BOT Top 250 Films of All-Time: or How We Learned to Start Shitposting and Love the Countdown!

[The Panda]

Number 33

 

 

"No capes!"

 

Synopsis

 

"Bob Parr has given up his superhero days to log in time as an insurance adjuster and raise his three children with his formerly heroic wife in suburbia. But when he receives a mysterious assignment, it's time to get back into costume." - The Movie Database

 

From the Scholar

 

"The Incredibles (Bird, 2004) envisions a society in which superheroes are prohibited from using their superhuman abilities. The struggle for recognition of this ‘marginalized’ group has been deemed a simplistic representation of ‘an Ayn Randian or scientologist notion of the special people who must resist social pressures to suppress their superpowers in order to fit in with the drab masses’ (Halberstam 2011: 47).

 

 

This fleeting assessment of the Pixar film captures the exceptionalist logic underlying its narrative: A ‘tyranny of the majority’ denies individuals their due recognition, and these individuals find strength and courage by forming a ‘voluntary association’. The Incredibles, thus, mirrors the logic of American Exceptionalism as portrayed by Alexis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America (1835). My article will explore these core themes of exceptionalism and critically assess their intersection with discourses of whiteness and gender in The Incredibles. My article will, furthermore, unearth the establishment of a neo-liberal social order as a fundamental element of the film narrative to examine the links between neo-liberalism, exceptionalism and identity politics. As I will demonstrate, the prevalence of the neo-liberal ideology in The Incredibles eventually dismantles the hegemonic logic of American Exceptionalism."

- Meinel, Dietmar. "‘And when everyone is super […] no one will be’: The limits of American Exceptionalism in The Incredibles." European Journal of American Culture 33, no. 3 (2014): 181-194.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Originally conceived as a hand-drawn project, this spectacular comic-book-style adventure is another triumph for Pixar's brand of computer-animated magic. Focusing solely on human characters for a change, this centres on Mr Incredible (voiced by Craig T Nelson), once one of the world's foremost superheroes, now an insurance agent living incognito in the suburbs (thanks to a super-litigious society having turned doing good deeds into an invitation for a lawsuit). But duty eventually calls and he's soon squeezing himself back into his old costume and fighting crime on the sly. With the Incredible family's talents incorporating everything from super-stretchability and amazing speed to Herculean strength and invisibility, the animators are given plenty of scope to dazzle, and they really go to town. As in his debut feature, The Iron Giant, writer/director Brad Bird instils his characters with genuine personalities, emotions and values. The film's slightly overlong, but its sophistication, wit and skill more than compensate." - Sloan Freer, Radio Times

 

 

From the Public

 

"Solid Pixar film" - Ludovic Bagman, Letterboxd

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #89, 2013 - #47, 2014 - #29, 2016 - #32, 2018 - #36, 2020 - #34, 2022 – #73

 

Director Count

A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), C. Nolan (3), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), R. Scott (2),), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), H. Miyazaki (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M. Scorsese (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), Q. Tarantino (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

2000s (14), 1990s (12), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1940s (4), 1970s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (4), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (3), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (16), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (12), Animation (11), Epic (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Fantasy (9), Adventure (7), Black Comedy (6), Thriller (6), Coming of Age (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Action (4), Mystery (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Crime (3), Noir (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Western (3), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), Tragedy (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Anime (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Jack Jack's Num Num Cookies (DisneyWorld Recipe)

 

 

From: https://disneyfoodblog.com/2019/12/05/want-to-make-disneys-jack-jack-num-num-cookies-at-home-weve-got-the-adorable-recipe/

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 32

 

 

"I got some bad ideas in my head."

 

Synopsis

 

"Although Taxi Driver generated further controversy for its role in John Hinckley Jr.'s motive to attempt to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan, the film has remained popular. It is considered one of the most culturally significant and inspirational of its time and one of the greatest films ever made, garnering cult status.[8] In 2022, Sight & Sound named it the 29th-best film ever in its decennial critics' poll, and the 12th-greatest film of all time on its directors' poll, tied with Barry Lyndon. In 1994, the film was considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry." - Wikipedia

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Taxi Driver is an early attempt to represent the effects of psychological trauma experienced in Vietnam, the effects of being both the victim of violence and the perpetrator of violence, and the resulting dialectic of impotence and power, failure and success, that results from such an experience. The repetition compulsion, and by extension trauma, lead to an existential crisis because it undermines the attachments a person needs in order to define themselves. Taxi Driver , while made before the medical and academic dissemination of trauma theory, is a testament to a nascent cultural understanding following the Vietnam War that the experience of war undermines the cognitive structures and defenses of soldiers. Motor Psycho , a nudity-free exploitation film, follows a rapist motorcycle gang, whose leader, Brahmin, fought in Vietnam. The physical and emotional cause of Bickle's trauma in Vietnam is unknowable. A fascination with profane violence likely drew Scorsese to the veteran's experience."

- High, Michael D. "Taxi Driver and veteran trauma." A Companion to Martin Scorsese, Revised (2021): 385-407.

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Imagine Hitchcock’s Psycho told from the point of view of its title character, and you have a rough idea of Taxi Driver. This riveting 1976 film is at once a thriller, a psychological case study, an exploration of the eroticism of violence, a political commentary and a horror melodrama of seamy New York.  It was also a turning point in the careers of all its principal creators: director, Martin Scorsese; the screenwriter, Paul Schrader; the star, Robert De Niro; and, then, very young featured actress, Jodie Foster. The Scorsese-Schrader collaboration has persisted through the equally controversial The Last Temptation of Christ. The Scorsese-De Niro connection, perhaps one of the most important director-actor relationships of modern American cinema, would continue to bear fruit in such movies as New York, New York; The King of Comedy; and, of course, Raging Bull.

 

Seen in the early 1990s, the Manhattan of Taxi Driver occasionally looks antique. The landmark cabbies’ hangout, the Belmore Cafeteria, is gone now, and so, for that matter, are Checker cabs. But Scorsese’s images—of a young prostitute’s bedroom aglow with incongruous sacramental candles, of De Niro’s brain silently snapping from psychic collapse—are enduring. And so, sad to say, is this movie’s still-timely vision of an irrational urban American hell on the brink of violent apocalypse."

- Frank Rich, The Criterion Collection 1990

 

From the Public

 

"Brutal movie, cuts to the bone, all that jazz. Just watch it if you are in the mood for a gloomy story." - @cannastop

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #26, 2013 - #39, 2014 - #64, 2016 - #27, 2018 - #63, 2020 - #33, 2022 – #30

 

Director Count

A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), C. Nolan (3), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), H. Miyazaki (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), Q. Tarantino (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

2000s (14), 1990s (12), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (4), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (3), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (17), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (12), Animation (11), Epic (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Fantasy (9), Adventure (7), Black Comedy (6), Thriller (6), Coming of Age (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Action (4), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Crime (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Western (3), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), Tragedy (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Anime (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Taxi Driver Curry

 

Ingredients
1 Tbl Vegetable Oil
2 Large Onions
1-2 Long Dried Red Chillies
2 Brown Cardamon Pods (The Big Ones!)
6 Green Cardamon Pods
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Cloves
10 Peppercorns
2 tsp Coriander Seeds
1 kg Diced Lamb Shoulder
400g tinned Tomatoes
125ml (1/2 cup) water

Steps
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and fry the onions until starting to colour.
Add the spices and fry until aromatic.
Add the lamb to the pan and cook until starting to colour, but don't let the onion or spices burn.
Roughly blend the tomatoes and stir into the meat, adding the 125ml of water.
Season with salt to taste.
Simmer covered for a bit over 90 minutes, stirring regularly, until the meat is tender.  You may need to a little more water as it cooks.

 

 

 

[DAR]

Taxi Driver has always been in the I respect it  immensely but it’s not something I find completely rewatchable category.

[The Panda]

Number 31

 

 

"What are you, a fucking owl?"

 

Synopsis

 

"Heat."

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"... heat ..."

- Maxwell, James Clerk, and Peter Pesic. Theory of heat. Courier Corporation, 2001.

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Heat."

- Roger Ebert

 

 

From the Public

 

"Heat" - @MrPink

 

"Heat" - @Jake Gittes

 

"a certified HEAT dicksucker" - @Ethan Hunt

 

"I was loving heat before y'all were born, lol." - @Dementeleus

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - #89, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - #77, 2018 - #75, 2020 - #35, 2022 – #25

 

Director Count

A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), C. Nolan (3), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), H. Miyazaki (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), Q. Tarantino (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

2000s (14), 1990s (13), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (4), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (3), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (17), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (12), Animation (11), Epic (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Fantasy (9), Adventure (7), Black Comedy (6), Thriller (6), Action (5), Coming of Age (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Crime (4), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Western (3), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), Tragedy (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Anime (1), Neorealism (1)

 

A Recipe

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

131.    The Terminator (dir, James Cameron, 1984)
132.    Spider-Man (dir. Sam Raimi, 2002)
133.    The Departed (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2006)
134.    Django Unchained (dir. Quentin Tarantino, 2012)
135.    Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich, 2010)
 

[Flip]

1 hour ago, The Panda said:

Number 33

 

 

"No capes!"

 

Synopsis

 

"Bob Parr has given up his superhero days to log in time as an insurance adjuster and raise his three children with his formerly heroic wife in suburbia. But when he receives a mysterious assignment, it's time to get back into costume." - The Movie Database

 

From the Scholar

 

"The Incredibles (Bird, 2004) envisions a society in which superheroes are prohibited from using their superhuman abilities. The struggle for recognition of this ‘marginalized’ group has been deemed a simplistic representation of ‘an Ayn Randian or scientologist notion of the special people who must resist social pressures to suppress their superpowers in order to fit in with the drab masses’ (Halberstam 2011: 47).

 

 

This fleeting assessment of the Pixar film captures the exceptionalist logic underlying its narrative: A ‘tyranny of the majority’ denies individuals their due recognition, and these individuals find strength and courage by forming a ‘voluntary association’. The Incredibles, thus, mirrors the logic of American Exceptionalism as portrayed by Alexis de Tocqueville in his Democracy in America (1835). My article will explore these core themes of exceptionalism and critically assess their intersection with discourses of whiteness and gender in The Incredibles. My article will, furthermore, unearth the establishment of a neo-liberal social order as a fundamental element of the film narrative to examine the links between neo-liberalism, exceptionalism and identity politics. As I will demonstrate, the prevalence of the neo-liberal ideology in The Incredibles eventually dismantles the hegemonic logic of American Exceptionalism."

- Meinel, Dietmar. "‘And when everyone is super […] no one will be’: The limits of American Exceptionalism in The Incredibles." European Journal of American Culture 33, no. 3 (2014): 181-194.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Originally conceived as a hand-drawn project, this spectacular comic-book-style adventure is another triumph for Pixar's brand of computer-animated magic. Focusing solely on human characters for a change, this centres on Mr Incredible (voiced by Craig T Nelson), once one of the world's foremost superheroes, now an insurance agent living incognito in the suburbs (thanks to a super-litigious society having turned doing good deeds into an invitation for a lawsuit). But duty eventually calls and he's soon squeezing himself back into his old costume and fighting crime on the sly. With the Incredible family's talents incorporating everything from super-stretchability and amazing speed to Herculean strength and invisibility, the animators are given plenty of scope to dazzle, and they really go to town. As in his debut feature, The Iron Giant, writer/director Brad Bird instils his characters with genuine personalities, emotions and values. The film's slightly overlong, but its sophistication, wit and skill more than compensate." - Sloan Freer, Radio Times

 

 

From the Public

 

"Solid Pixar film" - Ludovic Bagman, Letterboxd

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #89, 2013 - #47, 2014 - #29, 2016 - #32, 2018 - #36, 2020 - #34, 2022 – #73

 

Director Count

A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), C. Nolan (3), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), R. Scott (2),), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), H. Miyazaki (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M. Scorsese (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), Q. Tarantino (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

2000s (14), 1990s (12), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1940s (4), 1970s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (4), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (3), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (16), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (12), Animation (11), Epic (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Fantasy (9), Adventure (7), Black Comedy (6), Thriller (6), Coming of Age (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Action (4), Mystery (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Crime (3), Noir (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Western (3), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), Tragedy (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Anime (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Jack Jack's Num Num Cookies (DisneyWorld Recipe)

 

 

From: https://disneyfoodblog.com/2019/12/05/want-to-make-disneys-jack-jack-num-num-cookies-at-home-weve-got-the-adorable-recipe/

 

 

Some of the photos are from the sequel lol

[The Panda]

Number 30

 

 

"Ugh, I smell like a human."

 

 

Synopsis

 

"Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict." - The Movie Database

 

From the Scholar

 

"Although Japanese animation is becoming increasingly popular among American youth, scholars are still largely unaware that there is more to the world of anime (AH-nee-may, the Japanese term adopted by many Western fans) than the children's market. In Japan, animation is understood to be as flexible as any other artistic medium, containing all possible genres and appealing to all age groups. As a fully mainstream art form in Japan, anime addresses and wrestles with the deepest concerns of first - world societies in the postmodern era - ranging from apocalyptic tales such as Akira to nostalgic, pastoral reflections such as Only Yesterday. These are films that are worthy of study in their own right, but they also offer a significant challenge to the cultural imperialism represented by Hollywood. In both Europe and America, young people are turning to anime for films that offer alternatives to Hollywood's tired tropes.  

 

 

Hayao Miyazaki is perhaps the most famous anime director in Japan today and, because his studio produces mainly family films, he is often compared to Walt Disney in the West. Miyazaki's films, however, are far more complex and challenging to watch; where Disney films tend to affirm existing cultural values, Miyazaki's perform a complicated dance between performing Japanese cultural values and destabilizing them. Despite the continuing rigidity of gender roles in Japan, nearly all Miyazaki films feature strong, intelligent, independent heroines who put supposedly feminist characters such as Disney's Pocahontas and Mulan to shame. Miyazaki is also well-known for the environmentalist bent of his films, which combine warnings of environmental disaster with a strong note of hope for the future. Miyazaki's 1997 film Mononoke Hime, or Princess Mononoke in English, struck a deep chord in Japanese society and was the highest-grossing Japanese film ever until the 2001 release of Miyazaki's Spirited Away.1 Though less well-known in the U.S., it performed well enough to break out of the independent art theatres to which most anime is confined and was shown in mainstream theatres across the country. A quintessential example of Miyazaki's genius, the film is also one of his darkest and most ambiguous texts, notable for its balanced exploration of the conflict between nature and technology. "

- Hoff Kraemer, Christine. "Between the worlds: liminality and self-sacrifice in Princess Mononoke." Journal of Religion & Film 8, no. 2 (2004): 1.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"I go to the movies for many reasons. Here is one of them. I want to see wondrous sights not available in the real world, in stories where myth and dreams are set free to play. Animation opens that possibility, because it is freed from gravity and the chains of the possible. Realistic films show the physical world; animation shows its essence. Animated films are not copies of "real movies," are not shadows of reality, but create a new existence in their own right. True, a lot of animation is insipid, and insulting even to the children it is made for. But great animation can make the mind sing.

 

Hayao Miyazaki is a great animator, and his "Princess Mononoke" is a great film. Do not allow conventional thoughts about animation to prevent you from seeing it. It tells an epic story set in medieval Japan, at the dawn of the Iron Age, when some men still lived in harmony with nature and others were trying to tame and defeat it. It is not a simplistic tale of good and evil, but the story of how humans, forest animals and nature gods all fight for their share of the new emerging order. It is one of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen." - Roger Ebert

 

 

From the Public

 

"Just watched this again for the first time since the early 2000s.  Yeah, its still great and I usually don't give 2 shits about animation flicks." - @Ozymandias

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - #41, 2020 - #38, 2022 – #49

 

Director Count

A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), C. Nolan (3), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), Q. Tarantino (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (14), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (3), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (17), Comedy (13), Animation (12), Historical Fiction (12), Epic (10), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (6), Thriller (6), Action (5), Coming of Age (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Crime (4), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), Tragedy (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Okayu (Japanese Rice Porridge)

 

Ingredients
▢¼ cup uncooked Japanese short-grain white rice
▢250 ml water (1 cup + 2 tsp; for cooking the rice)

For the Suggested Toppings
▢green onion/scallion (chopped)
▢umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums)
▢toasted white sesame seeds
▢shredded nori seaweed (kizami nori)
▢Homemade Japanese Salted Salmon (flaked)
▢mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (for garnish)

 

Instructions at: https://www.justonecookbook.com/rice-porridge-okayu/

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 29

 

 

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

 

Synopsis

 

"The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II." - The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"When all thermonuclear sources of energy are exhausted a sufficiently heavy star will collapse. Unless fission due to rotation, the radiation of mass, or the blowing off of mass by radiation, reduce the star's mass to the order of that of the sun, this contraction will continue indefinitely. In the present paper we study the solutions of the gravitational field equations which describe this process. In I, general and qualitative arguments are given on the behavior of the metrical tensor as the contraction progresses: the radius of the star approaches asymptotically its gravitational radius; light from the surface of the star is progressively reddened, and can escape over a progressively narrower range of angles. In II, an analytic solution of the field equations confirming these general arguments is obtained for the case that the pressure within the star can be neglected. The total time of collapse for an observer comoving with the stellar matter is finite, and for this idealized case and typical stellar masses, of the order of a day; an external observer sees the star asymptotically shrinking to its gravitational radius."

- Oppenheimer, J. Robert, and Hartland Snyder. "On continued gravitational contraction." Physical Review 56, no. 5 (1939): 455.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"When the atomic blast finally happens in Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic “Oppenheimer,” heralding the horrific dawn of nuclear aggression as it first assaults the eyes and then the ears, it’s a strange form of catharsis for the viewer. It’s a movie like no other, dragging us into the collective guilt of history.

 

The superb cast list includes an almost unrecognizable Gary Oldman as U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who greets Oppenheimer in the Oval Office to congratulate him for his Manhattan Project achievements. Finding the scientist to be penitent about the A-bomb and worried and anxious about a future hydrogen bomb capable of vastly greater destruction, Truman mockingly reminds Oppenheimer that “the blood on his hands” he frets about is really the president’s, the man who ordered the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

 

In truth, as “Oppenheimer” commandingly reminds us, the blood is on all our hands. Global nuclear war, most recently threatened by Russian leader Vladimir Putin in his assault on Ukraine, stopped being unthinkable the moment the first A-bomb exploded, cheered on by the man and his enablers who stole fire from the gods."

- Peter Howell, Toronto Star

 

From the Public

 

"I’m afraid this has now become my new comfort film. Can’t keep a good man down." - @WrathOfHan

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - NA, 2013 - NA, 2014 - NA, 2016 - NA, 2018 - NA, 2020 - NA, 2022 – NA

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3),), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), Q. Tarantino (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (14), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (6), Thriller (6), Action (5), Coming of Age (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Crime (4), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Cherry Bomb

 

Ingredients
1 liter lime soda

4 fluid ounces rum

4 fluid ounces grenadine syrup

1 lime, juiced

1 lime, sliced

4 maraschino cherries

 

Steps in recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20423/cherry-bomb/

 

 

 

[The Panda]

Number 28

 

 

"Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

 

Synopsis

 

"Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.[3] It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence in Los Angeles, California. The film stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman. The title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue.

 

Tarantino wrote Pulp Fiction in 1992 and 1993, incorporating scenes that Avary originally wrote for True Romance (1993). Its plot occurs out of chronological order. The film is also self-referential from its opening moments, beginning with a title card that gives two dictionary definitions of "pulp". Considerable screen time is devoted to monologues and casual conversations with eclectic dialogue revealing each character's perspectives on several subjects, and the film features an ironic combination of humor and strong violence. TriStar Pictures reportedly turned down the script as "too demented". Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein was enthralled, however, and the film became the first that Miramax Films fully financed."

- Wikipedia

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Pulp Fiction, as a film classic of the Internet age, circulates through a culture of online quotation. Fans of the movie repeat bits of dialogue such as ‘royale with cheese’, share images from the film such as the shot of Jules and Vincent aiming their guns, and recreate scenes such as the dance scene with Mia and Vincent. This paper historicizes classic films through the example of Pulp Fiction fans who share expressions of their fandom in YouTube videos and Tumblr postings of images and GIFs. It looks at these quotations as evidence of audiences' interpretive work, which produces ideological meanings about the film. These meanings speak of dominant structures of knowledge and understanding that come from the broader society and its unequal relations of power. Meanings about race and gender, and to a lesser extent class, are especially important in the film's circulation. Some examples of moments and characters of Pulp Fiction analyzed in this paper are Jules and Vincent's interracial hit-man partnership, Mia and Vincents twist at Jack Rabbit Slim's, Jules as an icon of a certain ideal of black masculinity, and Mia's revival after her near-fatal drug overdose. Sometimes these quotations are straightforwardly appreciative, and sometimes they are parodic remixes and mashups. This paper also considers the importance of an absence of certain parts of the film from quotation culture that can be regarded as threatening to dominant conceptions of masculinity, such as the dungeon rape scene"

- Newman, Michael Z. "Say ‘Pulp Fiction’One More Goddamn Time: quotation culture and an Internet-age classic." New Review of Film and Television Studies 12, no. 2 (2014): 125-142.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Screw pulp fiction. Make mine a valentine. A valentine to Pulp Fiction. Rarely have I left a movie theatre more thrilled or invigorated as I did after leaving Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino's second feature film (the first was Reservoir Dogs) lights up the screen with the same blazing torch that it carries for the idea of the movies. (And with both Pulp Fiction and Ed Wood in concurrent release, there has hardly been a better time in history for the celebration of pure, unadulterated movie love.) The trick, as far as I see it, is how to talk about Pulp Fiction, the energy the film expresses, and the momentum it generates without defusing that same energy and thrill for others. And, the movie makes you want to talk, want to babble, want to share your thoughts and enthusiasms. Pulp Fiction succeeds on so many levels. Like Tarantino's other films so far, Pulp Fiction is another crime story, one in which guns and drugs and hitmen and dames are fixtures on the landscape. But it's a landscape also marked by its humor, its color, its dialogue, and its characters. It's clear why actors are falling all over themselves to win parts in upcoming Tarantino projects. Actors in his movies just shine. If nothing else, Pulp Fiction will earn Travolta and Willis the professional respect their work has always deserved -- even if the projects they chose for themselves were often less worthy of respect. With this project, Tarantino presents himself as one of the smartest storytellers around."

- Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

 

 

From the Public

 

"Umpteenth viewing, first since my teen years, for most of which (and then into my early 20s) I considered this my favorite movie. And similarly to Jules, who gets off on the badassery of his monologue for a long time before he stops to think about what it actually means to him, I - and I'm sure I'm far from alone in this - found the film such a high back then that I probably wouldn't have been able to actually articulate my reasons for loving it beyond the sheer pleasure it brought me. It's fitting, then, that pleasure is a theme in the film, something that - I only now consciously realize - most if not all of these characters are united by their pursuit of, and present in so many different forms: drugs, sex, music, food, pop culture, conversation, money, ownage, violence. Whether on their own or upon collision, these pursuits make the world absurd and violent and chaotic, and yet they're an inextricable part of it. Pleasure both connects to and conflicts with self-actualisation, which is what actually ensures survival and is achieved through honor, loyalty, professionalism, dropping of bullshit; bridging the gap is the filmmaking itself, which at every moment reconciles pleasure with control. The Jack Rabbit Slim's sequence is the film's blissful peak perhaps because, fundamentally, it's all about the joy of simultaneously recognizing the existing icons of the world and creating your own ones. "I just want to say, it's been a real pleasure watching you work."" - @Jake Gittes

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #1, 2013 - #2, 2014 - #25, 2016 - #6, 2018 - #12, 2020 - #28, 2022 – #37

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3),), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), Q. Tarantino (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (15), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (7), Thriller (6), Action (5), Coming of Age (5), Crime (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Big Kahuna Burger

 

 

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or bison
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon grill seasoning
4 pineapple rings (canned or fresh)
4 pieces bacon
4 slices monterey jack cheese
Spicy cilantro mayo
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Sriracha or chili sauce
1 tablespoon cilantro

 

Read More: https://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/big-kahuna-burger-recipe/

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

126.    The Big Lebowski (dir. Joel Coen, 1998)
127.    Mission: Impossible - Fallout (dir. Christopher McQuarrie, 2018)
128.    Chungking Express (dir. Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
129.    The Grand Budapest Hotel (dir. Wes Anderson, 2014)
130.    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (dir. F.W. Murnau, 1927)

[Eric the Marxist]

Re: #29

 

What the hell are we doing here?

[Dementeleus]

lmao at OPPY. 
 

We really are not serious people. 

[The Panda]

Number 27

 

 

"She can't act. She can't sing. She can't dance. She's a triple threat."

 

Synopsis

 

"In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound." - The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"A prototypical example of this option of presenting entertainment through the portrayal of an intense feeling of happiness is the iconic central number2 of the musical Singin’ in the Rain (1952). Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, the film was shot during the golden period of Hollywood musicals. The title number is a solo for a male dancer, conceived as a soliloquy where the main character, played by Kelly himself, shares his happy feelings with the audience. He is on a deserted street, it is dark and it is raining but he is happy (for he is in love) and cannot help feeling wonderful despite the bad weather. The number is built upon this contrast between good inner feelings and adverse external circumstances. By cheerfully singing and dancing under the pouring rain, the character releases his immense happiness. The intensity is gradually introduced. At first, the character just starts to walk; soon afterwards he proceeds to sing and finally to dance. Both the dance and the music follow the same rising pattern, being increasingly cheerful. This paper investigates the features that delineate this feeling of intense happiness, highlighting the role of music and dance in the design of the utopian option most frequently represented in American musicals3. The music is a song, a musical format that, according to Dyer, is a particularly rich semiotic mix for the statement of feelings in American musicals. It is composed of words, sounds and voice, each with a different role in conveying information (2012: 5). Words name and ground emotions (2012: 5); sounds deploy a wide and nuanced range of affective timbres (2012: 6), and voice mainly adds physical sensation (2012: 7)."

- de Lucas, Cristina. "Dancing Happiness: Lyrics & Choreography in Singin’in the Rain (1952)." University of Roehampton (2014).

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Singin’ in the Rain is, in the opinion of most contemporary film critics, one of the great movies of the sound era. The mere mention of its title brings a smile to the face of every movie lover, regardless of age. Its central image, that of Gene Kelly joyfully dancing and hanging exuberantly from a lamppost during a downpour, has come to exemplify not only the best of the M-G-M musical but also the high point, the full flowering of the American musical genre. And yet it was not always so. When Singin’ in the Rain first burst upon an unsuspecting moviegoing public in 1952, it was advertised as “the new entertainment thrill from the studio and the star who gave you the Academy Award-winning musical An American in Paris.” It opened in most first-run theatres across the country in April, just in time for Easter, and faced formidable competition. 1952 was a watershed year for Hollywood, and as a moviegoer that month, you had your choice of Cecil B. DeMille’s circus epic The Greatest Show on Earth; John Huston’s adventure-romance The African Queen; With a Song in My Heart, the Technicolor musical biography of singer Jane Froman; Elia Kazan’s Viva Zapata! starring Marlon Brando; Fritz Lang’s Rancho Notorious starring Marlene Dietrich; Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon starring Gary Cooper; Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ Five Fingers starring Judy Holiday; and a re-issue of the Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

 

 

Singin’ in the Rain, due to its constant theatrical circulation and its frequent prime-time telecasts in the 1960s, became one of the most familiar and beloved musicals of our time. This was due partly to the reasons listed by Ms. Kael: energy, originality, excitement. It’s also due to the screenplay of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, which, shorn of its musical interludes, could still stand on its own as one of the funniest comedies ever written. Set in Hollywood in the late 1920s, when the changeover from silents to talkies was wreaking havoc with careers, economics, production methods and story styles, the script paints an affectionately satiric, humorous and (somewhat) accurate picture of a time, a place and art/ industry. The songs were almost all written by the picture’s producer Arthur Freed and his partner Nacio Herb Brown during the era in which the picture is set, and all were written for early musicals. (The exceptions: “Make ‘Em Laugh,” written by Freed and Brown especially for Donald O’Connor in the film, and “Moses Supposes” by Comden, Green and Rodger Edens.) Contrary to a trend that had begun on Broadway in the 1940s, there was no attempt in Singin’ in the Rain to “integrate” the musical numbers into the plot or make them indicators of character. Instead, the screenplay serves as the framework for a succession of exhilarating musical numbers which exist for no other reason than to bring pleasure and visual stimulation to the audience."

- Ronald Haver, The Criterion Collection 1982

 

From the Public

 

"Even more amazing that (the brilliant & sexy) Gene Kelly had been ill for days and the day of filming the Singing In The Rain number had a 103°F fever and spent all day soaked and getting sicker.

 

The movie is pure joy.  One of my all time favorites."  - @TalismanRing

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - #63, 2018 - #93, 2020 - #40, 2022 – #42

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3),), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), Q. Tarantino (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), S. Donen (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), G. Kelly (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (15), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (7), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (7), Musical (6), Thriller (6), Action (5), Coming of Age (5), Crime (5), Romance (5), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

 

Soft Mascapone Scrambled Eggs

 

Ingredients

4 large free-range or organic eggs
1 tablespoon mascarpone, creme fraiche, cream, what have you
Dash of salt and freshly ground pepper, plus more for serving
Knob of salted butter

 

Recipe in: https://food52.com/recipes/6739-soft-scrambled-eggs

 

 

 

 

[DAR]

27 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Number 28

 

 

"Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

 

Synopsis

 

"Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.[3] It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence in Los Angeles, California. The film stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman. The title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue.

 

Tarantino wrote Pulp Fiction in 1992 and 1993, incorporating scenes that Avary originally wrote for True Romance (1993). Its plot occurs out of chronological order. The film is also self-referential from its opening moments, beginning with a title card that gives two dictionary definitions of "pulp". Considerable screen time is devoted to monologues and casual conversations with eclectic dialogue revealing each character's perspectives on several subjects, and the film features an ironic combination of humor and strong violence. TriStar Pictures reportedly turned down the script as "too demented". Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein was enthralled, however, and the film became the first that Miramax Films fully financed."

- Wikipedia

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Pulp Fiction, as a film classic of the Internet age, circulates through a culture of online quotation. Fans of the movie repeat bits of dialogue such as ‘royale with cheese’, share images from the film such as the shot of Jules and Vincent aiming their guns, and recreate scenes such as the dance scene with Mia and Vincent. This paper historicizes classic films through the example of Pulp Fiction fans who share expressions of their fandom in YouTube videos and Tumblr postings of images and GIFs. It looks at these quotations as evidence of audiences' interpretive work, which produces ideological meanings about the film. These meanings speak of dominant structures of knowledge and understanding that come from the broader society and its unequal relations of power. Meanings about race and gender, and to a lesser extent class, are especially important in the film's circulation. Some examples of moments and characters of Pulp Fiction analyzed in this paper are Jules and Vincent's interracial hit-man partnership, Mia and Vincents twist at Jack Rabbit Slim's, Jules as an icon of a certain ideal of black masculinity, and Mia's revival after her near-fatal drug overdose. Sometimes these quotations are straightforwardly appreciative, and sometimes they are parodic remixes and mashups. This paper also considers the importance of an absence of certain parts of the film from quotation culture that can be regarded as threatening to dominant conceptions of masculinity, such as the dungeon rape scene"

- Newman, Michael Z. "Say ‘Pulp Fiction’One More Goddamn Time: quotation culture and an Internet-age classic." New Review of Film and Television Studies 12, no. 2 (2014): 125-142.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"Screw pulp fiction. Make mine a valentine. A valentine to Pulp Fiction. Rarely have I left a movie theatre more thrilled or invigorated as I did after leaving Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino's second feature film (the first was Reservoir Dogs) lights up the screen with the same blazing torch that it carries for the idea of the movies. (And with both Pulp Fiction and Ed Wood in concurrent release, there has hardly been a better time in history for the celebration of pure, unadulterated movie love.) The trick, as far as I see it, is how to talk about Pulp Fiction, the energy the film expresses, and the momentum it generates without defusing that same energy and thrill for others. And, the movie makes you want to talk, want to babble, want to share your thoughts and enthusiasms. Pulp Fiction succeeds on so many levels. Like Tarantino's other films so far, Pulp Fiction is another crime story, one in which guns and drugs and hitmen and dames are fixtures on the landscape. But it's a landscape also marked by its humor, its color, its dialogue, and its characters. It's clear why actors are falling all over themselves to win parts in upcoming Tarantino projects. Actors in his movies just shine. If nothing else, Pulp Fiction will earn Travolta and Willis the professional respect their work has always deserved -- even if the projects they chose for themselves were often less worthy of respect. With this project, Tarantino presents himself as one of the smartest storytellers around."

- Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

 

 

From the Public

 

"Umpteenth viewing, first since my teen years, for most of which (and then into my early 20s) I considered this my favorite movie. And similarly to Jules, who gets off on the badassery of his monologue for a long time before he stops to think about what it actually means to him, I - and I'm sure I'm far from alone in this - found the film such a high back then that I probably wouldn't have been able to actually articulate my reasons for loving it beyond the sheer pleasure it brought me. It's fitting, then, that pleasure is a theme in the film, something that - I only now consciously realize - most if not all of these characters are united by their pursuit of, and present in so many different forms: drugs, sex, music, food, pop culture, conversation, money, ownage, violence. Whether on their own or upon collision, these pursuits make the world absurd and violent and chaotic, and yet they're an inextricable part of it. Pleasure both connects to and conflicts with self-actualisation, which is what actually ensures survival and is achieved through honor, loyalty, professionalism, dropping of bullshit; bridging the gap is the filmmaking itself, which at every moment reconciles pleasure with control. The Jack Rabbit Slim's sequence is the film's blissful peak perhaps because, fundamentally, it's all about the joy of simultaneously recognizing the existing icons of the world and creating your own ones. "I just want to say, it's been a real pleasure watching you work."" - @Jake Gittes

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #1, 2013 - #2, 2014 - #25, 2016 - #6, 2018 - #12, 2020 - #28, 2022 – #37

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3),), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), Q. Tarantino (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (15), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (7), Thriller (6), Action (5), Coming of Age (5), Crime (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Big Kahuna Burger

 

 

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or bison
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon grill seasoning
4 pineapple rings (canned or fresh)
4 pieces bacon
4 slices monterey jack cheese
Spicy cilantro mayo
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Sriracha or chili sauce
1 tablespoon cilantro

 

Read More: https://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/big-kahuna-burger-recipe/

 

 

 

 

Rewatched last week.  Holds up tremendously.

[The Panda]

Number 26

 

 

"Clever girl."

 

Synopsis

 

"A wealthy entrepreneur secretly creates a theme park featuring living dinosaurs drawn from prehistoric DNA. Before opening day, he invites a team of experts and his two eager grandchildren to experience the park and help calm anxious investors. However, the park is anything but amusing as the security systems go off-line and the dinosaurs escape."  -  The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Jurassic Park is clearly preoccupied at a thematic level with the
transition outlined above from state funded to commercial science;
the film is explicitly concerned with the dangers of trying to control
nature through the commercial use of science and technology. But
while the film is thematically simplistic, read through its economic,
scientific and cinematic context, the film is thematically simplistic; it
is excessive, replete with possible reading strategies and interpretations (Franklin, 2000, p. 216).
The film uses scientific practices and ideas in a number of ways
including the use of innovative special effects, its influence on
representations of palaeontology at the time of its release and its
thematic use of high profile disciplines such as complexity theory and
bioengineering. Through its interactions with these cultural forms
and practices Jurassic Park facilitates diverse responses to science and
as such it functions as a touchstone for understanding the meaning
and status of science during the early 1990s. In particular it gives
voice to the conflicts between dominant and emergent conceptions
of science that were brought to the fore by the changes that science
was undergoing at this time."

- Stern, M. (2004). Jurassic Parkand the moveable feast of science. Science as Culture, 13(3), 347–372.

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGK-SO1rl3M

 

From the Critic

 

"My preview audience was fired up for the blast of nostalgia, cheering the “Jurassic Park” title card, groaning when Laura Dern reached elbow deep into a 3-D pile of dino droppings and screaming in excited fear when a velociraptor tried to chomp Dern’s head in a bunker. The crowd was rewarded with a breathtaking 3-D conversion that enhanced items both miniscule (Samuel L. Jackson’s dangling cigarette ash, Wayne Knight’s Barbasol can) and massive (the Tyrannosaurus rex, a crowning technical achievement in Spielberg’s illustrious career). “Jurassic Park” was impressive in 1993. Twenty years later, it’s flawless."  - Sean O'Connell, The Washington Post

 

 

From the Public

 

"Attended a special screening with an introduction from Steven Spielberg. Waited in line for 4 hours but got front row middle. Best theater experience ever." - Jay Salahai

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #38, 2013 - #27, 2014 - #9, 2016 - #35, 2018 - #19, 2020 - #18 , 2022 – #18

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), S. Spielberg (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), Q. Tarantino (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), S. Donen (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), G. Kelly (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (16), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (7), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Jurassic Park (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Sci-Fi (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (7), Action (6), Musical (6), Thriller (6), Coming of Age (5), Crime (5), Romance (5), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

A Recipe

Chilean Sea Bass

 

 

 

 

[WrathOfHan]

1 hour ago, The Panda said:

Number 29

 

 

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

 

Synopsis

 

"The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II." - The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"When all thermonuclear sources of energy are exhausted a sufficiently heavy star will collapse. Unless fission due to rotation, the radiation of mass, or the blowing off of mass by radiation, reduce the star's mass to the order of that of the sun, this contraction will continue indefinitely. In the present paper we study the solutions of the gravitational field equations which describe this process. In I, general and qualitative arguments are given on the behavior of the metrical tensor as the contraction progresses: the radius of the star approaches asymptotically its gravitational radius; light from the surface of the star is progressively reddened, and can escape over a progressively narrower range of angles. In II, an analytic solution of the field equations confirming these general arguments is obtained for the case that the pressure within the star can be neglected. The total time of collapse for an observer comoving with the stellar matter is finite, and for this idealized case and typical stellar masses, of the order of a day; an external observer sees the star asymptotically shrinking to its gravitational radius."

- Oppenheimer, J. Robert, and Hartland Snyder. "On continued gravitational contraction." Physical Review 56, no. 5 (1939): 455.

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"When the atomic blast finally happens in Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic “Oppenheimer,” heralding the horrific dawn of nuclear aggression as it first assaults the eyes and then the ears, it’s a strange form of catharsis for the viewer. It’s a movie like no other, dragging us into the collective guilt of history.

 

The superb cast list includes an almost unrecognizable Gary Oldman as U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who greets Oppenheimer in the Oval Office to congratulate him for his Manhattan Project achievements. Finding the scientist to be penitent about the A-bomb and worried and anxious about a future hydrogen bomb capable of vastly greater destruction, Truman mockingly reminds Oppenheimer that “the blood on his hands” he frets about is really the president’s, the man who ordered the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

 

In truth, as “Oppenheimer” commandingly reminds us, the blood is on all our hands. Global nuclear war, most recently threatened by Russian leader Vladimir Putin in his assault on Ukraine, stopped being unthinkable the moment the first A-bomb exploded, cheered on by the man and his enablers who stole fire from the gods."

- Peter Howell, Toronto Star

 

From the Public

 

"I’m afraid this has now become my new comfort film. Can’t keep a good man down." - @WrathOfHan

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - NA, 2013 - NA, 2014 - NA, 2016 - NA, 2018 - NA, 2020 - NA, 2022 – NA

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3),), S. Spielberg (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), Q. Tarantino (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (14), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (6), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Sci-Fi (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (6), Thriller (6), Action (5), Coming of Age (5), Musical (5), Romance (5), Crime (4), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

 

A Recipe

Cherry Bomb

 

Ingredients
1 liter lime soda

4 fluid ounces rum

4 fluid ounces grenadine syrup

1 lime, juiced

1 lime, sliced

4 maraschino cherries

 

Steps in recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20423/cherry-bomb/

 

 

 

 

[cannastop]

10 minutes ago, The Panda said:

Chilean Sea Bass

 

 

Yay babish video. Surprised this is the first one.

[The Panda]

Number 25

 

 

"Silencio."

 

Synopsis

 

"A love story in the city of dreams . . . Blonde Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia (Laura Harring). Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman’s identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project. David Lynch’s seductive and scary vision of Los Angeles’s dream factory is one of the true masterpieces of the new millennium, a tale of love, jealousy, and revenge like no other." - The Criterion Collection

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"As Lynch fans have surmised, the greater part of Mulholland Drive seems to be an extended ‘dream/fantasy sequence’ that occupies around two-thirds of the film. In the final third we see a version of the ‘real events’ that led Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts) to arrange the murder of her former lover Camilla Rhodes (Laura Elena Harring), an event culminating in Diane's psychotic breakdown and (possible) suicide. This is the way many critics approach the film, although most also acknowledge the limits to any straightforward ‘dream/reality’ interpretation. [7] At the same time, the references to Sunset Boulevard, to Gilda, to film production and direction, but also to performance art (in the Club Silencio sequence at the end of the film), all suggest that this is a film about Hollywood as well as a reflection upon the fantasmatic nature of film itself.

 

 

According to Lynch's enigmatic DVD ‘Synopsis’, Mulholland Drive has a tripartite structure, which I suggest we can summarise as follows: 1. ‘She Found Herself the Perfect Mystery’ (Diane's dream/fantasy: Rita's car crash, the Mafia subplot, the mystery of Rita's identity, and discovery of a woman's corpse); 2. ‘A Sad Illusion’ (Rita's transformation and the unravelling of Diane's dream/fantasy: the Club Silencio revelation that her love for Rita, her fantasised dream version of events, and the Hollywood dream factory, are all illusory); 3. ‘Love’ (The ‘real’ story of Diane's affair with Camilla, Camilla's betrayal of Diane, Diane's plot to have Camilla murdered, Diane's psychotic breakdown and apparent suicide, and the final dissolution of the ‘fantasy/reality’ framework). To be schematic, the first two-thirds of the film comprise Diane's fantasised/dream version of events (Parts One and Two), while the last third (Part Three) presents the ‘real’ version of events from which Diane's fantasy/dream version, which we see first, is retroactively constructed. At the same time, elements from each part intrude upon the others, blurring the boundaries between dream, fantasy, reality, and cinematic worlds. As I shall discuss, the film ends on a decidedly ‘undecidable’ note, with the dissolution of any stable narrative framework that would allow us to separate the dimensions of ‘subjective fantasy’ and ‘objective reality’."

- Sinnerbrink, Robert. "Cinematic Ideas, on David Lynch's Mulholland Drive." Film-Philosophy 9, no. 4 (2005).

 

From the Filmmaker

 

 

From the Critic

 

"David Lynch has been working toward "Mulholland Drive" all of his career, and now that he's arrived there I forgive him "Wild at Heart" and even "Lost Highway." At last his experiment doesn't shatter the test tubes. The movie is a surrealist dreamscape in the form of a Hollywood film noir, and the less sense it makes, the more we can't stop watching it.

 

There have been countless dream sequences in the movies, almost all of them conceived with Freudian literalism to show the characters having nightmares about the plot. "Mulholland Drive" is all dream. There is nothing that is intended to be a waking moment. Like real dreams, it does not explain, does not complete its sequences, lingers over what it finds fascinating, dismisses unpromising plotlines. If you want an explanation for the last half hour of the film, think of it as the dreamer rising slowly to consciousness, as threads from the dream fight for space with recent memories from real life, and with fragments of other dreams--old ones and those still in development.

 

 

This works because Lynch is absolutely uncompromising. He takes what was frustrating in some of his earlier films, and instead of backing away from it, he charges right through. "Mulholland Drive" is said to have been assembled from scenes that he shot for a 1999 ABC television pilot, but no network would air (or understand) this material, and Lynch knew it. He takes his financing where he can find it and directs as fancy dictates. This movie doesn't feel incomplete because it could never be complete--closure is not a goal.

 

This is a movie to surrender yourself to. If you require logic, see something else. "Mulholland Drive" works directly on the emotions, like music. Individual scenes play well by themselves, as they do in dreams, but they don't connect in a way that makes sense--again, like dreams. The way you know the movie is over is that it ends. And then you tell a friend, "I saw the weirdest movie last night." Just like you tell them you had the weirdest dream."

- Roger Ebert

 

From the Public

 

"From now on, I think I’ll only ever watch David Lynch films after midnight. I think that’s the only true way to really experience his films." - @Rorschach

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - Unranked, 2013 - Unranked, 2014 - Unranked, 2016 - Unranked, 2018 - Unranked, 2020 - #68, 2022 – #59

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), S. Spielberg (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), D. Lynch (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), M. Scorsese (2), Q. Tarantino (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), S. Donen (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), G. Kelly (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (16), 2000s (15), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (7), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Jurassic Park (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Sci-Fi (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (7), Action (6), Musical (6), Thriller (6), Coming of Age (5), Crime (5), Mystery (5), Romance (5), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1), Surrealism (1)

 

A Recipe

 

Mulholland Drive Cocktail

 

 

 

 

[The Panda]

 

121.    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dir. Michel Gondry, 2004)
122.    Die Hard (dir. John McTiernan, 1988)
123.    The Iron Giant (dir. Brad Bird, 1999)
124.    Who Framed Roger Rabbit (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1988)
125.    Unforgiven (dir. Clint Eastwood, 1992)
 

[THUNDER BIRD]

8 hours ago, The Panda said:

Number 26

 

 

"Clever girl."

 

Synopsis

 

"A wealthy entrepreneur secretly creates a theme park featuring living dinosaurs drawn from prehistoric DNA. Before opening day, he invites a team of experts and his two eager grandchildren to experience the park and help calm anxious investors. However, the park is anything but amusing as the security systems go off-line and the dinosaurs escape."  -  The Movie Database

 

 

From the Scholar

 

"Jurassic Park is clearly preoccupied at a thematic level with the
transition outlined above from state funded to commercial science;
the film is explicitly concerned with the dangers of trying to control
nature through the commercial use of science and technology. But
while the film is thematically simplistic, read through its economic,
scientific and cinematic context, the film is thematically simplistic; it
is excessive, replete with possible reading strategies and interpretations (Franklin, 2000, p. 216).
The film uses scientific practices and ideas in a number of ways
including the use of innovative special effects, its influence on
representations of palaeontology at the time of its release and its
thematic use of high profile disciplines such as complexity theory and
bioengineering. Through its interactions with these cultural forms
and practices Jurassic Park facilitates diverse responses to science and
as such it functions as a touchstone for understanding the meaning
and status of science during the early 1990s. In particular it gives
voice to the conflicts between dominant and emergent conceptions
of science that were brought to the fore by the changes that science
was undergoing at this time."

- Stern, M. (2004). Jurassic Parkand the moveable feast of science. Science as Culture, 13(3), 347–372.

 

 

From the Filmmaker

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGK-SO1rl3M

 

From the Critic

 

"My preview audience was fired up for the blast of nostalgia, cheering the “Jurassic Park” title card, groaning when Laura Dern reached elbow deep into a 3-D pile of dino droppings and screaming in excited fear when a velociraptor tried to chomp Dern’s head in a bunker. The crowd was rewarded with a breathtaking 3-D conversion that enhanced items both miniscule (Samuel L. Jackson’s dangling cigarette ash, Wayne Knight’s Barbasol can) and massive (the Tyrannosaurus rex, a crowning technical achievement in Spielberg’s illustrious career). “Jurassic Park” was impressive in 1993. Twenty years later, it’s flawless."  - Sean O'Connell, The Washington Post

 

 

From the Public

 

"Attended a special screening with an introduction from Steven Spielberg. Waited in line for 4 hours but got front row middle. Best theater experience ever." - Jay Salahai

 

 

Factoids

 

Previous Year's Rankings

2012 - #38, 2013 - #27, 2014 - #9, 2016 - #35, 2018 - #19, 2020 - #18 , 2022 – #18

 

Director Count

C. Nolan (4), S. Spielberg (4), A. Hitchcock (3), A. Kurosawa (3), B. Bird (2), J. Cameron (2), H. Miyazaki (2), S. Kubrick (2), J. Lasseter (2), S. Leone (2), R. Linklater (2), D. Lynch (2), M. Scorsese (2), Q. Tarantino (2), R. Scott (2), R. Allers (1), R. Altman (1), P.T. Anderson (1), F. Capra (1), J. Carpenter (1), J. Coen (1), M. Curtiz (1), F. Darabont (1), J. Demme (1), J. Demy (1), P. Docter (1), S. Donen (1), C.T. Dreyer (1), D. Fincher (1), Victor Fleming (1), M. Forman (1), W. Friedkin (1), T. Gilliam (1), P. Jackson (1), R. Johnson (1), T. Jones (1), B. Joon-Ho (1), W. Kar-Wai (1), G. Kelly (1), M. Kobayashi (1), S. Lee (1), M. Mann (1), K. Lund (1), L. McCarey (1), F. Meirelles (1), R. Minkoff (1), A. Molina (1), J. Peele (1), B. Persichetti (1), S. Raimi (1), P. Ramsey (1), R. Rothman (1), A. Russo (1), J. Russo (1), M.N. Shyamalan (1), A. Stanton (1), V.D. Sica (1), G. Trousdale (1), L. Unkrich (1), P. Weir (1), O. Welles (1), B. Wilder (1), K. Wise (1)

 

Decade Count

1990s (16), 2000s (14), 2010s (11), 1980s (8), 1950s (7), 1960s (6), 1970s (5), 1940s (4), 1930s (2), 1920s (1), 2020s (1)

 

International Film Count

Japan (5), France (3), Italy (3), United Kingdom (2), Brazil (1), Hong Kong (1), South Korea (1)

 

Franchise Count

Pixar (7), Nolanite Cinematic Universe (4), Alien (2), Before (2), WDAS (2), Spider-Man (2), Toy Story (2), Avatar (1), Exorcist (1), Fargo (1), Gladiator (1), Hannibal Lecter (1), Hawkguy Cinematic Universe (1), Jurassic Park (1), Man With No Name (1), Middle Earth (1), Monty Python (1), Overlook Hotel (1), Oz (1), Star Wars (1), The Thing (1)

 

Genre Count

Drama (18), Comedy (13), Historical Fiction (13), Animation (12), Epic (11), Sci-Fi (11), Fantasy (10), Horror (10), Adventure (8), Black Comedy (7), Action (6), Musical (6), Thriller (6), Coming of Age (5), Crime (5), Romance (5), Mystery (4), Noir (4), Superhero (4), Comic Book (3), Jidaigeki (3), Religious (3), Satire (3), Tragedy (3), Western (3), Anime (2), Christmas/Holiday (2), Prison Break/Heist (2), Spaghetti Western (2), War (2), Alternative History (1), Neorealism (1)

 

A Recipe

Chilean Sea Bass

 

 

 

 

The fact that this isn't in Top list is why humanity is in the state it is currently.....filled by people who don't understand greatness.