it is sunday, early morning and i am still half asleep! was in the other room trying to organise our dvd's and while reading some titles i started thinking what movies i enjoyed the most in the latest months.
since moving here -- we have been watching loads - some outstanding and some less memorable ones. had i to say the ones that really impressed me i would mention:
1. the lives of others (oscar winning german film. a masterpiece. a very complex, unforgettable number mixing tragedy and poetry, chilling violence and enduring love);
2. hiroshima mon amour (a deep elegy on how war can bring together and break in the same measure otherwise distant lives);
3. the man who loves (italian movie -- whose only flaw lies in the unnecessary casting of monica bellucci. an everyday story told in sequences that develop in an unexpected game of chinese boxes. beautiful, gripping acting - with the added value of spanish actress marisa paredes, a personal favourite).
4. up in the air (witty, bittersweet portrayt of modern loneliness in the corporate world. george clooney delivers a great performance here).
5. genoa - by michael winterbottom (starts off as a too sad for words tale on loss -- goes on to place the characters in an unusually realistic corner of italy -- finishes with a touch of hope and joy. splendid portrayt of two daughters).
6. the burning plain (from the same director of memorable 21 grams. painful and tragic, heartbreaking. charlize theron kills you with her self destructive character who finds a reason for redemption only at the very end. the movie is shot beautifully -- with incredible oregon landscapes in its first half).
7. dan in real life (ok, definitely a happy-ending cum happy-family package - but boy, did i laugh. it is witty, it is sweet, it is very much on the "feel good" comedy side. fantastic soundtrack too. and directed by much gifted peter hedges).
8. looking for eric (by ken loach -- fab working class tale filled with humour and wackiness and revolving around the character of eric, a hapless manchester lad who starts picturing his all time favourite football hero, flamboyant eric cantona, as his "guardian angel" in his messy, unhinged life. very funny, very touching, very upbeat).
9. the bank job (unbelievable movie based on even more unbelievable (real) event: the 1971 baker street robbery in central london. this movie is a winner for action and suspense and could well be described as some kind of ocean's eleven type of thing - only with more gripping, sharper and british-ly cooler atmosphere and pace).
10. comandante (documentary by oliver stone. this one is a quirky gem: an interview of cuban leader fidel castro. sparkles of undoubted charisma mingle with hallucinating rethorics. fascinating and different).
had i to extend this list - i would definitely add:
........the boy in the striped pajamas - a movie on the holocaust seen through the innocent eyes of a child. devastating ending.
........billy elliot - unusual, sweet tale on the ballet dreams of a young working class boy from sheffield - during the miners' strike of 1984.
plus --- three movies that i have enjoyed watching again:
-- elegy (ben kingsley is incredible. and this love story will always make me cry like a baby)
-- the curious case of benjamin button (dreamy, epic. a fab fairytale)
-- bridget jones' diary (cult comedy about how dysfunctionally irresistible 30something gals can be - without losing their self irony).
No comments:
Post a Comment