My Favorite Movies

Andy Dufresne: "Get busy living, or get busy dying."

The above quote is one of my all-time favourites, and The Shawshank Redemption is my favourite movie of all-time. Even the great Morgan Freeman is my all-time favourite actor, so you could say Shawshank, and everything it inhabits, tops many of my "all-time" lists. It is an incredible movie filled with stupefying plot twists, an amazing story, and some of the best acting performances ever filmed.

Set in the mid-1900's, Shawshank is the tale of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a man recently convicted of a double homicide and sentenced to life in Shawshank Prison. Once there, he meets "Red" (Morgan Freeman), a fellow inmate at the facility who is serving his own sentence, and who tells Dufresne's story as narrator through his own eyes. The two eventually form a close friendship as they serve out their terms, and yet deal with their circumstances in different ways.

As the story goes on, the audience is treated to a culture and lifestyle that few have ever experienced, or probably even thought about. The movie goes into detail the dark side of the prison world, including corrupt guards, violence between the inmates, and even worse issues, but also shows some of the bright spots which seem to make the dreary existence of the prisoners tolerable.

As said before, the acting in this film is fantastic. Both Robbins and Freeman do magnificent jobs in their respective roles, and the inclusion of Freeman narration of the story adds a touch of credibility, as though this tale may actually be true. The movie engages the audience from beginning to end with the perfect blend of humor, sorrow, and even suspense. One moment a viewer will find themselves chuckling at a joke between the inmates, and the next cringing at the unsettling events unfolding before their eyes.

If you do not watch this film at least once during your life, you will miss out on one hell of a cinematic experience. Hey, it's your choice, but keep in mind, Shawshank is without a doubt one of the best movies that has ever been made, if not the best. How this film didn't win Best Picture, or any Oscars for that matter, in 1994 is mind boggling. Sure Forrest Gump is a good film, great even, but it doesn't touch Shawshank. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 I suppose.

I have seen many movies, and I will see many, many more in my lifetime, but I am fully confident is saying that nothing will ever top Shawshank. Simply put, it's a masterpiece.

(It's about time I reviewed my #1 favourite)

Favourite classic of all time. Hitchcock was a genius.

Released in 1995, finally seen in 2006. One hell of a brilliant thriller, that I had waited too long to see.

Rocket: "A hood doesn't stop, a hood takes a break."

Smack dab in the middle of the DVD box cover, you'll see the quote "One of the best films you will ever see!" by the one and only Roger Ebert. And I'll be damned if that statement isn't bang on.

City of God is an brilliant, adrenaline jolt of a film, that manages to find a perfect balance between stylistics and substance. Fernando Meirelles stuffs his movie to the brim with not only top-notch acting, but also machine-gun editing, swirling cinematography, and pounding music. While this reliance on fancy tricks has ruined other films, Meirelles is so expert at blending them seamlessly into an engrossing story, that the viewer quickly accepts them as inseparable from the world of the film. He delivers a deeply emotional and human story that obviously owes much to Scorsese and Tarantino -- the storytelling is sophisticated in a Pulp Fiction kind of manner, showing you the "end" before the beginning -- but his movie feels completely original; never like a rip off. Beyond all of the action and plotting, there is a compelling message about about the power of art (specifically the camera) and a suggestion that, just as the pen is mightier than the sword, the camera is mightier than the gun.

Move over Amelie and Oldboy, you've been bested. Not only is City of God the best foreign film I've ever seen, it's one of the most powerful films I've seen in the last decade. See it at least once in your lifetime -- you won't regret it.

Sooo I had to wait two weeks...

BUT IT WAS [i]TOTALLY[/i] WORTH IT!

This is one of the best comedies I've ever seen, and the best movie I've seen in 2006, thus far. My mom and I were laughing throughout the entire film, along with the rest of the audience. There may have been a few times (maybe a few [i]too many[/i] times) where I heard myself laughing louder and harder than anyone else. Was I embarrassed? Hell no. Little Miss Sunshine deserved it.

Every-single-member of the cast is fucking fantastic, from the over-the-top, overbearing father (Kinnear), to the gay suicidal brother/uncle (Carell, who, if it's possible, I love even more. The man has range!), to the grandfather (Arkin) who...well, let's just say he has some very interesting life advice (and "dance" routines). I had only seen Dano once before in The Girl Next Door, but he has some talent. For a character who doesn't speak at all for the better part of the film, he is hilarious. Collette is endearing as the mother, and Breslin is beyond adorable. I physically hurt myself from laughing so hard at her routine.

The highest compliments I can pay to Little Miss Sunshine are: (a) as of right now, while I'm writing this review, I'm all laughed out, and (b) whenever I think of this movie, a smile will always, always, fall upon my face. You may even hear a laugh or two.

Right up there with [u]Oldboy[/u], [u]Amélie[/u] is one of the best foreign films I've ever seen. This is one of the most honest, heartwarming, and endearing films that I have seen in quite awhile (maybe ever). Audrey Tautou brings a lovely breath of fresh air to the screen as Amélie Poulain, a young French dreamer who is keen on taking karma into her own hands. You can't help but fall in love with her. The story itself is rather simplistic, but director Jean-Pierre Jeunet captures the emotions of it all perfectly. In addition, the movie alone is a visual orgasm. You could put it on mute and still be taken aback by the cinematography. [u]Amélie[/u] était magnifique!

One of the best, if not [i]the[/i] best, foreign film I've ever seen.

My favourite film of 2005, and to this day I still can't believe that it lost Best Picture to the joke that is Crash.

It's complex, it's confusing, it's hilarious, and I straight up loved every-single-second of it. I watched [u]Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang[/u] as a rental, but this one will definitely be added to my ever growing DVD collection.

I have yet to see the original, Infernal Affairs, but this one was pure brilliance. Yet another job well done by Marty Scorsese (Best Director you say?? ABOUT TIME!), and the cast is just fantastic as an ensemble, from Nicholson, to DiCaprio, to Marky Mark. Unlike 2005, 2006's Best Picture winner was well fucking deserved of the title (gotta drop an f-bomb somewhere considering the film at hand right?).

Aaaaaand I now have a new favourite Kevin Smith flick, and film of 2006 thus far.

I had very high expectations for Clerks II, and it exceeded every-single-one of them. I can't count how many times I laughed out loud till my stomach hurt and/or my eyes watered. I'll be seeing this again, and again, and again, and again...

Penny Lane, you're my hero.