15 Films

Ok, internet meme overlords, you win.

To be fair, this list is heavy on movies I first encountered in my late high school or college years, when my "adult" taste in film was developing. So, most of these are narrowly banded to a particular few years, 1999-2005, but oh well.

1. Amelie

Charming, almost - but not quite - to a fault. Audrey Tautou makes this one, of course, but it's a fun, quirky story that makes me grin whenever I go back to it. This one I watch over and over and over.

2. Lost in Translation

Sigh. Bill Murray, take me away from all this. A lot of people don't like this film because "nothing happens" in it, but I couldn't disagree more. It's a deep study of two people who bump into each other in strange circumstances and build a deep, if brief, friendship. Sophia Coppola does an excellent job of capturing the daze one can find oneself in when traveling internationally, as well (bolstered by the Kevin Shields-arranged soundtrack). Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannsson turn in excellent performances. It's alternately delicate and touching and crass and abrasive, seamlessly shifting between the two. This is way, way, way up there on my favorite films of all time.

3. Minority Report

So much science fiction deals with far-futurism, in the year 3000 or something similar. Minority Report struck me because of its near-futureness and general interesting concept. Also, I don't hate Tom Cruise in this one, so go figure. I really have this film to thank for introducing me to the writing of Philip K. Dick, which is, by and large, fantastic. More so if you are into science fiction, but his themes seem to reach beyond stereotypical Sci-Fi tropes.

4. Children of Men

More of the near-future sci-fi stuff. It's an interesting story. Humanity as a whole has gone infertile in the near future. England appears to be the only (nominally) functioning government still around. Hordes of refugees flock to England, where they are most often carted off into hellish ghettos. The youngest person still alive, age 18, dies minutes into the film. Then it starts to get dark. The whole thing has razor sharp writing, really strong action sequences, stunning cinematography, solid acting, and the set design is amazing. Little details - like graffiti that says "last one to die please turn out the light" highlight the zeitgeist of this imaginary future filled with desperation. The ending is brilliant in that you can pretty much take what you want from it, depending on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.

5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

What else can be said about this movie? It's inventive, risk-taking, well-acted, more than slightly bent, and most of all, really charming and heartwarming. Meet me in Montauk.

6. Me and You and Everyone We Know

Ok, it's really weird, pretty gross and uncomfortable in places, and a little aimless. But hey, it's quirky art house cinema, so that's probably par for the course. Lots of touching moments to be found here, with people momentarily making connections. That seems to be what most of Miranda Juy's work is about. Anyway, it's an interesting 80 minutes or so for sure.

7. The Matrix

Ok, listen. In retrospect, I admit that this movie is pretty horrible. The sequels in particular really ruined it for me. However, you can't deny that at the time it came out, it was totally groundbreaking in terms of special effects, and it had a pretty interesting plot to move things along. And a great soundtrack. Oh, my 17 year old self loved the hell out of that soundtrack.

8. Pulp Fiction

The first Tarantino I saw. My taste in film wasn't quite the same afterward. Again, I don't know what to say about this one that hasn't been incessantly beaten into the ground already. It's Tarantino. He makes films in a really warped world, but damn it's an interesting ride.

9. Akira

This film made me start to take animation seriously as an art form. It's sweeping, epic, and really really long, but I suppose I am repeating myself. It also only covers 2 of the 6 books, which is kind of wild.

10. Everything is Illuminated

Elijah Wood goes off on a journey to find relatives in Ukraine. He's accompanied by Eugene Hutz, frontman of Gogol Bordello, as Alex, a Ukranian guy that speaks hilarious halting English. The first two thirds of the movie is hilarious road movie, driven mostly by Alex's character. The last third packs some major emotional punch, and the transition happens quite quickly, leaving you with a sort of gut punch feeling. Great soundtrack by Devotchka. I will say that this is another case where the book is much, much better than the movie, but the movie didn't stand a chance, because the book is fantastic.

11. When Harry Met Sally

One of the few "relationship movies" I like. It's aged remarkably well. It's funny and touching. There is too much pepper in my paprikash.

12. Pi

My first Darren Aronofsky film (coincidentally, also HIS first Darren Aronofsky film). On the surface, it's about a brilliant mathematician trying to figure out patterns in the stock market, and the various people trying to use him for the information. On a deeper level, it's about the perils of ambition and burning oneself out, often overtly (the main character gets migraines because he once stared into the sun for too long). The film does some interesting work with tying together religion and the mysticism of numbers and how simple ratios determine a large portion of the working of the universe (mathematical errors notwithstanding). It's shot in stark black and white, giving the film a paranoid feel that closely mirrors the main character's mind state.

13. Donnie Darko

It's weird and doesn't make any sense, at least on the surface, but it's an oddly compelling film apparently involving time travel.

14. Mulholland Dr.

David Lynch is David Lynch. This is the first one I saw. It's mostly dreamlike and makes no sense at all, but many scenes have stuck with me over time. No Hay Orchestra.

15. Fight Club

Other than being more than a little misogynistic, it's a good movie. Interesting twist, though it's long slipped into cliche. Introduced me to the work of Chuck Palahniuk, who has written several good other novels as well as several not-so-good ones (mostly his more recent work, though Tell-All was great). I'm still waiting on that screen adaptation of Survivor, dude.

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There are so many films (and directors, even) that I want to include on the list but can't seem to fit in there. The Darjeeling Limited/Wes Anderson, Memento/Christopher Nolan, City of God, The Usual Suspects, Dark City, the Cohen Brothers, Good Bye Lenin!, Once, The Fifth Element, Kubrick, Pixar, Hayao Miyazaki, The Corporation, Food Inc., Dig!, any number of other documentaries, et al et al et al. The problem with me and these lists is that I can usually go WAY past any preconceived boundary. You should see my top 10 albums of 2009, which is about 44 albums. Anyway.