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Eve Tushnet

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Last updated on: March 26, 2004 at 8:13 am by Eve Tushnet

2004-03-26T08:13:00-04:00 Eve Tushnet

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FORTY-THREE MOVIES: Inspired by Motime Like the Present, I’d initially planned to post a list of my 50 favorite movies, with brief annotations. But I got weird about it (you’re shocked, I know) so there are only forty-three. Here are the rules:

a) “Five-Star Final” is the lowest-ranked movie on the list. That’s why there are only forty-three. I decided I wanted a hard lower boundary, and picked 5SF.

b) I went by gut reaction. So for many good movies that didn’t make the cut, I’d just ask myself, “Do you want to see this listed above ‘Five-Star Final’?”, and if I didn’t, that was a good enough reason to keep it off.

c) “Stickiness” is probably the biggest factor in getting a movie onto this list. If the picture did something so memorable that it’s stuck in my memory, becoming a touchstone, that weighed heavily with me as I drew up the list. (For example, although I really enjoyed “The Ruling Class” as I was watching it, its cold satire faded faster than I’d anticipated, so it’s not here.) Stickiness definitely wasn’t the only important factor, though. Plain old quality counts (thus, although I could probably recite half of “Labyrinth” to you, this sticky movie is not among my top 43). Uniqueness and unexpectedness count–something above mere competence. “Chicken Run” is a very funny comedy, with several cute allusions and sharp lines (“In America, when we want to motivate people, we don’t talk about death!“), but… well… that’s what it’s supposed to be. I like it, I recommend that you rent it, etc. etc., but it didn’t bully its way onto my favorites list. Similarly (and this must be the only way this movie is similar to “Chicken Run”!), “Raise the Red Lantern” is tragic and there are several moving scenes that I definitely won’t forget. But I didn’t need to see the movie for that to be true, really. If you told me what happened I would know the point of the movie. It does what it is supposed to do but nothing more. …In general, be advised that my criteria for movie selection and ranking tended to shift around a bit, so don’t expect maximal consistency.

and finally, d) Although this is a “favorites” list, not a “best” list, I do trust there’s a significant amount of overlap, and if something’s bizarrely high on this list you can expect that I will defend its quality rather than just conceding that I, personally, happen to like it. But let’s not take quality too seriously. There’s no way on earth that “Five-Star Final” is the forty-third-best movie I’ve ever seen. I don’t care. It stuck with me and so I will make it a star.

Okay, enough rules. On to the movies.

43 Five-Star Final: Edward G. Robinson as a self-loathing gutter journalist. The hilariously oily Boris Karloff (!!!!) as a lecherous ex-divinity student. Lovely bit roles–even actors with only three lines got fun, fleshed-out characters to play. Now, I should probably mention that most of this movie is doughy melodrama. It’s awful, really. But the brilliant parts are just stellar. I can’t stop thinking about this sloppy, shambolic, significantly-less-than-half-assed movie.

42 The Ice Storm: You know, I don’t even know if this should be on the list at all. I’ve seen it, I think, twice, and was really struck by its portrayal of basically good people–weak, sure, but not ill-intentioned–trying to live in a culture without a moral compass. The acting is good and there are many well-done scenes (Nixon mask, frozen diving board). But enough of this film has faded that I should really see it again before I put it on this list. Oh well, whatever.

41 Coffy: Um, this is solely because I wanted some representative of the many fine blaxploitation pictures I’ve seen, and Coffy edged out Blacula. Barely.

40 The Court Jester: Oh, this is such a sweet, fun movie. Charming derring-do and much singing. “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the flagon with the dragon holds the brew that is true!”

39 Arsenic and Old Lace: Peter Lorre is very, very creepy. Cary Grant is hilarious even when all you can really see are his eyebrows.

38 My Own Private Idaho: Another one that might not even belong on this list. But I put it here because I don’t remember that it sucked, and I want to honor it for the whole run-Henry-IV-through-a-shredder idea. I seem to recall the movie was at its best when it was most directly Shakespearean. But it’s been a long time since I saw this, and I have this horrible fear that if I see it now I’ll hate it.

37 Double Indemnity: You don’t really need me to explain this to you, do you?

36 Ninotchka: Ditto. Sweet but creepy movie; almost–but not quite–manages to smother the Cold War in cake and champagne froth.

35 Rear Window: This should be higher. It’s just that everyone knows that this is what Hitchcock does–voyeurism, Jimmy Stewart, suspicion and shadows of a doubt–so I’m biased against ranking it where it rightfully belongs. What a great premise, though.

34 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: The more I think about this movie the more I like it. While I was watching it, it felt unnecessarily long, but there’s so much fascinating stuff going on there. What is the worth of the quest for truth? How does an old order pass away, and a new one begin? …Plus, I love any movie in which a drunken newspaperman kisses his press.

33 The Secret Lives of Dentists: It really is a gripping, startlingly accurate portrayal of family life. It just digs right in and doesn’t let go. Intense, excellent movie. Go see.

32 The Birds: Because it freaks me out that Hitchcock managed to use all the techniques people use when they’re making a movie about some theme or idea or question or truth or doubt, to make a movie about, as far as I can tell, how much it would suck if one day birds decided to attack us. Pure form. Either too much meaning or (this is my take) none at all.

31 Grosse Pointe Blank: I did my defense of this movie here. Saw it again recently and was reminded of how tight it is and how little of its dialogue is wasted.

30 The Manchurian Candidate: Another movie with excellent lines for very minor characters. To some extent you have to translate its paranoias for the movie to have anything even approaching the impact it doubtless had when it was released; but it’s not like human nature has changed so very, very much in the intervening years. Hallucinatory imagery, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury… and an ending twist that always gets my heart in my mouth. Even though I know what happens.

29 Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb: Another one that needs translating. Feels light rather than scathing, these days. But still so funny. “I do not avoid women, Mandrake. I merely deny them my essence.”

28 Sunset Boulevard: Another one that needs no commentary from me. Just go rent it and wallow in the decadence.

27 The Producers: Yet another one that has doubtless seen the years wear down its edge. But I don’t care. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder have incredible chemistry (that scene in the theater bar–“By the light, by the light, of the silvery moon…”–is one of the most sweetly ridiculous things I’ve ever seen) and you will walk out humming “Springtime for Hitler.” I want to see this movie right now. It’s like how talking about food makes you hungry.

26 Election: I get a kind of “Ice Storm as farce rather than tragedy” vibe from this flick (heh).

25 Freaks: Gooba gabba.

24 Carnival of Souls: Can’t improve on my description here.

23 Frankenstein

22 Gilda: I wish I knew what to say to make you see this movie, if you haven’t already. Obviously, it has Rita Hayworth in it, and that is good. But Glenn Ford is fantastic, and the dialogue… rrrrr…. yes. “I was born the day you met me.” Glittery, but watch out for the sharp pointy edges.

21 It’s a Wonderful Life: I think people sometimes misread this movie, expecting “wonderful” to in some way imply “easy” or “free of losing.” IAWL has this marshmallowy reputation, and then when you see it and see how dark it is it’s easy to swing in the other direction and think it undercuts its own ostensible message. I’ll just say I don’t think it does. I don’t think the title is ironic. I only watched this because it has Jimmy Stewart in it–expected to endure a warm cloying hug–and fell in love.

20 Gods and Monsters: Beautiful, dark meditation on mentorship, alienation, and homo- and heterosexuality. Based on the life of James Whale, director of “Frankenstein” and “Bride of Same.”

19 Cape Fear: Robert Mitchum at his second-scariest (see below). Genuinely frightening movie (I am hard to scare at the movies) with intriguing theme of the limits of the law. I hear the remake is awful.

18 Memento: Imagine if Richard Rorty stopped being such a sunshine boy and decided to make an experimental neo-noir instead of misreading Philip Larkin. (Um, yes, small chip on shoulder, why do you ask?) Anyway, intellectually intense movie, gripping, etc. Too bad the acting is bland and the dialogue is completely unmemorable. But the idea behind the movie is strong enough to knock it up to #18 despite these major flaws.

17 Metropolis

16 Farewell My Concubine: You’ll notice that I rarely watch movies made outside the good ol’ U.S. of A. Yeah, I know. There’s a whole world out there full of German art flicks and plucky Indian youngsters. (Kidding.) At any rate, FMC is the story of three singers in the Beijing Opera whose lives are torn apart by the Cultural Revolution. It’s brutal. Don’t watch if you can’t take. Much heartbreak and betrayal. A lush, bloody, exhausting movie that, even though it sounds cliched, really is operatic. The late Leslie Cheung is incredible.

15 The Godfather Part II

14 Bride of Frankenstein: Yes, it is that much better than Frankenstein. There’s just something turned-up-to-11 about Bride, something one-step-beyond.

13 Strangers on a Train: My favorite of the “no one is innocent” Hitchcock flicks. I have a thing about Farley Granger, I think maybe, although he’s not as stellar in this as he is in Rope. Lovely, poisonous chemistry between the leads; many, many memorable scenes and moments of suspense. Best of basic Hitchcock.

12 Rope: Hitchcock thought the technical trick he used here was a failure–a gimmick, rather than a tool for illuminating the movie’s themes or heightening its suspense. He shot it to look as though it was all one continuous take; no cuts, no outside world, just you stuck in this apartment with these two killers. The master was wrong: The trick works. The movie is intensely claustrophobic–perfect for a folie a deux story. John Dall and Farley Granger practically give off sparks. Jimmy Stewart has a thankless role; he has to spout most of the movie’s pop philosophy. It’s sort of Nietzsche for Murderous Dummies. Ignore those bits.

11 Bringing Up Baby: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and two count ’em two leopards. Sweet fun that made me laugh until my ribs hurt. Perfect, perfect screwball.

10 Gone With the Wind: Scarlett’s much more complex in the book, but it doesn’t really matter once everything catches fire, does it?

9 The Night of the Hunter: Robert Mitchum at his scariest. Killer preacher stalks helpless children. Really frightening movie shot through with intense beauty.

8 Sweet Smell of Success: I’m obsessed with this movie. (The story it’s based on, by Ernest Lehman, is also excellent, and lacks the overwriting of the movie dialogue.) Tony Curtis as scum-sucking publicist trying to pawn his soul, to be redeemed later. Black humor, rancid atmosphere, gorgeous city-noir photography.

7 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: The Looney Toons of horror. Or else Looney Toons is the Cabinet of funny animal mayhem. Either way, this is an incredible movie–the sets alone, with their painted-on shadows and crazed angles, are thrilling. And yes, it is still scary.

6 The Godfather

5 Sabrina: Audrey Hepburn at her most completely charming. Humphrey Bogart as a Yale man (he sings “Boola Boola”!) in–ugh!–love. A movie about very unhappy people, but it will make you happy.

4 The Philadelphia Story: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart; comedy about vulnerability, wealth, patience, and honor. Sweet and very funny.

3 The Last Unicorn: Okay, I’m not fully rational about this movie. I may have watched it a hundred times. But whether or not it really needs to be #3 on anybody’s list of anything, I will say these things for sure: The graceful, fluid animation is beautiful to behold. The dialogue is astonishingly rich–would be excellent in any movie, but is simply unparalleled in a children’s fantasy. (It’s almost word-for-word from Peter S. Beagle’s equally wonderful novel.) The themes of love, duty, and regret are startlingly adult. The bittersweet ending is perfect. Tart-tongued Molly Grue and not-entirely-hapless Schmendrick, Last of the Red-Hot Swamis, are among my favorite fictional folk ever. This movie manages to be, as needed, homey, awe-inspiring, silly, knowing, and wise. Go! Go see this!

2 The Lion in Winter: Henry II (Peter O’Toole), Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), Richard the Lionheart (Anthony Hopkins), and Geoffrey (John Castle) try to rip each other’s hearts out during a Christmas court in 1183. Oh right, John Lackland’s there too (brilliantly, pustulently played by Nigel Terry). Add a French king and an unhappy slip of a mistress into the mix. Oh, and (in ascending order) the photography, music, and dialogue are truly excellent. There is just no way this movie could be better.

1 Vertigo: I can’t improve on The Rat’s description here.

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