Favorite Movies in Top Ten form. Plus some honorable mentions. (This might change soon, this is off the top of my head).
Top Ten
1) Reality Bites- The quintessential post-collegiate movie. Great dialogue and characters. Struck me the very first time I saw it and it continues to amuse me everytime I put it on. Watching Ben Stiller is hilarious. Oh and in a reality bites, Troy is a philosophy major ten credits short of graduating. Grand eh?
2) Swingers- The quintessential guy movie. Watched this movie nightly sophmore year. I would just leave it running 24/7. Hilarious in its little touches and moments. Written by Jon Favreau, who stars as the loser.
3) Pulp Fiction- Quentin at his very best. Totally changed up the way a story could be told. You gotta pay close attention to the dialogue because it's some of the best that's been written.
4) Jerry Maguire- Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Cuba Gooding Jr and a kid with fat glasses. Plus football. What's not to like?
5) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon- A sub-titled Mandarin movie doesn't make 100 million dollars if it's not amazing. The story totally draws you in and the fighting sequences are in an understatement, unique. Watching this movie on big screen is the pinnacle of going out to watch a film in my opinion.
6) The Professional- This movie stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman and is about an assassin who takes in a young girl. Besides mixing a sense of humor with action, the debut of Portman as a young wannabe assassin is amazing.
7) LA Confidential- This movie should of won the Academy Award for Best Picture (epic bore Titanic won). LA Confidential manages to create a great film-noire atmosphere and represents the 50's beautifully. Russell Crowe's career was launched with this movie and performances by Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger and Guy Pierce were equally stunning. I read the book, which was really good (if a bit dark), and completely different. How the writers streamlined the plot into this great movie is a work of genius.
8) 12 Monkeys- This movie is about time travel and it's done so well that i watch it time and time again, focusing on everything from the actors (Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeleine Stowe) to the theory. The atmosphere of this film is great. I had all these nutty theories about this movie when i watched it, next time you see it, look for the security guard's face to change when Willis is in the mental hospital trying to escape by the elevator. Trippy.
9) Reservoir Dogs- Mssrs Pink, Black, White, Orange, Brown and Blue are hired for a bank job that eventually goes awry. Tarantino's unique style and wonderful dialogue made Pulp Fiction great, but before Pulp Fiction was Reservoir Dogs, a rougher, less mainstream movie.
10) Clerks- The reason i rate this movie so high on my list is because when i saw this movie a long time ago, i was amazed at how a two hour "movie" could be made in black and white with just two guys sitting around talking. Kevin Smith is brilliant and write great dialogue.
