Movies

Back To Home

Who doesn't enjoy a good flick? Everyone has thrown away 8 bucks here or there going to an extremely crappy movie (don't get me started on The Bourne Identity). But I think that for every hundred or so mediocre movies there is one good movie. Here are some of those good movies. Props go out to my friend Pete, who has lent me a nice portion of his DVD collection, which contains many of the fine titles listed below.

My favorite movies:

The Boondock Saints

Waking Life

Dr. Strangelove

K-PAX

Reservoir Dogs

Notables

The Boondock Saints:

This is probably one of the best movies I have ever seen. If you have never heard of it, I can't blame you at all. This film was never released in theatres. The movie was scheduled to release the same week as Columbine occurred, and the subject matter of the movie, which is vigilante justice, was not well received. Needless to say this movie was released on DVD and I picked it up (impulse purchase) for only $9.99 at Saturday matinee. Starring Willem Defoe , Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus. Written and directed By Troy Duffy.Top.

Waking Life:

Although this movie did receive a lot of publicity, very few people have actually seen or heard about it. I was fortunate enough to experience Waking Life in my town theatre. The only way to see it on the big screen is to find a theatre that plays independent films. What makes this movie interesting is that it was shot with normal actors, and was then animated over. The effect is very surreal, with the scenery in the background constantly altering and the facial expressions of the actors accented and exaggerated through animation. Another interesting aspect is the subject matter of the film. Instead of having the basic plot and character development, the film follows one character, who we learn relatively little about, and acts like a documentary. The scenes shift between the main character and whoever he is interviewing. With each person he talks to, new ideas about life, and dreams, enter the story. In a sense, this film is more of a documentary on the world of dreams, and so the surreal aspect that the animation provides is fitting and makes the dream world more believable. Written and directed by Richard Linklater, this film also features a pretty unknown cast, with many actors that I have never heard of or seen before. This is definitely a movie to see if you have the time to sit and think about it. Top.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb:

This masterpiece, directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick (God?), is perhaps my favorite movie of all time. Dr. Strangelove is a classic cold war parody featuring an all star cast including Slim Pickins, James Earl Jones and Peter Sellers (who plays President Merkin Muffley, Captain Lionel Mandrake and Dr. Strangelove). Defenitely one of Kubricks funniest movies, Dr. Strangelove attempts to make light of an impending nuclear holocaust. Top.

K-PAX:

In my opinion, there are far to many neighsayors out there who either are not willing to accept how good this movie actually was or even willing to see it due to its almost childlike content. Not only is Kevin Spacey absolutely amazing in K-PAX, but the film was shot magnificently. Both the lighting and music were fantasticly done. If you were a fan of The Truman Show, defenitely give K-PAX a chance. Try to forget that Kevin Spacey is playing an alien and enjoy this film. Top.

Reservoir Dogs:

If you have seen Pulp Fiction of any other Quentin Tarantino movie there is no need for you to read this. You know how good his movies are. I chose Reservoir Dogs to describe because it was the first Tarantino movie i saw. Defenitely an excellent film, and the violence, although graphic at times, was not withour warrant. That is to say, it was not violent for the sake of being controversial. The violence served its purpose. Another interesting aspect of this film was the style. What I thought stood out was the way the story pretty much took place in one scene. Its almost as if this movie was written to be a play. Supreme acting and a nice plot twist at the end defenitely makes this movie stand out in my mind. Top.

Notables:

Here is a list of all the films that you have probably seen, heard of or know about. Pretty much they are all mainstream movies that were actually excellent films and thus make the list.

  • Fight Club
  • The Matrix
  • The Usual Suspects
  • Apacolypse Now
  • Memento
  • Pulp Fiction
  • Akira (classic anime)
  • All Kevin Smith Movies (Mall Rats, Dogma, Chasing Amy, etc.)

Back to Home

Books

Links

Games

Music

Top Of Page