Top 100 movies of all time: 49 - 46

Things are heating up as I tackle my top 50 movies of all time.

NR. 49:

DR. STRANGELOVE (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) (1964)

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden



An insane general starts a process to nuclear holocaust that a war room of politicians and generals frantically try to stop.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

Dr. Strangelove is truly a film of its time. It takes the real threat of the 60's (at least it was so in focus back then), nuclear war and spins it into a comedy with a razor sharp satiric sting. Not only are we introduced to some of the most memorable and comedic characters in film history, but we are shown the idiocy of the military way of thinking (taken to the extreme). Yes, it was a film of its time but it's scary to realize that it is just as relevant today.



NR. 48:

TERMINATOR 2 (1991)

Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong



The cyborg who once tried to kill Sarah Connor must now protect her teenage son, John Connor, from an even more powerful and advanced Terminator.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

Like with Aliens (also a James Cameron film) Terminator 2 is a sequel that surpasses the original to such a degree that it almost overshadows its predecessor. Terminator 2 is in many ways the perfect sci-fi action movie in the same way Aliens was the perfect sci-fi horror/action. They share allot of similarities as they both expand their world and mythology and give it a deeper dimension. This is also a more action packed Terminator movie and the unforgettable T-1000 liquid metal Terminator (a technological wonder of cinema at the time).

I was going to link the fantastic opening credits of Terminator 2, but according to Blogger it was "unavailable." Getting really sick of that. So here is the trailer instead. The opening credits can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXQTzJgU6qc



NR. 47:

TRAINING DAY (2001)

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke and Scott Glenn



On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears as.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100


Training day is an unapologetic, in-your-face gritty look at the life on the streets for two narcotics officers, one of which works at the edges of the law. This movie is polished by Denzel Washington who does his best role here. You are never sure if you are supposed to be on his side or not and you are kept walking that line until the very end of the movie. Even then, you might not be 100% sure. The movie handles exposition extremely well, giving you tidbits of information here and there and never treats you like an idiot, explaining everything to you in one conversation.



NR. 46:

FARGO (1996)

Directed by: Joel Coen
Starring: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand and Steve Buscemi



Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of pregnant Marge Gunderson.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

Fargo is one of those movies that is kind of hard to describe to people (it is after all a Coen brothers film) because it is so depended on the situations and characters that inhabit the film. However what I can say is that the movie is one of the funniest ever made with characters that just makes you laugh no matter what they do (might have something to do with the exaggerated Alaskan dialect). Fargo, what can you say? Go see it (again).



Before I leave you today I want to direct your attension (the Norwegians reading this at least) to Blades' blog who did a top 8 of my bottom 50. You can find it here at:

http://drammenblade.blogspot.com/2010/12/topp-8-fra-paper-penguin-sine-50-100.html?spref=tw

Go read it (its in Norwegian though). Toodles.