Media itt: movie/film discussion - Beware Spoilers

Another month, another update. Here are all the films I watched in April, starting with the films released in 2017 (UK Release Date)

Graduation - ★★★
Seems a little redundant given the director's previous work, and this is a slow-burner that burns so slowly that the candle has gone out before the wax has even started to melt, but this is still no doubt a competently made and occasionally compelling family drama.

Ghost in the Shell - ★★
A movie that saps any potential for interest from the anime, decorating a cookie-cutter action flick with neat visuals. The film starts off brilliantly up until the whole cyberdivejump thing and then the narrative doesn't really know where to go from there. Dreadfully dull, and never really justifies Scarlett Johansson's casting.

The Discovery - ★★
As much as I liked the concept, The Discovery manages to go for the least interesting way to tackle discovering the afterlife. It's a drab affair with a romance that never feels genuine, salvaged somewhat by an ending that's at least interesting, if not exactly watertight.

Free Fire - ★★★★★
Free Fire's getting a lot of 'meh's from what I've read online, and while I can understand that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, I feel like people are severely underrating the technical and literary skill involved with this film. It's paced expertly, set up with the perfect amount of time to get to the action while creating characters that aren't lacking in background, employs a superb use of space, and uses sound design with the same expertise as someone like Edgar Wright. This isn't even mentioning the tight script and impressive performances across the board. Love love loved this film - Ben Wheatley I feel is a director who's steadily improving with each film, and this and High-Rise have been his best two imo.

Win It All - ★★★★
A Netflix film I actually liked! It's plotless in the best way possible, taking on an improvisational tone to give us moments of gooey warmth and pleasure. It barely ever exerts itself, but the film doesn't need to when you're enjoying the characters and when Jake Johnson is this charming.

Neruda - ★★★★★
Neruda is: a biopic that deconstructs biopics // a film that does away with convention and truth to deliver something utterly truthful // a time capsule of mood and emotion and creativity and style // a unique and mature reflection on fiction // a fascinating, intricate, beautifully rendered and brilliantly hued take on, if not the life of Pablo Neruda, certainly the life that Pablo Neruda created for himself.

Burning Sands - ★★★
A barely interesting look at fraternities that's conventional and forgettable, but the characters are written with enough depth to empathise with them despite knowing the inevitable.

The Void - ★★
A good use of body horror and practical effects, and it throwbacks to Carpenter and Cronenberg in an endearing way, but this is still a stinking pile of shit plot with barely serviceable performances.

Sandy Wexler - ★
The best Sandler film in ages.

Raw - ★★★★
Magical realism done brilliantly, this is gross-out cannibalism done tenderly and with purpose. Backed up by a terrific score, Raw takes on themes of sisterhood, identity, self-discovery, and while each theme is more raw than realised, the sheer invention and bravery on screen is worth the ticket price.

Prevenge - ★★★
Pleasant may not be the best adjective to describe Prevenge, but it's a pleasant watch over all the unpleasantries on screen. There's nothing too heady or grandiose about this film, and the film doesn't bother to try and go for anything more than compelling either. Everything's above average, but only just about, so it's a film I'll probably forget in a week or two.

The Handmaiden - ★★★★★
The first time I watched The Handmaiden, back at last year's London Film Festival, I thought that it was a riotously enjoyable film that was a little too clever for its own good. On a rewatch, I now realise that it's just very clever. The Handmaiden is a layered genius - it's a commentary on objectification that forces the viewer into the role of an objectifier, weaving 1930s themes that apply to the modern porn industry, utilising ornaments as visual motifs for the transition from subjugation and oppression to freedom and self-discovery, and paralleling the relationship between the Japanese and the Korean with the relationship between men and women in the film. And all while realising a narrative that's funny, emotional and genuinely goosebumps-level surprising.

Kong: Skull Island - ★★★
Not a cinematic revelation, nor does it try to be, this is good monster movie fun, a B-Movie wrapped up in a blockbuster budget, tonally wonky but never enough to derail the whole thing. This is in spite of some fetishization of tribe culture, and in spite of Tom Hiddlestone, who continues to be the most overrated actor working today.

A great month for films, with three being given the full 5 stars. I've now seen 44 films this year in cinemas, which is most certainly a new high for me at this stage of the year. The other films I saw in April 2017 were:

Train to Busan - ★★★
Under the Shadow - ★★★★ (rewatch)
Stalker - ★★★★
Hunt For the Wilderpeople - ★★★ (rewatch)
Cemetery of Splendour - ★
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa - ★★★★ (rewatch)
Anchorman 2 - ★★★★ (rewatch)
Blue Velvet - ★★★★
Un chien andalou - ★★★★★
 
Guardian's of the Galaxy was majorly disappointing and probably the worst MCU movie to date. Marvel is increasingly unable to try to develop good antagonists to put in their solo superhero movies, and this one was by far the worst developed and executed. I have so many problems with this movie, specifically because it had all the potential to be a really solid and unique movie. It seems Marvel is not really learning from their past mistakes.
 
My take is completely the opposite of that. I loved Vol 2 WAAAAY more than The first one and while it structurally felt strained at the beginning its the truest most emotional MCU movies to date.

The movie ambitiously kinda leaves the plot to just develop at its own pace and doesn't feel the need to force it which could make it feel like it drags but pacing for pacing's sake means nothing compared to the emotional depth this movie digs into for literally every major character. Hell we even get the first real characterization of the kind of person Thanos is.

One of the largest complaints I had about the first GotG was how the sister relationship of Gamora and Nebula was never really explored in any real way in a movie about family. In this movie they dug in, with Karen Gillian tearing into Nebula's seething hatred for her sister. Both victims of Thanos's abuse as he made them fight as small children to forge them in the image of himself. Every time Gamora won he favored her, every time Nebula lost he tore apart replacing her with machinery to "improve" her. Gamora won every single time and watched as her sister was ripped apart from the inside out in the most physical sense. Thanos's abuse set his daughters against each other tearing away any real sisterhood they could have had despite how desperately they both craved the companionship. When they were finally able to recontextualize and empathize without ego getting in the way after their climactic fight they truly became family for the first time despite growing up as sisters in name.

And while the "empathizing without ego" thing sounds cheesy as fuck THATS LITERALLY WHAT THE MOVIE IS ABOUT. Think about what Drax said to Mantis a being of supreme empathic capabilities: She's merely a pet to a man so focused on himself that the only purpose he could find in his life is to change everything to be like him. The other side antagonist of the Sovereign as well as Taserface are also beings plagued by the most fragile of ego's.

The heroes themselves struggle with their own selfish nature and their past decisions and how it affects those around them. From Gamora and Nebula, to Yondu and Rocket, even Kraglin's selfish act of defiance against his captains decision resulted in a truly brutal mutiny and execution of all his friends.

And the redemption of all of our heroes is through Yondu and Quill, who are the beating heart and soul of this movie. The movie dances around their relationship perfectly all the way to the climax where it foils the awkward fumbling attempts at father-son bonding between Quill and Ego sublimely. Yondu's teaching moment about how to control the whistle, triggers in Peter a flashback to his childhood where he listened to music with his mother and trained to fight with his blue-skinned fin-headed adoptive dad. He sees his chosen family and all that they mean to him and he's able to best Ego's power over him.

Yondu's arc over the course of this film was absolutely mind bogglingly amazing. His dynamic with Rocket is beautiful and every single characterization of him throughout the film just does so much emotional heavy-lifting that by the time we got to the end with the Ravager fleet's fireworks I was near bawling in the theater. Michael Rooker absolutely CRUSHED IT OUT OF THE PARK in this movie.

Man I loved the fuck out of this movie. This could actually even be my favorite MCU movie of them all. I was not at all expecting to love this movie even remotely as much as I do. 7/10 perfect score. Would recommend.
 
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As part of a firebot movie night i ended up seeing chappie last week. set in the city of johannesburg which director neill blomkamp seems to have some innate fascination with it follows the story of a sentient robot from which the movie gets its namesake. the plot was bit like a misfired bullet ricocheting around like crazy as it jumps from point to point and the acting is by no means stellar but man is the movie dumb fun and there are a lot of heartwarming moments scattered across it. if youre looking for an entertaining time waster id check this movie out, not much beats robots, guns, and explosions.
 
I think this pirates of the Caribbean may have been may favourite

We're a couple moments that we're schlocky but on the whole I thought it told a really nice story
 
Didn't watch many 2017 films in May, here's the ones I did watch tho (UK Release Date)

Alien: Covenant - ★★
Botches a lot - stupid character decisions, weird plot choices, a redundant first 15 minutes, a bizarrely nonthreatening portrayal of the xenomorph at the end, and a shit plot twist. And what's more, it wastes Waterston and Seimetz! Fassbender is good value for money though, and the film does pose some interesting questions, even if it doesn't really flesh them out at all.

War Machine - ★

What is Brad Pitt doing in this film? Also, what is Brad Pitt doing in this film? It says a lot about the film when I only liked 10 seconds of it, but boy, they were a good 10 seconds.

Aaaand those where the 2017 films I saw in May. I did see some sweet older films though:

Citizen Kane - ★★★★★
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - ★★★★★
Paris, Texas - ★★★
Seconds - ★★★★
Apocalypse Now - ★★★★
Manchester By The Sea - ★★★★★ (rewatch)
The Conformist - ★★★★★
 
All the 2017 films I saw in June. As always, UK release date:

Wonder Woman - ★★★★
DC's best by a country mile. This is really fun, backed up by Gal Gadot and Chris Pine's wonderful chemistry, Gal Gadot's badass action, Gal Gadot's line delivery, and just Gal Gadot, really.

Casting JonBenet - ★★★
It's an interesting way to stage the case but it's crudely done, focusing too much on the lives of far less interesting people rather than actually substantiating JonBenet's story. It gets the final 10 minutes right though.

The Great Wall - ★★
I mean, it's a bad film, with bad dialogue, bad editing, bad acting and bad cgi, but there's something special about the badness of it all that makes it a very worthwhile watch.

My Life As A Zucchini - ★★★★
What a beautiful animation! A carefully constructed and considerate look at childhood trauma through the very very expressive eyes of Zucchini/Courgette. I have a few reservations with the amount of morbidity it piles on, and I wish the film treated the Aunt with the same amount of nuance as it afforded Simon, but there's no denying the emotional effectiveness, nor the sumptuous character design in the film.

The Red Turtle - ★★★★
A beautiful blank slate for you to match your own life and memories to its occurrences. For me, the film is about parenthood, for others it's about love, and so forth. Great stuff.

Catfight - ★★★★
I could do without the actual catfight(s) but this is way more interesting/funny/clever than it has any right to be.

My Cousin Rachel - ★★
Well this was long and pointless. How tense was that candle-to-curtain placement though??

Power Rangers - ★★
Goofy fun with budget Zac Efron and co, but this is formulaic tripe with too many comic misfires, frustrating plot developments and unlikable protagonists for it to be hailed as anything above mediocre.

Shimmer Lake - ★
Unwatchable, film student C-movie guff

John Wick: Chapter 2 - ★★★★
I admit I haven't seen the first John Wick, but this still managed to entertain big time. The world it creates is ridiculous and everything is nonsensical, and it's all for the better. Highlights include a mirror showdown and a secret gun fight in a subway station. Reminded me of The Raid 2, in the best way possible.

I've also been trying to watch a bunch of older films and classics. Here are all the other films I watched in June:

Enter the Void - ★★★
Punch-Drunk Love - ★★★★★
Magnolia - ★★★★
There Will Be Blood - ★★★★
A Touch of Sin - ★★★★
An Autumn Afternoon - ★★★★
Cairo Station - ★★★★★
Underground - ★★★★★
The Manchurian Candidate - ★★★★
T2 Trainspotting - ★★★ (rewatch, no change)
Some Like It Hot - ★★★★
Man with a Movie Camera - ★★★★★
Umberto D. - ★★★★
 
I mean, if you wanna talk about Baby Driver, let's do that.

It's a rly fun movie but not the masterpiece that a lot of critics (at least in the UK) are hailing it as. I've loved all of Edgar Wright's movies so far (Shaun of the Dead > The World's End > Scott Pilgrim > Hot Fuzz imo, but they're all great), so while Baby Driver is also very good, it's my least favourite of his.

Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm are all perfect, the soundtrack is groovy, the editing is classic Edgar Wright (aka superb). The second scene of the movie (Ansel Elgort on his coffee run) is by far the best scene in the film, absolutely loved it.

I had a problem with some of the plot choices/contrivances though:

SPOILERS:

- Baby was given an out near the end by Spacey's character, why on earth didn't he just take it? Instead of insisting on attempting to sneak out. Made no sense.
- Spacey's turn-around at the end was really jarring. Made very little sense considering how he was characterised throughout the movie.
- Why didn't Baby just admit that he knew his girlfriend waitress to Foxx's character? I get that Foxx is unhinged but he wouldn't kill her and jeopardise the mission. And sure, Foxx can use her as leverage, but by that point Baby and his gal would be long gone
- The whole (aha! You've been recording us the whole time!) seemed like unecessary conflict that didn't amount to much, + Baby is stupid for even attempting to do that.
- Would've liked the ending fight to have been more tense and less obvious. I get that the story isn't exactly the main selling point of Baby Driver but by god stop monologuing Jon Hamm and finish the job.
- Thought that Baby's girl and their relationship needed some more character development, They only spent like 2 scenes together and then suddenly she's willing to drive off with him into the sunset, and go along with his crime spree.

Still, worth the watch, the car chases were great (opening car chase was very inventive, wish the other car chases had that same level of ingenuity).
 
I saw Spiderman: Homecoming tonight and it fixed a lot of the issues I've had with standalone Marvel movies in Stage 3. As always the humor and action were great, but unlike Dr. Strange and Guardians Spiderman actually provided one of the better villains we have seen in the MCU even though I still think there was still a lot of room for improvement. But for a stand alone film, it did a really good job building the narrative and expanding on Spiderman's role in this universe. The best parts of this film are his interactions with Stark and how Stark's role and mentality has changed to be a mentor/father figure and that in a lot of ways really helps to continue to add the interdynamics between these superheroes.

It definitely isn't on the scale of Civil War, but it is definitely near the top of my list when ranking MCU Films.
 
Didn't enjoy spiderman that much, but the new Planet of the apes movie was legit the best movie I've seen in over 2 years, much better than guardians, star wars and all the marvel and DC shit.

Would recommend it.
 
I saw Dunkirk today with my dad, brother, and cousin. I already saw Spider-Man this week, so I wasn't too keen on spending more money again so soon. But on Monday, my dad straight up told us "we're going to see this movie called Dunkirk on Friday" so why not go for free? My dad is a really big fan of old movies, whenever he watches TV it's either the news or TCM. He loves movies like Saving Private Ryan and The Godfather (which aren't TCM-level old but are still of a different era). Looking back, from childhood until the point where my brother could drive, we made our dad take us to a lot of movies he probably had no interest in, so it was cool that this was something we all wanted to see.

I'm a big Nolan fan (most are) but I wasn't all that excited for this movie. It seemed to be a deviation from Nolan's traditional style in order to go for that Oscar bait, and I'm not big on war movies, especially WWII which seems a bit overdone. But in fairness I gave him the benefit of the doubt until seeing it. I actually really loved this movie. I'll put serious spoilers in tags.


There are central characters that we follow, but names don't get mentioned more than once, if at all, and the soldiers don't have backstories. None of the characters really follow traditional character arcs except for Cillian Murphy's character to an extent. Otherwise, they're just soldiers being soldiers. Some are compassionate in certain circumstances, some are selfish in certain circumstances, but they all feel real. When a character acts selfish, you know it's just because he's under a lot of stress and wants to survive. And they still manage to be extremely interesting though, which amazed me. There are a few traditional set-ups and payoffs but they're mostly plot-based rather than character based. There are still great character moments though, and you do feel the soldierly camaraderie and the catharsis of the pilots and civilians saving the day. In the end, you do feel like these people are heroes. It is an idealistic film at its heart.

It kind of eschews the traditional 3 act structure, to an extent. The film basically starts in the third act. As I stated earlier, the characters don't really get backstories so there's not much need for a first act except to tell you what the situation is and to establish a few civilian characters. You are just dropped into this crisis and everyone coming to solve it. So it's just non-stop intensity from start to finish.

I mentioned earlier that I wasn't a WWII guy, but this isn't really a World War II movie. It is a Dunkirk movie. It's very contained and from the English point of view; we have our established main characters and we only see what they see. There's no cutaway to Hitler's fortress talking about his plan to trap the soldiers at Dunkirk or anything like that. There are German planes and ships that attack the soldiers, but there actually aren't any German characters in this film. It's just very much "in the moment".

The story is non-linear too, as they establish early on. Since planes travel faster than boats, the pilots' story is only 1 hour long, whereas the sailors' story is 2 days long (or was it 2 hours and 1 day? I don't remember). All the characters are introduced at the beginning though, so there's a lot of non-linear editing and repeat viewings of the same event. I just mention this because it was slightly confusing to me at first to see characters seemingly in two places at once. But if you're aware of it, it's easy to piece together.
For example, I was confused that Cillian Murphy's character was on the boat in the night flashback, as I assumed he was the pilot who was shot down.

What actually gripped me at first was just how intense this movie is. It really goes for the realism, except, noticeably, the lack of blood. But the sound engineering, both the score and the diegetic sounds, make this movie what it is, in my opinion. The score is relentless throughout the film. The regular ticking noise (which most people I assume are familiar with from the trailer) and the bass in the score basically end up becoming a simulated heartbeat, meaning it becomes literal heart-pounding intensity. Even when the characters are just there at the beach, you feel the nervousness and anxiety of them because of the bumping score. That does mean the score is more...functional, rather than expressive, I guess? Which could be a negative for some users here.

The screeching from the planes are pretty ear-splitting. I've seen a few airshows at beaches before so I feel like the sound was remarkably life-like. The cinematography was good too, in my opinion. I guess there aren't a lot of ways to not make the beach and ocean look beautiful, but there were certainly a lot of "wallpaper-worthy" shots in this film.

The movie was good for people who like Bane memes too. Lot of shots of Tom Hardy in a flight mask, crashing enemy planes. He even

lets himself get caught


On another note, it was interesting looking at the kinds of people who showed up at the theater. A lot of them were quite elderly; I assume they were like my dad and liked older movies and World War II. There were a few late 20/early 30s people that I assume were Nolan fans or general cinephiles. And there were two teenage girls behind us that breathed extremely hard whenever Harry Styles was on screen. I can't fault them for that if it got them interested in the movie though. Harry Styles I think actually did a good job acting. He's given a bit of room for range; he gets aggressive, argumentative, accusatory, and at some points, existentially lost. Personally for me, I would say Tom Hardy is the biggest hero of the film. When you see it, you'll know why.


Anyway, yeah sorry for the tl;dr post but yeah I liked this movie. I was afraid it was going to be extremely boring at first but the characters did grip me and get me invested throughout. Just be prepared for something different. As for my dad, he said he liked it but wished there was a ton more blood like in Saving Private Ryan. :pirate:
 
Ok so for a while me and some other people had the idea of posting our top 10 movies of all time here. So here's mine! That's it, no intro.


10. Casino Royale

I've seen every James Bond movie and this is my favorite. And that's strange, because I love the camp movies with tons of gadgets and diabolical plots, so I don't just love it because it's a realistic grounding of Bond in the 21st century. In fact I loathe every other Craig film because they don't accept things and move back to the "real" Bond formula. I really can't grasp what makes a poker game exciting but this movie somehow does it. The tension in every hand can be cut with a knife and I definitely gasped when Bond reveals his hand in the final round. And the poker isn't even the best part of the movie! It's got the venice finale, the Miami airport chase, and one of the most incredible scenes ever, the parkour opening in Madacascar. That was the scene that defines Bond, and has already gone down in history as one of the best Bond scenes that every movie needs to strive to have. And it's never been matched since.



9. Ghostbusters

Like most of my other favorite movies, every line in Ghostbusters is crafted beautifully and is perfect for every sentence it's in. The cast is stellar. It was really an original idea back in the 1980s and was a powerful enough premise to spawn a sequel, television shows, comics, merchandise, and more. The effects are dated but even they don't slouch, because the visual direction in the movie knew where to put the "weak" CGI to keep it from dragging the movie down (something GB2016 didn’t achieve with the giant walking ghost in the end :/). The score is a total dark horse and is the glue that holds every scene together. It's only in the past year that I've realized how big a fan I am of this movie, and that my biggest critique I can come up with for its remake is that it's…NOT this movie. I think that's a pretty good litmus test for what makes something good back in the 1980s. Ramis had total gold in his mind and he deserves every bit of credit for coming up with this idea.



8. Blade Runner

Blade Runner is probably the most important movie to me personally, because it's the first film that I looked at critically. I was in a film studies class in high school and had to choose a movie on the IMDB top 100 to review, and I chose this one since I was a sci-fi fan, and it became one of my favorite sci-fi movies ever. I went into the movie expecting it to be ok and notice some cool filmmaking quirks, but I was totally blown away with the cinematography and score and acting. The world building is off the charts and I could listen to the ending credits scene forever. “It's too bad she won’t live! But then again, who does?” Who does indeed.



7. Trading Places

Surprising, my two favorite comedies have Dan Aykroyd. This is probably my favorite comedy movie. Once again the movie has an infallible cast, and is one of Jamie Lee Curtis's earliest roles. The premise isn't original but it definitely had to inspire other similar films. It's textbook comedy where the characters don't realize they’re in a comedy but say incredible lines every step of the way. Not every joke is from the lines themselves though; like not every line is funny just on its own but most of Dan Aykroyd's stuff is hilarious just because of the deadpan and situations he winds up in. That's probably how most comedy movies work but I don't really care, I just love this one too much. I was sold on it from the opening scene alone. Mozart with a Philadelphia montage? They just don't make openings like that anymore.



6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Hands down my favorite superhero movie, but I don't really know why it's my favorite in particular. Even though I like Nolan more and can quote the lines of the Dark Knight Trilogy left and right, I still would rather watch this movie. It's like it was tailored for me: Snyder slow-mo scenes, political/crime subplot, and amazingly choreographed fight scenes. I went into this movie expecting something average and was just completely floored. Ben Affleck was absolutely incredible and he really made you FEEL this movie's theme of pain and anger. He's on the verge of breaking down in so many scenes because of how fearful he is of Superman. It's such a great arc for Batman because his entire quest for revenge is wrong and he misses about 20 warning signs from everyone he trusts that it's wrong, which makes his realization at the end all the more powerful. Oh yeah, and Wonder Woman fucking appears out of nowhere to the greatest song in cinema history. The anger of that theme is enough to make me watch 10 Wonder Woman movies just to have her punch a brick wall over and over again. Every criticism people level at this movie I just see as another strength. This film definitely got me prepared for the DC universe and I cannot WAIT to see more of them.



5. Kingsman: The Secret Service

I saw this movie 3 times in theaters, the first rewatch because it was such a refreshing break from other movies I'd seen that I just had to see it again and the second rewatch because I wanted to help encourage more movies like this get made. When I first saw the trailers for the film I was super skeptical and doubtful that it would be anything impressive, because it seemed to be marketed as just another action movie. But when people told me it was a satire of the entire spy genre I had to check it out, and it totally delivered. Similar to another pick on here, the church scene for me just raised the bar for what I consider acceptable in new movies. I am a big fan of spy films in general, so seeing a genre deconstruction like this was totally awesome to me.



4. The Departed

Matt Damon is my favorite actor of all time, just to start off, and this is my favorite film he's in, so I felt it had to be on my list. Similar to another pick on here, this movie is basically impossible to fail with the cast it's given. Some people think it's not Scorsese’s finest crime film, but I disagree. There's no other film that makes you feel the tension like this one; compared to the shit Leonardo DiCaprio goes through, Goodfellas might as well be a comedy of errors that its characters experience. There's so many lines I love in this movie, and I especially love it for showing both sides of the crime story rather than just focusing on the gangsters. I have to give credit to the original Hong Kong production Infernal Affairs, though. Even though this movie is a remake it still is amazing.



3. Mad Max: Fury Road

I'd never seen a Mad Max movie until 4 months before this movie came out, but I knew from reading various bits of media that it was a pretty special franchise. So I watched the first films before this one and was mildly impressed, then saw Fury Road and was completely blown away. It was basically everything I could want from an action movie, with fantastical sets and great world building and a killer score. I hold the canyon chase to be an example of the greatest action sequences of all time, and that scene lasts almost 15 minutes. That's arguably not even the best action scene in the film (with war rig vs scavengers and final unending chase as challengers). Once I saw this movie, I reasoned that pretty much every other action movie out there was just issued an ultimatum: start making action scenes as good as this movie or just see yourself out. I think this movie is incredible not just as an action movie but that it elevates the entire action genre and raises the playing field. If you're not going to make movies as good as this, then just stop making movies. We deserve better filmed scenes and I hope other studios take note and deliver.



2. Inception

Inception is basically cheating at filmmaking because it's basically been dealt a royal flush at the start of the hand. It has an A+ cast that shares almost completely equal screen time due to the ensemble scripting. It's got some of the greatest visuals of its time that I think really demonstrated to the world that we were ready for a new level of realistic computer graphics, and on top of that it's got a visual direction that knows how to USE the graphics. Then it’s got one of the slickest soundtracks that perfectly matches every scene it's used. It has an almost wholly original plot and premise (any movie that builds worlds enough to have an extensive wiki just for itself is impressive in my book). There's almost no way you can bring that together and fail, and yet the movie feels so grand to me and winds up being so much more than the sum of its parts. I love this movie to death and I could watch it over and over and continue to be wowed, similar to my final pick. Of all the movies on this list, those two are the only ones that I feel are truly the "top" of my list and are so far above the others, so you can take everything good I said about the next movie and apply it to this one too. They really are my two favorite movies of all time.



1. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

Crime is my ultimate favorite genre. There's just something I love about seeing gangsters plan epic heists or mobsters weasel their way through corrupt politicians. I love serious, gritty crime movies, but I love silly crime movies even more. So my favorite movie of all time is Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

There's so much I can say about this movie. It's so British it may as well be in another language; the Cockney is that strong. It was one of the first productions ever done by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. if you didn’t know another example) and Jason Statham. Every line is pristine and perfect, and is in the movie for a specific reason. The movie doesn’t really have many set-up "jokes" in a comedy movie sense, but every line makes me grin because it's full of wit. The movie is just incredibly FUN, but going through it with a critical lens reveals a ton of awesome things. Like the fact that every group of characters in the movie has their own musical jingle that introduces them, or a hyper-close-up shots and slow-motion action scenes, or the incredible sound editing (for example there’s a shot where a gunshot is heard every time a man lays down one of his poker cards in a winning hand).

No matter how many times I watch it, the movie leaves me rolling in laughter for a solid two hours. If you take nothing else away from my post, it’s that this movie is fucking incredible.
 
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My Top 10, in no specific Order.


1 : Mad Max : Fury Road

2 : The Empire Strikes Back

3 : Goodfellas

4 : The Dark Knight

5 : Summer Wars

6 : Gremlins

7 : The Goonies

8 : Jurassic Park

9 : They Live

10 : Young Frankenstein/Blazing Saddles/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder in general)
 
I'll get on this top 10 bandwagon! Keep in mind that this list is ever-changing since it's really really difficult for me to rank my top 10 films. Treat the list more as a 'My Ten Favourite Films' list.

Honourable mentions include Ratcatcher, 3 Idiots, The Holy Mountain, Amelie, Lost in Translation, Cairo Station, Eternal Sunshine, The Thin Red Line, Singin' In The Rain, The Boat That Rocked, The Life Aquatic and Boyhood.

10. Underground (1995)

Underground is a soviet surrealist film that focuses on the relationship between two brothers and their exploits over the course of Serbian history. It's an astonishing, potent mixture of Gilliam, Gondry and Kaufman, defying filmic conventions by seamlessly transitioning into genres. And each genre is effective - it switches from war film to thriller to satire to tragic romance to father-son drama and then back to a war film, while managing to be equally emotionally resonant at each stage. There's a particular scene in the third act that is simply magical, one of the most powerful moments I've seen in a film. I was completely enraptured by this and I suggest you watch it immediately!

9. The Prestige (2006)

Only a few years ago this used to be my number 1 film. While it's fallen a bit in the pecking order, it's still an incredible film. This is Nolan's magnum opus, a dazzling, twisty tale of revenge and rivalry between two extraordinarily complex magicians. The performances are fantastic, but the storytelling is really where the film shines, defying expectations and ingeniously functioning as a magic trick itself. It's tense, well-shot, and there's some amazing reveals in its final act. On a rewatch the film is even greater - for reasons I won't spoil. It's more heartfelt and understanding of its characters than all of Nolan's other films - which isn't to say that that's a thing Nolan struggles at, but rather, it's a thing that he does so well in The Prestige. Every single scene is packed with so much detail and foreshadowing that every single rewatch is astonishing.

8. Dumbo (1941)

1941 may have given us Citizen Kane but it also gave us the Citizen Kane of animated films, a brief but powerful masterpiece that is as daring a Disney film as any. Its Pink Elephants on Parade scene is ingrained in my memory, producing woozy, nightmarish imagery of technicolour elephants, but on the other side of the spectrum, its sentimental lullaby is incredibly moving, a horrifically dark scenario that no Disney product would dare to reproduce nowadays. I'm in love with this film - it's fascinating and strange and heartwarming and shocking and poignant. It's the best animated film of all time.

7. Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters (1985)

Directed by Paul Schrader, and focusing on Japanese author and political figure Yukio Mishima, this film is the best kind of biopic: one that evokes and embodies its figure rather than simply retelling the character's lives. Mishima glorifies seppuku because so did he. Yukio Mishima was invested in the concept of the 'harmony of pen and sword', the perfect expression of art via death. This is relayed to us through four of his own stories, each shot gloriously with bold colours and incredible set design. I mean, just look at this image. Accompanied by Philip Glass' beautiful, extravagant score, each moment in the film is glorious. It's operatic but personal, euphoric yet deeply melancholy. It's where my profile picture is from.

6. Airplane! (1980)

The funniest comedy of all time, and, subsequently, the greatest. Packed with iconic lines, hilarious slapstick, running gags, and a scout girl catfight. I've run out of things to say about this film so here's some quotes:

Ted: “It’s an entirely different kind of flying, altogether.”
Dr. Rumack and Randy: “It’s an entirely different kind of flying.”

Dr. Rumack: “This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.”
Elaine: “A hospital? What is it?”
Dr. Rumack: “It’s a big building with patients but that’s not important right now.”

Host of Counterpoint: “They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into, I say… let ’em crash!”

5. Mulholland Drive (2001)

David Lynch's fever dreams to end all fever dreams, a sprawling LA odyssey that's tricky to try to unpack and fascinating to watch unravel. Firstly, Mulholland Drive looks beautiful, the rich hues of its colour palette and twisting first-person camera movements suitably nightmarish in style and tone. The mood this film creates is exquisite, a potent mixture of the unnerving and the transcendent. Secondly, Mulholland Drive sounds incredible, its score vibrant and heady, the 'Silencio' scene a stand-out. Thirdly, the acting is astonishing, and in turn, the relationship between Naomi Watts and Laura Harring is perhaps the most developed, insightful and downright special relationship on screen. It's an overwhelming flurry of emotions all at once - watching Mulholland Drive is a rewarding, mesmerising experience.

4. Man With A Movie Camera (1929)

This film changed cinema completely. It's as much an astonishing piece of filmmaking as it is an astonishing piece on filmmaking. Detailing a day in the life of various Soviet cities. It has no plot, it has no characters, it has no dialogue. It's a pure visual feast, a cinephile's wet dream. Edited furiously with an array of unbelievable cuts and techniques, Man With A Movie Camera would look modern even if it were released today - the technical feats on display are truly unbelievable. This is the film that taught directors of how little restraint there is when it comes to filmmaking. It moves at breackneck pace, chopping between slow-motion high-jumpers to stop-motion cameras to double exposure trams to chess played in reverse. There is never a dull moment. I think this may be the only film I've ever cried at simply just for being so damn good.

3. Citizen Kane (1941)

An obvious choice, but Citizen Kane really does deserve all the plaudits it gets. Another film that's vital to cinema, this is a film that not only manages to be technically astounding and soooo ahead of its time, but be richly emotional and invested in its characters, to superb effect. Kane is one of the most complex and tragic characters in cinematic history, and his plight is at once transfixing and heartbreaking, a self-destructive fall from fame that culminates in a wonderful final shot. Its filmmaking at its finest.

2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Marmite Sci-Fi: you either love it or you hate it. This is Kubrick's best work, visually the greatest film in existence (that I've seen), and will leave your mouth agape throughout its hefty runtime. Every time I watch it, t makes me realise why I like film all over again. Cerebral filmmaking that's less cold than people give it credit for, thanks to HAL's characterisation. Space is cool, humanity is cool, this is cool. This isn't even mentioning how impressive and foreboding the orchestral score is.

1. Synecdoche, New York (2008)

This film is massive. It's a blockbuster of epic proportions. It's Roger Ebert's favourite film this century, and by far the film that has provoked the biggest reaction out of me. It's a masterpiece on life, death, legacy and depression, a sprawling work of art that spans half a lifetime. As with a lot of my favourite films on this year, it's gloriously surreal, a Kaufman speciality that trades cohesion for pure cinematic ecstasy. That's not to say this film isn't logical - it's the most logical film there can be, the most utterly truthful explanation of the tortured mind of humanity itself. My signature is taken from this film's ending monologue, and its significance, accompanied by the stunning imagery on screen and the mournful, grandiose score, easily manages to sweep me off my feet every time. I love, love, love this film. Love it.
 
Eagle4 said:
8. Dumbo (1941)

1941 may have given us Citizen Kane but it also gave us the Citizen Kane of animated films, a brief but powerful masterpiece that is as daring a Disney film as any. Its Pink Elephants on Parade scene is ingrained in my memory, producing woozy, nightmarish imagery of technicolour elephants, but on the other side of the spectrum, its sentimental lullaby is incredibly moving, a horrifically dark scenario that no Disney product would dare to reproduce nowadays. I'm in love with this film - it's fascinating and strange and heartwarming and shocking and poignant. It's the best animated film of all time.
Click to expand...


How do you feel about the upcoming Tim Burton remake of Dumbo?
 
Hasukura said:
How do you feel about the upcoming Tim Burton remake of Dumbo?
Click to expand...

Very very sceptical since Disney isn't brave enough to truly do Dumbo justice. No film would dare make the Pink Elephants sequence as nightmarish as the original, nor use alcohol as the way for Dumbo to discover his ability to fly, even with Tim Burton's influence.

I haven't liked any live action Disney remake so far, so I'm not really excited for this one.
 
Eagle4 said:
Very very sceptical since Disney isn't brave enough to truly do Dumbo justice. No film would dare make the Pink Elephants sequence as nightmarish as the original, nor use alcohol as the way for Dumbo to discover his ability to fly, even with Tim Burton's influence.

I haven't liked any live action Disney remake so far, so I'm not really excited for this one.
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You didn't like the Live Action Jungle Book??? I thought it was quite the visual pleasure cruise, nothing more though.
 
Remember how I said "studios need to take note of Mad Max and Kingsman and make better action movies that we deserve as a public"?

Well Baby Driver certainly learned.

IDK what is the cause of it is, but I really am not a big fan of the Edgar Wright trilogy. Maybe it's just that the number of fake-out / sarcastic / bait-and-switch jokes that got crammed into Shaun of the Dead but I thought I liked it the first time and on the second it just drove me up the wall with how mediocre I thought it was. But I think Wright learned from his experience in those movies and made some good stuff with Ant-Man and this one. Having your movie have a core theme (action, heist/superhero) and then breaking it up with amazing comedic timing works better than trying to keep the same comedy high going for two hours. Because the comedy in Baby Driver is totally awesome. I didn't really watch too many trailers for this movie and sort of stumbled into it because the premise is cool, but upon rewatching the trailer the "Mike Myers" mask gag just seems unfunny, in the trailer. Why is that? Because it didn't give you the context where tough-as-nails Kevin Spacey told everybody that they better be wearing the Michael Myers Halloween mask. Speaking of Kevin Spacey, I thought he was going to walk in and be a Kevin Spacey villain, and that's probably why he was cast, because he delivered a lot more. His character was probably the funniest of them all, not in terms of laugh-out-loud lines but just the premise of an Atlanta crime boss with a 9-year-old nephew that cases banks and watches Monsters, Inc is so stupid it can only be in this kind of movie. Again the rest of the cast is so infallable, because John Hamm and Jamie Foxx's characters are given specific personality traits that they get to show off the whole time. All the characters feel on edge around everybody, which makes sense because they're a bunch of criminals that aren't afraid to off their competition. I haven't even started talking about the ACTION yet! Every shot is clean, crisp, and long. Shaky cam had its place in Bourne but I'm glad we've just all decided to stop doing it forever. And of course you have the fantastic score tying everything together, like it must in any great movie. Check it out here or just watch the entire opening if you have any doubts about seeing the movie.
 
GatoDelFuego said:
Remember how I said "studios need to take note of Mad Max and Kingsman and make better action movies that we deserve as a public"?

Well Baby Driver certainly learned.
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Does it count when it's a Director who's already shown he can do Action in interesting and fun ways? You bring up Shaun of the Dead in your post, but looking at Hot Fuzz and all that. I feel like Baby Driver isn't the BEST example to show that Studios are taking lessons from Good Action movies, because Baby Driver comes from someone who can direct good Action and has already shown that.
 
Hasukura said:
Does it count when it's a Director who's already shown he can do Action in interesting and fun ways? You bring up Shaun of the Dead in your post, but looking at Hot Fuzz and all that. I feel like Baby Driver isn't the BEST example to show that Studios are taking lessons from Good Action movies, because Baby Driver comes from someone who can direct good Action and has already shown that.
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You miss my point. George Miller is already an incredible director, I didn't need him to make Fury Road to know that. The issue is getting movies approved and through the production process. When you, as well as the general moviegoing public, see Baby Driver instead of Transformers 8, you are voting with your money to prove a point to the studios that it's worth it for them to allow more great movies to go through. We can't make infinite movies. And a movie is driven by more than just the director.
 
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goddamn war for the planet of the apes was dogshit

plot contrivance after generic trope after heavy handed "emotional" scene after incompetent lackey after another

people are giving them a huge pass based on the special effects and on andy serkis's acting but the movie itself just fucking sucked
 
GatoDelFuego said:
You miss my point. George Miller is already an incredible director, I didn't need him to make Fury Road to know that. The issue is getting movies approved and through the production process. When you, as well as the general moviegoing public, see Baby Driver instead of Transformers 8, you are voting with your money to prove a point to the studios that it's worth it for them to allow more great movies to go through. We can't make infinite movies. And a movie is driven by more than just the director.
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I apologize, it seems I did miss your point. I agree with you, ten thousand percent.
 
My top movies change a lot but the top 5 is generally pretty solid. I don't really give a fuck about technical merit as much as I do pure enjoyment of the film itself

5. The Mummy (1999)
probably my favourite action movie. i've watched this like 4000 times and It never gets old to me.

4. Millennium Actress (2001)
my favourite animated movie, the ending to this makes me cry a lot. the whole story is told in a really interesting way.

3. The Big Lebowski (1998)
everything good about this movie has been said before. its a classic for a reason.

2. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
absolutely fucking love this movie. arnie is great in it. james earl jones is even better. the soundtrack is fucking amazing. idk, its good.

1. No Country For Old Men (2007)
this movie freaks me out. every time i watch it i get just as nervous as the first time i saw it. javier bardem puts in a fucking clinic acting job.

Honorable mentions: Walk Hard, Silver Linings Playbook, Beauty and the Beast, Spirited Away, Alien
 
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