Hello all, this week a new guest article. I asked Desmond to make the top 10, according to him, the films they must have seen absolutely…I am aware that this is not an easy exercise especially as the tastes and colors…it is discussed ;o) I think I would not put some of these films in the list below, there is a lack, I believe, of the seminal films of the cinema that inspired the pleiades of directors. So let us say that this article is here to see or see again films that have counted in the career of a director or that could count in your ;o)
Hello, I’m Desmond Andrew Green and I run the blog A Sad Picture Of A Red Sky , where I talk about series-TV, music, books, COMICS , and comics but also in cinema, you guessed it ? However, for such an occasion I could not offer to the blog CommentFaireUnFilm.com an article like I usually do on my blog on a single film. So I thought of a section “Top 10 ” movies that I could advise in order to expand its film culture. Article totally original because I have never done such a thing on my blog, and quite interesting to write that ! (and a little bit complicated because it requires work but I love challenges :))
So here is my Top 10 of films that for me are essential ! A must see ! And even review !!!
It is important to know that the choice was very difficult because I’ve seen a lot of movies, and the list of those that I have loved is long, very long ? , However, I had to make a decision, I have therefore selected 10. However, these 10 films are not ranked in order of preference but that is completely random, to choose the best film, MY best film, it would have been too much to ask :p My lil heart could not resist ?
So here is (tadaaadaaaaaa) the first that I pull out of my hat… the Usual Suspects !
Small funny story (maybe for me :p) but I found this film totally by chance in the year 1995 (in these waters). Subscriber to a club, where you could buy video cassettes every month from a magazine that we received, a very pleasant, but if you forgot to return the paper to say that we did not want the movie of the month, and we had the surprise to receive and be charged ! So as you can imagine, I had forgotten to say no and I received the cassette of the Usual Suspects, asking me, what is this thing ! lol (yes, it was still cassettes at the time :p) But wonderful surprise !
Directed by Bryan Singer, this movie also marks for me a turning point for the style of a Thriller/Police as it is realized with a non-linear narrative. The events that are already the products and we follow the interrogation of Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) by the agent Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) to actually know (or not) everything that happened. I will not say more on the story ?
The plot of Usual Suspect is really very well-staged and the word is weak. In addition, the legendary villain that is Keyser Söze is for me one of the best of all the films I’ve been able to see, without forgetting that it is necessary to add to this the interpretations puffed on the part of all actors. In the top of the list Kevin Spacey , which is revealed by this film, but also Benicio del Toro , whose career exploded then. It is also necessary to add the performance of well-known actors such as Gabriel Byrne (Miller’s Crossing, Dead Man, Enemy of State, analysis), Kevin Pollak (Willow, Casino, My neighbor the killer) Chazz Palminteri (He was once in the Bronx, Mafia Blues, Blue Bloods), but also Pete Postlethwaite (Alien 3, the Last of The Mohicans, The Constant Gardener, Inception, The Town). A set of actor known more or less, but only interpretations excellent ! The Usual Suspects remain for me one of the best movies policeman that I could see, and despite the fact that I already know the story on the tip of the fingers, it is always a pleasure to follow each time the interrogation ?
The second film that I have ever come to mind is none other than the western, The Good the bad and The Ugly ! And yes, I have the tastes of young and old lol
My father introduced me to some styles of films, including westerns. Between the John Waynes, the Train high noon, There was a time in the West, It was once the revolution, a fistful of Dollars and I could go on, the regulations of accounts and duels of looks I know ?
The one I can not stop myself from reviewing constantly this is indeed The Good the bad and The Ugly ! What to say except that this movie is for me the epitome of the western, and more specifically, the Western-style Spaghetti ! Sergio Leone is a reference and sign here his masterpiece to conclude the trilogy of the dollar (or the man with no name, which is made up of A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More). The actors are to fall to the ground. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach transcend this film with a level of interpretation beyond ! What to say in the face of the mine broken of Clint, the presence evil Lee Van Cleef as bad and the faces patibulaire of Wallach, one remains without a word, and we admire ?
Add to this the fact a range of charismatic figures and patibulaires to a desire to keep company with the three headliners. Side scenario is not complicated, with a backdrop of the american Civil war, we are witnessing the confrontation of the three characters to find a treasure. Simple but effective wish. We love the three characters and it is the force that made this film. The whole gives place to situations cults.
Just then the beautiful scenery as you do more, and especially a soundtrack that is still a part of the best of all the films I’ve seen in my life thanks to the legendary Ennio Morricone !
Finally a film out of time that can still today be pleasing to the greatest number, which has never been equalled and I think it would take a miracle to do it as well ! A minimum of once per year ?
Go, let’s go back to our time. Yes, I love the old movies, but I love science-fiction ! Movies of SF I eats tons but some remains in the mind more than others due to their originality. Even if a large number are very good, I must say that in retrospect, the two eventually reach the finish line, namely the Matrix trilogy and Inception ! Difficult choice as both are very good and have marked several generations. I am all decided and my heart chooses the Matrix !
Film of the brothers Wachowskis (now brother and sister since) released in 1999, the Matrix brand name spirits for a number of reasons. First of all, its history is relatively well-found, and innovative for the time (some talk of plagiarism of Dark City, but I’m not agree at all !!!).
Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves, when one thinks that one failed to have Nicolas Cage or Val Kilmer or Johnny Depp in the place…) is a programmer in computer science whose life is split in two. The day he is a computer programmer and at night he is also called Neo and plays the hackers. His life is troubled by the fact that he believes that something is not right with the world, he doesn’t really know what, but something is wrong and the meet many times the phrase “The Matrix” on the web the fact is open to question. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) in contact to tell him that he was right, that something is wrong and that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) little light on this subject. The matrix, he lives in it ! From there, his whole life will change and it will be going on an adventure he would never have imagined that as the messiah, and be hunted down by the agents of the matrix with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving, knowing that the role had been offered to Jean Reno and it makes me feel all funny, it could be good who knows).
Complicated to tell clearly, but without a spoiler lol The story immerses us in a world totally new, original, without limit , and which is similar to a video game that cannot be false because the realization is of very good quality, especially for the time, but it is still today !
Matrix, popularizing a visual effect very well put in place called the ” bullet-time “. This effect was mostly used in video games at the time, and opens a door fantastic for action movies and science fiction. This “bullet-time” is associated with the fighting choreograph in a way beautiful to a point that each battle is a spectacle, a real dance and it is still mouth agape , even today. They have also hired a choreographer of chinese martial arts and the director Yuen Woo-Ping to work on fight scenes and the actors are actually trained (more than 4 months, Reeves has coached during his days of leave) to all these scenes ! This work has been completed on the fighting and the “bullet-time” fact that the visual effects are truly breathtaking and still today were not too badly aged.
It should be noted that even music, very well done by Dane A. Davis, is complemented by groups of renown such as Rammstein, Rage Against The Machine, Ministry, Deftones, Monster Magnet, The Prodigy, Rob Zombie and even Marilyn Manson (that’s good :)).
Two films will be after this first episode, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions both in 2003. The small negative point is the aspect philosophico-religious where they tangle a bit with the brushes, but it’s still a saga copy, and if the purpose of the trilogy makes you turn your head, look at only the first film because it can be considered as a stand-alone and sufficient unto itself.
Will you choose the pill blue or the pill red ? ?
After the science-fiction-american back to the country with a little bit of film the French do you ? And yes I don’t like it much, finally the right word is that for me the French films are usually pleasant, can have a good time but don’t remain in memory, with the exception of someone, just a small number. I could cite Untouchable, The, Diner De Cons , or The City Of Fear and The City Of Lost Children, but Leon is the one who remains for me the most in mind !
Sixth film of Luc Besson that he graduated in 1994 with headlining a Jean Reno exceptional. This is for me the best role of his entire career.
Léon (Jean Reno) is a hitman living alone in New York, spending his free time doing physical work, take care of his houseplant, which he describes as his best friend, and watch musicals of Gene Kelly. It comes to host a next door neighbour’s, Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a girl of twelve years whose family was murdered by the agent to be corrupt DEA Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman) as the father of Mathilda robbed him of the cocaine. To avenge his little brother, Mathilda asks Léon to teach her his craft. Although it is against in a first time, it ends up taking affection for the young girl and decides to help him.
Jean Reno is very touching in this role as a killer a bit childish and with a big heart who only asks to have a friend. As to Natalie Portman this is a first role (yes, first appearance on-screen at the age of thirteen) who reveals it. It is bouffante despite his young age. Touching when she loses her little brother and she wants revenge. Cold when she speaks of killing the murderer of his little brother. She presents to us a range of emotion controlled and worked, which one can not remain insensitive. The duo Reno/Portman is very well filmed and put in place. Friends, father and daughter, master and pupil and eventually partner on the last blow, the coup. Gary Oldman is as usual, always very good, and portrays a villain perfect. The entire film is done fairly sober, without offering a lot of action because it is mainly focused on the relationship between Leon and Mathilda.
The whole film is carried by the duo Reno/Portman of a high quality. Leon is for me the best realization of Besson (Nikita just after ? ).
I had already said that I was a fan of Tarantino ? Not ? Well now you know ? I love movies mad of this gentleman, and even if a few leaves a little to be desired, the majority are excellent, see cultissimes and I re-watch it with always as much pleasure. In addition, improving always with each film, the choice has been complicated (as you can see, almost all of the choices were complicated, lol) but I stayed to the classic Pulp Fiction !
Released in 1994, this film, mixing black humor, drugs, violence, shootings , and the great speeches made chronic and remains always in my heart ?
The story amazes, as it is cut and mixed, in short there is nothing linear, just imagine reading a book from the chapters in the disorder and you have Pulp Fiction :p at the time, the style made me dream. I liked it a lot because it changed what we could see, and forced them to focus on the movie to understand everything lol
The realization is perfect. It showcases a cast at the top with John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, or even Amanda Plummer. That’s beautiful world with interpretations excellent. Travolta and Jackson formed a duo as we rarely see.
Travolta (whose role should be played by Michael Madsen, it leaves the dreamer because he could be very good also) offers us scenes of worship and in particular the stage of dance at the Jack Rabbit Slim’s in the company of Uma Thurman. Worship of in worship !
However, Jackson is not left far away with a passage equally legendary in the chapter 2 of the movie where he quotes a verse from the bible before triggering a firefight (Ezekiel 25:17), and when we think back to the scenes they have together you immediately think of the discussion very serious about the burgers at the beginning of chapter 2, or the shot of Travolta who share too easily in the car. I could go on like this for a long time :p
The film is split into seven acts, and he offered us 7 chapters cults. More dialogues of Tarantino are always so inspired, we are hooked and we love it, that’s the power of Tarantino, a storyteller who can make you zone out for a beautiful, epic or just talk about his shopping list, lol Pulp Fiction is a story that goes off the beaten track, offers colorful characters, with replicas that do fly every time, and like all Tarantino is all set to a soundtrack with onions !
Of course, in all this it is necessary to think of the super-heroes ! You may say, in spite of the criticisms of much of the world, it remains successful films, and especially quality in relation to the entertainment of today. Many movies of super-heroes come to mind, that this is the Marvels, V for Vendetta, the first Spiderman or Batman (not all of them even when he does not exaggerate seen the horrors outputs at a time) and even the Watchmen. In all of this it was hard to pick one, but it had to be good and so I took the trilogy of Batman done by Christopher Nolan , even if Captain America 2 remains one of my favorites, with its more mature than the other Marvel movies.
Nolan transcends the style of superhero movie with his Batman trilogy , giving life to a hero masked avenger, but human in a world ofhumans. It transforms the style to make a gangster film dark desire. It amazes all the world in 2005 with Batman Begins , recounting the origins of the hero, and that takes everyone to a different approach because after the failed cooking of the previous films, the subject was still extremely slippery. He managed, however, to reboot the series so perfectly with the use that more, is an actor, Christian Bale, that nobody could see in Batman, not even me. The actor transcended the character. He is the embodiment of a Bruce Wayne completely traumatized, dark, fighting with the hoodlums to exorcise his demons that consumes him. He plays it with so much sincerity that one feels his sentence, his crack that created the Batman. More actors such as Michael Caine, Liam Neeson (a villain that I really liked), Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy or Morgan Freeman come to consolidate the foundations of this work. The creation of the Batman is amazing and gives really want to see the result. The Dark Knight comes to life, so stunning thanks to Nolan. Bale the interpreter to the perfection, returning to the role once again in an extreme manner, like all his roles, reading the comics to know what to do, what posture to take, but also following an intensive training for the body and the muscle mass to be credible. It created the exact blend between darkness and light, and it is this that seduces us. He brings a credibility and reality to the character.
They gratify therefore of a unique suite in 2008 with The Dark Knight where the Joker enters the scene. A Joker awesome, different from that of Jack Nicholson, but Heath Ledger gives us an interpretation of a new Joker origins are mysterious and whose motives are all the same. It has reached a level of play so high that it eclipses even almost Batman ! In addition, it is necessary to add to this the presence of the character Double Sided played by Aaron Eckhart so masterful. The second takes a turn darker, and becomes much more dense as-level history as-level characters with a realization and a scenario always as effective.
And to finish, a final chapter to finish in apotheosis with The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 with the introduction of Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), but especially from Bane (Tom Hardy). The confrontation between Bane and Batman is awesome and the staging is always so dark :p appearance black fleece is more and more present as movies, but this latest adventure gives thehope and brings a bit of light.
Nolan gives us an epic and grandiose, with a beginning, a middle and an end, all masterfully directed and totally coherent. We would have even liked a fourth but as they say it is better to take his leave when one is at the top ?
Aaaaaaah Mad Max… I’m a fan of the first hour of this whole saga. The first trilogy has rocked my childhood and I still love it so much ! It was hard to accept that good old Mel Gibson is not new to the party for the fourth installment Mad Max Fury Road, but it was only logical to start afresh with someone which could hold several movies (and least to be noticed at the level of the pranks in public lol). The choice I was immediately much more when they announced Tom Hardy. I find the actor charismatic and it slams when I saw the film at the cinema. He carries the film all by himself without saying a lot of text !
For me one of the best movies that I’ve seen in 2015.
Another guarantee of quality for this film was to see that George Miller, the man behind the first trilogy was back at the helm of this volume 4. It is a total success. The atmosphere is apocalyptic/steam-punk of the first is there but far beyond what we could see in the first three films. The quality level is well above. The decorations are beautiful, all the stunts are impressive (and from what I’ve read, performed by stunt people and not computers), in short a good movie to the old and it’s been fun ! What’s more, in addition to being taken in hand by someone who knows what he is doing and to be worn by a player of quality, Tom Hardy is supported by a Charlize Theron so exceptional ! It breaks once again of his beauty playing a woman dirty, amputated an arm, but who knows magner firearms and driving as it should be in this mad world in order to survive on this Fury Road ! For me a must, a perfect remake and it is very rare ! One of the best I’ve been able to see elsewhere ! Strongly the fifth in the hope that they are not slow to take it out !
(You can find the complete review of this film on my blog by clicking here)
A little bit of beauty in these films raw with Into The Wild of Sean Penn. A film that does not pay mine at its output, which I hadn’t heard that this and that is by finding the DVD in a second hand store that I am left to try. This film is theadaptation of the story Voyage au bout de la solitude written by Jon Krakauer in 1996 and narrated the story true of Christopher Mc Candless. Nothing that this information adding even more to this film. It is beautiful and it is a true story !
It puts me goosebumps every time I see it. The story is simple, Christopher McCandless is a brilliant student, promised a great future, but the next day he decided to up everything by rejecting all the principles of the modern society to go to an initiatory journey.
Sean Penn’s film the whole way sober, with a look outside and a lot of sensitivity. There is no staging, stunning, or other effects, it is sincere, it is fair and it touches, where it should be. In addition, Emile Hirsch, who plays Christopher, we offer an interpretation skin-deep. It follows his adventures, his meetings, his loves, his fears, his disappointments, his discoveries, and was breathless at the end. This is a film for the scenery magnificent ! He sweats the poetry, all on a perfect music in great part composed and performed by Eddie Vedder , leader of Pearl Jam. See ab–so–lu–ment ! And the word is weak !
“Happiness is only real when shared”
Fight Club is one of my favorite films ! I love to see it and review it ! A small pearl become a cult, and that David Fincher is at the origin (Panic Room, Gone Girl).
This film, which date all the same from 1999, is theadaptation of the eponymous novel of Chuck Palahniuk (novel excellent that I have read and that I council strongly) that tells the story of a man – the narrator in the film we don’t know his first name, played by Edward Norton – who finds little satisfaction in his job and his life in general, but that all changes when he meets the enigmatic Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and that both created a club to combat illegal, a Fight Club, which allows its members to evacuate their ill-being by the violence.
The three-headed poster Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter are amazing in being disillusioned, jaded by their life and humanity. Yes, it is a film that is still quite dark, full of black humour, small details of any kind throughout the film, the men bare-chested, who are full of cum, but this is a cult piece ! Every time I see the end (of which the interpretations can be numerous) it always leaves me mouth agape as the story and the staging is impressive.
Shunned by the american public and far from being spared by the critics at its release in theaters. It ends in spite of any cult, timeless, timeless !
Cult Film to the point of still thinking of the fans who are developing further theories and one of it is really nice, if you want to read it clickhere .
To finish off this Top 10, The Crow seemed to me perfect. Film fantastic achieved by the very good Alex Proyas (I. Robot, Dark City) in 1994 (and yes even an old trick), it’s a film that remains a cult to me, as much by its quality as by the tragedy that is narrated.
We follow in this film, Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), a young rock guitarist who, one evening while out with his girlfriend Shelly, is attacked by a gang of criminals headed by the gangster Top Dollar. Eric assists powerless to the rape and murder of his girlfriend before being killed in turn. A year after their death, a mysterious raven appears at the grave of Eric. As protected by the strange, volatile, Eric falls from his grave to satisfy his revenge. Pitch simple but very effective.
The film mixes the style of gothic and rock with a lot of accuracy and retained, nothing is in excess. The universe of the film is dark, sad, dark and violent. The staging is dynamic and highly stylized. It shows a city limits in black and white where the sun does not have its place, it rains all the time and this adds a seal to the atmosphere, a hardness of the atmosphere which we bear and we scotch. The set is beautifully done and shows a real dark romance in a world that seems to have no room for it. The aesthetics of The Crow is really in the vein of Batman the Challenge of Tim Burton, and even more dark.
Brandon Lee is outstanding, touching and at once imposing, when it launches out in the battle. It is a tragic hero who gets rid of his enemies one after the other in a brutal way. A hero in the vein of the Punisher or Spawn.
In order to strengthen the atmosphere of the soundtrack in the concrete plays great and adds a lot to the quality of the film with nothing less than The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Helmet, Pantera , and Smashing Pumpkins. Rock pure and simple, tortured as it should to perfectly the style of the film.
The death tragic Brandon Lee in the film adds a dramatic and shows thatexcellent work has been done in order to complete this project. The liners and the assemblies are very well done for that we do not realize that the actor was unfortunately more of this world to finish the film.
The Crow is for me one of the first films of super-heroes (anti-heroes) who remains of high quality with an atmosphere incredibly heavy, and gripping without being affected by the years. A must in my collection !
And here it is ! Finished ! What an article ! The tastes and colors are different for everyone but I tried to judge the films that I know of in a manner impartial to write this top. These films are my favorite films and worth seeing if you’ve not seen them, and above all they are worth to be look at again if you do not remember ?
Yet thanks to the blog team CommentFaireUnFilm.com for the invitation,
Hoping that you enjoyed it,
Soon, perhaps, on A Sad Picture Of A Red Sky !
D. A. G.