My TOP 100 FILMS

The following list is my Top 100 Films of All-Time. I started this list when I was about 12 and I've kept updating it for the past 14 years or so. It's meaning has changed a bit with each incarnation. Right now, it's an interesting blend of films that I feel are the greatest, in a more objective way, and films that are personal favorites of mine, more subjectively. Enjoy!

AlexanderKhan's TOP 100 FILMS

1. Apocalypse Now (1979, F. Coppola)
2. Lawrence of Arabia (1962, D. Lean)
3. The Thin Red Line (1998, T. Malick)
4. 8 ½ (1963, F. Fellini)
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, S. Kubrick)
6. Mulholland Dr. (2001, D. Lynch)
7. Raging Bull (1980, M. Scorsese)
8. The Godfather Part II (1974, F. Coppola)
9. Heat (1995, M. Mann)
10. Alien (1979, R. Scott)

11. Lost in Translation (2003, S. Coppola)
12. Amadeus (1984, M. Forman)
13. The Empire Strikes Back (1980, I. Kershner)
14. The Insider (1999, M. Mann)
15. Goodfellas (1990, M. Scorsese)
16. Blade Runner [Final Cut] (1982, R. Scott)
17. Once Upon A Time in the West (1968, S. Leone)
18. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, A. Dominik)
19. Seven Samurai (1954, A. Kurosawa)
20. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, P. Jackson)

21. Malcolm X (1992, S. Lee)
22. The Shawshank Redemption (1994, F. Darabont)
23. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, A. Lee)
24. Magnolia (1999, P.T. Anderson)
25. There Will Be Blood (2007, P.T. Anderson)
26. The Silence of the Lambs (1991, J. Demme)
27. City of God (2002, F. Meirelles)
28. The Godfather (1972, F. Coppola)
29. Network (1976, S. Lumet)
30. The New World (2005, T. Malick)

31. Dances With Wolves (1990, K. Costner)
32. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, H. Selick)
33. Vertigo (1958, A. Hitchcock)
34. Aliens (1986, J. Cameron)
35. La Dolce Vita (1960, F. Fellini)
36. Ali (2001, M. Mann)
37. Field of Dreams (1989, P.A. Robinson)
38. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001, P. Jackson)
39. Das Boot (1981, W. Petersen)
40. Fargo (1996, J. Coen)

41. The Aviator (2004, M. Scorsese)
42. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004, A. Cuaron)
43. The Big Lebowski (1998, J. Coen)
44. Persona (1966, I. Bergman)
45. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F. Capra)
46. Kingdom of Heaven [Director’s Cut] (2005, R. Scott)
47. In The Bedroom (2001, T. Field)
48. The Graduate (1967, M. Nichols)
49. Schindler’s List (1993, S. Spielberg)
50. Star Wars (1977, G. Lucas)

51. Bringing Up Baby (1938, H. Hawks)
52. Pulp Fiction (1994, Q. Tarantino)
53. Apollo 13 (1995, R. Howard)
54. Taxi Driver (1976, M. Scorsese)
55. The Lives of Others (2006, F.H. von Donnersmark)
56. 25th Hour (2002, S. Lee)
57. The Constant Gardener (2005, F. Meirelles)
58. Shaun of the Dead (2004, E. Wright)
59. Stranger Than Fiction (2006, M. Forster)
60. Blue Velvet (1986, D. Lynch)

61. Adventureland (2009, G. Mattola)
62. Cache (2005, M. Haneke)
63. Wild Strawberries (1957, I. Bergman)
64. Donnie Darko (2001, R. Kelly)
65. (500) Days of Summer (2009, M. Webb)
66. Synecdoche, New York (2008, C. Kaufman)
67. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, G. del Toro)
68. Sling Blade (1996, B. Thornton)
69. The Prestige (2006, C. Nolan)
70. Days of Heaven (1978, T. Malick)

71. The Road (2009, J. Hillcoat)
72. Requiem For A Dream (2000, D. Aronofsky)
73. Gattaca (1997, A. Niccol)
74. WALL-E (2008, A. Stanton)
75. I’m Not There. (2007, T. Haynes)
76. Inland Empire (2006, D. Lynch)
77. 21 Grams (2003, A.G. Inarritu)
78. In Bruges (2008, M. McDonagh)
79. Lenny (1974, B. Fosse)
80. Moon (2009, D. Jones)

81. Coraline (2009, H. Selick)
82. The Fountain (2006, D. Aronofsky)
83. The Reader (2008, S. Daldry)
84. Brokeback Mountain (2005, A. Lee)
85. Traffic (2000, S. Soderbergh)
86. Moulin Rouge! (2001, B. Luhrmann)
87. Die Hard (1988, J. McTiernan)
88. Dazed and Confused (1993, R. Linklater)
89. Trainspotting (1996, D. Boyle)
90. Rear Window (1954, A. Hitchcock)

91. The Virgin Suicides (1999, S. Coppola)
92. Dogville (2003, L. von Trier)
93. The Matrix (1999, A. Wachowski/L. Wachowski)
94. Twelve Monkeys (1995, T. Gilliam)
95. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007, J. Schnabel)
96. On The Waterfront (1954, E. Kazan)
97. Fight Club (1999, D. Fincher)
98. Chinatown (1974, R. Polanski)
99. American Beauty (1999, S. Mendes)
100. The 400 Blows (1959, F. Truffaut)

Avatar: Perfecting the Art of Hype

Today, August 20, James Cameron released the teaser trailer for his new film Avatar, and unless you've been living under a rock for the past 5 years, you've probably heard something about this film already. If you haven't, you will soon, and this is no accident. Cameron, who has not made a feature film since Titanic (1997), has perfected the art of how to build hype around his projects before their release.

Titanic, 12 years after its release, is still the most financially successful film ever made, and considering the inflation of ticket prices since '97 this is most impressive. To put it in perspective, the most successful film worldwide since Titanic is Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), and in order to match Titanic's $1.8 billion gross it would have needed to make an additional $700 million. That's the entire amount the hugely successful film Transformers made worldwide in 2007.

James Cameron is no dummy, and he learned a lot from his Titanic experience. A lot of factors went into making Titanic the massive phenomenon it became. Everyone knew the story behind the making of Titanic before they ever saw a single frame. It was the most expensive film ever made, had one of the most complicated productions of all time, and featured two of the biggest rising stars on the planet. It was also the subject of rumor and speculation long before principal photography had completed. There had been talk in Hollywood that the film wouldn't get finished due to massive problems on set, and the fact that it took so long to produce added credibility to the rumors. The release date was pushed from July to December 1997, and by the time the film came out there was such anticipation that everyone just had to see what all the fuss was about. Now Cameron is recreating some of the same factors that helped make Titanic a success.

He's learned that the story behind the story is just as important, and he's been writing the tale behind Avatar for a long time. Cameron first envisioned Avatar 15 years ago as a sweeping Sci-Fi epic filled with adventure, romance (sound familiar), and mind blowing special effects that blend reality seamlessly with fantasy in 3-D. He realized that the technology required to fulfill his vision did not yet exist, so he waited. He made Titanic, worked on TV documentaries and did screen tests until he felt conditions were right to begin. And while it may be true that technology has come a long way in the last 15 years, the length of time between Cameron's major projects has helped feed the hype narrative. This is not to suggest that he delayed purposely just to build a backstory. Conventional wisdom would have been to complete another film quickly in order to capitalize on the success of Titanic, but he knew that waiting would only help in the long term.

Cameron is a legendary perfectionist, a larger than life figure who gets exactly what he wants, and nothing less, no matter what. For the last 5 years he's been working night and day to make Avatar exactly the way he envisioned it almost 2 decades ago. Unlike Titanic, this time Cameron has taken a page from Star Wars and hired a cast of virtual unknowns, led by Sam Worthington. Cameron was the visionary behind the Terminator franchise in the early 80s, so perhaps it's fitting Worthington just broke out as the surprise star of Terminator Salvation, overshadowing Christian Bale. Worthington shot his Avatar performance before Terminator, which is yet another indication of how long it's taken to finalize the film.

Controversy is one of hype's closest allies, and to no surprise Avatar has had some. There was a bit of a dispute between studios over the rights to the name "Avatar." M. Night Shyamalan directed an adaptation of the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, but when they attempted to register the name "Avatar" with the MPAA they discovered Cameron had beaten them to the punch. Shyamalan's film was renamed The Last Airbender and it's due out Summer 2010.
The biggest piece of hype, however, is the film itself. Cameron is a master at making his films a can't miss event. Tomorrow, August 21, is officially "Avatar Day." The trailer released today on Apple.com will be released in theaters around the world, along with special limited screenings of a 15 minute preview, and the unveiling of the video game and toys to coincide with the film. If all goes according to plan, by the time December 18 rolls around just about everyone will feel compelled to see the film. Today the public got their first glimpse of the rumored mind-blowing effects, but you can bet that Cameron is keeping the most amazing footage under tight wraps so that the audience leaves the theater feeling like they've just witnessed something they've never seen before. The key to Titanic's success was word of mouth recommendations and repeat viewers after the first wave of people came away captivated. You can bet Cameron is banking on the same thing happening for Avatar.