100 More Things I Love About the Movies

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When I passed the 100,000 hit marker in November, I honored the event with what became one of my most popular entries- 100 Things I Love About the Movies. As it turns out, my odometer recently rolled over another milestone- the 200,000 hit marker. As logic follows, I’m due for another stroll down 100 Things Avenue. So without further ado, here are 100 More Things I Love About the Movies:

1. Janet Leigh’s blood spiraling down the drain in Psycho…

2. along with Hitchcock’s Freudian affection for blondes

3. Roman Moroni’s horribly butchered use of the English language in Johnny Dangerously

4. The look on Chazz Palminteri’s face upon realizing who Keyser Söze really is

5. Jack Lemmon hearing “Nobody’s perfect!” after confessing to his future, um… “husband” that he’s not really a woman at the end of Some Like it Hot

6. Kermit and Fozzie’s father in The Great Muppet Caper

7. The last 15 minutes of Straw Dogs

8. Frank Pentangeli’s demise

9. Harry Lime

10. Slimer

11. The stunningly beautiful Anita Ekberg prancing around in the Trevi Fountain on a whim in La Dolce Vita

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12. And speaking of beautiful blondes, how about Marilyn Monroe’s sorrowful animal rights speech in The Misfits?

13. Rupert Pupkin, The King of Comedy, and his maddening social awkwardness

14. Droogs

15. Battleship Potemkin‘s incredible montage sequence on the Odessa Steps

16. The Old Testament tornado’s cameo in A Serious Man

17. Max Fischer’s play, Heaven and Hell

18. The near dialogue-free tension that Steven Spielberg builds using vehicles in his (made for TV) movie, Duel

19. Rango‘s double homage to both Deliverance and Apocalypse Now in a single scene

20. And Rango‘s homage to Chinatown

21. And Rango‘s homage to the entire Man With No Name trilogy, including- but not limited to- a rattlesnake that looks like Lee Van Cleef

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22. Speaking of Chinatown, Jake Gittes getting his nose sliced as a visual indicator that he’s too nosy

23. Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie contains one audible line of dialogue, and it’s spoken by noted mime, Marcel Marceau

24. The final scene of Schindler’s List

25. Peter Jackson giving us the best, funniest, goriest zombie slaughter scene ever

26. Jefferson Smith and his fillibuster

27. I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.

28. The hilarious yet grisly fates of every child tourist visiting Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory

29. What’s a… pederast, Walter?

30. A house falling on top of Buster Keaton…

31. and Keaton’s unflappable stone faced zen amid a sea of swirling chaos

32. Charles Foster Kane’s sled was probably a symbol for a vagina

33.  Fantasia‘s stunning fusion of visuals and classical music

34. Whatever the hell was in this briefcase:

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35. The explosion of the crowd as Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn came in to pitch

36. Watching Lester Burnham reclaim his freedom in American Beauty

37. Threats of liver consumption in The Thin Red Line…

38. and actual liver consumption in The Silence of the Lambs

39. Steve Buscemi’s foot jiggling around in a wood chipper

40. Ennio Morricone scores. All of them.

41. The use of a beating heart to pace the finale in The Bride of Frankenstein

42. “This ain’t Lucky Lager!”

43. The tear-inducing finale of Big Fish

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44. Skipping the first eight plans and going right to the ninth one, which was apparently from outer space

45. Francois Truffaut hunting aliens

46. Black Narcissus: Criterion-quality masterpiece? Or the original nunsploitation film? Or BOTH?!?!

47. The great big hug that Louis Malle gave to taboo subjects

48. The film noir themes placed atop the sunniest place on earth- Hollywood- in Sunset Blvd.

49. The iconic character created by Jacques Tati

50. Charlie Chaplin playing a serial killer in Monsieur Verdoux

51. Hitchcock’s devotion to climaxes on American monuments

52. “Open the pod bay doors, Hal”

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53. Darren Aronofsky’s nausea-inducing yet brilliant camerawork in Requiem for a Dream

54. Roger Deakins’ wizardry as a cinematographer

55. The Fox and the Hound, just because it was the first movie I ever saw in a theater

56. Tinto Brass’ love of butt cheeks

57. Frankenstein’s re-birth in a little girl’s imagination in Spirit of the Beehive

58. The cinematic influence of the brilliant but obscure Val Lewton

59. Wolf Man’s got nards!

60. A very long, very detailed discussion of Madonna’s songs in Reservoir Dogs

61. Billy Crystal’s 61* and the uncanny likeness of Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane to Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, respectively

62. Cate Blanchett’s phenomenal range, including but not limited to her cameo in Hot Fuzz as Nicholas Angel’s girlfriend

63. The emergence of Scandinavian horror

64. The phallic clowns-and-cannons sequence that begins Ingmar Bergman’s Sawdust and Tinsel

65. Tobe Hooper’s use of inanimate clown dolls

66. The rivalry between Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog, including guns being aimed at people multiple times

67. RoboCop’s evil, unstoppable, unkillable nemesis- the police robot- was unstoppable and unkillable…  unless it had to walk down a flight of stairs

68. The truffle shuffle

69. Italian neo-realism

70. American Movie: “It’s alriiiiight! It’s okaaaay! There’s something to live for!”…

71. and the debate over the proper pronunciation of “coven”

72. Luis Buñuel’s fierce satire of every social institution imaginable

73. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”

74. Learning to speak French by watching Jean de Florette, Manon of the Spring, Au Revoir les Enfants, and Danton (thank you, Mrs. Bacoski, wherever you are)

75. Learning about Sociology (Crime, Deviance, and Law) by watching Donnie Brasco and The Verdict (thank you, Dr. Muse, wherever you are)

76. Getting an introduction to silent film in a Civil Rights course by watching The Birth of a Nation (thank you, Dr. Southern, wherever you are)

77. The post-modernism of Jean-Luc Godard films

78. Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey actually contains a reference to Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal

79. And how about the jaw-dropping contrast and use of black and white in the “dance of death” in The Seventh Seal?

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80. And if we’re being completely honest, let’s give proper respect to Bergman’s two cinematographers, Gunnar Fischer and Sven Nykvist

81. “My love life is terrible. The last time I was inside a woman was when I visited the Statue of Liberty.”

82. Fritz Lang’s little slice of pre-Nazi Germany zeitgeist in M, which includes a suspiciously meticulous police state and a whole lot of public vitriol and vigilante justice

83. Kurosawa’s Yojimbo was re-made as Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars, and…

84. Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai was re-made as The Magnificent Seven

85. Witches literally kissing the devil’s butt in a film waaaaay back in 1922- Häxan

86. “We’re on a mission from Gad”

87. Whatever the hell it is that happens in Terry Gilliam’s head before he makes a movie

88. The shooting star that few know by name- John Cazale.

89. An impossibly perfect use of The Pixies’ “Where is My Mind” at the end of Fight Club

90. The behind-the-scenes-nobody-knows-about-her work of Thelma Schoonmaker, the film editor that makes Martin Scorsese films possible

91. John Belushi’s ability to solicit laughs without a single word. Or better yet, his ability to solicit laughs with a single arched eyebrow.

92. The opening five minutes that it took for me to fall in love with Peeping Tom

93. The star-crossed career, and hilarious work, of Fatty Arbuckle

94. Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers

95. Ray Milland’s delirium tremens in The Lost Weekend

96. Redrum. Redrum. Redrum.

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97. Werewolf character arcs. See: Ginger Snaps (puberty). Or Teen Wolf (basketball skills).

98. Han shot first.

99. The fact that Burke and Hare keep making appearances in film. And should continue to do so.

100. A bouncing red ball in The Changeling.