There is a difference between “favourite” and “best” movie. For me, the former indicates some form of emotional or psychological attachment to something, while “best” attempts to separate those emotions from objectivity. When discussing movies, objectivity is virtually impossible, but it’s at least an attempt to get away from what is familiar to enjoy something that is not.
If I could put it in sports terms, as a hockey fan, it’s like this: the Montreal Canadiens are my favourite team because I followed them as a kid, have continued to follow them into adulthood, and root for them regardless of if they’re good or bad. However, they’re not the best team, nor even the team I enjoy watching most right now, given how bad they are. Does that make sense? I hope so.
We have a repeat from my favourites of the pre-2023 variety that I wrote about recently in Raging Bull. (I also wrote about my favourites from 2023 only here, and the best of 2023 only here.) Again, I am embarrassed I had never seen Raging Bull until this year. It’d be on the Best Of list were it not already on my Favourites Of list.
Contact (1997)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, James Woods
The way I would describe it is this: it’s a movie with science at the heart of it, but the actual mechanics of that science don’t really matter because it’s really a movie about faith. It isn’t necessarily religious faith, though that is part of the story beats, but it is about faith in other human beings. That may not be something that appeals to a lot of people, but the way this story is told makes it both heart-wrenching and heart-warming at different times, all within a context of people having faith in each other.
Though it isn’t overwhelmingly well-received on some critical platforms, I would say a lot of people are wrong about this movie. It isn’t perfect, but the idea of religion and science co-existing to achieve greater things as a species seems awfully fucking prescient at our given moment in time. The story is solid enough to be held up by an immaculate performance from Jodie Foster, and it’s easy to see why this is a favourite from some people of my generation.
A science movie that isn’t about science might not have broad appeal, but this one really hit me at the right time. It might not be on the Best Of list in a year’s time, but it’s how I feel right now.
Anastasia (1957)
Director: Anatole Litvak
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brenner
A movie that is somewhat based on real life, when the real story is unknown, is hard to pull off, but Anastasia hit the bullseye. It takes place in the 1920s after the Bolshevik Revolution that saw Russian Emperor Tsar Nicholas, and his family, all get executed. There were rumours that one of his daughters escaped the executions and Bergman plays Anna Koreff, one of the notable people that came forward to claim rights to the family throne. The twist is that she has amnesia and because it’s been a decade, there are few people left who remember what Princess Anastasia looked like.
Full disclosure: I spent a couple weeks this summer watching Bergman’s movies. By my eye, this was her best performance (all due respect to Casablanca and Gaslight). It also doubles as a real-life parallel as Bergman was excommunicated from Hollywood in the early 1950s and this was her return to American cinema. Maybe she had a bit of extra to give for this performance because she carries the movie. The sets are predictably beautiful, though, and her conversations with her ‘grandmother’ are outstanding.
This isn’t my favourite movie of Bergman’s, but it is still excellent. The nature of identity and self-identity are at its core, and it’s something society is still grappling with nearly 70 years later.
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Since this movie’s release, all I heard about it was the twist about halfway through the movie. I was wondering what kind of twist could possibly justify nearly two decades’ worth of chatter, so I finally sat down to watch the Best Picture winner from the 2005 Oscars. Let me say this: I did not see that twist coming in any way, shape or form. If you’ve seen it, you know. If you haven’t, rectify that as soon as possible.
Without giving away that twist, Million Dollar Baby functions as two separate movies. The first half is about giving people who have never had the opportunity a real chance at success, and the second is about what to do after that success has been achieved. It is much more complicated than that, but the second half gives it emotional weight that was there in the first half but certainly not to that degree. It isn’t hard to see why this was the Best Picture winner.
All three leads are fantastic, but Swank carries the emotional baggage with ferocity. Again, it’s easy to see why she won Best Actress and was one of the biggest names in Hollywood for the rest of the decade. This is a boxing movie but like Contact, it isn’t about that subject, particularly. It mixes in real-life themes seamlessly and might be Eastwood’s best movie of the 2000s (Mystic River and Gran Torino still hold up extremely well).
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
Director: Tom Gormican
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal
Maybe the reason I skipped over this is that good Cage movies have been very few and far between over the last 15 years. And a movie that effectively doubles as a biopic for Cage’s career over the last two decades? It didn’t tickle my particular fancy. Big surprise, but I was wrong.
This movie deserves all the accolades thrown its way. Not only is it a good homage to Cage’s career, but it is very heartfelt for most of the runtime. Pascal shines alongside Cage and how they play off each other with Cage being Cage and Pascal being a billionaire with too much money to spend is a dynamic I did not expect to love, but did. Whether the LSD scene or Cage grappling with his real-life legacy, there is comedy throughout that plays so well against the absurdity of the premise.
In 10 years, this feels like one of those movies we’ll look back on and ask how in the hell it avoided Oscar contention completely. That there wasn’t even a nomination for acting or screenplay is a crime. For anyone looking for a very funny movie that has heart to it, look no further.
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Director: Michael Cimino
Starring: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Christopher Walken
Ever watch a movie that you know is excellent and your first thought is “well, I’ll never watch that again”? That is how I feel about The Deer Hunter. A story about factory workers from Pennsylvania that shows their bond and how it was transformed by their experiences in the Vietnam War feels like essential watching to better understand the experiences of millions of Americans before, during, and after that war. There are numerous great Vietnam War movies but this might be the best of them. When considering options like Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, or Platoon, that is a high bar to clear. It is incredibly depressing, in its way, and is a reason why I’ll not be revisiting it anytime soon.
Aside from all that, it’s a movie that hits you time and time again with its themes. Whether it’s the Russian Roulette scene, or the God Bless America scene at the end, there is no shortage of moments that are either thrilling or devastating, and sometimes both. De Niro shines, as he often does, but both Cazale and Walken are phenomenal as supporting actors. Also, that this is a three-hour Vietnam War movie that only spends about one-third of that time in Vietnam highlights the importance of how everything changed from before to after. It is a turning point that you can feel ripple across the entire country through this three-hour classic.
Anyone that hasn’t seen it, it could not be recommended enough. It can be a tough watch at times, but a necessary one, and it’s easy to see why it’s held in such high regard even 45 years later.
Cliffy's hell-hole 