My Favorite Movies

Unparalleled even in Sacrifice is the mystic path that Tarkovsky, as Russian Orthodox believer, presents in two scenes of poetic power and intensity that I have not yet found replicated in world cinema. Here you see Tarkovsky finding spiritual center, experiencing fractured identity, and embracing his path - in Sacrifice I found more Tarkovsky the magician, in a kind of nostalgic revolt, whereas here I see him more in the Now, strangely enough given the title . . .

This game we call the human life, as incest - there is something primal in the symbology of this work, and yet the obsessive-compulsive madness of Quayesque rigor renders it wooden and insipid, repetitive - it is in this repetition that the actors in this human drama find their shells and live them out, not without rupture and the odd necrophilic moment when life as love must needs implode on itself in grey ecstacy. Chilling and inspired. It tasted like chalk.

Lynch on a good hair day . . I wish he'd have more of them more often. Be warned. Hairspray has never felt so creepy and wise or, for that matter, birthed such normal babies.

An alltime favorite, it's like somebody took a walk in my dreams. Damned shame that they found an Amalie, they had such dark promise what with the green ooze and fleas and what not. For God's sake give me some asperine.

A powerfully layered artistic involvement in the projective identification that is profiling and mysticism of criminality. Brilliant early work that, while highly stylized, burns with an authenticity that I often miss in his later, more polished works.

I met this Canadian in Manchester. All I can say about him is that he is both crazier and more sane than me at the same time. Shocking really. I liked the nurses in this feature and especially the cultic flavor of the bodily fluids.

The is the most erotic film I have ever watched. Nothing like the grit of sand to produce stimulation for the cerebrum.

Yes, yes, I know, I know (that for the Russians reading); however, it must be said that this is a beautiful cinematic rendering of a father-daughter relationship. This much must have been real after all, no? I loved this film.

When love is love is REALLY Love it looks like this - avoid it at all cost, its called sado-macho co-dependent intimacy, or just "intimacy" for shorthand. Or as an acronym: L-O-V-E . . . Go figure.

Play it again. This film has the best Song-Romantic in cinematic history. Makes me go all sappy for real. I even teared up once. Shameful.

If Carroll's story were as grey as his photography, and as understatedly racy, it might look like this, one of the best stop-motion renditions of a story every told. Excellent.

Don't watch it . . unless you want to know what it takes to become an artist or, otherwise, were doubting about whether or not psychotherapy might save you from yourself. Perhaps the best documentary ever mad. Very real. Too real. Wonderful.

One of my five top favorite films from one of my top five directors. Too powerful a story of relationship and existence to characterize. Watch it yourself.

The Brother's Quay are still my favorite - this film is an alchemy of psychopathology and desire, surrealist and esoteric in intent, and perhaps best fitted into the horror, rather than sci-fi genre. The final Nietzschean scene of eternal return with it's locked, Tantalus-like obsession, reminds that we can never possess more than the moment. For my part, the imp of the absurd drove me nuts and I just wanted out. Bravo anyhow!

This is the funniest French comedy set in America I have ever seen - loved it!!

This is an incredible movie, a near flawless meditation on self-control and professional repression; hopkin's intensity in this role is him at his best, even if he would prefer to wear a straight jacket. Two of the world's greatest actors at their finest.

This film is in my view the finest example in cinema history of the transcendental narrative. In this story Tarkovsky draws the viewer into his icon, which is nature itself, and in doing so moves the viewer along a mystical path willy-nilly. If you don't fall asleep for the film, there is a strong possibility that the experience itself will be your salvation.

This is a very useful story. It is like my year on a Tibetian monastary was wrapped up in one nice little dramatic learning package. Of course, nothing takes the place of living the seasons yourself. Start here.

Apparently in the hour of the wolf bergman saw spiders and sisters and sister's beavers. Very spiritually lost and found and real and false. Through a dark eye glassly? In any case, one of my top ten favorite films.

Ode to school teachers everywhere. Old to the one room school house. Don't miss it, you'll never seen another like it.

The bathouse is worth the film. And the film is worth watching without the bathouse. I loved this film.

One of the most memorable morality tales in cinematic history. Very Japanese. Very good. Very ghostly. Very sexily-ghostly.

Ode to every parent whose children disappoint. Ode to englishe language marketing in eastern europe and japan. Ode to snow. Ode to Vodka, the good stuff. Ode to, well, how life totally sucks if your live in a cold Eastern European country. Hit the bottle and try not to turn yellow (stay away from the Russian stuff).

Bitchy coming of age girl flick on acid with a totally, brillantly screwed up male director. As wise and clear-headed as it is insightful. Welcome to the reality of social darwinism - fight back, or not, but as concerns the film expect it at least to be a battle.

Take a walk on the wild side . . into the belly of a whale - this film was perfection, but please don't ask me to explain how, I only know this to be a subconscious fact. Can't really talk about it, sorry.

Perhap the most convincing film on nostalgia and the contextual meaning of memory that I have ever seen. Bergman at his best.

Every time I watch these guys I want to be alive, which is really saying something, folks, if you don't know me. Smile. Be happy. Have your toast and tea. It's all good.

A very frank and honest directorial touch, very corageous in fact, in addressing a topic matter that is the West's last cherished, indeed revitalized, taboo. Every culture needs its scapegoats, don't rob them of their boogymen!

Very well-played passion and frank sexuality that would never reach hollywood. Thank you for bringing this from accross the sea. Good acting, by the way.

One of the few truly comicly satanic films that I have every seen - a bloody, birthing dysteleological surd in a universe that aborts itself. Excellent film not to watch, ever.

The best comedy of the year, don't miss it. It's about time somebody took a shot at the underbelly of beauty and made us have fun while doing so.

Look for Kundera's dialogue with Nietzsche to understand this film. One of the impressive points in my mind is where Binoche remarks on the difference between her love for their dog vs. her love for Thomas, around which centers much of the meaning of the film and the development of the existential themes of weight and lightness. Binoche's character is exceptionally well-played and her childish, almost boyish acting motivates the film, notably changing and coloring it beyond the book. That said, don't miss the book.

DON't Watch the first one (the one pictured)! --watch the NEW DVD : "What the Bleep - Down the Rabbit Hole" - The first edition was unclear and poorly edited, they fixed it for the most part with "Down the Rabbit Hole," which includes some neat DVD features for viewing on a "random" basis. Serious science and the freak community come together in this well-worth-watching film that could change the way you look at life.