The Must Haves: 80-71

The Must Haves: 80-71

Hello everyone and welcome back for another exciting installment of The Must Haves. I am counting down my Top 100 favorite movies of all time. These are the films that touched my life and/or I couldn’t live without on that mythical desert island scenario. Yesterday I had a few Oscar Winners, such as Walk the Line and Dead Poets Society, and I had one film (The Sandlot) that will be forever treasured from my childhood.

Today the mixed bag of random films continues with more Oscar favorites and a calling from God. Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoy these next 10 films.

#80—Galaxy Quest (1999)

Favorite Quote: “Yeah, but that's when I thought I was the crewman that stays on the ship, and something is up there, and it kills me. But now I'm thinking I'm the guy who gets killed by some monster five minutes after we land on the planet.”—Guy

A bunch of Star Trek-like TV actors are beamed aboard a real spaceship to help a dying race of aliens confront the being responsible for their tragedies.

Galaxy Quest will forever go down as one movie that will never grow old for me. The comedic timing for all the actors was superb and the simple storyline will always be respected by me. No matter how many times I watch this movie, I will always find it funny. I adored Tony Shalhoub’s nonchalant kind of attitude throughout the whole movie and the beloved Alan Rickman’s sarcastic comments were awesome.

#79—Frailty (2001)

Favorite Quote: “You can't make things like that up, son. Killing people is wrong, destroying demons is good. Don't worry, God will send you your own list when you're older.”—Dad

A religious father of two young boys in Texas receives a message from God. That message: Kill demons. The only problem is that he is the only person that can see them.

Before Saw, Frailty had one of the best surprise endings of a horror/thriller film. The reason I loved the film is because it is psychologically scary and doesn’t rely on a lot of gore to get it’s point across. The characters are all mentally questionable somehow, which makes them intriguing and the tone of the film is right on the money.

#78—Smokin’ Aces (2006)

Favorite Quote: “What do you see right now? You see exactly, and only what I choose to show you. That is illusion Ivy, that is the lie that I tell your eyes, makin' the magic happen, in the moment, in that split second... but seeing behind this motherfucker and knowing... that it's all bullshit.”—Buddy ‘Aces’ Israel

Vegas magician is about to turn into a snitch for the FBI and the mob doesn’t want that happening. So what do they do? Put out a bounty to every know killer-for-hire in the world and the result is quite…violent.

Director/writer Joe Carnahan’s cluster of a movie turns into this organized chaos of action and comedy. This is a violent film for the sake of being violent, but on the same token…the film works. All these stories mix together very seamlessly and in the end, Carnahan made a movie that shouldn’t have been liked, but I love whenever mindless violence is the flavor of the day.

#77—The Patriot (2000)

Favorite Quote: “I'm a parent. I haven't got the luxury of principles.”—Benjamin Martin

After watching his son murdered by British regulars and his eldest son taken way as a spy for the Colonial army, a South Carolinian famer must save his son and help raise a nation in the process.

A Revolutionary War movie that actually was entertaining. Calling upon some of the things that made him awesome in Braveheart, Mel Gibson gives a magnificent performance and shows everyone in the world not to mess with his family or you’ll get a tomahawk to the face.

#76—As Good as It Gets (1997)

Favorite Quote: “You make me want to be a better man.”—Melvin Udall

An obsessive-compulsive author’s life is thrown for a loop when he is forced to dog-sit for his gay neighbor after the neighbor is attacked in his apartment. Plus he is subconsciously in love with the only waitress that will serve him his breakfast.

This movie only adds to my love for Jack Nicholson. Nicholson’s performance was stuff that legends are built on. Perfect is the only word I can really describe it. This quirky dramedy is one of those movies that allows you to laugh and cry and the oddities of life and not feel guilty doing so.

#75—Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Favorite Quote: “The world changes, we do not, there lies the irony that finally kills us.”—Armand

Anne Rice’s first novel about the lonely lives of vampires comes to life in this dark and haunting adaptation.

There is two reasons that this movie is on my list. First is because of my fascination with vampires during my early teens. The question of “what would I do if I could live forever?” was asked to myself a lot and of course just being a ‘interesting’ time in my life. Second is because this is one of the best adaptations of a novel to film that I have ever seen. Director Neil Jordan perfectly projected the tone of loneliness and longing that is encompassed within the novel.

#74—Big Fish (2003)

Favorite Quote: “That was my father's final joke, I guess. A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way he becomes immortal.”—Will Bloom

A son tries to figure out the fact from fiction of his dying father’s extraordinary life.

There was nobody else perfect to direct the really over-the-top and strange tale than Tim Burton. This is by far my favorite film of his and I think it is because it is not overly exaggerated like Edward Scissorhands and I loved the father/son aspect of the story. I think at the time of the film’s release, I was feeling like Will Bloom does in the film and I was very moved by a son wanting to know his father.

#73—Tombstone (1993)

Favorite Quote: “I’m your huckleberry…”—Doc Holiday

A dramatic retelling of the Earp family’s time in Tombstone, Arizona in 1880’s, including the infamous gunfight at the O.K Corral.

If they gave an award for suaveness is film, Val Kilmer would have won it for this film. One of many reasons that made this film an awesome western, Kilmer is so cool and plays Holiday on that edge of right and wrong. Odd to say, but this film is one reason why I started liking westerns in the first place and what got me interested in the actual events that surrounded the notorious gunfight.

#72—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Favorite Quote: “I could die right now, Clem. I'm just... happy. I've never felt that before. I'm just exactly where I want to be.”—Joel

After the love of his life breaks his heart and leaves him, a man decides to do what all of us real people wish we could do…erase her from his memories.

Continuing on his string of dramatic roles, Jim Carrey plays a love stricken guy that is relatable to everyone who has had their heartbroken. I thought he did a great job with this performance, but I love this film more for the story. Except of the memory-erasing, the film’s heart is about trying to deal with loss and how we learn to live with it. Of course, the cinematography is amazing as well.

#71—The Pianist (2002)

Favorite Quote: “Thank God, not me. He wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe.”-- Captain Wilm Hosenfeld

Roman Polanski’s harrowing true story of a Jewish musician during one the worst times in history…World War II.

Not as powerful as Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, but this film is close. It is a very moving true story and Adrian Brody is amazing. I thought that Polanski does a magnificent job showcasing the struggles of Brody’s character and how the power of the human spirit will transcend everything . Besides, you doesn’t love a movie about hope and survival?

And that is numbers 80-71, thanks again for reading and of course stay tuned for tomorrows episode…numbers 70-61!