My Favorite Movies

The Greatest Film Ever Made. Ever.

It may not be as "Batman" as Returns, and there may now be a few cracks in it as it starts to show its age. There's also a good chance my review is slightly biased because of how much I loved this film (and still do) upon first seeing it - especially after being underwhelmed by how easy Superman had it. Yet from Michael Keaton's perfectly downplayed Batman/Bruce Wayne, the fucking stunning production design (the car is still THE best Batmobile and manages to be sexier than Jessica Rabbit!), and of course Jack Nicholson giving an awesome performance as the king of all supervillains: joking while attempting mass-genocide, and trashing a museum while listening to Prince on his way to a date where he proudly proclaims himself to be "the worlds first fully-functioning homicidal artist", it's a masterpiece! Technically I should probably give this film only four stars as there is a lacking in the plot but fuck it, I adore this film and I'm giving it five and considering it the greatest super-hero movie ever made.

Easily Jeunet's best work - and that's saying something. This film is consistently surprising and magical as it weaves the tale of Amelie as she finds meaning to her restricted life, allows her emotions to be freed and finds love. Infinitely charming.

This is fundamentally a film about the dangers of repression and wanting to fit in, with a flawless and powerful performance by Christian Bale. In turn it is both funny (the scene where he splits up with his girlfriend is hilarious!), horrific - though nowhere near as grisly as the book - and sad. It needs to be seen more than once to fully appreciate it, but thats no chore.

I strongly believe there's an untold story to the making of this film: the way I see it during a routine catscan for Burton, Henry Selick just happened to be hanging around the wards (he was probably visiting someone) and upon passing and seeing the results of the scan he was mesmerised and what he saw is what he commited to celluloid using some plasticine models. Yes, the lands and characters in this film are what you too would see if you opened Burton's head - forget tissue, blood and all that. Not in Tim's head. Even though it wasn't actually directed by Tim, this film is still the most "Burton" of his films as he's completely unrestricted, thanks to the medium, in displaying exactly what goes on inside that genius head of his.

David Fincher sticks rigidly to the book and in doing so manages to create, by far, one of the best films of the '90s. Disregarding the title, this film is NOT about men fighting but about men remembering what it feels like to be "men". As the film states, with no wars left to fight, man's "hunter-gatherer" instinct has become like our appendix, yet it's still there and it's only outlet is corporate-meetings and the like. Tyler Durden has had enough of conforming to what society deems as a "man" and dedicates himself to once again giving men a reason to be. And yet the beauty of this film is that it doesn't take the stereotypical route of saying that "a man" drinks, swears and fights, but simply that being "a man" is a state of mind - and subtlty is not one of his strong points. Helena Bonham Carter is the whole key to this film as it's through her character that we see what is happening - and she's not been better. A truly fantastic film that punches the male members of the audience in the face and tries to wake us up. Highly recommended.

What's black, white and red all over? Sweeney Todd. This film is a F^%king masterpiece and shows an absolute return-to-form for Burton. A beautiful, victorian, gothic, macabre and bloody work of art. I'm off to see it again.

If they ever manage to invent one of those "memory-messer-uppers" from Men In Black, this is the film I want erased from my mind, just so that I can have the thrill of seeing it again for the first time. The script is delicious and Steve Buscemi almost steals it, but it's the tension wrought throughout the film like barbed wire around a fence pole as Nicolas Cage tries to get home without letting on to the psychos that he's not one of them that makes this film. A true White-Knuckle ride. Buckle up!

In the wrong hands with the wrong cast this film would have been an absolute disaster. Fortunately, someone in Hollywood had a "Brain-turned-to-ON" day and got everything right. Frequently people consider this film "weird" or "porn", but in truth it's little more than a love story, but it's strength is in portraying an unconventional and non-Julia Roberts love story. This is true love, a love that is tested, beaten, pushed, yet ultimately found to be indestructible - regardless of how society views it. Truly wonderful.

As Clint Eastwood laid the western genre to rest with Unforgiven, John Woo now takes action movies to a new level and leaves them there, and who better? The film does take some liberties with technicalities but the fantastic action sequences and the excellent story that weaves through them more than make up for what are essentially "niggles". A stunning film with great performances all around-especially Joan Allen giving the film some much needed gravity. The last great action movie.