Top Twenty Films (Part One)

And so to round things off in my one year anniversary, I'm going to list the films which are my personal favourites. Now the reason why I'm doing a top twenty list is because, well, whenever you're asked what your favourite film is, you always struggle because you always think of loads of films. And I did in fact find in difficult to narrow down a top twenty list, just like the top twenty Supernatural episodes, I have missed quite a few films off this list that I wanted to put on, like 'Return of the Jedi', 'Lost in Translation', 'Of Mice and Men', and many others.

But after painstakingly narrowing it down, here are my personal top twenty films. So far.

20. City of God (2002)

I'll be honest, when I first saw this film I wasn't really looking forward to it. It was in fact the first film with subtitles I ever saw, or the earliest I remember seeing, and so I initially thought that the subtitles would intrude on the film, that, and I didn't actually like gangster/criminal underworld films that much. I just found them boring and, effectively, the same film over and over again.

Once I saw this though, I was completely blown away. This wasn't the crime drama I expected. It follows two people, Rocket (Alexandre Rodriguez) and Lil Ze (Leandro Firmino). Rocket wants to get out of the slums and live a great life as a photographer, he doesn't want to be drawn into the criminal life his older brother and his friends are in. Lil Ze, called Lil Dice as a kid, however lives in awe of the criminal life and becomes the slums most notorious drug lord. His relations with the other big drug lord Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele) quickly becomes sour and the slums are plunged into a huge gang war.

The story is well thought out and flows perfectly, even if it does follow about thirty different plots. The subtitles, they don't intrude on the film at all, in fact most of my DVDs involve subtitles, like 'Downfall', 'Tidal Wave', and 'Heaven's Soldiers'. The subtitles have effectively become another character in the film. The characters themselves are all well thought out and so complex, that even the sociopath Lil Ze is likable. In fact, Nachtergaele is the only professional actor in this, everyone else was brought in from the local area and even the real life City of God slum, which is truly amazing when you see the acting in the film, you wouldn't have thought that this was effectively their professional debut.

Really, this film is truly awesome, it is quite simply superb in every way; the setting, the characters, the effects, the grittiness, the story. You can see how much passion was put into this film, how much effort must have been involved in the production. I have not seen a crime drama like this since, and deserves to be on your list of films you have to see before you die.

19. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

South Park is one of those things which doesn't seem to age. It's always up to date, and even when you look back on an episode that's years old, the humor is still there. With the rise of South Park's popularity from the odd short to a full television series, a film was inevitable. And boy what a film it was. The boys go to see the new Terrance and Phillip film 'Asses of Fire', and copy the obscene use of swearing used in it. The parents overreact and this leads the arrest of Terrance and Phillip, the Canadians bombing the Baldwin family in retaliation, and the US declaring war on Canada.

Like I said, this film doesn't age, it's hard to imagine this film is thirteen years old and yet the topics the film raises are still present today. The songs used are well performed and rival those in proper musicals, they are the songs that you tend to sing whenever you feel like. And with all that the film still retains it's dark and satire humor, which is hilarious by the way.

I do recall some magazine with the Cartman and the South Park version of Bart Simpson, with the caption (Along the lines of) "our film came out eight years before yours, and it was still better", and I have to agree. Yes I am now comparing movies. The South Park movie, for the third time, has not aged, it doesn't get old or boring, the Simpsons Movie however, each time I watch it I seem to hate it more (I did like it at first, don't get me wrong).


The animation may be a little dated, especially compared to recent seasons, but the film is still hugely popular. Everything is superb in it, it really goes to show that South Park is going from strength to strength, I wouldn't be surprised if Matt Stone and Trey Parker announce they're planning to do a second film.

18. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

This is pretty much the odd one out on this list, since it's the only one that's really aimed being family friendly. But Hell, I love this film. The year is 1940, and Nazi Germany has begun the Blitz. Miss Price (Angela Lansbury) is tasked to look after three kids, Charlie, Carrie and Paul (Ian Weighill, Cindy O'Callaghan, and Roy Snart respectively). It turns out Miss Price is a witch in training, but the school she's receiving lessons from has closed due to the war, so she can't get the last spell. She takes the kids to London using a teleporting bed, meets up with Emelius Brown (David Tomlinson), and they all go on a journey to find the last spell, before being captured by a Nazi squadron.

This film is brilliant. Is it dated? Yeah, but I still love it. The story is enchanting, the songs are brilliant, Portobello Road and The Old Home Guard are my personal favourites, heck, The Old Home Guard pretty much shows that the men are prepared to lay down their lives to protect their homes. The acting is fantastic, the animation meets live action is actually well pulled off (Better than most films which do it nowadays), and it has one of the most awesome scenes in cinema history, but I'll get to that in another post.

This is truly an entertaining film, for all ages. For the most part the children will be entertained, especially by the Island of Naboombu, and for the adults when the Nazis attempt to disrupt the country as a test for the German invasion of Britain. This film is just marvelous.

17. Three Amigos! (1986)

In this film Carmen (Patrice Martinez), while in town seeking help from the bandit El Guapo (Alfonso Arau), and sees a film of the Three Amigos (Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short), and tries to send a telegram, thinking they're real heroes. Her telegram is edited down as she does not have enough money to afford the full message. Meanwhile the three actors behind the franchise find themselves suddenly unemployed when they demand a raise in salary. At this time they receive the telegram, but as it was edited down they believe it is just for a show.

This film is so wonderfully created. Some great humor, terrific acting, a brilliant clash of cultures, and a memorable villain in El Guapo. The story is fantastic as well, showing how these actors, who are a mix of selfish, scared, and obnoxious, come together to, not only help themselves achieve a better way of life (Which doesn't include fame), but also help the village find a way to solve their problems by themselves, rather than running scared themselves.

16. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

They really don't make comedies like this now. Here a group of travelers witness a car accident and the men go down to help. The old man at the wheel tells the men of $350,000 buried under "a big W". Initially the group decide to ignore it and continue their journey, but then find that they're all thinking about going to find the money. They discuss working together but can't work out a way to share money, which leads to a race across the country, which becomes more and more chaotic as more people get involved.

This film is hilarious, the jokes are well thought out, creative, and invented, and the interaction and chemistry between the characters is truly amazing. But despite this being a screwball comedy, there's a fair bit to think about, namely all the chaos caused for the sake of money which would probably be used to pay for all the damage caused.

It's a bit long winded, I'll give you that, even the DVD version has an interval put in, but there is not one moment where you aren't entertained.


15. The Full Monty (1997)

Yes, yes, yes, cue the "oh you like seeing men strip?" jokes ha ha ha. That's not what this film is about. Well, okay it is, but that's only part of it. Six unemployed men in the 1980s recession (Played by Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, Steve Huison, and Hugo Speer) decide to perform a striptease, solely for the money, but only because their lives are going in a downward spiral; Gaz (Carlyle) needs the money to pay child support and continue seeing his son, Gerald (Wilkinson) can't bare to tell his wife he lost his job and she's spending like there's no tomorrow, while the others just simply need the money in order to have a life.

In some ways, this film is about accepting who you are, rather then an unemployment film; Dave (Addy) has weight issues, Lomper (Huison) and Guy (Speer) are gay in a time when gayness...um...wasn't that popular I suppose is the best way of saying it. But as the film progresses, we see that when Gaz and Dave find that Lomper and Guy are together, they don't actually care, while Dave finds that people also don't care that he's on the chubby side, it's the person that counts, not the appearance. Hell, Dave thinks he's overweight and unfit, and yet he manages to catch up with Gaz when Gaz attempts to shoplift the store Dave now works at as a security guard. Okay yes a trolley helped but the point still remains.

But the film also shows the lengths that these men would go to for the ones they love, even if it means humiliation in the local community. It also shows the lengths people will go to when times are tough, just in order to make a living. I'm actually surprised it isn't gaining a resurgence in popularity in these tough times.

Everything is just sublime, the acting, the story, the characters. This really is one of the best British films ever made.

14. Up (2009)

I only watched this film, hmm, about two, three months back, and, like 'City of God', it just blew me away. In 'Up' Carl Fredricksen (Edward Asner) ties hundreds of balloons to the house he and his late wife, Ellie, built together, in order to escape the sad life he has and go on the adventure he and Ellie had been putting off since they were kids, to Paradise Falls. However he picks up junior adventure Russell (Jordan Nagai) by accident. Together they go to Paradise Falls where they meet up with Dug the talking dog (Bob Petersen), Kevin the huge bird, and legendary adventurer Charles F. Muntz (Christopher Plummer) who has gone slightly homicidal.

This film has the capability to go through so many emotions in so little time, the opening is the best example. This is something I want to go over in another post, so like the 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' one, I'll leave it for now. But for those who know what I'm on about, they'll agree that it is probably the best opening to a film ever. We are told so much in so little time, we go through so many emotions, humor, drama, love, saddness, it's just a fantastic piece of storytelling, and it's only the first ten minutes! And this film is full of moments like that.

This film is virtually flawless now that I think about it, the characters, the story, there's really nothing bad to say about this film. This film is absolutely fantastic.

13. Ghost (1990)

It's a comedy, it's a thriller, it's a murder mystery, it's a love story, it's all these things rolled into one. Here Sam (Patrick Swayze) stumbles onto some illegal activities and ends up murdered. Sam however does not go into the light, possibly due to confusion, and ends up staying on Earth. With the help of a psychic (Whoopi Goldberg) he finds that his loved one (Demi Moore) is in terrible danger.

Okay, how could this film not be on this list? This film has some of the best visuals ever used in a film, it has one of the best plots ever, it has some of the best acting ever. The plot is so intriguing, it pulls you in so much you find it hard to pull yourself away.

In all honesty though it does now feel weird watching a film where Patrick Swayze plays a dead person now that he's actually dead. But the film still has so much power, so much passion, it's impossible not to get lost in it.

12. The Fog (1980)

Now this is a horror film. Okay it wasn't really that well received but this is MY favourite films list, and I for one love this film. Antonio Bay is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary, but the ghosts of Blake and his men (Who had leprosy) want revenge for the town's ancestors who tricked them into crashing their ship on the rocks, sinking the ship and claiming the lives of all on board.

The main reason why I liked this film was because it is a horror film for adults. It's not like horror films nowadays where they generally aim it at teenagers, for the time this film was released, this was a scary film. It's dated, definitely, but I still love the film.

The tension the film creates definitely helps generate the scares, and, even on a low budget, this film was really effective. It has a solid story which takes in a life of its own, we see sacrifice, we see love, we see terror take hold. I really do think this is one of the best horror films ever. I'm just glad that there isn't a crappy remake which completely ruins any integrity this film has. Except for

THIS ONE! (Yes, I will be doing this film at some point, maybe November)

11. The Italian Job (1969)

This list would feel incomplete without Michael Caine wouldn't it? Okay there's a second part but still. Michael Caine plays Charlie Croker, a recently released convict who organises a robbery to steal a shipment of gold in Turin, Italy.

This film has one of the best car chases in cinematic history, this film made the Mini infamous. Michael Caine is absolutely brilliant, has one of the most infamous cliffhangers ever devised, one of the best soundtracks, and has some of the most quotable lines of dialogue ever written, namely "Hang on lads, I've got a great idea" and "You were only suppose to blow the bloody doors off!". This film defined a generation, the acting is terrific, and is generally named one of, if not the best British film of all time.


And there's the first half of my top twenty films, coming up next, the top ten.



Oh, and before I forget, remember my 'Tidal Wave' review? Well, myself and the Whalley have done a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 style take on it. It's our first one so please forgive us for any discrepancies or awfulness  It's the first part but more should be on the way, so please be patient, I myself haven't seen the finished product. Anyway, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4Qd2aKgNd0&feature=plcp
Watch and enjoy folks.