Top 100 Movie Hit-Men/Women
For them, it's not just a job - it's a way of life...

1. Jef Costello (Alain Delon) - Le Samouraï (67)

2. Mr. Blonde/Vic Vega (Michael Madsen) - Reservoir Dogs (92)

3. Grossman (Dan Aykroyd) - Grosse Pointe Blank (97)

4. Leon (Jean Reno) - Léon (94)

5. Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) - Pulp Fiction (94)

6. Ah Jong (Chow Yun-Fat) - The Killer (89)

7. Philip Raven (Alan Ladd) - This Gun for Hire (42)

8. Nikita (Anne Parillaud) - La Femme Nikita (90)

9. Charlie Strom (Lee Marvin) - The Killers (64)

10. Walker (Lee Marvin) - Point Blank (67)

11. Nick Devlin (Lee Marvin) - Prime cut (72)

12. Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) - The Mechanic (72)

13. Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) - Goodfellas (90)

14. Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) - Casino (95)

15. Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) - Kiss of Death (47)

16. Martin Q. Blank (John Cusack) - Grosse Pointe Blank (97)

17. Michael 'Mike' Sullivan (Tom Hanks) - Road to Perdition (02)

18. Mr. White/Larry Dimmick (Harvey Keitel) - Reservoir Dogs (92)

19. Vincent Vega (John Travolta) - Pulp Fiction (94)

20. Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) - Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (99)

21. Mister Shhh (Steve Buscemi) - Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (95)

22. Jack Carter (Michael Caine) - Get Carter (71)

23. William 'Bill' Munny (Clint Eastwood) - Unforgiven (92)

24. Dr. Jonathan Hemlock (Clint Eastwood) - The Eiger Sanction (75)

25. Burke (John Lithgow) - Blow Out (81)

26. Frank Nitti (Billy Drago) - The Untouchables (87)

27. Robert E. Lee Clayton (Marlon Brando) - The Missouri Breaks (76)

28. Big Chris (Vinnie Jones) - Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (98)

29. Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) - Snatch (00)

30. El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) - Desperado (95), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (03)

31. Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner) - Prizzi's Honor (85)

32. T-1000 (Robert Patrick) - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (91)

33. Chunjin (Henry Silva) - The Manchurian Candidate (62)

34. The Jackal (Edward Fox) - The Day of the Jackal (73)

35. Vincent (Tom Cruise) - Collateral (04)

36. Lyle from Dallas (Dennis Hopper) - Red Rock West (92)

37. Alex (William H. Macy) - Panic (00)

38. Mr. Igoe (Vernon Wells) - Innerspace (87)

39. John J. Anderson (Robert Duvall) - Assassination Tango (02)

40. The Bride/Beatrix Kiddo/Black Mamba (Uma Thurman) - Kill Bill (04)

41. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) - The Bourne Identity (02), The Bourne Supremacy (04)

42. Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) - Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (80), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (83), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (05)

43. Bill AKA Snake Charmer (David Carradine) - Kill Bill (04)

44. Calo (Franco Citti) - The Godfather (72), The Godfather: Part III (90)

45. Busetta/Michael's bodyguard (Amerigo Tot) - The Godfather: Part II (74)

46. Samantha Caine/Charly Baltimore (Geena Davis) - The Long Kiss Goodnight (96)

47. Agent Sever (Lucy Liu) - Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (02)

48. Virgil (James Gandolfini) - True Romance (93)

49. Winston Baldry (James Gandolfini) - The Mexican (01)

50. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) - Underworld (03)

51. Lee Woods (James Spader) - 2 Days in the Valley (96)

52. The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) - The Terminator (84)

53. Braddock (John Hurt) - The Hit (84)

54. Porter (Mel Gibson) - Payback (99)

55. Joshua Shapira (Tim Roth) - Little Odessa (94)

56. Harry Crown (Richard Harris) - 99 and 44/100% Dead (74)

57. Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed) - The Assassination Bureau (69)

58. Gerald Cross (Burt Lancaster) - Scorpio (73)

59. Joe Diamond (Eli Wallach) - Winter Kills (79)

60. Bennie (Warren Oates) - Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (74)

61. Joubert (Max von Sydow) - Three Days of the Condor (75)

62. The Nordic Man (Tobin Bell) - The Firm (93)

63. Whitey Jackson/The Albino (William Frankfather) - Foul Play (78)

64. Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) - Fargo (96)

65. Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) - Fargo (96)

66. Harlan James (William Hurt) - I Love You to Death (90)
67. Marlon James (Keanu Reeves) - I Love You to Death (90)

68. Jack Napier/The Joker (Jack Nicholson) - Batman (89)

69. Mark Gor (Chow Yun-Fat) - A Better Tomorrow (86)

70. Ken Gor (Chow Yun-Fat) - A Better Tomorror II (87)

71. Tex Panthollow (James Coburn) - Charade (63)
72. Herman Scobie (George Kennedy) - Charade (63)
73. Leopold W. Gideon (Ned Glass) - Charade (63)

74. Wilson (Terence Stamp) - The Limey (99)

75. Danny Vermin (Joe Piscopo) - Johnny Dangerously (84)

76. Mickey Holliday (Jeff Goldblum) - Mad Dog Time (96)

77. Martin Fallon (Mickey Rourke) - A Prayer for the Dying (87)

78. Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman) - Miller's Crossing (90)

79. Man at Lake (David Cronenberg) - To Die For (95)

80. Milan (Johnny Hallyday) - The Man on the Train (02)

81. Milo (Dennis Hopper) - Backtrack (90)

82. Cheech (Chazz Palminteri) - Bullets Over Broadway (94)

83. Jack Nance (John Diehl) - The Client (94)

84. Owney Madden (Bob Hoskins) - The Cotton Club (84)
85. Frenchy Demange (Fred Gwynne) - The Cotton Club (84)

86. First Irishman (Pierce Brosnan) - The Long Good Friday (80)

87. Flattop (William Forsythe) - Dick Tracy (90)

88. Jackie Flannery (Gary Oldman) - State of Grace (90)

89. Joe 'Mental' Mentaliano (Mike Starr) - Dumb & Dumber (94)

90. Karl Ruprect Kroenen (Ladislav Beran) - Hellboy (04)

91. George Hansen (Robert Duvall) - The Killer Elite (75)
92. Mike Locken (James Caan) - The Killer Elite (75)

93. Victor Nettoyeur/The Cleaner (Jean Reno) - La Femme Nikita (90)

94. Mosca (Mario Donatone) - The Godfather: Part III (90)

95. Leonard Smalls (Randall 'Tex' Cobb) - Raising Arizona (87)

96. Cleve (James Woods) - Best Seller (87)

97. Vince Stone (Lee Marvin) - The Big Heat (53)


special mention:

98. Mona Demarkov (Lena Olin) - Romeo Is Bleeding (93)

Director Peter Medak also made one of my favorite films, the little-seen but brilliant, The Ruling Class (72) which earned actor Peter O'Toole a nomination for Best Actor. Medak often specializes in off-beat action-driven character studies. Not only does Romeo Is Bleeding fit that description, but it is also an entertaining send-up up of film noir and 40's and 50's detective stories. The film recieved mixed critical reception when released and has since floated into obscurity, which is unfortunate, because it contains two of the most intense perfromances I have ever seen put on film. Gary Oldman is so good in this film that he doesn't even seem like he's acting. He lives nearly every part I've seen him play, and his character Jack Grimaldi's damage is so real, it's alternately touching and painful to watch. Then there's Mona. As Russian mafia hit-woman, Mona Demarkov, Lena Olin supplied the cinema with it's most notorious female assassin. Period. You may have to clear the steam off your television monitor when she appears as the sultry S&M afflicted femme fatale. It's seriously like watching Marlene Dietrich crossed with a dominatrix. This is the only woman who has ever made piano-wire sexy. Next to The Unbearable Lightness of Being (88), this is the one she'll always be remembered for. I wont say more, except give this one a second chance (if you were once a detractor) because it really is one hell of a ride. And who can forget Oldman and Olin's car-ride from hell?

99. Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant) - The Conformist (70)

One of director Bernardo Bertolucci's undisputed masterpieces, this film is essentially an ode to sin, sex and silencers. Trintignant's Clerici isn't your typical Hollywood hit-man, but he is a guy who's got a job to do. He's so good in this film at under-playing (as he is in so many) that he sometimes barely registers - but there is a heartbeat in his central performance that runs just underneath the surface of this ravishingly-shot film that has always haunted me. There is a line from a Morrissey song (Sister I'm a Poet) that has always reminded me of this film: "I love the romance of crime." This film is fierce and fearless. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography here is more than just simply beautiful - it is almost life-affirming. I wont give it away if you haven't seen it, but there is a scene in the "restored" version of this film that involves a party full of blind people, that is more than just symbolic of the central character's emotional conflict - and the classic scene in the snow-covered forest, and then there's the part where...oh well, you get the point. The Conformist has yet to appear on DVD in region 1. Someone should be shot for this - somebody call Clerici...

100. Sanjuro Kuwabatake (Toshirô Mifune) - Yojimbo (61)

Not only has this film inspired almost every "mercenary film" from Sergio Leone's classic A Fist Full of Dollars (64) to Walter Hill's under-rated Last Man Standing (96), but it was actually based on a Dashiell Hammett novel called "Red Harvest". Watching Mifune in this film is indescribable. He is crafty, sly, dangerous and not the least bit likeable in this, one of his seminal roles for Akira Kurosawa. The Master Director was always an expert at taking the themes and characterizations from the films he loved and respected, and re-formulating them into bold new master-works. There would be no Kurosawa without John Ford and Frank Capra (his two favorite directors), and likewise - there would be no contemporary cinema as we know it today without Kurosawa. The perfection of the theme of violence as visual poetry is one of the greatest gifts he has ever given the cinema. Not to mention the playful nature and spiritual depth that emerge from nearly all of his major works. Yojimbo is no exception, and it's companion film, Sanjuro (62) (while not the first) may even be better.


Ford begat Kurosawa - who begat Leone - who begat Peckinpah...

Grossman (Dan Aykroyd): [singing] "I'll be comin' around the mountain when I come / I'll be comin' around the mountain when I come / I'll be blowin' your fuckin' head off / I'll be blowin' your fuckin' head off / I'll be whackin' your fuckin' mind out when I come." - Grosse Pointe Blank (97)

The Music Women

This list is not meant to incorporate every "musical" female performance that's ever been nominated or won an Academy Award for Best Actress - it is simply to illustrate the few times that actresses have been singled-out for playing either "real-life" musical personalities, or fictitious music performers in film. Sometimes the part may be more "theatre" than "music" oriented - but it's all relative.

In my estimation - the only three women to have ever won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing "Real life" or fictitious music personalities are:

Barbra Steisand (Fanny Brice) - Funny Girl (68)
- award shared with Katharine Hepburn for, The Lion In Winter

Sissy Spacek (Loretta Webb/Lynn) - Coal Miner's Daughter (80)

Holly Hunter (character Ada McGrath) - The Piano (93)

The rest of the nominees were:

Janet Gaynor (character Esther Victoria Blodgett/Vicki Lester) - A Star is Born (37)

Anne Baxter (character Eve Harrington) - All About Eve (50)

Bette Davis (character Margo Channing) - All About Eve (50)

Gloria Swanson (character Norma Desmond) - Sunset Boulevard (50)

Dorothy Dandridge (character Carmen Jones) - Carmen Jones (54)

Judy Garland (character Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester) - A Star is Born (54)

Eleanor Parker (Marjorie Lawrence) - Interrupted Melody (55)

Venessa Redgrave (dancer Isadora Duncan) - Isadora (68)

Anne Bancroft (character Emma Jacklin) - The Turning Point (77)

Shirley MacLaine (character Deedee Rodgers) - The Turning Point (77)

Ingrid Bergman (character Charlotte) - Autumn Sonata (78)

Bette Midler (character Mary Rose Foster) - The Rose (79)

Julie Andrews (character Victoria Grant/Count Victor Grezhinski) - Victor/Victoria (82)
- also nominated twice before for "musical" performances

Jessica Lange (Patsy Cline) - Sweet Dreams (85)

Michelle Pfeiffer (character Susie Diamond) - The Fabulous Baker Boys (89)

Bette Midler (character Dixie Leonard) - For the Boys (91)

Angela Bassett (Tina Turner) - What's Love Got to Do with It (93)

Emily Watson (Jacqueline du Pré) - Hilary and Jackie (98)

Meryl Streep (Roberta Guaspari) - Music of the Heart (99)

Nicole Kidman (character Satine) - Moulin Rouge! (01)

Renee Zellweger (Roxie Hart) - Chicago (02)

So, will Annette Bening win this year for Being Julia? (see my previous post under archives for this review) She gives a very All About Eve-like performance in it. It may be the only "musical" related performance to get a nomination this year. This has always been a very politically-minded Oscar category (as they all seem to be) so anything is possible. Bening did not win for American Beauty (99) or The Grifters (90), and she deserved nominations for Bugsy (91), The American President (95) and Open Range (03) - so this may just be the pay-back year for her...

slacker

George McFly: "Lorraine, my density has popped me to you."
Lorraine Baines: "What?"
George McFly: "Oh, what I meant to say was..."
Lorraine Baines: "Wait a minute, don't I know you from somewhere?"
George McFly: "Yes. Yes. I'm George, George McFly. I'm your density. I mean... your destiny."

Before he played Andy Warhol (in a brief yet unforgettable cameo) in The Doors (91), Willard Stiles in the (unnecessary) Willard remake (03) and the Thin Man in the (unfortunate) Charlie's Angels films, he was George McFly. Who can forget Crispin Glover as the oily-haired peeping tom that would eventually become the father of Michael J. Fox in not only one - but two bizarre (yet strangely believable) scenarios? He should have gotten an Academy Award nomination for Supporting Actor for Back to the Future (85). Instead, he got cult icon status as one of the most lovable and pathetic nerds to ever grace the silver screen. And how about that punch he finally takes Biff out with? Classic.

Also, there is another under-rated and little seen Glover film that ranks up there with one of the most skilled and haunting performances of all time: Tim Hunters' River's Edge (86). Glover played, Layne, a "slacker" of a different sort. He gives a tour-de-force performance that will either annoy the hell out of you, or wake you up in the middle of the night wondering if you locked the front door. Either way, thanks to him (and a truly talented cast) this is a "lost classic." It also starred two other guys, Dennis Hopper (under-rated yet again) and Keanu-something-or-other...

George McFly: "Last night, Darth Vader came down from planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn't take Lorraine out that he'd melt my brain."

funeral for a friend

A little English crime film slipped out last year that many people may have missed. It was called, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (03). It was directed by Mike Hodges, director of the original English crime film, Get Carter (71) starring Michael Caine. He also directed another little-seen near masterpiece called, Croupier (98) with a then unknown actor named, Clive Owen. Owen is the star of I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. He gives an extraordinary performance in the film. Come to think of it, everyone in the film gave an extraordinary performance. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, in a small yet crucial role, proved he can carry a film all by himself if necessary.

Jamie Foreman is a name that if you don't know by now - you should. He gets one of the best scenes in the movie as he laments over the death of his dear friend. He was in another under-rated and little seen English crime film called, Gangster No. 1 (00) directed by Paul McGuigan. The film starred then up-and-comer Paul Bettany (who would later star in McGuigan's Middle Ages detective story, The Reckoning, 03) and Malcolm McDowell - in one the best performances of his long career. McDowell again proves he's still got it, in another small yet unforgettable role in Hodge's film. To be quite honest with you, he was the main reason I sought it out. Unfortunately, he doesn't get as much screen time in this film as he did in Gangster No. 1, but what he did do was book-end the film with a truly menacing and vile appearance. The film also co-starred the still luminous after all these years, Charlotte Rampling.


All of these heavyweight performers however could not even hold a torch to Clive Owen. I will also admit that I am not the biggest Owen fan on the planet. However, his performance in this film is more than noteworthy - it's quite frankly the best thing he's ever done. Incidentally, it should be noted that his character in this film is named, Will Graham - this was also the name of the main character in the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon (and Michael Mann film, Manhunter 86 - as played by William L. Petersen). I saw Croupier a few year ago and enjoyed it. I also found it to be a tad too dark for it's own good. This should have been no great surprise coming from the man who gave us Get Carter. I believe that I'll Sleep When I'm Dead succeeds where Croupier failed. Croupier is a small, risky film, almost as if it had something to prove. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead on the other hand, is a grown-up film, with excellent direction, incredible photography, an amazing script and all those phenominal performances.

There isn't much to criticize - except the ending. I wouldn't dream of spoiling it for you, but I will say that it comes unexpectedly and makes much more sense after you've walked away from it. Hodges wasn't making an entertainment here - he was making a personal statement. He is an incredibly gifted director, and one of only a handful of old-school film-makers I can think of who have never truly gotten the recognition they so deserve. If you're already a Clive Owen fan, than this is a no-brainer. Pick it up. For everyone else - just know that it's a gritty, uncompromising, excellently produced film - something that doesn't come along every day. It may be best to go into it not knowing the plot. I don't say this too often - but it will reap unexpected responses from most viewers this way. Don't expect too much - except to watch a remarkable English crime film, with some twists and turns that no one has ever made before. Cheerio...

Director Mike Hodges - brawler

Top 50 personal picks (American/UK films):

1. Ghostbusters (84)

2. The Lion In Winter (68)

3. Bad Day At Black Rock (55)

4. My Favorite Year (82)

5. The Magnificent Seven (60)

6. Coming Home (78)

7. Vertigo (58)

8. Unforgiven (92)

9. Whose Life Is It Anyway? (81)

10. The Searchers (56)

11. Being There (79)

12. The Untouchables (87)

13. Hell in the Pacific (68)

14. The Pawnbroker (64)

15. The Man Who Would Be King (75)

16. Chimes At Midnight (65)

17. Robin and Marian (76)

18. Star Wars (77)

19. The Innocents (61)

20. Rushmore (98)

21. The Color of Money (86)

22. 2010: The Year We Make Contact (84)

23. Defending Your Life (91)

24. Real Genius (85)

25. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (77)

26. Melvin and Howard (80)

27. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (48)

28. Funny Bones (95)

29. Breaking Away (79)

30. Tempest (82)

31. Fandango (85)

32. The Verdict (82)

33. Once Upon a Time in the West (68)

34. The Grey Fox (82)

35. Tom Horn (80)

36. Blade Runner (82)

37. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (86)

38. Ordinary People (80)

39. Jesus of Nazareth (77)

40. Save the Tiger (73)

41. Papillon (73)

42. The Big Lebowski (98)

43. Ishtar (87)

44. Lonely Are the Brave (62)

45. The Elephant Man (80)

46. Stalag 17 (53)

47. Glengarry Glen Ross (92)

48. Roxanne (87)

49. The Naked Spur (53)

50. 3:10 to Yuma (57)

Life is a state of mind...

Peter Sellers (1925 - 1980) will always be one of the greatest actors that ever lived. He was also a complete stranger to just about everyone he ever knew, loved or hated - including himself. He made quite a few enemies in the industry and left behind him a body of work that most actors could only dream of. There is a new HBO film about his life and death, aptly titled: The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (04). It is directed by Stephen Hopkins (The Ghost and the Darkness, 96) and stars Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush as Sellers, in what appears to be the performance of a lifetime. I say this not because he looks and acts identically to the late great Sellers (which he does beautifully) but because the material is so real, and so unfiltered - that it may be hard for some people to watch.

Sellers had quite a temper - and it's one of the main attractions of the film. It is based on the book of the same name by Roger Lewis. I just re-read it again after some years, and I can honestly say that it was as genuinely creepy as the real life Sellers was reported to have been. The very structure of the book is odd, flipping back and forth in time and from multiple perspectives - just like the new film. Sellers was a man who was never truly comfortable in his own skin. It was written in the book that even his closest friends and family were never really sure what his real voice sounded like. There are parts in the new film where Rush plays Sellers as some of his actual co-stars in the film, such as his mother played by the phenominal Miriam Margolyes. Rush dons a wig and dress identical to hers in several scenes, playing along side her (or rather in place of her). Sound confusing? Welcome to the wonderful, horrible world of Peter Sellers.

The new cable film (which is destined to pick up every major award it falls under) also stars Academy Award winner Charlize Theron as Britt Ekland and Emily Watson as Anne Sellers (who each play one of his 4 spouses), John Lithgow as Blake Edwards (director of the Pink Panther films among others), Peter Vaughan as Bill Sellers, Sonia Aquino as Sophia Loren, Stanley Tucci as Stanley Kubrick (you must suspend your disbelief for this one), Stephen Fry as Maurice Woodruff and Edward Tudor-Pole as Spike Milligan among many other great actors and actresses. The role that eventually went to Rush was originally going to be played by Gary Oldman. I think it would have been interesting for both actors to have played Sellers in the same film.

Sellers, who suffered from heart disease for most of his adult life, was never knighted - but he did recieve the prestigeous CBE in 1966. He had a life-long obsession with cameras and photography. He was also the first actor to be nominated for a single Academy award (Best Actor) for a film in which he potrayed 3 different characters in the same film - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (64) for Stanley Kubrick. Next to Hal Ashby's immortal Being There (79), I consider this his greatest achievement on film. Sellers was the first male to appear on the cover of Playboy Magazine in April 1964 and he was also a vegetarian. He once said: "If you ask me to play myself, I will not know what to do. I do not know who or what I am." He was not kidding, as so many people thought he was most of the time.

I have always been a follower of Peter Sellers, even as a child. I was angered when I heard they were re-making The Pink Panther (and starring Steve Martin as Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau no less) as well as upset by the prospect of a bio-drama about him. No one, I repeat no one, could ever play Peter Sellers, partly because he was literally a hundred different people all at once - at any given time. I can tell you this - from what I have seen, Rush is the closest thing we will ever get to seeing Sellers alive (in flesh and blood) on screen ever again - even if it's not on the "big screen." Sellers would have got a kick out of watching his life story...after he was through suing everyone involved with it, right down to the craft services people.

Immortal Sellers

The Ladykillers (55) *****
The Mouse That Roared (59) ****
I'm All Right Jack (59, his only B.A.F.T.A. for Best Actor) *****
The Millionairess (60) ****
Lolita (62) ****1/2
Waltz of the Toreadors (62) ****
The Pink Panther (63) ****1/2
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (64) *****
The World of Henry Orient (64) ****1/2
A Shot in the Dark (64) *****
What's New, Pussycat (65) ****1/2
The Wrong Box (66) ****
Casino Royale (67) ****
The Party (68) ****1/2
The Magic Christian (69) ****
Hoffman (70) ****
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (72)
The Return of the Pink Panther (75) ****
Murder by Death (76) *****
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (76) ****
Revenge of the Pink Panther (78) ****
Being There (79) *****
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (80)

"There used to be a me behind the mask, but I had it surgically removed."
- Peter Sellers

Top 30 Musicals: a personal list

Whether you prefer the "classic" musical film or the modern incarnation, Elvis movies or Disney staples, one thing is for sure: the Musical Film is now a lost art form. Once it was the dominating form of commercial entertainment throughout the world and kept the bills paid at many a Hollywood movie studio. Now, like the Western Film (the only true American art form) there isn't much place else for it to go. There will never be another Judy Garland, or Gene Kelly, or Fred Astaire, or Ginger Rogers, or Bob Fosse, or Busby Berkeley, or Vincente Minnelli, or Ann Miller, or Howard Keel - but we have their enduring legacies on film to remind us of a time when Hollywood Stars truly earned their keep.

1. West Side Story (61)

2. Sweet Charity (69)

3. All That Jazz (79)

4. Meet Me in St. Louis (44)

5. The Music Man (62)

6. On The Town (49)

7. Annie (82)

8. Fiddler on the Roof (71)

9. An American in Paris (51)

10. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (75)

11. Oklahoma! (55)

12. 1776 (72)

13. Singin' in the Rain (52)

14. Mary Poppins (64)

15. The Sound of Music (63)

16. Yankee Doodle Dandy (42)

17. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (64)

18. Top Hat (35)

19. Cabaret (72)

20. White Christmas (54)

21. Little Shop of Horrors (86)

22. A Star is Born (54)

23. A Hard Day's Night (64)

24. Bye Bye Birdie (63)

25. Grease (78)

26. Camelot (67)

27. Silk Stockings (57)

28. Going My Way (44)

29. The Blues Brothers (80)

30. Paint Your Wagon (69)


Extra Special Mention:

The Red Shoes (48)



Although it is technically not a "musical" - it is quite possibly the greatest film about the art of dancing, and it is the greatest ballet film ever made. It is also one of the most haunting films I have ever seen. Although it is not my favorite Powell and Pressburger (The Archers) film, I believe that it is their quintessential masterpiece. It has stayed with me forever.

The Jungle Book (67)

Not only is it my favorite all-time animated Disney film (just barely nudging out Robin Hood, 73 - both films were directed by Wolfgang Reitherman)- but it may just be the best animated musical film of all-time. The voice work in this one was never better: Phil Harris (Baloo), Sebastian Cabot (Bagheera), George Sanders (Shere Khan), Sterling Holloway (Kaa), Bruce Reitherman (Mowgli), Clint Howard (Junior), J. Pat O'Malley (Colonel Hathi/Buzzie ) Verna Felton (Winifred) and the immortal Louis Prima (King Louie). "The Bare Necessities" written by Terry Gilkyson is still one of my favorite songs. If you haven't watched it since you were 8, see it again - you wont believe how good it really is. A masterpiece. Absolutely timeless. Incidentally, In Hindi - Baloo means bear, and Bagheera means panther. This film was also the last performance for actress Verna Felton who died the day before Walt Disney himself died - it was the last film that he personally supervised.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (94)

You may not even consider this a "musical," but oh well - here it is. The famous thong (sandals) dress, which won the movie an Academy Award, cost only $7. Terence Stamp deserved an Academy Award for his performance as Ralph/Bernadette Bassenger. They didn't even nominate him. I still haven't forgiven the Academy for their gross negligence. Martin Landau won that year for Supporting Actor for Ed Wood (which was deserved, and is also one of my favorite film performances) but Stamp deserved at least the nomination.

Bernadette: "Why don't you just light your tampon, blow your box apart? Because it's the only bang you're ever gonna get, sweetheart."

Honorable Mention:

The Band Wagon (53), Swing Time (36), The King and I (56), Jailhouse Rock (57), Guys and Dolls (55), Tommy (75), Beauty and the Beast (91), Show Boat (36, 51), Funny Face (57), The Jazz Singer (27, 80), The Commitments (91), Easter Parade (48), Gold Diggers of 1933 (33), Kiss Me Kate (53), Head (68), My Fair Lady (64), Gigi (58), Holiday Inn (42), Phantom of the Paradise (74), The Pajama Game (57), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (53), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (54), Love Me or Leave Me (55), Funny Girl (68), Purple Rain (84), Roman Scandals (33), 42nd Street (33), Cover Girl (44), Royal Wedding (51), Stormy Weather (43), The Jolson Story (46), Ziegfeld Follies (46), Fame (80), The Gay Divorcee (34), You Were Never Lovelier (42), Footlight Parade (33), Follow the Fleet (36), The Harvey Girls (45), High Society (56), State Fair (45), Quadrophenia (79), Viva Las Vegas (64), Blue Skies (46), Hair (79), The Great Ziegfeld (36), Footloose (84), The Wall (82), Summer Stock (50), Girl Crazy (43), Bells are Ringing (60), A Damsel in Distress (37), There's No Business Like Show Business (54), New York, New York (77), Going Hollywood (33), Springtime in the Rockies (42), Maytime (37), Yellow Submarine (68), King of Jazz (30), Damn Yankees! (58), Brigadoon (54), Les Girls (57), The Young Girls of Rochefort (67), Take Me Out to the Ball Game (49), Anchor's Aweigh (45), Carousel (56), South Pacific (58), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (67), A Chorus Line (85), Funny Lady (75), Hello, Dolly! (69), The Wizard of Oz (39), The Rose (79), Broadway Melody of 1940 (40), The Barkleys of Broadway (49), Robin Hood (73), Pennies From Heaven (81), You'll Never Get Rich (41), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (64), Doctor Dolittle (67), Oliver! (68), The Wiz (78), Young at Heart (55), Moulin Rouge (01), For Me and My Gal (42), Till the Clouds Roll By (46), In the Good Old Summertime (49), Annie Get Your Gun (50), Calamity Jane (53), The Slipper and the Rose (76), Godspell 973), Carmen Jones (54), Star! (68), Thouroughly Modern Millie (67), Victor/Victoria (82), Good News (47), Call Me Madam (53), Half a Sixpence (68), Roxie Hart (42), Pal Joey (57), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (82), The Lion King (94), Aladdin (92), The Little Mermaid (89), Evita (96), Yentl (83), Chicago (02), The Return of Captain Invincible (83), Hit the Deck (55)...

Judy Garland in Summer Stock (50), and Fred Astaire in Royal Wedding (51)

The Music Men

In my estimation, only three actors have ever won Academy Awards in the Best Actor category for playing real-life, musicians or music personalities. They are:

James Cagney (George M. Cohan) - Yankee Doodle Dandy (42)

F. Murray Abraham (Antonio Salieri) - Amadeus (84)

Geoffrey Rush (David Helfgott) - Shine (96)

There has only been a handful of performers over the years who have even been nominated in the Best Actor category for these types of performances. They are:

Fredric March (character Norman Maine) - A Star is Born (37)

Cornel Wilde (Frederic Chopin) - A Song to Remember (45)

Larry Parks (Al Jolson) - The Jolson Story (46)

James Mason (character Norman Maine) - A Star is Born (54)

Bing Crosby (character Frank Elgin) - The Country Girl (54)

Laurence Olivier (character Archie Rice) - The Entertainer (60)

Gary Busey (Buddy Holly) - The Buddy Holly Story (78)

Roy Scheider (character Joe Gideon/Bob Fosse) - All That Jazz (79)

Tom Hulce (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) - Amadeus (84)

Dexter Gordon (character Dale Turner/Himself) - 'Round Midnight (86)

Laurence Fishburne (Ike Turner, Sr.) - What's Love Got to Do with It (93)

Richard Dreyfuss (character Glenn Holland) - Mr. Holland's Opus (95)

Will this be Jaime Foxx's year? He plays Ray Charles in the film Ray, in a vibrant and rigorous imitation. This is a compliment to his talent and ingenuity as an actor. Ben Kingsley as Ghandi (82) comes to mind as another example of an Academy Award winning performance based on physical imitation and sheer acting bravado (Jeremy Irons as Claus Von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune, 90, is another). It helps him that the three main music winners listed above have all won in even numbered years, but the competition this year is going to be stiff. Javier Bardem (The Sea Inside) , Bill Murray (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and possibly even Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) have all thrown their hat into the ring. We'll have a better indication once the nominations are handed out. To be quite honest, my intuition tells me that Bardem really deserves it (especially since he was passed over for Before Night Falls, 00) but Foxx will more than likely get it (deservedly so). Murray is also a strong contender, but given his "bad" behavior at last year's ceremony (sore loser anyone?) it's hard to tell. Carrey is also unpredictable - they may finally give it to him so he'll shut up once and for all about not being nominated for The Truman Show (98) and Man on the Moon (99). Any way you cut it - Oscar is often times too fickle to predict, so anything goes...


By the size of these images, can you guess who I'm secretly rooting for?

Unforgiven


Takeshi Kitano (also known by his acting name, "Beat" Takeshi) may have never made Zatoichi (his 11th film as director) if it hadn't been for Takashi Miiki. Fellow director, Miike (Dead or Alive series, Ichi the Killer, 01), wanted to make the film himself with Kitano in the lead role of the famous blind swordsman. The real genesis of the project however, would have to be Chieko Saitô, known simply as "Mama". Saito, was the true benefactor of the original Zatoichi film series. She gave the original Zatoichi star, the immortal Shintaro Katsu, his first big break (she supported the gambling and drug addicted Katsu for almost his entire life) and she was the one who finally convinced Kitano to make the film. He had every reason to be weary of the project. While almost unknown in the West (until the recent releases of the original film series on video and DVD), the 26 Zatoichi films and the hundred odd episodes of the Japanese TV series all featured Shintaro Katsu in the lead role (between 1962 and 1989).

Zatoici is synonymous with Shintaro Katsu. Saito, whose company owned the rights to the character, turned down Miike when he was adamant that Zatoichi be killed at the end (his story was called "The Last Zatoichi"). She then turned to the interested star, Kitano, who ironically she had known almost all of his life, as her club was the place that the young comedian, Kitano, got his big break-through at back in 1973. The romaticized story (according to Kitano) goes like this: He and Saito were visiting Katsu's gravesite. It was raining and they both stood at his grave with umbrellas. As they stood there in the rain, Saito turned to Kitano and asked, if he wanted to make "Zatoichi". Kitano declined. She asked him again, and he declined again. After a while he asked her, "Do I understand this correctly when I say, that you wont stop bugging me until I say yes?", to which she said "Yes!".

Kitano accomplished the almost unimaginable - he turned the series upside down and produced not only a loving tribute to the spirit of the original films, but a revisionist masterpiece that propelled the entire franchise into the 21st century. He incorporates his own brand of highly stylized violent outbursts with moments of simplistic beauty and staggering intensity. His swordfights are some the best examples of the craft that I have ever seen on film. There is an almost comic-book nature to some of the fighting, and like all of Kitano's films - you simply have no idea what's about to come next. He is one of the greatest living film-makers of our generation. I am not speaking as a Kitano fan (which I happily am) but as a film-lover and someone who appreciates Japanese cinema. All of Kitano's films are great, but in my opinion - there are only three true masterpieces: Sonatine (93), Hana-bi (Fireworks, 97), and Zatoichi (03).

Miramax has finally released Zatoichi as a "double-feature" on DVD with the great Sonatine. Buy it. Ironically, Miike got to make a jidai-geki (or traditional Japanese costume film) with Kitano afterall. It's called: Izo and will be released in the very near future (it's already being called the most insane and outrageous samurai film of all-time). Almost all of Kitano's films (as actor and director) are available in region 1 on DVD. His film prior to making Zatoichi, Dolls (02) has yet to be realeased on DVD. He next stars in a film called, Blood and Bones for director, Yoichi Sai. He has not announced what his next project as director will be. One thing's for sure - Zatoichi will be a hard act to follow. In alot of ways, Kitano's Zatoichi reminds me of Clint Eastwood's masterpiece, Unforgiven (92). Both films are about breaking down stereotypes that define a genre - yet both are so fondly entwined in the mythology that they have become prime examples of it themselves. Few contemporary films have satisifed me the way Kitano's movies do. If you aren't sitting there by the end of Zatoichi with a smile on your face, then - well, you must be dead.


He named a film after his father (the playful Kikujiro, 99) and has admitted that the man spoke to him only three times. Kitano has also written over fifty books, including volumes of film criticism and novels. Favorite films starring Kitano that he did not direct: Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (83), Gohatto (aka: Taboo, 99) and Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale (01).

the films of Takeshi Kitano as director
(english titles)

Violent Cop (89) ****1/2
Boiling Point (90) ****
A Scene at the Sea (91) ****
Sonatine (93) *****
Getting Any? (95)
Kid's Return (96) ****
Fireworks (97) *****
Kikujiro (99) ****
Brother (00) ****
Dolls (02)
Zatoichi (03) *****

Kahn and Curry

Mrs. White: "Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage."

Mrs. White: "Yes, I did it. I killed Yvette. I hated her so...much...it...it...the...it...the...flames...flames...flames...on the side of my face...breathing...breathless...heaving breaths..."

Wadsworth: [shouting] "I'M NOT SHOUTING. ALL RIGHT, I AM. I'M SHOUTING, I'M SHOUTING, I'M SHOUT..."
[Candlestick falls from above and hits him on the head]

Wadsworth: "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn."

Clue (85) directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Lynn and John Landis
A brilliant comedy and one of the most under-rated films of the eighties. A pure delight on every level (including gothic horror) and this is still one of my all-time favorite films. What a cast: Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Colleen Camp, Lee Ving, Jane Wiedlin and Howard Hesseman (uncredited) as The Chief.

Clue trivia (from imdb):
Three endings were shot, and a random one shown at each theatre. All three are included on video and DVD. The painting behind Mr Boddy's (Lee Ving) chair depicts Mr Boddy in a butler's uniform. Prof. Plum indicates at dinner that he works for the World Health Organization, part of the United Nations Organization. This means he works for UNO WHO. There was actually a fourth ending scripted and shot, in which Wadsworth committed all the murders out of a twisted need for perfection in his life. He reveals that he poisoned everyone with a slow-acting toxin in their drinks. It ended with Wadsworth being killed by dogs as he attempted to escape by car from the house. The rather grim nature of the ending is probably why it was never released. It was never shown because the film makers thought the ending would have been too obvious - it only survives in the novelization and the storybook, which features but a single photo from that ending (the Chief punching Wadsworth in the stomach).

Mr. Green: "They all did it. But if you wanna know who killed Mr. Boddy, I did. In the hall. With the revolver. Alright, Chief, take'em away...I'm gonna go home and sleep with my wife."

London Calling

Sheila Broadbent: "No, darling, it's Jane. She's no good with men. She doesn't know any, and she doesn't want to know any."
Jimmy Broadbent: "Well, she's a wise girl."
Sheila Broadbent: "Oh, darling, it isn't funny. Now, you've got to talk to her."
Jimmy Broadbent: "Talk to her? Why should I?"
Sheila Broadbent: "Well, because you're a man, and you can tell her what the young men want."
Jimmy Broadbent: [leering undertone] "My dear!"
Sheila Broadbent: "Oh, don't be silly, darling, of course you can. I'm sure they don't change that much."
Jimmy Broadbent: "No, you bet they don't."

The Reluctant Debutante (58) directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring: Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall, John Saxon, Sandra Dee and Angela Lansbury. From imdb: "Jimmy and Sheila Broadbent (Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall), following an absence of many years, return to London to present their 17-year-old, American-born daughter, Jane (Sandra Dee), to society. Difficulties range from Jane's apathy to being placed on the marriage block; the determined efforts of Sheila's old friend Mabel Claremont (Angela Lansbury) to win wealthy David Fenner (Peter Myers) for her debutante daughter Clarissa (Diane Clare); and Jane's attraction to David Parkson (John Saxon), American drummer who plays in the orchestra at the coming-out balls."

Sophisticated comedy at it's best. Co-written by Julius J. Epstein (twin brother of partner Philip G. Epstein): The Man Who Came to Dinner (42), Yankee Doodle Dandy (42, uncredited), Casablanca (42), Arsenic and Old Lace (44), The Brothers Karamazov (58), Send Me No Flowers (64), Cross of Iron (77) and Reuben, Reuben (83). This was Kay Kendall's shining moment. She was married in real life to co-star Rex Harrison, and their on-screen chemistry is effervescent. The film was made one year before her death from myeloid leukemia and was to be her penultimate film. She was never better than she was right here, in this, many people's "favorite comedy." It was also the inspiration for the film, What a Girl Wants (03). Now, if only they would release it on DVD...

so I married an axe murderer

"If Florence Nightingale ever had the misfortune to take care of you, she would have forgotten about founding the Red Cross, would have quit nursing, and would have married Jack the Ripper." - Nurse Preen (Mary Wickes) to Sheridan "Sherry" Whiteside (Monty Woolley)

The Man Who Came to Dinner (42) directed by William Keighley, starring: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley, Richard Travis, Mary Wickes, Jimmy Durante and Billie Burke. From imdb: "Lecturer Sheridan Whiteside slips on the ice on his way into the home of a prominent Ohio family. The Dr. says Whiteside must remain confined having broken his leg. He begins to meddle with the lives of everyone in the household and, once his plots are underway, learns there is nothing wrong with his leg. He bribes the doctor. The owner discovers the fraud, but Whiteside blackmails him (he finds out that the owner's sister is an axe murderer) and resumes control."

John Barrymore was originally supposed to play Sheridan Whiteside, but because of the effects of his alcoholism he couldn't remember his lines and was fired. The talented Woolley would receive two Oscar nominations during his career for The Pied Piper (42) and Since You Went Away (44). As the real life best friend of Cole Porter at Yale he was recruited to play himself opposite Cary Grant as Porter in the cinema biography of the songwriter, Night and Day (46). Late in December 1941, the film's world premiere was hosted by the Capitol Theatre in Paragould, Arkansas - the home town of star Richard Travis (aka Bill Justice) who had been one of the theatre's employees.