Posted on

100 Greatest Films 2010-2019 Part 2

100-81   80-61   60-41   40-21   20-1


80. Short Term 12 (2013) Dir. Destin Daniel Cretton, 96 mins.

The film stars the excellent Brie Larson (in her first leading performance) as Grace Howard, a young supervisor of a group home for troubled teenagers. Director/writer Cretton based Short Term 12 on his own experience working in a group facility. Watch


79. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) Dir. Abdellatif Kechiche, 179 mins.

The film follows Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos), a French teenager who discovers desire and freedom when an aspiring painter (Lea Seydoux) enters her life. The film charts their relationship from Adele’s high school years to her early adult life and career as a school teacher. Watch


78. Lady Bird (2017) Dir. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, 117 mins.

In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales becomes one of many Spider-Men as they team up to save New York City from Kingpin.


77. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Dir. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, 117 mins.

In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales becomes one of many Spider-Men as they team up to save New York City from Kingpin.


76. Spotlight (2015) Dir. Thomas McCarthy, 128 mins.

The film follows The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative journalist unit in the United States, and its investigation into cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests.


75. Hard to Be a God (2013) Dir. Aleksei German, 177 mins.

Based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, the final film from Russian master, German, follows a scientist from Earth who is sent to a planet that has striking similarities to our own during the middle ages. The natives of this chaotic and cruel society treat the scientist as a sort of god, but he is not allowed to interfere with their development and left impotent in the face of the brutality he witnesses.


74. Uncut Gems (2019) Dir. Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, 135 mins.

The film stars Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, a Jewish-American jeweler and gambling addict in New York City’s Diamond District, who must retrieve an expensive gem he purchased to pay off his debts.


73. Melancholia (2011) Dir. Lars von Trier, 135 mins.

The film’s story revolves around two sisters, one of whom is preparing to marry just before a rogue planet is about to collide with Earth.


72. Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013) Dir. Frank Pavich, 90 mins.

The film explores cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unsuccessful attempt to adapt and film Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel Dune in the mid-1970s.


71. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 114 mins.

The winner of the much coveted Grand Jury prize at Cannes, the film follows Uncle Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar), who, afflicted by acute kidney failure and convinced he will soon die, chooses to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears and brings him guidance, and his estranged son returns home in a non-human form. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave. Writer, producer and director Weerasethakul delivers an oddly unique dose of often profound magical realism that removes the boundaries between life and death and which has been recognised as one of the best films of the 2000s in several polls. More…


70. Ad Astra (2019) Dir. James Gray, 124 mins.

it follows an astronaut (Brad Pitt) who ventures into space in search of his lost father, whose experiment threatens the solar system.


69. First Man (2018) Dir. Damien Chazelle, 141 mins.

Based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, the film stars Ryan Gosling as Armstrong, alongside Claire Foy as his wife and follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969. The film’s emotional core comes just as much from Armstrong dealing with the loss of a child (7 years before the lunar landing), as it does his remarkable achievement as an astronaut. The film features some brilliant direction, outstanding performances from Gosling and Foy, a haunting musical score and an extraordinarily powerful Moon landing sequence. However, the film was not without detractors and its choice to not depict the planting of the American flag on the lunar surface led critics and politicians from both political parties to debate the film’s stance on patriotism.


68. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Dir. Tomas Alfredson, 127 mins.

Based on the classic 1974 novel of the same name, Alfredson’s visually stylish espionage thriller is set in London in the early 1970s and follows the hunt for a Soviet double agent at the top of the British secret service. The outstanding Gary Oldman leads a high quality ensemble cast as John Le Carre’s British spy George Smiley, formerly disgraced, but brought back by MI-6 to lead the hunt. While some will dislike the slow pace and find the narrative structure difficult to follow, the film displays a brilliant sense of time and place that combined with the atmosphere of Cold War paranoia builds to a satisfying and compelling finale.


67. The Irishman (2019) Dir. Martin Scorsese, 209 mins.

The film follows Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a truck driver who becomes a hitman involved with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and his crime family, including his time working for the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).


66. The Great Beauty (2013) Dir. Paolo Sorrentino, 142 mins.

Journalist and ageing socialite Jep Gambardella (the marvellous Toni Servillo) has charmed and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades. Since the legendary success of his one and only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city’s literary and social circles, but when his sixty-fifth birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly reflecting on his life. Sorrentino’s art film plays homage to the likes of Fellini and Antonioni and is poignant, sad and beautiful to behold. Was listed among the BBC’s 100 greatest films since 2000. Watch


65. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 150 mins.

Turkish drama film, co-written and directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan based on the true experience of one of the film’s writers, telling the story of a group of men who search for a dead body on the Anatolian steppe.


64. The Revenant (2015) Dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 156 mins.

The screenplay by Mark L. Smith and Iñárritu is based in part on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel of the same name, describing frontiersman Hugh Glass’s experiences in 1823.


63. Son of Saul (2015) Dir. Laszlo Nemes, 107 mins.

Set in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, Son of Saul follows a day-and-a-half in the life of Saul Ausländer (Géza Röhrig), a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando (a work unit made up of death camp prisoners). Numbed by his harrowing experiences cleaning up the gas chambers, Saul regains some humanity when he takes it upon himself to arrange a burial for one of the victims. Winner of Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, the film is probably the most intense and devastating look at the horrors of World War 2 since Klimov’s Come And See made 30 years earlier.


62. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) Dir. Benh Zeitlin, 91 mins.

A pulsating and atmospheric fable set in a forgotten but defiant bayou community, cut off from the rest of the world by the sprawling Louisiana levee, that follows a big hearted six-year-old girl (the enchanting Quvenzhane Wallis) and her relationship with her no-nonsense father (Dwight Henry). Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. First time director Benh Zeitlin delivers an impressive and visually engaging mix of magical fantasy and biting realism despite a small budget.

61. Carol (2015) Dir. Todd Haynes, 118 mins.

Set in New York City during the early 1950s, Carol tells the story of a forbidden affair between an aspiring female photographer (Rooney Mara) and a glamorous older woman (Cate Blanchett) going through a difficult divorce. An elegantly restrained melodrama with lush visuals that features superb performances from Blanchett and Mara.

100-81   80-61   60-41   40-21   20-1

Posted on

The Pendragon Society’s 1000 Greatest Films (2020) 960-941

Introduction

960. The Blue Angel (1930) Dir. Josef von Sternberg, 124 mins.

Directed in Berlin by the Austrian-American von Sternberg, the film was a co-production of Germany’s Ufa and Hollywood’s Paramount. Emil Jannings, back in Germany after his brief but highly successful stint in Hollywood silents, stars as the respectable straitlaced professor who transforms into a cabaret clown and descends into madness. Jannings is good but it’s Marlene Dietrich who steals the show as the magnetic temptress who ensnares him. The film made Dietrich an international superstar and remains, over 85 years later, an enthralling tale of love and obsession.

959. Uncut Gems (2019) Dir. Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, 135 mins.

The film stars Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, a Jewish-American jeweler and gambling addict in New York City’s Diamond District, who must retrieve an expensive gem he purchased to pay off his debts.

958. Alexander Nevsky (1938) Dir. Sergei M. Eisenstein, Dmitri Vasilyev, 112 mins.

While his ideas for his previous project Bezhin Meadows ran into opposition from a Russian industry and government looking towards social realism rather than experiments with montage, Eisenstein had far more success with Alexander Nevsky, which coincided with Stalin’s need for nationalist propaganda against the threat of German invasion. The director’s first realised sound film and his first completed production for ten years, the historical epic depicts the attempted invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire and their defeat by Prince Alexander, known popularly as Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263). With only sparse dialogue and sound effects, the film’s emotional intensity comes from expressive camera movement, the brilliant use of montage and one of sound film’s great scores from Prokofiev (Eisenstein even re-edited sequences to fit in with the music). More…

957. La Promesse (1996) Dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, 90 mins.

The plot involves a father, Roger, who mercilessly trafficks and exploits undocumented immigrants. His son, Igor, is fifteen and an apprentice mechanic, who also works for his father in his labor contracting operation. When one of their illegal workers is seriously injured at the worksite, left to die, and the death concealed by Roger and Igor, a guilt-ridden Igor must choose between his father’s chosen way of life and his promise to the dying man.

956. Melancholia (2011) Dir. Lars von Trier, 135 mins.

The film’s story revolves around two sisters, one of whom is preparing to marry just before a rogue planet is about to collide with Earth.

955. In the Heat of the Sun (1994) Dir. Jiang Wen, 134 mins.

Jiang Wen and writer Wang Shuo collaborated on this 1994 feature about coming-of-age in 1970s Beijing, when the Cultural Revolution was in its early stages.

954. Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013) Dir. Frank Pavich, 90 mins.

The film explores cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unsuccessful attempt to adapt and film Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel Dune in the mid-1970s.

953. Mad Max (1979) Dir. George Miller, 93 mins.

Financed privately rather than by the failing Australian Film Commission this violent dystopian action movie was a big international hit and changed the way Australian films were funded in favour of a more commercial ethos rather than a cultural one. The film also launched the career of future Hollywood star and director Mel Gibson, who plays a vengeful policeman embroiled in a feud with a vicious motorcycle gang. Now lauded for its visceral power and strong direction the film initially polarised critics.

952. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 114 mins.

The winner of the much coveted Grand Jury prize at Cannes, the film follows Uncle Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar), who, afflicted by acute kidney failure and convinced he will soon die, chooses to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears and brings him guidance, and his estranged son returns home in a non-human form. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave. Writer, producer and director Weerasethakul delivers an oddly unique dose of often profound magical realism that removes the boundaries between life and death and which has been recognised as one of the best films of the 2000s in several polls. More…

 

 

951. The Bandit (1996) Dir. Yavuz Turgul, 121 mins.

The film is about a bandit who comes to Istanbul after serving a 35-year jail sentence.

950. Ad Astra (2019) Dir. James Gray, 124 mins.

it follows an astronaut (Brad Pitt) who ventures into space in search of his lost father, whose experiment threatens the solar system.

949. Eternity and a Day (1998) Dir. Theo Angelopoulos, 132 mins.

The film follows a celebrated writer, Alexandre, who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Just before going to hospital to receive treatment, and knowing he is unlikely to recover, he spends one last day wandering about town and reminiscing about his past, trying to capture one perfect moment of happiness from his memories.

948. Breaking Away (1979) Dir. Peter Yates, 101 mins.

It follows a group of four male teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana, who have recently graduated from high school.

947. Nanook of the North (1922) Dir. Robert J. Flaherty, 79 mins.

Operating on the border between fiction and documentary, the film captures the struggles of an Inuk man named Nanook and his family in the Canadian Arctic. Seen at the time as a masterful depiction of a vanishing way of life, the director Flaherty was actually guilty of romanticisation and adapting the tale for the western audience. He had the Inuits dressed in traditional costumes they no longer used to reenact events they no longer practised. These people were certainly not the naive primitives he depicted as mystified by a simple record player as they actually fixed his camera, developed his film and actively participated in the film making process. Ultimately, Flaherty was more interested in the spirit of the Inuits rather than just recording what he witnessed and the film remains a landmark production for its part in the development of documentary cinema. Watch

946. Ghost in the Shell (1995) Dir. Mamoru Oshii, 85 mins.

The plot follows Motoko Kusanagi, a public-security agent, who hunts the mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master.

945. First Man (2018) Dir. Damien Chazelle, 141 mins.

Based on the book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen, the film stars Ryan Gosling as Armstrong, alongside Claire Foy as his wife and follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969. The film’s emotional core comes just as much from Armstrong dealing with the loss of a child (7 years before the lunar landing), as it does his remarkable achievement as an astronaut. The film features some brilliant direction, outstanding performances from Gosling and Foy, a haunting musical score and an extraordinarily powerful Moon landing sequence. However, the film was not without detractors and its choice to not depict the planting of the American flag on the lunar surface led critics and politicians from both political parties to debate the film’s stance on patriotism.

944. Videodrome (1983) Dir. David Cronenberg, 89 mins.

Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror follows the CEO of a small UHF television station who stumbles upon a broadcast signal featuring extreme violence and torture. An audacious piece of film making that starts cleverly before veering off into grotesque imagery and narrative confusion.

943.  Russian Ark (2002) Dir. Aleksandr Sokurov, 99 mins.

An experimental historical drama that uses a single, uninterrupted, 87-minute take to follow an unnamed narrator, who having died in a horrible accident, is now a ghost who wanders through the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. In each room, he encounters various real and fictional people from various periods in the city’s 300-year history. A hugely ambitious and astounding technical achievement that’s like drifting through a dream.

942. The Tenant (1976) Dir. Roman Polanski, 126 mins.

The final film of Polanski’s loose trilogy on the horrors of living in apartments (the other two being Repulsion and Rosemary’s Baby), follows a Polish file clerk who moves into a bizarre apartment building in Paris, taking over the residence of a comatose woman who fell from her apartment window.

941. Late Chrysanthemums (1954) Dir. Mikio Naruse, 101 mins.

Based on three short stories by female author Fumiko Hayashi, the film follows four retired geisha and their struggles to make ends meet in post World War II Japan.

PREVIOUS – NEXT

Posted on

The Pendragon Society’s 1000 Greatest Films (2019) 920-901

Introduction

920. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Dir. Woody Allen, 82 mins.

Woody Allen’s comic fantasy, set in a small town in the mid-1930s, follows waitress Cecelia (Mia Farrow) who is trapped in an abusive marriage and regularly seeks refuge in the local movie house. She becomes transfixed with a screwball comedy called The Purple Rose of Cairo and its lead character, archaeologist Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels). After Cecelia goes to watch the film many times, the character Tom, notices her and climbs out of the movie, much to the shock of the rest of the audience and the other characters on screen. Allen is at his most inventive with this weird and whimsical movie that is often unfairly overlooked in discussions about his best work.

919. Dark City (1998) Dir. Alex Proyas, 100 mins.

Somewhat overshadowed by The Matrix which was released the following year, Proyas’s neo-noir sci-fi follows an amnesiac man who finds himself suspected of murder. He attempts to discover his true identity and clear his name while on the run from the police and a mysterious group known only as the “Strangers”.  It’s visionary to some and bewildering to others but few could argue that it doesn’t contain some startling and arresting imagery.

918. Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013) Dir. Frank Pavich, 90 mins.

The film explores cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unsuccessful attempt to adapt and film Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction novel Dune in the mid-1970s.

917. The Favourite (2018) Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, 120 mins.

Set in the early 18th century, the story examines the relationship between two cousins vying to be court favourites of British monarch, Queen Anne.

916. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Dir. Martin Scorsese, 180 mins.

Based on the memoir by Jordan Belfort the film recounts Belfort’s perspective on his career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm Stratton Oakmont engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street that ultimately led to his downfall. Leonardo Di Caprio makes for a funny and magnetically charming Belfort in a film that received criticism for glorifying the crime while shying away from the true consequences of such criminality.

915. Catch Me If You Can (2002) Dir. Steven Spielberg, 141 mins.

The film is based on the life of Frank Abagnale, who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor and a Louisiana parish prosecutor. Lighthearted and hugely enjoyable, the film also considers the effects of a broken home, which along with Abagnale, director Spielberg also experienced as a teenager.

914. To Live (1994) Dir. Zhang Yimou, 132 mins.

In the 1940s, Xu Fugui (Ge You), a rich man’s son and compulsive gambler, and his wife Jiazhen (Gong Li), endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.

913. Minority Report (2002) Dir. Steven Spielberg, 145 mins.

The film follows John Anderton (Tom Cruise), a Washington, D.C. detective in the year 2054 who works for “PreCrime”, a specialised police department, that apprehends criminals based on foreknowledge provided by three psychics called “precogs”. Spielberg delivers a visceral and intense sci-fi thriller.

912. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) Dir. Werner Herzog, 107 mins.

The film is a remake of F. W. Murnau’s celebrated silent film adaptation of ‘Dracula’ from 1922. It follows the blood-sucking count (Klaus Kinski) as he takes over a small German village and then attempts to spread his influence and activities to the rest of the world. All that prevents Dracula from continuing his demonic practices is the self-sacrifice of Lucy Harker (Isabelle Adjani). Similar in style to Murnau, Herzog’s film language swings back and forth between documentary and dream like passages, between authenticity and surrealistic vision. Ultimately it’s the striking visual beauty and the dark creepy atmosphere that makes it a genre classic.

911. Gangs of New York (2002) Dir. Martin Scorsese, 167 mins.

The film is set in 1864 in the slum neighbourhood of Five Points, Manhattan and follows Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo Di Caprio) an orphan who seeks revenge against gang leader William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), a crime boss and political kingmaker who had murdered Vallon’s father 18 years earlier. Considered a lesser Scorsese work by some critics Gangs of New York is still a terrific piece of film-making with an exceptional performance from Day-Lewis.



910. Raising Arizona (1987) Dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 94 mins.

Nicholas Cage is a store robber who decides to go straight if Holly Hunter’s police officer will marry him. Their new life together hits problems when they find they can’t have children and trying to break out of their ensuing depression, they decide to snatch one of a furniture store owners recently born quintuplets. There’s some fantastic and inventive madcap humour and it’s not hard to feel sympathy for the hapless kidnappers.

909. Zelig (1983) Dir. Woody Allen, 79 mins.

Allen plays Leonard Zelig, a nondescript enigma, who, out of his desire to fit in and be liked, takes on the characteristics of strong personalities around him. The film, presented as a documentary, recounts his intense period of celebrity in the 1920s and includes analyses from contemporary intellectuals. As the human chameleon Allen delivers more of his much loved neurotic humour.

908. 28 Days Later… (2002) Dir. Danny Boyle, 113 mins.

The film depicts the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious “rage” virus and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors. It’s a brilliantly atmospheric dystopian nightmare from one of Britain’s most important filmmakers.

907. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Dir. Wes Anderson, 110 mins.

The absurdist and ironic humour will annoy some but those who embrace The Royal Tenenbaums will delight in it’s eccentricities. A stellar cast tells the whimsical tale of three once gifted siblings and the attempts of their estranged father, a terrific turn by Gene hackman, to reconcile with them. It was listed by the BBC as one of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century.

906. Good Bye Lenin! (2003) Dir. Wolfgang Becker, 121 mins.

Set in East Berlin, the film follows a year in the life of a German boy, Alex (Daniel Bruhl), up to just after German reunification in 1990. After his socialist mother sees Alex arrested during an anti-government demonstration she suffers a heart attack and remains comatose through the fall of the Berlin wall and the GDR. Knowing that the slightest shock could prove fatal upon his mother’s awakening, Alex then attempts to pull off an elaborate scheme to keep the fall of the socialist regime a secret from her for as long as possible. Becker’s comedy drama is a poignant and endearing story that critiques western consumerism and socialist authoritarianism.

905. Dawn of the Dead (1978) Dir. George A. Romero, 126 mins.

Romero’s independently made zombie sequel provides a tongue in cheek attack on the shortcomings of our modern materialistic society by way of hordes of reanimated corpses preying on human flesh. The film follows four Pennsylvanian survivors of the epidemic, caused by an unidentified phenomenon, who barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall amid mass hysteria. Combining action, tension, gruesome horror and a surprising amount of humour, Dawn of the Dead manages to move far beyond its low budget, and, thanks to a great cast and clever special effects is seen as one of the best horror films ever made. More…

904. Boyz n the Hood (1991) Dir. John Singleton, 112 mins.

A remarkable debut from John Singleton, who was only in his early 20s when he wrote and directed this acclaimed tale of three friends struggling to find the right path in a crime ridden Los Angeles neighbourhood. The film primarily follows Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.), who after fighting at school, is sent by his mother to live with his father, Furious Styles (the outstanding Larry Fishburne), in the tough South Central area. While his father manages to communicate some valuable life lessons to him, and his devout girlfriend Brandi (Nia Long) teaches him about faith, Tre’s friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) don’t have the same kind of support and are drawn into the booming drug and gang culture, with increasingly tragic results.

903. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Dir. Christopher Nolan, 164 mins.

Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, merciless revolutionary Bane (Tom Hardy) forces an older Bruce Wayne to resume his role as Batman and save Gotham City from nuclear destruction. A disappointingly uneven effort when compared with the heights reached in the previous film, but there’s still some great action and compelling performances.

902. Cloud Atlas (2012) Dir. Tom Tykwer, The Wachowskis, 164 mins.

This hugely ambitious science fiction epic was one of the most expensive independent films ever made. Adapted from the 2004 novel of the same name by David Mitchell, the film has multiple plots set across six different eras exploring how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future. While some may be baffled by the narrative it’s hard to ignore the epic scope, stunning visuals and big ideas. It also benefits greatly from repeat viewings.

901. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 104 mins.

The film is set in Hollywood during the late 1940s, where animated characters and people co-exist. Bob Hoskins plays a private detective who must exonerate “Toon” Roger Rabbit, who is accused of murdering a wealthy businessman. Groundbreaking for its mix of live action and animation the film is also very funny and surprisingly touching.



PREVIOUS – NEXT