Some Top Tens
I suppose the madness started about 4 July, with the movie “marathons” on various channels that cross carrier-waves with my satellite dish. The Reelz™ channel teased an episode of “Hollywood’s Top Ten” about a segment on their ten best war movies, and that captured my fractured attention. I can’t seem to catch this particular episode to compare notes, but as a relief for the political insanity engulfing us, I got in touch with my inner movie buff and started making my own lists.
I consider list-making to be anal-retentive behavior of the worst sort; a sure sign of senility. Still, David Letterman has gotten mileage out of Top Ten lists for years, and since the comments sections at UPI have been flagging lately, a sure way to get responses is to push a cultural button. It’s cheap, easy, and keeps me from going ballistic with comments about the “race card” politics that are wreaking havoc on what’s left of my mind.
What started as a mental amusement to occupy myself during endless commercial breaks—since all I seem to do in my geezerdom is watch TV—finally found its way onto paper. I began to make a mental list of Vietnam movies that possessed verisimilitude, and the exercise expanded into different categories: Nam movies, War II movies, gangster movies, and Westerns. Then, for good measure, the genres broke down into cop movies, crime thrillers, science fiction, alien movies, and love stories. A simple three-minute exercise turned into a few weeks of musing between bouts of rhetorical abuse by ersatz politicians. Certain standards began to assert themselves. “Honorable Mentions” suggested themselves.
The bottom line was fairly simple: to make a Top Ten in any category, a movie has to do one thing; it has to bring something new to the viewer every time it is watched. No matter how many times it’s been seen—and I have watched some of these flicks dozens of times—there has to be a new twist, a different element that applies to the moment in which it is viewed. With this consideration in mind, I discarded a lot of potential candidates, although I love movies for the sheer fun of the visceral experience most of them bring.
There are too many categories for a single blog post, so let’s start with the original inspiration—Vietnam movies—and my favorite Westerns. Readers will have their own favorites and opinions, and I await your feedback. Here, in semi-favored order, are some cinematic favorites and notes on why they made the cut:
VIETNAM MOVIES
1. “Apocalypse Now” [1979] When I think of a Vietnam movie, this is the first, defining title that comes to mind. This is the only Nam movie I dragged my parents to see in the theater, because it explains the sheer madness of that war more clearly than I could. My father told me afterwards it gave him nightmares; my mother remarked that there certainly was a lot of profanity in the movie.
2. “Full Metal Jacket” [1987] Before he got into movies, Stanley Kubrick was a photographer for Look magazine. He is a visual perfectionist as well as an outstanding storyteller, and the combat scenes are the most chilling I have ever seen. I wasn’t a Marine, but R. Lee Ermey is every drill sergeant every veteran ever knew. This is the second title that comes instantly to mind when someone mentions movies about Nam.
3. “Casualties of War” [1989] Allegedly a true story, albeit from a notoriously anti-war director. People who are profligate with war stories are suspect in my book, so the origins of the incident are dubious. I only tell two war stories: how I got a medal for running away, and one involving dueling machine guns, tracers, and LSD. Brian DePalma gets the details right, and the last scene, where the Vietnamese girl tells Michael J. Fox “You had a bad dream...it’s over now” makes me cry every time.
4. “Hamburger Hill” [1987] This B-list classic could be a documentary. Soldiers climb a hill at great cost, then give it back to the enemy. The characters are sharply drawn, and the cost of what they give to duty is breathtaking.
5. “We Were Soldiers” [2002] Before he fell into cussing drunkenly at his girlfriends, Mel Gibson could touch on truth. Based on Joe Galloway’s book and General Hal Moore’s memoirs, this is a documentary.
6. “Go Tell the Spartans” [1978] This is a little-seen drama set in the earliest days of American involvement in Vietnam. I can’t vouch for a lot of the detail, but it feels right.
7. “The Boys in Company C” [1978] R. Lee Ermey’s first movie—portraying a sergeant; now there’s a surprise!—and a sort of feeble follow-up by Hollyweird when they realized that “Apocalypse Now” was hitting a nerve in our collective consciousness.
8. “Good Morning Vietnam” [1987] For every soldier in the field, America deploys ten soldiers in support roles. Not a front-line piss-ripper, but the expressions of attitudes and emotions are genuine enough.
9. “Off Limits” [1988] Again, not a front-line look at the war, but the overall tone of madness and the ambiance of Saigon are resonant.
10. “Platoon” [1986] Oliver Stone was there, has the tee-shirt, and knows whereof he speaks. I don’t buy the overall plot and some of the characters, but there is an emotional truth that can’t be denied. The closing narration is a tear-jerker that makes me overlook Stone’s junky trash movies.
Honorable mentions: “Bat*21”—the real thing came down differently, but it catches the moments. “Flight of the Intruder”—the frustrations of pilots forbidden to bomb strategic targets in North Vietnam were very real, and a final scene of an A-1-A “Sandy” seeming to rise out of the ground to strafe some NVA troops is alone worth the price of admission. “The Deer Hunter”—yeah, we all got worked over emotionally by the war. At least the actors played Russian roulette with revolvers…like that really happened. The few times I put a pistol to my temple, it was a magazine-fed semiautomatic, and I knew what the outcome would be if I pulled the trigger. Visually stunning, but puzzling in its message. Michael Cimino fared better with his failed Western.
Speaking of WESTERNS…
I grew up spending my summers on my grandparents’ cattle ranch. Granted, it was in eastern Georgia, and the cattle were tasty Black Angus cows, and not the fabled and dangerous longhorns of the Wild West, but the horseback riding and general cowboy mentality was somewhat similar. The cinematic image of the cowboy is as uniquely American as jazz is to the music world, and my Western selections are chosen accordingly:
1. “The Wild Bunch” [1969] As with the previous genre, this is the defining title when someone says “Western.” The themes of honor, loyalty, dignity, and dealing with the twilight of one’s place in changing times are indeed timeless. Sam Peckinpah was a tortured genius and a visionary philosopher.
2. “The Searchers” [1956] No mention of Westerns would be complete without mention of John Wayne. He should have won his Oscar for this John Ford classic, instead of for “True Grit” in 1969. “Grit” is very good, but this one is outstanding.
3. “The Shootist” [1976] The Duke’s last movie was a perfect summation of his life and career. He’s still playing himself onscreen, but the self-effacement of his legend and the terrible irony of his death from cancer are poignant to the max. Miz Possum and I still choke up at the last scene.
4. “Open Range” [2003] Proving that the cowboy ethos is timeless; this modern take on it has surprising emotional impact. The simply expressed notions of right, wrong, and love rock my socks off every time. The climactic gunfight—with its misses, wild shots, and pauses for deep breaths and “What are we doing here?” moments, is one of the most realistic I think I’ve ever seen. Kevin Costner won multiple Oscars for the next movie on the list, but when he says “People are going to die here today, and I’m going to kill them,” I shudder from the base of my spine.
5. “Dances With Wolves” [1990] A modern classic, pure and simple. If only it t’were so. No cowboys and Injuns, no good guys and bad guys…just people doing what they hope is right, and trying to survive, change, and adapt.
6. “The Outlaw Josey Wales” [1976] Again, not so much good guys and bad guys as people trying to live, find redemption, and be free. Clint Eastwood has done a lot of Westerns, but this is an epic tale, and Eastwood's favorite movie. I always get something fresh out of it when I watch it. It should be #2 on the list.
7. “The Long Riders” [1980] Aside from the inspired casting, this is the most accurate recounting of the Jesse James legend ever made. The screenplay falls short on filling in all the blanks, but if you read books, know the details and the history, and catch the onscreen references, it is a masterpiece.
8. “Tombstone” [1993] A meticulously-researched, mostly accurate re-telling of the Wyatt Earp legend. At the OK Corral, Virgil Earp really announced “This isn’t what I want!” just before the shooting started. During the 45 seconds of gunfire, Wyatt really screamed at Ike Clanton to “Get a gun or get out of the fight!” Dying of tuberculosis, Doc Holliday really regarded his bare feet and remarked “This is funny!” with his last breath. The Earps were Republicans, by the way, and John Holliday was from Georgia. Outstanding.
9. “Unforgiven” [1992] An unrelenting examination of the dark side of the cowboy ethos. The basic story could be morphed into any given time period, because it’s an examination of spiritual values. The second-best Western Clint Eastwood ever made.
10. “Ride the High Country” [1962] When Joel McCrea explains to Randolph Scott why “I want to enter my house [in Heaven] justified”, it says it all. Sam Peckinpah had it going on in terms of dealing with moral ambiguity, dignity, honor, loyalty and duty, all set in the context of the old West. This was the forerunner to #1 on this list, “The Wild Bunch”, but the theme and overall message is the same.
Honorable mentions: “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” [1973]—another Peckinpah classic, and originally #4 on the list. Again, honor, duty, and who you give your word to. “Heaven’s Gate” [1980]—Michael Cimino did better with his studio-bankrupting Western than with “The Deer Hunter.” Although the acting is superb, there is too much set-up and back story for the apocalyptic climax. Still, any movie that has a Harvard graduate showing Russian immigrants how to build Roman siege engines so they can throw dynamite at marauding cowboys gets high marks in my little black book. “Major Dundee” [1965]—a failed movie, but Peckinpah was orbiting around his themes from “Ride the High Country” before he succeeded in expressing them with “The Wild Bunch.” Unlike “Heaven’s Gate”, there is not enough back story on the characters, and both the director’s cut and the original release suggest that too much was left on the proverbial cutting room floor.
Speaking of which…
I have a final advisory, should you somehow be gripped by a desire to see any of the movies I’ve listed here: the director’s cut is always better. Movies are communal enterprises and perhaps the best realizations of “group-think” in modern society, although they speak to us, the viewers, individually. This might explain the collectivist mind-set of Hollyweird, but on the other hand, movies are singular visions passed from screenwriters to producers to directors, with realizations of character achieved by actors.
There is some overlap of directors and actors on my lists. That is simply because they are the best at speaking to what affects me when I sit down in the darkened house, dip my fingers into the buttered popcorn, and catch my breath when the curtain parts and the lion roars. (Sorry, Warner Brothers, you United Artists, Twentieth Century Foxes, and folks on that spinning globe at RKO, but I like the MGM logo and Clarence the cross-eyed lion.)
I know that through neglect, indolence, or personal preference I have left out some of your favorite movies. Feel free to chime in and correct me on what’s good and bad in cinema. Just as the movies offer us momentary escape from the harsh world we live in, I’m just biting my tongue and making lists.
I consider list-making to be anal-retentive behavior of the worst sort; a sure sign of senility. Still, David Letterman has gotten mileage out of Top Ten lists for years, and since the comments sections at UPI have been flagging lately, a sure way to get responses is to push a cultural button. It’s cheap, easy, and keeps me from going ballistic with comments about the “race card” politics that are wreaking havoc on what’s left of my mind.
What started as a mental amusement to occupy myself during endless commercial breaks—since all I seem to do in my geezerdom is watch TV—finally found its way onto paper. I began to make a mental list of Vietnam movies that possessed verisimilitude, and the exercise expanded into different categories: Nam movies, War II movies, gangster movies, and Westerns. Then, for good measure, the genres broke down into cop movies, crime thrillers, science fiction, alien movies, and love stories. A simple three-minute exercise turned into a few weeks of musing between bouts of rhetorical abuse by ersatz politicians. Certain standards began to assert themselves. “Honorable Mentions” suggested themselves.
The bottom line was fairly simple: to make a Top Ten in any category, a movie has to do one thing; it has to bring something new to the viewer every time it is watched. No matter how many times it’s been seen—and I have watched some of these flicks dozens of times—there has to be a new twist, a different element that applies to the moment in which it is viewed. With this consideration in mind, I discarded a lot of potential candidates, although I love movies for the sheer fun of the visceral experience most of them bring.
There are too many categories for a single blog post, so let’s start with the original inspiration—Vietnam movies—and my favorite Westerns. Readers will have their own favorites and opinions, and I await your feedback. Here, in semi-favored order, are some cinematic favorites and notes on why they made the cut:
VIETNAM MOVIES
1. “Apocalypse Now” [1979] When I think of a Vietnam movie, this is the first, defining title that comes to mind. This is the only Nam movie I dragged my parents to see in the theater, because it explains the sheer madness of that war more clearly than I could. My father told me afterwards it gave him nightmares; my mother remarked that there certainly was a lot of profanity in the movie.
2. “Full Metal Jacket” [1987] Before he got into movies, Stanley Kubrick was a photographer for Look magazine. He is a visual perfectionist as well as an outstanding storyteller, and the combat scenes are the most chilling I have ever seen. I wasn’t a Marine, but R. Lee Ermey is every drill sergeant every veteran ever knew. This is the second title that comes instantly to mind when someone mentions movies about Nam.
3. “Casualties of War” [1989] Allegedly a true story, albeit from a notoriously anti-war director. People who are profligate with war stories are suspect in my book, so the origins of the incident are dubious. I only tell two war stories: how I got a medal for running away, and one involving dueling machine guns, tracers, and LSD. Brian DePalma gets the details right, and the last scene, where the Vietnamese girl tells Michael J. Fox “You had a bad dream...it’s over now” makes me cry every time.
4. “Hamburger Hill” [1987] This B-list classic could be a documentary. Soldiers climb a hill at great cost, then give it back to the enemy. The characters are sharply drawn, and the cost of what they give to duty is breathtaking.
5. “We Were Soldiers” [2002] Before he fell into cussing drunkenly at his girlfriends, Mel Gibson could touch on truth. Based on Joe Galloway’s book and General Hal Moore’s memoirs, this is a documentary.
6. “Go Tell the Spartans” [1978] This is a little-seen drama set in the earliest days of American involvement in Vietnam. I can’t vouch for a lot of the detail, but it feels right.
7. “The Boys in Company C” [1978] R. Lee Ermey’s first movie—portraying a sergeant; now there’s a surprise!—and a sort of feeble follow-up by Hollyweird when they realized that “Apocalypse Now” was hitting a nerve in our collective consciousness.
8. “Good Morning Vietnam” [1987] For every soldier in the field, America deploys ten soldiers in support roles. Not a front-line piss-ripper, but the expressions of attitudes and emotions are genuine enough.
9. “Off Limits” [1988] Again, not a front-line look at the war, but the overall tone of madness and the ambiance of Saigon are resonant.
10. “Platoon” [1986] Oliver Stone was there, has the tee-shirt, and knows whereof he speaks. I don’t buy the overall plot and some of the characters, but there is an emotional truth that can’t be denied. The closing narration is a tear-jerker that makes me overlook Stone’s junky trash movies.
Honorable mentions: “Bat*21”—the real thing came down differently, but it catches the moments. “Flight of the Intruder”—the frustrations of pilots forbidden to bomb strategic targets in North Vietnam were very real, and a final scene of an A-1-A “Sandy” seeming to rise out of the ground to strafe some NVA troops is alone worth the price of admission. “The Deer Hunter”—yeah, we all got worked over emotionally by the war. At least the actors played Russian roulette with revolvers…like that really happened. The few times I put a pistol to my temple, it was a magazine-fed semiautomatic, and I knew what the outcome would be if I pulled the trigger. Visually stunning, but puzzling in its message. Michael Cimino fared better with his failed Western.
Speaking of WESTERNS…
I grew up spending my summers on my grandparents’ cattle ranch. Granted, it was in eastern Georgia, and the cattle were tasty Black Angus cows, and not the fabled and dangerous longhorns of the Wild West, but the horseback riding and general cowboy mentality was somewhat similar. The cinematic image of the cowboy is as uniquely American as jazz is to the music world, and my Western selections are chosen accordingly:
1. “The Wild Bunch” [1969] As with the previous genre, this is the defining title when someone says “Western.” The themes of honor, loyalty, dignity, and dealing with the twilight of one’s place in changing times are indeed timeless. Sam Peckinpah was a tortured genius and a visionary philosopher.
2. “The Searchers” [1956] No mention of Westerns would be complete without mention of John Wayne. He should have won his Oscar for this John Ford classic, instead of for “True Grit” in 1969. “Grit” is very good, but this one is outstanding.
3. “The Shootist” [1976] The Duke’s last movie was a perfect summation of his life and career. He’s still playing himself onscreen, but the self-effacement of his legend and the terrible irony of his death from cancer are poignant to the max. Miz Possum and I still choke up at the last scene.
4. “Open Range” [2003] Proving that the cowboy ethos is timeless; this modern take on it has surprising emotional impact. The simply expressed notions of right, wrong, and love rock my socks off every time. The climactic gunfight—with its misses, wild shots, and pauses for deep breaths and “What are we doing here?” moments, is one of the most realistic I think I’ve ever seen. Kevin Costner won multiple Oscars for the next movie on the list, but when he says “People are going to die here today, and I’m going to kill them,” I shudder from the base of my spine.
5. “Dances With Wolves” [1990] A modern classic, pure and simple. If only it t’were so. No cowboys and Injuns, no good guys and bad guys…just people doing what they hope is right, and trying to survive, change, and adapt.
6. “The Outlaw Josey Wales” [1976] Again, not so much good guys and bad guys as people trying to live, find redemption, and be free. Clint Eastwood has done a lot of Westerns, but this is an epic tale, and Eastwood's favorite movie. I always get something fresh out of it when I watch it. It should be #2 on the list.
7. “The Long Riders” [1980] Aside from the inspired casting, this is the most accurate recounting of the Jesse James legend ever made. The screenplay falls short on filling in all the blanks, but if you read books, know the details and the history, and catch the onscreen references, it is a masterpiece.
8. “Tombstone” [1993] A meticulously-researched, mostly accurate re-telling of the Wyatt Earp legend. At the OK Corral, Virgil Earp really announced “This isn’t what I want!” just before the shooting started. During the 45 seconds of gunfire, Wyatt really screamed at Ike Clanton to “Get a gun or get out of the fight!” Dying of tuberculosis, Doc Holliday really regarded his bare feet and remarked “This is funny!” with his last breath. The Earps were Republicans, by the way, and John Holliday was from Georgia. Outstanding.
9. “Unforgiven” [1992] An unrelenting examination of the dark side of the cowboy ethos. The basic story could be morphed into any given time period, because it’s an examination of spiritual values. The second-best Western Clint Eastwood ever made.
10. “Ride the High Country” [1962] When Joel McCrea explains to Randolph Scott why “I want to enter my house [in Heaven] justified”, it says it all. Sam Peckinpah had it going on in terms of dealing with moral ambiguity, dignity, honor, loyalty and duty, all set in the context of the old West. This was the forerunner to #1 on this list, “The Wild Bunch”, but the theme and overall message is the same.
Honorable mentions: “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” [1973]—another Peckinpah classic, and originally #4 on the list. Again, honor, duty, and who you give your word to. “Heaven’s Gate” [1980]—Michael Cimino did better with his studio-bankrupting Western than with “The Deer Hunter.” Although the acting is superb, there is too much set-up and back story for the apocalyptic climax. Still, any movie that has a Harvard graduate showing Russian immigrants how to build Roman siege engines so they can throw dynamite at marauding cowboys gets high marks in my little black book. “Major Dundee” [1965]—a failed movie, but Peckinpah was orbiting around his themes from “Ride the High Country” before he succeeded in expressing them with “The Wild Bunch.” Unlike “Heaven’s Gate”, there is not enough back story on the characters, and both the director’s cut and the original release suggest that too much was left on the proverbial cutting room floor.
Speaking of which…
I have a final advisory, should you somehow be gripped by a desire to see any of the movies I’ve listed here: the director’s cut is always better. Movies are communal enterprises and perhaps the best realizations of “group-think” in modern society, although they speak to us, the viewers, individually. This might explain the collectivist mind-set of Hollyweird, but on the other hand, movies are singular visions passed from screenwriters to producers to directors, with realizations of character achieved by actors.
There is some overlap of directors and actors on my lists. That is simply because they are the best at speaking to what affects me when I sit down in the darkened house, dip my fingers into the buttered popcorn, and catch my breath when the curtain parts and the lion roars. (Sorry, Warner Brothers, you United Artists, Twentieth Century Foxes, and folks on that spinning globe at RKO, but I like the MGM logo and Clarence the cross-eyed lion.)
I know that through neglect, indolence, or personal preference I have left out some of your favorite movies. Feel free to chime in and correct me on what’s good and bad in cinema. Just as the movies offer us momentary escape from the harsh world we live in, I’m just biting my tongue and making lists.
posted by Robert at 6:12 AM
7 Comments:
Movies are about the only thing I watch on television anymore, and I'm still not doing much of that.
I dunno...these are 'man movies'. :-) First Wive's Club and The YaYa's is more my cup of tea.
Possum,
As for Vietnam flicks, I have not seen #1, 3, 5, 6, 7 & 9 (or have only seen bits & pieces). Must go out of my way to catch them. I agree with your other choices, including "Flight of the Intruder". A couple others I like are "Platoon Leader" and "The Siege of Fire Base Gloria".
As for Westerns, I think "Unforgiven" is my favorite. Again, I haven't seen quite a few.
Guess I'm not the movie buff you are.
(:D) Best regards...
Jack:
That big TV in the living room finally died, and I have a tiny (19") portable stacked on top of it. Miz Possum took one look and remarked "Oh, God! We're living like white trash!"
Mary Beth:
I'm a guy, after all, and certain elements of "guy movies" affect me because they hit close to home regarding personal experiences. I'm still working on the love stories list, and it's giving me hell. "As Good As It Gets" comes in at #1, with "The Last Picture Show" and Steve McQueen & Ali McGraw's original 1972 "The Getaway" in the top five. (Steve and Ali were a real love story during the making of that one; Brad and Angelina didn't invent on-set romance.) As in real life, love and death are the two most dramatic elements we address, and death is a lot easier to deal with.
This started so simply, and has become so complicated! I have two more lists completed, and four more in the works. Please stay tuned!
Hawkeye:
Go rent a DVD of "Apocalypse Now Redux" and get back to me. It may not explain Vietnam to you, but you'll understand why I'm a foul-mouthed, half-crazy SOB. ;-)
"Firebase Gloria" and "Platoon Leader" made my draft list, but I had to keep it to ten. As with most movies, I read the books before the first frame was exposed.
BTW, Mary Beth...
I ain't a total pig. I loved "The Devil Wears Prada"; the book even more than the movie.
Like the Beach Boys, I get around.
Oh, I forgot something!
#1 on that love stories list may be a tie.
Two words: "Cold Mountain."
I am completely incapable of completing any top ten lists at all. I guess I feel it to be a fruitless effort, being a subjective thing and totally arbitrary (I mean, why top ten? Why not top eight or top fifteen?).
Well, I'm not trying to rain on your parade but a friend of mine does this to me all the time and I could simply never whittle my favorites of just about anything down to ten...
I've seen most of your lists and know enough about your taste in movies that I'll be watching the others you've mentioned, though! ;-)
Thanks!
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