Re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Alright, I guess I'm not keeping up with the latest movies due to extreme time crunch and well, lack of patience not to mention that stories that intrigue me are very, very rare.. for lack of a better term. So let me hark back to the few movies that are rarely mentioned anywhere yet have a deep following by the few people who admire such cinema. Let me also state in advance that viewer discretion is advised in all of the movie names that follow.
1) Schindler's List (1993) : I put seeing this one off by quite a bit, saw it perhaps last year but its worth every second of viewing. The scale of it, Spielberg's hand, a strongly emotional real-world tragedy.. it had everything portrayed in it yet it was a then unknown, lanky Irish gentleman portraying a Nazi-German businessman who totally stole the show and made it his own, specially at the end. We know him now as Mr.Taken, Liam Neeson. An underrated movie which would have tore box-office records if it had released now, but even for today it is risqué, a bit controversial, uncensored and hence can never be a theatre filler quite the same way as say, "Avengers".
2) Eyes Wide Shut (1999) : I doubt anyone would've watched it, even if they have heard of it. May I also raise a very specific warning again for this movie regarding viewer discretion. It is definitely not for the closed-minded and many things will not make sense if one sees it in that manner. This movie, like every other Stanley Kubrick film is a book adaptation truly brought to life. May I also say that Kubrick perhaps, was the finest director on earth.. his way of obsession when focussing on scenes, getting the shot just right and adding layers upon layers of meaning to each shot is perhaps closely matched only by Christopher Nolan. Right from the start the movie screams of controversies, tragedy of errors, a beautiful misunderstanding and horrors which no man should discover. Its a poetic masterpiece set in film and it scares the viewer to the bone without it even being a horror movie. Here the story takes strength from beginning to the end and even with a main cast of Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman, they hardly matter. Stanley Kubrick is one of the rare directors who brought out the actors in Cruise/Kidman and that's a feat in itself. A haunting experience without the fear factor. A Clockwork Orange is a similar movie by Kubrick, different subject.
3) The Machinist (2004) : Some call it artistic cinema, some call it strangely entertaining, I call it true suspense. To me there is no doubt that Christian Bale can kick "famous" actors like Brad Pitt, DiCaprio and Johnny Depp to the kerb with his acting.. there is no comparison as Bale is at least 10 leagues above and no movie is better proof of it than The Machinist, to enjoy it however, if you've never heard of it watch it straightaway without reading reviews or even looking at the poster. Its a worthwhile 2 hours for fans of noir style setting with old fashioned violin suspense music to boot.
4) 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968) : Yes the inspiration for Nolan's Interstellar (which I feel happens to be his worst ever), was 2001, a Stanley Kubrick film. Beyond the breath-taking visuals for its time, it is filled with meaning, most of which I was able to piece together myself and many more by reading reviews. It raises many questions, chief among them who we are really, as a race and whether we are in the process of creating so much that it'll destroy us before we know it. The ending is a bit vague but like abstract art I'll let the viewer draw his/her own opinions. A machine sure isn't a man's best friend, though.
5) Falling Down (1993) : A bad day at work? A manic traffic jam? Feeling pushed to a corner every second of the day? How long would it all last before one cracks and kicks society back with the boot it so richly deserves is the question. This movie answers it all and Michael Douglas makes it worth the while. The parts where he fires back at the nonsensical workings of society are hilarious though the end is a bit slow and changes pace in a boring way.
6) Speak (2004) : Alright this may be the least controversial movie in the list, and even could pass off as a Sunday movie. Kristen Stewart is my favourite actress today and before anyone laughs pointing to "the" twilight, I know that was a very poor choice of role, however she redeemed herself in movies like this, Camp X-Ray, Welcome to the Rileys etc. This movie is about a real problem that might happen anywhere, and the way it imprisons an individual until they are forced to see that beyond their troubles, lie infinite choices. |