More from just below the Top Ten Favorites

Recently I offered you a look at my new top ten favorite films, and films that had dropped out from earlier versions of the list.  I realized later that I meant to mention another movie, and had neglected another previous top ten entry or three, which would also somewhat mitigate the fact that my favorites are all so recent.

The first movie I'd like to mention is Warrior (2011).  This was without a doubt a thunderbolt of an experience for me.  I've been a fan of Tom Hardy since I first saw him in a movie, and was glad when he finally began to receive wide acclaim.  This was something he did early on in the new era, and on top of that also features a breakout performance from Joe Edgerton as his brother, as they follow different paths to an unlikely confrontation in the finals of a prestigious MMA tournament.  Director Gavin O'Connor, who is certainly a favorite of mine and massively underrated, pulls every bit of magic possible, and makes all of the story's twists seem utterly believable.  This is a movie that's always at or near my list of all-time favorites.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) is endlessly quotable.  I recently finally got older than Dennis.  Kudos if you understand that.

Office Space (1999) is another cult comedy worth its weight in quotables.  My most frequent reference these days remains the red stapler.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) is my personal favorite Will Ferrell comedy.  It has every moving part possible, including Amy Adams in one of her many pre-breakout supporting roles as well as Sasha Baron Cohen before people who would never get him as a thoroughly obnoxious Frenchman.  There are never enough of those!  And I'm from French stock!

And with three out of four movies I just listed being comedies, that's pretty much why I was happy to find something like Isle of Dogs this year.  Comedy is easy.  Classic comedy is hard!