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THE MOST-ASKED QUESTION:
W H A T ’ S   Y O U R   F A V O U R I T E   F I L M ?
Shadows all-time top 100 filmsThis is certainly a loaded question. A favourite film is a deeply personal thing, and the one I choose may seem like rubbish to someone else. But I'll never argue against your decision to name Rambo III as the best film you've ever seen (even though I know better). And so I have a rather muddled answer to that question--this is actually my Top 100. But there are two titles that spring to mind--for very different reasons. The first is...
• The Stunt Man (Richard Rush, 80) • "If God could do the things we can do, he'd be a happy man." • This little-seen masterpiece stars Peter O'Toole as a maniacal film director who protects a fugitive (Steve Railsback) by making him a stunt man on his set. The trick is this: The previous stunt man was killed when a stunt went wrong, and if police find out they'll close down production. So the two men are dependent on each other. And while they strike up a friendship, they both don't like the fact that their fates are in each others' hands. There's more: The director finds in the fugitive the spark he needs to complete his World War I film; the fugitive needs the film crew (especially Barbara Hershey as the lead actress) to help clear the cobwebs in his own head. Amid all this is an examination of the fine line between reality and illusion. What better place to study this than on a film set? Oscar nominations for Rush and O'Toole; sadly no awards.
Only one other film has been able to get as deeply under my skin...
and it's a six-parter:
• Star Wars: A New Hope (George Lucas, 77); The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 80); Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 83); The Phantom Menace (Lucas, 99); Attack of the Clones (Lucas, 02); Revenge of the Sith (Lucas, 05) • "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." • Pure exuberance and excitement in the cinema simply can't be matched by watching these films on video. There's a reason why this saga has tapped so deeply into the culture: story-telling simplicity that appeals to the dreamer in us, great special effects, a sense of humour and irony, a coherently created universe. Empire is the best of the lot (better character development, more action, Yoda), but the first is sheer magic, and the third nicely ties up this part of the story, although that last shot turns my stomach. Menace is a solid introduction (although it's a bit dull), while Clones is an energetic, action-packed romp. Sith impressively brings it full-circle with a much darker tone and an intensely tragic storyline that will make the six-part saga feel different when discovered in sequence. Lucas now says he's done with these movies, even though the saga was originally planned as a nine-part series.
Now for the rest of the answer ... broken into three groupings:
F I L M S   T H A T   S P E A K
  • La Strada (Federico Fellini, 56) about love and loyalty
  • Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 55) about the human condition
  • The Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 57) about the need for love and respect
  • Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 95) about the value of life
  • Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 89) on racism
  • My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 89) on struggling with adversity
  • The Colour of Paradise (Majid Majidi, 99), about beauty
  • Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 53) about finding your true family
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 04) on the complexity of memory
  • Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 69) on real compassion
  • The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 39) on childhood imagination
  • Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant, 89) on addiction
  • Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 99) on identity, desire, fame
  • The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 46) on the the flip side of triumph
  • Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 88) on manipulation
  • Kiss of the Spider Woman (Hector Babenco, 85) about love for your fellow man
Q U I N T E S S E N T I A L S
  • Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 41), the most amazingly original
  • Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 85), the most devastating
  • Sunrise (FW Murnau, 27), the most evocative
  • The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 01-03), the most passionate epic
  • American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 99), the most searing black comedy
  • Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 43), the most romantic
  • Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen, 52), the best musical film
  • Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 58), the most sinister film noir
  • Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 55), the creepiest thriller
  • Reds (Warren Beatty, 81), the most intelligent bio-epic
  • Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 60), the coolest anti-hero
  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 48), the best look at greed
  • The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 35), the loveliest thriller
  • Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 59), the most gripping courtroom drama
  • Airplane! (Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker, 80), the most ridiculous
  • Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 95), the most cleverly in-your-face
  • The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 62), the most surprising thriller
  • All About Eve (Joe Mankiewicz, 50), the most viciously funny
  • Body Heat (Lawrence Kasdan, 81), the steamiest double-whammy mystery
  • The Piano (Jane Campion, 93), the most darkly moving
  • Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 33), the zaniest
  • Smoke (Wayne Wang, 95), the most ethereal
  • Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 96), the most inventively kinetic
  • Moulin Rouge (Baz Luhrmann, 01), the most audacious
F A V O U R I T E   D I R E C T O R S
  • Alfred Hitchcock - almost every film he made, but most notably Rear Window (54), The Trouble with Harry (56), Psycho (60), Vertigo (58).
  • Charles Chaplin - brilliant, insightful filmmaking: The Great Dictator (40), Limelight (35), City Lights (31), Modern Times (36).
  • David Lynch - hopeful examinations of human depravity: The Elephant Man (79), Blue Velvet (86).
  • Martin Scorsese - staggering examinations of human character: GoodFellas (90), Raging Bull (80), Taxi Driver (76).
  • Stanley Kubrick: 2001, A Space Odyssey (68), still state-of-the-art; A Clockwork Orange (71), a chilling look at human nature; Dr Strangelove (64), the best anti-war film.
  • Steven Spielberg - wonder: E.T., The Extra-terrestrial (82), Saving Private Ryan (98), Raiders of the Lost Ark (81), The Color Purple (85).
  • Billy Wilder - astute, meaningful, hilarious: Some Like it Hot (59), The Apartment (60)
  • Woody Allen - most notably Manhattan (79), Hannah and Her Sisters (86), Crimes and Misdemeanors (89).
  • Roman Polanski - Chinatown (74), expertly crafted noir; Tess (80), aching beauty.
  • Francis Ford Coppola: Apocalypse Now (79), a powerful statement about restraint; The Godfather (72-90), cinematic perfection.
  • Akira Kurosawa - masterful tales of human nature: The Seven Samurai (54); Rashomon (51).
  • Ang Lee - gripping, detailed dramas, especially Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (00); The Ice Storm (97).
  • Bob Fosse - searing humanity: Lenny (76), Cabaret (72), All that Jazz (79).
  • Frank Capra - purely wonderful: It's a Wonderful Life (46); It Happened One Night (34).
  • Brian DePalma - beautifully filmed morality plays: The Untouchables (87), Blow Out (81).
  • Joel & Ethan Coen - quirky, insightful character drama: Fargo (96); Blood Simple (83).
  • Terry Gilliam - unstoppable imagination: Brazil (85), Time Bandits (81).
  • Hal Ashby - funny, personal character drama: Being There (79); Harold and Maude (71).
  • Elia Kazan - powerful human drama: On the Waterfront (54); A Streetcar Named Desire (51).
  • Milos Foreman - stunning human dramas: Amadeus (84), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (75).
  • Peter Weir - the courage to be yourself: Dead Poets Society (89), The Truman Show (98).
  • Mel Brooks - outrageous comedy/satire: Blazing Saddles (74), Young Frankenstein (74).
  • Rob Reiner: Stand by Me (86), the growing-up film; This is Spinal Tap (84), hilarious mock documentary; The Princess Bride (87), funny, hip fairy tale.
  • Roland Joff้: The Mission (86), power of forgiveness; The Killing Fields (84), power of hope.
To see this list in numerical order, see SHADOWS TOP 100.
NB. The 1980s seems to be my favourite film decade, with 30 of my top 100 films. Perhaps it has something to do with my age during those years. Next are the 1950s (17), '70s (16), '90s (13), '60s (8), '30s (7), '40s (5), 2000s (3) and '20s (1). back to the top
W H A T   A R E   T H E   S H A D O W S   A W A R D S ?
Shadows AwardsThis started out as a joke - basically a grand name for my own personal top 10 lists when Shadows on the Wall was launched in 1985. I had already been reviewing films for four years for a newspaper, but when Shadows started a group of friends suggested I call the year-end best lists something more exciting - so the Shadows Awards were born. They don't exist as awards per se - there's no ceremony, no statuette, not even a certificate. (I've been thinking I should go back through the archive and send all the nominees and winners over the past 22 years something, even if it's just for fun.) The Shadows Reader Awards were born with the internet edition in 1995, and those are actually voted on by subscribers and website visitors. back to the top
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© 2008 by Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
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