10. A History Of Violence (2005) – I wasn’t much of a Cronenberg fan until a few years ago. I have always liked Naked Lunch and The Fly and I thought Existenz was pretty interesting but I hadn’t actually given most of his films much of a chance. I would have to say that this is the film that made me want to take a closer look at him and his work. I love the way that this film explores what it means to be “a good guy”. Can we lead a life wholesome enough to erase the skeletons in our closets? Or at least make up for them? Or will we always have to account for our sins? It’s also interesting to note that until a year or so ago, I though his more recent film, Eastern Promises was much better. I think A History Of Violence stands up to multiple viewing much more than perhaps anything else he’s directed. I was amazed at how much more I loved this film after my second and third viewing.
9. The Fall (2006)
– Although this film was released theatrically in ’06, it was so limited that most people didn’t see it until its DVD came out in ’08. I recall seeing a trailer for this flick and thinking that it looked beautiful but probably wouldn’t amount to much more than eye candy. I was very pleased to be proven wrong when I finally viewed it. I found it very similar to Pan’s Labyrinth. It is basically a fairy tale seen through a child’s eyes with a very adult theme providing the background for the storytelling. What I think sets this film above Pan’s Labyrinth is its visual style. Director Tarshem (Singh) reportedly spent seven years scouting locations for this film and he found some unbelievable places to shoot. Also, there are almost no special effects in this film. The images are constructed almost entirely by an ingenious use of the camera, lighting and set design.
8. Primer (2004) – Th
is is probably my most personally inspiration film on this list. Director/writer/producer/star, Shane Caruth is a mathematician with no previous experience in filmmaking. For all intents and purposes he reverse engineered the movie making process on a $7,000 budget. What he ended up with is my all time favorite time travel flick. It is unapologetically complex in both its physics and its philosophy. Be forewarned; this is not the type of movie you would want to pop in with a group of friends intending of some background noise and flashy lights. It took me three viewings before I felt like I had completely grasped this film’s timeline and every subsequent viewing brings something new to light.
7. 3-Iron (2005) – This is so far my favorite film from South Korean auteur, Kim Ki-duk. I’ve seen several of his films and
have noticed a recurring theme with all of them. He uses very little dialogue while still managing to say a great deal. In this particular film, the lack of dialogue is probably the most drastic and is even used as a plot point. This is really effective because, unlike most foreign language films, you can actually pay more attention to the performances, instead of constantly having to read subtitles. There are two main characters that take the vast majority of the screen time. Their performances are perfect. They are neither too bombastic nor too reserved. They allow the brilliance of the story to unfold leaving no question to the viewer as to what is driving their hearts and minds to the action they take.
6. The Lives Of Others (2006) – This is one of those films that you would show in a class on writing characters. Ulrich Muhe plays
a Stasi surveillance officer listening in on an East German playwright he suspects as an enemy of the state. The great thing about his character is not only his personal arc but how it applies to the world he lives in. I think that when writing about this type of subject matter, it’s all too often we simply see the struggle of good and evil told through very archetypical characters. The problem with that type of writing is quite frankly that people are not archetypes.
5. Talk To Her (2002)
– The plot synopsis of this film (and a lot of Almodovar’s other work) reads pretty much like a slightly askew soap opera. I really had a hard time believing I would even be remotely interested in this story. Well, it made the list didn’t it? This has to be one of the best examples of why the storyteller is more important than the story. This Spanish drama unfolds before you with some of the most flamboyantly beautiful color palettes ever committed to celluloid. One thing I always consider when I watch a new film, is how well I remember it a few days later. Just because a movie was able to wow me while I was watching it, doesn’t always translate into it becoming one of my favorite flicks. My favorites always leave deep visual impressions on me. When I think of them, a flood of images (ranging from beautiful to disturbing) is always branded into my skull. Think of Captain Willard emerging from the water in Apocalypse Now or Gaear Grimsrud feeding Carl Showalter to the wood chipper in Fargo. These aren’t just scenes of a film, they are immortal images captured by artists while they were at the top of their profession. Watch this film and I think you will see what I am talking about.
4. (Sympathy for) Lad
y Vengeance (2005) – This film is the third installment of South Korean director, Park Chan-wook’s “Vengeance Trilogy.” The first two include Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and the more popular Oldboy. Although this film is my favorite of the three, I would absolutely suggest that you watch all three in order. It is a “loose trilogy” (no recurring characters or story lines, just a recurring theme) but I really feel like you will get the most out of each film by watching them in the order they were released. That being said, there is a distinct reason I prefer Lady Vengeance over the previous two. All three have a very defined and beautiful aesthetic. All three have brilliant plot twists and reveals that will most defiantly shock and in some cases disgust the viewer. But alas, it is the third act of this film that closes the deal for me. I won’t give anything away, but it was the end of this film that I felt contained the heart and soul that the previous two lacked.
3. A Serious Man (2009) – I think this is my favorite Coen Brothers film since Fargo. And I may actually love this one a bit more as time goes by. The Brothers have a long time been my own personal favorite filmmakers and it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a mood piece by them. This film harkens back to Barton Fink in that the story (although great) seems to take a back seat to tone and atmosphere. I saw this film opening day. I really enjoyed it at first but what struck me was how long the film stayed with me. This movie can be read so many different ways that I won’t get into at right now. I could see some people being unsatisfied with its story but I would say that it’s the journey, not the destination that you will get the most out of. “Accept the mystery.”
2. Amelie (2001) – Jean-Piere Juenet is my favorite European director. He has a very specific style of storytelling that I seem to fall for every time and this film is his most accessible to an American audience. I like to refer to this film as a gateway drug to foreign cinema. On the surface, it’s nothing more than a cute love story told with a healthy dose of French quirk and charm. That’s all well and good but it doesn’t really give you the full picture. Oddities and quirk do not a great film make (you can get that in Garden State.) Like all great art, the devil is in the details. This film gives you an unusually high amount of information and it does it with grace and poise, never loosing track of that which is driving the story forward. I re-watch this flick at least once or twice a year, always concerned that it will lose its allure. Nine years later and I still love it.
1. Inglourious Basterds (2009) – Make no mistake, this film is by no means perfect. There are actually quite a few flaws with it. I thought Eli Roth was particularly bad and I could have done without Brad Pitt’s weird accent. That being said, I absolutely, one-hundred percent loved this film. This is a period piece of revisionist history (revisionist being the operative word). It plays out in a series of five chapters, each one containing its own beginning, middle and end…… But it’s not really that straight-forward. Some critics have claimed that Spielberg’s Jaws was the first film that didn’t use the theater’s proscenium arch. Well, this film not only sees the arch, it spins it around 360 degrees and flips it inside out. It doesn’t just break the fourth wall, at points it replaces it with one of those crazy carnival mirrors that distorts your reflection. I could write quite a bit about this movie but I would like to end with this: This film is about a lot of things and works on and in between many layers. You may like it as a film about war and specifically WWII (which it is). You may like it as a piece of re-imagined historic wish fulfillment (it’s that too). Or a host of other reasons I won’t get into. I love this film because it’s about film………. And I love film.
Cinematic Country Of The Decade – South Korea. I just felt I should mention this. Two films from this country made my top 10 but there is probably 5 more that would make my top 25 (if I were to do so). With filmmakers like the aforementioned Kim Ki-duk and Park Chan-wook you will more than likely always find something of interest. Other films from Kim Ki-duk to check out are Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter………….. & Spring and Samaritan Girl. Park Chan-wook’s first film was JSA – Joint Security Area, a military police procedural that takes place in the DMZ and his latest vampire flick, Thirst are a couple you should throw into your queue right away. Another director that has really taken off is Bong Joon-ho. He gained international notoriety with his first-class monster movie, Host a few years ago. But I actually prefer his earlier film, Memories of Murder, a police drama/murder mystery set in a small rural village. His newest flick, Mother is getting great reviews and I’m anxiously awaiting its DVD release. I couple other notable flicks from South Korea are A Dirty Carnival and Save The Green Planet. A Dirty Carnival is pretty interesting gangster flick that’s about an aspiring filmmaker that’s following around one of his old high-school chums for research on a film he’s writing. Save The Green Planet is completely insane and indescribable in any way shape or form. If you don’t believe me, just watch it and then you try to explain it.
Screenwriter Of The Decade – Charlie Kaufman. It seems to me that the rule of thumb is, the harder it is to describe what the film is about, the more I will love it. This writer made himself known in ’99 with Being John Malkovich. His later films include Adaptation – a film about a screenwriter (Charlie Kaufman) writing an adaptation of the bestselling book, “The Orchid Thief”. He writes instead a screenplay about himself writing the screenplay. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – a film that largely takes place in the mind of its main character, desperately grasping at the memories he has recently hired a doctor to erase. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – an adaptation of former Newlyweds game show host, Chuck Barris’ very strange autobiography in which Barris had apparently had a secret double life as a CIA assassin. Synecdoche, New York – This is his latest film and directorial debut about a playwright who seems to have an enormous problem differentiating between his life and the stage.
Director Of The Decade – Park Chan-wook. I think I’ve mentioned this guy enough but I will say that he is definitely not my favorite director of all time. That being said, if you look at his body of work over the past decade, I don’t think any other filmmaker has come close to putting out as consistently good and interesting films. They are both visually striking with beautiful aesthetics and philosophically thought provoking to say the least.
