Personal favorites
These are mine personal favourites... They are listed in no particular order. With this list i try to balance movies that i really love with movies i consider to be great. So movies on the top of the list are movies that got me on every level, movies that i don't just love to watch but movies that i consider to be 'flawless'... As you move down you will find movies that i like for one reason or the other but don't really think they are as good... I recommend them all to you, of course, they're all great films...
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- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA secretary on the run for embezzlement takes refuge at a secluded California motel owned by a repressed man and his overbearing mother.This is a film that I love more for it's craft than for it's writing, even though it's great. Not as complex or philosophical like A Clockwork Orange but a film that I can watch over and over again just for it's craft. Hitchcock has been playing with cinematic tools all through the 40s and 50s, and this is at his best. Around that time it all got together and he really perfected his craft, he was like a conductor directing an orchestra. Also, what was mindblowing to me at first is having a classic main Hitchcock heroine and then killing her off one third into the movie, and now we're focused on the Bates hotel. Bunuel and later Linklater took this to extreme but but I liked the idea of it. Every aspect of filmmaking was perfect here.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsWillem DafoeSusan SarandonDana DelanyA drug dealer reconsiders his profession when his boss plans to go straight and an old flame reappears.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsIsabella RosselliniKyle MacLachlanDennis HopperThe discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsNaomi WattsTim RothMichael PittTwo psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.A flawless movie... As the story was unwrapping i was so determined to find in it just one flaw but Haneke thought of everything and eventually addresses and answers everything but still makes you think about possible meanings behind all of this... One of which is commentary on how media treats violence. All the movies i saw made by Haneke, are technically great like this one; but in a lot of cases i find them boring (still steady cam shot for the most part, no music at all, really slow pacing...), and more like an exercise in realism and perfection (like a slice of life which i don't like... to me movies are like myth or an allegory, to me it's an illusion of reality and if people are fooled good they have no problem but when it's bad they question the laws of physics... and when it's real life it's just a bore) but this one is an exception. It has great cinematography, great pacing and i was so invested that i didn't notice that there was no soundtrack (other than what's playing in the scene itself, case point record player or a radio...)
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGene HackmanJohn CazaleAllen GarfieldA paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsBarbara SukowaJean-Marc BarrUdo KierJust after World War II, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsJane FondaMichael SarrazinSusannah YorkThe lives of a disparate group of contestants intertwine in an inhumanely grueling dance marathon.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsRoman PolanskiIsabelle AdjaniMelvyn DouglasA bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJeff BridgesJohn GoodmanJulianne MooreJeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.It's just, like, my opinion man!
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsJames GarnerJulie AndrewsMelvyn DouglasAn American Naval Officer's talent for living the good life in wartime is challenged when he falls in love and is sent on a dangerous mission.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTallulah BankheadJohn HodiakWalter SlezakSeveral survivors of a torpedoed merchant ship in World War II find themselves in the same lifeboat with one of the crew members of the U-boat that sank their ship.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsJohn TravoltaNancy AllenJohn LithgowA movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsEmily WatsonStellan SkarsgårdKatrin CartlidgeOilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.Just a great emotional ride, a movie that was bald enough to compromise everything that makes a movie what it is just to get a good performance. All the fancy equipment, all the rules of directing, all the continuity rules, all the rules of directing/shooting/editing/acting in one motion picture... this movie threw all of that out of the window. Thus making a movie that is appealing to both the hart and the mind.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsRyan O'NealBruce DernIsabelle AdjaniA getaway driver becomes the latest assignment for a tenacious detective.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsCharles AznavourMarie DuboisNicole BergerA pianist helps his brother escape from two gangsters, who retaliate by abducting their kid brother.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRobert DonatMadeleine CarrollLucie MannheimA man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.This one, also like Rope, is kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. Not that it's bad, but it's not as good... But I'm not making "The Greatest Movies EVER" list, these are my personal fav's... All the critique aside, i love this Hitchcock movie like no other... Lighting in this picture is better than everything he made in USA in his later years. Story is a simple and interesting thriller but that's not the point, glue that really holds this picture together is acting. I LOVED the chemistry between Madeleine Carroll and Robert Donat, their great acting chops broth some really good comical elements into this picture, also their facial expressions are priceless. it doesn't have melodramatic/manipulative music though out the film, but instead it for the good part relied on emotions present within a scene to get a response from you (unlike Vertigo which wouldn't have been half as nerve wrecking if you were to take the music out). But overall, anyone who knows Hitchcock's work and loves it, will find his signatures all over it since it has all the major Hitchcock themes...
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.Usually when it comes to the movies with 'mindblowing twists', I can enjoy them but only on first viewing ("Ah, see what you did there... Great, good for you." ) but they usually decline on second or third viewing (like The Sixth sense for example, was able to appreciate it the first time but it doesn't work on the same level for me now). This movie is an exception, i can't say care for the twist so much now, it's getting to that point that i like now... With all the philosophical references (Plato mostly, Nihilism movement... ), subliminal images, and just overall great execution or it all. Probably David Fincher's best work to date, i don't think that he will ever out do this one.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnna KarinaSady RebbotAndré S. LabartheTwelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.Very inspiring, thought provoking, original, ground breaking peace of cinema that deserves more praise than it gets. I was never 100% on board with Godard and his films, even his early ones alienate me (and let's face it, breathless is great and innovative but when i hear people saying it's their favorite of all time, I automatically think they're either trying to impress some people or are total pretentious douches). This thing where he's always taking you out of the experience to remind you it's a movie can really be frustrating. But not with this one, it's charming as hell and i could watch it almost any time. And also, I don't care how cute the dance from Band of Outsiders is, Nana's dance is the best, i love it!
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.
- 19641h 35mPG8.3 (525K)97MetascoreDirectorStanley KubrickStarsPeter SellersGeorge C. ScottSterling HaydenAn unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsBjörkCatherine DeneuveDavid MorseAn Eastern European US immigrant with a love for musicals has to cope with the gradual loss of her vision.First of all, some of the best reincorporation i saw on a film (Sin City probably has the best...). And even though there were few bits and moments that weren't really that thought out and were just convenient, it ended up being one hell of a ride. It doesn't really spell out what morally right or wrong and lets you decide for your self, it may appear like Trier made all the Americans plain bad, but i never saw it that way and have never hated them. They're just as miserable and it's just survival of the fittest. I love this picture.