This is something I've wanted to do for a while - a regular post on films I enjoy - but then I thought, that's going to get tedious, and I don't even list films like that in my head. So, I started writing down the categories I do keep and... here we are.
The first list, in no particular order.
I hope you like it.
Three films I love (even though they make me so miserable I want to cry)
1) Knowing (2009) Nicholas Cage, Chandler Canterbury and Rose Byrne
After attending the opening of a time capsule at his son's school, astrophysicist John Koestler (Cage) begins to spot patterns in a seemingly random series of numbers scrawled on a letter from the capsule his son brings home. He realises they indicate events, some of which have already happened - and some which haven't.
I love Nicholas Cage, and sci-fi, and anything involving a race to stop predicted events. This is a terribly clever film, and there are brilliant performances from every character, particularly Chandler Canterbury who plays Cage's son. However, the apocalyptic bent of the film makes it nearly impossible for me to watch it without being consumed by a black hole, the knowledge of my own mortality. About halfway through the film there is a horrific plane crash filmed in one continous shot, burning bodies writhing and screaming, and I watch it every damn time even though I know I'll spend the rest of the night weeping into my Nutella.
2) Big Fish (2003) Ewan McGregor, and everyone else Tim Burton likes
Essentially, this film is a son's quest to understand his dying father, told in Burton's whimsical, roundabout, but ultimately poignant way.
Again, Ewan McGregor is another actor whose career I admire, and he is surrounded in this film by a strong and varied cast. The reason it makes me so sad, though, is that Albert Finney's performance as the eccentric father is so very similar to my deceased grandfather, it makes me well up almost as soon as I see him onscreen. Ever since I first saw this film I've had dreams where my grandfather has made guest appearances, leading me on ridiculous quests and strange lands. It's lovely, but still quite emotional. Curse you, Burton.
3) Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Forrest Whittaker
An assassin who models himself on the samurai way of life finds himself the target of mob hits.
You wouldn't think this was my sort of movie, but it is; the moments of precise violence are perfectly balanced with the calm and focus he tries to find in the rest of his life. It's so very moving with toching little interludes with the few friends he has. Every time I watch it I reconsider my entire outlook on life, only to return to staying in my pyjamas all day and watching Red Dwarf.
The first list, in no particular order.
I hope you like it.
Three films I love (even though they make me so miserable I want to cry)
1) Knowing (2009) Nicholas Cage, Chandler Canterbury and Rose Byrne
I love Nicholas Cage, and sci-fi, and anything involving a race to stop predicted events. This is a terribly clever film, and there are brilliant performances from every character, particularly Chandler Canterbury who plays Cage's son. However, the apocalyptic bent of the film makes it nearly impossible for me to watch it without being consumed by a black hole, the knowledge of my own mortality. About halfway through the film there is a horrific plane crash filmed in one continous shot, burning bodies writhing and screaming, and I watch it every damn time even though I know I'll spend the rest of the night weeping into my Nutella.
2) Big Fish (2003) Ewan McGregor, and everyone else Tim Burton likes
Again, Ewan McGregor is another actor whose career I admire, and he is surrounded in this film by a strong and varied cast. The reason it makes me so sad, though, is that Albert Finney's performance as the eccentric father is so very similar to my deceased grandfather, it makes me well up almost as soon as I see him onscreen. Ever since I first saw this film I've had dreams where my grandfather has made guest appearances, leading me on ridiculous quests and strange lands. It's lovely, but still quite emotional. Curse you, Burton.
3) Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Forrest Whittaker
An assassin who models himself on the samurai way of life finds himself the target of mob hits.
You wouldn't think this was my sort of movie, but it is; the moments of precise violence are perfectly balanced with the calm and focus he tries to find in the rest of his life. It's so very moving with toching little interludes with the few friends he has. Every time I watch it I reconsider my entire outlook on life, only to return to staying in my pyjamas all day and watching Red Dwarf.
