My Favorite Movies

Alan Parker's greatest achievement along side Roger Waters (Pink Floyd frontman at the time) is cinematic history in the making. From the pendulum camera technique to the trippy montages, this film has so much thought pumping into its baked veins that to follow it is to love it. A Genuine masterpiece much like the album is takes from.

Simply one of the greatest (and most subtle) films ever made - and in my opinion the film that Lost in Translation deliberately spoofed in its equally subtle manner. This is tragic, heartfelt, and even with the lead sleeze bags you are held by every moment with their self-centered yet ultimately human actions. The final scenes between the two should stick always with audiences. Cage and Shue's most prominent and established performances not as actors, but as artists.

I've rewatched this film countless times. I've tried to make notes, describe scenes and tally up the shots. No amount of note taking of course, will expand on why I adore this haunting and disturbing drama that only spirals from the seemingly happy start. There is a discourse on the American Dream and the nature of tragedy, somewhere in the script of the original play, but mostly, I love purely for the experience. Tragic, lovely to watch and one of the most memorable scores in cinematic history, this is a perfect film.

One of the greatest biopics ever scripted and hated by a majority of critics due to its brisk stroytelling ability and simply bland characters... this is a monument for many as a story of hope and loyalty torn and questioned to the very last molecule. Unsurpassed in my books, which isn't agreed with by many (or any).

Film making from the drama department may never reach this level again. The directional and performance combination of Lynch and Watts is inspired, heart breaking, and altogether a hallowing experience. The soundtrack is equally as possessing.

The magic of the is not found in its layered questions or disorientating effect upon leaving - but in the knowledge that trying to salvage what themes and meanings that are written into the film will never be acknowledged. Lynch and Watt's self-destructive pacing and plot lining are so deliberately reckless that you will most likely leave without having much of an idea of what it is you have just witnessed - great or not.

To me, upon the second viewing, I thought I answered it - upon my third viewing, I knew this to be wrong. This is an enigma still to me, and it excels as one of the most philosophically interesting movies to date. Freud would be at a loss for words.

Akira Kurosawa defies the rules of cinema not by breaking them, but honouring them to a point that the low-key audiences of such films couldn't help but follow without resistance... Breathtaking in every possible meaning of the word.

There will never be a film-going experience like this absolute gem. Lar Von Trier and Bjork offer a technical chemistry untried in any recent past.

The tour-de-force film noire of the century, what is mostly played a slow and haunting look of the outskirts of Los Angeles explodes into a radical climax that doesn't so much depress as it leaves the viewer completely disarmed and helpless.. only Polanski could take a movier goer along a ride so willingly and so blindly. They don't make films like this anymore, and chances are, they never did.

Dystopia? Crime drama? What ever it is, this affective artwork is of its own kind. One of my favourite pieces of filmmaking.

Malcom McDowell in his only role worth praise, Kubrick in top form (yes, even over 2001), and an interesting perspective on youth and loyalty all come together. I absolutely adore the general pace of the thing and the distorted soundtracks that run through...

Some of the best narratives as well make for the greatest intro that comes to memory.

Possibly the only true Science-fiction milestone of the 80's, this film excells in nearly every aspect - performances, visuals, story, tone, and theme. Striking material if ever there was. Rutger Hauer's final scene is to me may just be -the- pivotal moment in the Hollywood memory bank.

Extra note: I believe Ridley Scott would never be able to match this film.

Anyone who senses that style over substance is an issue in this film like Jeff Shannon clearly did not comprehend the film's deep gnostic undertow. There is so much theology being lobbed and so many metaphysical stirngs being pulled that the dynamic set design is dwarfed by the questions asked. A beautiful, touching, daunting look at science fiction, this film is one of the greatest films ever made. Easily alongside 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Benicio Del Toro, Sean Pean and Naomi Watts give the best performances of their career, of the year, and of the millenium. This is a powerhouse for any one looking for emotional surges from some of today's finest actors. Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts deserve far more praise in their career primarily due to work like this.

Masterpiece. Ultraviolence, Romance, Comedy, Surrealism, and innovative techniques never before caught on film, this is the first "milestone" of the new millenium.

::Clears throat and recomposes himself::

Set in the purely allegorical lot of Sin City, the audience is thrust into the "neo-digital noire" realm from the slick introduction, a toss of classic dialogue and a single gun shot explaining all the details you are about to see.

It will be a story of love, trust, betrayal, violence, instinct, beauty, humanism and the two main qualities that make up the foundations of this edifice in filmmaking: Hope and Innocence... didn't see that coming, did you?

Just look at the motives of the characters, their driving forces and goals. Look at the decissions being made by the traitors and try and stay focused in the midst of each climax (yes, it even forgoes the chains of the old male-constructed plot outline and goes for multiple climaxes).

This is easily the most beautiful film ever crafted and will forever be disregarded as a mindless action film with clever techniques. Don't fall for this. Everything on screen is deliberate and full of life with so much between the lines that it is impossible not to come out without something - even if it's epilepsy.

Though not as subtle as its better and more philosophical brethren, Thin Red Line, Apocalypse Now bluntly demonstrates its stoic approach on the war through Coppola's usual technical genius - which is the only flaw, it relies too much on what is on screen. Only when Brandon speaks is it worth reading between the lines, even despite the journalist who can easily be depicted as an allegory for weak social commentary, but that's what the rest of the film is for. What it does better than Thin Red Line is demonstrate the absolute presence of evil that has always been in cinema, waiting to be released.

I would attempt to offer some sort of insightful commentary here, maybe even a few hints as to what it all means - but that would probably just undermine the whole purpose for this unparalleled film. Charlie Kaufman is clearly what Hollywood has been lacking for so many years and may very well be the remedy to the world's mediocre film industry. Inspiring just to look at, yet alone follow.

A pace that is hazardous for the majority, this film is in fact a masterpiece. Surreal acting is the best way to describe Depp, Farmer, and even Crispin Glover's peculiar appearance. They don't make novels like this anymore.

The greatest miniseries to ever be filmed, Al Pacino performs in the role of a lifetime that may never be matched by any other of the actors from his generation. Intense, touching, hilarious and educational, this is the filmmaking experience of a lifetime that may seem daunting to some viewers due to its lenght - but its worth it.

They're all disgustingly shallow, manipualtive and bent on vengeance without a cause... this is one of the most beautiful love stories ever told in America (even though it is, in fact, London). Julia Roberts is excused from all past failures despite being the weakest link of this quartet.

Simply one of the greatest war films ever made, next only to Apocaylpse Now (yes, it out does Platoon).

From structure to tone, this unsettling piece is one of the most blunt demonstrations of philosophical war films of the new millenium.

Mallick is a pioneer of not only spectacle but of thought in terms of epic films.

This simple theme is shattered beyond all belief as Lynch takes us below the reality we have come to accept of middle-ground America. Proleterians will be confused, but exceptional film goers will be exactly on the same plane as Lynch and will come to embrace this daunting portrayal of human nature. If there was an anti-humanism approach, this is it in all of its horror.

The best romantic comedy of our time. Clever, engaging, and full of laughs and applaud-wrothy performances, this is what filmmaking is all about. Even the Cameos are worth the price of entry alone.

The leads are all the type of characters that would have been ushered beneath the carpet as supporting characters in any other "teen" film, and yet here they seem to all fit perfectly well. The indie surprise of 2003... touching, thrilling, and engaging. Oh yes, and intelligent, which is a new trend for the MTV studios.

As Terrence Jay's One Blood plays through out one of the final scenes, one comes to terms with the impact this film may have had on them. This thrilling drama that stands as the Trainspotting meets Fightclub is one of those films that nearly hits every note it meant to, and then some.

The performances are all honourable and Charlie Hunnam and Elijah Wood finally come into their own without a doubt. This is film making at its possible best, even with the cheap laughs of the "Yank in Britain" jokes that plague the beginning (but keep it amusing) which may come out as intolerable Hollywood shite - but considering Lexi Alexander isn't even from said place, this is simply coincidental and has to be seen as a semblance of similar styles, not direct American contamination.

Touching, devestating and yet empowering, this is a film that every age group should see for more than just moral fibres, but to allow audiences to know that filmmaking is in no way in danger - it is saved, and we may just have a savior in Lexi Alexander. Good show.

You severely missed the point of you pass this off as a "Football" flick or as an imbalanced "melodrama" since very little of this motion picture focuses at all on the sport and instead cares about the unity between the spectators who are more than just fans.

Powerfully haunting filmmaking in a deliberate and knowing pace. The final scene in the shed is quite possibly the most profound death caught on film, done so knowingly well that it is impossible not to give praise to Gus Van Sant who definately has great compassion for the artist captured on frame.

One of the best films of 2006, this peculiar drama/thriller makes Leguizamo fly in a lead that couldn't have been handled by any other actor on the field. Simple yet thughtful.

Despite what some critics may say, this provocative piece from the brilliant Solondz is one of the greatest eye openers of its year. Underrated, and in my opinion, a film far above that of Solondz's original near-masterpieces, Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness.

Philosophical vampires? Genius.

Astonishing even half-a-decade after the fact, there might never be another project as ambitious and satisfying as this little piece of work. Movie buffs would do well to know that ths is -no- video game adaptation, that it is entirely new and only shares with the popular game franchise its title. Life-like characters and believable interaction, there is almost nothing wrong with it.

Simply one of the most essential pieces of guilty-filmmaking and possibly a benchmark in childhood entertainment. With the thinking cap on or off, one can sit back, enjoy and maybe even connect with these "teenagers" (they don't fool me for a second). If anything, the nostalgia alone is bound to give anyone over sixteen an instant joygasm (TM).