Man, listen. My top five favorite movies of all time haven’t changed since high school.
In case you’re wondering, they are, 1: Apocalypse Now (one of–if not the–best war movies of all time), 2. Taxi Driver, 3. Big Trouble in Little China (which I’ve rewatched more than any other movie), 4. Total Recall, and 5. Adaptation. There have been many movies that have managed to slip into my top 20, and even into my top 10 since then, no movies have penetrated my top 5.
None, that is, until now. Because quite recently, I watched the Ryan Coogler masterpiece, Sinners (which is killing it at the box office), and I’m going to have to now either slide Adaptation into number 6, or Total Recall into number 5, because Sinners is definitely one of my all-time favorite movies now. Here’s why.
Oh, and some spoilers up ahead. You’ve been warned.
I Simply Cannot Stop Thinking About It
I love music. I love vampires. I love Black history (even the unfortunate dark side). I love Michael B. Jordan. I love Hailee Steinfeld. You know what? I love pretty much EVERYTHING about Sinners, from its cast, to its score, cinematography, story, and direction. I mean, I can’t think of a single thing that I DON’T like about this movie, which might be why I can’t stop thinking about it.
In our 5-star Sinners review, my colleague, Eric Eisenberg, wasn’t sure if he loved it more as a crime movie or as a horror movie, and I 100% agree. I actually saw the film with my wife, and when I told her, unknowingly, that it was supposed to be “scary,” she shrugged it off and said, “Okay,” only to turn to me about a quarter of the way through with tears in her eyes. “You told me this was supposed to be scary. You didn’t tell me it would make me angry.”
What she was referring to was a scene in which Delroy Lindo’s character describes a fatal encounter that his friend had with the KKK, and it was at that point that I realized that, like Eric, I couldn’t really place this movie into any specific category.
The movie dances around in so many different genres, that it’s really something wholly unique when it comes to American cinema. The best I can compare it to is something like Korean cinema, which sometimes also doesn’t pick a lane (think Parasite, which is a dark comedy/thriller/horror movie, all rolled up into one).
I absolutely love this about the film. I adore that I can pick apart individual aspects that I love, but also that the whole is worthy of the sum of its parts. Even Apocalypse Now, my FAVORITE movie, has aspects that I don’t like (don’t even get me started on Apocalypse Now Redux). But – and it still might be too early to tell – I don’t see myself disliking any aspect of Sinners when I watch it again. All of it just feels so…necessary! Down to the very last detail.
I Don’t Think I’ve Ever Seen A Movie Where The Music Was So Instrumental To My Overall Enjoyment
Ever since I became a father, I’ve been watching movies differently. Film fans might hate me for this, but a lot of times, I don’t even watch movies with the sound on. (You know those people who always watch movies with subtitles? I’m one of those people.)
You might wonder why this is. Well, it’s because I only really get to watch movies once my kids fall asleep, and there’s no way I can watch a movie like Anora, which has like a million F-bombs, and audible sex noises, without fear of them waking up and hearing it. So, to prevent this from happening, I usually just watch movies with the sound very low or off entirely.
That said, before I had children, I honestly can’t say that there were many movies where the music or sound effects were so essential, that to not have them would drastically take away from the overall experience. 2001: A Space Odyssey comes to mind, of course. As do the Star Wars movies, Reservoir Dogs, There Will Be Blood, and most Hitchcock films. However, for most movies, sound enhances the experience, sure, but I wouldn’t call it absolutely instrumental to the overall story.
Sinners is the exception. And, that’s because the music IS the story. The blues are an essential component of this film. And, not just the blues itself, but also what it represents for the people of the time. The blues, which was created by Black people, is a part of the Black experience that runs throughout this movie.
I can’t think of another film (besides maybe Fantasia) where if you removed the music, it would essentially remove the entire movie. In other words, I have never been so drawn in to a soundtrack in my entire life like I have with Sinners, which is no small feat, as I watched a lot of movies (with sound!) before my kids were born.
These Are My Favorite Vampires. Ever
My colleague, Ryan LaBee, wrote an excellent piece on why vampires had to be the “monsters” in Sinners, and how they act as a multi-faceted metaphor. I agree with everything he says, but I also see it from a different perspective as well. Because I don’t view the vampires as being evil in this movie. Not at all.
In fact, I view them as a group that is desperately searching for a sense of solidarity. It’s interesting that the head vampire, Remmick (played by Jack O’Connell) is Irish, as the Irish faced a great deal of bigotry and segregation when coming into this country. Remember, it’s the vampires in this movie, much like the Black, Indigenous, and Asian people, who are the outsiders. But, race is seemingly not an issue for the vampires, as they are all-inclusive, and will accept anybody to join. You just have to let them into your heart (and your house).
Of course, “joining” means giving up your soul, and nobody seems to want to become a vampire. However, once they join, they dance together, sing together, and even share one mind together. As Stack says at one point when his brother, Smoke, tries to keep them away, his sibling simply lacks “vision.”
Yes, they are losing a part – probably the most vital part – of themselves once they become vampires, but they’re also gaining a new sense of purpose and identity (it isn’t just following the leader, as we see in the post-credit scene, which is what led me to have a less negative outlook on the vampires in the first place).
I usually don’t think this much about vampires because, you know, vampires are vampires, and usually not as open to interpretation as zombies. However, the vampires here are so complex and well-written that I could probably argue with somebody all day about how they aren’t wrong (and joining them isn’t, either), especially in 1932 Mississippi, where the KKK is ostensibly the even bigger antagonist, which brings me to my last point.
It Is, Quite Simply, One Of The Greatest Movie-Going Experiences I’ve Ever Had
Do you want to know something really fascinating? I don’t think I’ve ever been more of one mind with a theater-going audience than I was for Sinners.
For example, when the vampires ultimately die in this movie, I didn’t feel particularly good about it, and I don’t think the audience did, either. Nobody cheered. Nobody clapped, and nobody out rightly said, “That’s what you get!”
However, do you know when the audience DID cheer? When Smoke took out his vengeance on the KKK members at the end of the film. Because honestly, while the vampires were horrific, selfish, and needy, they also didn’t seem like the enemy. Or rather, like the true enemy. That would be Jim Crow, and the audience I went with seemed to tacitly agree.
The audience also truly vibed with the music. People were nodding their heads, tapping their feet, and were overall just engaged, just as I was. In fact, I don’t ever recall another movie where the entire audience was focused on what was on the screen, and it really connected me to the crowd. I felt like we all experienced something special together, which we did.
It’s for all these reasons and more that Sinners is now in my top five favorite movies of all time. What did you think? Is Sinners one of your new favorite movies? I’d love to hear your thoughts.