61. Back To The Future (1985)

Marty McFly is a teenager who despairs of his wimpy father and so spends an unhealthy amount of time with ageing eccentric inventor, Doc Brown. Doc's new invention is  time travelling DeLorean car which is fortunate as the doc is gunned down by random 80s terrorists. The time jump is Marty's escape route and he goes back to 1955. There he meets the younger version of his parents, gets them together, makes bad on the school bully, finds his way back home (with the help of the seemingly ageless Doc) and introduced Rock'n'roll to an unreceptive small town America.

It's an 80s classic and it was good in it's day. I was never really a fan myself. I never really found a likable character in it. Everyone is a bit weird or creepy. It's not a bad film by any means, but it does puzzle me when it comes up on peoples all time lists.
To me, it's just OK. Okay? Part 2 was so bad that I have never bothered with part 3, though I hear that it's watchable. Oh I am just full of glowing reviews of this franchise!

60. Babe (1995)

I have to say I was a little taken aback of the inclusion of Babe in this list. That quickly ended as I watched it and remembered what a thoroughly charming film it is.

Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) wins a piglet at a fair and they form a bond. Being a little out of place on a sheep farm, the pig is adopted by a sheepdog and learns the ways of sheep herding, only in a much more polite and agreeable fashion rather than just barking orders and biting them. Hoggett decides to enter him into a sheepdog trial.

Adapted from the children's book 'The Sheep Pig' , this film is quite an excellent kids film. It certainly doesn't gloss over the running of a farm and does become quite dark in places. There is plenty of light relief though. Ferdinand the duck is a particularly amusing character who decides that to avoid being eaten he must become of use around the farm and decides to take over the roosters job of crowing at dawn. Pigs acting like dogs, duck acting like roosters; it's quite the mixed up farm.

The film looks stunning and the visual effects are par excellence. A seamless mixture of live animals, puppets courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature shop and CGI effects make you believe that the animals are talking. Great voice characterisation from the likes of Miriam Margolyes and Hugo Weaving and a stalwart performance from Cromwell as the farmer of little words complete the recipe for an enchanting film.

59. Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)

A very personal piece from Louis Malle and probable career best.
It's an autobiographical account of his experience in a Catholic boarding school during the second world war.

Julien is sent away to boarding school with his brother to avoid the bombings in Paris. He becomes friends with a new boy, Jean Bonnet, and eventually learns that Jean and some other new kids are actually Jewish children with assumed names being hidden by the schoolmasters. Julien has little knowledge of anti-semitism and the film trundles along with the day to day life of the school. Quirky teachers, friendships formed and broken, practical jokes. Apart from the occasional air raid siren, the war has little impact on the school. Alas harmony is broken as a disgruntled ex employee decides to inform the Nazis of what is going on there. When the officers descend on the school, it is an inadvertent act from Julien that betrays Jen. The guilt is lasting and the film seems to be a sort of atonement for Julien/Louis's action. The voice over at the end admits that he has never forgotten about that morning.

This a poignant film that is alive with details you know come from real life. The eccentric habits of teachers, the 'black market exhange' in presents from home, the hints of sexual awakening. Even the films portrayal of Nazis as a mixed bag of gentlemen and thugs. It's a very worthy and honest portrayal of war through a child's eyes.

58. Atonement (2007)

Briony is a 13 year old precocious brat who has a small crush on the housekeeper's son, Robbie. After misinterpreting scenes between Robbie and her sister Cecilia, she labels him as a sex maniac and when her cousin Lola is raped, she tells the police she saw Robbie do it. What a bitch! It was clearly the creepy chocolate guy(is that Sherlock Holmes?)
Consequently Robbie is sent to prison then into military service. Cecilia, who is actually in love with Robbie, estranges her family and becomes a nurse. They meet up before he leaves for battle and make plans to be together on his return.
A more mature Briony decides to forsake a place at Cambridge and also becomes a nurse, possibly as some penance for the wrong he did. She meets up with the reunited couple and pledges to make right her lie. Especially after seeing that Lola has now married Sherlock Holmes.
Unfortunately the whole film is the elderly Briony's last novel. Finally telling the truth of her misdeed as a teenager. The reality is not as happy an ending, but a great twist.

I had read the book before seeing the film, so it was hard to separate the two. Ian McEwan's book is a masterpiece, but I believe this stands alone as a good film. The performances are great, in particular the three actresses playing Briony. Saoirse Ronan's 13 year old is very accomplished and she comes across as the true spoilt horror. Romola Garai as the 18 year old has the cracks showing as the horrors of war enforce how much she has done wrong. Vanessa Redgrave has a brief appearance at the end as the elderly Briony. It's as part of a television interview about her latest book. It's here that she confesses the reality of her secret. Briony is a coward and it's up to you if you forgive her. Redgrave certainly makes you feel sorry for her. Keira Knightley didn't bring much to the table, but then her character is quite glossed over.

The film is shot with great achievement by Joe Wright. The 'one shot' scene at Dunkirk is particularly affecting, haunting in the desperation of the situation.
It is a good adaptation. There is a whole chunk of the book missing as Robbie walks the long road to the coast. Here it is slight and rushed to get to that scene. I think there was more made of the class separation. It is touched on here, bu the divide between Robbie's mother, Robbie and the Tallis family is more pronounced in the book. Really should stop comparing it to the book though.

Okay one last time. As a film, it's a good costume drama. I wouldn't say it was worthy of the list. The book is most certainly on the 1001 books before you die list!

57. The Apartment (1960)

In the film Brief Encounter, Alec is lent the use of a friend's apartment to meet up with the woman he is having an affair with. Billy Wilder took inspiration from this scenario and wrote about the third man. The man who would lend out his apartment for such a sordid use.

Jack Lemmon plays CC Baxter. A clerk in an office who is allowing his apartment to be used by executives, who meet up with their mistresses there, on the promise of a promotion in the company. At first he comes across as a bit of a doormat having to wait outside his apartment when the trysts run over, but we quickly learn that we have entered this story well into a situation that is now beyond his control. This is epitomised in a comic scene as Baxter struggles to balance his diary to allow himself a night alone in bed to recover from a cold.
Baxter's boss, Mr. Sheldrake, gets to hear of this apartment and now wishes to use it to conduct an affair. Unfortunately the affair is with Fran Kubelik. The one woman who pays attention to Baxter and someone he finally has a date with. Poor Baxter, always the played, though he finally gets his promotion.
 It's Fran who is being played along too and after finding out that Mr. Sheldrake's promises to divorce his wife are false and she is one in a long string of mistresses, she takes an overdose of pills in Baxter's apartment. Baxter finds her in time and with the help of his doctor neighbour, save her life. She is told to stay put for a couple of days and the two strike up a friendship further strengthening Baxter's feelings for her, but can h give her up when Mr. Sheldrake wants her back? Will she finally settle for Mr. Sheldrake?

This is a mixed genre piece. Starting off as a satirical comedy, dipping into emotional drama and then finishing with romantic comedy it certainly never gets boring. I'm not sure I find Lemmon and Maclaine to be a particularly believable couple though. I can buy them as friends though and with the excellent last line and the fact that she never shows any romantic inkling to Baxter, I can take it that they will be just good friends. Poor Baxter. Will he ever get what he wants or even deserves?!

Despite their lack of chemistry, Maclaine and Lemmon both shine here. The whole ensemble is great. Particular dues to Jack Kruschen and Naomi Stevens playing Baxter's next door neighbours. He has them convinced that it's him who is partying with different women every night. "Mildred! He's at it again!"

A clever punchy script, acted well and shot lovingly. It's not Wilder's best, but it's certainly up there. Certainly belongs on this list.

56. Animal Farm (1954)

The first ever British animation feature may have the look of the Disney films that saturate the genre, but this is far from kid's stuff.

It pretty much tells the story of George Orwell's anti-Stalin novel, but with a more uplifting ending. Possibly because it was partly funded by the CIA as anti-communist propaganda. Allegedly!

Sick of being mistreated by the owner, the animals of Manor Farm stage a revolution, kick him out and run things for themselves in the renamed Animal Farm. Under the guidance of Snowball the pig, the farm is run smoothly and a set of commandments are drawn up and emblazoned on the side of the barn. Snowball's leadership is overthrown by power hungry, work-shy Napoleon, who tricks the other animals to thinking Snowball is a traitor who has been conspiring with the old farmer. Slowly but surely the animals are repressed under Napoleonic rule and the commandments are amended as the pigs break them, eventually replacing them all with the maxim, "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." This is the last straw for the other animals and they overthrow the ever humanising pigs and their tyrannical leader.

It really does not hold back on the bloodshed. Even Snowball isn't killed in the book. It certainly must have shocked parents a plenty on it's release.

As the first British animated feature and as a piece of propaganda, I do see it's relevance in film history, but yet again I think this list is a little unsure of the criteria needed for a 'film to see before you die'. I was happy to see this and enjoyed it, but I don't think it really belongs here.

55. Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)

Acting as a lesson that crime never pays, Michael Curtiz's sermon on social responsibility tries not to be too preachy. Not very hard though!

Rocky and Jerry were childhood friends who grew up in Hell's Kitchen in New York. After being rumbled, robbing a train car they run away. Being the quicker runner, Jerry gets away leaving Rocky to Juvenile hall. Rocky grows up in a life of crime and Jerry becomes a priest. As adults they meet up in their old neighbourhood where Jerry runs a centre for kids to keep them on the straight and narrow. Rocky turns up looking for a place to stay whilst he gets back into his racketeering business. His old partner Frazier isn't so pleased to see him. Cue plenty of gunfights and no good deeds.

James Cagney's Rocky is the charismatic gangster who had been much parodied; Pat O'Brien's Father Jerry is played like a stiff old nag, however it's in no doubt at the conclusion whos viewpoint is for the greater good. Rocky finally succumbing to Jerry's wishes to 'go yellow' at his execution to show the right message to the gang of reprobates that hero worship him. It's actually quite an odd scene to swallow as his demise is filmed in siolhette. I'm still not sure it's a way out the character would have settled for.

Cagney plays the wisecrack to a tee and the comic relief as he hangs with the kids in the local street gang adds a much needed as a balance to the social lecture.

'Dames' don't fair well here. What comes across as the potential for an equally wisecracking character in Laury (Ann Sheridan) turns into another wimpy female victim of this era.

Despite it's sanctimonious ending, this isn't so bad a sermon and a rather good film.

54. Amores Perros (2000)

The Tarantino effect hits Mexico and produces a similar, but arguably superior, film to 1994's Pulp Fiction. Here, three stories literally collide in a car crash then swing their relative ways. The time line is a lot more linear than that of PF though. They take the form of past, present and future as relative to the crash. Each story also has a theme of loyalty to a dog and disloyalty to a human. The much argued translation of the title also shows this. 'Dog Love' or 'Love's a Bitch' depending on which side of the Mexico/USA border you are translating!

The first story(Past) centres on Octavio who is in love with his brother's wife(Susana) and hates that his brother is constantly ill treating of her. He starts to enter his well hard dog into dog fights and begins to earn a tidy peso from it. He gives this money to Susana and they begin an affair that she seems forced into with the promise they will run away and begin a life together with her child and another on the way, but is this too good to be true?

In the Second story(Present), Daniel has just left his wife and family for the supermodel Valerie. Their new found bliss is cut short as Valerie is involved in a car crash which crushes her leg and leaves her confined to their new apartment with a patronising view of a billboard of her as her old self. Things get worse as her dog gets trapped in the crawl space under the floorboards and they are tormented by his scrabbling around and whimpering, but the can't afford to lift up the floorboards. Can it get worse? You betcha!

The third story(Future) centres on El Chivo: A man who turned his back on his wife and child to become a mercenary. Now dead to his family, he is a dog loving vagrant and occasional hit man. Whilst scoping out a hit, he witnesses the accident and rescues Octavio's injured dog. He makes a decision to get back to his old life somehow and reconnect with his daughter.

Each story is a worthy film in it's own right and the crash connection isn't contrived. It is more the disloyalty theme that links them (Octavio to his brother; Daniel to his wife; El Chivo to his wife and daughter) and how that disloyalty, no matter how seemingly good natured, destroys them. It's basically a tale of karma!

Filmed beautifully, it is a pretty gruesome film and the dogfights particularly are so realistic that the usual disclaimer that no animals were harmed during the filming of this movie, that would usually be buried in the credits, went up at the start of the film. It's only when you see the extras that you see that they are actually just rather rampant animals and they were mostly shagging! It's very clever editing with great use of quick cuts and a shaky camera.

An outstanding first feature from director Alejandro González Iñárritu, but it seems that he has yet to equal with such fare as 21 grams and the abysmal Babel. I hear good things about Biutiful, so perhaps this is not a genius fluke.

53. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

How do you go about making fantasy horror more real? Add humour.
Written by John Landis wen he was just 19 years old, this horror comedy sets many new boundaries in the genre. Previous incarnations of the werewolf in film have been of  a 2 legged beast and the metamorphosis from man to wolf has been a clunky clumsy one. Make-up artist Rick Baker conquered this challenge, coining the phrase special visual effects and winning the inaugural Best make-Up Oscar for his troubles.

It really is the human story that makes this such a great film. David and Jack are American tourists who have inexplicably decided to take in the Yorkshire Moors on their travels about Europe. After being told by the creepy patrons of The Slaughtered Lamb pub to stick to the road, they find themselves wandering onto the moors much to the delight of the local werewolf who attacks them killing Jack and injuring David as the Slaughtered Lamb patrons have an attack of conscience and kill the animal. A bit late though as David ow has the curse. Something he finds out when the decomposing body of his friend Jack meets up with him in a London hospital.

There are great scenes throughout this black comedy. Jack introducing David to his victims in a darkened porn theatre, one of which is an enthusiastic Sloane ranger who offers up ways for David to kill himself like she's a contestant on a quiz show, is a particular favourite.

There are some discrepancies to be had. The geography, for one, is quite bizarre. Why does he have to go to London? I'm quite positive there are many closer hospitals to Yorkshire. Also, despite all the pleads for him to kill himself, why doesn't anyone suggest that he leaves London and heads for a less populated area or maybe just chains himself up? Just a suggestion.

It is a fantastic film. The comedy/horror ratio is well balanced and,though the effects are a bit clunky now, I think it still stands up now. The physical effects, despite their clunkiness, are a preference to the unrealistic CGI effects of late.

"Mummy! A naked American man stole my balloons." Such innocent times!

52. Der Amerikanische Freund/The American Friend (1977)

Director Wim Wenders adapts one of a famed series of novels from Patricia Highsmith featuring the character of Tom Ripley. I knew nothing of the character or the books, so I am just treating this as a stand alone film, as all adaptations should really be.

The eponymous American friend, Tom Ripley, is played by Dennis Hopper. He is a 'connected' go-between dealing art for a painter who has faked his own death. During an auction of a painting in Hamburg, he learns of a framer who has a serious terminal blood disease. This information is passed on to a gangster who requires something of an amateur hitman with nothing to lose. He approaches Jonathon Zimmerman, the framer, to do a one off hit for a considerable amount of money. Through some fake examination results he persuades him to take the job and he reluctantly does. It's never that simple though is it? Jonathon and Ripley's lives become intertwined and somewhat switched. Ripley craves for the quiet life and Jonathon's imminent mortality, plus the bait of money to leave his wife and child, make him accept another hit.

This is a mixed paced film noir. A slow start leads to an on your edge drawn out scene for the first hit. It then goes a bit all over the place as the two leads story lines veer off, then they come crashing together for the next deal. The second hit falls fowl slightly. Surely the pace and threat should graduate through the film, but after the first hit's knife edge, it's all a bit lacklustre.

Bruno Ganz is excellent as the amateur hit man. His character has a great arc and you see Ripley's reaction to Zimmerman's journey.

This is a great watch. Hopper may be the name on the film, but it's Ganz who owns it. Lisa Kreuzer supports as Jonathon's suspicious wife who just wants to know what is going on.

The typical downbeat film noir ending doesn't disappoint, unless you are into happy ones!

51. An American in Paris (1951)

Gene Kelly plays Jerry Mulligan, an ex GI and, now, struggling painter living in Paris. A wealthy heiress takes interest in his paintings and offers to sponsor him and make him a success. It's not just his paintings she fancies though. His eyes are only for Leslie Caron's pretty shop girl, Lise. Lise however is engaged to Jerry's neighbour, Henri who is a successful singer. Still she is swayed by his charm attack and she begins a romance with Jerry, neither of her suitors knowing abut the other.
It's all going smoothly til Henri gets an offer of a tour of America and decides that he and Lise will marry and go together.
Will she stay with Jerry, her true love or marry Henri, to whom she owes so much after he hid her during the war? Ah who cares?! Though the farce is amusing, this is all about the song and dance numbers that punctuate the film. From the brilliant dittys in the cafes and streets of Montmartre accompanying a wealth of Gershwin tunes, to the epic 17 minute finale, "An American in Paris Ballet". Each dance number is outstanding and it is all choeographed by Kelly.

What an epic piece the ballet is. A heady mix of ballet, jazz, modern and tap that is seamlessly edited and all set in a living painting. A sumptuous set design inspired by Parisian artists in particular Toulouse-Lautrec.

Vincente Minnelli directs this classic Hollywood musical with flair and style. The outstanding art direction, set and costume design perfectly accent the great music and even greater dancing. The cast is great. Leslie Caron in her first film role was discovered by Kelly and they make a great dance partnership here. Th supporting cast is superb too and everyone looks like they are having a bag of fun.

It is Gene Kelly who shines the brightest here. His dancing and showmanship is unrivalled to this day. The ballet scene is amazing (he choreographed the whole thing!), but it's his tap routines on the Paris street outside his apartment that I love the most here. Entertaining the cafe patrons and the neighbourhood kids with tapped out Gershwin numbers. I Got Rhythm as he teaches the kids English is a particular favourite.

S'wonderful!

50. Amarcord (1973)

In his last successful film, Fellini delves into his past again and reminisces about his youth in a small coastal town in Italy. It comes across as an old man recanting tales. Amarcord meaning "I remember..."

The events take place over a year and are basically a series of memories played out on screen. There is no plot or storyline. Though a lot of the stories centre around a teenage boy, Titta, he is not a main character. It's very much an ensemble piece and a bit of a messy free for all as a result.

As per usual, Fellini's memories are mostly that of women. He is a big old perv, but as he is the horny teenager Titta, he clearly always was. Buxom beyond belief women are the stars of the show. The tobacconist who nearly suffocates him with her ample (such an understatement!) bosom; Gradisca the town beauty who allows him to place his hand on her thigh in a darkened cinema til she asks "have you lost something?"; Volpina, the town's crazy whore who kisses him when he fixes her bicycle. No-one gets away from his hormones aside from his ailing mother. He isn't alone as his friends are bags of hormones too, quite oddly displayed in a circle jerk as they all cry out their fantasy partners to each other. This shortly after going to confessional and denying the priest's accusations that each of them touches themselves.

There are a few grand set pieces in his memories. The film opens with a festival of spring as the town celebrate around a bonfire and burn a winter witch effigy. There are also complete tangent threads which get more bizarre as the film goes on. A town outing on a flotilla to watch the passing of a huge ocean liner, a mad uncle refusing to come down from a tree until he gets a woman. He is eventually talked down by a midget nun from the sanitarium he stays in. There is an odd scene as the town tramp boasts of his sexual exploits with a visiting sultan's harem. Bonkers!

You can't fault him for wanting to cram as many memories in the film as he can and it is certainly shot beautifully with great use of colour and fabulous costumes. I would just have liked a bit more of a cohesive story to it all. Great fun though.

The tobacconist and her AMPLE norks!

49. Un Chien Andalou/An Andalusian Dog (1928)

Really? Another surrealist film? Oy vay! Well, if I must, it's a silent short from Dali and Bunuel. Oh joy and I just loved L'Age D'Or *falls off sarcasm stool*.

It opens with a shockingly graphic scene of a man slicing a woman's eyeball with a cutthroat razor. It's the zenith of the scenes this film is infamous for. Other odd imaging includes a man staring at ants on his hand as they seemingly heal a wound; a woman being knocked over by a car (quite comically slowly); a man dressed as a nun riding a bike. It's full of them.

Okay I will put my hands up. I just don't get it. i completely understand the concept of surrealism and applaud it's place in art, but I just think there are some dreams you need to keep to yourself. I can accept that these are the origins of film, but I can quite easily live a full life without seeing this AND L'Age D'Or. Of the two, I'd have picked this one to see as it's best feature is it's length. Ironically, like a dream, it's 16 minute duration felt much much longer.

Merci rien!

Look familiar? Yes it's the Death Head Moth(Acherontia lachesis) as seen in The Silence of the Lambs. It also makes an appearance here. I wonder if it's on IMDB?!

48. American Beauty (1999)

In his first feature film, theatre director Sam Mendes directs a black comedy taking a look behind the clean cut facade of middle American suburbia and exposing all it's nasty little secrets.

It opening is reminiscent of Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. After a short scene where a girl jokingly asks her boyfriend to kill her embarrassing father, we switch to a view of a street in 'anytown, USA' and the narrator of the story informs us that he is going to die. Though we now know how it ends, the hook is in and we are on board for the journey.

This is basically a film about a mid-life crisis. Lester tries to claim back the freedom of his youth that he lost through marriage and parental responsibility. He hates his job, he is emasculated by his more successful wife, his daughter thinks he is an embarrassment who lusts after her friend (which is true. Mena Suvari is kinda funny looking though!) and his only sexual relief is when he routinely jerks off in the shower in the morning.
Poor Lester. Fortunately he begins to assert himself with the inspiration of the new neighbours son, Ricky. He quits his job, goes to work in a burger joint, buys a sport car and gets stoned a lot. He rules!

The film has taken a lot of flack in recent years, but I think it still stands up as a good film. it's certainly not perfect by any means. Though it contains some successful elements (the reactions to the gun shot are very cleverly edited in), I think it loses a little weight in the final act. I like thew finish though. The house of cards collapses and you are left to wonder what will become of the pile. No leap forward, just a simple epilogue from Lester which revisits ideas from an earlier monologue from Ricky. It all ends where Lester ends.

The great cast gives some great performances. Annette Benning does play manic very well! Spacey keeps it calm and cool as he tells Lester's story. Even in the scene where he finally stands up to his wife, it's all done very controlled with just enough threat to pay attention. I think the two dinner scenes are the best in the film and really show, contrasting against each other, the journey the family is on as they all grow apart from each other.Thora Birch is the standout for me. She plays the daughter Janey, with great control. She's just the thankless teenager who needs saving from her depressing life. Again Ricky comes to the rescue.

A studed tableau of a family falling apart. The dinner scenes are an integral part of the ac of the 3 characters in the family. Especially Lester.

47. Annie Hall (1977)

Next up one of the great comic classics. Woody Allen plays Alvey and takes us on a self analysis through his relationship with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). He delineates from his previous pure comedy films and delves into darker and more personal comedy.
Quite literally it would seem. Allen is Alvey and Hall is Keaton. Diane Keaton's actual surname is Hall and Allen called her Annie when they were in a relationship. I'm assuming Keaton was fine with this!

The film is full of great lines and classic scenes. The story is told through a series of sketches often in flashback with the present day Alvy in the scene to examine the situation. A great example of this is the scene in the classroom where a 6 year old Alvey kisses a girl for the first time, much to her and their teacher's disgust. The present day Alvey appears at the desk of his younger self to answer to his accusers. The girl's dialogue is an adult voice and probably Alvey himself, emphasising his constant neurotic self analysis.

Alvey is not a very sympathetic character. At times he is annoying, but still greatly amusing. His allergic reaction to LA, his obsession with how much sex he is having, a slapstick scene with him and Hall trying to get lobsters into a pan (repeated later quite poignantly.)

The film is a resounding success and it's influence is found in many of his later films, most evidently in the neurotic central character, not always played by Allen, but always there. The film that, I think, mostly renews the Alvey character is Husbands & Wives. A film that, in many ways, betters this. certainly in it's drama. Not present in the marathon though. Shame.

46. Audition (1999)

Riding the new wave of Japanese horror started the previous year by Hideo Nakata's Ring, Takashi Miike's Audition shows a different twist on the horror genre by masking it in a melodrama.

Shigeharu Aoyama is a middle age workaholic and the owner of a production company. His teenage son suggests he remarries after his wife had passed away 7 years earlier. A friend and colleague suggests that they set up an audition for a fake feature and he can use it as a kind of speed date.
In the interviews he meets Asami who he is instantly drawn to. Despite his friend's serious apprehensions to her and the fact that her back story and resume have huge holes in them, they start to date and she seems to be the ideal partner. He plans to propose on a weekend away however she disappears in the middle of the night. Shigeharu has no idea where she lives, she wont answer her phone and he only has her flimsy background on which to track her down, but track her down he must.
The sudden change of tone in the last reel is quite horrific as Asami's true self appears.

The problem with this is that there is such a change in shift, the rest of the film seems a bit negated. What could have been a study on loneliness and moving on after grief is just a bit of a trite gore fest. Asami is, quite simply a fucked up chick and completely crackers. Her character has no arc though and her psychosis is only roughly explained as down to being abused as a child.
I thought the false dream/questioning reality bit towards the end should have been extended. It would have been more interesting to leave the viewer hanging about what was real and what wasn't.

I think it's a film with a great, but unoriginal, idea that doesn't quite pay off. The torture scene is quite gruesome though. I will give it that.

"Deeper...deeper...deeper"

45. Happiness (1998)

Very funny, but oh so wrong tale of a group of characters' quest for the thing that makes them happy.

Some subjects comedy should steer away from. I'm pretty sure paedophilia is one of these. However in this film, it does work and you find yourself aghast at the things you are laughing at.

44. Tsotsi (2005)

A small time gangster from the Johannesburg townships falls out with his gang after a robbery went wrong resulting in a man's death. Tsotsi goes off to Jo'burg to do a job on his own. He robs a woman of her car, shooting her and crippling her in the process. What he doesn't realise is that the woman's child is in her car. His first instinct is to abandon the child with the car, but he decides to take the baby home. Completely unable to care for him, he enlists the help of a recently widowed neighbour who also has a young baby.

This film is grim and hard hitting. It does tell an interesting tale of Tsotsi's character arc. The hopelessness of the situation he has put himself in is infuriating however. No leave the baby in the car! No don't leave the baby in a bag under your bed whilst you go out. Let Miriam keep the baby! AARGH!

Top performances from the cast and it is stunningly shot on location. You can see the difference in the township accommodations and how they reflect the characters who live there. Tsotsi's shack is decrepit and over run with lice, whereas Miriam has made the best of her situation and her house is positively lovely and bijou. At least that is what it said in the estate agents!

The film won the 2006 Oscar for best foreign language film and I expect it is thoroughly deserved. Not sure what it is doing on this list though. Apparently it is breaking new ground for South African films, but is that reason enough? Not really. Worthy of a view? Yes.

43. La Vie En Rose (2007)

Yes, Marion Cottillard is excellent in her portrayal.
Yes, the make-up is brilliant.
Yes, it's beautifully shot and set.
Yes, Jean Pierre Martins is a dish!
However this is not the masterpiece it has been made out to be. It is in desperate need of an edit. It's 20 mins+ too long. The back and forth time line is a mess. It would be more successfully done chronologically.
My main concern is actually the subject matter. I have little knowledge of Edith Piaf prior to this, but what an ungrateful, demanding, vile cow she was. I couldn't wait for the bitch to die! The jumpy time line further lengthened this process. Even when it announced 'her final day' we were treated to a further barrage of flashbacks. A few, like a child she had that died, you would have thought needed to be included to make her a more sympathetic character.
Frankly, I'd rather have seen a SuBo biopic.

42. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain/Amélie (2001)

Amélie is a loner girl living in Paris who takes it upon herself to spread a little happiness amongst the frowning characters who surround her life.

During her adventures she falls in love with a young man who collects disguarded snaps from photo booths. Seeing a likeminded person, she begins to pursue him in her own fantastical way, though always failing at the last minute to meet him. Perhaps the good karma she spreads will come around to her.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet creates a beautifully surreal chocolate box version of modern day Paris, in which the story plays out and the cast are as colourful as the setting. The introduction to the cast is brilliant. Each gets a simple cut away of their likes and dislikes and that is all that is needed to ingratiate you to each character. Audrey Tatou at the helm is on magnificent form. Often breaking the fourth wall to bring us along on her magic ride, you can't help fall in love with the wide eyed innocent.

I had forgotten how good this film is and it certainly stands the test of time. It is the epitome of joy. Amélie's actions also bring happiness and wide smiles to the audience.

Just lovely. Absolutely lovely.

Banbi-esque Tatou breaking the fourth wall to show us her like of breaking the sugar crust on Creme Brulees. I'm so with you there!

41. Anatomy of Murder (1959)

A good trial-by-jury film that drags it's feet a little in the set up.

First up, I am no fan of Jimmy Stewert. I'd have thrown his "aw shucks" country poke out of my courtroom!
The trial is a face off between Stewert and George C Scott who plays a big wig from the city, brought in to assist with the prosecution. I'm siding with George!

The great thing about this film is the way the trial is told. The audience is also the jury, as we hear all the facts without any flashback scenes of the crime or over exposition. We see the testimonies of the witnesses and it's up to us to decide whether Lieutenant Frederick Manion was or was not subject to an 'irresistable impulse' when he gunned down a bar owner, alleged to have raped his slutty wife.

So overlong and at times lacking in pace(I was sympathising with the judge who kept focussing on his watch), this is still an interesting story and the placing of the audience in situ in the courtroom is quite genius. I'm just not fond of Jimmy Stewert. Sue me!

40. A Trip to the Moon (1902)

Next up we have the oldest film in the marathon and probably the shortest, although at 14 minutes, it was particularly groundbreaking for it's day where films generally lasted 2 or 3 minutes.

At a science convention, Professor Barbenfouillis convinces his colleagues to fund a trip to the moon. A giant cannon is cast and a team of scientists are fired up, crashing into the Man in the Moon's eye. Beneath the surface of the moon, they are confronted by the native Selenites who are rather hostile. The team are taken prisoner and brought to their king, but they manage to escape as the Selenites seem to be rather delicate and explode into dust from the touch of an umbrella. The Earthlings escape back to earth by pushing their capsule off a cliff, thence falling back down to Earth and landing in the ocean (as you do). They are then rescued and paraded through Paris as heroes. A captured Selenite is also paraded around, but as a curio. Poor Selenite.

George Melies' background in stage acting and magic is evident throughout. The impressive effects are achieved using innovative use of dissolve, superimposition and double exposure in the editing.

With the plot devices of space travel, conquering new frontiers and alien planets and species, combined with the magic of special effects and costume and inspired by the writings of H G Wells an Jules Verne, this is the origin of cinematic science fiction and is definitely to be lauded.

A poor captive Selenite. what will become of him/her?

39. All That Jazz (1979)

Roy Scheider plays a pill popping, chain smoking, booze loving womaniser in a 'let's put a show together' musical from Bob Fosse. It's a semi autobiographical self indulgent mess of a movie. The dance numbers range from fair to good and the storyline is confusingly all over the place.

It's nothing on Cabaret. All I have to say.

Redeeming moment of a repeated scene in the film. Scheider/Gideon/Fosse's morning wake up routine. Shower, Alka Seltzer, speed, eye drops. "It's show time, folks!"

38. Brief Encounter (1945)

Cut glass accents and stiff upper lips abound in this quintessential romance classic from the pen of Noel Coward. Two strangers meet in a refreshment lounge of a train station and begin a platonic love affair. Alas they are both married with children and being of it's day, nothing shall come of it but some furtive glances and the odd stolen kiss.

Many things make this film a true great. The direction of David Lean; Noel Coward's gripping screenplay from what is such a simple story; the charming sub plot in the station between the ticket officer and the cafe manageress; Above all these factors is the performance of Celia Johnson. Such an expressive face that would be as informative on a silent film. Many a time she is acting into a window or mirror whilst her character narrates.You really feel for poor Laura's hopelessness of the situation. There is one scene where she lies to her husband for the first time, when he asks her bout her day. You see the regret and disgrace with herself wash over her face.

The story is told as a confessional in Laura's mind to her husband. That last scene is truly heartbreaking as her husband comforts her as she's been having an awful day. It's like he heard every word of her confession and thanks her for coming back to him. *sigh* It's like he not only woke her from a bad dream, but also from the 'dream' of the affair and she can finally get back to her life.

A most expressive face.



37. Amadeus (1984)

Lavish and opulent, yet quite contemporary, Milos Foreman directs Peter Shaffer's fictional account of the life and death of Mozart.

Mozart is portrayed here as a vulgar, brattish young man. Tom Hulce's performance in a brash American accent and plenty of the US slang all the more emphasises this. I'm pretty sure Mozart never said "kiss my ass!" The giggle Hule adopts is beyond annoying, but I assume that it's meant to be as nothing about the portrayal of Mozart is endearing.

F Murray Abraham's Oscar winning performance as court composer Antonio Salieri, is magnificent. The story is basically him confessing his role in Mozart's death to a priest visiting his in an asylum. There isn't an ounce of regret and he's just telling a story.

I watched the director's cut of the film. It's considerably longer and does explain Mozart's wife's dislike of Salieri, but it does dag on a bit and I prefer the pace of the original release.

The film is an enjoyable romp, but  can't help but think that it would be better if Mozart was played/written a little more sympathetically. This story is told from Salieri's viewpoint and his jealousy is reflected in the Mozart portrayal, I suppose.

36. American graffiti (1973)

In his second feature, George Lucas carves up a slice of 50s nostalgia in a partially autobiographical piece he co-wrote with Gloria Katz and Willard Hwyck.

It tells the story of one night in small town America following the antics of four friends. Curt and Steve are college bound the next day(though Curt is still unsure whether he wants to go) and they are having a last night on the town. Toad is a young geek who is put in charge of Steve's classic car and decides to use it to cruise about looking for female attention. John is a tough, drag racing grease monkey who, when cruising about town looking for some of that girlie action, gets landed with a young girl for the night.

A great deal of the film focuses on cruising the strip and the relationship between a man and his car. The scenes are mostly played around in car scenarios; In the cars, in parking lots, at garages, at the drive in etc. music is also a key player in the feel of the film. There is a continuous soundtrack of the radio station in the background. The only time it converges from it is when the band at the high school hop are providing the aural nostalgia. The DJ on the radio, Wolfman Jack, is a common link through the four stories as he is providing the music and everyone in the town listens to his programme.

Dreyfuss's character has the most substance and the greater arc. You can tell that this is the character that Lucas identifies with. Ron (Ronny!) Howard is basically auditioning for Happy Days. The whole film is obviously the inspiration for the show as it could easily be the pilot, minus the canned laughter. Even Paul Le Mat's John is just a Fonz prototype.

It's an enjoyable enough film. It might have set a bar for 50s nostalgia films, but I don't see how it would belong in this list. Many have out shined it since, though perhaps they are in the marathon somewhere too!

35.Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (A Man Escaped) (1956)

After my first dip into the oeuvre of Robert Bresson in Diary of a Country Priest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to more. This film was a pleasant surprise, I am pleased to say.

I wont compare it to other prison escape movies as it seems bad to lump it into that genre. Bresson created his own genre of 'Cinematographe': A stripped back look at film with an over emphasis on sound and featuring nonprofessional actors. In Diary of a Country Priest, I found the form tedious and quite boring. Here it is used to full effect. The main difference is that this film builds tension and the stakes are evident. The characters are also sympathetic.

It is basically what it says on the tin. It's the story of one man's plan, execution and, finally, act of escape from a POW prison in Lyon. It is based on true events, but that is of no matter. What does matter is the starkness of the telling. It's taken from his viewpoint, narrated in his mind. The over emphasis on sound is of particular importance during his escape, the stop/start scraping away of the mortar from his door, the clang of the guard's key against railings, the effort to not make any noise on the gravel and the mysterious squeaking revealed to be a rusty bike ridden by the lone perimeter guard.

Simplistic looking, but far from it. A great accomplishment in film-making and certainly stands up today.

34. All The President's Men (1976)

Conspiracy thriller penned by William Goldman and directed by Alan J. Pakula about the outbreak of the Watergate scandal. Covering a break in at the Democratic headquarters, journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover an election scandal that leads all the way to the President.

It's a famous enough story. Pretty much the scoop of the century, but I am a bit clueless about US politics and required spoon feeding, something this film doesn't do (quite rightly). It focuses on the uncovering of the story by the 2 journalists as they canvas the employees of CREEP(the campaign to re-elect the president: no I don't get where the 2nd E fits in either!) and scavenge a paper trail for clues with the help of the mysterious Deep Throat.

This film has been parodied a dozen plus times and it's hard not to laugh at the hokum and the dated look. It is steeped in the 70s.

To be truthful, it kind of bored me. I didn't find it all that exciting, I didn't really sense any threat and I found the 2 protagonists rather annoying.
It's very well filmed and dressed. The claustrophobia of the newsroom is emphasised by low angles and close-ups. I found the end well shot too, as the camera focuses on President Nixon being sworn in for his second term and promising to uphold the constitution whilst, in the background Woodward and Bernstein are beavering away at a story utilising their right to freedom of speech.

 It's very clever, but I think modern directors have brought this genre to a new level of excellence to judge by. David Fincher's Zodiac, for example.

So, of it's day, it is a genre defining classic. Not sure how well it holds up today though.

NB. Due to finances and inability to find films online, the running order will now go a bit willy-nilly whilst I watch the films I can get hold of, or already own. #buyingtoomanydvds

33. All That Heaven Allows (1956)

Danish born Douglas Sirk adds some European sensibilities and outlook into the mid 20th century genre of the technicolour melodrama. A brand that predates and eventually degenerated into the television soap opera.

Jane Wyman plays Cary, a middle class widow whose life is taken up by pleasing her needy children and the local country club set. She becomes involved with a younger gardener and nurseryman Ron, but the affair seems doomed from the objections of her children and friends. After ending the engagement she becomes miserable and the brats answer is to buy her the TV set she has always objected to owning. Is it too late for Ron and Cary? Hope not!

This is a delicious slice of afternoon matinee melodrama. The Technicolour looks good enough to eat and the gorgeous cast are great. Jacqueline DeWitt as the acerbic town gossip is very good.

Then there is Rock. Lovely dishy manly Rock Hudson. It does seem that every film I see him in, he is given some wink in the script to his secret sexuality. Never overblown, but then I am most probably just looking for it. I do love to seek out the queen in everyone!

So perfect for curling with on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon. Grab a brew and a biscuit and enjoy the romance.

32. All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

A heart wrenching anti war film from director Lewis Milestone that has stood the test of time.

I have yet to see the 'jaw dropping' battle scene in Saving Private Ryan, but it will have to go a long way to beat the one here.

The film follows a German, yes German, infantry unit from recruitment through to training and finally to combat. Not an ounce of glamour is used in the depiction of war. No slow mo, no stunningly lit trenches, just drab and dire. Soldiers being driven mad by the noise, or scavenging for anything to eat or just dying needlessly in battle.
It's not complete doom and gloom. There are  couple of light comedic points, but they only set to ingratiate you with the different soldiers and make the death more poignant.

It's an excellent film. The cast is a great band of brothers and the battle sequences truly are astonishingly realistic. Considering when this was made, on the cusp of talkie pics, the sound effects stand proud today. The final scene is beyond poignant and the whole shabbang is rather upsetting, but excellent all the same. Few films have captured the pain and pointlessness of war than this.

A true classic.

The final scene as Paul sees a moment of beauty and home in a butterfly and he reaches out to it. Oops!

31. All About My Mother (1999)

Almodovar time and time again creates powerful female roles in his films, but here is his love letter to the female sex.

On his seventeenth birthday, Manuela witnesses her son run down and killed by a car while he is pursuing his idol, Huma Roja, for her autograph.
For his birthday Manuella promised to tell Esteban about his father whose identity she had kept from him all his life. Overcome with guilt and grief she moves to Barcelona to tell his father about the son he never knew he had. The reason she was keeping him a secret is that the father is a transvestite prostitute called Lola. During her quest she forms friendships with her old friend and Lola's transsexual roommate Agrado; Sister Rosa a church social worker who Lola has not only impregnated, but has infected with HIV; and Huma when her play comes to town and she becomes her assistant.
This motley crew of women form a deep bond as thy share each others heartbreak and emotions.

It's a beautifully filmed work. Almodovar and cinematographer Affonso Beato cast a luxuriant glow over everything, be it a theatre to a circle of cars picking up prostitute. All roles of life are given equal respect.

I think that is what I love about Almodovar's films. Everything is luxuriant and everyone is shown with respect, in particular his roles for women. Hollywood should really take a few leafs from his book.
Look at the central roles. A successful single mother, a transsexual prostitute, a nun, a lesbian actress. All female. All played magnificently by the outstanding cast, all written with the greatest love and respect. the film also takes a bow to A Streetcar Named Desire and All About Eve. Manuella's life is highlighted in both of them and these films are also have strong central female characters.

At the end of the film is a dedication:-

"To all the women who have played actresses... who can act... to men who act and become women... to all the people who want to be mothers... to my mother."

I ♥ Pedro

30. All About Eve (1950)

A classic tale of ambition and treachery. As Margo remarks at the start of the party scene; "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

After being invited backstage to meet her idol Margo Channing, Eve Harringdon worms her way into Margo's life and turns it into her own, becoming a successful stage actress.

I adore this film on so many levels, but above all else, it's the acting ensemble.
5 of the cast were nominated for Oscars, 4 of whom were women, giving it the record for female acting nominations in a single film. Sanders was the only one of the five to take home the statue. The film itself held the nomination haul record for some time at 14, finally taking home 6.

Bette Davis has never been better as the deliciously bitter Margo. She delivers the witty cutting lines like poison arrows, but also showing a ensitive emotional side when the cracks show in her hard exterior.

Celeste Holm plays the downtrodden best friend to a tee. It is her viewpoint, along with the critic Addison DeWitt, that we take. Their dual narration is perfectly timed never overbearing with exposition, just enough to keep the story moving along.

George Sanders(who will always be Shere Khan to me!) plays DeWitt and is mesmerising. It is DeWitt who never falls for Eve's deception and ends up using her for his own benefits.

Marilyn Monroe, in one of her early roles, turns up playing Miss Caswell, a starlet on the arm of a rich producer. It's a very brief, but perfectly pitched performance.

I wasn't so illuminated by Ann Baxter's Eve. from the get go you have no sympathy for her, just deep suspicion and it's Birdie(Thelma Ritter on witty form) who you are cheering for when she makes a jarring remark after Eve's sob story confessional. "What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end."
 Eve is played so bi-polar. It's either the innocent down trodden Eve or the steely cold successful Eve. There is no in between. I suppose this is as we see her through Karen or DeWitt's eyes. It's either a very clever performance or a glitch in the writing.

This is a classic film about showbusiness too in particular the snobbery involved. 'Selling out' to go to Hollywood instead of being on or writing for the stage; DeWitt's comments about television:-
Miss Claudia Caswell: Tell me this, do they have auditions for television?
Addison DeWitt: That's, uh, all television is, my dear, nothing but auditions.
In Margo and Eve's world, it's the stage that is the purest art form.

You can't fault the story. I just find that Eve has no arc to her character, though you have to love the ending.
What goes around, comes around!

Fabulous costume design by Edith Head winning one of her numerous Oscars.

Post script or What Ripley did next!

I believe that if you are going to watch all these films before you die, it would be churlish not to take in Alien³ and Alien Resurrection and look at the whole story of Ripley.

Wasn't that a happy ending to Aliens? Apart from all those people dying, that is. Ripley is on her way back to Earth with a hot marine and a pseudo daughter in tow. They are travelling on a fully functioning starship. What could go wrong?
 Well let's set fire to Ripley's pipe dream and kill off the daughter and hot marine before the credits have finished rolling. The alien queen left an egg on board the ship. Naughty queen. Cue alien blood causing a fire in the cryogenic chamber and all the pods being put into an escape 'shuttle'. This is jettisoned of onto a nearby planet, crashing into the sea and killing all bar Ripley. Oh and this planet is actually a male prison colony housing rapists, murderers and child molesters. I think I'd rather have taken my chances on the Sulaco. It was a bit of an over reaction by the ship's computer. Couldn't it have just put out the fire?
So anyway, it's another shit ride for Ripley. Also on the escape pod was another egg (clever queen) the other having hatched and planted a queen embryo in Ripley.

The adventure, this time, is helmed by David Fincher in his first feature. Once again it is visually stunning, but the story is ever so meh and this film got panned. I personally thought it was rather good and had some excellent scenes. The cremation/alien birth scene is fantastic and I was rather a fan of the ending. Ripley finally getting some closure on this hell ride.

Watching the quadrilogy DVDs however, I saw there was a director's cut and decided to watch that. It is a ton better than the theatrical cut of the film and quite different, dramatically. 20th Century Fox cut and messed around a much better film, all to get the right length and sell more tickets. Bunch of bastards.
The director's cut has a side story of Golic, played by Paul McGann. In the original cut, he is a very minor character who was seemingly driven a bit crazy from witnessing an alien attack. In this version, there is more to his story. He actually IS a bit crazy anyway and has bad hygiene problems. None of the other inmates want to work with him. Two are forced to and it's their deaths he witnesses and is blamed for. Meanwhile, Ripley and the inmates manage to capture the alien in a vault. Golic is getting more and more cuckoo as he is held in sickbay. He eventually manages to persuade the inmate guarding him to unlock his shackles, then knocks this inmate out cold and goes off to unleash the 'dragon' and help it kill. This dragon works alone and thanks him by eating him. Paul McGann is excellent as Golic and it's a shame this storyline is cut. You get to know more of the prisoners and they aren't just random nameless bald Brits being offed one by one.

Why are they British anyway? Bit of an odd casting decision? I think Charles S Dutton was the only American amongst some rather elite British thesps.

Some things in the director's cut aren't so good. The cremation/alien birth scene doesn't work as well. In that version, it is one of the oxen that is impregnated. The dog works better and also makes more sense. I think you'd notice a face hugger on one of your cows, whereas the dog could simply go missing.
Ripley's Christ dive at the end is slightly different in that you don't see the alien come out. I think both scenes are a little too false and this finale should have been shot so much better. It looks hurried and tagged on. The major problem during filming is that there was never a final script and it was all a bit winged. Given such a crapload to deal with, I think Fincher (the 3rd director to be attached) did rather well and you could see he would go on to do great things and not just awesome Madonna videos.

And so 20th Century Fox grew more greedy and decided to pull out another one. I actually thought the third was a pretty decent finish and had a great arc to Ripley's character.

I think this film is quite frankly, unnecessary and a bit of a mess. Ripley is now a cloned hybrid of Ripley and the queen alien. It's not Ripley, it's something else and I cared about as much for her as I did for any of the characters in this okay film.

Is this one worth a watch? Not really, but it's this that really paved the way for the ridiculousness of the Alien vs Predator films(although Weaver came on board because she heard about the planning for that film and wanted to make something more worthy of the franchise), so it's interesting to see that path. The franchise makes full circle. From the original alien almost becoming a Roger Corman monster B movie, that's actually what the franchise has turned into. Shame.

29. Aliens (1986)

This time it's war indeed. In possibly one of the best film sequels of all time, James Cameron decided to go down a different route than the first film's horror story and instead, make a combat film. Packed with guns, explosions and a shed load of xenomorphs. This is a thrill a minute ride.

Ripley's escape pod is picked up floating in space. Unfortunately she's had a bit of a nap and it's 57 years later. Hypersleep does wonders for the ageing process though. After telling her story to the company, they don't believe it and she has her pilot's licence revoked and is set to live a solitary life working on loaders in the docks. That is until the company loses contact with the colony set up on LV-426 and they ask her to accompany a marine reconnaissance mission as an adviser. Cue shit hitting fan!

Once again, it's the studied characters that make the film so good. The Ripley character has a more emotional side and is given a background. Weaver even received an Oscar nomination. Paul Reiser plays a brilliant villain as the nasty, back-stabbing Carter Burke, always after a fast buck and caring about no-one but himself. Carrie Henn is brilliant as Newt. Fearful, but willing to survive and never annoying or whiny. Lance Hendrik's android, Bishop, goes to prove that they aren't all psychos!
It's the marines characters that are particularly well studied. Even the ones who don't last very long. You actually care that they died. Cameron let the good ones last a bit longer. Super tough Vasquez, Hapless Gorman, dishy man under control Hicks and the king of Soundbites(and also dishy) Hudson.

The relationship between Ripley, Newt and the lovely Hicks is a nice touch. After learning of the death of her daughter (who was in her 60s) it looks like Ripley has a second chance to start a family. I just wonder when that conversation comes up about her bing an octogenarian? Awkward!

The director's cut of the film adds an extra 17 or so, minutes to the film. We see the colony before the alien takeover amongst other things. Although it doesn't drag the film out, the colony footage doesn't really add anything to the film.

"We're on an express elevator to hell; going down!"

"That's it man, game over man, game over!"

"Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen!"

"I'm ready, man, check it out. I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do NOT wanna fuck with me. Check it out! Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Vwap! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks..."

How do I get out of this chickenshit outfit?"

Gotta love that Hudson! ♥

28. Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott's Alien started life as a Roger Corman B-movie and almost was until 20th Century Fox showed interest.

Fortunately, what came about is basically a haunted house horror film, but set in space. The haunted house being the starship tug, Nostromo.

On their way home to Earth, the 7 crew members of the Nostromo are wakened early from their hypersleep to answer a distress signal from a nearby planet. A team is dispatched to find the source of the signal and it turns out to be an alien ship full of eggs. Don't go near those eggs, John Hurt! Oh...too late!

There are many things that make this film brilliant.
The acting is great. Very studied characters. Sigourney Weaver, in her first starring movie role, shows Ripley to be this woman who takes no shit and gets things done, yet still shows her fragility, All the other characters have their function to play. Tom Skeritt's Captain Dallas is the straight guy, a bit brow beaten and sick of this shit; Yaphet Kotto is the alpha male; Harry Dean Stanton is the light relief; Ian Holm is the spanner-in-the-works ice-cold psycho and Veronica Cartwright holds the audience viewpoint and reaction.
Apparently, the famous chest bursting scene was secretly done. Though the actors knew what was going on,they didn't know the scale of it and those shocked reactions are quite genuine. Poor Cartwright getting hosed down by a couple of litres of blood is particularly genuine terror!

H R Gieger's alien design is extraordinarily beautiful and terrifying. Basically the perfect killing machine. Scott's shooting of the alien is masterful, keeping everything close to the details of the thing, but never really revealing it all, thus letting the audience's imagination do the work. It also means there is no man in a rubber suit running about. This way the design is never dated and it still stands up today in it's look.

A true sci-fi classic.