Movies

My Favorite
Movies

First up, the Best Movies Ever Made (more or less and in no particular order) and (in some cases) why I think so. NOTE this list isn't quite set in concrete, but it's not totally fluid either. Let's call it plastic...

Dark City De Duva O Brother Where Art Thou?

Tampopo
The world's only "Noodle Western". See a few "Spaghetti Westerns" first...

M
Directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre. Look for it in German with English subtitles. Small title, big movie. In addition to a dynamite story and great acting, this film broke ground in its cinematography and remained unequalled until the advent of computer-generated special effects. It was only copied once even semi-successfully and that was in an episode of Miami Vice.

Kurosawa's Dreams
Director Akira Kurosawa sums it up with an "everyman" character in a series of vignettes. "The Tunnel" is one of the most powerful things ever put on film. "Water Wheel Village" brought tears to my jaded eyes.

Throne of Blood
Director: Akira Kurosawa. Possibly the best "non-Shakespearian" rendering of a Shakespeare play ever made. In this case it's "Macbeth".

Once Upon A Time In The West
Director: Sergio Leone.
The good guy: Charles Bronson as The Man with No Name
The bad guy: Henry Fonda at his absolute baddest
The fall guy: Jason Robards
The girl: Claudia Cardinale (woof!)
This landmark film was the FIRST "spaghetti western" and probably the best of the lot, including the Clint Eastwood derivations. It's nearly 3 hours long (if you can find the un-cut version). Bring a lunch.

Diva
Director: ????
The French seem to excel at the art of the unusual situation and its consequences: this is a superb example of the craft of cinema applied to that art.

La Femme Nikita
Director: Pierre something-or-other. After this, suspense will have a whole new meaning for you. So will other words that fail me at the moment. No "spy" film before it had such power. Get the original FRENCH version: accept no substitutes and at all costs AVOID the TV show of the same name: the only thing they share is the name.

Carmen
Director: Carlos Saura. Made in 1983, this is the best "dance film" I've ever seen, even including his later film, Blood Wedding, aka El Amor Brujo.

The Professional
Director: same guy thad did La Femme Nikita. Starring Gary Oldman as The Bad Cop and Jean Reno, aka "Victor the Cleaner" from La Femme Nikita as The Good Guy; a fellow with unusual talents who finds love late in life...

Sword of Doom
At the end of the film, our hero, a Samurai driven mad by the ghosts of all of his victims, goes berserk in the most awesome sword fight ever put on film. Can YOU count the bodies? I rekon 52...

Wings of Desire
Director: Wim Wenders. In English, French and German; in black and white and color: an incredible film with an international cast and an irresistible premise.

The Fifth Element
Director: ??

My current picks for all-time Best Actors are:

Willem DaFoe, star of The Last Temptation of Christ and an interesting angel in Far Away, So Close!

Ian Holm, brilliantly funny in The Fifth Element

Milla Jovovich, also notable (Woof!) in The Fifth Element

William H. Macy, star of Mystery Men and Pleasantville

Gary Oldman has been a world class bad guy in The Fifth Element and The Professional. He's also had the lead role in an incredible film called Immortal Beloved, about the life of Beethoven.

Finally, here is a list of movies I recommend. I have found them to be exceptional for one reason or another. And a suggestion: if you are a fan of movies which you have found difficult or impossible to obtain, I would recommend getting a catalog from Facets Multimedia, Inc. (usual disclaimers: I'm just a satisfied customer). Not only do they sell thousands of movies, they also rent them all, via mail, for a not unreasonable fee. Their telephone number is 1-800-331-6197.

And now the lights are about to dim; on with the show!

Bladerunner
-The future as I see it...

Buckaroo Banzai
-The future as I wish it...

Carmen
More than Flamenco...

Diva
French filmmaking at its best...

Explorers
Wak plays the Saxophone.

Farenheit 451
We know what's best for you...

The Fifth Element
IMO, this summer's best movie: it has action, plot, love, humor and... characters! Reminded me of many other films, too.

Home of the Brave
Laurie Anderson; back then she was NOW. What has she become today???

Kagemusha
Akira Kurosaw and Toshiro Mifune together again.

Kurosawa's Dreams
...ends with something other than EXXON's vision of the perfect world. The piece called "The Tunnel" is one of the most powerful things ever put on film.

The Ladykillers
Alec Guiness, evil mastermind.

La Femme Nikita
Suspense, in the French tradition. Accept no substitutes: the American remake is lame.

No Highway In The Sky
Jimmy Stewart, aeronautical engineer. A great premise, but it could have been better written and directed.

Once Upon A Time In The West
Bad guy: Henry Fonda, good guy Charles Bronson, fall guy Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale as the girl.

Pinchcliffe Grand Prix
The pinnacle of claymation, plus a tinkerer hero.

Putney Swope
Truth in advertising??

Raising Arizona
I've had days like this; the music wasn't as good, though...

Repo Man
Harry Dean Stanton's big break

Sword of Doom
The best sword fight, bar none, ever put on film.

Tampopo
Noodles, noodles, noodles and where to stick a raw egg...

The African Queen
Hey, I'm a steamboater! How could I NOT like this??

The Dambusters
Engineers save the world from Fascism. True story.

The Master Killer
The best "chop-socky" movie ever made.

M
The great German director, Fritz Lang at his best. Also Peter Lorrie's first film; get the subtitled version.

The Naked Prey
Who needs words to tell a story?

Das Boot (the subtitled version)
Claustrophobia and good cinematography.

Star Wars
Storytelling at its best.

Star Trek 2, 4,6, 7 and 8

...as opposed to 1, 3 and 5: hilighting the difference between good directing and writing and bad-bad-bad...

Animation, Documentaries and Short Films

Anijam
A great concept: the same character, drawn by a number of different artists. The character begins and ends each segment in the same position, so the artists could combine their renditions into a seamless creation, with lots of room for creative wierdness.

Bambi Meets Godzilla
The shortest film ever to win an academy award...

Crac!
Remember growing up? Remember magic??

The Dove (De Düva)
A tribute and a grand parody of just about every film Bergman ever made. Madelin Kahn's film debut.

The Eames Design
My kind of people: I wish I had known them!

Egg City
Imagine the production line at an egg factory, with movements choreographed with a trumpet fanfare by Purcell.

Estampa Flamenca
A very good introduction to the art of Flamenco

Great
Who the heck was Isambard Kingdom Brunel?? And how about those dance numbers??

Rainbow Bear
Watercolors, jazz and poetry, skilfully blended. Beautiful.

Sand Castles
Academy award winner and justly so.

Sandman
One of the early films by the talented and very weird Eli Noyes.

The Selfish Giant
A parable, delivered, for once, without a hammer and thus a hundred times more meaningful.

My Favorite Movies

Animation, Documentaries and Short Films

My Favorite
Movies