Bored with our final semester of law school, Andrew Brenner and I decided we’d create, and post, our top 100 films of all time lists.

Our undertakings will be different, though the goal is the same–amass a list of the 100 films that mean the most to us. I won’t speak for the criteria Andrew is using to make his list, but I can speak the criteria I’ve used.

-These are the films that mean the most to me.

-These are the films I find the most impactful-both on cinema and my life.

Good Film/Movies/Cinema is a rewarding experience for me.  I get just as much entertainment from a well-written, well-made drama as I do from laughing the entire time at Will Ferrell movie. So this list isn’t necessarily full of movies I enjoy on a sheer entertainment level. A movie is just as likely to be on this list for messing with my head for weeks after seeing it, challenging the way I view the world, or being one of the best in a genre as it is just for making me smile. Not every legendary film is going to make my list because some of them just don’t mean as much to me. This whole exercise is subjective.

All this is to say, Anchorman just missed the list. Sorry.

So without further ado, here’s numbers 100-81. The rest will be revealed, 20 at a time, in four additional posts. Don’t forget to view Andrew’s list as well. I think you’ll get a glimpse of how two people with very similar tastes can sometimes view things very differently.

The list begins after the jump…

NUMBER 100 – SNATCH (2000)

Snatch makes this list almost entirely on style. A big part of this is it’s a fantastic example of how a highly-stylized director is totally at home with his technique. And it is director Guy Ritchie’s unique style that is resplendent in this film. It’s pitch perfect, from song selection to casting, from pacing to cinematography. And it’s entirely memorable. Many films since have copped elements of Ritchie’s style, but here all the elements are on display at the top of their form. It helps that this one is all Ritchie, from screenplay to final cut, something all too rare in modern cinema. Note, this is unequivocally a “guy” film, I am hard pressed to even remember a female character in the film. But it would work just as well if all the characters were women. It isn’t about the message, it’s about the style.

NUMBER 99 – BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN (2006)

Sacha Baron Cohen is a modern Groucho Marx. This is for certain not an original observation, but I make it to say he’s truly a genius. Is this film too vulgar for many audiences? Absolutely. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. It’s also hilarious, and Cohen’s completely inhabiting the role–from his gangly walk to his mishmash malpropisms, is one of cinema’s great performances. You end up forgetting the film is largely improvised. You miss the fact that so much of the humor is what Cohen is able to generate through his interactions with everyday people. What results, besides your being entertained, is a view of the Post-9/11 America through the twisted lenses of Borat’s Kazak eyes. Borat is an improvised mockumentary that will stand as a cultural milestone. But yeah, it’s ridiculously vulgar. Like, probably will be considered too vulgar in decades vulgar.

NUMBER 98 – THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

I had plenty to say about The Dark Knight after seeing it last summer. But in short, this is a genre-changing comic book movie. The layers – that Batman is a character with such a black and white moral code but operates as a vigilante shrouding his actions in greyscale; that in such a depraved world as director Chris Nolan’s Gotham, an amoral menace like The Joker is in some ways a moral center; that the “white knight”, moralistic District Attorney Harvey Dent, is scarred and ruined by the dark spirit of the city he seeks to protect, raise the bar in this film far above that you’d expect from a “comic book movie.” It contains a legendary screen performance in Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker. It does the difficult job of both being incredibly unsettling and a box office smash. And it does it all so well stylisticially. 10 years from now, I have a feeling we’ll look back at this film as a standard bearer of things to come.

NUMBER 97 – THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001)

This scene sums it up perfectly. If you haven’t seen the movie, it will mean nothing. But this offbeat comedy is Wes Anderson’s best, and perfectly captures his best skills. Excellent song choices, interesting characters, and completely quirky action. Anderson envisioned an entire world with this film, the depth of the set decoration and character histories is incredible.

NUMBER 96 – ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)

Is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved before? But what if you have loved and want the sweet bliss, the eternal sunshine, that is the spotless mind? What if you could erase all memory, good and bad, of a lost love? Are some people going to be drawn to each other, and yet wrong for each other, no matter what?

This film is wonderfully complex, incredibly confusing, and richly rewarding, much like the kind of relationships it depicts. It’s science fiction without being geeky, romance without being sappy, and escapism without being detached from reality. It hurts, but it heals. The premise is unique, but the feelings and situations it unravels are entirely real. Painfully real. It pairs Charlie Kaufman’s offbeat narrative style with Michael Gondry’s offbeat visual one, which is the kind of risk that either really goes awry or really works. This really works.

NUMBER 95 – BLAZING SADDLES (1974)

There is parody, and then there’s Mel Brooks. Westerns are our father’s (and grandfather’s) movies, the genre has evolved from one of America’s most prevalent to a dying campfire flame. And, speaking of campfires…

See, there are fart jokes, and then there’s Mel Brooks fart jokes. So gross, and unrealistic by  power of 10. But what’s more unrealistic: Westerns from the 50’s and 60’s that don’t acknowledge the reality of eating beans around a campfire, or Blazing Saddles, which does? That’s comedy–realism and absurdism at the same time. That’s what Blazing Saddles is. Our comedies don’t get enough credit for the powerful statements they can make, via humor, about our society. Mel Brooks will never get enough credit for his ability to cut even as he tickles your ribs.

NUMBER 94 – RAISING ARIZONA (1987)

Boy, you got a panty on your head…

The Coen Brothers were apparently born with the ability to take genres, throw nylons on their heads, and make something entirely new and twisted.  They find humor and laughs in places most films don’t even have places. And because they do that, they find poignancy and feeling in ways that other directors simply can’t, or can only hope to on their best day.

Raising Arizona is the epitome of a Coen Brothers comedy. They get the most out of their actors. They turn the ridiculous (see the above convenience store robbery) to the sublime. Everything in their best films is perfectly thought and realized. Every movement is calculated. Every shot is valuable. And the overall effect is the realization that you are watching something legitimately great.

NUMBER 93 – THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)

–Take everything I just said about Mel Brooks and parody and the Coen Brothers and comedy.

–Mix with a fantastic cast.

–Sprinkle in some eminently quotable dialogue.

–Repeat screenings with the knowledge the more you do it, the better it gets.

–Add a pinch of Steve Buscemi.

–Top with a White Russian.

This is a recipe for amazing. Please make a note of it.

NUMBER 92 – THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)

A masterpiece of technical filmmaking from an era when that was not nearly as easy to accomplish with post-production tools and tricks.

It’s notable for being a top genre film, for some great performances (Gene Hackman especially) and an incredible car-chase filmed largely without permission and with unsuspecting drivers and pedestrians in the streets of Brooklyn.

You read that right. This:

was filmed without permission and mostly void of actors and extras. It really was just a nutjob stunt driver and a cameraman wrapped in a mattress in the backseat driving insanely through the streets of New York. Pretty incredible stuff. Academy awards for picture (first R rated film to win) Actor, Director, Editing, and Screenplay. One of the stellar examples of how the 1970’s were America’s best decade for film.

NUMBER 91 – THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)

A recurring theme throughout this list will be films that are shining stars of their respective genres. This Is Spinal Tap is one of, if not the best, mockumentaries ever made. It’s such a well-made film that on release, many thought it depicted a real band in the last throes of their popularity. It’s also such a well made film that the film’s band (featuring creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) STILL tours the nation to adulation. There are many real bands from the 80’s who would love to be able to play to the crowds this fake one still does. Reality television and shows like “The Office” owe much of their success to the genre-bending glory of This Is Spinal Tap

These go to 11…

NUMBER 90 – MIRAGE (1965)

This might be the first head scratcher on the list, but then, it makes sense that it would be. Because this is a film that sticks with you, makes you scratch your head, and takes days to unravel and put together in your mind. The audience is in the shoes of the lead character, an amnesiac who “comes to” in the middle of a power outage and spends the rest of the film learning things about himself he’d rather not. There’s so much that’s notable about this film, but suffice to say it’s nearly perfectly made. Director Edward Dmytryk is criminally underrated, partially due to his being jailed and eventually naming names in the McCarthy era. Lost in the shuffle of modern directors who owe everything to people like Dmytryk are people LIKE Dmytryk who pioneered so much of the style that modern directors get undeserved credit for. Here’s a taste, this one’s not available on DVD so you will have to swing by the library for the VHS.

NUMBER 89 – APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

Kurtz: I’ve seen horrors… horrors that you’ve seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that… but you have no right to judge me. It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face… and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces. Seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate the children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for Polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn’t see. We went back there and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember… I… I… I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized… like I was shot… like I was shot with a diamond… a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God… the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men… trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love… but they had the strength… the strength… to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral… and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling… without passion… without judgment… without judgment. Because it’s judgment that defeats us.

NUMBER 88 – MEMENTO (2000)

The tricks films can pull with a narrative to make you identify with the main character are numerous, but Memento takes those tricks to a whole new level. If you don’t walk away from this film feeling as rattled as the main character must, then I question your humanity. This film has all the elements of a classic suspense film, but the concept is so unique that it presents something entirely rare in modern cinema–something new. It speaks to and represents the unique talents of Christopher Nolan, and announced to filmgoers that this was a man whose unique views and voice will impact cinema as long as he chooses to work. If you haven’t seen this film, go into it with and open mind and prepare to have that mind blown. I don’t want to say anything more lest I ruin the film’s numerous twists.

NUMBER 87 – STRAW DOGS (1971)

Straw Dogs, Sam Peckinpah’s study of violence, is a incredible comment on the male psyche. What happens to Dustin Hoffman’s mild mannered character in this film is meant to show that even the most meek among us has a breaking point. But what is that point? What creates it? And what do we do once we’ve reached it? And once we do reach it, can we ever go back? This film is memorable for its attempts to provide answers to those questions. This film literally erupts, like a smoldering volcano, in a stream of violent catharsis lasting nearly a half hour. But it’s not easily summarized in terms that are morally clear. Instead, Straw Dogs presents ambiguity. Is Hoffman a hero? A villain? That the film leaves these questions to the viewer is but one of its strengths. It’s notable that Peckinpah has stated that he feels if the film has a villain, it’s Hoffman’s character. This is not a film that will appeal to all audiences, and it’s not a film that says much more about society than what it says about Hoffman’s character. But for what it does say, it’s worthy of inclusion on many top 100 lists, this one included.

NUMBER 86 – LES DIABOLIQUES (1955)

I really don’t want to say much about this film, since it owes much of it’s spectacularness to it’s masterful suspense. Suffice to say this is an incredibly well made film. And it’s an incredibly influential film. Alfred Hitchcock took so much of what Les Diaboliques did and used it in Psycho. And of course both films have had immesaureable influence on modern suspense films. Thanks to the glory of the internet, you can watch this entire masterpiece on youtube, which I highly recommend you do. The film’s last 10 minutes are especially fantastic. This is how films should be made. Period. Yes, it’s in French with subtitles. If that’s an issue for you, why are you even reading this list?

Here’s part one, the rest of the film will be linked in the playlist on the right side of the youtube page.

NUMBER 85 – THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947)

Once upon a time, filmmaking was an art. Still photography come to life. A way to impact viewers with a combination of sensory stimulii that other singluar mediums simply did not present. It’s not a knock on modern filmmakers that masters like Orson Welles had the first crack at creating conventions, it’s more that modern filmmakers have dropped the ball completely. This is a film entirely memorable for Welles’ art. The story, a murder/thriller/noir plot that seems to be populating many films on this list, is taut and well-executed, but it’s the art of Welles both in front of and behind the camera that make this film one of the top 100 of all time. Welles’ technical genius is nearly unrivaled in film history. The end sequence, taking place in a house of mirrors, is legendary and it alone makes the film a landmark in film history. If you’re a fan of film as art, or a fan of noir/suspense, this is one to watch. If you view the video below, ask yourself honestly, who is shooting films like this these days?

NUMBER 84 – JULES ET JIM (1962)

There isn’t anything I can write about this that’s better than what The Village Voice wrote about it. This is a beautiful film that means different things to different people at different points in their lives. It has meant different things to me along the way. But it’s always had meaning. It stays with you. It’s about love, and life, and the forever-intertwined nexus between the two. That Truffaut is a master is unequivocal. That this film is a technical masterpiece should be as well. But that it’s a spiritual one is something altogether different. It is a true piece of cinematic literature, one that will impact you differently depending on your mood, and your satisfaction or lack thereof with your place in life. Read The Village Voice link above. Then see the film. Then see it again. And watch it later.

NUMBER 83 – ANNIE HALL (1977)

A screwball comedy that wins best picture at the Academy Awards (beating out Star Wars) must have a lot going on for it. And, sure enough, Annie Hall does. The movie is downright hilarious, Woody Allen’s one liners are a constant steam of hilariousness, and Diane Keaton is fantastic in the title role. That Woody Allen was able to realize and write fully-developed, complex, characters marked a major evolution in his career. That he was able to do so with such expressions about relationships is something most writers can’t even attempt, let alone succeed as well as Allen does with Annie Hall. The only reason I hesitate to call this the best Romantic Comedy of all time is because another film (in my top 10 actually) takes that title. But this film, with all of it’s screwball situations and hilarious one liners, won the Best Picture award, partially for Allen’s mastery at using comedy as a window to the soul.

NUMBER 82 – DUCK SOUP (1933)

It’s odd that Duck Soup ranks one ahead of Annie Hall, because Woody Allen’s opening monologue in Annie Hall makes reference to one of the great one liners attributed to Groucho Marx (from Duck Soup) to the effect of “I wouldn’t belong to any club that would have me as a member”.

Oddly, this hilarious film didn’t do well at the time it was released, but time has proven it to be both a masterpiece and prophetic. For example, at the beginning of Kalmar and Ruby’s song “Just Wait’ll I Get Through With It,” Groucho’s first two “nonsense” laws are: “No one’s allowed to smoke/ Or tell a dirty joke.” Sound familiar?

The humor–the puns, witticisms, and memorable scenes and situations, are all top-notch examples of the Marx Brothers. When Groucho starts in at 7 minutes, and doesn’t stop, you realize you’re watching one of our all time great comedians at the top of his game. And it helps that Mussolini took the film as a personal insult and banned it in Italy. That such an insanely anarchic comedy has a lot to say about nationalism and war (and stands the test of time) only says more about why this film is a masterpiece.  Memorable scenes include the mirror scene, and the film’s war sendup in the climactic moments.

This is another one that can be viewed entirely on youtube.

NUMBER 81 – WALL-E (2008)

If you missed this, or wrote it off as a kids movie, you should make it a point to see it as soon as possible. Its first hour, almost completely void of dialogue, is full of a sense of wonder I’ve rarely experienced in a film, animated or otherwise. It’s a sweet film, a touching film, and a funny film. It has something to say with very few words, and it says it with a longing and some staying power. That it does so as a cartoon is why it’s on the list at number 81. We’ll see whether it represents where animated movies end up going, or merely where they can go. It was nominated for a writing Oscar for crying out loud.

Films 80-61 will be posted in a week or so. Until then, don’t forget to check out Andrew Brenner’s list, and feel free to make your own!