The Top 100 Movie List (A Very Biased List): 76-74

76. The Bad Seed (1956)
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by John Lee Mahin from the play by Maxwell Anderson
Starring Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, and Henry Jones
Oscar Nominations: 4

I must like movies featuring psychopathic munchkins because we have another movie featuring an evil little girl. It's a well-written movie about a mother who starts to suspect that her daughter is a killer. It actually seems like a plausible premise to me. One of the things that I really enjoy about the movie is that performance of Patty McCormack who plays Rhoda, the daughter. She is variably evil and sweet and always slightly creepy but only if you know that she's evil.  The thing that makes or breaks these kind of movies are the children actors. If they're terrible, it sinks. If they're good, it rocks.

75. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Directed by Ang Lee
Written by Hui-Lee Wang, James Schaums, and Kuo Jung Tsai from the novel by Wang Du Lu
Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen
Oscar Nominations: 10 Oscars won: 4 (Best Foreign Film, Cinematography, Score, Art Direction-Set Direction)

A feast for the eyes, one of the most visually beautiful movies I have ever seen. The thing that makes this movie as awesome as it is is that it's a feast for the senses. It's beautiful to look at, the music is very striking and serves the mood well. The other that makes it great is the romance between the lovers in the film. What could have been a quest movie for a stolen sword is a romance between two sets of lovers as well as a commentary on the battle of the sexes, literally in this case. The women in this movie kick as much ass as the men and so much so at times. The fight choreography is also very splendid with the use of wires actually good in this case.

74. Tootsie (1982)
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Written by Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal, Barry Levinson, Elaine May
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, and Terri Garr
Oscar Nominations: 10 Oscar won: 1 (Best Support Actress Jessica Lange)

The premise of Tootsie is brilliant. If an actor can't get work, how about an actress? I have always had a fascination with the movies about show business because it demands so much out of the actor. They have to be both a new character but if their character is an actor, they often have to be their character as another character.  Hoffman does a great job of it here. That is what makes this movie grand is that there are times that Dustin Hoffman's character, Michael Dorsey, disappears into Dorothy Michaels. The most grand part of the movie is as well the dialogue. The most important thing of a good comedy is dialogue. Slapstick only gets you so far, with crappy dialogue, it will fall flat eventually. Then again, I am a writer and I tend to place emphasis on writing.

Next Time: "It's against my programming to impersonate a deity." "Plastics" "Wow, this place is sure full of celebrities. I'm the only one in here I've never heard of."