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My Favorite Movies

Rosco

	roscobear's Rating	My Rating
1	La Haine (Hate) 1995, R)
2	The Third Man 1949, Unrated)
3	The Warriors 1979, R)
4	Cidade de Deus (City of God) 2002, R)
5	Angels with Dirty Faces 1938, Unrated)
6	Evil Dead 2 1987, R)
7	Casablanca 1942, PG)
8	Oldboy 2004, R)
9	The Killer (Dip huet seung hung) 1989, R)
10	Sweet Smell of Success 1957, Unrated)
11	Suspiria 1977, R)
12	The Flame and the Arrow 1950, Unrated)
13	Bad Education (La Mala educación) 2004, NC-17)
14	La Battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers) 1966, Unrated)
15	Withnail and I 1987, R)
16	Touch of Evil 1958, PG-13)
17	Citizen Kane 1941, PG)
18	Mou gaan dou (Infernal Affairs) 2002, R)
19	The Wages of Fear 1953, Unrated)
20	Hiroshima Mon Amour (Hiroshima, My Love) 1959, Unrated)
21	Wings of Desire 1987, PG-13)
22	Fireworks (Hana-bi) 1997, R)
23	The Notorious Bettie Page 2005, R)
24	Dead Man's Shoes 2004, Unrated)
25	Maîtresse (Mistress) 1976, NC-17)
26	The Devil's Backbone (El Espinazo del diablo) 2000, R)
27	This Is Spinal Tap 1984, R)
28	On the Waterfront 1954, Unrated)
29	The Wanderers 1979, R)
30	The Killing 1956, Unrated)
31	Faces 1968, R)
32	Southern Comfort 1981, R)
33	Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una volta il West) 1968, PG-13)
34	Mong bat liu (Lost in Time) 2003, PG)
35	Near Dark 1987, R)
36	Zulu 1964, PG)
37	Audition (Ôdishon) 1999, R)
38	L' Appartement (The Apartment) 1996, R)
39	The Wild Bunch 1969, R)
40	Pan's Labyrinth 2006, R)
41	The French Connection 1971, R)
42	The Godfather 1972, R)
43	Paris, Texas 1983, R)
44	Se sei vivo spara (Django Kill - If You Live, Shoot!) 1967, Unrated)
45	Aliens 1986, R)
46	Warriors From the Magic Mountain (Zu Mountain: New Legend of the Zu Mountain Swordsmen) (Xin shu shan jian ke) 1983, Unrated)
47	Once Upon a Time in China 1991, R)
48	Some Like It Hot 1959, Unrated)
49	The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976, PG)
50	L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage) 1969, PG)
51	Mean Streets 1973, R)
52	Diva 1981, R)
53	The Wicker Man 1974, R)
54	Wait Until Dark 1967, Unrated) My dad used to extol the values of this fondly remembered thriller to the point of annoyance when I was a kid. I finally got my mitts on it when I bought a sale DVD copy of it a few years back and kinda saw the old boy's point. One of the most interesting things I found about it was the quirky juxtaposition (spot the media student!) of placing a quintessentially classic Hollywood-era heroine (and a blind one at that) in a very modern and threatening dilemma. Hepburn plays the part with the blissfull naivete of one of her celebrated starrier roles (eg Eliza Doolittle) but is pitted against the supremely menacing Alan Arkin, whose knife wielding thug is an indicator of some of the nastier screen villains to come in the '70s. This clash of cinematic codes makes for pretty tense viewing; I for one was nervous during the sequences involving the pair; I didn't want any harm to come to her at all! It isn't a perfect film by any means- you can tell a mile off that it's based on a stage play as the director keeps it extremely simple and the cinematography is incredibly staid at times. However, it makes up for such faults in a chilling, dark-enshrouded climax which even rivals the mighty "Rear Window" for edge of your couch tension. All in all though a slightly overlooked gem in the wonderful Hepburn's impressive screen canon that possibly deserves more attention than it gets. Except from my dad, who still goes on about it.
55	Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! 1966, R)
56	Apocalypse Now 1979, R)
57	Ran 1985, R)
58	Spun 2002, R)
59	Angel Heart 1987, R)
60	Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) 1920, Unrated)
61	The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups) 1959, Unrated)
62	Down by Law 1986, R)
63	C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog) (It Happened in Your Neighborhood) 1991, NC-17)
64	Rumble Fish 1983, R)
65	Chinatown 1974, R)
66	Tirez sur le pianiste (Shoot the Piano Player) 1960, Unrated)
67	Amores Perros 2000, R)
68	Crime Novel (Romanzo criminale) 2005, Unrated)
69	Delicatessen 1991, R)
70	Amélie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) 2001, R)
71	The Triplets of Belleville 2003, PG-13)
72	Eight Men Out 1988, PG)
73	48 HRS 1982, R)
74	The Godfather, Part II 1974, R)
75	Westworld 1973, PG)
76	Three Days of the Condor 1975, R)
77	Read My Lips (Sur mes lèvres) 2002, R)
78	Run Lola Run (Lola rennt) 1998, R)
79	Good Bye, Lenin 2002, R)
80	Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge) 1994, R)
81	Police Story (Ging chaat goo si) (Police Force) 1985, PG-13) The prolific director/star/ daredevil stuntman Jackie Chan was a tad miffed by the time he made this action classic- his dabbling with Hollywood the first time round (in the "Cannonball Run" flicks as well as his feted star debut "The Protector", which bombed) had left him cold. However, on his return to his homeland, the walloping success of this (the first proper Kung Fu Police Thriller tagged not incorrectly with "More action than you've ever seen!") brought about a creative purple patch in his career. The choice gems from the slew of flicks to follow (including "Dragons Forever", "Armour of God" and "Wheels on Meals") represent Chan at his fun, action-packed best. The plot is typically basic stuff, as hinted at by the Ronseal "does what it says on the tin" title; with Chan playing Kevin Chan, (it's the little differences!) the star cop of his precinct who is inevitably forced to play by his own rules when up against a ruthless drug lord. But as goes without saying with Chan's best output- it's the relentless action sequences within it that everyone is there for. "Police Story" has many of them, and the opener: a ramshackle shootout-cum-carchase through a tiny hillside shanty town, is a wildly kinetic treat. Theres barely room to make a toilet break during all the barnstorming action; in fact the movie was nicknamed "Glass Story" by the crew, who must have gone through hundreds of panes of stunt glass during shooting. As with most Chan movies, theres a perverse thrill from watching the end credits out-take sequences, which show the man suffering for his art on a very regular basis. In this one, during the climax's spectacular leap and slide down a light-encrusted pole in a shopping mall, Chan managed to dislocate his pelvis. Doctors didn't even know it was possible till Chan showed them otherwise. Respect. And ouch.
82	Jackie Chan's Project A ('A' gai wak) (Pirate Patrol) 1983, PG-13)
83	Way Out West 1937, G)
84	The General 1926, Unrated)
85	Safety Last! 1923, Unrated)
86	Singin' in the Rain 1952, G)
87	City Lights 1931, G)
88	Manhattan 1979, R)
89	Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964, PG)
90	Fight Club 1999, R)
91	Miller's Crossing 1990, R)
92	The Night of the Hunter 1955, PG)
93	12 Angry Men 1997, PG-13)
94	The Searchers 1956, Unrated)
95	Hellzapoppin 1941, Unrated)
96	Le Samouraï (The Godson) 1967, PG)
97	This Sporting Life 1963, Unrated)
98	Ladri di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) (Bicycle Thieves) 1948, Unrated)
99	Brighton Rock 1947, Unrated)
100	Harvey 1950, Unrated)
101	My Own Private Idaho 1991, R)
102	Drugstore Cowboy 1989, R)
103	Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) 1972, R)
104	Rashômon (Rashomon) (In the Woods) 1951, Unrated)
105	Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai) 1954, Unrated)
106	Breathless (À bout de souffle) (By a Tether) 1960, Unrated)
107	To Live and Die in L.A. 1985, R)
108	2046 2004, R)
109	Chungking Express 1994, PG-13)
110	Deliverance 1972, R)
111	Ringu (Ring) 1998, Unrated)
112	Videodrome 1983, R)
113	Duel 1972, PG)
114	The Mack 1973, R)
115	Lat sau san taam (Hard-Boiled) 1992, R)
116	Groundhog Day 1993, PG)
117	An American in Paris 1951, G)
118	Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia 1974, R)
119	The Usual Suspects 1995, R)
120	The Deer Hunter 1978, R)
121	In the Soup 1992, R)
122	Raging Bull 1980, R)
123	Spoorloos (The Vanishing) 1988, R) There's been a great many duff Hollywood remakes of successful european movies over the years, but not many instil the feeling of Bruce Banner-esque rage in my bones as the Jeff Bridges/ Kiefer Sutherland version of "The Vanishing". What's worse is the fact that this low-key and skillfully structured French/Dutch masterpiece and it's gaudy American namesake are directed by the same guy. George Sluizer, what was on your mind?! Anyway, lets forget the crap Hollywood version with its compromised, Disney ending and focus on Sluizer's original, which manages to eke out an unbearable amount of tension and curious dread in the viewer, and- clinically- without even showing a drop of blood onscreen. This is partly due to the aforementioned structuring, which is ingenious to the max and slowly reveals to the viewer the motives of the film's villain: an intelligient everyman who happens to be a sociopath (not a psychopath; another cliche the film stresses to avoid). Another memorable factor is the core struggle between the two fantastic leads: French stalwart Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu as the reserved, sociopathic family man with an evil plan and Gene Bervoets as the paranoid young traveller, chronically obsessed with finding his missing girlfriend: Saskia, over a number of years. When the two finally meet after some masterly and elliptical plotting, the suspense grips like a vice. Add to this gallic stew of suspense one of the great shock endings of all time and you have a bona fide classic of modern European cinema. Shame about that godawful remake!
124	Barfly 1987, R)
125	The Producers 1968, PG)
126	Waltz with Bashir 2008, R) The best new movie I saw in 2008 by a long shot: an utterly unique piece which uses a stylish, lo-fi form of animation as a pallette for a supremely thoughtful and moving meditation on war and its consequences. On a basic level, it is a documentary style quest by writer/director/producer Ari Folman to recover his amnesia-clouded memories of an infamous incident during the war in Lebanon during the early 80's, in which he served as an Israeli soldier. What Folman does with the format is startling though; presenting us with unforgettable visuals including beautifully realised dream sequences, a fantastic period soundtrack (I just about cheered on hearing PIL's "This Is Not A Love Song") and some wonderfully portrayed views on the very nature of memories themselves- all shot through with some biting gallows humour. But, whatever light-hearted and gloriously aesthetic moments there are to enjoy (and there are many) are all brought crushingly into historical and moral context at the film's conclusion; which ranks among the most stark and shattering I've witnessed in any movie. It may be an animation, but Disney it sure ain't. In fact, possibly the only thing I could hold against this movie was the inability to see some of the subtitles during the interview sequences- which says a lot for it's brilliance.
127	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975, R)
128	Ciao Maschio (Bye Bye Monkey) 1978, R)
129	The Ladykillers 1955, Unrated)
130	Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog) 1955, Unrated)
131	The Parallax View 1974, R)
132	Cobra Verde (Slave Coast) 1988, Unrated)
133	Cache (Hidden) 2005, R)
134	Il deserto rosso (Red Desert) 1964, Unrated)
135	Tokyo Drifter 1966, Unrated)
136	Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) 1955, Unrated)
137	Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) 1988, Unrated)
138	De Battre mon Coeur s'est Arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) 2005, Unrated)
139	Tetsuo: The Ironman 1989, Unrated)
140	Drunken Master (Jui kuen) 1978, PG-13)
141	L'Eclisse 1962, Unrated)
142	Memories of Murder (Salinui chueok) 2003, Unrated)
143	Le Cercle Rouge 1970, R)
144	Planet of the Apes 1968, G)
145	Gomorrah (Gomorra) 2008, Unrated)
146	Mr. Klein 1976, PG)
147	Certified Copy (Copie Conforme) 2010, Unrated)
148	Norwegian Wood 2012, Unrated)