Spaghetti's Lustral Cinematic Celebration (100 Best Films From 2010-2014) - Top 10 Time!

[Kalo]

 

35. INCEPTION

"You musn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."

If you ask me, there are two Christopher Nolan movies that truly live up to the massive hype thrown around online. This is one of them (the other being Memento). Inception presents an exciting world full of interesting ties and logic that create the scene of dream thievery. The exposition heavy first half gets a lot of flack, but it becomes really interesting simply out of how this world works, and the characters trying to infiltrate it. Dom Cobb is an excellent character, giving us a man who has made several mistakes in the past and just wants to do one last job to set things right and return home. It gives the movie a powerful emotional anchor that connects us to the real world against the craziness of the dreams rampant throughout. It's incredibly exciting, fascinating, and beautiful, everything you could ask for out of a Nolan movie.

 

34. THE LEGO MOVIE 

"We are from the Planet DUPLO and we are here to destroy you!"

Here's a film I never expected to put this high on my list. The LEGO Movie has everything: Crazy visuals, brilliant humor, loveable characters, and a plot that at first seems quite derivative, but actually uses its derivation to its advantage so as to create its more cohesive themes. Emmett Brickowski is an ordinary man, eager to fit into the fairly banal world orchestrated by President Business, an uber perfectionist with no patience for anything deviant. Both of these characters learn to embrace creativity and what makes them special, as the story itself takes down standard tropes in order to create something more humanistic. The overlaying message is not that everyone is special, but everyone has the power to be, and they have the power to, indeed, make everything awesome. It will make you laugh, cry, cheer, scream, dance, and more. It may not win an Oscar, but it's already won the hearts of millions.

 

33. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 

"Everything we know about them is wrong."

Sorry, LEGO, but few animated films come close to the visual wonder, excitement, and heart of How To Train Your Dragon. On the surface, it seems like a fairly cliched story, but the film begins to dive into the nuances of its characters and the true beauty of the world that they are in, especially as the young misfit Hiccup captures, but soon becomes friends with, one of the dragons his clan has battled with for years on end. He creates a rebellion of a unique kind: That of kindness, optimism, empathy, and understanding. It's a thematically and visually beautiful movie, filled with all of the charm and excitement that spikes the best of animation. It's as though Studio Ghibli and Dreamworks fused together for this brilliant ride across the sky. It's a wonderfully made and to date, one of the best animated movies of the 21st century.

 

32. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR

"I am happy. I'm happy with you, like this. It's my way of being happy."

One of the most poignant and powerful coming of age stories in a while, understanding the issues of impulse, identity, and the confusion of being a teenager, Blue is the Warmest Color, and one of the greatest romances of our time. Adele and Emma are well realized, truly human characters who are trying to find someone who will love them, particularly Adele as she begins to uncover her own sexuality. It lasts three hours long, but you become so invested in these characters and their relationship, filled with its joys, tragedies, fears, and hopes, that it becomes a truly special film to watch. It's a movie that explores the microcosm of emotion through two young lovers to the point where it becomes much, much greater than the sum of its parts. It's a beautiful and miraculously made movie.

 

31. GRAVITY

"Half of North America just lost their Facebook."

This technical powerhouse would not have worked as well had it not been for the incredible emotional journey that it places its protagonist, Ryan Stone, under. After a freak accident in space, she is left to find her way back to Earth after it seems like all hope is lost. It may capture a visually amazing scope of outer space, but it owes its success to the emotional journey that Stone undergoes. No one is waiting for her back at home, she is alone in the universe, but she finds it within her own potential, almost similar to a rebirth, to keep fighting for her own life. A powerful and immaculately made tale of survival, perseverance, and hope which moves briskly along its 93 minute run time, Gravity is not a movie to see so much as it is one you feel. 

Kalo approves of these films, in fact every one of them is in my top 100. 

[chasmmi]

I've been jumping back and forth for my #1. It's between two movies. Here's a hint: Both have distinct stories and mindsets, not to mention visual aesthetics, but both deal with a fairly similar topic.

 

 

A Haunted House 2 and Scary Movie 5?

[darkelf]

but gets caught, quite literally, between a rock and a hard place.

Jesus, Marie! They're minerals!

Great write-ups by the way.

[BK007]

What films do you have in the top 25?!

 

Inception, Lego Movie, How to Train Your Dragon, Blue is the Warmest Colour and Gravity are a spectacular 5. I mean, alright, I'm not as enthralled with Lego as many, but the other 4 are in the top 50 of films I've seen. Love them all.

 

The next 5, I have't seen Amour, but Life of Pi & 127 Hours are wonderful films. Kind of hated The World's End though. :/ Both it and TITE really disappointed me.

 

edit: Haven't seen All is Lost, but JC Chandor's first effort was a great film as well.

Edited January 20, 2015 by BK007

[BK007]

What's the list look like so far? Recap?

[Alpha]

What's the list look like so far? Recap?

100. Interstellar

99. Big Hero 6

98. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

97. Into the Woods

96. Saving Mr. Banks

95. This is the End

94. Marvel's the Avengers

93. How to Train Your Dragon 2

92. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

91. Hugo

90. Winter's Bone

89. The Great Gatsby

88. Guardians of the Galaxy

87. The Muppets

86. The Skeleton Twins

85. The Way, Way Back

84. Ernest and Celestine

83. Moneyball

82. Edge of Tomorrow

81. Calvary

80. 22 Jump Street

79. Bridesmaids

78. Argo

77. Locke

76. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1

75. Margin Call

74. Bernie

73. Nightcrawler

72. Les Miserables

71. Spring Breakers

70. Big Bad Wolves

69. 21 Jump Street

68. Safety Not Guarenteed

67. The Artist

66. In the House

65. Contagion

64. You're Next

63. Stoker

62. Mud

61. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

60. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

59. The Descendants

58. Beginners

57. Stories We Tell

56. Frozen

55. Tangled

54. Blue Valentine

53. ParaNorman

52. Beasts of the Southern Wild

51. Frances Ha

50. Gone Girl

49. True Grit

48. Wreck-It Ralph

47. Looper

46. Perks of Being a Wallflower

45. The Cabin in the Woods

44. 12 Years a Slave

43. Free Fall

42. We Need to Talk About Kevin

41. Tango

40. Snowpiercer

39. Lincoln

38. 50/50

37. Django Unchained

36. The Act of Killing

35. Inception

34. The LEGO Movie

33. How to Train Your Dragon

32. Blue is the Warmet Color

31. Gravity

30. Life of Pi

29. The World's End

28. All is Lost

27. Amour

26. 127 Hours

...

[Ethan Hunt]

So far 13 films that were in my top 50 have been in Spaghetti's too 100

[Ezen Baklattan]

Prepare for my top 20 tonight, as well as a play on a recent trend:

 

12 MOST BATSHIT INSANE BOX OFFICE RUNS OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Edited January 20, 2015 by Spaghetti

[Blankments]

Prepare for my top 20 tonight, as well as a play on a recent trend:

 

12 MOST BATSHIT INSANE BOX OFFICE RUNS OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS

After a single weekend, American Sniper takes the #1 spot

[Ezen Baklattan]

Strike that, it's all coming tomorrow. :|

[Alpha]

Strike that, it's all coming tomorrow. :|

 

[Noctis]

Come on, Spaghetti! I wanna see your list!

[Ezen Baklattan]

I'll get it done soon!

[Ezen Baklattan]

25. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
"I just feel like all the sand is at the bottom of the hour glass or something."
Tom Hiddleston is a misanthropic, secluded vampire with an affinity for 60s music, and Tilda Swinton is a free spirited bloodsucker who loves traveling the world. But enough about the actors themselves. (Ba dum, ching!) This movie is straight up magical. We see the two vampires, high off their craving for blood and their immortal love for one another, reside peacefully together, only for the peace to be shaken by Swinton's wild sister, played by Mia Wasikowska. It's a movie that's so relaxed and stylish that it almost comes off as Richard Linklater on drugs. You kind of just fall in love with these two characters and everything that they do. Their world, their love for one another, their pleasures - for two hours, nothing else really matters. It's a damn good, immaculately made romp, and one of the most enjoyable romances there is. Whatever the future will do to us, their love remains constant.
 

24. NEBRASKA
"There's Woody's little sister, Rose. She was only nineteen when she was killed in a car wreck near Wausa. What a whore!"
A tale of coming-of-old age, Nebraska takes the seemingly simple story of an old man trying to claim a lottery prize he believes to have won, but must undergo a trip that connects him back to old friends and family. It's a remarkably subtle film that captures the emotions and experiences of these characters in such a laid back yet empathetic fashion. It's ultimately a story of family, regret, and getting old tied together in a fairly beautiful way. It's funny and heartbreaking whenever it needs to be, and you feel less like a fly on the wall for these adventures and more like someone really there experiencing it with them. I didn't think movies could be so profound yet understated, but Nebraska is a truly special and authentic film.
 

23. UNDER THE SKIN
"Because it's... It's nowhere."
If, or when, aliens come to Earth, the appropriate reaction might not be violence, or peace, but rather confusion. So sets the story of Scarlet Johansson's voyage to Earth in this trippy, atmospheric tale. An aesthetically astounding yet fascinatingly abstract story of the chronicles she undergoes as a mysterious visitor, as well as her mysterious episodes with some of the folks she encounters on her voyage,  we are ultimately left as confused as the protagonist, although much, much more scared. It's a movie that, mind the pun, really gets under your skin and refuses to let go, but it also acts as such a mysterious, mystifying experience that making sense of it is part of the fun, as it is with such movies. An excellent voyage into existential science fiction, and one of the most astounding films of recent memory.

 

22. UPSTREAM COLOR
"Each drink is better than the last, leaving you with the desire to have one more. Take a drink now."
Shane Carruth is quite the wunderkind. As director/producer/writer/editor/cinematographer/composer/star in his latest feature, your mind will be working overtime to keep up with the mystery and confusion of the story, but it is so worth it when all is said and done. I don't want to talk too much about the story, but the gist of it is that two very damaged people become a part of...something, and that's all I really feel comfortable sharing. Hell, I don't even know the rest of what exactly happened perfectly, but it's such an amazing experience. It's a movie that feels like taking a peek through someone else's dreams, but seeing something so much greater, something that connects life, the universe, and all of its components into one. It's unbelievably beautiful when you see it all come together, and it will greatly reward those who give it a chance with profound thought.

 

21. ZERO DARK THIRTY
"I'm the motherfucker who found this place."
Move over, Chris Kyle. Maya is the truly great character in the depiction of the War on Terror in cinema. Working less as a straight-up war film and more as a procedural thriller centered around the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, a plan requiring the use of torture, spy work, and a buffed-up Chris Pratt. Jessica Chastain absolutely owns the movie as Maya, the woman so consumed by her duty to country that she will not back down until the deed is carried out, and it seems that she will do just about anything to get there. It's relentlessly gripping and superbly edited to keep you at the edge of your seat for its 2.5 hour run time. The ending shot of the film absolutely killed me, and it wraps the journey up in a cathartic and thought provoking way, without saying much else. As dramatized as it may be, it's damn good cinema.

[Empire]

Of those I didn't care much for Only Lovers Left Alive & Under the Skin.

[darkelf]

Yay Nebraska and ZDT! Nay Under the Skin and Upstream Color. I have yet to see the Loki vampire movie.

[Alpha]

Love Nebraska, and hopefully I see Under the Skin and Upstream Color soon.

[CoolioD1]

nebraska is stupid.

[Ezen Baklattan]

nebraska is stupid.

No it's not

[Alpha]

No it's not

 

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