Marty Michaels

When it comes to movie titles, sometimes less is more. Why, after all, title a Western The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford when Unforgiven will do? Why call a horror movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer when Halloween is perfectly sufficient? Anyway, since I’ve been too busy to write anything new for a while, I figured I’d skive off work for a while and give you the top ten movies with one word titles. Onward!

10. BULLITT (1968)

Steve McQueen with an upside down shoulder holster and a green Mustang? Shit yeah. Based on real life Bay Area cop Dave Toschi (as was Dirty Harry, to some extent) Frank Bullitt is a no nonsense cop in a no nonsense movie with a no nonsense title. What’s it about? Bullitt. What’s it called? Bullitt. What comes out his gun? Bullits. MIND BULLITTS.

9. ROPE (1948)

One of Hitchcock’s most underrated films, Rope is one of his most tense, one of his most brilliantly acted and one of my favorites. After two college graduates kill their freind and have a dinner party with his corpse in the room, James Stewart, playing against type as a bit of an asshole, slowly works out what’s happened and slowly racks up the tension, applying more and more pressure on the murderers until they – and the audience – reach breaking point. And, no, of course it wasn’t all filmed in one take.

8. CASINO (1995)

Honestly? I think Casino is ten times the movie GoodFellas is. GoodFellas is all about Henry Hill (played by Ray “what happened to my career?” Liotta) making Bambi eyes and pretending to be remourseful about his criminal past when, in actual fact, he’s nothing but a stooge and a coward, while Casino is about real gangsters, doing real gangster shit. One man’s rise to power and his eventual downful, Casino is, like GoodFellas, stunningly lensed and mesmerisingly acted, but, unlike GoodFellas, it pulls no punches.

7. HALLOWEEN (1978)

The film that launched the slasher genre and the careers of John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween is rightly remembered as one of the best films of its kind. Who knew a man in a William Shatner mask could be so bloody scary? John Carpenter, that’s who. The classic images of the film, coupled with the genuinley unnerving soundtrrack – composed by Carpenter – make for essential horror viewing that, even today, still has the power to creep audiences out.

6. ROCKY (1976)

One of the all time great feel-good movies, Rocky is, nonetheless, quite a downbeat affair, especially compared to the later films in the series. Sure, Rocky loses the fight and gets beat to a bloody pulp, but along the way he finds love, friendship and realises that he has something to live for. The later films may have tarnished the reputation of the original, but it remains one of my all time favorite films and one that, if I come across it on TV, I’m compelled to watch to the end.

5. SCARFACE (1932/1983)


Whether you’re talking about the 1932 original or its more widley seen Al Pacino starring remake, there’s no denying that Scarface is a powerful movie. The remake is a rare example of a remake being better than the original, but both are classic examples of gangster cinema. The original stars Paul Muni as Itallian thug-turned-kingpin Tony Camonte and the remake, of course, boasts an incredible performance from Al Pacino as thug-turned-drug lord Tony Montana

4. PSYCHO (1960)

Based on a novel by Robert Bloch, Psycho is Alfred Hitchcock’s most well known film and the film that he’ll forever be remembered for, Psycho is, in actual fact far from Hitchcock’s best film, but the fact that Hitch was betteron his worst day than most are on their best makes Psycho a classic. Single handedly creating the slasher genre, there’s actually very little blood in the film, regardless of the film’s gory reputation. The masterfully edited “shower scene” is worth the price of admission alone, but for my money, the death of Detective Arbogast is the more shocking scene.

3. CASABLANCA (1942)

I’m shocked that it’s taken this long for me to get around to writing about Casablanca on this site. I mentioned it in passing on the “original casting choices” list, but that was more an excuse to wax lyrical about how awesome Bogart was than anything else. One of the all time classics of any genre and the perfect example of how “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” Casablanca is a close to perfect movie. From the pitch perfect performances from a cast comprised soley of Hollywood legends to the brilliantly tight plotting and snappy dialouge, Casablanca should be required viewing for anyone with even a passing intrest in film. I don’t care if you’re a gorehound, a Western fan, a rom-com junkie or whatever, if you haven’t already done so, you need to see Casablanca.

2. UNFORGIVEN (1992)

There are two types of people in the world: John Wayne fans and Clint Eastwood fans. John Wayne fans are people who see the world in black and white (the bad guys are irredeemably bad and the good guys are saints) whereas Clint Eastwood fans tend to see the world in shades of grey. Me/ I’ve got a lot of time for the Duke, but Clint is not only a hundred times more badass in every concievable way, but is much more grounded in reality. The good guys don’t always win and sometimes the “good” guys are just as corrupt and immoral as the “bad.” Clint’s masterpeice, Unforgiven, bears this out, with Clint playing William Munny, the culmination of every gunslinger and cowboy he ever played, from Rowdy Yates to Josey Wales. Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris are all on top form, but it’s Eastwood’s movie, and it’s brilliant. Interesting theory: at the end of the movie we learn that Munny moved to San Fransico and “prospered in dry goods.” I like to imagine that, to avoid unwanted attention, he changed his name to “Callaghan” and had a grandson who went into law enforcment…

1. JAWS (1975)

The film that made people sit up and notice Steven Speilberg, the film that scared people out of the water and the film at the number one spot on our list today is 1975′s Jaws. The first true “blockbuster” movie, it paved the way for such “event movies” as Star Wars and Avatar, but more than that, it played to a deep and very primal fear that all human beings have: the fear of the unknown. Never before had a film so effectivley played to our fear of what lies beneath and touched such a nerve with so many people as Jaws. Shark movies have been made since (including three increasingly risable sequels) but none have been able to recreate the fear – nay, terror – of Jaws. The title is iconic now, but in 1975 it must have been a strange title indeed, as it doesn’t tell the viewer anything about the film. Had it been made twenty years before it would’ve been called Attack of the Shark or something equally silly, but the cryptic title can only have added to the movie’s appeal. Thirty years on, and everybody – whether they’ve seen it or not – knows exactly what you’re talking about when you say the word Jaws to them and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the mark of a great movie title.

Honorable mentions in no particular order to:

1. Vertigo (1958)
Another Hitchcock classic.
2. Dracula/Frankenstein (1931)
The monster movies that started it all.
3. Spartacus (1960)
No, not the shitty TV show. The best movie of its kind ever made.
4. Seven (1995)
Intense and creepy, with a three brilliant performances from Freeman, Pitt and Spacey.
5. Clerks (1994)
He may be a bloated self parody now, but once upon a time Kevin Smith made a masterpeice. It was called Clerks.
6. Platoon (1986)
They say “war is hell.” This film shows that they’re not lying.
7. Goldfinger (1964)
It’s not the best Bond movie, but it’s pretty darn good.
8. Rambo (2008)
After the excess of the sequels, Stallone takes Rambo back to his roots.
9. Metropolis (1927)
Silent cinema at it’s best. A nightmare vision of the future.
10. Alien (1979)
In space, everyone can hear you say “Alien is awesome.”

What a movie is called is every bit as important as the content of the movie. After all, a masterpeice with a terrible title isn’t going to draw an audience. Similarly, if you make a movie that you know is shit, you can always slap a really snappy title and hope to hell that’ll bring people in – just as Roger Corman. Anyway, let me know your favorite one word movie titles and stick around for the next installment in our never ending series of top tens. End transmission.

Tags: cops, horror, movies, sci fi, top ten