Top 20 Films of 2013

The final end of the year post (coming in late January); it's finally time to give my 20 Favorite films of 2013.  It has been a great year for film, and it was hard for me to even narrow it down to 20 films that I wanted to talk about.  And when it's hard for me to squeeze all of my favorite films into a list of 20, that's a sign of me watching way too many movies.  Before I give my list I have a few awards that I would like to give out to different films from this year.

The Confirmation that Space is Scary as Hell Award: Gravity

The Best Portrayal of a Demon Penis Award: This Is The End

The White People are Jerks Award: 12 Years a Slave

The Childhood Destroyer Award: Spring Breakers

The Best Use of a Cat Scrotum Joke Award: Inside Llewyn Davis

The Requiem for a Dream Most Drugs of the Year Award: The Wolf of Wall Street

The John Stamos Best Hair of the Year Award: Bradley Cooper in American Hustle

In All Seriousness:

20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Anchorman 2 continues the story of the legendary Ron Burgundy.  Although the first one is better, the second one is a worthy sequel that still delivers a lot of laughs.  It definitely helps that the number 1 news team in America consists of one of the best comedy teams you'll find in any recent comedy.

19. American Hustle

American Hustle lacks a bit in it's story, but the acting is for the most part unrivaled this year.  David O. Russell always gets great performances from his cast, and his regular cast members Bale, Cooper, Adams, and Lawrence all are terrific here(and also all were nominated for an Oscar this year).  I'd also like to mention that the interactions between Bradley Cooper and Louis CK in this film are some of the funniest moments in film of the year.

18. Blackfish

Other great documentaries from this year; Stories We Tell and The Art of Killing both changed the way documentaries can and will be made in the future.  Blackfish, however, had the biggest impact on me of the documentaries I watched last year.  Everything that has happened and is happening with the Killer Whales at Sea World deserves to be brought to the public's attention.  This important documentary will surely get the word out if people keep talking about it.      

17. Frozen

The great thing about animated films is that they appeal to all age groups.  I know both adults and little kids who enjoy this film a lot, and also college students such as myself.  Frozen has music that's enjoyable and performed beautifully.  As well as some really spectacular animation and storytelling that continues proving that animated films can be really great critically and commercially.

16. Spring Breakers

This exaggerated look at Spring Break life with little hints of a crime film is one of the most interesting films this year.  The cinematography and editing is some of the best, and sadly very underrated.  Certainly not for everyone, but if you appreciate the technical aspects of film it's worth at least one viewing.

15. Drinking Buddies

This largely improvised relationship dramedy has some of the most realistic portrayals of relationships I've seen.  The chemistry between Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson (two actors I really love) is fantastic. The always great Anna Kendrick also is strong as Johnson's character's girlfriend.  Easy to watch, and filled with believable moments.

14. Rush

Rush was a pleasant surprise.  I didn't have much interest in this until I heard really great things about it.  Daniel Bruhl really is great as Nikki Lauda, and Chris Hemsworth is solid as his rival in this F1 racing drama.  The cinematography is really great and could have gotten some awards recognition if more people saw this film.  The biggest snub for this film though is clearly Daniel Bruhl's lack of an Oscar nomination.

13. Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips was intense.  It grips you from the second it seems like there is trouble, and holds on to you literally until the end.  Tom Hanks has been getting a lot of praise for playing Captain Phillips, and particularly the last scene he is in.  It's some of the best work he's done in a while.

12. The Way Way Back

A film that will make you want summer even more than you already do.  The Way Way Back has a lot of laugh, and that's mainly because of the great acting and delivery of Sam Rockwell.  His character is one of my favorites from this year.  Also the main character Duncan's nickname, Pop N Lock, is one of the best nicknames ever given to a movie character.

11. Before Midnight

I think it's better if you have seen the previous two Before films (Before Sunrise and Before Sunset), so that you get attached to the characters.  But even if you just watch this film on it's own, it still works really well as a portrait of the struggles of marriage.  Richard Linklater gives a really well-written, well-acted, strong conclusion to the story of Jesse and Celine.

10. Prisoners

I was a little skeptical of this film, because I thought they gave away the whole thing in the trailer for it. While they did kind of reveal more than they should have, they didn't even touch the surface of the twists and turns that are within this film.  One of the best thrillers of the year, I was thinking about it for days after I watched it.

9. The Hunt

This film from Denmark is on Netflix, and should be seen by a lot of people.  Don't let the subtitles scare you, Mads Mikkelson (the bad guy from Casino Royale) gives a heart-breaking performance as a kindergarten teacher who is falsely accused of sexual assault.  The story is a little depressing, but it's executed incredibly.

8. Gravity

Out of all of the films I've seen this year, I was more glad to see this in theaters than any other film.  It's really a technical masterpiece, and one of the best looking films from last year.  Director Alfonso Cuaron put a lot of hard work into this, and it paid off.  A film I will definitely be owning on Blu-ray at some point in the future.

7. Blue is the Warmest Color

A film that is 3 hours long, has to be REALLY good if it's going to keep my interest and make me want to watch it again, because 3 hours is a lot of time to invest in a movie.  This coming-of-age film has one of the best performances of the year from Adele Exarchopoulos.  A lot of this film was improvised, which I think is the reason why it feels so real.   

6. Frances Ha

I feel like Frances Ha is gonna be either a love or hate kind of film for most people.  It's a character driven film, so if you don't like the character of Frances than you aren't going to like this film.  I really enjoy Greta Gerwig and her portrayal of the awkward, funny, spontaneous Frances.  I like seeing all of the situations she gets into, and her growth throughout the film, which is the reason why I love this film so much.

5. 12 Years a Slave

As of right now, in my opinion, Steve McQueen has a perfect filmography so far with this film, Shame, and Hunger.  Another film that was great to see in theaters because of it's beautiful shots.  A cast of great actors give high quality performances.  But the real star here is Steve McQueen and his great directing.  His decision to linger on certain shots so you can fully appreciate each and every one of them is astounding.  Of the three films I think have a shot at winning Best Picture (this, Gravity, and American Hustle), I'm really hoping this film can pull off a victory.

4. The Wolf of Wall Street

Goodfellas on quaaludes is a description I've heard about this film.  This drug/sex/alcohol fueled film starring Leonardo DiCaprio is as over-the-top as you can get while still maintaining an R rating.  And that's what I love about it.  Dark humor throughout the whole thing, and worth sitting in a theater seat for 3 hours.  Martin Scorsese's best film since The Departed.

3. Short Term 12

Another film I'm hoping more people will go and see.  Brie Larson might be recognizable to some people from films like The Spectacular Now and 21 Jump Street.  Expect to start recognizing her in a ton of films in the near future, because after this year she should definitely become more of a household name.  This film has a few of the most touching moments of the year.  It's great when a film can make you incredibly sad, and then quickly turn that around and make you smile. 

2. Inside Llewyn Davis

As a huge fan of the Coen Brothers, it's really high praise when I say that this was one of my favorite films by them.  The gloomy colors, and images in the film match the tone perfectly.  Oscar Isaac is not only a talented singer, but also gives a really great performance as Llewyn Davis.  Really funny, sometimes in the saddest way.  

1. Her

My favorite film of 2013, Her.  This film just worked on so many levels for me.  The script could be hilarious, or it could make you want to cry.  It has so many great messages, that I'll refrain from going into detail about again (You can see the more detailed thoughts here.  Or take a look at my friend Reed's review here.)  Joaquin Phoenix gave what I thought was the best performance of 2013.  He plays Theodore with such believability that he seems like a person rather than a movie character.  In a time where this future world could potentially be coming very soon, the importance of this film is heightened.  It let's the audience take a look at their dependance on technology, on their loneliness, and most importantly on their relationships.  In a year filled with great movies, Her is the movie that I will remember the year by.

~Ryan Moncrief

Top 15 Performances of 2013

In a year where Daniel Day Lewis made zero movies, it really opens the door for other actors to take the top spot on some of these lists.  There has been a wide variety of performances in the past year, ranging from actor's and actresses in daring performances as both slaves and slave owners (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'O, Michael Fassbender) or intense performances as the captain of a ship (Tom Hanks and Robert Redford), and we had a few drug user performances this year as well (Dane Dehaan and Emory Cohen from The Place Beyond the Pines, everyone in This is The End, Everyone in Spring Breakers, Woody Harrelson in Out of the Furnace, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in Dallas Buyer's Club, the main news team in Anchorman 2, and literally every person in The Wolf of Wall Street).  Like I said, a very diverse list of performances, so it was truly hard to narrow it down to 15.

In All Seriousness:

It was hard to narrow it down because there were a lot of great performances, some I liked more than others.  But I'll list some honorable mentions for the ones that didn't make the list but I'd like to mention still.

Honorable Mentions: Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby), Robert Redford (All is Lost), Christian Bale/Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper/Jeremy Renner (American Hustle), Lupita Nyong'O (12 Years a Slave), Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners), Mads Mikkelson (The Hunt) and a few others were very close to making this list.

Also there are a few movies I still haven't seen and therefore couldn't consider any performances from it like: Rush, Philomena, August: Osage County, Enough Said, etc.

15. Will Ferrell (Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues)

I decided to sacrifice some of the more dramatic performances of the year, for Will Ferrell's second turn as Ron Burgundy.  Anchorman 2, although slightly inferior to the first film, still delivers the funnies.  One could argue that Will Ferrell is even more over-the-top in this performance compared to Anchorman, and I'm not even mad, that's amazing.

14. Sam Rockwell (The Way Way Back)

These first two performances are primarily comedic, but don't worry because it's all sad and depressing from here on out.  Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite actors right now.  He steals the show in every film he's in.  His comedic delivery of lines is equal to if not better than most comedy actors today, and he can also do great dramatic work (see films like Moon or The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford).  Also based on interviews, he is one of the coolest guys in Hollywood.  Just realized I barely talked about this performance.  Very funny and touching as a father-like figure for the loner Duncan a.k.a. Pop 'N Lock.

13. Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)

Captain Phillips was a very intense, entertaining thriller.  A lot of that is because of Paul Greengrass's quality directing, but without Tom Hanks as the film's title character, this film loses a lot of it's intensity.  Hanks plays Captain Phillips as someone who knows how to keep his cool, but is also visibly scared.  It's unfortunate that the Best Actor category at the Oscars was so stacked this year, because he would get a nomination here for sure in any other year.  The scene at the end is some of Hanks's best work of his career, as he plays the Captain in shock after the events that transpired.  I'd also like to state that newcomer Barkhad Abdi gives a great supporting performance as the main pirate.  The two work off of each other very well.

12. Jared Leto (Dallas Buyer's Club)

Leto went through a HUGE transformation to become Rayon the transvestite with HIV in Dallas Buyer's Club.  He lost a bunch of weight, and he certainly looks the part as you can see in the picture above.  Leto is energetic, emotional, and really sassy in this brave performance.  He acts as a great contrast to McConaughey's character of Ron, and both are deserving of the awards recognition they have been receiving.

11. Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

Don't expect this to be the last time Fassbender gets nominated for an Oscar.  He is one of the most talented actors today, and another one of my favorites.  He plays a brutal slave owner in 12 Years a Slave.  He is like a human firecracker every time he's on screen, you wait for him to go off, and he doesn't disappoint you once.  I will continue to look forward to his performances for as long as he works in films.

10. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Cate Blanchett is one of the few bright spots in a film that didn't deliver as well as I would hope.  You really don't like her character, but she plays Jasmine beautifully.  Lots of dialogue, lots of crying, a panicky attitude, Blanchett portrays this complex character with ease it seems like, although it must have been extremely difficult.  That's why it must be nice to be Woody Allen, because he can get talented actors to perform his difficult roles.

9. Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha)

Fun, quirky, awkward, spontaneous, these are a few words that describe Greta Gerwig's character Frances Hathaway.  It's definitely not as flashy as some of the other performances from this year, but it's incredibly down-to-earth.  Frances is real, I'm sure most people know someone like her, and Greta Gerwig does a beautiful job of making her funny and real.  Gerwig is becoming an actress to watch, she's now on my radar for sure after this performance.

8. Brie Larson and John Gallagher Jr. (Short Term 12)

I didn't want to not include one of them so I grouped them together.  Both are great in the fantastic film, Short Term 12.  Their relationship is complex, and their job at a foster care facility, as well as the history of each character does not simplify things at all.  These two are up-and-coming actors who are just now getting more prominent roles, and Short Term 12 is going to help make sure they continue getting good roles.  Both have moments that are funny, heart-breaking, and effective, which are also good ways to describe this film as a whole.

7. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)

Ejiofor looks like he's on the verge of tears throughout most of this probably difficult and painful performance as Solomon Northup, a freed slave who was kidnapped back into slavery for 12 years.  Even though you know what happens in the end (because it's based on a true story), Ejiofor makes it so you can't help but be worried for Solomon every single second of this film.

6. Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer's Club)

Like Leto, McConaughey lost a lot of weight to play the role of an HIV+ southern homophobe, who eventually works together with gay men and women to help other gay and straight men and women with HIV.  It's kind of crazy to think that McConaughey (who had a terrific year with this, Mud, and Wolf of Wall Street) was not too long ago in cheesy Rom-Coms like Fool's Gold and Failure to Launch.  Well this new direction for his career in which he is taking primarily interesting, dramatic roles, is getting him lots of critical praise and could very likely win him an Oscar.

5. Amy Adams (American Hustle)

I became a huge fan of Amy Adams after seeing her in The Fighter, and I'm happy she continues to get roles where she can show off her acting chops.  In a film that was more about the characters than the story, the actors really got to do some great work.  However, Adams does the best job here, which is saying a lot based on the caliber of this all-star cast.  I'm hoping she can finally pull of an Oscar win at this year's Academy Awards.

4. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Leo really just doesn't hold back at all in this film.  And in a film that's so over-the-top, with so much going on, he has to go all out in every scene.  Jordan Belfort is a horrible person, he abuses drugs and women, addiction runs his life, and he steals money from innocent people.  But we root for him the whole time, because Leo makes us.  He is great in the dialogue heavy scenes (in which there are a lot), and his physical performance is great as well (especially the scene where he takes too many quaaludes and has to get home).

3. Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color)

In a film that spans a few years, and portrays several different kinds of relationships in it's 3-hour running time, Adele gives the most human performance of the year, as well as the best female performance of the year.  There are a lot of aspects of this film that will turn people off from it, but if I can give you one reason to watch it, that would be for this performance here.  She plays it truthfully, and with a lot of courage.  It'll be difficult to find a performance in recent years as real as this one here.  Her co-star Lea Seydoux is also great here.

2. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Not only a talented folk singer, but a great actor as well, both evident from his performance in this film. The music industry (primarily the folk music industry) is portrayed as a real tough environment to break into.  As Llewyn, a folk musician who hops from couch to couch as he tries to find success, Oscar Isaac keeps us both hopeful and hopeless for his character.  Every time you think he seems like something good is going to happen for him, two bad things happen to him.  He's kind of like an angrier, more depressed version of Greta Gerwig's character in Frances Ha.

1. Joaquin Phoenix (Her)

For the second year in a row, Joaquin Phoenix gives my favorite performance of the year (his performance in The Master was my favorite of 2012).  Two completely different performances that show Phoenix's great range as an actor.  In this film he gives a great reserved performance, which is a nice change of pace from some of the other great performances of this year.  Phoenix takes Spike Jonze's fantastic script, and delivers the words on it with such ease that it doesn't even feel like someone wrote them.  Also the fact that most of his scenes are with just a computer's voice (played well by Scarlett Johansson), makes it that much more impressive that he can keep his performance perfectly and believably in sync with Scar Jo's voice.  With Spike Jonze's great direction and writing, I believe this film could have been good even if Phoenix wasn't in it.  But his great performance is what pushes this film over the edge as one of the best of the year, so I wouldn't want it anyway.

~Ryan Moncrief

Artist Spotlight: Vampire Weekend

This is a new feature I will be doing occasionally where I will take an artist, listen to their entire discography, and let you know which songs and albums you should listen to from them.  I'll also go into details on who's in the band, what kind of music they play, and other stuff like that.  I think the best place to start with this new feature should probably be a band that I already have listened to a countless amount of times, my favorite band, Vampire Weekend.

Formed in: 2006

Band Members: Ezra Koenig (Lead vocals, lead guitar), Rostam Batmanglij (keyboard, guitar, vocals), Chris Tomson (Drums, vocals), Chris Baio (bass guitar, vocals)

Style of Music: Indie Rock, Indie Pop

Number of Albums: 3

History: The 4 members of Vampire Weekend met while attending Columbia University.  They bonded together over a mutual appreciation of punk rock and African music (as most friendships start). The name Vampire Weekend was chosen from the title of a short film project that Koenig was working on but eventually abandoned.  A few of the songs on Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut album are based on this short film project, which was about a man named Walcott who goes to Cape Cod to warn the mayor that Vampires are attacking the United States.  After the band graduated from college, the band self-produced their first album, and eventually released it in early 2008.

Ranking of Albums

3. Contra

Track Listing

1. "Horchata"

2. "White Sky"

3. "Holiday"

4. "California English"

5. "Taxi Cab"

6. "Run"

7. "Cousins"

8. "Giving Up the Gun"

9. "Diplomat's Son"

10. "I Think Ur a Contra"

Although there are some great songs on here like 'Horchata,' 'White Sky,' and 'Giving Up the Gun,' Contra is Vampire Weekend's weakest album.  It lacks the fluidness of Modern Vampires of the City and the consistency of Vampire Weekend.  With that being said, I like Vampire Weekend's worst album more than many other albums in the indie rock genre.  Still definitely worth a listen.

2. Vampire Weekend

Track Listing

1. "Mansard Roof"

2. "Oxford Comma"

3. "A-Punk"

4. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

5. "M79"

6. "Campus"

7. "Bryn"

8. "One (Blake's Got A New Face)"

9. "I Stand Corrected"

10. "Walcott"

11. "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance"

Of Vampire Weekend's entire discography, this self-titled album has the most obvious African music influence.  Chant-like vocals from Koenig throughout, and African-like percussion in songs such as 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' and 'The Kids Don't Stand a Chance' represent their African music influence, while the more punky 'Walcott' and 'A-Punk' show their more indie rock side.  I think the fact that some of the lyrics are influenced from Ezra's abandoned short film project is awesome.  And the music here sounds fresh, which I think is part of the reason why this album was very well-received, and shot Vampire Weekend up into popularity.

1. Modern Vampires of the City

Track Listing

1. "Obvious Bicycle"

2. "Unbelievers"

3. "Step"

4. "Diane Young"

5. "Don't Lie"

6. "Hannah Hunt"

7. "Everlasting Arms"

8. "Finger Back"

9. "Worship You"

10. "Ya Hey"

11. "Hudson"

12. "Young Lion"

Vampire Weekend's third and most recent album, which was released last year, has the band back with a slightly different sound then they did in their previous two albums.  This album has more of a choir, church-like feel, mixed with their usual pop/rock sound.  Koenig has some of his best, most creative lyrics in this album.  Some of the highlights of this album (as well as their entire career) are 'Step,' 'Ya Hey,' and 'Everlasting Arms.'  It's best to listen to this album in order from start to finish because the songs flow into each other really well.

Although I think it's best to just listen to entire albums, some people would rather have a list of songs to listen to before they commit to a band or an album.  So here is Vampire Weekend's 15 most essential songs:

Essential Songs

(I'm not including A-Punk or Diane Young because I would guess most people have already heard them.  Also this is not in any specific order.)

1. Oxford Comma

2. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

3. M79

4. Walcott

5. Horchata

6. White Sky

7. Giving Up the Gun

8. Cousins

9. Step

10. Ya Hey

11. Everlasting Arms

12. Unbelievers

13. Hannah Hunt

14. Ladies of Cambridge (Bonus song on the Japanese version of the album Vampire Weekend)

15. Ottoman (song made for the film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist)

Feel free to comment with what songs or albums you consider better than others.  Also if you have any suggestions on what other artists I should do for the Artist Spotlight feature, please let me know (Although I'll probably just do what I want anyway).

~Ryan Moncrief

My Oscar Nomination Thoughts and Predictions

What did the Academy just not see Inside Llewyn Davis?  The Academy Awards allow for up to 10 Best Picture noms, and they only nominated 9 films (which means there was room for Llewyn Davis!)  Also how did Philomena get in over it?!  It got snubbed in every single category.  I don't care if there was no animation in it, it should have gotten a nom for Best Animated Feature.  And no Best Actor nod for Oscar Isaac?!  Who is this Leonardo DiCaprio guy anyway?

Meryl Streep gets nominated AGAIN (instead of a deserving Emma Thompson for Saving Mr. Banks).  Meryl Streep is like the guy who goes to the pie eating contest and wins so much to the point where people just don't want to be in it anymore.  Give someone else a chance!  But seriously most of my gripes are with the lack of Llewyn Davis, no Screenplay nomination?!  At least it got a Best Sound Mixing nod though! : /

I'm happy that Jonah Hill got into the supporting actor category again this year, surprised that they left Daniel Bruhl off.  And just intensely angry at the fact that the cat from Inside Llewyn Davis didn't get anything for it's role as the the cat from Inside Llewyn Davis.

In All Seriousness:

Below I'm gonna predict who I think will win.  Bold = Who will win  Italics = Who I want to win

BEST PICTURE

“12 Years a Slave”
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST DIRECTOR

David O. Russell, “American Hustle”
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Alexander Payne, “Nebraska”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale, “American Hustle”
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST ACTRESS

Amy Adams, “American Hustle”
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“American Hustle” – Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
“Blue Jasmine” – Written by Woody Allen
“Her” – Written by Spike Jonze
“Nebraska” – Written by Bob Nelson
“Dallas Buyers Club” – Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“Before Midnight” – Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
“Captain Phillips” – Screenplay by Billy Ray
“Philomena” – Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
“12 Years a Slave” – Screenplay by John Ridley
“The Wolf of Wall Street” – Screenplay by Terence Winter

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”
Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County”
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper, “American Hustle”
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST ANIMATED FILM

“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“The Wind Rises”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“The Grandmaster”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“Prisoners”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Michael Wilkinson, “American Hustle”
William Chang Suk Ping, “The Grandmaster”
Catherine Martin, “The Great Gatsby”
Michael O’Connor, “The Invisible Woman”
Patricia Norris, “12 Years a Slave”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“The Act of Killing”Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“Cutie and the Boxer” Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
“Dirty Wars” Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
“The Square” Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
“20 Feet from Stardom” Nominees to be determined

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Haven't seen any of these.

“CaveDigger” Jeffrey Karoff
“Facing Fear” Jason Cohen
“Karama Has No Walls” Sara Ishaq
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Edgar Barens

BEST FILM EDITING

“American Hustle” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
“Captain Phillips” Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
“12 Years a Slave” Joe Walker

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“The Broken Circle Breakdown” Belgium
“The Great Beauty” Italy
“The Hunt” Denmark
“The Missing Picture” Cambodia
“Omar” Palestine

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Dallas Buyers Club” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

John Williams, “The Book Thief”
Steven Price, “Gravity”
William Butler and Owen Pallett, “Her”
Alexandre Desplat, “Philomena”
Thomas Newman, “Saving Mr. Banks”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone”
Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel

“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

“Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

“The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

“American Hustle”
Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler

“Gravity”
Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard

“The Great Gatsby”
Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn

“Her”
Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

“12 Years a Slave”
Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Haven't seen any of these.

“Feral” Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
“Get a Horse!” Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
“Mr. Hublot” Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
“Possessions” Shuhei Morita
“Room on the Broom” Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Haven't seen any of these.

“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” Esteban Crespo
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)” Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
“Helium” Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)” Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
“The Voorman Problem” Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

BEST SOUND EDITING

“All Is Lost” Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
“Captain Phillips” Oliver Tarney
“Gravity” Glenn Freemantle
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Brent Burge
“Lone Survivor” Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING

“Captain Phillips” Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
“Gravity” Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
“Inside Llewyn Davis” Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
“Lone Survivor” Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

“Gravity” Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
“Iron Man 3” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
“The Lone Ranger” Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
“Star Trek Into Darkness” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

My Top 50 Films of All-Time

In honor of finally reaching 1,000 views on this here blog, I decided to present a list of my favorite 50 films in order (going from 50 to number 1).  Now obviously this list is constantly changing, so this is just my list as of today, January 13th, 2014.  I narrowed this down from about 100 movies that I really enjoy so maybe next week I'd have other films I want to take out or put in, but for the most part my list shouldn't change too drastically.  Also, 50 films is a lot to do a comedic and serious write up for, and I want you guys to actually read this and be able to finish it in the same sitting, so I'll try to be both comedic and analytical in the same paragraphs.  Anyway, here are my 50 favorite films, enjoy the read and let me know what you think of my list.

In All Seriousness:

50. West Side Story (1961) 

Director: Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise

Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno

I don't have much to say here that I didn't say in my Netflix Pick of the Week post.  The music is really great, the acting is good.  You'll have these songs stuck in your head for days after you watch this movie.  Something that isn't ever annoying is performing your own rendition of these songs for all of your friends.  It's even better if you change the lyrics.

49. Stripes (1981)

Director: Ivan Reitman

Starring: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Warren Oates

I consider this film kind of a comedic Full Metal Jacket.  Or maybe I consider Full Metal Jacket a dramatic Stripes since this came out first.  Well anyway they are both kind of structured similarly where the first half is training and the second half is more combat based.  And both halves kind of work as their own film for both Stripes and FMJ.  The Names scene is one of my comedy scenes of all-time, and it's all improvised.  Also Bill Murray could read a Thesaurus and I would watch it.

48. Mullholland Dr. (2001)

Director: David Lynch

Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring

David Lynch is one weird genius.  I'm really fascinated by him, and I like that it usually takes more than one viewing to even start to grasp one of his films.  That increases the films replay value for sure, and Mullholland Drive is definitely something you should watch more than once.  It also really helps if you read about the film after you watch it.  Naomi Watts gives, in my opinion, the best performance of her career.  And one of my favorite female performances of all-time as well.

47. Schindler's List (1993)

Director: Stephen Spielberg

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley

Schindler's List is a tough one to get through, but if you can it's definitely worth the watch.  Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are both fantastic.  Although it's not my favorite by him, I think it is Stephen Spielberg's most well-made film.  He doesn't waste a shot, and he has us worrying with every single second of the film.

46. Die Hard (1988)

Director: John McTiernan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson

When talking about action movies, Die Hard is always the first to come to mind.  I wish the people making some of these action movies today would take a look at Die Hard (the original, not the newest one).  It's a great model for how an action movie should be made, and a lot of it has to do with the script.  Create good characters and good sequences, and you'll have a good film.

45. Touch of Evil (1958)

Director: Orson Welles

Starring: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh

Citizen Kane is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made.  I do like it a lot, but Touch of Evil is my favorite Orson Welles film.  Orson Welles changes a lot as a filmmaker (and he becomes a different shape) from Kane to Touch of Evil.  The long opening shot at the beginning is incredible, and unbelievably influential.  The cast does their part, but the story is really what makes this such a good film.  This tale of police corruption holds on to you like a baby holding on to any finger (babies love fingers), and it doesn't let you go until the very end.

44. Django Unchained (2012)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson

The most recently released film on the list.  What can I say, I just really enjoy this movie.  Tarantino writes enjoyable scripts, and his use of music is some of my favorite.  Those are really 2 of the most important aspects of films when I decide how much I like them.  I love a well-written script, and I love music being use in creative ways.  The characters are over-the-top, but so interesting.  Plenty of great cameos, just a really entertaining film.

43. The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Director: Charles Laughton

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish

This film has influenced countless filmmakers (The Coen Brothers, Spike Lee, Paul Thomas Anderson) to name a few.  This was the only film Charles Laughton directed, which is kind of a shame because I would have liked to see more from him.  Robert Mitchum is terrifying as a fake priest who torments his ex-cell mates kids when he finds out that they know where a large sum of money is.  Great use of shadows in the cinematography, which has been copied many times throughout the history of cinema.

42. Rushmore (1998)

Director: Wes Anderson

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams

Jason Schwartzman's character, Max Fischer, can be a real butt head sometimes, but his ambition is what I admire the most.  I love his character so much because I feel like there are parts of him that I can absolutely relate to.  The friendship that grows between him and Bill Murray's character is a joy to watch.  Wes Anderson is one of the most stylistic filmmakers alive, and he'll have a fan in me for as long as he continues to make films.

41. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard, Adam Baldwin

Full Metal Jacket, or as figured out earlier in this post, the more dramatic Stripes.  Even more so than Stripes, FMJ feels like two movies rather than one.  Each half of the film is basically an obstacle that Private Joker (Matthew Modine) is trying to get past.  Both halves work so well that I don't even care that they aren't really merged well.

40. Psycho (1960)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam

It still holds up to this day.  Even though I knew a lot of the plot, it still made me jump.  The acting felt very modern, and the whole film just feels ahead of it's time.  In my opinion the best work of Hitchcock's mostly excellent filmography.

39. The Departed (2006)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Vera Farmiga

Bahhston accents gahlore.  Top to bottom, a fantastic cast with great chemistry.  Like probably one of my favorite casts, I love all of these people.  Their chemistry is great, and the story is entertaining.  That plus Marty at the helm is really all you need for great film.

38. My Man Godfrey (1936)

Director: Gregory La Cava

Starring: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Gail Patrick

A funny, smart script sets this film apart from a lot of the films from this era.  It's one of my favorites comedies, and I wrote a 10 page paper on it this past semester so if you need to know anything about it, I'm the guy to go to.  William Powell's Godfrey is such a wonderful character.  And brilliantly matched with Carole Lombard's wild character.  This would be the first film I'd recommend for someone who's intimidated by watching older movies.

37. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Director: Henry Selick

Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara

Another musical on the list.  I watch it around every Halloween and Christmas, and I never get sick of it.  The songs are contagious, and you'll find yourself singing them randomly throughout life, not even around the two holidays.  The number of times I've been in a store and sung to myself 'What's This?' while look at different objects would surprise you, and cause me to lose most of my friends.

36. Drive (2011)

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Oscar Isaac

My man crush for Ryan Gosling is astounding.  It wouldn't be so strong if he wasn't a great actor, and so cool.  This film really surprised me with how much I loved it.  The cinematography for the night time scenes are beautiful, and the soundtrack is one of the coolest. Also Albert Brooks gave my favorite performance of 2011 in this film.

35. Se7en (1995)

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow

Quite a dark film.  If you haven't seen this yet, the last 25 or so minutes is a really crazy ride.  Even though I wouldn't consider this a horror film, it has some truly scary moments.  I'm gonna keep this short, because if you haven't seen the film, it's best if you know as little as possible going into it.

34. The Big Lebowski (1998)

Director: The Coen Brothers

Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro

A hilarious film, with great characters.  Jeff Bridges and John Goodman are perfect together in one of their most memorable roles each.  The Coen Brothers have some very quotable films, but Lebowski is by far the most quotable.  And if you don't think so, well then, just insert the most quoted line of the film here, man.

33. Chinatown (1974)

Director: Roman Polanski

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston

Every single person who has even thought about becoming a screenwriter needs to see this film.  It's widely considered the greatest screenplay of all-time.  It really is great, so many twists and turns that just really work.  The pacing of the story is fantastic, and Jack Nicholson is at the top of his game in this film.  Dunaway is also really fantastic.

32. Black Swan (2010)

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel

I fell in love with this film the first time I saw it.  Natalie Portman mesmerized me with her performance, and I thought the story was so cool.  The score is really effective, and Darren Aronofsky's directing here is some of his best work.  I think one reason why I like this film so much is because it introduced me to Aronofsky, who I now consider one of my favorite directors.

31. The Godfather Pt. 1 and 2 (1972 and 1974)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire

I always group these two together on my list because I like them both pretty much equally, so they would be back to back, and I don't feel like bumping anything else off the list.  So yeah, The Godfather 1 and 2.  Both incredible stories, with a great cast, directed well, yadda yadda yadda.  You've heard people praise these two films before, if you still haven't seem them then go do that soon.

30. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

Director: Sergio Leone

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef

If you have a well-crafted film, that's also really cool, then you have a fan in Ryan Moncrief.  Westerns are really cool, and it's absolutely why so many little kids want to be cowboys when they grow up (and I for damn sure don't mean the NFL team).  All three films in Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name trilogy are great, but none of them beat this last film.  A legendary film with a legendary score that you've heard a million times, even if you haven't seen the movie.

29. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Director: Stephen Spielberg

Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies

I can't tell you for sure if it's a realistic portrayal of WWII, because I wasn't in that war (or any war for that matter).  But it looks closer to what I imagine it is like than any other movie portrays it, which is why I'm such a big fan of this film.  The opening storming the beaches sequence feels horrifically real, and allows you to sympathize even more with the soldiers that were actually there.  Stephen Spielberg is one of, if not the best at capturing the feeling of historic events.

28. Toy Story (1995)

Director: John Lasseter

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger

Something I'm probably going to do in the future is scream, "YOU ARE A TOY!" to any of my friends who say they are gonna try something that might not work out.  This movie makes me happier than most things, it's just such a cool concept that the kid inside me just eats up every time.  Like most of the pixar films that followed this influential piece of cinema, Toy Story is funny throughout, intense at parts, and touching in parts as well. 

27. Field of Dreams (1989)

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Starring: Kevin Costner, James Earle Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan

A really good sports movie is harder to come by these days, than it was back when I wasn't alive yet.  I always liked baseball movies the best, and Field of Dreams is by far my favorite.  All of the interactions between Kevin Costner and James Earle Jones are awesome.  Ray Liotta is great as Shoeless Joe Jackson.  Several very quotable lines, and the ending will make even the manliest of men get choked up.

26. The Lord of the Rings Series (2001, 2002, 2003)

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen

Like The Godfather films, I like to group these up.  Whenever I watch these films I have to free up a day or two, because I always watch them back to back to back, and I watch the extended editions which adds up to about 10 hours.  I'm not so into these films to the point where I dress up as the characters or have a replica of the ring that I wear all the time, but it is definitely my favorite film trilogy.

25. The Dark Knight (2008)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman

Now on to the middle film of another one of my favorite trilogies.  This film at one point was number 1 on this list, but as you can see it's moved up a bit.  It's still by far my most watched film of all-time.  I've easily seen this film upwards of 30 times since it came out, and I still enjoy it every time.  Obviously Heath's performance is spectacular.  I think the thing I liked about it the most was it had more crime movie elements than comic book movie elements.  Because while I do like many comic book movies, I'm a much bigger fan of (somewhat) realistic crime thrillers.

24. No Country For Old Men (2007)

Director: The Coen Brothers

Starring: Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly Macdonald, Woody Harrelson

Not one of the Coen Brothers funnier films.  But one of their bests for sure.  The cinematography is beautiful and it's overall just an intense film.  The Coen Brothers create suspense so effectively in this film.  That is helped a lot by Javier Bardem's terrifying performance as Anton Chigurh.

23. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Director: Wes Anderson

Starring: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, Bill Murray

After making the brilliant Rushmore, Wes Anderson could really cast anyone he wanted in his film, and it seems like he did.  Such a great cast of talented people.  I really love the theme Anderson has in his films of adults acting childish and children acting more mature than they should be.  The story book feel of Tenenbaums with Alec Baldwin's great narrating is unique and a primary reason why this is my favorite Wes Anderson film.  His use of music is fantastic here too.

22. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman

The fact that this is my third favorite Paul Thomas Anderson film, and it's this high up on my list shows how much I love his films.  He always has some humor in his films (except for maybe There Will Be Blood), but Punch-Drunk Love is his only movie that just makes me laugh so hard throughout the whole thing.  I wouldn't even consider it a typical comedy, but I find it hilarious.  My favorite Adam Sandler role, and it's not even close.

21. American Beauty (1999)

Director: Sam Mendes

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper

Another film with a great screenplay that any hopeful screenwriter should see eventually.  When a film uses voice-over really well it can go a long way, and American Beauty incorporates it effectively.   Possibly Kevin Spacey's best performance of his career.  To tell the end of the story at the beginning, and still have it be a good ending means the journey to that ending has to be great.  And that is precisely the case with American Beauty.

20. (500) Days of Summer (2009)

Director: Marc Webb

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel

Guys all over the world who are dragged to romantic-comedies by their girlfriends would be much happier if a majority of the romantic-comedies being made in recent years were more like (500) Days of Summer.  Really funny, entertaining story that will break your heart and then mend it within the film's 95 minutes.  Really creative way of telling a story by jumping back and forth between the days.  Great script too.

19. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn

Other than the show How I Met Your Mother, this film is one of the first things that comes to mind when I see a suit.  Great soundtrack, which is true for pretty much all of Tarantino's films.  Making an interesting film about a heist, without ever showing the heist is something only a talented writer could do.  And Tarantino is a talented writer for sure.  Suits, sunglasses, awesome music, the title, the nicknames, the slow-motion walking scene, this film just oozes with coolness.  I can't stand it.

18. Blue Velvet (1986)

Director: David Lynch

Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper was born to play this role.  He was a crazy guy, and really embraces his craziness in this role, which is one of my favorite characters of all-time.  This movie can be darkly funny at times, but also really scary.  One of David Lynch's more conventional films (I'm guessing.  I've only seen this and Mullholland Drive).  But still very weird, uncomfortable at times, but worth a watch for sure if you're into Lynch or filmmakers similar to him (if there even are any).

17. The Shining (1980)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers

My favorite horror film, even though I haven't seen many horror films, or at least not as much as I'd like to.  I don't even find this movie scary, I just think it's so well-made.  There are endless amounts of essays, theories and documentaries (see the film Room 237) on this film.  I love films that you can analyze every time you watch it, and get something new from it with each viewing.  The Shining is without a doubt one of those movies.

16. Inglorious Basterds (2009)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger

Oddly enough, this is the first Tarantino film I ever saw.  I was amazed by how unique the dialogue was.  And that scenes would go on for long periods of time, and be mainly dialogue.  Everything about it just seemed cool to me, and I knew after seeing it that I wanted to see more films like this.  So it kind of got me into a lot of the films I'm into now.  Also Christoph Waltz is just great, and I'm happy this film turned him into a well-known actor.

15. Goodfellas (1990)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino

The best Ray Liotta was and ever will be.  This is really the film of his entire career, and possibly Joe Pesci's best film as well.  Here is another instance of good voice-over being crucial to making a film great.  Even though Martin Scorsese has make plenty of films that have nothing to do with gangsters, the popularity of Goodfellas classified him as a great gangster film director.  And he took that success and made several more gangster films, none of them have come close to Goodfellas though.

14. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier

You'd be hard-pressed to find a performance better than Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood.  Whenever I watch this film, I forget what he normally sounds and looks like.  Brilliant directing from PTA, a haunting score, gorgeous cinematography, this film is really a technical masterpiece.

13. Fargo (1996)

Director: The Coen Brothers

Starring: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare

My favorite Co Bros film.  I don't know why I shortened Coen Brothers, it's pretty short already.  But anyway, does a good job of exposing it's antagonists flaws, and making the protagonist seem like an angel.  To be fair Frances McDormand as Marge is one of the nicest characters, you just want to have dinner and play board games with her.  This film is the perfect example of The Coen Brothers dark comedic style, and one of the best dark comedies made in a long time.

12. Sideways (2004)

Director: Alexander Payne

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh

Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church have great chemistry in this wine comedy from Alexander Payne.  This schlubby character was made for Paul Giamatti, he's perfect and so funny in this role.  Great lines throughout, and the kind of awkward comedy that I enjoy a lot.

11. Fight Club (1999)

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Jared Leto

If this film doesn't make you want to punch someone right in the face, then that's probably good.  Violence isn't great in real life usually, but it's pretty fantastic in this movie.  I've noticed that a lot of the films I like have a very rebellious nature, maybe that's because I'm generally just really nice and a rule follower.  But who cares, I'll live my rebel life through Tyler Durden.

10. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Director: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin

Great scriptwriting, and talented cast make this movie an excellent indie comedy.  Alan Arkin is hilarious as the grandpa of the family, and his scenes with the extremely cute, young Abigail Breslin are some of the bests in the film.  My favorite scene though is when the whole family dances to Super Freak.  I won't give anymore away, you have to see it to truly enjoy it.

9. Scarface (1983)

Director: Brian De Palma

Starring: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

I don't know what it is, but watching a gangster do gangster things is just fun.  This nearly 3-hour gangster film starring Al Pacino is filled with excessive violence, drugs, money, women, cars, guns, etc.  It's what you'd expect from a gangster film, and it's entertaining to watch this rise and fall from cuban immigrant to drug lord.  You don't always agree with Tony Montana, but you root for him all the way through.

8. The Graduate (1967)

Director: Mike Nichols

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross

This film is kind of depressing, because as a college student I wonder what is going to happen after college.  Am I going to know what to do?  Am I going to find a job?  I don't know, but this film does a good job making you think about the future.  You might have that moment in life that Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) has where you just think to yourself, "Now what?"  Despite the fact that it can be a little depressing, I just can't stop from wanting to watch this movie.  It's had a strong effect on me since the first time I saw it.

7. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connolly, Marlon Wayans

Speaking of depressing movies, it doesn't really get more depressing than this.  Darren Aronofsky's drug-addict film has some of the most horrifying scenes I've ever watched.  It probably sounds kind of messed up, but I find it really interesting to see how people react to this film.  Because even though it's just a movie, and people who watch it know that these are characters, it still strongly effects them to these characters go through what they go through.  And a lot of that has to do with Aronofsky's great use of editing, camerawork, and music.

6. Taxi Driver (1976)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shephard, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks, Peter Boyle

Love me some depressing movies!  No but this is weird that three movies that are depressing to me are right next to each other within my Top 10.  This movie shows the disgusting, horrible part of society that you want to ignore and hope it goes away.  Taxi Driver is a great portrait of a guy who just can't handle the filthiness of people and city life, so he slowly becomes insane.  Great performance from Robert De Niro.

5. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick McGee, Michael Bates

Even by today's standards, this film pushes the boundaries a little bit (a lot).  That's what I like about it though, it's a brilliant, over-the-top story adapted from Anthony Burgess's book, but it doesn't sugar-coat anything.  Stanley Kubrick portrays this dystopian future world with beautiful imagery.  The use of classical music is a joy, and the Singing in the Rain scene is one of my favorites solely because of how effectively it uses that song.  Malcolm McDowell, although he has been in MANY movies and tv shows, will always be known as Alex from A Clockwork Orange.

4. The Social Network (2010)

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Anthony Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Hunter Pence, Rooney Mara, Rashida Jones

In my opinion, this is a modern masterpiece.  I believe people are still gonna look back on this decades from now, and still recognize it as an incredible film.  And if not, I know I will.  Top to bottom, every aspect of the film is well-done.  The direction, the fantastic Aaron Sorkin script, the score, the acting, the cinematography, the editing.  Rather than just list every thing that goes into making a film, I'll just tell you to watch this film if you haven't seen it, and watch it again if you have seen it.

3. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames

It's hard to think of something to say about that hasn't been said a million times.  It's cool, the soundtrack is one of the greatest, the writing is fantastic.  That's not something different, but I don't care.  It's Pulp Fiction, you should have seen this already.

2. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Director: Sidney Lumet

Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon

Films that take place primarily in one place, and work well are really interesting to me.  I love the idea of a guy getting trapped in a bank because something goes wrong when he tries to rob it and the police find out about it.  Al Pacino runs the show here, in my favorite performance from him.  It's not a typical bank robbery film, although it does have the intensity of one.  There are numerous funny moments, but it's really all about suspense and tension.  It's kind of crazy that we want this bank robber to succeed, but that's how movies work I guess.

1. Boogie Nights (1997)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Bert Reynolds, Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, Nicole Ari Parker, Luis Guzman, Melora Walters

My favorite film of all-time, and it has been for a few years now.  It has so many of my favorite things: my favorite director, my favorite movie soundtrack, my favorite scene, my favorite opening shot, my favorite cast, and I'm sure there is more.  I could talk about this movie endlessly, I've written a paper and done a presentation on this movie for school.  I've watched this movie on Blu-ray, and then watched it again with the commentary on right after.  It's the main inspiration for me to push myself to be creative.  It makes me want to make good movies, and for that I owe a lot to this movie.

~Ryan Moncrief