So here we go. No judging!
10. Jaws
How can't you not love Jaws?
It's Steven Spielberg's big screen debut. And though he's saddled with a huge, totally fake looking shark, he masterfully uses the power of suggestion to terrify the audience as few movies ever have.
I still remember watching this for the first time over at my friend's house on HBO. I watched it from the hallway as I was too scared to actually enter the living room. I wanted to stay close enough to the door so I could run home quickly if I needed to.
It wasn't until years later that I was having my hair cut and explained to my barber that I was showing this class during summer school. He explained to me that he saw it when it first came out (1975) at the Galaxy Twin in Thief River Falls.
He said that it had rained while they were inside, so when they came out, the parking lot had a sheen of water across it as if it were open water.
His date at the time - who would eventually become his wife - refused to walk to the car. He had to get it and pick her up right by the front door!
What I love about this film is that it still holds up today. The effect are no longer state of the art and some of the action sequences are outlandish, but Spielberg makes us care about these characters.
This summer it was actually re-released to the big screen. This theatre had the right idea.
9. Sleepy Hollow
What a great example of a gothic film. I think this is Burton's most under-rated work. I used to show this in class because it's such a great example of realism (represented by Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane and his devotion to science and logic) vs. romanticism (represented by the superstitious town of Sleepy Hollow).
The sets are amazing. Watching these makes me feel like I'm transported back to 1799.
8. Se7en
When I saw this on DirecTV, I was absolutely consumed by this film. I was wrapped up in equal parts awe and revulsion as Freeman and Pitt struggled to catch the elusive serial killer, John Doe (Spacey). I had no idea what would come next and never ever saw the ending coming.
7. American Beauty
I love this film because it's a re-telling of one of my favorite Hemingway stories: "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber."
The movie is beautiful and haunting and, ultimately, tragic.
This is one of my all time favorite scenes -
6. Friday
I know, I know, I know. This is mindless humor, but it was my introduction to Chris Tucker, and he's brilliant in here as a stoner who, whether he believes it or not, learns a valuable lesson.
Here is the film's climax, and one of my all time favorite scenes
5. Crash
This film totally snuck up on us as my wife and I watched in on DVD and we left in complete awe at the power. If you haven't seen it, there are at least two scenes that I promise you that you will never forget. When I show this in class, usually as an example of Steven Johnson's theory of multiple plot thread complexity, I always watch the students during these two scenes and they are absolutely spellbound.
4. Inception
My students had raved about this for quite some time, but I held off watching it until last summer in my Science Fiction II class. I watched it right along with my students and tried to decipher it. I still don't know if I have it all figured out, but I do know that for the two class periods we watched this, it felt like I was trapped in a dream where I just couldn't get enough air.
In fact, we ran out of time on the second day. I had to stop it with about 10 minutes left. I couldn't leave. I had to watch the rest of it, even if I was the only one in the room.
You tell me, does the top stop spinning? Does it even matter to Cobb?
3. The Empire Strikes Back
This was the first movie I ever saw in a theatre. My sister and her boyfriend (and future husband) brought his youngest brother and me to it. It was amazing. Though we got there just as the empire discovered the rebels on Hoth, I was totally caught up in the film the entire time. I am so glad this was my first film. It also happens to be best of the Star Wars films, though Return of the Jedi will always be my sentimental favorite.
This scene riveted me and made me sit next to my sister.
And this scene was a paradigm shift for me. If Vadar could be Luke's father, what other horrible facts did the world hold for me?
And who would ever imagine that 30 years later the lightsaber Luke loses here will be vital in the follow up film, The Force Awakens?
2. Pulp Fiction
Probably the greatest film I've ever seen, though not my personal favorite. This was my introduction to Quintin Tarantino and it would forever change me.
I simply had never seen anything like this ever before (or since, really . . . Maybe No Country for Old Men comes close).
I had no idea what to expect. I sat eating my popcorn throughout the trailers. Then that insane music began and Samuel Jackson and John Travolta began debating what a Quarterpounder with cheese would be called in Amsterdam . . . and I was gone. I was in the movie. I don't remember sitting there finishing my popcorn. I was totally absorbed.
I raved about this film for days. I know it's not for everyone, but I had never seen subjects like this explored in this way (I mean our heroes are a couple of hit men) with such a pivotal soundtrack (every time I hear "Son of a Preacher Man" I'm transported back to this film) with dialogue that most directors wouldn't touch. I mean for some of the scenes, the characters are just talking, but the dialogue so good it just reels you in.
Here are a couple of my favorite scenes -
Samuel L. Jackson's character is the definition of Bad Ass.
And what a cameo by Christopher Walken. See what I mean about amazing dialogue?
Finally, a great adaptation of a Stephen King novel (actually, a novella).
I saw this right a few months after Pulp Fiction. Both of those films actually lost (sadly) to Forest Gump, but these two films are head and shoulders above that film.
This film captures what has made King the best selling author in the history of our planet - his ability to tell a story. You just get sucked into Defrane's narrative and adventures at Shawshank. And how can you have a soft spot for Morgan Freeman's character.
And how can't you feel for Andy, a bad husband wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover . . . and the lengths he will go to make life better for others.
But it's also the story of the men there in that prison and how they adapt and fail to adapt.
The final 20 minutes of the film are flawless. This is one of those few films that whenever I see it on TV, I put off everything else that I'm doing and watch it. It's that amazing.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
Inevitably, some excellent films have been left off - here are some others that I love and could have found spots for on this list -
Remember the Titans (I cried my eyes out), The Incredibles (my favorite Pixar film), Pan's Labyrinth (del Toro is brilliant), Dead Poets Society (saw it in Mr. Sorenson's class, tenth grade. Made me sure I wanted to be an English teacher), The Return of the King (totally lived up to its billing), The Matrix (brilliant sci fi tale. The other two films are clunkers, though) The Silence of the Lambs (the ultimate horror film), Good 'Fellas (the ultimate mobster film), The Untouchables (Sean Connery's character is my favorite), Training Day (a re-telling of my favorite short story, "Young Goodman Bronw"), Little Miss Sunshine (Olive is the definition of beauty), Good Will Hunting (Robin Williams' best work), The Usual Suspects (the biggest plot twist ever . . . ), The Sixth Sense (until this plot twist), Toy Story 3 (Lotso is an underrated villain, the film's climax in the garbage dump is reminiscent of the holocaust and the ending totally gets me every time), No Country for Old Men (Anton Chigurh literally made me nervous every time he came on screen so much so that I watched his scenes through my fingers over my eyes), There's Something About Mary (the funniest movie I have ever seen. My friend, Lon, fell out of his seat in the theatre and rolled down the aisle) . . .
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