This week marks the beginning of the second half of my countdown, or in other words, the start of my Top 50 countdown (to see the first half of the countdown, click the following links:
100-91,
90-81,
80-71,
70-61,
60-51). Depending on my mood and how critical I want to be, the movies from about 80 up to 50 would either get a 9 or a 10 in my rating system, but from here on out, no matter my mood, these movies are absolute tens. These are the films that come as close to the arbitrary, imaginary ideal of perfection as anything I have seen on the silver screen. For this week's ten, there is no one genre that dominates, although many of the films fit what I would describe as "light-hearted drama", films with comedic moments that are still focused on an individual's struggles. This is yet another week with a lot of big Oscar contenders, including three Best Picture winners and three other Best Picture nominees. For directors, this week includes the introduction of the man who is probably considered France's greatest auteur, two films from the most nominated director in Oscar history, and two more films from the most commercially successful filmmaker ever, Steven Spielberg. Finally, this week's retro theme is all about the seventies, with four films from the decade appearing on the list (as well as a film from the 1990's that is a continuation of sorts of a genre that began in the 1970's). Now on to the countdown!
