The BEMOVIESEEMOVIE Subjective 100: The Honorable Mentions
Any top list ranking is subjective, and don’t let any other critic or movie watcher tell you differently. Movies are a personal experience, so know what you like, and rank using your criteria.
Before we get to the best 100, I want to acknowledge the films that just missed: 25 of them. Here are the last 15 in deserving of some acknowledgement:
A strange list that goes all over the place right? That’s what makes putting a list of the top movies of your all time so hard. But so we must press on.
Below are the last 10 out. The Just a Bit Outsides. The “He Didn’t Make It’s“. Sorry y’all. Below the list I’ll outline who might have a shot in a later version of this list, because, like anything you believe in, you should be testing it over and over again.
The 40s and 50s had a lot of great thrillers, but most of them revolve around a detective trying to solve a murder. What makes this one so special is how entrenched it is in its setting: 1950s New York City. The “kingpin” is a tabloid journalist JJ Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) whom the nightlife revolves around, as his paper can make or break someone trying to get big. Feeding Lancaster is Tony Curtis, stuck in an abusive work relationship with Lancaster, who’s keeping him employed but underemployed and constantly hustling for fame/power. New York nights seem like a place that draw in the best and worst of humanity, with Lancaster arbitering who belongs where and Curtis trying to usurp Lancaster without being caught in his crosshairs. It’s a tightrope act that leaves you breathless beginning to end, waiting for something terrible to happen to someone caught in the muckraking crossfire.
One of the greatest documentaries ever made. In part, because it was made about a modern hero. Fred Rogers’s life was devoted to teaching children through television. But not in the infantile way as seen mostly today, but with much more depth and honesty towards children. Morgan Neville shows us these warm lessons plus how Mr. Rogers fought his whole life to defend the funding necessary to keep quality educational programs like hisD on the air, as well as fight hatred with love in simple but powerful terms. I’m tearing up just writing this, thinking about those amazing words: “The greatest thing we can do is help somebody know that they’re loved and capable of loving.” 143, too.
One of the funniest films of the 2000s. Judd Apatow ushered in his famous improv shooting style as well as an early pioneer of the R Rated romcom in this movie. Steve Carell is excellent as the titular sex free lead, surrounded by equally funny comedians everywhere like Jane Lynch, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Elizabeth Banks. Catherine Keener proves she’s more than a drama talent too, showing off her impressive comedic charms alongside Carell. This movie has you crying from laughter then slowly switches some of those laughing tears to real ones as what should have been a dumb story about getting laid goes much deeper than you ever expected it would.
The great American Fable comes to life via Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. The publicity seeking vigilante bank robbing couple are dynamite together, pushing each other to bigger and bigger scores/escapes for the fame as well as fan the fames of their love. Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons (who won an Oscar for this role) are also excellent as the other members of the Barrow Gang. Who live fast and hard, and go out mostly the way they probably wanted to, while we’re along for the ride, hanging on for dear life.
When most people think of Anime filmmaking, they think of the insightful, sweet touches of a Hayao Miyazaki film. Well, Katsuhiro Otomo’s post apocalyptic tale would pull out a gun and murder one of those Ghibli characters, laughing along the way. Set in a rebuilt Tokyo in the future, this anime aimed to be as visually stunning and thematically complex as previous Japanese animated films, but also dared to do so with an R rating level of violence. What results is controlled mayhem of the best kind that awes you every minute you spend inside its world, and well after the movie ends.
In the early 1990s where a bunch of kids sports movies were created, this one stands tallest. That’s because the sports are almost secondary to the simple but wonderful story. The movie is more about time spent on summer vacation, hanging out with friends, learning about neighborhood legends and how to become one, the list goes on. Universal and nostalgic feelings sweep over you as you watch the tales of the Beast, a Babe Ruth Ball, and Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez, maybe the greatest baseball player in movie history, at age 13 no less!
It’s really hard for a non R Rated movie to capture the essence of what life is like in high school. But no one did that better than John Hughes. Consider this gem, simply built around 3 friends skipping school and going out in the city of Chicago for a day. While the uptight principal fails miserably enforcing his rules, Ferris, Cameron and Sloane are out learning what school can’t teach them about living and loving life. Matthew Broderick’s Ferris gets all the accolades, but Alan Ruck’s Cameron really sticks with you the most, playing the neurotic everyman delighted and scared in equal measure. And if that doesn’t make your parade, an incredible Charlie Sheen cameo and the Chicago Skyline should help seal the deal.
Abortion clearly is a touchy subject for everyone. No matter where you stand on the debate, it makes for extremely compelling cinema if done right, like this film does flawlessly. Trapped in an oppressive Romanian system, two university girls traverse the illegal means by which they can obtain an abortion for the one girl who is pregnant. This movie is gripped with tension throughout, showcasing the terrifying, inhumane things these poor girls have to do in order to not have their lives forever altered from a kid they don’t want. The heartbreaks come in big and subtle ways, best executed in a dinner scene that is fun for all but one specific character, who’s barely holding it together.
If only summer blockbusters were as fun as this one. Marvel’s first superhero team up is a smile generating romp. As amazing as the Battle of New York is (and it’s one of the greats), some of the best parts of the movie are just having the super heroes hanging out and conversing/mocking/battling one another, finding that wonderful Marvel tone of light but fun and never letting up. It’s pure wish fulfillment if you’re a comic book fan, and if you aren’t it’s still a blast to see stuff you’ve never seen before on the big screen.
A samurai is found murdered, with a bandit being held as the prime suspect. Nothing special right? But we’re in the hands of a genius, Akira Kurosawa, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The story Kurosawa unfurls upon the audience is a brilliant study of perspective and human behavior, as all the witnesses to the murder have entirely different stories. This movie is so influential, lawyers have a term called Rashomon effect when talk about how to deal with witnesses.
And there you have it! Now onto my favorite films of all ti….
WAIT!!!!
Below I’ve included a little mini recognition section to honor some of the films above!
Will Probably Drop Out
I like Bonnie & Clyde, but having seen a bunch of classic cinema over the past couple years, this one doesn’t have the legs of the other films on this list.
Growing in Esteem
The minute I saw Akira it planted itself in my brain and refuses to leave. I remain in awe of what it’s doing and am excited to see if it stays that way long term, meaning it’s more special than I’m giving it credit now.
Needs a Rewatch
I haven’t seen Rashomon in a long time. I remember it slower now, but maybe I was more naive back then? Most of my questions will be answered when I see it again.
The Surprise
The Sandlot is NOT going to be on most critics’ Top anything lists, except maybe worst lists. That’s because they miss all the beats the story gets right about being friends and life in the suburbs that resonates way more than the movie gets credit for.
How the Subjective 100 was made…
My process to get 100 films was as follows: go through each top 10 list from every movie year on my website, and pull the best movies of that year that might qualify for my all time list (number of films per year varies, depending on the quality of the year). I took that set of films, and put them into their respective genres (sci-fi, drama, horror, etc). From there the films in each genre got ranked against each other. Then I worked backwards, taking the worst film from each of the genres and ranking them based on my personal judgment. Once the worst film from a genre was used, it was discarded, and the next highest film was then ranked against the current set. This process was repeated until I exhausted the entire film list, creating the list you’ll see forthcoming.
