100th Blog Post Special! My Top Five Favourite Movies of all time!

Hello all,

So, we have reached a mile marker. 100 blog posts isn’t that exciting? Now granted if I had done one review at a time we would’ve past this point a long time ago but I argue that other sites give you multi reviews so why can’t I? Besides, still being an independent reviewer I have less time to see these movies so I want to keep you guys up to speed with me as to how far I am in the year.

    Now I’ve had a few ideas for this posting, some I may never do, some I might do very soon, but for now I thought I’d give you all an insight into my mentality with a listing of my top five favourite movies of all time.

    Why only 5? because truthfully I’ve never sat down and actually wrote myself a personal top ten, but if I ever do I’ll save 5 - 10 for a later special. I will also say that I am aware that there are movies that might be considered much better than my favourites but these are my favourites because I like these better than other movies. Does that mean I’m right in choosing these? no, once again this is all just my personal opinion.

    Now I will skip pros and cons and scores, there all 10/10 in my mind, but instead I just wanna talk about why I like them and their significance to me. So let’s get started shall we?

5. Pulp Fiction (1994)

The opening scene in this movie is actually a pretty funny one, an exchange between a couple about their occupation of choice. I will admit though, I know the exact moment I was hooked, and it went like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5_GV0NzJ7c. After that, watching all three of the stories in this film play out, we went on a wild ride with gangsters, boxers, rednecks, there were shots fired, swords swung, dancing scenes, with fantastic dialogue, tons of quotable lines, and an overall sense of just fun and mayhem.

I actually started watching Tarantino films when my dad took me too see Kill Bill as a kid and I think I watched this one after Kill Bill Vol 2. Little did I know that that would start me down the rabbit hole of his filmography, making him my favorite director today.

Why number 5? Honestly, it’s a solid film, but I think Pulp Fiction being his most known movie, it’s the one that, at least from my experience, everyone likes and yet it’s few people’s favourite. While I do really like the film enough to give it this spot I find myself also in that camp of it’s not my absolute favourite, but I love it enough to give it number 5.

4. Drive (2011)

The most recent entry on my list, I remember actually doing some research on this film before it came out, and while I admit that I was originally taken in by the trailer (which was the first time I learned about misleading marketing practices) once I did some digging I was surprised to find out how much more of an art house film that this was.

It’s the style of this film that grabs me the most, from the way they show the different points in the film cinematography wise, to the variety of characters, to the for the most part grounded action scenes. It’s a crime filming oozing with style and substance and 99% likely the first arthouse film I’d ever seen. Drive to me is an action film done with a sense of realism that still managed to be interesting, for most people.

Why Number 4? This might sound weird, but it’s the bad marketing that holds this one back for me. I still get people telling me they hate this film whenever it comes up and I honestly can see why. It’s wasn’t the hardcore fast and furious style action that was advertised and I can understand that disappointment. If it had either been advertised properly or had a bit of a better balance in terms of that kind of action it would’ve gone over much better (and also what I partially blame for Nightcrawler failing.)

3. Clockwork Orange (1971)

    Now onto the flipside, the oldest film on this list. Another example of a really stylized film, it’s also the story itself that honestly still rings true today with the basic message being you can't force people to change no matter how much you force them. Now while the book has an ending that isn’t seen of the film (also I read the book because of the movie which is rare for me, I recommend both) the film itself I think makes the slightly better version of the same point.

The main thing I like about this film is the atmosphere, it captures this perfect overlapping sense of dread no matter what is going on in the scene. There’s also scenes and imagery from the film that’s still highly parodied, satirized, and paid homage to all the time. It’s also a film that to me has this perfect arching story and quite honestly is one of the best written films I’ve ever seen.

Why Number 3? no one will ever say being in the top three is a bad thing, but I guess it’s mostly just the way that this list got organized. If you tell people Kubrick is your favourite most people think you’re a snob, plus since it’s the oldest on this list it get’s harder and harder to talk to people about it. It’s a film that I think is due for a re release and honestly once again I think is still relevant to today's culture. I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s a film that’s hard for most people to get behind.

2. Oldboy (2003)

    That’s right, the 2013 Spike Lee film that nobody saw, was a remake of what was at the time a ten year old South Korean film. Definitely a film that only film geeks or foreign cinema geeks would most likely know, I’m embarrassed to admit I actually found out about this film on 4chan in my younger lurking years.

    Somebody once described this film as a greek tragedy, and it actually wasn’t until I was much older when I realized how right that statement was. It’s also a rather interesting film in the terms of it’s story and how it plays out, which I will say right now Spike Lee’s version completely missed the point of what the film was about because of just a simple change to how the story played out.

    Why Number 2? Because of the ending. I really like the ending, it’s a good ending, in fact the ending is basically what brings the whole film together, but anyone who has ever seen knows that the ending might leave quite a few people horrified and looking at you funny for enjoying it. Like Clockwork Orange, it’s a hard film to talk about, but for a much more difficult reason.

And now, my number one favourite film of all time is………

1. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

This is the very first conversation in the movie, and from the moment I heard it I was hooked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J782jBp_pW0. I had seen a few Tarantino films at this point but I knew there was something in particular I was looking for. I found that in Reservoir Dogs.

    You learned about the characters and the story as it played out through flashbacks, the soundtrack was phenomenal, every scene in this film to me is solid gold. There’s never a moment in this film where I’m bored, I’m always invested and even having seen it as many times as I have I’m still eager and excited to relearn this film all over again.

    Why Number 1? This was the film where, after the first time I watched it, I knew I wanted to make my own films for a living. Anything that can help you decide what to do with your life to me earns a high place in your heart, and in this case as well number one on this list.

So there you go, my top five favourite films.

I’m now on my way out to catch another film, so expect another review later this evening or early tomorrow.

Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.