100 Favourite Films
Hi, I'm Jordan Cochrane, I've directed various music videos and short films. Currently a content creator at purplecamera.co.uk and I'm also the co-creator of the sketch comedy channels youtube.com/user/thedyslexichearts and youtube.com/user/imdavethestudent
I started writing this when I was still a student as a means to distract myself from doing any real work, finished it a few years later and was surprised to find it longer than my thesis! Because the commentary was written at several different points over a few years, the writing style varies wildly, but in general I try and keep it light and it's pretty colloquial, sweary and lazy. Written exactly like someone who could not be assed with writing academically any more. Would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions or questions about something. I do hope you find a few good recommendations within.
I started writing this when I was still a student as a means to distract myself from doing any real work, finished it a few years later and was surprised to find it longer than my thesis! Because the commentary was written at several different points over a few years, the writing style varies wildly, but in general I try and keep it light and it's pretty colloquial, sweary and lazy. Written exactly like someone who could not be assed with writing academically any more. Would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions or questions about something. I do hope you find a few good recommendations within.
List activity
883 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
100 titles
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.A mash up of Japanese cyber punk anime, Chinese action movies and American err... money, 'The Matrix' was among other things the reason I became a film geek. Twenty years later it holds up, in 1999 it was mind blowing.
If you live under a rock then I should inform you that 'The Matrix' is about a man who finds out that he is living inside a computer program and then chooses to *beep* said computer program up
...with machine guns!
...in Slow motion!
Also Check out: Bound - DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.In an desperate attempt to get some street cred back after deciding that 'Dancing with Wolves' was better than 'Goodfellas', the academy reluctantly handed over best picture to 'Silence of the Lambs'. A film that if considered on a purely aesthetic level is the best horror film ever made. Here is a film that is both operatic and subtle. A film that is stylistic which still offers up amazing performances and a film that is incredibly smart but still wears it's genre badge with pride.
It is a shining example of horror done right and it's lasting impression says more than I ever could.
Also Check out: Manhunter - DirectorRichard KellyStarsJake GyllenhaalJena MaloneMary McDonnellAfter narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.Before w*nking his career away, Richard Kelly made an extremely weird (weird in the fact that Richard Kelly made it and it's still watchable) film about a boy who sleepwalks and imagines or maybe doesn't imagine a giant talking rabbit prophesying the end of the world.
Here's the thing about 'Donnie Darko'. Seriously no hyperbole here I've seen this film over ten times and I still have difficulty explaining it. I read the IMDB FAQ every single time and then I forget it within weeks. I should be typing this like five years ago and then I could tell you what it meant, but right now I totally can't remember.
The other thing about Donnie Darko is that if you don't understand it, it doesn't matter. This is a film that is like 90% John Hughes and only about 10% David Lynch and if you understand that analogy you'll probably love it.
Also Check out: American Beauty - DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.The tone and genre of 'Fargo' are really hard to pin down. it's like a dark, funny, serious thriller-comedy-satire thing and is generally thought of as the quintessential place to start your Coen Bros education. (The most consistently good film makers going by the way) The plot on paper is bizzare, it follows a man who pays to get his wife kidnapped to get money out of his father in law. Needless to say the scheme doesn't go swimmingly and a lot of very stupid people get very, very hurt.
Interestingly it doesn't really have a main character, which should work in the favor of the upcoming TV show adaptation.
Also check out: Big Nothing - DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.Gritty and witty, Finchers 1999 cult hit was surprisingly shot down on release; Unsurprisingly the film was monumentaly hard to market and a lot of critics read the film at face value, believing the film to carry a simple anarchistic message. But really 'Fight Club' runs a lot deeper than that. This is a film for adults and it doesn't make the viewers mind up for them, it knows that the issues it confronts are difficult and it wisely doesn't offer any easy answers.
Also check out: The Game - DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.Like most of my generation I have a 'Dark Knight' poster in my flat and I think Christopher Nolan is 'THE *beep* but I am always careful to tell people with a smug hipster grin 'I liked him before it was cool' and then I disapear up my own arse for a few minutes...
Anyway before he was cool Chritopher Nolan used to make little clever thrillers which usually messed around with narrative structure some what. See also Following/Insomnia. The most successful of these early efforts was Memento, a film which is told backwards. Ie scene 18 is first, followed by 17, then 16 etc etc. To double our confusion the protagonist Guy Pierce has that old soap opera staple, AMNESIA!! What follows is a fantastically made thriller, which will literally *beep*. Your. Brain.
Oh and you won't need to read an entire FAQ on what the hell you just watched, which is a definate plus.
Also check out: Following - DirectorKatsuhiro ÔtomoStarsMitsuo IwataNozomu SasakiMami KoyamaA secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.Akira is structurally the perfect action film.
Even with Avatar being five years old, it is still difficult to imagine Hollywood being able to handle the scope of a live action adaptation. Even in the right hands, (The Watchowskis Obviously) you couldn't see it maintaining all of it's strangeness, it's brutality and it's uniqueness. It would also be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY EXPENSIVE.
Also check out: Steam Boy - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsYôji MatsudaYuriko IshidaYûko TanakaOn a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.You know what's getting really stale recently, FANTASY! I love Tolkien as much as the next guy, but I am really sick of bloody Elves, bloody Dwarves and bloody Dragons. So like most times when I'm sick of what the white people are doing I just go and see what the Japanese are up to and geeze is it a hell of a lot more interesting.
'Princess Mononoke' is all about forest spirits, wolf clans and boar gods! A million miles away from what you've come to expect from the genre. From what I've read the themes are knee deep in Japanese history and Lore, so maybe it's not as original as my white ass thinks it is, but to any newcomer, it is extraordinary. Theres a scene about an hour in when the princess storms a fortress and I have worn the tape out watching it. It was a sequence which convinced me of the power of anime and the things that it could pull off that live action would never dream of.
Also check out: Nausicaa and the valley of the wind - DirectorSion SonoStarsTakahiro NishijimaHikari MitsushimaSakura AndôA bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.The film is four hours long.
If you're still reading then good, I can now tell you that 'yes, the film is four hours long, but it was originally five and a half and was cut down after much begging from producers. It also does not feel four hours long in the traditional 'staring at your watch' way. It does however feel like four hours worth of plot. Nothing really drags in Love Exposure, it feels epic on a biblical scale and has these incredibly serious themes like Love and religion, but then it has (and I'm serious) an extended montage of up-skirt panty photography training.
This is a film that would not only never get made in America, it would never get made ANYWHERE.
(Apart from Japan obviously)
Also check out: Cold Fish - DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.I, like a lot of nerds, tend to start using rather hyperbolic terms to describe 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. Terms like 'COMPELLING' or 'BREATHTAKING' and I've always found that kind of enthusiasm off putting because nothing can really live up to what images those terms conjurer up in one's mind. having seen it however it's easy to forgive and empathize with the absurd pedestal that this film is often put upon.
It looks (here comes another one) EPIC and I think that might have something to do with how bloody wide it is. Shot in like 2.35 : 1, on a small TV, it looks like a *beep* loading bar.
Also if you are a completist, this is the third in a trilogy and I recommend you watch 'Fistful of Dollars' and 'For a few Dollars more' first, although this does work as a standalone film.
Also check out: Once upon a Time in the West - DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTatsuya FujiwaraAki MaedaTarô YamamotoIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.I.E. The Hunger Games with Japanese people and an R rating; 'Battle Royale' was the original children get forced to 'run each other in' film. A lot of the film is pretty shocking, these kids don't look that much north of fifteen and the violence is extremely graphic. (a lot of up close stuff with hatchets and Uzi machine guns comes to mind.) but Battle Royale is REALLY fun, in a *beep* up Japanese way obviously, but nevertheless FUN. It makes for a great film night choice, because everyone who watches it is engaged, picking sides and doing that horror movie thing where they scream to 'NOT DO THAT', 'KILL THE BITCH' etc etc.
It also has an endearingly bizzare japanese ending and a just plain bizzare sequel to boot.
Also Check out: Sonatine - DirectorLuc BessonStarsJean RenoGary OldmanNatalie Portman12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.So far I've only laid into the Japanese but I'm now going to switch racist channels and have a go at the French.
To understand Leon you have to look at the career of it's director Luc Besson. In the 1980's he made boring art films like 'The Big Blue' and in the 2000's he made boring action movies like 'Taken' But somehow by combining these two boring genres he struck gold by making an 'ARTION MOVIE'...
Anyway Leon basically takes some pretty inane tropes like the bent cop, the hit man with a heart of gold and the street wise kid and throws them all together adding the key ingredient 'French edginess!' (and Gary Oldman)
Also Check out: Nikita - DirectorTom TykwerStarsFranka PotenteMoritz BleibtreuHerbert KnaupAfter a botched money delivery, Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.Run Lola Run stands as one of the most fast-paced, energetic, youthful films ever made. Every film you watch afterwards will appear lazily put together when you compare it to the dazzling steady-cam shots, the frenetic editing and basically every trick in the cinematic book. The film is 70 minutes but in that time it fits in more story, action and shots than your average Hollywood blockbuster. Why do they not make films like this anymore?
Also check out: City of God - DirectorDanny BoyleStarsEwan McGregorEwen BremnerJonny Lee MillerRenton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.In the 1990's a post modern Indie film about drugs came out every couple of weeks and they were usually completely over the top or extremely self important.
'Trainspotting' carries neither of these negative qualities and is to my mind the best film in that style of that era. Unlike say Spun the style never gets in the way of the story telling, it just suits it nicely and unlike say Requiem for a Dream (which I like very much) it portrays consequences without battering you over the head.
It is a rare thing to see a film portray a controversial subject in an balanced adult way and it is an even rarer thing for said film to manage to be extremely funny while it's at it.
Also check out: A Life less Ordinary - DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.Terry Gilliam's one unlucky dude. I'm not going to write a list of all his misfortunes, but rent a copy of 'Lost in Lamancha' and you will get a fairly good idea of what this poor blokes been through. He makes great films though. Brazil being the jewel in his very bizzare crown. Someone far more talented than I called it '1984, with laughs' and that is essentially what it is, but don't think this is pure popcorn fluff, Gilliam ain't letting you off that easy.
I also want to say that this film has the best special effects I've ever seen, I say this cause I genuinally had no idea how they pulled it off. After watching the making of, I now know the answer
'With Difficulty.'
Also check out: Time Bandits - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsDaveigh ChaseSuzanne PleshetteMiyu IrinoDuring her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.Alas, I imported my copy of Spirited Away and was left with dodgy subtitles ('Many food') and no english dub. Don't be like me, fork out the £8 for a copy, its worth it. By popular opinion 'the best' studio Ghibli film and acording to IMDB the 3rd greatest animation of all time it follows the adventures of a girl who through a series of strange events finds herself working in a bath house for spirits.
Also check out: Howl's Moving Castle - DirectorJohn LandisStarsDavid NaughtonJenny AgutterJoe BelcherTwo American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.John Landis peaked in 1981, he had just made Kentucky Fried movie, Animal House and the Blues Brothers and wanted to make a british horror. The studios thought him barmy, but he went ahead and made his dream project. 'American Werewolf' is such an entertaining horror film, you won't believe how many set pieces are crammed into ninety minutes, The moors, the vampire nazis, the transformation, the underground, Picadilly circus and of course the infamous 'flappy bit of skin' THE HORROR!!
Also check out: Dog Soldiers - DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.Representing the whole trilogy, here we have Indy's first adventure. I was never really a Star Wars guy, but Indy really struck a chord with me. I liked the adventure and the fact it was packed with violence and grue. You can probably trace my love of violent action films back to this thrilling, classic series.
Also check out: Sahara - DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroCathy MoriartyJoe PesciThe life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.This is the best of the Scorsese character study films, (yes, better than THAT ONE.) At the centre of the film is this fantastic paradox; while Jake La Motta's anger brings him success in terms of his career, it tears apart his personal life. The first half of the film we follow Jake's rise to the top of his game and for the second, we watch it all crumble. He pushes the ones he loves away through jealousy, greed and his over whelming rage. It's a stageringly good performance, a scene where Jake has to throw a fight against his will allows De Niro to really flex his acting chops. Another scene which shows Jake perfoming his dire comedy routine gives the audience a terrific mix of revulsion, pity and embarrasment.
It also looks great, the black and white gives the film a real timeless feel, it also makes the fights feel viceral and far more cinematic than they would have been otherwise.
Also check out: Taxi Driver - DirectorBruce RobinsonStarsRichard E. GrantPaul McGannRichard GriffithsIn 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.A huge influence on me, this was a film that showed you could have Despicable, pathetic characters, no jokes and a downbeat ending but still be one of the funniest films ever.
I lived like these guys. 2013 student house, this was my life. The opening bit about the washing up having stuff living in it, is still a little close to home and I imagine this is the cringy empathy that Mick Jagger gets when he watches Spinal Tap.
Also Check out: Kind Hearts and Coronets - DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineDaryl HannahAfter awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.I was 11 when this movie came out and it was this mystical violent movie that only the cool kids
had seen. I eventually caught the second half on TV when I was about 15 and wow! It was like injecting pure cinematic heroin into my veins. Its unapologetically Tarantino, a world that's pure celluloid full of samurais and cowboys, how could you pass that up?
Also Check out: Shogun Assassin - DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.In 2006 I was 14 and reading Empire Magazine for the first time. Among all the articles for the new Die Hard and Bourne movies there was this 5 star review for this odd, little fantasy movie.
The film they were describing seemed beyond anything I had ever seen, a mix of fairy tale fantasy and gritty civil war epic. The film is moving, scary, gripping, it balances all these tones and styles and it just works beautifully, like some strange, long-forgotten recipe.
I had just never been exposed to this kind of cinema before. It transformed me from an enthusiastic action movie fan into a full-on film nut. Thanks v. much Empire!
Also check out: The Devil's Backbone - DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.I like Forest Gump, okay? When he *SPOILER ALERT* finds out he has a son, its all very emotional and I liked that, But at the 1994 oscars Zemericks robbed Tarantino. Pulp Fiction was another absolute genre bender. Non linear narratives had been done before, a good example being Godfather 2, but not like this. The end is at the begining which is at the end, which is preceeded by what happens directly after the begining which is then followed by a whole bunch of stuff to do with a boxer, a gimp, two hitmen and a Wolf.
Trying to figure out what happened, in what order is fun in itself. The rat-A-tat dialogue, the pitch black humour and the fact this is like all your favourite actors coming home to roost guarenteed that nearly every gangster film in the next ten years *COUGH WayoftheGun *COUGH* BoondockSaints COUGH* would rip it off
Also Check out Amores Perroes - DirectorMichel GondryStarsJim CarreyKate WinsletTom WilkinsonWhen their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.Probably the most accessible of the Charlie Kaufman films, Eternal Sunshine explores the possibility of wiping a relationship from your memory.
The central theme of memory is played out extremely effectively and as we find out later, the film is *beep* with you from the word go. Kaufman also uses the opportunity to play around with Rom-Com tropes and it provides the perfect antidote to the barf-inducing Garden State released the same year.
Also check out: Being John Malkovich - DirectorPeter JacksonStarsElijah WoodIan McKellenOrlando BloomA meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.I hated Fellowship for years. I saw it when I was too young, we got the extended version, it went on and on and on and on...I didn't watch the films for years. Then when I was in college, a friend wanted to do all three in a row, needless to say I was fairly unenthusiastic.
It blew me away. Just the art design on its own is astonishing, the amount of detail that goes into the tiniest things continues to amaze me. I was completely convinced that this world existed. It is to this day the greatest epic ever made.
Also check out: Heavenly Creatures - DirectorTrey ParkerStarsTrey ParkerMatt StoneElle RussPopular Broadway actor Gary Johnston is recruited by the elite counter-terrorism organization Team America: World Police. As the world begins to crumble around him, he must battle with terrorists, celebrities and falling in love.Look at the levels it works on!
1. It works as a big dumb Hollywood blockbuster
2. It works as a parody of big dumb Hollywood blockbusters
3. It works as a dumb comedy
4. It works as an intelligent comedy
5. It works as a social satire
6. It works as a musical
7. Err, It also works as a parody of Thunderbirds, but that’s not particularly important.
Also Check out: South Park: Bigger, Longer, Un-cut - DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJeff BridgesJohn GoodmanJulianne MooreJeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.More Coen. They tend to do this, they follow up a success with a screwball, in the 1980's they did it with 'Blood Simple' and 'Raising Arizona' and then more recently they followed up 'No country' with 'Burn after Reading' This was of course following the brilliant 'Fargo' and it seems to be a kind of 'Stoner Noir' which is not a genre I believe I have seen since, (Noir Fans and Stoners don't have much overlap on the Venn diagram I imagine)
The film, as well as being quotable and extremely funny also has quite a complex plot meaning that it is equally enjoyed by the baked and the criterion collector alike.
Also check out: The Nice Guys - DirectorDavid FincherStarsBen AffleckRosamund PikeNeil Patrick HarrisWith his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.Gone Girl is one of the finest explorations and subversions of genre expectations going. It uses archetypes and narrative expectation against you and crafts a fine piece of work which culminates in some of the most gripping scenes ever filmed.
I'm trying to tread lightly here as not to spoil, but go in and try and stay two steps ahead of it, because it's already 5 steps ahead of you.
Also Check out: Gone Baby, Gone - DirectorGareth EvansStarsIko UwaisYayan RuhianArifin PutraOnly a short time after the first raid, Rama goes undercover with the thugs of Jakarta and plans to bring down the syndicate and uncover the corruption within his police force.An Action Film that puts other action films to shame, The Raid 2 is exhausting. By the end of the film you are genuinely out of breath and it immediately feels like a watershed moment in action cinema. Every fight scene in this film could act as a climax in any other and the REAL climax is just out of this world. It's so recent, but it feels natural to include it in the same breath as Hard Boiled, Terminator 2 and Die Hard.
Also Check out: Legend of Drunken Master - DirectorJoseph KahnStarsJosh HutchersonShanley CaswellSpencer LockeAs a copycat killer named after movie villain Cinderhella stalks the student body at Grizzly Lake High School, a group of co-eds band together to survive while serving detention.The film that makes 'Scott Pilgrim' look like it was made by Merchant and *beep* Ivory; Detention, like 'Southland Tales' is a very 'acquired taste' hence the IMDB rating which is lower than 'Transformers *beep* 2'. You see Detention is 'a mash up'
For definition of Mash up -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwcF6ea2PMQ
It's like John Hughes and Edgar Wright got together, took a bunch of Speed, dropped a load of Acid and this is the result and it's SO watchable!
I honestly think that this is gonna be the next HUGE cult film, so watch it now to gain some hipster cred.
Also Check out: Speed Racer - DirectorSatoshi KonStarsMegumi HayashibaraTôru EmoriKatsunosuke HoriWhen a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.A very odd, but an extremely interesting Anime from a master of the genre: Satoshi Kon. Paprika is captivating from its's elaborate dream sequence opening all the way to it's multi-layered crazy ending. What is particularly of note is the editing, match cuts drive us from one scene to the next and successfully emulate the dreaming process. Certainly one to convince the anime naysayers, no angst here, it's more like a Nolan/Lynch mash-up.
Also Check out: Perfect Blue - DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.I cannot stress to any Americans reading how well 'Shaun of the Dead' sums up British life; It's like Mike Leigh made a zombie film. Except it's not Mike Leigh cause there's whip pans, montages and steadicam! it's an Edgar Wright film! The man has never made a bad film and his output is hugely influential to me.
Also Check out: Hot Fuzz - DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsNicolas CageHolly HunterTrey WilsonWhen a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.Oh the opening to Raising Arizona! Its a film in itself. The folky music, the montage, they get through a movies worth of stuff in ten minutes. Its a bit like the opening to UP, but you're not crying when its finished, instead you have a fat grin plastered all over your face cause you know that you are about to be thouraghly entertained. Rabbits blow up, Babies are stolen, Evil dopeldangler Bikers arrive, A man has a panty on his head.
Also Raising Arizona has the best chase scene ever filmed, seriously.
Also Check out: O Brother, Where Art Thou? - DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsEllen BurstynJared LetoJennifer ConnellyThe drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..Before I absolutely fall over myself to kiss the cinematographer's arse, I want to say that Requiem for a dream made me ball my eyes out in a way that has only ever been matched by 'Into the Wild' and 'Grave of the Fireflies'.
Now THE STYLE, cuts more frequently than an emo on valantines day, Afronsky throws us into a violent, *beep* up world, using every trick in the cinematic book. Its a film that is as stylistic as they come, but never lets that get in the way of the story. In a move that I view as very brave he also shows us this world at its best; using the seasons as an overarching metaphor, we go through these four central characters, four demented seasons, climaxing in the horrors of the coldest of winters.
Also check out: Mr Nobody - DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames SpaderHolly HunterElias KoteasAfter getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.Like a lot of films concerning sex, Crash has been unfairly maligned. It's influence is all over Fight Club and Eyes Wide Shut. It's detached contrast of car accidents with sexual imagery is powerful and convincing. The only emotions on display are lust and loneliness and just because it has enough sex in it to warrant porno status, it doesn't make it the crass smut that the tabloids made it out to be.
Possibly David Cronenberg's masterpiece.
Also check out: Videodrome - DirectorCristian MungiuStarsAnamaria MarincaLaura VasiliuVlad IvanovA woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.An incredibly challenging first half hour gives way to a film that is gripping. Almost in real time the film plays out the worst night of a woman's life as she desperately tries to organize a back street abortion for her friend. She doesn't break down at any point but you can feel the weight on her shoulders as everything starts to get out of control. The stand out scene is set at her boyfriend's family dinner party, in which she sits numbly, letting the breezy stupid conversation drift over her as she comes to terms with the horrors she has just been through.
Also Check out: Three Colours Blue - DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.I'm not one to rag on modern horror, cynics point out all the remakes and sequels and talk about the good old days, like every horror made before 1980 was some transendent masterpiece. However a film like 'Suspiria' really does help prove their point. A film like the Nightmare on Elm street remake isn't scary because it sticks to formula, browns/greens/jump scares. Suspiria scares you with every colour in the rainbow and has this bizarre, gruelling soundtrack which will henceforth be the one played in your nightmares.
Also check out: Phenomena - DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.Don't get me wrong, Jack Nicholson is REALLY good in this movie. His perfomance is an explosive, anti establishment masterwork. He was so good that Empire voted it the greatest performance of all time. It says a lot for the film that I believe that Louise Fletcher out acts Nicholson as the steel fisted, evil authority figure nurse Ratchet; to my mind the greatest villian ever. But to argue which performance is better misses the point, one couldn't exist without the other, this is chaos vs order. Most films who touch on such difficult themes mess it up, by keeping it all in a metaphorical context it pulls it off. Genius film making.
Also check out: Amadeus - DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.Just to clarify this is a list of my favourite films, not my opinion on the greatest. The greatest film ever made is 'The Godfather' (apart from that fight scene, Jesus Christ) It was the 'Godfather' of the IMdb chart until Dark Knight came along. To knock it off the top spot a bunch of ritalin taking, call of Duty playing *beep* deposited a large number of 1s in the ratings causing it to now sit comfortably at number 2 under its arch rival Shawshank, the good news is he's seeing more of his son, 'Godfather 2' who sits at number three and they're getting along well, they played catch last week...where was I?
The film is not as unapproachable as you'd expect. If you're into Game of Thrones, then you can see that a lot of inspiration was taken from the twisty family politics going on here. It flies by and you're entralled every second.
Also check out: Once upon a time in America - DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsAdam SandlerEmily WatsonPhilip Seymour HoffmanSocially frustrated Barry Egan calls a phone-sex line to curb his loneliness. Little does he know it will land him in deep trouble and will jeopardize his burgeoning romance with the mysterious Lena.Like most males I'm not particularly good at multitasking and there's a scene in Punch Drunk Love which captures the feeling of losing it cause there's too much *beep* going on pretty perfectly. The intruding score, the multiple characters, the sweeping camera work, it all adds up and you just wish everyone would shut up and give you a minute so you can think.
It also looks great. P.T Anderson directed it so no surprise there. It, along with Hard Eight are the less dry side of his cannon and probably a good place to start before attempting anything he's made more recently.
Also Check out: Funny People - DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.A film that actually makes quite a lot of sense compared to the rest of the Lynch Oeuvre; Mulholland Drive is a really great balancing act of total abstract craziness and clever puzzle piece plotting. It's similar and superior to Lynch's previous film 'Lost Highway' and at some points even feels like a second attempt at that film's mangled duel plot. The film seems to follow a young actress as she... actually *beep* doing a plot synopsis, I haven't got all year...
Also check out: Lost Highway - DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting much but this one blew me away. I figured a film that was 41 years old would have lost a lot of it's power, but *beep* man, *beep*. This was one of the most intense, shocking, gritty films I have ever seen. How is that? How in 41 years has no one made a slasher better than this? I think (like Night of the Living Dead) that because they were literally inventing the genre, because they had nothing to go on, it all feels fresh. Fresh and *beep* terrifying.
Also Check Out: Eden Lake - DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellSarah BerryDan HicksAsh Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.The humour in the Evil Dead films is at it's best when it comes from excess, a headless corpse accidentally carving itself up with a chainsaw is disgusting, but also hilarious. It's tone is more in line with silent comedy than it is with Shaun of the Dead and it goes to show the range of humour that horror comedy is capable of. It's spiritual successors are all Japanese (Riki-Oh, Tokyo Gore Police) and Army of Darkness is also worth checking out, even if the balancing act had by then tipped into a straight up comedy.
Also check out: Reanimator - DirectorSylvain ChometStarsMichèle CaucheteuxJean-Claude DondaMichel RobinWhen her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.You've got to see this one, if only to see how a film can be both beautiful and repulsive at the same time; It's like watching a *beep* birth. The characters are drawn like political caricatures all gangly features and elaborate deform. It applies this style not only to people but also to the scenery and a film that can get a laugh out of something as simple as the way a ship looks is clearly on a higher plain of animation.
Also Check Out: Tokyo Godfathers - DirectorWalter HillStarsMichael BeckJames RemarDorsey WrightA street gang known as the Warriors must fight its way from the Bronx to its home turf on Coney Island when its members are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.This has a pemise up there with 'Wages of Fear'. A small New York gang are wrongly accused of murdering a king pin and must now make their way across New York while every gang in the city wants their blood. This is trashy cult B-movies at their finest. Unapologetically 70's, the film may be a bit rough around the edges, but its made up for ten fold by the set pieces, the colourful characters and the editing. Its just a really fun movie and everyone should see it.
Also check out: Escape from New York - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.If you've actually bothered reading all the commentary so far (and if you have than I have a weird mix of gratitude and pity for you) then you will know I'm into my dark comedy and Full Metal Jacket opens with a fantastic slice of it.
'You look like you could suck a golfball through a garden hose'
It's a fantastic scene and it really sets the audience up for the fall they're about to take.
Within one scene the audience's expectations are thrown out the window and they are treated to a dark horrifying expose on the horrors of what war does to the human soul.
There are images in this film that have been ingrained in my head forever.
Also Check out: Come and See - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira TeraoJinpachi NezuIn Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.Ran is not exactly Akira Kurosawa's most entertaining film, but certainly his biggest and most beautiful. Made at a time in his life when he could basically do whatever the hell he pleased, he did just that and staged some of the most impressive battle sequences ever filmed. Putting it's scale to one side, this film's cinematography is just breathtaking; colours jump out of the screen, it nails the period setting and you truly believe that this is Medieval Japan. Perhaps the main reason to see it is because nothing like it will ever be made again. There will of course be more war epics, but none will have the army of real extras seen here, none will have cinematography without need of a colour grade and none will be directed by a man with the wisdom and experience of Akira Kurosawa.
Also check out: Seven Samurai - DirectorTarsem SinghStarsLee PaceCatinca UntaruJustine WaddellIn 1920s Los Angeles, a bedridden patient in a hospital captivates a young girl with a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island.I want to double bill this with 'Ran' and see if anyones eyes melt.
The premise got me interested, (this is 'The Dark Princess Bride'.) The trailer blew my mind and the actual film was nothing short of a religious experience. (hyperbole alert) Amazingly made outside of the studio system, the self titled Tarsem is free of constraints and is able to deliver the ending that he wants as opposed to the one that will get the maximum box office. It's great to see an artistic statement on this scale; its a true original and deserves more attention than it has recieved.
Also check out: Samsara - DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.I've seen some very good films about ambition but none have been as tight as Whiplash.
I usually loath films about teaching because they're all in that Stand and Deliver mould where the teachers some white saviour helping all the inner city kids. In this film the teacher does push his students, but he does so in a way that is vicious and nasty. His students are excellent but they live in fear of him. The film holds an objective stance on if this teaching method is effective. Arguing both sides effectively and it deserves credit for doing so.
Also the soundtrack is killer.
Also check out: The King of Comedy - DirectorMichael MannStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroVal KilmerA group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.There's something about Heat, no other film manages to be this *beep* BIG. Maybe it's the sweeping angles, maybe it's the deep framing. Either way something Michael Mann does ensues that this is an astonishing showdown between two men at the top of their game on different sides of the law. Said showdown is over coffee by the way.
Also Check Out: The Last of the Mohicans - DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.There's a lot of these ensemble dramas around nowadays and they're often over rated fluff, failing to bring their various strands together to form a cohesive whole. They also all look incredibly tired when put side by side with Do the Right Thing. A film that has energy to spare. The camera work, the acting, the writing and the pacing all seem to be on red bull, but more importantly it brings it's various characters together for a smart, logical and shocking ending.
Probably the best ensemble drama going.
Also check out: Boogie Nights - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.A film that was so ahead of it's time, so visceral and so dangerous it ended up being locked away for almost 30 years. This was of course Kubrick's decision, after he heard about young men emulating the repugnant behaviour on screen here. I can understand Kubrick's conscience, but the film has at it's heart a strong anti- censorship message, so it's a shame that whole cinemas had to be shut down for daring to show it.
If Kubrick really didn't want people to see it he shouldn't have made such a bloody masterpiece. As I said, too ahead of it's time for it's own good.
Also check out: American Psycho - DirectorDamián SzifronStarsDarío GrandinettiMaría MarullMónica VillaSix short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress.This film has all the twisted fun of reading Roald Dahl's short stories. These 6 shorts all examine what happens when you throw ordinary people into extremely stressful, escalating situations. The opening short is an absolute knock-out and sets the stage wonderfully. I have my favourites from the collection, (the highway fight, the wedding from hell) but every film here is a tightly wound grenade waiting to go off.
Also check out: Volver - DirectorAlexander PayneStarsMatthew BroderickReese WitherspoonLoren NelsonA high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.Election is absolutely unflinching in it's expose on humanity's pettiest traits. There are big, funny set pieces in Election, but it's at it's best when it's exposing the stupid minutia of everyday frustration. The voice over from the four key characters is brilliant. It sounds both absolutely real and astoundingly hypocritical. It holds a mirror up to the audience and it is not a nice reflection, but it is a fair one.
Also check out: Heathers - DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.If this was a list of the films I had seen the most times, Jurassic Park would probably win. I even saw it in French once. As a blockbuster, it is pretty flawless. These perfect set pieces just come one after the other and the CGI is used so sparingly and so effectively that you forget you're watching something from 1993. It might be the best blockbuster ever.
Also check out: Jaws - DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonMarty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.I do not need to explain why you should watch Back to the Future. You've obviously seen Back to the Future. If you have not, you should immediately watch Back to the Future... Followed by Back to the Future 2 ... and Back to the Future 3.
Also check out: Who Framed Roger Rabbit. - DirectorCurtis HansonStarsKevin SpaceyRussell CroweGuy PearceAs corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.If you like your noir movies to come as gritty as a driveway then this is the film for you. It hits the ground running, moves to a sprint and then manages to keep that pace up for 2 hours as it delves into the murky L.A. underworld. Performances are all excellent, with even the supporting players giving what would be scene stealing performances in any other film. It looks great, period detail drips from every corner of every frame and it offers an effective, gripping mystery narrative. All in all, this is the perfect package, easily standing side-by-side with the great 70's crime dramas.
Also check out: Touch of Evil - DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsBruce WillisAlan RickmanBonnie BedeliaA New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.Dear Die Hard
You rock.
Especially when that guy was on the roof.
-Homer Simpson
P.S. Do you know Mad Max?
Also Check out: Hard Boiled - DirectorAdrian LyneStarsTim RobbinsElizabeth PeñaDanny AielloMourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.When test audiences first saw Jacob's Ladder they called it 'overwhelming'. This led to the the climactic nightmare imagery being removed for a more streamlined ending. I think the deleted scenes are beautifully macabre and the absence of any nightmare imagery from the last half hour is felt. However it is to the film's credit that what we got is still a masterpiece.
It's a film which manages to tell a gripping puzzle piece narrative coherently while still remaining open to interpretation. It has at least 3 terrifying set-pieces, one of which genuinely gave me nightmares. It does something with horror completely new and does it in a way which I haven't seen replicated as well since.
Also check out: The Machinist - DirectorDavid Robert MitchellStarsMaika MonroeKeir GilchristOlivia LuccardiA young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.I like a very specific type of horror film. I'm not a huge fan of the quiet, quiet BANG type of horror, which might be effective at the time, but usually leaves about the same impression as a gust of wind on a wall. I'm more into the type of film that makes my stomach churn with existential dread while making my butt clench hard enough to break walnuts open. It Follows is that type of horror. Surprisingly un-gory minus a few key shots, It Follows gets by on it's pure, illogical, nightmare-fuel premise. A monster, which only you can see, will walk towards you slowly and when it gets to you it will rape you to death. *beep* terrifying.
Also check out: (There have been some really great recent horrors, you should definitely watch, these include) Green Room, Don't Breath, The Babadook, Get Out, Us, You're Next, Neon Demon, Raw, The Invitation, A Quiet Place, Hereditary, and the reboots of Blair Witch and the Evil Dead. - DirectorSebastian SchipperStarsLaia CostaFrederick LauFranz RogowskiA young Spanish woman who has recently moved to Berlin finds her flirtation with a local guy turn potentially deadly as their night out with his friends reveals a dangerous secret.Opening on a shot that is sure to induce an epilepsy attack, Victoria uses it's single shot (no Birdman cheating) to tell a story that is both exhilarating and moving. The plot (which is on reflection far fetched) is believable in the moment, primarily because you're right there with them for every second, but also because it sets up it's character's motivations so clearly. Do not read anything further about this one, just watch it. A lot of reviews and summaries give away something that took me completely by surprise so check it out as soon as. It's an absolute blast.
Also check out: Enter The Void - DirectorWes AndersonStarsRalph FiennesF. Murray AbrahamMathieu AmalricA writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of his early years serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge.Wes Anderson is a man who has gradually settled into his style. From Bottle Rocket all the way through to The Grand Budapest Hotel you can see a slow change from naturalism to what looks more like a painting. So here we have what is currently the epitome of this style. Every frame is gorgeous and it doesn't forget to be funny. Not many comedies these days take their style seriously and it was nice to see one be made on this scale.
Also Check Out: The Royal Tenenbaums - DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsColin FarrellBrendan GleesonCiarán HindsAfter a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.I watch In Bruges all the time. its a pretty difficult sell, it is essentially what would happen if Guy Ritchie made an art film.
This film has ultra violence, it also has a redemption subtext.
It has almost 'Nil by Mouth' levels of swearing but it also has a extremely serious undertone.
Its a film of contrasts and everyone can find something to like. Think 'Don't Look Now' meets 'Snatch'
Also Check out: Sexy Beast - DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.To put this in a way my generation will understand, watching The Treasure of Sierra Madre is like being 2 hours into a video game, yet to reach a checkpoint and on the verge of losing everything. The tension is palpable.
Without giving too much away the film puts 3 well-drawn characters into an extremely high-pressure situation and just as it seems that they are going to tear themselves apart it adds outside elements which make their situation even worse.
Humphrey Bogart has never been better, playing against type as a paranoid, nervous wreck and even he is totally out-performed by Walter Huston playing a man who is either mad, competent or both.
It is a total ride and one of the main inspirations for Indiana Jones.
Also check out: Wages of Fear - DirectorTetsuya NakashimaStarsTakako MatsuYoshino KimuraMasaki OkadaA psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.A hundred and six minutes of plot twist, Confessions has so much up it's sleeve that just when you think you're ahead, it will knock you for six. We start by watching a class take the most 'unconventional' lesson you'll likely ever see before delving into the supporting player's shocking confessions.
It reminds me of David Fincher's thrillers, sleek, classy, clever and a little bit bonkers.
Also Check Out: Sympathy for Lady Vengance - DirectorSpike JonzeStarsNicolas CageMeryl StreepChris CooperA lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.To clarify I'm getting a little tired of all this meta *beep* It's not edgy, it's 256 years old! As far as I'm concerned Charlie Kaufman has put the final nail in the meta coffin by basically doing it so much better than everyone else.
So what we have here is a failed adaptation of a New Yorker article which has it's author and author's fictional twin brother as characters. Filled with great jokes like the anxious voice-over stopping because the author is told it's amateur in screen writing class. It is really funny, really clever and as far as I'm concerned the last word on the meta writing device.
Also Check Out: Seven Psychopaths - DirectorMizuho NishikuboMamoru OshiiStarsAtsuko TanakaIemasa KayumiAkio ÔtsukaA cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.Ghost in the Shell looks very dumb, a graduate of the Ninja Scroll school of anime, all tits and guns. Is there tits in Ghost in the Shell?
Yes.
Is there guns?
Yes.
But this dumb exterior hides a film which is actually more interested in deep, existential themes, putting it head and shoulders above other anime of the time. Apparently the pitch for the Matrix involved The Watchowskis showing a clip of this film and then saying we want to do that in live action. It shows, you can see the DNA of Ghost in the Shell is hardwired into the Matrix.
Also check out: Stand Alone Complex - DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonEdward FurlongA cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.Both Alien and Terminator are not on this list but their sequels are. It makes you wonder if James Cameron could pull off sequels that could exceed those classic originals then why nowadays are we fed absolute crap like Covenant and Genysis?
Anyway this is a masterpiece of film-making craft and deserves to be remembered as one of the great action films.
Also check out: Mad Max 2 - DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsRyunosuke KamikiMone KamishiraishiRyo NaritaTwo teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.A simple body swap film twists and mutates and before you know it you're watching something that looks like a Charlie Kaufman movie. I appreciate Your Name because although it looks twee on the surface, it's both a structurally bizarre art movie and a thrilling, adventure-blockbuster. It also manages to tell a moving coming-of-age story with two relatable and funny characters. This was an absolute treat from start to finish. Great soundtrack too.
Also check out: My Sassy Girl - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsMayumi TanakaKeiko YokozawaKotoe HatsuiA young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.Laputa is seriously underrated when considering the studio's cannon. I had the fortune to catch this on a big screen and it deserved to be there. It's pure adventure, we open slap-bang in the middle of a sky pirate aerial assault and the pace doesn't really slow down from there. Their films got stranger, they got wider in scope and they got more complex, but this is the purest Ghibli film and if you've never seen their films before, it should be your starting point.
Also check out: Journey to Agartha - DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.The epic that makes other epics look like they were made by Troma, Lawrence of Arabia is breathtaking. You just sit with your mouth agape and all you can think is 'Wow...that's a lot of camels'. Once you've seen the film, you see it's fingerprints all over the cinema that came after. I really recommend you put aside an evening (a whole evening) and check it out.
Also check out: Gone with the Wind - DirectorNacho VigalondoStarsAnne HathawayJason SudeikisAustin StowellGloria is an out-of-work party girl forced to leave her life in New York City and move back home. When reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, she gradually comes to the realization that she is somehow connected to this phenomenon.I like Colossal because it deals with extremely heavy themes like destructive alcoholism and abusive relationships, but in a subtle, un-preachy way which creeps up on you. Although mainly known for it's bizarre and original premise, it never let's it become a gimmick and uses it to tell an effective and moving story.
Also check out: Time Crimes - DirectorDaniel KwanDaniel ScheinertStarsPaul DanoDaniel RadcliffeMary Elizabeth WinsteadA hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body, and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.When you watch a lot of movies, you start to notice a number of recurring patterns. This could be familiar characters, similar structures or well trodden thematic material. On all three counts this was not the case for Swiss Army Man, one of the boldest independent movies in years.
You have to just admire the balls on display in pitching a film about a bloated dead body who has boner and fart powers. Every scene takes you somewhere new, you'll have no idea where it's going. It manages to be both simultaneously disgusting and beautiful, this is best illustrated by the incredible opening sequence. It might not be for everyone, but that is sort of the point. This is exciting, bonkers, cutting-edge cinema and it deserves to be seen.
Also check out: Hunt for the Wilderpeople - DirectorTom TykwerStarsBen WhishawDustin HoffmanAlan RickmanJean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.Both strange and beautiful, this adaptation of the cult novel manages to paint a portrait of a twisted and talented serial killer whose motivation for murder lies only in collecting his victim's scent. Parts of it are royally *beep* up and it has a divisive, bonkers ending that will make your head spin. The movie was such an expensive oddity that the people funding it only did so as part of an elaborate tax scam. So it is pretty much the weird, cult movie equivalent of 'Spring Time for Hitler.'
Also check out: Bram Stoker's Dracula - DirectorTerry ZwigoffStarsBilly Bob ThorntonBernie MacLauren GrahamA miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.Terry Zwigoff is my favourite director, everything he has made is fantastic, 'Crumb', 'Ghost World', 'Art School Confidential' and of course 'Bad Santa'. I actually grew very angry with the marketing campaign for Bad Santa, my DVD of it is plastered with 'WARNING-contains twisted humour of a sexually explicit nature' and 'Too rude for cinemas' like its a movie on par with *beep* 'White Chicks' or something. It is undeniable that there are parts of Bad Santa that are very, very crude, but the film has this really warm heart mainly down to a really great child performance by Brett Kelly as 'The Kid'. The film is also gut wrenchingly funny; there may be comedies that are higher on the list, but none of them made me laugh as much as 'Bad Santa
Also check out: Clerks - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.For those uninitiated think of this as the 'Logan' of the detective genre. Subverting the standard tropes and clashing them against a brutal, corrupt, sinister underworld.
It was like the film was waiting for the freedom of the 1970's to tell it's dark tale. 1940's noir this is not; there is not a chance in hell it would have made it past the Hays code.
Also check out: Rosemary's Baby - DirectorBilly WilderStarsFred MacMurrayBarbara StanwyckEdward G. RobinsonA Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.Easily my favourite film noir, Double Indemnity holds up incredibly well. Structurally it's perfect. You're gripped from the opening frames right through to the finale. The dialogue is that great rat-at-at 1940's style. e.g
"That witness from the train, what was his name?"
"His name was Jackson. Probably still is."
Great characters, superb acting, it's just really, really GOOD.
Also check out: The Big Sleep - DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.As a teenager I thought American Beauty was all about sticking it to the man and living life your way. I wasn't exactly wrong, but I feel like I scratched the surface on a film with truly staggering depth. Look closer.
Also check out: Six Feet Under - DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsLubna AzabalMélissa Désormeaux-PoulinMaxim GaudetteTwins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.A brutal and shocking drama about exploring the dark past. Duel narratives, one taking place in the 1970's and one taking place in the present gradually reveal the twisted narrative. A piece of information in the present can feed into your understanding of the past narrative and vice versa, providing a clever dramatic irony effect.
It's a great set-up and it does not pull any punches. See it and then get a stiff drink.
Also Check Out: OldBoy - DirectorJoss WhedonStarsNathan FillionGina TorresChiwetel EjioforThe crew of the ship Serenity try to evade an assassin sent to recapture telepath River.For those of you unfamiliar, 'Firefly was a short lived TV series from Joss 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Weadon. After it was cancelled it was eventually picked up by Universal as a film, the result being the aformentioned 'Serenity.' I actually saw 'Serenity' first, it was in a very early stage of my film geekery when I just used to buy things on the strength of their box art. It was a stage which also bought me films involving world's of the 'Water' and 'Under' variety. On the strength of the film I bought the box set of Firefly and watched it all in about a day. The characters are all so likable and developed and the adventures are so much fun and its so well paced and funny and look at me babble on about it like the MASSIVE pathetic browncoat flan I am. :D
Also Check out: Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog - DirectorBong Joon HoStarsTilda SwintonPaul DanoAhn Seo-hyunA young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.Probably the best fantasy drama since Pan's Labyrinth. This strange cocktail of genres has a wild and ever-changing tone. Following a young girl's connection to a GM pig, it starts as a light adventure story while slowly becoming increasingly dark. It is the kind of film that you wish would get made more often; a big budget original oddity. Jong-ho Bong is a true talent and Netflix should definitely throw some more money at him soon.
Also check out: Mother - DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTommy Lee JonesJavier BardemJosh BrolinViolence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.Maybe I'm just thick, but I liked 'No country' for different reasons than all my bearded sophisticated friends did. Apparently we should love it because it defies convention. *Probably should SPOILER ALERT THIS *beep* UP* The 'Hero' and the 'villian' never meet, the 'Heroes'' death is never seen or dwelled on and the 'villian' gets away. Is he even a villian?? What is a villian?? WHAT IS EVIL??
Anyway breaking convention is all well and good but it doesn't make a great film, 'Howard the Duck' broke conventions ffs. The reason I like it so much is because its like watching the kind of film we would have been treated too, if the Western Genre hadn't been left to die. Films like 'No Country', 'Lone Star' and 'Hell or High Water' are all set in the present day and they all go to show the Southern is the new Western.
Also Check out: Blood Simple - DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsPatrick SwayzeKeanu ReevesGary BuseyAn F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.I stick up for Keanu Reeves a lot and my main point is that he was the lead role in the three best action films of the 90's; Speed, The Matrix and Point Break. A few of the set pieces in Point Break; A bank robbery by a man in a Nixon mask, a fist fight in a tropical storm, a foot chase across a LA suburb, a shoot-out in a drug house and unforgettably a man jumps out of a plane without a parachute.
It seems the influence of The Bourne Identity (which I very much like) has caused action films to be more concerned with tension and character which isn't neccessarily a bad thing, but I will always hold a place in my heart for films like 'Point Break', 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' and 'Bad Boys'. Films which where to restraint what James Cameron is to small Indie dramas.
Also Check out: Long Kiss Good Night - DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsSissy SpacekPiper LaurieAmy IrvingCarrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.I think one of the hardest thing to pull off in a film is a convincing bully, A few films get it right, such as the aformentioned 'Stand by Me' but usually we are treated to this weird scene which shows up in films like 'Let me in' and 'Harry Potter 5,' where one bully is surrounded by about four others. He then proceeds to hurl very unconvincing insults which usually stray within PG-13 territory at the victim, while his cronies just laugh hysterically like they're in the *beep* Lion King. The reason I don't understand this is that Carrie nailed it thirty five years ago. Sissy Spacek's performance remains incredibly influencial and you can see echos of it running through the outcast characters of today
Also check out: Blow Out - DirectorGlenn FicarraJohn RequaStarsJim CarreyEwan McGregorLeslie MannA cop turns con man once he comes out of the closet. Once imprisoned, he meets the second love of his life, whom he'll stop at nothing to be with.The best thing Jim Carrey has done in years is basically a big, gay 'Catch Me if you can' with laughs. This extremely funny and surprisingly dark film takes some very brave turns for a mainstream comedy and is all the better for it. Not surprising considering the same guys wrote Bad Santa. Also this is one of those based on a true story films and reading about this guy's life on wikipedia is a treat in itself.
Also check out: The Cable Guy - DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.The Alien quadrology weirdly mirrors the Terminator one, both of the first films were horrors, the second were action movies, the thirds just cocked it up and the fourths were watchable but completely unoriginal.
Anyway I am yet to meet someone who doesn't like 'Aliens', so many elements of the film have been ripped off and copied (The space marines/the 'action' sequel/art design) its hard to remember just how original Aliens is. Boiled down to its purest themes, this is a story about motherhood and the distance women will go to defend their young.
It also looks amazing, and along with 'Brazil' and 'The Thing' it proves a great case for ANTI-CGI.
Also Check out: The Thing - DirectorMike LeighStarsRoger SlomanAlison SteadmanAnthony O'DonnellA middle-class couple go camping in Dorset, but peace and quiet elude them.Mike Leigh again RIPPING the piss out out of the British middle class. This isn't technically a film, it was a TV episode of 'Play for Today' that runs to feature length. The other, more famous episode was known as 'Abigail's party' which although a master class in awkward class warfare isn't quite as funny as 'Nuts in May'. Our protagonists are Keith and Candice Marie, a couple who say things like 'Keith and I believe that smoking damages your health. You see, Ray, you can't see the damage that it's doing. But if I could take one of your lungs now, and put it on the table in front of you and cut it in half, I think you'd be absolutely horrified.'
They clash with a fun loving, loud, young couple and it is PAINFUL to watch. It is so true to life and so cringe worthy you just want to hide behind a cushion.
Also Check out Happy-Go-Lucky - DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMads MikkelsenThomas Bo LarsenAnnika WedderkoppA teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.Scary because it is so believable. The Hunt examines what happens when a male teaching assistant is wrongly accused of sexual abuse of a minor. Thomas Vinterberg, who also examined sexual abuse from a very different angle in 1995's Festen, excels at building up the tension to boiling point. As mentioned previously everything from the child actors to the reactions of the various adults is brutally realistic leaving the audience sitting powerless in pained sympathy.
Also check out: Festen - DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsHugh JackmanJake GyllenhaalViola DavisWhen Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.If you have not already, you need to watch everything by Denis Villeneuve. He is the next great director, the one whom film students will be doting over in the next few years. Every film he has made, that I have seen, has been excellent. He hops genres easily from the Lynchian Enemy to the Sci-Fi Arrival to the dark thriller Prisoners.
This film produces the same sick adrenaline rush I would usually associate with films from the New French Extremity movement, but it achieves it with very little violent imagery. Villeneuve is a master of atmosphere and I hope after he has spent some time in blockbuster territory he will return to these kind of mesmerising, dark films.
Also check out: Se7en - DirectorNeil MarshallStarsShauna MacdonaldNatalie MendozaAlex ReidA caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.knawing off my right arm, I sat down and watched the descent. Within two minutes I had jumped right out of my seat and wanted to turn it off. I rightly stuck with it, a good thing too because 'The Descent' is the most nail biting, pant soiling, watch from behind a cushion movie I have EVER EVER seen. The film follows a group of women exploring an uncharted cave. In the first hour, everything that could go wrong goes wrong. Claustrophobia sets in and just when things can't possibly get worse, they get worse. It is the ultimate in gruelling, nasty, pant wetting horror.
Also see if you can get your hands on the British version, we have a better ending.
Also check out: Martyrs - DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsJulianne MooreClive OwenChiwetel EjioforIn 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.Yu Tu Mama Tambian was a film that was originally in my top 100 but was eventually pushed out, which is a shame cause that sex fueled Mexican road trip is a blast to watch. Having watched it though, you wouldn't have thought the director (Alfonso Cuaron) would go on to make an ambitious, apocolyptic Sci-Fi like 'Children of Men'. But thank god he did.
This is a grim *beep* movie, the whole world becomes infertile and mankind is gradually dying out; this has led to problems with immigration, insurgence groups and extreme class divides. Its all really thoughtout, in the background of shots we see protesters and campaign posters. I can't think of another fantasy film which I bought into so much; It goes to show its all in the little details.
Also *beep* Goodfellas and Touch of Evil, this has the BEST TRACKING SHOT EVER.
Also Check out: Yu Tu Mama Tambian - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsRyan O'NealMarisa BerensonPatrick MageeAn Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.Barry Lyndon wasn't originally on this list, but it's stayed with me for weeks after watching it. This is not the dry period drama you may imagine it is. It's full of rogues, duels and high drama. Kubrick always had a knack for making long films which were incredibly watchable. The final duel is one of the best scenes ever shot and the soundtrack is one of the best ever recorded.
Also check out: 2001- A Space Odyssey - DirectorS. Craig ZahlerStarsKurt RussellPatrick WilsonMatthew FoxIn the dying days of the old west, an elderly sheriff and his posse set out to rescue their town's doctor from cannibalistic cave dwellers.One of the most intense cinematic experiences there is. Bone Tomahawk will have you gripping your seat in terror, while barely being able to look at the screen.
All four main characters are superbly written and performed. You actually get to know them and understand their motivations.
For the most part it is a journey into the wilderness and the sense of dread is palpable. It's like Apocalypse Now and The Descent had a baby.
After watching Bone Tomahawk I immediately watched Annihilation, a similar movie in terms of structure and Annihilation was fittingly annihilated by this descent into madness.
Also check out: Apocalypse Now - DirectorMike JudgeStarsRon LivingstonJennifer AnistonDavid HermanThree company workers who hate their jobs decide to rebel against their greedy boss.I had forgotten how many amazing characters there are in Office Space. Michael Bolton, Milton, Lumburgh.
I had forgotten how many amazing lines are in Office Space.
"I have people skills!"
"If they take my stapler I'm going to burn the place down"
"PC load letter! What the fuck does that mean?"
And I had forgotten just how funny, true to life and brilliant every scene is. Very sharp comedy.
Also check out: Idiocracy - DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsRosario FloresJavier CámaraDarío GrandinettiTwo men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.I just think this film is perfect.
It says so much about obsession, lust, longing and not very much about love. Watch it knowing nothing about it.
Also check out: All about my Mother - DirectorJung Byung-gilStarsKim Ok-binShin Ha-kyunSung JunA female assassin leaves a trail of bodies behind her as she seeks revenge.Easily the best action film since the Raid 2, The Villainess excels at break-neck action scenes which (through digital stitching) appear to all take place in one take. The narrative which 'stitches' these sequences together is a brilliant non-linear, twisty epic which includes assassins, secret societies, plastic surgery and an extended sequence in which the film turns into a romcom. It has something for everyone!
Also check out: Train to Busan - DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanJon VoightSylvia MilesA naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.There are not many films that will have you thinking 'Masterpiece' within the first 5 minutes but Midnight Cowboy is one of them. It's an incredible time capsule of filthy 1960's New York, a sympathetic look at the horrors of poverty and it contains some of the best performances I've ever seen.
Also check out: Taxi Driver - DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsAdrian PasdarJenny WrightLance HenriksenA small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.The Lost Boys making more money than Near Dark was used as an analogy by Kim Newman to show how dependably dumb general audiences can be. Near Dark was way ahead of it's time, giving Vampires the 28 days later treatment and treating its subject as disease and not referring to it by name. The vampires are portrayed as tragic, barely surviving misfits who are always on the road due to their trail of destruction.
Tonally this film feels more like Aliens than Alien did, what with it borrowing half the cast and being directed by James Cameron's ex-wife and future best picture winner Kathryn Bigalow.
Also Check Out: Strange Days - DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsAntonio BanderasElena AnayaJan CornetA brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.If I like 'Talk to Her' because it is Almodóvar at his most subtle. I like 'The Skin I Live In' because it is him at his MOST INSANE! He reins in no impulses in this macabre, bonkers, melodramatic thriller. Everything is thrown at the wall. It's Eyes without a Face meets Spanish Soap Opera and I love it!
Also check out: Eyes Without a Face - DirectorSean PennStarsEmile HirschVince VaughnCatherine KeenerAfter graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.A film which looks into the life of a young man who graduated, burnt all his possessions and then hiked to Alaska without telling his parents. A film I loved as a teenager is much more objective than I remember. The film doesn't judge his decision but it does explore how said decision impacted everyone around him.
Also check out: A Beautiful Mind