My Top 100 Movies -- 10-6

10. Rounders. We're into the top 10 now, and a handful of movies that I find essentially perfect. Rounders is a brilliant story with a simple but powerful message: you have to be true to yourself. It delivers this message through a subject I can't resist -- Texas Hold' Em. And it does it with an absolutely amazing cast playing a wide array of indelible characters: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Turturro, John Malkovich, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, and Martin Landau. Watching this movie lifts me up and makes me feel like I "can take on da vorld." I can't say enough about it.

9. Gattaca. This is another quiet and simple film with a powerful and resonant message about self -- don't let others define your limitations for you. The story is a perfect use of science fiction as metaphor. The stark setting is just the right amount of bleak to amplify the message, and the cast is exceptional. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law shine in the major roles. The supporting cast of Alan Arkin, Tony Shalhoub, Xander Berkeley, Dean Norris, and Ernest Borgnine flesh out the tale and make it more real. It's another movie I've raved about before, and easily could again.

8. Clue. A movie about a board game should have been a disaster (cough Battleship cough), but this movie is a triumph. It's an absolutely brilliant piece of writing, somehow incorporating every last tiny detail of the rules of the game into the film in a natural way. It's also hilariously funny, and brought to life by a group of actors each seemingly one-upping the can't-catch-your-breath-from-laughing hysterics of the last. Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull, Leslie Ann Warren, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, and Madeline Kahn -- I'm not sure a more superb comedy ensemble has ever been assembled. I've been back out to the theater to see a midnight screening of this film, and would gladly do it again and again.

7. The Princess Bride. The notion that this movie might not be in my top 10? Inconceivable! Screenwriter William Goldman adapted his own brilliant novel into this wonderful wry and witty screenplay. At a time in the 1980s when so many fantasy films were being made that were unintentionally camp and funny, this movie was not only effortlessly comedic on purpose, but was simultaneously adventurous and exhilarating. It's a common theme among my top films here, but once again, an exceptional cast was assembled here by a wonderful director, Rob Reiner: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, André the Giant, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Fred Savage, and Peter Falk. Perfection! Anyone who has seen the movie will quote it endlessly and smile, but I think the real testament to the movie's greatness is how well the romance plays. I've been to more than one wedding reception where the closing song "Storybook Love" was played (including once as the couple's first dance). A wonderful film.

6. Moulin Rouge. This finest of movie musicals amazes even though it barely has any original songs in it; the use of "found" pop songs is that inspired. Director Baz Luhrmann serves a visual and aural banquet where all the sights and sounds are integral to the storytelling. The movie evokes every emotion from joyous euphoria to tearful sorrow; even though you're told at the outset exactly how it's all going to end, the impact of the conclusion isn't softened at all. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman give exceptional performances and make an exceptional couple. As the film says, "this is a story about love." And you truly feel that.