Top 100 movies of all time: 81 - 78

A bit late today, but never the less:

NR. 81:

OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001)

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts



Danny Ocean and his ten accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100:


Ocean's eleven is a remake of the 1960 movie of the same name. I have not seen the original (trust me, it's on my list), but when watching Ocean's eleven I get that 60's casino heist feel perfectly. The movie is a simple fun pleasure that I can revisit a number of times and always end up smiling.



NR. 80:

THE OTHERS (2001)

Directed by: Alejandro Amenábar
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston and Fionnula Flanagan



A woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her family home is haunted.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

The others was a movie that, when I saw it for the first time, put me in a state of constant unease and suspense. It might lose some of the suspense when seeing it for a second or third time, but the general mood and the uneasy vibe throughout the film never goes away. This is not a movie that relies on jump scares like so many other movies in the horror/thriller genre, but rather presents a series of events (usually noises and strange behavior in some of the characters) that is designed to scare you on a much deeper level.



NR. 79:

MONSTER'S BALL (2001)

Directed by: Marc Foster
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry and Taylor Simpson



After a family tragedy, a racist prison guard reexamines his attitudes while falling in love with the African American wife of the last prisoner he executed.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

Monster's ball is a very unapologetic movie in the way it portrays human tragedy (in many forms) and the people who are touched by it. It is a love story between two broken down people who desperately need something or someone to cling to. It all flows fluently and you can't help but get invested in the characters no matter how horrible or tragic they may be.



NR. 78:

BATTLE ROYALE (Batoru rowaiaru) (2000)

Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda and Tarô Yamamoto



In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

This movie is unlike anything I have seen before and it is almost scary how fascinating it is to watch a group of school children kill each other with a barrage of different weaponry. Perhaps it is the way some people give in to any situation and will do what it takes to survive while others give in to hopelessness and simply lay down to die. The most confronting question might be: if you and your friends were put in the same situation, what would you do?



Wow, 3 out of 4 movies from 2001? Quite the year I guess.