I promised to give everyone my TOP TEN Movies of All time list so in the words of Heath Ledger’s Joker: Here We Go—
1) Glitter: What can I say about this brilliant movie starring Mariah Carey as
1)Pulp Fiction: I saw this in a dollar theater when I was a kid. My Mother had no idea what she was taking me to go see. Overdoses, Anal Rape, and gun misfire. I’ve never seen a movie like pulp fiction, a story of redemption and second chances wrapped in a shell of sex, violence, and “The Twist”. To make a nonlinear movie is one of the hardest things to do, not only did Quentin Tarantino make it work, he made the story so riveting that you can’t take your eyes off it. Every line of dialogue was beautifully crafted, and even if you have no idea who Mamie Van Doren or Buddy Holly were you got the references. A great movie must pay homage to the movies of the past– then blow them out of the water. Pulp Fiction is a melting pot of Blaxploitation, Gangster, and Film Noir and it outshines every movie it “borrows” from. Everyone should OWN this movie.
2)Boogie Nights: Now this often creeps to Number 1 because it is my all time FAVORITE. Every time I watch it, I find something new and that’s a credit to the then 22 year old Paul Thomas Anderson for crafting such a layered film that goes way beyond “A story of a guy with a really big DICK”. A movie about a porn star doesn’t do Boogie Nights justice, it’s a rags to riches tale about one thing—FAMILY. Every character in Boogie Nights is strong enough to carry their own film, from Roller Girl to Buck Swope, these wacky fucked up adult film stars are treated as real people dealing in a world that people don’t respect. Just thinking about it makes me want to watch it right now.
3)City Of God: Don’t be turned away by subtitles, reading never hurt anyone. I use to think Menace II Society was the greatest urban coming of age story ever. In the same way Menace makes Boyz In The Hood look soft, City Of God shits all over Menace. The Story of a young man growing up in the slums of Brazil is full of heartbreak and triumph and proof positive that Black people half the world away faces the same struggle in their ghettos as we do in ours. A must see.
4)Goodfellas: The movie that mobsters idolize and the greatest Gangster movie ever made.
5)Godfather (1&2) I don’t count The Godfather 3 because it was ass. The first two chapters in the Corleone family are as epic as it gets. I can only compare it like watching the rise and fall of the Roman Empire in real time. A lot of younger people are turned off because when you grow up watching Goodfellas and Scarface, Godfather seems a bit slow, but you can’t think of this as just a movie. You have to sit down, focus, and take six hours out of your day to be engulfed by this American tragedy.
6)Gone With The Wind: It’s racist, it’s melodramatic, it’s four hours long— yup, but it’s so fucking good it brings me to tears every time I watch it.
7)The Empire Strikes Back: It’s hard to take the middle part of a trilogy and say, “this stands alone as a great film” but it does. The Original Star Wars is a great movie, a fun ride, but Empire is the surprisingly dark chapter that leaves you with the best ending in movie history.
8)Titanic: Go and hate on Titanic for being sappy, but it’s the most non-corny love story ever told, and continued James Cameron’s theme of Strong female lead > Soft Male lead. I’ll never let go Rose.
9)Clerks: This movie is the reason why guys now ask girls how many dicks they’ve sucked before the relationship gets too serious. Clerks and Pulp Fiction shaped me into the fucked up person I am today. To all aspiring screenwriters, you don’t have to go to school, just listen to Kevin Smith’s dialogue.
10)Kill Bill (Vol.1 and 2): People get it fucked up and separate them, but Kill Bill was always meant to be one continuous movie, hence the action heavy first part, and the dialogue driven 2nd half. Put them together you have the greatest revenge story ever told.
11) Menace II Society
12) Pretty Woman
13) Terminator 2
14) Citizen Kane
15) Forrest Gump
16) The Departed
17) The Usual Suspects
18) The Color Purple
19) Full Metal Jacket
20) Reservoir Dogs
Honorable Mentions: Fight Club, Mean Girls, Schindler’s List, Back To The Future
There it is. I suggest you PRINT THIS take it to your local video store if they haven’t already closed down, and rent each one of them.
Now I showed you mine, let’s see yours– I’m talking about Top Tens.
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