Top 100 movies of all time: 95 - 91

Before I start today's countdown I wish to dedicate this post to Lars Erik Bakken whom without the Paper Penguin may never have squawked again. Thank you ol' chum. You can find Lars Erik's blog at http://drammenblade.blogspot.com/

NR. 95:

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2009)


Directed by: Oren Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat and Mark Fredrichs



After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100


Following in the vein of found footage films like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, Paranormal activity prays on the fact that we are most scared of what we can not see. The horror of the film is further increased by the authentic feel you get watching this "home video." These feel like real people. I would say there are two films on this list that have polarized its audience and Paranormal Activity certainly is one of them. Either you thought the movie was boring and not scary in the slightest or, like me, it managed to get into your imagination and wreak some serious havoc.



NR. 94:

TITANIC (1997)

Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Winslet and Billy Zane



Fictional romantic tale of a rich girl and poor boy who meet on the ill-fated voyage of the 'unsinkable' ship.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

Titanic is, in my opinion, the ultimate love story. It is Romeo and Juliet set aboard one of the most tragic events of the time which makes it all the more potent. Not only that, but Titanic was a technical marvel showing us imagery so grand and realistic (for the time) that it simply left you breathless. You were on the Titanic. And just when you regained your breath, tragedy strikes and takes it all away again.



NR. 93:

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (LA DEN RETTE KOMME INN) (2008)

Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson and Per Ragnar



Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

Let the right one in is a perfect mixture of reality and fantasy. There is no doubt that Oscar is living in the real world. He has everyday problems kids his age face and the cold harsh winter is something we Scandinavians can relate to all too well. So when Eli shows up (barefoot in the snow no less) with her pale complexion and eerie demeanor we immediately feel a sense of unease. Something has entered our normal setting, something that does not belong in our perception of reality. The movie strikes a surprisingly good balance between the sweet and the disturbing. Something other recent vampire films fails to do repeatedly.



NR. 92:

THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)

Directed by: Victor Flemming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy and King Vidor
Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan and Ray Bolger



Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

If you can tell your child only one fairytale, let it be this one. This is the fantasy that has it all. Lovable characters, a menacing witch, bigger then life set pieces and technicolor and will burn your eyes out. Sure it might all seem a little hokey and quaint by today's standards, but there is a reason The Wizard of Oz have only gets more and more popular as time goes on. It is a throwback to a seemingly simpler, less complicated time (which of course is not true) and lets you indulge in a sense that everything might just be all right at the end, no matter how big a problem you might face. All you need is a few good friends and a bucket of water.



NR. 91:

STAR WARS
RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983)

Directed by: Richard Marquand
Starring: Mark Hammil, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher



After rescuing Han Solo from the palace of Jabba the Hutt, the Rebels attempt to destroy the Second Death Star, while Luke Skywalker tries to bring his father back to the Light Side of the Force.

WHY IT MADE MY TOP 100

It is the climactic ending to one of the greatest science fiction sagas ever told (excluding the prequels of course) and it does not hold back. From Jabba the Hutt to the Ewoks on Endor, Return of the Jedi, like its predecessors, shows its audience things they couldn't even dream of. Even more important, Jedi closes the book on the Skywalker saga with the redemption of Darth Vader and the collapse of the Empire giving the saga the bittersweet ending only an Ewok celebration can do justice.