My Favorite Movies

Perfect in every way... a timeless blend of comedy and drama.

Unrivaled in film history

An overlooked masterpiece

One of the best films of all time, and also a science fiction flick!

The best satirical genre movie about a movie genre - as classic as Young Frankenstein or Spinal Tap.

It was suggested amongst a gathering of friends that we watch Holy Grail, and I started with just some Knights of Ni! and was soon reciting my favourite skits. Twenty minutes later, my monologue concluded with, "Yeah we've totally gotta watch it right now!". Silence and astounded looks held for several seconds until one friend said, "I think we just did."

Lynch fans will not be disappointed. Lynch discusses his earliest short works (from his first film through the short preceding Blue Velvet), all of which are terrific and visually arresting.

"So Fucked Up" highlight:
"The Alphabet", sound in "The Amputee"

the modern equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back, except it's waaaaaaaaay better

Like Casablanca, it creates a unique, consistent, and full world of its own via the magic of celluloid.

Lean makes the desert a visual canvas for examination of the foundations of humanity.

Top acting and a top script make for a most extraordinary vision of modern life.

*chants mockingly: Hollywood can't do this!

Transports you into its world teaming with wonder and curiousities

A new jewel for the Gilliam crown

The paradigm zombie film, and a horror movie that is also a classic film! ...a rare gem for the genre.

This movie must have been made specifically for me - one of my favorite authors done by the only modern film-maker I could imagine taking the material on - and done in the interpolated rotoscoping style I adore!

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
This is one of my top indie zombie flix, and I prefer it better to its other Australian peer Braindead by Peter Jackson. Though some audience members are frustrated with the genre-blurring that occurs because the film-makers are looking to up the visual ante of their movie, and they are thusly accused of being Spielbergian because of some of their additional creatures design and action-based horror scenes. I think it's all done just right, including the occasionally stiff acting. There are so many innovative zombie scenes, my favorite being a pair of walking legs with accompanying spinal cord, sans a torso. The protagonists are given action-style cinematic hyping, but it's justified and cool, not unnecessary and forced. Here's a zombie that not only bothers with continuity and structure, but the independent film-makers, two brothers, behind it further proved their dedication to this project by doing all of the CGI themselves on a 700mhx processor computer, for three years after shooting concluded. These effects are on par, and in some cases better, to what big Hollywood bucks is turning out even years later. This is truly proof that auteurs are still alive and, beyond that, still bothering to work with a concept/genre considered exhausted like zombies.

I love it. Plain and simple. I don't care about any of its faults. This is the X-Men movie I wanted to see, and it only took two entries to get there!

Showcases the power of consistent tone in a film... causes the viewer to feel what they see

few films in the zombie genre achieve what Severed does: solid acting, great gore, awesome zombies, engaging screenplay, visual consistency. a must see for zombie fans

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
This is one of the best zombie movies you've never heard of. We get everything here - from gruesome outbreak, characters we'd like to see live, scenes where an audience member can actually be afraid of a lumbering dead thing, gore galore, gritty but not annoying (actually quite effective) cinematographic aesthetic, ambiguous/down ending, a survivor camp of grizzled brutal men, and an underlying corporate conspiracy that doesn't eat away camera time but nicely explains these zombies, Severed has everything a solid zombie movie needs.

Wes Craven's debut has caused me to have many a debate with other horror fans, who think the movie doesn't have the same ability to shock in today's market, but I was freaked out, whereas most current stuff of this type just makes me laugh. I think the characters have alot, for me, to do with sustaining the fear this movie can generate.

Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
As so many films have been influenced by this one little no budget indie project (and two of horror's biggest names Craven and Sean Cunningham began their careers with it), it is essential viewing for horror students. And for those who want a movie with realistic killers and fully expressed personalities, watch this instead of your SawHostel tripe.
"So Fucked Up" highlight: forcing the girl to urinate herself (actress really did it on set)

"So Fucked Up" highlight: the introductory scene

First saw this as a young kid and it was scalded into my mind (much like Return of the Living Dead or It). When I purchased the DVD in my teens, I still loved it. Reviewing it today, it's still a great horror concept awesomely executed, though my high rating is due to my high like of the characters and setting of this flick. A must-see for horror fans or Barkerites.

Love this film. Met the sound engineer, and Soderbergh's regular sound guy since sex lies & videotape, Larry Blake. This is an out-there movie for people who love image, symbolism, montage, and astounding sound mixing. Slightly inexplicable in terms of its plot, but basically everything builds around an important man making an important speech and makes some damn amazing detours on the way. My favorite scene involves people's dialog slipping in and out of different languages, in different chronological order, speaking backwards, all kinds of great stuff. Plus some great send-ups to the pop videography of the early 90s with the bug exterminator's segments.

This is one of my favorite documentaries, not only because I'm a metalhead myself, but because it gives true insight into a large global cultural movement. That this movie was helmed by an anthropologist metalhead increased this full perspective of its subjects. Sam Dunn asks intelligent questions of the "heroes and gods of metal" so that even diehard fans will gain some insight on the art form. Dunn's talent at interviewing also creates some very compelling and full portraits of a spectrum of metal fans themselves. Dunn is also incredibly tactful when dealing with the "bad boys" of metal who just want to curse and fling beer at the camera, or especially the Satanic black metal musicians in Northern Europe (mostly Norway) who advocate violence and have prior committed or advocated terrorist acts of political natures. Overall, Dunn creates a fantastic and extremely informative doc, thorough, and one of the better music docs I have ever seen. This doc works for people completely oblivious to the metal scene as well as the seasoned headbanger. The DVD 2 disc edition is also required to get the best out of this doc. While what had the edited feature stands perfectly on its own and will be enough for some viewers, the extended interviews with metal's legends and revolutionary contemporaries are must-watch for rock fans or musicians.

This movie also introduced me to tons of great metal bands I didn't know about and I've also gotten around to listening to legendary bands that have been on my "discographies to digest" list; Right now I am listening to: Hammerfall and Candlemass in the former category, and Rush and Iron Maiden in the latter. \m/,.\m/

why say anything? if you are reading this, then you may not have seen Amadeus, which means you NEED TO SEE IT IMMEDIATELY. You poor deprived wandering soul...duallbuluboobub;l

a huge guilty pleasure of mine