 |
Film & T.V. Recs |
|
Rec lists are tricky. Do I include no-brainers such as Singin' in the Rain? Stuff that I love to pieces without actually liking such as Bridget Jones' Diary?
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) - This is a two-fer-one: the camera lingers over the details of Inuit life and the stunning landscapes in documentary fashion, all the while telling a fantastical, captivating story. You've never seen anything like this.
The Barbarian Invasions - A Quebeçois academic is dying, and his family and friends gather round. A food and conversation movie, full of wit.
Blackadder - "Never go to Wales, Baldrick. Huge gangs of tough sinewy men roam the valleys terrorising people with their close-harmony singing."
Blade Runner - Moody, grimy, dark, fabulous Ridley Scott from the era right before sci-fi films all turned sleek. Be sure to get the director's cut, because it makes one tiny little enormous difference.
The Breakfast Club - Hilarious, hilariously moving, and moving, this is the ultimate high school flick, excepting Clueless, below.
Brokeback Mountain - Gay cowboy lurve. Ahem. Ang Lee's extraordinary, rich translation of Annie Proulx's short story. Simply a beautiful film, with more laughs than I expected.
Brother Cadfael - Delicious miniseries starring Ellis Peters' 12th C crusader turned monk turned detective.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel - Joss Whedon television. There's just nothing else like it.
Clueless - I first saw this with a bunch of 12-year-olds who'd never encountered Emma, and weirded them all out by squealing, "Mr. Knightley!!!" the first time Josh appeared, and, "Whoa, that's Frank!" etc. etc. This is one smart movie, whether you're an Austen nut or no.
Cowboy Bebop: The Series - My introduction to anime, whee! Space crime, whee!
Farscape - 1. This show is batshit insane. 2. This show takes every sci-fi cliché you've ever mocked, and instead of driving right up to the edge of the cliff and teetering, it floors the gas. 3. Sometimes that results in disaster, but sometimes it soars. 4. You will cry over muppets. 5. Your sexual orientation may suffer upheaval.
Firefly - Even more space crime, live action this time. 13 episodes of Whedon's aborted t.v. show. It's scary, suspenseful, and violent, but also warm and terribly funny. The actors are charismatic, the direction and cinematography uniformly superb, and 3 or 4 sublime visual gags alone make the whole thing worth watching. The big screen sequel, Serenity, lacks the unrushed intimacy of the series, but it's still pretty damn shiny.
The Godfather - All the fuss? Deserved.
Gosford Park - Such a pleasure to watch a great heap of talented actors do their thing. Subtle and split-second comic and dramatic timing as only the Brits can manage.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Glorious and intelligent rock musical about a German transvestite with a botched sex job.
Henry V - The movie that made Kenneth Branagh famous. Also, watch and learn from Derek Jacobi how to wear a coat.
Hero - Much, much more than a visually stirring martial arts
film.
Horatio Hornblower, the A&E miniseries - Gorgeous ships,
gorgeous friendships, ripping yarns. And hats, mustn't forget the hats.
Koyaanisqatsi - The no-brainer of the documentary genre. If I had to explain Why? to an alien life form who'd never seen a moving picture, this is what I'd show them.
The Lion in Winter - Snarky Katherine Hepburn plays snarky Eleanor of Aquitaine. Very young Timothy Dalton is pretty and sneaky and gay. Fun times.
Margaret's Museum - Not fun times. More like quirky, funny, piercing and ultimately disturbing little peephole on Cape Breton mining culture. Recommended anyway.
Master and Commander - Hornblower's a little more accessible, I think, with its romances and coming-of-age stuff, but I loved this. It's a fascinating, highly accurate look at 19th C ship life, filmed in scrumptious detail. Pure adventure, the real kind, plus some bugs and violins and weird medical procedures tossed in for pacing.
Metropolis - Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi masterpiece, recently restored to watchability. An experience.
Monty Python's Holy Grail and Life of Brian - On the off-chance you haven't seen these yet ... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Much Ado About Nothing - Love, love, love Branagh and Thompson. K.B. excised most of the dark and interesting stuff involving Don John, but Keanu Reeves would have flubbed it anyway. What's left is a gorgeous, sexy, sun-lit romp.
The Muppet Christmas Carol - Oh, come on, do I have to explain?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - The Coen Brothers' Depression-era retelling of The Odyssey. Hilarious, gleefully inventive, brilliant soundtrack, award-winning script. The digital colour washes are interesting to notice, if you're a geek like me.
Persuasion - As soon as I start to type, "The best of the Austen adaptations," I run up against the brilliant S&S, but this one (at least today), is closer to my heart. It's perfection, quietly brilliant, full of small moments and looks. I want to be these people's friends.
Run Lola Run (Lola rent) - Noisy, unabashed about its pop philosophy, cool.
Monsoon Wedding - Joyful.
Russian Ark - Zip through a history book before you watch this. It's a tour of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and a time travel story filmed in one unbroken 90-minute shot. Flabbergasting.
Satie and Suzanne - Erik Satie remembers a love affair. Modern dancers do weird things to great piano music.
The Scarlet Pimpernel - The 1982 version starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour is where it's at.
Sense and Sensibility - As I said, brilliant. Ever noticed that the loveliest dramatic work often comes from people best known as comics? It's all in the timing, and this cast has it down. Everybody's sublime, but keep an eye on Hugh Laurie, from the Blackadder films, in particular.
The Seventh Seal - A chess match with Death. Guess who wins.
Sharpe - Sean Bean fans pay heed. Hours and hours of cameraderie, cunning plans, swordfighting and great dialogue set during my pet period, the Napoleonic Wars. One of the cast members is a well-known folk singer, and they make good use of him.
Shogun - A ripping yarn set in 17th C Japan. Watching Richard Chamberlain's Captain Blackthorne and Toshiro Mifune's Toranaga try to out-maneuvre each other is huge fun. Make sure you get the whole miniseries, not the crappy movie-length cut.
Slings & Arrows - Behind the scenes at a Canadian Shakespeare festival. The first two seasons (of three) arguably constitute the best television ever made.
Spirited Away - Glorious whimsy. We had to rush out and buy this one.
Stage Beauty - I have some very smart friends who hate this. I won't vouch for my own taste. I think it nails 18th C England's angst about acting, gender, and the de-centered self.
The Sting - Redford and Newman and petty crime, oh yeah. I like it better than Butch & Sundance, but dude, watch both!
Strictly Ballroom - Completely ridiculous and completely loveable. Hot dancing. Fab music.
The Thin Man - Much lauded as one of the only flicks in existence featuring a (gosh!) happily married couple. And oh yes, it's also a good detective story, very witty, very spooky.
The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers - Don't settle for anything but the 1973-4 movies by Richard Lester. Hands down best sword fights EVER, and no special effects to boost them. Michael York is the ultimate D'Artagnan. Richard Chamberlain's Aramis is perfection. Charlton Heston makes Richelieu smart and subtle. Christopher Lee chews scenery as Rochefort. Oliver Reed broods beautifully. Raquel Welch hams it up. Etc. etc. etc. These films will fill you with glee.
Twelfth Night - Trevor Nunn, 1996. Hilarious when it needs to be, but this version pays attention to the play's dark side, and it's goood. The landscapes and sets and the deft score make the film no less than the clever, layered acting and sly direction. Ben Kingsley's Feste is a revelation.
Winged Migration - An exhilarating documentary. About birds.
Wings of Desire (Himmel über Berlin) and the sequel, Far Away, So Close (In weiter Ferne, so nah!) - What happens when an angel wants to become human? What is the right motivation for such a change? Wim Wenders and Peter Handke tell two stories, one bright, one dark. They're both feature some of the most beautiful people, beautiful camerawork and vibrant imagination I've ever seen.
Withnail and I - Two actors battle poverty and dinge, then they take a vacation. You may find this movie a complete waste of time. You may find it the funniest thing since Aunt Edna's folding chair. You have to be in a mood.
Created June 15, 2004
Updated Jan. 20, 2006
Back to Index