanted a "happy Hollywood" ending, and refused to release the film until Gilliam made their "Love Conquers All" ending. Gilliam refused to change the ending and went on "Good Morning America" with one of the films stars, Robert De Niro, and called out one of the producers by name, even going so far as to show his photograph. When that didn't work, he began showing the film to students at USC, where a Los Angeles film critic saw it and gave it his Best Picture award. After this, the studio finally relented and released Gilliam's version with the dark ending. In the end, Gilliam got to make the film he wanted, which is a good thing, because with a happy ending, I doubt this film would have made my list.

94. "Dersu Uzala" (1975)

     This is one of Akira Kurosawa's more interesting films, partly just because it takes place in Russia and not Japan, like most of Kurosawa's other works. The film was made in the latter years of Kurosawa's career when he was having trouble finding funding for his films, which is probably one of the reasons he made this film, as the Russian government helped to get the movie made. For whatever reason he made the movie, and where ever he got the funding to make it, I am happy "Dersu Uzala" was made, because it is an incredibly beautiful film, both visually and emotionally.

     The film is a true story, based on the auto-biography of Captain Vladmir Arseniev, who as a captain for the Imperial Russian Army, met a simple woodsman by the name of Dersu Uzala on a surveying mission. The film starts out a bit slow and goes a little overboard on how much more "wise" the simple forest dweller is than the Russian soldiers, but soon enough the film morphs into the greatest companion film ever made. There is one scene in particular where Vladmir and Dersu get lost in the tundra and the two desperately try to cut down reeds to build some shelter before night falls and a terrible snowstorm comes. It is an amazing scene that will keep you breathless. Even though the film itself only made it to number 94 on my list, this specific scene would probably be in my top 10 or 20 scenes of all-time. The film then goes on to develop the close relationship between the captain and Dersu, until its tragic, inevitable ending. "Dersu Uzala" is a film that leaves you happy and sad at the same time, and it sticks with you weeks after its done.

 93. "Being There" (1979)

     This movie was in what is known as "development hell" for many years. The film's star, Peter Sellers, was a fan of the book (written by Jerzi Kosinski) and bought the rights to turn it into a film many years before its 1979 release, but unfortunately for Mr. Sellers, it was during a low point in his career. For this reason, no producer was willing to fund the movie, but after the success of some of the Pink Panther movies, Sellers' career was back in business and he was finally able to get the movie made.

     Another likely reason for producers' hesitance over the film, is the film creates a weird mix between drama and comedy. It tells the story of Chance (not a coincidental name), an extremely simple gardener, who has a very unlikely rise power and fame in the political realm after an accidental run-in with a wealthy influential couple. Chance states extremely simple utterances (usually to do with his gardening profession), but everyone around him reads exactly what they want into his statements, confusing him for a thoughtful genius. There are a lot of interesting psychological and philosophical implications of the film, and the last scene in particular leaves you with a lot to think about, but I'll let you discover this for yourself instead of spoiling the film. The thing that really makes the movie work though is the lead performance given by Peter Sellers and the direction by Hal Ashby. Sellers' speech and mannerisms are at just the right level where you can tell he has a very low IQ, but it is still believable that intelligent people could mistake him for a quiet genius. Ashby's direction also manages to succeed at the tough balance act between comedy and drama, hitting the perfect tone for the screenplay. If all that does not convince you to see this movie, you may want to see it for historic reasons, as "Being There" was also the first film to run outtakes during its credits (much to the dismay of Peter Sellers, who felt it broke the "illusion" of being a film).

92. "Sergeant York" (1941)

     "Sergeant York" was a very well-regarded and successful movie upon its release in 1941, earning 11 Oscar nominations and two wins along with a lot of money at the box office, but today, even though it is seen as a good film, it is unlikely to appear in too many top 100 films lists. This is probably do to a couple different reasons: The film comes off as pro-war and very patriotic, it is about as edgy as a butter knife, and it is a simple story about simple people. While many people see these things as weaknesses, I see most of them as strengths. The film does an excellent job at accurately portraying pre-WWI Appalachia (Tennessee in this case), and while it feels worlds apart from people in today's modern age, that's sort of the point, and is the reason the film is so fascinating.

     The film stars Gary Cooper, who is an actor I usually don't enjoy, but this was the role he was born to play, and the Academy agreed giving him the Best Actor award for 1941. It tells the true story of Sergeant Alvin C. York (who would only let Warner Brothers to make the movie if Gary Cooper starred) and his amazing feat of sharpshooting numerous German machine gunners, and then along with eleven other American soldiers, taking 132 German soldiers prisoner. The movie starts out before these heroic deeds though, chronicling his life as a drunk rebel rouser in the hills of Tennessee. After being struck by lightning, York walks into a church and converts into a very serious Christian. When he is drafted into the army, he first declares himself to be a conscientious objector based on religious reason, but after much struggle and thought, changes his mind and joins the war effort. My favorite part of the film though comes after the heroics. In scenes very familiar to Clint Eastwood's underrated "Flags of Our Fathers", York is brought back home an instant war hero and the U.S. Military wants to use York in their PR effort to rally support for the war. Being a simple Tennessee mountain man, all the publicity feels very unnatural and phony to York, as all he can think about is getting back to his young wife back home. "Sergeant York" is a very old-fashioned movie, but if you can put down your modern day cynicism for a bit (something I myself have a hard time doing), you will find a very interesting and rewarding movie in "Sergeant York".

91. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971)

     I have actually already discussed this film to some extent in my "5 Great Films for Halloween". As I stated in that article, "A Clockwork Orange" is more of a science fiction dystopia film then a horror film, but I included it on my Halloween list because I can not think of a movie with more disturbing imagery than this film. This is not a movie for the easily offended, as it is one of the most extreme movies in cinema history and is easily the darkest film I have ever seen (and was only one of two X rated movies to be nominated for Best Picture, the other being Midnight Cowboy). The film's main character, Alex (played by Malcolm McDowell), and his gang commit many disturbing acts of violence, while Alex himself personally kills an old woman and has sex with underage girls. This all culminates in the most disturbing scene of the film, when the gang go into a house, beat a man, and then rape his wife in front of him all while they merrily dance and sing the song "Singin' in the Rain". The scene is very explicit and difficult to forget, even if you want to.

     The disturbing visuals don't stop there though, as the film takes an interesting turn and makes you sympathetic for the detestable Alex after he is imprisoned and goes through unusual torture as part of "aversion therapy" to cure him of his violent tendencies. The film's final act includes some interesting twists that I'll let you discover for yourself, but, at least in my opinion, the whole thing comes out awash, as no one appears to be "in the right".

     The film is based on book by Anthony Burgess, who wrote it as an exercises in Christian reconciliation between free will and forgiveness, as the story was inspired by the real life event of his wife being assaulted and beaten by four American GI's during WWII. Originally the rights to the film were bought by Mick Jagger and he wanted to make it a vehicle to make a Rolling Stones film, and while that may have been interesting, I glad it didn't happen, because I can't imagine the film being directed by anyone other than Stanley Kubrick. I am not as big a fan of Kubrick as most cinema fanatics, but in this case his style perfectly fits the story's dark tone. Given the nature of the film, I can't recommend this for everyone, but if you're up for a very dark twisted film, there is none better than "A Clockwork Orange".

     Okay, that's all for this week. Next week I will reveal ten more movies, 90-81, but in the meantime, let me know what you think of the ten movies I have posted so far, and if you haven't seen any of them, check them out. I definitely give my "thumb's up" to all them!