#170: The Punisher
Most people's problem with this movie is just that it's a Punisher movie. Thomas Jane's Punisher is nothing like the real character, but that's good, because the real character is sort of boring. In the same way that The Punisher is unlike the original character, the movie is unlike a lot of revenge flicks. Instead of relying on brutality, Thomas Jane mostly invokes a sadistic cleverness to get the bad guys to mostly kill each other. And that's not to say that it's a censored movie. There are scenes of more graphic violence than all the MCU combined. Yet these are still few and far between, and have much greater impact. And that opening scene where his family gets killed, god damn.
#169: Evil Dead II
I saw this years after Army of Darkness and never would have expected it to be better. After all, Army of Darkness adds fantasy adventure to the horror comedy formula. But Evil Dead II is a tighter movie for it, and it invokes a compelling level of insanity on the part of Ashley Williams.
#168: Rocky
If you read the last post, you could have figured that this wouldn't be far away. Rocky is a profoundly smart and subtle sports movie. It's not about winning, nor does the main character win. He just wants to go 12 rounds. It's almost a little boring the first time you watch it, but the struggle sticks with you. Possibly because of that soundtrack. I gush about Ennio Moricone every chance I get, but let's not forget what a masterful job Bill Conti does here.
#167: Pulp Fiction
Still often considered one of Quentin Tarantino's best movies. It's certainly not his worst, but I'm not as big into anthologies as some people. If I have nothing much good to say about a movie and it still makes it this high on the list, that probably says a lot about the director. It's well made, entertaining, and incredibly memorable. And that's just par for the course.
#166: Scarface
One of my favorite gangster movies. Is that crazy? It's an unrealistic and goofy movie, but most still consider a classic. And I'll take a really fun piece of fiction over an uneventful true story any day.
#165: Into the Woods
This was never really given a chance by people who thought Disney would take out all of the dark elements. They didn't, not even close. Sure, some things were changed, but no more than in the film version of West Side Story. I'm a huge fan of Stephen Sondheim, and this was a pretty great adaptation of one of his best musicals. The cast is mostly perfect (barring Johnny Depp, really) and it's great to see such a messed up, yet also inspiring, and definitely epic fairy tale.
#164: Stranger than Fiction
A concept that you really couldn't mess up. Not to discount Will Ferrell, who performs admirably in the role. The constant whimsy and nods to literature really tickle my fancy, but mostly I just really love any stories that break down the wall between fiction and reality. And if you're a writer or some type of creator, the movie actually poses some very fascinating questions.
#163: Idiocracy
I really don't want this movie to be a 21st century Network. But it sure seems possible.
#162: The Wolf of Wall Street
The most insane true story I've ever seen. You'd be in the right mind to disbelief all of it as the egotistical lies of a morally bankrupt man, but I did some digging, and the most outlandish stuff is 100% true. Is there a message? Is there a moral? God, I don't know. But I know that I've watched few movies that long and been amazed the whole time.
#161: Rush
Another true story that has the rare distinction of actually being great. What sets this one apart is the characters. The different types of people that these rivals were and the ups and downs they go through make for a story that actually really deserved the big screen treatment.