After much deliberation, I have created a comprehensive list of my current 30 favorite movies ever made. I am still debating about it in my head, considering there are still so many more movies that I want to include on it. However, I widdled it down to 30. I'll reveal them periodically over the next few days, with my absolute favorites (1-10) having long explanations, and then after that getting shorter and shorter. Here's numbers 21-30 with brief explanations.
21. The Shining Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece of horror is in my humble opinion the scariest film ever made. I have never seen anything that has contained as much suspense and as much sheer terror as this movie. And while I usually don't like the genre a whole lot, I love this movie.
22. The 40 Year Old Virgin/Knocked Up There was a tie here, and I figured I could group them together since it's the same crew. Apatow's movies have changed comedy, and both of these films are almost beyond hilarious. I could never get sick of either of them.
23. Blade Runner I love sci-fi. It's probably one of my favorite genres, whether it be film or book. This movie is near perfect as both provocative sci-fi and as neo-noir. Outstanding.
24. Donnie Darko This back end of the list contains a lot of mind-benders, and I feel this is the best of the bunch. It's strange, morbid, and surreal, but amazingly relateable and compelling. And Frank still scares the sh*t out of me.
25. Fight Club This movie was just awesome. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are perfect, and surprisingly compatible playing two sides of the same character. There are so many great scenes and quotes in this movie too.
26. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I know this is a complete druggie movie, but I still just can't seem to get it out of my head. It's hilarious and offbeat, but Thompson and Gilliam just seem to have so much to say about America, even in a drug-induced stupor. And Johnny Depp is dead-on gonzo.
27. Pi I only recently saw this movie, but there's just something about it that struck close to home. The use of black and white is amazing, and some of the ideas presented are so interesting.
28. Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 These movies are great. The fight scenes are amazing, and there are some scenes that are hysterical. Everything about them is just so cool. (As a note, I decided to include film series as one entry.)
29. Memento One of the most influential mind-f***s ever made, it is also one of the finest. The story is so strange and so compelling, as is the style in which it's done. This movie seriously was gipped by the Academy and others in so many ways.
30. Close Encounters of the Third Kind Another sci-fi masterpiece that I couldn't resist including. The idea for this film is amazing, as is the style in which it's done. I love how you can tell that this was Spielberg "back in the day", when his imagination was really flourishing.
End of part one. (As you may be able to tell, I am a compulsive list-maker.)