69 – A Serious Man (2009) Directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, The Coen Brothers deliver their most intimate film yet. Expanding upon some of the themes they’ve played with in the past, the film deals with everything from man’s search for meaning, …
Before I get to number 49 I feel the need to list fifty honorable mentions. This is a very personal list and I am confident that I could have easily chosen 100 foreign language films or 100 independent art house films and skipped out on all the Hollywood flicks, but I decided to go with …
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Runner-up: 11) Idiocracy (2006) I initially felt iffy about including Idiocracy on this list, but the more I thought about it critically, and as a work of science fiction, the more I felt it appropriate. Still, I’m only listing it as the runner-up. Created by Mike Judge of many other comedic successes, this time travel …
Cameron has accomplished that rare task, to inject a real sense of magic and spectacle sorely lacking in big budget movies, aptly bookmarking the prologue and finale of the film with the image of eyes opening, an apt cinematic metaphor for his triumphant return to the multiplexes. Avatar James Cameron 2009 Ferngully with guns. Dances …
59- Capturing the Friedmans (2003) Directed by Andrew Jarecki Genre: Documentary On the surface, the Friedmans were a typical 1980s American family until on one Thanksgiving Day, when that happy façade came to a crashing halt. After the local police discovered the dad had engaged in the buying and selling of child pornography, they questioned …
Johnny Depp has high hopes for putting a notch in the current vampire-trend bedpost. His lifelong dream of playing Barnabus Collins, the leading vamp in Dark Shadows, is just on the horizon of coming true. As soon as Tim Burton’s take of Alice in Wonderland is on the screens, he will be pursuing the remake …
69 – A Serious Man (2009) Directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Genre: Drama, Dark Comedy Blending dark humor with profoundly personal themes, The Coen Brothers deliver their most intimate film yet. Expanding upon some of the themes they’ve played with in the past, the film deals with everything from man’s search for meaning, …
Richard Linklater continues to be a sneakily brilliant director. Working with the actors, he slowly imbues his otherwise stock characters with a humanity that really pays off in the back half of the film. Me and Orson Welles Directed by Richard Linklater In lesser hands, Me and Orson Welles might have been a grandiose love letter …
Two pianists, two war films of disconcerting beauty, lots of weight loss and some black chadors – here are some of the best international films of the decade. 1. Gegen die Wand / Head-on (2004) Directed / Written by Fatih Akin Drama, Germany & Turkey If a film ever deserved the characterisation of possessing …
Whoever said “Pride and Prejudice is a pretty good story, but you know what it needs… zombies” was really onto something. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies hit bookshelves on April 1, 2009, and it has enjoyed a wildly successful turn on the New York Times bestseller list ever since. The novel is written by Seth …
79– Divine Intervention (2002) Directed by Elia Suleiman Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama Palestinian writer-director Elia Suleiman has rightfully been compared to Charlie Chaplin with his talent to create such brilliant deadpan black out sketches in the midst of his long slow-paced moments of expressive silence. Divine Intervention is his second feature, best described as the …
Any independent filmmaker had to lament, even if only in a small way, the closure of several boutique “art house” divisions from the Hollywood honchos (read: studios) over the last few years. Paramount Vantage (Virgin Suicides, There Will be Blood, Babel) is no exception, however…it looks like chairman Brad Grey is making a promise to …
There have been very few satisfying horror movies in the last decade. As for most of those that were in theatres, I’ve literally sat there screaming “Don’t look under the bed!… Why are you going in the closet?! … Look, everyone heard the noise! You heard it, I heard it, the guy four rows …
A delirious cocktail of satire, sex, music, murder and cod-Shakespearean dialogue, Russ Meyer’s cult classic is a blast from its pistol-in-the-mouth start to its tongue-in-cheek finish. Even if you’ve never seen a Meyer film and don’t share his predilection for buxom ladies with limited acting skills, the story of an all-girl rock group in Hollywood …
89- Azumi (2003) Directed by Ryûhei Kitamura Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action Lovers of Asian cinema should love Azumi. A slick, relentless, violent yet beautiful genre piece with breathtaking stunt choreography and impressive wirework by Yuta Morokaji that makes the fight sequence in Kill Bill seem tame. – 88- The Proposition (2005) Directed by John Hillcoat …
10. WITH HONORS (1994) Not a film that pops up on most holiday lists, however, With Honors exudes the quintessential holiday spirit with a memorable final act, thoroughly laced with virtue, love and friendship. With Honors is the story of smug Harvard student; Montgomery Kessler (the name aptly characterizes Brendan Fraser) who meets squatter Simon …
Twisted Christmas Movies You Must See Written by Nigel Hamid This holiday season, when the weather outside is frightful, instead of curling up inside watching wholesome Christmas movies such as It’s a Wonderful Life or A Miracle on 34th Street, consider these frightening alternatives to jingle your bells. All Through the House In the 1972 …
100- Brick (2005) Directed by Rian Johnson Genre: Film Noir, Mystery, Crime Rian Johnson’s Brick is a rare gem; the low-key, post-modern approach mingles ’40s and ’50s costume accents and the hard-boiled attitude of the great 1930s and ’40s detective novels with the institutional drab of a suburban high school. Take the regular struggles of …
Philip Seymour Hoffman has seen work on no less than four of Paul Thomas Anderson’s best known films: Sydney, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love. Even though Hoffman has had ample opportunities to shine for Anderson in supporting roles, his director pal has yet to offer Hoffman the lead on any of his films. …
Australia may not have an overabundance of horror films but they do have a rich history within the genre ranging from lowbrow slashers to moody thrillers and outrageous horror comedies. The recent success of the acclaimed documentary Not Quite Hollywood has shed light on a much overlooked aspect of Aussie genre filmmaking. Although horror movies …
Universal is being slow on giving the go ahead for the next Paul Anderson movie. The director of “There will be blood” has chosen Philip Seymour Hoffman to be part of his next, unnamed movie endeavor. Hoffman would be the lead in an untitled period drama as a “Master”, according to http://weblogs.variety.com/. The Master hatches …
The greatest accomplishment of this film is how it seeks to surprise its viewers, not just with what happens but with where we place our loyalty. Short Cuts (1993) Directed by Robert Altman United States – 187 min. Color Criterion Spine #265 The Criteron Collection’s two-disc issue of Robert Altman’s 1993 film Short Cuts comes …