#8 - Schindler's List

I watched this film right after "Apocalypse Now," which in retrospect was probably not the best choice. After being slapped across the face with violence in "Apocalypse Now," I was ready for some shoot-'em-up action. Instead I watched a little girl in a red coat run around and spent about three hours trying to differentiate between Liam Neeson (good Nazi) and Ralph Fiennes (bad Nazi).

Like "Apocalypse Now," I didn't find the starring performances in this movie to be all that compelling. However, I found the secondary and even the performances by the extras to be some of the best in movie history. The two moments that spring to mind are: 1) when the little boy is looking for a hiding spot and jumps down a latrine hole, only to find that it is already taken by three or four other children and 2) the looks of elation on the women's faces when they are sent to the showers at Auschwitz, thinking they are about to be gassed but find out it's only water that they're being showered with.

These little moments remind me of "Titanic." My two favorite moments in that movie do not involve Jack, Rose, or any of the principal cast. No, it's definitely the moments when the old couple hug each other in bed with the water rising and the sadness of the string quartet that plays as the ship goes down. None of the little moments in "Schindler's List" do anything to drive the plot forward, but they are the reasons I found this movie to be so stirring. I will be haunted for far longer by the several gunshots to the insignificant heads than I will be by Ben Kingsley's unmoving performance as a clever accountant.

However, one bright spot in the principal cast of this movie was Liam Neeson's final breakdown. It was only then that we saw Schindler's vulnerability -- a man who was so magnanimous, but then realizes that there is always room for improvement. Although it seemed odd to equate human life to a golden pin, the sentiment was right and Neeson did a fine job getting the point across.

All in all, "Schindler's List" is more than deserving to be in the top quarter of this list. But #8? I'm not so sure about that one. But nevertheless it remains a timeless tale (made even more timeless by its black-and-white format) that will be sure to jerk tears out of the eyes of audiences for many years to come.