The 100 Chapter 7: 88 & 87

Who doesn't love a list?

I devour the BFI Best Films of All Time list whenever they deem it necessary to revise and I (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 Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) Starring: Edward Judd, Leo McKern, Janet Munro.

Directed by Val Guest

"They've shifted the tilt of the Earth. The crazy, stupid, irresponsible bastards. They've finally done it."

Imagine for a moment you're Val Guest, standing in front of the fifth studio you've pitched your screenplay to. "It's about the end of the world. The hammer that falls is climate change, something 99% of our prospective audience knows nothing nor cares one whit about, triggered by simultaneous nuclear testing by the US and USSR. Our hero is an alcoholic, self-obsessed asshole whose best days as a newspaper reporter are far behind him. Oh, and at the end I refuse to disclose whether humanity is saved. Well, boys, whattya think?"

Never mind that The Day the Earth Caught Fire is at least three decades ahead of its time, chastising each and every one of us for our shameful waste and arrogance, it's also a very entertaining experience. The dialogue is non-stop wit, doling out scientific exposition while also veering into comedic territory now and then, delivered by an aces cast headlined by a never better Edward Judd (who, despite being given an "and introducing" billing, was a veteran of films and TV). Judd manages to elicit both sympathy and disdain in his performance as Peter Smelling, once a top journalist now reduced to writing 500-word exposes on sunspots thanks to a relationship with the bottle. 

At times, the Blu-ray treatment can expose the low-budget nature of The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Fleet Street clearly ends only a few yards from the action and gives way to painted backgrounds), but if you've ever visited London you'll marvel at just what Guest was able to get away with (during production, the director was only allowed access to one of the city's busiest avenues for two minutes at a time) and excuse any imperfections. That final scene, of the two newspaper headlines ready to roll at the printer, one displaying hope, the other doom, while the bells at St. Paul's ring, is the perfect place to leave us.

If you want happy endings and mindless fluff with your doomsday, I direct you to Michael Bay's Armageddon, but if you revel in bleak, thoughtful storytelling as I do, this is your banquet.—Peter

Remarks from the Gallery:

Jack: This sounds like one I would've watched but I don't recall for certain. I get Val Guest movies mixed up.

John: Great flick. I'm glad that by the time I discovered it, they had released it on DVD (and carried over to Blu-ray) with the color-tinted sequences intact, which I think really enhances the experience. 

The Shining (1980)

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Jack Torrance takes his wife Wendy and son Danny to the remote Overlook Hotel in Colorado, where he has been hired as caretaker for the winter. With Jack's history of domestic violence and alcoholism, is this a good idea? Once the snow starts to fall and the family becomes isolated, strange things begin to happen, and before you know it, Jack is a raving maniac, wandering around the hotel with an axe.

I first saw The Shining the night of my high school graduation in June 1980 at the Blue Star Cinema in Watchung, NJ. I recall enjoying it and wondering what the heck happened at the end, so I ran out and bought the paperback, figuring it would give more details. I preferred the book to the movie and read all the Stephen King books I could get my hands on for the next several years.

I've seen the movie a few times in the intervening 46 years (!!) and it really holds up. I watched it again yesterday and at first was thinking it should be higher on my list. By the end, I was comfortable with it at #88 because this is a list of favorite movies, not best movies. The film is tremendously well made and the camerawork and sound blew me away. Nicholson is a riot and Kubrick uses his particular set of skills to mix humor and terror. I still don't love Shelley Duvall's performance, but she is very good at screaming and looking terrified! Danny Lloyd is terrific as Danny, the child, and I credit Kubrick for that. I was most struck by how good Scatman Crothers is as the older man who shares the Shining with Danny.

The other thing I noticed was how much the film owes to Hitchcock and Psycho, from the handling of suspense and sudden shocks to the music, especially near the end. Oh, and how much hair we all had back then! It's a great movie, but it's so disturbing that I couldn't watch it often, and I certainly don't light up when I see it's on TV and happily tune in at any point, as I do some of the movies closer to the top of my list.—Jack

Remarks from the Gallery:

Peter: Unlike you, Jack, I read the novel long before I saw the flick (at the Century in San Jose on opening night). With Kubrick at the helm and Nicholson in the lead, I was expecting The Shining to be fabulous but was immensely disappointed. I thought the fear factor in the book was dispensed with and Kubrick was fascinated with how crazy Nicholson looked in all those 1970s flicks. I know King hated what Kubrick did with his novel but I didn't read his comments until after I'd seen the movie myself so that didn't sway my opinion. Sure, it's got some classic scenes (the typewriter and the Duvall bathroom scene obviously) but there's so much more in the novel that reaches out and grabs you by the throat without resorting to cheap scares. The film also has a smell of pretension about it that turns me off. I know it was a critical darling (and remains so) but I think it's one of Kubrick's weaker projects. The mini-series wasn't much better so maybe The Shining is a story best read rather than seen.

John: I saw The Shining on home video before I read the book, and while I enjoyed it, I was too young to fully appreciate what Kubrick was doing. To be fair, only one Kubrick film has landed perfectly with me on my first viewing, but we can talk more about that in the months ahead. I'm glad I was recently able to see The Shining during a theatrical reissue, as it really benefits from the big screen experience. I did eventually read the book, and while I enjoyed it, it's not among my top 10 King books, either.

Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
Starring: Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Anne-Marie Johnson
Director: Robert Townsend

"There's always work at the post office."

While Hollywood Shuffle does have a narrative thread, it also plays out like a sketch comedy, and it's fantastic. Unlike most films of this nature, which often have as many (if not more) low points than they do high points, this one tends to have high points and higher points! Robert Townsend is dynamite as struggling actor Robbie Taylor. His adventures in the pursuit of an acting career are equally hilarious and heartbreaking. It was a no-brainer to include it on my list because it is so re-watchable and quotable. A couple of favorite sequences are the infomercial for Black Acting School and the movie reviews covered in 'Sneakin into the Movies'—in which we get a spin on Siskel & Ebert covering some familiar-looking films. This one has me smiling just thinking about it.—John

Remarks from the Gallery:

Peter: As with your Mighty Wind, this is one I never even considered attending. The 1980s, to me, was not an era ripe with funny comedies. To be perfectly honest, I don't associate the 1980s with much of anything in the quality department and my 100 will reflect that. 

Jack: I'm not familiar with this one at all. The title is vaguely familiar but I'm certain I've never seen it.

L. A. Confidential (1997)

Starring: James Cromwell, Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe

Director: Curtis Hanson

"Go back to Jersey, sonny. This is the City of the Angels, and you haven't got any wings."

Up front: this is 90% all about the cast. Outside of Glengarry Glen Ross and The Godfather, I'm hard-pressed (but I'm sure John will say something about my faulty memory in the comments) to name a tighter-knit ensemble, each one worthy of an Oscar. Pearce and Crowe were foreigners no one knew anything about, Cromwell was the pig movie guy, and Kim Basinger (as the lone female star) had seen much better days career-wise. That left Kevin Spacey, an Oscar-decorated character actor who was about to hit the big time (and then flame out spectacularly decades later), as the "name" in this picture. It was James Ellroy's novel that got me in my seat at the AMC Mesa on opening day.

Spacey's great and his character provides the biggest jolt halfway through the flick but, to me, the revelation here is Cromwell, who delivers one of the screen's greatest villains as Captain Dudley Smith, cold as ice and handy with a revolver; you can just see the gears going around in his head throughout the picture's complex plots and sub-plots. This is one of those rare occasions when the movie improves upon the book.—Peter

Remarks from the Gallery:

Jack: I saw this when it came out and really liked it, but I don't think I've seen it since.

John: It's been a while since I've seen L. A. Confidential, but I didn't come away from it anxious to watch it again and again.

Atomic Blonde (2017)
Starring: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman
Director: David Leitch

David Percival: "Oh my God, I think I fucking love you!"

Lorraine Broughton: "That's too bad."

From the opening notes of David Bowie's "Putting Out the Fire" (from Cat People!), I was sold. Atomic Blonde is a perfectly scored '80s period piece (I'm already prepared for Peter's commentary on the songs). And it's a beautiful film to look at, before we even get to talking about Charlize Theron. I have always been a fan, but she certainly exceeded my expectations with this one. She's a full-fledged, kick-ass action star. There's a fight scene in a stairwell that's amazingly shot and choreographed, and as good as anything you'll find in a John Wick movie (it's no surprise Director Leitch co-created that franchise). The cold war thriller has plenty of interesting twists and turns, as well as some very funny bits, particularly involving handlers played by John Goodman and Toby Jones. I wasn't sure if this was going to make my top 100, but it was easier to let other titles slip off the list to ensure this one stayed on it.—John

Remarks from the Gallery:

Peter: Oh, I can ignore the soundtrack but you'll get my full rundown on this classic very soon.

Jack: Never seen it.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton
Director: James Cameron

It's 1995 and John Connor is growing up! Skynet, the evil computer in the future, sends a T-1000, an advanced killing machine, back in time to kill John so he can't grow up and lead the resistance movement against the machines. Future John sends a reprogrammed T-800 back to protect young John. But can anything stop the shapeshifting, seemingly indestructible T-1000?

Man, this flick blew me away when I saw it first-run back in '91. It seemed like the special effects were nothing like anyone had ever seen before. Watching it today, they're still impressive. The movie gets off to a great start, with Arnold walking naked into a biker bar and walking out in head-to-toe black leather. He really is the epitome of cool in this movie. The chase scenes are fantastic, especially the first one with the truck chasing the moped and the last one with another truck chasing a pickup.

I like the way Cameron and Schwarzenegger play with the actor's persona, mixing humor and toughness and making Arnold a star of a different magnitude. The film slows down in the middle and could be shorter, but the little bits of philosophy (about changing the past to change the future) and ethics (about not letting one's self become a killing machine) allow for a bit of thought between kernels of popcorn.

Edward Furlong is annoying as anything as John Connor, but he does develop and grow during the movie. Has anyone ever been as tough as Linda Hamilton in this film? Robert Patrick was instantly recognizable as the T-1000 and even played it again in a cameo in—was it Wayne's World? The movie is incredibly violent but features fabulous stunt work and incredible driving. The end is satisfying emotionally. I still have a place in my heart for T2.—Jack

Remarks from the Gallery:

Peter: I never bought into the hype. Well, I guess I did at first since I saw it opening weekend. Yep, for its time, the VFX are incredible but, past that, there's only Linda Hamilton and the decent Guns n Roses song to keep my interest. But, oh that Linda!

John: I remember being blown away by the visual effects when I saw T2 on opening night. While I still enjoy it, unlike the original Terminator, my esteem for T2 dropped considerably when I realized that the wow factor of that first viewing didn't carry over to subsequent viewings.