Friday, October 21, 2011

Top 100 Movies of All-Time (79-70)

     Doing a good job of keeping up with this!  Two days ago I kicked off this list with my movies ranked from 100-90 and then yesterday I revealed the movies ranked at numbers 89-80.  Let's go ahead and see numbers 79-70 then, shall we?

79 - The Blind Side (2009)
I'll be first to admit that I'm not the world's biggest "feel good" movie fan.  They're fine, I just normally don't get into the warm fuzzy feeling that they encompass at the end and how things always seem to wrap up ever so neatly.  The Blind Side was one of those "feel good" movies that I watched and really enjoyed.  It tells the story of a family (led by Leigh Anne Tuohy played by Sandra Bullock, who won the Academy Award for her role in this movie) who adopts Michael Oher (played by Quinton Aaron) after coming to realize he was a teenager living on the streets after being abandoned by his mother.  The movie, which is based off the true story of the real life Michael Oher, an offensive lineman on the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL, then shows Michael going on to becoming used to living in the upper class household of the Tuohy's and eventually truly becoming part of the family.  I think what my favorite part of this movie is the fact that the "based on a true story" tag is actually pretty legit.  From what I've read, this movie doesn't really stray away from real life all that much and if it does it's really negligible details that don't diminish it at all.  Another thing I love is the fact that the player this movie is based off of, Michael Oher, is actually GOOD.  This isn't a story of a kid who made it despite all odds and ended up being a mediocre player that the media is trying to make out to be amazing to create a good story.  Oher was drafted in the 1st round of the 2009 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens and started every game of the 2009 season, finishing 2nd in the Offesnive Rookie of the Year voting.  I definitely root for Oher after watching this movie, I hope he goes on to a Hall of Fame career.

78 - Big Daddy (1999)
For my money, Big Daddy is the most underrated Adam Sandler movie of all-time.  This movie is so damn cute, Julian (played by Dylan & Cole Sprouse, aka Zack and Cody from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) is adopted by Sonny Koufax (played by Adam Sandler) and the two of them bond throughout the movie.  Their relationship has some bumps but in the long run, Sonny can't help but love the little kid.  I have to say, Julian is what makes this movie for me, that little dude was so damn cute and hilarious, if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't like it as much.  There'e still quotes from this movie that I repeat to this day (DAMN YOU, SCUBA STEVE) and that's always sure fire evidence that I love a movie, when you're repeating lines over a decade later.

77 - The Sandlot (1993)
Okay, who doesn't love this movie?  You show me somebody who can honestly say this movie sucks and then I'll in return show you somebody who has no soul.  This is just a fantastic story about a group of kids coming together to play some baseball.  From "You play ball like a girl!" to "You're killing me, Smalls" this movie will always resonate in many people's hearts.  You don't even have to enjoy baseball to love this movie, I have friends who think this movie is fantastic and couldn't give a shit less about baseball itself.  This movie taught me an extremely VALUABLE lesson when I viewed it as child.  Never, under any circumstances, use my dad's Babe Ruth autographed baseball to play with the guys.  All in all, this movie has and will continue to go down as a classic, it will certainly stand the test of time and be passed down from generation to generation.

76 - Buried (2010)
Words cannot describe how torn and skeptical I was going into my viewing of this movie.  On one hand, we have the fantastic Canadian Saint himself, Ryan Reynolds!  On the other hand, it's a feature length movie about a guy...buried...in a box.  Fortunately, this movie is able to hold up!  Save for a few details in the movie that kind of make you want to slap the main character for being so dumb, this movie plays pretty well.  It turns out, the main character played by Ryan Reynolds (Paul Conroy) was working as a truck driver in Iraq when his convoy was attacked and he is now buried underground.  He is left with a lighter, a cell phone, a flash light, & some glow wands (SCORE GLOW WANDS, COFFIN TECHNO PARTY...err...) He receives phone calls from his kidnappers instructing him to get money to them as he frantically calls his loved ones and homeland security to try and save him.  It's a heart wrenching tale and the whole time you're sitting there wondering if he's going to get out or not, it's uncomfortable and unnerving to watch as a lot of times, you feel like you're inside the cramped coffin right next to him.  The panic & anxiety one would feel in this situation is unfathomable and it made for a very entertaining film. 

75 - Scream 3 (2000)
Of all the Scream movies in the franchise, Scream 3 is the lowest rated movie, but I still love it.  I will forever be a Scream fanboy and I believe it's made evident by the fact that all 4 of the movies in the franchise are featured in my top 100.  Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, & Friday the 13th can't claim that, but Scream can.  Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Dewey Riley (David Arquette), & Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) are back as another person dressed in the iconic Ghostface outfit tried to terrorize them.  This movie has my least favorite killer in all of the movies, as he/she (I won't spoil it for those who have never seen it, although it did come out in 2000, get on that) was the most predictable to me.  The story itself is very interesting, capturing the movie within a movie aspect very effectively.  I of course have to mention that Jason Mewes & Kevin Smith make very small cameos in this movie as Jay & Silent Bob, which had me going nuts the first time I saw it.

74 - Big Fan (2009)
Oh look, another sports movie in this batch.  I guess this is the sports section of the list, huh?  I just recently watched Big Fan a couple days ago on Netflix and I've been kicking myself for waiting so long.  It's a fantastic story about a die-hard New York Giants fan named Paul (played brilliantly by Patton Oswalt) who tries to cope with an extremely difficult and awkward situation.  What do you do if your favorite player on your favorite team just completely fucks you up?  Paul gets beaten to a pulp in a strip club by the fictional star player of the New York Giants, Quantrell Bishop, his idol.  When he wakes up in the hospital, Paul has to try and decide if he wants to tell the world what happened and cost his favorite team their best player, or keep quiet and not receive any benefits or help for his injuries.  It's one of those movies that I personally watch and realize how obsessed and pathetic people can become when it comes to sports and it gives me that warning, to never EVER reach that point.  Regardless, this is a highly entertaining movie that I would suggest to ANY person who even remotely enjoys football, it's very easy to get captivated by this story.

73 - Jackass 3D (2010)
The title of the movie may be Jackass 3D but I didn't bother watching it in 3D, for the record.  I hope 3D is a fad that will go away soon, I really can't stand it.  Anyway, short tangent done, I will say that the Jackass series is my biggest guilty pleasure.  I don't just sort of like them, I LOVE them.  Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, the late Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, & Chris Pontius seem like some of the most badass and awesome dudes around.  I would love to hang out with these guys.  Watching these guys pull off hilariously dangerous stunts on the big screen is spectacular and keeps me laughing the whole time.  I don't care if people badmouth these guys, I will always look up to them and find them to be amazing.  That being said, I won't be going into any porta potties and get launched into the air any time soon.

72 - Beetlejuice (1988)
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!  This movie will always be remembered as one of the most prominent movies of my childhood.  Barbara & Adam Maitland (played by Geena Davis & Alec Baldwin) die early on in the movie and are introduced to another world filled with the undead and disturbing elements.  Eventually they meet Beetlejuice (played by Michael Keaton) who plays the role of the mischievous and at times cunning tour of the afterlife.  We're then introduced to a young Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, a goth girl looking for more acceptance and companionship in her life.  Beetlejuice himself is a fantastically hilarious character and Michael Keaton's performance is one of my favorite of all-time.  The line where he says he's seen The Exorcist 167 times and it keeps getting funnier every time is golden.  Seriously, this is one of those movies that if you haven't seen and you don't enjoy, like I said with The Sandlot, then there is something wrong with you.

71 - Carrie (1976)
Definitely a case of another vastly underrated movie.  The premise of this movie is the story of a teenage girl named Carrie White (played stunningly by Sissy Spacek) who tries to cope with the fact that she is being brutally and unmercifully bullied every single day.  She's a growing young girl going into puberty so her body is going through changes...like she's able to control things with her mind.  Just normal occurrences all young ladies must go through as they transfer into womanhood.  Oh and her mother (played by Piper Laurie) is a psycho Jesus freak who condemns her daughter for anything she does.  Carrie wants to go to the school dance?  GOING TO HELL!!!  In all seriousness, this is a brilliant movie based off the original book written by the terrifying Stephen King.  I maintain this is one of the more underrated horror movies, for it is not often discussed but it's a very scary and disturbing tale in which both Sissy & Piper were nominated for Academy Awards, a very rare feat for horror movie actors.

70 - Halloween II (2009)
A lot of people may be wondering why Rob Zombie's 2009 remake of Halloween II is anywhere near a top 100 list, and I agree this movie was not very good at all, fact is I found it very disappointing.  I was expecting a top 20 movie when I went into this and left feeling a bit perturbed at some scenes, but then again I'm a Michael Myers fanatic and I still enjoyed it for what it was.  A lot of people complained about the brutality of the murders, but I loved it.  Why sugar coat it?  If you want to go all out and completely maim someone, then by golly go for it!  It's just a movie, it's not like these people are actually getting their heads cut off by a shard of glass or their face smashed in by a boot.  I was annoyed with how often Michael was being shown without his mask, basically an insane homeless dude at times, but as a movie in of itself, I enjoyed it.  It's tough to call this a Halloween movie when it strays so far away from the example its predecessors established, but I can commend Rob Zombie for trying to think outside the box rather than just mailing it in for a movie check.  Just please, if there's going to be anymore Halloween movies, keep the mask on Michael & don't associate him with white horses...

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