ALTERNATE REALITY FLICKS

I’m not a sci-fi or fantasy fan, but there’s some movies with unique stories set in various alternate realities that knock me out, even on repeated viewing like any classic. So, last night’s middle of the night wake up call had me creating this list to fall back to sleep.

I excluded plots that revolve around the appearance of ghosts. Since there’s so many of them, I’ll keep that genre for another list. So here’s my favorite fantasy or alternate reality flicks list:

ALICE (not the best Woody Allen flick, but his worst is better than a lot of other writer/director’s best, and it is an original take on this particular fantasy) and ALL OF ME (Steve Martin’s body taken over by Lily Tomlin’s character! Some unbelievable physical comedy by Martin)
BLADERUNNER (so many good actors kick ass in this great flick, the leads most obviously, especially Rutger Hauer, but also the supporting actors like William Sanderson as the toy maker) and BIG (the best movie about a kid trapped in an adult’s body) and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
CARRIE (I hate most horror flicks, including ones I was in, but this baby was amazingly original at the time)
DOGMA (one of Kevin Smith’s least successful movies, but one of my favorites, if only for the risks it takes)
ERASERHEAD and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (ditto for these two)
FEMME NIKITA, LES (a film fantasy that is beautifully, if violently, original)
GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES (loved it)
HARVEY (a Jimmy Stewart movie I never appreciated until my wife turned me on to it)
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (a Jimmy Stewart movie I always appreciated and still do)
JACOB’S LADDER (fantasy or reality, it’s the best take on the death of the ‘sixties yet)
KNIGHT’S TALE, A (Heath Ledger before Brokeback in a Middle Ages tale set to contemporary music and other anachronisms that work for me)
LIAR, LIAR (a great fantasy/fable that uses Jim Carrey’s unique talents for something resembling an old Hollywood comedy) and LORD OF THE RINGS (all three—Viggo Mortensen and Liv Tyler? As close as you can get these days to classic Hollywood screen idols, except for some Viggo-and-Liv-less sections that drag, most of this filmic trilogy holds my attention whenever I stumble on it)
MASK (talk about using Jim Carrey’s unique talents)
NATURAL, THE (great baseball movie with supernatural overtones, from the Bernard Malamud novel)
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? And O LUCKY MAN! (both of these are probably considered more realism, or super realism than fantasy or alternative reality, but the semi-surrealistic scene collages of the latter, and the eerie supernatural feel of some of the most moving scenes in the former, which was based on THE ODYSSEY including some of the “fantasy” or mythic sections in it, evoke the kind of film I’m talking about in this list, and they’re just two of my favorite movies anyway)
PRINCESS BRIDE, THE (one of my all time favorite movies, and one of the all time great film debuts by then Robin Wright) and THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (a Woody Allen gem of a fantasy)
QUEST FOR FIRE (a fantasy version of caveman life which is actually very engaging, or was when I first saw it)
ROGER RABBIT (Bob Hoskins and a cartoon rabbit? poifect)
STARMAN (one of Jeff Bridges’ greatest performances, as well as Karen Allen’s) and THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH (my favorite John Sayles movie) and SWITCH (Ellen Barkin’s body taken over by a man, some great physical bits in this that always make me stop and watch)
TWELVE MONKEYS (terrific cast, especially Brad Pitt in one of my all time favorite movies of any kind)
UNBREAKABLE (M. Night Shyamalan’s least successful movie according to most critics, but my favorite of his)
V FOR VENDETTA (am I the only one who (mostly) dug this, especially the incredible lead performance by Hugo Weaving, who had to express emotions while wearing a motionless mask and did it)
WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND (another all time favorite—and though it’s a realistic film, the children’s fantasy root of it is powerfully poignant) and WHAT WOMEN WANT (Mel Gibson, the poor dear, as a sexist who suddenly can hear women’s thoughts, a great fantasy, and well done)
X-MEN (overdone, but so many great actors devoting themselves to a comic book fantasy makes it sort of compelling)
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (‘nuff said!)
ZELIG (not the best Woody Allen but maybe the oddest)