My 100 Favorite Movies
(Listed Chronologically)
- Title: Jerry Maguire
Year: 1996
Writer/Director: Cameron Crowe
Stars: Renée Zellweger, Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and that cute kid
I first became aware of Cameron Crowe when I read Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Since then, he's been involved with that movie as well as many others (including Almost Famous, which really should be on this list). I have a lot of respect for his writing and directing abilities, and I consider his name on a film to be a very high recommendation.
This time it's a story about a sports agent who suddenly finds his conscience and doesn't want to lie to people anymore ... resulting in complete career upheaval. He finds himself with only one remaining client (a football player with a bit too much attitude) and only one co-worker (a young single mother who has a crush on him). The rest of the movie follows whether Jerry can make it on his own, and it's a struggle I admire. Yes, it would have been easier for him to do what everyone else in his industry was doing ... but he instead did what he thought was right, even though it was much more difficult. Good for him!
Quotes:
Rod Tidwell: Show me the money!
Jerry Maguire: Have you ever gotten the feeling that you aren't completely embarrassed yet, but you glimpse tomorrow's embarrassment?
Jerry Maguire: That's more than a dress. That's an Audrey Hepburn movie.
Rod Tidwell: I feel for you, man. But a real man wouldn't shoplift the pootie from a single mom.
Jerry Maguire: I didn't shoplift the pootie.
[Rod gives him a long look]
Jerry Maguire: Alright. I shoplifted the pootie.
Dorothy: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at "hello".
- Title: Lone Star
Year: 1996
Stars: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Matthew McConaughey, Kris Kristofferson, etc.
I first saw this film here in downtown Berkeley, but I enjoyed it so much that I later talked my mom into seeing it with me in Paris. So I've also seen it with French subtitles, which was interesting. I practiced my French. My mom was a bit puzzled by the movie, but I love it.
 My friend Debbie described Lone Star as "novelistic", which I think is a good description. The plot is complex, as is the character development. Many characters are involved, and they intersect and interact with each other in complex and interesting ways. To put it very briefly, Sam Deeds is sheriff in a small town where he is overshadowed by the legend of his father -- Buddy Deeds -- the famous former sheriff. Sam didn't get along particularly well with his father, and so he has somewhat of an investment in proving that he wasn't so perfect as everyone seems to think. Perhaps then he won't have so much trouble living up to his memory. And then, suddenly, a skeleton is found in the desert, setting off a series of events and speculations that lead to truths being revealed.
Chris Cooper is amazing as Sam Deeds (he later appeared in both October Sky and American Beauty, both of which are also on my list), and I have a huge amount of respect for him as an actor. One thing I like about him is that he looks like a regular guy, instead of being superstar Hollywood handsome. I find that I often have more sympathy for his character, even if he's playing a jerk, than I would for a movie-star-handsome actor. I think that works for him.
But all of the actors do wonderful jobs in this movie. The acting, writing, and directing are just top-notch.
Quotes:
Danny: Look, I'm not after you, Sam. I just think people in town ought to know the full story on Buddy Deeds.
Sam Deeds: That makes two of us.
Otis Payne: It's not like there's a line between the good people and the bad people. It is not like you're one or the other.
Sam Deeds: He ever accept cash for a favor?
Otis Payne: I don't recall a prisoner ever died in your daddy's custody. I don't recall a man in this county, black, white, Mexican ... who'd hesitate for a minute to call on Buddy Deeds to solve a problem. More than that, I wouldn't care to say.
Mickey: Are they gonna be okay with you being a white guy?
Cliff: According to her, they'll be happy that I'm a man. Apparently they think any woman over 30 who isn't married is a lesbian.
Mickey: Yeah, it's always heartwarming to see a prejudice defeated by a deeper prejudice.
- Title: Sling Blade
Year: 1996
Writer/Director/Star: Billy Bob Thornton
A retarded man released from institution 30-some years after killing his mom when he was a little kid tries to adjust to an unfamiliar world on the outside. He finds himself making a few close friends, but also faces prejudices, especially from one cruel man who plagues him -- and his friends -- constantly.
Why did Karl kill his mother so long ago? Was it his fault? Is he still dangerous? Is he "well" or "cured" now? Those are some of the questions that pervade the film. Nonetheless, I found myself identifying strongly with the mentally handicapped main character ... with a murderer. That's skill, not only in acting, but also in writing and directing! Thornton's performance and the film as a whole are extraordinarily moving.
In some ways, I think this film (like Empire of the Sun, for different reasons) would make an interesting compare/contrast with The Shawshank Redemption, because they both address the phenomenon of institutionalization. (Shawshank should come first in the double feature.)
Quotes:
Karl: They turned me loose from the nervous hospital. Said I was well. I got hired on by a Mr. Bill Cox fixing lawnmowers and whatnot. That grass out there in the yard has grown up quite a bit. I reckon I might cut it for you.
Karl: Some folks called it a sling blade, I called it a kaiser blade.
Karl: I don't think anything bad ought to happen to children. I think the bad stuff should be saved up for the people who's grown up. That's the way I see it.
- Title: Swingers
Year: 1996
Writer: Jon Favreau
Stars: Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn
My favorite thing about this movie is an excellent swing dancing scene near the end. It's just so much fun to watch, so graceful and exciting ... I could watch it over and over. And it fits beautifully into the plot.
 A bunch of guys in L.A. cruise a lounge circuit, very very Rat Pack. It's all very L.A. underground. I love the quote (see below) about one of the guys being from Anaheim (where I was raised, home of Disneyland), because the distinction is so important. Anaheim isn't even in L.A. County -- it's in Orange County -- so the guy is clearly just making a laughable attempt to act tough.
The guys in the movie do a lot of that -- acting tough -- particularly with women. The nice-guy main character serves to highlight the jerky games that most of the men play, but he's torn between being a nice guy and following the tutelage of his friends. Strangely, the misogynistic friends didn't really alienate me, and I'm usually pretty sensitive to that stuff. Vince Vaughn, in particular, amazes me in how he is able to portray such a complete jerk, but not make me hate him.
Quotes:
Rob: Those guys are right. You're money.
Mike: Then why won't she call?
Rob: She won't call because you left. She's got her own life to deal with and that's in New York. She's a sweet girl and I love her to pieces, but fuck her, man. You got to get on with your life. You've got to let go of the past Mikey, and when you do, the future is beautiful.
Mike: What the fuck are you carrying a gun for? What, in case somebody steps to you, Snoop Dogg?
Sue: Hey man, you're not from here, alright. You don't know how it is. I grew up in L.A.
Trent: Anaheim.
Sue: Whatever, man. It's different out here. It's not like New York, Mikey.
Mike: Haven't you seen Boyz N The Hood? Now one of us is going to get shot.
Mike: So how long do I wait to call?
Trent: A day.
Mike: Tomorrow.
Sue: Tomorrow, then a day.
Trent: Yeah.
Mike: So two days?
Trent: Yeah, I guess you could call it that, two days.
Sue: Definitely, two days is like industry standard.
Trent: You know I used to wait two days to call anybody, but now it's like everyone in town waits two days. So I think three days is kind of money. What do you think?
Sue: Yeah, but two's enough not to look anxious.
Trent: But I think three days is kind of money. You know because you...
Mike: Yeah, but you know what, maybe I'll wait 3 weeks. How's that? And tell her I was cleaning out my wallet and I just happened to run into her number.
Charles: Then ask her where you met her.
Mike: Yeah, I'll ask her where I met her. I don't remember. What does she look like? And then I'll ask if we fucked. Is that ... would that be ... would that be money?
Trent: You know what. Ha ha ha, Mikey, laugh all you want but if you call too soon you might scare off a nice baby who's ready to party.
Mike: Well how long are you guys gonna wait to call your babies?
Trent and Sue [in unison]: Six days.
- Title: Twelfth Night
Year: 1996
Country: U.K.
Twelfth Night has long been my favorite Shakespeare comedy, probably primarily due to the primary unrequited love plot. In fact, I actually acted out the Viola/Orsino unrequited love plot in a role-playing game once. I even had my character disguised as a boy, and the guy playing my character's love interest didn't know my character was female. It was really fun. Of course, once everyone knew that my character was female, her love was requited, and then none of it was quite as interesting. It was all much more fun when she was in disguise. I suppose that's why plays end right after the revelation. But look! I'm a girl! Let's get married! The End!
For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, since this isn't even one of Shakespeare's best-known plays, I'll try to give a bit of a summary. Shipwreck. Young girl washes up on shore, grieving for her drowned twin brother. She's uncertain whether this unfamiliar island will be safe, and so she dresses as a boy, in her brother's clothes. She gets a job working for Duke Orsino and falls in love with him, but he's in love with someone else and thinks she's a boy anyway. Much confusion ensues.
They did a good job of finding an actor and actress who looked alike, to play the twins. And all of the acting throughout is superb. I lurve this movie tremendously ... even though I've always felt that Malvolio (a servant) is badly mistreated at the end. Poor guy.
Quotes:
Duke Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on.
Malvolio: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
- Title: Walking and Talking
Year: 1996
Countries: U.S.A./U.K.
A quiet little independent film, Walking and Talking takes an unusual look at the relationship between married friends and single friends, as well as the desperation of the dating world. The main reason I like it as much as I do is because the clever writing is extremely funny in a quirky way, and I like quirky. And Kevin Corrigan (also discussed under Slums of Beverly Hills on this list) is a fantastic actor.
 Title: Chasing Amy
Year: 1997
Director: Kevin Smith
Stars: Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Joey Adams, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes
As far as I'm concerned, this is Kevin Smith's best movie thus far. It's a story of a fairly clueless straight guy who falls in love with a lesbian, and all of the pain and difficulties that result. Even though much of the humor is relatively obvious, a lot of the relationship complexities are subtle. The relationship between the two main male characters, for example, is rife with undertones.
I'm not going to quote the entire thing here, but there's one extended conversation about cunnilingus that had me almost rolling on the floor, it was so funny. Kevin Smith isn't afraid to have his characters talk about anything ... and for that I'm grateful.
Quotes:
Holden: It's not who you love, it's how.
Alyssa: Since most of these people are cheering for the home team, I'm going to root for the visitors. I'm a big visitors fan. Especially the kind that make coffee in the morning before they leave! - Title: The Full Monty
Year: 1997
Country: U.K.
In a particularly depressed part of England, 6 unemployed men come up with the idea of performing a male burlesque for the women of the town in an effort to make quick money. They aren't really what you would normally expect of Chippendales dancers: 2 of them are old, 2 of them are skinny, 1 of them is fat ... and only 1 of them is traditionally attractive. But what they all are is determined to see this through, even as they overcome both environmental pressures and their own private self-doubts.
There's a scene in the unemployment line which is one of my favorite movie scenes ever. Just thinking about it never fails to make me laugh. This is one of the funniest movies in my collection.
Quote:
Gerald Arthur Cooper: Fat, David, is a feminist issue.
Dave: Well, what's that supposed to mean, when it's at home?
Gerald Arthur Cooper: I don't bloody know, do I? But it is.
 Title: Life Is Beautiful
Year: 1997
Country: Italy
Director/Star: Roberto Benigni
Roberto Benigni got the Oscar for this one, of course, though I did not get to see his impassioned acceptance speech.
This is a movie about a family during the Holocaust, and how they deal with it. There's a surprising amount of comedy in the first half, but the second half grows more and more dark. So it's best not to go in expecting an even sprinkling of humor throughout.
This was one of the first movies I saw with Shannon (in a friendship capacity, with the mutual friend who introduced us) at the Shattuck Cinema. I still remember that I went out to the concession stand during the movie and bought a Ben & Jerry's Phish Food fish-shaped ice-cream bar, and he bought an ice-cream bar, too. For some reason, the fact that he bought the same thing as I did really charmed me at the time. Of course, I already had at least half a crush on him, so it didn't take much.
Quote:
Guido: Buongiorno, Principessa! - Title: Oscar and Lucinda
Year: 1997
Countries: U.S.A./Australia
Stars: Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett
This film is based on a Booker-prize-winning novel by Peter Carey ... which I have never read, but plan to. It's an unusual story, very novelistic even in its adaptation to film. Two inveterate gamblers in 19th-century Australia seem constantly drawn together by their loneliness and their unacknowledged connection. Their decision to transport a crystal church into the outback has multiple levels of symbolic meaning, which did not -- to me -- feel pretentious, but only deeply moving and even haunting.
Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett are both stunningly beautiful, supported by often simply shockingly gorgeous cinematography and artful directing. This movie is truly lovely.
- Title: The Sweet Hereafter
Year: 1997
Country: Canada
This film explores the financial, legal, and -- above all -- devastating emotional impact of a tragic bus accident in a small town, including the residents' negative experiences with the insurance industry afterward.
But the film is really less linear than that, and often has a sort of dream-like quality. It stirs deep emotions through images, even more than through dialogue.
Quote:
Nicole Burnell: ... I wonder if you realize something. I wonder if you understand that all of us -- Dolores, me, the children who survived, the children who didn't -- that we're all citizens of a different town now. A place with its own special rules and its own special laws. A town of people living in the sweet hereafter.
- Title: Gods and Monsters
Year: 1998
Countries: U.K./U.S.A.
Stars: Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser
This fictional look at the last days of real-life Frankenstein film director James Whale is primarily a fascinating character study, given largely through an interesting narrative structure of storytelling stories within stories within stories. One of the issues explored in most detail is Whale's homosexuality and its impact on his life.
Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser are both wonderful in their roles, one as Mr. Whale and the other as his new gardener. Their relationship develops on screen with gentleness and subtlety. And the final image of the film, Fraser walking a Frankenstein walk in the rain -- has stayed with me long long after the movie had finished. I've seen the film 3 times already, and will probably see it again. In my opinion, it's a rare masterpiece of modern cinema.
- Title: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Year: 1998
Country: U.K.
Writer/Director: Guy Ritchie
Okay, so I don't consider this one "a masterpiece of modern cinema" ... but it certainly is fun. And funny, as well. Guy Ritchie knows how to write a funny movie ... as long as you're willing to just roll with it and not take it too seriously. He has a wonderful ear for irony and dialogue, and an apparently endless font of inventively odd characters. Ritchie also wrote/directed Snatch, which I loved also, but not as much as I did Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.
 The film centers around a bunch of small-time hoods who get themselves mixed up in some fairly serious problems with the more serious criminal elements in their area of London. It may not sound funny, but it is. Almost relentlessly so. As long as you like smart-asses ... which I do, very much. Otherwise I wouldn't have married one.
Quotes:
Soap: A minute ago this was the safest job in the world. Now it's turning into a bad day in Bosnia.
Tom: There's no money. There's no weed. It's all been replaced by a pile of corpses.
Dog: Look, will everyone stop gettin' shot?
Eddie: They're armed.
Soap: Armed? Armed with what?
Eddie: Err, bad breath, colorful language, feather duster ... what do you think they're gonna be armed with? Guns, you tit!
 Title: The Red Violin
Year: 1998
Countries: Canada/U.S.A./Italy
This film incorporates several things I often find interesting in films: creative use of chronology of scenes, multiple characters/stories with intertwining plots, tie-in to real-life historical events, evocative use of music, beautiful cinematography, and insightful directing.
The film centers around a famous and mysterious red violin, which is something nearly impossible: a perfect musical instrument, without flaw. Through a series of vignettes, the film follows this "red violin" through its entire history, as it is made by its creator, as it affects the lives of its various owners, and the central, pivotal scene: the modern-day auction when the famous violin comes up for sale before an awe-struck and eager audience of potential buyers.
From the oppressive "Cultural Revolution" under China's Chairman Mao, to the pathos of an eighteenth-century Austrian orphanage, to the liveliness of generations of gypsy travellers, to the decadence of a British aristocrat and his passionate mistress ... the characters are vibrant and compelling ... their stories are each unique and complex ... and it all intertwines as if to form one unified symphony of individual instruments.  Title: Run Lola Run
Year: 1998
Country: Germany
Director: Tom Tykwer
Star: Franka Potente
Tykwer also wrote/directed The Princess and the Warrior, which is also on my list. I would have a lot of difficulty choosing between the two movies to say which I like better, because they're both so extraordinary in their own ways. What I can say quite easily, though, is that I am an enthusiastic fan of Tykwer's work.
Run Lola Run has one of the most thrilling narrative structures I've ever seen, with its bizarre looping effect giving the viewer almost a feeling of emotional vertigo. The main character, Lola, must race through the streets to accomplish various tasks and arrive at a particular place by a particular time. When she fails in her task, when she arrives at an undesirable outcome, the film basically begins again and she gets another chance.
It may not sound exciting, but it is. It's riveting. I wish I'd written a review immediately after seeing this film, because I would like to convey the thrill I felt after seeing it for the first time. Ah well.
- Title: Rushmore
Year: 1998
Stars: Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray
Wow ... Bill Murray returns! Memories arise of watching Meatballs when I was a little kid! It's good to see that he's still around, and actually making some interesting movies, if this is any indication.
Rushmore, in the film, is the name of a private prep school. But it also has a symbolic meaning, representing the things we dream about, the things we work toward because they are important to us, the things around which we revolve our hopes.
The main character, a kid named Max Fischer, wants to continue going to Rushmore, despite his tendency to do things that will get him kicked out. Not that he's a bad kid. Quite the contrary: he's rather frighteningly intellectual. But he puts all of his efforts into extra-curricular activities (starting clubs, writing and producing plays, etc.) instead of his schoolwork. Then a woman shows up, a new teacher, and Max develops feelings for her. Unfortunately for him, so does a grown man with whom he has something of a friendship. And the age-old triangle develops again ... but warped and twisted like Max Fischer himself.
When I first saw this movie, I just sort of sat there, staring at the scene in awe and confusion, because it truly wasn't like any other movie I'd ever seen. It's beyond quirky. It's downright weird. But wonderful in its weirdness. And I've gotta say I love the main character, Max Fischer ... Nerd Extraordinaire.
Quote:
Max Fischer: I like your nurse's uniform, guy.
Dr. Peter Flynn: These are O.R. scrubs.
Max Fischer: Oh, are they?
- Title: Shakespeare in Love
Year: 1998
Countries: U.S.A./U.K.
Writer: Tom Stoppard
Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes
Stoppard Stoppard Stoppard! I love Stoppard! He's a Shakespeare fan, of course, as is evidenced in much of his work, and here he has written pure candy for the Shakespeare fan. This basic Shakespearean plot -- poor man falls in love with rich woman who is in disguise as a boy, but she is being forced to marry some rich guy she doesn't love -- is simply full of ironic twists on Shakespearean plays and trivia.
Add to that the sumptuous costumes and the constant humor and the fact that Joseph Fiennes is way hot. And add to that the truly touching relationship between the two romantic leads. It isn't great cinema, but it's extremely enjoyable, especially for a Shakespeare fan like myself.
Quotes:
William Shakespeare: I have a new play.
Christopher Marlowe: What's it called?
William Shakespeare: Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter.
Christopher Marlowe: What is the story?
William Shakespeare: Well, there's this pirate...
Viola De Lesseps: I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all. No ... not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that ... overthrows life. Unbiddable, ungovernable -- like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love like there has never been in a play.
Queen Elizabeth: Fifty pounds! A very worthy sum on a very worthy question. Can a play show us the very truth and nature of love? I bear witness to the wager, and will be the judge of it as occasion arises. I have not seen anything to settle it yet.
Viola De Lesseps: This is not life, Will. It is a stolen season.
 Title: Sliding Doors
Year: 1998
Country: U.K.
Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Lynch, and John Hannah
A romantic movie with a great narrative structure, exploring two divergent outcomes for a woman's life, based on one moment turning out differently. In one reality, she is with one man, and in the other reality she gets romanced by another. I'm a big John Hannah fan, but then he's a Scot, so of course I lurve him. Plus, he's very very funny, and I'm a sucker for that as well.
Quotes:
James: Everyone is born knowing all the Beatles lyrics instinctively. They're passed into the fetus subconsciously along with all the amniotic stuff. In fact, they should be called "The Fetals".
Helen: I-I'm not -- I'm not very good at -- at, you know...
James: Constructing sentences?
Russell: You want my opinion?
Gerry: Will I like it?
Russell: Well, of course not! It'll be based in reality. - Title: Slums of Beverly Hills
Year: 1998
Welcome to my life! Well, okay, we lived in Orange County instead of Beverly Hills. And we didn't move as often as this family. And my mom always managed to pay the rent, because she wasn't irresponsible like the father in this film. But, still, this movie reminded me a lot of my life when I was a kid.
Young girl in poor family in the '70s, living in cheesy apartments with puke green carpeting and suchlike. Some relatives who have money -- and therefore avoid the others as much as possible so that they won't get asked to share the wealth -- and other relatives who are constantly in trouble with drugs, the law, teen pregnancies, etc.
Based on that description, you might expect the film to be highly depressing, but in fact it's very funny. I first saw it with two friends who'd lived very privileged lives, and they didn't understand some of the humor ... but, hey, those two don't have very good senses of humor, anyway, so don't let that deter you.
Oh, and lastly, I'm a bit of a Kevin Corrigan fan (he's also in the movie Walking and Talking, which is also on this list), and he's great here as a weirdo Manson-obsessed (and yet vaguely sweet) teenager.
 Title: Smoke Signals
Year: 1998
Writer: Sherman Alexie
This is another film with an interesting narrative structure (have you noticed that I'm partial to those?), with a focus on the process and function of storytelling, particularly in Native American culture. Two Coeur d'Alene boys leave their reservation for the first time in their lives, in order to travel to Phoenix, Arizona. Over the course of their voyage, stories are told, made, and disproven. It's a funny, touching, and sometimes painful movie. My mother hated it ... that's recommendation enough for me.
Quotes:
Thomas Builds-the-Fire: Hey Victor! I'm sorry 'bout your dad.
Victor Joseph: How'd you hear about it?
Thomas Builds-the-Fire: I heard it on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight. And your mom was just in here cryin'.
Thomas Builds-the-fire: Sometimes it's a good day to die, and sometimes it's a good day to have breakfast.
Victor Joseph: The only thing more pathetic than Indians on TV is Indians watching Indians on TV.
Girl: You're like the Lone Ranger and Tonto ...
Thomas Builds-the-Fire: More like Tonto and Tonto.
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