Film Script's Top 7 - Movies I Should Have Seen (1990s)

I thought long and hard about this list. Mostly how to twist it to somehow screw over Chachi again. By year? Only including films that have been nominated for awards? Skipping straight to the 80's? But in the end, I figured I couldn't take another of Chachi's whining comments about how I screwed him over and yada yada you suck Mulligan. So, here's the straight forward list of the movies I'm ashamed to admit to never having seen.

The 90s are even worse than the 2000s because, well, I had more time to catch up with these and these are really the films I should have grown up watching. But somehow, some way, I've avoided all these films to this date.

Here's the confession:

7. The Fisher King
I think we're going to run into a trend on this list that may possibly be enough to prove A.D.D. The movies I started, but, for some reason never got around to finishing. One such film is Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King. As I mentioned in the startling revelation that I think Masked & Anonymous counts as a must-see miss, I love Jeff Bridges. This makes two of his roles that I'm genuinely upset over having missed. Plus, you've got Robin Williams back in his heyday (when he actually made good films). But when I started this, probably 6-7 years ago, I don't remember being all that knocked out with it. It went back on the shelf (or returned to Blockbuster or whatever) and I've never gotten around to finishing the damned thing. Gilliam deserves better. Bridges deserves better. Williams deserves better. And I deserve better. My film history demands it.

6. Dark City
Alex Proyas, long before the step-backwards that was his half-stupid/half-enjoyable I, Robot, created what is still the quintessential comic book movie. It even headlined my "Film Script's Top 7 Comic Book Films" list a while back, The Crow. And Dark City seems to be just as beloved in the online community as well as, to be plainly obvious, just as dark. Filmgoers drool at the mention of Dark City. It's sci-fi. It's twisted. Besides the cast of Kiefer, William Hurt and Jennifer Connelly intrigues me. Gotta get around to it.

5. Mallrats
Largely considered to be the weakest of Kevin Smith's films, Mallrats has languished on my shelf as I awaited the proper incentive to get me interested. I think the below lukewarm reception to it has something to do with why it's the only Kevin Smith movie I've yet to see. I should see it just to satisfy the completist in me. But with the way Smith's recent films have been going with the decent-but-nothing-special Jersey Girl and Clerks II, I've actually become interested in getting back to Smith when he was starting out - to see if maybe he had more to offer back when his films were less polished?

4. Trainspotting
Danny Boyle's drug opus apparently. Every kid in high school has seen it. I have not. Truthfully Ewan McGregor and drugs aren't real selling points for me. Again though, this is another movie I started and never got back to. I still remember the climbing-into-the-toilet scene at the beginning of the film (it haunts my thoughts when I consider another attempt at watching it). But is there anything else to this movie besides warped perceptions? Does it matter if there isn't? Seeing that I've enjoyed Millions, 28 Days Later... and even The Beach to an extent, maybe I owe Boyle another shot.

3. Short Cuts
Robert Altman. Jack Lemmon. R0bert Downey, Jr. Julianne Moore. Chris Penn. Frances McDormand. Andie MacDowell. Based on the great Raymond Carver short stories, but interconnected like only Altman can do. Seems like the perfect match of material with director and it stood out as a comeback of sorts for Altman when it came out. The three hour long running time dissuades me just a bit, but the first chance I really get to sit down and take it in, I'll jump at the chance.

2. The English Patient
The only Best Picture winner since 1987's Bertolucci film that I haven't seen. Loved Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley and enjoyed Cold Mountain quite a bit as well. Unfortunately, my girlfriend considers it one of the most boring and tedious films she's had the displeasure of sitting through... but I tend to disagree with her a lot on films, so I'll take that with a grain of salt (or sand in this case). Seems like a lower profile choice for a Best Picture winner too, an unusual decision by the Academy's history. I need to hear some more opinions on this one that sway me towards a viewing.

1. The Age of Innocence
Any Scorsese that I haven't already seen is of the utmost embarrassment. The Age of Innocence just so happens to be a victim of my least favorite genre, the Edith Wharton-styled period piece. It's rare when a Pride & Prejudice comes along that I see, much less like. But this is Scorsese we're talking about, not some everyday hack. There's no excuse for it. Besides, as you can tell with my runners-up list I'm woefully behind on Daniel Day-Lewis's filmography as well. This just tops it off.

(my embarassingly long) runners-up: The Apostle, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Pi, Slacker, Clockers, Sense and Sensibility, Babe, The Crossing Guard, Gettysburg, In the Name of the Father, Last of the Mohicans, Husbands and Wives, Bad Lieutenant, One False Move, The Doors, Bugsy, El Mariachi, When We Were Kings, The Crucible, Sling Blade, Shine, Waiting for Guffman, Kundun, The Boxer, Buffalo '66, Hard-Boiled

Film Script's Top 7 - Movies I Should Have Seen (2000s)

When I started compiling a list of all the movies I should have seen - but haven't yet - the list started small and grew enormous.

So I broke it down into decades and I'll work my way backwards over the course of who knows how long, but I'll start it off tonight with the most recent misses, the 2000s.

For this category, I have eliminated 2007 since we're still in it. And as much as I regret missing Bug, Black Snake Moan, Waitress, Breach and Once thus far... I have plenty of time before the end of the year to rectify that.

These are the films that I missed, and the months dragged over to years and that I desperately need to take time out to go and visit. Especially since so many of them are so highly regarded.

So without further hesitation, the Top 7 Movies I Should Have Seen (2000-06 edition):

7. The Motorcycle Diaries
Gotta love road movies, especially on a motorcycle. Seeing the country. Experiencing life. Everyone wants to do it one time or another in their life and after the letdown that I felt Easy Rider was, The Motorcycle Diaries is the next best thing, right? Gael Garcia Bernal (Amores Perros) stars. Plus it's about Che way before Soderbergh started to plan his own two films on the man. It's peeked my interest, but somehow never found it's way into my DVD player. I hope to change that soon.

6. Masked & Anonymous
It has some of my favorite bit actors in Jeff Bridges and John Goodman. It's stars a rock God in Bob Dylan. Dylan also wrote the damn thing. Larry Charles, who has directed a handful of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episodes and absolutely the most hilarious movie of the decade in Borat also directed it. Plus, my favorite film critic of all-time, Philadelphia Weekly's Sean Burns gave it an A. This film has GOTTA be great, in spite of it's mixed reviews. I'm saving it for a special occasion. Nothing could make this film suck, I guarantee it.

5. The Fountain
Mostly for it's scope and ambition. I'm not the biggest Darren Aronofsky fan. He seems more interested with elliciting a sense of feeling over emotion if that makes sense to you. He wants you to feel exactly what his characters are going through, but doesn't necessarily get you to empathasize with any of them. Requiem was like that. From what I saw of Pi it was the same way. He's stylistic and a little out of control in his methods. Still, this is a passion project, one Aronofsky was trying to get off the ground for years and was even the film responsible for Brad Pitt's heinous homeless-man getup a few years back. For just those reasons, it should be enough for me to give it a watch.

4. Gosford Park
I have good reason for this one. One weekend I went to go visit my dad and when I walked into his house he was slumped down in his recliner snoring. He was in a deep sleep and Gosford Park was in the DVD player.... then I glanced up and noticed it hadn't even reached the 20-minute-mark yet! Now, it's a Robert Altman film (something I could have guessed my dad should stay far, far away from but that I enjoy quite a bit). But that being said, my dad rarely falls asleep in front of a movie. If he doesn't like it, he turns it off. This one seemed to pin him to the recliner and knock him unconscious. Plus, outside of a few faces, there aren't a whole lot of names I recognize in the cast list. It's one I need to see, but not one I'm dying to.

3. The Science of Sleep
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind would probably top my favorite films of the decade, but to show my appreciation for that film I still haven't even seen Michel Gondry's whimsical follow-up? When this film was announced it was one of my most anticipated films. It still is. Yet for some reason I never have made room for it in my schedule? What's wrong with me? Maybe it's the lack of star power - even though I am a Gael Garcia Bernal fan? And what's with two Bernal films being in my Top 7? No offense to Bernal, but really, how is that possible?

2. Oldboy
Not only Oldboy but the whole "Vengeance Trilogy" from Chan-wook Park. The movie sounds entirely kickass. It's widely considered one of the best action films of the last decade. Chachi even beats me up over it in the comments section. What it amounts to is... I need to see this film. The film was even highlighted (in a negative way) during the tragic Virginia Tech massacre. When a movie starts inspiring serial killers, it's obviously engrained itself into the culture for better or worse. I should really get on it.

1. City of God
I loved The Constant Gardner and I've only heard better things about City of God. It's currently listed at #17 on IMDB's Top 250 Films of All-Time. Yet, I haven't seen it. It's also the third foreign language film plaguing my Top 7, obviously a recurring theme - although I have seen all of Wong Kar Wai's recent films. I have no excuse, even owning a copy of the movie and being genuinely intrigued by the storyline of two boys in Rio de Janeiro growing up and becoming such starkly different people. By far, I'm the most ashamed for not having seen this than any other film on my Top 7. I may even watch it tomorrow night just to give it the rightful crossing out from this list that it deserves.

runners-up: Band of Brothers (Mini-Series), The Painted Veil, Bobby, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Machinist, Dogville, Manderlay, A Mighty Wind

2007, The Year of the Middling Movie?

It's been far too long since I've posted a new topic and I've been dying to throw up "The Film Script - Top 7 Movies We Haven't Seen That We Should Have," but that's gonna take me a while to go through and find the precise 7 that I'm the most shamed for having not seen, so in the meantime I figured I'd post on the current shabby state of the cinemas (but keep the other topic in mind and start gathering your own lists).

Now, it's a known fact that the best movies of the year are usually withheld for the end of the year - for Oscar season - but this year seems especially slow to get started. Thus far, I've seen 23 movies released in 2007. Only 8 of the 23 have I given a rating of a B or better and I've still only given out a single, solitary A (for Zodiac). That's a pathetic 35% of movie I've considered to be "good films."

The ratio does get much better when I factor in a B- (my cutoff for a positive review), then the ratio jumps to 57%. Maybe I'm over-reacting, because at the end of the year if I've given a B- or better rating more than 50% of the time, I consider it a good year. But there's been so many blantantly average films recently that this is standing out in my mind.

Ocean's Thirteen. Lucky You. Alpha Dog. Spider-Man 3. Freedom Writers.

All B- films that I liked but felt they could have been better... especially with Raimi, Soderbergh and Hanson at the helms of 3 of them.

I watched Next the other day as well. C+.

300. C.

Plus, there's been an extrodinary amount of terrible films thrown in. I've already given out four D-'s or F's (and those are ratings I reserve for the real dregs of cinema). Thank you Pirates 3, The Ex, Catch and Release and Because I Said So.

I'm getting hopeful hearing positive things about Bug and Once and Waitress but haven't been able to track those films down yet. But honestly is anyone really holding out a lot of hope for films like Fantastic Four 2, Live Free or Die Hard (yes, I want to see it; no, I don't think it'll be anything special) and especially Transformers?!

C'mon people, it's a Michael Bay film for chrissake! When one of the most anticipated films of the season comes from the Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay combo, we're facing some rough, rough times ahead.

I don't know guys, bring me around. Tell me I'm horribly mistaken. I've got hope for Breach which I just got on DVD, Black Snake Moan which I'm getting shortly and the upcoming Bourne film that I can't seem to stop talking about. And maybe those will help jumpstart the year for me.

But keep in mind, I also haven't seen Norbit, Hostel II, Hannibal Rising, In the Land of Women, etc. etc. Nor do I have any inclination to do so.

A Couple of Movies to See Before You Die

One book I love to read through is "1001 Movies to see before you die." I am slowly trying to see them all. In order to get you guys all started, I've posted links to the first two "films" you must see before you die.

The first is a 1902 french silent film about mans' trip to the moon. It is surreal. The animation is quite revolutionary, but the footage is in such terrible condition. The narration is in English, which I'm sure the original wouldn't be in. Not sure if it even would have had narration back than, but I guess if you can produce a score to these silent films, I don't see why you couldn't narrate. It only runs about 12 minutes.

"Le Voyage dans la Luna"

The second is much more familiar. It is a 1903 American silent film about a train robbery. The music is haunting and the direction is quite good for the time. I find this to be more the birth of film and it's conventions than "A Trip to the Moon." It runs about 11 minutes.

"The Great Train Robbery"

Number three on the list is DW Griffith's three hour epic "Birth of a Nation." I've seen it and man it is so damn racist, but that was a different time. Also very hard to sit through a three hour silent film. But you can clearly see what an impact this film had on cinema forever. But you will have to rent it and see it for yourself.

Lego My Prego!

Finally, the summer has bared its first great movie. After all the hype and utter disappointment of the big blockbusters that May offered,"Knocked Up" felt like such a breath of fresh air.

Judd Apatow cemented his status as a god amongst the disenfranchised and the belittled with his work on "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared." He also was prominent in the Emmy Award winner "The Larry Sanders Show." But as we have seen before, what may work for TV (be it the actor, the writer, or the premise) certainly isn't always the case for film. However, Apatow is too good of a creator and writer to fall victim to any of those pitfalls.

Ironically, his TV shows only amounted to cult hit status. They were widely recognized as the best that TV had to offer when they were in rotation, but they never obtained the viewers needed to survive. His movies, however, have been moderately budgeted and yet make 500% in profit. Why are his films so successful when his TV shows weren't? I can't really say. He has maintained the same honesty and the same affection for his characters that he always had.

The key to his success though isn't simply his brilliant handling of raunchy humor and sincere emotion. Nor is it due to the fact that he has come up with a unique comedic plot ala Borat. In fact his two movies could easily fall prey to being deemed a gimmick (40 Yr Old Virgin) or unimaginative (Knocked Up). But what he brings to his films is his talent for picking the right actor for the right role, and bringing out the best in them.

Ben's friends in this movie, while don't serve the plot as well as Andy's friends in "Virgin," still have some of the funniest lines you will hear all year. Jason Siegel, Martin Starr, Jay Baruchel, and the great Jonah Hill (whom has lost alot of weight! I am saddened) all get their moment to shine. The lines said in reference to Starr's untamed beard are up there with "You know how I know you're gay?"

Katherine Heigl is annoying on Grey's Anatomy. She hasn't been particularly good in anything I've seen before. Yet here she is a gem. She can hold her own both comedically and emotionally with anyone in this movie. I 'm excited to see what she does next.

Leslie Mann may be the funniest unknown actress ever. She was so funny in her small role in "Virgin", but she gets to stretch her wings here and actually act. I will say she isn't the most convincing actress when she has to get all emotional, but she still sells it because she is so gifted in every other scene in the movie. An absolute riot.

Paul Rudd needs his own movie!!! Now!!! He once again just about steals the movie. Anchorman. Virgin. Knocked Up. He has proven himself to have both great timing and delivery for any occasion, be it comedy or drama. I hope he isn't relegated to supporting roles for the rest of his career.

And finally, the man of the year, Seth Rogen. I absolutely loved him in "Virgin." His lines were the best in my opinion. Here he has a tough task of creating a character that we both love, but expect more from. It really is quite a feat to portray this character where we root for him to make the right choices, but when he doesn't we are so disappointed in him. We react to him as if he were a long time friend of ours in real life. Some may think it wasn't so much acting as was just him being himself, but I still am astonished at just how much depth is actually there to witness. When he holds his daughter for the first time and tells her about his first encounter with Alison, I laughed and cried. I though it was a beautiful moment that Rogen earned all on his own.

Comparisons to "Virgin" are bound to happen. If I must make a statement on that notion, I will say "Virgin" is more quotable and "Knocked Up" is more poignant. But I find it really hard to definitively say which one is better. With only two movies under his belt, Apatow has perhaps started his own "dynasty." In twenty years, hopefully people will be talking about his movies in the same breath as Annie Hall, Blazing Saddles, or Animal House as the funniest films ever.

In a summer bursting with the best in effects, the best in explosions, the best in thrills, and so many damn sequels I can't count them all, it is great to see that what makes the best movie is something that a computer can't do. A great cast and a great script makes a great movie.

Recent Watches: June 2007

Yeah, so I'm a total bum.

Really I haven't seen all that much recently to warrant putting this up, but this "Recent Watches" category should be up so that everyone can throw in their two cents, so here goes...

What I have seen so far is Snatch for a third time (the value of this film keeps diminishing on me as well) and Donnie Brasco for a second. I had recently watched Carlito's Way for a second time too and always tied the two together in my mind, so I wanted to pick which one I really appreciate more... only to watch both, enjoy both, and be stuck basically in the "damn these are both good movies" section again.

As for first time viewing, pickings are slim. Saw Pirates 3 and Knocked Up but everyone knows how I feel on those already. I'll elaborate on Knocked Up if Chachi does end up posting something of a review of it.

Other than that, there was the dreadful Sandra Bullock-starring Premonition. There were so many idiotic things that happened throughout the course of that movie, I just sat back slapping my own forehead over and over until it finally finished. On top of which, Bullock REFUSED to show anything resembling an emotion throughout the course of the film. It's hard to do, but that movie made her so unappealing that I couldn't even imagine being around her. Ugh.

And on TV... I finally caught up with "Heroes." Which, while good, is far from the level of "Lost." Whereas "Lost" has the same type of cross-cultural cast, it does a much better job of fleshing out personalities. In "Heroes" the actors (who themselves aren't exactly great) are pretty much defined by their superhero ability. Maybe this is a calculated decision by the creators, but it doesn't leave me all that interested in the characters. The one episode being the exception was the "5 Years in the Future" one, where we actually get to see what these characters had become. It was the one episode I loved in a season of solid-but-unspectacular ones. And people claiming it's the best show on TV are just insane.

Now, what are you guys watching?

Month of Movies: June 2007

Sorry for the lack of posts guys, I've been sick all week long and just haven't been up to it.

But I'm back now, so for today, I have a place to post all you're most anticipated films of the month. Instead of dealing with this on a week-to-week basis, I figured we could just wrap it all into one month-long look forward.

Also, I'll be back tomorrow with a place to post your recent watches for June. From there we'll continue with more topics for the month.

And after a while I'll be back to praise the bejesus out of Knocked Up - also the only movie I've been able to get to or see in a week. Feel free to beat me to the punch though.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movies/upcoming.php