Well what a delight, Sue at Discombobula has been kind enough to pass on to me the I Love Your Blog award! I’m very grateful and am in pretty august company.
The idea is to list ten things that you love, and pass on the award. Check out Sue’s post here where she lists her ten things. (Pay no attention to the undeservedly nasty things she says about lapsong souchong tea though…)
I’m going to bend the rules here in a couple of ways. First of all I’m not going to pass this on to any specific blogs. I don’t want to leave anyone out. If you want to play, please do.
Second, there are so many more than ten things I love that I’m going to narrow my focus and give you my ten favourite movies of all time. They are in alphabetical order because I would find it impossible to put them in order of preference. And I’m cheating by including a couple of duos and a trilogy as single choices.
So here my top ten movies:
Directed by Percy Adlon, this 1987 film is a magical exploration of life and possibility, starring Marianne Sägebrecht as a lonely German tourist in the U.S. who turns up at a run-down desert motel after a row with her horrible husband. She befriends motel-owner CCH Pounder, becoming the catalyst for all sort of change in the process. The late, very great and hugely under-rated Jack Palance provides superb support.
What’s left to say about Michael Curtiz’s 1940s classic romance? Every time I see it I’m almost shocked by just how extraordinarily beautiful Ingrid Berman was. The film was just one of many scheduled to roll off the studio production line at Warner Brothers that year, no-one realised one of the all-time greats was in the making. For me, one of the best scenes was the French patrons at Rick’s café drowning out the Germans by singing The Marseillaise. There’s a clip of it here.
One of the most enchanting films of all time, and for me at least, one of the few which is actually better than the book it was based on.
Lasse Halstrom’s film has a cast to die for, led by Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, supported by Lena Olin (Halstrom’s wife), Alfred Molina, Judi Dench and Carrie-Anne Moss. You know it’s a strong cast when the lesser characters are played by people like John Wood, Leslie Caron and Peter Stomare! I found this video compilation above based on the party scene towards the end.
These films are also far better than the book. Coppola’s direction, Willis’s cinematography and indeed Puzo’s screenplay based on his own novel take this film into a whole other realm. As an illustration of how an emphasis on the importance of family and community can sit side-by-side with extreme violence, I think it’s unrivalled. (Although Road to Perdition comes close.) And I’m not at all sure whether Brando, Pacino or de Niro have ever matched their performances in these two films. It’s just a pity that the third part of the trilogy was so bad.
I’m a big fan of Quentin Tarantino’s imagination, quirkiness and grandiose vision. He’s a kind of demented Hitchcock. I could almost have chosen any of his films for my top ten, but I find myself coming back to Kill Bill more than to any of the others, partly because I’m a fan of David Carradine, partly because all the characterisations are so completely over the top and the visual styling is superb. A ripping yarn indeed!
I’ve only ever stayed up to watch the Oscars live once, and that was in 2003, when the third film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, Lord of the Rings Return of the King, swept the board and won all eleven Oscars for which it was nominated. I jumped up and cheered when it won Best Picture.
LOTR is one of my all-time favourite books, and in some ways the films couldn’t possibly live up to them. The first film in particular is rather flawed: not all the special effects work that well, Ian McKellan’s performance is a bit over the top and Orlando Bloom’s rather wooden. But taken as a whole, this trilogy is an absolutely amazing accomplishment. A tip? Try and get hold of the director’s cut special edition DVDs with extended footage. They are much better than the original films and have all kinds of fascinating features on how various effects were achieved.
I love Sci-Fi at the best of times, and this film blew me away when I first saw it. Why? Because the world of the Matrix, in which our conscious lives are imaginary and are regulated by an unseen intelligence, is exactly how I was convinced things were as a child. Perhaps they are. This film is an amazing feat of imagination by the Wachowski brothers, brilliantly plotted and portrayed. So, will you take the red pill or the blue pill?
I put off watching this film for years because I didn’t see how something set in a prison could be uplifting. Of course now I know better, and although prisons are grim, hope flutters around the corner somewhere, and we have so many examples over the ages of people who have been catalysts for change in prisons, like Tim Robbins’ character here amidst the brutality. Many of you will be familiar with this iconic scene from the film, when beauty comes unexpectedly to the men at Shawshank.
Funny, uplifting, superb dancing, wonderful slapstick, catchy tunes, interesting snippets of cinema history: what more could you want?
And finally, because life is sometimes almost more than we can bear, the first of Kieslowski’s Three Colours trilogy, with Juliette Binoche’s searing exploration of bereavement and the rebirth of possibility.
So thanks again for the award, Sue, and please play along with ten favourite things if you want to.
To end on a high note, if this doesn’t get your feet tapping, nothing will:
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Makes me dream of a blog-based movie festival, Tess! I share your love for some of these films and am encouraged to view the others — especially Bleu. Glad you decided to take this turn with your list.
Congratulations on this well deserved and colorful award!!
I share many of your favorites and have completely missed others. I shall have to look for Chocolat, for sure!
Are you aware that in the rousing bar scene where the French patrons sing in Casablanca, that those singing were actual French ex-pats? It was not intended to be that way, but I read that as the scene was being filmed, onlookers realized those singing their hearts out were not acting at all. In real life, their hearts were tied to France and to Le Marseillaise and that scene is one of many that make the movie wonderful.
Hugs!
ah Chocolat’
delicious movie
a fan of Juliette Binoche, i will have to check out the Three Colours trilogy
as for LOTR, i have to admit to finding the monsters all a bit too much
such a sensitive soul – I’d love to watch one all the way through but end up peering out from between my fingers so much it’s not worth trying
i really really miss the arthouse cinemas in the city
local theatre is tiny, and only plays mainstream (usually american) stuff
baghdad cafe sounds intriguing
shall have to see if the video shop stocks that one
Congrats on the well-deserved award!
I love your eclectic list of movies, and several of them are on mine too. I agree that Chocolat was better than the book. Lasse Hallstrom is brilliant at taking books and changing them in ways that make a smashing movie.
I also relate to what you said about the Matrix being like your childhood fantasies. I used to believe that every morning you woke up in a completely different world and life but didn’t know it, because it came with a complete set of memories. Actually, this is more like the plot of Dark City, but still.
I watched the Shawshank Redemption because I adore Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman both so much. I was not disappointed.
There are several films on your list that I haven’t seen, and now know I need to. Thank you!
The great classics at the Criterion Collection:
http://www.criterion.com/
Thanks, fellow movie fans.
@Barbara-Anne, no I hadn’t heard that about Casablanca, how touching.
@Kel, for some reason I do like me a good monster and a bit of fictional violence, although I’m the most scaredy-cat person in real life. It’s cathartic somehow. There was a short-lived TV series called Baghdad Cafe which was nowhere near as good as the film – one of those lowish-budget gems.
@Polli, yes, that complete set of memories thing is a fantasy I’ve entertained. And I could listen to Morgan Freeman read the telephone directory. I thought it was sad that Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon split up after all those years, by the way.
@jean-claude, welcome to my blog and thank you so much for this link to so many wonderful films. I notice there are quite a few Powell and Pressburgers there – their A Matter of Life and Death very nearly made it onto my list.
No! They split up, really? Well, just don’t tell me that Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell split up too.
OMG…I, too, loved Kill Bill 1/2 and can hardly figure out why but
there was something absolutely fascinating about it. I love th
sword play…It was like a dance. I am sometimes embarrassed to
tell certain people that I loved those movies and here I am say it
on the web. Oh well, Be Well…
Oooh, shall definitely have to add Baghdad Cafe to the collection.
Almost unbearable having Depp in that movie alongside everything else
It was deliciousness.
A real eclectic collection here, Tess, ’twas such fun to read
Congrats!! Love the list of your movies – particularly relating to these -
Casablanca
Chocolat
Shawshank Redemption
Singin’ in the Rain
Great movies!!
xo
@Polli, yes they apparently split over the summer last year and then very cleverly announced it at Christmas, so it didn’t get much publicity. It was very gracefully done and as far as I know no reason has ever been given. Goldie and Kurt still going strong as far as I know!
@Macrina, glad I’m not the only female that is intrigued by these films. I agree about the sword play. (Have you seen Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon? the whole thing is like a dance.) I think there’s something about film that allows us to explore what we would never do in real life. And it’s incredibly clever technically and conceptually as well. I like that whole piece around O-Ren Ishii’s childhood which is told in Manga-style cartoon format. It would be impossibly bloody (even by Tarantino’s standards) acted, but the cartoon is a brilliant approach to that piece of the story-telling.
@Sue, yes do watch BC, I tell everyone about it whenever I’m talking about film, it’s an overlooked masterpiece and makes you feel so good. Also one of the leads (Sagebrecht) is a larger woman (her size is not part of the story line) who is sensual and lovely. I think this kind of positive model is important.
@SS, yes they are indeed!
Well deserved award! A very daring group of films — you have good control of your mind imaginatively, in order to face into some of the more raw parts of existence and appreciate and enjoy the depth of the art form at the same time. I’m more the level of Johnny Depp in the beloved Scissorhands !! I would like to see Chocolat.
My daughter encouraged me to watch “Tokyo Story,’ knowing that I’m not a big movie fan. I absolutely loved it; the camera work is phenomenal and the climax just devastating. Every character was complex and nuanced; this movie should be required viewing for everyone who says, “I’m not interested in movies”. You are if they are this good.
@Kigen – I actually saw Scissorhands for the first time only a few months ago and I just cried. I felt like my heart could break. I think that film does face some raw elements of existence, but in a really accessible way.
And it always amazes me that Johnny Depp is such a great actor and chooses such quirky roles that I can feel no attraction to him whatsover in certain roles
@kigen: yes, Scissorhands is great also.
@Diana: thank you for your comment, I’ve put Tokyo Story on my DVD rental list.
@Sue: I once heard it said of Johnny Depp that he’s a character actor in a leading man’s body, and I think that’s probably very true.
Bravo for the Award, Tess! Your blog is an oasis where it feels good to come and rest and think along with you and other beautiful souls.
Yes, I like Baghdad Cafe. The music haunts me just saying the title. Bleu, Absolutely, In fact, the three of them. I am struck with your many action movies. I would go for Babette’s Feast, Monsoon Wedding, Waking Ned Devine (?), Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc, Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky, Jeux Interdits…
Yes, for Singing in the Rain, of course. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes…
La Femme Nikita…
Thank you for bringing back so many good things.
Blessings.
Love your list! It has several of my faves too – Chocolat oh my… I’ll have to revisit a few you mention. We’ve been discussing The Godfather this week, so it must be up for a re-view. Also saw the new DiCaprio/Ellen Page film at Imax last night – “inception”. A “smart” movie says my 14 year old charge
@Claire, wow what a lovely compliment, thank you. You’ve given me a few more films to explore. I have Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin on DVD but haven’t seen any of his later ones. Nikita – I like that one. And anything with Marilyn in – Some Like it Hot was genius. Did you know she had one of her heels cut down quarter of an inch to accentuate that voluptuous wobble? Yes I do like a good action movie, I find them relaxing. Speed, Mr and Mrs Smith and The Long Kiss Goodnight are all huge fun. And I love TV shows like Buffy and Alias. The sheer implausibility and cartoon violence are such a wonderful rest from serious thinking!! (Although I probably don’t do as much of that as I’d like you to imagine…)
@Lucy, I am enjoying vicariously your adventures with your charge, and yes I’m planning to go see Inception this week.