My Favorite Movies: #12—Aliens

12. Aliens (1986) 

Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller 

Director: James Cameron 

Writers: James Cameron, et. al. 

Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Carrie Henn, Lance Henrickson, Paul Reiser

Awards: 2 Oscars—Sound Effects, Visual Effects  

Metacritic score: 86 

IMDB Ranking: #68

Aliens stands out among sequels in that, at least for me, it exceeds an already great original film by taking the material in a new direction while remaining faithful to the spirit of the first movie. I'm sure that many who've been commenting on this blog series will have some ideas (The Empire Strikes Back and Godfather II come to mind), but few sequels are ever greater than a great original.

That's not the case here. Ridley Scott's original Alien was a haunted house movie set aboard a spaceship, with the monster killing off the crew one by one. All the familiar horror tropes and symbols are present, right down to the "last girl," star Sigourney Weaver's protagonist Ellen Ripley, who kills the vicious alien xenomorph and puts herself into cryosleep for her lone journey home.

But her escape ship goes off course, and as the sequel opens, she's not discovered until after almost 60 years has past. Everything about her previous life is gone, and the company that left Ripley and her crew to die in order to obtain an unstoppable biological weapon fucks her over one more time, grounding her permanently from space flight. Only her desire to put her nightmares behind her motivates Ripley to join a contingent of Colonial Marines to return to the infamous planet LV-426, where a human terraforming colony can no longer be contacted.

 

We all know what's going to happen long before it happens, but that's part of the thrill of this ultimate cinematic thrill ride. You can see the roller coaster and what it does before you strap yourself into the car, but the anticipation of the action to come only heightens the experience. In this case, it's a platoon of Marines, each character straight out of central casting, who walk right into the razor-sharp jaws of the aliens.

This is a war movie, through and through. The Marines land on the planet, discover a young girl, Newt (Carrie Henn), is the colony's sole survivor. Ripley essentially adopts Newt as her surrogate daughter as the film unfolds, and this raises the stakes for our hero as she has someone's survival other than her own as her top priority. Their first encounter with the aliens is predictably disastrous, resulting in the deaths of all but four of the Marines. To make matters worse, the nuclear reactor at the colony is damaged in the fight and becomes a ticking time bomb. Our survivors must find a way to get off the planet before: a) the reactor explodes; b) the aliens get them; c) company sleazeball Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) sells them all out for a profit.

This is, quite literally, the most intense film I've ever seen. I first saw it in the theaters in 1986, and I emerged from the showing physically exhausted. Once the aliens invade the compound to try to get the last survivors of the mission, the action is nonstop until the very end of the film. There is no time to catch your breath or wait for the tension to die down. Director James Cameron, who described this movie as "40 miles of bad road" keeps piling it on relentlessly. In a way, we experience the terror of their struggle to survive vicariously as an audience in a way I've never been a part of in any other movie.

Like any great movie, Aliens is filled with memorable moments and quotable lines familiar to anyone who is a fan of movies from the decade of the 1980s. I don't even have to quote them (but I will) because they're already echoing in your mind: "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit; it's the only way to be sure" (Hicks); "These men are soldiers; they're here to protect you (Ripley); It won't make any difference" (Newt); "Game over, man...game over!" (Hudson); "Get away from her, you BITCH!" (Ripley).

 

Watching Aliens is not an easy experience. Roger Ebert, in his original review, praised the quality of the movie but couldn't recommend others to see it because his experience was, like my own, so emotionally and physically exhausting. Again, I know of no other movie where imagination has such a profound physical effect on its viewer. James Cameron can be rightly criticized for a number of faults, but no one can deny his impact as an innovative and visionary director. 

 

My Favorite Movies: #13—Goodfellas

13. Goodfellas (1990) 

Genre: Gangster Drama 

Director: Martin Scorsese 

Writers: Nicholas Pileggi 

Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco 

Awards: 1 Oscar—Supporting Actor (Pesci)

Metacritic score: 89 

IMDB Ranking: #17

Ah, the eternal debate of the gangster movies: which is better, The Godfather or Goodfellas? For me, there’s absolutely no question; not only is Goodfellas the best gangster movie ever made, I think it’s Martin Scorsese’s best movie of his career, and its one of the best movies of all-time. 

Based on a true story, Goodfellas is told from the point-of-view of Henry Hill, a half-Sicilian, half-Irish kid who grows up wanting to be a “wiseguy,” their terminology for a mobster. Narrated and portrayed by Ray Liotta, Hill is both appealing and menacing at the same time. 

The first 30 minutes of the movie shows how Henry becomes part of the local “crew” of criminals in his neighborhood, and I consider it the best opening half-hour of any movie ever made. You begin to identify with Henry and share in his excitement as he grows into full status as part of this criminal gang. 

 

Henry meets Karen, a pretty young Jewish woman who is likewise attracted to Henry's darker side. One of the most amazing shots in the movie is a continuous tracking shot following Henry and Karen as they walk through the back of the Copacabana club, through the kitchen, and are eventually seated down front as other wait in a long line through the front of the club. Henry has power and influence, and everyone knows it.

In a lot of ways, this movie is the dark side of the American dream that because of its darkness, turns into an American nightmare. Henry's criminal ambition gives his family money and status, but the business itself means violence, arrest, imprisonment, and eventually, drug addiction and desperation.

Every performance in this film is a standout, but the most memorable are Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, a veteran thief and cold-blooded killer, and Joe Pesci, in his Oscar-winning role as Tommy DeVito, a dangerous psychopath who turns an evening of good-natured joking into one of the most frightening and uncomfortable scenes in the movie. Tommy's violent and uncontrollable temper eventually leads to his own murder, or "whacking," in the wiseguy vernacular.

Henry eventually turns state's evidence on his cronies in order to save his own life, and he's placed into witness protection, where he bemoans the fact that he's condemned to live the rest of his life as a "schnook." Even at the end, Henry loves the life of a wiseguy, a Goodfella, and we know exactly why he feels this way because we've been on the whole ride with him.

 

My Favorite Movies: #14—Jaws

14. Jaws (1975) 

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Director: Steven Spielberg 

Writers: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottleib (screenplay); Peter Benchley (book)

Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss 

Awards: 3 Oscars—Sound, Editing, Original Musical Score

Metacritic score: 87 

IMDB Ranking: #237

This movie is great in its own right, but it's greatness is augmented by how profound its influence has been on American film culture. Jaws established Steven Spielberg as a bonafide A-list director and gave him the clout to build a legendary career that, when finished, will likely leave him considered by many to be Hollywood's greatest director. The film literally created the modern summer blockbuster, and it was the first movie that had audiences lined up around the block to see it a second, third, or fourth time. 

In addition, the movie made a musical icon out of John Williams, whose career as a film score composer goes hand-in-hand with Spielberg as well as his friend George Lucas. Is there any other film that is instantly recognizable to most people of a certain age merely by the playing of two musical bass notes...duuuuuuh-DUM? (You heard it, didn't you?)

Finally, so many of the lines from this movie have become an integral part of American culture that it's amazing to watch the movie fresh and hear so many of them: "This was not a boat accident!"; "You're gonna need a bigger boat..."; "Here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women"; and the capper of them all, "Smile, you son-of-a-bitch!" 

At its heart, Jaws is a horror film. The first half of the movie creates the threat of the monster, as Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider, in my favorite role of his career) and marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) gather evidence that a Great White Shark is eating people in the waters off the coast of Amity Island, a community that depends on summer tourism for its survival. Desperate to stop the monster, the two heroes team up with Quint (Robert Shaw), a salty old sea-dog who promises to kill the shark if the price is high enough.

This established, the second half of the movie pits the three men against the shark. The ocean stands in for the haunted house, and Quint's tiny fishing boat, the Orca, is the closet they hide in to try to save their lives. Like any good monster movie, traditional methods of destruction have no effect on the beast. Harpoons and buoys don't slow it down, and Hooper's last-ditch gambit in a shark cage end in potential disaster (in the book, Hooper is eaten, but he survives in the movie; I guess Spielberg had a soft spot for Dreyfuss).

One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is when the shark literally jumps into the end of the boat, tipping it downward and spilling Quint into the thrashing jaws of the Great White. For anyone who has seen the movie, his screams as he slides down the throat of the monster still echo through our cinematic memory, especially when juxtaposed against his chilling tale of surviving the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in World War Two.

The climax and conclusion of any horror movie is the last person standing facing off against the monster in a do-or-die confrontation. Chief Brody is terrified of water in the first place, and he's barely hanging on in the crow's nest as the Orca sinks, taking aim with a rifle as the shark moves in for the kill. The ending is, to say the least, explosive in both tension and relief.

I was too young to see this movie in the theater in 1975 at age seven; I first watched it on the new high-tech VHS technology a few years later, and it scared me so badly that I swore I would never swim in the ocean as long as I lived. As it turns out, I finally swam in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the Fall of 2016, but not at any point in water above my waist, and yeah, I kept my eye out for that ominous dorsal fin sweeping along the surface of the water.

The tale of how this movie was made is almost as harrowing as the movie itself. Spielberg, ambitious in his youth, wanted to film on location in the Atlantic, but bad weather caused a series of costly delays as well as hellish conditions for cast and crew. To make matters worse, the mechanical shark (nicknamed "Bruce") never worked as designed, causing further frustrations. To compensate, Spielberg used point-of-view shots underwater and only showed us fleeting glimpses of the shark, which only heightened the tension and suspense. 

He was almost fired at several points throughout production, and at times didn't believe himself that he could finish production sufficient to create a completed film. But Spielberg and his cast and crew persevered, and despite all the obstacles, created a timeless classic of suspense, thrills, fear, and laughter (yes, it has some very funny bits) that make Jaws simply unforgettable. 

My Favorite Movies: #15—The Matrix

 

15. The Matrix (1999) 

Genre: Sci-Fi Action/Adventure

Directors: The Wachowski Brothers 

Writers: The Wachowski Brothers

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

Awards: 4 Oscars—Film Editing, Sound, Sound Effects, Visual Effects

Metacritic score: 73 

IMDB Ranking: #18

Free. Your. Mind.

You may think that the sci-fi/action masterpiece The Matrix is all about Kung-Fu and hyper slo-mo fight sequences and radically innovative camera tricks, but you would only be looking on the surface, unable to see the truth of the code that lies beneath the visual mastery of this film.

The Matrix is the greatest movie ever made about philosophy, and it stands as an essential vocabulary needed to discuss the deepest questions we face about reality, free will, moral choice, and destiny. Every area of philosophy is covered in a way that could keep us exploring the limits of human understanding for generations.

The plot is easy enough to discern: Robots use humans as biological batteries, and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) sets Neo (Keanu Reeves) free in order to help him destroy this all-controlling computer program. Seriously kick-ass fight scenes and action sequences unfold as Neo discovers the extent to which he can manipulate the virtual world around him. He also falls in love with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) while fighting to stay alive and ahead of the relentless Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) determined to end his reality for good.

But all of this is just window-dressing to the deeper questions that lie within the movie. What is the nature of reality? How do we know that the "waking world" we live in is real? Don't our dreams sometimes seem just as real—or even more real—than the world we awake to? The question that drove the movie's marketing, "What is the Matrix?" is actually a variation of a question that has intrigued philosophers for decades: "What if we are just brains in a vat?" How can we prove to ourselves that our reality really is reality? And how do we know if there are other realities beyond this one?

The Matrix deals with questions of free will and determinism; if we are living in the Matrix, are any of our actions free? And even if we get out of the Matrix, how do we know that what we do in the "real world" is any less determined? (This is the central question of the first sequel, Matrix Reloaded, a flawed but sometimes interesting film, with the added advantage of featuring Monica Bellucci, one of the most beautiful women who has ever lived...proof of a loving God if ever I saw it.) 

Ethics is a central concern, as well. Life has no value for the agents, who are computer simulations that cannot be killed, but dying in the Matrix means you also die in the real world. Neo's adventures confront him with a number of moral choices that place him in the position to consider whether to save himself (Ethical Egoism) or save his friends (Utilitarianism).

Finally, this film raises serious, deep questions about the nature of the human mind and the function and nature of consciousness. Every lesson that Morpheus teaches Neo about the Matrix is about using his mind to overcome the virtual reality of the physical world around him. Philosophers since Plato have been debating the relationship between mind and matter as well as the concept of dualism—do we have a body and a soul? Is the soul part of the body? Can the mind live without the body?

I have spent the past two years taking graduate classes in philosophy, focusing on Epistemology (the study of knowledge and truth), and not one week went by in which those of us in the class were not using The Matrix as an illustration of some concept or quality related to the mind and reality. The reality for me is that many of my philosophy students were toddlers when the movie was released and have never seen the film. I think I might start off the semester by showing them how philosophy asks questions that inspire filmmaking genius. 

And genius it is...I don't want to conclude this entry without pointing out how brilliant the entire film is, from the film-noirish sets and costumes, the lighting, the innovative camera angles, the electronica musical score—this movie was revolutionary in that it inspired a decade of imitators that turned its visual and narrative innovations into worn-out cliches. But nonetheless, it stands as one of the most original and mind-blowing films of our generation. 

 

My Favorite Movies: #16—When Harry Met Sally

16. When Harry Met Sally (1989) 

Genre: Romantic Comedy 

Director: Rob Reiner 

Writer: Nora Ephron 

Stars: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby 

Awards: 1 Oscar nomination—Original Screenplay 

Metacritic score: 76 

IMDB Ranking: n/a

The last of my favorite movies in the Romantic Comedy genre and far and away my favorite in the category, When Harry Met Sally asks the question, "Can men and women be just friends?" The answer seems to be both yes and no. Harry insists that the issue of sex will always get in the way, but it turns out in the end that it's really much more a matter of love between the two friends.

I think the two biggest complaints I hear about RomComs is that a) they're formulaic; and b) they're "chick flicks." My response to gripe A is simple: yeah, they are totally formulaic, but so are Shakespeare's tragedies (and he wasn't even using original material). The point is not the use of the formula, it's the ingredients used to inhabit the spaces the formula allows. Baking a cake is a uniform process; the ingredients you use and the process by which it comes together is what makes it special, and When Harry Met Sally is the product of cinematic master chefs.

The second complaint is really more a matter of taste. As I said before, from adolescence to my late 20s, I was mainly uninvolved in a romantic relationship even though I desperately longed for such a connection, so I've always been a sucker for these kinds of stories. Let's be honest, both my completed novels are really love stories between my two main characters. So I reject the idea that these kinds of movies (and stories) are only for women. In the case of this movie, it's the perfect balance between Harry's male perspective, represented by the director, Rob Reiner, and Sally's female perspective, represented by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nora Ephron.

Billy Crystal is Harry, a cynical and pessimistic guy who always sees the glass as half-empty...with poisonous liquid. Meg Ryan (at the peak of her career) is Sally, a sunny optimist who never fails to see the good in any situation. They meet after college and do not get along at all; we have our first conversation about why men and women can't be friends during their road trip from Chicago to New York.

Their second meeting is on an airplane, and they are both involved in serious relationships. Sally is in the blissful glow of new love, while Harry, in an uncharacteristic fit of optimism, is engaged to be married. Once again, their dialogue snaps, crackles, and pops. The formula tells us that these two people are made for each other, but they're not a good fit just yet.

Jump ahead several years and they meet again. Sally has just broken up with her boyfriend from the previous scene, while Harry has found out that his wife is divorcing him. Both older and wiser, they begin a friendship that does not have any romantic strings or expectations. They even try to fix each other up with their best friends (Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher), who are both repelled by Harry and Sally but fall madly in love with each other.

What happens is as predictable as August weather in southern Missouri (hazy, hot, humid, chance of afternoon thunderstorms): Harry and Sally end up in bed together, he freaks out and blows her off, she cuts him out of her life in anger and hurt, and he runs to find her on New Year's Eve to deliver what is, for me, the best line of the movie: "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

The skill and craft of this movie is astonishing. Rob Reiner is at his best as a director, and Nora Ephron's script is funny and honest throughout. The cast are all superb, but especially Crystal, an actor I've always liked but never found funnier than in this movie. Of course, we also have the unforgettable "I'll have what she's having" scene in the deli, one of the indelible impressions that this film has left on American culture. It's the perfect movie to share with your loved one on Valentine's Day.

My Favorite Movies: #17—Ghostbusters

17. Ghostbusters (1984) 

Genre: Comedy 

Director: Ivan Reitman 

Writers: Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis 

Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts 

Awards: 2 Oscar nominations—Original Song, Visual Effects 

Metacritic score: 71 

IMDB Ranking: n/a

Who you gonna call? In 1984, everyone knew the answer to this question. I first saw this movie in the theater in the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school, and I had to see it a second time just to catch some of the jokes because the laughter in the theater drowned out so many lines after the laughs.

This film is a comedy classic and deserves to be on anyone's list of the best comedies of all time. The plot is simple: Bill Murray (Peter Venkman) is a skeptical charlatan of a scientist; Dan Akroyd (Ray Stantz) is the true believer; Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler) is the nerdy tech genius; and Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddmore) is the regular guy just looking for a job. Together, they capture ghosts in New York City, leaving a trail of hilarious mayhem in their wake.

The story also involves a beautiful cellist, Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), who, along with her geeky accountant neighbor, Louis Tulley (Rick Moranis), become pawns in the efforts of Gozer the Gozerian, an ancient god, to return to earth to destroy everything. Also along for the ride are Annie Potts as the group's put-upon secretary, Janine Melnitz ("I've quit better jobs than this"), and the human antagonist William Atherton as the EPA bureaucrat who wants to shut the Ghostbusters down for a long list of environmental violations.

Each of these set pieces is nothing more than a successive series of sight gags and one-liners put together in a way that leads to the silliest of climaxes—the arrival of a gigantic Marshmallow Man. Bill Murray is at his pinnacle of comic genius here, getting off most of the great lines. When the Marshmallow Man is revealed, he deadpans, "Now there's something you don't see every day."

The movie was a box office smash that generated a disappointing sequel as well as a recent all-female reboot that I found entertaining but unnecessary. Watching the movie more than 30 years later, the laughs are all still as solid even if the special effects look cheesy and dated. Anyone who aspires to be a comedy writer or comic actor should watch this movie on a repeating loop to experience what Venkman tells his cohorts about Gozer: "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown."

 

My Favorite Movies: #18—...say anything

18. …say anything (1989) 

Genre: Romantic Comedy 

Director: Cameron Crowe 

Writer: Cameron Crowe 

Stars: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor

Awards: no major awards or nominations 

Metacritic score: 85 

IMDB Ranking: n/a

Entertainment Weekly chose this movie as it's #1 romance movie of the past 25 years, and rightly so. This film, more than any other I've seen, captures the reality of teenage love in a way that's both honest and unexpected. It takes all the tropes of a romantic movie—meet cute, first date, slow burn, passion, breakup, reconciliation—and puts them through a prism of two unlikely lovers whose differences make them perfect for each other. 

John Cusack plays Lloyd Dobler, an underachiever whose stated goal in life is to be Diane Court's boyfriend ("I'm good at it," he confesses to her father), whose aimless lack of direction is found in his love for Diane (Ione Skye), a perfectionist overachiever who wins a scholarship to England after their high school graduation.

He calls her out of the blue—she has to look him up in her yearbook after accepting his invitation to the epic annual graduation party—and as they get to know each other, we see a friendship forming first, characterized by his willingness to do things he's not comfortable with, such as showing the movie Cocoon to the resident's of the nursing home her father runs, in order to spend time with her.

Writer-director Cameron Crowe gets so much right about what it was like to be a teenager in the late 1980s. The graduation party scene is one of the few depictions of a high school kegger than feels right—the shouting, the fights, the makeout, and the drama...oh, so much drama. Lloyd is a sweet soul who lives with his older sister (real-life sister Joan Cusack) and whose best friend is Corey (Lili Taylor), a singer-songwriter who wrote 64 songs about her breakup with her boyfriend, Joe.

Lloyd's female influences are balanced out by a quartet of doofus bro-dudes who give him completely useless advice after Diane suddenly and unexpectedly breaks off their relationship. The pain in Cusack's eyes as he depicts this loss conveys a wealth of emotions about the longing of young love. This leads, of course, to the inevitable (and best-known) scene of Lloyd standing outside Diane's window holding a boom box (remember those?) over his head playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," the song on his car radio the first time Lloyd and Diane have sex.

Her reticence to give herself completely to his love stems from her complicated relationship with her father, played by the amazing John Mahoney. He seems like a stand-up guy whose only desire as a single father is to do what's best for Diane, but he keeps a devastating secret from her that seriously damages their relationship and pushes her back toward Lloyd.

It's difficult to name my favorite line from the movie, because all of them are such a part of my total film experience, but I especially love when she returns to him at his kickboxing gym to tell him that she has left her father's home and wants him back. He looks at her and asks, "Are you here 'cause you need someone, or 'cause you need me?" Before she can answer, he says, "Forget it. I don't care," and then takes her in his arms. She replies, "I need you."

So many of the turns this movie takes are unexpected, which is part of what makes the film so wonderful. I won't give away the ending for those who haven't seen it (and you must see it), but as the movie draws to a close, Diane tells Lloyd, "Nobody thought that we would do this. Nobody thinks it's going to work." He nods at her and says, "You've just described every great success story."

Ding.