The Neverending Top Ten Thread

RANKING THE FILMS OF SAM RAIMI

With the recent success of Oz the Great and Powerful and the upcoming Friday release of the Evil Dead remake, it seems like an ideal time to rank and discuss the works of Sam Raimi. He has largely been a cult filmmaker, with only a few mainstream hits on his resume, but his kinetic visual style and oddball sense-of-humor has influenced popular directors like the Coen Bros and Peter Jackson. He also happens to be one of my favorites and this is my rank of his movies:


#15 - FOR LOVE OF THE GAME (1999)



Following the critical acclaim of A Simple Plan, Hollywood came knocking and the best they could offer Sam Raimi was a Kevin Costner baseball movie. To give the film some credit, it has a very unique format. Most of the story is told through flashbacks as the 40-year-old Billy Chapel (Costner) pitches the final game of his career. It also has an interesting story about a man having to re-evaluate 19 years of his life. It's certainly not a bad movie per-say but it definitely doesn't suit Sam Raimi's sensibility. He's not the go-to guy for sports dramas and romantic films.


#14 - CRIMEWAVE (1985)



Sam Raimi made his debut with the independently-produced Evil Dead. His follow-up was his first Hollywood feature. While most directors are able to transition from indie fare to industry productions without much headaches, Raimi was the polar opposite. Crimewave is every aspiring filmmakers worst nightmare. When the movie went over-budget and over-schedule, due to Raimi's lack of experience, the studio literally ripped pages off the script and demanded he only shoot what was left. Then, during post-production, they took the film away from him and did whatever they wanted. The result was a mess. The movie, co-written by the Coen Bros (I s--t you not), tells the story of two bumbling assassins and the young man in love that gets in their way. It's a genre-bender that combines slapstick comedy, action, horror and elements of a crime thriller. It's the type of film that needed a strong director at the helm and not a bunch of studio executives meddling with the final product. While Crimewave is ultimately a disaster, it is still very original and you sense the creativity of Raimi and the Coen's trying to escape. Shout Factory is releasing it on Blu-Ray this May in case anyone here wants to watch it.


#13 - DRAG ME TO HELL (2009)



After completing his Spider-Man trilogy, Sam Raimi returned to the horror genre, at least as a director. Drag Me to Hell is about a young female banker that's cursed by a gypsy woman. It's a silly movie with a ridiculous ending but it also feels appropriate following the economic meltdown of 2008. I don't know if the film will survive the test of time, but it certainly works as an amusing horror flick that's relevant to our current culture.


#12 - THE GIFT (2000)



Upon release, all the hype surrounding The Gift revolved around Katie Holmes' nude scene. In fact, 13 years later, that's still what the movie is most famous for. As a pervert, I appreciate Katie Holmes in her naked glory, but I also gotta acknowledge the film itself. It's a well-made supernatural thriller. Cate Blanchett plays a Southern woman with psychic powers that helps the police solve a murder case. It's one of the few "serious" Sam Raimi movies, but it's also made within a genre that doesn't alienate his core fanbase. Some may dismiss The Gift as a simple "whodunit" story that's written by Billy Bob Thorton but a strong A-list cast, excellent Raimi visuals, and a creepy score by Christopher Young manage to elevate the material.


#11 - THE EVIL DEAD (1981)



In the horror genre, there's nothing more cliche than teenagers getting killed in the woods. Sam Raimi, however, managed to add creativity to the premise by throwing demons into the mix. He also compensated for the low-budget with his trademark kinetic visual style, goofy gags, and bizarre scenarios like trees raping a woman. And although filmmaking is a collaborative artform, here's a movie that succeeds almost entirely because of the talent of its director.


#10 - SPIDER MAN 3 (2007)



If you asked fanboys on the Internet to describe Spider-Man 3, they'd say it's the one where Peter Parker turns emo and dances at Jazzy night clubs. In reality that's only 10 minutes in a film with a running time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. I've never seen people focus so much on two scenes of a damn movie. Get over it. Besides, have you seen The Amazing Spider-Man? You can do worse than Tobey Maguire wearing eyeliner. Also, let me once again point out that Sony meddled with the film. They eliminated half-an-hour to avoid a 3 hour movie and then re-did the ending when they realized all those deleted scenes were important. For example, the film ends with Peter Parker forgiving Sandman. It was actually supposed to end with Sandman's wife and child showing up at the construction site and making him see the errors of his way. Sony's meddling destroyed the story Sam Raimi was trying to tell. Spider-Man 3 wasn't supposed to be entirely about forgiveness. That was only one of two themes. The other was redemption. Sandman is a criminal because he needs money to pay the medical bills of his sick child. Harry Osborn's desire for revenge turns him into a villain. Peter Parker has his issues as does Eddie Brock. These are characters that allow negativity to take over and they have to return to a moral highground. And although Sony's meddling got in the way of what could have been a great movie, elements of it still survive and it results in an above-average superhero flick. It's definitely not the disaster that fanboys will have you believe.


#9 - OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (2013)



I know I'm gonna be criticized for this top 10 spot and I assure you this isn't an April Fool's joke. Oz the Great and Powerful is, well, magnificent and enchanting. It's easy to mock Disney's attempt to replicate the billion dollar success of Alice in Wonderland but Sam Raimi has proven that he can do more than just follow in the footsteps of Tim Burton. Oz stars James Franco as a womanizing carnival con-man in the early 20th century. Like Dorothy, he ends up in a magical land after getting caught in a Kansas tornado. But unlike Dorothy, he isn't singing and dancing during a journey to get back home. He gets mistaken for an almighty wizard that's destined to defeat the evil witch and rule the land. And he manages to do just that without magic. Instead, he uses his talents for trickery and deception for the greater good and proves that deep down he's a good-hearted soul. It's a family film that has something for everyone to enjoy. Children can enjoy mesmerizing visuals, good humor, and enjoyable action sequences while adults get a hero that's a tad more relatable than what's usually features in these types of movies.


#8 - A SIMPLE PLAN (1998)



In Oz the Great and Powerful, Sam Raimi avoided being caught in the shadow of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. 15 years earlier, he accomplished a similar task with A Simple Plan. It's a film that's made in the same mold as the Coen Bros' Fargo but it manages to stand on its own. It tells the story of two brothers that find $4 million in the woods and nothing but bad things come from it. It's a critically beloved morality tale that received Academy Award nominations for Supporting Actor (Billy Bob Thorton) and Adapted Screenplay. Most people here would say this is Raimi's best movie, and while it's certainly a work of art, I believe Raimi is at his best during more energetic and light-hearted material.


#7 - THE EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN (1987)



If Crimewave is every aspiring filmmakers worst nightmare then Evil Dead II is their most pleasurable wet dream. It's wall-to-wall pure entertainment. It's a cinematic rollercoaster ride. It has some of the most spectacular comedic set-pieces of all-time. It's perhaps the most inventive horror film ever made. This is the movie that made Sam Raimi a legend. One also has to admire Bruce Campbell. This is essentially his one-man-show with Raimi behind the curtains. Campbell is the only actor I can think of that can be put in the most ridiculous situations and still manage to be cool and charming. How he never became an A-lister puzzles me to this day.


#6 - ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992)



Evil Dead II is brilliant, but I've always been in the camp that prefers Army of Darkness. For starters, it moves away from simple horror conventions and into a true genre-bender. It balances horror, comedy, and fantasy in a way that almost no one else can pull off. It's dark and menacing but also incredibly campy. It's epic but also comical with its Ray Harryhausen inspired action sequences. It has high production values while also looking cheap. To quote those Starburst commercials, "it's a juicy contradiction." Secondly, putting Bruce Campbell opposite a cast of non-expendable characters gives him a new playground to explore his charm and wits. It results in some of the most quotable movie lines of the 1990's. And lastly, you gotta love the music score by Joseph LoDuca and Danny Elfman. It's the one element that was missing in the first two installments.

#5 - SPIDER MAN 2 (2004)



Peter Parker is an average joe whose life gets a lot worse when he becomes a superhero. It's what makes Spider-Man standout and relatable. This installment in Sam Raimi's trilogy captures that very well. Peter struggles to keep a job. He lives in a crappy apartment. His only living relative has to sell the family home cause she's broke and Peter can't help her at all. He's failing his college courses. His love-life is practically non-existant and he virtually has no friends. So, can you blame the guy for quitting halfway through the movie? Or better yet, can you blame him when he decides to become a hero once again? What's great about Raimi's direction is that no matter how tough things may get for Peter Parker, deep down, he knows he's making the sacrifices for the greater good. Whenever Spider-Man is in action, it's never downbeat unless he's in danger of defeat. Raimi displays Spider-Man with awe and excitement. It's a true cinematic portrayal of the character in all its glory.


#4 - THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (1995)



I became aware of Sam Raimi in 1994 when he was the executive producer on two popular syndicated TV shows, Hercules: The Incredible Journey and its spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess. A year later, or maybe two, I saw The Quick and the Dead on one of the premium cable channels. When I saw his name on the credits my immediate thought was, "he directs movies too? cool." An hour and a half later, I wasn't sure what to think. Raimi's visual style caught me by surprise. This might be the first film I saw where the camera seems to be one of the characters. It took me a few more years and a few more of his movies to fully appreciate him. Judging it now, I think The Quick and the Dead is one of the coolest modern westerns. People like to single out Unforgiven, 3:10 to Yuma, and True Grit, which is understandable, but The Quick and the Dead deserves to be in that company. On the surface, it may seem like a simple tribute to spaghetti westerns, but there is something sadistic about Gene Hackman's character holding this event where people try to kill each other. It's even more fascinating that he competes as well. He gives the townspeople false hope that he can be eliminated from power. There's a lot of subtle psychology in the film that I admire.


#3 - SPIDER MAN (2002)



One of the things that bothers me about Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man is how cold and calculated it is. You can tell that Webb, the producers, and Sony sat around in a board room and put together a movie that featured all the right ingridents for a popular movie. Instead, they ended up with a soulless film that rips off everything Christopher Nolan did with his Batman trilogy. Sam Raimi, by comparison, is a genuine fan and gave his adaptation a lot of heart. People can poke holes into the movie for being too campy and kid-friendly but you can't deny that it's fun to watch. Since it's an origin story, Raimi doesn't have enough time to explore the deeper elements of the character, so he compensates by making the most exciting film possible. And it works.


#2 - THE HUDSUCKER PROXY (1994)



Sam Raimi and the Coen Bros have a lot of history together. They are filmmaking friends in the tradition of directors like Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez and Steven Spielberg & George Lucas. Among their numerous collaborations, this is their greatest. Written and directed by the three of them, although the credits reflect differently, The Hudsucker Proxy is about a happy-go-lucky guy, from a small town, that gets caught up in the corporate universe of the big city. It's an hilarious satire of the business world, fame & fortune, the people affected by it. The Coen's gift for dialogue and characters combined with Raimi's visual flare and comedic set-pieces results in one of my favorites movies of all-time.


#1 - DARKMAN (1990)



In 1990, three movies tried to cash-in on the success of Tim Burton's Batman. Of those three, Darkman seemed like the least likely to succeed. For starters, it's an original concept instead of an adaptation. And secondly, it's directed by a cult director instead of a respected filmmaker. And yet, it turned out to be the best one. It's sleeper success cemented Raimi into the big leagues. Universal was so impressed that they allowed his production company to make high-profile features like Hard Target and Timecop. They also financed Army of Darkness and his TV output of the 1990's. Darkman itself got two direct-to-video sequels starring Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) in the title role. Beyond Universal, it led to Sony hiring Raimi for Spider-Man. So if you've never seen Darkman you're probably expecting it to be some sort of a masterpiece. Raimi got more mileage out of Darkman than the iconic Evil Dead trilogy. It has to be good - right? Well... the answer is yes. This is Raimi's magum opus. It has everything you want from a Raimi movie and much more. It's a blend of the horror and superhero genre, made years before Blade and Hellboy attempted such a thing to a lesser success. Liam Neeson is heartbreaking as Peyton Westlake, the stories tragic hero that becomes a monster at the hands of criminals. Larry Drake's Robert G. Durant is a memorable throwback to gangster roles of the 1930's. Frances McDormand avoids a genre cliche by portraying a realistic career woman as opposed to the usual sexy girlfriend. I've read that Universal wanted Julia Roberts. I'm surprised Raimi won that battle. That being said, he throws a bone to fans by casting Colin Friels as the main villain. He delivers a ridiculously over-the-top performances that suits the picture perfectly during its exciting climax. The story of Darkman is quite simple but opens the door for many strong visuals by Raimi. It's about a scientist that's almost killed when his fiance', a lawyer, obtains paperwork that can incriminate a powerful real estate tycoon. He survives the attempt on his life but is left completely disfigured. He develops a synthetic skin but it only lasts 99 minutes when exposed to light. He uses the skin to impersonate people and get his revenge. The film employs skilled technicans, talented make-up and visual effects artists, and a brilliant Danny Elfman score to help bring Darkman to life. It exceeds on all levels.

I'd add the 90s Spurs as well.

Hate those 90s rockets jerseys. I've got hakeem in the purple as well as legit in the classic red and gold. Also have a shitty watch I had for decades with that old 90s rockets logo.

Gotta check out the all star jerseys though, the year they had peppers and cacti was fucking dope.

I’d rather watch the College Years and its season arc of Kelly sleeping with her professor.

Did that actually happen? The only College Years episode I seem to remember was the one with Benson.