In honor of JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME, the gang at WAMG put together a different kind of Top Ten Ten Tuesday. This Friday, Paramount Vantage and Indian Paintbrush are bringing to the screen Jay Duplass’ and Mark Duplass’ story of Jeff (Jason Segel). On his way to the store to buy wood glue, Jeff looks for signs from the universe to determine his path. However, a series of comedic and unexpected events leads him to cross paths with his family in the strangest of locations and circumstances. Jeff just may find the meaning of his life… and if he’s lucky, pick up the wood glue as well.

So who’s game for a Top Ten Jeffs in Movies? We came up with a list of our favorite “Jeffs” and boy are they a busy lot. As you can see below, these guys have run the gamut between film, TV and the stage. Have a look at our list and tell us who you would’ve included.

10. Jeffrey Hunter

From Jesus Christ in KING OF KINGS to Christopher Pike, 1st Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise on Star Trek, actor Jeffrey Pike made his mark as an actor in both TV and film. Most will remember Hunter’s star making performance in John Ford’s classic American Western THE SEARCHERS as John Wayne’s adoptive nephew. Although he died at the young age of 42, Hunter roles covered the cinematic landscape with such noticeable films THE LONGEST DAY (1962), A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956) and THE FROGMEN (1951).

09. Jeff Speakman

Jeff Speakman was supposed to the next Jean Claude Van Damme. A very accomplished martial artist, Speakman is founder and director of American Kenpo Karate Systems (AAKS), an international kenpo karate organization with more than 50 schools. In 1991 he was cast in the lead of his first showcase film THE PERFECT WEAPON, an adequately mediocre actioner that failed to distinguish itself from the gazillion direct-to-video martial arts films that were flooding the market at that time. He appeared in a few more films but his big moment as the next big thing never materialized and he went back to his (very successful) day job.

08. Jeff Fahey

A dependable character actor, Jeff Fahey scored the plum role of the Humphrey Bogart surrogate in Clint Eastwood’s WHITE HUNTER BLACK HEART in 1991 and the title role in the Stephen King adaption LAWNMOWER MAN a year later. Stardom eluded the rugged blue-eyed actor but he kept busy over the next two decades starring in a slew of direct-to-video horror and action films before becoming a TV regular with gigs on CSI and LOST. Robert Rodriguez cast Fahey in his films PLANET TERROR (2007) and MACHETE (2010) and he has a half dozen films in the can for future release.

07. Jeffrey Jones

“There are simply too many notes, that’s all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect,” Jeffrey Jones memorably intoned in his velvety voice as Emperor Joseph II in AMADEUS (1984). Jones followed up this Golden Globe-nominated turn with several more notable roles. He was Principal Ed Rooney in FERRIS BEULLER’S DAY OFF (1986), Mr. Deetz in Tim Burton’s BEETLEJUICE (1988) and was perfectly cast as Criswell in Burton’s ED WOOD (1994 – “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives”). Often cast as a buffoon or foil, the 6′ 4˝”actor had a great career going for him until 2004 when he was arrested on child pornography charges and -well – he was great in FERRIS BUELLER!

06. Jeffrey Wright

Primarily a stage actor, Jeffrey Wright has appeared on the big screen in such big films as SOURCE CODE, CASINO ROYALE, THE IDES OF MARCH, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and W. He also had a pivotal role in M. Night Shyamalan’s THE LADY ON THE WATER as Mr. Dury,  a word game enthusiast who is the symbolist of the fantasy story. Wright won a Tony Award for his role in Angels in America, and gave an astonishing portrayal of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 1996 film BASQUIAT.

05. Jeffrey Tambor

Mr. Tambor may be best known for his stellar television work starting with ” The Ropers ” (a low-rated spin-off of ” Three’s Company”) to ” Hill Street Blues ” to ” The Larry Sanders Show ” (as the ultimate thick-headed sidekick Hank Kingsley) and the sublime ” Arrested Development ” (very soon headed to the big screen), but he’s been making an impression on film goers as a superb supporting player going all the way back to 1979 as Al Pacino’s unstable law partner in “…And Justice for All “. Since then he’s been bouncing back and forth between big comedy blockbusters ( THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, CITY SLICKERS, and the two HANGOVER flicks ) and family friendly fare (HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS, various Muppet movies, and voices in MONSTERS VS. ALIENS and THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE). Many times he’s a goofy father or somewhat shady business guy (as in the recent indie WIN WIN), so his role as as Tom Manning in the two HELLBOY films was a pleasant surprise. His uptight, clueless beaucrat become a great addition to the demon fighting team by the end of the first movie mission. Film fans have come to look forward to his great scene-stealing performances when they spot his name in conjuction with projects for the small and big screen.

04. Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Morgan has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most charming actors as well as one of the most sought after. Truly this generations ladies man. From WATCHMEN to THE LOSERS to ALL GOOD THINGS, Jeffrey Dean Morgan comes across on screen as a man’s man. Like Jeffrey Hunter, Morgan is another actor who can easily slip between roles in movies and TV. In the last decade he’s been on such hit shows as “Weeds”, “Supernatural”, and “Grey’s Anatomy”. WAMG looks forward to his upcoming roles in the RED DAWN remake, STARZ’s “Magic City”, and anything else that may come down the road for the fast approaching leading actor.

03. Jeff Daniels

For a fella’ that looks like your typical suburban dad next door, Jeff Daniels has had an interesting film resume’. He first used his affable boyish charm as that cheatin’ hubby Flap in James Brooks’s TERMS OF ENDEARMENT. After that smash it seemed that he was looking to team up with gifted directors rather than grab the ” rom-com ” brass ring. In Woody Allen’s THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO he was the matinee idol that literally walked off the screen to romance Mia Farrow. Then he was an uptight every-man literally handcuffed to wildchild Melanie Griffith in Jonathan Demme’s SOMETHING WILD. A complete turn around from that was perhaps his biggest hit as equally dimwitted brother Harry keeping comic pace with the white-hot Jim Carrey in the Farelly Brother’s DUMB & DUMBER. Jeff’s done his share of ” safe” multiplex fare (101 DALMATIONS, ARACHNOPHOBIA), but in recent years he’s made a mark for himself in supporting roles from PLEASANTVILLE, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, to the quirky recent thriller THE LOOKOUT. Let’s hope that Jeff will continue to surprise us with his big screen choices.

02. Jeff Goldblum

“But, John. If the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.” Jeff Goldblum is perhaps most widely known as Dr. Ian Malcolm from JURASSIC PARK, followed closely as Dr. Brundle from THE FLY. Interesting, both are doctors. Goldblum is an actor not unlike Christopher Walken, an actor we love and that always shows up in every character he performs, but adds such a unique style and personality of his own that we’re perfectly willing to accept this recurring familiarity. Beloved for his trademark style of delivering dialogue with a cool, intellectual stagger, Goldblum never fails to get his point across and always succeeds at making the audience read his facial gestures and body language as readily as we listen to his words.

01. Jeff Bridges

From “The Dude” to Rooster Cogburn, Jeff Bridges puts his all into every character he plays. Bridges made the slacker cool, not just a do nothing bum, reinvented the role John Wayne made famous, but many of his greatest roles are from so many of the lesser known films in which he so graciously partakes, such as a man experiencing an existential epiphany after surviving a plane crash, or when he plays an alien disguised as a human on Earth, struggling to get back home in STARMAN. More than just as actor, Bridges is an artist, a photographer, a musician and has now become a household name and an American icon.

So how did we do? Let us know in the comments section. JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME will be in theaters this Friday, March 16.

Follow on Twitter: @JeffMovie

http://www.jeffwholivesathome.com/

The cinemas are overflowing with Amore this week with the nationwide screening of TITANIC in 3D tonight, the true-story romance of THE VOW and the sexy THIS MEANS WAR opening Friday. While this genre has never been my cup of tea, there’s no denying the emotional impact of these scenes that make them noteworthy. So if you’re still thinking of a gift for that certain someone on this Valentine’s Day, here’s 10 romantic scenes to consider while searching for that special movie. But first this holiday message from Miss Piggy and Kermit.

Nothing says enduring love better than the story of BRAVEHEART and the Scot who gave his body and soul to his country and woman he loved. William gives Muron the thistle she had given him at his father and brothers funeral when they were children. Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but I can watch this movie all day long and twice on Sunday.

Moviegoers found the Heart of the Ocean in Best Picture winner TITANIC. While the ship and Rose and Jack were ultimately doomed, the transitional scene at the bow of the ship from hopeful beginnings to icy grave still goes down as one of the ultimate heartbreakers of all romance films.

That kiss in THE NOTEBOOK is one you can feel right down to your toes. Unrequited love is a powerful aphrodisiac in the combination of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams – and so apparently is a rain storm.

“And they Call it Bella Notte” the enduring sweetness of the LADY AND THE TRAMP Spaghetti Kiss scene. Walt Disney’s “Best In Show”.

The kindling of their affair was played out for the world in 1963 in this passion filled scene from CLEOPATRA. The biggest scandal of the decade became one of the most intense, romantic moments when Burton literally yanks the coined necklace from an unflinching Taylor.

No list would be complete in making your super-hero hearts beat loudly without the first flight of SUPERMAN and Lois. Having us “Believe A Man Could Fly” while circling the World Trade Center left audiences with soaring feelings of pride.

Every girl’s dream – a pretend wedding.

What could be more dreamy than George Peppard pining for Audrey Hepburn as she sings “Moon River” from BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S. In true fairy tale fashion, Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly ultimately found her ”rainbow’s end”.

If there’s any simpler way to say I Love You than with the lyrics “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face,” I’d like to hear it. An ingenious way by songwriters Lehrner and Loewe in MY FAIR LADY to get across Professor Higgins’ futile realization that he’s fallen in love with Eliza Doolittle. A smitten man who’s “grown accustomed to the trace…Of something in the air; Accustomed to her face.”

The girl. The guy. An Italian wheat field. More than 25 years later, Merchant/Ivory’s A ROOM WITH A VIEW still ranks among the best ”Happily Ever After”.

A final honorable mention goes to GHOST. Put the pottery wheel and Unchained Melody to the side…far off to the side. The celestial kiss by Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, along with the Maurice Jarre/Alex North soundtrack, make for the tissue-filled ending and perfect Valentine’s Day film.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has unveiled its list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films in celebration of Michel Hazanavicius’ ode to the silent era, THE ARTIST, which won three Golden Globes® Sunday night, including Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Jean Dujardin and Best Original Score. The Artist also picked up 12 British Academy Film Award nominations. The Weinstein Company will expand its release of THE ARTIST nationwide on Friday.

TCM’s list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films spans from the years 1915 to 1928 and features such remarkable films as D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking (and controversial) The Birth of a Nation (1915), which revolutionized filmmaking techniques; Nanook of the North (1922), a film frequently cited as the first feature-length documentary; Cecil B. DeMille’s epic silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923); Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated Battleship Potemkin (1925), which took montage techniques to an entirely new level; and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927), a film that broke new ground in visual effects and production design. The complete list is included below.

In addition to compiling its own list of Most Influential Silent Films, TCM asked The Artist director Hazanavicius for his thoughts on silent cinema and a few of his personal favorites from the era. While he greatly admires Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925), which appears on TCM’s list, he considers Chaplin’s City Lights (1931) a masterpiece. “No need to explain it,” Hazanavicius says. “Just watch it.”

In response to TCM’s choice of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), with its virtuoso performance by Lon Chaney, Hazanavicius cites The Unknown (1927), which he calls, “a sexy, perverse film that takes place in a gypsy circus. It has one the best performances by Lon Chaney as a knife thrower with no arms who falls in love with a young Joan Crawford.”

Although TCM’s list includes the beautifully filmed drama Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), Hazanavicius considers F.W. Murnau’s City Girl (1930), a late-era silent film (shot simultaneously as a now-lost sound version), to be every bit as good. He also points out that John Ford’s Four Sons (1928), one of the few surviving silent films made by the director, “shows the influence Murnau had on Ford’s work after he observed the maestro shooting Sunrise.”

Hazanavicius also praises silent films by two directors whose work did not make TCM’s list. He points to Josef von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927), a hugely popular gangster film written by Ben Hecht. “You will see a lot of Scarface in it,” he says, referring to the 1932 thriller also written by Hecht. And Hazanavicius considers King Vidor’s powerful domestic drama The Crowd (1928) to be “a great epic American classic story about one man’s life struggle. It has brilliant performances.”

Michel Hazanavicius’ THE ARTIST is a heartfelt and entertaining valentine to classic American cinema. Set during the twilight of Hollywood’s silent era and shot on location in Los Angeles, the film tells the story of a charismatic movie star unhappily confronting the new world of talking pictures. Mixing comedy, romance and melodrama, The Artist is itself an example of the form it celebrates: a black-and-white silent film that relies on images, actors and music to weave its singular spell.

THE ARTIST was written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius and produced by Thomas Langmann. The movie stars Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle, Beth Grant, Ed Lauter, Joel Murray and Ken Davitian, with Uggie as The Dog.

TCM’s List of 10 Most Influential Silent Films

The Birth of a Nation (1915) – Directed by D.W. Griffith
One of the most challenging of all film masterpieces, D.W. Griffith’s first great feature demonstrates filmmaking innovations and a shocking example of the medium’s potential for cultural impact. Griffith wanted to make a film that would rival the feature-length epics coming out of Europe. With his innovative use of panoramic long shots, iris effects and panning shots, among other techniques, the film was a marvel, and its Civil War battle scenes, staged with the help of West Point, are among the most effective ever put on film. He almost single-handedly established the American film as an art form. The story of two families split by the Civil War and the combination of historical and fictional materials would become Hollywood mainstays. But Griffith’s material – two novels and a play written by Thomas Dixon in a personal campaign to maintain laws against racial intermarriage – triggered massive protests and violence around the nation. The political message so tarnished Griffith’s reputation he made Intolerance (1916) the next year to counter charges of racism. The racist depiction of freed slaves and the glorification of the Ku Klux Klan in The Birth of a Nation inspired both the Klan’s modern resurgence (it would use the film in recruiting drives into the 1970s) and a series of protests that thrust the still young NAACP into national prominence. It also further encouraged black businessmen to finance films of their own, leading to the “race film movement” that flourished into the 1950s.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) – Directed by Rex Ingram
This early anti-war drama, the sixth-highest grossing of all silent films, is a testament to the medium’s cultural impact, particularly when manipulated by master artists like writer June Mathis and director Rex Ingram. Mathis was one of the industry’s first female executives, heading Metro Pictures’ scenario department. Her interest in spiritism drew her to the Blasco Ibańez best seller, which used biblical imagery to depict an Argentine family torn apart by World War I, even though most studios had deemed it unfilmable. When she came up with a script that worked, studio head Louis B. Mayer was so impressed he gave her director and star approval. Hiring Ingram to direct was no issue as he had been rising steadily in the industry, but her choice of Rudolph Valentino to play a key role was controversial. Not only was he a bit player at the time, but Hollywood had never promoted such an ethnic leading man (the dark-skinned sex symbol was of Italian and French lineage). One look at the rushes, though, and Mathis and Ingram not only expanded his role but added the tango sequence to show off his dancing abilities. The result was a national craze for the tango and the gaucho pants Valentino wore in that scene. The role of a society playboy shamed into military service made Valentino a star and turned the “Latin lover” into one of the screen’s most bankable commodities.
 
Nanook of the North (1922) – Directed by Robert Flaherty
Although Robert Flaherty is often hailed as the father of the documentary and Nanook of the North often called the first feature in that genre, his work is far from what filmmakers would consider documentary today. The director readily admitted that some of his sequences were staged, which would become a common practice for early documentarians. Among other things, Flaherty changed his subject’s name from Allakariallak to “Nanook” and cast his own common law wives to play Nanook’s two mates. He also had Nanook and his fellow Inuit hunt walrus and seal with spears, even though they had recently begun using guns, because he wanted to capture the way they had lived before European influences took hold. Since the only cameras available to the director were large and bulky, his crew even had to construct a special three-walled igloo so they could shoot interiors. The director also may have invented the story that Nanook was dying of starvation as the film premiered. Allakariallak died at home two years later, reportedly of tuberculosis. The filming, however, was the real thing, shot in the remote locale when many so-called documentaries would be made in film studios with actors. With funding from a French fur company, Flaherty brought cameras, a generator and a portable lab halfway to the North Pole with him. When he showed the film’s participants the footage of the walrus hunt, it was the first film any of them had ever seen.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) – Directed by Wallace Worsley
After years of character work, Lon Chaney shot to stardom and started his reign as the “Man of 1,000 Faces” with this lavish adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic tale of the deformed bell ringer in love with a beautiful gypsy. Although most fans know the 1939 Charles Laughton version better, connoisseurs like Orson Welles have hailed this as the story’s and character’s definitive screen version. Chaney fought for three years to get this film made. Nothing came of his efforts until he shared his dream with Irving Thalberg, recently named head of production at Universal Studios. Thalberg helped spearhead a lavish production that established Universal as a major studio, and the film proved to be their most successful silent. The sets covered 19 acres, while the production required a crew of 750, particularly during two months of night shooting – an unprecedented undertaking at the time. Chaney put himself through the wringer for the role, wearing a 15-pound plaster hump and false chest that made it almost impossible for him to stand up straight, while the contact lenses he wore for the role caused permanent vision problems. But the makeup was so convincing at the time that many patrons thought the studio had hired a real hunchback for the role. Beyond his physical transformation, the star delivered a sympathetic, deeply felt performance that set the standard for “human monsters,” to be followed by the likes of Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee and Chaney’s own son, Lon Chaney, Jr.

The Ten Commandments (1923) – Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Today, the biblical epic is viewed as a product of the 1950s, when filmmakers used spectacular tales like The Robe (1953) to lure audiences away from their TV sets and back into theatres. The roots of the genre, however, lie in such silent spectacles as the Italian Quo Vadis? (1913), D.W. Griffith’s Judith of Bethulia (1914) and Cecil B. DeMille’s original tale of Moses and the exodus. Always aware of his audience, DeMille had already popularized the risqué society comedy with films like Old Wives for New (1918) and would anticipate the return of the Western with The Plainsman (1936). He brought back the epic twice, first with the lavish The Ten Commandments, then with Samson and Delilah (1949). He hedged his bets somewhat with The Ten Commandments; the biblical story comprises only a third of the film’s running time, followed by a modern morality tale illustrating the importance of Christian values. But that first section was as eye-popping as DeMille could make it, even including 2-strip Technicolor sequences. Sixteen hundred workers created the Egyptian sets, which featured 36 foot tall statues of the Pharaohs, 21 sphinxes and 110-foot-tall gates. The parting of the Red Sea was created with miniature shots of Jell-O, which jiggled to approximate the surging waters. Even the modern sequence featured the spectacular collapse of a church built with shoddy materials, a visual comment on defying the commandments. The only director who could top such grandeur was DeMille himself, when he remade The Ten Commandments three decades later.

The Gold Rush (1925) – Directed by Charlie Chaplin
When Amy Adams is left on her own in The Muppets (2011), she sits in a restaurant, sticks two forks into a pair of dinner rolls and makes them do a little dance. The scene is a loving tribute to one of the great sight gags in film history, Charlie Chaplin doing the Ocarina Roll in The Gold Rush. Often hailed as “The Little Tramp’s,” and even the silent screen’s, greatest comedy, the film is a treasure trove of brilliant comic routines and heart-rending pathos. The plot, about Chaplin’s involvement in the Klondike Gold Rush, had an unlikely inspiration – the fate of the Donner Party. That may explain the prevalence of food jokes, as the starving Chaplin cooks and eats his own shoe, is chased around a snow-bound cabin after equally ravenous partner Mack Swain imagines him a chicken, or dreams of entertaining the woman of his dreams (dance hall hostess Georgia Hale) by making the dinner rolls dance. That sequence, possibly inspired by a Fatty Arbuckle routine in 1917′s The Rough House, would be echoed by everyone from Curly Howard in the short “Pardon My Scotch” to Johnny Depp in Benny and Joon. The Gold Rush was Chaplin’s first successful film at United Artists, the studio he co-founded with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith. At the time, it was the longest comedy every made and would become the highest grossing of all silent screen comedies. It was also the film by which Chaplin said he would most want to be remembered.

Battleship Potemkin (1925) – Directed by Sergei Eisenstein
The image of an untended baby carriage relentlessly rolling down a flight of stairs is one of the most iconic in film history. Brian De Palma used it to dramatic effect in The Untouchables (1987), while Woody Allen lampooned it in Bananas (1971). But the legacy of using montage as a tool to move the audience emotionally goes beyond that one masterful image. Drawing on early work by D.W. Griffith, Abel Gance and fellow Soviet Lev Kuleshov, director Sergei Eisenstein used montage to engage viewers, particularly to generate sympathy for the revolutionary sailors on the Potemkin and their sympathizers. By combining rhythmic cutting and recurring images – the czarist soldiers descending the steps, a nurse wearing pince-nez and the legendary baby carriage – he created a powerful narrative entirely out of images. Battleship Potemkin was not an instant hit, even in the Soviet Union. Initially it was banned in some countries because of its shocking violence. Later, countries would ban it for its revolutionary message. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels declared it off-limits for Germany’s military personnel. But as prints circulated around the world, filmmakers gathered in small groups to view it with admiration. When David O. Selznick saw the film in 1926, he wired his boss (later to be his father-in-law), Louis B. Mayer, advising him to screen it at MGM to teach studio employees how to edit. Filmmakers, and film students, have now been learning from Battleship Potemkin for more than three quarters of a century.

Metropolis (1927) – Directed by Fritz Lang
Without Metropolis, there would be no Star Wars, no Alien no Blade Runner. Fritz Lang’s science-fiction masterpiece was one of the first films to create an entire world convincingly on screen. Working with cinematographer Karl Freund, special effects supervisor Eugen Schüfftan rose to new heights with this film, supervising dazzling miniature sets, mounting a camera on a swing for one sequence and creating the Schüfftan Process, a system using mirrors to combine actors with the miniatures almost seamlessly. That particular effect would become a mainstay of filmmaking around the world, while the sleek, modernistic design of the mad scientist’s laboratory would set the standard for science fiction for decades to come. Beyond that, Lang’s dystopian vision of a future dominated by unbridled capitalism until a workers’ revolt forces some kind of détente represented one of the screen’s first and still most effective uses of science fiction as social commentary. Even the performances – particularly Rudolf Klein-Rogge as the mad scientist Rotwang and Brigitte Helm as the noble Maria, who inspires the workers, and her evil robot doppelgänger – have been echoed in other films. In later years, Lang dismissed the film, partly because of its popularity with the Nazi Party, but even he could not deny its influence and, in many ways, its prescience, particularly when he saw the first manned space flights of the 1960s.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) – Directed by F.W. Murnau
Oscar lore labels Wings (1927) the first film to win Best Picture, but the same year it won, in a category then called “Best Picture, Production,” Sunrise won for “Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production.”  Even such an overstated award title ultimately understated the importance of this film, which first brought German Expressionism to Hollywood thanks to the work of director F.W. Murnau. The German filmmaker had developed his craft with such international classics as Nosferatu (1922) and The Last Laugh (1924), but arguably reached his highest level of achievement with this film. Murnau chose a simple story so like a fable the characters don’t even have names. Farmer George O’Brien is tempted to kill wife Janet Gaynor for love of The Woman from the City (Margaret Livingston). In other hands, it might have been old-fashioned melodrama, but Murnau raised it to a level of dreamlike poetry by inventing new ways of telling the story visually. Where most films of the time made only limited use of camera movement, he suspended a camera platform from above the sound stage so the camera could glide, even as it followed his characters through rough marshlands. He also created compositions of depth by having cameraman Karl Struss shoot multiple superimpositions before the invention of the optical printer. It all creates a dreamlike effect that would influence filmmakers as different as John Ford and Orson Welles for years after Murnau’s tragic death, just four years later in an auto accident.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) – Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
It was this film from Danish pioneer Carl Theodor Dreyer that played the largest role in convincing critics the cinema was an art form. Dreyer threw out the elaborate script his French producers had prepared, instead basing his film almost entirely on transcripts of Joan of Arc’s trial. Then he made the amazing choice to cast a popular stage comedienne, Falconetti, to star. Though he had only seen her in a light comedy on the Parisian stage, he could tell even then that she had a spiritual side he could exploit, which is exactly what he did. To get just the right facial expressions, Dreyer forbade Falconetti and the other actors to wear makeup and moved his camera in as close as possible, using newly developed panchromatic film to capture even minute variations in skin tones. At times he forced his cast to work under extreme duress. Falconetti had to kneel for hours on bare stones, forbidden to show any expression on her face as Dreyer shot repeated takes to capture every nuance of her inner pain. And just to make things more grueling, he shot the entire film in sequence. Her suffering, captured in a film shot entirely in close ups and medium shots, makes the film a profoundly spiritual experience and has been hailed by many as the greatest piece of acting in film history.

TCM has celebrated the art of silent films since the network’s very beginnings. Each week, the network’s Silent Sunday Nights showcase presents classic silent films from all over the world. It’s an excellent opportunity for movie lovers to experience the joy of silent cinema, where image is everything. Upcoming highlights include Haxan (1922), a fascinating Danish documentary on witchcraft airing Jan. 22, and Exit Smiling (1926), a delightful backstage comedy starring Beatrice Lillie and airing Jan. 29. During TCM’s annual 31 Days of Oscar, which runs Feb. 1 – March 2, silent offerings include the adventure White Shadows in the South Seas (1928 – Feb. 23 at 6:30 a.m. ET), which won Clyde De Vinna an Oscar for Best Cinematography, and Two Arabian Knights (1927 – Feb. 29 at 8 a.m. ET), which earned Lewis Milestone an Oscar for Best Comedy Direction. And in March, TCM will present one of the films on its 10 Most Influential Silent Films list; F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) will air as part of TCM’s The Essentials showcase on Saturday, March 31, at 8 p.m. (ET).

TCM’s 10 Most Influential Silent Films is the network’s latest list highlighting the history of the movie industry. TCM’s previous lists have included 10 Favorite Marilyn Monroe Moments, 10 Great Low-Budget Science Fiction Movies, 10 Great Overlooked Performances, 10 Favorite Baseball Films, 10 Great Comedy Lines and 15 Influential Soundtracks

With The Lion King 3D about to be released for the first time in theaters on September 16, 2011 and on Disney Blu-ray™, Hi-Def and Blu-ray 3D™ October 4, 2011 we step back in time to uncover some fun facts and top secrets about the animated blockbuster!

SECRET NUMBER ONE… THE ORIGINAL TITLE OF THE MOVIE WASN’T ‘THE LION KING’

“When I first started work on The Lion King, the movie was called King Of The Jungle,” reveals the film’s producer Don Hahn. “King Of The Jungle was a metaphor for this allegorical story about human behavior. We were thinking about the idea of how it’s a jungle out there and Simba has to exist in this jungle. However, there was no jungle in our story; they’re out on a savannah. Another title we looked into was King Of The Beasts, which made more sense because a lion is the king of beasts – but then we threw that out because we wanted to focus on a simple story about a lion king. At that stage we thought, ‘Why not call it The Lion King?’ The story is about a kid who wants to be king and his uncle frames him for murder, so he grows up in the wilderness and then he has to come back to claim his throne. That’s the whole story, and it’s all about a lion king, so the name stuck.”

SECRET NUMBER TWO… PRIDE ROCK WAS CREATED IN BURBANK!

“We took a trip to Kenya to research the animals and the landscape for the movie,” explains The Lion King co-director Roger Allers. “There wasn’t much time for sketching during the trip because the animals were always very quick, but we did a lot of photo research and we absorbed the feel of the landscape and the weather. In the movie, Pride Lands is modeled after many different areas of Kenya. There are certain things lifted from the landscape around the Samburu District, but we used a variety of inspirations. Many people try to say, “Pride Rock is based on this mountain here.” But they are wrong. An artist in Burbank invented Pride Rock.

SECRET NUMBER THREE… ZAZU WAS ORIGINALLY A SMALLER SPECIES OF BIRD

“In the early stages of development, Zazu was a little, pointy-beaked bird,” reveals co-director Roger Allers. “I can’t remember the exact species, but we decided to change him into something very different after our research trip to Africa. We kept seeing these wonderful hornbill birds hopping around the place and they had so much character. The upward curve of their beak suggested a sense of haughtiness to them; and at the same time they had wonderful feathery legs that looked like they were wearing pajama bottoms. They looked so funny and they had so much personality that we knew Zazu would have to be a hornbill. It really added to his character.”

SECRET NUMBER FOUR… IT TOOK NINE MONTHS TO CONVERT THE MOVIE INTO 3D

“When I first heard that The Lion King was going to be converted into 3D, I wasn’t sure it could be done,” reveals producer Don Hahn. “However, I was blown away by the results. It looks fantastic! All in all, it took about nine months to complete the process. We spent the first three months preparing and testing the shots, followed by six months of actual production work.”

SECRET NUMBER FIVE… THE CREATIVE TEAM BROUGHT REAL LIONS INTO THE ANIMATION STUDIO TO RESEARCH THEIR MOVEMENTS

“When Walt Disney worked on Bambi, he brought a variety of forest animals into the animation studio for research,” reveals The Lion King co-director Rob Minkoff. “The artists could see how the animals looked up close and they could observe how they moved around, so it was a great way to study the wildlife. That inspired us to bring real lions and cubs into the studio to research the animals of The Lion King. A very famous animal expert called Jim Fowler, who was the host of a television show called Mutual Of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, brought the animals in for us. It was very exciting and very informative for all of the animators working on the movie.”

SECRET NUMBER SIX… RAFIKI WAS A VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTER IN EARLY VERSIONS OF THE STORY

“In the early stages of production, the character of Rafiki was very different to the character you see in the finished film,” admits co-director Roger Allers. “In early versions of the story, Rafiki was a serious counselor to the king. He was a very wise man, so we hired the actor Robert Guillaume to do the voice. However, by the time Robert came into record the voice, the character had completely changed. We had come up with the idea of Rafiki being more of a crazy hermit monk. He was now a wacky and mysterious character with a mystical side and a wisdom that shows through occasionally – but a very playful, nutty side too. Robert is a very dignified person and this wasn’t what he had signed up for, so we spent the first recording session trying to find the voice and the laugh of Rafiki. Robert nailed it that day and the rest is history.”

SECRET NUMBER SEVEN… NATHAN LANE AND ERNIE SABELLA ORIGINALLY AUDITIONED FOR THE ROLE OF THE HYENAS

“The casting process for The Lion King was extremely long and very involved,” explains co-director Rob Minkoff. “We went through lots of different ideas for the various roles in the movie, but two of the great successes were Timon and Pumbaa. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella were performing in a Broadway production of Guys And Dolls in 1992, when The Lion King was being made. They came to an audition in New York and they bumped into each other in the lobby, which is when they discovered they were both auditioning for the roles of hyenas. They asked the casting director if they could audition together and they were hilarious as they read their lines, but they didn’t seem right for the hyenas. That’s when we thought, ‘What if we use them as Timon and Pumbaa?’ It was the perfect fit.”

SECRET NUMBER EIGHT… THE HAKUNA MATATA SONG WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT

“In the early stages of production, we had a song called He’s Got It All Worked Out in the movie,” reveals co-director Rob Minkoff. “We wanted a fun, bug-eating song because we wanted to convey the idea that Simba is not being a lion when he meets Timon and Pumbaa; he’s giving up his lion ways and he’s moving into this new life away from his home. However, we couldn’t convince everybody that making the entire song about eating bugs was a good idea. Soon after, the research team came back from their trip to Africa with the phrase ‘Hakuna Matata’. We talked about it in a meeting with Tim Rice – and that’s when the idea struck. I remember Tim saying, ‘Hmmm… Hakuna Matata. It’s a bit like Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.’ A song was born!”

SECRET NUMBER NINE… PUMBAA’S BELLY-RUBBING WAS INSPIRED BY AN ANIMATOR’S WIFE

“My wife was pregnant with our first child during the time I was working on The Lion King,” explains animator Tony Bancroft. “If you watch a pregnant woman –– you’ll notice that they like to rub their bellies. It makes them feel comfortable. It’s appeasing. Well, I used to watch my wife rubbing her belly and it made me think, ‘That would be such a fun element to put into Pumbaa since he’s a big, fat guy.’ When you see Pumbaa lying on his back staring up at the stars in the movie, you’ll notice he does that gesture. I animated that scene and I had him stroking his stomach softly like a pregnant woman because it seemed so natural. It makes him more human and relatable.”

SECRET NUMBER TEN… THE FILMMAKERS ORIGINALLY WANTED CHEECH AND CHONG TO PLAY THE HYENAS IN THE MOVIE

“We had a really tough time finding the right voices for the hyenas in the movie,” reveals co-director Rob Minkoff. “Gary Trousdale, one of the directors of Beauty And The Beast, helped us out in the early stages of development and he created an entire storyboard of the hyenas as if they were played by Cheech and Chong. It was hilarious, but Cheech and Chong weren’t working together at the time, so we knew we wouldn’t be able to book the pair for the roles. Around that same time we heard that Whoopi Goldberg was interested in the film and when we asked her if she’d like to voice a hyena she said, ‘Yeah, great.’ So we got Cheech and Whoopi instead of Cheech and Chong!”

2009, for any number of reasons, was a long year.  It had its definite ups and its definite yada-yada-yada.  I’m not worried about that last part right now.  I’m more concerning myself with the happier times, the times I left the theater thinking to myself, “My God, this is why I love doing what I do.  This is the reason I love movies, and I cannot wait until the moment I have this invigorating feeling yet again.”  All of these movies gave me that feeling, some of them more than just once.  Here are my choices for the top 10 movies (my favorite or what I consider the best, take your pick) of 2009.

10. THE HANGOVER

When I left the theater the first time seeing THE HANGOVER, I knew I had just watched a very funny movie, a great comedy that made me laugh more and harder than any film I had seen in years.  What didn’t occur to me until I viewed the film a second time is just how nuanced and successful it is as a film.  The relationships between the characters are superb, and the dynamic of the group as a whole is what makes just about every aspect of the film work wonderfully.   Here are four guys, three goofballs of varying degrees and one straight man, the glue, if you will, who holds it all down to some kind of socially acceptable level.  Now take the straight man out and force the other three to find him.  It’s such a basic idea, and one that writers Jon Lucas & Scott Moore and director Todd Phillips execute with stunning clarity.  Besides, any film that features Mike Tyson air drumming to Phil Collins can never be bad in my book.

SCOTT’S FULL REVIEW

9. DISTRICT 9

If you were not sold that DISTRICT 9 was going to be something not to miss when you heard Peter Jackson had taken it and writer/director Neill Blomkamp under his wing, you had to have been when you saw that first teaser.  Just that awe-inspiring (and it inspired awe in me a great deal) first shot of the teaser when you saw the ship hovering above Johannesburg was selling point enough.  We knew we were in for an exciting thrill ride.  What we weren’t expecting was one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable action films to come along in ages.  Blomkamp’s film has so much more going on under the surface of the surface-level and highly bloody action.  2009 was a stellar year for sci-fi, and DISTRICT 9 was just a very important part of that.  Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley are going to take off huge in the coming years, but it is going to be extremely difficult for either of them to top the work they put into this film.

MY FULL REVIEW

8. THE COVE

Before seeing THE COVE, all I knew was that it was about a dolphin massacre in Japan and that some considered it a horror film in the truest sense of the word.  What I didn’t realize until I sat down to watch the film was just how moving and incredibly executed an informative story it turned out to be.  Director Louie Psihoyos is not a film director by choice.  He is an activist, and his passion for what he does is seeped into every frame of this film.  It touches on so many aspects of the central story, renown dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry and his crusade to make aware the brutality going on Taiji, Japan.  The film is so  heart wrenching, particularly the final 10-15 minutes, which some animal lovers may not even be able to stomach.  Eye-opening, moving and even quite suspenseful in some places, THE COVE is a film that effortlessly succeeds in the areas every documentary should be aiming.

7. A SERIOUS MAN

I have to be honest, I was not a huge fan of Joel & Ethan Coen’s follow-up to NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.  I felt BURN AFTER READING was comical in places, very stupid in others, and an outright let-down in even more.  With A SERIOUS MAN, they craft a thinking man’s comedy, one that has so much going on just under the surface and hands you very little in the area of tangible narrative.  It is a film that digs deep into the nature of theology, of the eternal questions that make up the universe and the overlying equation that holds us all together.  We aren’t supposed to know the answers.  We aren’t supposed to figure things out.  Just when we think we have some sort of grasp on what the universe is going to throw our way next, a tornado comes out of nowhere, and our world cuts to black.  It’s the difference between knowing the answer and understanding the equation.  The Coens get that, and that, among other things (the casting in this film is spot-on brilliance) is what makes A SERIOUS MAN such an amazing film.

TRAVIS’ FULL REVIEW

6. UP

Can we just accept the fact that, every year, without question, whatever film PIXAR has to offer will instantly go somewhere on the best of the year list?  I’m sure others have grasped that concept long before I have.  I was a naysayer.  I remember hearing about UP and its premise, seeing the first trailer, and thinking it was going to be an ever-loving borefest.  I love, love, love when I find myself wrong on that side of the coin upon seeing a film.  UP is such a heart-warming picture, an adventure of the mind, the body, and the spirit that is made for anyone who has ever dreamed of something greater.  I’ll give you a little hint about that.  Everyone, at some point in their life, has had that dream.  PIXAR knows this, and that is why they make such effortlessly brilliant films for everyone.  An adventurous and moving piece of film making, UP is yet another grand success from a an animated studio who seems able to churn out brilliant story ideas like an assembly line.

MY FULL REVIEW

5. AWAY WE GO

I knew very little about this film going in, just that it was Sam Mendes, a director who I have been following like a loyal dog since 2002′s ROAD TO PERDITION graced before my eyes, and it starred Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski.  Coming out the other side, I knew I had just seen the most uplifting and genuinely optimistic film I had seen all year.  Most “feel good” films are saccharine beyond belief, so full of fake emotion and blithesome idiocy that their hold on the audience is never more than past the first knuckle.  AWAY WE GO takes hold of you, charges you, and spits you out with an ear-to-ear grin across your face.  It does it, too, without false promises, without the hammy movie magic that makes up most films that are considered heartfelt.  It does it with three, simple things: heart, heart, and heart.  The compatibility between Krasinski and Rudolph is astounding, and they embody characters who are the ultimate antithesis to Frank and April Wheeler, the couple in Mendes’ last film, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD.  AWAY WE GO is yet another clear-cut home run from a film maker who knows how to grasp his audience and simply make them feel.  Whether that feeling is going to be cheerful or not is up to him, but, whatever he decides to do, he succeeds.

TRAVIS’ FULL REVIEW

4. FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Say what you want about the controversy surrounding how Wes Anderson handled the direction on FANTASTIC MR. FOX.  What he has achieved here is a next level, in my opinion, in stop motion animation, beautifully crafted characters and environments that aid a truly hilarious screenplay.  What’s more, FANTASTIC MR. FOX is a great film for the family, not a “family film.”  It is, in no way, dumbed down to be more user friendly or acceptable for general audiences.  If you don’t get the humor found in this film, then you simply don’t get it.  Personally, I thought it was non-stop hilarity throughout, and the voice work by actors like George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, and Jason Schwartzman, in particular, is just one more element of FANTASTIC MR. FOX that makes it the best, cussing, animated movie of the year.

TRAVIS’ FULL REVIEW

3. MOON

If your personal tastes in movies run parallel to mine in any way, then you love it when an independently backed science fiction film is on the horizon.  They have to rely more on story than the complex special effects that  overburden  even the simplest of narratives.  Writer/director Duncan Jones’ MOON is one such film, an incredibly compelling and emotionally driven science fiction story that is aided in no small part by luxurious yet practical effects and a hauntingly staggering performance by Sam Rockwell.  This is one film that benefits from going in blind.  The less you know about it before viewing, the better, as every twist and turn Jones’ story takes is both conceivable and unanticipated.  As confidently crafted a film as MOON is, you would not think that A) it is considered a low-budget film and B) it is Duncan Jones’ first attempt at feature film making.  Be on the lookout for this man in the future, because, dare I say it, I feel we may have another Christopher Nolan on our hands.

MY FULL REVIEW

2. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

After watching, or should I say “experiencing”, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for the first time, I couldn’t help but think I had just seen Quentin Tarantino’s best written film since PULP FICTION.  Now, some months and a few more viewings of the film later, I am of the opinion that this could easily be the best film yet of an auteur who holds back on nothing.  INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is an outstanding film driven by both amazing dialog (as if there was any question of that) and visually stunning action.  The scenes Tarantino crafts in his first endeavor into the genre of war are filled with so much suspense and anxious expectation that he often teases you with the notion that nothing may happen.  He’s also a film maker who loves playing with his audience, and just as you are about to rest comfortably, all hell breaks loose.  Without revealing too many spoilers for the film, I will say that, for a man who loves bending and breaking the rules of film making, I cannot imagine the look of glee on Tarantino’s face when it dawned on him to break the rules of history, as well.  INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is an amazing achievement in film craftsmanship from a writer/director who seems poised to top himself every time out of the gate.

SCOTT’S FULL REVIEW

1. 2012

Shit blowed up real good!

REAL #1. (500) DAYS OF SUMMER

If there were 1000 words that all meant emotional and genuine, I would use each and every one of them here to describe (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, probably the most authentic and moving look at a relationship in years.  Director Marc Webb, another first-time director, and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber have created and executed a luring and eloquent tale of the real way we think back on past loves.  We don’t remember them from beginning to end, from meeting to the final look upon one another.  Past loves are remembered in fits and starts, happy times here and gloomier days there, and, sometimes, even the same moments are remembered differently depending on our own attitudes at the time.  The film makers behind (500) DAYS OF SUMMER get this.  They know that, somedays, you feel like dancing in the street, like everyone around you is dressed in the same shade that matches the eyes of the person you love.  Other days, you feel like standing in your kitchen and unemotionally smashing every dish in your cupboard.  What’s more, the performances of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are flawless, and they are easily two of the best actors working today.  Throw in a few, exquisite songs by Regina Spektor and one of the most revealing and realistically affecting scenes that compare real life to expectation, and you have not only my favorite film of the year, but, perhaps, one of the most amazing films about love I have ever seen.

MY FULL REVIEW

Also, check out this music video that is not found in the film, but serves as a brilliant companion to it:

I chose my previous two film scores based on both their distinctiveness in both context and content, but also because they had certain weaknesses that, while important to their character, still kept them from being the kind of landmark works that are universally acknowledged as ground-breaking and important. The three scores I’m highlighting this week were chosen specifically for both their widespread popularity and critical success.

Let’s begin with CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. This is a score that many, many people who are even remotely familiar with the film are aware of in terms of importance. Like the other films I’m focusing on here, the music of Crouching Tiger, HIDDEN DRAGON goes hand in hand with the other elements of the movie, but it could be said that, out of the three, this score is the most potent accompaniment. This is mostly because of the movie’s setting; feudal China. The score for CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON was composed by Tan Dun, a Chinese composer who moved to New York City to study modern classical composition, and later worked on the score for the film “DON’T CRY, NANKING”. Unlike the other composers in this group, Dun came from a classical background, and it’s immediately apparent. But what is surprising is how much emphasis Dun placed on his collaborator, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

In fact, Yo-Yo Ma’s performance is the most prominent element of most of the score. Occasionally, for some of the martial arts sequences, Dun utilizes powerful and exhilarating percussion, but more often than not, the score of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is a work of beauty and inestimable grace. Yo-Yo Ma produces one of the most vocal and emotional ranges in the work of a solo string musician I’ve ever heard. To say that his playing is affecting would be understatement. In versa Jon Tavener’s work in Children of Men, it is not a light comment to compare the power of both as equal, when Tavener drew from a massive and versatile arsenal of symphonic tropes. Dun and Ma almost never resort to heavy-handed drama, and when they do it’s strictly in the service of the on-screen action. The key appeal of this soundtrack is the virtuoso skill of Ma drawing together all the breath-taking beauty and emotion of the film (no easy feat) into a few mere strings, at the behest of Tan Dun.

The score for THERE WILL BE BLOOD is the polar opposite of the former. A film that sticks its fingers into the open wounds of a man bound to self destruction, only a score as unsettling as this could possibly be worthy of Paul Thomas Anderson’s most ambitious work. And with a fortuitous moment of serendipity, PT Anderson managed to wrangle Radiohead’s guitarist and composer, Jonny Greenwood. Greenwood did score a film prior to THERE WILL BE BLOOD but it was a little known documentary that gave Greenwood free reign to experiment without any real format. Creating music for THERE WILL BE BLOOD was an entirely different beast; this was a period piece based loosely off a novel, and Greenwood would have to meet not only the expectations of the PTA fanbase but that of his own, not to mention make it a relevant and appropriate work of music.

He succeeded with flying colors. The strength of his score for THERE WILL BE BLOOD lies in Greenwood’s purposeful malevolence in rendering the colors and tones of the various pieces comprising the body of the soundtrack. He intended, out and out, to unsettle and violate the conceived expectation of what the period music would sound like. He did use traditional strings and maintained the proper elements through the whole film, but he subverted more often than not, seeking purposefully to disturb the listener with dissonant electronics and tense moods that underlined every scene of the film with a powerful dread or creeping anxiety. It could’ve easily been the score to a powerhouse horror film but instead, it became a great example of how a score can unwrap a film’s true life; one of bleak misanthropy and gritty fatalism.

Last, but not least, is Kevin Shield’s “score” for LOST IN TRANSLATION, Sofia Coppola’s second film after THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. Unlike the soundtrack for THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, which consisted entirely of songs written by various artists, LOST IN TRANSLATION’s score was composed by Kevin Shields, he of the critically adored My Bloody Valentine. Much of the music in the film was chosen together by Coppola and Shields, but the pieces Shields wrote for the soundtrack are as appealing and wonderful as any song that appears during the film’s narrative. What’s vital to the sweet taste of the score’s placement alongside the film is how very intimate their relationship is; Sofia is as much to be credited for the music as Shields, and that’s disappointingly rare in the world of film.

What a breath of fresh air it is to hear a whole collection of music that is as much a part of the beating heart of a film as the visuals are; the songs and pieces are probably, out of the entire spectrum of scores presented, the most appealing outside of their original context. It has been said, and it holds true, that the Kevin Shields-created tracks from this soundtrack are the My Bloody Valentine songs that never existed, but that’s not entirely accurate. These are far more enjoyable and accessible than the noise-pop of My Bloody Valentine and, by necessity, they ring a far more potent range of emotion than his former band could marshal (if anything, it echoes the synth wonder of Air, the French band who assembled the music for THE VIRGIN SUICIDES). Of particular note is the end piece, simply titled “Goodbye”. Paired with what I personally consider the most effective and moving endings I’ve seen from a romance film (even succeeding BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN’s heartbreaking tragedy), it struck a powerful broadcast that most of the film’s fans will enthusiastically endorse.

These three scores are what I personally would label as objectively possible as “The Best Of The Decade”, but that’s keeping in mind my own slight bias. With that, I’m ending my reign of attempted objectivity. I love and appreciate all three of the aforementioned soundtracks, but they are not as personally meaningful as the next five, and the fact is that I’m simply not talented or patient enough to craft an entire list of ten films I could objectively rate and be satisfied with. Instead, I’ll be highlighting my personal favorites and explaining why they, above all, make my five favorite film scores of the past decade. Still, a reminder; these past five films are what I focus on as being, objectively, the best films scores of the past decade. The next five are my own personal picks.

Fantastic Fest did indeed live up to its name, and thus it was tough to pick just ten movies that were my favorites, but here’s my best attempt:

10) K-20: The Fiend with 20 Faces

A superhero story set in an alternate timeline Japan just after World War 2, K-20 puts a Japanese spin on characters similar to Batman with a dash of Zorro thrown in. It starts off a little slow, but about 30 minutes in, the story picks up and doesn’t let go until the finish line. Containing some of the best CG I’ve seen out of Japan, this film definitly deserves to be seen.

9) Yatterman

Pretty much everything you could want in a PG (ish) action movie based on a Saturday morning cartoon. Humor? Check. Action? Check. Giant robots? Check. Giant robots having sex? Check… Wait, what? Yes, this film is completely insane, and as a result it’s a whole hell of a lot of fun.

8) Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl

The violent, ridiculously crazy sister to Yatterman, this film is a whole �nother kind of insanity. It doesn’t take itself seriously for one second, which means we get things like the wrist cutters club at school and one of the most (unintentionally) racist bits of comedy ever put on screen. This is a film that could only be Japanese, and it is a wild ride.

7) Trick r Treat

Yes, there were non-Japanese films at this fest too. This is one that I’ve been waiting to see for what seemed like an eternity. Luckily, it did not disappoint, not one bit. Several stories woven together, and all linked with a very creepy little demonic pumpkin child named Sam make for a very creepy, and at times, very funny Halloween movie. Be sure to check this one out on DVD/bluray.

6) Fish Story

Yet another Japanese film, this one is about a punk rock band who’s music will save the world. Easily the best looking film of the fest, this multi-decade spanning film is something that should not be missed. The music is incredible and the story will keep you completely enthralled until it’s conclusion. Also, for those of you who may be turned off by the completely insane Japanese-ness of Japanese movies, this one is quite different and should have a large mainstream appeal.

5) Avatar 3D Footage

Like a lot of people, I just wasn’t impressed by Avatar’s teaser trailer. It’s not that it looked bad, it just lacked the wow-factor. After seeing 20 minutes of the movie, I have to say.. I was wowwed.. A lot. If you have any interest in 3d cinema, this will be the film to see. Every second of footage looked incredible, and James Cameron shows that all his 3d work/research over the last ten years has payed off.

4) [rec] 2

[rec] is one of the scariest horror films of all time. [rec] 2 ups the ante and delivers and hour and a half of action, suspense, and scares. And to top it off, the story’s not too bad either. I had a blast with this film, and can’t wait for the inevitable [rec] 3.

3) House of the Devil

One of the best 80’s horror films that just happens to be released in 2009. The fantastic camerawork, moody music, and characters that you actually care about all combine to make this one of the best movies of the fest. Incredibly creepy without having to resort to cheap gimicks, this is one film you should not miss. It’s available on VOD at Amazon.com right now, and I highly recommend that you check it out.

1-tie) Zombieland

80 minutes of pure entertainment. There’s not a boring second in there. Great performances by every single actor, more laughs than you can count, and a fantastic list of zombie rules that more people should follow make this one of my favorite zombie films, behind Shaun of the Dead, and one of my favorite films this year.

1-tie) Love Exposure

Of all the great Japanese films at Fantastic Fest, this one takes the cake. At 4 hours long, and spanning just about every genre out there, it’s anything but typical. In fact, I can pretty much gauruntee you’ve never seen anything like this. Never once during its 4 hour runtime did I get bored, and in fact when the intermission hit, the entire audience couldn’t wait for it to start back up. This was the surprise hit of the fest for me, and I will do whatever I can to track down a copy of it to watch again as soon as possible.

Fantastic Fest was a very strong festival with a lot of amazing movies battling it out for the top position, and while there’s voting that happens, not everyone gets to see every movie and that makes the awards ceremony a little unfair. Some people vote for one movie, but not another, or they vote 10 on everything, or they just don’t vote at all. It’s messy all around. So here I am telling you what my top ten favorite films of the festival were… that I saw anyway. Don’t be offended if your favorite movie from the festival isn’t on here. Chances are if it was great I just missed it, like Zombieland.

10.) K-20 The Fiend with 20 Faces

K-20 is an incredibly adventure film that feels like a great radio drama ala The Shadow. Part Batman Begins part Dark Man, K-20 tells the story of a circus performer who’s set up and framed as a world renowned thief known as K-20. Endo, the hero must learn how to be a thief in order to clear his name and battle K-20. It’s a lot of fun and probably the best superhero movie of the year.

9.) Bronson

I thought Bronson was a serious drama the first time I saw it as an import DVD. The fact is, it’s funnier when you’re with an audience. The shock factor floats away and you’re left with one of the best dark comedies and true stories put to film in years. Bronson is a dangerous criminal but with charm that can’t be denied. Tom Hardy’s insane physical conditioning is epic and will have people comparing him to Christian Bale for years.

8.) The Revenant

A vampire movie that’s one part Boondock Saints and another part Evil Dead. The movie is gory, hilarious and fun. It’s your basic “Soldier comes back from Iraq dead, and wakes up to find he’s undead” story that we know so well… which is not at all. There are a lot of amazing sight gags and funny moments between the two heroes Bart and Joey, including a moment involving a dildo and severed head.

7.) Paranormal Activity

A movie about a demon that’s been haunting a girl her entire life and suddenly her fiance decides it’s time to fuck with it. Not a smart move. The entire movie is shot as if the main characters chose to document the events that happen over the course of a month, and boy is it scary. A minimalist budget, maybe the cheapest movie at the festival, and one of the most impressive by far. The scares ramp up perfectly and it’ll keep you talking long after it’s over. A room full of 6 guys couldn’t sleep for hours after we saw this movie, and now almost ten days later I saw a tweet from one of them saying it’s got them freaking out since they’re home alone. It’s that effective.

6.) Yatterman

Takashi Miike is messed up. He takes a classic children’s cartoon from over thirty years ago and turns it into a bizarre series of battles between the heroes Yatterman 1 and 2 and the Doronbo Gang. What makes this film work is how self aware it is. The heroes do a stupid dance when they win, everyone sees how dumb their outfits really are, and Yatterman’s giant robot dog’s way of transporting them from place to place is stupid when not a cartoon. There’s a great moment involving the original Japanese cast that made me chuckle, but more than anything this movie disturbed me. It’s shot and acted out like a children’s film, but it has several over the top sexual moments that rival what you can get away with in a Pg-13 movie here in the states. Titty-Missiles won’t fly with the MPAA. It’s still a blast and a must see. The insanely crazy projection we were treated to was half the fun.

5.) Secret Screening 1: Robog Geisha

Not as good as Yatterman, but very much in the same vein. Robo Geisha is about two sisters and their rivalry which leads them to become cybernetically enhanced killing machines or Robo Geishas. It’s not as violent as the director’s last film, The Machine Girl, but it’s just as funny. The Japanese ratings board said to put less bleeding people in the film, so instead the movie has buildings that erupt with blood. It’s odd compromises like that, that make the movie fun. It’s cheap, it was made in 2 weeks, it shows, but it’s a blast. The Q&A afterwards really did push it higher on the list.

4.) Mandrill

Chilean actor Marko Zaror really is the next big action hero. Mandrill is part James Bond, part exploitation film, and all bad ass. The stunts and fights are amazing, and considering Marko has doubled for The Rock in films, it’s crazy to see him do moves so fast, and kicks with such crazy extension that he rivals many of Asia’s best martial artists. I said it before, who knew Chile had the world’s biggest action star?!

3.) House of the Devil

It’s hard not to just tie this with Mandrill because they’re both so good, but they’re totally different films. House of the Devil feels like a movie made in the 1980s and it’s genius in how it accomplishes that. Shot on 16mm film with a perfect film stock, and set of actors, the movie is amazing. Save for a few cars and locations, the movie really does feel like something that was lost for almost thirty years. House of the Devil tells the story of a girl hired to be a baby sitter for an evening but gets herself into the worst situation imaginable. It’s scary beyond belief and stuck with me long after I saw it. It really is a period piece and puts director Ti West at the top of his field.

2.) Love Exposure

It’s four hours long, it’s about a kid who chooses to be a pervert after his Catholic priest father tells him to start confessing his sins every day, and it’s from Japan, AND that’s barely touching on the surface of what this movie really is. Love Exposure has so much insanity running through it that I can’t possibly start to tell yo about it all. But it’s never boring, always funny, and always surprising. It’s a must see for any Japanese or Asian film fan.

1.) Fish Story

Yet another Japanese film and possibly the best film of 2009. Can music save the world? Fish Story will truly leave you believe that yes, music is that powerful, even if it’s from a band that is unpopular or unknown. Fish Story is actually a few stories woven together with an over all narrative of hope. We start in 2012 with the world coming to an end and find ourselves going back to 1975 with a punk band that’s struggling to find it’s place in Japanese society and culture a year before The Sex Pistols got popular. It’s perfectly paced, amazingly well acted, and very very funny. It has almost everything anyone would want in a movie, and it’s not just my choice for best movie of Fantastic Fest… but of the entire year.

Now there are a few films that simply were awful at fantastic Fest… I’ll be posting a blog about those soon so keep your eyes open for it.

In case you haven’t noticed, Hollywood loves a good remake.  New ideas don’t have to be dealt with, audiences converge on the theaters simply due to name recognition, and studios can kick back and gather up the proceeds. Horror remakes, in particular, have been a staple of the film industry for years. Recently, this trend has gotten out of hand, and, many times, the resultant film is less than desirable. There are, however, a few remakes here and there that are acceptable. Some, in fact, are even better than the original. In honor of Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween II’ hitting theaters this week, we thought it was time to look at some of these horror remakes that stand out from the crowd.

10. Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931)

When thinking about horror remakes, one rarely ever goes back to the vintage, Universal, horror movies of the ’30s.   However, believe it or not, movies like FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA were brought to the world of cinema long before Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi came into the picture.   Even though James Whales 1931 version of FRANKENSTEIN is considered the most memorable, it certainly wasn’t the first time film-going audiences feasted their eyes on Mary Shelley’s walking monster.   In fact, not only was Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN not the first film based on the novel, its screenplay was considerably different than Shelley’s original story.   The alterations pay off, as this version of FRANKENSTEIN is an absolute classic and features arguably the most famous movie monster ever put to film.   In fact, Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN would be the catalyst for so many sequels, spinoffs, and parodies featuring the monster it would seem apparent that this film was the starting point of the whole mythology.   Much of this is due in large part to the astounding performance by Karloff, who, despite his grand career in the film industry, would never quite shake the popularity he garnered in playing the monster.   Some would even say Whale’s follow-up, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, would be a superior film.   That makes FRANKENSTIN no less a masterpiece and a milestone in cinema history.

9. Cat People (Paul Schrader, 1982)

Jacque Tourneur’s 1942 version of CAT PEOPLE is considered a masterpiece of subtlety, famous for forcing viewers to imagine the horrors rather than subjecting them to literal effects. Paul Schrader’s 1982 remake was a different animal. All the overt eroticism, incest, and gore only hinted at forty years earlier was on graphic display in the remake. This may not have sat well with purist fans of the original but Schrader had a unique vision and his CAT PEOPLE is a classic in own right. Set in a voodoo-friendly New Orleans, the remake follows the original concept of a virgin’s sexual awakening coinciding with her instinctive need to turn into a killer black panther. Several scenes from the original are remade, notably one where a female character is being menaced in a darkened indoor pool but the remake is loaded with dreamy fantasy elements and special effects. Giorgio Moroder’s synth-laden score is a highlight as well as turns by Malcolm McDowell, Annette O’Toole, and John Heard but 1982’s CAT PEOPLE belongs to Nastassja Kinski in the lead and she is essential to the film’s cult status. Kinski ‘s an otherworldly presence, perfectly cast, often nude, and endlessly watchable. I wish her subsequent career had included more horror roles.

8. House on Haunted Hill (William Malone, 1999)

I had to hand it to Dark Castle Films.   Their debut film HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL’ definitely was a lot of fun.   Dark Castle Films was created to remake the majority of William Castle films.   However, that has since been abandoned, but one has to adore what they tried to do and you can see it apparent in their first film.

7. Nosferatu (Werner Herzog, 1979)

My man Werner. Is there nothing he can put his hands on that doesn’t turn to gold? Having never worked strictly within the horror genre before, Werner Herzog tackled one of the oldest stories around, the story of Nosferatu. Consequently, it’s a remake of the silent 1922 German classic by F.W. Murnau, but it’s equally good while being vastly different in some key ways. The original is a moody, visually artistic portrayal of the evil vampire and the fear it instills in humans. Herzog’s take on the story is a much more character-driven film, utilizing a visual approach similar to that of the Hammer Horror films. The atmosphere is at one time period and lush, but at times Herzog manages to escort us away from reality and into strange and alluring landscapes and images of darkness and beauty. Herzog’s NOSFERATU is as much a human drama as it is a tale of vampiric lore. Klaus Kinski is incredible as Count Nosferatu. (For those who don’t know, this is basically the same as Bram Stoker’s Dracula with a few story changes. Copyright restricted the original from being called Dracula, thus it became Nosferatu and it’s own beast altogether.) Kinski was a bit strange himself, so the glove fits well. Sure, it’s a bit wierd watching a vampire film in German for the first time. Kind of makes one subconsciously connect Nazis and vampires. Silly, I know. If you haven’t seen it yet, I command you to do so!

6. The Hills Have Eyes (Alexandre Aja, 2006)

I was never a fan of the original THE HILLS HAVE EYES.   It just wasn’t frightening to me and at the time I watched it in the late 80′s, I found it funny.   So, when Alexandre Aja – who directed one of the best “slasher” films after 2000, HAUTE (HIGH) TENSION – was signed on to direct a remake with Wes Craven’s blessing, I got excited. This film was one of the first horror films I took my current girlfriend to and she and I came out loving it.   It was one of the few films that I saw in the theater during it’s first run where people walked out due to an intense scene.   The scene I’m talking about is the Trailer Attack scene.   Rules and boundaries were taken down in this scene.   This is the point where Aja tells the audience that none of these characters are safe and he will be merciless to make you uncomfortable.   To me, this film excels miles further than the original film and I believe it – remake or not – to be one of the top 25 horror films of the past decade.   Be warned, you are not safe.

5. Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder, 2004)

2004 was a banner year for zombie movies.   Even if you don’t count 28 DAYS LATER…, which most people, particularly hardcore zombie lovers, don’t, you still had SHAUN OF THE DEAD and Zack Snyder’s remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD.   When word came out that a remake of George Romero’s classic was being made, many fans booed profusely.   Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD is highly regarded in the horror world, and some even claim it is the best zombie movie ever made surpassing Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.   The cries of woe were stilled, though, when Snyder’s DAWN OF THE DEAD was released.   It featured faster zombies than Romero’s version, and, while it outrage many fans of the original, it also created a much higher level of intensity than the original.   Snyder’s style and the film’s general demeanor that it wasn’t taking itself too seriously helped the film tremendously.   While few would make the claim that 2004′s DAWN OF THE DEAD is a better version than the 1978 version, there are still few who would say it is an absolute waste.   Snyder’s career launched from this film, and the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake is still considered a fun horror film for all.

4. The Ring (Gore Verbinski, 2002)

That’s right. An American remake of a Japanese horror film made the list. Here’s why… it’s one of a very few examples of Hollywood having done it right. Most of the time, and consequently most came after this film, Hollywood remakes of Asian horror films are totally lame. This is for one primary reason… they have the terrible misconception that these movies are all about being scared by what you see. Wrong! What makes most Asian horror films so cool and freaking scary is that they’ve mastered the art of being scary without showing everything. It’s the fear of the unknown, get it? Apparently, they haven’t. Of course, many of the Japanese horror films are also often quite graphic, which Hollywood still seems to be a bit afraid of touching. Gore Verbinki’s 2002 film is a remake, yes, but a remake of what? That’s the really interesting thing here. The “original” film was Japanese and called RINGU (1998) but the Koreans made their own version in 1999 called THE RING VIRUS. Regardless, Verbinski’s version actually holds up on it’s own, creating a freaky tale of terror passed from one unlucky victim to the next in the form of a mysterious video. Verbinski managed to successfully recapture some of the unique and bizarre visual imagery that helped the original(s) succeed, although I am almost tempted to say the American version is better… Ah, bite my tongue! Unfortunately, it did well enough to spawn sequels… and, we won’t talk about that.

3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003)

A lot of fans hated the 2003 remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (Maybe because it was originally marketed as MICHAEL BAY’S THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE). Roger Ebert wrote of the remake: “The new version of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a contemptible film: vile, ugly and brutal. There is not a shred of a reason to see it”. I think that the original is the scariest film ever made but it’s also a masterpiece of restraint that Hooper made and much of its magic lies in the fact that the audience thinks they saw a no-holds-barred gorefest when they didn’t. For the remake ,Producer Bay and director Marcus Nispel through all subtlety out the window and made the film audiences thought they saw 30 years earlier. Instead of a hitchhiker cutting his hand with a knife, a hitchhiker shoots a gun into her mouth, the cameral trails the bullet’s path from the chamber, into her mouth, through the hole in her brain and out through the blood-splattered back

window. And that’s just in the first ten minutes. For sheer brutish effectiveness, 2003’s THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE does the job. It stands on it’s own merits and there’s enough scares to keep casual horror viewers and die-hards involved. And of course there’s that demented performance by R. Lee Ermey which, in a perfect world, would have won the man an Oscar.

2. The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986)

The original 1958 version wasn’t the greatest movie ever made, but it was fun and it starred Vincent Price, which means it instantly gets a plus-2 on a 10-scale right off the bat. David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake, on the other hand, is a phenomenal piece of psychological sci-fi/horror. Adding to that is it’s status as one of the few remakes that stands head and shoulders over the original. Jeff Goldblum plays Seth Brundle, brilliant scientist ahead of his time and unfortunate creator of the Brundle-Fly. Goldblum was perfect for the role, intelligent but quirky with fly-like mannerisms and that wonderful Shatner-esque style of linguistics that makes the character seem both cocky and creepy at the same time. Cronenberg made an incredible piece of horror cinema, a film that terrorizes the mind as much, if not more than the eyes. The film isn’t all about violence and gore, but deals mainly with the transformation of Seth Brundle from his former self to the his new unnatural creation, not evil, but cruel by nature. Despite this focus on the story, the film still contains plenty of scenes to make one squeamish. I’ll never forget the scene at the end where Brundle, regurgitates on Borans’ hand and leg to stop him from attacking, but also to make a point that he is now a being superior to the common man. Oatmeal, anyone?

1. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

Arguably the greatest of horror remakes, the one film that absolutely stands out as a greater achievement in movie-making than its original inception, is John Carpenter’s vision for THE THING.   Written in 1981 by Bill Lancaster, Burt’s son, the film was based on 1951′s THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, directed by Howard Hawks and Christian Nyby.   Taking the basic concept as the original of a small group stranded in a snow-filled area being tormented by an alien species, Lancaster’s screenplay and Carpenter’s direction turn the intensity and the fright-factor all the up past the boiling point.   Being Carpenter’s first studio film, THE THING was the perfect combination of decent budget and the incredible eye for atmosphere Carpenter instills in all of his films.   It really is the perfect “stranded group getting picked off one-by-one” film, made all the more frightening by incredible creature effects by Rob Bottin and the unforgettable score by Ennio Morricone.   That score, while being a rare occurrence where Carpenter did not score his own film, is very Carpenter-esque, nonetheless, and helps project the nihilistic and overpowering sense of fear that the entire film seems to produce.   The perfect combination of scares, tension and gore, John Carpenter’s THE THING is not only the greatest horror remake ever put to film, it is among the best horror films ever.

In case you’ve literally been living under a rock, you should be aware that Quentin Tarantino’s newest masterpiece INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS opens this Friday. Being the Movie Geeks we are, we decided to devote an entire week to the modern maestro of cool cinema. Part of that week is today’s Top Ten List, which counts down the Movie Geek’s favorite characters created by tarantino himself. With INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS adding new memorable characters, we asked ourselves… Which Tarantino Characters are the most memorable of them all?

10. Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) from INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Lt. Aldo Raine, aka Aldo the Apache, from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee is a Lieutenant in the United States Army. He heads an elite group of Jewish American/German Soldiers that have been nicknamed “The Basterds”. They call him the Apache because he wants the scalps of his Nazi conquests, and those of his soldiers. He might lack social graces, but he is well known for what he does, which is killin’ Nazi’s, and he loves what he does! He will lead his unit into France, where there is a heavy Nazi presence, and take out as many Nazi’s as they possibly can. Brad Pitt does a great job in playing this All-American hero in the latest Tarantino gem “Inglorious Basterds”.

9. Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) from DEATH PROOF

Ladies, we’re gonna have some fun.

This is Stuntman Mike Mikke.  He’s a stuntman.  He’s also a psychopathic killer who stalks his victims with his decked out, 1970 Chevy Nova.  And who better to play such a killer than Snake Plissken himself.  Seriously, when it was announced a few years back that Quentin Tarantino would be making a slasher film for his part in GRINDHOUSE, horror fans around the world stood up and cheered.  It was the announcement that Kurt Russell had signed on to play the killer that really got movie fans in general frothing at the mouth to see this one.  Neither Tarantino nor Russell disappointed one bit.  Say what you will about the heavy-dialogue scenes and the few and far between kill shots.  DEATH PROOF is one badass ride, and it is made all the more badass by Russell.  But Stuntman Mike isn’t all smoky beard and sunglasses.  The guy’s got a lighter side.  Just reference the second half of the film for that.  Don’t let those cries of panic and banshee screams of pain fool you, though.  We all know that, even in those final moments, Stuntman Mike is one, cool customer.

8. O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) from KILL BILL

Lucy Liu was perfect as O-Ren Ishii, a product of three cultures (Chinese, Japanese and American) combined into one deadly and determined agent of power and beauty. O-Ren was orphaned as a child by gangsters, so it’s ironic she would become one herself. She is a business-woman, a warrior and a work of visual beauty, but she strikes fear into the hearts of those who might oppose her. That is, until she met her match in one of the coolest old school samurai showdowns in modern cinematic history when she squared off for the last time against Black mamba, aka Beatrix Kiddo, also known as The Bride. O-Ren was trained in the ways of the samurai, applied the wisdom of The Art of War to her business dealings and had no fear. O-Ren ruled her criminal kingdom with an iron fist and a steel blade, but finally succumbed to an honorable warrior’s demise at the hands of her blonde nemesis.

7. Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) from JACKIE BROWN

Tarantino had the clout in 1997 to cast anyone he wanted for JACKIE BROWN and, after PULP FICTION, most of Hollywood no doubt wanted to work with him. Ebony action icon Pam Grier was the now-mature siren of blaxploitation, the star of many 70’s urban classics such as COFFY, BLACK MAMMA WHITE MAMMA, and FOXY BROWN, films that Tarantino was a huge fan of. With her distinctive mega-fro, Grier was a statuesque, articulate ass-kicker in these films and she’s mentioned by name in Tarantino’s scripts for both RESERVOIR DOGS and TRUE ROMANCE and he’d originally considered Grier for PULP FICTION in the role ultimately played by Roseanne Arquette. Tarantino changed the lead character in Elmore Leonard’s 1993 novel “Rum Punch”, upon which JACKIE BROWN is based, from a blonde Caucasian to an African-American in order to accommodate Grier (in the novel, her name is Jackie Burke. Tarantino renamed her Brown after her character from FOXY BROWN). Pam Grier was 48 when she starred in JACKIE BROWN (though her character claims to be 44) and she gives a strong world-weary performance and is tough and believable when standing up to Samuel L. Jackson’s scary villain Ordell Robie. It’s been noted that JACKIE BROWN did not do for Grier’s career what PULP FICTION did for John Travolta but then, how many parts are there in Hollywood for black women pushing 50? Pam Grier did receive some choice roles after JACKIE BROWN and since 2004 has been costarring on TV’s “The L-Word”.

6. Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) from PULP FICTION

Chronologically, when we first see Butch Coolidge in PULP FICTION, he’s watching an episode of CLUTCH CARGO.  That, alone, puts this aging boxer into all of our “cool books.”  However, the coolness coming from Butch, and, more importantly, from Bruce Willis, doesn’t stop at the presence of Paddlefoot.  Here is a guy who has no problem beating a fellow boxer to death, has no problem filling an unarmed hitman with machine gun lead, but also has the decency to go back for a fellow man, a man who would kill Butch if given the chance, who is being violated by a couple of raping hillbillies.  Not only that, he does so with a thankfully convenient Samurai sword.  I’m sure it was probably a Hattori Hanzo if we delve much deeper.  It is only the presence of one Jules Winnfield played by the always-badass Samuel L. Jackson in this film that keeps Butch from being the coolest thing about PULP FICTION.

5. Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) from RESERVOIR DOGS

Mr. Pink is the only main character in “Reservoir Dogs” that is left without much of a back story or a description. Played By Steve Buscemi, we know that he is notoriously cheap by his strong, negative feelings about tipping his waitress. He is so cheap that he won’t even leave a dollar. After the diamond heist, he reveals to Mr. White back at the rendezvous point, the warehouse, that he managed to get away with a bag of diamonds despite the shootings and the cops sudden appearance at the scene. He is also the one to figure out that there is a rat among them. Someone who told the cops what they were up to. The cops were there way to quickly if they were just responding to the alarm at the store. He is the only known surviving character of the film, and his characters fate is pretty much left to our imagination. We do hear a car engine once he leaves the warehouse, and police sirens, but nothing is known of what actually happens to him. Maybe someday we will figure it out!

4. Bill/Snake Charmer (David Carradine) from KILL BILL

David Carradine is a legend in the world of Kung Fu and I didn’t think he could be anymore badass than he was in some of his former roles. After appearing in more than 100 films, and of course the legendary ‘Kung Fu’ tv series he took on a role that was imagined from the brilliant mind of Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino took him to a whole new level of badass playing the title character in the ‘Kill Bill’ movie(s). He double crossed his once lover, The Bride, who was pregnant with his baby at the time by shooting her in the head. Unfortunately for him the shot didn’t kill her and when she woke up, it was time to…Kill…Bill.

3. The Bride/Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) from KILL BILL

The Bride aka Black Mamba is really just Beatrix Kiddo, a highly trained assassin and the right hand man of Bill, leader of the Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad. Played by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Beatrix and Bill soon became lovers, and she became pregnant. Once she found out, she faked her own death, fled and changed her name to Arlene Machiavelli so that her and her child could have a normal life, away from the dangers of an assassins lifestyle. She soon found love in Tommy Plymptom, and on the night of their wedding rehearsal, Bill had learned that she was still alive and hunted her down. They were civil, and he was even brought into the rehearsal after she had lied to him, making him believe that the baby was Tommy’s. The damage was already done. Members of the DVAS came in to kill everyone, and just before she was shot in the head, she admitted that it was Bill’s baby. Now a survivor, after four years in a coma, it’s time for the Bride to seek her revenge, to kill everyone involved in ruining her wedding, killing her family, and wrecking her life. Most importantly, it’s time to Kill Bill!

2. Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) from RESERVOIR DOGS

Mr. Blonde is the alias of a cool cat named Vic Vega (also known as Toothpick Vic) in Tarantino’s very first film “Reservoir Dogs” played by Michael Madsen. After the heist that left one of their thieving crew dead and another missing, Mr. Blonde is suspected of being a possible rat by Mr. White and Mr. Pink. It doesn’t help his case that when he finally comes back to the warehouse, he shows his true colors. He’s cocky, soft-spoken, and utterly sadistic! He shows us just how crazy he really is by torturing a police officer by slicing his face, cutting his ear off and then dousing him with gasoline. This is all done to the cool sounds of “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealer’s Wheel. Tarantino always knows how to spice up a scene with a great soundtrack. So ask yourself one question… “Are you gonna bark all day little doggy? Or are you gonna bite?”

1. Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) from PULP FICTION

How could you possibly NOT find Jules Winnfield to be one of the baddest, coolest cats on the planet? You would certainly know the tyranny of evil men if ever caught staring down the barrel of his gun. Jules has a stare that burns holes in your forehead and if you cross him, he’ll let you know. Samuel L Jackson truly invented this role, playing off of Tarantino’s rhythmic and poetically urban dialogue, Jackson found his breakout role thanks to Tarantino. Can you imagine ANYONE else being able to pull of this role better than Samuel L. Jackson?

So many of the best lines in PULP FICTION came from the mouth of Jules Winnfield. Whether speaking of metaphysical anomalies, international drive thru cuisine or sexual relationships of an awkward nature, Jules always had something to say and it was always colorful. Jules truly is a badass mother f**ker… his wallet said so, but in the end he experiences a metamorphosis of character, choosing to leave behind his life of crime and violence for the more enlightened, unpredictable path of a peaceful traveler searching for the meaning of life. It’s a fascinating character arc that is reminiscent of David Carradine in KUNG FU (but, without the kung fu) and will not soon be forgotten as an iconic role that has infiltrated our modern culture and language.

OK, I know you vampire fans can be a fanatic lot, so this list is sure to upset some of you, but this is MY list. I can’t be wrong – you know why? Because it’s my list! Seriously, please comment and debate, and maybe we’ll all end up seeing some movies we haven’t seen before.

Wyatt Weed’s Top Ten Vampire Films

1. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

In my opinion the most well produced, adapted, and directed of all vampire films. Great source material, serious treatment of the subject, fine direction and acting. And it didn’t cost $100 million to make.

2. Blade (1998)

If “Interview” is the yin, “Blade” is the yang – action packed, stylish, great characters, and a believable, emotional new take on the old vampire clichĂ©s.

3. Dracula [aka: 'Horror of Dracula'] (1958)

This is the first and still one of the best of legendary Hammer Studios’ vampire films of the 50′s and 60′s. Great color, lighting, melodrama, and strong, iconic images. This film burned Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee into my brain long before the Star Wars films did.

4. The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

Impeccably well shot and designed, this Roman Polanski film mixes comedy and horror in equal measure. “Interview with the Vampire” and “Van Helsing” both owe a debt to this film.

5. Fright Night (1985)

The original re-invention of the vampire myth, this film again mixes horror and comedy at a break-neck pace with strong characters and well placed special effects. If for no other reason, see it for Chris Sarandon’s apple-eating, song-whistling vampire

6. Lifeforce (1985)

Yeah, it’s clunky, over the top, and there seem to be chunks missing, but it is epic, scary, and jaw dropping. Mathilda May was a mesmerizing vampire from space, and not because she spent most of the film naked…although that didn’t hurt…

7. Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)

I’m talking about the animated original, not the new live-action version. This isn’t feature length, but it is fast, vicious, and has incredible fight choreography that live action films can only aspire to.

8. Vampire Hunter D (1985)

My second AnimĂ© entry on this list, this film is titanic in scale and cosmic in concept. It also made me realize that I have a thing for girls with green hair…

9. Mr. Vampire (1985)

Part of the “Jiang Shi” or Chinese vampire sub-genre, if you’ve never seen a hopping vampire film, see this one. Produced by Sammo Hung, this film will have you laughing, squirming, and then wow you with some great chop-socky fight action.

10. Innocent Blood (1992)

This one just barely makes the list, but it’s fresh and original and contains a mix of genres never seen before – vampires and the mafia. It also has Anne Parillaud handcuffed and naked on a bed.

10 well-known vampire films that didn’t make my list – and why…

1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Francis Coppola’s epic is overly artsy and seems more interested in technique than story, and this could have been the greatest love story ever. Extra points for retaining the “diary entry” style of the original novel.

2. Underworld (2003)

I liked the first film, but it drew from too many other sources – Blade, The Matrix, etc. It was also a bit convoluted. Number 2 was OK, and I didn’t even bother with Number 3…

3. Let The Right One In (2008)

Many people lost bladder control over this one, calling it a classic and one of the greatest films they’d ever seen. I LIKED it, but it was overly long, and went off on tangents it didn’t explain. In some cases these were references to the book that were not fully explored, so why put them in at all? Start the hating now, but this is one film, much like RINGU, that I think will benefit from a Hollywood remake.

4. Near Dark (1987)

Meh. This is a cult classic, but I never got it. It’s alright, but I think it was a good idea not pushed nearly far enough.

5. Dracula (1931)

A classic, it helped jump-start the genre, but by today’s standards, I don’t feel it holds up. It is slow and feels much like the stage play it was based on. You gotta love it, but…

6. Dracula (1979)

This John Badham/Frank Langella version ALMOST made my list – ALMOST. It is sexy, has some great gags, but ultimately comes off as a really good TV movie. And that’s OK.

7., 8. Nosferatu (1922, 1979)

The original silent film has amazing images and a creepy main vampire – almost made the list. The re-make is too darn slow.

9. The Hunger (1982)

Too artsy. Deneuve and Sarandon making out, pretty darn good, but still too artsy. Made David Bowie boring, and that’s hard to do.

10. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Sorry folks – this is two different films, slammed together in the middle, and all of it is WAY over the top. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, and George Clooney is great, but the best part of the film is Salma Hayek dancing on a table and stuffing her foot into Tarantino’s mouth.

We want to wish all the Dads out there a very happy Fathers Day! Being a father myself its a special day to get to spend with your kids, and hopefully your own Dad. To celebrate I asked my dad to give me his top ten “man movies” of all time. There wont be any words because lets face it, man movies need no words.

Check it out below and thanks a bunch Dad!

Second Hand Lions

Remember the Titans

Dumb and Dumber

The Gladiator

Bloodsport

Unforgiven

The Cowboys

Enter the Dragon

The Patriot

With this weeks release of ‘Up’ we decided it was only fitting to have a Top Ten list for the Greatest Animated Characters. We reached out to everyone we could find, I even asked my grandmother but she wasn’t sure what an animated character was. Without further ado here is the list:

10. Shrek (‘Shrek’)

While not the first, animated film to be released by DreamWorks, ‘Shrek’ was the first film produced by the DreamWorks Animation department.   Its lead character, the green ogre with the tubular ears, has become the iconic symbol of the company, DreamWorks answer to Disney’s Mickey Mouse.   Of course, not just any character can become the icon of a whole production company.   Shrek is a likable, animated character who is, more importantly, funny.   The only way this character, voiced by Mike Myers, could have possibly been funnier was if Chris Farley had survived long enough to voice him, as was originally planned.   Most people prefer Donkey, but, personally, I don’t think there is a freshly funnier character seen in the past decade.

9. Dory (‘Finding Nemo’)

‘Finding Nemo’ was just one of an incredible string of great Pixar films which has lots of great characters, but the one that stands out for almost everyone in this film is that of the amnesiac fish Dory. Voiced by comedienne Ellen Degeneres, Dory becomes the comedic life of the film as she accompanies Nemo’s father on his quest to rescue his son. There are many other funny characters, including the current-surfing sea turtles and the gulls that say “mine” but Dory is the most quoted of them all. Would you quit it? “What, the ocean isn’t big enough for you or something like that? You got a problem? Huh? Do ya, do ya, do ya? You wanna piece of me? Yeah, yeah! Ooh, I’m scared now! What?”

8. The Grinch (‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’)

It isn’t often that the villain of a film is the most likable character in the whole thing.   Leave it up to the amazing trio of Dr. Seuss, Chuck Jones, and Boris Karloff to bring such a character into animated reality.   Even before the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes too big, he brings a smile to the face of the movie’s viewer regardless of their age.   And you can forget about ‘Halloween is Grinch Night,’ ‘The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat,’ and, especially, that live-action retread starring Jim Carrey.   None of them have the same level of care and craft that went into making the original, motion animated Grinch such an unforgettable character.

7. Sully (‘Monsters, Inc.’)

James P Sullivan is grizzly blue “monster” known as Sully. He was voiced by John Goodman and is the top scarer at Monsters, Inc., meaning that every scare and scream that he generates provides the power that runs Monstropolis. Sully accidentally lets one of the little children he was supposed to be scaring back through into the monster world and realizes that children arent the evil little monsters they have been led to believe. There are alot of characters that could have made the list from ‘Monsters Inc.’ but Sully is definitely the best and most lovable to children and adults alike.

6. Chihiro (‘Spirited Away’)

At the heart of Miyazaki’s most beloved feature film is a 10-year-old girl.   While moving to a new town with her family, Chihiro stumbles onto the entrance to the spirit world.   It is through her adolescent eyes we view this world and the events that transpire there.   As all of this takes place, we also witness the girl mature from the spoiled child she is at the beginning of the film to the aged, young woman she becomes before the end.   Human, lead characters are rarely this interesting.   In fact, Chihiro is the only human character that appears on this list.   Just one more reason why Miyazaki’s work is always breathtaking and why this character is so rounded and emotionally connecting.

5. Cheshire Cat (‘Alice in Wonderland’)

Does this pick even really need any explanation? By far, one of the coolest, least typical Disney characters ever to grace the big screen and small, the Cheshire Cat is cunning, shifty and that big toothy grin is enough to keep anyone looking over their shoulders when he’s around. Sterling Holloway was the perfect voice for the Cheshire Cat and that voice still lingers in the back of my head today. From the brilliant but questionably sane mind of Lewis Carroll, this is still arguably the best, and least-typical, Disney animated movie (non-CGI) of all time featuring the coolest crazy cat ever to be drawn and colored.

4. Woody (‘Toy Story’)

Say what you want about Buzz Lightyear and his “To infinity and beyond…”.   It is Sheriff Woody that is the emotional centerpiece in PIXAR’s maiden voyage into the world of feature films.   The pull-string doll has everything going perfectly until his owner, a young boy, decides he would rather be into space and astronauts than cowboys and indians.   Voiced by Tom Hanks, Woody is everything to this film.   He’s funny.   He’s sympathetic.   Yes, he even spends a slight amount of screen time as a possible villain.   Much credit has to go to the changes the character goes through for ‘Toy Story 2,’ as well.   In the almost 15 years PIXAR has been serving out feature film magic, the character of Woody has only been superceded in the last year, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

3. Roger Rabbit (‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’)

I wore out my Roger Rabbit NES game after hours of non stop playing, I still to this day cant figure out some of those damn jokes! When the ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ movie came out it revitalized the whole scene for animation in both film and cartoons. Roger Rabbit lives in Toontown and back in 1947 hollywood and cartoons coexist because they arent just drawn animations, they are real.   Roger Rabbit also has a sexy wife named Jessica Rabbit who is caught cheating on him with Marvin Acme. When Marvin Acme is found dead the prime suspect is Roger and he is forced to prove his innocence or face “the dip”.

2. Jack Skellington (‘Nightmare Before Christmas’)

What would become the first of many incredible stop-motion animated characters created from the collaborative mind of Tim Burton and Henry Selick, Jack Skellington is the ultimate dichotomy of good and evil in it’s most natural form. Jack’s not a bad guy, it’s just his nature to have a twisted mind having come from Halloweenland. So naturally, when he stumbles upon Christmasland he finds himself both mesmerized and driven to make this new discovery his own. Jack is both playful and likable and at the same time frightening and potentially cruel. His slim, tall and knobby design with his massive skull head is iconic and will continue to penetrate our visions of the two opposing holidays for decades to come.

1. Wall-E (‘Wall-E’)

Although Wall-E is the newest character on this list he is also the greatest animated character(in our opinions, which are the ones that matter right?). This movie cleaned up at every award ceremony for 2008 movies and will go down as one of the greatest animated movies of all time. Pixar creates these characters that know exactly how to pull on your heartstrings and Wall-E is the best example of this. Just watching the trailer made this girl cry!

Now doesnt that in of itself make Wall-E the greatest animated movie character of all time? I think so.

They are the first things we see.Ă‚   They are the launching point for your film.Ă‚   They are the opening scenes.Ă‚   Many opening scenes drive home right from the start what the film is all about and the attitude the filmmakers are projecting towards their audience.Ă‚   Some don’t work, but there are several opening scenes that stick out in cinefile’s minds all over.

It’s hard to put together a list of the 10 best opening scenes, but we’ve done our very best.Ă‚   Below, you’ll find what we Movie Geeks believe to be the best of the best in opening minutes of a film.

A quick note:Ă‚   We don’t want to hear anyone bitching about how ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is not on this list.Ă‚   Yes, the Normandy landing is an incredible scenes, one of the greatest battle sequences ever.Ă‚   However, think back to ‘Saving Private Ryan.’Ă‚   Think back to the very beginning of the film.Ă‚   The Normandy invasion is not the opening scene.Ă‚   Rather, the bookend scene at the cemetery is the very first scene we see after the opening title.Ă‚   So, there.Ă‚   Put that in your movie geek pipe and smoke it.

Now, onto the list:

10. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

9. Citizen Kane

8. Pulp Fiction

7. A Clockwork Orange
THE NARRATION NEAR THE END OF THIS CLIP IS IN ITALIAN. APOLOGIES FROM THE EDITOR.

6. Star Wars: A New Hope

5. Magnolia

4. Once Upon a Time in the West

3. Fight Club


Watch Fight Club : opening title sequence in Entertainment |Ă‚  Ă‚  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

2. Apocalypse Now

1. Touch of Evil

Earth Day 2009 is upon us and while there are many more beneficial ways to celebrate the planet Earth, nature and the environment than watching movies, there are some worthy films available out there on the fairly vast theme that Earth Day encompasses. So, once you’ve done your recycling, gardening and whatever other Earth Day practices you may have, here’s a few films I’d like to recommend viewing while you relax from a long day’s effort to make our planet a cleaner and safer one to live on.

Planet Earth (2006) – This 11-part epic mini-series is a must see for everyone, seriously! Watch it on Blu-Ray, even better! From pole to pole, this series takes us on a truly beautiful and cinematic exploration of the planet we live on yet typically know so little about. If you have the time, this is a great way to celebrate Earth Day and be mesmerized by the wonders of nature. I know this is what I’ll be watching, for the seventh time, on Earth Day.

Blue Planet (2001) / Deep Blue (2003) – Even though it came out five years before ‘Planet Earth’ and didn’t benefit from the same technology, ‘Blue Planet’ is still an extraordinary series on life in the oceans. Given that they make up 70% of the Earth’s surface, they deserve an in depth exploration. I chose to stick ‘Deep Blue’ in here with it because, while worthwhile on it’s own merit, it acts as a kind of introductory piece to both ‘Blue Planet’ and ‘Planet Earth’. I suppose you could call it a Cliff’s Notes for the two series.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006) / The 11th Hour (2007) – I lumped these two together for a specific reason. I wouldn’t even have ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ on this list if not simply to illustrate a point. That point being it’s not a great movie at all. Subject matter aside, ‘AIT’ features Al Gore (not an electrifying speaker) standing on a stage with a digital slide show talking about how the Earth is dying. Boring! On the other hand, Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘The 11th Hour’ is an engaging documentary that involves the viewer, gives people solutions instead of just whining and understands that the human species will perish long before we could ever truly “kill” the planet. ‘AIT’ got all the hype, but 11th Hour’ deserves more recognition.

FLOW: For Love of Water (2008) – The one thing we as human being, and life in general, needs more than anything else is water. We love the stuff and in more ways than just nourishment for our bodies. ‘FLOW’ tackles the subject matter of how we use this natural resource and the possible reality that it is dwindling quicker than we can sustain it’s presence and usefulness. This is an eye-opening film and presents information significant to us all.

Garbage Warrior (2007) – What can you do with garbage? What would you do to help make the world a cleaner place to live? What would it take to accomplish this? These are the three questions addressed in this fascinating documentary about architect Michael Reynolds’ The film chronicles his fight to introduce and encourage a radically new form of sustainable housing and his struggle against the bureaucracy that restrains his dream. Definitely an enjoyable film and appealing to anyone interested in green living.

Darwin’s Nightmare (2004)Ă‚   – An amazing and telling documentary about the effects of the fishing industry in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria. The Nile Perch was introduced into the lake by the industry to farm for the European market, but the predatory fish has all but wiped out the other species, leaving little for the native people to survive on. The film is disturbing and sad, but at the same time an honest look at how industry interrupts the natural order of things.

Manufactured Landscapes (2006) – This beautifully shot documentary follows photographer Edward Burtynsky as he travels the world documenting changes in the Earth’s landscapes due to industry and manufacturing. The film puts a spotlight on our effect of business and population on the planet while still somehow finding beauty in it all.

Rivers and Tides (2001) – This portrait of artist Andrew Goldsworthy is an amazing example of a person whose entire life has been influenced and affected by the beauty and power of nature and how he’s taken his creative drive and applied it back to nature without leaving a negative impact.

Microcosmos (1996) – Originally touted as a children’s movie, this up-close look at the insect world is actually quite compelling for kids of all ages. You’ve never been this close to so many bugs and been so mesmerized by the fascinating lives they live. ‘Microcosmos’ also helps to convey the important role that insects have in our lives and in the planet’s ecosystems.

Baraka (1992) – No, this isn’t another documentary about the new president. It is however, an incredibly beautiful visual tour of some of the world’s most pristine landscapes and natural wonders. The film is more of a feature-length music video for nature than a narrative film, containing no true plot other than “Wow! Earth is beautiful!” The movie is a more universally accessible and less-overwhelming experience than Godfrey Reggio’s ‘Life‘ trilogy, but those of worth seeing as well.

Since I am in the process of making one of the greatest Mockumentaries ever, I thought it would also be a good idea to show everyone some of the other great ones. The list below is some required watching before you decide to make your own Mockumentary.

10. Man Bites Dog

This mockumentary consistently falls under people’s radar, despite being released on Criterion DVD. Then again, that can be said for many deserving films on Criterion. This French faux documentary is a little disturbing and has a dark comedy after bite, but is played mostly to invoke the sense that it’s really true. The story has a camera crew following a serial killer and documenting his way of life. The crew must cope with witnessing his acts of theft, rape and murder without getting involved and spoiling the purity of their documentary.

09. CB4

This is the hip hop/rap equivalent to Spinal Tap, in which it follows 3 up and coming rappers as they start to hit fame and fortune. The group is a parody of the famous rap group N.W.A., and a few other gangsta rap groups. CB4 stands for Cell Block 4 who become the hottest rap group with songs like “Sweat From My Balls” and “Straight Outta Locash”.

Chris Rock stars in this movie as MC Gusto, he also wrote the story and screenplay for the film. This also helped land cameos from Ice Cube, Ice T, Shaquille Oneal, Halle Berry, Flavor Flav,Ă‚   Eazy-E, and The Butthole Surfers(huh?).

08. The Grand

This phony documentary takes the insanely popular “sport” of professional poker and pokes jabs at it’s popularity on all levels, but does so with a more subtle touch than your typical mockumentary. The characters are ridiculous but believable and the the movie still manages to maintain that unique suspense that comes with watching a good round of poker while still being funny as Hell.

07. A Mighty Wind

Christopher Guest’s third in his string of mockumentaries tackles the world of folk music, documenting a group of retired folk singers and musicians that come together for one big Woodstock-style folk music reunion concert. Despite most of these characters being pathetic relics of the past, Guest and his regular crew of comedic geniuses still manage to instill a sense of empathy and likability in the characters. Even the music is kind of catchy, although I wouldn’t go driving around listening to it in my car with my sound system blasting.

06. [rec]

This Spanish film is the absolute best the genre of “first-person-shot-horror” has to offer.Ă‚   The idea of being trapped in an apartment complex with a bunch of raging zombies is terrifying enough.Ă‚   Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza, the directors behind ‘[REC]‘, put their audience squarely in the middle of all the action, throwing scare after scare at the camera.Ă‚   This is scary stuff right here.Ă‚   In fact, the final 10 minutes of the film are among some of scariest moments I’ve seen in recent memory.

‘[REC]‘ was remade last year for American audiences as ‘Quarantine,’ and, if you just have to see an Americanized version of the film, you can do worse than this remake.Ă‚   It is essentially a shot-for-shot remake of the original film, but it offers just as many thrills, as well.

For a full Movie Melting Pot on ‘[REC]‘, check this out!

05. Fubar

I know what you are saying ‘Fubar’, I have never even heard of that mockumentary. Well sir, you are missing out and need to jump on Amazon to snag a copy of this movie. My buddy Mike introduced me to this movie called ‘Fubar’, a Canadian Mockumentary that he makes all of his new employees watch as a rite of passage. The even funnier part is that they ordered this movie and received it 2 years later! He was explaining the premise to me and it sounded like the worst movie in the history of bad movies. He put the dvd in and immediately starting laughing before it even started playing, pretty weird.

What I found after watching about 4 minutes of the movie is an utterly ridiculous story of two aging headbangers Terry and Dean(pictured above). These guys do nothing but drink beer, play foot hockey, and grow “hockey hair†ť aka mullets and beat the hell out of each other and anything they come in contact with..including Tron.

04. Best In Show

If you like absurdist comedy and you like dogs, then you have no excuse for having not seen this movie. As Christopher Guest’s second foray into the relatively young genre of mockumentary filmmaking (at the time) this movie is brilliant comedy. Stereotypes galore, a stellar cast of mostly improvised dialogue and tons of great dogs to boot. The situational comedy and comedic timing in this movie are spot on and in my opinion, this is his best of the four mockumentaries so far from Guest.

03. Borat

Borat is a fictions character from the Sacha Baron Cohen TV Show ‘Da Ali G Show’. The full title of the movie is ‘Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’, but as you can see its much easier to just say ‘Borat’.

This is a different style Mockumentary because there are only a couple of actors in the film, the rest are real people he is interacting with and essentially making look ridiculous. This is the most recent super succesful Mockumentary film, but its look like his next character movie called ‘Bruno’ will surpass the success of ‘Borat’.

Borat is supposed to be from Kazakhstan, and he is making his way through America filming how we do things so he can go back and attempt to improve the Kazakhstan culture. This movie probably also holds the record for most lawsuits filed from its filming because everyone that ended up looking like a moron wanted to sue them even though they signed release forms.

02. Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is the highest grossing indie film of all time, and has the highest ratio of profit to cost ever. After premiering at Sundance in 1999 it saw a wide release that summer. It grossed nearly 250 million worldwide, as opposed to only costing 35,000 to make.Ă‚   The film was almost entirely improvised and was shot in 8 days, giving them almost 19 hours of footage to edit.Ă‚   Since the movie was supposed to look as real as possible each day the directors would give each actor an outline of what needed to accomplish for that day, and at night they would purposely freak them out as if it was really happening.

This is probably the least Mockumentary style film on the list, but it was shot like a dockumentary and the characters and events are fake thus we have one of the most successful Mockumentaries of all time.

01. This is Spinal Tap

‘This is Spinal Tap’ is not just a cult classic, but a cultural icon of a movie. This mockumentary is about a fictional 80′s glam rock hair metal band called Spinal Tap. Rob Reiner created and stars in the doc as the film maker, so essentially he is just playing himself, playing himself..does that make sense? This movie helped launch Christopher Guest into another mockumentary film maker who is responsible for films like ‘Best in Show’, ‘A Mighty Wind’, and ‘Waiting for Guffman’.

This movie still stands the test of time, and its the epitomy of how to make a Mockumentary. Not only did they make the movie, but they also released 2 albums, and coined the term “Turn it up to 11″..if I could only be so lucky.

Short but sweet, here’s our lists of our Top 10 Movies about getting drunk, hammered, wasted, plastered… whatever you want to call it when you drink until you’re sh**-faced in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Be safe, have fun… and we’ll drink one to all the Movie Geeks out there playing movie drinking games.

What are you looking forward to? Ă‚  Are you interested in where the next ‘Terminator’ film is gonna go? Ă‚  Can you not wait for James Cameron’s next film? Ă‚  Are you one of the millions upon millions of fanatics who would do anything to see ‘Watchmen’ right this minute?

Well, here are the ten films that we here at We Are Movie Geeks agreed are our ten most anticipated films of 2009. Ă‚  These are the films that above all others, we cannot wait to enjoy with our bucket o’ popcorn and cold, tasty beverage.

Check ‘em out:

10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17th)

9. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (August 7th)

8. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 26th)

7. Terminator: Salvation (May 22nd)

6. Inglourious Basterds (To Be Announced)

5. The Wolfman (November 6th)

4. Avatar (December 18th)

3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1st)

2. Star Trek (May 8th)

1. Watchmen (March 6th)

And there they are.Ă‚   What do you think?Ă‚   Did we miss any?Ă‚   Any of you major ‘Mall Cop’ fans out there think we dropped the ball on that one?Ă‚   Do you think any of these might not even get released in 2009?Ă‚   Let us know by commenting below!

The dates given are tentative.Ă‚   In the case of ‘Watchmen’, the date is extremely tentative.Ă‚   Be sure to keep checking back to We Are Movie Geeks for all the latest news and updates on your most anticipated films.

And we here at We Are Movie Geeks want to wish you all a very fun and safe New Years!