I passed a milestone recently here at TDYLF. Thanks to the help of the editors over at IMDB, I passed the 100,000 Hits milestone on Sunday (with a whopping 80,000+ of those hits coming just since September 30th). To celebrate, I’m beginning a brand new series called “100 Things I Love About the Movies”. To be sure, there a LOT more than 100 things that I love about the movies. As such, this has the potential to become a series- 100 Things I Love About Horror Movies, 100 Things I Love About Foreign Movies, and on and on. I present to you the first edition of “100 Things I Love About the Movies”.
1. The violence in Sam Peckinpah movies
2. “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
3. Nazi zombies
4. Vertigo is actually about necrophilia
5. Chest Rockwell and Brock Landers. And while I’m on the topic…
6. The tracking shot in Boogie Nights. And
7. The tracking shot in Goodfellas. And
8. The tracking shot in Contempt (Le Mepris). And
9. The tracking shot in Weekend.
10. “To-ga! To-ga! To-ga!”
11. Jean Gabin was the inspiration for Mel Blanc to create Pépé le Pew
12. This wallet
13. Roooooose Buuuuuud
14. The monkey funeral in Sunset Boulevard
15. The plague of locusts in Days of Heaven
16. Humphrey Bogart
17. The vulnerability and sexuality of Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits
18. The raw feminine independence and sexuality of Ava Gardner in Night of the Iguana
19. “You know, for kids!”
–
20. Robert Altman’s overlapping dialogue
21. Wes Anderson soundtracks
22. Karen Hill stuffing a gun into her panties in Goodfellas
23. Ingmar Bergman’s theological self-loathing
24. Heath Ledger as The Joker
25. Howard Cosell narrating the consummation of a marriage in Woody Allen’s Bananas
26. “She’s my sister!” (slap) “She’s my daughter!” (slap) “My sister!” (slap) “My daughter!” (slap)
27. Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock in Safety Last
–
28. Shut the fuck up, Donny.
29. Martin Scorsese’s love affair with Motown and the Rolling Stones.
30. Peter Sellers in Being There
31. High Noon was an allegory for film industry people blacklisted by McCarthyism
32. Oliver Stone’s nutty conspiracy theories
33. Sliced-up eyeballs in Un Chien Andalou
34. Toshiro Mifune…
35. and that he was almost cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi
36. John Huston’s rebellious streak
37. Christopher Lee vs. Peter Cushing in a billion Hammer Studio horror films
38. The hobo last supper in Viridiana
–
39. Peter Lorre’s creepy bulging eyes
40. The art deco architecture in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
41. Dennis Hopper screaming “DON’T YOU LOOK AT ME!” in Blue Velvet
42. Slim Pickens riding a nuclear bomb
43. The “Ride of the Valkyries” scene in Apocalypse Now
44. I see dead people
45. Terri Garr’s nice knockers in Young Frankenstein (“Sank you”)
46. Indiana Jones being chased by a boulder
47. The juxtaposition of the beauty of classical music with the brutality of boxing in Raging Bull
48. Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?
49. Charlie Chaplin in the feeding machine in Modern Times
50. Catherine Deneuve
51. The Bear Jew
52. Boris Karloff’s voice
53. Mickey Rourke’s clever use of a popcorn box in Diner
54. Counting all of the Star Wars influences in Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress
55. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!
56. The final 20 minutes of Unforgiven
57. No, seriously. Catherine Deneuve.
–
58. I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!
59. One of us! One of us! Gooble gobble, gooble gobble, one of us!
60. The 50 egg challenge in Cool Hand Luke…
61. and the Christ analogy that immediately follows
62. Wanna have a catch, Dad?
63. I know it was you, Fredo.
64. The Man with No Name
65. The overt genital symbolism in Closely Watched Trains
66. Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.
67. The last scene in Sleepaway Camp
–
68. Charlton Heston kissing a monkey
69. Günnar Bjornstrand’s monologue about Spider-Gods in Winter Light
70. And while we’re at it, let’s throw in Ingrid Thulin reading her letter to Bjornstrand for six minutes or so in the same movie.
71. And what the hell, Ingrid Thulin masturbating with a shard of glass in Cries and Whispers
72. The Dude
73. The crossdresser sequence in Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
74. What business is it of yours where I’m from, friendo?
75. The cold, lonely specter of “23 Juillet” on Alain Leroy’s mirror, The Fire Within
76. Buster Keaton being chased by hundreds of cops and/or hundreds of angry brides
77. I made it, Ma! Top of the world!
78. The incredibly expressive face of Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc
–
79. I’m not even supposed to be here today!
80. Jack Nicholson as R.P. MacMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
81. Rhett Butler telling Scarlett O’Hara to go make love to herself
82. Andy Dufresne breaks free
83. Guido’s women come back to haunt him, all at once, in 8 1/2
84. Whistle while you work, Bridge on the River Kwai
85. Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter
86. Are you talkin’ to me?
87. The triptych in Abel Gance’s Napoléon
88. Mommy’s corpse in Psycho
89. The look of horror and defiance on Isabelle Huppert when she stabs herself in The Piano Teacher
90. Sven Nykvist’s cinematography
91. I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille
–
92. The fact that Santa Claus Conquers the Martians exists
93. A town painted entirely red in High Plains Drifter
94. The crawling, severed hand in The Exterminating Angel
95. The look on Simon Pegg/Nicholas Angel’s face in Hot Fuzz when people start singing The Cardigans’ “Lovefool”
96. The creepy cult people dressed as animals in The Wicker Man
97. Clyde the Orangutan
98. The ending of Match Point
99. Annie’s soliloquy to baseball in Bull Durham
100. George C. Scott’s monologue, as Patton, in front of the American flag
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thedroidyourelookingfor.wordpress.com 
I would include a lot of these on my own list. I’ve thought of another list for your series: 100 Things I Love About Steve Buscemi Movies.
You know what’s great about that? I’d never think to do one about Buscemi on my own. But now that you mention it, he’s been in sooooo many good things. And he’s always great in everything he does. You could almost do a Buscemi list just from his appearances in Coen brother movies.
So many gruesome deaths.
Virginia Madsen’s monologue on wine in Sideways. It’s not enough to read the words, you just have to see it, the way she delivers the thing. It sums up enophilia in a matter of sentences. “And it tastes so fucking good”
Forgot to mention that she seems like she’s going to jump Paul Giamatti’s fat ass. I’ve got a sweet spot for way too hot chicks that want to get it on with fat guys…
My favorite Virginia Madsen movie moment is when she gets lit on fire in “Candyman”.*
*not because I dislike VM but because it was a really neat-o movie
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100 things I love about Woody Allen! You have to do that one!
Would it be bad if #1 was the moment I took “Annie Hall” out of the DVD player?
#1 confirms my earlier suspicion that we are in fact soul mates.
Ha! I watched “Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” and “Ride the High Country” for the first time in the last few weeks, so it was definitely fresh in my mind. Peckinpah was just so incredibly unforgivingly violent (plus all the nudity in his movies), and you have to admire his cajones in doing that at a time when it really wasn’t done.
It wasn’t Tex Ritter on a nuclear bomb; it was Slim Pickins
I really don’t like 100 hundred lists as a rule because they are to objective and don’t capture an individuals theme but you captured more hits than misses and really spooked me out with the ‘you broke my heart Fredo’ and last twenty minutes of Unforgiven. The last twenty minutes of Unforgiven are absolutely perfect. And the scene in Close Encounters when they come to kidnap the little boy.
A top 100 list where i’m familiar with 93 of the films. that doesnt happen very often
One that you forgot from your 100 list is Cary Grant – the man was the absolute epitome of ‘Smooth’!!
Slim Pickens rode the nuclear bomb.
Not Tex Ritter
“Tex Ritter riding a nuclear bomb”
Are you sure about that? I seem to recall Slim Pickens riding one in “Dr. Strangelove”.
D’oh! I’m so embarrassed. I’ll edit that here in a sec. Thanks to all who caught my huge gaffe.
~~42. Tex Ritter riding a nuclear bomb~~
42. Slim Pickens riding a nuclear bomb
Great list, but it was Slim Pickens on that missile, right?
Wow, great idea for a list….I wish I would’ve thought of this! Around 70-80 of these would make my top 100, especially with all of the Coen Brothers and Scorsese references you have. Good work!
Thanks! I’ll cop to feeling a little guilty about all the Scorsese, Coens, Bergman, and Bunuel. And I suppose PT Anderson hit the list quite a few times too. But whaddyagonnado- ya love what ya love about movies.
Likewise, I’m wishing I’d come up with your list of movie rivalries. That’s great stuff.
“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
Ach, thanks for the correction. I need to hire an editor apparently.
Cool idea for a list, John, I might have to ‘borrow’ it if you don’t mind 🙂 And congrats on making IMDb again and reaching your milestone. Keep up the good work and here’s to 100,000 more hits!
Thanks! And please, borrow away- I’ve definitely borrowed from the guy at Pleated Jeans (but made sure to give credit).
So I guess that’s an unofficial endorsement of Pleated Jeans:
http://pleated-jeans.com/
Well, I just might ‘borrow’ this for my Thanksgiving post. Thanks again, John 🙂
Excellent! I’m excited to see what you come up with.
Just gotta say, GREAT list.
Thank you!
So you stopped watching movies after 1990? There are hundred of amazing films that came out of the last 20 years…alot of them BETTER than half the “classics” you mentioned.
Hmmm… I listed No Country for Old Men, There Will be Blood, Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski, Match Point, Unforgiven, Shawshank Redemption, Boogie Nights more than once, Wes Anderson movies, The Sixth Sense, The Dark Knight, Clerks, Inglorious Basterds, the entire work of Scorsese, Altman, and Oliver Stone (who haven’t been sitting around doing nothing in the last 20 years)…
And I probably didn’t make it clear enough in the intro, but there are a billion things that I like about movies. Just because this list has these 100 things doesn’t mean I don’t like anything else at all about any movie ever.
I’m not sure I understand this criticism.
What about the last 3 minutes of the Usual Suspects? the interrogation of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct? Russian Roulette scene from The Deerhunter? The “Jew Hunter” talking to the French farmer in the opening scene from Inglorious Basterds? Any time Robert Duvall is on screen in Apocalypse Now…”You either surf or fight!”
Hell yeah. That pipe from Inglorious Basterds is excellent. Half that movie could go on a list like this.
One more…the opening scene in Full Metal Jacket with the drill sargeant who does Geico commercials now.
Princess Leia sporting the gold bikini
You are right, you did list those. I guess I just see them as sort of obvious. No insult intended, I guess I’m just alittle too young to appreciate your full list.
No worries. To be frank, I was a little worried I went a little too heavy on the more recent stuff (and foreign). But trust me, this is a list I can visit again and again, recreating it and bending it to a lot of different genres. And I’ll definitely cop to a certain bias- I’ve spent so much time the last handful of years watching the foreign and classics that appear on this list that I’ve missed a lot of what’s been out since, say, 2006 (beyond the award winners).
At any rate, thanks for visiting and contributing.
How about this one, Albert Finney, tommy guns and Danny Boy?
Sadly, it’s been a loooong time since I watched that movie. But I’m definitely a Finney fan (and a fan of Miller’s Crossing).
It is certainly a movie that needs to be re-watched. I always find something new during every viewing.
Truly awesome. When I read the title, I was just expecting a list of 100 movies, but I love how specific you got. 🙂
It makes me want to put pen to paper (and then to blog) about what I love in the movies. Thanks for the inspiration!!
PS. That scene in Hot Fuzz is one of my favorite ever. Simon Pegg is my hero.
So I clicked on your name there to visit your blog, and I see that you’re a supporter of The Buddy Walk. That’s such an excellent cause. It’s gained a lot of stature here in St. Louis because of how active Albert Pujols is with it. I don’t entirely know why I brought it up… I guess I just felt the need to give a big fat thumbs up to that.
It is an amazing cause. I love my buddy that I walked with.
Never seen your blog, don’t know who you are. Clicked here from IMDb, started reading your list and tears came to my eyes. This is the best list I have ever seen, and I am a list addict. And not because it jibes with MY favorite 100 things, but because it is such a clear expression of YOURS. Thanks for making my day.
Wow, thank you so much for saying something so nice. I’m somewhat speechless.
Didn’t mean to get too sappy, it just seems you love movies in the same way I do. Having looked at your site, other than bad horror and Deborah Morgan, it looks like we have pretty similar tastes, too.
great list…made me think of these
superman catches the helicopter with one hand while holding the lois lane in the other
hey blond! you know what you are just a dirty son-of-a…waa-waa-wa-wa wa
the ending truck crash in mad max 2/road warrior
bruce lee vs chuck norris
I have that wallet, randomly.
not that you should care, but I wrote an entire paper on Hidden Fortress’ influence on Star Wars for a History of Japanese Art class back in my college days. glad its one of your top 100 things
I’m not going to lie, I’d really like to see that. But I’m a movie geek.
“And don’t point that beard at me, it might go off!”
“You’ve got me? Who’s got you?!”
“Must have been the dismount.”
“Without your space helmet, I think you’re going to find that rather difficult.”
Me again.
I really liked this so much, a list rarely makes me think so much about movies, but yours was so varied and honest that here are just a few more…of mine
the unmasking of the phantom in the catacombs
“There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs…” opening shot stare
Richard Gere’s ending build up and freeze frame in Breatless (1983)
“I want you to play one of my songs”
aerial view of seagulls descending on bodgea bay
nosferatu rises, straight up!, from his coffin!!
Thanks again! I reaaaaallly need to re-watch “Nosferatu”. It’s such a classic, and so iconic, but I haven’t seen it in probably 15 years.
I like. Good work.
You’ll never watch “Vertigo” the same way again.
DUDE, what about when Ray (Tom Hanks) is forced to eat the sardine on the pretzel in the Burbs … his facial expression makes me about pee my pants each time I see it!!!
1: Ellen Burstyn thinking the refridgerator is out to get her in Requiem for a Dream
2: The how many people are having orgasms montage in Amelie
3: Johnny Depp sailing toward the afterlife in Dead Man
4: Christian Bale in American Psycho (“try getting a reservation at Dorsia now, you fucking stupid bastard!”)
5: Juliette Lewis taking a dump near the beginning of Natural Born Killers
6: Julianne Moore’s breakdown in the pharmacy in Magnolia (“don’t you call me lady!”)
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Inspiring. This post and your blog in general makes me loosen up on how I write about movies.
Spoilers on The Piano Teacher though. 😛
Thank you! And… d’oh on The Piano Teacher.
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23. Ingmar Bergman’s theological self-loathing
Can’t stop laughing!
He wouldn’t be Bergman without it. Take the theological self-loathing away from Bergman and it’s like taking the cape away from Superman.
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