Eight days of favorite films VII: War

The end of my eight day look at my favorite films by genre is within sight! Today is day seven and it's time to look at the War film genre.

Of all the genres I'm examining here, war is the one I developed an interest in late in life. Growing up I didn't have much interest in war movies (although I did get into my Mom's favorite television program Combat!). More about why I got into war after the list:

1. Glory (1989)
2. The Great Escape (1963)
3. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
4. Paths of Glory (1957)
5. Das Boot (1981)
6. A Soldier's Story (1984)
7. Gettysburg (1993)
8. Zulu (1964)
9. Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
10. Downfall (2004)

Here we have 1 film on the Zulu uprising (uh, Zulu), 2 on the Civil War (Glory & Gettysburg), 2 on WW I (All Quiet... & Paths of Glory) and 5 on WW II (Great Escape, Das Boot, Soldier's Story, Letters... & Downfall).

I first saw the films Glory, Great Escape, Zulu, Gettysburg and a Soldier's Story on History Television, in some cases side-by-side with each other. I think it was these five films that turned me around on war pictures - the demonstration of heroism under fire with the ultimate futility of war really impressed me, much as the Combat episode "Hills are for Heroes" made firm my appreciation for Combat. Films I've seen since then - most recently Letters From Iwo Jima - continue that trend. In many of these films, the protagonists either lose the battle or win at a debilitating cost. Two also explore the non-combat side of war, with a Soldier's Story viewing the inhumanity between men on the same side and Downfall detailing Hitler's last days.

I leave you with a clip from the climax of Glory:

Tomorrow: we conclude with the Fantasy genre!

Eight days of favorite films VI: Horror

Day six of my eight day examination of my favorite films organized by genre brings us to the Horror genre.

I'm not a massive horror fan in any medium, but here and there I find something that I like:

1. Psycho (1960)
2. The Birds (1963)
3. Tales From the Crypt (1972)
4. Dead of Night (1945)
5. Jaws (1975)
6. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
7. Matango (1963)
8. The Sixth Sense (1999)
9. The Thing From Another World (1951)
10. The Fly (1958)

I handed out placements for Aliens (Science Fiction) and Shaun of the Dead (Comedy) in earlier entries, but both of those films have claims to being bona fide horror; they would've easily charted in the top four if I had listed them here. I was also a little unsure about where to put Jaws, but felt horror fit it better than anything else.

Once again, another showing for the master of suspense at the top of the list with Psycho and the Birds, his only films which really fit the horror model. Tales From the Crypt and Dead of Night both share an anthology format in common. Since my favorite form of horror in the printed page is short fiction, it's probably why I feel those two films are particularly effective.

The remaining films are a bit of a hodge podge and include some schlocky material (although Matango is particularly great schlock).

When I was a young teen reading voraciously about film in every book I could grasp, I noticed repeated accolades delivered to the horror film the Cat People (1942). It was a low budget picture concerning a woman turning into a cat, only the filmmakers couldn't afford their own monster. Their genius was to suggest the transformation scenes and leave the viewer guessing whether she really was a Cat Person. The important message I gathered from this oft-repeated example was that sometimes horror could be more palpable when it is left off-screen to the audience's imagination.

What I'm leading up to is an admission: splatter films do nothing for me. I used to be nervous about watching gory films because I was very impressionable and easily repulsed. However, upon seeing Day of the Dead (1985) - notably the climactic scene where the cast are consumed by zombies in graphic detail - I made two interesting observations about my reaction: "Hey, I can handle watching extreme gore!" and "Hey, this isn't scary."

This is probably why the recent upswing in fascination with zombies in film, comics, novels & television leaves me cold. It's just splatter, you know? That's not scary. M.R. James' Lost Hearts...that's scary! Why? Because it engages my imagination. The ten films I listed above have the power to startle me because they engage my imagination; splatter films give me nothing to work with.

I leave you with a sample from the master of imaginative horror: Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

Tomorrow: a ten gun salute to the War film genre!

Already in stores: Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four TPB

I mention this because it features a text piece written by yours truly!

The invasion has started, and no one in the Marvel Universe is safe, not even the First Family of Comicdom! Aware that some of the Earth's most advanced technology and weaponry is housed in the Baxter Building, the Skrulls have neutralized the building - by transporting it and its inhabitants straight to the Negative Zone! With one member of the Fantastic Four M.I.A. and another "replaced," it's up to the remaining family members - not to mention Franklin and Val - to get back to our dimension, Skrulls or no Skrulls. But are any of our heroes who they think they are? Plus, two classic stories of Skrull trickery from the Fantastic Four's past. Collects Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3, and Fantastic Four #300 and #357.

This trade also includes Fantastic Four#358 thanks to my last-minute input. You're welcome!

Eight days of favorite films V: Drama

It's day five of my eight day look at lists of my favorite films by genre and today we have drama.

So, drama...what is that exactly?

"Drama" may be a useful term when dividing films from comedies, but otherwise the category of "drama" usually means "everything that doesn't fit into another more obvious genre."

So, who am I to argue with the majority?

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Ikiru (1952)
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. 12 Angry Men (1957)
5. On the Waterfront (1954)
6. Deliverance (1972)
7. Pi (1998)
8. Fight Club (1999)
9. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
10. The Chosen (1981)

I've been very good to Orson Welles these last two days, haven't I?

In previous entries I've commented on the easily-observable patterns amongst my favorites by genre, be it by the era in which they were produced, the featured character, the star, the director, etc. Well, aside from the presence of two Welles pictures (Citizen Kane, Magnificent Ambersons), I somehow avoided such pitfalls here. Perhaps it's appropriate that this genre, which has no particular cohesive pattern, has a healthy sampling of films from across 5 decades and with wildly different tones.

Here's everything from the sad yet life-affirming (Ikiru) to cynical anarchy (Fight Club), to morality overcoming prejudice (12 Angry Men), to the collapse of genius (Pi), to the horrors of nature (Deliverance).

Once again, I leave you with a favorite moment from the film in my top spot; once again, it includes actors Joseph Cotten & Orson Welles; from Citizen Kane:

Tomorrow: the Horror genre

Eight days of favorite films IV: Mystery/Suspense

Continuing my eight day look at my favorite films by genre we arrive at mystery/suspense. This is one of my favorite genres!

1. The Third Man (1949)
2. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
3. North by Northwest (1959)
4. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
5. Vertigo (1958)
6. Rope (1948)
7. Rear Window (1954)
8. Lifeboat (1944)
9. Notorious (1946)
10. The Killers (1946)

Once again, we see an obvious trend. No, not that six were filmed in black and white...here's a hint: seven were directed by the master of suspense.

That's right: Michael Bay!

I think I'm atypical so far as Hitchcock fans go in that I rank Rope among his greatest films. Rope is not generally considered to be one of the master's best but I really enjoy the camera tricks he employed to try and shoot the entire film in as few takes as possible, assembling it so deftly that you can mistakenly think it was shot in a single take. To me at least, a body lying in a chest during a dinner party while the murderers gamble with fate to see if they'll get caught is a fine piece of suspense.

My love of old films in general - and with it, old time radio and classic literature - all goes to back to Hitch and his movies, starting with a fascination I had for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television program; a few late night cable mini-marathons of films such as Psycho, Saboteur, Vertigo, the Wrong Man and Dial 'M' for Murder placed me firmly in the master's fanbase.

However, the top spot goes to the Third Man, not a Hitchcock film at all. In fact, the Third Man is my all-time favorite movie. I first learned of it while diggint through a pile of videos at a Canadian Superstore. I noticed on the back blurb that it the film "rivals any Hitchcock thriller as being the ultimate masterpiece of film suspense." I scoffed at that. Yeah, sure - better than Hitchcock. Who wouldn't want to claim that? I threw it back in the pile.

And yet...the memory of that blurb stuck with me. At home, I dug out my family's film guide books. Maltin gave it 4 out of 4. Ebert gave it 4 out of 4 and listed it among the greatest films ever made. The Video Movie Guide gave it 5 out of 5. Huh. Maybe there was something to it?

Long story short, I did buy the Third Man and I did eventually admit that it was better than Hitchcock. But I'll give Hitch due honours for making more memorable pictures than Carol Reed; Reed will just have to settle for making the best suspense film of them all (oh, and Oliver!, one of the top Oscar winners of all time).

Here's a clip of one of the most popular scenes from the Third Man:

Tomorrow: the not-particularly-helpful "Drama" genre

Eight days of favorite films III: Comedy

Continuing my eight day look at my favorite films by genre we have comedies:

1. The Great Dictator (1940)
2. Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
3. Duck Soup (1933)
4. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
5. A Christmas Story (1983)
6. Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House (1948)
7. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
8. To Be or Not to Be (1942)
9. Bringing up Baby (1938)
10. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Once again, there are certain trends you can observe; for one, I appear to be roughly 90 years old. For another, I really seem to like Cary Grant.

Comedy is a tricky one with me. I like amusing wordplay more than slapstick and I like slapstick more than gross-out humour. I also have a limit to the amount of snark I can take with my comedy, so modern comedies have a hard time winning me over. I usually do my best to avoid comedies.

Explaining why I find something funny is a task I'm not equipped to meet. Instead, I'll just give you a scene from my favorite comedy, the Great Dictator:

Tomorrow: the Mystery/Suspense genre

Eight days of favorite films II: Science Fiction

This is a list guaranteed to disappoint my high-minded science fiction-loving friends who loan me their Vernor Vinge and speak breathlessly about Gattaca. I mean, I like Gattaca just fine, but...*sigh* on with my list:

1. Serenity (2005)
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
4. Aliens (1986)
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
6. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
7. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
8. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
9. WALL-E (2008)
10. 12 Monkeys (1995)

So if yesterday demonstrated that I like Batman, I guess today shows how much I like Star Trek. I don't consider myself a huge Star Trek fan now, but...I don't consider myself much of a science fiction movie fan currently either.

I felt that I should divide science fiction and fantasy into two genres, although the two are usually combined. Science fiction has plenty of well-known films to fill up the ranks of the greats, but (as we'll see) fantasy isn't as well-populated.

In many ways I could have merged this genre with yesterday's action/adventure. Although all of these films utilize science fiction trappings, I think 12 Monkeys is the sole film which explores an idea in a way only the sci-fi genre can. The rest are mainly action films (with WALL-E & Star Trek IV also serving as comedies). Top marks go to Serenity, the filmgoing experience of 2005 for me.

With the exception of the Empire Strikes Back I had to shut the Star Wars films out of this list, a notion that my 12 (or even 18) year old self would have found absurd. It's not that I don't still enjoy the old movies, nor do I feel that the new films have irreparably damaged the franchise's reputation, I simply fell out of love with the franchise more than a decade ago. I still like them fine.

Tomorrow: the comedy genre!