June 25, 201411 yr Author Or avengers Spot-on! 5. Marvels’ The Avengers (2012) Outside the UK just drop “Marvel’s” but oldtime TV fantasy fans still love the 60’s TV show of the same name. OK, the most recent of the top 5 is at 5, but it could easily be at 1 in a few years as the film is genius. That’ll be Joss Whedon then, a man who can do no wrong in my book, his scripts are always perfect combinations of humour, drama, invention, character-development, pathos and structure. If he wasn’t working in fantasy (with its sniffy-nosed critics looking down their noses) he would be considered a great, purely because he deals with the eternal human lot of life and death and love - just, in this case, with super-heroes. Whedon dialogue is amazingly concise, beautifully phrased, and the pace is always perfect. From 7 years on Buffy, 5 years on Angel, half-a-year on the gorgeous Firefly and on into the movies he’s never let me down. I’m a fanboy! So...this film hitched up the super-hero movie to a new level, and as a former huge DC Comics fan it’s through gritted teeth that I admit Marvel is the one to do the super-hero team movie right. Near-perfect, in fact, as the large cast is juggled beautifully, the inter-action is engaging, and the villains are an equal part of the appeal (here, Tom Hiddleston is every bit as important to the movie as the heroes - something other films often forget: the better the villain, the better the heroes look and the better the movie). Humour is vital to my enjoyment of any fiction-project, and there’s plenty here. Not to say it will always be appropriate to have humour in a tragedy, but I avoid mega-depressing films like the plague generally-speaking, there’s more than enough trauma in real life to deal with, films are an escape from it, for me. The cast? Brilliant. The great thing is it’s genuinely an ensemble effort, there is no single star, though the organiser, if you like, is Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, who has popped up (as a character) in so many Marvel blockbusters, and (as an actor) in so many other blockbuster movies, that he lays claim to be the world’s biggest money-spinner star. Might well be too. Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Gwyneth Paltrow and many others (not least Whedon’s fab Agents of SHIELD TV show set-up) shine beautifully and link in to the various franchise spin-off movies for their characters before and following-on, such as the terrific 2nd Captain America movie, which came out too late to feature in my list - but would have! The plot is exciting, the effects fabulous, the pace non-stop: in short a perfect super-hero movie. Happily, the world seemed to agree with me, currently 3rd in box-office gross. Marvel-lous!
June 25, 201411 yr I was correct. Wow. I originally thought it was a 2010 film (as you can see by my earlier predictions) but I am really surprised I got it right Anyway the avengers is a great film :)
June 25, 201411 yr Author I was correct. Wow. I originally thought it was a 2010 film (as you can see by my earlier predictions) but I am really surprised I got it right Anyway the avengers is a great film :) yes well done on the prediction! :yahoo: i've got to decide which one's up next, now:)
June 27, 201410 yr Author 4. Up (2009) After a lot of anguish, and rewatching it last week, I couldn’t quite put this into my top 3 as it’s too soon (at 5 years old!) to rate it properly - but it’s very much on the way Up. Top-rated film of the noughties, top-rated Pixar, top-rated animation, this heart-warming and sentimental film is equally funny, adventurous and gorgeous to watch. The animation is pure Art, by any standard, the fantasy charming in an Oz-fashion, the characters going against stereotypical kids movies and heroes, starring as it does a 78-year-old widower and a semi-abandoned Japanese-American boy, both with dreams of being explorers. The first 15 minutes of the film are both yearningly beautiful and heart-breaking. This grown-man weeps at the sequence where we see childhood sweethearts live out their life through short scenes and photos, until Carl is left a widower, bereft and empty. It speaks to me at my time of life, because I had to watch my grandma learn to live alone and lonely after my granddad died, but it also speaks to the optimistic boy wannabe adventurer in me who lost himself in exciting fantasy worlds created by others, be it books, films, TV or comics. As this film proves, that little boy is still there, live and kicking, just looking a bit more wrinkly these days! The cast? Perfection: they chose Ed Asner, character actor of many a classic sitcom and drama (Lou Grant, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Roots) of the 70’s, where he played grumpy, lovable heart-in-the-right-place types, there’s no one of that age I can think of better suited to be Carl. The debut movie voice actor Jordan Nagai as Russell is charming, and the film is really about Russell dragging Carl back into the world while on their balloon-inspired house-flight to Peru, both of them finding love and a reason to live life to the max in each other, where a huge lonely gap had been before they met. Baddies: Talking dogs? Hilarious! Christopher Plummer (yet again) in my list, just before showing life can still be full at 82 (winning an academy award for Beginners), is terrific at the paranoid ruthless lost famous adventurer. I love the 1930’s styled visuals to much of the film, accurate and charming. Above all though, I love the script/story - kudos to Pete Docter, co-writer of both as well as Director. As a film it’s unique, no Hollywood cliched rom-com adventure here, no brainless kiddie-flick, it deals (as ever with Pixar) with universal human lot issues like loss, living, loneliness, friendship. And it’s got a whacky bird too! What’s not to love. One of the greatest movies ever made, by any standard. Epic.
June 28, 201410 yr Author 3. Star Wars (1977) Shock! The film I generally mention as my fave film of all-time, if asked, and often see listed at 1 on many film polls, is only 3. I just watched it for the umpteenth time (it’s the film I’ve seen more times than any other, by far) and that’s part of the problem - I know it backwards. When it first came out I went to see it 5 times, in itself unprecedented for me, and it became my new fave film till Close Encounters came out weeks later and usurped it. Gradually it pulled back, though and reigned for 30 years because in a way it was the first modern movie and didn’t date quite like most movies. Since it occupied a brand new world of it’s own, it didn’t have a period to sit and be charming in. Is it a great film? Yes and no. If you want to have a laugh at the plot and characterization, and dialogue, and even the stilted acting, I suggest watching Family Guy’s Blue Harvest, which amiably and accurately re-does the whole movie brilliantly, but never loses it’s admiration and love for it. In any case, being Citizen Kane never was the point of George Lucas’ magic creation, the aim was to take the 30’s Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials and gift that pace and imagination, that galactic adventure melodrama and one-liners, with a modern-budget special effects setting. Job done, and then some! When Star Wars was about to be released in the UK, the hype and word of mouth was intense, I was 19 and at College sharing a bedroom digs with 2 mates who asked me if it lived up to the hype (I went to see it immediately). Easily one of the Top 3 best films ever-made, I opined, thus setting up expectations which is not the best thing to do ahead of viewing! Well, here we are, 37 years on, and I still hold the view that I was spot on, all in all, because the elements of modern action cinema (especially sci-fi fantasy blockbusters) lead back to Star Wars. The editing, manic pace, special-effects led galactic-scale goodies and baddies was pretty influential to put it mildly. I don’t think it’s an over-stating the case that before Star Wars films were more leisurely (to the point of boredom sometimes) and sci-fi was well-known as box-office poison - not least because by it’s nature it needs special effects to not look silly. Everything changed immediately, sci-fi fantasy blockbusters became (and stayed) big business. Star Wars was like a glittering, sparkly, rollercoaster ride for the senses, and ordinary films seemed quite dull in comparison, even the big budget disaster movies, Bond films and the like. Star Wars may not have saved cinema, which was declining disastrously during the 70’s, but it didn’t hurt to have the new biggest-money-maker-film-of-all-time being one you could happily repeat view. Cast? Do I need to list Alec Guinness, Harrison Ford’s highest-rated of many Top 100 films, Mark Hamill’s energetic Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher’s spunky bun-wearing Princess, the double-act C3PO and R2D2, the whinging butler robot and his short rebellious companion? Then there’s Darth Vader, James Earl Jones hissing evilly, and Peter Cushing (best performance in the movie). Add in John Williams music (and disco spin-off hit covers) which dominated the film and changed movie soundtracks back to the epic full-on strings-heavy drama that they need to be in blockbusters. MGM’s Star Tours ride upped the excitement after the sequels had been and gone (and eventually prequels), and Star Wars was copied and aped on TV and in the movies, none of them managing to kick the film from it’s revered pedestal (by fanboys such as me and Seth MacFarlane), cos George Lucas did it first. The Empire Strikes Back is most-likely a better film, but this one is a complete story, right to the bows and clapping at the end, stating quite clearly it’s old-fashioned roots. Ignore the annoying revamped digital versions though, they look even more dated than the original these days and add nothing much, save the bonus Jabba The Hut scene. I’ll prob give it a rest for a few years now though and let newer films shine through! Hopefully the next installment with Han, Leia, Luke, Chewie, C3PO, R2D2 clanking about with rusty aging bits....
June 29, 201410 yr Author 2. Back To The Future (1985) I love this movie, and the entire trilogy. It’s crept up on me over the years, I mean I thought it was great when it came out, but there’s just something special, heartening, warm and endearing about it that lets me watch it over and over without ever getting bored with it. For a start it’s got time travel and it’s effects, a concept I love, it’s got fifties nostalgia, it’s got 80’s music and 50’s music, it’s got Michael J. Fox as the perfect all-American-Boy (slightly-flawed, but enthusiastic and loyal), it’s got the brilliant Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown in dual roles, without doubt the greatest mad (lovable) scientist ever, shortly after spending a few years as hilarious stoned Reverend Jim on Taxi, and the ruthless Klingon that kills Captain Kirk’s son. The plot is great (Marty Mcfly’s mum falls in love with her own son instead of Marty’s dad, which causes a loop stopping himself from existing unless he changes events back). The time-travel paradoxes are an appeal of the films, though you have to accept things happen the way they do, cos it’s sort of fated, as opposed to the likely consequences where in the real world, change behaviour of people and you change events in life, change events in life and key moments change, people aren’t born, other people are born who weren’t originally (for instance if George McFly became a famous writer rather than failed insurance salesmen, it’s most likely the kids wouldn’t have been conceived the nights they were supposed to be, events would just change too much), so for the purposes of the film best forget and just enjoy the various different Marty McFly universes, cos they’re all great. Ultimately, it’s a feel-good family-friendly sci-fi romp, but everything about it just seems to gel perfectly, especially Biff actor Thomas F. Wilson who is everyman school-bully, a type we all know from school, and on behalf of geeks world-wide there’s deliciousness seeing him get his come-uppence. It’s a sweet film, beautifully-imagined by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Stephen Spielberg (outdoing all of his own greats), and it’s now got the added bonus of being it’s own 80‘s nostalgia period-film charm to add to the original 50’s nostalgia period-charm - it was always an idealistic small-town version of both, but that’s not to say it’s fake, it’s just less...horrible than real life. A version I’d like to think existed in some small American communities. Top rated film of the 80‘s. Love it. So, what’s Number One....? It’s a 90’s movie. Edited June 29, 201410 yr by popchartfreak
June 30, 201410 yr Author Ready for it? Want to know which is my Top Of The Film Pops.. It’s..... ........ 1. Groundhog Day (1993) This film is miraculous. It takes what sounds like a boring idea (living the same day over and over for what must be centuries) and turns it into magic. The variations in the possible outcomes of the day are funny, touching, disturbing, and in the end, heart-warming and an affirmation that there is always hope, there is always love, and a selfish person can learn to love and be loved. It’s possibly the most-optimistic film ever, and it’s had such an impact on the world that the title has entered into the English language in it’s own right. What started out as a seemingly inoffensive Bill Murray-vehicle semi-rom-com from his Ghostbusters-mate Harold Ramis had more to it than it appeared. As time passed, the joy of the film became clear and critical opinion changed and re-evaluated it properly, belatedly having greatness bestowed on it. It has the ability to move, gladden the heart and reward familiarity that It’s A Wonderful Life has - it never gets tiring, there’s always something extra there that pops up. Credit goes mostly to the script, which is almost perfectly-formed, original, chock-full of great one-liners (many of them based on the repeat-themes), but the cast also need applause too. Bill Murray is always Bill Murray, snide, cynical, arrogant, but he’s always managed to get away with it cos the charm and wit pulls through and wins. In this case, his unredeemable weatherman is redeemed when he gives up thinking about himself and genuinely learns to love the small-town cast of many. Andie MacDowell is also vital to the film, she is the moral compass, can spot bull a mile off, and nothing Murray ever does convinces her that he’s sincere - until he is, and the perfect day is the perfect ending. We’re never sure how long he’s been living the same day eternally, but he is accomplished in so many things, and knows everything about everyone in town, and spent so long trying to kill himself in inventive endless way, that it must be centuries at least. It was his own personal hell and it became his own personal heaven. Overstating the case? Nah! I still love “I Got You Babe”, I love the German-festival-music and the whole groundhog event, I love the sci-fi/fantasy concept of the film, and I love a great rom-com. I love Larry and Ned Ryerson among the rest of the characters in the film, and I love that the Writers Guild Of America voted it the 27th best screenplay of all-time - except that it should have been higher! Not bad for a Bill Murray throwaway rom-com..... So there you have it. That’s the film I go back to more than any other these days, it lifts me up when I’m down, and gives an optimism boost when I’m feeling jaded and cynical. Thanks for reading and putting up with the looooong wait between reviews! Edited June 30, 201410 yr by popchartfreak
July 1, 201410 yr John, from your top 100 films list I watched only "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs", "Batman Returns", "Some Like It Hot".
July 1, 201410 yr Author John, from your top 100 films list I watched only "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs", "Batman Returns", "Some Like It Hot". ah, Alex then that means some treasures for you to see one day :lol: Maybe try one of the rom-coms or Pixar/Disney films if you get a chance.. B-) Thanks for checking it out!
July 2, 201410 yr ah, Alex then that means some treasures for you to see one day :lol: Maybe try one of the rom-coms or Pixar/Disney films if you get a chance.. B-) Thanks for checking it out! John, I'm never was a huge movies fan, but must a give a chance for some films from your top 100. As a very old-fashioned person I need to watch those 4 : "I Married A Witch", "Move Over Darling", "Calamity Jane" and maybe "The Wizard Of Oz" # 1 was very unpredictable. :) Edited July 2, 201410 yr by Alex.
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