Top Movies 56-58 in Brief
58. The Horror of Dracula (1958)
Hammer’s big splash that led to many more great horror films. Here we see color and blood for the first time in a vampire flick and it intensified the metaphoric quality of one of the most versatile morality play genres around.
58. Emma (1996)
This might be my favorite of these Austin flicks. More than just stuffy ladies discovering true love, Emma is the wonderfully clueless heroine condescending to improve everyone else’s life while being so blind to her own.
58. The Ring (2002)
Before he filmed the delightful Pirates movies, Verbinski scared me to death with this atmospheric Japanese remake. Still one of the most terrifying films I have seen, without overly relying on gore.
57. The Great Escape (1963)
I love this prison escape story more than any of the others in this surprisingly broad subgenre. They are like a heist story, but with more stakes. And this one occurring in the intensity of WWII makes it all the more tense. Once they are out, things don’t get any easier. In fact, some of the most cruel bits are after the escape has been pulled off. After all, this isn’t just a prison break, but the attempt to escape a whole territory.
57. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Of all the movies Disney released during the “low point” of the late-seventies-early eighties, this one is the best. It isn’t even a weak entry in their canon. The story, the characters, the scares, the music, and the humor are all top notch.
57. Chocolat (2000)
I love the way this film skewers the legalist attitudes of the town leadership. Some see it as a general attack on faith of any kind, and that may be more the intent of the film. But I do think there is a lot of room to critique pharisaical attitudes in religious leadership.
56. The Apartment (1960)
In today’s environment this story feels even more shocking that it did for my generation watching it during the eighties and nineties. One hopes it was seen for what it was in its day. Baxter’s decency towards Fran is sweet, but then you remember his complacency in taking advantage of so many women. In 1960 it was all winked at as sexual freedom. It would be laughable if we were any better today, but society still insists on casual relationships while wanting better accountability.
56. Labyrinth (1986)
Back before computers made any flight of imagination filmable, we had creative people like Henson and Oz. This is still one of the better fantasy films ever made.
56. Children of Men (2006)
Another prescient movie. Twelve years on, what seemed like an extremely silly overestimation of where fear would take things, we have Brexit and nationalism on the rise all around the world.
Hammer’s big splash that led to many more great horror films. Here we see color and blood for the first time in a vampire flick and it intensified the metaphoric quality of one of the most versatile morality play genres around.
58. Emma (1996)
This might be my favorite of these Austin flicks. More than just stuffy ladies discovering true love, Emma is the wonderfully clueless heroine condescending to improve everyone else’s life while being so blind to her own.
58. The Ring (2002)
Before he filmed the delightful Pirates movies, Verbinski scared me to death with this atmospheric Japanese remake. Still one of the most terrifying films I have seen, without overly relying on gore.
57. The Great Escape (1963)
I love this prison escape story more than any of the others in this surprisingly broad subgenre. They are like a heist story, but with more stakes. And this one occurring in the intensity of WWII makes it all the more tense. Once they are out, things don’t get any easier. In fact, some of the most cruel bits are after the escape has been pulled off. After all, this isn’t just a prison break, but the attempt to escape a whole territory.
57. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Of all the movies Disney released during the “low point” of the late-seventies-early eighties, this one is the best. It isn’t even a weak entry in their canon. The story, the characters, the scares, the music, and the humor are all top notch.
57. Chocolat (2000)
I love the way this film skewers the legalist attitudes of the town leadership. Some see it as a general attack on faith of any kind, and that may be more the intent of the film. But I do think there is a lot of room to critique pharisaical attitudes in religious leadership.
56. The Apartment (1960)
In today’s environment this story feels even more shocking that it did for my generation watching it during the eighties and nineties. One hopes it was seen for what it was in its day. Baxter’s decency towards Fran is sweet, but then you remember his complacency in taking advantage of so many women. In 1960 it was all winked at as sexual freedom. It would be laughable if we were any better today, but society still insists on casual relationships while wanting better accountability.
56. Labyrinth (1986)
Back before computers made any flight of imagination filmable, we had creative people like Henson and Oz. This is still one of the better fantasy films ever made.
56. Children of Men (2006)
Another prescient movie. Twelve years on, what seemed like an extremely silly overestimation of where fear would take things, we have Brexit and nationalism on the rise all around the world.
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