By Adam McPartlan
Only one more to go until the list of films to see before you die. Here begins the best of the best, #26-12. Return Friday for the top 11.
26: The Grand Budapest Hotel
This movie is just so ridiculous, you can’t help but love it. Wes Anderson’s most celebrated film tells the story of a lobby boy who worked in a very posh hotel and developed a close friendship with the concierge of that hotel just before World War II. As an adult, he recounts the story for an author, who wants to know where the man Zero Moustafa came from. The details of the story are the best part, and so I will not wade into them; best if you experience them for yourself. Instead, I will tell you that this is a movie that will leave you feeling some sadness at the end, but all you’ll remember is how hard you laughed at Willem Dafoe’s psychotic humor and Adrien Brody’s stupid pencil mustache.
Only one more to go until the list of films to see before you die. Here begins the best of the best, #26-12. Return Friday for the top 11.
26: The Grand Budapest Hotel
This movie is just so ridiculous, you can’t help but love it. Wes Anderson’s most celebrated film tells the story of a lobby boy who worked in a very posh hotel and developed a close friendship with the concierge of that hotel just before World War II. As an adult, he recounts the story for an author, who wants to know where the man Zero Moustafa came from. The details of the story are the best part, and so I will not wade into them; best if you experience them for yourself. Instead, I will tell you that this is a movie that will leave you feeling some sadness at the end, but all you’ll remember is how hard you laughed at Willem Dafoe’s psychotic humor and Adrien Brody’s stupid pencil mustache.
25: Moonrise Kingdom
This is Anderson’s best film, yet criminally undervalued. It’s a nicer, happier version of Romeo & Juliet and tells the way the story would have unfolded had the parents and community paid attention to their children. In some ways, it is a very odd viewing, which is probably why the Oscars didn’t touch it except for nominating it for Best Original Screenplay. But mainly, it’s a very sweet story about childhood love, and a very funny story about the ridiculousness of adulthood.
24: Logan
This is, in my opinion, the best superhero film ever made. The Dark Knight is more typical of the genre than Logan, and so there is an argument to be made there. In regards to substance of the film and the fact that it is about the final charge of a beloved superhero, though, Logan is far superior. The writing is probably the best part of the movie. Hugh Jackman and Dafne Keen play their roles with such tenacity and anger that it flows gracefully off the screen, and the audience wants to see more, not less, of it. The heart of the story, though, lies with Patrick Stewart’s now feeble-minded Charles Xavier. Until the end of the movie, no piece of a superhero film made me cry as much as watching Xavier weakly apologize to everyone and no one while getting wheeled out of a hotel after causing extremely violent, even though accidental, destruction. This movie, more than any superhero film before it, deserved nominations in the acting categories and for Best Picture. Its presence in the Best Adapted Screenplay category shows the changing of Hollywood thinking; it's just a shame that it didn't come long ago so that Logan could get everything it so richly deserved.
23: V for Vendetta
I mean. It’s about a guy who is going to blow up Parliament because he hates what the British government is doing to its people. What more do you need to know? The movie has some great writing, even better acting, and uses editing to put together an even broader story than what is being talked about on screen. It’s just a great movie, and personally, if I was going to make you watch any movie with me, this would be one of the first.
22: Kingdom of Heaven
You wanna see Orlando Bloom do some acting, watch this movie. It’s based on a true story, and is honestly a lot better than people say it is. The director, Ridley Scott, was forced to cut a huge chunk of time from the movie to keep it under 2.5 hours. Scott basically cursed them out while walking to the cutting room floor. As a result, some bits don’t make as much sense as they do if you watch the director’s cut of the film, which I cannot recommend enough. It’s an excellent epic about a little known story of the Crusades, with Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, and Davis Thewlis. The performances of the film, though, go to Edward Norton, who plays King Baldwin IV, and Ghassan Massoud, who really should’ve gotten an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the stern, committed, unrelenting, yet peaceful and loving Saladin. As far as historical accuracy, there isn’t much. But the film gets the heart of the story right: Guy de Lusignan and Raynald de Chatillon are evil, plotting jackasses; King Baldwin is a stand-up guy who cares for peace more than war; Balian is loyal to the king and wants to save the people, not the city; and Saladin exactly is as portrayed on-screen: he has rules, and he wants his city back for Islam, but he has a moral compass that he will not compromise for anything.
21: Take Shelter
Ugh. What a movie. Under-marketed, undervalued, but highly rated, this movie is the best of 2011. Michael Shannon plays an ordinary Ohio man who struggles to understand if the dreams he is having are warnings of a powerful storm coming, or if they are the beginnings of paranoid schizophrenia, from which his mother also suffers. In the end, though, it doesn’t matter; what matters is that he is able to keep his family together and face what is coming head-on and not alone. Also, Shannon deserved an Oscar nom and win, Jessica Chastain deserved an Oscar nod, and writer/director Jeff Nichols deserved Oscars for his work.
20: United 93
It covers the attack on the World Trade Center with grace, and without any Hollywood embellishment. Paul Greengrass’ film, for which he was nominated for Best Director, was made only 5 years after that fateful day. It doesn’t play tricks on your emotions; it plays out the story as best as it can be told, and as accurately as it can be told. From that accuracy, there will be hope that the passengers can do it, and then tears as you slowly watch them succeed in saving the original target yet fall short in saving their lives. It’s the best movie of 2006.
19: Cabaret
Here’s where I get hate-mail. Cabaret was a better film than The Godfather and should have won Best Picture in 1972 instead. To be fair, I’m not the only one who thinks so. If you watch the awarding of Best Picture at the 1972 ceremony (held in 1973), you can hear audible gasps in the background as Clint Eastwood announces Ruddy’s name. Anyway. To this day, I haven't seen anyone who did nothing but sing his part be so worthy of an Oscar as Joel Gray, who won Best Supporting Actor. The movie is a musical, but tells the story without singing; instead it uses the singing to advance the plot and keep the audience invested in both the show and the film. It’s a movie about a love triangle at the surface that, once you dig deep, really is about the loss of fun and happiness in a society getting more and more censored. Sound familiar? And the ending is hauntingly beautiful direction that will leave you with chills and dread.
18: Dunkirk
Chris Nolan took a story we all learned in history class and found a way to make it a compelling, interesting, and even sad story. This was the best film of 2017, not The Shape of Water, and Nolan’s use of time, Zimmer’s music revolving around time, and the story’s timelines slowly converging and then separating again is why. It’s a very accurate story, as well, because while it focuses at points on one small group of men, it accurately portrays the soldiers on the beaches of Dunkirk as one body and soul who are all bound together by this time and place. It also shows, in a stunning way, the contrast in the bravery of the ordinary people in the face of death and the fear of the soldiers, especially in the exchanged between Cillian Murphy’s character and Mark Rylance’s character, something not ordinarily seen in a war film.
17: The Emperor’s New Groove
I can do a pretty great Yzma impression. Aside from that, David Spade, Patrick Warburton, Eartha Kitt, John Goodman, and Wendie Malick voice their characters to perfection. I laugh every time I watch Kuzco realize he’s a llama, the squirrel pop the balloon, Kronk pull the lever, Yzma bounce on the trampoline. It just makes you laugh and have a good time. What’s not to love?
16: Moneyball
There is nothing special about this movie. It has a solid script, solid acting, solid directing, solid music…so why is it so high? I honestly cannot tell you. I have a special affection for this movie because, as best as I can figure it out, it does what we all do: gets romantic about baseball. Brad Pitt plays the Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, the man most known around the league, and does it in such a calm way that it is worth mentioning. There’s no anger, no elation; just frustration and the will and ability to fix what’s wrong. And Jonah Hill is pretty funny, even when he’s not trying to be.
15: Tootsie
Look. This movie attempted to tell men what it was like to be a woman, and what it’s like to deal with the shit men put them through. For that, it’s automatically great. The fact that they found a way to do it in a funny, non-preachy way is what makes it better. Dustin Hoffman makes it elite. If you don’t laugh to the point of tears when Hoffman reveals his true identity, you need to watch it again, because chances are you’re still laughing from the three minutes leading up to him pulling the wig off his head.
14: Judgment at Nuremberg
It’s long, difficult to watch, and it’s one of my favorites. Judy Garland gave the performance of her career, and sadly lost Best Supporting Actress that year. About one of the War Tribunals in Nuremberg post-WWII, it follows one judge on his journey to decide the fate of the four defendants, and focuses very heavily on the defense of one man in particular, and his lawyer’s work to make that defense work. In the end, you get a fittingly heavy finale, an Oscar for Best Actor for Maximillian Schell, who played the defense attorney, and a movie that was one of the first to use footage taken by soldiers as they entered the concentration camps. It features harsh acting, with moments that can be difficult to watch, especially due to the cross-examination by Schell's character. Nevertheless, it’s one of the most important films of the 20th century, and deserves to be seen by all.
13: The Nice Guys
This movie is just fun. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are a buddy comedy duo I never would have thought to put together, never mind be so successful. Following a PI and a bounty hunter’s investigation into the death of a porn star, this film deals with corruption, cars, government cover-ups, and the missing bees. Gosling does a great Lou Costello impression, and Crowe does a funny tough guy. See it, and laugh your asses off to a solid comedic piece.
12: The Secret of Kells
This is Irish animator Tomm Moore’s first film. Nominated for Best Animated Film, and losing somehow, this movie tells a fictionalized account of how the world’s most expensive book, the Book of Kells, was made. Incorporating Irish folklore as well as historic occurrences, this film is shockingly dark for an animated piece. Nevertheless, it reminds us why hand-drawn animation is so beautiful, hearkening back to the glory days of Disney. This is a must-watch for anyone who cares about animation, graphic design, or art. On a personal level, this movie is very Irish. As I said, it incorporates a great deal of Irish folklore. It also relies heavily on Irish imagery, history, terminology, and life. I cannot express enough how much I love this movie, which has almost as much green in it as all of Ireland.
This is Anderson’s best film, yet criminally undervalued. It’s a nicer, happier version of Romeo & Juliet and tells the way the story would have unfolded had the parents and community paid attention to their children. In some ways, it is a very odd viewing, which is probably why the Oscars didn’t touch it except for nominating it for Best Original Screenplay. But mainly, it’s a very sweet story about childhood love, and a very funny story about the ridiculousness of adulthood.
24: Logan
This is, in my opinion, the best superhero film ever made. The Dark Knight is more typical of the genre than Logan, and so there is an argument to be made there. In regards to substance of the film and the fact that it is about the final charge of a beloved superhero, though, Logan is far superior. The writing is probably the best part of the movie. Hugh Jackman and Dafne Keen play their roles with such tenacity and anger that it flows gracefully off the screen, and the audience wants to see more, not less, of it. The heart of the story, though, lies with Patrick Stewart’s now feeble-minded Charles Xavier. Until the end of the movie, no piece of a superhero film made me cry as much as watching Xavier weakly apologize to everyone and no one while getting wheeled out of a hotel after causing extremely violent, even though accidental, destruction. This movie, more than any superhero film before it, deserved nominations in the acting categories and for Best Picture. Its presence in the Best Adapted Screenplay category shows the changing of Hollywood thinking; it's just a shame that it didn't come long ago so that Logan could get everything it so richly deserved.
23: V for Vendetta
I mean. It’s about a guy who is going to blow up Parliament because he hates what the British government is doing to its people. What more do you need to know? The movie has some great writing, even better acting, and uses editing to put together an even broader story than what is being talked about on screen. It’s just a great movie, and personally, if I was going to make you watch any movie with me, this would be one of the first.
22: Kingdom of Heaven
You wanna see Orlando Bloom do some acting, watch this movie. It’s based on a true story, and is honestly a lot better than people say it is. The director, Ridley Scott, was forced to cut a huge chunk of time from the movie to keep it under 2.5 hours. Scott basically cursed them out while walking to the cutting room floor. As a result, some bits don’t make as much sense as they do if you watch the director’s cut of the film, which I cannot recommend enough. It’s an excellent epic about a little known story of the Crusades, with Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, and Davis Thewlis. The performances of the film, though, go to Edward Norton, who plays King Baldwin IV, and Ghassan Massoud, who really should’ve gotten an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the stern, committed, unrelenting, yet peaceful and loving Saladin. As far as historical accuracy, there isn’t much. But the film gets the heart of the story right: Guy de Lusignan and Raynald de Chatillon are evil, plotting jackasses; King Baldwin is a stand-up guy who cares for peace more than war; Balian is loyal to the king and wants to save the people, not the city; and Saladin exactly is as portrayed on-screen: he has rules, and he wants his city back for Islam, but he has a moral compass that he will not compromise for anything.
21: Take Shelter
Ugh. What a movie. Under-marketed, undervalued, but highly rated, this movie is the best of 2011. Michael Shannon plays an ordinary Ohio man who struggles to understand if the dreams he is having are warnings of a powerful storm coming, or if they are the beginnings of paranoid schizophrenia, from which his mother also suffers. In the end, though, it doesn’t matter; what matters is that he is able to keep his family together and face what is coming head-on and not alone. Also, Shannon deserved an Oscar nom and win, Jessica Chastain deserved an Oscar nod, and writer/director Jeff Nichols deserved Oscars for his work.
20: United 93
It covers the attack on the World Trade Center with grace, and without any Hollywood embellishment. Paul Greengrass’ film, for which he was nominated for Best Director, was made only 5 years after that fateful day. It doesn’t play tricks on your emotions; it plays out the story as best as it can be told, and as accurately as it can be told. From that accuracy, there will be hope that the passengers can do it, and then tears as you slowly watch them succeed in saving the original target yet fall short in saving their lives. It’s the best movie of 2006.
19: Cabaret
Here’s where I get hate-mail. Cabaret was a better film than The Godfather and should have won Best Picture in 1972 instead. To be fair, I’m not the only one who thinks so. If you watch the awarding of Best Picture at the 1972 ceremony (held in 1973), you can hear audible gasps in the background as Clint Eastwood announces Ruddy’s name. Anyway. To this day, I haven't seen anyone who did nothing but sing his part be so worthy of an Oscar as Joel Gray, who won Best Supporting Actor. The movie is a musical, but tells the story without singing; instead it uses the singing to advance the plot and keep the audience invested in both the show and the film. It’s a movie about a love triangle at the surface that, once you dig deep, really is about the loss of fun and happiness in a society getting more and more censored. Sound familiar? And the ending is hauntingly beautiful direction that will leave you with chills and dread.
18: Dunkirk
Chris Nolan took a story we all learned in history class and found a way to make it a compelling, interesting, and even sad story. This was the best film of 2017, not The Shape of Water, and Nolan’s use of time, Zimmer’s music revolving around time, and the story’s timelines slowly converging and then separating again is why. It’s a very accurate story, as well, because while it focuses at points on one small group of men, it accurately portrays the soldiers on the beaches of Dunkirk as one body and soul who are all bound together by this time and place. It also shows, in a stunning way, the contrast in the bravery of the ordinary people in the face of death and the fear of the soldiers, especially in the exchanged between Cillian Murphy’s character and Mark Rylance’s character, something not ordinarily seen in a war film.
17: The Emperor’s New Groove
I can do a pretty great Yzma impression. Aside from that, David Spade, Patrick Warburton, Eartha Kitt, John Goodman, and Wendie Malick voice their characters to perfection. I laugh every time I watch Kuzco realize he’s a llama, the squirrel pop the balloon, Kronk pull the lever, Yzma bounce on the trampoline. It just makes you laugh and have a good time. What’s not to love?
16: Moneyball
There is nothing special about this movie. It has a solid script, solid acting, solid directing, solid music…so why is it so high? I honestly cannot tell you. I have a special affection for this movie because, as best as I can figure it out, it does what we all do: gets romantic about baseball. Brad Pitt plays the Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, the man most known around the league, and does it in such a calm way that it is worth mentioning. There’s no anger, no elation; just frustration and the will and ability to fix what’s wrong. And Jonah Hill is pretty funny, even when he’s not trying to be.
15: Tootsie
Look. This movie attempted to tell men what it was like to be a woman, and what it’s like to deal with the shit men put them through. For that, it’s automatically great. The fact that they found a way to do it in a funny, non-preachy way is what makes it better. Dustin Hoffman makes it elite. If you don’t laugh to the point of tears when Hoffman reveals his true identity, you need to watch it again, because chances are you’re still laughing from the three minutes leading up to him pulling the wig off his head.
14: Judgment at Nuremberg
It’s long, difficult to watch, and it’s one of my favorites. Judy Garland gave the performance of her career, and sadly lost Best Supporting Actress that year. About one of the War Tribunals in Nuremberg post-WWII, it follows one judge on his journey to decide the fate of the four defendants, and focuses very heavily on the defense of one man in particular, and his lawyer’s work to make that defense work. In the end, you get a fittingly heavy finale, an Oscar for Best Actor for Maximillian Schell, who played the defense attorney, and a movie that was one of the first to use footage taken by soldiers as they entered the concentration camps. It features harsh acting, with moments that can be difficult to watch, especially due to the cross-examination by Schell's character. Nevertheless, it’s one of the most important films of the 20th century, and deserves to be seen by all.
13: The Nice Guys
This movie is just fun. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are a buddy comedy duo I never would have thought to put together, never mind be so successful. Following a PI and a bounty hunter’s investigation into the death of a porn star, this film deals with corruption, cars, government cover-ups, and the missing bees. Gosling does a great Lou Costello impression, and Crowe does a funny tough guy. See it, and laugh your asses off to a solid comedic piece.
12: The Secret of Kells
This is Irish animator Tomm Moore’s first film. Nominated for Best Animated Film, and losing somehow, this movie tells a fictionalized account of how the world’s most expensive book, the Book of Kells, was made. Incorporating Irish folklore as well as historic occurrences, this film is shockingly dark for an animated piece. Nevertheless, it reminds us why hand-drawn animation is so beautiful, hearkening back to the glory days of Disney. This is a must-watch for anyone who cares about animation, graphic design, or art. On a personal level, this movie is very Irish. As I said, it incorporates a great deal of Irish folklore. It also relies heavily on Irish imagery, history, terminology, and life. I cannot express enough how much I love this movie, which has almost as much green in it as all of Ireland.