Films 10-1

10. The Fountain

This is eye candy. Ya, there is some cool commentary and life and death, but this is eye candy. The visuals are outstanding. The score is fantastic. You don't even need to know what is going on, just sit back and enjoy the dreamlike imagery and don't worry about the rest. I understand what they were talking about, I'm not sure whether I agree with it or not, but I understand....it's a very Eastern approach to the subject in a Western setting, which I really enjoyed seeing.

9. A Scanner Darkly

From the same mind that brought you Total Recall, Minority Report, and Blade Runner comes another sci-fi adventure with philosophical questions posed. The animation adds some uniqueness to it, but it really doesn't need it for it to be unique.The ending wraps it up rather nicely and leaves you with something to think about.

8. The Squid and The Whale

Noah Baumbach is the master of dysfunctional family life. This film follows the aftermath of a divorce where the children are forced to take sides between their parents and deal with the constant conflict and inner moral dilemmas. Jeff Daniels and Jesse Eisenberg give particularly good performances and the film does a rather good job of showing the perspective of each of the individuals involved.

7. A Prophet

A cross between The Godfather, Scarface, and The Shawshank Redemption. A young arab man has to deal with prison life, surviving, and striving for success in his life. There are connections made between his journey and that of the prophet Mohammad (which I never really understood) and also lots of great imagery and tense scenes. The mood was extraordinary and overall this is one of the greatest crime films I have ever seen. It is a shame that it lost Best Foreign Film at the Oscars, but seeing that Kurosawa and Tarkovsky never received much recognition, we can regard that award as a joke.

6. The Science of Sleep

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my all-time favourite movies, and if you also enjoyed it then you are sure to enjoy this movie as well. There are many similarities, from the dream sequences to the story about temporary love, heartbreak, and how love changes you. There are also aspects of cultural alienation, how your job defines you, and more. The style might not be as good as Eternal Sunshine, but in my opinion the two movies are very close in terms of overall quality. A very creative movie, very well acted, and very interesting characters.

5. Bronson

Charles Bronson is Britain's most famous inmate. He wants to be famous. He loves prison and he loves to fight. He has spent the majority of his life in solitary confinement. When he isn't, he's fighting guards and enjoying life. Tom Hardy gives one of the greatest acting performances of all time. This is yet another film by Nicolas Winding Refn, which means that the direction is amazing as well. This film doesn't really have a story, it's a character study, and a damn fine one at that. This isn't for everyone. Be prepared for oddness and an excessive amount of make full-frontal nudity, but at the end of the day you should nothing but respect for Hardy as an actor.

4. Mr. Nobody

Mr. Nobody is a sci-fi adventure that deals with the topic of choice. Life is filled with choices, and instead of this movie pursuing one choice, it pursues all of them. When Nemo makes a life-changing decision, we follow the different paths of his life for each possible decision. Soon, Nemo starts existing in these multiple worlds at the same time. The whole movie is told by Nemo on his death bed as he reflects upon his life. Be prepared to ask yourself some philosophical questions at the end of this, as well as asking yourself what you just watched.

3. Love Exposure

Sion Sono brings us a 4 hour epic that is extremely difficult to define. Despite the long length, I was entertained and never bored from beginning to end. Religious commentary, perverted humour, love, family, and a whole lot more. If you have the maturity of a ten year old boy, you will not be able to get through this movie and not be able to appreciate it. Ya, you can learn something from this film, but a lot of messages are Christian idealism. At the end of it all, this movie is just flat-out entertaining and hilarious.

2. Moon

Possibly the greatest sci-fi film of the decade. In 1977, a film called Star Wars ruined the path of sci-fi. The 70s was filled with slo-burning sci-fi that used the genre to set up interesting worlds, but the movies were ultimately about the stories. Moon marks the come-back of the 70s slo-burn sci-fi and the emergence of another great director, Duncan Jones. Sam Rockwell gives an amazing performance as an astronaut alone in space for three years at a mining base. The mood is amazing, the score is amazing, the writing is amazing, the acting is amazing. Everything about this movie is amazing. If you haven't seen it, watch it....right now.

1. Synecdoche, New York

As far as I can tell this movie is about life. Just life, as told through film. The film is about a director trying to capture life in a theatre play. That's a pretty big topic, and the title is appropriate. There are countless metaphors that are as entertaining and they are obscure. The plot itself is scrambled and somewhat confusing. The acting is right on cue. The imagery just forces you to sit in awe of what you are looking at. To tackle the whole film in one sitting is to set yourself up for too big a task. For me, this film is exactly what the art of cinema should be. I was simply amazed after watching this film, it most definitely requires multiple viewings.


                                     #50-41  #40-31  #30-21  #20-11 ...