Personal 'Top 10' Movies December - 2007

Same as the songs - my personal picks chosen for random personal reasons.


1.) 'Leon' The Professional
1994

Personally Notable Line: "Bingo!" (Oldman, when the drugs are found).

Simply my favorite movie. Jean Reno/Natalie Portman as the 'good guys' with Gary Oldman and crew as the bad guys. I really won't do it much justice by talking about it here. It turned me on to Luc Besson, for which I'll always be thankful. If you're planning to see it, make sure you get the director's cut.

2.) True Romance
1993

PNL: "You're so cool." - I say this to my son all the time.

Another stunner and a very, very close second. The cast: Christian Slater, Dennis Hopper, Chris Walken, James Gandolfini, Michael Rapaport, Brad Pitt, Bronson Pinchot, Patti Arquette, Val Kilmer, Sam Jackson and more. One of the finest scenes in any movie affectionately dubbed 'The Sicilian Scene' featuring Walken and Hopper is a must see. The eggplant and cantaloupe lines were improvised. A brilliantly cast and directed love story revolving around violence and drug culture makes for a serious flick.

3.) Fight Club
1999

PNL: "The first rule of Fight Club is.." - I use this from time to time, everyone seems to get the meaning.

I don't like Palahniuk's books or writing style, but I'm thankful he wrote Fight Club and that it made it into Fincher's hands. I'm sure more of his works will be on this list as I think through the rest of my personal picks. Pitt cemented his place in acting history with his performance, regardless of what the critics and their 'opinions' were. MeatLoaf with 'bitch tits'? Worth the price of admission alone.

4.) Star Wars IV - A new hope.
1977

PNL: 'Whatever the hell sound it is that sand people make'.

I was four years old when I first saw this movie. I sat in the car for 3 hours crying because my parents wouldn't take me and they finally gave in. The sand people scared the living shit out of me and I remember thinking 'If I had me one of them light sabres I could do some real damage'. I also remember thinking Jawas were cool and I often use Jawa as my name when signing up for 'free trial software' these days. Lots of good memories from that night - my aunt/uncle and cousins happened to be at the same theater and it turned into a great night overall. Lucas started working on this movie, and the subsequent movies during the year I was born. I'm seeing a theme here..

5.) Trainspotting
1996

PNL: "Choose life"

Much like #8, this movie met me at a time in my life when I was ready for it. It introduced me to a whole new set of talented actors I've followed ever since (tsk tsk for that 28 weeks later crap Richard), not to mention re-introduced me to Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. Hopefully whichever studio picks up the sequel (Porno) can wrangle the original cast.

6.) Alien
1979

PNL (of course): "It's game over man!"

The best sci-fi/horror movie ever made in my opinion. I'm guessing that I've seen this movie 20+ times.

7.) Se7en
1995

PNL: "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part"

Yep, another Fincher epic. Totally different genre of flick than Fight Club, but equally good and definitely ground breaking. His films really seem to define entire genres. Of course, after a statement like that, what else is there to say? Other than his casts always seem to be chock full of talent. I'll have to look into who casts for him.

8.) The Basketball Diaries
1995

PNL: None come to mind. I read somewhere that DiCaprio snorted Ovaltine on camera to simulate cocaine though, which is pretty cool.

This movie just hit me at a time in my life when I could relate and really enjoy seeing someones life unravel, as odd as that sounds. Good music, great cast and being based on actual events in Jim Carroll's life I was blown away by it all.

9.) Naked
1993

PNL: '666'

It's a thinker. Dark, brooding, haphazard and very entertaining. Not for mass consumption or lowest common denominator types. No plot to speak of and it centers around the main character who's a serious asshole (and fatalist) to everyone he meets. I've seen every movie David Thewlis has acted in since seeing Naked hoping to find another performance akin to Naked, but it remains his best to date.

10.) Donnie Darko
2001

PNL: "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?"

I have yet to see Southland Tales, and I'm in no big rush based on the overwhelming negative reaction from the few critics I can actually stomach. Kelly's 'Darko' however is another one of those intensely interesting movies and it basically introduces Jake Gyllenhaal to the planet. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have it in an annual rotation with a handful of others in this list.

Other great flicks
American Psycho - 2000 starring my favorite actor, Christian Bale.

Empire of the Sun - 1987 Bale's first movie. It blew me away at 14 or 15 when I first saw it.

Alpha Dog - 2007 Ben Foster was unbelievably good in this movie. Timberlake can actually act.