71. Blazing Saddles (1974)

Hedley (not Hedy) Lemar is a corrupt official who needs to run his railroad through a wild west town.
After hiring a band of miscreants to ransack the town killing the sheriff, the town asks for a new sheriff to be appointed. Lemar sends them Bart. An insubordinate black railroad worker. They are not very impressed.

This is a gag reel deluxe. It's full to the brim with one liners, sight gags, hilarious close to the knuckle jokes and contains the glorious put down, "Teutonic twat!"

It would be a five star film, but the ending lets it down. It appears Brooks was writing it as he went along and just couldn't figure out a conclusion, so borrowed from Monty Python.

The ensemble cast is great, but Gene Wilder is on particular good form in a role that requires him to be restrained. He reels it in and he is as funny as his usual madcap self.

Amusing songs, laugh riot, great pace and sparkling dialogue. It is a typically daft Mel Brooks piece, but the ending is just a little too zany.

70. The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

There are many meta Hollywood films, but this is one of the finest.

It charts the rise and fall of producer Jonathon Shields as seen through the eyes of three former friends/colleagues who he has gathered together to see if they will help him make his comeback film. The film is split into three acts, each a telling of the story of why that person will never work with Shields again.
Barry Sullivan plays director Fred Amiel who started in the film making business with Jonathon and together they made B-movie pics for a studio. When Fred tires of the corny titles they are expected to direct he gets Jonathon to pitch his idea to the studio. Jonathon sells the story, but freezes Fred out of the deal.
Lana Turner plays Georgia Larrison, the drunken slut daughter of a famous dead producer. He takes her under his wing and turns her into a star, only to spurn her for a trampy extra on the night of her big premiere.
Dick Powell plays writer James Lee Bartlow, who Jonathon convinces to come to Hollywood to write screenplays for him. Dick is easily distracted when writing, especially by his beloved Southern belle wife, Rosemary. Shields takes Bartlow away on a fishing trip in order to get him to write free of distraction. He gets the Latin Lothario star Victor Ribera to keep her occupied so she wont bother them with constant calls. Tragedy strikes as Victor and Rosemary are killed in a plane crash with the press and James convinced they were having an affair only to find out the truth much later.

It is a brilliant warts and all telling of behind the scenes of old Hollywood. The way it is executed is very clever. The cast is superb. Kirk Douglas plays the charming cad so well that it's almost hard to loathe him...almost!
Vincente Minnelli's direction hones down the melodrama very well and it is a great example of storytelling. Ending on the repeated theme of eavesdropping on the telephone is an amusing cliff-hanger.

69. Hotaru No Haku/Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

One of the most poignant tales of war committed to celluloid. Instead of focussing on the soldiers, it tells the tale of brother and sister Seita and Setsuko who are left orphaned and homeless after an air raid burns their village to the ground. They go to stay at their aunt's house nearby and don't really get along. Seita takes off with his sister and they go and live independently in an abandoned bomb shelter. At first life seems idyllic, but having to provide and care for a child is not something Seita is able to do in times of rationing and hardship. Harsh reality soon sets in.

Opening with Seita's death in a city subway is quite alarming, but you are now told the tale of how he got here and know that you aren't in for an easy ride.

It is a harrowing story, but it does have the ethereal wonder of a child's viewpoint and has moments of joy in play. These happy moments and the beautiful bond the brother and sister have make the denouement all the more tragic.

A touching story, beautifully drawn. Not just a great anime, this is one of the great films about war.

The moments of sheer joy and intense sorrow are beautifully encapsulated.

68. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Spielberg's first foray into alien adventure and it does act as a precursor to ET.
Close Encounters is supposed to be an everyman's search for hope and meaning, but all I see is an allegory of bad parenting set against an alien subplot.

Roy Neary is an average Joe who is having visions after experiencing an alien encounter. His obsession with this vision takes over his life and drives his family away. He then finds solidarity with a woman, Jillian, whose son went missing during an encounter at her home.

A bad mother and a really crap father are supposed to be the heroes of this piece? My sympathy is not at full tilt here.

The finale is quite breath taking though and he remastered mothership effects stand up today. John Williams' iconic 5 tone greeting/language is a true masterstroke.
In the end though, you'd think that now his enigma is solved Roy be full of apologies and dying to get back to his wife and children and recount his adventure. Nah. He just hops onto the spaceship and fucks off with ET. Possibly one of the worst role models in cinematic history!

This is classic Spielberg and contains many of his go to traits. The worried mother; a one man quest; the unknown; untrustworthy authorities.
I just think this feels like a rough draft. An idea was formed and though it looks pretty good, the story needed shaking up and the protagonist needed to be sympathetic. Basically ET is this film's better sequel of sorts.

The mothership finale is truly spectacular.

67. The Shining (1980)

A classic modern horror that I have never really got.

Writer, Jack Torrance takes his wife and son to live at the luxurious Overlook Hotel where he has been employed as an off season caretaker. During these winter months, Jack believes that the isolated location will get rid of his writer's block and force him to write a novel.
Unfortunately the hotel is haunted by, amongst others, a previous caretaker who murdered his family then killing himself whilst staying here.
Looks like a little bit of history repeating as Jack slowly descends into madness.

I do admire the look of the film. It is beautifully shot. The Overlook is suitably grand and the opening approach shot as Jack drives to his interview, is particularly wonderful.

It's the horror aspect I don't get. The demise of Jack's mental state is supposed to be a gradual descent, but Nicholson goes from nought to crazy in 5 seconds. Serious scenery chewing.
Shelley Duvall's character is just a flimsy doormat so it is hard to be sympathetic to her plight. Duvall does a good line in shrieking, though I could live without her high monotone voice.
Danny Lloyd's performance as the psychically gifted son is the most effective here. The 'split personality' of his imaginary friend is a great counterpart to Jack's encounters with the old caretaker. Lloyd's reactions to the visions are really well acted. He does shit scared very well!

I like my horrors to be frightening and this is where this is lacking for me. Everything that is scary about the original Stephen King novel is lacking here. This is mostly due to the portrayal of Jack. The premise of Room 237 never really pays off. The twin girls deliver on the creepiness factor as does the shooting of the hotel from the viewpoint of Danny on his big wheel, but this is just lacking in fright.

Plenty of oddness and creepiness, but just not scary.

66. Tootsie (1982)

Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey, a brilliant actor who is impossible to work with. Sounds a lot like Dustin Hoffman! When his agent bets him that he can't land a job, Michael Dorsey becomes Dorothy Michaels, a Southern belle who's sassy attitude lands her a role on a popular daytime soap opera. Hilarity ensues!

The cast is a wealth of talent. Hoffman is superb and even though the transformation is more Dame Edna than RuPaul, it is actually convincing and you start to believe in Dorothy and like her a lot more than Michael. Jessica Lange has a nice touch as the weird love interest. Dorothy's best friend who Michael is falling in love with. The weird lesbian connotation is awkward, but wonderfully farcical.
Bill Murray plays Michael's roommate and is quite a highlight. More so than Terri Garr who was Oscar nominated for her role as Michael's emotional girlfriend. Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, George Gaynes and even Geena Davis pop up to round out a sterling casting.

This really is an excellent comedy. It heralds back to farce and 50s screwball comedies, but director Sidney Pollack(who also plays the agent) keeps it up-to-date. It is superbly written and a definite must-see.

"That is one nutty hospital!"

How Bill Murray was overlooked for a supporting Oscar nod is a massive Academy gaffe.

65. The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

A flying saucer appears from outer space and lands in Washington. Out comes a humanoid spaceman with a gift. The gift is quite pointy though, so a soldier shoots him. Turns out the gift was for the President and was a means of communicating with other planets. Broke now. Ah well!
The alien man, Klaatu, is fixed up in hospital so that's okay.
Klaatu is here with a warning. Be at peace, or face destruction. (Isn't irony ironic?!)

Robert Wise's sci-fi drama is very of it's time and isn't just another B-movie. It's anti-war message is very blatant and hit a nerve with the war weary audiences of its time.

Klaatu fails to win the trust of the world, but he does befriend a woman, her son and an Einstein-esque mad professor who organises some of the world's great thinkers to a conference with Klaatu, as the world's leaders are not so willing to. (Isn't science brilliant?!)

Here comes Gort. A 7ft tall indestructible robot with a very destructive eye laser. Quickly..."Gort, Klaatu, Barada, Niktoh!" Phew, that was close.

The film may seem clunky today, but they were very superior of the time. Effects certainly don't make a good movie as the dreadful Keanu Reeves remake proved.

It has many forgivable gaffes, but it stands out as the first popular adult sci-fi drama with a message, so a very worthy watch and Bernard Herrman's spooky soundtrack using 2 theramins, pretty much defined the music of sci-fi from thenceforth.

64. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Sprawling epic in every sense. From the 1000s of extras, to the CinemaScope photography, to the 227 minute length (it does go on a touch.)

T.E. Lawrence is a lieutenant in the army who is stuck in a clerical post in a basement. He is an eccentric young soldier and quite insubordinate. He is picked to go on a mission to Arabia and infiltrate the inner circle of Prince Faisal and find out what he is up to. Lawrence goes beyond the call of duty, making his way into the trust of the Arab clans until his grandeur lifts him to a godlike idol that the Arab soldiers will follow anywhere. Lawrence's former attitude against violence and murder change as he grows a blood lust and leads an army into defeating the Ottoman Empire.

Peter O'Toole shines in the lead. Hard to imagine that it is his first leading role. His depiction of Lawrence is quite remarkable. The changes he goes through from his humble beginnings in a murky basement drawing maps, through his study of Bedouin, finally to his rise as Arab Idol! It is an intense performance and he steps up to the plate. The lush technicolour adds vividness to his piercing blue eyes. The supporting cast is exceptional to. Omar Sharif as sheriff Ali is a particular triumph. His character being most affected by Lawrence as they seemingly do a swap of morals. Ali is prime witness to his decent into blood lust madness and tries to stop him from falling too far.

The centre of it all is the perplexing character of T.E. Lawrence. A man with undecided loyalty and unpredictable to say the least. This intriguing man is the core around which a superb cast, stunning cinematography and a triumphant score by Maurice Jarre revolve to make this a true great by David Lean.

Perfect Sunday matinee fodder.

Warning. This film contains no women!

O'Toole's range from meek to madness is almost as stunning as his eyes.

63. Gilda (1946)

A film so steeped in Casablanca, it's almost embarrassing as it isn't any where near as good.
The plot is ludicrous and rather boring (tungsten cartel anyone?)
It is the performances that make this a worthy watch. Hayworth is smoking hot as the eponymous temptress. At one point she performs a sexy striptease and manages to drive a crowd of men bonkers rapey, even though she only removes her evening gloves! A highly unpleasant character though. The entire film oozes misogyny. The character of Gilda is seemingly a metaphor for womankind. Whores who drive men mad and create havoc wherever they are. Serious mommy issues from the writer.
Gilda is merely a distraction of a bad element. As a post-war film we do get the requisite German bad guys, but they are such downplayed characters they exist only as plot devices. The main bad egg is Ballin Mundson, lusciously played by George Macready. He steals the show for me as a man who is not only full of hate, but positively thrives on it. His relationship with Johnny and Gilda (for it does play like a strange threeway) is a powder keg ready to explode.
Sadly the story just gets a bit too messy. After a bizarre plot twist where Ballin fakes his own death and does one, the Gilda abuse fires up even more, so much so that I really didn't buy the neat ending.
It is a gorgeous film to look at. The entire film seems to be set at night as the cast is swathed in gorgeous evening wear. Rita Hayworth's hair should really have billing. It is a wonder to watch when she dances.
So worthy of a watch for the performances and the quite blatant homoeroticism between Ballin and Johnny.