Top 10s

Joe Mantegna’s Top 10

Joe Mantegna’s Top 10

Joe Mantegna played the lead roles in David Mamet’s House of Games and Homicide. Mantegna and Mamet started out together as actors in Chicago theater in the 1970s, before Mamet turned playwright. Mantegna went on to win a Tony Award for his performance in Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Glengarry Glen Ross. Often playing what he once called “the excellent man,” Mantegna has starred in more than forty films and currently appears on CBS’s Criminal Minds.

  • Brute Force

    1.
    Brute Force

    Jules Dassin

    1. How cool is it to see Burt Lancaster flip Hume Cronyn off the wall? I love prison films, and this is one of the best. Bravo, Jules!

  • The Naked Prey

    2.
    The Naked Prey

    Cornel Wilde

    2. I remember seeing this film and wondering when anyone was going to say anything. What a testament to this great film that, with no dialogue for minutes on end, it keeps you riveted.

  • The Friends of Eddie Coyle

    3.
    The Friends of Eddie Coyle

    Peter Yates

    3. Robert Mitchum is one of my favorites, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with and becoming a friend of Peter Yates. Both were in top form with this one.

  • The Golden Age of Television

    4.
    The Golden Age of Television

    4. My dear friend Dan Lauria turned me on to a few of the selections presented here. Mickey Rooney in The Comedian gave me a whole new respect for him as an actor, and Marty and Days of Wine and Roses are both must-sees for any aspiring actor.

  • Juliet of the Spirits

    5.
    Juliet of the Spirits

    Federico Fellini

    5. There are a few Fellini films that could fill this category, but this one is special to me, as I saw it at an age that I think helped me become intrigued with the world of film.

  • The Ruling Class

    6.
    The Ruling Class

    Peter Medak

    6. Love the Brits’ sense of humor, and I’d watch Peter O’Toole do almost anything.

  • Spartacus

    7.
    Spartacus

    Stanley Kubrick

    7. We need one costume drama in here, and I love the fact that Kirk Douglas gave blacklisted Dalton Trumbo a shot at the script. This is a great film on many levels.

  • Rififi

    8.
    Rififi

    Jules Dassin

    8. Jules Dassin again. One of those movies that I wish I was around then and could have been in . . . if I could speak French!

  • The Last Emperor

    9.
    The Last Emperor

    Bernardo Bertolucci

    9. Okay, maybe one more costume drama, but what a one it is. Bertolucci is a favorite of mine, and this is one of those majestic films that remind you how powerful the medium can be.

  • House of Games

    10.
    House of Games

    David Mamet

    10. I hope it’s not too egocentric of me to choose a film that I’m in, but I’ve had a more than thirty-five-year connection to David Mamet, and this being our first film together makes it very special for me.