Maxim's 300 Movies You Must See Before You Die

This post previously existed on my old blog, but I decided to move it over here as I still update it from time to time. I cancelled my subscription to Maxim Magazine some time ago, but right around the time I did so I received an issue in the mail which contained the list I've re-appropriated for this post. The issue was Maxim #125, the babe on the cover was Elisha Cuthbert, and the list in question was "The 300 Movies To See Before You Die".


Spend five minutes looking up movies on Google and you'll stumble upon dozens of lists just like this one which merely present the opinions of whoever crafted them. There are no real reasons for these lists to exist other than to spark conversation and debate, but I tend to find them irresistible. After all, if you have a blog you must have opinions, and if you have opinions, you most likely take great enjoyment in observing those of other people and comparing them to your own. So here I present Maxim's list, much of which I disagree with, for all to see and critique.

Also, for shits and giggles, all of the films which appear in BLUE are those which I had personally seen as of the original date of this post back when it was on my previous blog (April 17, 2008). All films appearing in ORANGE are those which I have caught up with after the original date of this post. If anyone reading this feels like counting out how many of the films named here they've seen, let me know your count via the comments section at the bottom of this post. I'd love to see how others' viewing experiences stack up.

Without further ado, I present Maxim's 300 Movies You Must See Before You Die:

COMEDY:
Airplane!
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Animal House
American Pie
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Bachelor Party
Bananas
Beverly Hills Cop
The Big Lebowski
Blazing Saddles
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Caddyshack
The Cannonball Run
Clerks
Dazed and Confused
Duck Soup
Dumb & Dumber
Election
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Ghostbusters
Groundhog Day
Happy Gilmore
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
The Jerk
Kingpin
Modern Times
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Nutty Professor (1963)
Office Space
Old School
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
The Princess Bride
Raising Arizona
Sixteen Candles
Some Like It Hot
This Is Spinal Tap
Trading Places
Vacation
Wedding Crashers
Wet Hot American Summer
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Young Frankenstein

WAR:
Apocalypse Now
Black Hawk Down
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Deer Hunter
The Dirty Dozen
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Gallipoli
The Great Escape
M*A*S*H
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan

SO BAD THEY'RE GOOD:
Airport 1975
Barbarella
Battlefield Earth
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Death Race 2000
Glen or Glenda?
Phantom of the Paradise
Reefer Madness
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Showgirls
The Toxic Avenger

REBELS:
Billy Jack
Cool Hand Luke
Dirty Harry
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Easy Rider
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Graduate
A History of Violence
The Hustler
The King of Comedy
Network
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Raging Bull
Risky Business
Sid & Nancy
Smokey and the Bandit
Taxi Driver
Three Days of the Condor
Trainspotting

CLASSICS:
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Ben-Hur
Casablanca
Double Indemnity
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Lawrence of Arabia
Metropolis (1927)
The Night of the Hunter
On the Waterfront
The Third Man
Touch of Evil
Vertigo
White Heat
The Wizard of Oz

SCI-FI/FANTASY:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Alien
Aliens
Back to the Future
Blade Runner
Children of Men
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
E.T.
King Kong (1933)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back
Starship Troopers
Terminator
Terminator II: Judgement Day

HORROR:
28 Days Later
Carrie
The Exorcist
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
The Fly
Halloween (1978)
Jaws
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Psycho (1960)
Rosemary's Baby
The Shining (1980)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

WESTERNS:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
High Noon
High Plains Drifter
Jeremiah Johnson
The Searchers
Tombstone
True Grit
Unforgiven
The Wild Bunch

BUDDY MOVIES:
American Graffiti
The Blues Brothers
Breaking Away
Deliverance
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Goonies
The Last Detail
Lethal Weapon
The Right Stuff
Saturday Night Fever
The Shawshank Redemption
Stand By Me
Stripes
Superbad
Swingers
Top Gun
The Warriors

ACTION:
Batman
Batman Begins
Battle Royale
The Bourne Identity
The Bournce Supremacy
The Bourne Ultimatum
Braveheart
Clash of the Titans
Die Hard
Enter the Dragon
Face/Off
First Blood
48 Hrs.
Gladiator
The Incredibles
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Matrix
Predator
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Road Warrior
Rocky
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky IV
Speed
Spiderman

NON-GRATUITOUS NUDITY!:
10
Angel Heart
Body Heat
Boogie Nights
Carnal Knowledge
Coffy
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Jackass: The Movie
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Mulholland Drive
Poison Ivy: The New Seduction
Revenge of the Nerds
Wild Things

ART HOUSE:
Annie Hall
Badlands
The Bicycle Thief
City of God
A Clockwork Orange
The Conversation
Do The Right Thing
Elephant Man
The Last Picture Show
Midnight Cowboy
Repo Man
Rushmore
Short Cuts
There Will Be Blood
Withnail and I

MINDBENDERS:
Akira
Beetlejuice
Blue Velvet
Brazil
Donnie Darko
Edward Scissorhands
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fight Club
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Memento
Pink Floyd: The Wall
The Rocky Horror Picture Show

COPS:
Bad Lieutenant
Bullitt
Chinatown
The Departed
Donnie Brasco
Fargo
The French Connection
Hard Boiled
Robocop
Se7en
Shaft (1971)
The Silence of the Lambs
To Live and Die in L.A.
The Untouchables

CRIMINALS:
Atlantic City
Bad Boys (1983)
Bloody Mama
Bonnie and Clyde
The Boys From Brazil
Boyz N the Hood
Carlito's Way
Casino
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Dog Day Afternoon
The Getaway
Get Carter (1971)
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Goodfellas
Heat
In Cold Blood
The Long Good Friday
Mean Streets
Midnight Express
Natural Born Killers
No Country For Old Men
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
River's Edge
Scarface
Sexy Beast
Sin City
Super Fly
True Romance

THE MASTER CLASS:
Breathless
Citizen Kane
La Dolce Vita
Seven Samurai
The 400 Blows
The Seventh Seal
Un Chien Andalou

SEQUELS THAT ARE BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL:
Bride of Frankenstein
Evil Dead II
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Superman II

NON-BORING DOCUMENTARIES:
Brother's Keeper
Don't Look Back
Gimme Shelter
Hoop Dreams
Pumping Iron
Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
When We Were Kings

CONSPICUOUSLY GAY STRAIGHT MOVIES (BEYOND TOP GUN):
300
The Bear
Spartacus
X-Men

CONSPICUOUSLY GAY SWAYZE MOVIES:
Next of Kin
The Outsiders
Point Break
Red Dawn
Road House
Youngblood

ESSENTIAL JAMES BOND MOVIES:
Casino Royale
Goldfinger
Live and Let Die
The Spy Who Loved Me
You Only Live Twice

BEST MOVIES WITH PUPPETS:
Being John Malkovich
The Dark Crystal
The Muppet Movie
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
Team America
Weekend At Bernie's

MOVIES YOU NEED TO SEE ONCE, BUT ARE SO TRAUMATIC YOU NEVER NEED TO SEE AGAIN:
Leaving Las Vegas
Million Dollar Baby
Requiem For a Dream
Schindler's List
United 93

Number of Maxim's 300 movies that I had seen as of April 17, 2008: 175

Number of Maxim's 300 movies that I have seen as of February 28, 2010: 207

***Note: While it sounds nice to round down to 300, by my count there were in fact 317 titles on Maxim's list. However, six of these films were mentioned in more than one category, so I've omitted the doubles, leaving a total of 311 individual films recognized on the above list.

What I Look For In An Alien/Predator Comic

I got into comic books when I was about 12 years old and my father brought home a copy of Aliens: Berserk #1 for me to read. For the first few years of my comic-reading life I pretty much only collected Alien and Predator comics, and back then there were a lot to choose from, so I was happy. Eventually Dark Horse Comics stopped publishing new Alien and Predator books, but by that point I was already getting into other titles such as X-Men and Wildcats. My passion for Aliens and Predator never went away though, and when Dark Horse announced last year that they'd be bringing those characters into the fold I was ecstatic.

The new Aliens title has been okay thus far. There is a pretty cool android character, the Aliens are fairly accurately drawn (aside from the weird pincers on the sides of their mouths which were introduced back in Aliens: Earth War), and I like the artist Zack Howard quite a bit. The Predator book, on the other hand, has been very sub-par. The art feels rushed and careless, and the story is pretty weak. Still, I'm collecting both series because if there were an Aliens or Predator comic that I didn't buy, there would be something terribly wrong with the world.

As you could probably have guessed, Dark Horse is also planning a new Aliens vs Predator mini-series to follow up their individual 4 issue minis. The writer of this new book, Randy Stradley, recently posted a thread in the Dark Horse forums asking fans what they'd like to see in the new AvP book. Of course, I couldn't help myself. The following is my response to Stradley's question:

Here's what I DON'T want to see in an Aliens, Predator, or Aliens vs Predator comic:

- Don't give any one Alien a specific personality or recognizable physical features/nicknames.

- The marines in Aliens were awesome, but don't make all of the human characters into archetypes of Hicks, Hudson, Gorman, and Vasquez.

- Make it scary. Most Alien and Predator comics have been all about action. Think about the climax of Aliens: Alchemy #1. That was creepy.

- DON'T show the Alien or Predator homeworlds.

- DON'T put any Aliens on Earth.

- NO Predaliens. Ever.

- Predators and humans should NEVER team up.

- For the artist (whoever it may end up being): Draw the Predator's mouth correctly.

- Remember one of the key factors from Predator and the first three Alien films: A small group of people isolated with something they're not prepared to fight = great suspense and tension. See also: Tremors, The Thing, etc., etc., etc.

- People love the Colonial Marines from Aliens for a reason. Let's see some accurately drawn Colonial Marines with accurately drawn Pulse Rifles, Smart Guns, etc. Any new uniforms/weapons will inevitably be inferior to those which the fans fell in love with from the movie.

- NO mechanical suits of armor (i.e. Berserker suits). The Power Loader is the exception, but it was done best in Aliens, so there's no reason to try to top that.

- Build up to an awesome, exciting ending. The climax of an Aliens vs Predator comic should leave a fan of the source material as exhilarated as he/she is after watching Alien, Aliens, or Predator.

- Lastly, and most importantly, remember how hard it was to kill a Predator or an Alien in their respective first films? Remember how hard it was to kill an Alien, even with advanced weaponry, in Aliens? Let's keep it that way. EVERY Alien and Predator should be a threat. Too often in past Alien and Predator comics the monsters have been merely cannon fodder while the human characters crack jokes or blather on about whatever. The creatures are important. They are what is selling your books. DON'T SELL THEM SHORT.

Shortly after I posted that message, I received a response from another fan who called me out for fearing change and defended against most of my requests by using the argument that most of the things I said I didn't want to see had already been done in previous Alien and Predator comics or the two AvP films. This was my response to that post:

Your response to just about all of my requests was "this has already been done/appeared in a comic or movie." Well, personally, I don't think that's a good reason to include any of those things in a new comic. To each his own, but all of the things I mentioned in my last post are things I would leave out of my perfect Aliens and/or Predator comic. I've never liked the designs of any Predalien, nor have I particularly cared for any of the new weapons introduced for Colonial Marines or other soldiers when compared to the Pulse Rifle. I'd rather never ever, ever see the Alien or Predator homeworlds because that strips the characters of much of their mystery and mystique. It doesn't make them more cool or interesting in my opinion.

Also, I personally despise Alien Resurrection, AVP, and AVP-R, so I'd rather those not be considered canon. That's just my opinion.

I simply feel that no Alien or Predator comic has EVER been as good as the first two Alien films or the first Predator film. I love the characters and situations from those movies and would prefer to see those expanded on in a comic than to have new societies, weapons, etc created that will inevitably disappoint me when compared to those films. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I just love the Colonial Marines. I love the Alien. I love the Predator. I want to see extensions of the films that made me love those characters, not re-imaginings of them.

I've read (and for the most part, enjoyed in some capacity) every single Alien, Predator, and Aliens vs Predator comic book ever published, but I'm still waiting for that one comic that captures the tone and characteristics of the movies properly, the way I'd like to see it done.

In my opinion the best single Alien comic Dark Horse has ever done was the short story "45 Seconds" which appeared in the Aliens Special. The Colonial Marines' outfits and weapons were VERY accurately drawn, as well as the few Aliens that appear. It was creepy, exciting, and extremely reminiscent of the film Aliens. Also, I loved the artwork by Frank Teran. A full-length mini-series done like that short comic is what I'm really craving from Dark Horse.

I know that's not what everybody wants, but that's what I'm interested in. I know that's probably not what I'll end up getting from this new AVP series, but I'll still buy every issue because I love both the Alien and the Predator so much. I've been collecting Alien and Predator comics since I was a kid and I'm not about to stop now. I'm simply still waiting for that perfect Alien/Predator comic.

As you can see, I take my Aliens and Predators seriously.

The image at the top of this post is that of the Aliens Special which I reference in my second post.

Richard Corben's Non-Comics Work

"Richard Corben is the best comic book artist ever."

That's not something you're bound to hear a whole lot of people say. Honestly, I'm not going to say that either. However I will say that Corben shares the title of "my favorite comic book artist" with Travis Charest, meaning that I like his artwork a whole lot to say the least.

If you know me personally, you've probably seen a lot of Rich's comic book covers and interiors as I am known to champion them to anyone within earshot (and eyeshot) whenever the chance presents itself. What most people (even those who call me their friend) are probably not familiar with, however, are Corben's works of art outside of the comic book industry.

If you plumb the depths of a stack of dusty old science fiction paperbacks in the corner of a mom and pop used book store you've got a pretty good chance of uncovering one or two titles with Rich's work adorning the cover. However, to hunt down and display those here would undoubtedly have an unpleasant effect on my sanity, so instead what I've got to share with you, my beloved readers, are some more mainstream works of art.

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE
First, we have the one you most likely have a pretty good chance of having seen before. This is one of two posters produced for the Heavy Metal movie from back in 1981. The other poster (which you can view here) is the one most people know because it has been used for all of the packaging and promotion of the movie on DVD and Home Video over the years. If you'd gone into a theater showing the film back in '81 though, you probably would have seen one of these bad boys, which prominently features Corben's own creation, Den:


After the Heavy Metal poster, the non-comic book Corben painting the average person is most likely to have seen (depending on your music taste) is the album cover for Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell. Apparently this artwork was a rush job (though I'd be hard pressed to prove it based on the quality of the art itself) which arrived at CBS records less than one week from the day they commissioned him to paint it. Amazing!


Now we get into the more obscure work. I'd never heard of Jim Steinman before, but according to Wikipedia he's a record producer, composer, and lyricist who has worked with Meatloaf on multiple occasions, which explains how he ended up with a Richard Corben painting on the cover of his album Bad For Good:


Now here's one that I found truly bizarre. Everyone's heard of Brian De Palma, director of such films as Carrie, The Untouchables, Scarface, Carlito's Way, and Mission Impossible. But did you know that in 1974 he wrote and directed a rock opera version of The Phantom Of The Opera called Phantom Of The Paradise? Well, if IMDb is to be believed, he did just that and Richard Corben painted one of the original posters for the movie. For those who have seen the Berserk anime or read the manga of the same name, is it just me or does that dude in the mask remind you of Griffith when he's got his helmet on?


Last, but not least, we have the movie poster for a no-name 80's horror movie called Spookies. Apparently it's one of those "a group of people spend the night in a haunted house" flicks. Having looked up the directors and "stars" of the film on IMDb, even though I've never actually watched it, I can pretty much surmise that this poster is the best thing about the movie:


In closing, I'd like to give props to the internet in general for helping me to discover, locate, and share these pieces of artwork with others. Of note is an absolutely invaluable resource for anyone wishing to learn more about Richard Corben, which goes by the name "The Most Complete Comicography Of Richard Corben", or Muuta.net for short. Then of course there's Richard Corben's personal site: CorbenStudios.com.

Now go spread the word: Richard Corben is (one of) the best comic book artist(s) ever.