Richard Crouse - Son of the 100 Best Movies Youve Never Seen

SON OF THE 100 BEST Movies Youve NEVER Seen

RICHARD CROUSE

Copyright Richard Crouse, 2008

Published by ECW PRESS
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LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Crouse, Richard, 1963
Son of the 100 best movies youve never seen / Richard Crouse.

ISBN 978-1-55022-840-3

1. Motion picturesReviews. I. Title. II. Title: Son of the one hundred best movies youve never seen.

PN1993.5.A1C865 2008 791.4375 C2008-902380-3

Editor: Jennifer Hale
Cover, Photo Section and Text Design: Tania Craan
Cover Photographs: Richard Beland
Production & Typesetting: Gail Nina
Printing: Transcontinental

This book is set in Akzidenz Grotesk and Minion

The publication of Son of the 100 Best Movies Youve Never Seen has been generously supported by the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit, by the OMDC Book Fund, an initiative of the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and by the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).

Part of the love of movies is
going through the rummage bin
and finding the jewels.

Quentin Tarantino

Thanks to...

Andrea Bodnar; Jen Hale, Jack David, Tania Craan and everyone at ECW Press; Claudio Castro; Geoff Pevere; Ed, Norma, Gary, Christian and Nicholas; everyone who contributed their time and material to this book: Glenn OBrien, Rodney Bingenheimer, Thelma Schoonmaker, Danny Boyle, Albert Maysles, Stuart Gordon, Ken Loach, Nick Broomfield, Peter Greenaway, Charles Dutton, John Sayles, Deepa Metha, Ron Mann, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Lloyd Kaufman; all those at CANADA AM, Seamus ORegan, Beverly Thompson, Liz Travers, Jeff Tam, Karning Hum, Melissa LeBlanc, Phil,Vicki and little Rachel; Steve Kowch, Bill Carroll, Ryan Doyle and Jeff Moss and everyone at CFRB; my GROOVE SHINNY pals Pedro Mendes, Kai Black, David Carroll and Brent Bambury; Frances and everyone at Southern Accent; Ron Do you remember when you were two? Bodnar; Angela Bodnar; Susan Smythe; Laura Quinn; Virginia Kelly; Nancy Yu; Angie Burns; Bonne Smith; Dara Rowland; Shelly Chagnon; Bryan Peters; Charles Wechsler; and everyone who watched REEL TO REAL each week.

What makes a good movie? There are as many definitions as there are films. Italian critic and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini said, The ideal film would be 90 minutes of the life of a man to whom nothing happens. Another writer suggested that movies should be punishment inflicted on people seeking entertainment. My girlfriend says a good movie is any movie starring Adam Sandler.

Me? I fall somewhere in the middle.

I like movies that push the boundaries of art and taste as much as I like empty-headed eye candy. Andrei Tarkovsky or Carl Theodor Dreyer may make me think, but George A. Romero scares me and Fernando Arrabal freaks me out while Jess Franco blows my mind and Ladislas Starevich can fill me with wonder. All are different and all are included here because through their lenses each of these directors (and the other 94 included in the book) has effectively conjured up something that, for me, is memorable or moving in some way.

Are all the movies in this book on the American Film Institute Best of lists? No. Some will be, but its unlikely that the made-for-television movie Evil Roy Slade is going to pop up on any serious Best of inventory. That is unless the list includes movies guaranteed to make you laugh. I chose these movies not with an eye toward impressing other film critics with my depth of knowledge or ability to dig up obscurities, but with the goal of binding together 100 personal choices that I think are worth a second and third look. Many of these movies were released as mainstream commercial fare only to be labeled obscure after audiences stayed away or the passing of time saw them fall out of favor. This book should act as a reminder that there are great films to be found past the new releases rack at your local video store.

Along the way I asked for some help from some famous film directors. The question was simple, Can you give me the name of a movie that you love that may not have gotten the attention it deserved? Some, like Danny Boyle and Peter Greenaway, barely paused for a breath before launching into detailed descriptions of their favorite overlooked gems.

Others, like Paul Haggis, had a harder time with the question. The director of Crash and In the Valley of Elah hemmed and hawed before suggesting The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, and I think that film (great though it is) only sprung to mind because we had just been discussing the films director Tommy Lee Jones. So many great pictures get overlooked that its hard to boil down a lifetime of watching and loving movies to just one title. Luckily, my job was easier. I got to pick 100.

Another filmmaker, visionary French director Michel Gondry, wouldnt even venture a title, instead he said, Oh, there are millions... it would be hard to choose just one. If people would stop making films now we could watch what already exists for 100 years and wed hardly see the difference.

I love that.

Im not suggesting that people stop making movies (although I wish Michael Bay would), but that people take a little time and appreciate what we already have an ever-growing archive of great movies just down the street at their local video store.

So, with no apologies, here are 100 movies I love....

Ive met a lot of hard-boiled eggs in my time, but you... youre 20 minutes.
LORRAINE MINOSA (JAN STERLING) TO CHARLES TATUM (KIRK DOUGLAS) IN ACE IN THE HOLE

Billy Wilder, the storied director of Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend, was at the top of his game in 1951. His film, Sunset Boulevard, despite earning the ire of Hollywood insiders MGM head honcho Louis B. Mayer suggested Wilder be tarred, feathered and horsewhipped for portraying his profession with such a jaundiced eye was a huge hit, nominated for 11 Academy Awards, taking home three, including one for Wilder in the category of Best Writing, Story and Screenplay.

Perhaps it was the success of that film, despite the backlash from the industry, which gave Wilder the courage to go ahead with a film that was sure to alienate a powerful group of Tinseltown insiders the Hollywood press. Ace in the Hole, his scathing expos of shady journalism, put him at odds with the frontline scribes who would write about the movie and hopefully stir up interest with audiences. Their rejection of the film doomed it to failure.

Fuck them all, Wilder said after the movie tanked. It is the best picture I ever made.

Wilder picked up the idea for