NIMROD'S OFFICIAL TOP 100 COOLEST MOVIES EVER IN THE HISTORY OF FILMS Posted by: Ric Nimrod 12-19-01 12:01am Well the Mighty Nimrod has been working on this list for about 3 months and FINALLY it is complete. As most of my loyal Nimroidians are aware, I am a BIG, DORKY, FILM GEEK. That said, many people ask what my favorite films are or what I consider the greatest films ever made. This is a hard challenge and this is by no means a list set in stone, nor is it a list of the most influential or important films (though some of those are on the list). REMEMBER that there are still two Star Wars films to be released and they WILL be on this list (all 6 will always have a spot on my list NO MATTER WHAT... screw it... I am biased). Also this list is compiled before the Lord of the Rings films are out as well as Spiderman SO the list always changes. Here is how I will do this, it will be a four part series with the entire list printed each week and I will address 25 films each week starting with the last 25 and working my way to the first 25. GOT IT? As it stands, here is my list of the COOLEST films in Nimrod-Land. 100- Star Wars: Episode One: The Phantom Menace 99- The Last Boy Scout 98- Shaft (1970) 97- King Creole 96- Batman Forever 95- Bonnie and Clyde 94- Lolita 93- Titanic 92- Friday the 13th 91- X-Men 90- They Call Me Trinity 89- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 88- Blade 87- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 86- Time Bandits 85- Rock-n-Roll High School 84- O’ Brother Where Art Tho? 83- Predator 82- Harvey 81- M 80- The Lavender Hill Gang 79- Big Trouble in Little China 78- Pee Wees Big Adventure 77- The Warriors 76- Lethal Weapon 75- Halloween 74- Trinity is Still My Name 73- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 72- Requiem For a Dream 71- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 70- Reservoir Dogs 69- Close Encounters of the Third Kind 68- The Exorcist 67- African Queen 66- A Nightmare on Elm Street 65- The Muppet Movie 64- 48 Hours 63- Braveheart 62- Do the Right Thing 61- Patton 60- Payback 59- Boyz in the Hood 58- Goodfellas 57- Saturday Night Fever 56- Dirty Harry 55- Desperado 54- The Fifth Element 53- Planet of the Apes (1965) 52- Zentropa 51- Star Wars: Episode Six: Return of the Jedi 50- RoboCop 49- Silence of the Lambs 48- Army of Darkness 47- Unbreakable 46- Back to the Future 45- E.T. 44- BeetleJuice 43- The Terminator 42- Starship Troopers 41- Major League 40- Platoon 39- Raging Bull 38- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb 37- Fight Club 36- Memento 35- Breakfast Club 34- Shawshank Redemption 33- Urban Cowboy 32- Iron Giant 31- Smokey and the Bandit 30- Schindlers List 29- Godfather II 28- Batman 27- Citizen Kane 26- Star Wars: Episode Four: A New Hope 25- Dusk 'Til Dawn 24- 12 Monkeys 23- Toy Story 2 22- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 21- The Sixth Sense 20- Natural Born Killers 19- Scream 18- Better Off Dead 17- Gladiator 16- Stalag 17 15- Fast Times at Ridgemont High 14- Superman 13- Fargo 12- Rocky 11- Leon: The Professional 10- Jaws 9- Boogie Nights 8- Casablanca 7- Godfather 6- Die Hard 5- Rear Window 4- Raiders of the Lost Ark 3- Pulp Fiction 2- King Kong (1933) 1- Star Wars: Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back OK... there is the list NOW lets talk about it 25 at a time. I hope you noticed that the Star Wars films are spread throughout the list so I will have one SW film in each 25 (thus allowing me to actually be on topic each week... I mean this is a Star Wars based page) 100- Star Wars: Episode One: The Phantom Menace - Well, most of us agree that this is the worst of the Star Wars films. But anything that starts with A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY... will always be in my top 100. And bad Star Wars is still better than most other films. And that's the bottom line cuz the MIGHTY NIMROD SAID SO! 99- The Last Boy Scout - One of Tony Scott's earlier films, and it rocks! Bruce Willis is a burned out detective, Damon Wayans is an ex-jock and Halle Berry is a stripper (with very FEW lines, thank god). It all leads to Willis’ trademark, two-fisted gunfire that entertains me EVERYTIME. Plus there is a scene where a football player kills a few guys on the field during Monday Night Football. A good solid effort in this genre. 98- Shaft (1970) - This is as gritty as it gets... YA DAMN RIGHT! 97- King Creole - A young Elvis and an evil Walter Matthau in a New Orleans setting. This is a great film, low on singing and HUGE on attitude. 96- Batman Forever - Indeed Mr. Schumacher DESTROYED the sacred Batman franchise with the unwatchable Batman & Robin, but it is this Nimrods opinion that Forever is the second best of the Batman films. I like the look and style of it, and while Val Kilmer is the worst Bruce Wayne, he is a damn good Batman. Plus Jim Carrey is the perfect Riddler. Of course I would have preferred Billy Dee to reprise the role of Harvey Dent, but Tommy Lee Jones does a great job as ol’ Two Face. You might ask me why this is on the list on not Tim Burtons Batman Returns. Well, Batman Returns suffers from a bloated plot with way too much going on. It is good, but Batman Forever is better. 95- Bonnie and Clyde - This 1967 gem is Arthur Penn at his best. Anyone who can direct Warren Beatty into a likable crook is a great director. This is a classic film about legendary outlaws. Plus it has Gene Wilder in a breakthrough performance. 94- Lolita - When Kubrick is good he is GREAT and in this film he is GREAT! This is a film that was WAY ahead of its time as in 1962 it was very much taboo to make a film that deals with having sex with an underage girl. James Mason is always great, add to that Shelly Winters (looking really good... if you can believe that) and Peter Sellers and this is an epic and groundbreaking COOL movie. Plus, the bathing suit scene is very much an example of hard-on producing filmmaking (outside of the porn genre). 93- Titanic - AHHH, now here is where I expect a little hate mail to begin BUT before you start typing away let me say that the first time I saw this I was blown away, the second time I was blown away again. The theater was a buzz on opening weekend (before it became the juggernaut it is) and the love story was awesome, the effects groundbreaking and I personally like Leo as an actor. A cool flick. Don’t hold its popularity against it... This is a master storyteller telling a cool as hell story. 92- Friday the 13th - Low budget filmmaking at its BEST! Way back in 1980 it help start an entire genre and it has Kevin Bacon getting killed right after having sex. KEWL! 91- X-Men- It would hard to imagine that a better film could have been made about these mutants. Despite Halle Berry doing a terrible job as Storm, the film still delivers. Lets hope the sequel does not drop the ball. 90- They Call Me Trinity - This 1972 spaghetti western is as cool as cool gets (although its sequel is a little bit cooler). It stars Terence Hill and Bud Spencer as a pair of brothers who have a serious love/hate relationship. If you have never seen these guys in action, go rent one of these movies. Hollywood tried to turn Hill into a star by having him reprise his role in the Henry Fonda film They Call Me Nobody, and while there are some great moments in that film, Hill is at his best when working with Spencer These guys are funny as hell and tuff as nails. 89- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - The darkest of the Jones films and the weakest of the Jones plots... but like SW, weak Indiana Jones is still better than most films. Lets all hold hands and pray for a fourth film. 88- Blade- OHMYGOD, when I saw this film the first time in the theater I left like a giddy schoolboy. Blood and vampires in a FANTASTIC comic adaptation. I am looking forward to the sequel. I love the direction and editing in what I consider one of the best comics-turned-movies of all time. 87- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - This story of a twisted couple and the young people they seduce and lie to is a great and gripping film. Burton is always a fine actor and Liz Taylor is a sexy lady who can act her ass off in this sick movie about the lack of love in a marriage. 86- Time Bandits - A cast full of midgets... what else needs to be said. 85- Rock-n-Roll High School - I love punk rock. I love the Ramones. I love P. J. Soles. I love this movie. 84- O’ Brother Where Art Tho? - This is a beautiful film, the colors in each frame jump out at you. The Coen Brothers are fine filmmakers and I am in a minority when I site this flick as one of their best BUT I gotta be me. The music is seducing, the acting is brilliant and it’s the Odyssey by Homer set in the depression. It is just plain COOL! 83- Predator - Ahh-nold, Jesse the Body before he was a politician and violent aliens. Me likey likey. However, its sequel did not live up to the greatness of this shooter. But then again, they rarely do. 82- Harvey - On the outside the film is a light hearted comedy but when looking at it closely it is very clearly a serious social commentary of it's time, and indeed of the present time (for the same prejudices still exist today). Jimmy Stewert is a superb actor in EVERYTHING he has done and this film is no exception. If you have never seen it let me say that it involves a 6-foot tall invisible rabbit, if that ain’t enuff to get you running to the video store... nothing will. 81- M - In modern times it is still controversial to make a film about a child molester, but in 1931 it was unheard of. Nobody told that to Fritz Lang when he made M. The movie is disturbing and engrossing and takes a turn for the cool when the street people evoke their vigilante justice on the molester (played to perfection by Peter Lorre)... WAYYYY ahead of its time and WAAYYYY cool. 80- The Lavender Hill Gang- In 1951 our very own Obi Wan Kenobi was simply an actor named Alec Guiness, and this movie about a heist gone wrong is an example of how much he could do as an actor. (Of course there is that little film about the bridge over that river and the war... but that one did not make my list). I would wager many of you have not seen this, and you should, SO GO RENT IT NOW!!! 79- Big Trouble in Little China - I have a soft spot for John Carpenter and Kurt Russell and while the "Escape From" movies did not rank on my list and the Thing also did not make it, this adventure does and it delivers every time. It is the Matrix before the Matrix, only funny. Another runner up for this slot was the classic They Live... a sci-fi flick starring Rowdy Roddy Piper, so be glad Big Trouble made the list instead. 78- Pee Wees Big Adventure - Tim Burtons first feature and Pee Wee at his bike searching best. Burtons world is a wacky one and I know we all wish we could live in it for a while. This man showed his potential behind the camera in his very first film and he gets better all the time. 77- The Warriors- A few years before Walter Hill did 48 Hours (the Nolte/Murphy classic) he directed this film about New York gangs. I remember watching this on cable several times as a kid and I really wanted to be one of the Baseball Furies. Set amongst a hostile, nocturnal world of neon lit train stations, baseball bat wielding gang members and lethal women "The Warriors" moves along at a frantic pace. It really had an impact on me and it remains very, very COOL. 76- Lethal Weapon - one of my favorite x-mas movies. We have all seen it and the formula is not that original, but it was still somewhat fresh in 1987 when Richard Donner directed the very cool Mel Gibson and the not yet a superstar Danny Glover in what would become a huge franchise. Set at the x-mas season in LA, this flick rock and rolls over every psycho cop cliché in the book. A great film that moves at a fast pace with lots of gun fire. I like it... I like it A LOT! Donner really directs his ass off in the climax of the film where Gary Busey and Mel duke it out on Glovers lawn. A masterpiece of pugilism. WHEW!! Did you actually read all this shit? WOW... I am impressed. The Nimrod wishes you and yours a happy holiday and look for the next 25 films next week... and as usual, feel free to email me your comments. I am sick of typing so I will C YA Nimrod