The Toronto International Film Festival is hogging the streets these days.
The A-listers flirt with the camera, tease their fans with their perfection — sculpted by the hands of escapists — and of course film reels are aplenty, giving movie nuts that much needed fix.
Movie nuts like me, perhaps. Between the wife and I, we have close to 400 films. And that’s after two separate purges of DVDs we just didn’t want, or regretted buying.
But I digress. TIFF is such a great thing for Toronto — hell, for Canada. It shows the world we love the artform. And don’t mind the actors that pick up the roles therein. With the film festival as inspiration, I’ve put together a list of my 25 favourite movies of all time.
| 25. |  |
What: Tombstone Year: 1993 Cast: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Michael Biehn, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe and Dana Delaney. Director: George P. Cosmatos Best Quote: “You die first, get it? Your friends might get me in a rush, but not before I make your head into a canoe, you understand me?” ~Wyatt Earp |
|---|---|---|
| 24. |  |
What: Cape Fear Year: 1962 Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Telly Savalas, Lori Martin, Polly Bergen and Martin Balsam. Director: J. Lee Thompson Best Quote: “I got something planned for your wife and kid that they ain’t never going to forget. They ain’t never going to forget it … and neither will you, Counselor! Never!” ~Max Cady |
| 23. |  |
What: The Ghost and the Darkness Year: 1996 Cast: Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas, Tom Wilkinson, John Kani, Om Puri and Emily Mortimer. Director: Stephen Hopkins Best Quote: “Lions don’t do this. Lions … never had a lair like this. They’re doing it for the pleasure.” ~Charles Remington |
| 22. |  |
What: Payback Year: 1999 Cast: Mel Gibson, Lucy Liu, Maria Bello, David Paymer and Kris Kristofferson. Director: Brian Helgeland Best Quote: “Crooked cops. Do they come in any other way? If I’d been just a little dumber, I could have joined the force myself.” ~Porter |
| 21. |  |
What: The Goonies Year: 1985 Cast: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton and Ke Huy Quan. Director: Richard Donner Best Quote: “The marijuana goes in the top drawer. The cocaine and speed go in the second drawer. And the heroin goes in the bottom drawer. Always separate the drugs.” ~Mouth (in Spanish) |
| 20. |  |
What: 42 Year: 2013 Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Chris Meloni and T.R. Knight. Director: Brian Helgeland Best Quote: “No. I want a player who’s got the guts not to fight back.” ~Branch Rickey |
| 19. |  |
What: Inside Man Year: 2006 Cast: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Plummer and Chiwetel Ojiofor. Director: Spike Lee Best Quote: “Fact is, all lies, all evil deeds, they stink. You can cover them up for a while, but they don’t go away.” ~Dalton Russell |
| 18. |  |
What: Pleasantville Year: 1998 Cast: Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels and Don Knotts. Director: Gary Ross Best Quote: “No, David. Nobody’s happy in a poodle skirt and a sweater set.” ~Jennifer |
| 17. |  |
What: Wayne’s World Year: 1992 Cast: Michael Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere, Rob Lowe, Bryan Doyle-Murray and Lara Flynn Boyle. Director: Penelope Spheeris Best Quote: “No Stairway. Denied!” ~Wayne Campbell |
| 16. |  |
What: Jaws Year: 1975 Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton. Director: Steven Spielberg Best Quote: “Smile you son of a … !” ~Brody |
| 15. |  |
What: Finding Forrester Year: 2000 Cast: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin and Busta Rhymes. Director: Gus Van Zant Best Quote: “No thinking — that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is … to write, not to think!” ~William Forrester |
| 14. |  |
What: Life of Pi Year: 2012 Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu, Rafe Spall and Gérard Depardieu. Director: Ang Lee Best Quote: “Animals have souls … I have seen it in their eyes.” ~Pi Patel |
| 13. |  |
What: Almost Famous Year: 2000 Cast: Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anna Paquin and Patrick Fugit Director: Cameron Crowe Best Quote: “Good-looking people don’t have any spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we’re smarter.” ~Lester Bangs |
| 12. |  |
What: Man on Fire Year: 2004 Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Christopher Walken, Marc Anthony and Mickey Rourke. Director: Tony Scott Best Quote: “Forgiveness is between them and God. It’s my job to arrange the meeting.” ~Creasy |
| 11. |  |
What: Backdraft Year: 1991 Cast: Kurt Russell, Billy Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Scott Glenn. Director: Ron Howard Best Quote: “You go. We go.” ~Lt. Steven McCaffrey |
| 10. |  |
What: Gilda Year: 1946 Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready and Joseph Calleia. Director: Charles Vidor Best Quote: “Sure. I’m decent.” ~Gilda |
| 9. |  |
What: Saving Silverman Year: 2001 Cast: Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn, Jack Black, Amanda Peet and Amanda Detmer. Director: Dennis Dugan Best Quote: “You’ve been pinching loaves on the lawn? I play croquet out there!” ~J.D. |
| 8. |  |
What: X-Men Year: 2000 Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry and Ian McKellen. Director: Bryan Singer Best Quote: “Are you a God-fearing man, Senator? That is such a strange phrase. I’ve always thought of God as a teacher; a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding.” ~Magneto |
| 7. |  |
What: Still Crazy Year: 1998 Cast: Stephen Rea, Billy Connolly, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Bill Nighy and Juliet Aubrey. Director: Brian Gibson Best Quote: “The last tour I did was ten years ago. It was Aerosmith, but they’ve gone and cleaned up their act. It’s all wheatgrass juice and fuckin’ pumpkin seeds. I hope you guys are still crazy, or I’m outta here.” ~Hughie |
| 6. |  |
What: Dazed and Confused Year: 1993 Cast: Jason London, Rory Cochrane, Matthew McConaghey and Ben Affleck. Director: Richard Linklater Best Quote: “Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.” ~Wooderson |
| 5. |  |
What: Empire of the Sun Year: 1987 Cast: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers and Joe Pantoliano Director: Steven Spielberg Best Quote: “I can’t remember what my parents look like.” ~Jim Graham |
| 4. |  |
What: The Others Year: 2001 Cast: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Alakina Mann and James Bentley. Director: Alejandro Amenábar Best Quote: “Sometimes the world of the living gets mixed up with the world of the dead.” ~Mrs. Mills |
| 3. |  |
What: Casablanca Year: 1942 Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt and Sydney Greenstreet. Director: Michael Curtiz Best Quote: “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” ~Rick Blaine |
| 2. |  |
What: L.A. Confidential Year: 1997 Cast: Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger, Danny Devito, David Strathairn and James Cromwell. Director: Curtis Hanson Best Quote: “I wouldn’t trade places with Edmund Exley right now for all the whiskey in Ireland.” ~Captain Dudley Smith |
| 1. |  |
What: The Big Lebowski Year: 1998 Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, David Huddleston and Tara Reid. Director: Joel and Ethan Cohen Best Quote: “Mark it zero!” ~Walter Sobchak |