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Top 10 Richest Hollywood Actors

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Who are the top 10 richest actors in Hollywood? Can you guess the number one, or even any of those featured in the list? The most recent list of richest Hollywood actors was published on buzzle.com, which saw the Fresh Prince Will Smith coming in at number one. Joining the “Independence Day” and “Seven Pounds” star in the money-bags stakes is Johnny Depp, Eddie Murphy (somewhat surprisingly given his recent output) and Mike Myers (again surprisingly since the guy has appeared to go into self-induced exile since “Austin Powers 3”). On the way up the list is Leonardo DiCaprio while on the way down is Bruce Willis. The top 10 richest Hollywood actors list is concluded with Ben Stiller, Nick Cage, and Will Ferrell. No doubt a Mr Ricky Gervais will be on it next year.

Top10Films: Dustin Hoffman

Ratso’s hang-ups, Sumner’s ordeal, Braddock’s sexual desire: The Life and Characters of Dustin Hoffman

Everyone who interviews Dustin Hoffman leaves with the same thoughts on the man: warm, intelligent, and accommodating. His small physical stature – there’s only 5ft 6in of the man – is dismissed by a presence that fills the room. He is a complete part of the Hollywood furniture: iconic and recognisable in both looks and voice. He is Tinseltown gold and a legend of the film industry.

As a child – although I did not know it at the time – it was Hoffman who filled the screen with a swashbuckling sense of tempered nastiness in Spielberg’s “Hook”. He was the best thing about an oddly misjudged and overtly sentimental attempt at reinventing the Peter Pan story. He twitched his whisker moustache and glared with contempt at any person under the age of fifteen, genuinely finding menace in the light-hearted setting.

He followed “Hook” with another light-hearted comedy, playing the unlikely hero after a plane crash lands. Known as “Accidental Hero” in the UK (it was just “Hero” in America), Hoffman’s petty criminal Bernie Laplante is the plane passenger’s saviour, one of whom is news reporter Gale Gayley (Geena Davis). Unsure of media attention pointed at his unruly background, Laplante sees homeless man John Bubber (Andy Garcia) take responsibility for his heroic actions. It’s a better film than given credit for – biting in its humour, and a strong satirical swing at the hypocrisy of media. It’s also rather forward thinking in its depiction of celebrity and tabloid sensationalism, especially in light of reality television such as Big Brother and X Factor/Pop Idol. The fact Laplante finds all this notoriety suddenly and accidentally echoes Hoffman’s own introduction to the world of film.

By his own admission he was the accidental movie star, plummeting to stardom in 1967 with the release of “The Graduate”. In the early 1960s when a twenty-something Dustin Hoffman was plying his trade on off-Broadway plays, there as no call in Hollywood for his brand of movie star. He was short, thin, lacking the strong jaw and clean-cut appeal of McQueen and Newman. Stardom was a distant dream and it wasn’t until he’d passed the age of thirty before he finally landed his big break.

Mel Brooks had initially cast him as the Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in “The Producers” which Hoffman was excited about since he idolised Brooks. But he had to turn the part down after Mike Nichols made him an offer to play lead Benjamin Braddock in “The Graduate”. The film brought Hoffman the recognition he craved. It also turned out to be friend and roommate Gene Hackman’s career-maker. Hackman was due to play Anne Bankcroft’s husband but was fired early in pre-production. His sudden availability brought him to the attention of Warren Beatty who cast him in “Bonnie and Clyde”.

Hoffman says the experience working with Nichols was tough but educational. “Nichols is very demanding,” says the actor, but “we all learned from him.” Nichols spent a lot of time rehearsing the actors which Hoffman says was a times “excruciating”. However, he acknowledges that Nichols is a truly great film director. “He took me aside one day when I was tired and probably not focusing well on the scene, looked deep inside my eyes and said, ‘You’re never going to get the chance to do this scene again as long as you live, and you’re going to see it one day up there on the screen.’” Hoffman would be nominated for an Academy Award for the film, the first of four within twelve years, eventually winning in 1979 for his role in “Kramer Versus Kramer”. It was reward for his hours spent at the famed Actors Studio and continued plight on the off-Broadway theatre circuit, as well vindication for his use of method acting. For Hoffman though, Hollywood’s calling was a ticket home; perhaps it was written in stone that the Los Angeles-born actor would end up in the town’s most lucrative and eye-catching industry.

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10. Lenny (Fosse, 1974)
Dir. Bob Fosse; written by Julian Barry; starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck
Read my full review HERE

Considered by many US-based critics as a film lacking the sort of anti-establishment relish that made its origin of study the darling of counter-culture 1950s and 1960s Americana, “Lenny” plays better in the United Kingdom. British mainstream media is more open to the real meaning of the comedian’s ‘blah blah blah’ skit and other obscene eccentricities. Frequently, we see Hollywood actors, musicians, and comic stars appear on talk shows such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and The Graham Norton Show, looking aghast at the host’s use of the ‘F’ word, or more explicit allusion to sex, homosexuality, and drug use. [Read my full review]

9. Kramer Versus Kramer (Benton, 1979)
Dir. Robert Benton; written by Robert Benton; starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander

“Kramer Versus Kramer” was lavishly praised and awarded on its release in 1979. It features one of Hoffman’s most reserved and natural performances and he, along with co-star Meryl Streep, won Academy Awards for best actor and best actress in a supporting role respectively. The film also won Academy Awards for best film, best director, and best screenplay.

It was a film of its time but its message is still resonant today. Seeking to draw light on the changing cultural shift occurring in late 1970s America, “Kramer Versus Kramer” tells of the struggle when the American dream breaks down. It also takes to task the traditional role of the father, and how single parenthood can impinge on both work and child-parent relationships. The film gives equal weight to both the mother and father’s role, challenging the idea that mothers are automatically considered as the favoured parent in custody battles.

8. All The President’s Men (Pakula, 1976)
Dir. Alan J. Pakula; written by William Goldman; starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Jason Robards, Ned Beatty
Read my full review HERE

Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford are on top form as they bring down the Nixon administration. [Read my full review]

7. Rain Man (Levinson, 1988)
Dir. Barry Levinson; written by Barry Morrow, Ronald Bass; starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valerie Golino

“Rain Man” gave Hoffman his second Oscar for best actor, playing an autistic savant alongside on-screen brother Tom Cruise. Some criticised his performance as over-the-top but I have always felt it is one of his most disciplined. Like Ratso Rizzo and Louis Dega, Hoffman so embodies the character you forget you’re watching one of the most recognisable Hollywood stars.

6. Marathon Man (Schlesinger, 1976)
Dir. John Schlesinger; written by William Goldman; starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, William Devane, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller

It’s great to see Hoffman on-screen with Laurence Olivier, and the two don’t disappoint, especially in the well-known dentist torture scene.

5. Papillon (Schaffner, 1973)
Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner; written by Henri Charriere, Dalton Trumbo; starring Dustin Hoffman, Steve McQueen

Powerful and affecting prison drama with stand out performances from McQueen and Hoffman. McQueen gets more screen time but its testament to Hoffman’s ability that he outshines the great escapee in their scenes together.

4. Tootsie (Pollack, 1982)
Dir. Sydney Pollack; written by Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal, Barry Levinson, Elaine May; starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack

A generation – my own – actually believed for years that Robin Williams was the best cross-dressing comic actor and “Mrs. Doubtfire” was the funniest film of all time. Thankfully, time is good for at least one thing: knowledge. I found “Tootsie” on late-night TV and have never looked back. Hoffman showed his versatility in 1982 with this comedic turn as actor Michael Dorsey who, having struggled to get a decent role on television, dresses up as a woman and auditions for a female role, curiously getting the part on soap opera “Southwest General”. Hoffman was again nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards but failed to win.

3. Midnight Cowboy (Schlesinger, 1969)
Dir. John Schlesinger; written by James Leo Herlihy, Waldo Salt; starring Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles

Undeniably one of Dustin Hoffman’s finest performances, his appearance in John Schlesinger’s “Midnight Cowboy” as Ratso Rizzo is heartbreakingly humane, touching, and personal. Hoffman should have won his first Academy Award for the film but had to resign himself to a nomination alongside Voight.

2. Straw Dogs (Peckinpah, 1971)
Dir. Sam Peckinpah; written by Sam Peckinpah, David Zelag Goodman; starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Jim Norton, Ken Hutchison, Donald Webster, Del Henney, David Warner
Read my full review HERE

The second greatest achievement in Dustin Hoffman’s career is Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs”. He wasn’t first choice for lead part David Sumner but gladly took on the role when offered it. He was intrigued by the character’s aversion to violence and how he is finally driven to physically defend himself and his home by criminals. Hoffman displays Sumner as a nerdy, observant yet withdrawn man who has become less interested in his beautiful wife and more obsessed by work and routine. Under the constant provocation from local workers mending his home’s roof, he is encouraged by wife Amy to stand up for himself but he finds this difficult. He’s shy and unsure of himself in social situations, yet he’s strong-willed and confident when alone in his office. When he’s finally driven to stand up to his bullies, Hoffman displays his new found mental strength as an adrenaline rush of nervous energy. There isn’t a hint that we’re seeing two completely different characters switched from passive dweeb to heroic vigilante just because the plot called for it – Hoffman’s aggression is a constant throughout the film, but it is only released when he can contain it no more. [Read my full review.]

1. The Graduate (Nichols, 1967)
Dir. Mike Nichols; written by Calder Willingham, Buck Henry; starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bankcroft, Katherine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton

Dustin Hoffman’s first foray into the world of film is still his shining achievement. This tale of a recently graduated young man trying to find his place in life under the constant strain of over-bearing parents is given just the right doe-eyed, idealism-in-the-dark vitality required by an equally bemused Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for the first time.

Top 10 Sequels of the 1980s

In the eighties, the high-concept movie was in vogue, its number increasing. Thanks largely to blockbusters “Jaws” and “Star Wars”, the eighties saw what was tried and trusted in the decade before it and simply repackaged the thrills for an audience wanting exactly the same entertainment.

The industry was drastically changing from the top down. Huge, multinational conglomerates who, quite rightly, viewed their acquisition as a profitable arm of the company bought a number of studios. United Artists merged with MGM in 1981, while 20th Century Fox was bought by oil billionaire Marvin Davis that same year. And, Columbia Pictures was bought by the Coca-Cola company in 1982. As the decade continued other studios followed suit. Because of this, films became commodities. Profitability and marketability was of a higher concern than artistic originality.

However, this new Hollywood saw that to be successful it didn’t need originality. It needed familiarity. Whether that was the iconic star, the rehashed plotline, or the sequel, films of the eighties were redressed versions of successful movies. As such, the Hollywood product of the eighties became lowbrow entertainment designed for teen audiences wanting quick and easy pleasure. It’s a decade characterised by the fast-paced, simple and formulaic narratives of such films as “Top Gun”, “Beverly Hills Cop”, “Days Of Thunder”, and “Die Hard”.

One of the easiest films to market and make commercially successful was the sequel. It had the recognizable star (Eddie Murphy in the “Beverly Hills Cop”, Sigourney Weaver in the “Alien” films, Bruce Willis in the “Die Hard” films), it had the iconic character (Axel Foley, Ripley, John McClane, Rocky Balboa), the same or similar baddie or monster (the alien in “Aliens”, Freddy Kruger in “A Nightmare on Elm Street”). The film companies knew how to market their films because they’d already had practice at least once. They knew what worked and what didn’t work.

The amount of sequels that appeared in the 1980s was unheard of before. Many, unfortunately, were poor imitations, and few did better box office than the original film. Yet some were surprisingly good, especially when quality filmmakers were behind the camera. James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, and Steven Spielberg – three directors who would also entirely base their careers around high-concept cinema – produced some of the best sequels. Some argue that their sequels were actually better than the original incarnation.

10. Superman 2 (Richard Lester, 1980)
“Superman 2”, the entertaining sequel to the 1978 original following the exploits of Clark Kent and his flying alter-ego, could have been a 70s sequel had it not been for controversial creative differences faced by the filmmakers.

“Superman”, directed by Richard Donner, was released in 1978. Donner had planned to release a sequel soon after the original. To do so both films were filmed at the same time. However, Donner struggled stay on budget, and fought with the producers over the tone of the film. Donner was removed from the project after the original film was finished. Director Richard Lester then took charge of the sequel, piecing together footage shot by Donner while re-shooting scenes and re-writing others. Gene Hackman sided with Donner, refusing to appear in any re-shoots, so Lester had to rework the plot or use body-doubles. Despite the problems, “Superman 2”, which is about 50% Lester and 50% Donner (depending on who you believe and which version of the film you see), is a terrific sequel with some wonderful set-pieces and an icily, sadistic performance from Terrence Stamp. The biggest compliment you can pay the film is that, for all the superhero films out there, this is still one of the best examples of the genre.

color of money best 1980s eighties sequel

9. The Color Of Money (Martin Scorsese, 1986)
You only need to mention Hollywood heavyweights Scorsese and Newman and the “The Color of Money” jumps out at you as a film to see. The sequel to the 1961 film “The Hustler”, about small-time pool-shark Fast-Eddie Felson, picks up the story twenty years later with Felson (Paul Newman) out of the game. However, protégé Vincent (Tom Cruise) gets him back on the green baize. Newman won an Oscar for his performance.

halloween 2 jamie lee curtis best 1980s eighties sequel

8. Halloween 2 (Rick Rosenthal, 1981)
John Carpenter’s classic horror “Halloween” has inspired the release of over ten sequels and remakes with more on the way. Surprisingly, many of these films are rather good. Seeing little Danielle Harris being harassed by the William Shatner mask-wearing psychopath in both “Halloween 4” and “Halloween 5” is great, exploitation cinema. The post-modern “Halloween: H20” is the best since the original with Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as the screen-queen. But, the first sequel also has a lot going for it. “Halloween 2”, directed by Rick Rosenthal, has plenty of tension as it picks up events directly after the ending of the first film. Curtis and Pleasance return, their characters thrown into another melee of blood and violence. The film has John Carpenter’s script to thank for staying faithful to the original story.

beverly hills cop 2 best 1980s eighties sequel

7. Beverly Hills Cop 2 (Tony Scott, 1987)
Tony Scott took the director’s chair for the sequel to the massively popular Eddie Murphy vehicle “Beverly Hills Cop”. The second film proved to be just as big thanks to Tony Scott’s eye for adrenaline popping pace and eye for an action sequence, and Eddie Murphy’s huge star appeal.

back to the future part 2 best 1980s eighties sequel

6. Back To The Future Part 2 (Robert Zemeckis, 1989)
Arguably the greatest fantasy trilogy ever made (unless you’re a Star Wars or Lord Of The Rings fan), “Back To The Future Part 2” is the weakest of the films but still lots of fun. Director-writer Robert Zemeckis along with writer Bob Gale crafted a wonderful set of stories featuring time-travellers Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Dr. Brown (Christopher Lloyd) with their second instalment picking up events as we left them in the first film. Fox and Lloyd, along with mean bad-guy Thomas F. Wilson, grace the screen with energetic performances. Fox and Wilson are also excellent in their alternate roles, both playing several characters throughout the film.

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5. Mad Max 2 (George Miller, 1981)
George Miller returns to the director’s chair for the second instalment in the Mad Max franchise. The sequel, an altogether more accessible and entertaining film than the original, was a worldwide box office hit on its release in 1981 and made Mel Gibson a star. The film is notable for the beautifully photographed Australian desert and the violent, adrenaline-fuelled action sequences.

4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Nicholas Meyer, 1982)
There’s a rule of thumb everyone should remember when it comes to the “Star Trek” series. The even numbered films are good, the odd numbered films are bad (some very bad). If you don’t believe me just look at the best “Star Trek” movies – “The Wrath of Khan” (number two), “The Voyage Home” (number four), “The Undiscovered Country” (number six), “Nemesis” (number eight). Now look at the lesser “Star Trek” efforts – “The Motion Picture” (number one), “The Search For Spock” (number three), “Generations” (number seven), and the truly awful “Final Frontier” (number five).

It’s to be expected that with so many sequels there will be hits and misses. The second “Star Trek” film to appear in theatres is the best film of the franchise, and perhaps should have been the first edition of the television show in feature-film form. It’s a terrific story of good battling evil. Ricardo Montalban reprises his cult bad-guy character from the television series, rekindling his hatred for Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and displaying it on the big-screen with a frightening cold, hearted malice.

One of the few examples of a sequel being better than the original.

indiana jones last crusade best 1980s eighties sequel

3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg, 1989)
Some argue that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ third Indiana Jones movie is the best of the lot. For me, the original is still the finest of the series, but “Last Crusade” runs a close second due to a wonderfully adventurous and biblically-inspired tale that takes Indy back to Nazi Germany, some brilliantly choreography and photographed action sequences, and some sprightly performances from Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.

empire strikes back star wars best 1980s eighties sequel

2. Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
George Lucas beats his old friend Spielberg to the number two spot in Top 10 1980s sequels but just doesn’t have enough to reach the summit. The “Empire Strikes Back” is rightly considered better than the original film because it’s based on a better developed script, is much darker in spirit and tone, features the best action sequence of the entire series, and is directed by the more experienced hand of Irvin Kershner. That should take nothing away from “Star Wars”, a fabulous film in its own right, but “Empire Strikes Back” is the Golden Goose of the “Star Wars” franchise.

aliens best 1980s eighties sequel james cameron sigourney weaver

1. Aliens (1986, James Cameron)
Some may say a sequel to Ridley Scott’s “Alien” was detrimental to cinema since it has influenced some poor imitations and several awful sequels. However, both “Aliens” and “Alien 3” are terrific films in their own right and deserve to viewed as such. “Aliens”, writer-director James Cameron’s faithful continuation of the story, is a heart-pumping, lost-in-space horror that allowed Sigourney Weaver to reprise her role as Ripley and examine her character more deeply. Much of the film’s success comes because Weaver has never been as good, seemingly born to play this feminine hero figure who is perennially fighting for her life. Cameron’s bleak, futuristic world is brilliantly realised, from the weapons and spacecraft, to the colony buildings and interiors, there is a sense of frightening authenticity to the horror that is prevailing. And that’s not mentioning the aliens themselves, which put simply, are the most gloriously conceived and designed monsters of horror cinema.

Read my full review of Aliens HERE
Discover more: M. Carter @ The Movies reviews Aliens | Movie Mobsters review Aliens | Cinefantastique reviews Aliens

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Theory:
Daniel Stephens analyses the role of Ripley in the Alien films
The Dickensian Aspect – Live Blogging: James Cameron’s Aliens

Other Sequels and Lists:
The Movie Blogs Top 20 Sequels of All Time
Movie Retriever’s Top Sequels of the Year 1989 to 2009

Top 10 Modern Vampire Films

The vampire: that harbinger of everlasting life and eternal damnation. From the cloaked gothic majesty of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” to the down and dirty night-crawlers of Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark”, vampire’s have formed the basis for more literary and cinematic horror than any other fictional creature.

Early cinematic incarnations of the blood-sucking sun-haters were based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Infamously, Friedrich Murnau made “Nosferatu” in Germany without acquiring the rights to film the novel. After a lawsuit, all copies of the film were ordered to be destroyed. The film now survives thanks largely to a 1990s restoration of one print that somehow survived the print massacre. “Nosferatu” is one of the best early horror films and laid the foundation for German expressionist cinema. It has become one of the most widely known silent films ever made.

It wasn’t long before Hollywood got its mitts on the character with Universal producing a series of films that made Bela Lugosi famous as the refined but diabolical Count Dracula. Several sequels were made including “Son of Dracula” which starred classic monster movie star Lon Chaney Jr.

Lugosi would appear for the final time as Count Dracula in the comedy-horror hybrid “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”. There was a brief period of hiatus for the fanged, Freudian construct before British production company Hammer Film Productions started making their own interpretation of the Universal horror characters. These were the films that made Christopher Lee the pin-up poster child of Count Dracula, appearing in countless Hammer films about the blood-sucking menace.

By the 1970s, the modern vampire was beginning to show itself. Flirting with the contemporary world, the modern vampire shredded its gothic roots and its even its male-centric persona. We’d already seen a few lesbian vampires by the time “The Vampire Lovers” made it a distinct sub-genre of its own in 1970.

Kathryn Bigelow re-imagined vampire traditions by presenting them as outlaws in the guise of the classic western in “Near Dark”, while Joel Schumacher saw his vampires through the conventions of an eighties teen-movie in “The Lost Boys”.

And it wasn’t long before filmmakers post-modernised the genre with Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dust Till Dawn” and E. Elias Merhige’s “Shadow Of A Vampire”. Roman Polanski showed us one of the first instances of vampire parody with “The Fearless Vampire Killers”, John Carpenter used a humorous turn from James Woods to entertain his audience in “Vampires”, and John Landis amusingly did Vampires-meet-Goodfellas in “Innocent Blood”.

Our top ten modern vampire films seek to contemporise the gothic bloodsucker, and see him or her in a modern world where the vampire does not have a monopoly on society’s evils. The vampire is instead a part of the violent, corruptive and dangerous underclass that preys on the night with every other mugger, murderer, and rapist.

10. 30 Days of Night
Who made it: David Slade
Who’s in it: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George
Produced by Sam Raimi, “30 Days of Night” promises a lot more than it delivers. It’s a shame because there’s a good premise here. Set in an Alaskan town preparing for thirty days of darkness – a town that just so happens to have a few vampires about the place – we are set up for a frenzy of bloodsucking feasting.

9. Blade
Who made it: Stephen Norrington
Who’s in it: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson
“Blade” remains one of the most successful comic book adaptations, paving the way for Marvel to pursue more comic-to-film transitions with the “X-Men” and “Spider-Man” franchises. The title character Blade is a half-human, half-vampire who protects humanity from pure-blood vampires. It’s an original take on the traditional story. Blade, the classic anti-hero, is given a humane moral compass through his part-human lineage. He is therefore the vampire with virtue, a powerful protector in the night.

8. Vampires
Who made it: John Carpenter
Who’s in it: James Woods, Daniel Baldwin
John Carpenter’s tongue-in-cheek vampire film is another that reinterprets western convention within a horror film premise. James Woods is fantastic as the wise-cracking vampire slayer. Carpenter does draw on gothic vampire traditions but post-modernises the story with the Catholic Church’s armed response to their threat.

7. Cronos
Who made it: Guillermo Del Toro
Who’s in it: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman
Guillermo Del Toro’s 1993 horror film loses the generic trappings of the vampire film in favour of the vampire’s inherent characteristics. So we have old antique dealer Jesus being injected with an unknown substance instead of being bitten, which makes him appear young again, gives him a renewed appetite for sex, and, unfortunately, a need to drink blood. The film then becomes a power struggle between Jesus and an aging businessman, whose knowledge of Jesus’ condition makes him hungry for similarly renewed life.

6. Innocent Blood
Who made it: John Landis
Who’s in it: Anna Parrillaud, Chazz Palminteri, Anthony LaPaglia, Robert Loggia
John Landis’ “Innocent Blood” takes the vampire film into the world gangsters ala “Goodfellas” or “The Godfather”. When a vivacious female vampire, whose moral code allows her only to feed on the blood of criminals, fails to kill mob boss Salvatore ‘The Shark’ Macelli after feeding from him, he turns into a vampire too. The film mixes humour with horror, reminiscent of Landis’ greatest achievement “An American Werewolf In London”.

5. Martin
Who made it: George A. Romero
Who’s in it: John Amplas, Tom Savini
Romero’s “Martin” takes the vampiric fascination with blood and plays with it in a very realistic setting. The film wryly parodies gothic vampire traditions but steers clear of the supernatural element of the monster.

4. Fright Night
Who made it: Tom Holland
Who’s in it: Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowall, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse
One of the most entertaining modern vampire films, this comedy-horror boasts a cracking performance from Roddy McDowall as television’s best-known vampire killer. When a young boy comes to him asking for help disposing of a vampire who has taken up home next door, Vincent tries unsuccessfully to disprove his theory. “Fright Night” was one of the most successful horror films of the 1980s.

3. The Lost Boys
Who made it: Joel Schumacher
Who’s in it: Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman
One of the most popular teen horror films of the 1980s, Joel Schumacher’s “The Lost Boys” took the coming-of-age drama and added vampire lore. Boasting a killer 80s soundtrack including theme song “Cry Little Sister”, “The Lost Boys” is a funny, entertaining hybrid of traditional vampire conventions and the modern trappings of youth angst and small town Americana.

2. From Dust Till Dawn
Who made it: Robert Rodriguez
Who’s in it: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Tom Savini, Selma Hayek
At once a traditional kidnap crime caper and a conventionally derivative vampire film, Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Till Dawn” gets its inventiveness by combining two genres like two disparate pieces of jigsaw, wrongly forced together. Rodriguez makes no attempt at premising his film’s change of direction at the halfway point. It works so well because he’s introduced us to a group of characters that by now we’ve come to know. We are with them in a realistic world that quickly changes to a gothic underworld. How they deal with this new threat is what makes the latter half of the film so enjoyable.

1. Near Dark
Who made it: Kathryn Bigelow
Who’s in it: Bill Paxton, Lance Henrikson, Adrian Pasdar, Jeanette Goldstein
Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark” is still the best of the modern vampire films. Her vampires are down and dirty – they’ve lived for centuries and survive as outlaws, feeding by night on anyone who happens to come their way.
See my full review of “Near Dark” here

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Mike Leigh chooses his Top 10 Films

Acclaimed British filmmaker Mike Leigh compiles his Top 10 films and includes some lesser-known titles than many of his contemporaries.

His favourite film of all time is the Ermanno Olmi-directed “The Tree of Wooden Clogs” (L’Albero degli zoccoli). Like Leigh’s films, which are often controversial and provocative, “The Tree of Wooden Clogs” concerns itself with class and religion, focusing on Italian peasant life in the late 19th century. It’s a difficult film to watch, and a film which is likely to alienate many viewers, especially with its graphic depiction of real life (including the gutting of a partially living pig) and lack of formal narrative. It’s also a long movie, clocking in at over three hours. Still, even though it is an acquired taste, it is a film worth seeing at least once.

Of Leigh’s more recognised choices “The 400 Blows” and “Some Like It Hot” come as no small surprise. However, Woody Allen’s “Radio Days”, appearing on Leigh’s list at number 8, is an interesting choice since most critics, fans, and filmmakers alike, opt for “Annie Hall” or “Manhattan” as their favourite Woody Allen film.

Film director Mike Leigh’s Top 10 Films

1. The Tree of Wooden Clogs
2. Tokyo Story
3. I Am Cuba
4. The 400 Blows
5. The Death of Mr Lazarescu
6. Songs From The Second Floor
7. Some Like It Hot
8. Radio Days
9. Seven Chances
10. How A Mosquito Operates

Top 10 Sequels of the 1980s - The decade that sequels ruled the box office. But which ones are worth revisiting? [Read More]
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Top 10 Modern Vampires - see how the classic tale of Dracula is seen through the eyes of modern filmmakers. [Read More]
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Top 10 Robert Zemeckis Films - He took us Back To The Future but what other great adventures did the Spielberg understudy take us on? [Read More]
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Top 10 British Comedy Since 1980 - After the Ealing comedies, after The Goon Show, after the Pythons - this is British comedy since 1980 [Read More]

Top 10 Richest Hollywood Actors

Top10Films: Dustin Hoffman

Top 10 Sequels of the 1980s

Top 10 Modern Vampire Films

Mike Leigh chooses his Top 10 Films

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