Jesse is Unemployed
by mpizza14 | created - 29 Jun 2017 | updated - 18 Jul 2017 | PublicYour Yale friends probably have crappy taste in movies. Their list would just be Forrest Gump eleven times.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Long Goodbye (1973)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Private investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell
Votes: 37,260 | Gross: $0.96M
My favorite in a long tradition of "Sunshine Noir", as well as an under appreciated classic from Robert Altman.
Pairs great with other Los Angeles mysteries like Chinatown(considered the best), To Live and Die in L.A., Jackie Brown, L.A. Confidential, True Romance, Inherent Vice and even Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Other great movies from Altman include MASH, California Split and The Player.
If I had to choose one movie to pair with this, it would Brick, by Rian Johnson.
2. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 605,943 | Gross: $1.02M
Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason, absolutely a great movie that somehow manages to still hold thematic relevance 75 years later.
Pairs well with Roman Holiday, two old school Hollywood romances starring some of the biggest movie stars ever.
3. A Hard Day (2014)
Not Rated | 111 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After trying to cover up a car accident that left a man dead, a crooked homicide detective is stalked by a mysterious man claiming to have witnessed the event.
Director: Kim Seong-hun | Stars: Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Jin-woong, Jeong Man-sik, Shin Jeong-geun
Votes: 16,593
Probably recommending this over other Korean movies simply because I watched it most recently. Has serious The Departed vibes, tension ratcheted up to eleven the entire time.
This will be the entry for all the Korean movies which I love and are great, including Oldboy and the Handmaiden by Chan-wook Park and The Host by Joon-ho Bong.
Pairs best with Memories of Murder by Joon-ho Bong, the story of Korea's first serial killer.
Available on Netflix.
4. Heat (1995)
R | 170 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A 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.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight
Votes: 719,293 | Gross: $67.44M
Decided on Heat as the Michael Mann movie, as it is his opus. Incredible cast, almost a perfect crime movie. Every Mann movie is worth watching, I would highly recommend Collateral and Miami Vice as well. If you like those, watch Blackhat, but that is advance level Mann.
Outside of Mann's other films, interesting to watch the The Dark Knight, as this very strongly influenced Nolan.
5. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
In the Iranian ghost-town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, the townspeople are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire.
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour | Stars: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Navabi
Votes: 38,623
Just another Black and white Iranian Vampire Western, seen one you've seen them all, right? ABoslutely gorgeous movie by Ana Lily Amirpour, one of the more exciting young directors working today.
Pairs well with Volver, which definitely influenced this movie.
6. A History of Violence (2005)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt
Votes: 252,814 | Gross: $31.49M
Part one of the David Cronenberg-Viggo Mortensen diptych along with Eastern Promises. I know you love mob movies, this is a stripped down take on one.
Pairs well with Eastern Promises.
Available on Prime.
7. Four Lions (2010)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Four incompetent British terrorists set out to train for and commit an act of terror.
Director: Christopher Morris | Stars: Will Adamsdale, Riz Ahmed, Adeel Akhtar, Kayvan Novak
Votes: 85,287 | Gross: $0.30M
People being bad a terrorism is hilarious, not much more to it.
Pairs well with rewatching In the Loop, because British people are funny.
Available on Hulu.
8. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
PG-13 | 93 min | Documentary, History
Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
Director: Raoul Peck | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X
Votes: 23,500 | Gross: $7.12M
One of three Oscar nominated documentaries about race in America released in 2016, probably received the least publicity of the three. Definitely the most interestingly structured, and I think has stuck with me the longest.
Pairs well with O.J. Made in America and The 13th, make a fascinating triptych when viewed together.
Available on Prime.
9. In Bruges (2008)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
After 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.
Director: Martin McDonagh | Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ciarán Hinds, Elizabeth Berrington
Votes: 461,476 | Gross: $7.76M
Good Brendan Gleeson, great Colin Farrell, and peak Ralph Fiennes. Maybe the funniest movie about wanting to kill yourself out there, absolutely great.
Pairs well with A Bigger Splash, just because Ralph Fiennes is the actor you didn't know you needed in your life.
https://vimeo.com/172951830
Available through Amazon/Starz.
10. 25th Hour (2002)
R | 135 min | Drama
Cornered by the DEA, convicted New York drug dealer Montgomery Brogan reevaluates his life in the 24 remaining hours before facing a seven-year jail term.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Edward Norton, Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rosario Dawson
Votes: 184,655 | Gross: $13.06M
Spike Lee is such a big personality, we sometimes forget how talented of a director he can be. Possibly his best movie, and definitely Edward Norton's best performance, incredible movie set in NYC immediately post 9/11.
Pairs well with Inside Man, Spike Lee's other great mid 2000s movie.
11. The Unknown Known (2013)
PG-13 | 103 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in the early 1960s to planning the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Donald Rumsfeld, Errol Morris
Votes: 4,291 | Gross: $0.28M
Bonus number eleven, couldn't justify getting it on there, but a fascinating look at Rumsfeld and how his attitude on America shaped the world we have today.
12. The Hot Rock (1972)
PG | 101 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand
Votes: 6,945 | Gross: $2.54M
Watch this knowing it is Soderberg's favorite heist movie and biggest influence on the Ocean's trilogy
Tell Your Friends