Good form, sir. Good form! Onward gentlemen as we gather in anticipation of my review of the smash hit, Jury Duty.

The Prestige

Two stage magicians become rivals after a tragic accident see one kill the other's wife during the performance of a trick. They become obsessive about upstaging one another in the performance of a disappearing man trick which leads to murder.

I enjoyed it but didn't think it was amazing. I'm also really annoyed that the whole plot hangs on an amazing coincidence unless I'm missing some thing.

Also, I found a lot of Christopher Priest's stories to be hard to stomach, but The Prestige is one that I think is well worth reading. The ending is quite a bit different than the film's, and there is an extra subplot surrounding the descendant of one of the magicians. I liked the book so much that I immediately went out and purchased everything from Priest I could get my hands on, much of which was out of print.

Saw

How many sequels has this thing had how much money has it made?
I had thought that there must be a pretty clever idea at the heart of it or it would be a standard thriller but very well made but I was disappointed it looked like a low budget made for TV movie and didn't have a particularly smart script.
Everything was just a bit substandard, dialogue, direction even make-up although it did manage to rescue it's self at the end with a twist I didn't see coming. I won't be checking out the sequels.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller skips school by faking illness and goes to the city with his girl friend Sloane and best friend Cameron for an adventure.
During which we learn a little about Cameron's dysfunctional family and the bitter sweet feelings which surround the last days of high school before friends part to start their new lives.

It's not Hughes' best teen comedy but it has its moments. I think the problem is the tone at times its pretty zany and silly asking for a lot of suspension of disbelief but its best bits are much more naturalistic just pushing the bounds of what's possible a little while still knowingly portraying high school.
Matthew Broderick did a nice job keeping Ferris just the right side of Insufferable but his still a bit of a git.

Per my recent viewing of The Fog of War, I had a mini-Morris film festival yesterday, and watched both The Thin Blue Line and Gates of Heaven.

The Thin Blue Line is, to my memory, the first fully stylized documentary I can recall ever seeing. It is remarkable how Morris takes documentation to a new aesthetic, and all without losing any focus on the very serious subject matter. He always manages to back off just a little before the style violates the implicit rules of decorum, if that makes sense.

And I love this quote from Adams, after the fact:



Gates of Heaven is a film about pet cemeteries. It is enjoyable throughout for the characters he finds in the industry. I found both Floyd at the beginning and the entire family at the end to be fascinating. Floyd was a more sensitive man that one might want to be, it seemed. And the family? Well, there's a lot going on there.

My only issue with the film is that it is set up in the beginning as though there will be a linear, traditional narrative that involves Floyd and his partners. Then, seemingly out of the blue, Morris shifts entirely away from them to other folks.

As I said, they're all interesting, but that transition took an adjustment.

Although I have always Ferris Bueller's Day Off, over time, I have come to believe that The Breakfast Club is actually close to a perfect film. I used to think of it as a little thing, overly emotional, and a little goofy, but every time I see it now, I am stuck by just how very excellent it is.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I just found the fan theory that Ferris is the imaginary friend of Cameron. He leads the life that Cameron wishes he lead adoring parents a wide circle of friends a beautiful girl friend, the whole community concerned about his health. It doesn't quite work when you start thinking about the movie in hindsight but it does make the over the top musical number at the parade make a lot more sense.

As per the recent request here is my top 100:

CAVEAT: I make NO claim these are the 100 best films of all time, although many would make that list too. These are simply the current ones of my very personal list of the 100 movies I most respect, most love, and/or made some kind of huge impression on me.

1 Before Sunset (2004)
2 Pulp Fiction (1994)
3 The Godfather II (1974)
4 Fog of War (2003)
5 The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966)
6 The Godfather I (1972)
7 12 Angry Men (1957)
8 Before Sunrise (1995)
9 Morvern Callar (2002)
10 Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)
11 Goodfellas (1990)
12 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
13 The Third Man (1949)
14 Once (2006)
15 The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
16 Fight Club (1999)
17 High Fidelity (2000)
18 Singing in the Rain (1952)
19 Rear Window (1952)
20 North by Northwest (1959)
21 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
22 Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
23 Un Prophete (2009)
24 All the President’s Men (1976)
25 Inglourious Basterds (2009)
26 The Big Lebowski (1998)
27 Exotica (1994)
28 Being John Malcovitch (1999)
29 Apocalypse Now (1979)
30 Into the Wild (2007)
31 Chinatown (1974)
32 My Winnipeg (2007)
33 2046 (2004)
34 Oldboy (2003)
35 The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
36 United 93 (2006)
37 Almost Famous (2000)
38 In America (2002)
39 Apollo 13 (1995)
40 Let The Right One In (2008)
41 Straight Story (1999)
42 Se7en (1995)
43 Departed (2006)
44 Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
45 Serenity (2005)
46 Volver (2006)
47 Master and Commander (2003)
48 Touching the Void (2003)
49 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
50 Do The Right Thing (1989)
51 Humpday (2009)
52 In the Mood for Love (2000)
53 Leon (1994)
54 City of God (2002)
55 No Country for Old Men (2007)
56 Ocean’s 11 (remake) (2001)
57 Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
58 Platoon (1986)
59 The Thing (1982)
60 Thirteen Days (2000)
61 Black Hawk Down (2001)
62 Contact (1997)
63 A Bittersweet Life (2005)
64 Dear Zachary (2008)
65 Amelie (2001)
66 Happy Together (1997)
67 Taxi Driver (1976)
68 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
69 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
70 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
71 Talk to Her (2002)
72 Heat (1995)
73 Unforgiven (1992)
74 Raging Bull (1980)
75 The Descent (2005)
76 Catch Me If You Can (2002)
77 Die Hard (1988)
78 Miller’s Crossing (1990)
79 One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
80 LA Confidential (1997)
81 Adaptation (2002)
82 Fargo (1996)
83 Secretary (2002)
84 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
85 Chunking Express (1994)
86 American Movie (1999)
87 Roger and Me (1989)
88 Point Break (1991)
89 The Usual Suspects (1994)
90 Closer (2004)
91 Good Will Hunting (1997)
92 Man on Wire (2008)
93 The Insider (1999)
94 I'm Not There (2007)
95 Grizzly Man (2005)
96 Fitzcarraldo (1982)
97 Chasing Amy (1997)
98 The Hurt Locker (2009)
99 Paris, Texas (1984)
100 Children of Men (2006)

(May have been posted.)

Clovis, thanks for your list. Serious question: is that in order? As in your #1 top film is Before Sunset? I know you numbered them so perhaps that's a dumb question, but some of your choices seem absurdly high or low, imo.

It is in "order" although that part is the most arbitrary. Far more important is thier presence on the list.

I would say the top 20 pretty closely represent a real order the rest are sort of interchangeable to some degree.

Before Sunset is my favorite film of all time, indeed.

Not my favorite, but no argument here for putting that one up time.

going to try Before Sunset/Sunrise

Breakfast club is awful imo.

Solid list. I need to see Morvern Callar, but I already knew that.

Name any film in the history of films that comes close to touching on the general discontent/angst felt by high school students in the 80's.

Not punk rock discontent, not heavy metal angst, not stoner angst...just general, a particular thing unique to that period, actually.

The only ones that come to mind are Fast Times At Ridgemont High and River's Edge.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is more of a teenage romp-type film. Entertaining, but not very telling or revealing. River's Edge (which I will go to my grave saying is one of the most underrated movies ever made...it's not even on Net frickin flix) is close to what I mean, only it really is wastoid/stoner-specific, in spite of being an awesomely awesome film.

No, The Breakfast Club really grabbed this thing that was unique to the early 80's, and just nailed it. I used to dismiss it for the goofy new wave music and the somewhat maudlin moments, but, taken as a whole, I don't think it could be much better than it is.

Clovis - you ranked Godfather II higher than Godfather I?

Clovis, you got it all wrong.

Indeed I do. Part two has an epic complexity lacking in part one.

WTF HH? Godfather II is commonly ranked higher than part I. I'm talking out of my ass, of course, since I thought all three films were boring as hell.

It certainly has a dissociative choppiness missing from the first one.

Disagree about the comparative complexity of anything but the structure, which I don't count as a plus.

Oh well, to each their own.

I have honestly never understood the need people have to rank these two films. I consider neither superior. Each is totally uniquely its own thing.

I mean, you won't find anything as "good" in II as the hospital scene from I, but you also won't find anything as "compelling" in I as the Fredo situation from II. Etc. etc.

Also, the feel and mood of these two films are very different, almost making this an apples/oranges comparison, in spite of the subject matter.

I don't know, but I don't think the world could do without either one, and if someone forced me to choose, I would be all Sophie's Choiced all up in here.

Really? It's been a long, long time since I watched this whole trilogy, but I thought the common perception was that Godfather I and Godfather III are the superior films while Godfather II was the throw away.

Guess I'll just have to rewatch them again and re-evaluate since I'm getting so much flack for this.

III is almost almost ranked lowest but I still like it.