Mola Ram, hired by Entertainment Weekly as contributor for latest issue, finishes what he started in “Temple of Doom”
How could you EW?
Entertainment Weekly (Now that I think about it, I don’t know that I feel right calling them EW anymore) came out with ”The 100 Best Films of the Last 25 Years” this past week. And while I agree with most of their choices, I can’t help but wonder how they could not include one of the Indiana Jones films on the list? Yes I realize that Raiders of the Lost Ark doesn’t qualify being that it came out in 1981, but if they’re going to include a sequel from the Jason Bourne films and rank it at #29, then you HAVE to include The Last Crusade. Being that they didn’t, I can only assume that the entire staff drank the blood of Kali Ma.
I love lists. Can’t wait to put some of my own out for my reader (no that’s not a typo) to criticize. But since I don’t have any ready to go just yet, I’ll just be the one doing the criticizing. And so getting back to the EW list…
Since I’m already here…
#29 The Bourne Supremacy. Really?? This movie is nothing but a complete retread of the original (and brilliant) The Bourne Identity. I’m not saying director Paul Greengrass didn’t do a great job with the second film, it’s a very good movie, but Doug Liman invented the quick paced fight sequences, car chases, and signature camera style that the franchise became known for. The only difference I saw in Supremacy is that the camera just shook around more. I guess that makes for a grittier fight scene. (Either that or motion sickness.)
Moving on. Some other stand out horrors…
#10 Moulin Rouge. I’m sorry, and maybe some of the ladies out there can help me out with this, but what is the deal with Moulin Rouge? (I ask the ladies because even if a guy were to like this movie, he would never admit it, and certainly would never admit it to the extent of defending it to me.) How 
is this movie ranked #10? Of the past 25 years?? Moulin Rouge is a horrible horrible movie whose only redeeming quality is that it can be used in experiments to induce epileptic seizures. (I’m pretty sure Hugh Laurie played the DVD for one of his patients to do just that when the strobe light wasn’t working on House, M.D.) I think the nicest best only way I can say it is that this movie is the cinematic equilavent of being vomited on.
#19 Casino Royale. Dumb. Plain dumb. It just boggles the mind that this movie is so high on the list. Again, we’re talking about the best movies of the past 25 years! Was this a good reboot of the Bond franchise? Absolutely. Should it be considered a “new classic”? No! For reference’s sake, here are some films that Casino Royale is ranked ahead of (within it’s same genre): Memento, Bourne Supremacy (Royale’s Bond is basically Jason Bourne in a tux yet somehow gets ranked ahead of him), Speed, Gladiator, Men In Black, I have to stop. Who was even the bad guy in Casino Royale? Could you pick him out of an imdb lineup? The Usual Suspects is a way better film and doesn’t even make their list of 100. Makes me want to watch Moulin Rouge vomit.
#92 Menace II Society. Like I said, there wasn’t much I disagreed with on this list, which is why I’m jumping all the way to 92 on the list. And in this case I don’t even disagree with putting Menace on the list. I just don’t 
understand how you can have this film and not have Boyz n The Hood as well. Boyz came first, was the better more ground-breaking film, and gave us a glimpse of future greats such as Laurence (Lawrence? Larry? make up your mind man!) Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, and errrr Regina King.
Otherwise I think they did a pretty good job. Okay okay, we’re back on a nickname basis EW. What do you think? Any other glaring omissions?
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