Top 100: 20-11

     We're quickly approaching the finish line, as we get down to the cream of the crop in my personal view of cinema history (check out the previous weeks: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31 , 30-21). All these movies have had a great impact on me and my life, and I vividly remember the first (and in many cases multiple) time(s) I watched them. In short, I really love these films. The films are all over the map genre-wise this week (although there are my four favorite foreign films on the list, if you count that as a genre), with some of the darkest films in cinema history sitting beside some of the most feel-good inspirational movies ever made. I guess it illustrates my somewhat schizophrenic view of life, but regardless of the drastic differences in tone between the films, they are all made by expert auteurs with unique visions. And this week does have an amazing laundry list of some of the greatest directors to ever step foot behind a camera. I will let you read on to discover the great directors on this week's list, but I do have to mention the two appearances from the great Martin Scorsese, who is the only director with more than one film appearing on the list this week. No decade is represented by more than two movies this week, but I do reach my favorite films of 1930's, the 1980's, and the 2000's this week. Now on to the countdown!

News: Speilberg and Lucas. Two Friends, Two Very Different People

     I stumbled across this interesting article at "Sound On Sight"'s website and I thought I would pass it along to anyone interested (click here to read the story). The two part article compares and contrasts the two defining auteurs of their generation, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, in style, effect on cinema history, and personality. The article paints a much more flattering view of Mr. Spielberg than it does Mr. Lucas (or at least in my opinion), which isn't too surprising from the things I have heard before (or just watching the two speak). If your a fan of either of the two directors, and really even if your not (as long as you find different personality types interesting), it is definitely worth a read.

News: "The Dark Knight Rises" Gets Its Villains

     Today, the cat was let out of the bag (sorry for the pun, I couldn't help myself) when the people in charge of the Christopher Nolan Batman series announced that Catwoman and Bane are going to be the villains in the series final chapter. Ann Hathaway is set to play Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Tom Hardy, who just worked with Nolan on "Inception", is going to play Bane. Now if you read my Top 100 article last week (and if you haven't, click here), you'll know I am a huge fan of the last Nolan Batman film, "The Dark Knight" (it ranked number 25 on my all-time list), so while I am looking forward to the conclusion of the series, I can't help but express some disappointment over the choice of villains. For one, I was hoping Nolan might explore characters from the Batman universe that hadn't already been put to the silver screen in the Tim Burton Batman films. While the Michelle Pfeiffer version of Catwoman in "Batman Returns" was decent, the "character" Bane in the Joel Schumacher directed "Batman and Robin" was hideous. Now while I haven't read any of the Batman comic books, I am assured by people who have that Bane is a much more interesting character than the one portrayed in the terrible excuse for a film that was "Batman and Robin", and I did get a small glimpse of this side of the character Bane in the excellent video game, "Batman: Arkham Asylum" (for any of you that play video games, I highly recommend this fun and well written game). I am also not too hot on the casting of Anne Hathaway, who I am not a fan of in general, but I was surprised at how great a performance Heath Ledger gave as the Joker, so who knows. I guess will just have to wait and trust in Christopher Nolan.

News: And the Train Kept A-Rolling. Globes Keep Things As They Are.

     The Golden Globes were held last night, and every single winner matched up with the odds-on-favorite winners come Oscar night. "The Social Network" winning Best Picture (Drama), Best Director, and Best Screenplay, Colin Firth winning Best Actor (Drama), Natalie Portman winning Best Actress (Drama), Melissa Leo winning Best Supporting Actress, and Christian Bale winning Best Supporting Actor are all to be expected at the 2010 Oscar ceremonies. In the television department, while I haven't seen too many of the shows, I was glad to see Steve Buscemi win an award. Buscemi is one of my favorite character actors (even going back to his work on the Nickelodeon show "The Adventures of Pete and Pete), and it was about time someone gave him an award for his great work (although I have not seen "Boardwalk Empire" yet). I also must mention what a great job Ricky Gervais did as the show's emcee. Gervais is my favorite comedian in the business today (if you haven't seen the original "The Office" or the show "Extras", do what ever you have to to watch these shows), and I was glad to see he did not use kid gloves on the self-adoring Hollywood types. Any actors, such as Tom Hanks and especially Robert Downey Jr., who can handle being poked fun at, need to learn to let their narcissism go, and how to take themselves (and their egos) less seriously. Anyway, if you want to check out at list of the winners click here. Also, the night before was the critics choice awards, who also put their patented stamp on this years inevitable winners, so if you want to check that out, click here.

Top 100: 30-21

     After a week's hiatus, this week I move past the final quarter mark of my countdown as we approach the end (if you missed them, check out the previous weeks: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31). It's a huge week for comedy, as four of my absolute favorites from the genre pop up. These are movies that will keep you laughing through multiple viewings. I also have the only 100% silent film on my list this week, which is also my only film from the 1920's (making the oldest film on my list). In terms of genres, I also reach my all-time favorite horror film, my all-time favorite Christmas film, my all-time favorite super hero movie, and my all-time favorite war film. Looking through the decades, this week's ten are fairly spread out through the timeline, with the 1980's making the most appearances (3). No director makes more than one appearance this week, with the exception of Mr. Frank Capra, an auteur who pretty much created his own genre (pejoratively referred to as "Capra-corn"). There are also some one-time appearances from some very famous directors, in what I consider to be their very best work. Now on to the countdown!

News: Directors Guild Helps Clarify Competitive Director's Race

     The Directors Guild of America (DGA) today came out with their nominations (click here to take a look) for their five best directors of the year. There are a lot of big name auteurs in this year's race, which makes it one of the most interesting races of the season, and probably one of the hardest to predict. Coming into today, there where about 7 or 8 names that all seemed very credible competitors, but after the DGA's nominations I think is more of a six-way race. Of course, there are many more members of the DGA than the smaller, more exclusive, directors branch of the Academy, so I may be premature in narrowing the race down to six. Personally, with the recent box office success of 'True Grit", and the fact that many of the members of the DGA may not have had the opportunity to see the movie before they sent in their ballots, I think when it comes down to Oscar time the Coen brothers will end up replacing Christopher Nolan in the Best Director category, but they may just be me. Either way, it will be interesting to see, because as you may have guessed by the name of this blog, outside of Best Picture, Best Director is my favorite category.

News: Take a Look at Your Best Picture Nominees

     Earlier this week, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced their nominations for Best Picture (click here to see their choices). These nominations are pretty important because they usually closely match the eventual Oscar Best Picture nominations. For instance, last year 8 out of the 10 the PGA nominees matched up with the eventual Oscar nominations. This year, I think their is a good chance for a complete 10/10 match up, as the the only film that appears to have a chance at a Best Picture nomination that missed the PGA's group is the independent "Winter's Bone" (the PGA tends to only nominate bigger production). The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) also announced their nominees this week, but because of their ridiculous rules that makes almost every film ineligible to be nominated, their awards are fairly meaningless. The final critics awards, the National Society of Film Critics, also came out this week (click here for their winners and nominees), with both some expected and surprising choices. Next week will bring an onslaught of guild awards, including the Directors Guild of America who will help shape the most competitive category this year, so stay tuned for continuing coverage of this year's awards season.