I’ve been asked for movie recommendations often enough of late that I thought I’d put together a bit of a summary of the mini-reviews I’ve made over the years.
The following list is not comprehensive nor does it necessarily comprise my favorite movies, though many favorites are here. I made the list with a particular couple of friends in mind and tailored it to include the movies I thought they might find interesting but had most likely not heard of or hadn’t yet seen. I also only chose movies that I’d documented as having seen in the last six or seven years.
One friend was specifically interested in what he termed “mind-f&@k” movies—movies with unexpected twists, that are bizarre or otherwise make you think. With this in mind, please also note that some of the movies are not for the faint for heart. If you don’t like it, turn it off, but don’t come complaining to me. You may, however, feel free to judge me for the base creature that I am for having enjoyed whatever it was that shocked you so. I revel in your judgment; I feed off of your indignation.
Movies are sorted within their group by release date in ascending order.
Each sub-heading in the “Details” corresponds to a list of movies I’ve seen and reviewed. The movies listed under that section are the ones I thought noteworthy in that list. Of those, I selected my top recommendations and collected them into the “Genres” section.
People
Directors and screenwriters that tend to deliver work that I consistently find intriguing and worth watching:
- David Lynch
- David Cronenberg
- Werner Herzog
- Lars von Trier
- David Mamet
- Darren Aronofsky
- Stanley Kubrick
- Oliver Stone
Genres
Mindf$@k
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Dead Ringers (1988)
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
- Pi (1998)
- Magnolia (1999)
- eXistenz (1999)
- Memento (2000)
- Das Experiment (2001) (de)
- La Pianiste (2001) (fr)
- Adaptation (2002)
- Dogville (2003)
- Primer (2004)
- The Machinist (2004)
- Synecdoche, New York (2008)
- Antichrist (2009)
- Shutter Island (2010)
Drama
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Catch 22 (1970)
- Apocalypse Now (1979): try to get the Redux version
- Do the Right Thing (1989)
- A Few Good Men (1992)
- Natural Born Killers (1994)
- I Heart Huckabees (2004)
- Syriana (2005)
- The Wrestler (2008)
- The Black Swan (2010)
- The Fighter (2010)
- Warrior (2011)
Crime Drama
- Memories of Murder (2003)
- The Inside Man (2006)
- Zodiac (2007)
- Gone Baby Gone (2007)
- The Killer Inside Me (2010)
- The Town (2010)
- Drive (2011)
- Descendants (2011)
- The Guard (2011)
- Kill the Irishman (2011)
Action
- Demolition Man (1993)
- Constantine (2005)
- Running Scared (2006)
- Lockout (2012)
- Redemption (2013)
Martial Arts
- Old Boy (2003)
- Chocolate (2008)
Comedies
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Get Shorty (1985)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) (au)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
- Dogma (1999)
- Bad Santa (2003)
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
- OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d’espions (2006) (fr)
- Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (2008) (fr)
- Tropic Thunder (2008)
- Micmacs à tire-larigot (2009) (fr)
- Rien à Declarer (2010)
- The Other Guys (2010)
- Ted (2012)
Horror comedies
- Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) (fi)
- Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
- Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Science Fiction
- Blade Runner (1982)
- The Thing (1982)
- Equilibrium (2002)
- Cargo (2009) (de/ch)
- 2081 (2009)
- Pandorum (2009)
Animated
- Akira (1988)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Paprika (2006)
- Renaissance (2006)
Documentary
- Mark of Cain (2001)
- Manufactured Landscapes (2006)
- Examined Life (2008)
- The End of Poverty (2008)
- Entre les Murs (2008)
- Defamation (2009)
- Objectified (2009)
- How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2012)
- The House I Live In (2012)
- The Act of Killing (2012)
There are many more documentaries that I can recommend, but those are the top ones that are somewhat less US-centric.
Details
Here are the lists of movies I found in my review articles. The link above leads to full reviews of the movies listed below it. IMDb will, of course, tell you what the rest of the world liked. Wikipedia will tell you what it’s about, probably with a detailed plot description that will ruin the movie.
These are from an older list that I kept before I started keeping more detailed notes.
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
- Die Schweizermacher (1978)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- Miller’s Crossing (1990)
- Equilibrium (2002)
- The Machinist (2004)
- 2046 (2004): slow—typical Kar Wai Wong—but fascinating and has an awesome soundtrack
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- A Scanner Darkly (2006)
- Last King of Scotland (2006)
- Children of Men (2006)
- The Prestige (2006)
- Das Leben der Anderen (2006)
- Rescue Dawn (2006)
- The Host (2006): features Kang-ho Song, who’s even better in Memories of Murder
- Zodiac (2007)
- Eastern Promises (2007): David Cronenberg directs Viggo Mortenson as a Russian gangster
- The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
- Synecdoche, New York (2008)
- Hunger (2008)
- Watchmen (2009)
- Primer (2004)
- Defendor (2009)
- Moon (2009)
- District 9 (2009)
- Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)
- Fitzcarraldo (1982)
I went through a bit of a David Lynch phase here, and he’s not for everyone but I kinda like him. He’s unique.
- Wild at Heart (1990)
- Lost Highway (1997)
- Mulholland Drive (2001)
- Evangelion 1.01 You Are (Not) Alone (2007)
- Green Zone (2010)
- Shutter Island (2010)
- Magnolia (1999)
- Felon (2008)
- The Other Guys (2010)
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Ghost Busters (1984)
- Do the Right Thing (1989)
- A Few Good Men (1992)
- Fifth Element (1997)
- Das Experiment (2001) (de)
- Bad Santa (2003)
- Gone Baby Gone (2007)
- The Wrestler (2008)
- True Grit (2008)
- Rien à Declarer (2010)
- Horrible Bosses (2011)
- Network (1976)
- Brazil (1985)
- The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- Operation: Endgame (2010)
- The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
- La Pianiste (2001) (fr)
- Dogville (2003)
- OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d’espions (2006) (fr)
- Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (2008) (fr)
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
- Antichrist (2009)
- Micmacs à tire-larigot (2009) (fr)
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
- The Killer Inside Me (2010)
- The Black Swan (2010)
- The Fighter (2010)
- Drive (2011)
- Die Wannseekonferenz (1987) (de)
- Equilibrium (2002)
- The Inside Man (2006)
- Ip Man (2008)
- The Town (2010)
- The Meaning of Life (1983)
- Pitch Black (2000)
- Demolition Man (1993)
- Chocolate (2008)
- The Descendants (2011)
- Midnight Express (1978)
- Platoon (1986)
- Captain America (2011)
- In Time (2011)
- Get Shorty (1985)
- I Heart Huckabees (2004)
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
- Paprika (2006)
- Superbad (2007)
- Ted (2012)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Joe vs. The Volcano (1990)
- Examined Life (2008)
- Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
- Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
- Cabin in the Woods (2012)
- Old Boy (2003)
- Manufactured Landscapes (2006)
- The End of Poverty (2008)
- Objectified (2009)
- Pandorum (2009)
- Syriana (2005)
- Tropic Thunder (2008)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
- The Prestige (2006)
- Flight (2012)
- Slap Shot (1977)
- Repo Men (2009)
- Lockout (2012)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- Natural Born Killers (1994)
- Constantine (2005)
- Sunshine (2007)
- The Mechanic (2011)
- Cloud Atlas (2012)
- Catch 22 (1970)
- Safe (2012)
- 2 Guns (2013)
- Looper (2012)
- The Animatrix (2003)
- Pi (1998)
- eXistenz (1999)
- Mark of Cain (2001)
- Running Scared (2006)
- Entre les Murs (2008)
- Defamation (2009)
- Kill the Irishman (2011)
- How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2012)
- The House I Live In (2012)
- Redemption (2013)
- The Thing (1982)
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
- Memories of Murder (2003)
- Renaissance (2006)
- Warrior (2011)
- The Act of Killing (2012)
- The Brood (1979)
- Dead Ringers (1988)
- Adaptation (2002)