Greatest Films of all Time

I would drop Pulp Fiction, Vertigo, and Annie Hall from the list ... and add one or more Stanley Kubrik films ... perhaps Dr. Strangelove and/or 2001.

Dr. Strangelove is clearly (to my mind) one of the greatest films ever. It makes a humorously brilliant statement about a major era in world history -- the Cold War -- and draws out so many of the real ironies (and incredible dangers) of that time.

I had cause to think about Dr. Strangelove as I was going through graduate school in political science. I took a Defense and Strategic Studies course ... where you study all the war and defense related topics ... and I have to say both the course and the movie have kind of haunted me ever since. Virtually everything in the movie has a counterpart in the real issues of the time ... from the fact that military commanders in some areas posessed all the codes necessary to launch their missles (they're not supposed to, of course, without permission from the president ... but they were actually *capable* of doing it on their own initiative) ... to the demented and paranoid beliefs of the commander in the film who launches the attack. There's no mention in the movie of the John Birch Society ... but this commander's beliefs and convictions are taken almost verbatim from that ultra right-wing group's views.

And here's an interesting question -- what type of career do you suppose John Birch Society members would be attracted to? The military is kind of a natural fit for those who are passionate and wanted to work against the Soviet threat.

The thing about the film is that it's all so very plausible. It's completely crazy ... but very plausible. The basic cinematic device the film uses is to place things that are completely crazy (but plausible) next to things that are totally whimsical and unreal ... and dare you to try to sort them out. It's a brilliant device that works on oh so many levels.

So there you have it -- my nomination for one of the 10 best films ever ... Dr. Strangelove.