Entertainment Weekly published their 1000th issue this week and filled it with lists of "The New Classics" selecting the 100 Best of the last 25 years, and of course their list of the best films is not going to satisfy every cinephile. I went ahead and comprised a list of the ten films missing from the list that most deserved to be included, but first here are the ten titles that did make the list that I think can be removed to make room for my ten selections:
Ranked at:
28. Wings of Desire (1988) A lovely film, but not a "new classic."
36. Spider-Man 2 (2004) If a comic book sequel belongs here, it's X2: X-Men United.
54. Fatal Attraction (1987) It was just as stupid 20 years ago as it is now.
55. Risky Business (1983) Would this be on the list if it weren't for just one scene?
74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989) Nothing wrong with this movie, but not right for this list.
75. Out of Africa (1985) There are better Best Picture Oscar winners that didn't make the cut.
80. Michael Clayton (2007) Not even if it were the 100 Best Films of the last five years.
89. Breaking the Waves (1996) Lars Von Trier did better with Dancer in the Dark and Dogville.
92. Menace II Society (1993) Instead of Boyz N the Hood?
94. Full Metal Jacket (1987) The boot camp segment is fantastic, but not so much the rest of it.
The Ten Substitutions:
1. The Princess Bride (1987) This didn't make the list? INCONCEIVABLE! I'm not saying it should rank above Pulp Fiction (they at least picked the right title to top the list) but this certainly belongs in the top ten of a list of "new classics."
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) The definitive sleeper hit of the 90's, and one of those movies that can suck you in every time when you come across it while channel surfing.
3. Amadeus (1984) The best of the Best Picture Oscar winners not on the list. The three runner-ups would be Dances With Wolves, American Beauty and Platoon.
4. Beauty and the Beast (1991) With the exception of Toy Story, this title belongs on the list more than any of the other animated selections (The Lion King, Shrek, The Incredibles). The same could be said for Finding Nemo, also missing from the list.
5. Traffic (2000) The best film of this decade. Other great films from this decade that are missing include The Pianist, Letters From Iwo Jima and Sin City.
6. Groundhog Day (1993) One of the finest film comedies ever made.
7. Batman (1989) The film that made the comic book movie boom begin again.
8. Defending Your Life (1991) Just as good or better than any romantic comedy on or off the list.
9. Field of Dreams (1989) There's something wrong when the closest thing to a sports movie on the list is Jerry Maguire. I know this movie really isn't about baseball, but it's still closer to a sports movie than Jerry fuckin' Maguire. They could at least have included The Natural, Bull Durham or even A League of Their Own.
10. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) One of the holiday films that I watch practically every year, just like Scrooged, Home Alone and Sleepless in Seattle, which are all missing from the list.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Forgotten Classics
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10 comments:
I still think FMJ deserves a spot over Defending Your Life. I think few people love that movie as much as we do.
I was also thinking The Commitments deserves a spot on there somewhere. And you are totally right about the lack of sports movies. WTF?
Well done, sir.
I read your substitute list before reading the real list, and I can't believe most of your subs AREN'T on the list. Effing EW. They did a Best Albums of the last 25 years list recently, and its the weirdest list ever.
Yeah, you know what, you make excellent points here and as much as I love EW, I was ready to put my fist through something after reading the music list. It's so fucking predictable that they have to put Nirvana a certain distance above Pearl Jam. And they had the Nirvana Unplugged album in the Top 20...not even Nevermind. I just picture a bunch of assholes sitting around a table going, "Okay now, how can we look really hip with this list?"
*breath*
It's nice to see you pulling your weight around here for once, Garney.
I cannot fathom that The Shawshank Redemption was not on the original list of 100. Seriously. Wth?
I had some serious issues with the music list too, but tackling that was much more of an undertaking than just sticking to the movies.
"Pulling my weight"? Is that some kind of a fat joke?
I also thought there were some flicks MIA from that list
Wow, you've renewed my interest in movie-favorites lists. I agreed with your additions so much that I immediately Netflixed the only one I hadn't seen, "Defending Your Life".
I'd add •The American President, •Heist, •Dances With Wolves, •Love Actually.
A few obscure movies, that, just a hunch, you've never heard of, and you'd like a lot: •The Zero Effect (Bill Pullman, reclusive, eccentric, philosophical private eye), •Return To Me (Bonnie Hunt's funniest and sweetest work), •Dark City (meticulous, big twist), •Mark of Zorro (1974, TV) (maybe), •Life Or Something Like It (Jolie and Burns and Shaloub with chops).
I own Zero Effect and Dark City on DVD and have watched them both several times. I've a;sp seen Return To Me, and I'm pretty sure I've seen Life or Something Like It but I'm not positive.
Enjoy Defending Your Life.
Menace 2 Society should be higher.
Boyz N The Hood will always be more important, but Menace is ten times better.
There would be no Menace without Boyz, and even though it's an inferior film I actually prefer Dead Presidents.
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