My continuing top 100 movie list...
75. Little Shop of Horrors. I do have a bit of a soft spot here, having performed this musical in high school. But the film version really is great, featuring the same great music from Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, fantastic puppet work under the direction of Frank Oz, and great performances by Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, and Steve Martin (with a memorable cameo by Bill Murray). If you like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, or Aladdin, there's really no reason you shouldn't like this "grown up" musical from the same brilliant composers.
74. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. After the bump in the road that was Temple of Doom, this third Indy film really went back to the roots of the original Raiders of the Lost Ark. The object of the quest was similarly mythic and epic, the humor had returned, and so had John Rhys-Davies and Denholm Elliott. On top of that was the wonderful addition of Sean Connery as Henry Jones. Really, the only missing element here was Karen Allen; the film was otherwise a wonderful thrill ride.
73. Copycat. I really do love this movie, probably more than it really deserves. I'm blogged about it before. But I think what I really love about it is that there are plenty of movies like this, but none others I can think of where not one but two significant roles are filled by women -- the two most significant roles here. And both the actresses are playing rather against type, with Holly Hunter playing the tough detective, and Sigourney Weaver the terrified victim.
72. Slither. I always liked this movie, but didn't love it immediately upon release. Over time, I've come to regard it as the perfect cocktail of humor and horror, and the perfect starring vehicle for Nathan Fillion. This movie is absolutely gross, and revels in it. I suppose this owes a debt to the Evil Dead movies and others, but I feel like this did it all better than its progenitors. Come for the gore, stay for the hilariously (in)appropriate song that plays over the end credits.
71. Soapdish. This movie is absolute genius, and it pains me to hear that they're trying to remake it. There might actually be a worthy script in a remake somewhere, looking at how soap operas are on the outs today, compared to their heyday (shortly before this film was made). But you could nevernevernever assemble a cast as hysterical and perfect as Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Elizabeth Shue, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey Jr., Cathy Moriarty, and Teri Hatcher. Anyone who has ever got caught watching not just a soap opera, but any evening drama with a serialized story, is bound to recognize something familiar in this movie, and laugh wildly at it.
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