#10
Spirited Away (2001)
The thing about this film...I loved it from the very first second it starts. That's pretty rare. Spirited Away, directed and written by widely loved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, tells the story of a ten year old whiny and paranoid girl named Chihiro (Japanese voice: Rumi Hiiragi, English voice: Daveigh Chase) who moves to a new town with her parents. When her father decides to make a little detour to kill time, the family comes across an abandoned theme park, and soon Chihiro crosses over to the spirit world where her parents are transformed into pigs and she is forced to work for a nasty witch named Yubaba (Japanese voice: Mari Natsuki, English voice: Suzanne Pleshette) at a bath house for spirits. Over time she plans a way to free her parents from their curse, befriends many other spirits including a boy named Haku (Japanese voice: Miyu Irino, English voice: Jason Marsden), and learns more about herself than she had ever known before. This is film is an example of a perfect fantasy film. The entire atmosphere and tone of the film allows the audience to sink the wonderful and magical environments that they are not used to in their ordinary lives. The main character, Chihiro is in my opinion the best child character to be ever put on film. Because she certainly does act like a child, being whiny, needy, and somewhat spoiled. But like any other child she adapts to changes, new lessons, and new environments quickly. It also shows that despite her needy and spoiled nature in the beginning, she shows to have a nice and innocent heart. The other characters featured in the film are great and very memorable too. Take Haku, for example, who has great complications being between following his boss', Yubaba's, orders and being a good friend of Chihiro. He is not sure of which priority is first and who he is meant to be. Plus his dragon form is a great design! The score by Joe Hisaishi is one of the beautiful scores ever put to film. Despite being a Japanese composer, I wish that he would work for some American films, so more people could hear his beautiful composing. Again, there are plenty of moments, whether they would have dialogue or just be silent, provides a lot of atmosphere and appreciation for this wonderful world the film creates for us. A perfect example is the scene where Chihiro is on a train with a couple of her spirit friends and the entire scene has no dialogue. Just the beautiful instrumental score, the scenery, and the atmosphere. It perfectly captures the feeling of being a child going somewhere far away on public transportation, whether would be a bus or a train. Spirited Away offers great moments, with great characters, beautiful animation, and a beautiful atmosphere. It continues to be my favorite fantasy film, my definite top favorite animated films, and one of my all time favorite films in general! GRADE: E
#9
Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park is my all time favorite Steven Spielberg film. It is not a film that is too overly whimsical or a film that has to remind me about the struggles and chaos of the past wars. All it does is give the audience a balance of various emotions that the film so wonderfully evokes. Jurassic Park follows the story of paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neil), his girlfriend, paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaotician Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), as they are invited by multi-billionaire philanthropist CEO of InGen John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to his glorious new island theme park, Jurassic Park, a home to genetically bred and cloned dinosaurs, returned from extinction. Despite this marvelous and awe-inspiring scientific breakthrough, both Grant and Malcolm warn Hammond about the dangers and consequences of bringing these animals back to the modern world. Of course Hammond being confident with his dream, soon realizes along with the others that Grant and Malcolm's theories may be right. The story, characters, and overall theme of Jurassic Park is more than timeless. The entire cast of the film does great in portraying these characters based on what they were given with. The characters truly came alive, because every single performance felt genuine. I just don't see actors, I see Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm, John Hammond, Tim and Lex Murphy, and all others right in front of me of the screen. The music by John Williams, as most of the time is thrilling to listen to as he captures the exact and precise tone in each of the scenes of the film with his instrumental compositions. The visual effects, BEYOND TIMELESS! The visual effects of these dinosaurs are still very damn impressive to this day. The impressive mixture of using practical animatronics along with good CGI made me believe that a lot of the dinosaurs that were featured in the film were really there such as the T. Rex, the brontosauruses, the triceratops, and of course the velociraptors. To this the day, the effects used to create the dinosaurs, more than hold up. But just the overall story and theme of Jurassic Park, is why I consider the film to be a personal treasure. The film just has a perfectly paced story that tells the message about what happens when we try to play God and mess with nature. The film does it so well in a somewhat semi-horrifying yet exciting method that offers a lot of excitement, thrills, scares, eye pleasing, and magical moments. The whole entire film is a roller coaster of various emotions that are perfectly evoked at the right moments. Jurassic Park does a terrific job in getting its audience invested in what is going on, and have them completely entranced and engaged in the world presented, a duty that all films are required to do.
GRADE: E FULL REVIEW: Jurassic Park Review
#8
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Alongside Die Hard, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of the best action films of all time. It is also one of the few sequels along films like Kung Fu Panda 2 to be superior than its original predecessor. The story takes place about roughly ten years after the original film, The Terminator, back in 1984. Here we see that once targeted Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), changed from the typical American girl in the first film to a struggling and desperate fighter trying to prevent the day that the super computer Skynet will allow machines to take over the world. Connor is now placed in a mental institute because of her numerous attempts to bring down Cyberdyne Systems and her stories about Skynet and how it will allow machines to rule the Earth. Plus, her now ten year old son, John Connor (Edward Furlong), the future leader of the Resistance against Skynet, is taken away from her custody and placed with foster parents. But trouble comes when Skynet sends a new Terminator, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), from the future to present day Los Angeles to kill John Connor. But the future John Connor sends a T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the same type of model that was sent to kill Sarah in 1984, to the present time to protect his younger self from the T-1000. It's up to the T-800 to protect John Connor from the T-1000, gain the trust of Sarah, and prevent the future destruction of the human race from the hands of Skynet. The action scenes in the film are incredible to experience. They are all fast-paced, thrilling, and exciting. Every second of these scenes allow the audience to be off the very edge of their seats, because it is so easy to be invested in them. It shares that same quality as Die Hard , when it comes to action, because the scenes are overall thrilling to watch and there is not a millisecond long dull moment. The actors themselves do a wonderful job in portraying their characters as well. I think this is one of those rare moments where Arnold Schwarzenegger actually gives a straight and genuine performance, apart from his long line of over the top and overly macho action roles. Every word uttered from the guy is believable, even if for the most part it is just one facial expression and a monotone voice, but hey his character is a machine. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor makes a drastic change apart from what her character was in the first film. Instead of being a typical American girl, she is now tough, complex, troubled, and somewhat delusional even if her motivations are justifiable. I always enjoy drastic changes in character personality, as long as they are done well and are justified, that way we get to see a totally different side of that character that we have not seen before. And Sarah Connor is just a perfect example of that. John Connor is also another great child character alongside Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, Mathilda from Leon: The Professional, and Chihiro from Spirited Away. He definitely shows his tough and mature side, but in the end even when things are at its worse, tries to find the fun in anything, like a child. This includes being amazed of having his own Terminator, trying to act tough against grown men, being rambunctious, and teaching the T-800 how to talk modern. He is just a very well written character and greatly portrayed by Edward Furlong. The T-1000 makes a great villain. His ability to blend in with everyday people and the talent to act like one really works as an advantage to killer, and the thought of it alone is creepy. Robert Patrick does well in portraying a subtle but still bone-chilling and creative villain. Whenever the T-1000 turns into metal liquid, the effects done for the liquid form to this day is very impressive and mind blowing. But in all the action and nail biting events that happen within the film, the heart of this action film is the heavy and dramatic story. The first Terminator, did well in taking its story and themes seriously, but with Terminator 2, you can really feel the high stakes and heavy atmosphere that is presented within the film. You really feel that things are at stake, and our characters are at the point of no return, both regarding their physical and mental safety. The film makes the audience care a lot about the situations and events that are going on as much as the characters within the film care about them. With a heavy and emotional story, thrilling action that's one of the best, memorable characters, and wonderful acting, I need no other reason more why Terminator 2: Judgment Day is in my Top 10!
GRADE: E
#7
Back to the Future (1985)
This a very fun film throughout. Never ceases to disappoint or present us a dull and/or uninteresting moment. The story takes place in the year 1985 and follows a teenager named Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) as he is accidentally sent back in time, in a DeLorean time machine invented by his kooky but good, genius, and trusted friend Dr. Emmet "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd). Now Marty ends up from 1985 to 1955 where he meets his future parents in high school. His father, George McFly (Crispin Glover) is a complete dweeb and his mother (Lea Thompson), who is a gorgeous knockout , happens to fall for her own future son under unfortunate circumstances. It is up to Marty to restore the love between his parents in order to save his existence and with the help of the Doc Brown of 1955, must get back to his own time in 1985. What makes this film for me are the wonderful and overwhelmingly entertaining characters. Michael J. Fox does extremely well as Marty McFly. His delivery, his expressions, comedic timing, and chemistry with the other cast members, especially Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown, are pitch clean perfect. Sure it is a very well written character and that deserves an extremely amount of credit, but it was Michael J. Fox's performance that made it all worth while, one of the best performances I have not only seen in a comedy film, but in any film period. Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson do well as Marty's parents respectively as they are able to adapt the personality of 1950s teens very well. They also do well in portraying the older and much more adult versions of their characters, so both versions are genuine. Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) is a downright hilarious villain. Of course he is the stereotypical school bully, but both the writers and actor Thomas F. Wilson have a blast with this character, and it tremendously works. They both know that Biff is rough yet a complete doofus, and they used that as their advantage to bring us a very funny and entertaining character. But I had to save the best character for last and that goes to Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown! Lloyd is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite actors, and he OWNS as Doc Brown. Despite being a character actor, every role that Lloyd is given, he has immense fun and devotion with them, and Doc Brown is no exception. Just another passionate role that Lloyd gets into, and I enjoy every minute of it. Not only is Lloyd's performance superb, but character himself is also great! I like that this is one of those scientist characters that is kooky, distracted, and devoted to his work all for the right reasons, for the greater good and to improve daily life. But the true heart, of course has to go to the story. The comedy of this film is really clever, well written, and fast, making this film one of the comedy greats. It never misses an opportunity for a really funny joke and comedic moment. I think what holds up about Back to the Future the mot and the true heart of it is of course the story. As stories go in film, this one is rather simple while at the same time being unique. I say this because it is an interesting premise that is so easy to do so little with, but the filmmakers decided that much more can come out of a premise of a kid visiting his parents as teenagers in the past. This includes great and entertaining characters, clever set-ups, and genius comedy. The film refuses to offer any less of what it could have offered, because it offers so much of the unexpected that works out more than for the best! Back to the Future is simply wonderful and timeless!
GRADE: E
#6
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The sequel to the original Star Wars, and the second installment in the original trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back also joins the club alongside Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Kung Fu Panda 2, for sequels that are superior to there predecessors. This time around Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) gets a vision of Jedi Master Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi (Alec Guinness) telling him that he must venture to swamp planet of Dagobah where he will continue his training as a Jedi under Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz). Meanwhile Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones) is in an obsessed Moby Dick-esque pursuit of the Rebel Alliance, the Millennium Falcon, and Luke Skywalker and is determined to get his hands on them and will kill anyone who is in his way or disturbs his plans. And during that time Han Solo (Harrison Ford, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), and the Wookie Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) try to escape from the clutches of the Empire and seek refuge in Cloud City, run by Solo's good friend Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), as in the meantime Solo and Leia's romance begins to blossom. But circumstances forces Luke to face Darth Vader, and to learn a dark secret about his family's past. The Empire Strikes Back does what a great sequel should do, give us a new story within the same world, update the characters in terms of their development, introduce some new characters, and give them new challenges internal or external that they are forced to face. The film improves on Luke Skywalker greatly as he is not the whiny and inexperienced farm boy he was in the first film, this time around he is more mature, collected, wiser, and stronger, while also keeping that hasty and impatient side of him too, which makes a good balance. It shows that he is not a perfect human being. I also like the romance between Han Solo and Leia, which serves as majority of their subplot. It is a believable and genuine romance the two share, and both Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher share great chemistry whether they would be bickering or sweet talking. Darth Vader turns into an awesome villain in The Empire Strikes Back! I know he was also a good villain in the first film, but this is the one where Darth Vader shines and shows his true villainy. This time around he is darker, crueler, more menacing, more ruthless, and even more merciless. Every minute he is on screen, he owns every one of his scenes and he reminds you of why villains are so awesome, and why they should be. I like how this time around the film that got a new director that knew how to expand the scenery and settings to make them seem more grand and realistic. It greatly improves the scale of the first film, and I as much as I love the original Star Wars, I got to admit that the sets looked like obvious sets and most of them would be a claustrophobic's nightmare. There are more wide open spaces and more landscapes that the characters can explore. I also like how the writing in terms of the dialogue had improved. Again, as much as I can say I love the first film even I have to admit that the dialogue was at most charming, but not exactly sharp. The conversations and dialogue in Empire Strikes Back sounds more like real conversations and how real people would talk. The story this time around is a lot darker, complex, and conflicting as it offers challenges to both the characters and audience. It loves to toy with the idea of making the right decisions, and which decision is for the greater good. The film has its moments where it can have some heavy dark atmosphere, to heighten the weight of the stakes and the troubles and conflicts our characters face. Star Wars can be seen as a standard classic, but The Empire Strikes Back proves to be more than by offering the Star Wars trademark action scenes while still being a film that offers some great complex characters, stories, and themes! It is a universe of success!
GRADE: E
#5
Batman (1989)
Happy thoughts run through my mind whenever I think about this film. Of course my favorite comic book superhero film would have to based on my favorite comic book superhero, Batman. And this film perfectly captures, the tone, atmosphere, story, and characters of what Batman represents. As a young boy, billionaire Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) witnesses the cold-blooded murder of his mother and father by a crazed gunman. Now as an adult, in order to avenge the death of his parents against criminals like their murderer, Wayne becomes the vigilante known as Batman, a defender of Gotham City against the criminal underworld who strikes fear into the hearts of criminals, and brings them to justice. Meanwhile, a mobster named Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) is set up by his crime boss during a heist at at chemical plant where Napier comes face to face to Batman, where the Caped Crusader accidentally slips Napier in a vat of acid. The acid bleaches Jack's skin pale white and his hair green and after a plastic surgery, is given a permanent grin on his face. Jack Napier becomes deranged and mentally unstable at this and decides to don a new identity and ego, the villainous Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker. The Joker decides to show Gotham whose boss by terrorizing the citizens with poisoned hygiene products and other wild and deadly antics. It is up to Batman to prove himself to Gotham City as their protector by bringing the Joker to justice, and all the while as his life as Bruce Wayne starts a romantic relationship with the stunning beautiful photojournalist, Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger). The characters are a big part of me being madly in love with this film. Like Jurassic Park, almost every character that is present within the film, I believe are the actual characters not actors trying to portray characters. I see Batman, I see Bruce Wayne, I see the Joker, I see Vicki Vale, I see Alfred, because all the cast members gave their absolute best performances and they were completely devoted and lost within these characters. Apart from Kevin Conroy as my definite favorite voice for Batman and what he should sound like, in terms of appearance and live-action wise, my top favorite will be Michael Keaton. I'm sorry Christian Bale was a good try, but Keaton will always be my Batman, I do not care what anybody else says. When I see Keaton as Batman, I don't see a grown man trying to be Batman or a guy in a Batman costume, I SEE BATMAN! Again, I do not care what anybody else says, each of you can have your favorite Batmans, but mine is Keaton because I think he simply owns the role. He gets down every delivery and expression perfect. He's subtle, dark, quick, cunning, tough, and seems to be always ahead of anybody else. He a quiet hero waiting in the shadows to strike and he never gets cocky or tries to show off. He's always confident in his decisions. I also really like Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale. She maybe seen as the typical damsel in distress, but she is also supportive, kind, definitely has her limits, and always looks for an opportunity to help or save herself. Alfred (Michael Gough) is portrayed greatly by Gough as he succeeds in capturing the father figure that Alfred is to Bruce Wayne. And despite going all the way through the franchise as Alfred, even in the horrid Batman and Robin, he is one of the only few things that is still good. And then we have the always brilliant and charismatic Jack Nicholson as the Joker. I do not know what more I can say about this performance that I have not said before. I do love Heath Ledger, and I am really in love with Mark Hamill's voice over performance as the character, but that probably has to be tied with Nicholson's performance in this film. Jack Nicholson just owns as the Joker! Practically playing the role his entire life, Nicholson gets down the attitudes, the delivery, and the behavior of the Joker. I always say that while Ledger made the Joker a reality, Nicholson made him come to life, jumping right out of the comics and into our world. That is the kind of performance I usually like to tend better. Making the role your own is pretty great, but when you have the talent to bring a character on print to life and get down every single mannerism, THAT is unbelievable. There have been a lot of flack surprisingly recently, I think ever since The Dark Knight came out, about Nicholson's performance. That he was too goofy, he was not serious, he took up much of the screen time, he dances to Prince music. Well here's the thing folks, THE JOKER IS SUPPOSED TO BE ALL THOSE THINGS! Well excluding the part about the Prince music, but those scenes where he dances to the songs emphasize what kind of sick mind set the guy has. He does these horrible, unethical, and unspeakable crimes yet has tons of fun doing them. Plus he's supposed to be the attention seeking one and soaking up all the spotlight. And Jack Nicholson got that persona down perfectly, I felt like I was really watching my favorite comic book villain of all time in action! Despite being a Tim Burton film, it truly does not feel like it. It may to others but to me the production design seems rather different, the story pacing is different, and heck this film has regular and casual costume design rather than the over the top and gothic costumes that are usually present in most of Burton's films. But I think this is why it is my favorite Tim Burton film, despite me liking many of his others. It just seems different, unique, and proves that Burton's directing may actually work out of his usual gothic and quirky feel. Danny Elfman's score, phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal! The opening theme is one of the best film themes ever composed. It sets the mood just right for the film that is about to be presented. But the film score throughout the film is just great to listen to, even on their own. They range from action packed to suspenseful to brooding and to subtle. But I think the film's greatest strength goes to the great chemistry and rivalry that both Batman and the Joker share. This is one of the only faults that The Dark Knight had, and though I love that film, it is on this Top 60 list, this is what I felt it was the only thing missing, but fortunately enough good was in that film that allowed me to overlook it a little. But this film gets it down perfectly which is one of the reasons I prefer this film over the next. Whenever the two share the screen together, whether it would be Batman, Bruce Wayne, the Joker, or Jack Napier there was always this great sense of tension between the two. And it all started when Bruce was a child. By the way, SPOILERS AHEAD! The scene where Bruce flashbacks to the night of his parents' murder is one of the best directed scenes I have ever seen in film. It's probably my favorite scene in the entire film, or in any film. The lighting, the tilted angles from below, the music, the suspense, the build up, the echos, all of those elements make this a great scene. Arguably if it went by quickly, it would seem more realistic like in Batman Begins. But here it shows the build up to this tragedy and every single moment lasts what it seems to be forever. It is like a neverending torture to the eyes of a young Bruce Wayne. And it is this scene is where Bruce realizes that it was Jack Napier, aka the Joker, that gunned down and murdered his parents in cold blood that night. Now there was some backlash from fans that this was a preposterous and nonsensical decision for the Joker being the murderer of Batman's parents. But I think it is greatly effective and it only heatens the tension and the rivalry even more. Batman now has a fully realized purpose of why he needs to be Batman and why he needs to stop the Joker from terrorizing Gotham City. Plus they meet each other four times in different situations and as different personas. In chronological order there was Bruce Wayne face to face with Jack Napier the night of his parents' death, there was Batman face to face with Jack Napier at the chemical plant, there was Bruce Wayne face to face with the Joker at Vicki Vale's apartment, and then at the climax is the final showdown between two mighty egos, Batman and the Joker. Everything comes full circle and becomes three-dimensional. With a well paced story, awesome and unforgettable characters, great music, and wonderful direction, Batman will remain my favorite comic book superhero film of all time as well as my one of my favorite films! GRADE: E FULL REVIEW: Batman Review
#4
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Simply my all time favorite Stanley Kubrick film! This film represents what true science fiction is, exploring the mysterious unknown! And it does not tell that much of a complex and narrative story. This film is all about the experience of being out in space and into the unknown. And if you want to go by narrative, the closest thing would be a narrative about the evolution of mankind and how our curiosity can either benefit us or com with consequences. The film starts out with the beginning of man, when human beings were only ape-like creatures who thanks to the Monolith, grew smarter and more advanced. Another story includes astronauts, including one named Dave (Keir Duella) and another named Frank (Gary Lockwood) as they watch over their shuttle while other astronauts are asleep and they are aided by their computer the HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain). This is one of the best arcs of the film because it explores the ignorance human beings tend to have over the consequences of their technological evolution For example, a good scene has Frank looking over a video message his parents sent him for his birthday. This scene always seems to fascinate me because Frank never seems phased by any of it. His parents send him a "Happy Birthday" message and he doesn't give a smile, a grin, a chuckle, anything. He just stares at the screen like a mindless machine. Kudos to Lockwood for this brilliance performance, but also to the directing of Kubrick himself and the tone these scenes want to set up. Later on in this arc, HAL feels that Dave and Frank will jeopardize the shuttle's mission, so in order for the mission to go well, so the computer decides to murder all that stands in the mission's way. As HAL gets more dangerous, the astronauts slowly but surely are called back to humanity and they know what it is like to face danger and the consequences of their actions. It's funny because even though HAL has and always was a computer, he seemed more human from the beginning for me and slowly turned into the emotionless machine bent on perfection towards the end, while for the space crew, specifically Dave, it was vice versa. This is why I consider the HAL 9000 to be the all time greatest villain in film. Despite being a machine, HAL is still a character and a very complex and well developed one at that. Every line of dialogue and delivery seems very real, very effective, and very human. Giving an emotionless artificially intelligent machine a character I can imagine is nowhere near easy. But Stanley Kubrick pulled it off beautifully by giving us enough time to spend with this character, so we can more time remembering it. But also one of the other best parts of the film is the ending, where Dave finds another Monolith and gets sucked into a vortex of neon colors, stars, planets, and surreal visuals. By the end Dave, before anybody else, discovers the next step and evolution in mankind, and becomes it himself. The whole story has a beautifully told story with a definite start and finish line, about where mankind started and how we evolved and advanced to the point where the possibility is out there that mankind can discover something about the unknown. 2001: A Space Odyssey both celebrates and criticizes the evolution of human knowledge, and gives us a very adult and deep sci-fi experience that I love to death!GRADE: E
#3
The Exorcist (1973)
This film I believe explores everybody's greatest fear. Though it primarily leans towards the supernatural, religious beliefs, and the belief of Hell and Satan. But still, you can take out that this film has to do with any of that stuff. I believe people who do not have a religious background can still be somehow affected or inspired by this film to think of new thoughts they have not come across before. What if the human animal's greatest fear is something they cannot fathom, something that is unethical beyond what they think is unethical, something that is not of this world, something that is inhumane, something that embodies what "evil" really is. That is where The Exorcist, comes in. The film tells a story of a girl named Reagan MacNeil (Linda Blair) who gets possessed by an evil spirit. Her mother Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) desperately seeks the help of Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) , a troubled priest, to help exorcise her daughter. Damien slowly getting evidence that Reagan is in fact possessed, gets the help of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), as the two spend an eeire, fearful, and heart pounding night facing the world's greatest evil. Unarguably the best scenes in the film are in the climax during Reagan's exorcism, but most of the film was worth it for the build-up, suspenseful moments, other very intense scenes, and character development. For example, we experience bitter grief and troubles Chris goes through while experiencing her own daughter being possessed and just going absolutely insane. There's a lot of screaming, clawing, Reagan's voice changes, she shouts terrible profanity, what the spirit is doing to both Reagan and her mother is pretty sick. It would cause any parent to sink into desperate madness. Then we have an arc for Father Damien as he tries to battle his own demons (no pun intended). His mother dies, to which he believes is his fault because he was never really around for her. He starts losing his faith but when it comes time to exorcise Reagan, the faith might finally need to kick back in. There is not much about Father Merrin, he only appears in the first and third act of the film. But then again, whenever he is around, there is always this presence he gives like if you were around a wise, knowledgeable, and respectable being. Really it's von Sydow's acting that does the work for the character, and it succeeds well in order for the audience to connect with him. The scenes that are suppose to be scary turn out to be really terrifying indeed. Much build up and suspense lead up to many of Reagan's scenes whether she is attacking or acting completely nuts. But most of the terror draws from the climax as the exorcism is happening. The emotional weight, the strong deliveries, the lighting, the tone, the atmosphere, the acting, and whatever else all makes this entire scene tremendously eerie, gothic, terrifying, and most surprisingly all real. Director William Friedkin, definitely knew how to properly horrify his audience and have them experience an unwelcoming and dark world, where they have to face their deepest darkest fear. The belief that the existence of something so evil beyond comprehension is truly explored in The Exorcist. It is never afraid to throw the strong punches and hit us with everything its got. It truly uses the beautiful art of filmmaking to create a terrifying and real experience! I could not love it anymore!
GRADE: E FULL REVIEW: The Exorcist Review
A film is that is truly from beginning to end. This one of Disney's greatest masterpieces! The animation, stunning! The music, beautiful! The stories, engaging!, The overall spectacle, fantastic! It is hard to sum up what the entire film is about. Basically it is a series of vignettes of pieces of classical music in sync with Disney animation. And boy does it succeed! The whole idea of the film is to connect some sort of narrative or visuals with a certain piece of classical music. Every time I see this film, I am always in awe. Words cannot express the various emotions I feel while watching the film. It presents various emotions towards the audience and each segment helps the audience work off each of them in different ways. I am wanting to do a more thorough review of this film in the future, because I feel there are certain messages within the film that I feel are so strong, so adult, and so poignant that I cannot say what I feel they are until I do an actual review of the film some time in the future. What I can do though is give my brief opinions on how I feel towards the different segments. The first, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, first features the orchestra playing their instruments but then slowly transitions to the animation, which shows various surreal images of shapes and objects floating in space, getting the idea of this is what probably happens in the audience's head whenever they hear the music. The images and the music sync perfectly and they flow beautifully. The second segments which contains pieces of The Nutcracker Suite, tells narratives about dancing flowers, pixies, and fish in a river that live in a somewhat magical forest. The animation and designs are just beautiful in this segment and music carries a lot of emotional weight for the audience to react to. The third segment is The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which features Disney's own worldly recognized mascot, Mickey Mouse, as an apprentice to a wise and powerful sorcerer. When Mickey decides to play with the sorcerer's hat, he brings to life a broomstick and orders it to do his chores. But soon the spell gets out of hand and Mickey finds himself, dangerously trying to face his consequences. The music is stunning and one of the bests in the entire film, and the short itself good too, with great character animation on Mickey, the brooms, and the sorcerer. The fourth segment is Rite of Spring, which features the evolution of the Earth from when it first started as landscapes of rock, magma, lava, and erupting volcanoes, eventually forming the land. The segment then leads to the evolution of living species from tiny microscopic living organisms to the majestic dinosaurs. Interesting trivia, is that the first time I ever learned about dinosaurs as a small child was from this film. And it was a great introduction to these beasts of the past. The animation and the music flow well with the actions and mannerisms of the dinosaurs, allowing them to breed, have memorable screen time, and to get to experience what their lives were probably like. The fifth segment, Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, features the lives of the many Greek gods and mythical creatures that live on Mount Olympus. The music is beautiful and the character design on each of these various characters and creatures look fantastic, they pop up well, and are easily memorable. The sixth segment, Dance of the Hours, is a very fun one! Here we have dancing ostriches, hippos, elephants, and crocodiles all dancing to Amilcare Ponchielli's classical piece while all the while, creating hijynx. The animation is fast and creative, allowing for the character design to still look outstanding, and the music fits well with zanyness and mayhem that happens in the short. Finally there is the Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria segment, which by far is my favorite segment. The segment features the Devil himself tormenting evil spirits and his demon minions cursing them to dance for his pleasure and then burning them in fire. But he and his minions are then scared away by church bells and the sound Ave Maria, as we see a parade of people holding candles through a forest and singing the beautiful song. The whole entire segment is just beautiful to look at. The animation is beyond stunning and spectacular, and the music syncs perfectly, especially during Night on Bald Mountain. The music gets a lot more tense and brooding as well as the visuals, and it is just a spectacle to look at. Like The Exorcist, it presents an idea of something more evil than we can imagine, but to add on to that it also presents something more good than we can imagine. Each half of the segment work off each other perfectly and it is just a genius work of art. The whole entire film is just a giant work of art. I can hardly put it in words, but films like Fantasia remind me of why I love film, why I love storytelling, and why I love to experience emotions while watching a film. It is a grand worthwhile experience that you can be damn sure I'll revisit a billion more times in the future! But what can possibly be better than this...
GRADE: E FULL REVIEW: The Exorcist Review
#2
Fantasia (1940)
GRADE: E
Honestly, I have no idea where to start or how to start talking about this film. It's my favorite film of all time, it is hard to sum up in words about how much I love this film. I guess the best place is to start off with the basic plot. To the, what, one person in the world who is oblivious to this film's existence, the story follows a young lion cub named Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) who is raised as an heir to throne of the Pride Lands following his father, the current king, Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones). Mufasa teaches his son the ways and responsibilities of being a king and about The Circle of Life. Both Simba and Mufasa have a loving father and son relationship and the two cannot get any closer. Mufasa's jealous and evil brother Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons) plots a wildebeest stampede to put Simba in danger, leaving Mufasa to risk his life and die at his brothers hands in order to save him. Scar puts the blame of Mufasa's death on Simba and exiles him from The Pride Lands. Simba meets a meerkat named Timon (voiced by Nathan Lane) and a warthog named Pumbaa (voiced by Ernie Sabella) , and the two take the young cub in as their own as Simba grows into a full grown adult lion living in paradise. But when his childhood friend, Nala, (voiced by Moira Kelly), and getting a vision of his father, Simba decides to step up and to challenge his evil uncle in order to take his place as king. Being my favorite film of all time, I hardly have an idea on where I should start first. Like I said earlier, there is so much to say, that I have no idea what I should talk about in order, I'll feel like that I would just be all over the place. I guess the appropriate way to start is to first say that this film has been with me my WHOLE life. And I know that's the case with many other people with a lot of other Disney films, famous family films, or just great films in general. We all have that one film that has stuck with us ever since the hour we took a breath on this planet. But I feel like mentioning this because this is the one that never fails to put a smile on my face whenever I finish watching it. This film has helped me through tough times, distract me from my problems, and really help me escape and while at the same time make me have a rather fun and entertaining time. The reasons for that I will tell you right now. First off as soon as you come across any of these characters, they instantly become timeless. From the regal Mufasa, to the wise Rafiki, to the always funny and enjoyable Timon and Pumbaa, to the villainous Scar, and to our main hero Simba. Favorite characters of mine include Simba and Scar. Scar is a classy, old-time type of villain. Sometimes subtle, sometimes over the top, sometimes witty, sometimes conniving, sometimes funny, sometimes malicious, and even sometimes legitimately threatening. Scar has it all. And though it still does not make him the best film villain of all time, he still is a pretty awesome villain and he is just so great to watch. Most of it is due to the design and animation, Jeremy Iron's performance, and his overall character in general. Simba is one of my favorite film protagonists because I feel he perfectly embodies the everyday person. He has all the traits of the average human being and it is easy to feel all the emotions he feels. When he's happy, we're happy, when he's sad, we're sad, when he's angry, we're angry. It flows and syncs harmoniously. Though ironically I hardly see Matthew Broderick as a great actor, with the exception of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and maybe Glory, this one probably is another exception for me. Though again ironically despite this being my favorite film and Simba being one of my favorite characters, I can see tons of other actors doing the role besides Broderick. But maybe that's the great thing about the character. He is written so well that anyone can fill in the shoes because almost anyone can relate to his struggles and issues. I guess next I should talk about the songs, which are some of the most catchiest and enjoyable to listen along with some of the other great song numbers brought to us by Disney. Circle of Life, I Just Can't Wait to be King, Be Prepared, Hakuna Matata, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight are all classics in their own right. Each one of these songs represent an aspect or element of life such as beginnigs, childhood, the limitless extent of evil and whats unethical, friendship, and true love. The songs by Elton John and Tim Rice are all enjoyable listen to and also have some deep meanings that probably hardly anyone has ever thought of. The animation, what can I say top knotch! One of the absolute bests by Disney. It's smooth, flowing, colorful, well-paced, the character designs look great and memorable, the emotions on the characters are done well, and the scenes which include some CG graphics, like the stampede scene, greatly compliment the traditional animation. Last but not least, the story is probably the best aspect of the film. This has probably got to me one the most adult stories ever to come out of the Mouse House. And why wouldn't it, elements of it have been borrowed from Hamlet, Macbeth, and stories from the Old Testament of the Bible. It is probably the most epic story ever been told by Disney. And it is truly told beautifully. The way events are set up, how they are played out, and when they are placed are simply perfect. The story gives a sufficient amount of time in developing these characters and there world. The events are sequenced so perfectly so that it makes sense whenever big events happen in the story and the audience can feel an emotion for that event. A great example is Mufasa's death. This scene has gone down as one of the most heartbreaking and tearjerking scenes put in any film and everyone who I have talked to who has seen this film has admitted they cried while watching this scene. The scene is just full of the right amount of sadness, tragedy, and drama, that it almost feels real like we are right there experiencing this greatly unfortunate event. The scene goes as far as showing the corpse of Mufasa laying there as Simba sobs at the sight of his deceased and beloved father. A lot of the performances seem real and a lot of the time it feels like the characters are speaking directly to us. The story's message is also a powerful and rather adult one, and a lot of the times its a rare moral for us to ever feel fully devoted to. Taking up for our responsibilities is rather hard for us to commit to, no matter how devoted we think or say we are. But the film does not poorly convey it, it gives our hero a pretty big issue to deal with in order to overcome his fears and live by the moral himself. And sometimes it is the big issues that delay us from ever living by that moral. This is why The Lion King is my all time favorite film. Despite the target audience is aimed at, and the limits so many set it for being a family film, it is not afraid to be truthful, direct, and real for its audience. It does the job so well, that it makes fans like us easy to connect with it. It is overall glorious, beautiful, epic, enjoyable, entertaining, magnificent, well-written, and just perfect. It uses the elements it has to give us one amazing film. It simply has everything that I love in a film and what I love about cinema. The Lion King, my favorite film of all time, what more do I need to say?
And my #1 favorite film is...
THE LION KING (1994)
Honestly, I have no idea where to start or how to start talking about this film. It's my favorite film of all time, it is hard to sum up in words about how much I love this film. I guess the best place is to start off with the basic plot. To the, what, one person in the world who is oblivious to this film's existence, the story follows a young lion cub named Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) who is raised as an heir to throne of the Pride Lands following his father, the current king, Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones). Mufasa teaches his son the ways and responsibilities of being a king and about The Circle of Life. Both Simba and Mufasa have a loving father and son relationship and the two cannot get any closer. Mufasa's jealous and evil brother Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons) plots a wildebeest stampede to put Simba in danger, leaving Mufasa to risk his life and die at his brothers hands in order to save him. Scar puts the blame of Mufasa's death on Simba and exiles him from The Pride Lands. Simba meets a meerkat named Timon (voiced by Nathan Lane) and a warthog named Pumbaa (voiced by Ernie Sabella) , and the two take the young cub in as their own as Simba grows into a full grown adult lion living in paradise. But when his childhood friend, Nala, (voiced by Moira Kelly), and getting a vision of his father, Simba decides to step up and to challenge his evil uncle in order to take his place as king. Being my favorite film of all time, I hardly have an idea on where I should start first. Like I said earlier, there is so much to say, that I have no idea what I should talk about in order, I'll feel like that I would just be all over the place. I guess the appropriate way to start is to first say that this film has been with me my WHOLE life. And I know that's the case with many other people with a lot of other Disney films, famous family films, or just great films in general. We all have that one film that has stuck with us ever since the hour we took a breath on this planet. But I feel like mentioning this because this is the one that never fails to put a smile on my face whenever I finish watching it. This film has helped me through tough times, distract me from my problems, and really help me escape and while at the same time make me have a rather fun and entertaining time. The reasons for that I will tell you right now. First off as soon as you come across any of these characters, they instantly become timeless. From the regal Mufasa, to the wise Rafiki, to the always funny and enjoyable Timon and Pumbaa, to the villainous Scar, and to our main hero Simba. Favorite characters of mine include Simba and Scar. Scar is a classy, old-time type of villain. Sometimes subtle, sometimes over the top, sometimes witty, sometimes conniving, sometimes funny, sometimes malicious, and even sometimes legitimately threatening. Scar has it all. And though it still does not make him the best film villain of all time, he still is a pretty awesome villain and he is just so great to watch. Most of it is due to the design and animation, Jeremy Iron's performance, and his overall character in general. Simba is one of my favorite film protagonists because I feel he perfectly embodies the everyday person. He has all the traits of the average human being and it is easy to feel all the emotions he feels. When he's happy, we're happy, when he's sad, we're sad, when he's angry, we're angry. It flows and syncs harmoniously. Though ironically I hardly see Matthew Broderick as a great actor, with the exception of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and maybe Glory, this one probably is another exception for me. Though again ironically despite this being my favorite film and Simba being one of my favorite characters, I can see tons of other actors doing the role besides Broderick. But maybe that's the great thing about the character. He is written so well that anyone can fill in the shoes because almost anyone can relate to his struggles and issues. I guess next I should talk about the songs, which are some of the most catchiest and enjoyable to listen along with some of the other great song numbers brought to us by Disney. Circle of Life, I Just Can't Wait to be King, Be Prepared, Hakuna Matata, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight are all classics in their own right. Each one of these songs represent an aspect or element of life such as beginnigs, childhood, the limitless extent of evil and whats unethical, friendship, and true love. The songs by Elton John and Tim Rice are all enjoyable listen to and also have some deep meanings that probably hardly anyone has ever thought of. The animation, what can I say top knotch! One of the absolute bests by Disney. It's smooth, flowing, colorful, well-paced, the character designs look great and memorable, the emotions on the characters are done well, and the scenes which include some CG graphics, like the stampede scene, greatly compliment the traditional animation. Last but not least, the story is probably the best aspect of the film. This has probably got to me one the most adult stories ever to come out of the Mouse House. And why wouldn't it, elements of it have been borrowed from Hamlet, Macbeth, and stories from the Old Testament of the Bible. It is probably the most epic story ever been told by Disney. And it is truly told beautifully. The way events are set up, how they are played out, and when they are placed are simply perfect. The story gives a sufficient amount of time in developing these characters and there world. The events are sequenced so perfectly so that it makes sense whenever big events happen in the story and the audience can feel an emotion for that event. A great example is Mufasa's death. This scene has gone down as one of the most heartbreaking and tearjerking scenes put in any film and everyone who I have talked to who has seen this film has admitted they cried while watching this scene. The scene is just full of the right amount of sadness, tragedy, and drama, that it almost feels real like we are right there experiencing this greatly unfortunate event. The scene goes as far as showing the corpse of Mufasa laying there as Simba sobs at the sight of his deceased and beloved father. A lot of the performances seem real and a lot of the time it feels like the characters are speaking directly to us. The story's message is also a powerful and rather adult one, and a lot of the times its a rare moral for us to ever feel fully devoted to. Taking up for our responsibilities is rather hard for us to commit to, no matter how devoted we think or say we are. But the film does not poorly convey it, it gives our hero a pretty big issue to deal with in order to overcome his fears and live by the moral himself. And sometimes it is the big issues that delay us from ever living by that moral. This is why The Lion King is my all time favorite film. Despite the target audience is aimed at, and the limits so many set it for being a family film, it is not afraid to be truthful, direct, and real for its audience. It does the job so well, that it makes fans like us easy to connect with it. It is overall glorious, beautiful, epic, enjoyable, entertaining, magnificent, well-written, and just perfect. It uses the elements it has to give us one amazing film. It simply has everything that I love in a film and what I love about cinema. The Lion King, my favorite film of all time, what more do I need to say?
GRADE: E
Well, THAT'S IT! I hope you all enjoyed my Top 60 List, which surprisingly took me so long to write out. Feel free to share what some of your favorite films are in the comments. I'm curious to know them! Until then, see you the next review!
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