From: Adam Kempenaar
To: Sam Hallgren
Subject: Tying up loose ends
By the length of Sam's last post, I think it's safe to say that he'll be playing the role of A.O Scott in our little movie club. If Harvey Weinstein was in charge of this blog, Sam's post would have been trimmed by at least a half-hour. Meanwhile, I'll be Roger Ebert, sneaking in 100 words or so whenever I can. Since there are enough interesting points in your comments to keep me writing for days, I'll try to pace myself and take them one at a time... which would mean starting with a discussion of 'The Hours.' However, I'm going to keep losing sleep if I don't nail the coffin shut on our feeble attempt to answer Sight & Sound with our list of the best films since 1978.
I think I revealed the list back on Dec. 20, and if you hadn't finally written about it last week, it would have been a complete waste of time. In our defense, Christmas came... and then New Years... and is it just me or, more than ever before, are all the good movies being released around the end of the year, forcing us to see everything in a whirlwind two-week period? I remember when the Fall movie season included October and November. Now all the studios are holding out for the holidays, presumably because they want their Oscar contenders as fresh as possible in everyone's mind. I suppose we'll see if all the year's best really did come out around Christmas when we reveal our top ten lists next week.
Here again is our list of the best films of the past 25 years:
1. Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1989)
2. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
3. GoodFellas (Scorsese, 1991)
4. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen, 1986)
5. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
6. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
7. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)
8. Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
9. The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
10. Henry V (Kenneth Branagh, 1989)
One thing I've always appreciated about you, Sam, in the fairly brief time we've known each other, is your fearlessness when it comes to defying conventional wisdom. This would include branding 'Lovely and Amazing' as the worst film of the year even though many critics list it among the ten best. (I still haven't seen it, unfortunately.) In your post back on Dec. 30, you had the balls -- or blatant stupidity -- to state you aren't a huge fan of Martin Scorsese. If you were picking one Scorsese film to watch, it wouldn't be 'Raging Bull' or 'GoodFellas' or any of the other more critically-adored of his films. Rather, you'd watch 'After Hours.' It's sort of like making a list of the "greatest" movies of all-time and then a separate list of your "favorite" movies of all-time. A personal example would be Kubrick's '2001,' which is an amazing technical achievement. But if I had to pick between watching it and Chevy Chase in 'Fletch', well, just call me John Cocktoasten. The thing with Scorsese though, for me anyway, is that 'Raging Bull' and 'GoodFellas' are not only deservedly recognized as great cinematic achievements, but I also love watching them. I can remember watching 'Raging Bull' the first two or three times and marveling at the acting, the cinematography, and the editing of the boxing scenes, without ever considering the complexity of LaMotta as a character, or really thinking about what Scorsese was trying to say about how you truly can't judge someone without standing in their shoes. For all of his seemingly unfounded paranoia about being betrayed and our disdain for him as a violent, overgrown kid, his worst fears are ultimately realized. LaMotta was right all along. As for 'GoodFellas,' it just proves that the "bad guys" are always the most fascinating characters. The famous steadicam shot of Henry's little stroll through the back of the Copacabana isn't just to impress Karen; Scorsese is allowing us to indulge in the fantasy as well.
We must say thanks to Eric for putting 'Henry V' high enough on his list to force it into our top ten and then quickly leaving the country before having to defend himself. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of both 'Henry V' and Kenneth Branagh. But one of the ten best films since 1978?
A.I. Fan from the Feedback Forum should know that 'Hannah Her Sisters' was not my contribution to the list. Surprisingly, I didn't pick a single Woody Allen film. If I had, it would have been 'Crimes and Misdemeanors,' but 'Hannah' does follow a close second to 'Crimes' on my list of favorite Allen films not named 'Annie Hall.'
Curiously, one selection that I find a bit questionable is Wes Anderson's 'Rushmore." It made both of your individual lists, but if 'Raging Bull' and 'GoodFellas' seem like convenient, almost de facto picks, 'Rushmore' strikes me as basically the same just for a younger generation. It's the film that movie geeks like us just have to worship, even if 'The Royal Tenenbaums' and 'Bottle Rocket' are both arguably better films.
And then there's 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' which topped our poll based on the fact that it was the only movie to appear on all three of our lists. Another movie that we can appreciate for its luminous acting and writing, but also simply enjoy watching it endlessly. I remember a friend in college telling me how he didn't really like 'Glengarry' because the 'Mr. Fuck You' scene with Alec Baldwin was so abusive that he had a bad taste in his mouth the whole rest of the film. My response was, "Yeah, and..." Is there a scene in any film ever that is more unsettling and hilarious at the same time?
Movies that were on my list that nobody else had: Lone Star, Boogie Nights, Blue Velvet, Fargo
Movies only on Eric's list: Henry V, Ordinary People, In the Mood For Love, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Days of Heaven, There's Something About Mary
Movies only on Sam's list: Yi Yi, Miller's Crossing, The Matrix, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Insider
Now that this list is officially dead and buried, we can get on with discussing 2002. Along with 'The Hours,' I'll have comments about 'Antwone Fisher,' 'Adaptation' and 'Catch Me If You Can.'
Until next time,
Adam
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