Favorite Movies

I'd be willing to attempt a new list if Dracula does it too.

Man... that Passion of the Christ at #9 is so embarrassing. That's why I tell PG Cooper a movie has to be at least 10 years old before being considered for a best-of list. Although, I still respect Passion of the Christ. It took major cojones to make that movie. I don't know if Doomsday , the other big fan in 2004, also feels that way. The Searchers is also a choice that embarrasses me a little bit now. Back then, I didn't even think about some of the morally questionable stuff in that movie. I mean, yeah, it was made in the 1950's and most movies from that era are gonna have eyebrow raising stuff. But the whole premise of The Searchers is so... I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I use five years, but I get what you're saying.



I agree that The Searchers has some questionable stuff, but I disagree on what that stuff is. For me, Ethan's extreme hatred of natives is fine (in terms of critical examination) because the film is largely about his racism. I don't think we're supposed to empathize with Ethan, but instead to be made uncomfortable with his actions and thoughts. This is a guy who at one point is determined to murder the young girl he originally sent out to save. The final point of the film is that a lifetime of hatred and vengeance has fully pushed Ethan away, to the point that he can never truly be with his family. So yeah, all that stuff works for me. What doesn't work for me is the "comedic relief" with the character Mose, or the scene where the Native Woman is bumbling around with Ethan and Martin. The latter in particular has an air of racial condescension. Also it's stupid.

Regarding Passion...I think it's okay. The cinematography is great and I like the first act where we get a sense of the political machinations at play, but once the film turns into an hour and fifteen minutes of Jesus being tortured that I lose interest. It's not that the material is so disturbing, it's that it is boring. There's no need for all that to be stretched out to that point, when 10-20 minutes (tops) would have been more than enough. On top of that, for all the film's boldness, I don't think it really adds much to the story of Christ's death. All it really has to say is, "Not only did Jesus suffer, but he REALLY suffered".

Oh, I certainly don't mind it being put up... I'm just not exactly sure what version of my old list that is. My original list has been lost to time because I at some point had the bright idea of making it a "living document" and updating it as I saw new movies and was too stupid to save the original. I'm pretty sure that that the very first list I put together pre-dates United 93 but the version I ended up saving on my hard-drive is also different from that one in a handful of ways.

Time has come.