Movies

Great movies (in my opinion) that you should check out if you haven't already

(Click the movie title to see reviews from (www.rottentomatoes.com)

  • The Wrestler (2008)

  • The Dark Knight (2008)

  • Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

  • 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

  • American Gangster (2007)

  • Michael Clayton (2007)

  • Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

  • The Departed (2006)

  • Babel (2006)

  • Apocalypto (2006)

  • Crash (2005)

  • Capote (2005)

  • Keane (2005)

  • Junebug (2005)

  • Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

  • Walk the Line (2005)

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

  • The Grudge (2004) (2nd best horror movie ever)
  • The Woodsman (2004)
  • Garden State (2004)
  • Maria Full of Grace (2004)
  • Ray (2004)
  • The Machinist (2004) (I guess this makes me a Christian Bale fan)
  • Mean Creek (2004)
  • Mystic River (2003)
  • Whale Rider (2003)
  • Elephant (2003)

  • Solaris (2002)

  • The Pianist (2002)

  • Road to Perdition (2002)

  • Catch Me If You Can (2002)

  • Tully (2002)

  • About Schmidt (2002)

  • A.I. (2001)

  • The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

  • The Others (2001)

  • Guy Ritchie's (i.e., Madonna's husband) original duo: Snatch (2001) & Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

  • Darren Aronofsky's big two: Requiem for a Dream (2000) & π (1997)
  • Best in Show (2000)
  • Cast Away (2000)
  • Traffic (2000)
  • Being John Malkovich (1999)
  • Good Will Hunting (1997)
  • Fargo (1996)
  • Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
  • Reservoir Dogs (1992)
  • Unforgiven (1992) (My favorite western although all of Eastwood's westerns are classics)
  • Full Metal Jacket (1987)
  • Empire of the Sun (1987)
  • Lucas (1986)
  • The Killing Fields (1984)
  • Amadeus (1984)
  • Places in the Heart (1984)
  • I'm becoming a HUGE fan of late 1960's and 1970's cinema (movies of the era to watch)

  • Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

  • The Guns of Navarone (1961)

  • Citizen Kane (1941)

    • The Trilogy Section
  • The Godfather Trilogy (minus part III)
  • The Star Wars sextuplets (While Episodes I and II failed to live up to their predecessors, Episode III was better than average and George Lucas is still my hero)  
  • The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
  • Indiana Jones Trilogy

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    The Foreign Film Section (If you are interested in that sort of thing)
  • Dead Snow (Norway) (2009)
  • Katyn (Poland) (2009)
  • Gomorrah (Italy) (2009)
  • Sin Nombre (Mexico) (2009)
  • City of Men (Brazil) (2008)
  • The Counterfeiters (Austria) (2008) - Outstanding!!!!
  • Mongol (Kazakhstan) (2008)
  • Elite Squad (Brazil) (2008) - Not for the faint of heart - it's like City of God without the humanity (FYI - I'm being sarcastic)
  • Let the Right One In (Sweden) (2008) - Best vampire film I've seen
  • Beaufort (Israel) (2007)
  • My Boy Jack (TV) (England) (2007) - If you are  interested in seeing Daniel Radcliffe as someone other than Harry Potter
  • Them (France) (2007)
  • Volver (Spain)(2007)
  • The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Ireland) (2007)
  • Pan's Labyrinth (Spain) (2006)
  • Days of Glory (Algeria) (2006)
  • Joyeux Noël (France) (2006)
  • Three...Extremes (Hong Kong, Korea, Japan) (2005)
  • Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Germany) (2005) - Outstanding and unfortunately little known story!!!
  • Cache (France) (2005)
  • Goodbye Lenin (Germany) (2004)

  • Shaun of the Dead (England) (2004)

  • Downfall (Germany) (2004)

  • Strayed (French) (2004)

  • 28 Days Later (England) (2003)

  • City of God (Brazil) (2003)
  • Russian Ark (Russia) (2002)
  • Rabbit Proof Fence (Australia) (2002)

  • Sex and Lucia (Spain) (2002) - Don't watch this with your parents in the room

  • French movies by Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Delicatessen (1991), Amelie (2001), A Very Long Engagement (2004)

  • No Man's Land (Bosnia-Herzegovina) (2001)

  • Amorres Perros (Mexico) (2001)

  • Fat Girl (France) (2001)
  • Kandahar (2001)

  • Before Night Falls (Spanish/Cuban)  (2000)

  • The Emperor and the Assassin (China) (1999)

  • Run Lola Run (Germany) (1999)

  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan) (1999)

  • Life is Beautiful (French) (1998)

  • The Dinner Game (French) (1998)

  • Stalingrad (Germany) (1993) - If you are interested in knowing what the Germans think about the Battle of Stalingrad

  • Das Boot (Germany) (1992) - Set in a W.W.II German submarine whose last order is to enter the Mediterranean Sea via the British controlled Straits of Gibraltar.

  • Ran (Japan) (1985)

  • Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Germany) (1973)

  • I am Curious (Sweden) (1967) - 35+ year old Swedish movie that was, at one time, banned in America. Intriguing?

  • Ivan's Childhood (former Soviet Union)(1962)
  • Harakiri (Japan)(1962) - Outstanding Japanese film- A must see
  • Seven Samari (Japan) (1954) - The Kurosawa classic
  • Tokyo Story (Japan)(1953) - Deliberately paced character study involving a Japanese family made 8 years after WWII. Very interesting movie made by a Japanese master director (Yasujiro Ozu)
  • Rashomon (Japan)(1950) - My favorite Kurosawa film
  • The Bicycle Thief (Italy)(1948)
  • Triumph of the Will (Germany)(1934) A stylish documentary glorifying one of the greatest tragedies and crimes of the 20th century
  • Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Germany) (1933) Fritz Lang's crime drama made on the eve of the Nazi ascendancy to power
  • Nosferatu (Germany) (1922)
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    The Documentary Section (If you are interested in that sort of thing x2)

     

    My non-scientific ratings system

    * = I would not recommend this documentary

    *** = This documentary was good, but nothing to cancel a trip over

    ***** = I would highly recommend you drop what you are doing and watch this documentary

     

    Note: My ratings are in no way scientific. Instead they just represent one guy's opinion.

     

    Click the links below to see my documentary lists

     

     Pre-1990 Documentaries  -  Documentaries of the 1990's  -  Documentaries from 2000 - 2004  -  Documentaries from 2005 - Present