My Top 10 (ish) Favourite Films
Clearly I'm not a serious cinephile. I realise this from my Facebook friends who can quote entire movies, who go to the cinema almost daily, who see everything when it comes out rather than waiting till it's on TV for free, and for whom the movies are a much bigger deal than maybe they once were for me. But since people are indulging themselves with these Top 10s, who am I to buck the trend. These are 10 movies I've watched and rewatched, and will watch again. You are free to disagree.
10 Play It Again Sam (1972)
It may not be fashionable, or advisable, to include Woody Allen movies in your top ten these days. What am I going to have next? A Bill Cosby movie and the collected works of Harvey Weinstein? But my movie education came through the works of Woody Allen, especially his "early funny ones". This movie isn't even directed by him, but it is his purest comedy stage play, and any comedy screenwriter who can deny being affected by Woody Allen's work is probably lying. If you want to argue, I'll be at Frozen Tundra 555-6535.
9 Sunset Boulevard (1950) / Singing In The Rain (1952)
The history of Hollywood is punctuated by movies that celebrate the history of Hollywood and this pair of films, made when the movie studios were nearing their 50th birthday, nailed the genre from the start. Everyone knows this business is a joke. In Sunset Boulevard it's a dark, gallows humour of nightmarish proportions, in Singing In The Rain it's a laugh and a romance. From The Player to La La Land, every movie about the movies is in the shadow of this pair.
8 Citizen Kane (1941)
More than any other film, Citizen Kane wears its ambition on its sleeve, with every shot crying out "look at me, someone!". It should, as a result, be an annoying endurance test, like watching a kid doing well at a spelling bee. Instead it's a joy, with Orson Welles' mischevious humour emerging through even the most straight-faced moments. Nowadays, when technical feats with cameras and technology are taken for granted, Citizen Kane still impresses with a dozen "how did they do that?" moments, coupled with as many innovations that no-one had bothered to think of before, and an infinity of moments you've seen spoofed in subsequent movies & TV shows, by people who want to remind you that they too have seen Citizen Kane.
7 Young Frankenstein (1974) / The Man With Two Brains (1984)
As a reminder of how age affects us all, both Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner (still alive at time of writing, and both well into their nineties) have made the greatest comedies ever, and some stinkers. Comedy first, stinker later. Young Frankenstein is Brooks' best, MWTB Reiner's. Steve Martin, in turn, went from being the funniest person on the planet to Mr Schmalz, luckily leaving us with scripts and performances like this along the way. I'd have loved Robin Williams to make it into one of my favourite movies but, I fear, no film has ever been as impressive as his stand-up.
6 An American Werewolf In London (1981)
Jon Landis really got lucky with American Werewolf. Because, to my eye, nothing else he made has been any good. Some might even call him a pretty poor film maker. But when he made this remake of The Wolfman, with a largely British cast, something about it worked magically. Also it's "Our Movie" for me and Hev, so there.
5 The Graduate (1967) / Tootsie (1983)
Mike Nichols and Elaine May, who were making comedy albums 50 years ago at the same time as Brooks & Reiner's 2000 Year Old Man, have had an often unacknowledged mark on cinema through their improvisation work. Though May's input on Tootise goes uncredited, her work was pivotal. And Dustin Hoffman has to be the benchmark for a non comedian doing comedy, which he achieves by hard work. Indeed he spoofs his own methodology, and his "asshole actor" personality, in Tootsie. It's in Graduate where you see this pay off. A timelessly funny and original film that almost every comedy since, from Bridesmaids to The Hangover via every Saturday Night Live starred movie, owes it all to.
4 Alien (1979)
Not every film on my list is a comedy, and here's an exception. Unless you appreciate the dark comic timing that's essential for a good thriller or horror movie. As well as being a perfect thriller, Alien is a rare science fiction film in that it doesn't look dated. Ridley Scott created the dystopian future look that has remained ubiquitous in sci fi movies since, and is the main reason I never took to Star Wars. After you've been inside a grody spaceship like the Nostromo, how can you take spaceships with clean walls seriously again?
3 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Again, most people don't think of this as a comedy, and it's true that it's not a laugh riot throughout. But Tarantino's reappropriation of the clean look of the 1970s, with the borrowing of a Hong Kong movie plot, and his total disregard for prevailing fashions, coupled with some out-of-the-box scripting and ingenious casting, made this a movie so impressive it's hard to describe 25 years later. A decade later, we'd been so deluged by low budget heist movies that it was hard to do anything but blame Tarantino for starting it all off. But, as unoriginal movies go, this has to be the most original. Also, notably, the most recent movie on this old man's list of favourites.
2 This Is Spinal Tap (1983)
None more black. Too much perspective. You can't dust for vomit. We should record it in Dobly. Earth's most quoted movie remains one of its most delightful. The original mockumentary, merging improv with plot so skillfully it's possible to forget you're watching one and following the other, Spinal Tap became the model for most TV comedy of the 21st century, from The Office to Veep. Don't look for it, it's not there any more.
1 Psycho (1960)
I have a feeling this was Hitchcock's favourite, it's certainly the one that he was proudest to call a comedy. And though I'm not in a hurry to watch horror, slasher, or shocking films, there's no denying this is the grandaddy of them all. It's so transcended its original small-scale made-TV-style roots, that it's almost hard to look at objectively. It's been remade as an art piece, in Gus Van Zandt's shot-for-shot remake and in Douglas Gordon's brilliant 24 Hour Psycho (which we've seen twice now, parts of that is, and could watch all day. Literally), and never ceases to impress. Like American Werewolf, a lot of its charm comes through luck as much as design, with assistant director Saul Bass and a TV crew working to a tight schedule coming up with results that possibly no one had fully in mind when they started. Some acting is dated, some green screen shots in cars are risible, and in so many ways it could be dismissed almost as a B movie. But everything comes together, with striking images, unprecedented twists (spoiler alert: don't look for Janet Leigh after the first 20 minutes), and not a second of screen time wasted, to give you very nearly the perfect use of 90 minutes of film. It's surely no coincidence that Mum went to see this movie when she was pregnant with me.
Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here.
The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW!
*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018
Previews:April 27 - The Canvas, London E1May 26 3.45pm & May 27 5pm Komedia Brighton
June 20 - Ludlow Fringe
July 11 - Neath
July 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One
- with more preview dates to be announced
