Bill’s Top Ten Movies

Thursday, March 13th, 2008 @ 10:52AM

These aren't in any particular order. Also, I don't think these are the best movies ever made, but all of them had a big influence on me and opened my eyes in an unusual way.

Raising Arizona (1987)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Magnolia (1999)
Wizard of Oz (1939)
Breathless “A bout de souffle” (1960)
Women In Love (1969)
Don’t Look Now (1973)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Ruling Class (1972)
Journey To the Center of the Earth (1959)

I know most of these are older movies and there is only one comedy (Raising Arizona) but these are the films that shook me...moved me when I saw them at an early age.  The Wizard of Oz opened my eyes to the magic of movies.  Citizen Kane is fascinating for its brilliant film technique, its story, and the sheer megalomania of Orsen Wells.  Breathless was my first real experience with modern French cinema.  Don’t Look Now is creepy and has an erotic love scene between Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland that got me all hot and bothered at the time.  Journey To the Center of the Earth is great for lots of reasons but it’s the first time I became aware of composer Bernard Herman’s film scores.  I love The Ruling Class for Peter O’Toole’s bravura performance.  Women In Love has Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson and Magnolia is a sprawling mess of emotion and it has frogs raining from the sky. 

There they are.  Thanks for listening,

Bill Allred