I think it's been about a year, so it's due time. If you haven't seen allot of these, PLEASE pick one or two and check them out. You may hate them, and that's ok, but what if you find something amazing you didn't know about? That's what I live for.
So, without further ado... we'll start at the bottom.
10. Heavenly Creatures - Directed by Peter Jackson
Heavenly Creatures is a stunning piece of filmmaking, which is made more stunning by the fact that it is based on a true story. In fact, the voice over in the film by Paul (Melanie Lynskey) are excerpts from her real diary, written in the 1950's.
Directed to a strange perfection by Peter Jackson, the film allows us to journey with these girls into their own private madness and reaches a stunning climax which still, to this day, has me on the edge of my seat.
It is Peter Jackson's best film.
9. The Proposition - Directed by John Hillcoat
A dirty, grungy western from Australia which presents itself like a painting. I don't know what attracts me so much to this film... save one thing. As a writer, I love "The Choice". And our "Hero" Charlie Burns is given a hell of one.
Charlie and his younger, simple, brother, Mike are arrested. The arresting officer who claims "I will tame this land." Gives Charlie an opportunity in the form of a "Proposition". Kill his older brother, to save his younger brother's life.
And away we go. A stellar cast and brilliant screenplay make this film impossible not to watch after it starts.
8. Brick - Directed by Brian Johnson
Who doesn't love a good film noir? I love detective stories. They're great for screenwriting as it immediately sets up what your character wants... to solve a mystery. Brick, directed by first timer Brian Johnson, takes the classic film noir and sets it in a modern high school. So you have teenagers saying lines like "Put that body to bed baby."
But aside from the "neat" factor, this is a film so smartly directed and intensely acted (mainly by Third Rock From the Sun veteran Joseph Gordon Levitt) that it keeps you in a strangle hold with a dumb smile on your face the whole time.
7. The Fountain - Directed by Darren Aronofsky
A flawed masterpiece from a very talented director, Darren Aronofsky. It isn't perfect. But I admire that. As a struggling filmmaker, I deal with it all the time. Compromise. I commend Aronofsky for trying to deal with recasting, a rewrite of the script, and a slashed in half budget while still maintaining his vigilance and his vision.
The film is a story told in three parts, and three different times, about Man's obsession with eternal life. Or maybe not eternal life, but staving off death. Saving yourself or your loved ones for that next moment, hour, day, week, month. More time that we don't have.
It is an incredible journey and, quite frankly, seeing the cracks in the facade at times makes it all that much more endearing to me.
6. Dark City - Directed by Alex Proyas
What can I say about this movie that I haven't already said. A fantastic sci-fi/film noir which pays homage to German Expressionism. So it's interesting, intriguing, and beautiful. If you still haven't seen it... go see it for cryin' out loud.
5. Mulholland Drive - Directed by David Lynch
David Lynch is his own animal. Something that's dangerous when you're new to filmmaking. Too many times people try to be "like" Lynch, which is impossible. He is too much a creature of his own psychology. He is able to make these images and performances work in a way that no one else could. He understands his own work, even if the rest of us don't.
In the case of Mulholland Drive, I don't care if I understand it or not. It's fascinating, beautiful, sexy and terrifying. What more do you need?
4. Kill Bill - Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Much like Lynch, trying to be like Tarantino is folly. But it all looks like so much FUN! The Kill Bill films are my favorites of his. Not necessarily his "best", but I like them the most. Amazingly I like Vol. 2 better than Vol. 1. I think Roger Ebert said it best when he said that Kill Bill Vol. 1. is "all story telling and no story." While that is true, Vol. 2 is all story and has two scenes of such incredible beauty and complexity that it's hard to believe it's all really about paying homage to those old Shaw Bros. movies.
3. The Tenant - Directed by Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is hit and miss at times. Even when he hits... many people feel like he missed. Case and Point... The Tenant, which I thoroughly enjoy. Many of my film buff friends scold me for it. But I just can't help but like the strangeness and unapologetic vagueness of it all. Not to mention it's just so much fun to see Polanski as an actor in this film. He handles the lead role readily and with a great sense of humor.
Provocative, scary, and always fun, The Tenant is a bizarre romp through the strange mind of Roman Polanski.
2. Lost Highway - Directed by David Lynch
Yet another Lynch film in my top five? Yep. My relationship with Lost Highway is a strange one. When I first watched it. I didn't like it. As a matter a fact, I hated it and ranted about it to my wife. But then, a funny thing happened. I couldn't stop thinking about the damned thing.
I tried to forget about it... and couldn't. Tried again... still couldn't. So I watched it again, then again, then again. Then I found out I was secretly in love with it. It's an incredibly strange film (Lynch!!!!) that SHOULDN'T work. But it does on a grand scale by the end.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - Directed by Stanley Kubrick
In my opinion, the greatest film ever made. Is it hard to watch? Of course. It's not an easy film. It doesn't present us with easy ideas or a specific "Hero" to follow until mid-way through the second act. What it does do is something I've rarely (if ever) seen a film do so well, and that's present us with a philosophical statement whilst still engaging us in stories.
Kubrick is, of course, considered one of the greats of film directing and deservedly so. But more than anything, I look at 2001 as something more than just film... and that's why I love it.
Magnificent.
