In our family we don’t divorce our men; we bury ’em! – Stella (Ruth Gordon)
In common with most people, I like movies. I don’t pretend to know much about movie criticism, I’m painfully ignorant about directorial techniques and I probably couldn’t recognize a “great” film even if I had a cheat-sheet. I do, however, know what I like, and can often even tell you why I like it. I’m not going to claim that any of these films are “great” in the artistic sense, and though I’ve seen several of today’s selections on “great film” lists I don’t like them for that reason. Despite today’s title, these are not actually my favorite movies; I already listed those in my very first “Favorite Things” column over a year ago. Other columns have discussed my favorite horror movies, musicals, short films, obscure movies, Christmas movies and monsters and horror stars; this one lists 16 more of my favorite movies that don’t fall into any of those categories (though I did mention #8 in the “obscure movies” column), listed in my usual reverse chronological order.
1) Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) What I like best about this movie and its sequel is that they’re unrepentantly dumb. In other words, they make no pretense to be anything other than good, clean fun. And while most time travel movies defy logic due to poor writing or failure to think things out, I get the feeling the writers of this one made a list of time travel rules and then broke every one on purpose. My love for these flicks has rendered me totally unable to take Keanu Reeves seriously no matter what role he plays.
2) Highlander (1986) Truly unique movies are rare in modern Hollywood, but this was one; the aesthetic failure of several moronic sequels and a TV series ripoff prove that. If you’ve never seen it, the trailer is a decent introduction, though I have one major quibble with it (and with the film itself): the hero’s modern love interest is completely unbelievable and pales into insignificance besides the beautiful depiction of his first marriage, which never fails to reduce me to tears.
3) Dune (1984) Yes, I’ve read the book, and I’m aware of how the film departs from it; I’m also aware that Herbert was satisfied with it. There are three cuts of this movie: the theatrical cut, which leaves out far too much exposition; the extended television cut, which includes the additional material but removes important scenes that were deemed too intense for broadcast, and a combined cut from a region 2 DVD (of which I own a bootleg) which has all the scenes from both theatrical and TV cuts. The best part about this film is that there were no concessions to modernism chauvinism; the culture is depicted in all its strangeness and political incorrectness.
4) Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) As I’ve stated before, this and The Undiscovered Country are IMHO the only Star Trek movies truly worthy of the legacy; Khan is the only one which feels directly connected to the series, and in all of Hollywood history it may be the sequel which surpasses its progenitor by the greatest margin (though you’re welcome to make other nominations).
5) Time Bandits (1981) Terry Gilliam’s visions are always baroque and usually tinged with darkness (except when they’re absolutely immersed in it), and Time Bandits is no exception. Though the movie is absolutely hilarious, its portrayal of a chaotic universe ruled by a rather cold and disinterested God is rather like Monty Python meets H.P. Lovecraft, and can be disquieting if one thinks too hard about it.
6) Serial (1980) This little-remembered satire of Bay Area ‘70s nuttiness is probably best appreciated by those old enough to remember the time period, and though it doesn’t bear quite as much repeated watching as most of the other titles on the list I still enjoy it every time I see it. Bonus for horror fans: Christopher Lee in a very unorthodox comedic role.
7) Bedazzled (1967) This isn’t the only film on this list who memory has been sullied by a shoddy remake, but it may be the only one so completely eclipsed by that remake that almost nobody seems to remember the original. And that’s truly sad, because this one is very funny, very clever, very wicked and very, very British. Dudley Moore plays a hapless and rather silly short-order cook who sells his soul to the Devil (Peter Cook) for seven wishes and learns about the proverbial “long spoon” over and over again, but the bits between the wishes are actually the funniest.
8) Lord Love a Duck (1966) One of the blackest of all black comedies; it would not be out of place on a double bill with Dr. Strangelove, though this one prefers to take pot-shots at a large number of cultural absurdities (often in drive-by mode) while Strangelove is a sustained attack on one target. The trailer isn’t lying; Roddy McDowell’s character really does commit mass murder (during the opening credits!) and the rest of the movie explains what drove him to it.
9) Goldfinger (1964) In a sense, this movie is here as a representative of all the Sean Connery Bond films, but I also feel it would stand on its own merits without the others. Everything that is right with the series is exemplified in this one, and its problems less apparent here than in other installments; even some of the series’ conventions are lampooned here, but without devolving into self-parody as the later Roger Moore films did.
10) Bell, Book and Candle (1958) The lovely Kim Novak is a modern witch who casts a love spell on her neighbor in order to get back at his awful fiancée, an old schoolmate of hers…then finds herself falling in love with him for real. Though this film was one of the inspirations for Bewitched, the witches here are not semi-godlike but rather just people with an extra talent (stronger in some than others). The supporting cast is fantastic; of especial interest for readers of this blog is Ernie Kovacs’ character, a writer whose utter ignorance of the witchcraft on which he claims to be an “expert” calls to mind certain self-proclaimed “experts” on prostitution.
11) Twelve Angry Men (1957) One set. Twelve actors. No special effects. Virtually all talk and no action. But if you’re anything like me, it will rivet your attention from start to finish. One conscientious holdout juror (Henry Fonda) in a murder trial eventually helps the others to recognize the gaps in the prosecution’s case that they at first ignored or did not want to see. One of those movies that’s more timely now than when it was first filmed.
12) Rashômon (1950) The story of a rape and murder in feudal Japan, told from four points of view: that of the murderer, those of the two victims, and that of a witness the others did not know was there. This device has since become a trope, and the film’s name practically an idiom, but none have ever done it as well as the original.
13) Mighty Joe Young (1949) Though the movie was a conscious imitation of King Kong (and even shared a writer, star and special-effects director), I must admit that I really like it better than its more iconic predecessor. Joe is a character rather than simply a monster, and thanks to the wizardry of the young Ray Harryhausen his personality really shines through; the audience cares about him in a way we never really care for Kong, and later incarnations of the King have included more than a little Joe in him.
14) Rope (1948) An underappreciated Hitchcock adaptation of a 1929 play based on the Leopold and Loeb murder case. Like Twelve Angry Men, it’s a very “pure” drama: one set, a small number of characters, mostly talk with little action, and designed so as to resemble a stage play as closely as possible. Beside the masterful buildup of suspense, one of the things I like best about it is its use of very long takes (up to ten minutes each), cut so as to appear like one long, seamless filming.
15) Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) You’ve probably noticed that I like black comedies, and here’s another one: Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) discovers that his elderly maiden aunts are bumping off lonely old men with poisoned wine and burying their bodies in the cellar. And then there are his two brothers…as Mortimer explains to his new bride, “insanity runs in my family…It practically gallops.”
16) The Thief of Bagdad (1940) Though I love Arabian Nights movies in general (such as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which just barely missed the cut), I have an especial love for this one. It has been remade several times, but this one is by far the best; if you’ve never seen it, you’ll be amazed at the extent to which Disney plagiarized it for Aladdin.
For talky drama with a minimal cast: “Sleuth” – Lawrence Olivier and MIchael Caine. They have done a remake, but I have not seen it. Another battle-of-wits-and-nerve drama is “Duel”.
And who could fail to like Rocky Horror?
Great list! Given how many of these I agree completely with, I should probably give the ones I haven’t seen a try.
As for Wrath of Kahn surpassing the first movie: It would be impossible to be worse than “The Slow-Motion Picture”!
The situation is of course reversed with Highlander: There can be only one! 🙂
Not being able to take Keanu Reeves seriously does not require Bill and Ted! 🙂 Kyle MacLachlan is almost as bad but in Dune he at least has a great supporting cast (including Patrick Stewart and Max von Sydow).
Make sure you see the movies in the other linked columns as well! 🙂
You know, when I saw “Wrath of Khan” I was 20 years old. And when I saw Ricardo Montalban’s pecs in that movie I was IN AWE. I had seen him on “Fantasy Island” but he always wore a suit and I just figured it covered up his fantastic man tits.
For 25 years I worked in the gym to get Ricardo Montalban’s chest. Every bench press rep I did, I performed with a vision of “Khan” in my head!
About five years ago I was telling this story to a gym mate of mine and he was like … “Dude … YOU DO KNOW that Montalban’s tits in that movie are totally fake? They just bolted on some latex, bro.”
Hearing this was worse for my tiny mind than hearing that Santa isn’t real. 🙁
Ricardo, why did you do this too me? Oh well, now I have an “excuse” for why my pecs never quite got as big as his did.
Time Bandits – I’m sure you’re aware that George Harrison is credited as an executive producer of that movie and wrote and performed the song used in the closing credits … “Dream Away”. You can find it on his “Gone Troppo” album.
Here’s to stinkin’ rich, lads!!
Yes, it was produced by his “Handmade Films” company. As for Ricardo Montalban in Khan…well, let’s just say he caused quite a stir in my clique at school. 😉
Wait! I’ve never read Nimoy’s book but Spock at least appears to verify that Montalban’s chest was … REAL!!!
http://www.eonline.com/news/79139/ricardo-montalban-tv-s-mr-roarke-trek-s-khan-dead-at-88
There IS a Santa Clause! Woot!!
However, I am watching A Night At The Opera and am crushed to learn that there is no “sanity clause.”
The Dune mini series made in 2000 is actually both faithful to the book and very, very good.
I’ve seen it and like it very much, but somehow the Lynch one beats it in my estimation.
Both were excellent. The Lynch one was somewhat imprenetrable to Outsiders, though.
I’ll quickly add some of my favourites too…
Flawless. Michael Caine and Demi Moore in a 1960’s London Jewel Heist
Navigator: An odd little New Zealand movie set in dark ages Wales and modern day Christchurch, NZ.
Legend of 1910: Amazing ragtime music on a transatlantic ocean steamer
The Man who would be King: Sometimes, winning isn’t everything.
Ghosts in the Darkness: Sure, one must look past the Colonialism, too see the courage and brains that went into building the railroads across Africa.
V for Vendetta:Every minute of this movie is good- But this line ought be craved on every government building: “People ought not be afraid of their governments. Governments ought to be afraid of their people.”
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Batman: The Dark Night
Maggie hit on many of my others.
Yeah, The Ghost and the Darkness was one scary movie. When they were walking through the elephant grass – 10 feet tall above their heads, I remember tensing up because you just KNEW that something was coming out of there. As good as horror films for suspense, without the predictable conventions.
I’ve seen the two lions. They are preserved in the Field Museum in Chicago.
Funny thing about The Man Who Would Be King—it was re-made in 2000 as the cartoon The Road To El Dorado, although I do not think the original film was officially credited. Then again, there are several other cartoons that are like this. A Bug’s Life is inspired by The Magnificent Seven which itself was a remake of Seven Samurai The Disney cartoon Dinosaur is loosely based on Red River.
And The Lion King is so blatantly taken from Kimba the White Lion that Disney has yet to live it down. There are also some striking similarities between Nadia, the Secret of Blue Water and Disney’s Atlantis, but not as blatant as with Kimba.
Good list, though I haven’t seen Lord Love a Duck. Highlander is definitely my favorite out of that list and I scored the DVD recently at Target for $5.00. I was so giddy when I found it and no one else in line shared my enthusiasm. I thoroughly enjoyed the series, however. Adrian Paul was the first man that inspired feelings of lust within my pre-pubescent self, and that has definitely influenced my taste for tall men with thick, long dark hair and stubble. Mmm. 🙂
The sereis wasn’t all that bad. It was nothing compared to the original movie, but for a TV series in general, it was better than most.
comixchik,
I really liked Connery and Caine in “The Man who would be King.” Great movie.
I think “The Wrath of Khan” is the best Trek movie. I liked the premise behind “First Contact” but they so debased the seriousness of the action with their constant “comic relief” that they undercut the quality of the movie.
I liked the first “Highlander” although I agree with Maggie on the question of the marriage and I found the global warming ending to be very trite – or was it the ozone layer? I forget.
Clancy Brown was a great villain. Exactly what you’d expect from an immortal with no internal code.
Some of the episodes in the Adrian Paul series were worthy of the movie, but I didn’t watch all of them. Just saw them occasionally when I ran across them in syndication. So I can’t comment on the series as a whole.
I could never get into the Dune movie or the mini-series. I watched the first in the cinema and caught the part of the series in the original broadcast, but I thought they were very uneven in presentation. Some specifics – staging in the film – was well done. I have to say that I thought Sting did a pretty good psychotic Feyd Rautha – although I don’t know that he brought out the devious aspect of the character in quite the same way as Herbert did. But then, there is a limit to his screen time, so that problem might not be addressable. And I had hoped for more for Jose Ferrer but then again, limited screen time.
“Bell Book and Candle” was well done – I think that the best scene that illustrated the point of the movie, was when Jimmy Stewart storms out of Kim Novak’s place and then finds himself, involuntarily, walking back in… the look on his face is priceless.
There was nothing about climate change in Highlander; you must be thinking about one of the sequels, which I refused to see.
Yup, you’re right. It had been so long, or perhaps the trauma of seeing the second movie was so pervasive, that I conflated the two. yeah, I saw the sequel. It was so bad, I not only wanted my money back but compensation for pain and suffering…
Ah, Highlander. One of the first films my wife and I saw together and still one of our favorites. The sequels all kinda sucked. There really could be only one.
Christopher Lambert did a great job in the lead role, but I always thought the real standout was Clancy Brown and his much-bigger-than-life performance as the Kurgan. It’s an outrageous role, but he just got out there and sold it.
And then there’s the amazing original soundtrack by Queen. For me, that alone makes the movie worth watching.
Clancy Brown has a real spread on villiany. He’s certainly not a one-note actor in that role. From Kurgan in Highlander to David Brown in Love, Lies, and Murder, and Byron Hadley in Shawshank Redemption, and Steve in Shoot to Kill, he’s demonstrated that he understands how to portray the nuances of evil.
He also voiced Lex Luthor in the Superman animated series of the ’90s.
Clancy Brown remains a brilliant “bad boy” actor; he was in Starship Troopers (an overrated cult film, frankly) and has been on everything from Law and Order (where he was a surprisingly non-evil character) – though given the casting requirements, almost everyone has been on Law and Order, and he makes for a truly great villain. As the Kurgan, he was the epitome of selfish, self-interested evil – not in the destructive sense, but in the apathetic, Stone-Age-Hunter – a-moral sense. he was most effective.
I wouldn’t call “Starship Troopers” overrated – I’d call it absolutely horrible, a mashup between nazi propaganda and the old Adam West 60’s batman series. I almost expected “BAM” and “POW” made visual on the screen with appropriate jagged outlines.
I use it as my textbook case of just how bad a movie adaptation can be. That said, Brown did as well as could be expected in the circumstances.
Excellent list. I’m definitely going to check out Lord Love a Duck. 🙂
There are times, Maggie, when I think we are sharing some brain space. I’m one of the fortunate few who has seen the original Bedazzled and I thought it was great (the remake has some charm but is not in the same league at all).
I’ll have to my thoughts on Dune (Lynch) vs Dune (Sci Fi channel) on my blog sometime. I wrote a review for Amazon so can just copy it over. The newest Region 1 DVD, as far as I know, incorporates all the existing footage although it still doesn’t have completed special effects (the eyes, etc.)
Mine has all that stuff; it’s the only version we watch. 🙂
I hate to break this to you but Bedazzled was remade in 2000 with Brendan Fraser, though the Dudley Moore version looks good too.
Yes, that’s the “shoddy remake” to which I refer in the text.
Woops …. I miss read.
It was really a wasted opportunity. Brendan Frasier is a fun actor and Elizabeth Hurley can be funny. Casting her as the devil was a nice touch. But they went for stupid humor and left out anything approach the Stanley-George banter that made the original so much fun.
Oh, and I may have to quibble on Goldfinger. I’d say “From Russia with Love” was the best.
To each his own. Goldfinger has Pussy Galore, Oddjob, one of the most awesomely over-the-top supervillain plots of all time, several iconic images and scenes, the best theme song of any Bond movie, the best score of any Bond movie, and the Aston-Martin.
I was in China recently, in a small town, in a fancy new cafe. Suddenly, on the speaker, I heard some jazz, and then a Musak-inspired version of Goldfinger. I started humming, and then explained why – iconic movie, before my time but a movie made of gold, etc. – and I was given the blank stare. Must be a cultural thing, right? Thern I found the title in Chinese, and I got this from the older woman at the back: Oh yes, that movie, it was very famous in China, that was a great adventure movie they even made a copy or remake in China blah blah blah –
And sadly, the four Western guys – two American – both had not a clue what we were talking about. When I said James Bond and Goldfinger, … they just shook their heads at the cultural bonding moment I’d just had with several Chinese people in a small cafe.
Speaking of Goldfinger iconic scenes: http://xkcd.com/123/
🙂
I prefer Russia because it’s a more traditional spy story. It also has Tatalia Romanova, Rosa Klebb and one of the best fight in the entire series aboard the train.
But … I only place Russia a hair above Goldfinger, so I’m not going to argue too much with anyone who prefers it! 🙂
Speaking of movies, Maggie—did you see Sin City, and if so, what was your take on the prostitutes in the second story?
http://youtu.be/r0PDOQglpDQ
My review of Sin City (and many other hooker movies) is on the Filmography page. Enjoy. 😉
You nailed it with Highlander, particularly, the story of his first love which also “still reduces to tears” this 50-year old man.
Highlander had a brilliant love story. It was both believable and powerful. What got me was his bad English and complete unbelievability as a Scottish highlander.
And the later-period bits of the Highlander were somewhat sillier.
Maggie,
My So and I are having the equivalent of a Maggie’s Night In with movies – I actually called it a Maggie Movie night, though she has no idea what this means. About 7/10 of these films are among my favorites, but you distilled them for me. Thank you kindly.
You’re very welcome. 🙂
If you like Bedazzled (especially the very, very British parts), then you should check out “The Ruling Class”, directed by Peter Medak, and starring Peter O’Toole as an upper-class Brit who thinks he’s Jesus Christ in the first half of the movie (and is considered insane) and then morphs into Adolf Hitler in the second half (and is thought sane).
Bill and Ted both one and two was one of the defining movies from my childhood/ young adulthood, along with Aliens.
Funnily enough the quote from Time Bandits by David Warner “God isn’t interested in the microchip” is also mentioned briefly in the original Tron.
And on the subject of David Warner….my god that voice is deliciously evil, he was such a badass in the 2006 BBC adaption of Sweeny Todd, the entire cast was to be honest.
If you like black comedy you should check out the Michael Caine flick, “A Shock to the System.” The last bit about the corner office always cracks me up, especially now that I’m in a corner office.
I’ve seen some of these, but not all of them.
I recently watched the 1924 version of The Thief of Baghdad, and both my mother and my eldest nephew commented on the links to Aladdin. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the 1940 version you list here. I intend to see it all the way through.
I’ve linked Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure to the teachings of Jesus on more than one occasion.
Can you believe I haven’t seen Rashomon? I’ve seen Seven Samurai, but not Rashomon.
Serial added to queue. May or may not add Lord Love a Duck and/or Bedazzled.
Not a bad little list, Maggie.