Without delay here they are:
21) Brazil
The bureaucratic nightmare of Hayek's the Road to Serfdom in film form. The production design of this movie is perfect, 2 parts Phildickian dystopia, 1 part backwards compatibility, and 1 part Monty Python. The pace sags a bit just before the mid-point turn, and Kim Griest is obviously not enjoying herself at all, but few films have so accurately described the Tyrrany by Paperwork better. DeNiro as the Superhero Heating Engineer is just fabulous. Tom Stoppard's re-write of the screenplay put the exclamation point on Gilliam's vision.
22) Twelve Monkeys
Terry Gilliam's work gets under your skin, even the unwatchable Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Twelve Monkeys is unutterably heartbreaking. It's no shock to me that this is Gilliam's most consistent film because the great David Peoples wrote this screenplay as well. Another anti-authoritarian tragedy. The performances from all three leads are great, including Madeline Stowe, who I normally cannot stand to watch.
23) The Usual Suspects
A brilliant film about some of the most unsavory people ever. The greatness of this film lies in the lies told about many of the characters to make them seem sympathetic, so that, in the end, we've been manipulated just like Agent Kujan. It's like the Film Noir version of The Sting.
24) A Fish Called Wanda The Second Most Hilarious Film Of All Time (tm). I literally pulled a rib muscle laughing at this outstanding caper the first time I saw it. While it doesn't go for over-the-top offence like South Park, this film was refreshingly un-PC for it's time. Cleese's antagonism of Amercicans and scathing commentary of the British bring a edge to the humor that ratchets up the laughs just that little bit more. There are whole swaths of this movie that my wife and I can re-enact by heart.
25) Aliens
For a pure action film, nothing tops Aliens. Jim Cameron's second film is taut, precise and finely balanced. Ridley Scott's original was spooky in a sexually unnerving way. The alien is just that and gave me nightmares for years. I swore up and down after I saw this the first time that I'd never watch it again, it was that exhausting. That lasted 2 days. 4 times in two weeks I saw this in the theaters and cheered every time Ridley beat the snot out of Mama Alien. There's a great ensemble cast of marines led by the inimicable Bill Paxton and an absolutely brilliant Sigorney Weaver.
26) Paths of Glory
Stanley Kubrick's first (and possibly best) anti-war film features an outstanding performance by Kirk Douglas. FMJ is less an anti-war film than it is an indictment of military conditioning. Paths of Glory is simpler pyschologically, and for that reason makes its point cleanly. It serves as a more of a precursor to Breaker Morant as the two films cover similar ground.
27) Monty Python and the Holy Grailen
This is quite possibly the most quoted movie in history by those of my generation. Every vignette is not only memorable but memorizable. The Trojan Rabbit; The Black Knight; The Knights Who Say "Ni"; French Castle; The Vorpal Bunny... the list goes on for 84 insane minutes. There is no plot worth mentioning but there are absolutely brilliant comic performances, especially Graham Chapman as King Arthur.
28) The Bridge on the River Kwai
This is my favorite of the David Lean epics, mostly because of Alec Guinness' brilliant Col. Nicholson. I think I reponded strongest (no shock here) to his struggle in Act I to stand up to the sadistic Saito, and his unwavering strength. A madman he was, but a principled madman, and that spoke volumes to this idealistic 11 year old at the time. Lawrence of Arabia might be a better movie, but I'd much rather watch River Kwai.
29) Rocky
Lost in all of the sequels and the cartoon path that Stallone took his career is this really touching portrait of a loser that overcomes every possible obstacle to redeem himself and become the man that he wanted to be. The love story is really touching and at the end he and Adrian deserve to be happy together, win or lose.
30) The Sting
George Roy Hill's wonderful period piece is just plain fun. This is one of the rare times where a star-power driven project (Redford, Newman, Shaw) lived up to its billing. While I've never been much of a fan of Redford, he's very good here as our point man. On the other hand, Paul Newman is just brilliant, but my hat's off to Robert Shaw, who really drives the film as the pompous Doyle Lonagan.
Ta,
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