My 150 Favorite Movies - #94

The Ladykillers (1955)

There's comedies, and then there's Ealing comedies. This British black comedy about a motley crew of robbers planning a major heist, who rent a house from a seemingly harmless little old lady, is hilarious in its depiction of the British gentility of the lady, oblivious to the chaos surrounding her. Starring Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, and the unforgettable Katie Johnson, The Ladykillers has been on many a "Best of..." list for generations.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #95

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Alfred Hitchcock never made a bad motion picture, but Shadow of a Doubt is purportedly the director's own favorite. Starring Teresa Wright as a young woman who comes to suspect that her beloved uncle, played by Joseph Cotten, is actually the "Merry Widow" murderer the police have been searching for, Shadow... delivers all the thrills and chills we've come to expect (without special effects!) from the master, and is, without a doubt, a masterpiece. 

My 150 Favorite Movies - #96

Death at a Funeral (2007)

 A very funny film made about a very unfunny subject. Seriously, just thinking about this movie makes me laugh. From the opening scene, with a dead body mix-up, right up through the closing credits showing the actors cracking up during filming, I defy anyone to not find this film simply hysterical. In fact so funny did the powers that be find this movie, that it was remade just a couple of years later, with an American cast. The Chicago Tribune called the film, "lethal farce, combining hints of The Lavender Hill Mob, doses of Joe Orton and a smidgen of the Farrelly brothers' scatology in its mix."

My 150 Favorite Movies - #97

Some Like it Hot (1959)

Billy Wilder explores the lighter side in this comedy classic about two musicians who accidentally witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and end up going on the lam in an all-girls band, disguised as two of the girls.  Starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe, and each of them giving a world-class performance, this movie simply never gets old. Listed as #1 on the American Film Institute list of the 100 best American comedies.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #98

Blow-Up (1966)

Not only one of the best movies of the sixties, but considered one of the best movies of all time, Michelangelo Antonioni's tale of a photographer who suspects that one of his photographs has captured a murder taking place, has proven to be remarkably influential. Among the movies that have either directly, or indirectly used plot points from Blow-Up are The Conversation, Blow Out, High Anxiety, and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.  Blow-Up itself, is sometimes viewed as an homage to Hitchcock, with particular comparisons being drawn to Rear Window. Starring Vanessa Redgrave and David Hemmings, whose character is based on that of fashion photographer and mod 60's icon David Bailey, Blow-Up was Antonioni's first English-language film and winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes, as well as the Best Film of the year by the National Society of Film Critics.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #99

The Big Picture (1989)

I happen to love movies about the motion picture industry, and The Big Picture is no exception. Christopher Guest's first directorial effort, it stars the always reliable Kevin Bacon as an aspiring screenwriter whose first "big picture" is mangled by the studios. Also featuring Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Teri Hatcher, in her screen debut, but the real piece-de-resistance is Martin Short in a small but showy role as Neil Sussman, a pushy agent, from whom we hear the following, "I don't know you. I don't know your work. But I think you are a genius. And I am never wrong about that."

My 150 Favorite Movies - #100

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

One of only two films to win Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Oscars (the other is Schindler's List), and the first foreign film to win Best Picture since 1988's The Last Emperor, the story concerns a young man from the slums who is inexplicably winning every answer on a television quiz show. As we see through flashbacks, his personal history contributes to his knowledge of the questions. Directed by Danny Boyle, the film stars Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, who have gone on to have major film careers. An emotional rollercoaster of a film, culminating in the entire cast dancing to the Oscar-winning song Jai Ho, through the end credits.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #101

The Big Easy (1986)

The first film to ever sell (to a distributor) at the Sundance Film Festival, Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin star, and sizzle on screen in this tale of police corruption and murder in New Orleans. The onscreen chemistry is palpable, and it doesn't hurt that the third costar of the film is the city itself. The soundtrack also adds to the native atmosphere, featuring music by BeauSoleil, the Neville Brothers, Professor Longhair, and Buckwheat Zydeco, among others. Reportedly, this is Quaid and Barkin's favorite film of their own oeuvre.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #102

Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)

The criminally underrated James Garner stars opposite Joan Hackett in this charming comedic western about a fellow who proclaims to be "passing through" town on his way to Australia, gets caught up in the local shenanigans, and ends up becoming Sheriff, more or less by default. A pantheon of great character actors round out the cast, including Bruce Dern(!), Walter Brennan, Jack Elam, Henry Jones, and Harry Morgan.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #103

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Based on Diana Wynne Jones' novel about a young girl cursed by a witch, and transformed into an old woman, Howl's Moving Castle is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful movies ever. Made by famed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, whose films are generally noted for being visually stunning, Howl's...was praised by the critics for it's ability to combine "a childlike sense of wonder with sophisticated emotions and motives." To quote Peter Travers in Rolling Stone: "There's a word for the kind of comic, dramatic, romantic, transporting visions Miyazaki achieves in Howl's: bliss."

My 150 Favorite Movies - #104

Before Night Falls (2000)

Javier Bardem achieved his first mainstream American success with his role as Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas, based on Arenas' memoir. This film takes us through Arenas' troubles, from early support of Castro's regime, to antagonizing the Cuban government, being incarcerated, and subsequent escape to the United States, and his problems here, culminating with his death from AIDS in 1990. An eloquent movie, poetic and moving in exploring one man's tormented life.
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My 150 Favorite Movies - #105

The Graduate (1967)


The Graduate introduced American audiences to a new concept: that of the not-so-traditionally handsome hero. Originally supposed to star Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman became quite literally an overnight success playing Benjamin Braddock, the college graduate who doesn't know what to do with the rest of his life. Only 6 years older than Hoffman in real life, Anne Bancroft plays the MILF who seduces him and becomes incensed when he falls in love with her daughter. In only the second film he directed, Mike Nichols won an Oscar for Best Director. Ranked #17 on AFI's list of Greatest Films of All Time.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #106

White Mischief (1987)

Based on the book of the same name by James Fox,  White Mischief tells the true story of adultery and murder that took place in 1941,  involving a group of British aristocrats living in the Wanjohl valley region of Kenya, also known as "Happy Valley." The film stars the breathtakingly beautiful Greta Scacchi, and the almost as breathtaking Charles Dance.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #107

The Opposite of Sex (1998)

One of the most pithy of all narrators can be found in this darkly acerbic comedy, as played by Christina Ricci, as a teenage nymphet, out to upend lives for her own gain. "If you think I'm just plucky and scrappy and all I need is love, you're in over your heads. I don't have a heart of gold and I *don't* grow one later, OK? But relax. There's other people a lot nicer coming up - we call them losers." A rare comedy in which the women get all the best lines, Lisa Kudrow  is also here, playing a 30-ish spinster, a far cry from her Friends character. The tagline pretty much says it all: "You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll be offended."

My 150 Favorite Movies - #108

Casablanca (1942)

A yardstick by which other romantic dramas are compared, Casablanca brought together Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt and Paul Henreid in a classic story of wartime intrigue, lost loves and upturned lives, eking out an existence on the margins of society.  Arguably, the most famous Hollywood screenplay ever, Casablanca is
chock full of quotable nuggets like:

• Round up the usual suspects
• Of all the gin joints, in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine
• Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship
• Play it, Sam
• We'll always have Paris
• Here's looking at you, kid

As time goes by....this movie just keeps getting better and better. 

My 150 Favorite Movies - #109

Swing Time (1936)

Any time Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were together onscreen, they made magic, no more so than in Swing Time. As usual, the plot is secondary to the music and dance numbers. My favorite number in a Fred Astaire movie (or most any movie, for that matter) can be found here, The Way You Look Tonight, along with A Fine Romance, and Never Gonna Dance. The usual cast of characters, including Eric Blore, and Helen Broderick, bring up the rear. Purportedly, this is Ginger Rogers personal favorite of their films together.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #110

The Ref (1994)


Fabulous scenery chewers Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis, and Denis Leary have a field day as a bickering couple and the  thief who disrupts their Christmas dinner. Christine Baranski and Glynis Johns add to the family dysfunctional fun. Worth seeing for this scene alone.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #111

Sexy Beast (2000)
Has Ben Kingsley ever been less than brilliant on film? Here, miles away from his portrayal in Gandhi, he plays a psychotic, violent thug (the "sexy" part of the title may be something of a misnomer), grappling with his place in the underworld. Sexy Beast received a shout-out on The Sopranos here.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #112

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)


In arguably one of the finest performances on film to not win an Oscar (unfortunately he was up against Jack Nicholson that year in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Al Pacino plays a would-be bank robber looking to get money for his lover's sex-change operation. The situation devolves quickly into a hostage crisis. Sidney Lumet directed this quintessentially New York film.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #113

House of Games (1987)

Card games and con games abound in David Mamet's directorial debut. Lindsay Crouse plays a psychiatrist who gets mixed up in  con artist Joe Mantegna's world - for better and worse. Consequences are brought home to bear, and most everyone gets their comeuppance, in Mamet's inimitable style. Winner of Best Film of 1987 at the Venice Film Festival.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #114

Fargo (1996)

The Coen brothers introduced Minnesota parlance to the mainstream in this story about a kidnapping, ransom, and other murderous activities. Frances McDormand (aka Mrs. Joel Coen) won an Oscar for playing a cop that doesn't let being seven months pregnant get in the way of her solving the case. William H. Macy makes for a tragicomic antihero, and Steve Buscemi plays a kidnapper who meets an unorthodox end. Fargo won an Oscar for Best Film of 1996.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #115

She's Gotta Have It (1986)

Spike Lee's first feature-length film is still my favorite of all his work. She's Gotta Have It is just darling, indicated as such even in the name of his heroine, Nola Darling. Darling is juggling relationships with three suitors, while attempting to maintain her independence. One of these suitors, Mars Blackmon, played by Lee, portrays comedic desperation excellently by use of his continual refrain, pleasebabypleasebabyplease babybabybabyplease. She's Gotta Have It also served as a showcase for the Brooklyn neighborhoods where it was filmed. Lee won the Best First Feature Award at the 1987 Independent Spirit Awards.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #116

Tender Mercies (1983)


Bruce Beresford directed the always excellent Robert Duvall to a Best Actor Oscar win in his much lauded performance as an alcoholic country singer, who finds redemption through love. Acting kudos all around, for Tess Harper, as his love interest, Betty Buckley as his ex, and Ellen Barkin as his estranged daughter. A gorgeous country music soundtrack is an added bonus in this lovely film.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #117

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

I don't usually go in for creepy and horrific, but The Night of the Hunter is one of the few exceptions. With an impeccable pedigree - directed by Charles Laughton (the only feature film he is credited with directing), and a screenplay by James Agee, this is a masterful tale of a self-appointed Preacher, and serial killer, set out to steal money left behind by his late cellmate, first by marrying and then murdering his widow, then by going after his two children. No one plays the villain better than Robert Mitchum, or the victim better than Shelley Winters. Filmed in black-and-white in the cinematographic style of the German expressionist films of the 1920's, this film was ranked no. 2 by Cahiers du Cinema on their 2007 list of the 100 Most Beautiful Movies.

My 150 Favorite Movies #118

Bullitt (1968)

Starring the King of Cool himself, Steve McQueen, as a bad-ass cop assigned to protect a mobster turned informant. Things go awry, and a subsequent car chase through the streets of San Francisco made cinematic history.

My 150 Favorite Movies #119

The Producers (1967)

Before there was the movie musical, there was the Broadway musical, and before that there was the movie, Mel Brooks' first ever directorial effort. Line-for-line, The Producers is arguably the funniest movie, ever. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder are brilliant together, as Bialystock and Bloom, Broadway producer, and neurotic accountant, spectacular failures each.  Apparently, this movie was where the phrase "creative accounting" originated. The idea of mounting what they are sure will prove to be a flop,  Springtime for Hitler: a Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva in Berchtesgaden is within itself, grounds for hilariously un-p.c. insanity, but the one-liners sprinkled throughout put this one over the top. Franz Liebkind (Kenneth Mars), unrepentant Nazi and playwright, "Hitler! There was a painter! He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon - TWO COATS!" And of course, there's this scene.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #120

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Yes, I know it's just a silly romantic comedy, but as these things go, this one's pretty near great. Setting the usual romantic comedy trope on it's head, the girl chases the guy and (SPOILER ALERT!) doesn't catch him. Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz and most especially Rupert Everett star, serving up a soupcon of suave and a dash of panache. Here's that brilliant scene where the entire cast breaks into song.

My 150 Favorite Movies - #122 and #121

Three Colors: Blue (1993) and Three Colors: Red (1994)
 
Comprising the first and third part of a trilogy from director Krzysztof Kieslowski (the middle part White is also excellent), this very affecting and intricate work depicts Kieslowski's recurring theme that people are interconnected in ways that we can barely fathom. The trilogy takes it's name in part from the colors of the French flag and what they represent: liberty, equality, fraternity. Considered a masterpiece immediately upon arrival, these films explore through the minutiae of everyday life, the drama that is unfolding within. With stunning performances from Juliette Binoche (Blue) and Irene Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant (Red), cinematic beauty has rarely achieved such an apex.