#'s 15-11

Let's keep it rollin'!


#15:

Die Hard might be a perfect action movie, but it can’t match the style of Shinichiro Watanabe’s anime epic. The ragtag crew of bounty hunters makes a perfect transition to the screen, bringing along their relationships, agendas and quirks, so well defined in the 26 episodes of the show. Following these weirdos around the galaxy is half the fun, as we watch them work together (but more often at odds) to stop a terrorist plot to end all life on Mars.

 Yeah, these are the cats I want protecting me from space terrorists...

As with Spirited Away, it’s the attention to detail that makes this movie such a spectacle. The fight scenes are kinetic and tactile, while the aerial dog-fights induce g-force reactions. The aesthetic engages as well, dragging us along from a Moroccan shopping district to a seedy arcade to a Halloween carnival of madness, all with the patience to let us soak in the atmosphere, often without music.

And, mercifully, without Keanu Reeves

And the music! Under Yoko Kanno’s direction, the Seatbelts reach new levels of funkiness, bringing us everything from rockin’ jazz fusion to potent, haunting melodies, capturing the emotion of a scene without flaw. I mean, just watch the intro if you don’t believe:

At the end of the day, however, it’s the “Heat”-like cat and mouse game between Spike and his mirror opposite, Vincent, that really elevates this movie. The slow reveal of Vincent’s history, Spike’s understanding of their parallels, and their inevitable confrontation are handled with the skill of the best live-action directors.

I feel like this is how Frank Miller wants to die

Best Moment: The opening...

 Pimp juice

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#14:

Not one for mind-fragging, soul-crushing, drug-induced descents into the heart of American madness? Better hit the romantic-comedies, then, because this movie is not for you. A completely unrepentant, incoherent nose-dive into the depths of human depravity, Fear and Loathing is not a film in the traditional sense, with no real plot or character development to speak of.

Ah, the sonnets...

Director Terry Gilliam has gone on record stating that he wanted the film to feel like an extended drug trip, and he succeeded admirably. The experience comes in waves, bringing you to the heights of ridiculous joy, the blinding brilliance of societal introspection and the crushing, terrifying grip of true fear, a horror of humanity from which there is no escape.

 Pictured: The romantic subplot

All this is great, but it wouldn’t work without Johnny Depp. The dude spent four months living with Hunter S. Thompson getting into character, wearing his actual clothes and driving his car around town. The commitment comes through perfectly, as the actor that we all know disappears, replaced by a man who would throw an orange at you in the bathtub. 

 Dear God, now they've got Spider-Man!

Best Moment: 

Feed your head

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#13: 

Looking at my list, I’m actually surprised that I don’t have any other outright comedies on my list after this one. I guess when you’ve got a flick like this, you’re not gonna get much better. A constant volley of jokes ranging from the asinine to the artistic, Airplane! never lets you forget that you’re there to have a good time. How do they achieve this? By playing the movie 100% straight the whole way through.

Well... ok, maybe 100% is an exaggeration.

The plot could be the next summer blockbuster, really: traumatized war hero, his personal life falling apart in the wake of a terrible mistake in combat, finds himself stuck on an airplane with no pilot. 

 And a drinking problem

Now, in the hands of anyone but the Zuckers this could be played in either direction too strongly, but here it’s a perfect blend of spoof and sincerity, filmed through the lens of a Warner Bros. cartoon. Can’t say much else without spoiling the jokes, so go check it out if you haven’t seen it, and go watch it again if you have. It holds up like whoa.

Best Moment:

 He is serious... and don't call him Shirley

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#12: 

I’ll admit a bias for this one. This is the movie that my fiancé, Julie, and I watched together on our very first (official) date, and I give complete and total credit to the symphony of joy that it is for her falling in love with me. I essentially tricked her, showing her the most perfect expression of Hollywood romance ever filmed, and intercutting images of me right next to her. It was subliminal, and now there is no escape.

 Aaaaaand... got her.

Despite my personal history with the movie, there’s no way one can discount the craft with which the mother of all romantic comedies is constructed: You’ve got nine (9!) plots connecting with each other in subtle and unexpected ways, following the many different kinds of love that people experience every day. 

 And there are many...

Even more than the incredibly skillful melding of the stories, this is what I appreciate most about the movie: It’s not just about romantic love, it’s just about love. Love between friends, family, strangers and couples. Some of the plots resolve in ways that are disarming and surprising (and in one case, tragically sad), but the climax of the film is a swirling miasma of happy endings that will move the hardest of hearts to cry like a Norwegian.

Aw, even the bug-eyed kid got some. Good for him.

And of course, mention must be made of the cast, which boasts a who's who of British actors that put Harry Potter to shame. From Shakespearean masters to Oscar winners, from never-heard-ofs to ridiculous cameos...

Quick! Which one's on Mad Men?

... you can't go wrong. 

Pirates of the what-now?

Best Moment: 

I don't... really need to explain why, do I?

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#11:

A lot of movies have a hard time figuring out what kind of movie they want to be, leaving the final product disjointed and tonally jarring. It’s a bit of a revelation, then, when a flick comes along that not only knows what it is, but absolutely commits to its’ premise, no matter how ridiculous it may be.

 And make no mistake...

Who Framed Roger Rabbit works so well because it is a fantastic, hard-boiled noir mystery that just happens to have cartoons running around. Expanding on the conceit of many early Bugs Bunny cartoons (namely, that the titular characters were real, merely acting in their films like any other actor), this movie hits a perfect balance between the ludicrous and the serious by embracing this premise and merely asking what the world would be like if this were the case. 

 That, and advocating the harboring of fugitives

Another cartoon that never panders to its audience, Roger Rabbit has all of the elements necessary to construct a great detective story; a hero with a dark past, an innocent man framed, a morally ambiguous femme fatale and a nastier than nasty villain. 

 Yeah... this was hard to process at 8

Then again, so was this...

The real miracle here is that they managed to tell a story featuring cartoon characters without compromising on any of the content. Violence, sex and betrayal run rampant in this world, just like in ours, and we learn that Toons are just as horribly human as we are. A one-of-a-kind classic.

Best Moment: 

Brain... melting...

Hey look, we're in the Top 10! Come back next time for another exciting installment!