Critic picks top 10 – take one

So there I was, minutes before the kickoff of Super Bowl XXXIX, consuming a dog-dish-size portion of kugel, when I heard The Question.

“What,” I was asked, “are your top 10 favorite films?”

Please, I thought, can’t I just watch football in peace? Besides, how do you answer such a question?

Do I list the best films ever made and then come up with a standard menu of usual suspects – “Citizen Kane,” “La Dolce Vita,” “The Godfather” (parts I and II but not III), “Chinatown,” “Raging Bull,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Casablanca,” “City Lights,” “The Graduate,” “Apocalypse Now” (the director’s cut)?

Or do I go with the films that I like, regardless of their critical qualities?

And what about when those two lists coincide? Or conflict?

I chewed my kugel and passed. But then the question was rephrased: What films, if they came on television, would you have to sit down and watch?

And that got me to thinking. Right around the time Philadelphia scored the first touchdown, I began to form a list of films that I couldn’t stop myself from watching. And the first 10 I came up with were:

“Dr. Strangelove” (1964; DVD, VHS; 1:33; rated PG for thematic elements, violent content, sexual humor, mild language): Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War classic is still the best look ever at madness posing as the governments we choose to represent us.

“Pulp Fiction” (1994; DVD, VHS; 2:34; rated R for strong graphic violence, drug use, pervasive strong language, sexuality): Still the best film to come out of the 1990s, Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece is told in chapters, each of which is a movie unto itself.

“Shane” (1953; DVD, VHS; 1:48; not rated but strong violence): George Stevens, thanks to A.B. Guthrie adapting Jack Schaefer’s novel, explores a myth of the Old West regarding ranchers and farmers. In the end, when all the talking is done, it’s men with guns who have the final say.

“Say Anything” (1989; DVD, VHS; 1:40; rated PG-13 for language, sexuality): John Cusack is Lloyd Dobler, the sensitive teen who doesn’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. All he wants to do is love Diane Court (Ione Skye), and it’s clear to everyone but Diane’s father that he’ll do it well.

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975; DVD, VHS; 1:31; rated PG for violence, language): There are times in which the only way to understand life is through a lens of absurdity. No comedy troupe ever did this better than the Pythons, and this was their attempt to intelligently demythologize one of the greatest legends of all.

“The Magnificent Seven” (1960; DVD, VHS; 2:08; not rated but strong violence): Seven gunfighters make a sacrificial stand, protecting a small Mexican village against the outlaws who plague them. John Sturges remade Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai,” and his version ends up being more than an homage. It’s a classic on its own terms.

“Aliens” (1986; DVD, VHS; 2:17; rated R for monster violence, language): Following Ridley Scott’s atmospheric 1979 original, James Cameron offers this sequel as a roller-coaster ride of violence and death. Indelible image: Sigourney Weaver, working a robotic frame with giant vise-grips for hands, standing off against the queen alien.

“Yojimbo”/”Sanjuro” (1961/1962; DVD, VHS; 1:50/1:36; both unrated but strong violence): You can’t write about one of these Kurosawa samurai films without including the other. In the first, Toshiro Mifune plays a scruffy wandering samurai who enters an evil town and plays one side against the other. In the second, Mifune helps a group of young men, none of whom are impressed by his appearance, fight for justice.

“Animal House” (1978; DVD, VHS; 1:49; rated R for language, sexuality, general grossness): John Landis’ outrageous comedy still resonates with anyone who has ever felt left out by the elite. Food fight!

“Run Lola Run” (1998; DVD, VHS; 1:21; rated R for violence, language): This German film, which was just featured at the Spokane International Film Festival, is for those who love pure cinema. If it does have a message, it’s director Tom Tykwer’s attempt to explore the basic issue of fate and how, or whether, we can affect it. But told in every film genre imaginable, it is worth experiencing simply as an assault on your senses.

So, now you have my final answer – that is, until the next time I’m asked.

Turner Classic Movies plans to screen “The Great Escape” on Feb. 19. Talk to me then.