Strongly Reccomended Films

In 1988, an moving epic came along and redefined the genre of Japanese animation otherwise known as "Anime." Hotaru no Haka has been named of the greatest anti-war Films ever made, and it deserves such credit. Some movies make you think, others feel; but this one makes you think and feel.

The backdrop art and animation are marvelous; very defining backgrounds with meticulous detail. The character design is top notch, but the strongest aspect would be the plot itself.

Seita and his sister Setsuko are two kids who are suffering the outcomes of World War II. Set in 1940s Japan; this amazing, moving drama will grip your sympathy and squeeze it until at least a tear comes out of your eyes.

The plot thickens and takes a turn for the worse involving Seita and Setsuko. From there on their lives will begin to spiral down until they are no longer able to continue.

Isao Takahata has been indeed praised for this Film by critcs and movie-goers alike, all due to the selfishness of some and sympathy of others in this bona fide animated Film that will make you feel and pull your emotions quite far...it has even been compared to Schindler's List and indeed, they are alike.

Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, and Mark Ruffalo are some of the incredible characters introduced in this amazing pormanteu of an innovative, unique, and superb experience.
This Film shows many things and oh, yes the actors and the Director; as well as the screenwriters do deliver in this one...
They hit a home run and are about to run and make this movie one that we can enjoy and watch over and over again and again...

The Chemistry between Carrey and Winslet is amazing! It reminded me of the chemistry between the main leads from Gone with the Wind...truly remarkable.
The cinematography is another commended aspect for this Film. It is so incredibly surreal and mind-bending, it jolts your witts and leaves you hungry for more of this main entree.

Charlie Kaufman (the screenwriter) made a bona fide masterpiece, of course along with his colleages, I mention him though because he was known before for his fresh, witty, and innovative screenplays; take Being John Malkovich...authored by him, also Adaptation...his as well. We just can't get enough of his imagination, the guy is a mastermind!

The incredible performances by the actors, (Carrey, Winslet, Wilkinson, and Dunst especially) are quite impressive. It also shows that Carrey has a knack to impress everyone every once in a while for his dramatic turns in which he delivers the best not only of himself...but also of the Film as a whole.

This movie will demonstrate the quirkyness and peculiarity of the human mind and how things and wishes we desire and want are not as strong as love itself...besides that is the point of the Film, to give you an experience like no other while relaying that theme and tones like no other Film can accomplish.

A must see!

House of Sand and Fog.....is a tragic story of how bad luck and fate combine in order to sprout tragic events everywhere...

It stars Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, and Shoreh Aghdashloo, they all form a powerful cast for this simple yet powerfully sympathetic tragedy drama.
It all starts with an abandoned wife who is evicted from her home and begins to live in her car, then Kingsley who plays
Massoud Ami Behrani, and Aghdashloo
who plays Nadi his wife soon come into the picture....
And then suddenly, all of these horrific, unfortunate and tragic events begin to occur to the characters, and from what I observed Kingsley and Aghdashloo did a terrific job portraying the unlucky couple.

It's funny because in the end, no one is to blame....No one was the culprit... There is no antagonist in this Film, just a cast of characters who come together in an amazing mosaic of unlucky individuals, and if you are looking for the next Requiem for a Dream (which also happens to be another tragedy Movie in which Connelly has a role) then you might be about to watch another bona fide masterpiece, enough said...

Not every Film that falls under the category of War achieves the true message of war and its outcomes. Schindler's List on the other hand delivers that and much much more. Acclaimed Director Steven Spielberg (is considered one of the greatest ever) has adapted the novel by Thomas Keneally entitled Schindler's Ark as one of the greatest and finest Films ever made (widely considered to be)...His adaption is amazingly faithful and perhaps the most accurate one to the nightmarish events of the Holocaust.

Direction under his supervision is incredibly amazing. He makes the movie so artistically depressing and gritty that it falls short on a mere description, and the movie was shot in full black and white; just to make the atmosphere true to how the Holocaust should be portrayed and how it has been portrayed in documentaries, videos, etc...

Schindler is a member of the Nazi party (being portrayed by Liam Neeson this is his best role to date) who is a very ambitious and cunning money-hungry successful man; who in order to become wealthier decides to start a factory. This will manufacture goods for the German Army, and so he hires an accountant (also played very well by Ben Kingsley) and starts to hires Jews. But he soon realizes that not everything is about wealth and power. An insane Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) Amon Goeth enjoys torturing and murdering Jews first thing in the morning, and he begins to gamble the Jews' lives with Oskar Schindler. Schindler isn't doing it to hire and work Jews anymore....he starts to save them (Goeth doesn't realize this, but suspects.)

The performances by Neeson and Fieness are incredible. They deliver their true potential as actors and make a superb performance in this 1993 epic drama. The rest of the cast also does a job well done. The soundtrack can also be easily recognized as it is very soothing and fits the depressing mood.

Schindler's List will pull your sympathy far...very far, and it will demonstrate that after all of these years Spielberg delivered some of the most memorable movies other Directors did not have the potential of directing.

Year after year Spielberg delivered with many memorable Films such as: Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Jurassic Park but none can compare to the authenticity and marvelousness that this epic drama is capable of showing.

Requiem for a Dream is Darren Aronofsky's (Director) second Film. For him to be his second movie...he made it even more better, more compelling and moving than Pi could've ever been. Requiem for a Dream stars Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist), Jared Leto (Alexander), Jennifer Connelly (this was her breakthrough performance), and Marlon Wayans (who received great praise for this dramatic turn.)

4 lives...4 characters...4 hopes...4 dreams... Which are inprisioned in a dream world in which anything is possible and is soon shattered by reality.

The Film's strongest theme is addiction which is shown in a variety of forms and ways. The shock techniques are persistent and the disturbing montages that follow are inevitable. The soundtrack which is one of the movie's strongest aspects has been widely acclaimed and its themes have been reproduced in a wide variety of formats.

This Film itself is known to be a shocking experience...and it may be hard to watch on some points; due to the very sympathetic characters and their experiences. Aronofsky's directing style can be indentified and also praised, since in some of the scenes he required a camera attached to the actors for a top view.

Based on the book by Hubert Selby of the same name; Aronofsky's has shown potential as a Director. As he transformed a critically acclaimed novel into a Film of the same name which rettains that faithfulness to the original product.

Requiem for a Dream truly does show that lost hope can lead to ultimate destruction and tragedies.

Most movies attempt to delve into the minds of the characters and the viewers so much that they leave a strange expression on one self. While this expression might be of wonder, hate, intrigue, and disappointment, Mulholland Drive manages to strike every single one of these, and that is something that most mainstream movies are not capable of doing.

Mulholland Drive begins with the accident of a strange woman (Laura Harring) and quickly afterwards she loses her memory and stumbles upon the sweet and somewhat perky Betty Elms played impressively by Naomi Watts (The Ring, 21 Grams, King Kong), and suddenly we are introduced to a new character; who is plagued by these strange nightmares; which end up becoming true. Then another character is introduced played by Justin Theroux, and this may be his breakthrough performance.

From there on the plot becomes more and more bizarre, and David Lynch's directing style is amazing. He uses surreal scenes followed up by wishful thinking dreams. Right off the bat I can tell you that this Film has no beginning and no end...oh, and there is much symbolism all through it.

While Lynch has been working hard at making a smashing hit at Hollywood, this without a doubt may be his best Film to date. The bizarre plot gets more and more complicated and convoluted (but not in a bad way) and as you find yourself attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together you will instead face a variety of interpretations which one can relate and conclude the plot with.

But these are mere "interpretations" they are not the "true meaning" of the Film, and while Lynch refuses to give any meaning regarding to this Film (same thing happened with Lost Highway his previous movie) the Film's undeniably intriguing plot will challenge your senses, and your wit as you try to put all of these theories and events which happen in Mulholland Drive into one.

Visually astounding and amazingly executed Mononoke Hime is an eye candy that should not be missed. Interestingly to note that Mononoke Hime was the highest-grossing Film ever made in Japan taking a little less than Titanic until the latter was released and took the crown.

Hayao Miyazaki is the brains behind this Anime epic. He claimed that he was going to retire after finishing Porco Rosso back in 1992, but he broke his word, came out of retirement to work on this incredible adventure.

Mononoke Hime tells the story of a young man named Ashitaka who in an attempt to save his village from an assault made by a boar who was under a curse, ended up poisoned by the curse. And so his adventure to find a cure begins, and the turnabout of his adventure ends up being something beyond inmagination.

The background art is quite detailed and the backdrop and animation turn out to be a vision. Under Miyazaki's directing the camera angles and characters turn out to be some of the best around. The voice-overs which were done by American actors (Billy Crudup- Ashitaka), were still quite good.

This Anime epic should not be passed up. Since it involves themes of enviromentalism and selfishness. It is visually stunning, and the musical score is also unforgettable. Miyazaki has indeed done a job well done with this incredible adventure, that both young and old can enjoy.

There have been milestones in Hollywood. Indeed Films that you watch and they leave such an impression on you....so much that you just have to praise their humbleness and preciseness. Gone with the Wind is one of the those Films. When I actually began to watch this movie I assumed it was going to be the same stupid repetitive "cliched love story between 2 people which leads to chaos, and after many misunderstandings and tragedies...both people confess their love for each other...."

No. Gone with the Wind ended up being one of the greatest stories on Film ever told...This amazing 1939 epic story which is set in the Civil War is a drama unlike any other. In terms of cinematography-- it is outstanding and the art direction was also great for its time, very well done...I was actually impressed this 1939 epic drama could push what so little of the Hollywood era back then was capable of.

Compared to the likes of other milestones considered the best ever in Hollywood-- and by that I mean Films have been voted and chosen as some of the best ever; like The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Schindler's List. Well, in the end Gone with the Wind ends up being worthy of being compared to those other epics.

It's all about the chemistry between the main leads-- who are portrayed extremely well by the actors. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable are one of the best couples I have ever seen in a romance-drama Film. Their scenes as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler are some of the most memorable and endearing ever performed on the big screen as well as the small.

Other actors who also stand out are Olivia de Havilland as the very likeable and sweet Melanie Wilkes and Hattie McDanniels as the very supportive Mammy.

This epic is set in Civil War and slowly but smoothly trascends to more modernistic 20th century times. You see the characters grow and their lives change, the times change, and lives begin and end. By the end of the Film one has been charmed so much by Scarlett O'Hara and her beauty (plus narcissism) and Rhett Butler's likeable persona.

This Film is not for everybody as it is a very long and quite epic drama. Only those who wish to see something that you don't see in today's Films may want to check this one out. Films these days have lost that sparkle....that touch of freshness and innovativeness that Gone with the Wind can provide immensely.

The assassination of President Kennedy, has been the subject of debate which has caused several conspiracy theories over the years, but JFK takes the most tactical and best-suited approach to the situation, and shows that Oliver Stone has made a masterpiece regarding the mistery behind one of the most investigated crimes in the history of the United States.

Stone cast Kevin Costner who followed his Academy Award in Dances with Wolves to star alongside: Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek, Jack Lemmon, and Kevin Bacon. The actors deliver top notch performances in their roles. Tommy Lee Jones is excellent in this Film.

Jim Garrison (Costner) begins an investigation on the President's Assassination, but this turns into something else after the plot thickens and we are introduced to a wide array of theories and proof that demonstrates Kennedy's murder was a set-up.

For those who are skeptical; you will find nothing of interestest in this movie. But for others who believe in conspiracy theories and such; then you might be in for a great ride. This shows the darker side of the occultists and the United States Government.

They say that every life unfolds in the daily span of one day, or so that is what The Hours a Film by Stephen Daldry tells us. Nominated for nine Academy Awards (winning only one)
this intricately with exuberance, and delicacy, and powerfully charged heavy-hitting Film is more than just a simple message, it is an entirely intriguing world on its own.

Virginia Woolf is hard at work on her book Mrs. Dalloway at the same time coping with depression, meanwhile in the 1950's; Laura Brown is coping with some inner personal but dangerous doubts of her own; even though she seems to lead a satisfying life... In Modern day 2001, Clarissa Vaughan, a lesbian who cares for her former lover who suffers from AIDS is having some deep conflicts of her own...
These women's lives are shown interweaving with each other and changing perspectives quite often in one day's work. Their lives are told, shown, played, and resolved in just one simple normal day like any other...

Nicole Kidman plays Woolf in 1920's England and does so incredibly gracefuly and elegantly. Julianne Moore is Laura Brown and while her role seems out of place, her performance is quite expressive and top-notch, and finally there is Vaughan played by Meryl Streep, and like her other roles Streep does more than a fine job portraying the servicing yet conflicting Clarissa. Woolf's life is on the brink of despair because she fight's her "inner demons" she "wrestles with them" or so she says, although her life is shown to be in turmoil, she suffers from depression and this seems to be affecting her personally...
Brown is an entirely different case; she feels like she is at a loss of what to do because she is unsatisfied, perhaps because she lost her sense of reality, of free will.
Vaughan is helping Richard Brown get through depression and fight AIDS, but she seems to be dependent on his life more than he does on her...why could that be?

Kidman is in an Oscar-winning role here, she takes full command of her acting ability bumps it up a notch and here we have Woolf in the flesh, reborn in the body of Kidman. Out of the nine nominations Kidman took the Oscar home and more than deserved in this gripping performance, but don't be fooled only because she was the only who won, despite that every other actor especially Moore, Streep, and Ed Harris (Richard Brown) does more than a fine job, superb acting.
The score composed by Phillip Glass also received a nod from the Academy Awards (but lost to Elliot Goldenthal), for being more than extremely hypnotic and emotionally assaulting.

Adapted from Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, this one delivers exactly what Virginia Woolf once said:
"To look life in the face and to know it for what it is. At last to know it, to love it, for what it is and then to put it away....Always the years between us, always the years, always the love. Always the hours."
These are Woolf's last words...

Just like that...Just like that...
It teaches you about life more than you could ever imagine.

Aesthetics are what define the beauty of things you find interesting, compelling, moving, likeable, and so on and so forth. There are not many films in Hollywood which speak and explore this deep interesting theme....but American Beauty is one such movie.

American Beauty explores the themes of love, the search for happines, aesthetics, the American Dream, self-liberation, passive-agressiveness, and homosexuality. It may explore more themes but those are some of the most important and the ones the Film truly spends time showing.

Lester Burnham is a man who is deceased and tells his story from the other world and it turns out that when he used to be alive-- he led a very boring and depressing life married to his wife Carolyn. His daughter Jane could care less about her parents and their marriage-- in other words their lives are slowly falling apart. When Lester meets his daughter's best friend Angela he feels it is time for a change...he feels lust for her and perhaps love. From there on other characters are introduced who Lester comes in touch with and leaves such a deep impact in their lives-- this impact turns out to be so great that it slowly turns their lives upside down.

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey and Academy Award Nominee Annette Bening are tremendous in this movie. The entire cast (which include; Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper among others) does a superb job portraying the characters.

The incredible debut for Sam Mendes as a director for this movie shot him to fame and popularity. He and Adam Ball (screenwritter) have come up with a comtemporary suburban drama which can intertwine back and forth between lighthearted romance to dark comedy and ultimately a stunning drama.

American Beauty is an epic in its own right. An inspiration on its own right. A thought-provoking movie on its own right. It is everything in its own right, and the tag line "look closer..." might give you something to think about after you finish this film. The plot may seem simple and completely without inspiration but instead it delivers a strikingly complex experience with deep characters.

Using different shades of roses which symbolize and ultimately epitomize the simplicity of something and how it can deeply affect oneself and everything around you...it is like being filled with something you were longing for...something you were looking for and trying to liberate yourself from the eyes of those around you who oppose and think differently than you; meanwhile just being portrayed as such plants which reflect the different tone and colors of the house, the blood, and most importantly, the love...

Donnie Darko is one of those films that grabs you from the get-go and doesn't let you go.....Until you finish watching the Film and attempt to put together all the events that lead to an unexpected conclusion and mind-bending twist!

Stunning, simply stunning....
The acting by Gyllenhaal is superb, he is quite the character in this Movie.
This film is as ambitious and as thought-provoking as Mulholland Drive....It reminds you of David Lynch's directing style.
Simply a must!

Marlon Brando gives more than a 5-star performance in this role, and so does Al Pacino.

We go to the Movies to see stories that do not belong to us, or rather stories that are created for our entertainment, but I personally go to the Movies in order to find both a good plot line with a deep underlying theme or tone... In other words I simply do not waste money to receive nothing that is worth my time, and that tends to happen sometimes but not with Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi.

I was expecting a story not as powerfully cinematic as Mononoke Hime, but was I in for a tremendous surprise. There is no doubt as to why this Film has become the unreachable colossus in term of tickets sold in Japan, yes it is the biggest box-office Film for tickets sold in Japan; it grossed over 30 billion yen.

Hayao Miyazaki presents us with the story of Chihiro and how she attempts to save her parents from the evil clutches of Yubaba, while her parents are trapped in this world filled with fantastic creatures and unreal but captivating events.
The Film is presented at best in terms of animation, very tender and pleasing with wondrous detail, even to the very last bit of drop of water that bathing an otherworldly creature would produce.
The plot and characters while trivial and simple they grow and mature into outbursts of fire and lava in a stand alone independent fashion that only a master like Miyazaki could develop.

A Film that just like Hotaru no Haka (otherwise known as Grave of the Fireflies) contains a deep and vibrating soundtrack
and deep and important messages which then redefine the term known as "Anime".

This Film became the very first Anime Film to be honored at the Oscars by winning Best Animated Feature, beating Lilo and Stitch among others at the 75th Academy
Awards. Hayao Miyazaki won the Oscar and with due respect we tip our imaginary hats at one of the greatest Animated Film Directors. More than well deserved.

In a fascist Spain where war and tragedy reign supreme, an 11 year-old little girl builds and unfolds a magical fantastical world of her own, while the reality she is living might not be so wondrous.

This film builds and vicariously unveils a story book that only adults are allowed to read. This fable pulls us within its fantastical pages in which intimidatingly beautiful and fearsomely magical creatures reign supreme, it is some sort of vindicated experience that is a great film.

Labyrinths and places containing spellbinding creatures and beautiful worlds
construct themselves through narration right before our very eyes and are quickly folding themselves to open path for other pages to flip themselves into three-dimensional figures for our viewing pleasure.

Ofelia played by Ivana Baquero is sympathetic and strong and we can quickly place ourselves in her situation.
As children who didn't believe in fables, fairy tales, and word-of-mouth-stories?
It is thanks to her imagination that we are introduced to a marvelously incredible fantasy world that foils the grim and dark reality of the times in Spain in the 1940's.
It grips us and gives us a small glint of hope that we witness through the eyes of a small child with hopes and dreams, aspirations and fears, happiness and sorrow. She sees the faun (who speaks in a very formal way that nicely builds up the mood and sets it clear) as hope and perhaps redemption.

Not aimed at children and targeted for grown adults, Pan's Labyrinth (known as El Laberinto del Fauno in its original spanish language) has been penned by Guillermo Del Toro who must've challenged himself to weave a tale that he could relate with along with those who have been through what Ofelia is going, have already experienced.

This is what Alice in Wonderland could have been and what most of the Brothers Grimm's tales are. This is a true exhilarating and visionary political fable just for adults like most Grimm's works.

With the wonderful score by Javier Navarrete (in an Oscar nominated composition) and with three more Oscar wins and 3 other nominations, this deserves the praise and recognition the director, cast and crew have been lavishly
presented with. Just the music will whisk you away into another surrealistic and uncanny alternate reality which will make you forget the dark and harsh realities that you can't run away from, but you still wish you could.

This is it. The best film of 2006.

One of those sweetly moving romantic dramas that is heavily existentialist, and inexplicably poignant.

Coppola drives this masterpiece with her exuberant direction which managed to draw wondrous performances from Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson.

The chemistry between Murray and Johansson was fabulous, and that should be reason enough why not one soul should miss this deeply layered thought-provoking drama.
It's a triumph!

It left me with such a feeling of ultimate satisfaction... that I have left to say for this gritty, suspenseful, and searing character study is praise for the brothers Coen's intelligent direction and Javier Bardem's ultimate "badass" one-man show.

Notice how there is little to no music played through the entire feature, yet the film remains like an edge-of-your-seat thriller with a calm and observant camera work from the Coen's long-time cameraman; Roger Deakins.

Bardem might be at his very best here, and he only elevates the ever-increasing tension every time he is on screen.
With a "no-nonsense" storytelling; I think this may be the best film of the year.
And that means that many awards will come its way for its writing, direction, and Bardem's unrelenting villain that decides fate (with a simple coin toss), questions morals (with his actions along with other characters and their decisions).

With this the film becomes one of the best character studies in recent memory, and by far 2007's best film.

Saoirse Ronan steals the show with her confused and unsympathetic portrayal of the deviant Bryoni.
The cinematography is unbelievably great (especially the shots at the mansion and at Dunkirk) and so is Dario Marianelli's typewriting-ish poignant score.
Joe Wright's direction is great, but takes longer-than-needed with those really long takes that cover the scenery and study the characters and their expressions.

It did deserve its Best Picture nod...
But what truly does atone this film though, is its depth of feel.

Helen Mirren's unflinching portrayal of the monarch in a time of turmoil; has shown me that even if she is still a shrewed, spoiled, and icy lady, the Queen is very empathetic.
Michael Sheen is also Mirren's equal, and is an unsung hero.

An intergalactic movie with an intense fascination for the otherworldly that is adorned by little dialogue, classical waltz pieces, and jaw-dropping (and revolutionary) special effects with timeless quality.

It was such a deeply resonant film filled with psychedelic imagery and head-splicing direction by Kubrick. This one not only is it psychologically and philosophically rich but also immensely fascinating. Unforgettable screenplay and a monotonic and ghastly performance by Douglas Rain as HAL.

Evolution through a higher force, or as whatever you interpret it upon first viewing this work of art. It's like those monkeys at the beginning whom evolve into bigger, more intelligent, and sympathetic individuals, thanks to a bizarre and ambiguous figure.

This is more than a movie. It's a meditation of mankind's greatest achievements, or what mankind could achieve. It's a spiritual love letter for the believers and non-believers alike.
It's a mind-bending head-trip without hallucinogenics involved. It's a sombre suspense to watch on a Friday or Saturday night with your dearest ones.
Whatever you classify this movie as, it doesn't change the fact that it broke the stereotypical elements of the science fiction genre.

And ass deep as a movie can be, really, it doesn't get any better than this.

A sentimental joyride with a shining performance by a smart and sassy Ellen Page.
Hell, the entire cast was funny, and the ending was inexplicably moving.
Full of laughter and sadness and brims with great writing.

This is a wildly creative tour de force with memorable performances by Cage, Streep and Cooper. It is all done so tastefully and secretly that sometimes it is truly hard to tell whether what goes on screen is reality or make-believe.

This could be a fantasy, or a comedy, or a drama, but whatever you label it as; no doubt it is a phenomenal work from the imagination of the forces behind Being John Malkovich.

The director's (Alfonso Cuaron) vision of a bleak future with nothing but chaos was a fantastic experience, and also add the unbelievable cinematography that followed these individuals in their plight and elevated the intensity and gravity of the situation.

It all adds to a near perfect rendition, if you count some of the blatant symbolism, but with the way it was directed, it is almost nothing to complain about.

It covers the concept of the "American Dream" with such honesty and dedication and that is one of its many qualities. Another quality worth noting is that it manages to be the most engrossing and poignant and best film of 2004.
Do not shun its ending because "she had a choice", well she did... But the movie covered the American Dream much more than free will.