My Favorite Movies

I cannot imagine a romance film that is more sincere or subdued. It's like watching every good dream you've ever had unfurl on the screen.

If you don't like this movie, you're wrong. Simple as that.

I don't really think I'm the right age group to be able to appreciate this film completely, but I can tell a fantastic performance and a tight screenplay when I see one. I'll probably end up watching this again in 20 years and wondering where all the time has gone.

It's substantial without being dense, stylish without being pretentious and a delightful dark-comedy romp. Easily one of the best things Japan has ever produced. (Seen it seven times!)

It's the world's most self-aware slasher! The movie has a brain, which is a claim that about 2% of the films in this genre can make, and an acerbic sense of humor.

Saw it for the first time about two weeks ago. It was amazing. The production is a little bit too slick but that hardly matters with a holeless script, superb performances and a numbingly oppressive atmosphere. It's the first time I've ever found myself rooting for convicted murderers.

Aww. I love this movie. And it has my favorite movie quote of all time, too. ;_;

Amazing fucking movie.

One of the most underrated animated movies of all time.

One of my favorite movies.

My favorite comedy movie of all time. If you don't like it, then I'm sorry to say, but you're just not smart enough to get the appeal. Try again in five years.

Without dicing words, it's the scariest movie I've ever seen. It's not overtly psychological, choosing instead to focus on the innate horror and the terrifying atmosphere of the caves. Perhaps it was because I saw it in theaters, but the sense of fear was immensely amplified to the point where I didn't think I could stand it.

The Bond films have created a secure place for themselves. They have long since been content with setting very low standards and then meeting them, which is okay to some extent, but doesn't make for very viable cinema. They've been great successes technically, but the acting and scriptwork have been total flops.

Casino Royale changes all that. The writing is the strongest that the Bond franchise has ever seen, and the series makes a paradigm shift from campy fantasy nonsense to a real, intelligent spy thriller. About time!

Daniel Craig and Eva Green are the best Bond and Bond girl, respectively, to come around in an extremely long time. The two flaws are Mads Mikkelsen's underwritten villain and a somewhat drawn-out ending, but they don't hurt the overall product much.

A fantastic war drama tinged with elements of suspense and horror. It is deceptively marketed as a scary movie, but it isn't really; the supernatural presence here is not nearly as menacing as the human one.

Amazing performances, beautiful camerawork, and a strong aesthetic sensibility put this movie well above the typical war drama.

Audrey Tautou owns yet another role. Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent as well. The plot is a little bare-bones, but truly deep characters and a sense of intrigue help the movie out in this department.

The ending could have used a little more work.

This movie gives me the tinglies. I really want to watch it again.

Like The Man Who Knew Too Much, I love this movie for reasons I don't really understand - probably nostalgia.

I love this movie to death.

"You're a swamp, a bog, a goddamn fen!"

Quite simply one of the most perfect movies I've seen in a very, very long time. I seriously can't think of a single thing I disliked about City of God.

Lola is a BAMF.

The one problem with the movie is that the side characters seem kind of caricatural, but that's hardly a valid complaint at all - more of a nitpick. The movie is near-perfect otherwise.

This movie totally floored me. I knew it would be good, but not as good as it proved itself to be. There's so much I could say...but the movie quite simply does everything right. Guillermo del Toro is an unbelievably talented director.

I love how so many contrasting elements synthesize in this movie perfectly. The clash between fantasy and reality, one outweighing the other at different times when it counts the most, is the most obvious motif. At first, Ofelia is steeped in mystical encounters with odd beings, but as the movie wears on and her life outside the Labyrinth goes downhill, we barely see anything at all of Faun and his homies. In fact, the movie is probably 70/30 in favor of the heavy, depressing war story, which climaxes several times into some really awesome scenes. That one where the guerrillas first raid the camp is just fucking amazing.

But there are less obvious ones, like the use of childish fantasy and the intertwining of harsh violence. Yes, the film seems unduly brutal. Hey guess what? War is brutal. Life is brutal. And indubitably, death is brutal. The eye-openers that Ofelia gets are just as shocking to the audience in that regard. One may consider the torture scenes gratuitous, but nothing happens without reason in Pan's Labyrinth. If the violence isn't helping to enlighten Ofelia as to the true ways of the world, it's showing us the cruelty of the human being and the earth we live upon. It almost makes me want to escape to some fantasy world; Ofelia's decisions seem all the stronger in light of what she experiences.

I could talk forever, but I figure there's some sort of character limit on this. Go see Pan's Labyrinth. If for some bizarre reason you don't like it, ask yourself why and be honest. If you think it's a legitimately bad movie, then there's really no hope for you. If you're shocked by what you see, then just remember, the world is like that.

I can't believe it took me so long to see this. This is the perfect horror movie, the kind of thing that I'd like to write. Quite simply fantastic.

I mean, Shelley Duval's horse face bothers me, so I guess that's the only thing about The Shining that really wasn't sticking, but other than that, I can't think of anything I didn't love about it.

It is absolutely ludicrous to compare this in any way to Perfect Blue, even though they were both directed by Satoshi Kon. Millennium Actress needs no psych-thriller to stand as a good movie, and establishes itself as a romance masterpiece in its own right. Its vivid and unique presentation allow it to incorporate all sorts of elements: romance, comedy, drama, fantasy, catastrophe, space travel and even some ninja action. The movie is consistently gripping and very intriguing.

Okay, so I lied a little. Millennium Actress does bear a bit of similarity to Perfect Blue in the story telling field, colored by their non-linear plot exposition. It is constructed in an intricately sequential way. They both employ alternate realities, though Millennium Actress demonstrates many more of these quasi-worlds. It may be a romance, one of the most insufferable and difficult genres of anime, but it is a romance that spans so many different epochs and locales that it becomes something far more fantastical. This romance that Chiyoko pursues is something wild and free, and the adventures she endures in seeking it are both exciting and heartbreaking as well. Her time-traveling exploration, narrated deftly by ways of the movie she was starring in at that moment, keeps the pursuit absolutely fresh and interesting. Millenium Actress simply would not have worked any other way, and its execution was powerful and unique. It only receives an 8, however, for an ending that may leave some viewers feeling gypped. I personally found the ending tolerable, but felt that it could have concluded in many better ways.

Chiyoko is an extremely likeable heroine. I found myself rooting for her as she searched with unmatched tenacity; the viewer actually wants her to find her mysterious love. She may have only known this person for one day, but in a life as hollow and lonely as hers, one where she constantly fears unfulfillment, she needs this kind of thing to fill her emptiness. This is scarcely a romance of love, so much as a romance of necessity, but nevertheless Chiyoko's ambition is one that endears itself to the viewer very quickly. She's also a very good actress, as she communicates several diverse parts throughout her movie career: a ninja princess, 50's housewife, and astronaut, just to name a few. Chiyoko aside, the cameraman and director also are vivid characters, especially the cameraman. In each era, he always comes to her rescue as another character of the movie, which is a charming recurrence. In fact, this reappearance is applicable to several of the movie's characters, which allows the viewer to clearly grasp each character's motives and personality. Chiyoko's love himself remains mysteriously faceless, which only adds to his mystique. Characters are conceivably Millenium Actress's strongest aspect.

Yet another work of art by Satoshi Kon, Millenium Actress is an exotic, romantic and exciting romp through many different locales that all bear one thing in common: the love-lorn Chiyoko Fujiwara and her search for the man who gave her a key. The adventure she undergoes is a wild and remarkable one, uniquely painted by its vivid storytelling and powerful characterization.

My head is still spinning. They should show this in schools - nothing else could make a more persuasive anti-drug statement. It's scary how something that seems like a path to your dream can rip it out of your hands in a heartbeat.

I found nearly the entire movie terrifying and depressing, but the saddest part of the entire film for me was easily when Jared Leto came to tell his mom that he bought her a TV. Ellen Burstyn's monologue had tears literally streaming down my face. I couldn't believe myself. The fact that she lost to Julia fucking Roberts for the 2000 Best Actress Oscar is a slap in the face. Erin Brokovich can go die.

But despite all that, this is a dizzying, unbelievable, highly effective film. Getting through it will be tough, but it has a lot to say.

I was completely blown away by this movie. Absolutely perfect in every sense, you don't deserve to call yourself a horror fan unless you've watched The Innocents.

Aw man, was this ever a kick. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman deserve credit for birthing one of the most original, clever and oddly modest films in a long time. This could have been a self-indulgent, pseudo-intellectual nightmare, but instead it's just a quirky Ouroboros of a film. Strange, captivating, bold and daring, oddly perfect.

One of the most sublimely-crafted thriller/mysteries I've ever seen. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a slightly subdued (and thus slightly overlong, my main fault with the movie) trip into obsession and inadequacy.

Matt Damon, who is widely underrated as an actor, gives a phenomenal performance as a tormented, multifaceted man who stepped into the Garden of Eden and sure as hell doesn't want to leave. Jude Law is great too, in an admittedly underwritten part - what is it about Supporting Actor nominees states that they have to be killed at the 45 minute mark? (See also Rachel Weisz for Constant Gardener.) By proportion, the females in the cast seem to be holding back. Gwyneth Paltrow is nearly sleepwalking until the last half-hour of the film, and Cate Blanchett is nowhere to be seen.

You rarely see paradigm shifts done as well as The Talented Mr. Ripley did them in movies. I found my allegiances changing all across the board. First I felt bad for Tom, then for Dickie, then I found myself hating Tom AND Dickie, really hating Tom, liking Tom, feeling sorry for Tom, hating Tom again, and ultimately wanting Tom to find happiness. The movie played with my emotions and morals seamlessly. Watching it is almost trying in that regard - I found myself cringing at a number of scenes that I wouldn't have given a second thought in most other movies. One may find it surprisingly difficult to defend Tom's course of action throughout the film, but I found his character to be really sad, if not certainly unbalanced.

All in all, you rarely see something this exploratory and gut-wrenching in the genre. Highly recommended.

This movie is fucking brilliant! If you don't enjoy it, you're dead inside. Screw eloquence - it's the most fun you'll have at the movies in a long time. See it!