ALLAN'S TOP 100 MOVIES (50-1)

I was 10 years old when this movie came out, and I remember thinking how stupid this movie looks. It’s called ‘Forrest Gump’? What a dumb name. It stars Tom Hanks, who I know best for comedies like ‘Big’, ‘The Money Pit’, or ‘The Burbs’, so how can this movie be any good? Well, the first time I saw it, I fell in love with it. Tom Hanks is mesmerizing as Forrest Gump, as he takes us on quite an adventure. We meet Elvis, John. F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, John Lennon, the Black Panthers, and tons of other American icons throughout the years in a comically organic way. The theme that threads through all these meetings is that no matter the person, or voice, the tiniest thing you say, can have a lifelong influence on people. The weight of our actions and our words can resonate through others with such a resounding impact, that it’s astonishing to sometimes here what people say about you. I remember my brother calling me fat when I was swimming at the cottage when I was in Grade 7, and I burst out into tears, and still watch my weight everyday thinking about that line. When I was in Grade 6, I once told my mom she looks like a billy goat because I saw a hair sticking out from her chin. She brought it up to me 20 years later and says she still remembers me saying that and how much it hurt her feelings. It doesn’t matter who you are - a simpleton like Forrest Gump for example - everyone has the potential to change the world.

‘Forrest Gump’ doesn’t use too much from composer Alan Silvestri, but what little he did compose, really gives it a nice heart felt touch. The majority of music in this is pulled from famous US musicians to give it a realistic journey of Forrest’s life. There’s Elvis, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys and tons others to carry us through the decades, and make us believe that there really was a Forrest Gump who grew up in Greenbow, Alabama.

‘Forrest Gump’ is one of the greats.

When I saw this in theatres, I had pretty low expectations. I wasn't a huge Ryan Gosling fan, and don't care a lick about cars; although I did like the game F-Zero for Super Nintendo. After watching the first 10 minutes of the movie, I was already putting this down as one of the best movies I had ever seen. The intro was so incredibly intense, dark, and then the 80s like music by Cliff Martinez kicked in, and I was sold.

The reason why I like this movie so much, is coincidentally one of the reasons why it's so polarizing: the lack of dialogue. I've been making movies since I was a kid, and any time there's dialogue between my actors, it's always awful, I mean, painfully awful, and it's not because they're bad actors, it's because I don't know how to write fluent dialogue for some reason. So every movie I make is essentially a silent film relying on music, editing and facial expressions. Then enters 'Drive', and it was as though I watched a movie that I was born to make. It gave me hope that I can make a successful movie without using much dialogue. 'Drive' now serves as proof of that concept.

I told myself after watching the movie, that 5 years later, the next time I watch it, I want to be at home, with a huge TV, amazing surround sound, a glass of whiskey, in total silence and darkness and engulf myself into the movie again (I'm still waiting on a bigger TV).

I'll confess, I'm not a big mobster movie guy, and it took me till I was 29 to finally watch this movie. All the hype that had been built up for it, seeing it number two on imdb's list of movies, number 1 on the American Film Institute, friends and coworkers raving about it, was absolutely warranted. This movie is a masterpiece, and I think about it often when I'm trying to develop characters in a story or movie I'm making. In the opening 5 minutes the audience is told to believe that Marlin Brando's role of Don Vito Corleone (The Godfather) demands respect. A lot of movies try to do this, but this one pulls it off so perfectly. Francis Ford Coppola, or Mario Puzzo's story, gets me fully believing that this is the most respected, and scariest dude on the planet. People are coming in and begging at his feet, asking for forgiveness, and mercy - there's just so much crammed into such tiny scenes with Brando off the top but yet the pacing is slow; its really something to see. After that opening scene, I was hooked. I had to know what was going to happen throughout the rest of the film. There's the horses head scene which I had seen in 'The Simpsons' when Lisa wakes up in her bed, that I finally can make sense of now (It’s a real horses head by the way). There's the scene with Al Pacino in the restaurant, which is one of the greatest tension scenes I've ever had the pleasure of watching - It's right up there with the border scene in 'Sicario'. There's just scene after scene loaded with talent and wonderfully crafted story and tension.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to watch ‘The Godfather’, but I'm glad I finally did. Contrary to many fans, I find the original 'The Godfather' better than the sequel, by a long shot. The slow building tension in this movie is some of the best I've ever seen. It's because of this movie that I took a chance and finally listened to my Dad and watched 'The Sopranos', all 6 seasons. It made me watch 'Casino', 'Goodfellas', and opened an entire genre that I thought I didn't like, but which is now one of my favourites.

'Big Fish' is my favourite Tim Burton movie. No doubt this is an unpopular opinion, considering it's up against great movies like 'Beetlejuice', 'Batman', and 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure', but this one is his most fantastic adventure. The reason why I love this movie so much, is because it reminds me of my Dad telling jokes around the dining room table during Thanksgiving in Chicago. These big, lavish, never ending jokes that were so larger than life seemed to make everyone's eyes open wide, and bust a gut laughing at the grandness and ridiculousness of it all. There's a right way, and a fun way to tell a story. If you give the same story to a boring or a lively creative person, you have two completely different tales. I choose to live my life the 'larger than life' way. I like to exaggerate stories, make them fun, capture the excitement of people, because more often than not, the creative is more exciting than the real; much like the directing style of Tim Burton. This movie is the perfect vehicle for the whacky creative stylings of Burton. The whole movie is a metaphor for his creativity.

Script writer John August captures the outlandishness, and charm of Daniel Wallace’s original novel. They're lovely exciting stories that Edward Bloom (Albert Finney/Ewan McGregor) tells, and it captures my imagination every time I watch it. It also has one of the best endings to a movie I've ever seen. It just couldn't have ended any better. It breaks me down into tears of happiness every single time.

Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is one of my favourite protagonists ever. He's rude, hilarious, creative, spontaneous, and never follows the rules - so having him constantly fucking around with shit is the best, and it happens often. It's a fairly predictable and weak story line, typical of 80s action movies. His friend is murdered, and he goes to try and find the killer, and unearths more than he bargained for. But the story doesn't really matter too much in this, because Eddie Murphy is so damn tantalizing as the lead, and the two cops he meets in Beverly Hills, Rosewood and Taggart, are such a good support cast to him. Rosewood has a place in my heart for some reason, I'm not quite sure why, but he's just adorable in this and the perfect counter to Foley.

The first time I saw this movie, I must have been just a kid watching with my Dad, and Eddie Murphy had already taken over the world with his 'Delirious' stand-up the year before in 1983. So this was Murphy at his best. Watching such a crude and violent movie in grade school was actually really awesome, because it helped me develop a solid sense of humour at a young age. Although, I'm sure I just laughed at a lot of the jokes because my Dad was, and had no idea what was going on.

The music in this is also very strong and memorable. Harold Faltemeyer writes maybe one of the best synth soundtracks ever with ‘Axel F’ being his main hit. That’s not just my 80s nostalgia hard-on talking either, it was #3 on the top Billboard charts for a while, and #1 in UK for a long time. The soundtrack really sets the tone for ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ and gives it a strikingly unique identity.

When this movie came out, I was 9 years old. At that time, nothing meant more to me than the game of baseball, which is why ‘The Sandlot’ holds such a deep place in my heart. All I ever wanted to do as a kid was go out and play ball. I’d drag my friends out, and force them to hit me fly balls, or pitch to me so I could hit dingers into the parking lot. My friends weren’t the most gifted baseball players, and there weren’t any more than four of us at a time, so it was always a challenge to try and get out and play baseball with my buddies. ‘The Sandlot’ doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s like a 90 minute episode of the Wonder Years where baseball and mischief is constantly awry. I loved to problem solve, I loved to play baseball, I loved dogs, and I loved being with my friends, so really, this movie couldn’t have been more perfect for me as a kid. But surprisingly, I actually like this movie more as an adult. ‘The Sandlot’ revives the young spirit inside you. It reminds you that friendship, happiness, adventure and goofiness is what it’s all about. There’s a magic to this movie that almost quite indescribable. I mean, the script is drop dead fantastic, the actors are so damn good, and David Newman’s musical score gives it a whimsical 60s charm, but on top that, there’s just something to this movie that makes you smile. Really.

Any baseball movie has a good chance to attack this top 100 chart, but ‘The Sandlot’ isn’t just a baseball flick. It’s a Goonies adventure mixed into friendship, competition, friendship and conquering fears. I really hope I get to show this movie to my kid one day, and get motivated to get outside and have some fun!

When I show ‘Robocop’ to my friends now, they think it’s going to be this cheesy, clunky, boring robot movie, but what they end up seeing is nothing like they expected. This movie is rated ‘R’, and for a good reason. Director Paul Verhooven has a distinct feel to his flicks. There are always news feeds showing the crises going on in the world, there’s always a political agenda, and there is always a copious amount of blood and gore. When someone gets shot in a Verhooven movie, you generally see more of it than you’d expect or care to see. The scene that sticks out in my mind the most, is when the titular character gets tortured by the villains in a warehouse. This scene is just downright fucked. They’re laughing at him while shooting off his limb. Then asking him “Does it hurt?” while pelting him pointblank with shotgun blasts against his bulletproof armour. Then scenes later they throw a living body out the back of a truck onto the hood of a police car during a highway chase scene. What Verhooven always manages to do, is take a movie to its absolute limits, while maintaining a genuinely strong social dystopian ideology.. You could argue that he goes over the top with his brutality, but by stretching our emotions to their limits, it brings into focus how disturbing we really are.

There’s no way I could review this movie and not mention Basil Poledouris’ iconic score. 80s movies tend to have a very recognizable score attached to them, with bright, bold and daring choices that give a movie their identity. I find movies in the 2010 decade play it super safe. There aren’t nearly as many sound tracks that jump out at you as super memorable. Music is now like Hans Zimmer, in that they’re gorgeous and haunting, but very background orchestral. Music doesn’t steal the show, and become synonymous with character or movie as much anymore. Now think Poledouris’ score in ‘Robocop’ if you’re seen the movie, you can sing the soundtrack to it. Time to stop playing it safe, and make some daring musical choices!

When someone asks me “What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?” ‘The Descent’ is usually a part of that discussion. This movie is terrifying in so many ways. From the colours used, the claustrophobia, and then there’s the mistrust and turn of friendships that shocks me to my core. It’s also pretty badass that the entire cast was female - a decision made by director Neil Marshall.

Colours are very important to me, not just in film, but in life. They elicit a powerful emotional response, and in film, a simple colour theme can change everything. ‘The Descent’ is loaded with red, and black which give off a dark, brooding, and blood filled feeling which magnify the fear of everything within. It’s cool that before they head into the dark cave, it’s bright, sunny, green and yellow above to put you in a happy safe place, but wow, does the colour then reflect the horror within.

The claustrophobia is brutal in this. I mean, people getting stuck in little tunnels, being in a cave for the whole fuckin’ movie, and this fear of never being able to escape; to not have an exit plan, is just terrifying. Thankfully I’m not really that claustrophobic, but even with just a slight fear of it, this movie puts me off. So I can only imagine what this movie is like for someone who really fear it. Marshall frames most of his shots with darkness or cave around the characters to constantly give a feel of being closed in, and cramped by the unknown. Thankfully, the actors didn’t have to worry too much about it. Production decided not to film it in real caves, because it would be too dangerous. So 21 caves were built on set to get optimal shooting angles, and for the safety of the cast and crew.

Then there’s the cast of all female characters who turn out to be awful people. Just when you think nothing worse can happen in the movie, they manage to snuff out any happy or positive emotion. It’s really a shot in the gut. You need these girls to work together and figure a way to get out of the cave, but it becomes a nightmare when you can no longer trust your best friends.

The final hit of this movie are the Crawlers. The monsters in the movie are pretty friggin’ scary. The first time I saw them in the cave I screamed and felt horribly uncomfortable. Apparently the director kept the Crawlers away from the cast, so when they saw them for the first time, they all shit their pants and get genuine reactions of fear. Super cool, and super cruel. They are ruthless, disgusting creatures, and the movie does a great job at making these creatures unique and scary.

‘The Descent’ is easily in my top horror films of all time. It’s also one that gets overlooked, and seems to be more of an indie flick. Do not miss this movie. It’s fucking awesome.

When I saw this movie in theaters, I really had no idea what I was getting into. It's bananas how intense this movie is. Since I saw it in theaters in 2015, I've only seen it once more, and as incredible as the movie is, I don't think I ever want to watch it again. It's just so brutal, emotional and raw. The director, Alejandro Innaritu, shot this movie in chronological order over a 9 month period, and would only use natural lighting for all his scenes, meaning there were only a few solid hours each day when he could shoot the movie. It's shot in legit freezing weather in Canada, and everything in this movie just screams authenticity. Leonardo DiCaprio even eats an actual bison liver, even though he's a vegetarian. Everyone involved was dedicated to making this movie as good as it could be, but it's really the two acting performances of DiCaprio and Tom Hardy that make the movie so fantastic. DiCaprio won an Oscar for easily his most inspired performance of his career, but I thought it was Hardy's performance as the villain that was truly outstanding. I mean, I thought he was up there with Heath Ledger for antagonistic roles of brilliance. The only way I'd want to watch this again would be to see the performances these guys put on, and try to figure out how to get my actors to be as good as they are. Tom Hardy not winning an Oscar for his role as John Fitzgerald pretty much finally made me realize what a joke the Academy Awards are (No offence to Mark Rylance for his performance in 'Bridge of Spies').

The music done by Ryuichi Sakamoto is chillingly haunting, and captures the mood of isolation, desperation and revenge. It's a remarkable creative journey for such a recycled formula. 'The Revenant' ushered in a new standard for filming and acting. This movie shows that beauty and perfection can be achieved without the use of computer graphics; and that the innate talent of a human holding a camera or acting can come forth and remind us all how powerful a movie experience can be.

I had pretty low expectations heading into this movie. I just wanted to go see a horror movie, and anything that involves a cabin in the woods is aces in my books (Evil Dead, Cabin Fever, Blair Witch Project). So I was willing to give this movie a little bit of leeway even if it wasn’t great, but wow, it blew me away. Drew Goddard, who wrote and directed the movie, was coming off of writing the big secret monster movie hit ‘Cloverfield’, and had done a bunch of TV things in the past. ‘Cabin in the Woods’ was his directorial debut, and he made an ever lasting impression on me. This movie can be summed up in one word – fun! Man did I have fun watching this in the theaters, I was laughing my ass off, freaking out, and surprised on so many occasions. It just took one of the most used horror movie settings, and did something that I never would have conjured up in my wildest dreams. It made me think “Damn, I should of thought of that!” It made me want to think outside the box with horror, and try and do something that isn’t so campy and predictable. ‘Cabin in the Woods’ is one of my top horror movies.

I’m dying for a TV series on this, where we get to see more of the villains play and in different parts of the world! A TV series is just begging to be made. Maybe I should pitch the idea…

This is the movie that made me fall in love with Robin Williams. I have so many good memories of ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’. From being in Chicago, visiting my family for Thanksgiving and yelling “HELLO!!!!” every time we saw each other, to visiting San Francisco and making a trip to the actual house ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ was filmed in (Which is constantly under construction apparently) to most recently with my wife who quotes the movie on what seems like a day-to-day basis. And since I’ve met my wife, I’ve watched this movie 3x as much, because it’s one of her favourites. ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ is once again, another movie that evolved as I evolved in life. I used to see this movie as the dinosaur rap, pie in the face “HELLO!!!!”, orange throwing at head, fun movie that it is, but now at 35, I also see it as a man desperately trying to piece his life back together, get the trust back of his ex-wife, and his children back. I used to hate Pierce Brosnan so much after this movie, but he’s actually the nicest dude ever – just happens to be caught in a desperate man’s attempt to get his kids back.

It’s a very tightly crafted film, with amazing acting from the entire cast, really upbeat and fun music choices, and perfectly blending comedy with the chaos of life in a very discreet way. It’s also an emotional roller coaster of love and trust, with an ending that you’d never really expect Hollywood to put out. For as wacky as the story idea is, its profoundly impactful to experience as a child of divorce, or in any type of marriage. I can always count on it for a good laugh, and a tear.

Where it all began. 'Star Wars: A New Hope' came out in 1977, and even though I was born 7 years later in 1984, this movie is still a symbol of my childhood; thanks to my brother Erik. He was obsessed with the Star Wars saga, and forced my parents to buy him every God damned toy that came out. We had action figures, models, posters, fake lightsabers, and my brother's crown jewel, the Millennium Falcon. That spaceship was huge! So, even though I didn't grow up in the middle of the Star Wars madness, I was constantly around it, and I feel like I was indoctrinated into the universe from every family member around me. I can't remember an actual moment in time where I sat in front of a TV and watched the scrolling credits and John Williams' booming intro music flood my living room, but I do remember the feeling of it all around me. My brother loved 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi' because of the Ewoks, so I, as always, followed in his footsteps and loved the forest and Ewoks as well. It wasn't until later, when I watched the trilogy again with a memory that I realized 'Return of the Jedi' was my least favourite of the three, 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' was my favourite and 'A New Hope' was smack in the middle.

'Star Wars: A New Hope' was the starting point for one of the most important film franchises ever made, and the birth of some of the most iconic characters in my life. Learning Luke Skywalker's motivation for his hatred towards the Empire, meeting Han Solo in Tattooine, and learning the truth about ol' Uncle Ben out in the desert, fill out arguably the greatest science fiction story line told in movies. Director and creator, George Lucas has had this movie (and all subsequent movies) analyzed to death by Star Wars fans, but back in the mid 80s, this kind of microscopic nitpicky bullshit wasn't as affluent as it is now. (If it was, it wasn't as widespread as it is now. See: Internet) I didn't care about inconsistencies in grade school. I didn't care about bad acting, or what lore was being broken by what writer. I just watched a movie and fell in love with it. I looked up to Luke as the hero he was, I thought Han Solo was so cool and 'adult', Chewy was a big loyal dog I wanted to hug, and surprisingly, I never found Princess Leia to be hot, but did find she would shoot and hold her blaster really funny - maybe it was because I was in grade 3 and didn't realize or care about girls. 'Star Wars: A New Hope' was about a cool action movie. I mean, the Death star blows up a fucking planet, Luke then blows up the God damned death star, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader, there's shit blowing up, robots talking, guns blasting, and then toss in the best soundtrack of all time to spice it up a bit. Terrifyingly, Lucas was going to go with well known classical music for this movie, but thank God Stephen Spielberg recommended John Williams for it, and then the rest is history. Imagine this movie without that musical score? It would be a piece of shit. The music makes this movie. Darth Vader's Empire music is still a defining bar for representing evil. You don't have to be clever with music. When the good guys are on the screen, play good guy music and vice versa. This simplistic approach to music has actually helped me out as a video editor as well. Use music to establish tension, character, mood in the edits. I mean, that sounds pretty obvious, but there's always a moment in your life when you have that realization, and for me, it was when I saw 'A New Hope'.

Hoooooooooly shit this movie is insane. I wish I could remember who told me to watch this, because I owe them a scotch and a big hug. ‘The Raid: Redemption’ is my favourite martial arts movie ever made. I mean, this movie kinda blends together martial arts and gun shooting action (John Wick style) so maybe it can’t clearly be defined as a martial arts movie, but it has the craziest fights scenes I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch, and honestly, it’s not even close (Except for the sequel to this movie!). It’s an Indonesian movie, and has a pretty neat premise; almost video game like: a police squad raids a drug filled apartment building and they need to make their way up to fight the final boss. Kinda like the old NES game called ‘Kung Fu’.

This movie doesn’t give you cheap fight scenes, they feel like this is how someone would be fighting if they were fighting for their lives. Breaking bones, ripping faces, shooting knees and eyeballs, it’s really ruthless. I’ve always loved the old Bruce Lee movies like ‘Enter the Dragon’ or ‘Game of Death’, and I love ‘Ip Man’, and Jackie Chan stuff like ‘Rumble in the Bronx’, but it’s not even close. I mean, I hate to say it, because they are all pretty badass movies, but how fast, and real feeling ‘The Raid: Redemption’ has, is genre changing. The choreographing of this flick must have been insane. But a warning: Don’t watch this movie if you have a weak stomach.

There’s a real inspiration in this movie that drives me to make the most of my life. Beyond the obvious setup of them being in prison, and my greatest fear of being wrongfully imprisoned (maybe this is where I’ve developed this fear), there’s so little hope in this movie that every glimmer of it is magnified to such a beautiful level. It’s about making the most of a shitty situation, really. Tim Robbins makes a library in the jail to give people something to do, he gives all the prisoners of Shawshank a treat by blaring some music for them in the courtyard, and sticks it to the warden whenever he can to remind people that everyone deserves fair treatment. When things are looking grim, this movie pays tribute to the reminder that you need to make the most of the situation you’re given.

I’m flabbergasted that this is a Stephen King short story. I remember my Dad, who is an avid Stephen King reader, brought home a book from the library called ‘Different Seasons’, and he told me to give it a read whenever I had time. I flipped through it, and realized that these aren’t horror stories! Well, screw that. I had finished reading ‘Cujo’, ‘Salem’s Lot’ and was dabbing into ‘It’ (Before realizing I’d need 5 years to finish it) so I was fully invested with King’s horror writing. I’m almost glad I didn’t read the story, because the twist ending in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ would have been stolen from me - although, I’m sure I would have appreciated the ending just as much having read it instead. Speaking of endings, I always thought it was kind of lame that Red magically finds Andy on the beach in the middle of no where somehow. I can’t even find my wife in my house, let alone a state in the US. But I found out that the director, Frank Darabont agreed with me! He wanted to leave the ending ambiguous with Red on the bus. That would have been such a better ending.

While ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is now a household name and consistently ranks among peoples favourite films of all time (iMDB has ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘The Godfather’ in a perpetual battle for the top spot), I don’t feel at all as though I’m just joining the masses in appreciating how great this film is. I mean, it’s kind of perfect. Frank Darabont makes his directorial debut and absolutely kills it. Tim Robbins plays without a doubt the best role of his career. He’s so level headed, yet chaotic in his thoughts by making you constantly question what his actual motives are. Then having Morgan Freeman do the voice over throughout the movie is a nice touch.

‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is filled with memorable scenes. The scene where Brooks gets released from prison is one of the most touching, and heart breaking scenes I’ve ever seen. The twist at the end is a momentous iconic moment. I think what makes this movie so special is that all the characters in ‘Shawshank Redemption’ are important. They’re all carefully crafted right from the get go, and you love them all, and we’re talking about prisoners here! But a solid acting shout-out goes to the Warden. Holy fuck, what a piece of shit that guy is. I have a tough time watching any movie with Bob Gunton in it without picturing him as that asshole. What’s even worse is that he plays the main villain in ‘Patch Adams’ as well. What a kill joy that fucker is. One of my top movie villains. Fantastic actor.

I tend to have a favourite type of movie or actor, and then a movie like this comes around and changes all of that. Danny Boyle was fresh off of making ’28 Days Later’, and then he makes an international film about family, coming of age and love. It is such a far cry from what I’d expect him to make considering his track record, but he made ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and entrenched himself as my favourite director from that point on.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was unlike anything I had ever seen at the time. The directing style is very harsh, bold, and loud. The cinematography is colourful, tight, and jarring. The editing is so fast, complicated, and daring, yet I never felt lost throughout the film. I never exposed myself to much Indian cinema (Watching whatever was on the TV while waiting for my Indian food in Brampton is the extent of it), but India has one of the most successful, and top movie scenes in the world. The Indian cinema scene is unique because when a family goes to see a flick in India, it’s a luxury. The cost to get in isn’t quite expensive, but there is a lot of poverty in India, so to get see a film is a big deal. Families will gather and watch a movie that is over 3 or 5 hours, and has dancing, fighting, love, horror, suspense, more dancing, and just about everything under the sun. Many movies in India want to give such a broad range of genres so everyone in the family is happy. Danny Boyle manages to blend both the Western and Eastern worlds together in this vein so perfectly. There’s love, dancing, deceit, horror, family, torture, excitement, and whatever else you can think of. It’s a genius collaboration of worlds.

A movie can’t be great unless it has a great story, and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a wonderful story. I love the journey we are taken on, because I feel like we experience so damn much in this movie with Jamal Malick from Mumbai. While his story maybe isn’t that interesting on it’s own, using the editing tactic of bouncing back and forth through progressing questions in the game show ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ is wildly genius and a heck of a lot of fun. ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ is already entertaining enough on its own, so to add a backstory to every question and answer just adds the icing on the cake.

I find this one the most memorable of them all. The opening when Luke gets wrecked by the big yeti, and then has to use the force to grab his lightsaber and get out, only to immediately pass out from the cold and get thrown into a dead ton ton is just a pretty awesome way to start the movie. It has my favourite Han Solo line with Princess Leia: “I love you”, “I know”. Vader finally fights Skywalker and reveals something of significance. Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite, there's betrayal, fights, battles against the AT-AT's, Luke trains with Yoda and rides on his back like a backpack - it's got just about every memorable scene that comes to mind when I think of Star Wars.

It's not quite the actual movie that makes me love Star Wars so much though, it's just the feeling, and the brand of the whole thing, and nothing sells the Star Wars brand more than John Williams’ score. Hearing the ‘Main Theme’, ‘Imperial March’ or ‘Yoda’s Theme’ transports me back to my childhood; to a time when everything just seemed simpler. It’s the 2nd most iconic film score to me (trailing only ‘Rocky’) and I listen to it at least once a month to get my creative juices flowing.

Even though i didn't grow up on it as much as my older brother and cousin did, I still appreciate it just enough to realize how awesome all these characters are. It’s pretty rare for a sequel to be better than the first, but Empire definitely steals the thunder from the original.

When I was in University, my English Literature professor, Dr. White, gave us a project where we had to take one film, and write an analytical essay on it using one of the critical theory authors we were reading. I wanted to do my essay on ‘The Matrix’, while citing Marshall Maclluan, and Louis Althusser. Then after class as everyone was heading home, Dr. White stopped me and said “Allan, are you sure you wanna do this?”, to which I responded “Ya, of course! There are so many ways to dig into ‘The Matrix’ from a philosophical perspective” Dr. White responded, “Exactly, there are about 200 books written on it from accomplished philosophical and PhD students. Are you sure you can come up with an original take on this?” I responded “Hmmm, Ok, maybe I’ll do something else”. (I ended up doing my paper on the Chuck Norris classic ‘Firewalker’ using bell hooks as my critical companion)

My point is – this movie is beaming with replay and conversation value. The first time the world got their eyes on this movie, it opened up an entire different way of making films. It wasn’t just one of the best movies of the year, it was most of the most revolutionary films ever made. Being able to bend time and space, and to do all the stunts with practical effects?! It was the perfect blend between realism, and idealism. It challenged everything we thought we knew, and made us see things from another perspective. For a movie to challenge your very sense of life, or thought, or fate is always a bonus in my books. ‘The Matrix’ was what the whole world was talking about. It’s pretty rare for a movie to stop everything that was going on in the world, and make you take notice. There’s more to this movie than cool bullet time motion, and people in black, there’s a wealth of rich analytical and suggestive thought here to keep you active for weeks! It’s a crowning achievement in the action genre.

I remember being at Graceland University in Iowa, and in my 3rd year, we threw a party at our house (Which we called 'The Embassy' and became known for throwing non-stop parties) and 20 or 30 people watched me pour some Kaluha, Vodka, and Milk into a glass and start drinking it. They all looked at me like I was fucking insane and disgusting at the same time. That's because the majority of people I went to school with had zero taste in movies, and class. They didn't understand that The Dude showed me the way. He showed me that a White Russian is one of the tastiest, and weirdest drinks there is. 'The Big Lebowski' is one of the last places you should look to for advice or inspiration on life, because The Dude is a useless sack of shit, but it's that lazy, "I don't give a shit" attitude that opens up the door to some damn fine comedy.

Joel and Ethan Coen just finished writing and directing the offbeat thriller 'Fargo', and then went into another offbeat style comedy in 'The Big Lebowski'. The premise is beyond stupid. The Dude seeks restitution for a guy pissing on his rug. That's it. From that simple and stupid idea, it branches off into some pretty wild stuff. Throughout the wild stuff going on, there's a genius level of comedy infused. There aren't any cheap laughs here. They're all layered through character, and then through simple looks, mannerisms, or a word or two, we start to understand and feel a level of sympathy for The Dude and his two dumbass buddies. This movie gives serious situations to characters that somehow turn into a roarous laugh fest. I mean, it's non-stop laughing for me. Every scene with Walter (John Goodman) puts me on the floor its so fucking funny. To try and quote some of the funny lines in this movie is pointless, because I'd just end up writing out the whole God damned movie here.

When someone asks me, "What's the funniest movie ever made?" I put 'The Big Lebowski' up there in the top 3. If you compare it with another favourite of mine, 'Dumb and Dumber', it's just on a whole different plane of comedy. Stupid, silly, and physical comedy is incredibly difficult to pull off effectively, but it's easier than clever, intelligent comedy. It's just the style of writing that the Coen Brothers use. You get the feeling that the characters in this movie are all based off of real people the Coen Brother's met throughout their lives, because they all feel so ordinary, genuine and fucked up.

This movie impacted so many people, that a religion was formed called 'Dudeism'. Seriously, they have a website: www.dudeism.com - There’s some proof for ya that the world is lazy as shit. People want to be a part of a religion that does nothing. No wonder why people love this movie so much. Impressive.

I was only in grade 2 when this movie came out, but I still remember what a huge blockbuster it was. The entire world was talking about ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’. It catapulted James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career into another stratosphere and set a new standard for graphics in film. What made it even more impressive, was that it was a sequel! The sequel curse was squashed with this massive success. Even though it’s not quite as good as the original ‘The Terminator’, it’s still an absolute gem of a movie.

‘T2’ takes the original story, and carries it into the future with incredible tact. It helps that James Cameron did both Terminators, so there’s a seamless feeling between both movies. While the original masterpiece had a budget of just over $6,000,000 this movie had $100,000,000 to play with (With $15,000,000 of that going to Schwarzenegger) so it was only natural that ‘T2’ would take everything from the original and turn it up to 10. The old villain is transformed into the hero, and a new terrifying villain emerges in his place. I love the scene where Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) sees the Terminator coming out of the elevator in the hospital, it’s just so damn cool. While I think the T-800 is one of the freakiest villains of all time, I gotta admit that the T-1000 is pretty badass. Robert Patrick’s dead panned, flawless running technique genuinely made me feel as though John, Sarah Connor and the T-800 had no chance to survive; even with the unstoppable Terminator on their side, they are still so fucked. “What’s wrong with Woofy? I hear him barking?”, “Woofy is just fine dear.”

I get why James Cameron tried to humanize the T-800 in ‘T2’, because otherwise it would be two robots fighting each other, which pulls out any emotional attachment to the movie. In the first one, we cared if Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) died, because not only did we all love and root for him, but if he were to fail in his impossible mission, the bad guy would win and murder Sarah Connor. By giving the T-800 some semblance of emotion in the sequel, it not only gives Sarah Connor’s character depth and tolerance, it gives a movie about two cybernetic organisms attacking each other some humanity. One of my favourite scenes is in Mexico when Sarah is watching the Terminator play with John Connor and she says “Of all the would-be fathers who came and left over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only one who measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice.”

Then of course there’s Edward Furlong who plays John Connor. I would always crack up over his voice cracking and squealing, but he plays a pretty awesome on the run teenager with angst. While Sarah Connor seemed helpless in the first Terminator, John Connor as a teenager feels even more helpless, which just adds to the fear of them being hunted by the T-1000. Then last but not least is Sarah Connor. James Cameron has a tendency to cast strong female leads (Aliens, Terminator, The Abyss) and Linda Hamilton got ripped in reprising her role from seven years earlier. She says to Kyle Reese in the first one, “Do I look like someone who’s going to save the world? I can’t even keep my cheque book balanced.” Now she’s back to fulfill a predestined future as the badass solider/mother she was always intended to be.

One of the best sequels ever made. “Easy money.”

The first time I saw this movie was in Chicago, visiting my family for Thanksgiving. We had to wait a couple hours for someone, so we just went to the movies and watched whatever was playing. We ended up getting a ticket to see ‘Very Bad Things’, and when the movie was getting near the end, the projector went out and we were all sitting in this shitty little theater wondering “What the fuck?” A dude came out and apologized to us, and said if we want we can go into another movie and watch that for no charge. So Erik and I walked into another movie called ‘Starship Troopers’, which we knew absolutely nothing about. (I was in early highschool, and shouldn’t have been watching either movie to be honest). At the time, I was really big into the PC game ‘Starcraft’ and anything science fiction or space related. So since it was a free movie we naturally had zero expectations going into it. The opening scene had a ground army getting slaughtered by giant bugs, limbs ripped off, and spikes impaling people’s legs. What. The. Fuck!? My brother and I looked at each other, and got ready for the ride of our lives.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized this movie was directed by Paul Verhoeven, who also did the 80s gem, ‘Robocop’. ‘Starship Troopers’ has a very similar vibe to it. It relies on a news channel to update the audience with what’s happening in the world, it uses comical political propaganda in commercials to serve his subtext to the state of right winged military and politics. He goes as far as even dressing the higher ups in SS uniforms to hint at government oppression against the working class. Then in typical Verhoeven fashion - It’s brutally gory. Much like Murphy getting his hand blown off in ‘Robocop’, there’re limbs flying everywhere, people getting shot in the head, decapitated, shooting blood from the mouth, it’s insane how rated R it is. And that’s exactly how I like my action movies. I love Verhoeven’s style of action. It’s extremely well polished, and organized, but keeps you guessing constantly. You never know who’s going to die, or where they’re going next. It’s just unrelenting as an action movie, that’s willing to reflect as Nazi satire.

I had no idea how entertaining a documentary could be until I watched 'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters'. I mean, this movie changed my life in the sense that I realized how easy, and exciting it can be to make a documentary. The whole thing looks like it's shot on a handycam, half the time the audio is awful, it constantly uses subtitles, and the material revolves around old stinky garages and arcades; yet this movie is beyond enthralling and fun to watch! After seeing this, I started making movie trailers using a documentary style. Speaking to the camera, spying on people, capturing people in their essence. It led to me making my proudest film achievement: my hockey documentary 'Brampton Hockey League: Throw the Sticks, Let's Go!' which is a pretty amazing thing. ‘King of Kong’ made me realize that I can focus on something that I really enjoy, and make a movie out of it.

The movie itself has a fantastic story arc. They clearly define a hero and villain right away, and the challenges each of them has to go through to achieve their goal. The movie itself is analogous to Donkey Kong, in that Steve Weibe (The hero) is Mario, a small, hopeful little guy who has to overcome incredible odds to achieve success, and he's up against Donkey Kong (Billy Mitchell) who sits atop the throne using his barrels (The Judge, Walter Day) as obstacles to get in the way of Weibe's success. It's such a brilliantly crafted movie that also offers a definitive ending - which is wonderful to see in documentaries. * Although there has been another wave of controversy since the movie got released with Billy Mitchell getting his records stripped away, and then re-instated.

Every time I think of this movie, it gives me motivation to go out there and create something - to believe in myself. Seeing how easy I could pull something like this off gives me energy. Pretty wicked for a 90 min movie to really motivate my life in a positive direction. The best documentary ever made!

Ah, 'The NeverEnding Story'. When someone says 'The NeverEnding Story', a wave of emotions flows through me - sadness from Artex (maybe one of the saddest scenes of all time), happiness from Falcor roaring and chasing those dickhead bullies, fear from that terrifying Wolf, laughter from the Gnome (Played by Billy Crystal. Took me years to realize that) and coolness from the Sphinx Towers (Loved this scene so much, I did a parody of it). Even though the movie is a dredge through the Nothing, and pretty bleak throughout, it radiates happiness when I think of it. It's one of those childhood movies that sticks with you. If you watch it for the first time now, it just won't have the same impact as it did when you were young. This movie gave life to fantasy genre for me. I would think of the craziest and coolest ideas for stories, and write them down in some awesome story. To realize I wasn’t limited by anything except my imagination was such a liberating feeling. ‘The NeverEnding Story’ romanticizes reading. This kid goes into a magical book store, runs to the school attic and has a little camp out. The blanket, the candle, the sandwich, it all seemed so fun to me. I was jealous. I wanted to be Bastian up there losing myself in an adventure. It made me want to read, and explore new worlds. Seriously, after I saw this movie, I was all over the Scholastic book fairs looking for the coolest and most fantastic cover art in books.

Now a days, what makes ‘The NeverEnding Story’ so special is that it didn’t use computer graphics. Everything was done with practical effects and the use of massive models. Falcor was a 43 foot long model that had 6,000 scales on it. You just don’t see that happening these days anymore. So that’s pretty awesome.

I saw 'Saving Private Ryan' when I was visiting my Aunt's cottage in Tiverton, near Lake Huron. We went to a nearby theatre, and my brother was really sick with the flu. He was coughing and shivering, and no one really seemed to care, except me, because his coughing was really bothering me. Good brother, right? When the opening scene kicked in his coughing stopped and we all were transfixed to the screen thinking - "What the fuck am I watching right now?". The opening scene was such an incredible piece of cinema. It shocked the hell out of us. This seemed to be the truest, most realistic depiction of how war really was. Man, it hit us all hard.

From then on, the movie stayed dark, grey, and depressing. One by one, we began to know and fall in love with this crusading band of brothers trying to save one dude during war, and one by one they all started to die. This wasn't the typical Hollywood blockbuster I'm used to seeing, where no one dies and if they do, they come back to life magically somehow and everything finishes hunky dorey. Nah, this was brutal. From scene to scene you had no idea who was going to live or die and that kept my attention throughout the movie. The sniper played by Barry Pepper was so badass. I decided after watching this movie that if I were ever to join a war that I would wanna be a sniper; just gotta watch out for those tanks.

Tom Hanks is one of my top actors and it was cool to see him in a different role. The man is so diverse in his characters, from mentally challenged in 'Forest Gump', to a kid in 'Big', to a mobster in 'Road to Perdition', and now to a war veteran. He without a doubt is the best part of the movie. The scene he delivers when he’s talking about the rose bushes back home stays fresh in my mind like I watched it yesterday. It’s not just Hanks that drives the movie forward either, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi all carry an equal weight to bring Private Ryan back home. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is one of Steven Spielberg’s best movies, and my favourite war movie ever made.

I re-watched this movie in my 30’s and holy shit, it still holds up as an incredibly terrifying psychological horror film. From the opening aerial shot and the haunting music as the car heads to the Outlook Hotel, I’m enthralled. This movie taught me how scary the anticipation of suspense is. What is in Room 237? Planting that idea of fear at the beginning of the movie, and then paying it off later on is something I really try and implement in all of my shitty scary movies.

I never realized how good Stanley Kubrick was until I watched this movie for a second time. Believe it or not, as a kid I actually preferred the made for TV movie of ‘The Shining’ that stared the dude from that shitty show ‘Wings’. I couldn’t appreciate the subtleties that Kubrick’s movie had until I was much older. The isolation he builds when the Torrence family first arrive, to the slow winding demise into madness of Jack Nicholson is done with such brilliance that I could probably go on and talk about this movie for an hour. Speaking of brilliance, Jack Nicholson’s performance is stupidly amazing. The only thing that really prevents this movie from being truly perfect is the performance of his wife, Shelly Duvall. Man, she is fucking garbage in this movie. I found it interesting that a lot of time her distressed acting isn’t acting at all. Her and Kubrick really didn’t get along and he was said to be a total dickhead to her on set throughout the entirety of filming. The scene where she is climbing the stairs swinging the baseball bat was shot 127 times! That’s a really emotionally draining scene to shoot as well. Aside from that though, it’s one of the top horror/scary movies I’ve ever seen in my life.

There’s a documentary movie called ‘Room 237’ which is loaded with fan theories about ‘The Shining’. This film is so deep and thick with double meanings, subtexts, and hidden Easter eggs that a full length documentary was made about it. There’s no doubt that Kubrick paid really close attention to every detail and injected tons of meaning behind every shot, but to think that this movie reveals a secret American classified hoax of sending people to the moon, is maybe a little too insane. Either way, if you look deep enough into this movie, it can keep you busy for quite a while.

When it comes to pure comedy, 'Dumb and Dumber' is up there as one of the best. Harry and Lloyd (Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey respectively) team up to be arguably the funniest duo of all time. Usually when you have a duo team on screen, you need someone to be the level headed straight person to keep some solid trajectory of coherence in the film, but Harry and Lloyd break that rule, big time. Their stupidity is on a whole new level. They make their idiocy feel so natural that they don’t even feel scripted, it feels like they're just uneducated buffoons who have no idea how dumb they really are. It's really genius writing and acting. And while every scene they’re in has a comedy beat to it, it doesn't feel like a compilation of short comedy skits stitched together, rather it feels like a genuine movie with a streamlined plot and focus.

It makes me wonder what makes a great movie? Why does it always have to be a serious drama, or an epic mystery documentary? Why can't a movie that explodes with 107 minutes of pure comedy be considered up there as one of the greatest of all time? Each genre has its own challenges and for a comedy it's to make you laugh - well, 'Dumb and Dumber' is about as good as it gets in that regard.

As you would expect with a comedic God like Jim Carrey, a lot of the memorable scenes were improvised. The most annoying sound in the world? Ya, that's a genuine reaction from Mike Starr, cause he had no idea that was going to happen. It's terrifying to think that Jeff Daniels almost didn't get hired to make this movie. The Farrelly Brothers didn't want Daniels for the role, but Jim Carrey really wanted him. So the Farrelly brothers purposely offered Jeff Daniels a paltry $50,000 for the movie, expecting him to decline, but he quickly accepted it and ‘Dumb and Dumber’ went on to be the most successful movie of his career. Insane. To this day, I can't go out in the snow and not think of Jim Carrey launching a snowball into Lauren Holly's face. Fuck, this movie is funny.

I’m a huge comic nerd. I used to collect hundreds of comics and Marvel cards as a kid. But out of those hundreds of comics, I’d say I owned two DC comics, and they were both the death of Superman. DC comics was never something that interested me as a kid, but when it comes to Batman movies, I’m in. They’re the best comic movies, bar none; and Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ is the best of them all. Ultimately, the reason why this one is my favourite is because of Heath Ledger’s Joker. There is no better villain in the history of film. That’s a bold statement, and I firmly believe in it. It’s fucking insane how good and terrifying he is. After seeing the movie in the theatre, I left with a feeling of dread, and hopelessness when thinking about him. What made him so scary, is that it felt real. Heath Ledger got so into his role, that he locked himself in a hotel room for 6 weeks to develop his character. He kept a ‘Joker’ diary of all his psychotic thoughts, and some people believe it was his deep psychological entrenchment into his character that led to his suicide of overdosing on drugs. I can’t think of another actor so dedicated to their role, and have it pay off so perfectly on screen. I was actually very skeptical of Ledger playing The Joker. I remember saying to my friends that he’s gotta be the worst choice ever, and it’s going to be a disaster. Well, fuck me did I ever eat those words. Never again will I doubt a casting decision till I see it with my own eyes.

Aside from the Joker, Batman gets his ass kicked. It felt like he was having to fight against pretty insane odds between Two-Face, The Joker, and the gangs. Also, Gotham felt like a character. The lighting and cinematography helps paint a picture of a disturbed Gotham. You think of dark shadows, corruption, death, backstabbing, and all of these things existing through the lighting and shots that Nolan produces. ‘The Dark Knight’ is a dark, elegant, disturbingly beautiful movie.

I don’t have too many movies from the 2010 decade on here, but ‘It Follows’ absolutely deserves to be on this list. I haven’t legitimately had a nightmare following watching a film in a long time, but damn I had nightmares after watching ‘It Follows’. It’s weird too because it’s not really that scary of a movie, but for some reason the slow inevitable coming of death was enough to really freak me out. In fact, it scared me to the point where I felt uncomfortable being in places with only one exit; just in case death was coming and I needed an escape plan!

I have a massive hard-on for 80s movies, because my Dad recorded every single movie that came out on the movie network back in the day on VHS. So I have hundreds and hundreds of 80s movies that I grew up on, and ‘It Follows’ is a nice throwback to the old 80s horrors. It has kickass loud synth horror music like the old ‘Friday the 13th’ and the way it’s edited is very harsh and abrupt. It was a movie I needed, because all the new horror movies coming out around that time were completely relying on jump scares, which I just can’t stand; and ‘It Follows’ relies on the expected and unknowing terror. Fuck it’s such a good movie. The only issue I have with the movie is the ending – it sucks. It breaks every rule it told us throughout. This thing that just comes after you and won’t stop (kinda like ‘The Terminator’) all of a sudden starts to think. It doesn’t want to go in the water. It throws things at people now? It’s standing on top of a roof not moving? Director David Robert Mitchell said he’s aware of the ending’s negative criticisms, and tried to clarify that no rules were officially set. It’s just what a couple teenagers have seen, and told to others. So in that regard, it leaves the ominous villain’s motives slightly more ambiguous, but it’s that basic simplicity of dread that filled me with terror in the first place! Either way, the movie is that good that an ending I don’t like still makes it to #24.

It's hard to believe that there are two baseball movies better than 'A League of Their Own', because this movie is fucking amazing. I first saw this in Chicago with my relatives around Thanksgiving in 1992 and when we got into the theatre, the first scene I saw was Kit and Dottie walking back to the barn in what becomes a race. I had never seen the intro of this movie where we find out that Kit likes the high ones. And believe it or not, when my Dad recorded this on VHS off the movie network, he missed the intro on that as well! 12 years later, I finally got to see the intro and it provides such a massive payoff. When this movie came out, I really had a passion for baseball, so it immediately became a favourite of mine. But unlike ‘Major League’, ‘Field of Dreams’, ‘Little Big League’, or ‘Rookie of the Year’, this movie is all about women, and delves into things much more than baseball. Women have been fighting for equality all their lives, and with men out of the picture during WW2, it was their chance to take the front stage. But once again, it wasn’t that easy. Without the efforts of the incredible true life women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), and founder Philip K. Wrigley (Yes, the gum), this magical era of women’s baseball would have never come to light. Aptly having the wonderful Penny Marshall direct this masterpiece of film really helped illuminate how even gender equality should be, and how awesome female sports really are. I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018, and one of the coolest sections of Cooperstown was the one dedicated to the AAGPBL. I owe ‘A League of Their Own’ for giving me that desire and knowledge to respect such an important part of sports in our lives.

Ultimately, I love this movie so much because it's about baseball and actually has some high quality behind the scenes looks at how baseball is really played. There are tears, there are bumps and bruises, there’s shit you have to deal with from your teammates, your coaches, the fans, and the other team. Even the scene where they sneak out to party at night is something I’ve done with my baseball teams before a big game the next day. Travelling, and living with your teammates brings out the best, and the worst in your habits. Thank God I never had a little shit like Stilwell running up and down the bus driving us all insane.

I also love this movie because it's just plain hilarious. Having one of my good friends, Laura, obsess about this movie every time we hang helps keep it in the front of my mind, and constantly reminds me how amazingly funny it is. Just about every scene with Jimmy Duggan (Tom Hanks) makes me burst out in laughter. In fact, I think it's his best acted role of his career, which is crazy to say considering he won back-to-back Oscars for 'Philadelphia' and ‘Forrest Gump’ , but he personifies the drunken, I don't give a shit coach so perfectly. The rest of the cast is a star studded female ensemble featuring: Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Geena Davis, Lorie Petty, and whoever played Marla Hootch (What a hitter. It’s Megan Cavanagh who plays her by the way). A strong female film, which in retrospect now was way ahead of its time. Tom Hanks has one of my favourite inspirational lines near the end of film when Dottie (Geena Davis) chooses to leave baseball and go to being a domestic housewife with her husband back from war: Dottie says about baseball: "It just got too hard", and Jimmy Duggan replies, "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great". I played baseball in Iowa for 4 years, and believe me, trying to become an athlete as a career is really fucking hard. But the few who stick with it and bust their ass, are rewarded with the greatest job in the entire world.

Dave (Gene Wilder) is deaf, and Wally (Richard Pryor) is blind. Between the two of them, they heard and saw a murder. What comes after that is sheer comedic genius. The dynamic between Wilder and Pryor is top notch. They had already done 'Stir Crazy' back in 1980, which is very funny in its own right, so the chemistry between them was already strong, and 'See No Evil, Hear No Evil' really gives them a chance to shine. Watching Dave and Wally play very ordinary people trying to blend into society, but fail miserably at every turn lends to some really clever dialogue, and marvelously funny scenes. I actually believe the directing and music aren't very strong in this movie, but it doesn't matter at all because it's fully carried by the starring actors: Wilder and Pryor. While common for most actors to study their roles, Wilder went to Hard of Hearing League in NY to study the deaf, and Pryor went to Braille Institute in LA to mimic their mannerisms and how the blind use a cane. They absolutely fucking nail their roles.

'See No Evil, Hear No Evil' is one of the funniest movies ever made. It pokes fun at blind and deaf people, but it's done in the name of comedy and helps raise awareness, Terrifyingly, Wilder turned down the movie twice because he thought it was insensitive to blind and deaf people, but on his third offer, they let him re-write a bit of script to make it more appropriate for him. A lot of people haven't even heard of this movie, and it doesn't look very enticing, but I'm telling you: Watch this movie. It's comedy genius.

When I was a kid watching 'American Werewolf in London' (Already a wrong statement to make. Kids should not be watching this movie), I was completely enthralled and God damned terrified. This is a brutal movie. Blood. Gore. Sex. Nightmares. Monsters. The transformation scene is a big one that stuck with me because of three things: first was how amazingly well done the prosthetics were by Rick Baker, and the detail gone into every hair added to his body. Secondly, there's a moment where he says "I didn't mean to call you meatloaf Jack", and then shrivels in pain to the ground, and there's a shot of a Mickey Mouse toy. Even as a kid, the juxtaposition of that shot showing the innocence of a cute Disney character against a monster being transformed on the ground beside him was so powerful. The third is when he is grimacing in pain and stares directly into the camera, reaching for the lens. What the fuck? It was such a random thing to see. The entire movie never breaks down that fourth wall, so it really stuck out and forced me to ask questions about why director John Landis shot it that way. This was the beginning of my recognition of film. I started to emulate, question, and analyze this movie.

It wasn't until later in life, around my 30th time watching the movie that I realized there is a great deal of comedy and pathos in this flick. His torture of becoming a monster and being constantly reminded that he's murdering people, and his actions are having real live consequences, regardless of his cognizance is quite powerful for a werewolf movie. I enjoy horror movies that inject a subtle use of comedy into them to just lighten the mood a bit and to remind the film not to take itself too seriously. The opening scene when they're in Northern England and go to the Slaughtered Lamb is such a delight to watch. It’s loaded with people laughing, jokes, but then a terrifying honesty and fear to all the bar patrons. There was just something about that scene that stuck with me - "You made me miss. I've never missed that board before".

Absolutely one of my favourite horror films ever.

Believe it or not, this isn’t my favourite sport movie, or let alone baseball movie, but it damn well takes the cake for funniest sports movie ever made. When I saw this as a kid, I was already a massive baseball fan and player, so I just loved it for the fact I got to have an inside look at baseball – and surprisingly, it’s quite accurate. The coaching, the swearing, the trash talk, the pressure, is all very much what it’s like at high competitive levels of baseball. Even Charlie Sheen was a legit pitcher back in high school, so all the baseball we see in this movie isn’t fabricated, it’s real. When Cerrano smashes a home run to left field and starts running around the bases with his bat in his hand? That was real. He was genuinely so jacked that he smoked that ball that he forgot he was carrying his bat. This movie doesn’t cater to children by being a fun baseball movie, it’s brutally crude, adult and honest. I love it.

‘Major League’ made me like the Cleveland Indians as a kid, which I’m sure it did for just about every other person who watched this movie. But it really made me want to get outside and play baseball. The Indians are just a bunch of average Joe baseball players who bust their ass off and catch a lucky break. It then becomes their job to make the most of it and be the instruments of their own success. Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) surprisingly acted as a bit of a role model for me in my baseball career. Like him, I became a catcher and while I like to have fun when I play baseball, I first and foremost make sure I respect my teammates, my opponents and most important, the game. Baseball has given so much to me and to ever hot dog a routine play, pimp a home run, not hustle to first base, or purposely not give it my 100% effort is absolutely unacceptable to me. This set of values has not only help define me as a captain on the baseball field, but also in my day to day life.

Director and writer David Ward deserves some serious props for writing some of the funniest, most memorable movie lines in my life: “Fuck the curve ball Ricky, give em the heater!” – “Stay away from my wife”, “Suck my dick”

This is my favourite adventure movie ever made. The journey that Indiana Jones goes on to find the Holy Grail is just so much fun! I like whimsical movies that are a bit exaggerated and really focus on smiling and fun. This movie punctuates that more than any other movie I've ever seen. The one liners, the comedy, the ridiculousness of it all makes the adventure feel like a book, or my imagination come to life. Even the editing is remarkable. One scene that helped me get passionate about editing was when Harrison Ford is telling the Nazi's how Marcus speaks 10 different languages, blends in, is an international spy, and has probably found the grail already, and it cuts to him sticking out like a sore thumb yelling out "Does anybody speak English?". It's not just the story that makes this movie so good, it's the music, directing, acting, editing, set designs, villains, traps and adventure. Fuck, it's so good.

I remember the marketing campaign for it when I was just a kid. A fake Indiana Jones gets through the final gauntlet and has a choice between Pepsi and Coke. He chooses a Pepsi, then the Grail Knight says "You have choosen, wisely". I just thought it was such kick, I loved it!

One of the reasons I like this movie so much is that I always seem to be in the mood to watch it. Happy, sad, excited, anxious, 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ is great for any mood and that's a big sign to me that it's one of my favourites.

The final tests that Indiana goes through to reach the grail had a very big impact on me as a child. Every movie I made had obstacles to overcome to reach the treasure. I even made a movie called ‘The Gauntlet’, which was about 2 kids locked in a house trying to get through life threatening trials (I never finished it, and had no idea what the 2 characters were moving towards, but it was fun as hell to make). Indiana being pushed to go through this life and death trial to save his dad, (Played by Sean Connery who is fucking amazing in this movie) puts a heavy emotional burden on the adventure as well. Indiana was always trying to impress his father and then finally he gets the opportunity of a lifetime to do it. Then it all comes to an apex at the end with the most profound three words in movie history: “Let it go”.

Every once in a while, I'll throw 'Good Will Hunting' on, and I'm always left feeling better for it. My favourite scene as a kid was Will Hunting (Matt Damon) talking to the Harvard guy at the bar, and schooling him with his "wicked smaht" knowledge. Then, with each subsequent viewing, a new scene would take the front stage. From the emotionally charged construction site chat with Ben Affleck, to the joke telling bar scene with Mini Driver, to Robin Williams rounding the bases in his office pretending to be at a Red Sox game, this movie is loaded with inspirational and beautifully crafted character moments. The scene where Williams is talking to Damon in the park about experiencing life made such an impression on me, that I actually did that soliloquy in my grade 9 drama class for my final. I gave it everything I had and my teacher, Ms. Ross, still gave me a C. That pissed me off. It actually kinda killed any desire I had to be an actor. Just a few weeks earlier, I was the lead actor in the grade 9 play entitled "New Canadian Kid", and then at the end of the school year, she killed my ambition. Funny how one tiny moment can change your life like that. But that's also what I take away from 'Good Will Hunting'. One person can change your life forever.

Will Hunting is a janitor who is a mathematical genius, but is throwing his talents and ambition down the toilet by choosing to have fun with his friends instead. What better reminder for a creative individual like myself to stop playing video games and watching TV, and instead be the one who makes the video games and TV shows. I always feel guilty if I'm not pushing my mind to do something special. I wonder, what could I have made if I chose to redirect those 10,000 hours of video game playing towards making more movies. Or instead of watching the first 10 seasons of 'The Simpsons' again, I decided to write that fantasy novel I always wanted to do as a kid. Will Hunting has the ability to do something great for people, but is it his duty to fulfill that? He tells Sean (Robin Williams) during a session: "I didn't ask for this", so it makes me wonder how much ambition is wasted on this planet.

'Good Will Hunting' is one of my favourite Robin Williams roles. The advice he gives to Will in his sessions makes up a large part of my life mantra. In fact, we used a paraphrased version of one of his quotes at our wedding: "You're not perfect Sport, and let me save you the suspense: this girl you've met, she's not perfect either. But the question is whether or not you're perfect for each other. That's the whole deal. That's what intimacy is all about." God I love that line. To err is human. I've made so many mistakes in my life, and to know that the friends and family I have around me accept me for all that I am is what fills my life with love. Sean has another line he gives to Will when he's talking about his late wife and how she used to fart in her sleep: "She's been dead two years, and that's the shit I remember. Wonderful stuff, you know, little things like that. Those are the things I miss the most. The little idiosyncrasies that only I knew about. That's what made her my wife ... People call these things imperfections, but they're not, aw, that's the good stuff. And then we get to choose who we let in to our weird little worlds." I can't begin to say how much that line has helped me through questioning times I had during a relationship.

It's pretty amazing that a solid chunk of my life philosophies are based around a 2h 6m movie. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Williams won an Oscar for this Original Screenplay, and I'm not at all surprised. Don't forget, as Sean says: "You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to."

When it comes to action movies, ‘Predator’ is the manliest movie ever made. A muscle loaded cast showcasing Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham and the indomitable Arnold Schwarzenegger. What I love about all these guys, is that they aren't all stereotypical action movie archetypes. There's no medic, there's no scientist, there's no crazy person, this is just an insanely badass group of fuckers going into the jungle to do a job. The story isn't complicated - guns, explosions, deaths, and one of the coolest, scariest, and most original villains of all time. The Predator is ruthless, relentless, terrifying, and just so damn cool that I can't even express how much love I have for it. When I found out they cast Kevin Peter Hall, a 7' 2" monster of a man to play the Predator, it just made the movie even that much cooler, because it made it more real for me. When he's beside Schwarzenegger, that's not a camera trick, he's dwarfing him. Man, that's just so cool. especially considering the other direction this movie could have gone. Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally hired on to be the Predator because of his flexibility and agility and they put him in a weird early version of the Predator costume that was apparently horribly restricting, and looked like a silly bug. After complaining of working too long in the heat, and thinking the movie would suck, he quit, and then Stan Winston came on to create the Predator as we know it, and Kevin Peter Hall jumped inside the suit to bring him to life. Thank God.

From the one liners in the movie "Ain't got time to bleed", "Stick around", "You're one ugly motherfucker", "Get to the choppa!", to the jokes, "Jeez, you got a big pussy. Jeez you got a big pussy" to the Predator kill scenes, it's just a cacophony of happiness and greatness. I would also happily argue, that ‘Predator’ is Schwarzenegger’s defining movie. Yes, even moreso than 'Terminator 2'. ‘Predator’ is the movie that truly and absolutely defined him as the greatest action star of all time. Also, Alan Silvestri's musical score is perfect jungle hunting music.

Also: a note to anyone making a sequel to this movie: Don't cast the star of 'The Pianist' to play the role of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

My Dad made me watch this movie when I was a kid, and the only thing I remember from it was what the Simpson’s did a parody on, and that was the Chief at the end of the movie throwing the water fountain through the window and escaping. I didn’t realize the significance of that scene, and the sheer genius of the rest of the movie until a much later age.

The performances given by the actors are truly remarkable. Jack Nicholson is so young, and I think delivers the best performance of his career. All the patients make me believe that it really is a nuthouse, and Nurse Ratched is just such a bitch. Such a convincing bitch in fact, that she won an Oscar for it, and refuses to watch her performance in it again because she can’t stand how cruel she is. It turns out that many of the extras in the psych ward were actual patients at the hospital in Oregon State, further adding to the visceral feeling throughout the movie.

It’s a great blend of comedy, pain, friendship and a rare movie that gets better every time I watch it. There are a ton of subtleties that make me wonder “What makes a person crazy?”. Trying to diagnose mental illness in 2020 vs 1975 is a very different ball game. Eccentricity is now much more celebrated rather than frowned upon, but that’s what ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s’ nest gets you thinking about. Does the Chief deserve to be in there? Does McMurphy? It shows the repression of nurse/patient relationship, and really accentuates how poorly funded and motivated people are who care for those requiring mental health.

I had to read this book in University and compare it to the movie, and in another rare case, the movie is way better than the book – which is told through the perspective of the hallucinogenic induced Chief.

The first thing I think about when I think of 'Sunshine' is the John Murphy soundtrack, and the song - Surface of the Sun. It's the best song ever written in a movie. It sets the tempo for the editing, acting and overall pace and feel of the music. Back in 2010, I was walking in Interlaken, Switzerland, looking at the mountains, feeling the cool breeze on my face, and smelling the crisp fresh air, while I listened to 'Capa Meets the Sun', and 'Surface of the Sun'. It's as though something clicked inside me, and I realized how important music is to film. I was in such a serendipitous mood and the music from 'Sunshine' captured the exact moment of everything I was. Sometimes all a movie needs is one incredible element to be one of your favourites - an acting performance, a setting, cinematography, music and for 'Sunshine', it's all that and more.

It's done by my favourite director, Danny Boyle, who decided to dip into the science fiction genre, and he makes arguably, my favourite movie that takes place in space. A rescue mission to reignite the sun and save humanity. It's the moment that Cillian Murphy became one of my top actors. His performance, surrounded by an incredible ensemble cast, sticks out as one of the best. Quentin Tarantino reviewed the movie and said this about it: "Its first two acts are so wonderful, even its disastrous climax ... can't diminish [its] power". Now I agree with him in that the first two acts of the movie, purely sci-fi, are beautiful, but I disagree with his 3rd act disaster comment. The 3rd act in 'Sunshine' is essentially a horror movie, but... I love horror movies. Blending the two genres is so awesome, and has worked in the past (See: Alien, Aliens, Event Horizon). I thought when the 3rd act kicked in, it couldn't get any more intense, and it did.

Another thing I love about this movie, is that not a lot of people know about it. It's one of those rare epic sci-fi flicks that kinda went under the radar. When I mention the movie to people, they usually look at me with a weird stare, and I get a gentle shock of excitement knowing that I can tell them to watch one of the best movies ever made.

I'm kind of a horror guy. When people ask me what the scariest movie ever made is, they take my answer seriously, and 'The Exorcist' is my answer. There's just a natural horror and fright to the movie that gives me chills, and now more important than ever, it doesn’t rely on stupid jump scares to frighten you. Upon watching 'The Exorcist', I didn't realize how long, and slow the build up to her being fully possessed was! The first half of the movie is watching a tortured girl being poked and prodded by doctors (which is a horror movie in itself), and the slow destruction of a sweet girl into the devil. I’ve had four MRI’s in my life, and everytime I go into that white tube and the thunderous sounds start crushing into my brain, I always think of ‘The Exorcist’ and realize I don’t have it that bad, haha. It's an agonizing movie to watch. Cold, dark, ugly, rotting, and puts your faith to the test. It's not a villain that attacks you, or harms your physically, the Devil harms you in so many different ways. He tests your faith, sanity, perseverance, love, and will, in such an epic battle.

'The Exorcist' is the movie that started it all. When you usually look at movies that started a movement, you're going back to 'Citizen Kane', 'Birth of a Nation', 'Dracula', 'Night of the Living Dead' etc, and these are great movies, but they don't hold up to today's standard of entertainment. When 'Citizen Kane' comes on TV, you don't gather all your friends, and go "No way! Citizen Kane is on! Lets watch!", but when a classic like "The Exorcist" comes on; which redefined the horror genre, you fucking pay attention.

I saw this movie twice in theaters when I was a kid. I was 7 years old and in grade 2, and going to see a romantic animated musical called ‘Beauty and the Beast’ wasn’t the ticket to being the cool kid in class, but I didn’t give a shit because I loved this film. The music was one of the few Disney films that didn’t annoy me and I found really fun to sing along to. I loved how they turned the expected villain of the Beast into the hero, and the good looking star of the town, Gaston, into the villain. The formula makes sense now of course, but when I was 7 years old, this was a cool twist to me. The impending doom of the rose falling was a great way to keep the tension and suspense of the movie going, and the graphics were groundbreaking.

This is by far my favourite Disney movie. It taught me that reading is cool, that bad manners are unacceptable, and that people are misunderstood until you get to know them. It taught me to root for the underdog, and be kind to people. It taught me so many lessons that I still hold on to today.

Anyone who knows me, knows that this is one of my all time favourite, quoted, and watched movies; and probably shocked to find it at #12. If there were to be a movie that defined me as Allan Hughes, it would be ‘Rocky IV’. My favourite movie character ever is Rocky, and my favourite villain is the super Russian, Ivan Drago. The entire movie is cold war propaganda between Russia and USA, and the more I watch it now as an educated man, the more I unfortunately realize that. The Russian crowd actually starts rooting for Rocky Balboa at the end of the movie, rather than their hometown hero, Ivan Drago. Right. Because I always start rooting for another country when I’m watching the Olympics. It’s pretty ridiculous, but that’s exactly what this whole movie is about. It takes everything and pumps it up to a thousand! The training montage is fucking epic and I’ve used it for the last 20 years as my workout anthem. The music in the whole movie is up there as one of my favourite movie soundtracks – ‘Hearts on Fire’, ‘No Easy Way Out’, ‘War’, ‘Sweetest Victory’, they’re all gold. A funny fact is that it got nominated for a Razzie award for worst soundtrack of the year. What?! Madness.

This movie once again proves that you can overcome the odds. Tiny Rocky taking on the towering Drago is one of the biggest mismatches I’ve ever seen on TV, but he manages to overcome the odds, avenge Apollo’s death, and give himself peace (Although he suffers brain damage from the pounding he takes). I think the life lesson in this movie is secondary to it’s primary focus, which is adrenaline fueled, power punching, blood exploded training and excitement. If I was stuck on an island the only movie I had with me was ‘Rocky IV’, I’d be a happy man.

My old friend Zee took me to a shitty little theatre in Toronto to see this movie because he said I absolutely have to see it. (This was a big deal because I’m from Brampton, and going to the city to see a movie, whaaa?) Wow, was he right. ‘Memento’ opened an entire universe of possibilities to me. I was really only exposed to Hollywood movies as a kid, with Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Cruise, and then seeing this black and white movie that’s in reverse, shattered everything I thought I knew about movies. The story telling is some of the greatest I’ve ever seen, and the twist at the end was phenomenal. After you were done watching it, you had to piece together all the scenes in your mind to try and make sense of the scene before it. What a brilliant idea. It put Christopher Nolan on the map for me, and he hasn’t disappointed me since.

‘Memento’ changed the way I made my own movies. I was trying to make Lord of The Rings epic movies with faked explosions, and asking my Dad for a blue screen so I could make effects, trying to jump out of windows onto mattresses because that’s what Tom Cruise does, and then I see this movie which looks like it was made with about $55 bucks and camera picked up from Cash Converters. This movie is so important to me. It reminds me that it’s not about the money and how awesome your camera is, it’s about story and character.

When I was kid, dinosaurs were my thing. I collected every book I could, and believe it or not, I actually read them. I had a T-Rex, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops (Triceratops was my favourite) and I would play with them for hours and hours and hours. Then Steven Spielberg decided to release a movie called ‘Jurassic Park’. I demanded my parents to take me to see it, and it changed my life. My whole imagination came to a reality on the big screen, my eyes opened wide and sparkled at the marvel I was seeing. My parents bought me every single ‘Jurassic Park’ toy they could fit in my room, and I saw it another FIVE times in the theatres. I had never seen a movie more than twice in a theater, so ‘Jurassic Park’ holds the record by far, seeing it 6 times – once in the Cinesphere.

As if I needed another excuse to like dinosaurs, the execution of this movie is incredible. The sound of the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s roar gives me chills, and the Velociraptor clicking it’s claw on the ground sends shivers up my spine. The acting is hilarious with Nedry, and Ian Malcolm. (There’s a YouTube video of Ian Malcolm laughing for an hour straight, which is sure to make you smile, and cringe in pain). Even now, as I type this, I’m drinking out of a Dilophosaurous collectable cup from McDonalds. The influence this movie had on my life is just too big to ignore. The reason it’s not as high on this list, is because watching it today there are many inconsistencies and things that really bother me with the movie – cheap scare and jump tactics that I loved as a kid, but now I’m like, huh? When Ellen is underground and the arm of Samuel L. Jackson falls perfectly onto her shoulder is just so beyond stupid, and when the T-Rex comes at the end of the movie to rescue them just doesn’t make logistical sense to me. The T-Rex decided to quietly come in through the 8 foot front door without anyone knowing and kills the Raptors? Meh. But that’s nitpicking like crazy, because this movie deserve that kind of whiny treatment. They even named our fucking basketball team after this movie it was that influential! Toronto Raptors baby!

When this movie came out in 2001, I was playing Magic: The Gathering (still am), reading R. A. Salvatore’s ‘The Dark Elf Trilogy’, Terry Brooks ‘Shannara Series’ and playing Baldur’s Gate on PC, so when I sat in the theatre on my brother’s birthday, December 19, 2000, and watched the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ I fucking exploded with happiness. I wanted to be like Legolas: an angelic and agile warrior elf gracefully unleashing arrows and destroying everything. It affected me on so many great levels. In fact, I liked the movie so much that I spent 2 weeks with my friends Tolga, Tiago and Comrie making our own epic ‘Lord of the Rings’, We planned for it to be a 2 hour long movie and even created all of our props and clothing. We bought pieces of wood and then carved out weapons. We made daggers, axes, swords and shields and then I meticulously painted every piece. It took forever! We even made armour out of that car sunshade metallic looking thing – turns out, when you wrap that around a dwarf, it doesn’t look at all like armour. I actually found that old movie, which we called ‘The Rune Dagger’ and stupidly uploaded on my webpage. It’s here if you want to see some of the worst shit I’ve ever put on camera - https://vimeo.com/234959725

This movie has everything I love. Heroism, trolls, goblins, wizards, magic, monsters and the scope of the film is magnificent. Now a days, these kinds of graphics and scope are quite common, but when this movie came out, man, there was absolutely nothing like it. Seeing Gandalf fight the Balrog on the bridge? Holy fuck, that was amazing. It was also so perfectly cast: Ian McKellan personifies Gandalf to the point where I don’t even call him by his real name anymore - he’s just Gandalf to me now. Elijah Wood’s never-ending boyish youth is now and forever Frodo Baggins and Sean Astin’s everlasting dedication to friendship eliminated his famous ‘Rudy’ character, and is now only known as Samwise Gamgee. Also, after only recently reading the novel did I realize how masterful director Peter Jackson and screenplay writer Fran Walsh were at picking the most exciting parts of Tolkien’s fairy tale adventure; and omitting some of the most boring (Tom Bombadil). Wow, what an accomplishment.

I feel like this movie carved open the opportunity for anything to be made. Wizards and Dragons were possible. It meant a lot to me, and still does.

“Is this Heaven? No, It’s Iowa”. I actually went to school in Lamoni, Iowa on a baseball scholarship, so this movie kinda aligns perfectly with my life. My entire childhood, my Dad would take me to my baseball games, and I played a lot of baseball games. I mean, I was on the rep team, elite team, highschool team, all-star team and just about everything else inbetween. He had to drive me to tournaments in Ohio, London, and all over the place, just so I had a chance to succeed. Eventually he got tired of it, and as a result I was one of the first kids in highschool to get his license and his own car! I then continued to drive to Hamilton, Montreal, Ajax, and Welland to keep playing baseball at the highest level Ontario had to offer. Thankfully for my parents, it paid off. I got a scholarship and went down south to Iowa. I played for 3 years, and eventually quit because of injuries and how much my coach and I equally despised each other. But the funny thing is, I spent 4 years down there and didn’t once visit the Field of Dreams. It actually wasn’t that far from my school - only a 2 or 3 hour drive. But my passion for the game was gone at that point and baseball was the last thing on my mind. But I have never forgotten those times Erik and I played baseball at the cottage, or down at the park in Brampton where I would pitch to my Dad and he would tell me everything I’m doing wrong. What I’m getting at, is that ‘Field of Dreams’ isn’t a movie about baseball, it’s a story about family. It’s about how a stupid sport like baseball can bring a father and son together. God, I can still remember our drive to Toledo, Ohio and we were going down a bend and my Dad said “Take the wheel” I was astonished. I started to turn the wheel while he reached for something in the backseat. We stayed at hotels together and watched movies at the Howard Johnson and would get fast food for all our meals. ‘Field of Dreams’ brings these memories back for me. They remind me how much I love my family, my father, and the game of baseball. Still to this day, every time I visit the folks, we sit down and watch the Blue Jays play and have a beer. It’s one of the fondest memories I have in my life.

Every time I watch this movie I manage to learn a little something different with it. As a kid, all I cared about was the baseball and how cool it was they were going to Fenway Park and Shoeless Joe was playing on their farm. Then I watched it as a teenager and I thought ‘He tried to kidnap Terrence Mann with a fake gun!’ And oh man, that ginger brother Mark (Played by Timothy Busfield) is such a fucking dickhead! Also, what’s the deal with old man Moonlight Graham? But now I watch it as a 30 year old and I see how understanding the wife is, by letting them plow their field for a baseball diamond. How caring and thoughtful the brother Mark is - who is truly trying to save them from going bankrupt, and how amazing the Moonlight Graham story is - how he would always by his wife a blue hat. I think it’ll continue to be a life changing movie for me throughout my life, and I’m so lucky and honoured to have this movie at my disposal.

Also, the magic of this movie is accentuated by the films beautiful score – done by James Horner. It is so simple, clean and really gives it an identity. It still stands as the only film that will guarantee make the tears roll down my face. It’s a beautiful, beautiful film that holds a dear spot in my heart. Archie (Moonlight) Graham says one of my favourite movies quotes ever: “We just don’t recognize life’s most significant moments while they’re happening. Back then I thought ‘There will be other days’… I didn’t realize that that was the only day.”

I would say that I’ve seen ‘Rainman’ more than any other movie in my life. There was a time in my childhood, around grade 6 or 7, when I put ‘Rainman’ on every single day when I got home from school and watched the entire thing. Kind of a weird movie to watch as a kid, but there was something about this story that just really stuck with me, and still does. It’s the most perfectly crafted drama movie ever made. I have a brother, Erik, so I understand the dynamic between Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) and Charlie (Tom Cruise). They have a pretty unique situation and it taught me to be patient, loving and understanding with my friends and family. The range of emotions that goes through Tom Cruises’ brilliantly under appreciated performance is spectacular. He starts off as a rich, selfish asshole, and in the most organic and brilliant way, his selfishness slowly burns into a deep love for his brother.

The way Dustin Hoffman portrays a savant is obviously incredible. Every line he says in the movie is Oscar worthy, and it was the first time I had really, really appreciated an actor transforming himself into a completely different person. I was so interested in Autistic Savants that I read a book by Daniel Tammet called “Thinking In Numbers” to try and understand Raymond better. ‘Rainman’ used to be my favourite movie ever, and I still have trouble putting this at #7 because it really is a flawless movie. There are no plot holes, no weaknesses, only a road trip movie of Hoffman and Cruise belting out their best performances of their careers.

My brother Erik was the first person to show me ‘Aliens’, and even as a kid, I knew this movie was special. As far as action movies go, this is one of the best of the 80s. I love the atmosphere this movie creates. Being alone in a space colony, and there’s no one coming to help you. It’s dark, brooding, terrifying, and totally kick-ass. I fell in love with every character in the movie from the first scene they’re introduced. That’s a pretty tough thing to do. Hudson, Hicks, Newt, Ripley, Gorman, I love them all! All the supporting characters somehow don’t seem like supporting characters, they all have their chance to shine and add to this great feeling the movie creates.

As far as villains go, the Xenomorph’s are one of the coolest. Acid for blood, impregnante people to populate their race, fast, agile, and deadly. When the troops are up against these things, you genuinely feel like they’re fucked. The setup to get there is great too. All the Marines are super cocky, abrasive, and confident. Nothing sums this up more like Vasquez mimicking her hands as a gun and saying: “All I need to know, is where they are”. This entire review should actually just be a bunch of movie quotes, because people who love the movie know every line of it: “Let’s Rock!!”

I went and saw ‘Aliens’ at the CNE in Toronto back in 2018, and it will now forever be one of the greatest movie experiences of my life. Not only was it just mind exploding to watch a 1986 movie in theaters again, but to be surrounded by a 100 fans to boot? It amplified everything I loved about this movie and more. The best example of that is when Paul Reiser’s name appeared in the opening credits and every single one of us yelled out “Boooooooo!!!!” and then had a little chuckle. This movie is an absolute masterpiece. James Cameron is one of the greatest directors of all time, if not the best. Sigourney Weaver is my female action role model. Michael Biehn is my favourite action male hero. And Bill Paxton enshrines himself as one of the greatest action comic relief characters without outwardly trying to be a comedic character. ‘Aliens’ is the one movie I wish I could steal and say “I made this, check it out". The original ‘Alien’ by Ridley Scott is good, but compared to the sequel? Not even close!

‘28 Days Later’ is my favourite horror movie ever made. I was fucking blown away when I saw this movie in theatres, so much so that after I saw it, I came back the next day and watched it again. When I saw the zombies running after Cilian Murphy, I shit my pants. It was something I had never seen before and it gave a fresh take on zombies with the Rage virus.

The stylistic choices director Danny Boyle and his crew made really help tell this story, from the colours used, John Murphy’s creepy ambient score, and even video camera it used to film. The whole movie has a very brooding, black and red feel to it which helps push it deep into the horror spectrum. To add to this harrowing vibe, portions of the movie were shot with a Canon XL1 mini DV camcorder. Wow. That was a $5000 camera at the time, and to think one of the best directors in the word, and one of the best horror movies ever made used a video camera that was crappier than mine? Well, I guess I can’t use the excuse of having shitty equipment for making terrible movies anymore. The Canon XL1 really helped Boyle get those tight shots that a massive camera couldn’t pull off, and because there’s little to no setup, it helped get some difficult shots while on a time crunch, such as the the deserted highway and the barren downtown London shots. The mini DV camera also gives it a very gritty and realistic feel, which makes it feel like they’re living in such a dilapidated dystopian zombified world. Even though ‘28 Days Later’ feels glum and like its the end of the world, there are just enough scenes of levity with Brendan Gleeson to keep everything from falling too far into despair. The shopping scene where they gleefully ‘purchase’ all their food and drinks and leave a Mastercard on the counter as they leave, or when Hannah throws a stuffed animal at Frank and he calls her a “cheeky monkey”. I’m not left feeling depressed after watching this movie, so they did a good job of balancing it all out.

I generally don’t like movies that go into a military theme in the 3rd act, but this one makes sense. The answer to infection is a terrifying discovery – and one I wasn’t expecting. The answer is putting women into a type of sexual slavery and force them to procreate our species. The Major isn’t hoping for the worst, he just wants to project his people. He tells Jim “What are 9 men do, but wait and die themselves? … I promised them women, because women mean a future.” When the entire human race is at stake, you understand where this guy is coming from, but the terror of how it will happen makes you completely lose faith in humanity. Maybe we shouldn’t be procreating if that’s the answer to infection. The proclaimed ‘Spiritual Guru’ Sergeant Farrell sheds light to this fucked up dilemma: “If you look at the whole life of the planet, we, you know, man has only been around for a few blinks of an eye. So, if the infection wipes us out, that is a return to normality”. ‘28 Days Later’ is a zombie movie that makes you think, and lets you marvel at the writing, acting, editing, music, lighting and makeup. I love every single part of this movie - especially the acting. It pushed both Brendan Gleeson and Cilian Murphy to the top of my favourite actors of all time, and enshrined Boyle as the absolute best. It’s a phenomenal movie from every angle you look at it.

A lot of people laugh at me when I say ‘The Karate Kid’ is one of my favourite films of all time, but they can all kiss my ass because it’s best coming of age/high school movie ever made. Every single aspect of this movie is the cat’s ass. I’ve seen 2 movies directed by John G. Avildsen, and both of them are in my top 4 movies of all time. So I obviously have an affinity for this guy’s movies. Avildsen finds a way to bring out a heart felt realism in his actors. Daniel (Ralph Macchio) reflects exactly what it was like being in school in the 80s and the only reason I know this is because I saw the shit my brother went through during his school years. Being bullied is a fear for most kids and thankfully I didn’t have to experience it too much, but unfortunately my older brother Erik did. I remember being at home in the morning during breakfast and watching TSN sports highlights and seeing him nervous and sometimes scared to go to school and face being bullied or having to get into a fist fight. Ironically enough, my brother Erik looked exactly like Ralph Macchio did in ‘The Karate Kid’ when he was in grade school, so this movie feels even more real!

Erik used to teach me karate as a kid, so if I got bullied I could take of myself. Funny enough, he taught me how to block attacks exactly how Mr. Miyagi (Pat Noriyuki) taught Daniel. He would punch from the sides and I’d whip my arms up to block it. We would go through different routines and he would keep going until I managed to block every attack without letting one through. Of course being the older brother he would sneak a few punches by to keep my on my toes. It’s not the karate in ‘The Karate Kid’ that makes it great, it’s the life lessons that we learn while trying to overcome adversity. We’re always going to meet bullies in our lives at some point and ‘The Karate Kid’ teaches us to stand up for ourselves, learn confidence, be brave and you’ll gain the respect of those around you. But also more importantly, it teaches us to show compassion, because everyone is battling something.

There’s a nostalgia I get when I’m watching ‘The Karate Kid’ that I honest to God don’t get with any other movie. My childhood was so unbelievably amazing and happy that anytime something evokes memories of my past, I smile from brim to brim. So for me, ‘The Karate Kid’ is a love sonnet to my childhood. I think what infuses this movie with nostalgia more than anything, is the music. The composed music is done by the legendary Bill Conti (Who also did ‘Rocky’) and the tracks they select in this movie epitomize the 80s to perfection. Bananarama’s ‘Cruel Summer’, Baxter Robinson’s ‘Feel the Night’, Joe Esposito’s ‘You’re the Best’ and ‘Young Hearts’ by Commuter add up to be my favourite sound track in movie history. I even used 3 of these songs in my wedding video! Gotta keep that 80s spirit alive.

Now that the TV show ‘Cobra Kai’ is out, it’s actually made this movie even better! All that bullshit of people saying that Daniel Larusso was the bully in the original ‘The Karate Kid’ is just wrong. Johnny (William Zabka) was a bully and deserved all the shit he got.

The best action/adventure film ever made by far. There’s no movie I can quote better than ‘Braveheart’. Every single line of the movie is amazing. I reinforce this fact with my friends all the time when my best buddy Mike Comrie and I get 3 beers in us and recite the entire fucking thing. Accents included. Actions optional. The way Mel Gibson tells this tale of a simple farmer, lover and scholar trying to live a simple life and have it torn from him due to war is masterful. Unfortunately, it turns half of the story is completely fabricated. I had a leadership paper to write in school one time and I chose William Wallace as my guy. I went to library to find every book on Scottish history I could find, and out of 5000 pages, William Wallace was about 3 paragraphs of that whole thing. I was so confused, because William Wallace is Scotland’s great liberator and hero! Then Maria and I visited Scotland and while doing a bus tour of the highlands, our guide brought up Braveheart and said how shit it is because it’s pure Hollywood action. I argued with him and said it’s the greatest movie ever made, and he got so pissed off at me. He told us to watch ‘Rob Roy’ for a better depiction of Scottish history. But you know what? I don’t care if it’s not 100% historically accurate because if I wanted a fucking history lesson I’d watch a documentary or read a book - this is ‘Braveheart’ and it’s a fucking wicked movie.

The war scenes in this movie had me in awe. It set a new standard for how to film war scenes. Brutal violence, massive amounts of extras, blood and screaming, it gave of a visceral feeling for what war was really like. ’Braveheart’ also showed me the value of friendship, loyalty and compassion. William Wallace has friends who would go to war with him, die for him and live for him. It made me realize how important it is to have such good friends in my life who would do anything for each other. I think how busy we can all get sometimes. We don’t call each other, go visit, return a text, lend an ear, but after a viewing of ‘Braveheart’ it reminds me that Christ, returning a text should never be a chore. Going over to help a friend is something you need to make time for. Seeing Wallace’s loyalty of Scotland, to his family, his people and friends is something to admire. He fights for what is right and what is true. And in this shit year of 2020, It’s needed now more than ever. Sometimes its worth the sacrifice or minor annoyance to achieve the greater goal. I hope I don’t get tortured for trying to do what’s right, but I always look to this movie as a reminder to be a good person. Love hard, and fight strong.

Man, ‘The Terminator’ is just such a crazy ass movie. First off, the Terminator is the most terrifying villain of all time. Arnold Schwarzenegger just couldn’t have been cast in a more perfect role. His stoic, robot-like acting set a new standard for movie villains. Funny enough, after reading James Cameron’s biography, Cameron actually envisioned Schwarzenegger as the hero - Kyle Reese, but after a lunch meeting together, he cast him as the Terminator instead. The brutal killings, and raw emotion in this movie hangs on you like a wet dew. You’re left feeling like this really happened somewhere in California. On the flip side, the hero Kyle Reese, played by Michael Biehn, is what makes this movie so incredible. I wanted to be Kyle Reese when I was a kid. I wanted to protect the girl, fight the robot, and be the hero. What makes Reese such a relatable hero is that he’s scared himself half the time. He’s a vulnerable hero who admits that he can’t stop the Terminator. It leads the viewer to a such a feeling of dread. When he says to Sarah Connor “Listen, and understand. That Terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.” Sarah says “Can you stop it?” and he replies “I don’t know. With these weapons… I don’t know.” I mean, talk about terrifying. And then they make the strongest, scariest human being in the world even more scary when his skin melts off in the truck explosion and exposes the exo-skeleton. Jesus Christ. That scene when the Terminator is chasing them down the long hallway in the factory is up there as one of the freakiest scenes ever. I get shivers every time.

In typical Cameron fashion, there’s a strong female hero as well. So not only do Biehn and Schwarzenegger make this the 2nd best movie ever made, Linda Hamilton’s performance as the helpless waitress turned total fucking badass at the end really helps round out this movie, and give it the love and depth it needs. For some reason when I think of Linda Hamilton in this movie, I always think of the scene where the kid puts a scoop of ice cream in her uniform. It grossed me out so much!

I love the 80s synth music in the movie by Brad Fiedel. As a matter of fact, ‘The Terminator’ theme is the first and only song I learned how to play on a keyboard! I love the directing, the acting, the costumes, the lighting, the pacing, the dread, and most of all, the story. A time traveling story of a robot assassin sent back to murder a woman before giving birth to a child who would lead an uprising and turn back Skynet and the self aware robots, is pushing the limits of imagination; in my mind anyways. Wow, such a cool story. This movie is so beyond perfect. The greatest science fiction movie ever made.

‘Rocky’ is the perfect movie. It has music, acting, story, directing, editing, and most of all, inspiration. This movie inspired me to do great things, no matter the odds. If I ever stop believing in myself, I remember ‘Rocky’. Sylvester Stallone plays the life of a bum (Rocky), who gets offered the opportunity of a lifetime - to fight Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) for the boxing heavyweight championship of the world. But what makes ‘Rocky’ so inspirational is that it’s not about the boxing or the opportunity, it’s about being the best person you can be and giving it everything you have. It’s about going the distance; because at the end of the day, that’s all that truly matters. There are so many times when I play a baseball or hockey and have an absolute stinker of a game and feel like total shit. But then I ask myself - did I give it everything I have? If I did, then there’s nothing to be ashamed or upset about because the human body can only accomplish so much.

We’re not all gifted with the lightning quick speed and intelligence of Apollo Creed, and many times I’d see that as a reason to give up. There’s a pretty low key scene near the end of the movie that most people gloss over. It’s when Rocky is in bed with Adrian and he says he can’t beat Apollo so all he wants to do is go the distance against Creed. This is one of the most significant scenes in the movie because it shows that a man can be vulnerable and scared. It’s a good lesson to learn as a kid who grew up in the 80s and 90s when men were taught to be strong, not cry, or show any signs of weakness. Rocky is picked on by other boxers, friends, co-workers and neighbourhood hoodlums and it makes me so sad to see such a good man treated so poorly. At one point he says to Adrian on their first date that he’s “at least half a bum” because that’s the way he sees himself. Rocky is pretty rough around the edges considering he’s a leg breaker for his small time Italian loan shark, Gazzo, which adds to the complexity of Rocky’s character. He’s a lovable sweetheart that is forced into the life of a thug. Then seeing the juxtaposition of the rich, intelligent and famous Apollo Creed against Rocky, explodes this story to a whole new level of David vs Goliath; which I love to see!

What’s pretty cool about ‘Rocky’ is that I don’t even like boxing. I’ve never seen a live fight, I never got into the Mike Tyson craze, and never much cared for watching people beat the shit out of each other, so it’s kinda funny that my favourite movie of all time is a boxing movie. It really goes to show you, that this movies isn’t about the boxing. It’s about human beings, and their drive to be the best they can be.

‘Rocky’ also one of the most magnificent scores in film – I dare you to hear Bill Conti’s ‘Gonna Fly Now’ and not picture Rocky running up the steps in Philly without a big damn smile on your face. It won Best Director, Editor and Film in 1976. It was filmed in 30 days with a budget just under a $1,000,000. Sylvester Stallone had to sell his dog and fight tooth and nail to star in the film, and get it made. So I mean, just the way the film was made serves as a reflection of the underdog story. ‘Rocky’ will always be number one.

I’ve made parodies of it, I quote the movie non-stop, and I watch it anytime it’s on TV or at least 2 or 3 times a year. ‘Rocky’ without a doubt is my favourite film of all time.