Patrick Ring's Top Ten Movie List

• "Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to stop worrying and love the Bomb"
  We lost both Stanley Kubrick and George C. Scott this year, and I hafta say we'll miss 'em. This was such a genius, oddball comedy. Say what you will about 2001, but this may have been Kubrick's mental masterpiece. The brilliance of the Colonel's madness, Scott's over-the-top performance and Peter Sellers in three fantastically polar characters. A true classic among classics.

• "Heavy Metal"
  Simply the finest assemblage of animation ever put together for a thinking, mature audience.
  
  
• "Bridge On the River Kwai"
  A classic tale of clashing cultures in extreme circumstances, brilliantly acted by a superb cast.
  
  
• "Tequila Sunrise"
  Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeifer, Raul Julia are brilliant together and Kurt Russell finally proves he can, in fact, act. A crime drama? A game of cat-and-mouse in the world of illegal drugs? No, this is simply an intricate tapestry of friendships.
  
  
• "Jacob's Ladder"
  drian Lyne crafted one serious head trip, here. On Showtime, I saw three scenes which the director deleted from the final release, and they helped add further dimension to the story. I hope to find a copy with these parts restored (The DVD version, linked to above, does have these deleted scenes included). And I agree that Tim Robbins is extremely underrated as an actor, which brings us to . . .
  
  
• "The Hudsucker Proxy"
  A brilliant film which was a victim of its title. As much as I love, "Fargo," I still maintain that this is the Coen Brothers' best work to date. Oddball premise, expertly delivered by Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Paul Newman.
  
  
• "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly"
  or, frankly, anything else by Sergio Leone. But you absolutely MUST see them in Letterbox. His gift for blocking, pacing and atmosphere are unrivaled in cinema.
  
  
• "The Indiana Jones Trilogy"
  If others can list all the Star Wars movies, I contend I can select Indy's three. The second is probably the weakest here, though. My fave's gotta be the 3rd; Sean Connery was great! Tim Wick comments: Hey, I'll allow this, but I don't think it is as much of a fit as the Star Wars trilogy. They tell a continuous story. These three are stand alone films that happen to star the same character. (My club, I can insert comments if I want.)
  
  
• "Pillow Talk"
  Again, this MUST be seen in Letterbox (note: the link is not to a letterbox tape as it is not available), since so much of the movie utilizes a triple-split screen, showing Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall all on their Party Line at the same time. If you've never seen Randall in his prime, you've been missing a real treat.
  
  
• "The Shadow"
  Alec Baldwin was delightfully unobtrusive in this spectacular pulp noir -- yet, vividly colorful -- bombast. The sets are lavish, the characters distinct and intriguing and the story is solid. One of the finest fantasy adventures and simply the best cinematic adaptation of a classic character.