Baumer's Top 100 films you have probably heard of but more than likely haven't seen. #1: Cute Clever Mischievous, but don't feed them after midnight!

[narniadis]

Toy Soldiers - great choice

 

Bloody Valentine - not a fan but I can appreciate it (but thats horror in general)

 

Pretty in Pink is like required 1980s Teen Film viewing

 

If I have seen any of the others so far I don't remember them lol

[baumer]

Well, that's the first ten done.  I'll get to some more tomorrow.

[narniadis]

2 minutes ago, narniadis said:

Toy Soldiers - great choice

 

Bloody Valentine - not a fan but I can appreciate it (but thats horror in general)

 

Pretty in Pink is like required 1980s Teen Film viewing

 

If I have seen any of the others so far I don't remember them lol

 

Whoops forgot Close Encounters... you should lose movie fanatic cred if you haven't seen it.

[baumer]

Thanks for chiming in @narniadis.  The reason I included CE3K is because there are a lot of young people on this site and I just don't think it's a film that plays a lot on TV and therefore not everyone has gotten around to seeing it.

[narniadis]

11 minutes ago, Baumer said:

Thanks for chiming in @narniadis.  The reason I included CE3K is because there are a lot of young people on this site and I just don't think it's a film that plays a lot on TV and therefore not everyone has gotten around to seeing it.

 

Yeah I know that in our limited experience with cable / satellite in the US I rarely see it on the main channels - not even sure which off beat ones I would say to look at either because it feels like a film that has just gotten lost in the shuffle of time. Star Wars / Alien / Blade Runner all seem to over shadow it as far as the late 70s early 80s are concerned.

[Porthos]

2 hours ago, narniadis said:

 

Yeah I know that in our limited experience with cable / satellite in the US I rarely see it on the main channels - not even sure which off beat ones I would say to look at either because it feels like a film that has just gotten lost in the shuffle of time. Star Wars / Alien / Blade Runner all seem to over shadow it as far as the late 70s early 80s are concerned.

 

I think it's on basic cable about once or twice a year or so.  Just checking though, I see it's coming up on Starz Encore this week and next.  So folks with that premium channel can record it and watch it at their leisure.

[Daxtreme]

Oh well, can't say I didn't see this coming but... from #97 to #90, I've heard of... zero of those movies  

 

@Baumer 

 

 

[Johnny Tran]

19 hours ago, ttr said:

The phrase "Action Jackson" lived for years between me and my friends

 

For my hip-hop heads.  Biggie's lyrics from "Victory" 

 

I perform like Mike

Anyone, Tyson, Jordan, Jackson

Action,  pack guns.

 

[Johnny Tran]

New Jack City is great.   Quick story about the Pumpkinhead series. The sequel is called Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings. And I'll never forget this. I used to love renting movies when I was a little kid, every Friday afterschool. My parents would take me and I'd try to get a new release but the biggest reason I was there to score some deals like "rent one, get two free" or something crazy out of the genre sections. So one night my Dad's paying for my stuff at the counter and the lady says "Okay so with the late fees that will be $16",  my dad looks at me like "wat?".  I shrugged my shoulders, so he has the lady look it up and it turns out my older sister rented Pumpkinhead II and damn near ruined my father's account there because she brought it back like a week late. Ugh. 

[The Stingray]

Lance Henriksen, a bad-ass monster, a scary-ass witch and a great morality tale, make for a pretty cool horror flick.

 

Haven't seen the sequels.
 

Edited July 17, 2016 by The Stingray

[TalismanRing]

8 hours ago, Baumer said:

Number 91

Pretty In Pink (1986)

Directed by Howard Deutch

Starring:  Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, James Spader, Harry Dean Stanton and Andrew McCarthy, with Annie Potts and Andrew Dice Clay

Box office:  40.4 million

 

This is another film that is very famous and for that reason @4815162342 might think it has no business being on here.  I disagree.  When we were doing @chasmmi top 100 songs countdown, and If You Leave placed, many posters said they had never heard to song or seen the movie.  This is a travesty.  John Hughes could write high school characters like nobodies business.  He had a way of understanding the social paradigms and fragmented loyalties that existed when I was growing up.  Rich, poor, jock, nerd, basket case, shop guy, geek, he knew how to write them all.  Pretty in Pink is so honest and so real that the end of the movie still gets me emotional.  "I just wanted them to know they didn't break me."  Molly Ringwald plays a poor girl in a school full of trust fund babies.  She is ridiculed by most of the populace but she doesn't care all that much.  Her best friend is Ducky, played by Jon Cryer and he has loved her all his life.  She doesn't know this of course and he hides his insecurities under funky clothes, a brash but false personality and a laize faire attitude towards school.  Jon Cryer should have won best supporting actor in 1986 and his performance would make my list of 100 best performances of all time.  Andrew McCarthy plays the rich kid she falls in love with and James Spader is the ultimate sleeze bag, in some ways he's more of a sleeze bag in this movie than he is in another movie coming up.  If you have heard of John Hughes, it's probably because of Home Alone or The Breakfast Club.  Breakfast Club is a fantastic film and one of the best films ever made imo.  Pretty in Pink is almost as good and at the very least just as honest.  John Hughes spoke to me as a teen.  He understood what it was like from my perspective growing up.  Pretty in Pink is almost his best film and one that should be seen.

 

Interesting stuff:  This is Molly Ringwald's favorite among her own films.

 

Anthony Michael Hall turned down the role of Duckie because he didn't want to be typecast. He also felt that the film was rehashing Sixteen Candles (1984).

 

 

I think it's interesting that the casting of Ducky informed the plot of the movie.  Originally Ducky was meant to be the romantic end game (the kind of ending we later get in Hughes Some Kind Of Wonderful).  Test audiences didn't like the ending so they changed it.  Ringwald says it was because there was no believable romantic chemistry which was why she campaigned for RDJ (her co star in the The Pick Up Artist) to get the role instead.

 

Also Spader was offered the role of Blane but thought it would be more fun to play the villain.  The following year we get to see him torment RDJ in another movie.

 

http://decider.com/2016/02/26/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-pretty-in-pink/

[baumer]

5 hours ago, Daxtreme said:

Oh well, can't say I didn't see this coming but... from #97 to #90, I've heard of... zero of those movies  

 

@Baumer 

 

 

 

You haven't heard of Pretty in Pink?

[baumer]

4 hours ago, Johnny Tran said:

 

For my hip-hop heads.  Biggie's lyrics from "Victory" 

 

I perform like Mike

Anyone, Tyson, Jordan, Jackson

Action,  pack guns.

 

 

One of my favourite songs on the 90's.......yo the sun don't shine forever...but as long as we're here we can shine together...better now than never business before pleasure......

[baumer]

Number 89

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Directed by Woody Allen

Starring Martin Landau, Angelica Houston

Box office:  18.2 million

 

Imo, this is Woody's best film.  I'm not the biggest Allen fan but to be honest a lot of his newer stuff appeals to me a lot more than his older stuff.  This is one of the exceptions.  Crimes and Misdemeanors is probably Woody Allen's darkest comedy. In it, a prominent doctor arranges to have his mistress murdered to prevent her from exposing his affair and financial irregularities; meanwhile an unsuccessful film director makes a documentary about his TV producer brother-in-law, a man he despises.

The film is divided into two strands, the funny one and the serious one. They have very different tones but explore similar themes. Both are tragic but for opposite reasons – the doctor's crime goes unpunished and he prospers, while the director loses on all fronts. The message of the movie is pessimistic but very true, and that is that there is no moral law in reality and bad deeds often benefit the perpetrators, while life doesn't have inbuilt happy endings. Similar to Hannah and Her Sisters, the funny and serious plot strands only briefly overlap here. They both dovetail together at the end in a brilliant scene where the two protagonists meet in a back room at a party.

Like all Allen films from the period, this one is very well written and acted. Martin Landau is the most prominent presence in the role of the doctor. His is a complex character full of very contrasting characteristics. Alan Alda plays the TV producer and provides many of the funniest moments. Allen again shows great skill at interweaving comedy and drama, although in this case the serious dramatics outweigh the funny material. This along with Husbands and Wives, is his best.

 

Interesting stuff:  Woody Allen felt that he had been too "nice" to the characters in the end of Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), so he wrote this film as a response to those feelings.

 

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1990, for Best Supporting Actor forMartin Landau, and Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Woody Allen, but the picture failed to take home an Oscar in any category.

 

 

 

 

[baumer]

So far these are all major movies mostly in wide release and many of you haven't seen em. 

 

I'll get a few more done tonight.

[baumer]

Number 88

The Sure Thing (1985)

Directed by Rob Reiner

Starring:  John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Anthony Edwards, Tim Robbins

Box office:  18 million

 

John Cusack is one of my all time favourite actors, and Rob Reiner pretty much knocks it out of the park every time so my affinity for this film is partly because of their involvement but in this case my prejudice is totally justified! The Sure Thing is pure formula, just another variation of one of the oldest stories in existence (boy sees fantasy girl, boy pursues fantasy girl, boy finally gets fantasy girl, only to realize that the "real" girl who's been there all along is the one he really wants) But thanks to John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga's charming performances, the story comes across as anything but old and tired. The supporting cast is equally brilliant--from the English professor who encourages her class to "make love in a hammock", to the naive, chipper, irritating carpool driver, to the uptight and deadly-dull boyfriend.

John Cusack is his usual hilariously lovable self. He delivers almost every line with his own brand of dry wit, with just a touch of sarcasm, and then goes wide-eyed and over the top at just the right moments. He's never been better than he is in this film.

I also love the fact that this is one of the rare films where intelligence and personality triumph over pure physical beauty. Rob Reiner does a great job of giving this sappy teenage romantic comedy a brain and personality of its own. The dialogue has that perfect balance of humor and intelligence, that in almost any other film would come off sounding pretentious. But I also have to give credit to Nicolette Sheridan. This was her first film, and she plays the beautiful but soulless fantasy girl. She only has two or three lines, but she still manages to steal those scenes.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time--just thinking of it makes me laugh. It is one of the all time "feel good" movies. Whether you've seen it or not.  I highly recommend this one.

 

Interesting stuff:  There's a scene where Gib teaches Alison to shotgun a beer.  This was added to the script after John Cusack told Rob Reiner it was something he knew how to do.

 

Movie debut of Nicollette Sheridan.

 

 

 

 

[baumer]

Number 87

 Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Directed by David Mamet

Starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey

Box office:  10.7 million

 

There's so much that can be said about this film.  I'm pretty sure almost everyone has heard of this one, even if you haven't seen it.  David Mamet is famous for his quick wit and dialogue so honest that it hurts.  Here he kind of out does himself. Here he creates some of the sharpest dialogue I have ever witnessed.  From ABC (always be closing) to Baldwin and his five minutes of acerbic, vitriolic, sanctimonious berating of the gang, this is one of the most quotable films of all time.  Instead of reading my thoughts on it, here's a terrific review of it from imdb.

 

Glengarry Glen Ross, despite its grim subject matter, is one of my favourite films. Based on David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, it intelligently dissects the life of the salesman in more ways than one, a bit like how The Sopranos dissected mob life. All the weirder then that Glengarry Glen Ross has actually been used to train salesmen. That'd be like if mobsters turned to The Sopranos for advice on how to succeed at mob life. I suppose it speaks favorable of the film's portrayal of a salesman's life, but the point of Glen Ross is not to serve as a training video.

Glen Ross deals with the lives of a handful of real estate salesmen. All of them except for the highly successful Roma (Al Pacino) are struggling with lousy leads. One rainy night they're called to the office where they receive some troubling news: the higher-ups have created a contest: whoever earns the most money will get a brand-new Cadillac; second prize is a set of steak knives (aka you're fired); third prize is you're fired (aka you're fired). Not exactly a comforting prospect for the salesmen. Burdened with the prospect of losing their jobs, each salesman tries to make the best out of the situation the only way they can: by lying, scheming, robbing, manipulating and any combination thereof. When the office is robbed, the police arrive the following morning to interrogate each salesman privately.

From a 'realism' standpoint, the script feels 'artificial' in a Paddy Chayefsky's Network kind of way…and that's a good thing. As Roma says at one point, "anyone in this office lives on his wits." Everything they say means something. Double meanings and subtext abound. These people aren't here to casually talk to one another, but to make money. This involves selling not just a product, but an illusion as seen when Roma rambles philosophically to a potential client before revealing a piece of land he could purchase. Language plays a pivotal role in the lives of these men and director James Foley ensures the film's editing emphasizes the flow of the dialogue. The script is indeed one of the best parts and screenwriter Mamet actually added parts, like Baldwin's diabolical monologue on the sales contest and how much the salesmen (except the absent Roma) suck at their jobs.

The ensemble assembled here is one of the best ever: Pacino, Lemmon, Spacey, Harris, Arkin, Pryce and Baldwin are all present and accounted for. But rather than letting too many familiar faces ruin the immersion, this is a case where it all fits (which just makes it more puzzling why Glen Ross wasn't a financial success upon release.) One of the film's biggest successes is that its indictment of the life of salesmen doesn't up the drama to such a degree that the film becomes unwatchable. Rather, the script and the acting are highly enjoyable and engaging which makes the fact that you're basically watching all the salesmen (except Roma) struggle to put food on their table easier to swallow. A must watch.

 

Interesting stuff:  Ever since its release, the film has been used to train real life salesmen how to sell and how not to sell.

 

During the production, the actors referred to this film as "Death of a Fuckin' Salesman".

 

Co-star Jack Lemmon said the cast was the greatest acting ensemble he had ever been part of. This is also both director James Foley's and Alec Baldwin's favorite film of their own.

 

Im going to spoil you.  For those who have heard about Baldwin's famous speech but have never seen it, here it is, in all its glory.

 

 

 

 

[baumer]

FUCK YOU THAT'S MY NAME!!

[baumer]

Has anyone seen any of these movies?

[Jake Gittes]

The Sure Thing is a charming little movie. Glengarry is the fucking best. Now, will you go to lunch? GO TO LUNCH! WILLYOU GO TO LUNCH