N

Night of The Comet (1984)

Rated R

Directed by Thom Eberhardt (Captain Ron, Gross Anatomy, pilot of Parker Lewis Can't Lose)

Budget - $3,000,000

Box Office - $14,418,922



Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:

1.  Generationally definitive.

The girl from The Last Starfighter and the cheerleader from Fast Times are sisters, and, possibly the last people on Earth, as a comet has wiped out the rest of humanity, or turned those exposed into zombies.  There is simply nothing more defining of the 1980's than Kelli Maroney in a cheerleading outfit firing a mac-10 in the middle of downtown LA.  Totally awesome, like, to the max.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y5lJ0LL29I

2.  The best zombie movie ever.

Like... zombies are not frightening.  They're slow.  They're mindless carnivores.  They have no personality.  And then there's Willy, king of the stockboys.  Now that's a personality.  And, if you're going to have a fight between valley girls and zombies, it should be in the mall.  Duh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZa8EXSX0Xk

3.  Soundtrack.

Very underappreciated soundtrack, including "Learn to Love Again" by Amy Holland and Chris Farren.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8X7liJB6go


Variety did a great review.  You can read it here:

http://www.nightofthecomet.info/memorabilia/magazines/variety.html



Runner-up:  Never Say Never Again (1983)

Directed by Irvin Kershner

Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:

1.  I'm not a Bond guy, so it makes sense that the Bond movie that Bond refuse to recognize in the canon is the only one that I like.  I mean, I like Walken in "A View To a Kill", but that's really it.  Anyway, this movie has the best Bond girl - 1983 Kim Basinger.  It has the best Bond temptress in Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera), and the best Blofield (Max Von Sydow - for God's sake).  As always, there's a great car chase set in The Bahamas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgx8zVVTyoA

2.  The game of "Domination".  Shocking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIhk0US4i-I



Honorable Mentions:  (Nine and a Half Weeks (1986), No Way Out (1987), A Night in The Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988)).

M

Malice (1993)

Directed by Harold Becker (Vision Quest, The Boost, City Hall - all Frank Movies)

Written by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The American President, Moneyball - all Frank Movies)

Budget - $20,000,000

Box Office - $46,405,336



Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:



1.  The God Complex monologue:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g2dkDh4ov4

I paraphrase it every year during Christmas season re: my career.



2.  Nicole Kidman as the bad guy.

 

 

I can't tell you another film where she is, but she does a great job here.

 

 

 

3.  Aaron Sorkin + Harold Becker. 

 

Between them they have written and directed a plethora of Frank Movies.  Great combo.

 

 

 

Ebert's review.  He was less impressed:

 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/malice-1993

 

 

 

Runner-up :  Miller's Crossing (1990)

 

 

By The Coen Brothers

 

 

Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:

 

 

 

1.  The Coen Brothers.

 

 

Fargo, Raising Arizona, No Country For Old Men, etc.  No one does American provincialism like The Coen Brothers.  These are the definitive movies of America, and Miller's Crossing is the best of the best. 

 

 

2.  The Gangster movie.

 

I love gangster movies.  The Godfather, Goodfellas, Scarface.  Blah, blah, blah.  Miller's Crossing is Yojimbo in Prohibition-era New York.  The Irish, The Italians, The Jews.  Glorious.

 

 

So much so, it inspired a reference in Ocean's Twelve , another Frank Movie:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMTWZZ6GKdU

 

I took graduate film school classes - they were just like this.

 

http://www.hark.com/clips/qwrshzhqdr-anybody-remember-that-scene-in-millers-crossing

 

 

2nd Runner-Up :  Mallrats (1995)

 

Directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Fight Back, Clerks II)

 

Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:

 

1.  The View Askewniverse

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_Askewniverse

 

Of all of the View Askewniverse, Mallrats is my favorite.  I may be the only one.

 

 

2.  The introduction of Jason Lee.

 

His premiere via Brodie Bruce was one of the best coming-out parties.  Top 5 all-time favorite characters.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuDQbDdrRO8

 

The Stink Palm is one of the greatest moments in film history.

 

 

Honorable Mentions:  Manhunter (1986), Megamind (2010)

 

 

 

 

 



 

L

Layer Cake (2004)

Rated R

Directed by Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust)

105 Minutes

Budget - $6,200,000

Box Office - $11,850,214


Note: Layer Cake is a Top 5 movie for me, regardless of the parameters.  If you have not seen it, run, don't walk, to buy it on Blu-Ray.  It is an ensemble piece for Anglophiles.  Watch it.

Reasons that it is a Frank Movie:


1.  The introduction of Daniel Craig.

This is the role that got Daniel Craig his audition for the role of .007.  I'll take this one over his work as Bond.  In a heartbeat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_0D8F_X7us

\2.  Sienna Miller.

'Nuff said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8F-gdBS73E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVVmIhFngDw

3.  The soundtrack.

It is an English film, and it strictly uses English bands, all to perfection.  Not the least of which is my favorite band of all-time, The Cult, and "She Sells Sanctuary".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4thL6DPmA_g


Here's Roger Ebert's 2004 review:

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/layer-cake-2005



Runner-up:  Lifeforce (1985)

Directed by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, Salem's Lot)

Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:

1.  Dan O'Bannon.

This is the guy who wrote Alien, The Return of the Living Dead, and Total Recall.  He is the forefather of the sci-fi/horror genre.  And this is the movie that he longed to write.  He inspired Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Wes Craven.  All with this film.

2.  Steven Railsback.

He has a storied television career, including two episodes as Duane Barry on The X-Files, but he will always be Colonel Tom Carlsen in Lifeforce.  And, yes, that is Patrick Stewart standing next to him.

Honorable Mentions:  Less Than Zero (1987), License To Drive (1988), Lust, Caution (2007)

K

The King of New York (1990)

Rated R

106 Minutes

Directed by Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, The Funeral, The Addiction)

Budget - Peanuts

Box Office - $2,544,476


Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:



1.  Cultural Impact.

Not Tony Montana, not Nino Brown, not Walter White.  None of them inspired The Notorious B.I.G. the way that Christopher Walken did.  BIG called himself "the black Frank White".  There's a reason for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGnNDsal-c

"A nickel bag gets sold in the park... I want in."  Great line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCbythB38r4

The impact is evident in the lyrics of B.I.G.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb0TQIduLbg

"The Underboss of this holocaust, truly yours... Frank White."

 

 

 

 

2.  Jimmy Jump.

 

 

Not Morpheus, Not Furious Styles, Not Bumpy Rhodes, Not Voodoo, Not even Cowboy Curtis.  All great roles for Larry Fishburne - none of them as definitive as Jimmy Jump.

 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUhAq_OJOr0

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EytY7F0VR3U

 

 

 

There's a rumor that a prequel is in the works, with Jay-Z cast as Jimmy.  Big, big shoes to fill...

 

 

 

3.  Caruso + Snipes.

 

David Caruso and Wesley Snipes were real life best friends before filming.  Their chemistry is unbelievable.  The cops that you love to hate.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0bNIuZRD-U

 

 

Roger Ebert wasn't impressed, but had a fair review:

 

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/king-of-new-york-1990

 

 

 

Runner-up:  King Kong (1976)

 

Directed by Dino de Laurentis

 

Reasons that it's a Frank Movie:

 

1.  It's not that Peter Jackson piece of crap.  My generation's version of the film is continuously panned, and Peter Jackson found it necessary to try and remake the 1933 original.  Neither one of those top mine.  This was one of the first films that I saw in the theatre, and for a 6 year old boy, it was breathtaking.  I still feel that every time I see it.

Kong vs The Snake was terrifying:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNkof76o8P8

 

 

2.  Give me a young Jessica Lange over Fay Wray or Naomi Watts any day.

 

 

 

 

Honorable Mentions:  Knocked Up (2007), Kick-Ass (2010), Knight & Day (2010)

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 



J

Jade (1995)

Rated R (although the Director's Cut NC-17 version is the one that I watch)

95 Minutes

Directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection, Rules of Engagement)

Budget - $50,000,000

Box Office - $9,851,610


Ok, so a $50M budget and the director of The French Connection should've nullified this from the list.  But it was such a critical and financial disaster, it is definitely viable.  Apparently no one, not the guy who wrote it, not the guy who directed it, not the American public like this film.  I can't get enough of it.  Here's why:


1.  I'm not kinky, but this thing is sexy.  Like, I can't think of a more disgusting proposition than having to sit through Linda Fiorentino having sex with Chazz Palminteri, well... except maybe Linda Fiorentino having sex with David Caruso.  Either way, they pull it off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpFsI29RzuY


2.  Car chase.

If you're sensing a theme here, I like gun fights and car chases.  Friedkin is the master of the car chase (The French Connection and To Live and Die in LA), and this one is as good as he does.  San Francisco is a great place to film a car chase.  It's been done a lot, this is another good one, even if it is a '95 Ford Thunderbird vs a '95 Ford Taurus.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbJ2p0l1npc



3.  Mrs. Pesci may be the hottest redhead in the history of humanity.  Still.

Here is Roger Ebert's review.  It's only 2 stars, but he doesn't murder it like the critics and viewers did:

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jade-1995



Runner-up:  Just One of The Guys (1985)

Directed by TV director Lisa Gottlieb

Reasons it's a Frank Movie:

1.  Bud.

No one defines the little brother than Billy Jacoby's "Bud Griffith".  He coined the most quotable line of the film:

"All balls itch."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs7axnjmKtQ


2.  The villainous William Zabka.

 

 

 

He is well-known for his turn as the dastardly Johnny Lawrence of Cobra Kai in The Karate Kid, or as Chas in Back To School.  But, he is even more epically nasty as Greg Tolan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qco4RGHhJGo

For the record: bapettit and I should be besties.



Honorable Mentions:  Johnny Dangerously (1984), Jagged Edge (1985), Jason's Lyric (1994)

I

Inception (2010)

Rated R

148 Minutes

Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight)

Budget - $160,000,000

Box Office - $826,000,000


Ok.  This should not be allowed on the list.  $160M budget.  $100M marketing campaign.  3 Oscars.  But, Christoper Nolan is my favorite director and this is his most definitive film.  Plus, I have too many "M" movies to fit Memento onto the list.  Anyway, it's a Frank Movie, and here's why:



1.  Opening scene.

For the same reasons that I described in Heat, an opening scene is critical to draw me in, and it's tough to top this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8APU-ZHEUg



2.  A gunfight within a car chase.

Gunfights and car chases are important to me.  One the 1st dream level is a nice little car chase; its in the rain, it involves a guy with a shotgun on a sweet motorcycle.  But, it helps to mess with the gravity/physics on the 2nd dream level - the dream within a dream.  This leads to a fantastic zero-gravity gun fight.  Just a fabulous moment in film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tofY_2kwoGI


3.  Heist movie.

Most Frank Movies, at their core, are just heist movies, and this one is no different.  Even better, its a heist built upon character development, which checkmarks two boxes simultaneously. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgKhMumgdek



For those who are interested, here is Roger Ebert's 2010 review.  He liked it, too.


http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/inception-2010



Runner-up:  The Illusionist (2006)

Directed by Neil Burger (The Lucky Ones, Limitless, Divergent)

Reasons its a Frank Movie:

1.  Edward Norton.

He will appear all over this list.  Although he is notoriously self-absorbed and difficult to work with, he is, for me, the quintessential actor of his time.  He is The Frank Actor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd0AQjpqDUE



2.  Political Commentary.

The story is really about one man inspiring a nation to bring down a tyrant.  That's a Frank sentiment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osb_Fklz5ag


Honorable Mentions:  Internal Affairs (1990), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Inglorious Basterds (2009)