I have a certain fondness for Entertainment Weekly. I think it usually strikes the right balance of punch and substance when it comes to pop culture. Interesting without being pretentious. So, I was intrigued when they released an issue of the New Classics- the best pop products of the past 25 years. That's a smart date, since it stops the lists from being glutted with either the New American cinema of the seventies, or music from the same period. And yet, I was disappointed with the movie list. So I'll do what blog are for: armchair critiquing of published work! My revised list is at the end, print it off and laminate it, yo.
The Bitching:
25. Shrek- Off the list. I confess that I hold Shrek more or less responsible for the trend in animated movies towards hideous CGI and pandering, stale jokes. Check the shelf life on those Matrix jokes, would you? Sure, I should probably blame Disney's Aladdin, or maybe Robin Williams' Genie, but I won't. I like Aladdin, and the characters don't dance around to Smash Mouth at the end. I would replace this with the ultra-depressing Grave of the Fireflies, an animated Japanese movie. The animation somehow works better to show war's price on childhood.
24. A Room With a View- (Keep) I was debating whether to drop this down a few places, but it captures a particular moment in filmmaking really well, and the cinematography is beautiful.
23. Memento- (Keep)
22. Rushmore- (Switch) I would swap this with The Royal Tenenbaums. Wes Anderson skates pretty close to twee in all of his movies, but I think The Royal Tenenbaums, even if it has more quirks than Rushmore, has more heart.
21. Schindler's List- (Keep) And not just because I'm worried I'd go to hell if I kicked the Holocaust movie off the list. Because of its earnest and sometimes leaden reputation, I forget how good of a movie this is. It's almost perfectly crafted, and the perfectly tuned performances keep it from getting too glossy.
20. The Lion King- (Switch) I'd swap this with Disney's Beauty and the Beast, just because I like the songs- and Belle- better.
19. Casino Royale- (Bump Down) I think it's a great action movie, and it represents everything I love about EW that they would out a recent genre picture on their list of the New Classics. I still wouldn't rank it this high, and would put it in the 25 slot and bump up Grave of the Fireflies.
18. Do the Right Thing (Bump Up) I think it's criminal that this move is so low. I'm going to save it for spot in the top ten. Spike Lee may be a self-aggrandizing jerk, but this movie gets a lifelong pass from me, as one of the least-glossed and most honest pictures of race relations in the early nineties- as if all that much has changed since then.
17. Jerry Maguire- (Bump Down) Sure, it gave the world a few catchphrases, but it's a pretty limp movie. I would either switch it with My Beautiful Laundrette, for brutally mixing race, sexuality and class, or Cameron Crowe's earlier ... say anything. I'll decide which one gets the chop at the end.
16. Boogie Nights- (Keep)
15. Edward Scissorhands- (Keep) I would almost question how high on the list this is, and then I remembered how totemic this movie is for misfit teenage girls- like me. Just for that, it stays.
14. Crumb (Keep)- One of the best movies I've ever seen, it's not just about Crumb and his genius, it's about Crumb and his family, or maybe just how close people can get to the edge of madness and not fall in.
13. Goodfellas (Keep) But switch with Crumb.
12. The Matrix (Keep)- I had big, Reeves-shaped reservations about putting this movie this high on the list. But I had to admit I couldn't think of any action movie that both changed and defined film from 1999 on like this one.
11. This is Spinal Tap (Keep)- Hell yeah.
10. Moulin Rouge- (Switch) Do the Right Thing can go here. I wanted to kick this off the list, since my high school friends practiced a kind of movie terrorism with this at sleepovers. And yet, I can't think of a musical in the past 25 years that's as popular or as interesting, so it will just be dropped down a few pegs.
9. Die Hard (Keep)- I'm the world's biggest Die Hard apologist, so this one will not be budging an inch. Way to go, EW!
8. The Silence of the Lambs (Keep)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (Bump Down)- There's nothing really wrong with this movie, I just don't think it's that good. I'll pull Tom Twyker's Run Lola Run out of the basement, as a great post-modern action film that, as any rental place will tell you, is a renting classic.
6. Saving Private Ryan (Bump Down)- Another of those movies I don't mind, but wouldn't rate this highly. Since this movie needs more Brits, I'll put one of my favourite movies- Secrets and Lies- on it, and move another movie up. Appropriate, too, because Leigh's kitchen-sink film is about domestic battles.
5. Toy Story- (Keep)
4. Blue Velvet (Keep)
3. Titanic (Bump Down) Titanic always felt too nice and silicone to me, and it's responsible for unleashing Celine Dion on innocent wedding-goers everywhere. For an epic with sweep and disaster, I'll pick up a personal favourite, Farewell My Concubine (1993.)
2. The Lord of the Rings (Bump Down) I just committed nerdicide, and I don't care. These movies are long and boring. Give me Pan's Labyrinth as a fantasy over this dreck.
1. Pulp Fiction (Keep)
The New List (Better than the New Coke?)
So, here's what my personal New Classics list would look like:
25. My Own Private Idaho
24. Schindler's List
23. Memento
22. The Royal Tenenbaums
21. My Beautiful Laundrette
20. Beauty and the Beast
19. Ran
18. Moulin Rouge
17. Secrets and Lies
16. Boogie Nights
15. Edward Scissorhands
14. Goodfellas
13. Crumb
12. The Matrix
11. This is Spinal Tap
10. Do the Right Thing
9. Die Hard
8. Run Lola Run
7. Blue Velvet
6. Grave of the Fireflies
5. Toy Story
4. Pan's Labyrinth
3. Farewell My Concubine
2. Silence of the Lambs
1. Pulp Fiction
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