Posted by By Hunter Berman
5. Fight Club (1999)
“It’s only after we’ve lost everything. That we’re free to do anything.” David Fincher’s dense dialogue permeates his late 90’s masterpiece, examining the meaning of living, and breaking free from the bondage that is mundane everyday-ness. Do we as humans have a preordained plan set into motion before we are born? And are we satisfied with this, or do we choose to wave the white flag and submit? Edward Norton’s The Narrator is a cog in the corporate machine. He lives a cookie cutter life as an insurance company employee, with no motivation to change his circumstance. And then comes Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden. Fincher pairs these two wildly different personas as an anti-serendipitous gathering, yet simultaneously a necessary pairing. The Narrator is caught in the hamster wheel, and Durden shoves him off as he executes The Narrator’s forceful leap of faith into his own unknown. And that unknown becomes a movement nobody sees coming. As the title suggests, The Narrator and Durden form a fight club, attracting a fan base filled with unfulfilled losers The Narrator feels like he knows all too well. The fights are brutal and primeval, yet have a beautiful purpose. The twists and turns this movie provides are captivating, and the pervading messages provoke deep existential thoughts. What also separates Fight Club from the movie-verse is Fincher’s execution of the film technique Breaking the Fourth Wall. Those who have seen House of Cards (unsurprisingly, Fincher is heavily involved in the Netflix series) and more recently Deadpool, probably have an idea of what this technique is: the character is aware he or she is in a film being watched by an audience, and converses with them directly; from quick one-liners to inner monologues. It is one of, if not my favorite, techniques.
Favorite quote: (aside from the first one I used): “I felt like destroying something beautiful.”
4. The Matrix (1999)
The Wachowski sisters asks their protagonist Neo as well as its audience to “free your mind.” You’ll need to while watching this groundbreaking sci-fi thriller. Up there with The Terminator, The Matrix took its place as one of the original “machines are taking over” beware films. Mr. Anderson (Keanu Reeves), a computer programmer/hacker donning the alias Neo, suspects life as he knows it is not actually real. His curiosity leads him to a group led by a man named Morpheus (Lawrence Fishburne), who offers Neo a chance to learn the truth about their world and his upcoming role to play in it. Simultaneously apprehended by men called Agents, Neo accepts Morpheus’ offer to join his ranks and “fight the good fight.” Turns out Neo’s hunch was spot-on: the world he was living in was a farce, a prison created by machines to suppress the humans they were warring against, as well as to harvest their energy. What follows is your basic Hero’s Journey arc, (as well as two more movies, The Matrix Reloaded and the Matrix Revolutions), but in the late 90’s this movie broke down barriers in special effects, marking the next frontier of cinematography. As a philosophy minor in college, the Wachowski’s allusion to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave was a treat for me to see. Sprinkle in the badass action sequences filled with a slew of guns and Kung Fu (and the obvious hat-tip to Japanese anime…Ghost in the Shell is an easy one to spot), and I could watch this film all day, any day. Both thought provoking and entertaining.
Favorite quote: “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”
3. Good Will Hunting (1998)
Gus van Sant, together with the uber talented inevitable A-listers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon penning the script, crafted an immensely complex character that begs its audience to laugh, smile, cringe, and cry. We must allow the emotional gauntlet take us for a ride as the young Will Hunting (Matt Damon, in a breakout role) comes to grips with his tragic past, yet forced to contemplate a future he does not envision being a part of. Earning a living as a janitor at MIT, and surrounding himself around deplorables (best friends who treat him like family), Will is a legitimate genius that can make solving advanced mathematical equations look as easy as spelling his name. His intellectual prowess and extremely high IQ piques the interest of renowned professor Dr. Lambeau (played by Stellan Skarsgard). After an incident lands Will in court, and he’s ultimately given jail time even after a very convincing argument he made in his own defense, Dr. Lambeau is able to have Will released under his custody so that he may work alongside Lambeau’s contemporaries and solve mathematical quandaries, prepare to impact the world outside of the confines of a university, as well as receive medical counseling, to Will’s obvious disappointment. What transpires thereafter is an initially rocky but perfect mentor/mentee pairing between Damon’s Will and Robin Williams’ Sean McGuire. Their scenes together contain expert dialogue, laden with entrancing monologues and gut wrenching feels, as McGuire becomes the only person Will opens up to (Williams rightfully won an Oscar for his remarkable supporting role). Additionally, Will develops a budding romance with Minnie Driver’s Skylar, a smart and witty Harvard student who challenges and comforts him. With his life quickly changing, Will realizes that he must face his inner demons to escape the quicksand he’s firmly entrenched in. If this film is not on most people’s top 10, it’s probably because they haven’t seen it yet.
Favorite quote: “I had to see about a girl.”
2. Whiplash (2014)
Damien Chazelle had himself a 2016 and early 2017 to remember. La La Land, with all its acclaim, was the rocket ship Chazelle needed to become one of Hollywood’s directorial darlings. But while America was mesmerized by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling’s admittedly wonderful chemistry, they forgot about Chazelle’s coming out party: Whiplash. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons are both fantastic actors playing characters who are on opposite ends of the career spectrum, but together they pull off something magical (maybe it’s my love of jazz and big band ensembles). The intensity both actors exude, the endless drive for perfection Miles’ drumming prodigy Andrew Neiman and Simmons’ widely acclaimed conductor Terrence Fletcher share; there is an argument to be made that these two have unknowingly out-dueled America’s favorite on-screen couple. Fletcher’s expectations from his band are nothing short of unattainable, so when young Andrew finds himself in a position to assume the role of lead drummer, he will not take that chance for granted, even to the detriment of his relationships with his father and new girlfriend, and his mental and physical health. The journey is intense, with a palpable hatred bubbling between the two. Both conductor and drummer are at the pinnacles of their playing careers in an art form that is dying, and neither wants to be blamed for its failure. Yet they know that one of them must surpass his limit so jazz band can keep breathing. Controversy ensues, which knocks them both down hard and seemingly for the count. But the payoff for their joint determination is worth it to them as characters and to the movie’s audience: the last scene of the movie is breathtaking, and will make you a jazz drum/Buddy Rich fan for life. Trust me on this one.
Favorite quote: “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job’.”
1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
In every top 10 list, it’s difficult to sift through the plethora of candidates, and there will be some that inevitably fall through the cracks. However, there is that one that is the whole reason why you stated to put the list together in the first place. For me, it’s The Shawshank Redemption. This is, hands down, my favorite film, for a litany of reasons. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins, who was made for this character), a convicted murderer serving several life sentences for (allegedly) killing his wife and lover, takes residence in the suspect and corrupt (won’t take you long to figure that out) Shawshank State Penitentiary. There, he meets who will become his best friend, Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman, who also plays…you guessed it…the narrator). The story spans nearly 20 years, and director Frank Darabont storyboard’s it to perfection; the flow from year to year using Freeman’s narration against a series of quick montages helps the story progress at a natural pace. The most enjoyable aspect of the film, aside from a very satisfying ending (“redemption” is in the title after all), lies in its two leads, and Andy as one of the most intriguing inmates you will ever see. Brilliant, witty, and well read, someone like Andy could have been pegged as a “white collar” criminal, but never would you guess he would commit murder. Because he is so unique, his journey as an inmate is riveting; the friends and enemies he makes, the niche he inadvertently creates and abides in, and the impact he has on the people around him. Just watching Andy as a character study would be enough, but Morgan Freeman’s Red is equally fascinating. Cocky and content with his circumstance (in the beginning of the film), Red is a standout at Shawshank, but age, and Andy, blend to metamorphosize his character into a vulnerable and weathered, but introspective prison veteran. Freeman’s performance is right up there with Robbins’. The funniest part of my affinity for this film and my high opinion of it is that it was a relative disappointment in the box office, suffering from battling against Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, which did not place in my top 10. Call me a film aficionado pot stirrer, but Pulp Fiction just didn’t do it for me. If you don’t have time to watch all ten of these films, choose this one first. You may just push that rewind button and watch it again and again.
Favorite quote: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
Cutting my initial top 30 list to 10 was extremely difficult, and on any given day I may elect to swap them out for ones I initially left off. Or maybe there’s a movie I haven’t seen yet that deserves a spot here. The beauty of top lists is that they will constantly change. I encourage anyone reading this list to create their own top 10 movie list in the comments, and tell me what I’m missing. But the best part of making personal lists is that you’re never wrong.
LPB & Friends 