Lists are great. They inspire discussion, create arguments, and tend to spiral off into fun new lists. When you do a list about the “BEST” of anything it goes from being fun to becoming a hotbed for arguments. There’s no such thing as a definitive list but I’ve decided to pull from my rather extensive life of film watching and put it to good use.
This is not the “film critic’s top 100” list. There’s no guarantee Citizen Kane or The Bicycle Thief will be in the top echelon or even on the list. This is the 100 movies I would put my name on as my top 100. If I died tomorrow this would represent the 100 films I find most vital, special, or ones that bonded to whatever it is that makes me me. I’m not including documentaries, though that might make for a nice supplemental list.
The first 80 will be in no particular order. The last 20 will be in very particular order. One a day, you have my word.
#31 – Jackie Brown
Message Board Thread Discussion.
Master Index of the 100 Best Movies Ever.
Why is it here:
Note: Remember that the first 80 are in no particular order.
It’s not as virtuoso as Pulp Fiction and it’s not as showy as Kill Bill but Jackie Brown is straight funk. Deliberately paced, vulgar, and sprawling like its source material [the works of the late, great Elmore Leonard] Jackie Brown is the movie that disappointed many of us upon release but got better and better as time went on. It gave starring roles to Pam Grier and Robert Forster and it worked like a charm. It’s fun, quotable, sexy, and loaded with mood built on great lines and even better music. In the pantheon of Quentin Tarantino’s movies many dismiss it or forget it entirely but when it all shakes out it’s the one that will age the best.
Moments to savor:
Long tracking shots resulting in murder. Pam Grier talking Samuel L. DOWN. Forster finding soul music. Deniro and Fonda in the least sexy sex scene this side of Irreversible. Michael Lewis appearance! Beaumont leaves the film.
Rewatchability:
High. I mean Robert Deniro’s character through most of the film.
Miscellany:
How the hell did no one commit to a Ray Nicolette film or series with Michael Keaton? It would have been legendary.