The 100 Chapter 5: 92 & 91

 

Who doesn't love a list?

I devour the BFI Best Films of All Time list whenever they deem it necessary to revise and (invariably) disagree with most of the findings, but I still get a kick out of browsing. Same with Rolling Stone's inane Best 100 Albums (how does Sgt. Pepper drop from #1 to #24 in the latest incarnation?); the anger I feel subsides when I see they've put a couple of Aerosmith albums on the list! We all disagree with that number one but we keep right on scrolling through each choice.

This project, which has been percolating for quite a while, originated from the constant back and forth "good-natured bickering" between John Scoleri and myself. John invariably loves everything and I hate it all (for more of the discourse, I advise one and all to pick up a copy of bare•bones print magazine and read our debates about streaming and movie theaters to get a taste). I began to think it would be fun to compose a Favorite (as opposed to Best) 100 and compare our selections. Making it even more tantalizing, I managed to talk the third head of Ghidorah, Jack Seabrook, into participating. This could be interesting, since John's never seen a movie the two Georges (Romero and Lucas) didn't have a hand in, and Jack usually favors the flicks that have words at the bottom of the screen (dis-moi que j'ai tort, Jack!). I, on the other hand, can't wait to educate these two gentlemen as to what constitutes good cinema.

Every Thursday, we'll count down our picks two at a time. We're hoping this will generate discourse outside of our trio. Let us know just how crazy we are. This is going to be fun!—Peter

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)                                                                                                                  Starring:  Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters                                                                       Directed by: Ronald Neame

"Everyone above us before the ship turned over is dead. Because now they're under the water. There's nobody alive but us. And nobody's going to help us except ourselves. It's up to each one of you. It's up to all of us together. Now, for God's sake, come with me."

I saw The Poseidon Adventure in a packed house (it was one of the Century Theatre domes in San Jose, but I'm fuzzy on which one) on New Year's Eve, 1972. I was eleven years old and a faithful watcher of afternoon TV (Little Rascals, Family Affair, Three Stooges, Courtship of Eddie's Father, didn't matter what it was as long as it was included in that 3-5 PM slot every day), so I would have definitely been aware of Poseidon through Irwin Allen's bombardment of TV ads. The only actors in the cast I was familiar with were Ernie Borgnine (thanks mostly to McHale's Navy and Willard), a face that would only grow in stature (in my movie-going heart, at least) as the years went by, and Roddy McDowell, Cornelius of the Planet of the Apes flicks.

Anyway, there I was in that aforementioned sold-out theatre on the edge of my seat virtually throughout the film and all its twists (Roddy dies???), and for the first time I witnessed what I would call an "epic." There was something big about Poseidon, something my pre-teen brain could not understand. This was different than my other favorite films of 1972 (and I went to the movie theaters just about every day during the summer of '72). This had substance, believable characters, nail-biting action and, in the end, proof that heroes could die. When Hackman lets go of that wheel and falls to his death, I think I let out a gasp but my reaction was lost in a sea of gasps. I've seen The Poseidon Adventure at least a dozen times over the years (and again last week) and it retains its impact. Allen's similar The Towering Inferno would follow two years later and that was fun but The Poseidon Adventure remains the greatest disaster flick ever made. Argue with me.—Peter

Remarks from the Gallery

Jack: No argument here! It's a great movie and one I should've put on my list. I saw it second-run with my friend's family at a dollar theater (The Park Cinema in Roselle Park, NJ), where it was the first movie in a double feature with Conrack, featuring Jon Voight. The Poseidon Adventure blew me away and I've seen it many times since then. There are many thrilling moments, as well as some very emotional ones—Shelley Winters swimming back and forth underwater and dying is very moving. Gene Hackman is just great in this. And "The Morning After" is another earworm. Thanks for that.

John: It's probably been 20 years since I saw this on DVD. I have little recollection of it, but I know Vonna is also a fan. I may have to pick up a Blu Ray to give it a fresh assessment.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Starring:  Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta                     Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Two hit men recover a mysterious briefcase and one is convinced that God saved him.

I resisted watching Pulp Fiction for years because I'm a contrarian, as Peter likes to remind me. I saw Kill Bill one night on a business trip to Chicago and immediately wanted to see every other Tarantino movie. Pulp Fiction is not my favorite, but the final scene (and a few other things) led me to include it on my Top 100 list.

The language, drug use, and violence turn me off. The writing is great in spots and Samuel L. Jackson gives an unforgettable performance. John Travolta is darn good, too, and it's hard to tell at times how smart his character really is. The choice of songs on the soundtrack is incredible, and of course the dance scene is a classic.

Rewatching it just now, I still can't decide if the movie is an indictment of the characters or a celebration of them. Like Guys and Dolls, lowlife people speak in elevated language. Unfortunately, the scenes with Bruce Willis slow the movie to a crawl. As anyone who's seen it knows, things get so bizarre and disgusting at one point that the fast forward button on the remote control is a must. I kept wondering, as I watched, if it should have been higher on the list or if it should have been left off entirely. But that last scene!—Jack

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: Well, I'll save my comments on this groundbreaker for another day but I will say that it was unlike anything I'd ever seen at the time. And...

John: Yeah, it seems awfully early to be talking about this one. :) I encountered Reservoir Dogs on LaserDisc, but that made me an instant Tarantino fan, so I was there for this one on opening night, and it blew me away. I agree that the Bruce Willis/Butch sequences aren't as compelling as those with Jules and Vincent (at least until Bruce runs into Marcellus Wallace—literally), but it's so strong despite that. And there's no denying the influence it had on cinema in its wake: a flood of pop culture aware crime films with (attempts at) snappy dialogue and non-linear narratives followed and continue to dribble out to this day. 

Testament (1983)

Starring: Jayne Alexander, William Devane, Ross Harris

Directed by: Lynne Littman

"What do we do now?"

Without a doubt the grimmest film on my list, but one that I find myself returning to time and again. If you ever need a reminder to recognize the importance of living every day to its fullest—this is it. Of all the '80s nuclear war films, none has the power of this one, which sidesteps explosions and footage of rampant destruction to focus on the breakdown of society in the wake of a nuclear attack. Based on "The Last Testament," an amazing short story by a local (Sunnyvale, CA) author (Carol Amen—who sadly passed away before I ever had a chance to track her down), you can hear it read by the film's star, Jayne Alexander, on several of the current Blu Ray iterations. It's as heart-wrenching as the film itself.

In addition to Alexander, the main family we follow is comprised of William Devane, Ross Harris (no, not the same Ross Harris who provided the entrails from his butcher shop for use in Night of the Living Dead), Roxana Zal (whom you might remember from River's Edge), and a young Lukas Haas (2 years before Witness). I wonder if the film resonated with me more in that the family makeup mirrored my own (a family of five; three kids, two boys, and a girl in the middle). It's also got a great (restrained) James Horner score. Watch for cameos from Rebecca DeMornay and Kevin Costner.—John

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: I remember seeing this on first run at the Meridian Quad and liking it quite a bit. Testament was released right around the same time The Day After popped up on ABC and the latter stole all the glory. Testament, as you say, is a powerful and quiet movie. But most powerful nuclear holocaust flick of the 1980s? I'll see your Testament and raise you Threads.

Jack: I've never heard of this one! I saw my share of nuclear war films in the '80s but I must have missed this one.

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

Starring: Henry Fonda, Harry Morgan, Dana Andrews                                                                   Directed by: William A. Wellman

There might not be another movie quite as powerful and disturbing as The Ox-Bow Incident, a flick I first saw in my eighth grade English class. Even then, at the age of thirteen, I recognized that this was much different than the usual fodder our teacher fed us visually (although I must say she was ahead of her time in showing us Jerry Lewis's Visit to a Small Planet); it upset me deeply then and, upon a recent viewing, it upsets me even more now. Though the novel was written in 1940 (by Walter Van Tilburg Clark) and the film released in 1943, Ox-Bow is depressingly timely when one considers Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Three ranchers are rounded up and hanged by a mad posse, working independent of the law, who believe the men to have murdered a friend and stolen his cattle. Only seven men in the posse abstain and that includes Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan, two men who are swept up in the drama but appeal for calm and clear thinking. Their pleas fall on deaf ears. The crazed and righteous men (and one woman) who make up the vigilante squad only want one thing: to watch the three men swing. There's no last second reprieve. No happy ending. Just an emotional wallop that will stay with you for a long, long time.—Peter

Remarks from the Gallery

Jack: I must have seen this at some point, but I'm a bit fuzzy on it. It sure sounds like one I'd like. Fonda was always great.

John: I've never see this one, and I guess I need to rectify that oversight.

Rashomon (1950)

Starring: Toshiro Mifune

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

In Samurai-era Japan, a Samurai is killed and his wife is raped in a clearing in a forest. A local bandit is captured and tried for the crime, but when he, the woman, and the spirit of the samurai (speaking through a medium) all tell different versions of what happened, who is telling the truth, if anyone? A monk and a woodcutter observe the trial and later try to figure out what really happened. The woodcutter has a secret that adds more to the sense of confusion and fate.

In creating my list of 100 favorite movies, I wanted to avoid the trap of putting too many movies by any one director on my list, so I only have two Kurosawa films included. Watching Rashomon again, I was struck both by how riveting it is and by how beautifully it's directed. Shot after shot, camera setup after camera setup, left me marveling at the work of the director and cinematographer. Toshiro Mifune was such a great actor that I could probably watch just about anything that he was in. I'm a big fan of Japanese films and literature; my favorite living novelist is Haruki Murakami.—Jack

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: I've heard great things but never seen this one. 

John: Similarly, this is another one that's in my library that I haven't yet watched, though I've never been dissatisfied with a Kurosawa/Mifune pairing. I just booked a screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in July, so I'm looking forward to my introduction to it on the big screen!

The Stepfather (1987)

Starring: Terry O'Quinn, Shelley Hack, Jill Schoelen

Directed by: Joseph Ruben

"Wait a minute, who am I here?"

One of the great thrillers to come out of the late '80s, based on a story by Donald Westlake and Brian Garfield. This put both Terry O'Quinn and Jill Schoelen on the map for me. O'Quinn is a family man who just happens to also be a serial killer. He's married to Shelley Hack; Schoelen is his current stepdaughter. She thinks there's something off about him, and while that's probably a common theme in such family dynamics, in this case, it's not just paranoia on her part. The caliber of the writing team (Westlake also wrote the screenplay) is what I think raises the bar on this one. The cat and mouse nature of the story plays out perfectly, twisting and turning so the audience is constantly kept on their toes. 

This film features one of those career defining performances that you can't help but think of when you see the actor in other roles. Whether it was Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer or John Locke in Lost, at first glance, I always suspect there's an underlying evil that's going to show up eventually in Terry O'Quinn's characters. As for Schoelen, she did her share of lesser horror films in the wake of The Stepfather, but she managed to have a varied career outside the genre. I have followed her career based on this performance; her unique, husky voice is a defining characteristic!—John

Remarks from the Gallery

Peter: I think Westlake was the draw for me (I'd already started reading the Parker novels by '87) but there was also a buzz about The Stepfather, that it was a cut above the usual slasher flick (not that I'm identifying it with that genre), especially in the acting and writing departments. The buzz was correct for once. In our The Scream Factory survey of the 1980s (in issue #7), The Stepfather landed at #8 on my Top Ten Horror Films of the 1980s.

Jack: I must have seen this at some point. It's based on the John List murders that happened in Westfield, NJ, in 1971. My family moved to Westfield in 1973, when I was 10, and I remember the posters in the luncheonette downtown with a picture of List and a question—"Have you seen this man?" I was scared that he might still be lurking nearby. His house later burned down. I could take you to where it stood if you're ever out this way!