Top 5 Movies list

Following is a list of my top five favorite movies. Compiling this list is tough for me because there are so many movies I love for so many different reasons. The picks on my list might surprise some, who would take one look at me and pass judgment that I could not enjoy a movie with subtitles or subtext. I find it kind of hilarious that just based on my outward appearance and minimal conversation could help justify these individual's opinions. Especially seeing as they pride themselves on being so knowledgeable about so many different things. One being that they are working on the greatest movie to ever be made. Seeing as how they have been "working" on this project for over a decade, and they seem to think they have expertise on the subject simply because they took courses on film and film making in college, befuddles me. I don't claim to be an expert in animation and I got a degree in that, not just took classes involving it. I decided to do this as a sort of challenge taken from someone, due to my distaste for the IMDB Top 250. Which to me seemed to be more a popularity contest than a listing of the actual top 250 movies in terms of quality. I refuse to apologize for believing that nothing Quentin Tarantino directs should ever be placed on anyone's top anything list other than "Top Overrated Pieces of Shit"

1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: This 1974 "semi true" movie directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Hooper and Kim Henkel is best viewed on regular dvd, and not bluray. Simply because the bluray makes the picture too clear. And part of the charm and macabre of its appeal is that it's grainy and harsh. This predates Freddy and Jason and even Michael Myers in terms of creating the ultimate believable "heavy" in a horror movie. Leatherface is a guy who can and does feel physical pain and is left with just enough life detail to compel one into feeling some empathy for him, while simultaneously rooting for him to kill the gaggle of hippie scum that have invaded his territory. Cinematographer Daniel Pearl worked with 16mm film and with it weaved an dirty and gritty film closely likened to a snuff film in its frightening realism. My love affair with this film began in 1998 when I first owned it on VHS. I have owned five separate copies of this film, two on tape, two on DVD and one on BluRay. The BluRay adds greatly to the sound and makes the 16mm film super high def. However, I prefer it to be grainy and sometimes hard to see, due to the nature of the story itself. Incidentally Tobe Hooper also scored the movie as well. TCM has spawned a legion of cult fans, three sequels and a revamp with a prequel that adds to the mythos and origin of the greatest slasher who ever lived, Leatherface. This movie has also inspired me to create and do the illustration for my tribute piece Fuzzyface: The Agnew Chainsaw Massacre, which is written by my partner Venus of Necro. The film has also been immortalized on my flesh as I have dedicated skin space to two Texas Chainsaw Massacre tattoos.

2. Amelie: This is possibly the most amazingly filed and written movie I have ever seen. It draws my praise and is as close to perfect as cinema can ever hope to come. There is nothing wrong with this film. All the characterization is perfect. The visuals are stylish and very intriguing. You can watch the movie without reading the subtitles and you will still be amazed at this stupendously written movie. Audrey Tautou is the most likable protagonist in the history of celluloid. She lights up absolutely every scene she is in. The entirety of this film is fun and beautiful. Bruno Delbonnel frames each shot with such clarity and color, that you cannot help but be amazed. This is visually one of the most stunning films I have ever seen, that did not have obvious special effects or CGI involved. This is the purest movie I have ever had the pleasure seeing.

3. Pan's Labyrinth: This stunning visual movie is spawned from the mind of Guillermo del Toro, the man behind the Hellboy films. Del Toro has done so many movies of superb quality, it is hard to pick a favorite. However, Pan's Labyrinth, with it's depth, and relation to fairy tales more in the vein of The Brothers Grimm than Disney is the reason I like it. The visuals in this classic are due to the amazing eye of Guillermo Navarro. Movies like Pan's Labyrinth may fall under the radar to the lowest common denominator, but its depth and passion are not lost on me. I first viewed this film at the behest of a girlfriend. And I am very glad she compelled me to watch it. And while watching this amazing story you are drawn in and you feel as if you are the only one watching, as if it is a story book and you are a child with the covers pulled up over your head, living it with the aide of a flashlight. Del Toro may be more famous and made his proverbial living by doing big budget flicks like Hellboy and Hellboy the Golden Army, and Blade 2, but his passion for his work is obvious in these very personal moments captured on film.

4. Leon: Luc Besson writes and directs this masterpiece of film making about a very simple hitman and the strange relationship he forms with a young girl. Jean Reno stars as Leon, the hitman who has standards. The only rule he lives by "no women, no kids." Reno was born to play Leon. He makes you care for this very sympathetic character. Even though he kills people for a living, you believe because Reno puts passion into Leon. You truly know that all the people who he "hits" are very bad people. Leon unwittingly is the target of the affections of his next door neighbor,
Matilda, played beautifully and above her years in Natalie Portman. This was Portman's first film, and she made you believe she was Matilda, a naive yet wise beyond her years girl. Thierry Abrogast is the Director of Photography, and he shot a beautiful film. From the opening flight over New York into the Macaroni Company, to the final moments of Leon's life, you are drawn into this film. So much so that you can smell the gun powder. The movie has recently been offered on BluRay, and it is truly worthy of high definition. This movie, as do my number 2 and 3 are on the IMDB 250, which is not a surprise given their amazing quality, but it is amazing considering a majority of the tripe that ended up on that list. Rumors have swirled since it hit theatres that Leon would spawn a sequel which would focus on Portman's character, Matilda as a grownup, who takes upon the career of a cleaner.

5. The Wrestler: Darren Aronofsky, director of such dark and disturbing films like Pi and Requiem for a Dream directs the story about a past his prime pro wrestler, Randy "The Ram" Robinson who is played by Mickey Rourke. The film is shot by Maryse Alberti, one of the few female DOP's in the business. The first thing I noticed about this film visually is that it seems to be shot in three different ways. The first being more of a "live" documentary type feel. The second being traditonal cinema in scope. The third, which you may or may not expect is that it is shot differently during the actual wrestling portions of the movie. More in the vein of smaller and intimate old school Extreme Championship Wrestling and less in terms of the high budgeted and multibillion dollar funded WWE events. Rourke's career mirrors that of the protagonist. He's a broken down man, who's best years, money and glory are all behind him. Rourke conveys the life of a downtrodden former star in such a compelling way, that you are lead to believe that this movie is not only how a lot of 1980's wrestling main eventers now live, but anyone who once held the spotlight and is no longer marketable to multibillion dollar companies. Marisa Tomei plays an aging stripper, who rebuffs the romantic advances of Randy, compares his life to that of Christ in "Passion of the Christ." Randy is estranged from his daughter who is played Evan Rachel Wood. The story mirrors the telling of Jake "The Snake" Roberts' life in "Beyond the Mat," the 1999 documentary which followed the lives of three career wrestlers. Roberts' relationship with his daughter was well documented and hard to watch. In "The Wrestler" you feel for Woods' character because you know and witness Robinson's inability to let go of any spotlight he may have left to become just Randy Robinson, father. This is a story that is relates to anyone who has held fame or success, and refuses to let go.