movies…

i was clearing out my email inbox [ trying to get to zero... hah, only 589 more... ] and i came across this list that i compiled probably two years ago for a friend and then sent to another friend and promised a Vol.2 at some point… maybe i’ll have to do that one of these days. in the meantime here’s the list [ sorry about the formatting... i'm not feeling well enough to fix it... well, maybe a little ] :

Movie List (Volume I)

La Jetee – Chris Marker Dir.; b/w 30 minute short (composed [almost] entirely of still images) that inspired Twelve Monkeys
Eraserhead – David Lynch Dir.; b/w Lynch’s first feature, amazing sound and visuals, bizarre
Tetsuo Iron Man – Shinya Tsukamoto Dir.; b/w Japanese language but very little dialogue; Inspired by Eraserhead; slightly disturbing
Tetsuo Body Hammer – Shinya Tsukamoto Dir.; sequel to the above… in the same vein
Reservoir Dogs – Quentin Tarantino Dir.; the best dialogue
True Romance – Quentin Tarantino Writer (Tony Scott Dir.)
Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino Dir.
Jackie Brown – Quentin Tarantino Dir.
Go – Doug Liman Dir.; I have seen this movie more that 15 times… it may not be a ‘great’ film, but it’s one of my favorites
Swingers – Doug Liman Dir.; he also directed The Bourne Identity
Four Rooms – four vignettes; one by Tarantino and one by Robert Rodriguez
El Mariachi – Robert Rodriguez Dir. Spanish language; prequel to Desperado; great low budget action film
Pillow Book – Peter Greenaway Dir.; amazing imagery; if you see any of his films see this one
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover – Peter Greenaway Dir.; the Greenaway film everyone know…
The Belly of an Architect – Peter Greenaway Dir.; Brian Dennehy as an architect
Drowning by Numbers – Peter Greenaway Dir.; not much plot, but one of my favorite of his films
Repo Man – a classic, one of my favorite films
Mad Max – classic Australian film… launched a career.
The Usual Suspects – watch it again
Zentropa – Lars von Trier Dir.; English / German language; b/w and color; beautiful cinematography
The Element of Crime – Lars von Trier Dir.; some incredible imagery; film noir
The Idiots – Lars von Trier Dir.; Danish language – not sure if you can find this w/ English subtitles; one of the Dogme95 films (www.dogme95.dk); this one may be difficult to watch for some
The Celebration (Festen) – Thomas Vinterberg Dir.; Danish language; a Dogme95 film (the first!); very good film about family secrets… highly recommend.
The Wild Bunch – Sam Peckinpah Dir.; great western
Once Upon a Time in the West – Sergio Leone Dir.; epic western classic
Solaris – Andrei Tarkovsky Dir.; Russian language; Steven Soderbergh is remaking this, but the original is fantastic… very long and slow; sci-fi
Stalker – Andrei Tarkovsky Dir.; Russian language; unbelievably beautiful sets and cinematography
Run Lola Run – Tom Tykwer Dir.; German language; same story told 3x with different endings; fast paced
Pi – Darron Aronofsky Dir.; b/w; fast paced film about power and systems
Requiem for a Dream – Darron Aronofsky Dir.; powerful movie about addiction; music by Kronos Quartet
Bullitt – one of the best car chases on film
The Professional – Luc Besson Dir.
Breathless – Jean-Luc Godard Dir.; classic
Blade Runner – Ridley Scott Dir.; classic sci-fi
Alien – Ridley Scott Dir.; classic sci-fi
City of Lost Children – Caro and Jeunet Dir.; French language but very little dialogue; Jean Pierre Jeunet also directed Amelie; great vision
Delicatessen – Caro and Jeunet Dir.; French language; hilarious dark comedy about troglodytes and cannibalism in a post apocalyptic France
Brazil – Terry Gilliam Dir.; the master at work making a mockery of bureaucracies… hmm… West Hollywood?
Twelve Monkeys – Terry Gilliam Dir.; sets ‘stolen’ from a famous (at least in architectural circles) visionary artist – Lebbeus Woods