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Genres 10 Lists

Posted by Austin Cinephile

Once more, we here at AustinCinephile are arrogant enough to try to categorize this ever-expansive amalgam of cinematic achievements into finite lists. For this posting we’re taking it straight to the heart as we identify some of our favorite flicks from different genres. The rules are simple: pick any ten genres and identify the film most deserving of that genre’s top spot. Whether the film chosen is the most representative of that genre, a film that turned the genre completely on its head, or simply a personal favorite of the phylum is up to the individual contributor. Take a look at our selections and post your love or hate messages via comments at the end of the post. Enjoy.

DANIEL
Desperate Living (1977) – Anti-Comedy: John Waters’ third major feature is a tour-de-force, the culmination of his work as a trash film king. The story, about a community of outlaws living under the tyranny of a grotesque queen (played by Edie the Egg Lady), is one gut-busting gag after another.

The Girl Can’t Help It (1956) – Rock and Roll Comedy: Frank Tashlin was able to make fiction films look like cartoons; it didn’t hurt that he made this great film with the cartoonishy proportioned Jayne Mansfield. The film also features great rock performances, including the title song by Little Richard.

Horse Feathers (1932) – Musical Comedy:

While perhaps not the greatest Marx Brothers movie, Horse Feathers has so many great things that its parts outweigh its sum. The Brothers’ best musical numbers (“I’m Against it!” and “Everyone Says I Love You”), some of their best wordplays and gags, and the Brothers doing what they do best: messing things up.

The Jazz Singer (1927) – Almost Silent-Musical: While primarily a silent film, The Jazz Singer follows/establishes the generic conventions that would later make up the musical. The star, Al Jolson, was most definitely the greatest performer of all time, and he shines in this film with every one of his songs and dances. Blue skies, smiling at me…

The Maltese Falcon (1941) – Film Noir: Not exactly a bold choice, but why should it be? This film’s got great snappy dialogue, dead-on performances, a brilliant story, and Peter Lorre.

The Punishment of Anne aka The Image (1975) – Hardcore Pornography: Class sex auteur Radley Metzger’s ode to the Marquis de Sade stands high in the pantheon of smut, and for good reason; the alluring sex scenes are matched with a tone of danger and wickedness with an eye for good composition and editing in a place that almost reaches legitimacy.

The Shining (1980) – Art Horror: This picture is scary! Master Stanley Kubrick created a breathtaking blend of art film techniques with hair-raising tone and images, a tour de force of crazy.

The Squid and the Whale (2005) – Period Coming of Age Film: I include this in small part because I wanted to include something from the last 10 years, but mostly because this is a brilliant film with more heart than anything I’ve ever seen. The writing, directing, performances, and everything else down to even the 16mm film stock make this a must see for anyone who wants to re-assess their youth and families.

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) – Sci-Fi Fantasy: What can I say about this film that recreates the hokey sci-fi serials of old in a way that defied convention and box-office expectations? Mos Eisley Cantina, lightsabers, the Force, the Kessel Run…this film’s got it all.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) – Indie Horror: This brilliant cheapie hits in all the right places while remaining subtle and restrained; no murders are depicted graphically, although we still are satisfied with women hanging on meathooks and a chainsaw wielding, mask wearing mama’s boy. An artless exercise in terror ends up creating some of the most iconic and beautiful imagery of any genre, especially Leatherface’s gorgeous chainsaw ballet of frustration at the picture’s end.

MICHAEL
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) – Western

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – Slasher

Yojimbo (1961) – Samurai:

I love Seven Samurai, but I have to take Yojimbo over the more iconic Seven, not because I believe Yojimbo is a superior film. Seven Samurai is one of those films that can stand against any other picture. It is an epic completed with such skill and dedication by all involved players that few films can ever hope to stand alongside it. My reason for choosing Yojimbo over Seven, then, is simply that Yojimbo’s title protagonist falls more in line with the ronin characterization that I tend to look for in my samurai leads, a convention that I feel is at the heart of the samurai genre. So, while I acknowldge that Seven Samurai is the superior picture, Yojimbo is the one that makes my list. And I think few people would argue against the genius of Yojimbo, even if it is not a Seven Samurai.

The Exorcist (1973) – Horror

Almost Famous (2000) – Coming of Age

Batman Begins (2005) – Superhero: This one was a tough one for me. I am big fan of the superhero genre picture, simply because I love superheroes. I read comics as a youngster, even collected the marvel comic cards. Today I still read comics, though in the much more prestigious guise of the “graphic novel.” And the superhero that stars in most of my graphic novels: Batman. He was my introduction to superheroes, with Tim Burton’s 1989 film and, along with the X-Men, drew me toward Fox’s superhero animated television with the still beloved and truly masterful Batman the Animated Series. It should come as no surprise, then, that a Batman picture should top my superhero genre list. My dilemma over which Batman film to choose is not, as many of you may assume, between the two Nolan installments, but rather between Nolan and Burton—garde versus the old. I love Buton’s Batman. His gothic approach, the subtle way he incorporated hand drawn animation, Nicholson’s iconic performance, the list goes on and on. This posting is the first time I am actually acknowledging my newly-declared devotion to Batman Begins. Like his Batman, Nolan has ignited superhero genre escalation. We can no longer go back to the way it was. We must look forward and prepare for what is to come.

Full Metal Jacket (1987) – War

Die Hard (1988) – Hard Body Action

Mean Girls (2004) – Girlie Flick

The Godfather (1972) / Goodfellas (1990) – Gangster: For the life of me, I just can’t rate one over the other within the consideration of the gangster genre. Both are brilliant films, masterpieces in their own rights. I consider The Godfather to be the greatest American film ever made (yes, bring on the commentary backlash) and Goodfellas to be the greatest film of one of the most respected and legendary filmmakers of our time. But, within the gangster genre, they are level. Goodfellas’s overt glamorization relies on a sense of contemporary hipness that distinguishes it from The Godfather’s classical homage to La Cosa Nostra. Each has its own unique style, it’s own themes and concerns. In the end the films are too different and ultimately too good for one to clearly establish a superiority over the other in terms of gangster criteria. Instead I must fuse them together as two sides of the same coin, the ultimate gangster double feature. But the question still hangs: if I were that programmer, in which order would I bill them?

STEPHEN
The Aviator (2004) – Historical Epic: It helps that this film takes place during my favorite time in history, when Hollywood icons were living large and brushing shoulders at fancy nightclubs in their swanky duds. Not only does it delve deeply into the fatal combination of power and paranoia that eventually overcame Howard Hughes (a career-boosting performance from Leonardo DiCaprio), but it also gives us glimpses of ancient legends as played by future legends (Jude Law-Errol Flynn, Cate Blanchett-Katherine Hepburn). Scorsese knows what it means to love movies and the people in them, and this is about as good a love letter to the cinema as we could hope for.

The Omen (1976) – Uh Oh, It’s Satan!

Superman: The Movie – Superhero:

Many will try to say that the superhero has been steadily getting better, evolving in depth and maturity from X-Men 2 to Spider-man 2 to The Dark Knight. But for my money, none of them have topped the granddaddy of the genre, Superman: The Movie, which was directed by Richard Donner (who also directed The Omen). It had an incredibly expensive cameo from Marlon Brando as well as a subtler and undoubtedly cheaper appearance by Glenn Ford, both favorite actors of mine. Toss in names like Gene Hackman and Ned Beatty and you’ve got one of the finest casts ever assembled for a superhero film surrounding what proved to be pitch-perfect casting in Christopher Reeve. People often say that an actor was born to play a certain role, but I think the saying has rarely fit better. Reeve does everything right as Superman, which is quite impressive when you realize that, even in the good superhero movies that followed, the actors playing the hero were never really that impressive (Michael Keaton? Christian Bale? Tobey Maguire?).

The Proposition (2005) – Neo-Western: What could be neo-er than taking a genre established in the frontier of America and tossing it into the 19th century outback of Australia? Unlike other American examples like Unforgiven or Open Range, which barely rattled the cage of the Western genre, The Proposition totally upended the whole thing, thanks to surreal scenes involving a muttering John Hurt and the howlingly marvelous Danny Huston as well as an unsettling and entirely unique score from Australian post-punk legend Nick Cave. There has never been a film like this one, and it truly saddens me that no one has seen it.

The Terminator (1984) – Sci-Fi

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) – Biopic

The Public Enemy (1931) – Gangster Film

The Thin Man (1934) – Whodunit

Take the Money and Run (1969) – Mockumentary

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) – Musical