By Adam McPartlan
On Tuesday, I restarted my movie lists articles that were put on hold by grad school busy-ness. Here is the continuity of my 101 Films to See Before You Die. To check out part 1 of my list, click here for #101-87. On Friday, check back for #71-57. But for now, let's continue to count em down with #86-72. And if you have as much free time as I do, make some movie lists for yourself. If for no other reason, it's always fun to know what movies you need to berate your friends for not having seen yet.
86: The Descendants
If Alexander Payne didn’t make this list in some for or another, I’m pretty sure I’d be taken out back by the AFI and shot. Payne’s direction and screenplays have been staples of cinema for years, starting with his work on Sideways, but culminating with The Descendants. This was probably the best film of 2011, not The Artist (this is a whole different argument that I won’t get into). George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer and Matthew Lillard (yes, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo) all give excellent performances, and elevate the writing. But Payne’s direction of a movie about a husband who finds out his comatose wife had an affair is the true star of the film. At less than two hours long, it’s easy to take the time here and enjoy a beautiful piece of work that really should’ve won Best Picture at the Oscars.
Notable quotes:
“Elizabeth is dying. Wait…fuck you. And she’s dying.”; “My friends on the mainland think just because I live in Hawaii, I live in paradise. Like a permanent vacation. We're all just out here sipping Mai Tais, shaking our hips, and catching waves. Are they insane?”; “Paradise? Paradise can go fuck itself.”
On Tuesday, I restarted my movie lists articles that were put on hold by grad school busy-ness. Here is the continuity of my 101 Films to See Before You Die. To check out part 1 of my list, click here for #101-87. On Friday, check back for #71-57. But for now, let's continue to count em down with #86-72. And if you have as much free time as I do, make some movie lists for yourself. If for no other reason, it's always fun to know what movies you need to berate your friends for not having seen yet.
86: The Descendants
If Alexander Payne didn’t make this list in some for or another, I’m pretty sure I’d be taken out back by the AFI and shot. Payne’s direction and screenplays have been staples of cinema for years, starting with his work on Sideways, but culminating with The Descendants. This was probably the best film of 2011, not The Artist (this is a whole different argument that I won’t get into). George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer and Matthew Lillard (yes, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo) all give excellent performances, and elevate the writing. But Payne’s direction of a movie about a husband who finds out his comatose wife had an affair is the true star of the film. At less than two hours long, it’s easy to take the time here and enjoy a beautiful piece of work that really should’ve won Best Picture at the Oscars.
Notable quotes:
“Elizabeth is dying. Wait…fuck you. And she’s dying.”; “My friends on the mainland think just because I live in Hawaii, I live in paradise. Like a permanent vacation. We're all just out here sipping Mai Tais, shaking our hips, and catching waves. Are they insane?”; “Paradise? Paradise can go fuck itself.”
85: Die Hard series
Whether or not the first Die Hard is a Christmas movie is irrelevant. What everyone should agree on is Alan Rickman was robbed of an Oscar nomination for his performance as criminal mastermind Hans Gruber. The second wasn’t as good (because of one crap-ass performance by someone whose name isn’t even worth looking up), but had a few interesting twists. Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson made the third movie. But for reasons passing understanding, my favorite will always be the fourth one. Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, and a few others help bring this 80s character very faithfully into the 21st century, and cyber warfare at the forefront is genius. They’re all fantastic movies in general, but whatever you do, don’t watch the fifth one.
Notable quotes:
“Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!”; “Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.”; “Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so he won’t be joining us for the rest of his life.”; “No fucking shit, lady! Does it sound like I’m ordering a pizza?!”; “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.”; “What idiot put you in charge?” “You did, when you murdered my boss.”; “You’re a racist. You don’t like me cuz I’m white!” “I don’t like you cuz you’re gonna get me killed!”; “You just killed a helicopter with a car!” “I was outta bullets.”; “Wow, I know that tone. It’s just weird hearing it come from someone…with hair.”; “Last time I saw her, she was at the bottom of an elevator shaft with an SUV shoved up her ass.”; “Damn hamster!”
84: Mad Max: Fury Road
If you wanna watch the first three, feel free. It doesn’t really add to this movie, though; this is more like a stand-alone sequel about a different Mad Max. Now…there are loads of people who are pissed that this movie has almost no dialogue from the title character and seems to be all about Charlize Theron’s Furiosa. To them, I say: shut up. Tom Hardy’s Mad Max is the focus of the movie; it just happens to be that what he’s trying to do coincides with what Furiosa is trying to do. Max gets captured, used as a human blood bag, fights his way free, helps the women overthrow an evil, greedy, ruthless warlord, and because he has very few lines, he’s not the focus? If anything, it’s a testament to Hardy’s ability to act that he has us all engrossed for the full movie and barely says a word. Now that’s done, Theron is also phenomenal, as is Nicholas Hoult as a War Boy, Nux, and Hugh Keays-Byrne as the overlord Immortan Joe. Plus, you get to watch a future AFI Top 100 film quotes member before it even hits the list. In terms of the film, it is a technical juggernaut. It won 6 Oscars and had no reason to lose any Oscar except Best Picture (although I think the technical achievements of this film, as with another film further up on the list, should have led it to win). It still bugs me that it lost Best Visual Effects, when in reality, nothing was better the whole year.
Notable quotes:
“Oh, what a day! WHAT A LOVELY DAY!”; “Witness me.”; “Max. My name is Max.”; “Where must we go…we who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?”; “How much more can they take from me? First it’s my blood, now it’s my car!”; “We are not things. We are not things!”; “Remember me?”
83: No Country for Old Men
This ain’t the only Coen Bros film on the list, but it has to be here. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh is enough on its own to earn it a spot. Other than that, Tommy Lee Jones actually gives an incredibly underrated performance as the cop trying to catch up with him, and Josh Brolin is the unsung hero of the whole film. I could go on and on, because the script and the direction are both genius and measured and calculated to pinpoint success. But you really should just watch it for yourself, though I’ll be honest: it’s not a personal favorite of mine, it’s not particularly captivating to most people, myself included, and it takes a certain state of mind to get through the whole film, but it’s worth the watch if you want to see a great movie.
Notable quotes: “1958. It’s been traveling 22 years to get here. And now it’s here. And it’s either heads or tails. And you have to say. Call it.”; “I’m fixin’ to do something dumber than hell, but I’m going anyway.”
82: The Great Escape
People say The Avengers started this thing where a whole bunch of big stars get together and do a big movie. That’s a bold-faced lie (yes, “bold-faced lie,” not “bald-faced lie”…that was your free grammar lesson). If it was any movie that started it, it was Ocean’s 11 (the remake on my list), but there were others before it that arguably started it, including this one. Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, David McCallum, Donald Pleasence were all huge stars in the time before us millennials and well into our time in some cases as well. Don’t believe me? McCallum plays Ducky on NCIS, Attenborough starred in Jurassic Park, Coburn won an Oscar in the 90s, Garner was in The Notebook…you get the idea. Anyway…it’s a seminal example of the ensemble blockbuster film, and is one of the first (thought not the first) to employ a star-studded cast to tell a story. Plus, it’s incredibly exciting, somewhat uplifting, and ultimately devastating.
Notable quotes:
“Tea without milk is so uncivilized.”; “Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability.”; “What were you doing by the wire?” “Well, like I told Max... I was trying to cut my way through your wire because I want to get out.”
81: Midnight in Paris
Woody Allen’s personal life aside, he is a great filmmaker, screenwriter, and a pretty decent actor too. So it goes without saying you should watch Annie Hall, the only movie for which he was nominated for acting. But it is not a necessity to watch before you die. Midnight in Paris is easily his best film, and probably the best piece of acting you’ll ever see Owen Wilson do. It’s funny, sweet, some lovey-dovey crap in there, but nothing too bad. It’s an enjoyable movie that will make those who paid attention in high school literature classes laugh their asses off, all while making a wonderful point about paying attention to the time in which we live and not looking back so much and wishing we lived in a different time.
Notable quotes:
“We all fear death and question our place in the universe. The artist's job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.”; “A man in love with a woman from a different era. I see a photograph!” “I see a film!” “I see an insurmountable problem.” “I see…rhinoceros.”; “If it's bad, I'll hate it because I hate bad writing, and if it's good, I'll be envious and hate it all the more. You don't want the opinion of another writer.”; “These people don’t have any antibiotics.”; “You can fool me, but cannot fool Ernest Hemingway!”
80: Moonrise Kingdom
Easily the most overlooked film in the repertoire of Wes Anderson, it is also arguably his best. This original take on Romeo and Juliet makes it a much happier, albeit pretty awkward to watch at times, movie. In terms of acting, you get some pretty funny performances from Ed Norton, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, and Bill Murray. The two leads are wonderful and make the movie incredibly enjoyable. But the hero of the movie is the script. Anderson is a gifted writer, and this movie shows it off for all to see in the best way.
Notable quotes:
“We’re in love. We just want to be together. What’s wrong with that?”; “Does it concern you that your daughter’s just run away from home?” “That’s a loaded question.”; “We’re all they’ve got, Walt.” “That’s not enough.”; “I'd be careful if I were you. One of these days, somebody's gonna get pushed too far. And who knows what they're capable of?” “Is that a threat?” “It’s a warning.”
79: Sicario
This movie was heavily influenced by another one further up on this list, but it is still one of the most stressful movies, as well as one of the most accurate depictions of the drug war you’ll ever see. It shows the side we in the suburbs don’t see every day: instead of users getting high, it shows the fight against the cartels and violence on the other side of the border. Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio Del Toro all give amazing performances that should’ve resulted in Oscar nominations for all of them. Sadly, due to its early release date, it was overlooked in all but three categories, and won 0 when it probably should have won about 5, including Best Original Screenplay. Taylor Sheridan (who wrote Hell or High Water a bit lower on this list) is one of the two or three best screenwriters of this era. Everyone must watch all of his movies, but this is his masterpiece.
Notable quotes:
“Welcome to Juarez.”; “You are asking me how a watch works. For now, we’ll just keep an eye on the time.”; “Nothing will make sense to your American ears, and you will doubt everything that we do, but in the end you will understand.”; “You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now.”; “Alejandro works for anyone who will point him toward the people who made him. Us. Them. Anyone who will turn him loose. So he can get the person that cut off his wife's head…and threw his daughter into a vat of acid.”; “You know what the beauty is of you being so beat to a pulp? 'Cause no one's gonna notice a few more scratches.”; “What’s our objective?” “To dramatically overreact.”
78: The Story of Louis Pasteur
It’s really old. Like…really really old. Older than World War II. But it’s short, Paul Muni in the title role is amazing, and while it’s not exactly 100% on the history, it is 100% on the spirit of the man: Pasteur is looked at as out of his mind when he talks about germs and sterilization. Everyone laughs at him and treats him like an outcast, as usually happens to those who want to change the way of thinking. But you don’t watch it for the history lesson; you watch it to see that even in the 1930s, movies were made about history changing people, to get a sense of just how new the idea of germs and pasteurization is, and most of all, for Muni’s Oscar winning performance, culminating in a beautiful final speech.
Notable quotes:
“Do not become angry at your opponents, for no scientific theory has ever been accepted without opposition.”; “To think that a human being could be destroyed by an animal ten thousand times smaller than a flea. It's as though an army of ants were to overthrow your Majesty's empire.”; “Most people who go to hospitals are carried out, dead.”; “Remember our aim: find the microbe, kill the microbe.”
77: Tron series
Ok. Hear me out. Movies are more valuable than the acting or the screenplay. Mad Max: Fury Road was a pretty good example of it. And TRON and TRON: Legacy are perfect examples of this. In the 1980s when TRON was released, it completely changed the game on how to create visual effects. It had completely original costumes and the sound effects were also state of the art. Flash forward to 2010, TRON: Legacy took what its predecessor did and quadrupled it. The visuals during the light cycle fights and during the race to the portal are something never seen before and, in my opinion, hardly ever, if ever, seen since. It also marked the first movie scored by Daft Punk, earning them a Grammy nod for Best Original Score. The movie had no right to lose Best Visual Effects at the Oscars that year, but somehow it did (because it was poorly acted aside from Michael Sheen, Jeff Bridges, and Bruce Boxleitner). But unlike No Country for Old Men, a good movie that can get slightly dull, TRON: Legacy is a bad movie that will keep you engrossed and fixated on how it looks and sounds.
Notable quotes:
“Tron…what have you become?”; “I fight for the user.”; “Behold the son of our maker!”; “The thing about perfection is that it's unknowable. It's impossible, but it's also right in front of us all the time.”; “Life has a way of moving you past wants and hopes.”; “It’s amazing how productive doing nothing can be.”; “The Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day…I got in.”; “You’re messing with my Zen thing, man.”; “End of line.”; “That’s Tron. He fights for the Users.”; “You've enjoyed all the power you've been given, haven't you? I wonder how you'd take to working in a pocket calculator."
76: The Dark Knight trilogy
People will argue that other, earlier Batman films are better and that Jack Nicholson’s Joker is the definitive version. They are wrong and stuck in the past, nostalgic for that time. Heath Ledger’s Joker was verifiably insane to the tune of being the first comic book role to get an Oscar. The Dark Knight is also the reason we saw an expansion from 5-10 nominees in the Best Picture field. People wanted it to get nominated for Best Picture, and it very likely would have in a 10 film field. It is (and barring a 9-nomination showing from Black Panther, will remain), the most nominated comic book film in history, and Christian Bale did a pretty good job as Batman too. Still…Ledger, Cillian Murphy, Aaron Eckhart, Liam Neeson, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, and Tom Hardy…the villains made the trilogy. It’s one of the most quotable series of all time. And so did the music of Hans Zimmer.
Notable quotes:
“You never learned to mind your surroundings.”; “Why so serious?”; “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”; “Deshi basara!”; “Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it.”; “I was wondering what would break first…your spirit or your body.”; “Now’s not the time for fear. That comes later.”; “I’m Gotham’s reckoning.”; “It’s simple. We, uh, kill the Batman.” “if it’s so simple, why haven’t you done it already?” “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”; “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”; “I don't, I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, NO! No. You... you... complete me.”; “See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.”; “I just want my phone call.”; “Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just...do things.”; “How about a magic trick? I’m gonna make this pencil disappear. Ta-daa! It’s…it’s gone.”; “Introduce a little anarchy.”; “But it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you.”; “Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.”; “Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate, or fair!”; “Didn’t you get the memo?”
75: Take Shelter
It’s a smaller film, with very few lines, but it’s one of the best examples of how a small movie is exceedingly wonderful. The lack of Oscar nominations for this movie still bugs me, from Best Picture all the way down to Best Film Editing. Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, and writer/director Jeff Nichols, another of the two or three best screenwriters of our time, all deserved to be honored. But because of it’s small theatrical release, very little promotion, and short time in the few theaters that showed it, there was never really any hope. But I highly suggest you track down this beautiful movie about a man who is scared he is developing paranoid schizophrenia, but is even more afraid of losing his family. You won’t be disappointed, especially with the hauntingly beautiful music.
Notable quotes:
“There is a storm coming, like nothing you have ever seen, and not a-one of you is prepared for it.”; “Sleep well in your beds. 'Cause if this thing comes true, there ain't gonna be any more.”; “Sam.” “Okay.”; “You got a good life, Curtis. I think that’s the best compliment you can give a man: take look at his life, and say, ‘That’s good.'”
74: 12 Monkeys
This is another one of those movies I won’t watch unless I’m with someone else watching it for the first time. It’s a devastatingly beautiful movie. It will give you one of Brad Pitt’s best performances in his career (maybe even his best), Bruce Willis gives a solid showing, and Terry Gillam, formerly of the Monty Python laugh riot sketches and films, will make you want to die. You’ll hate me for telling you to watch it, but you’ll know in your heart that it’s a great movie and on some level, you’ll be glad you did.
Notable quotes:
“There’s no right, there’s no wrong. There’s only popular opinion.”; “I mean, psychiatry: it's the latest religion. We decide what's right and wrong. We decide who's crazy or not. I'm in trouble here. I'm losing my faith.”; “All I see are dead people.”; “You know what crazy is? Crazy is majority rules.”; “Hey... is that the cops? I'm an innocent victim in here! I was attacked by a coked up whore and a - a fuckin crazy dentist!”; “I’m here about some monkeys.” “Monkeys?” “Monkeys. Yes. 12 of them."
73: Boys Don’t Cry
There are a few reasons to watch this movie, mostly because of Hilary Swank’s Oscar-winning performance of a girl transitioning to a boy and Chloe Sevigny’s Oscar-nominated performance. Secondly, brief film history. The Crying Game (spoiler alert) broke boundaries in 1992 when it had a man fall in love with a transgender woman, then find out she's transgender, get repulsed, and still be attracted to her. It challenged life as we know it by saying “love is love” without beating the audience over the head with it. In 1992, when being referred to as “gay” was an insult, the idea that a heterosexual man knowingly falls in love with a transgender woman being the center of a movie was shocking. Oh, and it takes place in Ireland, where being gay was a crime until like 2000. Anyway, the point is that this very fictional movie, on some level about the many kinds of crap transgender people have to put up with, laid the foundation for Boys Don’t Cry to be released only 7 years later about a very real case in which a transgender boy was killed. Brandon Teena’s slightly fictionalized life being played out before audiences in 1999, when being called “gay” was still considered insulting, opened the door to some more acceptance. Swank’s Oscar speech says a lot about the filmmaking process and about his life, but she actually got a lot of grief from Teena’s family for referring to him as a boy. We have far to go, but we’ve come a long way since 1992.
Notable quotes:
“Look, I don't care if you're half monkey or half ape, I'm gettin' you out of here.”; “I'm scared of what's ahead, but when I think of you I know I'll be able to go on.”; “I have a sexual identity crisis.”; “I don't want it in my house.”; “Shut up, you fucking pervert. Are you a girl or are you not? ARE YOU A GIRL OR ARE YOU NOT?” “There’s an easy way to fix this problem.”
72: The Miracle Worker
This 1962 movie about Helen Keller and her tutor Annie Sullivan is one of the most underrated films ever made. Yes, it received multiple Oscar nominations and wins, and deservedly so on the part of Patti Duke (Keller) and Anne Bancroft (Sullivan). Unfortunately, it was released in the same year as two other films on this list, as well as two of the most remembered films of all time: To Kill a Mockingbird and Lawrence of Arabia. These two movies, rightfully so, have suffocated history of remembering what is quite possibly the best tandem performance in history. Even in real life, Bancroft and Duke were close. When they did The Miracle Worker on Broadway, Bancroft was tabbed for the film years later (although the budget was only 1/10th of the $5 million promised if Elizabeth Taylor was cast in the lead). Duke, 15 during the film, had aged out of the 7-year-old role of Keller. It didn’t stop Bancroft from fighting to keep Duke in the role of Keller because of their familiarity and comfort in working the piece together in the past. Needless to say, it worked perfectly.
Notable quotes:
(in sign language) “W. A. T. E. R.”; “Mrs. Keller, I don't think Helen's greatest handicap is deafness or blindness. I think it's your love and pity.”; “It's less trouble to feel sorry for her than it is to teach her anything better.”; “God may not have meant Helen to have the eyes you speak of.” “I mean her to.”; “The room's a wreck, but her napkin is folded. I'll be in my room, Mrs. Keller.”
Whether or not the first Die Hard is a Christmas movie is irrelevant. What everyone should agree on is Alan Rickman was robbed of an Oscar nomination for his performance as criminal mastermind Hans Gruber. The second wasn’t as good (because of one crap-ass performance by someone whose name isn’t even worth looking up), but had a few interesting twists. Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson made the third movie. But for reasons passing understanding, my favorite will always be the fourth one. Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, and a few others help bring this 80s character very faithfully into the 21st century, and cyber warfare at the forefront is genius. They’re all fantastic movies in general, but whatever you do, don’t watch the fifth one.
Notable quotes:
“Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!”; “Come out to the coast, we’ll get together, have a few laughs.”; “Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way, so he won’t be joining us for the rest of his life.”; “No fucking shit, lady! Does it sound like I’m ordering a pizza?!”; “Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.”; “What idiot put you in charge?” “You did, when you murdered my boss.”; “You’re a racist. You don’t like me cuz I’m white!” “I don’t like you cuz you’re gonna get me killed!”; “You just killed a helicopter with a car!” “I was outta bullets.”; “Wow, I know that tone. It’s just weird hearing it come from someone…with hair.”; “Last time I saw her, she was at the bottom of an elevator shaft with an SUV shoved up her ass.”; “Damn hamster!”
84: Mad Max: Fury Road
If you wanna watch the first three, feel free. It doesn’t really add to this movie, though; this is more like a stand-alone sequel about a different Mad Max. Now…there are loads of people who are pissed that this movie has almost no dialogue from the title character and seems to be all about Charlize Theron’s Furiosa. To them, I say: shut up. Tom Hardy’s Mad Max is the focus of the movie; it just happens to be that what he’s trying to do coincides with what Furiosa is trying to do. Max gets captured, used as a human blood bag, fights his way free, helps the women overthrow an evil, greedy, ruthless warlord, and because he has very few lines, he’s not the focus? If anything, it’s a testament to Hardy’s ability to act that he has us all engrossed for the full movie and barely says a word. Now that’s done, Theron is also phenomenal, as is Nicholas Hoult as a War Boy, Nux, and Hugh Keays-Byrne as the overlord Immortan Joe. Plus, you get to watch a future AFI Top 100 film quotes member before it even hits the list. In terms of the film, it is a technical juggernaut. It won 6 Oscars and had no reason to lose any Oscar except Best Picture (although I think the technical achievements of this film, as with another film further up on the list, should have led it to win). It still bugs me that it lost Best Visual Effects, when in reality, nothing was better the whole year.
Notable quotes:
“Oh, what a day! WHAT A LOVELY DAY!”; “Witness me.”; “Max. My name is Max.”; “Where must we go…we who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?”; “How much more can they take from me? First it’s my blood, now it’s my car!”; “We are not things. We are not things!”; “Remember me?”
83: No Country for Old Men
This ain’t the only Coen Bros film on the list, but it has to be here. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh is enough on its own to earn it a spot. Other than that, Tommy Lee Jones actually gives an incredibly underrated performance as the cop trying to catch up with him, and Josh Brolin is the unsung hero of the whole film. I could go on and on, because the script and the direction are both genius and measured and calculated to pinpoint success. But you really should just watch it for yourself, though I’ll be honest: it’s not a personal favorite of mine, it’s not particularly captivating to most people, myself included, and it takes a certain state of mind to get through the whole film, but it’s worth the watch if you want to see a great movie.
Notable quotes: “1958. It’s been traveling 22 years to get here. And now it’s here. And it’s either heads or tails. And you have to say. Call it.”; “I’m fixin’ to do something dumber than hell, but I’m going anyway.”
82: The Great Escape
People say The Avengers started this thing where a whole bunch of big stars get together and do a big movie. That’s a bold-faced lie (yes, “bold-faced lie,” not “bald-faced lie”…that was your free grammar lesson). If it was any movie that started it, it was Ocean’s 11 (the remake on my list), but there were others before it that arguably started it, including this one. Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, David McCallum, Donald Pleasence were all huge stars in the time before us millennials and well into our time in some cases as well. Don’t believe me? McCallum plays Ducky on NCIS, Attenborough starred in Jurassic Park, Coburn won an Oscar in the 90s, Garner was in The Notebook…you get the idea. Anyway…it’s a seminal example of the ensemble blockbuster film, and is one of the first (thought not the first) to employ a star-studded cast to tell a story. Plus, it’s incredibly exciting, somewhat uplifting, and ultimately devastating.
Notable quotes:
“Tea without milk is so uncivilized.”; “Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability.”; “What were you doing by the wire?” “Well, like I told Max... I was trying to cut my way through your wire because I want to get out.”
81: Midnight in Paris
Woody Allen’s personal life aside, he is a great filmmaker, screenwriter, and a pretty decent actor too. So it goes without saying you should watch Annie Hall, the only movie for which he was nominated for acting. But it is not a necessity to watch before you die. Midnight in Paris is easily his best film, and probably the best piece of acting you’ll ever see Owen Wilson do. It’s funny, sweet, some lovey-dovey crap in there, but nothing too bad. It’s an enjoyable movie that will make those who paid attention in high school literature classes laugh their asses off, all while making a wonderful point about paying attention to the time in which we live and not looking back so much and wishing we lived in a different time.
Notable quotes:
“We all fear death and question our place in the universe. The artist's job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.”; “A man in love with a woman from a different era. I see a photograph!” “I see a film!” “I see an insurmountable problem.” “I see…rhinoceros.”; “If it's bad, I'll hate it because I hate bad writing, and if it's good, I'll be envious and hate it all the more. You don't want the opinion of another writer.”; “These people don’t have any antibiotics.”; “You can fool me, but cannot fool Ernest Hemingway!”
80: Moonrise Kingdom
Easily the most overlooked film in the repertoire of Wes Anderson, it is also arguably his best. This original take on Romeo and Juliet makes it a much happier, albeit pretty awkward to watch at times, movie. In terms of acting, you get some pretty funny performances from Ed Norton, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, and Bill Murray. The two leads are wonderful and make the movie incredibly enjoyable. But the hero of the movie is the script. Anderson is a gifted writer, and this movie shows it off for all to see in the best way.
Notable quotes:
“We’re in love. We just want to be together. What’s wrong with that?”; “Does it concern you that your daughter’s just run away from home?” “That’s a loaded question.”; “We’re all they’ve got, Walt.” “That’s not enough.”; “I'd be careful if I were you. One of these days, somebody's gonna get pushed too far. And who knows what they're capable of?” “Is that a threat?” “It’s a warning.”
79: Sicario
This movie was heavily influenced by another one further up on this list, but it is still one of the most stressful movies, as well as one of the most accurate depictions of the drug war you’ll ever see. It shows the side we in the suburbs don’t see every day: instead of users getting high, it shows the fight against the cartels and violence on the other side of the border. Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio Del Toro all give amazing performances that should’ve resulted in Oscar nominations for all of them. Sadly, due to its early release date, it was overlooked in all but three categories, and won 0 when it probably should have won about 5, including Best Original Screenplay. Taylor Sheridan (who wrote Hell or High Water a bit lower on this list) is one of the two or three best screenwriters of this era. Everyone must watch all of his movies, but this is his masterpiece.
Notable quotes:
“Welcome to Juarez.”; “You are asking me how a watch works. For now, we’ll just keep an eye on the time.”; “Nothing will make sense to your American ears, and you will doubt everything that we do, but in the end you will understand.”; “You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now.”; “Alejandro works for anyone who will point him toward the people who made him. Us. Them. Anyone who will turn him loose. So he can get the person that cut off his wife's head…and threw his daughter into a vat of acid.”; “You know what the beauty is of you being so beat to a pulp? 'Cause no one's gonna notice a few more scratches.”; “What’s our objective?” “To dramatically overreact.”
78: The Story of Louis Pasteur
It’s really old. Like…really really old. Older than World War II. But it’s short, Paul Muni in the title role is amazing, and while it’s not exactly 100% on the history, it is 100% on the spirit of the man: Pasteur is looked at as out of his mind when he talks about germs and sterilization. Everyone laughs at him and treats him like an outcast, as usually happens to those who want to change the way of thinking. But you don’t watch it for the history lesson; you watch it to see that even in the 1930s, movies were made about history changing people, to get a sense of just how new the idea of germs and pasteurization is, and most of all, for Muni’s Oscar winning performance, culminating in a beautiful final speech.
Notable quotes:
“Do not become angry at your opponents, for no scientific theory has ever been accepted without opposition.”; “To think that a human being could be destroyed by an animal ten thousand times smaller than a flea. It's as though an army of ants were to overthrow your Majesty's empire.”; “Most people who go to hospitals are carried out, dead.”; “Remember our aim: find the microbe, kill the microbe.”
77: Tron series
Ok. Hear me out. Movies are more valuable than the acting or the screenplay. Mad Max: Fury Road was a pretty good example of it. And TRON and TRON: Legacy are perfect examples of this. In the 1980s when TRON was released, it completely changed the game on how to create visual effects. It had completely original costumes and the sound effects were also state of the art. Flash forward to 2010, TRON: Legacy took what its predecessor did and quadrupled it. The visuals during the light cycle fights and during the race to the portal are something never seen before and, in my opinion, hardly ever, if ever, seen since. It also marked the first movie scored by Daft Punk, earning them a Grammy nod for Best Original Score. The movie had no right to lose Best Visual Effects at the Oscars that year, but somehow it did (because it was poorly acted aside from Michael Sheen, Jeff Bridges, and Bruce Boxleitner). But unlike No Country for Old Men, a good movie that can get slightly dull, TRON: Legacy is a bad movie that will keep you engrossed and fixated on how it looks and sounds.
Notable quotes:
“Tron…what have you become?”; “I fight for the user.”; “Behold the son of our maker!”; “The thing about perfection is that it's unknowable. It's impossible, but it's also right in front of us all the time.”; “Life has a way of moving you past wants and hopes.”; “It’s amazing how productive doing nothing can be.”; “The Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day…I got in.”; “You’re messing with my Zen thing, man.”; “End of line.”; “That’s Tron. He fights for the Users.”; “You've enjoyed all the power you've been given, haven't you? I wonder how you'd take to working in a pocket calculator."
76: The Dark Knight trilogy
People will argue that other, earlier Batman films are better and that Jack Nicholson’s Joker is the definitive version. They are wrong and stuck in the past, nostalgic for that time. Heath Ledger’s Joker was verifiably insane to the tune of being the first comic book role to get an Oscar. The Dark Knight is also the reason we saw an expansion from 5-10 nominees in the Best Picture field. People wanted it to get nominated for Best Picture, and it very likely would have in a 10 film field. It is (and barring a 9-nomination showing from Black Panther, will remain), the most nominated comic book film in history, and Christian Bale did a pretty good job as Batman too. Still…Ledger, Cillian Murphy, Aaron Eckhart, Liam Neeson, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, and Tom Hardy…the villains made the trilogy. It’s one of the most quotable series of all time. And so did the music of Hans Zimmer.
Notable quotes:
“You never learned to mind your surroundings.”; “Why so serious?”; “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”; “Deshi basara!”; “Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it.”; “I was wondering what would break first…your spirit or your body.”; “Now’s not the time for fear. That comes later.”; “I’m Gotham’s reckoning.”; “It’s simple. We, uh, kill the Batman.” “if it’s so simple, why haven’t you done it already?” “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”; “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”; “I don't, I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, NO! No. You... you... complete me.”; “See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.”; “I just want my phone call.”; “Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just...do things.”; “How about a magic trick? I’m gonna make this pencil disappear. Ta-daa! It’s…it’s gone.”; “Introduce a little anarchy.”; “But it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you.”; “Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.”; “Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate, or fair!”; “Didn’t you get the memo?”
75: Take Shelter
It’s a smaller film, with very few lines, but it’s one of the best examples of how a small movie is exceedingly wonderful. The lack of Oscar nominations for this movie still bugs me, from Best Picture all the way down to Best Film Editing. Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, and writer/director Jeff Nichols, another of the two or three best screenwriters of our time, all deserved to be honored. But because of it’s small theatrical release, very little promotion, and short time in the few theaters that showed it, there was never really any hope. But I highly suggest you track down this beautiful movie about a man who is scared he is developing paranoid schizophrenia, but is even more afraid of losing his family. You won’t be disappointed, especially with the hauntingly beautiful music.
Notable quotes:
“There is a storm coming, like nothing you have ever seen, and not a-one of you is prepared for it.”; “Sleep well in your beds. 'Cause if this thing comes true, there ain't gonna be any more.”; “Sam.” “Okay.”; “You got a good life, Curtis. I think that’s the best compliment you can give a man: take look at his life, and say, ‘That’s good.'”
74: 12 Monkeys
This is another one of those movies I won’t watch unless I’m with someone else watching it for the first time. It’s a devastatingly beautiful movie. It will give you one of Brad Pitt’s best performances in his career (maybe even his best), Bruce Willis gives a solid showing, and Terry Gillam, formerly of the Monty Python laugh riot sketches and films, will make you want to die. You’ll hate me for telling you to watch it, but you’ll know in your heart that it’s a great movie and on some level, you’ll be glad you did.
Notable quotes:
“There’s no right, there’s no wrong. There’s only popular opinion.”; “I mean, psychiatry: it's the latest religion. We decide what's right and wrong. We decide who's crazy or not. I'm in trouble here. I'm losing my faith.”; “All I see are dead people.”; “You know what crazy is? Crazy is majority rules.”; “Hey... is that the cops? I'm an innocent victim in here! I was attacked by a coked up whore and a - a fuckin crazy dentist!”; “I’m here about some monkeys.” “Monkeys?” “Monkeys. Yes. 12 of them."
73: Boys Don’t Cry
There are a few reasons to watch this movie, mostly because of Hilary Swank’s Oscar-winning performance of a girl transitioning to a boy and Chloe Sevigny’s Oscar-nominated performance. Secondly, brief film history. The Crying Game (spoiler alert) broke boundaries in 1992 when it had a man fall in love with a transgender woman, then find out she's transgender, get repulsed, and still be attracted to her. It challenged life as we know it by saying “love is love” without beating the audience over the head with it. In 1992, when being referred to as “gay” was an insult, the idea that a heterosexual man knowingly falls in love with a transgender woman being the center of a movie was shocking. Oh, and it takes place in Ireland, where being gay was a crime until like 2000. Anyway, the point is that this very fictional movie, on some level about the many kinds of crap transgender people have to put up with, laid the foundation for Boys Don’t Cry to be released only 7 years later about a very real case in which a transgender boy was killed. Brandon Teena’s slightly fictionalized life being played out before audiences in 1999, when being called “gay” was still considered insulting, opened the door to some more acceptance. Swank’s Oscar speech says a lot about the filmmaking process and about his life, but she actually got a lot of grief from Teena’s family for referring to him as a boy. We have far to go, but we’ve come a long way since 1992.
Notable quotes:
“Look, I don't care if you're half monkey or half ape, I'm gettin' you out of here.”; “I'm scared of what's ahead, but when I think of you I know I'll be able to go on.”; “I have a sexual identity crisis.”; “I don't want it in my house.”; “Shut up, you fucking pervert. Are you a girl or are you not? ARE YOU A GIRL OR ARE YOU NOT?” “There’s an easy way to fix this problem.”
72: The Miracle Worker
This 1962 movie about Helen Keller and her tutor Annie Sullivan is one of the most underrated films ever made. Yes, it received multiple Oscar nominations and wins, and deservedly so on the part of Patti Duke (Keller) and Anne Bancroft (Sullivan). Unfortunately, it was released in the same year as two other films on this list, as well as two of the most remembered films of all time: To Kill a Mockingbird and Lawrence of Arabia. These two movies, rightfully so, have suffocated history of remembering what is quite possibly the best tandem performance in history. Even in real life, Bancroft and Duke were close. When they did The Miracle Worker on Broadway, Bancroft was tabbed for the film years later (although the budget was only 1/10th of the $5 million promised if Elizabeth Taylor was cast in the lead). Duke, 15 during the film, had aged out of the 7-year-old role of Keller. It didn’t stop Bancroft from fighting to keep Duke in the role of Keller because of their familiarity and comfort in working the piece together in the past. Needless to say, it worked perfectly.
Notable quotes:
(in sign language) “W. A. T. E. R.”; “Mrs. Keller, I don't think Helen's greatest handicap is deafness or blindness. I think it's your love and pity.”; “It's less trouble to feel sorry for her than it is to teach her anything better.”; “God may not have meant Helen to have the eyes you speak of.” “I mean her to.”; “The room's a wreck, but her napkin is folded. I'll be in my room, Mrs. Keller.”