Part 7: Sunset Blvd | The Intouchables

Movies I watched for the first time: The Lives of Others, The Great Dictator, Memento, Cinema Paradiso

60. Sunset Blvd. (1950)

• IMDb plot summary: A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.

• Some quick thoughts: This brilliant showcase of acting and filmmaking is what comes to mind for me when I think of the great Billy Wilder, which is quite a statement considering his other masterworks. Even 70 years later, this noir/psychodrama remains utterly compelling. Opening the film with William Holden’s Joe Gillis narrating from beyond the grave immediately warns the audience of the dangers they’ll encounter; but like poor Joe, none of us can resist the terrifying and captivating Norma Desmond, brought to incredible life by Gloria Swanson. Check it out if you haven’t or it’s been long enough – this movie, unlike Ms. Desmond, will never fade.

• Does it belong? This Hollywood story is one of Hollywood’s best products – yes!

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 9.1/10

59. Paths of Glory (1957)

• IMDb plot summary: After refusing to attack an enemy position, a general accuses the soldiers of cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.

• Some quick thoughts: Kubrick’s brutal, meticulous follow-up to his brutal, meticulous heist thriller The Killing remains both one of the most powerful war films and courtroom dramas I’ve ever seen. Kubrick dives into the themes of war’s dehumanization, soulless generals, and a system that punishes for the sake of punishment, with a bravery that films today still rarely have. Kirk Douglas is magnetic as the commanding officer who believes deeply in his men – a few of whom deserve yet avoid punishment – but it’s Kubrick’s smooth, controlled direction that shines and paves the way for one of the most influential filmmaking careers of the 20th century. After you watch it, you’ll wonder why there aren’t more like it.

• Does it belong? Yes, and I’m beginning to lose track of how many Kubrick films I would include.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 9.3/10

58. The Lives of Others (2006)

• IMDb plot summary: In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming absorbed by their lives.

• Some quick thoughts: I was very impressed by this sophisticated drama about the bleak life that a surveillance operative lives that also serves as an evocation of an oppressive time and place in history. Not quite as paranoid as The Conversation nor as tightly wound, beautiful, or – to me at least – moving as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, this film opts to be an emotional character study that, and I cannot stress this enough, they simply don’t make anymore. This movie is a wonderful study in contrast between the eavesdropper and his subjects that has fumes of Rear Window in its conceit. However, for all its similarities to films that I find superior, this movie succeeds in its own terms and works very well as its own bittersweet story.

• Does it belong? Can I make this a double entry with TTSS? I’m going to make this a double entry with TTSS.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 8.7/10

57. Django Unchained (2012)

• IMDb plot summary: With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation-owner in Mississippi.

• Some quick thoughts: This film remains my favorite Tarantino following Pulp Fiction and is the most balanced in its righteously angry depictions of violence that he’s created – the over-the-top, stylized kills are reserved for the slave-owning establishment, while the wincingly graphic depictions of realistic violence are reserved for the enslaved. It’s also wickedly funny, fantastically well-paced, and contains some all-time great performances including Leonardo DiCaprio as one of the most diabolical characters to hit the screen in the last 15 years. However, it’s Jamie Foxx’s show, and he is more than up to the task.

• Does it belong? This is that one ranking in 10,000.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 8.8/10

56. The Great Dictator (1940)

• IMDb plot summary: Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

• Some quick thoughts: Calling Chaplin’s films strictly comedies are misnomers; even in his lightest work, he’s often provoking our sympathy and plucking at our heartstrings with timeless precision, so I should have been better prepared for the power of this movie. Its first hour+ contains some bleakly powerful evocations of Jews being subjugated in “Tomanian” (aka German) ghettoes free of any music to alleviate the dreary feeling. Its comedic stretches, particularly Napolini’s visit, are still fantastic, but Chaplin made a statement that still touches the soul and must have been searingly political 2 years before the U.S. entered WWII.

• Does it belong? Without question.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 8.9/10

55. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

• IMDb plot summary: In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain it.

• Some quick thoughts: I gave this film a full rundown here but having turned 40 last year the film has still refused to age. Placed within the context of movie history, Raiders changed the landscape in its vignette structure based around action scenes; the pace at which this movie unfolds is still being used today. Placed within the context of my life, it stoked my imaginations and captured my attention and emotions in a way that only a few movies ever have, and likely ever will. Placed within the context of action movies, it remains an example of how some extremely gifted filmmakers just make it look easy. In short, it’s an all-timer from an all-timer.

• Does it belong? It’s not the rankings, it’s the mileage.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 9.2/10

54. Memento (2000)

• IMDb plot summary: A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.

• Some quick thoughts: I’m surprised I made it this far in life without having seen one of the stone-cold, twisty crime classics from the 90’s that stands in the good company of The Usual Suspects and introduced Nolan’s propensity for brain-bending into the popular consciousness. Like his recent effort Tenet, this film will undoubtedly get richer on multiple rewatches, since I’ll be at first paying closer attention to the small details that underlie the genius of this film’s structure, then letting his work just wash over me so I can bask in the product of a singular talent. It makes me want to see what Nolan would do on such a small budget and with a R-rating, but then again, I’m very happy with the guy we’ve got working today.

• Does it belong? Yes, it does, but far lower in the rankings.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 8.5/10

53. Apocalypse Now (1979)

• IMDb plot summary: A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.

• Some quick thoughts: Legendarily difficult to make, legendarily provocative, and one of the most miraculous movies ever made. A war movie that transcends the genre and becomes not just an allegory for the otherworldliness, dehumanization, and madness of Vietnam, but of war in general. It’s also a remarkable trip into the darkest corners of the human psyche and soul in an environment which encourages madness. Infectiously jargonistic in its dialogue, unsettling in its score, time-and-place specific in its soundtrack, pitch-perfect in its acting, and jaw-droppingly photographed, Apocalypse Now is probably among the 20 most influential movies ever and needs to be experienced by every movie lover once in their life.

• Does it belong? It’ll terminate any competition with extreme prejudice.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 9.8/10

52. Alien (1979)

• IMDb plot summary: After a space merchant vessel receives an unknown transmission as a distress call, one of the crew is attacked by a mysterious life form and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

• Some quick thoughts: What a banner year 1979 is – a few of its very best will never disappear, and Alien stands among them proudly. Beyond the fact that it launched a franchise that is still alive and well today, Alien remains one of the most visionary films ever, and still looks amazing. I sang its praises in more depth here but throw it on if you’re looking for a pulse-pounding, thought-provoking good time, and then wonder why so few other horror or sci-fi movies seem to linger in your mind the way this one does. Perhaps it’s a lack of commitment to physical production design as the building block of visual storytelling?

• Does it belong? I can’t lie to you about these rankings, but… you have my sympathies.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 9.2/10

51. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

• IMDb plot summary: A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.

• Some quick thoughts: This movie is the ultimate tribute to the power of the movies, especially in its final minutes, so I can understand its status as a classic. However, I found the first hour to be a bit of a slog, without any style or frankly much emotion to buoy the story of a troublemaking child who loves going to the movies above all else. This movie’s second hour is much improved, as a teenage Salvatore also comes with more mature emotional stakes and more sophisticated filmmaking. I would have loved for the grownup and famous Salvatore to have been a more fully fleshed-out character in his own right, so we could experience some of the contrast between middle age and youth, instead of just being told about it.

• Does it belong? Its final 30 minutes compel me to say yes, it's not perfect.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.4/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 8.4/10

50. Rear Window (1954)

• IMDb plot summary: A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window, and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend.

• Some quick thoughts: The most iconic of Hitchcock’s “limited setting” thrillers, this film is a tightly constructed masterwork of suspense, ambiguity, and character beats. Hitchcock makes directing movies look easy here, but the challenge of making each of the neighbor’s coming-and-going significant and propelling is immense. This film also very progressively taps into voyeurism in a way that must have been a source of serious illicit fun in 1954. We’re still getting daring cinema today, but there’s hardly room for it at the box office the way that there was room for Hitchcock back then, so check this ageless gem of a movie out in the meantime.

• Does it belong? A ranker would never parade his list in front of an open window.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.5/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 9.2/10

49. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

• IMDb plot summary: A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

• Some quick thoughts: I know that there’s a contingent of people out there who believe that this movie, not The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is the superior Leone western, and therefore potentially the best western ever. While I disagree, there’s certainly a conversation to be had. Morricone’s score is as stylish, emotional, and iconic as virtually every frame of this film stuffed with unforgettable characters, my personal favorite of which is Henry Fonda’s against-type dastardly gunslinger. This movie is a marvel of technical elements working together to create something special and entertaining, and its assertion that American westward expansion was on the heels of criminal men enacting their foul deeds or personal vendettas remains relevant in our moment of re-examining our history.

• Does it belong? People scare better when they’re ranking.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.5/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 9.5/10

48. Casablanca (1942)

• IMDb plot summary: A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.

• Some quick thoughts: I’ve given a detailed breakdown of why I think this movie is so special already but working through this list reminds me of how precious few movies are so perfect, so timeless, and so powerful that new generations will fall in love with them over and over. Every aspect of this movie is deservingly considered iconic, and the surprising humor of the movie is the perfect disarming feature for its story to reach out and touch the audience’s heart.

• Does it belong? If I was rounding up the usual suspects for a top 10 movies ever list, this would be among them.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.5/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 10/10

47. The Prestige (2006)

• IMDb plot summary: After a tragic accident, two stage magicians in 1890s London engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion.

• Some quick thoughts: I’m pumped to see so much Nolan on this list – I think that he’s chief among my generation in terms of auteurs whose name is also their brand of storytelling. It’s also encouraging that my generation feels a sense of ownership over a filmmaker, and not just characters. I think he’s made a couple of the very best movies of the century and is operating at his best when he’s able to weave in legitimate emotional and philosophical power into his conventionally entertaining original work. The Prestige doesn’t do that but beyond offering an intense evocation of obsession, but it does deliver on the original and entertaining front, so definitely fire it up if you haven’t seen it yet.

• Does it belong? No matter how closely you watch this list, it won’t be there.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.5/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 8/10

46. The Intouchables (2011)

• IMDb plot summary: After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.

• Some quick thoughts: This Netflix staple is quite delightful, and a solid entryway for people in my generation who want something easy and light to introduce them to movies that aren’t in English. Intouchables is sharply made, well-acted and overall, really uplifting – something we could all use in our lives. There’s not a ton to recommend in the physical craft of the movie, but it is nevertheless charming, touching, and humorous. It really is that simple.

• Does it belong? I think not, but I get why so many people think so highly of this one.

• IMDb User Rating: 8.5/10

• Rymer’s Rating: 7.8/10