Movies!

I am a huge fan of movies, in general. Old, new, everything in between. I like to read about them, I like to talk about them, and in undergrad I even took a couple film courses completely unrelated to my majors (math and physics, so no big surprise that the "Hitchcock" and "Film Noir" classes I took were unrelated to those). But I have a special fondness for older films, the films that could be called classic. There are a lot of new movies I like, don't get me wrong, but older films often have a quality that sometimes seems to be lacking in the more modern film. 

Since I do very much like to TALK about movies - what I've seen, what genres I like and dislike, what I would recommend - I have, on occasion, been asked to recommend films to people. Recently, on an observing run to Hawaii, one of the local observers was kind enough to give me a tour of the island, and we ended up talking quite a bit as she did so. She had been wanting to get more into classic cinema, since when you are up on a mountain all night, you tend to have some downtime, when you are able to watch film. So, she asked me to write her a list of recommendations of where she could start off. I, personally, was thrilled. Not only do I love movies, but I ADORE interesting lists. Data can be lots of fun, and sorting through and organizing things is something I can find very satisfying. So, after returning home, I crafted a very long email recommending some of my favorite films. 

Now that I've recently started this blog, I figured that with some editing and expanding, that email could make for an interesting blog post - to those interested in starting off with some good old films, at any rate. And will give folks a sense of what kind of films I like. So, without further ado, if you like good movies, here are my recommendations.

First, I thought I'd give a couple recommendations for good sources for this: The American Film Institute's (AFI's) top 100 movies of all time (all from the USA, however). They also, if you look to the left, have other top 100 lists, and it's definitely worth checking out there more specific "10 top 10 list" which gives top 10 sci fi, top ten westerns, comedies. That's linked here.  For a more international approach, every 10 years or so, the British Sight and Sound poll (BS&S) - taken by movie critics and directors, specifically - comes up with their top movies of all time, world wide. And of course IMDB has their "best movie" lists, as well, which is always another good place to look, and also breaks down into subgenres.

Now, for some of my personal favorites, I'll start with a few favored directors.

Alfred Hitchcock:

-- Vertigo: probably my favorite Hitchcock (or at least the one that affects me the most) - a psychological thriller about a detective hired to investigate the strange behavior of another mans wife, who has been acting almost as if she's possessed. This film also has the benefit of having one of my favorite movie composers - Bernard Hermann - who wrote the scores for a number of excellent Hitchcock films. I own a number of his scores on CD.

-- Rear Window: A photographer who is stuck in his apartment with a broken leg (and thus spends his time people watching out the window) thinks that a murder has occurred in an neighboring apartment.

-- North by Northwest: classic Hitchcock: an innocent man mistaken as a spy, on the run (another BH score)

-- The Trouble with Harry: a COMEDY, kind of different in feel from most of his other movies, but full of good, dark, fun. Basically, a body is found in a small town and it causes some difficulties. (ALSO a BH score).

Other classics: Psycho, The 39 Steps, The Birds, Dial M for Murder, Rebecca, The Lady Vanishes, Rope... I could list a whole bunch of really good Hitchcocks, honestly, he's awesome. And if you're in NYC, the play version of 39 Steps is also really fun. And if you're going to watch any Hitchcock, you can't forget to look for his cameo appearance in each film!

Akira Kurosawa:  a Japanese director, most of his films are set in the samurai-type era. 

-- Rashomon: This is a really interesting story. Not a samurai film, per se, but instead an interesting study of a crime, told from the perspective of the various participants and witnesses. REALLY good, probably if I had to recommend one Kurasawa, this might be it, as an introduction to his work. The other one I'd be inclined to recommend is his most famous one:

-- The Seven Samurai: As the age of the samurai is ending, it's hard for them to find work. 7 samurai find work protecting a village from bandits. This movie is awesome, though it is rather long. The western Magnificent Seven is based on this film)

-- Throne of Blood: This is a movie version of MacBeth, set in feudal Japan. It's been called by some the best film version of the play, even if it's in Japanese and a completely different era! Plus, a super creepy lady MacBeth  (well, technically she's Lady Asaji Washizu, but really. It's MacBeth. You're going to think of her as Lady MacBeth.)

Others: Ran (Basically King Lear), and Yojimbo (which was pretty much stolen and made into Clint Eastwoods' A Fist Full of Dollars).

Orson Welles: both a great actor and a great director. Beautiful cinemetography. He's also responsible for the War of the Worlds reading over the radio which made people panic and think that aliens were ACTUALLY invading New Jersey! Anyway, if he touches a movie it gets better.

-- Citizen Kane:  often named the best movie of all time, based on the life of William Randolph Hearst. 

-- Touch of Evil: a very fine noir, about a detective, corruption, and a bomb threat.

As an actor, he's particularly good in:

-- The Third Man:  Shot in Vienna, a wonderful, top class noir about a missing man. 

-- Jane Eyre: a very good adaptation of the (wonderful) book, he plays Rochester.

Miyazaki:

And Studio Ghibli. Excellent animated films, a lot aimed at children, though not all. 

-- Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro): my all time, #1, absolute favorite children's movie. You don't need subtitles to understand or love this movie, although they are nice to have. But yeah, even if you have kids below reading age, this is a wonderful film. Roughly, about man with two children who move to be closer to their mother (who is in the hospital), to an area with a guardian forest spirit (the Totoro).

-- Laputa (Castle in the Sky): Another favorite movie as a child, about a boy and a girl who are searching for the lost land of Laputa, a floating castle in the sky. Also has giant robots.
Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind are also wonderful. (Of those, Mononoke isn't quite as much for children, as it has a bit more a violence).

Misc Other Movies:
(Generally categorized, but it can sometimes be hard to judge exactly where something should fit, so don't take this absolutely literally. Especially the one's in the "drama/other" section, I kind of stuck a bunch of other ones in there that just weren't as obvious. Being there doesn't mean things aren't funny, or noir-ish, just that they aren't as clearcut.)

Noir:

--Chinatown:  A detective, a mysterious woman, and a fight over local water rights. An amazing noir film starring Jack Nicholson.

-- Blade Runner: Another pretty classic Neo-noir, with Harrison Ford. There are about a million different cuts of this film, however - directors cut, original, etc, and some people think that the director has tinkered around with it WAY too much. I think I'm included in this. Not sure which cut I like best, but probably not the most recent directors cut. I don't know.

--The Maltese Falcon: Humphrey Bogart, detective, stolen objects, awesomeness. Humphry Bogart at his best! (I'm a Bogart fan, so any movie with him is also a good start. Same for Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, or Jimmy Stewart)
-- Brick: a modern film noir set in a high school
-- The Usual Suspects: An excellent gangster type film, in a story told by the only surviver of a mysterious boat explosion.
--Infernal Affairs: A fantastic Hong Kong movie, which The Departed was based off of. Cops, gangsters, and a mole in each camp.

Comedy:

--Shoulin Soccer: A hilarious Hong Kong film, where a bunch of Soulin Monks make up a soccer team. Director Steven Chow also has some other very good Cantonese films as well. You might also check out, by him, Kung Fu Hustle, The God of Cookery, and the James Bond spoof From Beijing with Love
--Bringing Up Baby: Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, a screwball comedy about a scientist, an heiress, and a wayward leopard. I LOVE this movie, it's really fun.
-- Some like it Hot: comedy with Marilyn Monroe
--The Apartment: A man moves up the corporate ladder by lending out his apartment for higher-ups to have affairs.
-- The Philadelphia Story: Romance/comedy with Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart
--Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: errr, lets call this one a dark comedy/satire about nuclear annihilation.

Drama/Other:

-- Casablanca: I will quote my college film professor of mine and say: "If you haven't seen Casablanca, see it immediately. Because you could die and you shouldn't die without seeing Casablanca"

--Metropolis (1927): A very early science fiction film, be sure to get the extended cut which was recently (2008!) uncovered from Argentina, the plot is a lot more cohesive and is a lot deeper. There are also various sound tracks which can go with it, it being a silent movie - my favourite is from the Alloy Orchestra, a modern group which writes music for silent films. This film is german, it's about oppression and the differences between classes, and the dangers of letting technology lead morality.

--Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Politics! Corruption! One man just trying to do right in DC!)

--12 Angry Men: (The original, not the remake) Literally the whole film takes place in a jury room, where 12 men decide the fate of one man.

--The General:  An old silent film, where at the climax they literally burn a bridge under a moving civil war engine train and collapse it. You have ONE SHOT for something like that. ONE.

-- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:  A fine Clint Eastwood Western during the Civil war

-- High Noon: An excellent western. The bad guy is coming to town at noon sharp, and the local sheriff knows he'll be the first target.
-- Run Lola Run - A German film about a woman and her boyfriend who need to raise a lot of money in half an hour. They take this time minute by minute. Note: this film is not half an hour long! 

-- The Bicycle Thief - an Italian film about a man who's bike get's stolen, which could put him out of a job if he can't get it back.

-- Primer: one of the best, or most relistic, or most confusing time travel movies I know of. Good science fiction, anyway.
-- Kill Bill: maybe not the best movie ever, but certainly a very fun, very violent one.

-- Groundhog Day: A man finds himself reliving the same day over and over. A great movie starring Bill Murrey.

-- Forest Gump: A slow but sincere and sweet man, living out his life throughout historical times in the 60's-80's.

-- The Day the Earth Stood Still: THE ORIGINAL NOT THE REMAKE FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY. *Ahem* An alien ship lands on earth, and turns off all the power and electricity sources on Earth for a day, in order to make the humans PAY ATTENTION.

And then there is Charlie Chaplin (City Lights, The Gold Rush, Modern Times)... and Harold Lloyd (Safety Last, The Freshman, Ask Father [a short]),  another wonderful silent action star/filmmaker... and Yellow Submarine is a fun movie if you like the Beatles though it's not exactly a classic... and It's a Wonderful Life makes me tear up every time, though that should properly be seen around Christmas.  And Preston Sturges - another great director - Sullivan's Travels is just a fantastic film about the depression era, and a rich director who decides to try to find out what life is life for REAL people. Very funny, but also a lot of social commentary.

I just realized that I may have gotten a bit carried away here, and it's getting less and less organized.... I guess this list should be a good start and last any new moviegoers a while? I had fun coming up with the list, anyway... and it certainly gives you a sense of my tastes. It's not really a complete list of everything I like, of course! I'm a sucker for Disney movies, and for musicals, for example! Not to mention a good action movie, superhero movie, or rom-com. But if I was going to think of my top recommendations, this would be a good start.