Colin's "Best 23 Movies I've seen in the last 23 years": #23-12

Well here we are. Time for the first legit post in Hoosier Movie Snobs history. I'm a bit nervous. We've got a short window of time here to convince you 12...ok, 8 readers that we're going to be providing a worthwhile product for you to waste your valuable time with. I know what's at stake. I'm actually sweating a little bit onto my fresh Tin Caps fitted right now. Yeah, it's that serious.

Now, one small caveat before we proceed: the following are not my favorite movies of all time, they're the ones I consider to be the best. There's a difference. Sure I've seen Zoolander and Ferris Bueller's Day Off a combined 1.21 gigawatt times, and I will again, but they're just good for a cheap laugh. The filmmakers didn't really make me FEEL anything. Therefore, we're gonna go with this list for now. We'll hit a brilliant comedies list sometime in the future. So without any ado whatsoever, let's do this:

23. Into the Wild - Oscar crime of the century: this was neither nominated for Best Picture NOR was Emile Hirsch nominated for Best Actor. Ridiculous. Hirsch plays true story guy Chris McCandless, who, upon graduating from college, donated his life savings and hitchhiked/walked to Alaska to live off the land and hunt moose and whatnot. Along the way he meets/charms a variety of different characters (Vince Vaughn and Zach Galifianakis as midwestern farmers, whaaa?), each uniquely American. I loved every minute of it.

22. 25th Hour - With my favorite Ed Norton role (edging out card shark Lester "Worm" Murphy), this post-9/11-New York Spike Lee joint follows a man in his last 24 hours before heading to jail on a seven-year, drug dealing sentence. I'm not immune to getting a little dusty while watching a movie here or there, but no movie has made me openly weep like I did during the last scene between Norton and his best friends (personal fav's Barry Pepper and Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Emotionally draining, amazing. Great movie.

21. The Departed - Scorsese. DiCaprio. Damon. Nicholson. Sheen. Baldwin. Marky Mark. Wow.

20. The Incredibles - I'm a huge fan of any Pixar movie at this point (most notably the first half of WALL-E but not quite the second), but a large, unbiased sampling of my peers (or...me) voted, and The Incredibles came out on top. Probably just because Samuel L. Jackson made a great Frozone ("Where is my super suit?!) I'm fully expecting Toy Story 3 to blow my mind though.

19. Collateral - I've never been a big Tom Cruise fan, but this is definitely my favorite non-homoerotic-Maverick role for him. Add Jamie Foxx at the top of his game (should have won both acting Oscars in 2004), and Michael Mann directing (L.A. has never looked cooler), and you get the quintessential hitman-kinda-befriending-a-cab-driver-while-he-goes-on-a-killing-rampage flick.

18. The Dark Knight - Heath Ledger's brilliant Joker performance (definitely the best movie villain ever) overcomes Christian Bale's annoying Batman voice. (Seriously why does he have to growl all his lines? Remember when the Colts were accused of pumping in bass in the RCA Dome? Nonsense. Christian Bale was just in the building.) See it on Blu-Ray, it'll change your life.

17. The Hurt Locker - My movie arch nemesis, Tony Didier, and I recently had the following conversation, which ultimately led to me wanting to start this blog - Tony: "Hey I saw one of your critically acclaimed (said with a lot of disdain) movies the other day, it was terrible." Me: "What was it?" Tony: "The Hurt Locker." The fact that there are people out there that are too stupid to like this movie (or any of these other 22 for that matter) baffles me. If I don't kill him first, we'll get Tony on here eventually for the "People who thought Transformers 2 was serviceable and actually paid money to see Bride Wars" perspective. That having been said...

16. Transformers 2 - Michael Bay has long been my favorite mind-blowingly-amazing director, but he really outdid himself with this one. Great performances from future Oscar winners Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox, and a bunch of charismatic robots playing off the most original script I've ever been exposed to...brilliant. OK, sorry, I can't even continue typing this with a straight face. I will never see this piece of shit. Not even if I was tied down (ladies) to a chair with my eyelids pinned open. Sorry for the heart attack I know you just had Nix.

Actual 16. No Country for Old Men - The hotel shootout scene between Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh (say that five times fast) and Josh Brolin's Llewelyn Moss (whose first name is the reason I'm glad I never have to learn English as a second language) redefines tense. No music, no other people involved, just one man hunting another man with two million dollars and terrible haircuts at stake. The Coen brothers at their absolute best.

15. Pulp Fiction - This is what Marcellus Wallace looks like.

14. Fight Club - Rules #1 and #2 prohibit me from talking about this movie.

13. Children of Men - Forever legendary for its 7-plus-minute single tracking shot (and this one), with a war going on, bombs going off, buildings being reduced to rubble, and Clive Owen running around trying to rescue the only baby left on planet Earth in the middle of it all. Insane camera work. Also, the plot and the acting and all that. Whatever.

12. The Lord of the Rings - Want to spend the next 12 hours watching a group of fantastical creatures interact and think Star Wars is insanely overrated? I may have an idea for you.

Coming tomorrow (drumroll)......movies #11-1! See ya then.