Personal Top Ten Films
Just my opinion, ranking the very best of the films I've seen.
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1.
Requiem for a Dream
(2000)
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island individuals are shattered when their addictions become stronger. (102 mins.)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
“ A film in three acts, depicting the struggles of four people. They reach toward purpose, trying to bring meaning into their lives, and ultimately fail. Superficially an anti-drug movie, but with deeper exploration of the human condition. Constructs its characters with such immense pathos that it becomes difficult to not feel any sort of empathy, even when their lives are not like our own. After all, they are not so different from us in the end. A film about hope and ultimate despair.
On a less poetic level, an extremely strong sophomore offering by Aronofsky. The direction of the plot remains definitely pointed throughout each of the characters' personal stories. Ellen Burstyn puts forth the performance of her career, especially with her heartrending monologue on growing old. Effective and interesting cinematography throughout. Dialogue is natural and fluid for the most part. Like most Aronofsky works, aurally defined by Clint Mansell's dramatic motifs. A stunningly structured work of art. ” - jnmwhg
On a less poetic level, an extremely strong sophomore offering by Aronofsky. The direction of the plot remains definitely pointed throughout each of the characters' personal stories. Ellen Burstyn puts forth the performance of her career, especially with her heartrending monologue on growing old. Effective and interesting cinematography throughout. Dialogue is natural and fluid for the most part. Like most Aronofsky works, aurally defined by Clint Mansell's dramatic motifs. A stunningly structured work of art. ” - jnmwhg
2.
2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968)
Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest. (141 mins.)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
“ How have we evolved from our primitive ancestors? What is our ultimate purpose? Why does our urge to create sometimes result in our own detriment? What does the future of mankind look like?
Kubrick's crowning achievement still remains the finest example of science fiction ever to be filmed. His trademark obsessive set design shows here most of all, with almost excessive amounts of realism. The entirely practical special effects have hardly aged at all. However, on the human side, the actors are nothing special. The true standout in the cast is the one that never shows his face: HAL, who, ironically, becomes the most human of all the cast. Through an unblinking red light, he states his logical conclusions, up until the point where he realizes that he may be shut down. HAL's fear of "death" is somewhat profound; like a god, humans have created something truly in their own image, and it is frightened by their power over its fate. As Clarke, who co-wrote the film, writes in one of his essays: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." As a corollary, the end of evolution implies godhood. 2001 is an audiovisual essay on our future as a species, both a cautious warning and a triumphant dream. ” - jnmwhg
Kubrick's crowning achievement still remains the finest example of science fiction ever to be filmed. His trademark obsessive set design shows here most of all, with almost excessive amounts of realism. The entirely practical special effects have hardly aged at all. However, on the human side, the actors are nothing special. The true standout in the cast is the one that never shows his face: HAL, who, ironically, becomes the most human of all the cast. Through an unblinking red light, he states his logical conclusions, up until the point where he realizes that he may be shut down. HAL's fear of "death" is somewhat profound; like a god, humans have created something truly in their own image, and it is frightened by their power over its fate. As Clarke, who co-wrote the film, writes in one of his essays: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." As a corollary, the end of evolution implies godhood. 2001 is an audiovisual essay on our future as a species, both a cautious warning and a triumphant dream. ” - jnmwhg
3.
Synecdoche, New York
(2008)
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play. (124 mins.)
Director: Charlie Kaufman
“ One of Shakespeare's most famous lines states that "All the world's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players: / They have their exits and their entrances; / And one man in his time plays many parts." The idea of life-as-performance is nearly as old as philosophy itself, and many artists have re-stated it through the lens of their own works. This is Charlie Kaufman's version in his directorial debut.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, in a virtuoso performance, plays Caden Cotard, a director of plays. He is overweight and awkward; his marriage is failing; he recognizes himself as pathetic. Still, he has a distant vision of a magnum opus, a work to make himself a household name. His inspiration finally comes with disease: his work will be about death, and therefore will encompass life as well. He begins construction of a city within a city, hiring actors to play real people. Eventually he even hires someone to play himself. And the rabbit hole gets deeper.
The film is divided in tone in the best of ways. It rides the line between absurd dark comedy and deep art film, making some scenes both pathetically hilarious and starkly depressing. Kaufman's experience as a film writer shows in the strength of each scene. Although no actors top Hoffman's performance, the rest of the cast is strong. The set design and cinematography are fresh and interesting. Overall, a magnificient film. ” - jnmwhg
Philip Seymour Hoffman, in a virtuoso performance, plays Caden Cotard, a director of plays. He is overweight and awkward; his marriage is failing; he recognizes himself as pathetic. Still, he has a distant vision of a magnum opus, a work to make himself a household name. His inspiration finally comes with disease: his work will be about death, and therefore will encompass life as well. He begins construction of a city within a city, hiring actors to play real people. Eventually he even hires someone to play himself. And the rabbit hole gets deeper.
The film is divided in tone in the best of ways. It rides the line between absurd dark comedy and deep art film, making some scenes both pathetically hilarious and starkly depressing. Kaufman's experience as a film writer shows in the strength of each scene. Although no actors top Hoffman's performance, the rest of the cast is strong. The set design and cinematography are fresh and interesting. Overall, a magnificient film. ” - jnmwhg
4.
The Shining
(1980)
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future. (146 mins.)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
5.
The Wrestler
(2008)
A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle. (109 mins.)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
6.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
(1984)
Warrior/pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet. (117 mins.)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
7.
Natural Born Killers
(1994)
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media. (118 mins.)
Director: Oliver Stone
8.
The Holy Mountain
(1973)
A Christlike figure wanders through bizarre, grotesque scenarios filled with religious and sacrilegious imagery... (114 mins.)
Director: Alexandro Jodorowsky
9.
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
"Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it. (117 mins.)
Director: Joel Coen
10.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
(1966)
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery. (161 mins.)
Director: Sergio Leone
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