Stalker – 1979 Tarkovsky
I’ll start here- it’s simply one of the greatest films in the history of cinema Whether you call it a sci-fi film, a religious film, parable, allegorical, philosophical, it doesn’t really matter—it’s controlling, potent--
The Mirror – 1975 Tarkovsky
Extremely personal “auteur” cinema but at the same time very political Features, like many of his other films, much of his fathers’ poetry There are some gorgeous shots features rain or water dripping- a reoccurring
Eastern Promises – 2007 Cronenberg
It features an absolutely superb international cast: Mortensen is from the US, Watts from the UK, Mueller-Stahl from Germany, Cassel from France—all of them equally superb here and Viggo is the lead of course and
The Godfather – 1972 Francis Ford Coppola
It’s certainly not hard to find more and more to say about the godfather even after 5-10 visits and times revisiting The opening long take is an absolute stunner and certainly not something I
Beauty and the Beast – 1991 Trousdale and K. Wise
The stained glass window opening prologue is absolutely stunning Many simulated tracking shots in an out of scenes is definitely worthy of praise It’s before the advent of metacritic but still- the retroactive 95
The 48th Best Director of All-Time: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Dreyer. I can surely appreciate ordet and vampyr but really Dreyer doesn’t sniff my top 50 if it isn’t for joan of arc. I think more of it every time I see it and it is truly one of the
Shivers – 1975 Cronenberg
I’m not sure it’s technically his debut- he made two earlier works but they are borderline home movies/shorts so this is generally considered to be his debut The Romero influence is heavy- but again
Solaris – 1972 Tarkovsky
Many of the critics point this out but you really do have to get acclimated and adjusted to the pace of the film- once you do it’s very absorbing Explores, very intelligently, the mysteries of
The 49th Best Director of All-Time: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Kieslowski. I’ll be the first to admit I still have some work to do on Kiewlowski’s work in the late 70’s and early to mid-80’s. His strengths here are his brilliant 572-minute top 10 of
The Damned – 1947 Clement
This is a ruthless ugly film showing the horrors of the Nazi’s pretty honestly, especially for a 1947 film It’s both a prison film, a war film, and a submarine film and borrows from all
The 50th Best Director of All-Time: Spike Lee
Spike Lee. Spike has given us three masterpieces in three consecutive decades. God, I hope he’s got another one for us this decade (though it’s looking highly unlikely at this point). I’ve watched all of
Sully – 2016 Eastwood
Many of the critics’ make note of it as well but Hanks is superb here and should’ve been nominated for his under-acting With Hanks this makes a nice comparison with captain phillips- which I adored-