In the Worst POSSIBLE Taste! (Top 10 Films in general)

Name: skittle

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Product:	Top 10 Films in general
Date:	29/06/04 (91 review reads)
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I love these ?top ten? categories, don?t you? Well, here are my top ten films to be going on with, all in very poor taste, I?m glad to say. I watch films because I enjoy them, not because they?re going to teach me something. Oh, and I?m easily amused! So, in no particular order, here goes:

Star Wars Trilogy:- Ok, Ok, I know that lumping three films together just because they happen to be in a trilogy is cheating, but hey, this is MY top ten list, and I?ll cheat if I want to! Believe it or not I was in my early twenties before I first saw the original (and by far the best) Star Wars trilogy, and I was hooked from the start! So, I can honestly say that this isn?t a case of rose-tinted childhood memories ? I love Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi purely on their own merits. For the time, the special effects were absolutely amazing. Watching these films nowadays you honestly wouldn?t know that they?d been made so long ago, which is not something you can say about most films of that era. Of course, the Phantom Menace, and the one about Clones? You know, thingy whatsit Clones? OK, I can?t remember the name of it, but my point is that the recent Star Wars films, though good films in their own right, are not a patch on the original three. Too polished, and you really don?t warm to the characters like you did to Han, Luke and Princess Leia. I mean, Chewbacca Vs Jar Jar Binks? Nuff said!

The Poseidon Adventure:- Yes, alright, it?s at the pinnacle of 70?s tacky disaster movies, and I definitely am seeing this one through those rose-tinted childhood eyes, but what the heck. I remember being allowed to stay up late as a very small child to watch the Poseidon Adventure on
TV, and loving every minute of it. That trek across the ship, people dropping like fries, the lady getting her rather large bottom stuck in the Christmas tree as she tried to climb up it, and needing a push from behind, heck, I was even (in my own childish way) in love with the dashing, romantic vicar who gave up his own life to make sure that the others got to safety? Of course, watching the film nowadays I can see that insisting that the gorgeous young ladies couldn?t climb in their long skirts, so had to strip down to their underwear (whilst the larger lady managed to climb perfectly well, without stripping out of her clothes) is ever so slightly sexist. I can?t help but notice that much of the film is terribly prejudiced against the fat lady, along with the sexism. But I still can?t help but love this film! I must?ve watched it a dozen times and it still delights me when the tiny handful of survivors are rescued from the hull of the ship. Even better, along the way they?ve battled against the odds, and I?ve battled my way along with them, on the edge of my seat all the way (even though I know exactly what?s going to happen!) A truly excellent, though cheesy film, and highly recommended to you poor unfortunates who?ve never seen it. Incidentally, the 1979 sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, isn?t a patch on the original!

Schindler?s List:- Epic world war two film, based on a true story about Oskar Schindler and his ?list? which saved the lives of many, many Jews who would almost certainly have otherwise been killed during the holocaust. I can?t say that I particularly enjoy this film, but although I must have seen it half a dozen times, it still never fails to move me. Some scenes are particularly harrowing, for instance, when the children are shipped out of the camp on lorries, singing as they go, with their parents running after them,
screaming and crying, knowing exactly where the lorries are bound? This is another film that I would highly recommend, mainly because it is the first film about the second World War that really brought home the horrors of the holocaust to me. If you haven?t seen it, you must!

Trainspotting:- Another truly groundbreaking film, this time about heroin addicts in Edinburgh. I can still remember the buzz about this film before it opened in the cinemas, and in my opinion it?s the only truly great film to come out of the UK in the last ten years? Everything from the poster to the thick Scottish accents totally broke the mould of what a good film should be (I can still remember laughing as the people in the cinema seats in front of me complained that it should have subtitles!) From Begbie?s random violence, to clean-cut Tommy?s gradual slide into addiction, this film grabbed you from the outset and didn?t let you go till it was all over. The film that launched Ewan McGregor on an unsuspecting public (yes, I know he was in Shallow Grave before this, but that doesn?t count!) also had a soundtrack to die for, including ?Perfect Day? which even the BBC did a cover of, and the intoxicating ?Born Slippy?, that packed dance floors up and down the Country for what seemed like years afterwards. Oh yes, and then there was: Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f***ing big television?

Watership Down:- In direct contrast to Trainspotting, next on my list is an animated film about fluffy bunnies. But it isn?t really, is it? For those of you who have never had the good fortune to watch Watership Down, I?d really recommend that you make the effort. The film focuses on a rabbit called Hazel and his brother Fiver, who lead a small group of rabb
its away from their warren shortly before it is destroyed by bulldozers. The film follows their quest to establish a new warren, and the dangers they meet along the way. If you?ve seen the God-awful, cutesy cartoon series of Watership Down from the late 90?s, then please, please don?t be put off. For a childrens? film, Watership Down is absolutely mesmerising, and very hard hitting. Yes, this is animated, but rabbits are tortured and killed, this film is every bit as watchable for adults as it is for kids. And if that isn?t enough for you, you?ve got the added bonus of listening to Simon and Garfunkel singing Bright Eyes! Watch it, you know you want to!

Mr Holland?s Opus:- American film, this time, about a composer who gets a job as a music teacher to support his family temporarily, and never leaves! I must admit I?m biased about this film, it strikes a real chord with me as my music teacher at school was one of those rare people who are honestly an inspiration to their pupils, so watching this film is a bit of a trip down memory lane for me! However, don?t let that put you off. Mr Holland?s Opus is a long, but very moving film that will even appeal to those of you who think a cornet is something that you eat your ice-cream out of, and a kettle drum is something you boil water in!

Dirty Dancing:- Yes, I know, I know. Cheesy, tacky, chick flick, schmaltz? I?ve heard it all, but this is still the film that I?ve watched more than any other in the world. For those of you who?ve never seen it, Patrick Swayze plays Johnny Castle, who whisks the young ?Baby? off her feet (quite literally) as he teaches her to dance. The final scenes still bring a tear to my eye, I?m ashamed to admit, but I?ll also have to say here that I?m not sure if I love this film so much because I was at su
ch an impressionable age when I first saw it, or if it really is a good film. I suspect it?s probably the latter. Then again, I?ll bet if you asked a random group of ladies of my era to be honest about their favourite films, Dirty Dancing would show up a fair few times, along with my next choice?

Pretty Woman:- Ok, Ok, I?m not justifying my choices, again I first saw this film at an impressionable age (that?s my story and I?m sticking to it!) Richard Gere plays a rich business man who falls in love with a prostitute played by Julia Roberts. There?s an uplifting innocence in this modern-day Cinderella story that I just fell in love with, and again this is a film that I?ve just watched and watched and watched! Of course, it?s got cheese by the bucketload, and it?s totally unbelievable, but I get enough real life at home, thank you very much, Pretty Woman provides the perfect ?Mills & Boon? type escape!

Still Crazy:- I?m going a lot more modern here ? and most people have probably never heard of this film, but it?s truly excellent, especially for those of us who wore black leather and denim an awful lot in our youth! Still Crazy tells the story of Strange Fruit, a rock band who?d imploded in the 70?s, but are now embarking on a comeback tour, despite having lost two of their original members. Another British film, (I?ve got a real passion for them, I had to limit how many I included on this list!) the unlikely stars include Billy Connolly, Jimmy Nail, Bill Nighy and Timothy Spall. This is real laugh out loud TV ? witnessing the in-fighting of a bunch of middle aged men acting like teenagers, a little reminiscent of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, if I?m honest (but perhaps that?s just because of Jimmy Nail and Timothy Spall). The
highlight for me is Bill Nighy announcing to a roomful of Germans that he?s an alcoholic, only to discover that he?s in an overeaters anonymous meeting! True class.

And Finally?

51st State:- Yes, I?m sorry but it?s another of those pesky British movies, this time located mostly in and around Liverpool. I think the reason I like British films so much is for their honesty, and down to earth qualities. In this film we see a sex scene between Emily Mortimer and Robert Carlyle take place in the bath, and instead of emerging with perfect makeup and dry-as-a-bone hair, the actors actually get wet, and water splashes all over the floor ? and it isn?t shot in a massive, roll-top bath, with romantic candle-light and glasses of champagne on the side of the bath. It takes place in an ordinary, small, dingy bathroom, just like you?d get in any terraced house in the country, and in broad, unforgiving, daylight! If this hasn?t tempted you, then surely the chance to watch Meatloaf explode will convince you to watch this film! Go on, you won?t regret it!


Well, that was much more difficult than I?d expected it to be, I could easily have gone on, and on, and on? Others that narrowly missed the list were The Full Monty, The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, Top Gun, Mean Machine, Towering Inferno, Jaws, The Indiana Jones Trilogy and Plunkett & Macleane! I?m sure that most of you will think I?ve got rubbish taste in films? Do you know what? You?re probably right!

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