Baumer's ridiculous, uninformed, stupid list of MY BEST 105 FILMS EVER , FULL LIST PG 42

[baumer]

67) Chasing Amy (1997)

Kevin Smith

 

 

Kevin Smith gets serious and pulls it off beautifully. There is plenty of classic Kevin Smith banter in this including a funny and brilliant scene that pays homage to Jaws but he still manages to go for the drama. Ben Affleck is great as Holden, the guy who falls for a lesbian. Jason Lee is hilarious as his sidekick, some of the best gestures and facial expressions in the biz. I really was sad to see Jason Lee fade away as he was so good early in his career.  And Joey Lauren Adams is just wonderful in her turn as the object of Holden's affections. Surprisingly honest, this at least proves that Smith was not a one trick pony.  This is a film that is about as non cliched as can be.  The love is complicated from all ends.  A hetero man falls for a bi-sexual woman.  Two hetero best friend males and one of them might secretly love the other and then you have jealousy that arises due to one's sexual past.  Smith writes an incredibly poignant and tender film while still managing to make it slapstick funny in many scenes.  This is Smith's best work.

 

 

Here is a one example of a perfectly written scene:

 

Banky Edwards: Alright, now see this? This is a four-way road, okay? And dead in the center is a crisp, new, hundred dollar bill. Now, at the end of each of these streets are four people, okay? You following?

Holden: Yeah.

Banky Edwards: Good. Over here, we have a male-affectionate, easy to get along with, non-political agenda lesbian. Down here, we have a man-hating, angry as fuck, agenda of rage, bitter dyke. Over here, we got Santa Claus, and up here the Easter Bunny. Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first?

Holden: What is this supposed to prove?

Banky Edwards: No, I'm serious. This is a serious exercise. It's like an SAT question. Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first? The male-friendly lesbian, the man-hating dyke, Santa Claus, or the Easter bunny?

Holden: The man-hating dyke.

Banky Edwards: Good. Why?

Holden: I don't know.

Banky Edwards: [shouting] Because the other three are figments of your fucking imagination!

 

Quentin Tarantino's favorite film of 1997.

 

This film was reportedly just two votes away from an Academy Award nomination, according to Kevin Smith's podcast.

 

Kevin Smith's trade mark hockey is well represented in the film:  Kevin Smith:  [hockey]  Holden and Alyssa break up at a hockey game. Alyssa is wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. Holden and Banky are also playing hockey on a Sega Genesis, which Jason Lee's character Brody does often in Kevin Smith's Mallrats (1995)

[Noctis]

70) The Avengers (2012)

Joss Whedon

 

 

If you are Marvel and you are ready to spend about 350 million dollars on a one of a kind film, who do you hire to helm it? That’s simple…the man who has one directing credit to his name and (ostensibly) has no idea how to handle a budget of that size. And yet The Avengers turned out to be one of the best films of 2012 and is spoken about in the pantheon of great superhero films like The Dark Knight and Spiderman 2. Whedon brought his own geeky sensibilities to the film. There are scenes in it that are right from his childlike mind, like playing Galaga in the floating fortress. So many tiny touches of brilliance were brought to the film because of him. A truly ballsy move by producers Kevin Feige and Alan Fine (among others).  Freddy Vs. Jason was the first film to really combine two separate properties to the delight of all the fans of both characters, but Avengers was a much bigger and more ambitious project and in this viewer's opinion, a close to flawless film.

 

 

Trivia:  Reputedly a scene was filmed where during the final battle Captain America saves an old man trying to protect his grandchildren. He tells him to 'Get them to cover' but as he walks away the old man asks him "Cap, is that really you?'. He turns and, noting the man's World War II veteran lapel pin, trades salutes with him. As Captain America sprints away the children ask their grandfather 'Do you know him?' and he replies 'We ALL know him'.

 

The final end credit scene was added after Robert Downey Jr.. encouraged a scene rewrite: after Tony Stark falls back to Earth, he originally awakens and asks, "What's next?". Robert Downey Jr. thought the line could be more interesting, and the idea of going to a local shawarma restaurant was born. The scene was added one day after the global premiere. Since then, shawarma sales in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Boston have reportedly skyrocketed.

 

[baumer]

67) The Goonies

Richard Donner

Produced by Steven Spielberg

Written by Spielberg and Chris Columbus

 

 

This is a film for the child in all of us.  I don't think I've ever truly grown up and watching a film like this makes me yearn for those times as a twelve year old when we went on adventures.  I'm going to sound like an idiot to a lot of the younger members here, and I guess that's normal for me, but if you didn't see this as a kid in the 80's or 90's, I don't think you'll get it now.  Times have changed way too much from 1985 to 2015.  30 years ago, we did take our bikes to the forest, or to the arcade or to the bowling alley.  We ran through the forest pretending we were Rambo or Indy.  Sure, we never found a hidden treasure map or had to run from the Fratelli's but we did throw snowballs at cars and then run from the angry drivers.  The Goonies is a film that brings back those memories of innocence and wonder.  

 

 

The cast is wonderful and the sets and "booty traps" are fun and innovative. It's a terrific film but more importantly, at least for me, just like Potter will do for Noctis when he is in his 40's, Goonies takes me back to my teen years, when time stood still and we had nothing to worry about except finding the next adventure.

 

Trivia:  When the Fratelli brothers argue Anne Ramsey really slaps Robert Davi. She was told to hit him as hard as she could.

 

Josh Brolin's big screen debut.

 

On the DVD commentary, Jeff Cohen (Chunk) claims that the confession of puking off the theater balcony is not based on anything in real life. This is incorrect. The basis for the theater story was a real-life prank pulled by Executive Producer Steven Spielbergwhile growing up in Phoenix, AZ.

[baumer]

Have to work soon.  The next three:

 

Someone who is mostly dead

A giant fish named Walter

An invitation to the jelly of the month club

[The Stingray]

Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood.

[baumer]

Glad you are a fan of BNTH as well, Stingray.

[baumer]

Will get some more done today.

[The Stingray]

Looking forward to it. Your eclectic taste always makes for interesting countdowns.

[Kalo]

I really like your love for 80s and 90s films, I haven't seen a lot of them, but I can tell you have quite a nostalgic approach for favorite movies, lots of my favorite movies are for very nostalgic purposes. thank I might do my own write up sometime. probably after Star Wars Force Awakens comes out.

[Plain Old Tele]

Maybe I'll tack my "100 faves" onto this one when Baumer gets done. (Not 100 Best, but 100 Faves.)

[Ethan Hunt]

Maybe I'll tack my "100 faves" onto this one when Baumer gets done. (Not 100 Best, but 100 Faves.)

They're the exact same thing

[chasmmi]

Have to work soon.  The next three:

 

Someone who is mostly dead  - Constantine

A giant fish named Walter   - Jaws

An invitation to the jelly of the month club  - Old School

 

There, list sorted

[Avatree]

They're the exact same thing

No, they're really not. There might be a lot of crossover but they are two completely different ways of viewing a film.

Edited March 1, 2015 by treeroy

[Empire]

Have to work soon.  The next three:

 

Someone who is mostly dead

A giant fish named Walter

An invitation to the jelly of the month club

I know the last 2, but can't figure out the first.

[Ethan Hunt]

No, they're really not. There might be a lot of crossover but they are two completely different ways of viewing a film.

I don't believe in viewing cinema objectively

[Empire]

They're the exact same thing

They aren't though. For instance Mystery Men is one of my favorite movies all-time, but I know it isn't a better made movie than Godfather, 2001, and a host of other movies. It just entertains me more which is why it is in my top 25 all-time faves over so many better made movies.

[Alpha]

Lots of 80s and 90s films, I love it. Great list so far.

[Avatree]

I don't believe in viewing cinema objectively

I'm not talking about objectivity. You can think a film is good/bad/amazing/awful but have a different taste of how much you like it. What you think of a film is not the same as whether you like it. 

For instance, I don't think the Star Wars prequels are particularly good, but I love them to death. I don't think Pacific Rim is amazing but it's one of my favourite films from the past few years.

In my opinion, the best film I've ever seen is 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, that doesn't make it my favourite film. 

[bed005]

I know the last 2, but can't figure out the first.

That's inconceivable.

[Kalo]

That's inconceivable.

oooh. nice one!