My Favorite Movies

How incredibly rare, a romantic comedy that is both romantic, and very funny. A perfect film for anyone a bit shy or introverted, or for anyone who has a bit of a romantic soul. Beautiful cinamatography, and Audrey Toutou is wonderful. a joy to watch

Wow. Back to the Future is a genuine landmark for cinema. There aren't many reasons for this, but they basically are, the incredible script, the central performances, and beautiful direction. But really, its all about that script. Time-Travelling movies usually have a good idea and a whole host of plotholes, but with Back To The Future, every line counts. Just take the early refernces to the Tower clock which tie in later, its so wonderful and give it so many repeat viewings (good job the way ITV show it) Fox was born to be McFly of course, with his foul mouthed (moreso than you think anyway) teenager (!) dragged out of his own time by the crazy Doc. Really can't recommend it highly enough

Funny silent film, which is mostly set on a moving train, with Keaton on the run. Amazing set pieces (the train falling off the bridge must have cost a fortune in 1926!) and forever prove that people falling over was, is, and always will be, very very funny

Action, Road, Art movie Vanishing Point is rightly a cult hit.
The story is simple, Kowalski bets that he can make it across the desert in 15 hours. He is kept company by a radio DJ who messages him about the potential police problems up ahead - teh film then becomes a chase against time, as the DJ's warnings become more dangerous and more people tune into see how Kowalski is doing and suddenly it feels like all of america is sat on the edge of the seat with you. The ending is spectacular and i won't spoil it but will say, go watch this film.

Wonderfully disturbing, knowingly bizzare, but still coherent cool and watchable.

Wonderful, beautifully shot, and great performances, and a wonderful script. has it all. First time i watched it, i understood the idea, and really liked it, and then every time i've watched it since i've got more and more out of it. I completely and fully get everything, and yet there's still the odd thing that really wows me. This is a masterpiece for all involved, the two leads are incredible, and the writing and direction flawless. Heady Heights indeed.

Funniest film ever? possibly.

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classic. Wonderful performance from James Stewart, and Grace Kelly is in fine form. A very clever satire of TV, 'celeb' cultre. possibly Hitch's best

Jules et Jim is a very unorthadox romance story, after all only the French could come up with a sentiment that a couple is not the best way for love.
The reason however that Jules et Jim feels so different, and indeed is a breath of fresh air as much today as it must have been in 1962,(other than the overall frenchness of it - infidelity after infedelity almost sums up a british sterotype of them) is the fact that the story, as the title suggests is as much, if not more, about the titular best friends, rather than Catherine the object of thier affection.
The film takes place over about 15 years, from just before the first world war (Jules and Jim both go to fight on different sides in the war) to the mid-1930s. The pair are instantly and lovably portrayed as two closer than close best friends, untill Jules falls in love and marrys Catherine, who it turns out Jim also has feelings for.
Unusually for a romantic film, your never that sympathetic to Catherine, she's not a perfect romcom girl, she's indecisive, she cheats, and she wants to live every experience to the last. She doesn't cause that much friction between the two friends though, even though they both share the same love for her, and Jules himself has the entire situation - and his wife - sussed, even with the resignation that inevitably comes with it.
A defining piece of Nouvelle Vague, Jules et Jim isn't so heavy with the arty hallmarks employed by Truffants good friend Jean-Luc Godard, though he does occasionaly use freeze-frames to highlight a point. The shots and light-camerawork however are just as revolutionairy and important.
The main skill though is in the story, which is completely absorbing, incredibly tight and deeply unpredictable. When the final blow comes, its the seperation of two best friends that really, really tugs at the heartstrings.
Films this beautiful are so rare, that this really has to be savoured time and time again. Rightfully its a classic.

Absolutely brilliant Comedy/Horror from Sam Raimi. The hand thing is the best bit in the trilogy, or film in general. WHO'S LAUGING NOW? watch it in company. Brilliant.

Kurt Russel is amazing in this, and the direction is flawless. possibly the best remake ever.

Wonderful from start to finish. Astonishing.

A generation later and Mattiueu Kassovitz is best known as the object of Audrey Tatou's affection in the charmingly whimsical Amelie, its easy to forget that he came to prominece directing with a heart hitting movie about the side of Paris that the movies and postcards don't usually show you.
It would be all to easy to describe La Haine as a hood movie, or a gang movie, or whatever, but its so much more that. Dramatic poignient and at times darkly amusing (Did you hear about the one with the nun?). The story follows three dissafected teenagers, who during a riot have lost one of their friends to the violence. Vinz wants revenge and to kill a cop - largely to make himself feel better, the other two spend alot of the film trying to find another way. Naturally the film ends in tragic circumstances, but not before you've gone on an incredible journey with charchters that, really you feel like you shouldn't like.
Its all a world away from Amelie, but it just goes tro show what a talent Kassovitz is

Any sitcom in the history of the world - or at least anytime since 1961 - that featured a charchter playing pool will inevitably squeeze in the line "He thinks he's Paul Newman!" - so iconic is The Hustler (and to a lesser extent its sequel) that Paul Newman is almost the most famous pool player there never was.
The film, based on the book, follows the story of Fast Eddie, a pool hustler who has more talent than has ever been seen on a pool-hall. When he goes after the best player around Minnasotta Fats however he loses, despite being well-up at one stage. This devestates him, and the rest of the film centres around his desire to rectify the situation, to become a Winner instead of a Loser mentally. Newman puts in an absolutely fantastic performance as Eddie, you believe every emotion coming from his confusion. Rightly he got an Oscar nod for it.
There are some great pool shots in it, but mostly this is a human story, Eddie's story.
Cinema creates cool from anywhere, and despite Fast Eddie's flaws, he suddenly becomes a charchter you'd want to be, he makes Pool Hustling seem glamourous, and even in todays money (they're talking 10,000 for a game of pool) it still seems worthwhile. Paul Newman's done a hell of alot since, but ask any sitcom joker - this is the piece he should be remembered for.

Bleu represents liberty on the french flag (The 'Three Colours being Blue, White, and Red and representing Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood) but the interesting thing about this film is how it handles Liberty. Starting with a heartbreaking loss of family, the liberty is enforced and not asked for, and we follow one womans quest to deal with it and try and find a new way to live, and anything that doesn't remnd her of her family life. Its a quiet heartbreaking drama, that really reminds you about the wonderment of cinema. Really films like this just come along too rarely.

Incredible. Amazingly funny.

Fantastic movie. everyone should have seen it by now.

No. *I* am your father! - greatest cinema revelation ever. Battle of Hoth rocks as well

a genuine classic, a brilliant performance from James Dean, and a wonderful script. The perfect movie for anyone, who didn't fit in, got bullied, or dreamed of being someone else.

What a wonderful film, coming from that peroid where Chaplin was absolutely untouchable. Hilarous fun.

a stone cold classic. The story is great and its full of brilliant performances. best film ever.

One of thoose wonderful rarities that not only sends up the genre but actually sits as one of the best films in the genre as well. Wonderfully magic fun, that i can't actually imagine anyone disliking (See 100% positive reviews on Rotton Tomatoes)

Wonderful. must be watched.

one of the great children's films.

Astonishingly good premise, played out brilliantly. Highly, Highly reccomended

We don't really have princesses anymore. Not lovable ones anyway. We don't really have movie stars like Audrey Hepburn either - and she is absolutely sublime here.

Hepburn plays a Princess from an unamed country, and while doing her royal duties, she goes AWOL, ends up kipping at a guys flat, hiding who she is, and living an everyday existance. The man, played by Gregory Peck is a reporter who knows who the princess is, but wants a big story so doesn't let on. The trouble is that he falls in love with her.

It would usually be about here that i would write something clichéd like "they don't make them like this anymore" but strictly that would only be half-true. They have been trying to make them like this ever since 1953 - most notably in the last 15 years starring Hugh Grant - Notting Hill for example is a desperate rip off of this. But don't let that put you off, for goodness sake. This has about 1000 times the charm and sincerity of teh modern romcom, and if you did enjoy thoose, you'd adore this. I think its absolutely brilliant and would reccomend it to anyone

Wonderful Chaplin movie, which has more than an elemment of biography about it. Chaplin and Coogan are fantastic, its funny and heartbreaking.

God knows its long, and really slow, but really it doesn't even come close to mattering with a film this immersive and amazing. Great performances from Caan Pacino and Brando rightfully make this iconic

Amazingly inventive for its time, Sherlock Jr was an early indication into just how forward thinking Buster Keaton was.
Buster plays our hero, a man who is a cinema projectionist and part time detective, who in an incredible scene, which looks amazing by modern standards let alone for 1924, Buster steps out of his day dreaming sef and into the screen. A Must watch

Genius Buster Keaton film, from his late-20s peak. Most famous (and probably best) film stunt comes from here too.

Very very funny take on the Christmas Carol idea, where Bill Murray has to live the same horrifying day forever untill he learns to be a better person. Wonderful.

When you read that they 'don't make movies like that anymore' most of the time it is pointless nostalgia getting the better of somebody. With Lawrence of Arabia, it really is true. It really is a struggle to think of many films in the history of cinema that have pulled of epic so well.
Peter O'Toole's incredible performance of the controversial TE Lawrence has been critisied in the past for being historically inaccurate, but there is no doubting the amazing power in his performance. He presents us with Lawrence as a charasmatic, but complicated man, a leader who doesn't want to lead. Lawrence is doubtless an incredible charchter and the main pull for spending an evening with him is O'Toole's amazing performance.

Sanjuro is a film where Kurosawa's sense of humour really comes to the fore. Its a wonderful adventure piece with all the usual twists and turns, but more than anything its brilliantly amusing, mainly down to Mifune's performance as the eponnymous charchter and the brilliant script by Kurosawa. Ranks as one of his best.

Wonderful thriller, full of great performances, with an extra-ordinarily good ending. Sometimes the bad guys do win.

Classic Thriller, based on an incredible book. Iconic.

a wonderful film, and mad jack's best performance - deserving of its oscar. Incredible. a must see.

Brilliant high paced actioner where the beautiful Franka Potente has three attempts to sprint across town to save her boyfriends life. Amazing.

First thing, the soundtrack, it has to rank as the best soundtrack in film, or one of them, the instantly recognisable duuum-duuum can't make you think of anything else. Which is strange when most of teh film in is realistic-super-silent mode, the atmosphere fitting the film and keeping you on edge constantly. The film is kind of divided into three, and the first two are absolutely magnificent. Not sure i get the third, but the first with the apes and the monolith is enchanting, and the bit with Hal one of my fabourite bits in the history of cinema.

Amazingly told, incredible idea, keeps you guessing right up to the last reveal. Great film.

the seven semurai rightly sits atop Kurosawa's work and is one of the peaks of cinema. A rip-roaring ride that belies its epic running time, Chrachters to love and believe in and a story to live again and again. Masterpiece.

Nothing short of genius.

There's an art to making bad movies. And there's a whole world of difference between, for example a film like Shark Attack 3, or Plan Nine From Outer Space and, lets say Alone in the Dark or Smoking Aces. The key is that the first two, despite being awful, are brilliant fun. Enjoyable films like this can never be considered as bad as the po-faced ones.
Tim Burton is someone, who clearly knows this, and in the hands of, well anyone else, Ed Wood would not work.
Basically its the story of a man once voted - just two years after he shuffled off this mortol coil - The Worst Director of All Time. Burton's film is full of such love for Wood's amazing charachter though that it becomes a strong, against the odds type tale. Typically, not all the facts are correct, Wood never met Orson Wells and Plan Nine never got a formal premiere. It really doesn't matter though in this case, as it is as Ed himself would have put it "just trying to tell a story". Martin Landau won an oscar (rightly) for his performance as the late, great Bela Legosi - but the rest of the performances are also amazing. Johnny Depp should have walked home with the best actor Oscar, and Bill Murray is brilliant in his portrayal of Ed's lifelong friend Bunny. The performances carry the film along wonderfully, but Burtons descion to shoot the film in a 1950's style shows off his incredible love and knowledghe of medium.
Also we also see Ed shoot some scenes from three of his most revered/reviled films, Glenn or Gelnda (awful, but an amazingly forward thinking - a film about transvestisim in that age), Bride of the Monster (featuring Bela fighting an obviously rubber octopus) and the Epic Plan Nine From Outer Space (featuring some irrelevant film of Bela and a man pretending to be him all the way through) what's striking is how like-for-like Burton shoots everything, and he doesn't shy away from the pratfalls either.
The real star though is Johnny Depp. Playing the role he was born to play (Sod Jack Sparrow) he channels Ed Woods amazing preservering sense of positivity. The most telling scene, after being told by a studio exec that Glen or Glenda was "The worst film i'd ever seen" Wood replys with "Worst film you ever saw huh? well my next one will be better!" - its this amazing glass-is-half-full despite his obvious incompetence, and his incredible worldview - feeling that when wrestler Tor Johnson walks into a door, that he would have to deal with that in real life, that make him so endearing to generation after generation of bad film lovers.
Basically this stands as Burton's finest filmic achievement, and a must watch for anyone who even has a passing love of the movies. As Ed would say "Cut! that was perfect!"

Perfectly cast nail-on-the-head coming of age movie.

Best Action Movie Ever.

And so we arrive at the most fanous Studio Ghibli of them all. And, i might add, for very good reason.
The story, like alot of Myasaki's work first seems incredibly mundane - a famly aremovig house, and the impatient dad takes a short cut. What follows is so incredibly imaginitive, wonderful to watch, and inspiring. Like a modern update of Alice in Wonderland, and yet so incredibly original, Myasaki takes a potentially scary subject, a girl has lost her parents, is forced to work and potentially loses who she is, into an adventure with magical charachters, twists and turns, and as ever, love. Really there isn't much more you could ask from a film, a neither should you do anything except sit back and enjoy it

Old school proper horror based on actual tension and scares instead of just 'shocking' blood and gore. Mind you it has a fair bit of claret as well. Jack is fantastic, even if he basically is just Jaaaaaack he is born to play a crazy isn't he. He is outacted by Danny Llyod though, who puts in one of the best child performances i've ever seen. Kubrick at the top of his game. Reccomended.

A wonderful Sci-FI Fairy Tale that completely changed cinema. The first blockbuster - and a great film to boot. The first third might be a bit slow, but after we meet Han Solo (the best cinema pirate ever - sorry jack) it all is wonderful. Its actually made better by the preceeding trilogy as well. Oh and if anyone asks - Han shot first.

Ahh school. Best years of your life supposedly. Well they weren't really for me, and neither were they for one Ferris Bueller - perfect example of someone who is clever in spite of school rather than because of it.
Ferris wakes up on the ay of a test, and for the ninth time that year, the lovable rouge decides he wants to skip school. He has a perfectly concieved plan, and ineitably is constantly one step ahead of everybody - everybody - else. I skipped school a whole load of times, but i never did it as cleverly as Ferris did. Wish I'd seen this film when i was fifteen i can tell you. Might have saved me getting caught once or twice.
The role of Ferris was offered to a whole range of actors, from fresh from Back To The Future Micheal J Fox (who would have been exellent) to then-unheard of Jim Carrey and then-teenybob icon Johnny Depp. But the truth is that Matthew Broderick is absolutely sublime as Ferris. Constantly breaking the forth wall, we do feel kindered spirit with Ferris, and constantly want him to get through all the light-hearted fun safely. The show is arguably stolen away from him however by a 29-year-old Alan Ruck, playing Ferris' hypercondriac, nerotic best friend. He's the soul of the film, and without him Ferris would just seem like a smug 80s kid.
Really it is very very 80s, which usually is a bad thing. But in film it can mean that it has the inescapable charm, rather like Back To The Future or The Breakfast Club, and as far as Teen Movies go, this is well and truly number one

Modern Classic. a great send up of reality TV that still creeps me out to this day

amazing performance from Jimmy Stewart in an amazing - and really quite creepy - thriller.

classic. One of the best cinema experences ever. beautiful Martial Arts movie promoting Peace.

After seeing the remake, got around to watching the original, from the genius that is John Carpenter. Its as tense as you would expect from a Carpener movie - and the acting is as B-Movie as you would expect, but its good fun, and you actually care whether the charachters make it at the end, whereas in the remake, its more about the painfully obvious twist.

Tough, but seriously intellegent, document of how the Algerians got independence fron the French Empire. Could easily be related to the modern time, as the film sides with the terrorists, and yet doesn't shy away from the damage that they cause. Haunting and intellegent viewing, beautifully shot.

Great Action flick from John Carpenter. Very 80s, like Die Hard on a shoestring budget - but alot of fun. A good drinking game would be to take a shot everytime someone thought Snake was dead!

Incredibly insightful, considering its just Kevin Smith and a few friends larking around in a shop. But then thats the idea - Clerks was only ever going to reach a cult audience, but for that audience its always going to resonate hugely, and thus be a classic of its type. It is, the definition of a cult film.
We follow a pair who are basically You and Me. or Me and my best friend. or You and yours. Who despite being relitively clever, have dropped out of the ratrace and are working crappy jobs 9-5 (and longer) and a video store and a convience store. they inevitably do no work, and spend the time discussing the birds and the bees. Where Smith comes into his own though, is what they talk about. They've clearly been talking about films for so long they've moved into random tangents - Catering, and building contracters on the Death Star for instance. This is where i see my life - its the exact conversation me and my friends would have, and where Smiths genius lies.
The film is very french-inspired, particuarly New Wave, all black screens with chapter titles, black and white, and of course the small fact that nothing happens, and it existentially relies on the charachters. Of course it was also made for no money, which frankly is an inspiration to us all.

Quite possibly John Woo's masterpiece, Bullet in the Head is a mature grown up musing on the horror of war (not unlike the Deer Hunter) which is incredibly harrowing. A long way from Hard Boiled then. But its so beautifully shot, and so heartbreakingly realised, its a shame it flopped, otherwise The Woo might have been tempted to make more like this. Watch it.

Beautiful and moving fairy tale. Burton's colourful gothic look is in full evidence, and Johnny Depp has rarely been as good as he is here.

Fantastic silent short, full of brilliant sight gags.

Compared with The Departed (and lets be honest, the two are always going to be compared) This is a lean mean action thriller, with a geniusly original (which will be lost on so many) premise, and a spiritual feel. Wheras Marty's film was big, long and bloated, this is mean and to the point. And thats what this premise needs - edge of your seat stuff. Despite the Oscar, the director, and the all star cast, i would pick this version every single time. Its amazing.

Coffee?

No-one does it quite like Bruce Lee do they? brilliant fun.

Brilliantly fun martial arts action film with Tony Jaa. What can you say except this is fantastic fun, and the scene with the people chasing him down the street is fantastic

The most iconic Clint Eastwood movie that isn't a western, Dirty Harry is a film that really does live up to its name. In fact the only problem with it is it is at times too distracted by a pretty girl.
Other than that, its rip-roaring 70s action fun. Clint Eastwood is in full anti-hero mood as the titualar charchter, kicking the film off with his iconic "Do you feel lucky" and reprising it at the end. Instantly you can see why its so iconic.

Vivre sa Vie, to give its French title sits right at the top of master-filmaker Jean Luc Godard's work, and is probably Anna Karina's best performance in the period she was his muse and wife.
The story is a story of a naiive woman's fall in to prostitution (representing Godard's feeling of the time that everybody in Paris was selling themselves in some way at the time). Its divided into 12 parts, each representing a 'chapter' of Nana (Karina)'s descent. Godard is more subtle here than usual but he is still playing with conventions. For example when Anna Karina is writing a letter, everything is silent as she sits and writes, we don't (as we might in a hollywood film) get an awful voiceover reading the letter for us, we have to sit and read as she writes. Its tantalising, and a very clever moment.
Karina often ran away with her films with Godard, such was her talent, but in Vivre sa Vie he builds the film around her performance. Right at the begining she goes to the cinema and watches Joan of Arc, and from then on its completely her show, and she is mesmeric.
At its heart Vivre sa Vie is a comment on the world, the new celebrity world just emerging in the sixties and the idea that anyone can be a star. Nana aspires to be an actress, but its something she never really looks like achieving. It is a film that in 1962 could only be made by Godard, and thank goodness he did.

Magic from start to finish

Brilliant Spaghetti western with Clint Eastwood's epic Man With No Name having to team up with Van Cleef's bounty hunter. Neighther man trusts the other, but they need one another (a theme of the Spaghettis) which makes for an interesting dynamic

Beautiful introduction to the western world to Wushu, where anything is possible and martial arts storys tell big issues (in this case largely feminism) With incredible action and a wonderful story, this genuinely is a must watch film for anyone

Al Pacino's best performance? oooh could be.

Another Amazing film from Christopher Nolan, with quite possibly the best ending to a film since Fight Club. A big contender for Film of The Year.Go and See It!

has more in common with Romeo and Juliet than Bruce Lee, but it is a beautiful love story.

All the confusion and questioning and website upon website about the meaning of Donnie Darko is completely wasting its time - at heart its just a simple love story. At the end, Donnie is faced with a choice, between his own life, and the life of the girl that he loves, even though if he chooses her she'll have no memory of him.
The story does take an individulistic and original route of getting there however. Donnie Darko is a troubled teen, who has visions of Frank, a bunny who apparently sent from the future gets him to commit all kinds of crazy crimes. There are interesting subplots, and touching performances (Maggie and Jake complement each other perfectly on screen) but like any film that comes down to one choice, most of the other subplots are irrelevant - except they're not as the ending does tie everything together really well.
Not many films effect me emotionally as much as Donnie Darko does, every single time i watch it, i'm filled with the same emotions at the end, conflict of a melenchonic love that can never be effects me greatly, and for that i applaud it.
Its controversial for sure, and splits people, and sometimes it does try to hard and the dialogue gets in the way, however if your looking for an original, clever, and emotional film, Donnie Darko is the one for you.

Very dark, but still magical adult fairy tale. Basically designed for grown up children, and delivers gritty and fantastical.

Today, in whatever year we live now, Its very easy to dismiss, or underestimate Toy Story. Rather like Star Wars, the kind of film it ushered in, is so prevelant that its easy to forget how bloody good the original was. Now, no-one gets excited by the latest CG-Kids movie, because, well after the sucsess of Toy Story the market has got incredibly saturated. Toy Story however is the final proof, that for kids, the 1990s were the only decade to live in.
After the wonderful 2D adventures of Aladin and the Lion King, came, what could be construed as a novelty. However, the film wouldn't work, and arguably wouldn't have been the sucsess it was, did it not have a brilliant story behind it.
We join Woody a toy Cowboy, who when he comes to life when his owner Andy isn't in the room, and owns the bedroom as Andy's favourite toy. Untill Andy discovers spaceships and wants the latest Buzz Lightyear toy. The only problem is Buzz is blissfully unaware he is a toy.
Now there is a genius premise! no wonder it was a massive sucsess - how better to tap into a childs imagination than to give the idea that toys can come to life! No wonder every kid wanted a Buzz Lightyear.
Truely Toy Story's originality and charm mean that, ten years on, when the fuss has died down and the CGI looks dated, Toy Story is still king of its kind. Lets hope they don't keep doing updated versions by making the graphics better.

A few years back Trainspotting director Danny Boyle had a chance to direct Alien 4, surprisingly, considering his love for the original, he said no, but now it looks like the right choice.
There has been alot of talk about the shadow of Alien blocking out the Sunshine, but I would say 2001 casts a larger shadow.
That isn't to say that Sunshine isn't its own movie, it really is - and speaking of Movie Shadows, this might well be the film that moves Danny Boyle away from the guy who did Trainspotting into the big league, in a way 28 Days Later only hinted at.
We join the crew of Icaris II, a space crew who's mission is to reignite the sun, despite initally feeling like an ensemble piece, and at the begining it very much is, Cillian Murphy is front and centre through everything that happens. Unlikely as it seems, he nearly has the film stolen from him though - from Fantastic Four star Chris Evans, who's hotheaded rouge is a highlight of the film.
The tone is tense, and slow, and yet things are always happening, and you are constantly engaged. By the time the emotional payoff comes, you are absolutely captivated, hoping that they do make it, i won't let you know here if they do or not. What i will let you know is that this film is the most masterful serious Sci-Fi since 2001, and easily the best Sci-Fi of this decade. First contender for Film of the year is here.

Ahhh Arnie. He's a bit of joke these days (although with him being in a position of such power, maybe the joke is on us) and largely this for the best, he is just a big lump. But there was a time when, dare i say it? Arnie seemed cool. And its mainly because his carrer was launched by a film so damn genius that is completely unforgettable.
And, Arnie is vital to the mix. The Terminator has become a bit of a cartoon really - I think the uneducated consider it a worthless sci-fi actioner, mainly because it has Ah-nolds name above it. But truely, he has to be the Terminator. And the story is so brilliant, that it completely makes sense. And for a couple of hours, Arnie isn't a buffon but a proper Action Bad Guy.
It should be pointed out here that Michael Bein is bloody brilliant as well. As he learns how little he fits in in 1984, as he picks up the little plot contriveses, he should really be the star of the show.
Time parodox after time parodox leaves us in 1984 and the Terminator has been sent back to kill the woman who is about to mother the child who will save humanity from the machines. And so said child sends back a soldier to make sure he lives - which of course he does, as he has to otherwise he couldn't send the soldier back to...nevermind. It gets more compleicated but spoilers are completely unnessicary.
What is Nessicary is that you give it a chance. Ahead of T2 too, as good as that it, it just isn't this.

Day-Lewis deserves his oscar.

Juno has been gathering alot of hype in its short lifespan, and seems to be splitting audiences completely down the middle, with its hip-dialouge, hipper-than-thou soundtrack and hip cast.
I have to say now that I fall on the side that has completely fallen in love with this film. Every now and then a film comes along with shakes you out of your cinematic malaise and for me Juno was exactly one of those pictures.
So, first of that script. Diablo Cody has won numourus awards, and is a shoe-in for the best Original Screenplay award at the Oscars - well she throghly deserves it. All the critisims of the hipper-than-thou dialogue make little sense to me, firstly because its a brilliantly funny, and brilliantly written script, and secondly because, hell I know people who talk like that. More than the superficial arguments about whether real people say 'wizard' when they mean 'good', Cody's script is a joy, with its careful reveal of each of the charchters in turn.
Which brings me on to the fabulous acting. Ellen Page has rightly been getting lots of talk (and an Oscar nom, which she probably won't win unfortunaly) about her turn as Juno, but its more than the much cited quick wit, its the subtle things, like the fact that to begin with she is this slightly agressive cool girl, but as the film progresses, Juno's insecurities resonate with us, despite the fact that Page has never openly showed them to us. I also have to say that Micheal Cera was great as the naiive boyfriend charchter. He impressed me greatly.
The film is so full of great moments that I don't really want to spoil, but i think a deserved mention should go to the way that Juno unwittingly reveals her childs future 'father's true side, to himself, and thus throws her life into tatters again. Its a wonderfully poignent moment where the hero's and villans of the piece all switch around.
Honestly, I can't reccomend it enough.

Call me slow, but it took a while to understand properly what was happening as I watched the Seventh Seal. Once i did i enjoyed it throughly and its musing on life and death stayed with me for days after I watched it. I'll have to see it again.

The original silent horror, still edge of your seat atmospherically awesome, and with a brilliant twist at the end

inspirational low-budget debut from QT. even if it *is* a rip-off, its still genius stuff.

classic comedy, one of the funniest films for years and years. even if it is just a clever extended episode of Spaced

Chaplin's finest hour, his most effectvie satire, and an incredibly brave film, considering the political climate of the time. Wonderful.

it should fall flat on its arse what *is* it? but of course it soars. amazing.

How brilliant is this? Very. I'm not too big on Marty but blimey, this is class.

Beautiful, epic and intriguing. One that is going to discover new things with every viewing

Sergio Leone's winding gangster epic is an incredible watch. The best part for me is the children and how they fall in with each other, and the tragic events that dictate the rest of thier lives. A must watch.

Brilliant story of a down and out who resorts to the world of petty thievery to get by. Incredible central performances carry this film, like a lot of french films from the time,

Brilliant Bruce Lee flick. Spectacular action, and a plot thats been ripped off hundreds of times. Great fun, and very Bond-esque.

i think its really underrated, possibly the best Star Wars of all. the last hour is amazingly edge-of-seat.

When people talk of the great war movies, they usually fall into two catagories, the traditional boy's-own adventure movies and the modern post-'Nam antiwar movies. Animation is not usually something that usually strikes as likely to sucseed in this catagory. Its a shame because Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most important war movies, and ah it is one of the very best of the genre. The story concerns a teenage boy and his young sister, having to survive with thier father away at war and thier mother in hospital. Things go from heartbreakingly bad to worse as the couple struggle to cope. There are wonderfuly heartwarming moments as the two strike out on thier own, and how they cope for so long is absolutely inspirational. One of Studio Ghibli's best, and one of Japan's best war movies.

Incredible. Cemented by two wonderful performances from the leads, Salles does some incredible work with the camera to give the film an incredible depth. An absolute classic

Ah sequels. So very often, they completely ruin the fond memories you had of the original. Toy Story is cleverer than that though. Its premise is a simple, and yet ingenious one, it basically it the inverse of Toy Story. Woody has now been whisked away (using the genuis idea he is now a collectors item) and Buzz has to go get him. Its got some wonderful touches (Barbie telling the toys how toy stores foolishly didn't order enough Buzz Lightyears would make anyone who remembers that crazyness smile) pop culture refernces (I am your father) and promises of a good time while inevitably pulling at your heartstrings. AND a cameo from Andi Peters. What more would you want?

Completely the wonderful opposite of traditional cinema. A must see.

Another masterpiece from New Wave director Francois Traffaut, Shoot the Piano Player is edge of the seat stuff all the way. A famous piano player wants to escape it all and so goes back to his roots playing jazz piano in a bar, untill he gets caught up in the mob and falls for a girl who wants to make him a star. Thrilling stuff.

Its a very very funny Mel Brooks movie. If you like his sort of humour its highly reccomended.

Wonderful. it really is an incredibly moving watch.

Gus Van Sant's films are often big and sparse and beautiful, and not alot ever happens in them. So if I were to say that this is the most focused film of his i had ever seen then, well i wouldn't be saying alot.
My Own Private Idaho is then, sparse beautiful, slow, not alot happens for long periods, but it is perhaps (save for shot by shot remakes) the most traditional film of the Gus Van Sant cannon.
The story is roughly Henry IV Part One, a lesser shakspeare tale. Sometimes you can tell, Keanu Reeves reads his lines as if he is in a Shakspeare play, which would be fine if he wasn't such a terrible actor. Honestly he is at his best when he knows his limitations. He does get under the skin of his charchter to be fair, but he is played for six by River Pheonix, and really it is his film. Pheonix plays a Narcolyptic rent-boy who is constantly bailed out by his best friend (also a rent boy - Reeves) Brokeback Mountain piled up controversy for its gay love story, but honestly this is far closer to the bone if you worried about that kind of thing. And it was 15 years ago.
At some point Pheonix's charchter decides he would like to find hismother, and at some point Reeves decides he wants to grow up and get his inheritence. This causes the two's friendship to fray and fall apart, which is not helped for the fact that Pheonix's charchter has sexual feelings (played out beautifully in a campfire scene) for Keanu's more straight laced charachter.
Its not going to be for everyone, but its worth going to have a look at Idaho, especially if you like Van Sants other work, it is a beautifully touching story. Plus you can watch it on Youtube for nothing if the DVD's to expensive. What do you loose? River, you left us too soon.

Leni Riefenstahl is still among the most controversial and contentious filmakers of all time. Mainly because her two masterworks came while she was offical film makers to the Nazi's. And while its hard to like her because of this - and no doubt that in a political sense this glorification of the Nazi's cemented thier image of the time - there is absolutely no doubting her ability as a filmaker.
In fact if you can put aside the politics, Triumph of the Will is an amazingly lavish and carnival like ode to hope. While all the people scream, smile, wave or chant unaware of the horrors that would follow over the next ten years, you can't help but see how they fell under Hitler's spell in the first place. However you can't really watch the film out of context, because of what it is, so naturally you can't help being slightly upset that it was something so abhorrent that won over the German nation so effectively.
The key to the film is Riefenstahl's vision. From the opening, amongst the clouds moments (which incredibly, still look amazing) to the camera angles, cross cutting and music, she manages to make something so huge, so lavish, and if you didn't know what was going to happen next so exciting.
The film does have its flaws - its too long really. The speaches do drag on a little bit in places, and as a joyous spectacle it doesn't need to be two hours long. Of course the other main issue is the context. It really is a shame that its so difficult to watch out of context - and indeed that Riefenstahl's talent was so wasted - because it would be a beautiful film if what happened next wasn't so horrible. She didn't know that at the time of course, but its difficult to view it otherwise. If you think you can its reccomended, because its an outragously good piece of cinema - its just a shame that its wasted on such subject matter.

fantastic modern twist on the Noir genre.

Jim Jarmusch's pet project of small shorts of various famous people talking over coffee and cigarettes is finally released into a feature length on DVD, and it doesn't diossapoint. By taking a range of interesting and eccentric charachters (the highlights being Steve Coogan, The White Stripes, Cate Blanchett and Bill Murray) and letting them sit and talk about whatever they find interesting presents a series of quirky and often very funny scenes, with the actors playing up to thier stage personas.
Alone they create amusing faux-glimses into anotehrs life, but together they present a love-song not only to conversation, but to the quirky things people care about. Jack White talks about Tesla, Steve Coogan gets sucked into an argument about family tree's and Spike Jonze, Bill Murray meets the Wu Tan Clan for no reason at all - but its all brilliantly, quietly entertaining stuff.

incredibly stupid, but brilliantly acted action movie. good fun.

Very powerful road movie, based upon the infamous Ché Guvara book. While filling someone as iconic as Guevara's shoes is a massive ask, Gael Garcia Bernal does a brilliant job in carrying the movie. Great insight into the mind of an interesting figure.

A beautiful musing on how people struggle to connect with each other.

one of the best documentries ever.

incredibly directed summer blockbuster with the definitive Batman performance from Micheal Keaton

it is quite an achievement that something made 90 years ago (very nearly) is still shocking. And when that eyeball is sliced, its a brave person who doesn't cringe from the what they are seeing. Its influence can not be denied, and while it seems a mess on first viewing, it sticks with you, and analyse it and you can get deep into what the film means.

Charlie Kauffman sure is a genius. And while this doesn't quite have the script of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, its brilliantly mad narrative about a pupteer who finds his way into John Malcovich's head is absolutely brilliant fun.

One of teh frontrunners in this years Oscar race, No Country for Old Men is undoubtedly a film to sit right at the top of the Coen's catalogue.

The film follows a man who accidently stumbles upona hell of alot of money when he spotys a drug deal gone wrong. The money is wanted back though, by a creepy assasin, played beautifully (and almost certain Oscar winning) fashion by Javier Bardem. An interesting assasin, he is obsessed with chance and fate, consistantly asking people to call a coin toss to decide thier fates. The fact that he sounds like Darth Vader after a stroke also lends a certain creepyness to him.

They're both being pursued by a wonderful Tommy Lee Jones performance. The film is full of great lines, mostly lifted from the book ("If I don't come back, tell my mother" - "You're mother's dead" - "Then I'll tell her myself!") that could easily have been written by the brothers themselves. In fact that and the clever-clever ending make it seem utterly like a film the brotehrs wrote, even in an adapatation so close to the original as this. The ending won't work for everyone, but its an interesting twist on the usual kind.

Wonderful last stand from Chaplin, bringing in his old rival Buster Keaton in what is a thinly vieled analogy for how he was feeling at the time.

a joy

Depp takes this film from decent Disney Romp with good SFX to a true modern classic. maybe a bit long in places, and i swear Bloom has woodworm...but its still great fun! bring on the sequel!