Dez's Favorite 50 Movies, #'s 40-36

Time to get back to the flicks after my Maui excursion. (You probably haven't heard the last of Maui, I've got a couple more things in the works. Also some politics on the way.) In case you missed #'s 41-50 (or just want a refresher), check out 50-46 and 45-41. I think there are some surprises in these next five. #40 is more of an experience than just a mere film. Unless you go to a theater and participate in the midnight ritual, it is hard to really understand why the film has lasted. Because if you just sit down and watch it conventionally on a Sunday afternoon, that doesn't really cut it. Here we go...

40. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), dir. Jim Sharman

The cult movie of all cult movies. I have fond memories of going down to the no-longer-existing Bellaire movie theater in Houston late on Friday or Saturday nights to participate in the odd ritual that has risen out of this film. I also went more recently to a showing on Halloween night in Austin which was a blast. Wicked fun, sexually playful, catchy musical numbers, engaging performances from everyone from Tim Curry to Meatloaf and a winking tribute to both classic horror and B-movie sci-fi make for a film that is best when communally experienced, not merely passively watched.


ABOVE: Tim Curry is the "Sweet Transvestite," Dr. Frank N. Furter

39. First Blood (1982), dir. Ted Kotcheff

This is a film whose reputation has been unfairly tarnished by the terrible Rambo sequels that followed. But if you can take this movie on its own terms, it is a top notch action thriller. Stallone gives an excellent performance, from a purely physical standpoint but also from an emotional angle as well. It is also the best of the thousands of cop roles played by Brian Dennehy. Dennehy is superb as the headstrong Sheriff Teasle, a bigoted good ‘ole boy sheriff who thinks he’s keeping his town clear of the riff raff by harassing a drifter passing through. Teasle soon realizes that he has unleashed a hurricane upon his sleepy Northwest town when he and his deputies push Rambo too far; but he is equally determined to bring Rambo to heel, no matter the cost in human lives or property damage.


ABOVE: Sheriff Teasle (Dennehy) harasses Rambo (Stallone) (this is before he realizes that pushing around a former Green Beret who has frequent ‘Nam flashbacks is a bad idea)

38. Capturing the Friedmans (2003), dir. Andrew Jarecki

A fascinating documentary film about the nature of truth. Jarecki initially set out to make a film about birthday party clowns (really), but once he learned of the dark and controversial family history of clown David Friedman, Jarecki wisely changed course. The facts as we know them: family patriarch Arnold Friedman and son Jesse Friedman are accused of pedophilia on a pretty massive scale. That is all that we know for sure. Facts, perspectives and accusations fly wildly from and in all directions as Jarecki chronicles the case. Some people are clearly lying, but it is near impossible to figure out whom, because everyone seems to sincerely believe what they are saying. In the midst of it all, we are privy to the painful but mesmerizing unraveling of the Friedman family itself. This is intense and bold documentary film making.

37. The Limey (1999), dir. Steven Soderbergh

This quirky noir-crime revenge film benefits from unorthodox editing and directing, as well as excellent performances from its leads. Retired criminal/convict Wilson (a supercool Terence Stamp) investigates the suspicious death of his daughter. The quest takes this very British man to the slimy and dark underbelly of L.A. Peter Fonda is also excellent as a cynical, former hippie turned sleezeball record producer who was Wilson’s daughter’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance. (I love the scene where Fonda tries to tell Wilson’s daughter about the wonderful 60’s, and then wearily admits that “it was only really good for a couple of months in the summer of ’67…that’s it”). TL is a perfect balance of style, suspense, action, humor and interesting characters. Soderbergh employs a great trick of using scenes from Stamp’s 1967 film Poor Cow as flashbacks of Wilson’s own past, and weaves the flashbacks into the story of TL.


ABOVE: Wilson (Terence Stamp) will kick your ass

36. Witness (1985), dir. Peter Weir

I think this is Harrison Ford’s best performance. Ford plays cop John Book, who must protect an Amish child who was a witness to a brutal murder of another cop. The plot unfolds to where Ford has to go into hiding with the boy and the boy’s mother (an excellent Kelly McGillis) out in Amish country. Much of the film centers around the fish-out-of-water scenario of Ford’s hardboiled city cop coping with Amish life and trying to blend in (as their lives depend on it). Weir is one of my favorite directors, and he wisely takes his time here. The relationships and story unfold leisurely, but you become emotionally invested in these lives. There are several gorgeous sequences where Weir takes full advantage of the beautiful landscape, such as the somewhat famous barn raising sequence. When the violent climax finally comes, you had almost forgotten why Ford was originally there because the viewer has become so involved with the characters and relationships quite outside of the original crime plot; so it is a jolting and well earned payoff that caps a wonderfully moody picture. (You will also notice early appearances from actors who later become quite well known, such as Danny Glover and the film debut of Viggo Mortenson).