100 Favorite Movies, Part 2

And the list continues....

• 90. MONSTERS, INC. (2001) - Pixar never fails to amaze me with it's ability to look at stories from an original point of view. Billy Crystal and John Goodman provide the voices to Sully and Mike Wazowski, two monsters whose job is to come out of closets and scare children. But the concepts of scaring being a power source, monsters scared of children, the magical doors, and a great chase scene on a conveyor arch, are such a refreshing bit of cinema. Monsters, Inc. is funny and sweet and has the cutest cartoon kid ever in little Boo.

• 89. REAR WINDOW (1954) - One of Hitchcock's best creates a throughly engaging and suspenseful thriller out of Jimmy Stewart and a pair of binoculars. He's basically a peeping Tom, but the observations of his neighbors (including Miss Torso and Miss Lonelyheart) are touching and clever, and the mystery of Mr. Thorwald's wife is riveting. This film makes voyeurs of us all.

• 88. BILLY ELLIOT (2000) - The short truth is that star Jamie Bell just steals my heart. His Billy is a terrible boxer with a dead mother, a dementia-addled grandmother, and a brother and father who are suffering through one of the most awful mining strikes in British history. But just watch his face and body light up as he dances! He charms my pants off! In ballet teacher Julie Walters he finds a surly, entertaining surrogate mother, and just try to resist Jamie Bell when he smiles!

• 87. RUNNING ON EMPTY (1988) - Had he not tragically dies at the age of 23, River Phoenix would have been one of the best actors around, and this is the film that is a constant reminder of that fact. His parents are underground activists, wanted for a Vietnam protest bombing that went awry, and Phoenix, a senior in high school, now faces a future that either requires him to give up his dream of Juliard, or never see his parents again. This delicately layered story about a close family with a horrible burden to bear provides wonderful performances from not only Phoenix, but Christine Lahti and Judd Hirsch as his parents.

• 86. HARRY POTTER SERIES (2001-present) - I can't choose just one!!! This is such a wonderfully fun and endlessly inventive tale about magic, loss, education, choices, bravery, dreams, family and friendship. J.K. Rowling gave us one of the greatest and most imaginative stories of all time, and these film adaptations are a beautiful representation of her work. The relationship between Harry, Ron and Hermione is the warm, gooey center of the whole crazy ride! (And if pressed, I'd have to say that the most recent Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is my favorite of the films so far!)

• 85. BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2002) - How can you not love a film about an Indian girl who is torn between her loving, but traditional parents, and her desire to play soccer? The blending of these two radically different worlds is often amusing, and provides a less familiar example in the underdog sports genre. The three leads (Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) are all engaging, and the surreal shot of our heroine's relatives, in full Indian garb in the middle of the soccer pitch, is truly fun!

• 84. WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971) - Oh, how I loved this movie when I was a kid! A morality tale for children (don't be greedy, don't watch too much television, stop chewing gum) that takes place in a chocolate factory - how could kids stay away! Casting Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka was an inspiration, the musical arrangements are great (especially the Oompa Loompa's refrain, which has entered the pop culture lexicon), and the opening montage depicting the making of chocolate is perhaps one of the greatest opening credits sequences ever.

• 83. PETER PAN (2003) - I only recently discovered this live action remake of the classic story and was overwhelmed by it's lovely visuals and spot-on performances. This adaptation recognizes the on-the-cusp of puberty attraction between Wendy (the luminous Rachel Hurd-Wood) and Peter (a devilishly charming Jeremy Sumpter), and has Wendy confronting Peter about his denial of growing up. It also contains a magically uplifting musical score, plenty of pirate fights and my favorite execution of the infamous "I do believe in fairies!" scene!

• 82. CHASING AMY (1997) - Clerks was fresher and Mallrats perhaps funnier, but Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy has a heart far superior to either. The hopelessly complicated, and yet still romantic, story of a man who falls in love with a lesbian has to tread carefully through a landmine of sexual politics, homophobic slurs and confusing sexual identities, but comes out the end having said something very real about the search for love and the fragility of relationships.

• 81. PLEASANTVILLE (1998) - The movie looks like a satiric throwback to '50's sitcoms. But when modern day teens Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon are transported into this black and white world, an examination of the rewards and costs of personal freedom and a range of emotions shakes up the town of Pleasantville. It's important to remember that while things may be "cleaner", "nicer", and more "pleasant" in a black and white world, feeling shitty or ecstatic is a lot more valuable to the human experience.

100 Favorite Movies Part 3