MEMENTO: I suppose a lot of what I like about this is from a filmmaking/storytelling perspective – Christopher Nolan makes such a potentially confusing movie, but it all works perfectly. It’s a mystery on so many levels, and trying to figure it out, while leading the viewer nowhere, is a lot of fun. Well-crafted and well told.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFWAE1CffbY]
DEAD MAN: I generally loathe Jarmusch films — they strike me as 30 frames per second of bullshit indie movie posing. But something about this flick — starring Johnny Depp and Iggy Pop!, with music by Neil Young — is pure movie magic. Also, it’s black & white, another (usual) turn-off for me that somehow works perfectly here.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07xKQakj1hM]
SUNSHINE: Danny Boyle’s philosophical sci-fi thriller is in my mind hte most underrated film of this century so far. The story appeals to my sense of wonder at the world outside our world, and at the physical processes that allow for life as we know it. What grabbed me and made me come back repeatedly to this film was both the astonishing visuals, particlarly the last 30 minutes of the film, and both the sound design and ambient scoring. This is truly one of the most cinematic films of the last ten years, and inspired me to purchase a Blu-Ray player.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ2-xR54UDU]
SIXTH SENSE: Yeah, yeah, Bruce Willis was dead the whole time. But bullshit on you if you say you saw it coming. The one film Shyamalan ever got right (Unbreakable wasn’t too bad, but not as perfect), from Willis to the tiny clues (and the revealing walk-through at the end) to the PERFECT blink-and-you-missed-it-but-if-you-saw-it-you-probably-peed-yourself-a-little moment. THE ultimate twist movie, even if you know the ending.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2sDw-XBuKc]
I’ve left out a lot of obvious ones, but if you’ve missed any of the following somehow, make it a point to go see them now:
The Matrix, Fight Club Blade Runner, Grand Canyon, The Ring, The House of Sand and Fog, Requiem for a Dream, Videodrome, The Conversation, Redbelt.