Monday, November 24, 2014

Top 5, Bottom 5: Family Drama

Flickchart informed me a few weeks ago that I'd just seen my 100th family drama -- note that in this case, it's drama about families, not family-friendly dramas -- and I thought it was about time I did one of these.

Top 5:
1. American Beauty (1999, #36 on my chart). I didn't get this movie the first time I saw it, but then I watched it again a couple years ago and fell in love. The first half is darkly biting and the last half is fascinating and poignant.
2. Billy Elliot (2000, #72). Gotta love a movie about a kid wanting to be a dancer. This is just a really gorgeous flick.
3. Proof (2005, #76). A really excellent play gets a really excellent movie adaptation. I rewatched it a couple years ago after seeing the play and still loved it.
4. Ordinary People (1980, #77). This is one I do have to rewatch, as it's been years since I've seen it. When I first saw it, though, I loved it.
5. Rain Man (1988, #113). One of those movies that just sucks me into the story no matter when I sit down to watch it.

Bottom 5:
5. Bee Season (2005, #2203). This movie is weird, but not good weird -- mostly just "why am I watching this?" weird.
4. The Other Sister (1999, #2144). I watched this in college and was thoroughly unimpressed. I even got to write a paper on why I hated this movie so much.
3. Horse Sense (1999, #2126). One of those cheesy TV movies by... Disney channel, maybe? Anyway, it's basically one of those movies about how rural areas teach people character, which is just not an appealing idea to me at all.
2. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002, #2124). I barely remember this, but I remember being bored.
1. The Jazz Singer (1927, #2123). The film history of this movie isn't enough to make it interesting to me.

Top 5 Unseen:
1. Tokyo Story (1953, #128 on the global charts). I've been meaning to see this one for awhile -- though, frankly, it's more because I should have seen it than because it sounds very interesting to me.
2. Fanny and Alexander (1982, #190). I like Bergman on and off, so I know I'm supposed to see this, but have never been able to quite muster up the urge to do so.
3. Five Easy Pieces (1970, #375). My mind still somehow mixes this up with Full Metal Jacket. Even when I've seen Full Metal Jacket.
4. Cries and Whispers (1972, #388). Another Bergman, but one I know very, very little about.
5. East of Eden (1955, #450). The one James Dean film I haven't seen. I suspect I'd like it more than his other two.

What are your favorites and least favorites? Which of my top 5 unseen should I see first?

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