Tobias Ximénez (TobiasXimenez)

Wes Anderson's meticulous craft has only grown increasingly brilliant and indulgent with each film. The ability it takes to transport visual trademarks of his kind out of a technical comfort zone and apply them in a far off foreign land is one of greatness; takes some serious cinema skillz. His notoriously idiosyncratic style also frequently makes him an easy target for critics who feel he dishes out the same thing over and over - but I feel many of them overlook the loads of personal depth and human longing on full display in all of his work. I think those who equate his quirk with superficial kitsch are blindly mistaken.

I like just about everything about THE DARJEELING LIMITED. The fable quality of these three brothers' journey taps into a lot of real feelings and attitudes I and my siblings have. Although it's probably my least favorite of Anderson's stuff so far (and I also love HOTEL CHEVALIER, the prologue to this, a lot more) I still believe DARJEELING is one of the great feature length American films of 2007. For me, Wes Anderson belongs to a league of screen masters who always deliver a type of cinema that can only be associated with their distinct art look and feel (Luis Bunuel, David Lynch). He's just one of the few American directors that I feel is doing anything remotely interesting and inventive with comedy movies at this point in time, even when he's doing one about the same themes he's already tirelessly explored.

This should be required viewing for people with a sincere interest in film. If you can find a print of the dvd, you should snag it quickly. Give yourself 3 hours to view this amazing documentary, you won't regret it.

Without a doubt one of the most audacious and influential shifts in cinematic history alongside CITIZEN KANE (1941) and probably my favorite film. With this film Stanley Kubrick changed the way films were made forever. He changed "the form" so to speak. The way they were scripted, photographed, edited, designed, the use of music, etc...the list goes on and on. This enigmatic work of art continues, to this day, to cause major culture shock. Controversy and questions still erupt over the meanings of the film's countless metaphysical symbols. Kubrick wanted audiences to clash against conventional and nationalistic outlooks on a wide range of aspects of human life. He understood that we as a species are curious creatures that must raise our level of consciousness to more planetary concerns and he wanted to present us with a motion picture that could articulate that concept in a poetic and operatic way. I believe this film is ultimately about mankind needing to transcend narrow logic and ascend into dimensions that are greater than his limited aim. I do not believe it to be a pessimistic film as many have suggested. I feel like it's a work based in self-discovery and intelligent contemplation.

I truly believe Jane Campion to be the greatest living female director. Her work is so brave and poetically moving. There aren't enough words to describe the transcendental qualities and assured brilliance of THE PIANO - my personal favorite of 1993.