Eight days of favorite films: wrap-up

Now that I've finished my coverage of my favorite films as sorted by genre, I'd like to run through various other genres which didn't materialize into list format.

Part of the issue I have with the use of "genre" is that it's mainly to market films or organize video stores. To wit:

ROMANCE

Well, I didn't cover romance per se but plenty of the movies in my lists are romance films, notably the various Cary Grant comedies (Bringing up Baby, Philadelphia Story). But I'll also give a shout-out to Grosse Point Blank (1997) if only to confirm that I have watched films younger than Robert Byrd.

EPIC

What exactly does "epic" mean? A three-hour running time, historical timeframe, widescreen photography, cast including a dozen famous names? If you want to call Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), Gladiator (2000), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) or even Saving Private Ryan (1998) an epic I won't argue with you, but it seems like more of a compliment than a style of film. I believe in a basic equality amongst films, so I rate the "epics" alongside the indies, the studio factory-produced and the b-pictures.

BIBLICAL

Which reminds me of a sub-set to the epics - the Biblical Epic. I do like a number of Bible-based films; Jesus of Nazareth (1977) remains my favorite adaptation of the life of Christ (although it's technically a mini-series and was thus omitted from my lists). I also liked the Passion of the Christ (2004) and I enjoy Ben-Hur (1959) and the Robe (1953), although they aren't actually drawn from scripture.

EXPLOITATION

I don't like exploitation films. I like exploitation homage films even less (exploitation parody can be fun though). I've seen some exploitation films which I thought were okay, but not enough to mention their names.

CRIME/FILM NOIR

These usually fall into the Mystery/Suspense genre. There are some particularly good movies based around heists and the like - the Killing (1956), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), the Great Train Robbery (1979) - but I prefer to match them with the larger genres.

FOREIGN

To me at least, "foreign" is not a category. I'm from Canada, virtually everything I watch is "foreign!" Possessing subtitles does not inhibit the likes of Run, Lola, Run (1998), Rashomon (1950) or the Seven Samurai (1954). Once again, they belong with the other genres.

SILENT

This is only a film style; it's a wonderful archaic style, but I wouldn't feel right including it just to ensure that the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922) and Metropolis (1927) have their due. They're all wonderful films, but in the ages which have passed since then, new filmmakers (like Hitchcock) have built upon their foundations.

ANIMATED

Again, this is a style, not a genre. Animated films are really holding their own with the other genres these days, with legitimate science fiction (WALL-E), fantasy (Nausicaa) and action (Incredibles) films. They belong with the other genres.

BIOGRAPHY

Where does biography end? I've enjoyed movies which are obvious bio-pics: Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), the Hiding Place (1975), Malcolm X (1992)...but what about films which take serious liberties with the people whose lives they recount (ie, 2000's Shadow of the Vampire)? What about a bio-pic that fits another genre more ably (ie, Yankee Doodle Dandy, a musical-bio)?

And there are many, many, more. Every movie has its fans (even 'Manos' the Hands of Fate) and as they link their favorite film to another, then another, new "genres" spring up to explain these connections. Which is all well and fine - but I'm content to stick with the eight genres I covered here on the blog, they're wide enough to fit most movies in.

Eight days of favorite films VIII: Fantasy

Welcome to the eighth and final list of my favorite films, sorted by genre! We wrap it up with the Fantasy genre.

Back in Science Fiction I mentioned that the two genres are often grouped together. Although the two can be clearly divided in literature, I don't think there's been a conscious decision to "brand" the fantasy genre in film until the recent success of the Lord of the Rings films. Of course, the case has also been made that many so-called "science fiction" films (namely Star Wars) are actually fantasy films disguised with spaceships.

So what I do define as fantasy? An element of magic mixed with adventure or humour and generally family-friendly. Ergo:

1. Fantasia (1940)
2. Scrooge (1951)
3. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
4. Nausicaa (1984)
5. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
6. The Princess Bride (1987)
7. The Dark Crystal (1982)
8. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
9. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
10. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

All but two of these are films from my childhood and I still tend to relate to fantasy films based on my youthful standards. I never really graduated to the dragon-loving dungeon-raiding he-man sword/sorcery type fiction.

I leave you with my favorite sequence from Fantasia: Night on Bald Mountain.

Tomorrow: some parting thoughts on film genres.

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