best film: Magnolia is the answer. As much as I love the entirety of Cruise’s filmography (only 43 IMDB credits to date) this is a two-horse race here between Cruise’s gigantic achievements in 1999 (Magnolia
best film: The Grand Illusion though I’m really close to saying Ophuls’ Le Plaisir. I’ve only seen Le Plaisir once (I was blown away) so I hope to revisit and confirm soon. Still, for the
best film: White Heat by a mile. As good as Yankee Doodle Dandy is and Roaring Twenties (Cagney’s second best film) is the answer here is easily the 1949 crime masterpiece. Cagney is a bat
best film: I’m overdue for a Kubrick retrospective and haven’t seen Paths of Glory in years but I think I’m giving the edge here to Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past. Out of the Past
best film: Lost in Translation. I had Sofia Coppola’s masterpiece one slot above Wes Anderson’s (Royal Tenenbaums) towards the back end of my top 100 of all-time when I last updated it (#88 and #89
best film: The Hill which I’ve seen twice and don’t understand why it’s not held in a higher regard amongst cinephiles and critics. It’s skillfully shot, features a large set piece (title of the film),
best film: Saving Private Ryan and now that we’ve had a little bit of distance between now and Hanks’ best work I don’t think this one is particularly close. I think there are a number
Essentially it’s a remake of Late Spring from 1949- one of Ozu’s classics. Changes are that it’s in color (of course this is his stretch of his late five color films), it’s a daughter/mother (instead
best film: Malcolm X is a masterpiece. It’s different than David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia in some ways (lush 70mm exteriors, how much of the life is covered) but similar in others (aggressively stylistic from
best film: Gone With the Wind is a masterpiece of epic movie-making. Whether it’s the gorgeous color photography, crane shots (in combination with a myriad of extras to provide proper scope), writing or acting—it’s a
best film: It’s tempting to forget Sean Penn is in The Tree of Life. That’s not a good sign for him in terms of his impact on the film’s masterpiece status. I think of Jessica
best film: Citizen Kane by an eyelash over The Magnificent Ambersons and The Third Man (I don’t count Touch of Evil really because Cotton’s role is a small cameo). Cotton has been in four of
