Straight No Chaser

Zeal

unfortunately, i couldn't find the top one hundred favorites for the states, so i'm just going to use the australian ones. those i like are in bold; those i love are in bold with exclamation points; those i don't believe to belong on this list are question marked, rather obnoxiously; those i haven't seen are starred.

100. dead man*
99. being john malkovich!
98. the thin red line*
97. high fidelity*
96. back to the future!
95. mulholland drive*
94. lock, stock and two smoking barrels*
93. stand by me
92. citizen kane*
91. all about eve*

so far i'm unimpressed with this list, primarily because i think #96 (and at least one sequel thereof) deserves a higher position. it's a dreary sunday and my throat hurts, but at least i've got the thing tonight to look forward to.

90. grease!
89. aliens*
88. goodfellas*
87. look both ways*
86. fargo
85. chocolat!
84. this is spinal tap*
83. the english patient*
82. chariots of fire*
81. sin city

worst mood ever. worst mood ever. this is my second attempt at this paragraph, and the one following the coming ten-movie block. originally i'd written some confrontational words addressing actual readers, individual ones who have too long gotten away with certain offenses. i get sick of being the one person who never snipes at anybody, directly or otherwise. playing defense half the time, apologizing the other half.

80. garden state*
79. lantana*
78. gallipoli*
77. ferris bueller's day off
76. the great escape*
75. when harry met sally
74. muriel's wedding*
73. trainspotting
72. the good, the bad and the ugly*
71. kill bill: vol. 1! (but i thought the second one was better; why isn't it on here?

i decided that approach was out of character, and that i'd regret it, afterward. though not for any particular backlash, mind you. i can almost guarantee, the vast majority of you wouldn't have recognized yourselves as the subjects of my anonymous attacks. for that reason, it's not worth it, anyway.

70. dirty dancing*
69. romeo and juliet
68. rear window
67. napoleon dynamite
66. it's a wonderful life
65. aliens* (just me, or has this now appeared twice on this list?)
64. spirited away*
63. the fifth element
62. babette's feast*
61. raiders of the lost ark (though, to be fair, this is, to me, the least memorable of the trilogy. i'm a last crusadegirl, myself)

but i will say, anonymously, that i don't appreciate condescension; that i'm not a pincushion for anyone else's personal insecurities; that nothing gives any of us license to be any more self-evaluative or self-absorbed than anyone else; that very little justifies bad parenting; that one success does not make anybody a philosophical genius. there were other things. i'll stop now.

60. wings of desire*
59. strictly ballroom*
58. love actually* (gasp and horror, i know, i'll see it someday)
57. the african queen*
56. the city of lost children*
55. charlie and the chocolate factory! (i hope it's not disloyal to say i'm rather surprised to see this on here)
54. star wars episode v: the empire strikes back!
53. pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl!
52. the piano*
51. monty python and the holy grail!

and now i'm out of things to say, and will possibly have to offend my own sense of order by discontinuing the interjections.

50. forrest gump!
49. cabaret
48. the usual suspects*
47. picnic at hanging rock*
46. out of africa*
45. the wizard of oz
44. the big lebowski*
43. harold and maude*
42. dead poets society
41. the rocky horror picture show

no, okay. i will say that i'm intensely stressed about the upcoming exam week, and that i shouldn't even be doing this, now. nor going to the poetry reading tonight. but i'm already most of the way through the former, and unstoppable when it comes to the latter. i kind of deserve it, really. it's been a bad week.

40. a room with a view*
39. breakfast at tiffany's*
38. serenity*
37. brazil*
36. the third man*
35. local hero*
34. one flew over the cuckoo's nest!
33. lost in translation*
32. some like it hot*
31. moulin rouge*

marcus called last night, circa eleven-thirty, to randomly fill me on his plans for the evening, and to promise to call when he got home from the georgia state party. (he didn't.) which, and i tried very hard to curb this because of a fight we had on something similar this past monday, really really irritated me, because after two years of trying futilely to get him communicating with me in that particular way, i'd finally given up, just last week, and told him so. it strikes me as a control thing, no? i ask and ask and ask him to please keep me informed about his schedule, not in a naggish general way but in whatever way it's relevant to me, so i don't have to constantly pull myself together at the last second. he resists, quietly. then i say, okay, never mind, i can see that it's useless imposing that "constraint," so whatever, continue to disrespect my time as you've been doing. and he says, oh hey, how about i start keeping you informed? arghhhhhh. i am getting a sex change. it's my turn to put someone else through this same gauntlet of delights.

30. the godfather
29. life is beautiful
28. withnail and i*
27. the blues brothers*
26. a clockwork orange*
25. singin' in the rain*
24. the castle*
23. the matrix????
22. doctor zhivago*
21. cinema paradiso*

no, objectively, i can see where that would be confusing. he was, after all, just doing what i'd asked. but no, you can see my point, can't you? because i can, quite clearly, and it's got me frustrated enough that i hurled a cd at the wall, after that phone call. ricky martin is in three gleaming pieces on my desk. YES, ricky martin. yes. and i like "spanish eyes," and it's not fair.

20. apocalypse now*
19. lawrence of arabia*
18. monty python's life of brian*
17. doctor strangelove* (hoho!)
16. american beauty!
15. eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
14. casablanca*
13. 2001: a space odyssey*
12. to kill a mockingbird*
11. the sound of music!

just got the phone call that says i have to tutor this evening. which i do not feel like doing. fast-forward me to seven o'clock, please; fill my tank with gasoline or, better yet, teleport me to the java monkey. let's get this show on the road.

10. fight club
9. gone with the wind (can't endorse this on grounds of racism, unfortunately)
8. the princess bride*
7. pulp fiction!
6. star wars
5. donnie darko*
4. the shawshank redemption!
3. blade runner*
2. amelie*
1. lord of the rings (the trilogy) (to be fair, i've seen pieces of these but not all, and failed to follow through with reading the books first)

so the problem is, i've seen something like 105,550,505 movies in my lifetime, and only thirty-nine of them are on this list. meaning, if the australian public is to be trusted, that the other 105,550,466 have been filth, the potsticking residue of our planet's cinematic history. certainly something to think about.