So I understand that this should have posted in 2015 and that this post is now coming a year and a half too late.
In the year 2015, much ado was made about the 30 years that have passed since Marty, Jennifer and the Doc traveled into their future and right into our present.
I care a great deal about cinema, maybe music, but not much else.
So, here are the 30 best films these characters skipped over when they sling-shot themselves from their present, 1985, all the way to 2015, our present.
To be short: the 30 finest films in the past 30 years.
As always, the list is in descending order, as all lists shall be. (And you'll pardon me, but I couldn't quite stop, so this will be the top 31, not just the top 30.)
And, for your further amusement, you'll find pics and quotes from the films. Enjoy, I say.
And, once more, a warning to any squares and/or prudes out there. Some of the quotes from these films are in bad taste, to say the least. Read at your own risk.
31) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer by John McNaughton (1986)
The single most disturbing horror film I've ever seen. That sick feeling you get when any stomach-churning violence you've ever heard of. That's what "Henry" offers you. Not much blood or gore. No effects. Just the sick."You all right? You want some fries?"
"It's always the same, and it's always different."
"Yeah, I killed my mama. One night, it was my 14th birthday. She was drunk and we had an argument. She hit with a whiskey bottle. I shot her. I shot her dead."
"Didn't get along with your daddy, huh?"
Not to speak in a pretentious way, but this film can only be described as surreal. The film is a deconstruction of an amoral mind. Antonio Banderas plays Dr. Robert Ledgard, the most extreme misogynist you're ever likely to come across. His insistence that women are by nature imperfect drives him to create something better. He's developing fire-proof skin. One could argue that he's operating out of grief because his wife had burned to death in a car crash. But we're witness to the way he treats his guinea pig. The process of changing women can never be a sane one. It's a cautionary fable from the filmmaker who arguably loves women more than any other. In the end, what we're left with is a Gothic horror film and a terse thriller.
"I'm sick of these heels! And this jacket, too! Clothes make me feel claustrophobic. I wish I could stay naked all the time."
"If you wanted to die die, you would have cut your jugular."
"They don't seem pneumatic now, do they? They're like drops of water sliding along a glass surface."
29) Martha Marcy May Marlene by Sean Durkin - 2011
My God is this girl's mind terrifying and beautiful? Why does she and every other person, myself included, need God? Or a god. It may be a need for something tangible to cling to. A constant presence that is always there to love and protect you. And if one is not careful, they can open themselves up to malevolence. (And I could not find a way to include in this paragraph, but but MMMM is beautifully cut. All praise to film editor Zachary Stuart-Pontier.)
"You know that death is the most beautiful part of life, right? Death is beautiful because we all fear death."
"I am a teacher and a leader. You just never let me be that. But now, I am...I know who I am."
"Is it true that married people don't fuck?"
"Do you ever have that feeling where you can't tell if something is a memory...or if it's something you dreamed?"
"That cat reminds you of some fluffy think you think you used to love. You're clinging...(gunshot)...clinging to some misguided emotion."
"That cat reminds you of some fluffy think you think you used to love. You're clinging...(gunshot)...clinging to some misguided emotion."
28) Fight Club - David Fincher (1999)Oh, sweet Jeebus, I was expecting a really cool action movie. What I discovered is that "Fight Club" has raised the bar both on dark, dark comedies and satire. At times, even I started to believe in Tyler Durdin's whole vision. Fincher balances dark comedy with squeamish violence and he pulls it off gloriously.This movie a god.
"I am Jack's Broken Heart."
"Welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The 2nd rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club! 3rd rule of Fight Club: someone yells 'stop,' goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. 4th rule: only two guys to a fight. 5th rule: one part at a time, fellas. 6th rule: no shirts, no shoes. 7th rule: fights will go on as long as they have to. And the 8th and final rule of Fight Club: if this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight."
"Self improvement is masturbation."
"My God. I haven't been fucked like that since grade school."
"It's a bridesmaid's dress. I got it at a second hand store. It was loved intensely for one night...then cast aside."
27) Frances Ha by Noah Baumbuch - 2012
I am not certain why I connected so intimately in "Frances Ha." Frances is making the transition from child to grown-up and she is stagnant. She needs courage to start building a life of her own. Baumbuch presents her to us as a struggling child-adult and makes us empathize with her as she transforms.
"Sometimes it's good to do what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it."
"Don't treat me like a three-hour brunch friend!"
"It's sort of like how they say that other dimensions exist all around us, but we don't have the ability to perceive them. That's...that's what I want out of a relationship. Or just life, I guess."
"I'm so embarrassed. I'm not a real person yet."
26) The Last Temptation of Christ by Martin Scorsese – 1988
A loving portrayal of the human part of Jesus Christ. What kind of temptation would Satan use to try and make Christ turn his back on his divinity? Would he use riches and power? Or would he just show Christ what it would be like to have a family of his own? But after all of these temptations, The Lord Jesus Christ declares, "It is accomplished!""What if it is God? You can't drive out God. Can you?"
"You will, Judas my brother. God will give you the strength as much as you lack, because it is necessary - it is necessary for me to be killed and for you to betray me."
"I want to rebel against everything, everybody - against God! - but I'm afraid. If you look inside me you see fear, that's all. Fear is my mother, my father, my God."
"It is accomplished!"
25) Crash by David Cronenberg - 1996
Sigh. Everything is a fetish nowadays, even car crashes. How do we respond to that? Do we worry about the state of the word? Or are we just a little bit delighted? I went to see it and it kinda excited me. Everybody has desires they can not explain. So what are we left with? Silly, silly satire. Nothing is silly. These needs speak about how lost a person's spirit can alienate itself from the core of who you are.
"Don't worry, that guy's gotta see us. Don't worry, that guy's gotta see us. These were the confident last words of the brilliant, young Hollywood star, James Dean."
"Would you like to put your penis right into his anus? Thrust it up into his anus?"
"The crash is a fertilizing, rather than a destructive event."
"Do you see Kennedy's assassination as a special kind of car crash?"
24) Blue Velvet by David Lynch - 1986What is evil? Can you harbor a fascination for it without being seduced yourself? At some point, after struggling against the villain, you're so drawn in that yes, you do have to hit the girl.
"Mommy! Mommy! Baby wants to fuck!"
"Don't you fucking look at me!"
"Shut up! It's Daddy, you shithead! Where's my bourbon?"
"A candy-colored clan they call the Sandman tiptoes to my room every night."
Raymond - "Do you want me to pour it, Frank?"
Frank Booth - "No, I want you to fuck it! Shit yes, pour the fucking beer!"
"Here's to your fuck, Frank."
"Don't you fucking look at me!"
"Shut up! It's Daddy, you shithead! Where's my bourbon?"
"A candy-colored clan they call the Sandman tiptoes to my room every night."
Frank Booth - "No, I want you to fuck it! Shit yes, pour the fucking beer!"
"Here's to your fuck, Frank."
23) AntiChrist by Lars von Trier - 2009The depth of this film's spirituality still leaves me shaken after each viewing. It's about gender dominance and exactly that has to do with death in general. The dialogue is sparse because "AntiChrist" shows its thesis instead of telling us everything.
"What do you think is supposed to happen in the woods?"
"A quiet woman is a scheming woman."
"Nature is Satan's church."
"Acorns don't cry, you know that as well as I do. That's what fear is, thoughts distort reality. Not the other way around."
"The acorns fell on the roof vent. They kept falling and falling. And die and die. And I understood that everything that used to be beautiful about Eden was perhaps hideous. Now I could hear what I couldn't hear before. The cry of all the things that are to die.
22) Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson – 1999
When I first heard about "Magnolia," before it came out, it sounded like a cheap knockoff on Robert Altman's "Short Cuts."Damn was I wrong. It is enthralling in and of its own right. These are tales of heartbreak loss. Any hack can pull this off. But what Anderson does here is flawlessly tie ever one of these narratives around a thread of hope.
When I first heard about "Magnolia," before it came out, it sounded like a cheap knockoff on Robert Altman's "Short Cuts."Damn was I wrong. It is enthralling in and of its own right. These are tales of heartbreak loss. Any hack can pull this off. But what Anderson does here is flawlessly tie ever one of these narratives around a thread of hope.
"The book says, 'We might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.'"
"Life ain't short, it's long. It's long, goddamn it. Goddamn. What did I do? What did I do?"
"Now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing me again?"
"I lost my gun today. And I am not a good cop. And I'm looked down at. And I know that. And I'm scared that once you find that out, you may not like me."
"Have you seen death in your bed? In your house? Where's your fucking decency? And then I'm asked fucking questions. What's wrong? You suck my dick. That's what's wrong. And you, fucking call me 'lady?' Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on both of you!"
"Have you seen death in your bed? In your house? Where's your fucking decency? And then I'm asked fucking questions. What's wrong? You suck my dick. That's what's wrong. And you, fucking call me 'lady?' Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on both of you!"
"Respect the cock and tame the cunt!"
"Because, what? I'm made to feel like a freak if I answer questions? Or if I'm smart? Or I have to go to the bathroom? Why is that, Jimmy? What is that? I'm asking you that."
21) Repo! The Genetic Opera by Derren Lynn Bousman - 2008I've always been enchanted by musicals. Not only do you get a story, but all the delightful songs and dances. They're seductive. Add some horror to it and it's just a wonder. But there's more to it than that. Bousman creates a wonderful world for us to visit and sing along as people are dissected and slaughtered. This movie is a joy.
"It's a thankless job! But somebody's got to do it!"
"What's the matter, Grave-robber? Can't get it up if the girl's breathing?"
"The most dashing, panty-snatching. I will leave your diapers dripping!"
"Everybody, everybody! Make your genetics your bitch!"
"I warned you about this! Happiness is not a warm scalpel."
Please stay tuned for numbers 20-11!
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