Line's Top 100 Films of All Time

[Line]

Just tell me now, where is FARGO in your list?

Spoiler

Spoiler

I'm really not sure. I'm at home and the list is at school.

 

[Line]

UPDATE: Links added to the list on the first page for easier navigation. There are also write ups for all films up to and including Playtime. More films will be posted tomorrow.

 

[Daniel Andersson]

Yeah Line Fargo is a good movie, hope its high on your list

 

[Line]

Mary Harron, 2000[/CENTER]


Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

For me, writing about this film will probably prove to be quite a mentally fatiguing undertaking and I'm sure in less than an hour from now I'll wish I hadn't decided to. However, American Psycho is one of the freshest and most versatilely ambitious book-to-screen adaptations that I have seen and also a far more important film that people give it credit for. I'd be remiss to say that I'm in any way a fan of the commonly practiced "If you didn't like this movie it's because you didn't 'get' it" tactic but here it may be appropriate. Detractors of this film are far too dismissive of its intellectual content and technical craftsmanship, likely in part with how maliciously it approaches its themes and how its apathetic pulse leaves them cold and while it would be far too daunting a task to directly analyze every thematic movement that director Mary Harron presents us with, there remains key issues and continuances that offer an incredibly commentarial look at 1980's high society; I will limit my essay to only two though, expanding on them as I see fit.

"I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust."

Greed

Even those who do not appreciate cinematic dissection can acknowledge that there are many occurrences relevant to greed, be it for money or social status, throughout the film. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale in his best performance) is a vice president for a Wall Street company known as Pierce and Pierce and when introduced at the film's opening it is clear that he is the picturesque reflection of society's lustful maladies; something beautiful with a sleekly polished veneer but without clear representation of core values. Being constantly referred to as "the boy next door," the way Bateman holds appearances in such high regard makes one ponder where exactly these people have grown up. Clearly the screenplay, adapted from the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name, was not meant to be an attack on American culture in general but a more subsidized one; namely 1980's metropolis. Out of the two themes that we’ll be exploring, this is clearly the more superficial and easy to grasp of the two but it’s an important one nonetheless as its lack of challenge allows the viewer to more fully grasp, or at least wave at, the depths of other issues that it wishes to focus attention on. There’s an exaggerated nature surrounding the portrayal of New York socialites throughout the film but these criticisms are ones that the ordinary man would not see or be exposed to due to class ranking, thus making it important to note that both our author and our filmmakers are not only familiar with them, but also may fall into their trappings as well. What we have already uncovered is that the story is a time-capsuled criticism of self and a longing to break from cultural binds.

The lust for class progression motivates most of the characters throughout our narrative but there is no overwhelming emotional arc for these characters as they simply are purported to exist and reflect the generalized specificities of the times. The film itself is shown, primarily, through the lense of our lead and to him others tend to reflect the overly commercially-saturated lifestyles to which he's also fallen victim to. It's a rare instance where one can project the imagery of others unto themselves due to an addicting wave of pop and high cultural acceptances yet still hate themselves for "playing the game". Hence, the second part of this examination.

Disgust

Self-reflection and critique can be a tricky thing, especially when we don't like what we've become, what has led us there, or what is to come next. Bateman is the quintessential 80's Manhattanite but only in terms of superficial thinking. Still, there's a point where questions of existence will undoubtedly come up in the discussion of this film and the wrong ones are being asked, or at least the less interesting ones. While Bateman lashes out violently at the culture and its players we question whether or not he is, in fact, committing the depicted acts when it is equally if not more important question to ponder if his existence as a singularity is even a necessary one. Could it be possible, nay, probable that he is the embodiment of all those white-collared zombies who needlessly give into to cultural demands in order to not rock the boat? In his novel, Ellis tells everything from a first person perspective and there's a clear introspective quality that is not entirely absent in the film. We tend though, to overthink Bateman as a character, probably because he is by far the most developed and, oddly enough, emotionally ranging one, and dehumanize him or make elusions to him being a sociopath or merely lost within a culture. While the latter statement probably holds more truth to it he still comes off as a very graphic entity, representative of the mentalities that his true to life counterparts likely share. There are clear themes throughout the film that question each character's identity while they tread through life in a sea of neckties and in this sense we can impart, or at least suspect, that Bateman may not be so different than the others when it comes to his blood lusts. Maybe towards the film's end, when the lawyer questions our lead's integrity and courage [unknowingly] to his face, there's truth in the allegations. It's quite feasible to think that Bateman is a coward, but only in the sense that his inner-turmoil is perennially on the losing end each time it's pitted against the mindset of a scared boy living in the most materialistic and consumer-based society in the world; the instinct of not wanting to be lost takes over. Patrick's obviously far past the breaking point of blending in to the extent of losing one's identity but does his ability to fantasize about the most morally corrupt of acts show him as a strong or a weak character? Is he unique or is he just like everyone else but with less self-restraint and control, not because he fantasizes but because he shows it?

At the film's end, Patrick Bateman stares coldly into the camera lense and we hear him in voiceover say, "This confession has meant nothing." The conceptual ideas in regards to him actually being a serial killer would be incredibly well played if that's what this film actually was, a genre picture. However, the true confession is Ellis's and is carried out in a very underappreciated fashion by Harron who, despite changing many aspects of the story keeps the core where it is. This devotion to true introspective thought plays well throughout the film and gives us a shocking look into what many could call a call to arms masterpiece in reaction to an overbearingly commercialized culture. In such instances, yes, progressional culture suffers but we often forget about the individuals and personalities lost in it as well. American Psycho does not.

This is not an exit.

 

[Daniel Andersson]

Thats a "nice" movie

 

[Line]

Thats a "nice" movie

Thanks for following the thread. I should have another one or two write ups posted later today for some of the prior entries and a new film being listed sometime later today.

 

[Daniel Andersson]

Sounds good

 

[Line]

The write up for Who Framed Roger Rabbit has now been posted.

 

[Line]

Bump.

Write ups for Charade and This is Spinal Tap added.

 

[Line]

Wong Kar-Wai, 2000​

A visually and emotionally engrossing tale of two newly neighbored individuals who find that, as their friendship begins kindling, their spouses are having an affair with each other. Very prominent cinematic devices are used to humanize and relate the pain in which our male and female leads are bearing and we as viewers are as adrift with the hauntingly repetitious nature of the situation as the characters who live through them. Wong takes an exacting care in telling us the story where cultural and social standards become apparent obstacles and pressures when blazing such a precarious path between friends and lovers.

 

[high_five]

American Psycho.

 

[Line]

Stick around. The eventual write up for it should be something else.

 

[Flex]

Wong Kar-Wai, 2000​

I saw that asian actor in an older movie recently which was by far the worst film i've ever seen. We watched it in my art/film class.

 

[Line]

I saw that asian actor in an older movie recently which was by far the worst film i've ever seen. We watched it in my art/film class.

2046?

 

[Flex]

2046?

Nah, i'll explain the plot. I can find out next wednesday which movie it was if you're still not sure.

When the movie starts off he's on the verge of breaking up with a girl named May. Every day he eats pinapples for luck at re-establishing his relationship. He goes to a bar, meets a troubled woman who has murdered several people. She is not interested in talking, but passes out due to all the alcohol and he takes her to his place.

Then suddenly it's as if the movie just cuts off....

Next thing you know he is suddenly in the police force and falls in love with a girl at a deli that he frequently visits everyday, and the rest of the movie is basically about that relationship.

 

[Line]

The write up for Robin Hood was been posted. I might slow this thread down a bit (sorry, guys) as it takes some time to do the write ups and if you'd like to see them I'd rather include them when I post the actual movie.

 

[Chesticles]

I hope Thursday makes an appearance

 

[Daniel Andersson]

As said before..I like this idea Line

 

[Lionheart]

Nice to find some of the films on your list that i have seen also.
Any Seagal films in your list..maybe..no?

 

[Daniel Andersson]

Nice to find some of the films on your list that i have seen also.
Any Seagal films in your list..maybe..no?