Friday, February 6

Transporter 3 and other great movies

Woohoo! It is time for a completely useless list of my 10 greatest movies of all time. Something that might have looked different if I had made it last month, and different again next month. I have probably also missed some very brilliant ones that really have to be there. Maybe I'll have to make my other 10 grestest movies of all time next week/month or even tomorrow. So why am I wasting internetz space with my list? Because it is there to be wasted!

A passage to India
Adela Quested: I do so hate mysteries.
Richard Fielding: We English do.
Mrs. Moore: I rather like mysteries - but I rather dislike muddles.
Richard Fielding: A mystery is only a high-sounding term for a muddle. Me and the Professor know that India is a muddle.
Professor Godbhole: Agreed, I am sorry to say.

A brilliant view into India, its people, and pompous British occupiers. After seeing this movie I just have to see mystery for myself. I have changed my views a bit over the years that follows, but India is still top of my list on places to see.

Blue Velvet

Frank Booth: Hey you wanna go for a ride?
Jeffrey Beaumont: No thanks.
Frank Booth: No thanks? What does that mean?
Jeffrey Beaumont: I don't wanna go.
Frank Booth: Go where?
Jeffrey Beaumont: For a ride.
Frank Booth: A ride! Now that's a good idea!
I am a huge David Lynch fan. All his movies could be in this list, but I should just pick one. And this one has Dennis Hopper in it.

Diva

I couldn't find any rememberable quotes. But this movie is as much a joy for the visuals as it is for what is said. And the fact it is mostly in French might make it harder to find once quotes too. It is the ultimate in cult. Citroen DS, homes in old factory buildings, bathtubs in the kitchen, and a 10000 jigsaw puzzle are just some of the joys. But the story of stolen drugs and illegal recordings is great as well. Go see this!


Lost boys of Sudan
One of the boys: America is no paradise.
A gripping documentary about three young Sudanese refugees from a camp in Kenya that are allowed to go to the US. It is about their story how they try to adopt and make a life in the promised land. And how people back home think they are now living the lifes of millionaires. This movie is hitting home way too close. Everybody in Kenya I met is dreaming of a life in the US. And many of the problem these boys faced I/we faced during our time in Chicago as well to some extend.

Once upon a time in the west
Harmonica: When you hear a strange sound, drop to the ground.
All time classic. Phenomanal music, great cast, and classic themes of greed and revenge. And according to my mother all westerns are around the railway. I think she is right because this movie covers it all.

Once were warriors
Jake Heke: Tell Jakey you love him.
Beth Heke: That's the trouble Jake, I do.
You can't get more gritty and in your face real life drama than this movie about the Maori community trying to live in modern day New Zealand. The first time I saw this movie was during the filmweek at the Heemskerk cultural centre. Which means 30 plastic seats and a the projector. But I complete forgot my surrounding as this movie is really sucking you in.

Raise the red lantern

The Third Concubine: Good or bad, it's all playacting. If you act well, you can fool other people; if you do it badly, you can only fool yourself, and when you can't even fool yourself, you just can fool the ghosts.
Gong Li and Zhang Yimou at their best. This movie captures so perfectly a completely different world. Growing up in the Western world makes China a complete mystery. Their way of living and thinking is so different. The setting of this movie is just as different, but the emotions and characters portait makes this movie unforgettable.

Sprited Away
Lin: Sen! Sen, where are you?
Chihiro: [from beside the Stink Spirit] Over here!
Lin: Don't worry... stay right where you are, I'm coming to get you! You're gonna be fine, I won't let him hurt you.
Chihiro: I think he needs help! It feels like there's a thorn in his side!
One of the most elegant fairytales I have seen. Wonderful characters set in an even more wonderful world. Only Japanese artists can make some this special.

The Kingdom
Dishwasher 2: The good will cry and the evil will laugh. That's what they say!
I believe this was actually a TV series when it was first released in Denmark. But I saw it in two sittings in a movie theatre in Amsterdam. Lars van Trier is going a bit Daid Lynch, but in his own style of course. But it is all going from weird to weirder. The scene it which Bulder changes into a pinguin to fight the tiger in the basement in still being used by me to emote utter cluenessness.

I believe there is an US remake too. I haven't seen it, but from what I have heard it is utter crap. Please don't compare the two.

Trust
Maria: Not because you love me or anything like that?
Matthew: I respect and admire you.
Maria: Is that love?
Matthew: No, that's respect and admiration.
Hal Hartley is the ultimate genius in witty dialogues. And of course Adrienne Shelly and Martin
Donovan play them out perfectly. All Hal Hartley's movies are worth watching, but this one is pure genius. Don't miss this.

Hmm, that is ten. But I was claiming I saw a top 10 movie yesterday when I saw Slumdog Millionaire. I guess making this list is really futile.

2 comments:

  1. Once upon a time in the west
    Once were warriors
    Raise the red lantern
    Spirited Away

    These are the only four from your list I know I've seen, though I think I saw Trust and maybe another one too. I do like all of them but with the exception of Spirited Away they're not on my top list. Once were Warriors was pretty darn good though.

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  2. Hmm, I should have added some nice descriptions and overall observations too. The clear theme of my list is exotic places and cultures. I guess for me great movies are those when I feel I have really stepped into that other world.

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