My top 100... Part 4 (la créme de la crop)

1. Ghostbusters

You know how there is people obsessed with Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter or the Matrix? Well, Ghostbusters is my Star Wars. Ok, Obsessed is a harsh word, but you get the idea. It is the first movie I remember going to see in the theaters, and I was only 3.

Lately some entertainment magazines have begun to recognize it again as the best comedy in the past 25-30 years. Not many comedies are as smart, and not that many movies, from any genre, from any decade, have so many quotable lines. Ghostbusters achieve it without resorting to slapstick or potty humor.

If you ask me, this is Bill Murray's best role, the cynic Dr. Peter Venkman. It must be said that the rest of the cast is great too. The ultra-enthusiastic Ray Stantz (Dan Ayckroyd), the severely serious Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), and even Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) who has little screen time, but every line of dialogue he has is memorable. Then you have Sigourney Weaver, who I've never found attractive, yet looks nice here. William Atherton as the true nemesis for the ghostbusters (and he is not playing a ghost). Rick Moranis as a nerdy neighbor that will become integral part of the end of the world. Annie Potts as the short-tempered secretary.

Here you also have the coolest end-of-the-world scenario: Armageddon by giant marshmallow man. Sure, Slimer became more of a celebrity, but that moment where Stay Puft first appears in his full glory is just unforgettable.

If you are wondering where is Ghostbusters II in this list (considering there are quite a few sequels ranked here), I can only say that I was sorely disappointed by Ghostbusters II when I was 8, and I still am. That movie had none of the qualities that make the first one a classic. Ghostbusters II is a forced sequel. I don't know what to think about the possibility of a third GB movie in the near future.

2. The Incredibles

Hands down the best superhero movie ever done, it´s not live action, but close enough. This is what superhero movies should be like: Action-packed, bright, fun with neat character relationships. Unfortunately I've seen the future, and the future is more dark, depressing, "adult" fare. The Incredibles is not, in my opinion, kiddie stuff, but something that can be enjoyed by all-ages, the way it should be.

3. WALL·E

It might be too new to be this high in the list, considering I've only seen it three times, but that's how good I think this movie is. Actually, I was debating wheather or not it was better than The Incredibles. It's a very daring movie that goes 40-45 minutes without dialogue. While at first glance it looks like a science fiction film, but it truly is a romantic comedy. While it does have a eco-friendly, anti-corporate secondary message, the true core of the story is that love conquers all. It pulls references from old black and white comedies all the way through science fiction films of the 60's, 70's and 80's.

4. Back to the Future Trilogy

Okay, I cheated here a little. I'm counting all three Back to the Future movies as one, because they tell a relatively coherent, full, single story, and are not single episodes that could exist without the others. Sure, in reality Back to the Future was meant to be just the first movie, and it's inconclusive ending was little more than a joke. Of course the first movie made a lot of money, and Universal just had to take advantage mak

Of the three, Part 1 is almost a perfect movie, with an incredibly well done script; Part 2 is kind of complicated, but interesting; and Part 3 while still good, being a western fells like the smaller chapter of the story. To me, both Marty McFly and Doc. Brown are iconic characters thanks to the work Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. You can't imagine any other actors in those roles.

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

E.T. or Schindler's List? Which is the best Steven Spielberg movie? Well, Raiders of the Lost Ark of course! Doing some damage control after the release of the sad, sad Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, both Spielberg and Lucas said that the Indiana Jones movies were never intended to be more than the cheap serials that inspired them. What a lie. Serials and b-movies would never be considered to be nominated for Best Picture. Raiders is indeed inspired but those serials, but is a high-caliber film, with great craftsmanship, high production values, and most importantly, it had heart, it wasn't just a product banking on nostalgia.

Harrison Ford is somehow able to top his own Han Solo with the world-weary archeologist that always seems to be in over his head or barely qualifyed to get out of the messes he gets himself into.

6. Die Hard

Action movies can pretty much be divided before-die-hard and after-die-hard. It has one of the most memorable and coolest movie villains ever, and detective John McClaine as the blue-collar answer to James Bond. The way Die Hard is edited was very unique when it was made, and movies have been copying it and pushing it to the limit ever since. Unlike other action heroes McClaine is not unvulnerable, and most of the time it looks like he wont be able to pull it off, by the end of the movie he is just barely in better shape than the 12 terrorists he had to take care of.

7. Jurassic Park

Someone once asked which movie was more important historically, Jurassic Park or Schindler's List? My answer, of course was Schindler's List, the film that got all the awards and finally rewarded Spielberg with this Best Director and Best Picture trophies. This person corrected me saying that the correct answer was Jurassic Park, since it truly changed the way movies were make, for better or worse. It was with Jurassic Park that people understood that with CGI, anything you could imagine, you could put on film. Some movies have abused this tool, and some argue that movies are dumber now because of it.

15 years later the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, a mix of animatronics and CGI, still look believable, and I think that the technology limitations of the time, that forced Spielberg not to give the dinosaurs too much screen time worked in its favor, much in the same way that the defective shark robot worked out for the better in Jaws.

For some years in the 90's Jurassic Park was my favorite movie. Those final moments where the T-Rex is attacked by the 2 raptors, but the T-Rex disposes of them, and the banner that reads "When Dinasaurs Ruled the Earth" comes down, that made me cry of joy when I was twelve.

8. The X-Files: Fight the Future

Had I done this list a year ago this movie would've been ranked higher, maybe as high as second place. That's how much I loved The X-Files. That is until I saw the "movie" that came in 2008, I Want to Believe, and finally came to accept that the truth has always been there: that this was an aimless franchise. Sure the last 4 years of the tv series were much inferior to the the seasons that came before it, so I should've learned the truth earlier.

That said, I still feel like Fight the Future is a cool movie that reflects everything that was good about the famed mythology arc in the early years of the show. Sure things were a little simplified for the general movie audience, but the political thriller elements, the conspiracy, the paranoid feeling, the interaction between Mulder and Scully, the moody atmosphere, were all there. I think that this was the last great chapter of the mythology, but also the first time that The X-Files stepped firmly into sci-fi, something I think the writers behind the franchise were never able to handle correctly, and the show was never able to recover from.

9. The Little Mermaid

After a series of lacklustre animated features the Disney studios were thinking the unthinkable: to shut down the animation department. Thankfully the Little Mermaid came to save the day, launching what is now known as the Disney Renaissance (the other crowns of the jewel of the period being Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King). A movie where are the talking creature sidekicks are funny, the villain is unforgettable, the princess is the strongwilled hero and not a pushover, and the music is fun. I had a crush on Ariel when I was little.

10. Aladdin

Another super movie from the early Renaissance era. Lots of great sidekicks like Abu, Iago and the Magic Carpet, a mean bad guy, and an interesting couple of protagonists in Aladdin and Jasmine . Of course it is the lamp's Genie that steals the show, helped by the ad-libbing by Robin Williams.

11. Toy Story 2

There's always this debate over which sequels are better than the original movies. Some say that Godfather 2 is better than the first. Others giver Superman II the upper hand over Superman: The movie. Things are pretty divided between Alien and Aliens. I think that Toy Story 2 truly is better than the first, but not by much since they are both excellent. Toy Story 2, is just more complex, with an even larger cast of -intersting- characters and funnier.

To the list of impressive achivements done by Pixar, you can add making a sequel superior to the superior original movie.

12. The Iron Giant

A fairly unknown little gem, that was ignored by the movie going public when it first came out, thanks to fact that it was never promoted by Warner. Everyone should check it out. It was directed by the Incredibles and Ratatouille's Brad Bird, so if that is not reason enough, I dont know what is. Any Superman fan will appreciate what the boy, Hogarth, uses to teach his amnesiac-giant-robot friend to use as role model. I also love how it makes a comment on the naivity of people during the early years of the Cold War.

13. Monsters Inc.

How could the academy give Shrek the Animated Feature award over Monsters Inc. I will never comprehend. I guess the Shrek movies have a large appeal to the general audiences thank to it's relatively crude humor and pop culture references (that age those movies pretty bad, by the way)... but Monsters Inc. is timeless. 20 years from now Monsters Inc. will be a classic, while Shrek will not.

14. Shaun of the Dead

I've always hated zombie movies, if for not other reason that I can't believe that zombies are belieavable threats. They are slow and dumb, not undestructible and can't spread their desease unless they come within reach of the "living", you'd think they are easely containable. So why do I like this movie? Because other than being hilarious (while being scary when it wants to be), it shows that Zombies are a threat to a group not-very-bright people, while the rest of humanity seems to be taking care of the zombie crisis off-camera. So it is a great comedy for those that love zombie flicks, but also for those that don't like them.

15. Toy Story

Everything began here. Toy Story wowed audiences back in 1995, and people can't seem to have enough of Pixar (and other studios' computer animated features) ever since. I believe that even without the added value of computer animation, this story would've been a success in any format. It's just that good.

16. Finding Nemo

The highest grossing Pixar to date. All the underwater scenes, and that includes the scenes inside the fish tank, are breathtaking. Marlin reminds me a bit of my father, but I guess that is true for everyone's father.

17. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn

While the first Evil Dead was a straight low-budget horror movie, and the third movie in the series, Army of Darness is an incredibly silly slapstick comedy, Evil Dead 2 does an almost perfect balancing of the 2 elements: comedy and horror. A particular highlight of this movie is the moment Ash feels he is losing his mind, and sees inanimated objects of the isolated cabin laugh at him. His reaction? Laugh with them. I believe Army of Darkness is more popular, but this is the better movie.

18. Lilo & Stitch

Probably the last good traditional animated movie by Disney that was good and succesful. It breaks from the mold of the typical Disney movie in the sense that the main couple here are a girl and her pet alien monster. Stitch certainly is a very atypical Disney character, and they tried to sell that idea in the trailers, but obviously never falls to the Ren and Stimpy territory. The roundness on the character designs and the watercolor backgrounds were a treat too.

19. Silence of the Lambs

So many movies have tried to replicate the success of Silence of the Lambs, including its sequels, but I think that only Seven and The X-Files (tv series) can be considered worthy offsprings. While superficially it can be considered a crime story, it truly is a horror movie. As unforgettable as Anthony Hopkins was as Hannibal Lecter, I think that Jodie Foster is the one that makes you sit through the movie. Fans of The Dark Knight might want to check Buffalo Bill to see what I think was one of the inspirations of the Joker seen in that movie.

20. Alien

While the sequels delved deeper and deeper into sci-fi territory, the original Alien is a horror movie set in space. For some reason I find it more efficient and scarier to have just 1 creature trapped in the same ship with a limited cast of characters. As a whole, this movie is much darker and claustrophobic than Aliens, and the less said about Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection the better.

21. Forrest Gump

This is an epic movie, it spans several decades, you see multiple historical personalities, events that change the world, all through the eyes of 1 man. Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise have never been better. I particularly love the commentary about how someone, mentally challenged, can excel in the military... after all, all you need is to follow orders, and Forrest Gump was the best at that. A movie that is funny, it's sad, it's lighthearted and thought provoking, all at the same time. Conservatives think it promotes their values, but I think it makes a comment on how Gump follows these values blindly, cause he doesn't know any better.

22. Rushmore

Bill Murray's career was reignatded here, and has done pretty much variations of this man in with a midlfe crisis ever since (see Lost in Translation, Life Aquatic, Broken Flowers). A curious comedy about a talented underachiever, Max Fischer, that was the most active student of a expensive private school, partaking in every extra-curricular club there could be, but at the same time was the worst student the school had. More than that, it's a movie about the improbable love triagle between him, the first-grade teacher, and the self-loathing industrialist that while trying to befriend Max, falls in love with the teacher Max is infatuated with.

23. Ratatouille

The most artsy of the Pixar movies, and I mean it in a good way. I can't imagine any of the other animation studios making a movie about cooking, and the pleasures of food. Of course it does help that it is hilarious, and beautiful to look at.

24. The Thing

I had always heard good things about John Carpenter's The Thing, but never had had the opportunity to see it. 2 years ago I finally got it on dvd. This movie is a blast. Like Alien, it is more a horror movie than sci-fi. A great story on paranoia and isolation. The practical effects and animatronics in this movie still look amazing. There's a rumor that people in Hollywood are planning a remake of this remake. They shouldn't even try, a movie this raw can't be made anymore. The downbeat ending would never make it past the test screenings with today's audiences.

My Top 100... Part 3 (25-49)

25. Psycho

Another horror movie that doesn't rely on gore or cheap jump scares, but on psychological thrills and tension. Norman Bates will always remain one of the best villains ever. I haven't seen any of the sequels, because from what I've heard they are not very good and fall in the category of a slasher movie. I did see the needless remake, it's sad to watch telented people wasted in that movie. Doing a remake of such a classic is a battle that is impossible to win.

26. Seven

Maybe the one movie that you could say is on the same level of greatness as Silence of the Lambs. Everyone is great here: Freeman, Pitt, Fincher and even Kevin Spacey in the few minutes he has onscreen. The cinematography and art direction are so grimy and gritty. The story is also very scary without ever showing that much on camera. It's that old trick, that leaving stuff to the imagination is more powerful than putting everything out there.

27. A Bug's Life

It's incredible that even the lesser Pixar movies are so, so good. There is nothing wrong with a Bug's Life, it's just that the other Pixar movies are better. Blending the Seven Samurai, with The Three Amigos and classic fables, it's smart, funny and charming. The bugs are so caricaturized they aren't even gross.

28. Jaws

The movie that launched the modern era of blockbuster movies and Spielberg's career. It's great how an accident was responsible for all the tension and scares in the movie. It remains one of the best scary movies ever. I know there is this joke that the shark looks fake now, and that it looked fake back in 1975 when the movie came out... but real sharks look fake to me too!

29. La Vita è Bella

Back in 1998 WWII movies were the craze, and this was part of it. It won numerous awards, and for a while Roberto Benigni was a worldwide phenomenon. Despite the subject matter, this movie is hilarious and touching. I've read some people complain that it banalizes the holcaust, my guess it that those that say this, didn't get the point of the movie.

30. The Ring

Possibly the only J-horror remake that can be considered a good film. It's scary by atmosphere and unsettling set pieces and never by gore. Gore is not scary, it's only disgusting. Naomi Watts is great as per usual. The dreary, gloomy, almost monochromatic cinematography fits the movie perfectly, and the imagery chosen by Verbinski works just great. The sequel was a complete disaster though.

31. Hot Fuzz

Don't make the mistake to think this movie is a spoof or parody on action movies. This is a homage, a love-letter to action movies with lost of comedy in it. It has great direction, the action scenes are perfectly edited and staged, and the plot is intelligent while touching upon many established cliches in the genre. It's interesting to see Simon Pegg playing the ultra-serious Nick Angel, and not see a hint of Shaun or Tim in it.

32. The Terminator

When I first saw Terminator on tv, I must have been 6 or 7, I couldn't sleep that night from the nightmares it gave me. That scene where the endoskeleton (or simply a metallic skeleton to me back then) walked out of the flames, was the most horrific thing I had ever seen. I like this better than the second because it feels more intimate, and the whole danger is more believable than the more spectacular T2. Schwarzenneger has grown a bit as an actor since, but he was born to play the role of an unstoppable emotionless machine.

33. Predator

What starts as a Rambo rip-off suddenly turns into a sci-fi jungle adventure. If you miss those pre-titles seconds where some ship falls into the Earth's atmosphere, it would be hard to imagine with movie would end with a big, ugly alien hunting for Schwarzenegger and his team of elite soldiers. Some of the dialogue here is so cliché, in the worst macho way immaginable, that you can't help but wonder if it was intentionally made for laughs.

34. Aliens

How daring it is to make a sequel to a horror movie, but instead of making it yet another horror movie, you make an action movie? I can't think of other movie series that have jumped genres like the Alien series has. All 4 movies (even the vastly inferior parts 3 and 4) are very different from each other. The miniature work here is impressive. I remember being scared to death when Bishop is ripped apart, when I first saw this as a little kid.

35. E.T.: The Extraterrestrial

Steven Spielberg considers this to be the crowning achievement of his filmic carrier, and who am I to question that? This is the perfect movie for children. I wonder how come a movie that was so HUGE when it was released, is not as fondly remembered as some other movies of that time. I think that Star Wars or Jaws are more highly regarded these days than E.T. Maybe because it is a movie with low geek-appeal?

36. 12 Monkeys

Bruce Willis acts a little against type, in this oddball time-travel/post-apocaliptic sci-fi movie. When it first came out I didn't apreciate it much, I thought it was too depressing, but now I see the point it tried to make. Speaking of acting against type, Brad Pitt's character here was something unexpected, since then he has done several brave acting choices, but back then it was a big departure.

37. The Exorcist

Of course everyone remembers the climatic act inside Regan's room, with the 2 fathers fighting the demon Pazuzu, but few remember how good is all the build up throughout the movie to it. As scary today as it was the day it was first released.

38. Saving Private Ryan

The first 20-30 minutes are, hands down, the most intense war footage in a movie ever. Since then many directors have tried to replicate it, but it's just not the same. After that, the movie isn't quite as hard-hitting, but it didn't need to be. Another highlight is that scene where the mother looks out the window, and sees the black car coming down the road, and she is devastated, knowing what it is that they have come to tell her. Once again Tom Hanks was great in this, but not good enough for a third Oscar (his third Oscar should've come with Cast Away).

39. Citizen Kane

It might seem hipocritical to have a movie like Citizen Kane in a list that is dominated by dumb action movies and animated features, but the truth is I love this movie, and it couldn't not be here. As good and involving as the story is, the real treats here are all the technical aspects of the movie. Movies of today owe so much to this. Before Citizen Kane most movies felt like theather stages put on film.

40. Die Hard With a Vengeance

For the second Die Hard sequel they didn't try to replicate the first Die Hard's plot point for point, like they did with Die Hard II. In fact I believe the script was meant for a Lethal Wepon movie but re-written to make it into a Die Hard movie. The action is non-stop from the start, but what sets this movie apart is the interaction between Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. It's some of the more racist (both-ways) dialogue I've heard, but I can't stop laughing at it. Sadly, they didn't know how to end this movie. The ending in the film feels unconnected to the rest of the picture. There is an unused alternate ending that is even worse. One more thing, I'll never understand why Johm McClaine is a redhead here.

41. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

It looks like Spielberg and Lucas reacted to their darker Temple of Doom, by making a much sillier and light-hearted Last Crusade. Sure having Sean Connery here as Indy's dad is fun to watch, but the movie in general is too comedic. Raiders of the Lost ark had it's funny moments, but it was an action movie first. That said it was nice to have the Nazis back, you never can go wrong with having Nazis as your bad guys.

42. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

I'm always amazed that people think this movie is better than the original. It's not bad by any means, it's bigger, it meant a big leap for computer generated effects, it has a great villain in the T-1000, but it also has the cheesy John Connor that speaks like the early 90's Bart Simpson. Also, I've never been sold in the father-son relationship between little John and the good T-101. The third entry in the Terminator series is also good (Rise of the Machines), but I just didn't have enough space to include it in the list. There's a new movie coming out this year, and from what I've seen, it doesn't look that good.

43. The Royal Tenenbaums

Gene Hackman steals the show in this ensamble comedy with people like Ben Stiller, the Wilson Brothers, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bill Murray, Angelica Huston and Danny Glover. Hackman's Royal Tenenbaum is one despisable curmudgeon, and makes the rest of his eccentric family look almost normal. I will admit this type of comedy isn't for everyone, but even if you can't find it funny, you have to admit it is a beautifully shot movie.

44. Groundhog Day

It's hard to tell which is Bill Murray's best role. Opinions are divided. Some say it is him in Lost in Translation, others say he should've taken an Oscar nod for Rushmore, and then other say he was his funniest here. I have a different choice, but Groundhog Day is great nonetheless. The basic premise is that of a Twilight Zone episode, but they never really delve much into that aspect of the story, other than the anguish Murray goes through the first few times the day starts repeating itself. This is a comedy after all, and a very fun at that.

45. Big

When I was little I could watch this movie non-stop. What little kid has not wished to be a grown up for at least a day? Now that I'm approaching my thirties, all I can say is that kids are wrong! I believe this was the break-out role for Tom Hanks. He got his first Oscar nomination here, and a well deserved one.

46. Gremlins

Another childhood classic of the 80's. A horror movie you can let a child see, and not feel bad about it. Of course it also has so many laughs and silliness going on, that the horror is mostly downplayed. That intro with the old chinese store, where everything seems to have a coat of sut in it, and all the mystical mumbo-jumbo is typical 80's fare. The puppeteering here, as great as it is, is even better in the sequel, even Gizmo is cuter in Gremlins 2. The thing is that Gremlins 2 is just too wacky.

47. Die Hard II

Many people hate this movie. It's not bad. Sure it's basically the exact same plot as the first movie but with the double of everything. Two groups of bad guys, two nosy reporters, two sets of bureaucrats to deal with, two helpful sidekicks, an area twice as big to get rid of terrorists. What it lacks in originality and credibility (but who looks for credibility in a Die Hard movie) it makes up with action and more John McLaine. The british plane crash and the way McClaine kills all terrorist in the end are great moments.

48. The Lost World: Jurassic Park

I think a better movie was meant to be made with the Lost World, but silly choices (like the final act in San Diego, and how gymnastics can defeat a velociraptor) just ruined it. I think The Lost World should've tried to be a little scarier, without ever losing sight that it was a movie targeted to tweens. It just pulled way too many punches. Now, ten years later the special effects still hold up great, while more recent movies that tried to have too much CGI going on look dated.

49. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

I always thought there could never be a bad Indiana Jones movie, but in 2008 Lucas and Spielberg did their best to prove me wrong. But that's another story. Temple of Doom is not bad, but of the original trilogy is the least fun. The fact that it tries to be darker than the others is not the problem, I think that maybe it is because the Thugee ritual scenes go on for too long. Much has been said about how annoying Willie is, and it is true, but not all women can be like Marion. I think Shortround balanced things out, he was a riot.