So two weekends ago I saw the movie The Remains of the Day for the first time. I was playing poker while watching it and not paying all that much attention for the first half of it or so...But it slowly sucked me in, and by the end I had to sit out on all my tables because I had become so engrossed in it. It was the most depressing movie I have ever seen. Devastating, in a way. The themes it touched on: inertia, regret, personal failure, subservience, defining yourself through work that has no real importance -- well, let's just say it resonated quite heavily with me. It was one of those films that I wasn't able to stop thinking about for days afterwards. I ended up watching it again (this time, no poker to distract me!), and somehow it seemed even more sad the second time.
It was the acting that really sold me on it. This is not a perfect movie (I would say the cinematography is weak in parts--there is one particular scene where Anthony Hopkins looks out a window contemplatively, and the way they filmed it makes it look like some kind of bizarre homage to a Hitchcockian psycho villain; and the flash forwards, while important to the overall narrative, are somewhat clunky as executed). The acting carries the film, though. Anthony Hopkins is amazing. Hell, Emma Thompson is too. I'm having a hard time thinking of any movie I've seen with two stronger lead actors.
Anyway, this all got me thinking about my favorite films and whether The Remains of the Day would make my top ten list. Then I realized I don't have a top ten list, which is a sad omission to my life. So now I am going to attempt to create one (you know, in case I ever need to refer to it in the future--these things can be important!). So here it is; I'm not going to attempt to put this in much, if any, kind of order.
1) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2) Fargo
3) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
4) The Remains of the Day
5) Lost in Translation
6) The Godfather
7) Taxi Driver
8) The 'Burbs (it's a sentimental favorite, OK?)
9) Chinatown
10) Manhattan
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