Draw! It's my top 10 favorite westerns of all time (so far)

Once Upon a Time in the West

I've been on a real western kick lately. I suppose it's because, second to gangster movies, it might be my favorite film genre. I also find that they're escapist in the best way.

For a couple hours, sometimes three, I can venture into a world that I never would or could inhabit, that still strangely has resonance with the world I live in today.

Westerns have big themes -- honor, prejudice, pride, guilt, vengeance and fear. They are almost always gorgeous to look at and they do what cinema does best -- tell a story visually.

It's very hard for me to narrow down my favorites to a top 10 list -- especially since there are so many classic westerns I still need to see. So don't take this as gospel, this list will inevitably evolve. These are just a few of my the must-sees of the moment.

10) Rio Bravo (1959) - Howard Hawks helmed some terrific westerns -- Red River and his remake of this film, El Dorado, almost made my list, but this star-studded movie wins by a nose. Dean Martin plays a drunk seeking a shot at redemption, teen heartthrob Ricky Nelson is the upstart with quick hands, Angie Dickinson is the sexy love interest and John Wayne pretty much plays himself. Fun dialogue and performances make this "hang out" film a standout.

9) Django (1966) - Sergio Corbucci is the other great genius of the Italian spaghetti western (Sergio Leone being the other). This brutal classic, has inspired countless sequels and the Tarantino film that borrows its name. The typical "quiet stranger comes to town" story with some unusual, uniquely ballsy twists. He drags a casket behind him, what's inside I won't spoil but let's just say this one delivers.

8) Stagecoach (1939) - This John Ford masterpiece both established the modern western film and John Wayne's movie star persona, all while influencing a generation of filmmakers like Orson Welles. This swiftly paced ensemble piece thrusts "types" (like the town drunk and the hooker with a heart of gold) in a confined space together and reveals new depth to the characters as they are under duress. One of those movies that is iconic for almost all the right reasons.

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

7) Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969) - Paul Newman and Robert Redford have unforgettable chemistry in this, their first on-screen pairing (The Sting followed in 1973). Newman is incredibly charming as the fast-talking schemer who is always getting the outlaw duo into more trouble. And this is the film that made Redford a star. In some ways, his Sundance kid is a selfish jerk -- but he's so cool and charismatic you hardly seem to care. The ending is a great, gallows humor joke.

6) The Searchers (1956) - John Wayne gives his darkest, most compelling performance as a brooding, hate-filled Civil War veteran on the hunt for a little girl who's ostensibly been kidnapped by American Indians. A fascinating look at the racist psyche as well as one of the most visually stunning westerns of its time.

5) The Wild Bunch (1969) - I am a huge Peckinpah fan, and he made several terrific westerns I love, like the moving Ride the High Country and the elegiac Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, but so far, this ultra-violent character study is my favorite. William Holden leads a pack of unrepentant crooks with their own code of decency. The movie is infamous for its incredibly relentless final shootout, but it's a brilliant film from start to finish.

4) Unforgiven (1992) - Although I still wish Spike Lee's Malcolm X had been nominated, it's hard to quibble with Clint Eastwood's best picture win for this wonderful meditation on violence. This film marked Eastwood's maturation into a master filmmaker and boasts one of his greatest performances alongside Gene Hackman's Oscar winning turn as the complex bad guy Little Bill. Some of my favorite lines of dialogue ever are in this film.

3) The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (1967) - The last and best of the Sergio Leone-Clint Eastwood western collaborations is an incredible epic. Leone makes incredible use of close-ups in what Quentin Tarantino once described (in one of his typical fits of hyperbole) the best directed film of all time. Eastwood is at this laconic best, but it's Eli Wallach who steals the show as the playful and petulant Tucco. And who can forget the classic villainous turn from Lee Van Cleef? I haven't even mentioned the most iconic score in western history.

2) Django Unchained (2012) - While this may be an unpopular opinion, this is my favorite Tarantino film. A total blast from start to finish, this homage to spaghetti westerns also has some smart and subversive ideas about race and class just under its surface. My favorite film of 2012, this sprawling, bloody work of genius is powered by perfect performances, a crackerjack script and a real heart.

1) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - Often hailed as the greatest western ever made, this Sergio Leone is by far my favorite of the genre. It's one of my favorite films of all time and one of the most effortlessly cool cinematic experiences I've ever had. It's gorgeously shot, with one of the best Ennio Morricone scores. It also features Charles Bronson at his most badass alongside Henry Fonda in an against-type villain role. I won't spoil the resolution of the revenge-soaked masterpiece, but I will say it's one of the all-time great movie climaxes.

'Ghostbusters': 25 reasons why it remains a perfect film

Ghostbusters

Last night, for the second time in the last five years, I had the unique pleasure of watching one of my favorite films of all time, Ghostbusters, on the big screen.

The movie has been re-released to commemorate its box office topping run in the summer of 1984 thirty years ago and I can say without hesitation that it remains one of the greatest comedies ever made.

In fact, as I re-watched this film for what had to be the fortieth time, I kept thinking to myself: this is a perfect film. I wouldn't change a single frame, line or note in this movie. I adore it.

It's one of the most fun movies ever made -- anyone can enjoy it from any age or background. It's kind of like Michael Jackson's Thriller in that way. It's pop entertainment at it's best and there's a little something for everyone in it.

In a summer movie season that was hit or miss at best, it's jarring to see such an original and inventive movie again in theaters. I was heartened to see that this film, which is often on television and readily available on DVD and blu-ray, earned over a million dollars last weekend. Pay attention Hollywood, this is how it's done.

So many thoughts and memories came to me while reliving this modern classic. Here are just 25 of the reasons it's a flawless masterpiece.

1) Bill Murray - This film begins and ends with Bill Murray. He may have given more powerful performances in his career (like his soulful turns in Broken Flowers and Lost In Translation), but this was the movie that permanently cemented his "cool" persona. This movie singlehandedly made Murray an icon who young people today still worship as a comedy God. His performance here is so loose and winning, he just oozes one-liners and charm. He is totally in his element and has never been better.

2) Harold Ramis & Dan Aykroyd - But Murray's performance wouldn't work if it weren't for the selfless work of these two, who largely work as a tandem in the Ghostbusters movies. Despite some very funny bits and lines of their own, these two function as brilliant deadpan straight men for Murray's laconic hipster. Their earnestness really helps sell the patently absurd nature of the premise.

3) Sigourney Weaver - The most unsung hero of Ghostbusters is this brilliant, criminally underrated actress (despite decades of great performances she still doesn't have an Oscar!). Not only does she create wonderful, sexy chemistry with Bill Murray but she performs the hell out of an incredibly demanding and oddball role, without making a fool of herself. In under two hours she goes from playing a sophisticated urban woman to playing a possessed sexpot to becoming a dog. Incredible.

4) Rick Moranis - Only diehard fans of Ghostbusters know this, but Louis Tully was originally going to be played by the late, great John Candy. But that legendary comic actor wanted to play the role as an overbearing German. No disrespect to Candy, but Moranis' creation is perfection. Moranis delivers incredibly funny, detailed monologues all in single take without skipping a beat. Pay close attention to his work here -- it's a real acting feat, as well as uproariously funny.

Dan Aykroyd in Ghostbusters

5) Ernie Hudson - This solid character actor (and the lone African-American Ghostbuster, a role I played to some acclaim on the playground as a kid) does so much with his limited screen time. His part was originally conceived for Eddie Murphy, and who knows what he would have done with the role in his Beverly Hills Cop heyday, but Hudson knocked it out of the park. As the most grounded and straight-forward Ghostbuster he brings a great injection of wit and wisdom to the film's last act.

6) Love of New York City - Hudson delivers one of my favorite lines and moments in the movie, his triumphant "I love this town!" before the film's ending. Anyone who knows me knows I am a proud and passionate New Yorker.

I hope to live here forever and that exaltation is something I say and feel to my core. I literally have made my own shirt with that phrase and an image of Hudson covered in marshmallow. The film is filled with affection and attitude regarding NYC, and I love that about it.

7) The subtle class divide - The film also has some subtle commentary to make on the class issues that are always front and center in New York. While watching the movie last night I was struck by an epiphany -- that I want to write a book about the political undercurrents of the early films of SNL stars. Take a closer look at Caddyshack, Trading Places, Fletch, The Blues Brothers, Beverly Hills Cop, Animal House, I could go on -- and all of them have an either overt or thinly disguised slobs vs. snobs narrative. It's inherently political and populist.

8) The soundtrack - Everyone knows the iconic Ghostbusters theme song, and it is undeniably great and unforgettable. But the whole soundtrack is fantastic. I've owned it for years but watching it on the big screen really reminded me of how much I loved deep cuts like "Saving the Day". I literally listened to the whole thing on the way home from the movie.

9) That brilliant rise of the Ghostbusters montage - One of the most fun sequences of the movie is watching the syncopated images of the Ghostbusters as they shift from being unappreciated underdogs to the kings of New York. The magazine covers, shout-outs from Larry King and Casey Kasem -- it's just another testament to what makes this movie work.

10) The commercial - It's not easy to intentionally act badly, but Murray-Ramis-Aykroyd do this brilliantly with their incredibly stilted and awkward fake Ghostbusters commercial. A lazier comedy, then and now, would never bother with little details like this. But these details make the film's world tangible and more fully realized. I believe it's the details that make a comedy great (and worthy of repeat viewing) and the movie is full of little treats like these.

11) It's not afraid to be scary - Ok, so the film is far from terrifying but that doesn't mean it's lightweight either. Ramis and Aykroyd's incredibly dense script effectively creates a creepy villain and subplot with Gozer and his minions, which helps the movie's difficult cocktail of ghost story and comedy go down smooth. The "dog" creature effects may not look seamless at times, but they are still far more frightening than anything I've seen in CGI.

12) Slimer - Only a movie as fantastic as Ghostbusters could make a genuine icon out of a disgusting blog with no lines and just a couple short scenes. Inspired by the late, great John Belushi, this green, beer-guzzling creature is responsible for one of the most beloved moments of the film -- the sliming of Bill Murray. Also, 12.5 -- the scream Murray lets out when Slimer attacks him is a thing of comic beauty.

13) The romance - As I mentioned before, Weaver has note-perfect chemistry with Bill Murray. He's worked well with female partners since (most notably Andie McDowell in Groundhog Day and Scarlett Johansson in Lost In Translation) but he never seemed to connect with a co-star more than he did with Weaver. They seem to genuinely be falling for each other and it's a real shame they haven't teamed up since. It's a testament to them both that between all the jokes and special effects they manage to create a fizzy romance as well.

14) Special effects are used sparingly - Speaking of special effects, unlike every modern blockbuster, the makers of Ghostbusters wisely knew when to take their foot off the gas. Although the movie boasts (for its time) cutting-edge special effects, they serve the story -- the story doesn't serve them. We remember the jokes far more than the pyrotechnics, as it should be.

15) Marshmallow man - That said, the movie's special effects showpiece is a doozy. The reveal of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man is one of the most unbelievably amusing moments of any film ever. I'll never know what inspired Ramis and Aykroyd to come up with such an incredibly innovative idea but a whole generation of fans will forever be grateful. I currently have a Marshmallow Man-shaped piggy bank in my bedroom, just one of several examples of Ghostbusters swag in my life.

Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver in Ghostbusters

16) The pre-credit sequence - When the peerless Elmer Bernstein score starts to kick in over the Columbia Pictures logo I still get goosebumps. The film then launches into a brilliantly edited and spooky scene set in the New York Public Library without a single laugh in it (and none of the movie's stars). It's pretty audacious stuff for a mainstream summer comedy.

17) The Columbia scenes - I went to Columbia University for journalism school and one of my great pleasures was strolling around the same hallowed ground where Bill Murray delivers his charismatic "call it fate, call it karma," speech to Dan Aykroyd. And how can I forget the obnoxious Dean Yeager and Murray's flirtation with his student, the lovely Jennifer Runyon? She was a "genuine phenomena."

18) Crossing the streams - Comedies need rules because eventually those rules need to be broken for comedic purposes. For instance, Aykroyd warns Ramis not to look directly into the trap, so with perfect timing he immediately does. Ramis warns us that "crossing the streams" could bring about the end of the world, so naturally the film's rousing conclusion would require them to do that. And yet the payoff is in no way predictable.

19) The mayor's office - I have no idea how realistic this sequence is, in terms of portraying a NYC mayor handling a crisis in Gracie Mansion, but it's how I'd like to imagine it playing out. Bill Murray's "mass hysteria" line literally inspired the name of my long-running improv group and the inevitable rejection of the film's villain, Walter Peck, is glorious.

20) William Atherton a.k.a. Walter Peck - Speaking of Peck, we have to give William Atherton his due. He was a character actor who played people you just love to hate. In Ghostbusters, and later in the first two Die Hard films, Atherton took on the largely thankless role of playing the sniveling, snide foil for our heroes. But if he wasn't a formidable guy the stakes in those films wouldn't be as high.

21) It's not overtly kid-friendly - Kids love Ghostbusters, I actually thought it was a real profession as a child and told a caricature artist at Disney World to portray me as one. Yet the movie is very grown-up. Everyone smokes in it for example. There's also that scene, which I totally didn't get as a youngster, when Aykroyd gets seduced by a ghost.

22) The Ecto-1 - Only the DeLorean from the Back to the Future trilogy rivals the Ghostbusters' signature car. I still have a toy replica of this beautiful looking piece of machinery, which is, simply put, one of the coolest vehicles to ever appear in a major motion picture.

23) "So be good for goodness sake..." - What could have been a boring scene of exposition -- set in a prison cell, no less -- works beautifully because of the loose improvisational style of Murray and company which enlivens the scene and showcases the genuine affection these actors appear to have for each other.

24) The cheering crowds - I love the scenes of New Yorkers, of all different backgrounds (including rabbis and priest), who have gathered together to cheer for the Ghostbusters during the final showdown with Gozer. Bill Murray working the crowd is one of the most appealing bits of acting I've ever seen. It feels improvised and exhilarating.

25) The one-liners - "I collect spores, molds and fungus" "Tell him about the twinkie" "You will perish in flames!" "Back off man I'm a scientist" "Do you want this body? -- "Is that a trick question" ... I could really do this all day. So I'll stop here. See this movie again if you haven't seen it in a while. And if you've never seen it I feel very, very sorry for you. Comedy isn't pretty and it's very hard to get right, but this is a movie that does -- flawlessly.

So long summer movies! You came, you saw, you didn't conquer

Much has been made about the fact that this year's summer box office is the first since 1997 not to producer a runaway blockbuster.

No film released this year has broken the $300 million mark and a number of high-profile, expensive movies either bombed or under-performed.

The industry and film critics have all sorts of theories about why. The World Cup was an intense distraction. There was widespread sequel fatigue. The movies weren't very good.

Some of these or all of these explanations could be true.

I know that for me, as I get older, I feel less compelled to rush out to see the latest mainstream action extravaganza. Nowadays films face their biggest threat since television severely cut into their revenue. It's the DVR/streaming age we now live in. Quality films like Snowpiercer are being released directly to the public at an affordable price. And now, more often than not, film viewers are willing to "wait for Netflix" for some titles instead of paying to see them in a theater.

As the summer movie season comes to a close and Hollywood continues to scratch its head about what went wrong, here's my take on an interesting, if a little bit low-key, summer movie season.

Biggest disappointment: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
I really wanted to like this movie. I believe the first Andrew Garfield Spider-Man film was the best movie made to date about Marvel's iconic webslinger and I, like many comic book movie fans, was eagerly anticipating this second installment. But, despite a few winning scenes, this sequel was a mess -  too heavy on pyrotechnics, too many characters and not enough cohesion. Not even Garfield and Emma Stone's much-hyped chemistry could save this film.

Movie I wish I hadn't missed: The Edge of Tomorrow
This well-reviewed Tom Cruise thriller made money but not enough to be deemed a hit. Still, it has very vocal fans and seems to be emerging as something of a cult favorite. I chalk its failure up to bad marketing. From the title to the trailers (which made the film look no different than other minor Cruise spectacles like Oblivion), the movie didn't come off like a must-see. But multiple people whose opinions I respect have convinced me that this was one of the best movies of the summer. But now I will have to wait for Netflix to see if they were right. Honorable mention: X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Most overrated: 22 Jump Street
I had fun at this movie, don't get me wrong. It's an enjoyable time at the movies. It was also smug and overplayed its self-awareness to a fault. Repeatedly joking about the fact that you're cashing in and essentially remaking the first film can only take you so far. The best bits in this comedy (Jillian Bell) were largely spoiled by the trailer. The film also missed the opportunity to lampoon modern college in the way the original film nailed high school. Instead they retreated to cheap humor about the homoerotic implications of Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill's bromance. Honorable mention: Neighbors, for some of the very same reasons.

Best blockbuster: 
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Even though it's title is a mouthful and the human element of the story was lacking, there was no summer film that delivered on more levels than this latest installment in the rebooted (and reinvigorated) Planet of the Apes series. Andy Serkis continued to make Ceasar the most compelling CGI character ever created for a Hollywood movie and the action sequences were both scary and original. This film really took risks -- it's ape-only opening minutes for instance -- and they paid off. I'm excited to see where this series is going.

Biggest surprise: Boyhood
Although the fall promises to bring several critically acclaimed films (I am eagerly anticipating Birdman, Foxcatcher and Gone Girl), the best film of the year may very well  have come out this summer. Richard Linklater's epic, years-in-the-making coming-of-age film really blew me away. I never thought this beautiful movie could live up to all the hype, but it did. There isn't a false note in the whole movie, which unfolds without a traditional narrative and yet never loses an audience's interest. It's a tragedy that this movie isn't getting a wider release. Hopefully, Oscar won't forget it by the end of the year.

Movie I'm glad I missed: Maleficent
I was tempted to say the new Transformers film, but I checked out of that series after the first installment. What can I say? I am not a fantasy guy and I really can't understand the preoccupation with Angelina Jolie. For me, her "celebrity" has so outpaced whatever skills she has an actress and I simply can't separate her off-screen persona from her on-screen one. I had no interest, and never would, in watching her saunter around in a wicked witch costume. But apparently I'm in the minority here because the movie was an enormous hit. Honorable mention: Lucy.

Most charming summer movie: Guardians of the Galaxy
This crowd-pleaser was far from perfect -- it suffers from Marvel's insistence on setting up sequels and spin-offs and the final act gets overwhelmed by special effects -- but it was undeniably fun and likable. Chris Pratt and company brought a great deal of humor and some originality to the ubiquitous superhero genre and wound up delivering the most popular film of the summer season.

There are some who have earnestly argued that this was a great year for summer movies, not on par with a classic year like 1984, but nothing to sneeze at. I can't say that I agree. Even among the films that were profitable there were far too many unnecessary reboots (Godzilla, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), unfunny-looking comedies (Sex Tape, Tammy) and sequels that came too late or shouldn't have come at all (sorry, Expendables).

If Hollywood wants to win audiences back they don't need to keep increasing their budgets. They need to instead focus on making better, more enticing films, the kind of movies people will want to go see opening weekend with an audience instead of waiting to see them in the comfort of their own homes. They can't point the finger elsewhere forever.

Falling in love with 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' all over again

Monty Python

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of those movies that I vividly remember seeing for the first time. I was 10 years old, and like any precocious history buff I had rented All The President's Men from the video store and was eager to watch it.

At the time we only had one VCR in our house that was connected to all the TV sets (not ideal for trying to watch R-rated movies when my parents were around).

My older brother had rented Holy Grail on the recommendation of some school-friends -- as per usual he pulled rank, insisting that we had to watch his choice first. Needless to say I was a real grump about it. I was trying not to like the movie. But after the movie's opening wacky credits and the reveal of King Arthur riding a non-existent horse with sound effects provided by coconuts, I was hooked and in stitches.

The movie was a mind-blowing, eye-opening comedy experience for me. Prior to viewing Monty Python and the Holy Grail, my humor touchstone was largely Saturday Night Live and the work of the movie stars it produced.

Little did I know at the time that SNL was directly inspired by the antics of the Monty Python television show which proceeded it. In fact, a young Chevy Chase met SNL producer Lorne Michaels for the first time while they were both in line to see Holy Grail in NYC.

The beginning of SNL's first and most celebrated period was about to begin.

But I digress, from Holy Grail I found Life of Brian, and the underrated Meaning of Life. I am now the proud owner of the entire Flying Circus TV series, as well as albums of their greatest sketches and more infectious songs.

Last night I had the wonderful pleasure of experiencing the movie again with a huge outdoor audience at Brooklyn Bridge Park. It took all my willpower not to shout out my favorite lines and it was such a delight seeing people of all different ages and background guffawing at the sheer silliness on display.

Even my darling girlfriend, who so patiently endures my movie obsession and literally edits all of my columns, has started to come around to the charms of Python.

She was initially unimpressed and unamused by Python humor, but for whatever reason -- perhaps it was the spirit of the crowd -- she bought in.

I've always maintained that as big a fan as I am, Monty Python is not for all tastes. Their humor tends to lend itself to intense nerd-dom, and their best bits have in some cases been so oft-quoted and mimicked that their power is almost diminished -- almost. The strength of Python is in their sheer silliness, their willingness to be crude and cruel, while never losing a light anarchic spirit,

Take for instance one of my favorite bits in the movie -- the black knight -- here's a sequence that a person of any age can be amused by. And yet it portrays, in uproariously gory fashion, the dismemberment of a man. The brilliance of the scene though is the buoyant denial of the black knight, his dogged intensity and almost good cheer in the face of almost certain death.

Big screen comedies now are so premise-driven and preoccupied with being clever that they sometimes lose that childlike sense of play. We need more films like Python's now more than ever. As the world has grown into a grimmer, more demoralizing place, it's a treat to take a moment to laugh at something so stupid it's smart.

And if you don't agree, I fart in your general direction.

Roy Scheider: The most underrated movie star of the '70s

Roy Scheider

As I've said over and over again, my all-time favorite era of movies is the 1970s.

It's the decade that some of my biggest cinematic heroes did some of their most daring work and it was a period where artistic and commercial film-making really did coincide, with studio approval to boot.

This second golden age Hollywood, albeit a more cynical and darker one, produced some legendary movie stars: Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman are just a few of the illustrious names who did some of their best work in the so-called "Me decade".

However, Roy Scheider's name is often totally overlooked when film geeks recall their favorite stars of that time. Unlike actors such as Elliot Gould, who have been rediscovered and newly appreciated by hipsters, Scheider's still not given the credit he deserves.

He gave stellar performances in five of the best films of the decade and this two-time Academy Award nominated leading man was responsible for one of the greatest lines in movie history from 1975's blockbuster Jaws (which I've at least heard was ad-libbed): "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Why has Scheider always been so underrated? He was such a relaxed and subtle performer, that he doesn't have the showy tics of some of his method actor colleagues. His roles were weaker after the '70s, with his most memorable late career part being the lead in the short-lived sci-fi TV series SeaQuest. Like most '70s leading men, he didn't fit conventional standards of male beauty -- although I've always thought his busted nose (a result of an amateur boxing career) gave his face incredible character and charm.

Understandably, for most audiences, he is and will always be Sheriff Martin Brody from Jaws. It was his biggest and most enduring hit movie, and make no mistake about it, he's terrific in it. But he was solid in a number of great films.

The French Connection (1971): Scheider was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for his breakout role opposite Gene Hackman as New York City detectives obsessed with bringing down a French-U.S. drug trade operation. As the more humane member of the duo, Scheider is a useful counterpoint to Hackman's borderline deranged lead character. Their chemistry is what makes the movie work as more than just a typical police melodrama.

Jaws (1975): This was the movie that made Scheider a star and an icon. He had the least showy of the three lead roles. Robert Shaw's Quint got to chew the scenery and Richard Dreyfuss' Hooper gets all the wisecracks, but Scheider has to function as the audience surrogate for much of the film. As the nervous and water-wary Sheriff Brody, Scheider has the real arc on screen. When he summons the courage to take on the killer shark it's a moment of triumph for him as an actor and for audiences.

Roy Scheider in All That Jazz

Marathon Man (1976):  This is Dustin Hoffman's movie but Roy Scheider dominates the first third as his cool and charismatic brother, who is really a secret agent going after a neo-Nazi (played by an unforgettable Laurence Olivier). Scheider was a strikingly fit and masculine actor who could really sell an action scene as the work of the actor and not a stunt man. One of the great thrillers of the decade.

Sorcerer (1977): William Friedkin's big budget remake of the French thriller Wages of Fear flopped when it first came out (it opened opposite Star Wars) but has since grown in esteem and remains the director's personal favorite. Scheider is the lone American star of an international cast playing shady characters who are in an unnamed Latin country signing up for a likely suicide mission -- delivering explosive nitroglycerin through treacherous terrain. Visually incredible movie-making, with Scheider's tense presence holding it together.

All That Jazz (1979): Scheider scored another Oscar nomination, this time for a leading role, as the surrogate for Bob Fosse in this elaborate musical/biopic. It's excessive, sexy, self-indulgent and magnificent, with many filmmakers calling it the last truly great musical Hollywood ever made. Scheider plays the boozing, womanizing choreographer/director Joe Gideon to the hilt, showing unexpected range and grace in this endlessly creative film.

'Oh, hi Mark' it's my top 10 favorite bad movies of all time!

Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls

There is a very specific criteria for a great bad film.

The filmmakers needed to be aiming high -- no intentionally campy movie like Snakes on a Plane can qualify. There needs to have been noble intentions, which makes the fall that much harder and profound.

The movie needs to be entertaining in its awfulness.

For instance, Battlefield: Earth is definitely one of the worst movies I've seen, but it's also a colossal bore. There's nothing "fun" about its awfulness, hence it doesn't make my list.

We need bad movies, to keep Hollywood humble and to help us appreciate a quality film when we see one. But I also think there's something great about seeing a truly terrible film redeemed by a cult of fans that see something special, albeit ludicrously funny, about these failures that make them worth re-watching.

All of the films that follow are spectacles that you will have a ball watching with your friends. A few years back some friends and I had our own regular "bad movie club" where we reveled in the ineptitude. Some of these gems made the cut. Others I discovered on my own.

10) Catwoman (2004) - Halle Berry famously proved she was a good sport by accepting her Razzie for this terrible and unnecessary comic book movie. But unfortunately for her she's never really been able to remove it's stench from her resume. The film is unbearably cheesy, with endless feline puns packed into its running time. Berry is beyond wooden in the lead role, as is Benjamin Bratt (remember him?) as her love interest. But somehow Sharon Stone comes across even worse as the least imposing villain the genre has probably ever seen.

9) Highlander 2: The Quickening (1991) - The original film in this bizarre sci-fi series was not exactly a cinematic triumph, but its sequel has become a poster-child for production ineptitude. Boasting some of the worst special effects of its (or any) era, this terribly acted, incoherent mess is probably best enjoyed will partaking in some kind of mood-altering substance. If you enjoy pointing out the wires actors are swinging from during action scenes, this is the movie for you.

8) Obsessed (2009) - Originally this film was marketed as a kind of urban Fatal Attraction, but once audiences caught wind of the absurdly over-the-top nature of this melodrama they realized it was really a campy tribute to the diva appeal of Beyonce and our culture's never-ending fascination with seeing two attractive women fight. Idris Elba somehow walks away unscathed even though he is the victim of an attempted date rape in the film. "You want crazy...I'll show you crazy!"

7) Red Dawn (1984) -  I haven't watched this one in years, and yet even recalling the premise makes me laugh. Communist infiltrators from Russia and Cuba team up to invade the United States simultaneously. They successfully takeover the mainland and only a band of high school kids (The Wolverines), whose survivalist parents have trained them in guerrilla combat, are able to mount a resistance. The film features a
"who's who" of '80s heartthrobs giving horrendous performances. And it has the stars of Dirty Dancing performing an assisted suicide. Seriously.

6) I Know Who Killed Me (2007) - Released at the beginning of Lindsay Lohan's long descent into irrelevance, this grotesque horror film hoped to titillate audiences by casting the former Mean Girls star as a stripper. But the ex-child star was already a raspy-voiced burnout by this time and you can only laugh when she literally has a sex scene while her partner's mother listens downstairs and her prosthetic leg is slumped against the side of the wall -- trust me it all makes sense in the context of the movie. Sort of.

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando

5) Pet Semetary (1989) - The most wonderfully awful horror movie I've seen is a blast to watch with an audience or group of friends. I've never read Stephen King's source material, which I hope was much more subtle and nuanced, but this film about a haunted graveyard for discarded pets (and sometimes people) which brings them back to life as mutated murderers is a riot. Despite repeated warnings not to bury anything or anyone in pet cemetery, the incredible stupid lead actor in this film won't listen to reason. His idiocy provides endless laughs.

4) Commando (1985) - Of all the overblown, silly 1980s action films -- this may be the best. Or it is, at least, the most amusing one made by a major Hollywood studio. Arnold Schwarzenegger has distanced himself over the years from this flick which is stock full of priceless one liners delivered with deadpan perfection by the ex-California governor. The nutty plot is about Arnold's daughter (a young Alyssa Milano) being kidnapped so they can force his character to commit an assassination. This is no Taken though folks, the opening credits alone are a case study in unintentional hilarity.

3) Miami Connection (1987) - This long lost, low budget and mind-blowing piece of garbage has been rediscovered and resurrected by hipsters, and we're all the better for it. This strange (and poorly dubbed) martial arts film is about a multicultural rock band, made up largely of "orphans",which ostensibly moonlights as crime fighters. They clash against a vicious drug cartel while periodically performing songs about the value of friendship and then searching for their birth parents. "Oh my God" it's awesomely horrendous.

2) Showgirls (1995) - This is a tough one, because, for me, The Room and Showgirls are probably equal in my esteem. I think Showgirls gets the runner-up spot because one could make the case, based on its skilled director's oeuvre, that quite a lot of this film is intentionally bad for satirical purposes. That said, for pure wall-to-wall insanity it's hard to beat this epic about a Las Vegas stripper's rise and fall. The abrupt shifts in tone, the unbridled misogyny, Elizabeth Berkeley's histrionic performance -- there are so many pleasures to this mess I don't know where to begin. It contains the most laughable sex scene I've seen and priceless, drinking game worthy dialogue like: "Everybody got AIDS and shit."

1) The Room (2003) - ...And yet, it can't hold a candle to Tommy Wiseau's now infamous vanity project The Room. It is a film that really has to be seen to be believed. It has so many technical errors, inexplicable acting choices and clumsy incomprehensible plotting, it's as if an alien who has been observing human life for a while tried to write and direct a movie. Now a midnight movie staple, the maker and stars of this film appear to have embraced its status as the reigning worst movie of all time. It's not really about anything and yet it's also about everything. I don't want to deprive anyone the experience of seeing it for the first time, so I'll leave it at that. Just prepare for a lot of male posterior nudity.

Sylvester Stallone feels expendable: The cinema of insecurity

Sylvester Stallone

Watching The Expendables 3 is a surreal movie-going experience. Twenty years ago it would have been a major cinematic event to see Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford in an action film together.

But now after some self-inflicted public relations wounds, father time and more than a few misfires, this collection of ex-A-Listers (with the possible exception of the 72-year-old Ford) can barely muster a blip at the box office.

The entire Expendables series has always been a mixed bag to say the least.

Sure, hipsters can enjoy them with condescending irony but for those of us who grew up idolizing these macho megastars, seeing them age so precipitously is a little disorienting. Still, each film had glimmers of greatness -- like Mickey Rourke's monologue about a girl he failed to save in the first Expendables or Mel Gibson's unexpectedly compelling performance in this new one.

But what were these films really about? Rocky is a story of beating the odds. The Rambo movies are revenge fantasies. The Expendables seemed to be about trying to recreate a past prime -- where narrative was insignificant and the bad guys were always vaguely ethnic. After nearly getting stranded in the direct-to-DVD wilderness, Stallone's career rebounded big time with audiences (and even some snobby film critics) with his terrific capper to the Rocky series (2007's Rocky Balboa) and to a lesser extent with his 2008 reboot of Rambo. And yet Stallone still wanted to prove he could still be plausible as a traditional (read: 1980s) action star.

So for the last four years we've watch a man well into his 60s round up an impressive "who's who" of larger-than-life action stars that we have grown to love despite their acting limitations. That said, the new film unwisely attempts to introduce a newer, younger crew of heroes who lack any charisma whatsoever and bring the movie to a screeching halt whenever they appear onscreen. But I digress.

Unfortunately after the runaway success of the first film and the diminished, yet still solid performance of the second, audiences seem to have tired of the novelty of seeing these old men blow stuff up real good. An early leak of the film online didn't help nor did the PG-13 rating, although I have never seen more people killed in a PG-13 movie in my life.

Why did The Expendables movies lose their charm? Let's start at the beginning. Stallone is an actor, whether he realizes it or not, who is motivated by his own insecurity, manifested by ego. His first major cinematic achievement will likely always be his greatest -- his screenplay and performance in the original Rocky film back in 1976.

The film, despite winning best picture, is often dismissed by highbrow critics as audience-pleasing hooey, but in my opinion, the film holds up as one of the greatest inspirational films ever made, featuring one of the most endearing likable characters of all time. Rocky was such an original, sweet character and while Stallone has never had tremendous range as an actor, his performance in that film was Oscar worthy (he was nominated, but lost for best actor). He is at his best when he's a little self deprecating and vulnerable, like in 1997's excellent Cop Land or the original Rambo film, 1982's First Blood or even 1993's underrated Cliffhanger.

Andy Warhol's take on Stallone

Unlike Schwarzenegger with his one liners, Stallone was never "in on the joke" about his films. He always plays everything earnestly and sincerely, which of course has won him his fair share of Razzies, but also, for me, makes him an admirable survivor in a business that doesn't tend to value age and experience.

Stallone will never earn the respect his contemporaries like De Niro and Pacino did. There's a great line in Rocky where his character says his father told him "you don't have much of a brain so you might as well work on your body."

I later learned, via Inside the Actor's Studio, that Stallone's father actually told him that in real life. And that heartbreaking insult says so much about the trajectory this man's movie career has taken. Despite claiming he was going to step away from bombastic action films over 15 years ago, the industry wouldn't let him. Instead he's been forced to try to keep recapturing his former glory with movies like Grudge Match.

And he looks like an incredible specimen of strength despite what appears to be an enormous amount of plastic surgery and hair dye. That said, the new Expendables end with an awkward, somewhat sad but ultimately honest scene where the "young" stars serenade Stallone with an off-key karaoke version of Neil Young's "Old Man". It's unsubtle Stallone at his worst and yet, perhaps even he understands now that he's beloved by action fans and he doesn't have to keep proving how tough he still is.

There's some hope for the movie Creed, which is still in development. It will resurrect the Rocky character but this time in the older trainer role (think Mickey) opposite Michael B. Jordan as the son of Rocky's former foe and eventual friend, Apollo Creed. Before you cringe, keep in mind that this film will be written and directed by the very talented Ryan Coogler, whose Fruitvale Station was one of the best reviewed films of last year. It would be exciting and interesting to see this unusual movie star (he's relatively short, has that nerve damaged curled lip and often unintelligible speaking voice) be utilized in a fresh and more believable way.

There's fun to be had in The Expendables 3. Like I said before, Gibson could make a whole new career out of playing villains, he's that good at it. Antonio Banderas is hilarious and fun as a motor-mouthed new addition to the squad. And Ford, who is unfairly maligned for having the audacity to finally start aging on screen, seems to be having a ball acting in such lowbrow fare.

But this is Stallone's picture -- with all it's glaring flaws (and there are many) and it's a portrait of a man who's deeply insecure and feels like he's unappreciated and expendable.