These films are our FAVORITE films. They were not judged on their underlying messages or social change that they brought upon the world. If that were so, the list would look drastically different. Take this list as a showcase of the films that are musts in the eyes of TinCan. We also chose to not list "comedies" in our list. As much as we love Kingpin, Old School, and Wedding Crashers, it would be unfair to judge them with different criteria than the other films. Maybe sometime down the road, we could compile our own smaller list for comedies.See TinCan's 45-41 top films after the jump.
45. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
11 men, 3 casinos, 150 million dollars, one chance. I've received a lot of 'ear' over this one, but this if one of my favorite movie remakes. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his team set out to knock over 3 Las Vegas casinos simultaneously. Danny pulls together a mastermind team of thieves, martial artists, masters of disguises, etc. What always amazes me, if the cast that they pulled together for the 'Ocean' films; Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Julia Roberts. Like I said earlier, the recent 'Ocean's 11' is a remake of the original film made in 1960. Similar to the 2001 version, there is a stellar cast. A cast including, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Crawford and Dean Martin.
44. Independence Day (1996)
There's nothing I enjoy more than a good apocalyptic, 'end of the world' movie. But when you include aliens, Will Smith, and one of the greatest speeches, it's a home run. Will Smith is a pilot for the Air Force. Aliens have come to conquer Earth. Jeff Goldblum is a computer hacker and Bill Pullman is the president. A combination of these brings on one of the best blockbusters of the decade. Did I mention that 'Independence Day' won the Oscar for 'Special Effects'? Well, it did.
While some scenes can be considered corny or "That could never happen!!", the film is great. Will Smith adds a great comedic performance that coinsides perfectly with his 'badass' savior of the world character. Independence Day (thanks to special effects) created over 3,000 aliens for the movie and surprisingly was only shot in 72 days.
43. Memento (2000)
Memento, put Christopher Nolan on the map. Memento was the brain child of Christopher and his brother Jonathan. Memento is a non-linear storyline that tells the tale of Leonard (Guy Pearce). Leonard has short term memory loss. The last thing he remembers, is the murder of his wife. Leonard wakes up everyday, not remembering the day before. To conquer this problem, Leonard has tattooed notes and memories all over his body, as well as notes in every crevice of his wardrobe to remember all of the details as he hunts for his wife's murderer. A must see for anyone.
For the safety of readers who have yet to see Memento, I'll hide my own opinion on the resolution. Memento was originally a short story written by Jonathan Nolan, but Christopher Nolan is credited it to be an original screenplay because the story was not published until after the release of the film. Jonathan also co-wrote the screenplay for 'The Prestige' and 'The Dark Knight'. Hats off to the Nolan brother's for creating a fantastic film with very little budget.
42. Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver is an iconic film. Scorcese and DeNiro. New York City in the late 70's sets the scene for one of DeNiro's best films. Robert DeNiro plays Travis who is a Vietnam and Marine veteran. Travis suffers from Insomnia, so decides to be a late-night taxi driver. Throughout the film, you learn of Travis's isolated and independent ways along with his strong views on right and wrong. With all of the ups and downs of Travis's life, he spends most of his time trying to save the life of a prostitute. Taxi Driver is home to some of the most recognizable scenes, dialogue, and reference in cinematic history. Harvery Keitel, who plays the pimp, was originally offered a role with more screen time and lines. He refused the part for a character with 5 lines in the script and was written as African American. Harvey Keitel also worked with 'real life pimps' for preparation for the role. Harvey also took a few cab rides with Robert DeNiro while DeNiro worked as cab driver for a month to prepare for his own role.
41. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Most have or will see Ben Affleck's latest directorial picture 'The Town'. Hopefully you have, or will see 'Gone Baby Gone' as well. Two Boston P.I's (It's Ben Affleck, would you expect it to not be in Boston?), take on the job of investigating the kidnapping of a neighborhood girl. Patrick and Angie (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) are well-known around the neighborhood and are entrusted with the investigation by the family, even though they're not real cops and have no real experience in the matter. Either way the two are met with drug dealers, gangs, pedophiles and crooked cops. In the end, the two are torn between a moral dilemma and are forced to make a decision on a human life.
Ben Affleck has always been seen as a good writer ever since his early work with 'Good Will Hunting' with his roomie Matt Damon. It's funny that this was his first writer credit since his Oscar win for GWH. Ben even considered acting in 'Gone Baby Gone' as he has done in his other films, but decided to cast his younger bother Casey, instead.
That rounds out the 41-50 of Tin Can's top films. To see the list in its entirety, you can go here.
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