Monday, January 09, 2006

Top ten movies.

What are my favourite movies? I think the the top ten movies would be, in no particular order:

1. The Shawshank Redemption.
A tale of a wrongly accused man imprisoned for the brutal double murder of his wife and the tennis pro that she was having an affair with. Admidst the brutality of the prsion, including gang rapes and prison guard abuse, this is a story of hope. It is beautifully well done and teaches one that our souls can go unbowed through whatever trials befall us as long as we hold onto hope.

2. Meet Joe Black.
Death, as in the Grim Reaper, decides to go on vacation. It chooses as a tour guide one William Parrish, an almost 60 year old media mogul billionaire played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, one of my favourite actors. The Grim Reaper harvests and occupies the body of a nameless young lawyer played by Bratt Pit, in the role that made me like him as an actor. This movie is somewhat slow, but has a very lovely understated sense of humor that meshes perfectly with the movie's romance and questions of love, death, life, and honor. This is a movie to sit down and enjoy with no distractions.

3. Cellular.
I have already written a review on this movie. It is fun, fast-paced action that is at the same time intelligent and completely realistic. This movie rocks!

4. The Crow.
Brandon Lee died making this movie about a man who returns from the grave to enact revenge on the men who killed him and raped and murdered his fiancee the day before their wedding. This movie is dark, moody, and violent. It has a killer soundtrack and a great musical score by composer Graeme Revelle.

5. Serenity.
Yes, I liked this movie that much. This was the first movie that I wrote a review on and only time will tell if there'll be a sequal. I sure hope so...

6. Braveheart.
This is another violent tale of bloody revenge, this time based on the true story of Scottland's greatest hero, William Wallace. Surprisingly enough, this is also a pretty romantic movie with two love stories interwoven through the violence.

7. Notting Hill.
This is a hilariously funny story of a Travel Bookshop owner played endearngly by Hugh Grant and his on again/off again romance with the world's biggest movie superstar played appropriately enough by Julia Roberts. Do not eat or drink while watching this movie unless you want to wear what you were trying to ingest. I'm not kidding, this movie is that funny!

8. Titanic.
Everyone has seen this movie. I love the story, the characters, the thespians, and the sinking. This is a awful beautiful story of love, death, and salvation. And it still makes me tear up when the band is playing Hymn to the Sea and the old couple is laying in bed holding each other while the water comes in through the door... sob...

9. Leathal Weapon.
The first movie of this franchise was dark, dangerous, and funny. I loved it. The rest of these movies ran away from their dark roots and into lighter comedy, much to my dismay. This first one though... You gotta see it.

10. James Cameron.
While not a movie per se, every movie that James Cameron has ever done has been great. Terminator and it's sequal, Aliens, The Abyss, they all rock! Easily my favourite director of all time. His movies are extremely well thought out, entertaining, and always pushes the technological boundries in order to tell the story, as opposed to it doing it for its own sake.

11. Independence Day.
I figured that I might as well put in a tenth movie. This is one of those rare popcorn movies that you can watch over and over again without getting tired of it. As I have two young children who love this movie, that is a very important aspect of the movie for me. It's a tale of aliens invading and the humans who fight them. It pays homage to countless other great sci fi films like V and Close Encouters of the Third Kind. It's a wonderful movie.


I hope that you enjoyed my top ten movie list. I'll try to do more. Maybe one on books...

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