Will’s Top 100 Movies (80–71)
Greetings once again film fans! I hope you all remain safe and well. Here’s 10 more of my favorite flicks, a few thoughts on each one and where you can stream! Happy watching!
80. Superman (1978)
The tagline for the superhero movie that started everything for the genre (you don’t really wanna count the ’66 ‘Batman’ do you?) read “You’ll believe a man can fly.” Okay, so maybe many of these effects don’t look as amazing now as they did 40 years ago (though I gotta say I really like the way the miniatures look in this movie), but I think even then a big reason ‘Superman’ delivered on that promise has to do with its earnest tone. That’s not to say that this movie isn’t funny when it wants to be; the picture has plenty of humor, but it never resorts to turning the whole idea of Superman into a joke, and the more serious moments actually work.
A couple other reasons this movie works must include Christopher Reeve, excellent both as the confident heroic Superman and the bumbling Clark Kent (Reeve said he based his take on The Man of Steel’s alter ego on Cary Grant in ‘Bringing Up Baby.’) Margot Kidder is great as reporter/romantic interest Lois Lane, and the pair together have genuine chemistry. Also a second must be taken to appreciate Gene Hackman, clearly having a blast playing criminal mastermind Lex Luthor as the ultimate uncaring sleaze.
Marlon Brando was paid a record salary of $3.7 million (plus almost 12% of the box office take, so I estimate around $30 million total) for two weeks of work and about 10 minutes of screen time as Superman’s alien dad. I don’t know if all that was worth it (I mean, maybe his presence convinced certain adults to take the flick seriously) but at least he is good in the movie — even if he was reading his lines off the baby’s diaper and couldn’t quite pronounce “Krypton.”
And of course there’s the matter if that one composer. What was his name, Hans… something? Just kidding, it’s John Williams baby! Hot off of ‘Star Wars’ the year prior, the all-star maestro gives us one of his catchiest, most bombastic scores that does some serious heavy-lifting whenever this movie might otherwise be lagging. Zooming through space (and those neon blue 3D titles) to Williams’ iconic theme might be the most energizing way to open a movie with nothing but credits for a good five minutes. Speaking of iconic, how many a supernatural romance has ripped off Superman flying over Metropolis with Lois Lane to the swells of Williams’ love theme? (I see you, Aladdin.)
Like a lot of good things, sequels would eventually turn this ‘Superman’ into something we wish would go away, and even II, which many fans prefer, is a bit too silly and uneven for me. Screw all the sequels and reboots. The ’78 ‘Superman’ is great pop entertainment for the ages. (Available to rent.)
79. Schindler’s List (1993)
People often accuse Steven Spielberg of audience manipulation. I mean, sure, that’s part of what movies are, and with great mass audience fare like ‘Jaws’ and ‘Raiders’ that’s kind of the point isn’t it? But with ‘Schindler’s List,’ his Best Picture-winning masterpiece, I think people really were introduced to a new, more mature Spielberg, the kind of filmmaker he was still striving to be with earlier dramatic pictures like ‘The Color Purple’ and ‘Empire of the Sun.’
So yes, we do have another beautiful John Williams score, as well as certain techniques (the little girl in the red jacket, for example) other directors might have shown too much restraint to go for (did you know this film was originally going to be made by Martin Scorsese before Spielberg traded him for ‘Cape Fear’?). But I think most of those things work well enough and when the very worst stuff happens he even adopts a documentary-like approach, which makes us feel as though we’ve just wandered into some of the most horrible scenes of history.
Oskar Schindler was a totally extraordinary man and great character to study — first a philandering opportunist and Nazi spy who, by the end of the war had saved over a thousand Jews from the Holocaust and spent his entire fortune bribing SS officers to keep his factory workers safe. And Liam Neeson (before he become known for endless shitty action movies) gives a charismatic, sincere and career-defining performance as Schindler.
But if this movie belongs to a single actor it’s Ralph Fiennes, short-tempered, pathetic and utterly terrifying as the sadistic, psychopath Nazi commandant Amon Göth. (Survivors of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp said the real Göth, a guy who would throw babies into the air and shoot them like skeet, was even worse than the film depicted.)
I think perhaps by nature of being the most popular movie about The Holocaust ‘Schindler’s List’ unfairly has a reputation as one of the toughest films to watch. If you’re looking for a great Holocaust film you’ll never want to see again I might point you towards Elem Klimov’s ‘Come and See,’ which is about as brutal and devastating as movies get. ‘Schindler’s List’ on the other hand, despite all the harrowing stuff, is actually a surprisingly enjoyable watch, featuring a grade-A script by Steven Zaillian. (Now streaming on STARZ.)
78. Say Anything (1989)
The teen romance to beat them all, Cameron Crowe’s smart, funny and touching pop classic stars a young and charming-as-ever John Cusack as a sensitive slacker who falls for Ione Skye’s shy valedictorian. I was never big into the John Hughes-Molly Ringwald catalogue, but I think Crowe (who also wrote ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’) really got kids in a way that many of the other people making these kinds of movies at the time didn’t.
‘Say Anything’ isn’t as corny (or as horny, frankly) a movie as ‘Fast Times,’ but what it lacks (and not for the worse) in sensationalism, it makes up and then some with genuine heart. And if Peter Gabriel wasn’t already popular enough in the ’80s, that iconic boom box play couldn’t have hurt. I actually don’t know where Cusack is supposed to be standing in that moment — we’ve seen Skye’s street and that’s not it, so he’s like a ways away next to a park I guess? Not that I’m knocking it of course —it’s great stuff. Joan Cusack costars as (wouldn’t you know it) the older sister and Lili Taylor (who would also act with John Cusack briefly in ‘High Fidelity’ a decade later) plays a friend who has either written 63 or 65 songs (depending on who you ask) about her crappy ex Joe. (Available to rent.)
77. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
As a kid you might’ve watched this one for the supernatural aspects, but as an adult you’ll return to it because, despite the flying bicycles and healing fingers (not that I’m knocking that stuff at all) ‘E.T.’ is honestly one of Steven Spielberg’s most personal films; it’s an affecting portrait of a broken family and one of the many times Spielberg would reckon with his issues around his own sometimes-difficult childhood in his movies. And it must be mentioned that Henry Thomas gives one of the finest child performances I’ve ever seen.
As for John Williams’ soaring music (certainly among his best scores), he actually had trouble fitting his finale piece (you may recall music plays continuously from when the kids steal the ambulance till the end credits), altogether a whopping 15 minutes to the film that was being cut. For once (at least from what I’m aware) in their prolific relationship, after trying and trying, Spielberg told Williams to just play his music the way he wanted it and then they cut the movie to fit the score track.
In 2002 for the 20th anniversary Spielberg pulled a George Lucas and did a remastered special edition, with added scenes and special effects. It’s not offensive in the way that those ’97 Star Wars (and all subsequent Lucasfilm bastardizations) cuts are (though there are some amusingly silly choices like digitally replaces FBI agents’ guns with walkie-talkies) but I recommend the original ’82 version if you’ve got a choice. (Available to rent.)
76. Gone Girl (2014)
One of those dark and hopeless movies that I find myself returning every year or so to re-watch because, despite all the cynicism, it’s really damn fun. Rosamund Pike is scary good (pun intended if you please) as “Amazing” Amy Dunne, who goes missing one day, leaving her regular schmuck of a husband (Ben Affleck) as the prime suspect. Director David Fincher is in full command of his considerable technique here and Gillian Flynn adapts her bestselling novel into a snappy, stellar screenplay.
Fincher even figured out a good use for Tyler Perry, who’s kind of amazing as the sleaze-ball lawyer brought in save the presumed-guilty Affleck from the hangman’s noose. ‘Gone Girl’ might not make you wanna get married anytime soon, but it sure is a fantastic update to all those classic noir pictures about all those cool-talking, ordinary shit-heads who fall for a girl who is, shall we say, a bit more than they can handle… (Now streaming on FX Now.)
75. Rushmore (1998)
If 1996’s ‘Bottle Rocket’ was hipster god writer/director Wes Anderson finding his voice as an artist, with his sophomore feature it’s been all-the-way found. Anderson would make more mature films later, but his all of his signature style (along with a groovy retro soundtrack) is present in ‘Rushmore,’ which could be his funniest movie.
In his first screen performance Jason Schwartzman (17 during filming) plays Max Fischer, a nerd failing his classes at a prestigious private high school because he’s too busy writing plays and being the president of every club the school offers. The excellent Olivia Williams plays Rosemary Cross, the teacher Max develops an obsession with, and Billy Murray (do I need to tell you how perfect this guy is in this kind of movie?) is Herman Blume, the millionaire industrialist who improbably becomes friends with these two and also has the hots for Rosemary.
It’s not unlikely that in 2020 some of Max’s stalker-ish behavior towards Rosemary plays a bit less cute and more gross than it did 20 years ago, but I think one of the strengths of Anderson has always been liking his characters without glorifying their worst instincts. And on an unrelated final note, if you’re looking for a hilarious example of how to easily portray how low a character has sunk, look no further than Billy Murray, appearing disheveled riding up a hospital elevator with Schwartzman. Schwartzman asks him how he’s been and a smoking Murray empties a flask of cheap whiskey into his can of Diet Coke, lights a second second cigarette, inserts it into his lips and deadpans “I’ve been a little lonely lately…” (Available to rent.)
74. Hot Fuzz (2007)
As a 16-year-old who hadn’t seen ‘Shaun of the Dead’ yet, I snuck into this movie (I think we’d bought tickets for the Shia LaBeouf ‘Rear Window’ knockoff ‘Disturbia’) I think just based on a trailer we’d seen and was treated to a near-perfect comedy. I think a month or so later another friend and I got sold out of the opening weekend for the third ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film (no tragedy there) and I was more than happy to watch it again. For my money the best and funniest of the Edgar Wright-Simon Pegg-Nick Frost collaborations, this second of their makeshift “Cornetto Trilogy” has them parodying buddy-cop actioners, as opposed to zombie horror or body-snatching sci-fi.
You can tell these guys really love all the stuff they’re poking fun at, from ‘Lethal Weapon’ to ‘Bad Boys,’ and they’ve got all the tropes down, from the frenzied camera moves and slo-mo to the ultra-serious score (David Arnold of the Bond franchise supplies the music) and the corny, catch-phrase-striving dialogue. But the Wright-Pegg genius comes not just from pitch-perfect satire, but in making clever genre-deconstructions in which as heightened as the situations become, we continue to engage with the emotions of these goofy characters. Looking for a perfect quarantine evening? Pour yourself a pint, thrown on ‘Hot Fuzz’ and shoot your guns up in the air and go “ah!” (Now streaming on STARZ.)
73. Double Indemnity (1944)
This Billy Wilder classic set the template (or at the very least popularized it) for a noir story about a man and a woman having an affair who plot to kill the woman’s husband. A mere two years later, ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’ would tell a similar tale, and in 1981 Lawrence Kasdan had his crack at the trope with ‘Body Heat.’ Those movies are fun to be sure, but neither approaches the smarts or the style of Billy Wilder.
Fred MacMurray would in the ’60s and ’70s be known to most audiences as a Disney Dad, appearing in sit-coms and family films alike (‘My Three sons’ and ‘The Shaggy Dog,’ to name a couple) as a sometimes-bumbling but always wise and warm paternal figure. Wilder saw through the wholesome appeal of the actor to mine a darker seductive energy underneath (he would later cast MacMurray as Jack Lemon’s sleazy boss in his Best Picture-winning comedy ‘The Apartment’). As for Barbara Stanwyck, she’s a total movie star in what could be her best performance, and the two trade Wilder’s razor-sharp dialogue back and forth like they were born doing it.
And finally we have Edward G. Robinson, Little Caesar himself, who initially turned down the role of MacMurray’s colleague since he wouldn’t receive top billing before Wilder talked him into it. This was a good move — in part because Warner Brothers just wasn’t making gangster movies like they had in the ’30s anymore — and the right time for Robinson to ease into supporting roles. In this movie he does great work as the wise-cracking friend, and opposite to his hood roles that made him a star, the moral backbone of the story. (Available to rent.)
72. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The grandaddy of all buddy action flicks and arguably the action-comedy itself, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ manages to be fun, cool and stylish without sacrificing any of its considerable smarts. Written by the indelible William Goldman and directed by George Roy Hill, ‘Butch’ paints the final days of the legendary twosome and with it, really, the last episode of the old west as a rollicking odyssey that’s certainly bittersweet but also too damn funny and absurd to be truly melancholy.
Originally Steve McQueen was in talks to play Sundance, and the producers would have retitled the picture “The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy” as a concession for the star. But when Paul Newman came onboard the issue of titles became a problem. Newman was okay with Darryl F. Zanuck’s (at the end of his run as the head of 20th Century Fox) extreme suggestion that half of their film prints be shipped to theaters with Newman’s name first in the credits, and half favoring McQueen, but McQueen wouldn’t budge. That would have been an interesting pairing, but then of course no one can deny that Newman and Robert Redford together are an all-time great movie match-up.
Following on the heels of the hugely influential ‘The Graduate’ (which had come out two years prior) ‘Butch Cassidy’ makes further experimental use of the kind of music that would have been previously thought too lightweight and modern for a western (such as the composer Burt Bacharach’s hit “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” performed by B.J. Thomas). The film also makes cool early use of slo-motion in a key scene or two, and features some juicy supporting turns from the likes of Katherine Ross (speaking of ‘The Graduate’) and Strother Martin.
The movie stars would reunite with George Roy Hill four years later for the Best Picture-winning hit ‘The Sting,’ which is a lot of fun, but I don’t think quite as clever or influential as ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ Maybe my favorite of many stellar moments of William Goldman playing with tough guy action clichés comes when, chased to a clifftop by a bounty hunter and his hired posse, Sundance admits as they contemplate jumping into the raging river below that he can’t swim. Butch laughs out “Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill us!” And we’re off to the races. (Now streaming on STARZ.)
71. Do the Right Thing (1989)
Writer/director Spike Lee’s explosive third feature sadly wasn’t even nominated for Best-Picture, though I dare you to name a better film that year. Certainly not ‘Driving Miss Daisy,’ which took home the top prize of the 1990 ceremony, but we shouldn’t let that take away from this wildly enjoyable, provocative drama. You know from the moment the movie opens on a beautiful Puerto-Rican woman standing on a dark Brooklyn street corner before an explosion of lights, music and dancing that you’re about to be taken on a unique and thrilling cinematic ride. The woman is Rosie Perez, terrific in her first movie, and the song is Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” which will become a theme song of sorts for the film.
Lee certainly isn’t afraid to push buttons, although you feel every choice and expletive is justified as many of these scenes are probably conversations real New Yorkers had been having for decades before anyone had come along with the guts to portray them onscreen. He also stylizes the movie to great effect, from the three old dudes hanging out in front of the strikingly bright red brick wall to Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) shoving his hands straight into the camera for his monologue on love vs. hate (inspired by a similar scene in Charles Laughton’s great ‘The Night of the Hunter’). ‘Do the Right Thing’ also features the first film performance of Martin Lawrence (whose comic youthful energy makes him perfect as one of the playful neighborhood guys) and in my mind can stand along the likes of ‘12 Years a Slave’ as one of the very best American films about race. (Available to rent.)
