The Popcorn Unicorn's Top 50 Most Influential Films (Part Three)

The Innocents

Based on one of Henry James' most well-known ghost stories The Turning of the Screw, The Innocents is a deeply unsettling yet utterly compulsive exercise in psychological horror which does not underestimate its audience by presenting them with the typical "BOO!" scares, instead, it relies upon a gradual and self-assured unfolding of story and building tension. 

Director Freddie Francis made excellent use of the visual and sound medium, one tool of which being the employment of deep focus, extremely bold yet minimalist lighting as well as the first usage of electronic synthesized composed by Daphne Oram. The entire film feels exactly as true blooded Gothic horror romance should with puissant performances by Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave as well as stunning work from the two child actors Pamela Franklin and Martin Stephens. 

The Devils

Who doesn't adore a film so controversial that every time it is mentioned in any entertainment-related circle it results in an intellectual and moral bloodbath? 

Only recently I finally managed to buy Ken Russell's pearl-clutcher uncut and it's one of the finest investments I have ever made. When it comes to religion and the basest of human instincts, nothing could be more fascinating to us because The Devils dares to expose the hypocrisy piety spreads among those who claim to be faithful and rubs it in our faces so lusciously. Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave don't so much shine in their roles but burn with the heat of infinite Hells as Father Grandier and Jeanne respectively because The Devils demands absolute commitment to the savage madness it portrays.

Sita Sings The Blues

This delightful, obscure film is a hard sell when it comes to giving recommendations, but it is a film which never fails to cheer me up while enduring difficult times. 

Sita Sings The Blues was written, directed, produced AND animated by American artist Nina Paley who tells her own personal story of a dissolving marriage and eventual divorce from her emotionally distant husband while interspeding it with The Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit poem. While the latter story is distinctly pared-down from the original source, it not less offers the viewer a fascinating journey of the human experience and how while our lives can be wounded, they can also be restored by perseverance and faith in ourselves. 

Ninja Scroll

Set during Feudal Japan, Yoshiaki Kawajiri's Ninja Scroll is a skull-slammed-to-the-wall (I don't have balls to be pinned to the wall because obviously) adrenaline injection of an anime consisting of badass ronin heroes, supernaturally-imbued ninjas, ker-AZAY physics-defying fights, insanely incredible animation with a surprising, though subtle sense of heart. Oh, and its pretty gory and has tits, so that's awesome.  

The Silence of the Lambs

I did a think piece on this very film a little while ago so I don't think this warrants further explanation. 

Picnic At Hanging Rock

A fever dream or a luxuriously somnambulistic nightmare? 

Peter Weir's extraordinary adaptation of Joan Lindsays' historical fiction weave (no, it's not real, sorry kids) marries a sense of beauty, wonder yet creeping and uncertain fear of ones' presence in the world. Gorgeously shot on location with other-worldly performances, Picnic At Hanging Rock has never failed in making me feel simultaneously (and frustratingly) insouciant and troubled. 

Goodfellas

In my eyes, this remains Martin Scorseses' best film and that is saying a lot. The acting, the visual and audio craft, attention to detail and fearlessness of what is considered by many, me among them, to be the ultimate gangster movie is infectious. 

The entire movie is one of the ultimate exercises in living vicariously; one minute you want to be in wiseguy Ray Liotta's polished shoes living the American Dreammare, the next you fear for your very soul with Joe Pesci breathing down your neck. Just astounding. 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Let's face it; when you read the title, that theme song played in your head.

While its status as being the ultimate Western will forever continue to be debated, this is undoubtedly Sergio Leones' capolavoro assoluto due to its sheer iconography and mythical pageantry of a godless and savage land which exists between our realm and that of the never.

Black Christmas

At Casa de Harper, Bob Clarks' classic Christmas-themed slasher is as stalwart as stringing entrails mistletoe above the doorway. 

I feel a lot of people these days tend to undermine the fact Black Christmas is a legitimately terrifying and effective film which is as just as packed with dread as it is with liberal bloodshed. Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder and John Saxon are but three of a very well-assembled cast of characters who are not there for the sake of being canon fodder, but who present as genuinely endearing individuals you enjoy being alive as opposed to dead while the enigmatic 'Billy' and his phone-based harassment of the sorority will never not be grotesquely visceral and vulgar as an anal cavity exam with a snot-covered glove. 

Sorry. 

The Seventh Seal

A contemplation of life, death, belief, doubt and the very notion of existence with the mise-en-scène being one of the worst events of human history taking the form of a chess game? 

Of course, it HAS to be an Ingmar Bergman film, it HAS to be brilliant and it just so happens to feature one of my personal favourite incarnations of Death ever on screen. 

The Popcorn Unicorns Top 50 Most Influential Films (Part Two)

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens

While Werner Herzog paid tribute with his own admittedly masterful remake with his best frenemy Klaus Kinski, the silent version holds a particular distinction with me because it was the first silent film I saw and remains one of the finest Dracula films ever made.

For a movie constrained by the the lack of sound, it more than makes up for in visuals which break the barrier of translation. Max Schreck's Orlok is a horror to behold with his rodent-like features, lean, imposing frame and his haunting yet balletic movements. It's truly little wonder that when 'Nosferatu' is mentioned, he is the first thing anybody thinks of.

That being said, Murnau's eye for detail and techniques are nothing to be sneezed at because the entire film, pardon the dull descriptor, is like being stuck in a nightmare, one of which, like Orlok himself, you can't escape once its shadow looms over you.

A Clockwork Orange

Oh boy, haha. Those who know me already know how I came to see this movie, but for the rest of you who don't, it was due to Pa Harper. To be fair, I was 17 at the time, technically old enough to watch it but it still makes me laugh that my father was more than happy to show me this film filled with violence, cynicism, rape, moral degeneration and chaos. Turns out I didn't just take after him looks-wise, but taste wise too.

I don't need to get into the particulars here because you've heard it all before, however, this was the very first Stanley Kubrick movie I ever had the privilege to see, dubious as it may be!

PS: I also had a mad crush on Mal McDowell, not that should surprise you too much by this point, yes?

Do The Right Thing

I wouldn't consider myself a devoted fan to Spike Lee by any means, but when a director makes a powerful, thoughtful and actually very funny film about class, bias, racial issues and how much it seeps into practically every facet of our identity and our interactions with each other, far be it from me to ignore or down-play it. This film also has one of the THE BEST casts I have ever seen in a movie and they all fit into this world so beautifully. I have never been to film school, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate just how substantial an impact Do The Right Thing has had on not only the cinematic climate, but our reality.

The Rock

Sometimes you just can't go by a film driven by pure action and over the top machismo with zero pretension. However, I hesitate to call Michael Bay's sophomore directorial effort brainless because there is a legitimately fascinating point to discuss; the treatment of veterans.

General Hummel (a fantastic Ed Harris) is one of those villains who turns out to not be so bad at all and all he wanted was to make a completely valid point which to this day still gets glossed over in quite a few countries.

While this film should NOT be taken first and foremost as a political statement, it offers some interesting food for thought amidst the explosions, mayhem and the presence of The Glorious He, Nicholas Cage.

The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day

YES! I dare to cheat! Whatcha gonna do?! *Notices some readers already clicking off this article* Sigh. Fair play.

The reason why I've lobbed these two films together is because I feel they behave as one cohesive organism, despite their individual differences. As James Cameron himself said, his Terminator films are violent movies about peace, the notion that destiny is nebulous rather than set, technology if left unchecked is a danger to us all, nuclear warfare really fucking blows and that anybody, no matter how insignificant they may seem, have the capacity to contribute to something greater and make a true difference in the world.
And every child should have their own Terminator.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

Alright, while technically it is Jason and the Argonauts which holds the distinction of being the Harryhausen movie which got me, hear me out. The Golden Voyage of Sinbad has far more of a focus on not only story but also character development. While the narrative is perfectly straight forward and uncomplicated (Sinbad and friends go after the Fountain of Youth at the behest of a mysterious vizier), what makes it shine is the fact the characters are legitimately very interesting if not likeable; John Phillip Law, who spent quite a lot of his career being stoic makes for a very laid back yet clearly capable Sinbad who isn't afraid to have a laugh when not fending off the dangers which come his way. Caroline Munro is well... rather... shapely *ahem*.

However, it’s Doctor Who himself, Tom Baker, as Koura who really makes an impact. Unlike the baddies in most of the films Harryhausen worked on, Koura has far more to him than mere wickedness due to the fact that every time he uses magic, he physically deteriorates. His amazing powers come with a deadly price. He has MOTIVATION to do what he does beyond mere your typical world domination and mastery of the dark arts. This is the type of character depth which is not typically seen in these types of movies and it is because of this, this particular Sinbad film holds particular precedent.

Oh yeah, and Harryhausen's stop motion work broke the boundaries in this movie too, namely in the frankly impressive sword fight between Sinbad, his men and a sentient statue avatar of the goddess Kali. Read up about how this was achieved, talk about risky.

Psycho

While not the first film which covered the notion of murderous killers, maimers, torturers and moral malcontents, Hitchcock's slick, shocking adaptation of Robert Bloch's story has earned every accolade it has obtained for being the first film which fully investigated the psychology of said psycho. 

Anthony Perkins delivers an immortal performance as the malevolent yet also incredibly emotionally assailable Norman Bates; you fear him, you're charmed by him, you pity him, Hell, even while disposing of the remains of the ill-fated Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) you find yourself wanting him to succeed.

To say any more about the movie in general would be a redundant crime against critical analysis and fresh perspective, but know Psycho has earned its praise for being so daring and so different and so refreshingly disturbing.

Spirited Away

My inaugaral exposure to the glorious Studio Ghibli and the first time in a long time in my cinematically jaded 20-something life in which I felt the type of enchantment a child sees when they see an elephant for the first time.

Hayao Miyazaki has built an empire on breaking the Western confines of animation and the telling of tale by presenting charming yet incredibly pertinent stories centering around the virtues of endurance, personal development and most importantly, discovering the magic in oneself with a little bit from the outside for some charming embellishment.

The journey of young Chihiro is one which challenges perception of self and opens your eyes in such a way you don't truly realise what it is doing until the end credits. It doesn't feel forced, it doesn't preach an obnoxiously obvious message, instead, it dances to the beat of it's own drum all the while extending a hand to you to join without pretension or malice to your intelligence.

This was also the film which made me SO HUNGRY for every food ever shown in any Ghibli film. My GOODNESS animated munchies never looked so appetizing.

Vampire Circus

- Seven-Year-Old Popcorn Unicorn

- Awesome Loveable Babysitter

- Parents go out for the night, leaving Seven-Year-Old Popcorn Unicorn in Awesome Loveable Babysitter's care.

- Seven-Year-Old Popcorn Unicorn can't sleep and asks Awesome Loveable Babysitter if she can sit up and watch the movie on TV. Awesome Loveable Babysitter agrees.

- The movie on TV is Vampire Circus. Vampire Circus has liberal servings of nudity, sex, violence, bright red blood and the GLEEFUL MURDER OF FUCKING CHILDREN.

- Seven-Year-Old Popcorn Unicorn grows up to be a bad ass and not at all scarred by what she saw.

This has to be one of the most underrated yet incredible chapters in vintage Hammer Horror due to the fact it is a standalone feature and it's just so wonderfully perverse you can't help but adore just how daring it was and how big of a middle finger it flipped toward reactive pearl-clutching.

Blazing Saddles

This may be controversial, but by the same token I feel quite a few of you may agree, that Mel Brooks' gut-busting, egg-laying, lung-choking, sinus-snorting, pants-peeing lampoon of the Western genre is undoubtedly a classic.

You can't go three minutes or less without chortling your botty off while watching this film, be it a sight or sound gag, a marvelous one liner (this film is infinitely quotable), a clever subversion of expectation, a surprisingly humane streak and some good old fashioned slapstick. Blazing Saddles is the spoof which truly has it all with an impeccable cast of comedic actors headlines by Gene Wilder, Clevon Little, Harvey Korman and the irreplaceable Madeline Khan.

The Popcorn Unicorn's Top 50 Most Influential Films (Part One)

Sooooooooo. I have been shamelessly influenced by a good friend and fellow cinenerd with a list he is in the process of making with his Top 50 Favourite Movies of all time, however, I wanted to do something a teensy bit different. This post is the commencement of a Top 50 list of films which have, in some fashion, shape or form have influenced me, be it emotionally, artistically or psychologically and perhaps sometimes all three. 

A brief caveat before we begin; the features listed here may not be films which could be perceived as legitimately good, because to me, relevance and creative brilliance aren't strictly the same. Art and opinionated response is as subjective as it is objective and I would like to say this now; chances are, you will most certainly NOT agree with some of my choices, however, I would also like to say this list should not be taken as anything remotely empirical or beholden to some sort of personal agenda. It's just a bunch of movies which have affected me as I can only speak for myself and nobody else. Savvy? Wonderful. ^^

So without, further ado, let's get this cinematic kegger started!

Showgirls

Ah, the ultimate exercise in rampant stupidity, excess and retrospective satirical brilliance which could have only been pulled off by the Meester Goochelaar Paul Verhoeven.

Only recently Elizabeth Berkley finally managed to appreciate her indomitable performance as the psychopathic bitch-face that was Nomi Malone and with that came a sense of full circle, which is actually most satisfying twofold- for her peace of mind and for my own further enjoyment of the movie. A film so drenched in nudity that after 15 minutes, you pretty much become desensitized to it all, including one of the most HILARIOUS sex scenes in movie history. With an exception to Liz, what I love most is how a majority of the principle cast pretty much figured out exactly what sort of film they were in and ran with it across the goal post and back with a smirk, a wink and a cheeky wiggle.

Pan's Labyrinth

Image credit: Matthew Griffin

Those of you who know me well enough also know I'm married to Senor Del Toro; he just doesn't know it yet.

He has consistently been a very entertaining, visually stimulating artisan director who is strongly drawn to the fantastical and the strange and isn't afraid to show his nerdy, fanboy roots. While I have enjoyed pretty much all of his movies (Hell, I will defend Mimic to a certain extent), none of them have ever quite reached the level of Pan's Labyrinth. I have a strong attraction to fairy tales, both vanilla and twisted and to have these elements allegorically mixed in with the brutal historical backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, somehow the stars aligned to make what is arguably his most perfect film.

Stunning visuals, cohesive story-telling, atmosphere, intelligent and INCREDIBLE performances, a standout being Sergi Lopez as the dastardly yet mortally vulnerable Captain Vidal, this is Huzbando #1's unequivocal masterpiece.

The Little Mermaid

While not the finest hour of what is now known as the Disney Renaissance, this was the first Disney film I saw on the big screen which completely drew me into the House of Mouse.

Hans Christen Andersen's fairy tale was definitely not fit to be told to the wide public so clearly, alterations had to be made. Yes, the tropes are as old as Stonehenge, but you know what? They work. They work because they are universal; the rebellion of youth, exploring the unknown, defying expected societal constraints and curiousity, those are all qualities which appeal to us. Yes, Ariel can be a brat, but you need to remember, she is 16 years old and tell me, what were you like at Sweet 16? Additionally, without her tenacious, firebrand desire to know more about what lies beyond the waves, we wouldn't have had a story and who knows, we may not have had Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King in hot pursuit.

And damn, those songs are catchy and Ursula is a fabulous and fierce bitch who I can't help but love.

Die Hard With A Vengeance

I know, I know, how dare I, I'm a philistine, yep, yep, yep. Now hear me out.

Die Hard to this day remains the superior entry of the saga of John McClane's REALLY Bad Fucking Day, but it was the third installment which formally introduced me to the grumpy New York detective. While by this point audiences were used to his ways, I had no idea who this man was, so when I watched this film with Pa Harper for the first time, I was going in fully blind. And you know what? While the film does manage to work quite well as a standalone what with being chockers with outstanding action and moments of genuine suspense, it also made me want to seek out the first film which fully cemented my love for the series (well... some of the series).

Additionally, you can't say Vengeance was wholly brainless either, what with it's timing being very close to home due to the infamous LA riots and the fact that John McClane's reluctant but not less badass partner, Zeus, was an African American man and you have a very interesting dynamic between the two. I also have to say, while Jeremy Irons has revealed himself to be a piece of trash, Simon made for a compelling and smarmy foil who you can't help but enjoy, complete with his smugness and oily delivery.

Dirty Harry

Gotta love that tagline, by the way.

This film is still so misunderstood and for the life of me, I still don't understand why.

While it is most definitely a product of it's time in regards to it's attitude toward the impotent justice system which favored the guilty and failed the innocent, such feelings of extreme cynicism exist today, maybe  moreso. While Harry can be viewed as a racist, bigoted prick on first meeting, that couldn't be further from the truth. For all of his brusque, no-bullshit attitude and socially affront comportment, Detective Harry Callahan is one of the most compassionate and humane characters with plenty of guile to spare and none of these qualities have anything to do with his .44. He is so frustrated by the broken judiciary that while he does end up taking matters into his own hands vigilante-style at the end, it's because it is a final resort. If you ask me, this movie came out at the right time, but it's echo can still be heard loud and clear and potentially continues to be so.

Oh, and Andrew Robinson's Scorpio? Easily one of the most vile villains in movie history.

Fright Night (original)

A colourful and wicked EC-comic inspired take on the vampire genre made at the most opportune epoch of history which not only looks back but cleverly looks forward with an explosive soundtrack, some truly astounding practical effects, the right amount of humor and horror and Chris Fucking Sarandon wearing a turtleneck sweater as only he could. Insta-classic.

Jurassic Park

DINOSAURS! And some thoughtful meditations of human arrogance on becoming self-proclaimed gods using the new alchemy known as science I suppose, BUT DINOSAURS! This was the film which single-handedly made me a fan of cinema. Not just the blockbuster, not just the lizards who stalked the Earth long before I was a glint in my father's eye, but the sheer definition and spectacle of the big screen.

You know that moment, the drop of that metaphorical penny which makes you realise you want to be a part of something and mold your identity because of it? Jurassic Park was one of those defining moments and I haven't looked back since.

Fantasia 

Another Disney film (you can probably expect to see a few more of these as the journey continues), but another which left an indelible impact on me. If I had to categorize in what way this film has affected me, it would be one which is emotional.

While some segments had their own self-contained story, they were not what one could consider cohesive as a whole; flowers, sentient brooms, Mickey Mouse as a wizard, dancing mushrooms, the evolution of life on Earth billions of years ago, centaurs (oh, don't worry, I'm well aware of the latent racism this film has due to the time it was made and the attitudes reflected), Greek gods, dancing hippos, prancing crocodiles and every unimaginable horror being conjured on Wulpurgisnacht, like, what IS all of this for? The way I see it, Fantasia is a film which is vague yet familiar which appeals to your emotional center as opposed to your strictly intellectual one. BTW, one of my fave moments features an interval with the orchestra when one of the band members takes a stumble on the podium and his bandmates chuckle at him.

Fantasia is a film which celebrates moments, good, bad and indecipherable and do you know what else is good, bad and indecipherable? Life.

PS: There was a sequel, but we don't really talk about that on account of total inferiority.

Alien

Extra-terrestrial Freudian rape themes, genital-based terror, perverse parenthood and brick-labor inducing prolonged periods of suspense- in other words, my biography. NEXT!

Das Boot

While I wouldn't say this was the first foreign film I ever saw, it is the first foreign film which I understood and appreciated fully. Wolfgang Petersen is a director I feel who doesn't earn nearly as much praise as he should because he can direct the fuck out of a film, be it action, gripping human drama, catgut-thrumming thriller and in the case of Das Boot, all three.

What resonated with me most was despite the fact the characters you follow through this film are technically Nazis, but rather than take the cheap way out of displaying them as reprehensible caricatures (and let's not split hairs here, the Nazis were trash), these guys are really just soldiers who have been conscripted by those in power to fight. As the film progresses, we see these men, some who are no older than 15 years old age both physically and emotionally. Nobody on any side of any war wakes up saying "I'M GONNA BE A BAD GUY! I'M GONNA WAKE UP AND EAT MY EVIL CORNFLAKES, WALK MY EVIL DOG, BUY MY EVIL NEWS PAPER AND MY EVIL BOTTLE OF MILK!" and Das Boot investigates this truth in harrowing detail by showing these men as people, people in the middle of a devastating conflict who were only doing their job. This was never about politics for them, it was about the obligation of duty.

Das Boot does not glamorize a single thing about being on a German U-Boat or makes any attempts to defend Nazism nor does it display anything remotely sycophantic about war or ideology.