Short Thought

I just got back from a works do and realised that, typically for me, I was attending my first open bar event a week after giving up drinking. I had two lemonades. One was flat.
Anyway, it was quite a lavish do and got me thinking about my upbringing and how different my life is now.
I was using three ply toilet paper this morning and for some reason got to thinking about having to make do with newspaper to wipe my arse as a child. That sounds awful but it was a regular occurrence when I was growing up.

And...........Go

As much as I'm unsure that it'll be of interest, I'm going to try and document something about my day.
A bit of background then; I've just turned 30, I'm unsure I enjoy any aspect of my life apart from time on my own. I'm not going to focus on huge issues I should add. Rather the minutiae of my life as this is eternally more interesting than my political opinions. Not that I'm clever nor interesting enough to pull off talking about MPs. I'm not even interesting enough to talk about M&Ms. But more about them a different day. Maybe.
Today, I realised I don't really like my job and I was desperately thinking about alternatives. My long term goal was always primary teaching but now I get paid too much to take the wage cut and I feel trapped. The trouble with me is that I get an idea into my head and then react without thinking. That's why I left the love of my life when I did. Or when I accepted another job without informing my current employers and they found out when an email hit asking for a reference. I live so muvh inside my own head that it's scary.
I looked into doing a Masters in Creative Writing but I'm not sure the outlay os worth the reward. It seems that it wouldn't actually open any doors for me career wise.
I talked to my ex recently and I was complaining that I want a job I enjoy and that makes me happy but she did't think that exists. I hope that isn't true.
Anyway, this entry will be shorter than usual but I will try and log every day.
Cheerio chaps, you've been great.

Top 100 Films (2015)

Two years ago I published my first list of my 100 favourite films of all time. I thought the time was right to publish a follow up, given that I have watched old favourites again as well as having seen a lot more five star films since then. I'll discuss the list in a bit more detail afterwards but here it is (previous placings are in brackets): 

100. The Godfather Part II (40)

99. Looper (83)

98. Unbreakable (79)

97. Zero Dark Thirty (24)

96. Casablanca (New entry)

95. Being John Malkovich (New entry)

94. The Hunt (New entry)

93. Citizen Kane (67) 

92. Submarine (12) 

91. Django Unchained (43)

90. East of Eden (New entry)

89. Clerks (92)

88. Avengers Assemble (90)

87. Three Kings (59)

86. Requiem for a Dream (25)

85. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (New entry)

84. Brokeback Mountain (35)

83. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New entry)

82. Welcome to the Dollhouse (100)

81. Goodfellas (34)

80. The Terminator (54)

79. Trainspotting (26)

78. The Dark Knight (87) 

77. Inglourious Basterds (New entry)

76. Frost/Nixon (New entry)

75. The Bunny and the Bull (New entry)

74. Forrest Gump (42)

73. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (48)

72. Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang (20)

71. Apocalypto (94)

70. Shaun of the Dead (New entry)

69. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (New entry)

68. Gangs of New York (New entry)

67. Before Sunrise (New entry)

66. Drive (37)

65. Fantastic Mr. Fox (21)

64. End of Watch (New entry)

63. Inception (39)

62. Three Colours: White (New entry)

61. Captain Phillips (New entry)

60. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (New entry)

59. True Romance (97)

58. Rope (New entry)

57. Good Will Hunting (47)

56. The Matrix (23)

55. Fargo (Non-mover)

54. Dead Man's Shoes (36)

53. Ghostbusters (New entry)

52. Gladiator (38)

51. Schindler's List (28)

50. The Godfather (29)

49. Pulp Fiction (13)

48. The Woodsman (65)

47. The Departed (New entry)

46. The Lost Weekend (New entry)

45. Vertigo (77)

44. North By Northwest (99)

43. Aliens (New entry)

42. Saving Private Ryan (32)

41. Die Hard (New entry)

40. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (27)

39. American Beauty (69)

38. Raging Bull (22)

37. Signs (17)

36. Warrior (81)

35. City Of God (11)

34. Being There (New entry)

33. Annie Hall (68)

32. There Will Be Blood (53)

31. Withnail and I (New entry)

30. Back To The Future (49)

29. Jurassic Park (New entry)

28. Jackie Brown (44)

27. Ghost World (33)

26. Rocky (45)

25. The Last Picture Show (73)

24. Elephant (46)

23. Glengarry Glen Ross (50)

22. Donnie Darko (5)

21. The Shawshank Redemption (8)

20. Brick (18)

19. Reservoir Dogs (Non-mover)

18. Holy Motors (New entry)

17. Paper Moon (66)

16. Five Easy Pieces (3)

15. Fight Club (16)

14. Platoon (Non-mover)

13. Two Days, One Night (New entry)

12. Magnolia (7)

11. Lost in Translation (6)

10. Shame (New entry)

9. L.A. Confidential (Non-mover)

8. The Big Lebowski (4)

7. Hunger (10)

6. Se7en (2)

5. Memento (New entry)

4. Zodiac (15)

3. Harold and Maude (1)

2. 12 Angry Men (New entry)

1. A Seperation (70)

Top 100 Films

I've unsuccessfully attempted to write an analysis of my top 100 films of all time. Due to time constraints, this hasn't been possible. What I'll do is publish the full list, sans comment, before embarking on another project whereby I list every film I've ever seen, and pass comment on them as I go. But that's by the by for now. Here is the full list:

100. Welcome to the Dollhouse
99. North By Northwest
98. The Fighter
97. True Romance
96. The Descent
95. Cold Weather
94. Apocalypto
93. Dogville
92. The Blair Witch Project
91. Argo
90. Avengers Assemble
89. The Dark Knight Rises
88. A Room for Romeo Brass
87. The Dark Knight
86. Moonrise Kingdom
85. The Truman Show
84. Little Miss Sunshine
83. Looper
82. Clerks
81. Warrior
80. Stand By Me
79. Unbreakable
78. Jaws
77. Vertigo
76. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
75. Full Metal Jacket
74. The Descendants
73. The Last Picture Show
72. Brief Encounter
71. Jerry Maguire
70. A Separation
69. American Beauty
68. Annie Hall
67. Citizen Kane
66. Paper Moon
65. The Woodsman
64. Shaun of the Dead
63. Wolf Creek
62. Little Children
61. The Artist
60. Right at Your Door
59. Three Kings
58. Dancer in the Dark
57. Lés Miserables
56. (500) Days of Summer
55. Fargo
54. The Terminator
53. There Will Be Blood
52. Amelie
51. Taxi Driver
50. Glengarry Glen Ross
49. Back to The Future
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
47. Good Will Hunting
46. Elephant
45. Rocky
44. Jackie Brown
43. Django Unchained
42. Forrest Gump
41. The Raid
40. The Godfather part two
39. Inception
38. Gladiator
37. Drive
36. Dead Man's Shoes
35. Brokeback Mountain
34. Goodfellas
33. Ghost World
32. Saving Private Ryan
31. We Need to Talk About Kevin
30. Dog Day Afternoon
29. The Godfather
28. Schindler's List
27. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
26. Trainspotting
25. Requiem for a Dream
24. Zero Dark Thirty
23. The Matrix
22. Raging Bull
21. Fantastic Mr. Fox
20. Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang
19. Reservoir Dogs
18. Brick
17. Signs
16. Fight Club
15. Zodiac
14. Platoon
13. Pulp Fiction
12. Submarine
11. City of God
10. Hunger
9. LA Confidential
8. The Shawshank Redemption
7. Magnolia
6. Lost in Translation
5. Donnie Darko
4. The Big Lebowski
3. Five Easy Pieces
2. Se7en
1. Harold and Maude

92. The Blair Witch Project

The movie that spawned a movie genre all by itself. The found footage movie.
It's incredible to think it was 1999 before anybody had the idea to make a movie entirely filmed on handheld cameras for a fraction of the production costs of the usual noises in the dark scary movies.

Watching Blair Witch back now, one might be unimpressed by a film in which all the tension and suspense is created by the cast hearing noises in the woods. There is no CGI monsters or vast amounts of gore just intelligent use of the surroundings and the directors being smart enough to create a back story to the legend that one could actually believe in. The kind of legend that spreads around a town or a playground to explain a scary old house.
Keeping to a relatively short run time keeps the movie fresh for repeat viewings and contains, in my opinion, the single most accomplished end scene when it comes to horror movies, sticking with you as it does for days afterwards.

Its incredible to think that nearly everybody involved in this movie peaked with it, with nobody in the principal cast or either of the directors matching their early success with later choices.

93. Dogville

Although not always a fan of Lars Von Trier's work, ranging as he does from five star genius to one star hack.
Luckily, Dogville falls into the former camp using stripped bare, theatre stage like sets and masterfully understated performances from all involved to create a world that is starkly realistic and bleak. This is a work of such originality that each of the individual chapters takes us in an unexpected direction with a climax that brings joy considering what we have experienced along with Grace, throughout her time in the town, during which she is subjected to horrific violence and kept as a slave. 

Dogville was followed by the sequel Manderlay, in which Grace is recast and relocated but as a double bill the films are a triumph in spite of their length. This is the first of two Von Trier films on the list.

94. Apocalypto

It is currently an extremely difficult time to like Mel Gibson. It has been the same since his first, of many, anti semitic rants less than six months before the release of this film.
That being said, what Gibson has managed to pull off with Apocalypto is a back to basics action film that is better than 99.9% of any studio's summer tent pole movies.
The story is simple. Jaguar Paw, having been kidnapped and almost sacrificed, must escape and find his way back to the family he left hidden in a well. Sounds straight forward enough but his journey there and his eventual bettering of the majority of his pursuers barely lets you pause for breath.
The virtually unknown cast do wonders creating a world with humour, fear, love and hate all in equal measure and it is a testament to the direction of Gibson that even though the entire film is spoken in Mayan, there is never a moment where you are given time to register this because you become encompassed in the plight of Jaguar Paw.
This is an almost perfectly made film from start to finish, and has one of the most original and inventive endings in movie history.