'and the award goes to...': My Top 20 films: 11-20

Welcome, if you missed 1-10 check that out, and please let me know what you think about my selection!

Without further ado...

11. Shutter Island – Directed by Martin Scorsese (much like many of these aforementioned films, such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and no. 20 Gangs of New York), this psychological masterpiece leaves audiences dumbfounded, and utterly undecided about Teddy Daniel’s (Leonardo Di Caprio’s) fate and character. Awarding the film 3½ stars out of 4, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "the movie is about: atmosphere, ominous portents, the erosion of Teddy's confidence and even his identity. It's all done with flawless directorial command. Scorsese has fear to evoke, and he does it with many notes." Such ‘notes’ nod to the musicality of the film, its chilling, eerie, powerful music gives rise to an awkwardness and makes audiences expect danger and reason, and yet moments are still delivered unexpectedly and unreasonably. This thriller, at the time of watching, was certainly the most frightening and eerie film I’d watched, and the climax leaves audiences questioning every detail of the film. The identity of Daniels (Di Caprio) could never be figured out. Sir Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer, Max von Sydow and Mark Ruffalo co-star; as well as a chilling performance by Watchmen’s Jackie Earle Haley.

12. Dirty Harry & The 'Man With No Name' Trilogy – Eastwood’s deliverance of the ‘Man With No Name’ and Harry Callaghan of Dirty Harry place the actor in a precise list of filming greats. His bravado and superior style make him easily fit with the Bond reference ‘men want to be him, women want to bed him’. His sarcasm:"When I see a grown man chasing a woman down an alleyway with a butcher knife and a hard-on, I figure he's not out collecting for the Red Cross." makes him a favourite through grittiness and general severity and his character’s loathing for his world. Eastwood plays the non-conformers, the pariahs, and yet owns them and makes them admirable and desirable. The ‘Dollars’ Trilogy or ‘Man With No Name’ Trilogy hold a 98% score, 94% score and 97% score for each film (on Rotten Tomatoes). Such portrayals gained the cult character the ‘Man With No Name’ 46th place on Empire’s best ever characters in film.

13. The Last Samurai - Critic Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying it was "beautifully designed, intelligently written, acted with conviction, it's an uncommonly thoughtful epic." Edward Zwick (the director) managed to portray samurai as beautiful, graceful, styled, aesthetic, and generally an art form. The unusual, yet harmonising fusion of Tom Cruise’s POW character’s American background and the Japanese samurai is very tasteful and adds a delightful twist to the narrative. The diary form of the narrative adds to the realism, and the glorification of this 19th Century epic war gives The Last Samurai conviction and class.

14. Enter the Dragon – This intense martial arts classic from 1973 (along with Jackie Chan’s 1978 martial art comedy film Drunken Master) were the first martial arts films I saw as a child. Having been a judoka for 11 years and having had a black-belt-in-karate brother, I appreciate these films more and I see Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, specifically Lee, as dedicated heroes. Chan actually acted as a stunt double in 1973’s Enter the Dragon. The film was released on July 26, 1973, six days after Lee's death, in Hong Kong. He was also one of the film's writers. Often considered one of the greatest martial arts films of all time, in 2004,Enter the Dragon was deemed "culturally significant" in the United States and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry (much like #10 Blade Runner). Again, this Asian film relays the beauty and art of fighting and shows Lee’s artistic value and belief in martial arts. The final battle scene between Lee and Shih Kien’s devilish villain is collosal, and truly magnificence for the 1970s.

15. White Men Can't Jump – This film is noted due to the impressive and comedic chemistry between Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes. It is largely Snipes’ character Sidney Deane who provides the comedy through his hilarious trash-talking and psychological games. His larger-than-life persona along with Billy Hoyle’s (Harrelson) tragically ordinary life and demeanour provide a memorable film that is ‘not just about basketball’. Snipes’ outspokenness mixed with great sporting action make this film unbeatable in terms of comedy and a sporting film. The gag of ‘white men can’t jump’ has had a cultural impact, making Sidney Deane’s ripostes of ‘Yo Mamma’ jokes and trash-talking infamous. The film is so comedic and heart-warming that Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket) considered White Men Can’t Jump one of his favourite films.

16. Sin City – This neo-noir thriller is as brutal and fierce as it gets. The film stars Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Elijah Wood, and features Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, and Michael Madsen among others. Such an ensemble cast promises quality, and they delivered it by the bucket-load. "Visually groundbreaking and terrifically violent, Sin City brings the dark world of Frank Miller's graphic novel to vivid life." Roger Ebert awarded the film four out of four stars, describing it as "a visualization of the pulp noir imagination, uncompromising and extreme. Yes, and brilliant." The fact that Mickey Rourke’s brutal beast Marv becomes a vigilante and shows he has a soft, heroic, emotional core is characterisation brilliance.

17. Casino Royale (2006) & Skyfall – The Bonds I’ve grown up with are Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Although Brosnan’s Bond was collected, suave and a classic portrayal of Fleming’s 007, Craig is by far the best Bond on screen. His gritty, unrefined, cold, brutal depiction was nothing Bond lovers had seen ever before, and yet to Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) Bond showed his vulnerability, his weaknesses. Coupled with Skyfall, which represented Bond as broken, Bond became a filming masterpiece. In Skyfall, Q (Ben Wishaw) was reconstructed intelligently and by modernity, and the film acted as a transition in that way, with the changeover of Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), Q, and M herself (Dame Judi Dench to Ralph Fiennes of Schindler’s List – see #19). The intelligence and high-octane action make these two classic Bond depictions favourites to viewers. The fact that it was based around London (my favourite area close to home) was brilliant, and specifically in Skyfall, Bond was brought to the 21st Century.

18. It's A Wonderful Life - In 1946's It's A Wonderful Life, James Stewart's character is reminded of just how valuable life is, and how, although we do not realise it, we contribute massively to our dearest friends and associates around us. Much like Singin' In The Rain (see #2), this film is heart-warming, but such an effect is maximised by the most part of a troubled character finding strength. This film is a Christmas classic and comprises of important morals. The film is so influential that 69 years on (2015) a sequel is planned in which 73 YO Zuzu Bailey, daughter of James Stewart’s George Bailey, teaches her grandson morals taught in the 1946 classic. The 6 year old actress who played Zuzu in 1946 is set to reappear on our screens for the first time since 1952!

19. Schindler's List – Like several of the aforementioned films, this film is made incredible by both its visual concepts and its legendary actors. Liam Neeson stars as Schindler himself, Ralph Fiennes , and Sir Ben Kingsley. Like many of these films it has passed the test of time, as it was released in 1993. This American epic historical drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the life of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. This titanic film explores themes of good and evil and redemption, as Oskar Schindler goes from Nazi supporter to the Proppian hero. Interestingly, for realism the film is represented in black and white, except for a girl’s red dress, and when you see it crushed within a pile of deceased Poles/ Jews, all innocence and purity has been blackened by Fiennes’ SS Second Lieutenant Amon Goeth.

20. Gangs of New York – Characters and actors can make films great, and sometimes the narrative propels its status. With Gangs of New York it is both. Daniel Day Lewis stars as Bill the Butcher, and when Daniel Day Lewis is in a film, you know it’s incredible. A young Leonardo Di Caprio stars, as well as Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson, John C. Reilly, Stephen Graham and Jim Broadbent. The story follows Bill "the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) in his roles as crime boss and political kingmaker under the helm of "Boss" Tweed (Jim Broadbent). The film culminates in a violent confrontation between Cutting and his mob with protagonist Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his allies, which coincides with the New York Draft Riots of 1863. The masterpiece in this film comes from the fact the Butcher carries Di Caprio’s character under his wing, unknowing that he murdered his father at the beginning of the film. Again, like so many other films in this list, the film is stylistically marvellous, and was nominated for TEN Oscars!

Honourable mentions include:

Big (only for the joyous piano scene),

School of Rock (for Jack Black’s brilliant comedy)

Django Unchained (for a brilliant narrative and fine acting from Samuel L Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo Di Caprio, and Jamie Foxx),

The Incredibles (for its retro 1960s feel and the exceptional fact it’s better than many live-action superhero movies),

Space Jam (the film of my childhood, which is strengthened by the incredible soundtrack ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ by R. Kelly and 'Fly Like an Eagle' by Seal),

Immortals (stylistically),

Limitless (for a brillaint narrative and acting from Bradley Cooper),

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (for Clint Eastwood's and Jeff Bridges' chemistry and

Beverly Hills Cop Trilogy (for Eddie Murphy’s characterisation: (falsetto) ‘Getthefuckouttahere!)

Les Miserables (for its power, amazing characters and better actors such as Helen Bonham Carter, Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baren Cohen).

Agree? Disagree? Just drop me a message and tell me what you think of my unofficial list!

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