Top Ten Films a la Jody
a look back at the 2000’s with Jody Coughlin
Compiling my top ten films for the last decade is no easy feat. My memory is dismal at best and I am usually once removed to the left of the thing I really love but have forgotten all about. Oh well, this is not going to change the world anyway so I suppose I just might as well give it a whirl and hope for the best.
Here I go. These are in no particular order and this rundown is not particularly cerebral.
1. Fight Club.
I do not talk about Fight Club. Seriously, I don’t. I will say this-it is a disgruntled employee’s wet dream to show up at the office with a huge black eye and blood trickling out the nose and onto a very neatly pressed dress shirt. Oh yeah. Can ya feel it?
2. There Will Be Blood.
If you have not seen this film, then you must. Go now. Go. See it. The score will give you ulcers, Daniel Day Lewis and his portrayal of an oil-boy pioneer will give you goose bumps. The thought of how much blood, sweat, tears and greed goes into the oil industry and the industry of religion (two entities that we are so ravenously hooked on) will give you an upset stomach. What more could you ask for out of a film?
3. The Others.
This haunting ghost story leaves me feeling like I did when I was a kid and my sister stumbled upon a book about a girl who gets trapped inside her doll house. I don’t remember how the girl got there, I just know that it freaked the hell out of me. I couldn’t stop starring at it.
4. Lord of The Rings
This could count as three but I am counting it as one. I liked all in general, The Return of the King in particular. If there is a God, and I believe there is, then I think he would be a lot like the portrayal of Gandalf in this film: wise, kind, a bit temperamental. I cannot make it through these films without tearing up at least a dozen times. Epic.
5. Inglourious Basterds
I keep spelling the title of this film correctly which means I am spelling it incorrectly which almost gives me an aneurism. I will say this, I am glad to be alive at a time in the history of our planet where it is perfectly acceptable to watch, with pleasure, the demise of the Nazis. Nobody does it like Tarantino. I wanted to stand up and clap at the end of this film, but my husband embarrasses easily so I just let the glory of the moment wash over me like a warm bath in chocolate money.
6. Frida
Painter. Woman. Strong. Couragous. Enough said.
7. Bridget Jone’s Diary (One and Two)
First of all, let’s just say I can relate to a blond, chesty journalist who is “just a little bit fat” and who also seems to have a genuine talent for screwing (things up). Also, the scene where the two boys, vying for her attention and settling an old score, fight (Colin Firth and Hugh Grant) out in the street as the song It’s Raining Men chimes in-well, that scene makes me almost pee my pants. Oh, the hilarity! I think Hugh Grant would be nothing without the hair. When his hair is all wet and mashed up in the sequel, he looses a bit of that British bad boy charm. It’s all about Hugh’s hair when it comes to Hugh.
8. Gangs of New York
This is one of those films that I like to watch once a year or so. Daniel Day Lewis is, again, brilliant in this film. Raw and gritty. Dirty and a wee bit frightening. This film fascinates me on so many levels. I love to think about the inner workings and the underbelly of such a grand city as New York is and this film feeds those curiosities in me. I love it.
9. Snatch
If I knew how to type out garbled Irish slang, that is exactly how I would write this next bit, but I don’t. In fact, I have watched this film several times to try and decipher exactly what Brad Pitt’s character is saying-to no avail. No matter. This movie is fast paced and interwoven and amusing. The dry British come-backs thrill me. The speech the creepy old guy gives about why he owns a pig farm is both frightening and utterly disgusting in one fell swoop. My kind of movie.
10. Where the Wild Things Are
This film was amazing and alive and real in so many ways. The thing I took away from it was that kids do not-I mean do NOT-understand why adults gets so worked up and pissed off and grumpy and argumentative and depressed. I took from this film the understanding that the world of adults, to some children, is as frightening and mysterious as any monster-world. If we could remember that the next time we feel compelled to engage in a petty argument in front of our kids (speaking to myself here now) then it would be a different world. I have been trying to remember the impression this film gave me when I feel a disagreement coming on and then I stop myself and I walk away. There is something about this movie that seems classic even though it is quite new. I am a fan. For sure.
