IMDB rating: 8.5
My rating: 9
I loved American Beauty. I would put this in the top 10 movies I've ever seen.
Kevin Spacey is creepy as always and he pulls it off beautifully. Thora Birch and Mena Suvari were also excellent.
I'm not sure exactly what it was about this movie that made it so enjoyable. The music, the camerawork, the voice overs, and the scenery all came together to create a dark comedy/tragedy/drama, or a tragecomedrama for short.
There is brief nudity in this movie and a very small amount of violence, but nothing too distracting. This is a movie everyone should watch, hands down.
American Beauty - #37
Requiem for a Dream - #64
IMDB rating: 8.4
My rating: 8.5
Requiem for a Dream was a very unique film. It followed the lives of several people and how they coped with drug addiction.
I thought the acting was pretty good, but nothing to rave about. The actors were believable, but the thing that really stood out about this movie was the unique film style. As a side note, this was the only good movie I've seen with Marlon Wayans in it (sorry White Chicks).
There are many quick camera changes and extreme close-ups, which I thought fit the film perfectly. Another thing that really enhanced the experience was the great soundtrack.
Requiem had a lot of gore and graphic scenes and would certainly not appeal to many people. It's no where near as bad as Saw, but it does have its moments. If you can handle this, you should definitely watch this movie.
Movie E-Zines
I've been looking into some film E-Zines that focus on movie reviews. They were difficult to find, but I finally managed to locate a few of them. Here's a list of some of the better ones I found.
IO Film: Film Inside Out - http://www.iofilm.co.uk
Pop Culture Geek - http://popculturegeek.com/
Channel 4 Film - http://www.channel4.com/film/a2z/f-A_1_a2z.html
Guardian Film Reviews - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/film+tone/reviews
Movie Gazette - http://www.movie-gazette.com/
About 90% of the film Zines listed in various directories don't exist anymore and some linked to Prescription Medication spam. The ones above exist and appear to be somewhat up to date.
Amadeus - #84
My rating: 9
Amadeus was a great movie, but I'm surprised it made the Top 100 list. It tells the story of Mozart through the eyes of Salieri, a mediocre composer living at the same time.
The only real downside to this movie was the length. I watched the extended edition, which was a little over 3 hours long. I watched it in 2 parts, so it wasn't that bad. I'm not sure I could have made it through the entire movie in one sitting. Another thing that got annoying was Mozart's laugh (you'll see what I mean).
Let me just say that I've played classical piano for 10 years and love classical music, so I might have a slightly bias opinion towards this movie. The soundtrack for Amadeus is the best I've heard, with the possible exception of The Pianist (IMDB #57). You get to hear many prime examples of Mozart's music in this film, including one of my favorites, Requiem aeternam.
The movie was also historically accurate, from the various composers to the costumes and sets and even the manner of speech. It really transported me back to the 18th century.
The reason I'm surprised it made the list is because I didn't think it appealed that much to a general audience. If you have any interest in classical music at all, you should definitely watch this movie. Otherwise, you might find yourself bored.
Pulp Fiction - #5
IMDB rating: 8.9
My rating: 8.5
I think Pulp Fiction is really out of place on the Top 100 list at #5. It was good and Tarantino's best work, but it wasn't one of the best films ever made.
Pulp Fiction seemed a little too long. It seemed to drag in some scenes. Some of the conversations took 10 minutes and didn't really say anything.
This film had an all star cast and they all acted well. Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis, John Travolta, and Uma Thurman all gave great performances. As a side note, I also noticed that almost the entire cast of Reservoir Dogs, also by Tarantino, made an appearance in Pulp Fiction.
Some people love this movie and some people hate it. I recommend you watch it, but don't expect it to be the best movie you've ever seen.
The Wrestler - #59
IMDB rating: 8.4
My rating: 8.6
I didn't think I would like The Wrestler when I saw the previews, but I trusted the critics and saw it anyway. I liked this movie a lot and agree with its placement on the list of best movies of all time.
Mickey Rourke was great in his role as a washed up wrestler. This was a very emotional film and all of the actors brought that through very well.
The Wrestler is definitely not for everyone. There was ample nudity and violence, but I think it was necessary for the message. I highly recommend this movie.
2001: A Space Odyssey - #87
IMDB rating: 8.3
My rating: 6
2001: A Space Odyssey gets the lowest rating I've given so far.
The movie was 144 minutes long, but only had about 20 minutes of plot. In between spurts of dialogue, there were 10 minute sequences of a spaceship slowly moving across the screen. Also, there were only about 6 actors in the movie. This made public areas seem like ghost towns.
The only reason I gave it a somewhat high rating is the fact that it was made in 1968. Some of the 21st century technology was very interesting to see. The characters were still using ancient computers, but they were running software that's at least 20 years away. One thing they did predict correctly was video conferencing. It was really cool to see them fake a video conferencing call when the technology to do it for real just came around a few years ago.
If you are going to watch this movie, I recommend keeping your finger on the fast forward button. That being said , I think about 20% of the movie is worth watching if only to understand all the modern references to it.