Here we go, yo, so what's the scenario?: you're marooned on a desert island with plentiful food & drink, a solar-powered TV/DVD player combo and you can choose 40 movies by 40 different directors to while away your time. What are you gonna pick and what's the best method to whittle your choices down to your essentials? Obviously variety is important, but honesty and rewatchability are paramount innit? So, as much as I love prestige canon classics like The Third Man, Rear Window, Rio Bravo, The Apartment, The Wild Bunch and Aguirre, The Wrath Of God, none of them made my list. Unapologetically, I'm a late '70s baby who was raised in the '80s and the movies I grew up on tend to be the ones which I find the most rewatchable. Of course, you could accuse me of succumbing to nostalgic soothing comfort viewing, but you'll never convince me that Stanley Kubrick ever made a movie as good as Back To The Future, Stand By Me or The Lost Boys. Anyhoo, If I'm stranded on that imaginary desert island then I'm stuck with these movies and they stuck with me.
12 Angry Men (1957)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Carry On Screaming (1966)
Point Blank (1967)
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)
Deep End (1970)
Monty Python & The Holy Grail (1975)
Jaws (1975)
Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
The Wanderers (1979)
The Warriors (1979)
The Thing (1982)
Wild Style (1982)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Repo Man (1984)
Gremlins (1984)
Fright Night (1985)
The Quiet Earth (1985)
Back To The Future (1985)
Stand By Me (1986)
The Fly (1986)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Withnail & I (1987)
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
Heathers (1988)
King Of New York (1990)
New Jack City (1991)
Juice (1992)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Groundhog Day (1993)
True Romance (1993)
Casino (1995)
Buffalo '66 (1998)
The Truman Show (1998)
Chopper (2000)
Sexy Beast (2000)
Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Bonus beats: some old music VHS tapes which really need a DVD release - Run-D.M.C's Live At The Ritz 1985, Beastie Boys' Licensed To Ill collection thingy, Faith No More's You Fat B*stards - Live At Brixton Academy 1989, and Ice-T's O.G. The Original Gangster Home Video. The latter was the first Rap album to be released on VHS tape with a video for every song, so don't ever try and tell me that Ice-T in his 1986 to 1991 pomp wasn't a trailblazer on multiple different levels.
Quality list.
ReplyDeleteFeels like Sophie’s Choice for cinephiles having to choose just one Carpenter or Scorsese film.
Only caught The Quiet Earth for the very first time this week. What an ending.
The Quiet Earth's ending has to be one of the most beautiful combinations of image and music in movie history.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P Tom Sizemore.
Aside from its book source, The Quiet Earth supposedly has common elements with an earlier film, The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959). On the watch list.
ReplyDeleteNow that's got me interested 👀
ReplyDeletePatton's performance of "As The Worm Turns" is incredible.
ReplyDeleteI concur.
ReplyDeleteShould probably add that Faith No More's You Fat B**tards did get a U.S DVD release, but it probably won't work on U.K DVD players.
Since it's being discussed in the comments, love to see The Quiet Earth on there, such a great movie. I can also vouch for The World, the Flesh and the Devil, saw it around 2010 when it got a re-release in an arthouse theater where I lived and especially the first part of the movie has that creepy-eerie atmosphere that works wonders.
ReplyDeleteThe director behind The Quiet Earth, Stuart Gordon, also did a movie called Goodbye Pork Pie that a cook at a restaurant I worked at while backpacking recommended to me as "the quintessential kiwi movie". It's from 1980 and maybe has a bit more of a dated feel than TQE but still 100% worth watching. Can hook someone with a link if needed.
Gonna try and come up with a list myself, it's really which "one" movie by director to choose from that's gonna be a tough one. Most likely overlap with yours would definitely be Point Blank ("I want my fuckin moneyyyyy"), a lot of others I really enjoy but I'd either choose another movie by the same director or they'd make my top 400, maybe not top 40. Best believe I'm getting the Wild Bunch on there though, especially since Peckinpah is one of my all time favorite director.
I ended up watching The World, the Flesh and the Devil yesterday. Can definitely see it was a big influence on The Quiet Earth. Apparently the "I don't like it here" song he sings when he's trapped down the mine has recently gone viral on TikTok 😄 WTF?
ReplyDeleteJust peeped the trailer for Goodbye Pork Pie. Looks very much up my road.
Fully willing to admit that I haven't even seen half of these movies. Still have some catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteMy top 40 turned out to be a top 10, ran out of movies I'd actually wanted to bring along. Not a great look for the boy. I will say this though: I'd fully expected Paid In Full to be on this list and it's surely on mine.
I'm really out here tryna convince the Rap Internet to watch Carry On Screaming.
ReplyDeleteIt was between Paid In Full and Juice. Had to pick the latter because it has a slightly higher rewatch factor for me.
Enjoyed the first half of The World, the Flesh and the Devil, but it kind of fell apart afterwards. Great shots of a desolate NYC, though.
ReplyDeleteThe ending definitely needed more rising ringed planets.
ReplyDeleteNo Alien or Aliens?
ReplyDeleteI had 40 picks. The Thing provides me with the same thrills so I've no room at the Inn for either of those.
ReplyDeleteRecently got a criterion subscription lol (my computers p broken from dodgy streaming sites) so im gonna add some of these to my list for sure
ReplyDeleteGotta get you on that The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
ReplyDeleteI had a go at this. Sure I’ve forgotten a list of essentials.
ReplyDeleteThe Adventures of Robin Hood - Curtiz/Keighly 1938
Spellbound - Hitchcock 1945
Seven Samurai - Kurosawa 1954
Once Upon A Time in the West - Sergio Leone 1968
Kes - Ken Loach 1969
A Clockwork Orange - Kubrick 1972
Holy Mountain - Jodorowsky 1973
The Mack - Michael Campus 1973
Coffy - Jack Hill 1973
Chinatown - Polanski 1974
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Peckinpah 1974
Slapshot - George Roy Hill 1977
Hausu - Obayashi 1977
Apocalypse Now - Coppola 1979
Dirty Ho - Lu Kar Leung 1979
The Jerk - Carl Reiner 1979
Scum - Alan Clarke 1979
Raging Bull - Scorsese 1980
Maniac - Lustig 1980
Empire Strikes Back - Lucas 1980
Videodrome - Cronenberg 1981
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Spielberg 1981
The Thing - John Carpenter 1982
Bladerunner - Ridley Scott 1982
Wild Style - Charlie Ahearn 1982
Come and See - Klimov 1985
The Goonies - Michael Donner 1985
Robocop - Verhoeven 1987
Coming to America - Landis 1988
Deadbeat at Dawn -Jim Van Bebber 1988
Fire Walk With Me - Lynch 1992
Bad Boy Bubby - Rolf De Heer 1993
Menace II Society - Hughes Brothers 1993
Carlitos Way - De Palma - 1993
Jackie Brown - Tarantino 1997
The Big Lebowski - Coen Bros 1998
Audition - Takashi Miike 1999
Sexy Beast - Johnathan Glazer 2000
Old boy - Park Chan Wook 2003
There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson 2007
Good list. A few there which nearly made my list, and The Jerk is a great pick.
ReplyDeleteNo respect for American comedy!
ReplyDelete(https://letterboxd.com/tessewolfson/list/comedies-that-are-actually-funny/)
How did I not know there's a Reno 911! Q-Anon movie? 🧐
ReplyDeleteIt's an April fools day miracle.
ReplyDeleteIn hindsight, I regret Rear Window not making the top 40. Rewatched it for the
ReplyDeletefirst time in a few years last night and it's such an amazing movie.