Couple of random quickies spotted in between this afternoon’s proofing jobs:

Via SF Signal, Premiere magazine’s Top 20 Big-Time Plot Twist movies:

1. The Planet of the Apes (1968)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
   [Ranty little editorial note: I modified this title, which Premiere has listed as Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back. Perhaps I’m just showing my age, but I’ll never get down with this episode numbering schtick. The first movie was Star Wars, and its sequels were Empire and Return of the Jedi. Call the prequels whatever you like, but I remember How Things Used to Be…]
3. Fight Club (1999)
4. Psycho (1960)
5. Citizen Kane (1941)
6. Soylent Green (1973)
7. The Usual Suspects (1995)
8. Oldboy (2003)
9. Mission: Impossible (1996)
10. Friday the 13th (1980)
11. Chinatown (1974)
12. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)
13. The Wicker Man (1973)
14. 12 Monkeys (1995)
15. Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
16. Eddie & the Cruisers (1983)
17. Angel Heart (1987)
18. The Game (1997)
19. The Sixth Sense (1999)
20. The Crying Game (1992)

It’s a pretty good list, I think, although some of these — Apes, Empire, Soylent Green, Kane — have been so parodied, imitated, or otherwise talked about that they long ago lost their power to surprise anyone but the most sheltered media consumer. Still, I can attest from personal experience that Empire‘s big revelation was damn powerful when it was fresh, and I imagine Rosebud and the Statue of Liberty must’ve packed similar punches in the days before the Internet and home video made everyone into obsessive pop-cultural encyclopedias.

For the record, I’ve seen all but six of these movies. The ones I’ve missed (assuming anyone cares) are The Usual Suspects, Oldboy (which I’ve never heard of prior to seeing this list), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Wicker Man, Angel Heart, and The Game.

And moving right along, Michael Hinman at SyFy Portal says the “reimagined” Flash Gordon isn’t long for this or any other world. Not a big surprise, based on the reactions I’ve been reading (which range from tepid to loathing). I’m still morbidly curious about it, though; maybe it’ll get a DVD release so I can at least rent it…