Top 100 Films: 70-61

Okay... here's the next installment.

70. The Big Chill (1983, dir. Laurence Kasdan)
I've always thought that Laurence Kasdan was an extraordinarily thoughtful and incisive filmmaker (or at least one with the potential to be so), and this is undoubtedly his most finely tuned work. The ensemble presented here (Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum) is among the best in cinema history, and not only that, but the collective and individual chemistry between each performer is outstanding. All of the performances are top-notch, but William Hurt is particularly affecting as the cynical Nick Carlton.

69. Citizen Kane (1939, dir. Orson Welles)
Orson Welles debut is indeed a groundbreaking technical masterwork. Welles' principal contribution to cinema lies in his expressive use of mis-en-scene, and as key advancement in film it rivals Eisenstein's codification of montage. Beyond that, this film is also an engrossing, uniquely American tale of the rise and fall of Charles Foster Kane. For many, the fact that this film is not near the top ten in my list is outright blasphemy, but I would contend that while technically the film is flawless, there are aspects of the performances and narrative that are not beyond criticism.

68. Requiem for a Dream (2000, dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Darren Aronofsky's second film is unlike anything ever produced, and it arguably contains one of the most salient cinematic innovations in recent years with the "hip-hop montage", integrated into the film to brilliant effect. This is a movie is an unrelentingly visceral and even heartbreaking descent into the world of addiction-fueled self-destruction.

67. Network (1976, dir. Sidney Lumet)
Lumet's stunningly realized drama from Paddy Chayefsky's Academy Award winning script is not so much an indictment of television as it of the increasingly pervasive corporatism of American society, and one can not assess the current state of American corporatism and not think that Network is anything but revelatory. Perhaps no other film contains as many richly delivered, cutting performances, including Peter Finch's iconic Howard Beale (for which he posthumously won the Academy Award), Faye Dunaway as brazenly sexual, hard-as-nails executive, and William Holden as the aging veteran of the television world.

66. American Beauty (1999, dir. Sam Mendez)
This 1999 Best Picture winner is a wonderfully entertaining and poignant that perfectly evokes the post-modern, suburban complexion of American life in all of it's banality and, yes, beauty.

65. The Birdcage (1996, dir. Mike Nichols)
Conventional wisdom is that the 1978 original La Cage aux Folles is a genuine classic, while the 1996 remake is nothing than a charming approximation. I would disagree with that. I think Mike Nichol's film is an all-out comedy classic. In many ways, the movie is better suited as an American narrative because of the complexity of the American attitudes toward homosexuality. What is truly remarkable is that the film succeeds in drawing out full-hearted comedy from its farcical situations and yet remains a touching, penetrating statement about the potential for love in any relationship.

64. Little Miss Sunshine (2006, dirs. Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Feris)
Shortly before the 2007 Academy Awards ceremony, Steve Carrel, when asked if the family portrayed in Little Miss Sunshine was dysfunctional, said, "No. I think they're very functional." That succinct comment in many sums this movie up. The film is one of the most enjoyable and yet bracingly clear and even profound statement on the complex nature of family.

63. There's Something About Mary (1998, dirs. Farrelly Brothers)
Tasteless? Yes. Obscene? At times? Completely innovative and brilliant. Of course. This still stands as the Farrelly's brothers' best and most unique comedy, and with that distinction it also one of the astonishing comedy films ever made.

62. Born on the Fouth of July (1989, dir. Oliver Stone)
More than Stone's murky Platoon, this film drives home the ultimate truths of the tragedy of Vietnam. It's a gut-wrenching work of art that contains Tom Cruise in the most exposed performance of his career. Oliver Stone's focused, propulsive direction is fantastic.

61. Raising Arizona (1987, dir. Joel Coen)
This Coen Brothers comedy from 1987 is as much a mainstream delight as it is a dark, moving, and creatively ambitious fairy tale. One of the most purely enjoyable comedies ever made.