Director - Michael Haneke
The film that put Haneke on the map. Two young men take a family hostage in their summer home. Really uncomfortable to watch despite the fact that almost none of the violence happens on screen. By far and away the best film to deal with one of Haneke’s major obsessions - the depiction of violence in films and how the audience reacts to it. Haneke doesn’t make bad films. Essential viewing.
Director - Spencer Susser
Mum dies in a car crash, dad finds it hard to leave the sofa and TJ (Devin Brochu) their teen son is getting into all sorts of post-traumatic trouble. So far so American indie drama. Then Joseph Gordon-Levitt turns up as the title character. It's almost as if he’s stepped out of a totally different movie. Hesher is a potty-mouthed delinquent. You know this as he has long hair and looks perma-stoned. The whole thing never really gels. Levitt tries his best to act like he imagines those sort of people are, but comes across as a total caricature. Could have been good, Brochu is a real find, but the film just doesn’t work. Best avoided.
Director - Dario Argento
Arguably Argento’s masterpiece, this is a step away from his Giallo roots and into the world of full-on horror. An American ballet dancer turns up for her first day at her new school in Germany only to find that everything is a little upside down. Oh and a couple of students have been brutally murdered (in one of Argento’s greatest set-pieces). Witches, huge Goblin soundtrack, lots of rain, cinematography that you sink into and a script that only just hangs together. Horror films never looked this good again.
Director - Sidney Lumet
Gritty British cop drama staring Sean Connery as a cop that kills a suspect during an interrogation. Not quite up there with Lumet’s greatest films (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men), but for a taught itchy '70s drama you could do far worse.
Director - Dario Argento
Argento’s first stone-cold classic, is this tale about a jazzer (David Hemmings) who witnesses one of his neighbours being offed, and sets about trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Argento makes a huge leap forward with his cinematography with elaborate tracking shots and incredible close ups. If you’re new to the big world of Argento you could do worse than starting here. Gorgeous score by Goblin too.
Director - Mark Hartley
The title says it all, this is a wild, fast-paced doc about Australian b-movies from the late '60s through to the start of the '90s. Leaping through porn, car-porn, horror and comedy director Hartley obvious not only knows his subject but is head-over-heels about it. By the time the end credits roll you’ll have scribbled down a huge list of ‘must see’ films. Really entertaining.
Director - Lasse Hallström
Wonderful Swedish film about a boy who goes to live with his weird uncle in rural Sweden once his mother becomes ill. Odd, dark, very dramatic and best of all surprisingly funny. Sadly Hallström wouldn’t make many more films as well balanced as this once he crossed the pond. Perfect rainy Sunday afternoon viewing.
Directors - Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden
Fairly run-of-the-mill poker film that starts off well enough despite lifting it's opening first third from Robert Altman's superior California Split, then quickly pisses away any promise by the time the end credits role. A chance meeting between Curtis (Ryan Reynolds) and Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn) results in the two of them hitting the road for a high stakes poker game in New Orleans. The characters never really come to life and the direction is fairly flat. Reynolds doesn't stand a chance next to an on form Mendelsohn as the grubby low-life. Disappointing.
Director - Mario Bava
Gothic horror set in the then modern day about an evil type being bought back to life by an idiot ancestor. As painful as it is to see the once great Joseph Cotten slumming it as the titular Baron this is a film that has lots going for it. Light on gore but has oodles more imagination that the majority of schlock that passes for horror nowadays.
Director - Philip Haas
Underrated to the point of being forgotten adaptation of one of Paul Auster’s best novels. Jack (James Spader) is an aces poker player off to play a high stakes game against a couple of excentric millionaires. The only thing is he doesn’t have the stake money, enter Jim (Mandy Patinkin aka Saul from Homeland), who just happens to have a few grand floating around. Things don’t go as planned and that’s when it all gets a bit weird. Well worth hunting down, Spader is on top form and this even has a Auster cameo where he proves in a few seconds of screen time that he can’t act anywhere near as good as he writes.
Director - Krzysztof Kieslowski
When Witek’s father dies he quits medical school and we witness three versions of his life play out, one after the other. Kieslowski’s masterpiece about possible futures, fate and chance was suppressed by the Polish government and didn’t receive a cinematic release until 1987, and even then it was heavily edited. Extremely good, highly recommended especially for anyone who liked the concept of Sliding Doors but not the actual film.
Director - Robert Carlyle
Carlyle directs and stars in this black comedy about a Scottish hairdresser who finds himself the prime suspect in a serial killer case after accidentally killing his boss. Starts off well, but drags its feet and feels stodgy after the first fifteen minutes. On the plus side Emma Thompson and Tom Courtenay turn in superb sweary performances. File under missed opportunity. Shame.
Director - Ulrich Seidl
A total oh-my-God-watch-did-I-just-watch film. Various messed up Austrian’s lives overlap at various points like a kind of queasy Altman film. Not for everyone, but worth sticking with if you have a strong stomach. Black humour throughout, but whatever you do don’t watch it with your mum.
Director - The Dardenne Brothers
Marion Cotillard has the titular time to try and convince her co-workers not to take a bonus that will result in her being laid off from work. The Dardenne brothers have a knack of extracting amazing performances from their actors which they allow to drive their films. Their directorial style is unflashy but fully thought through with their use of long takes drawing the viewer into the story. Simply put this is one of the best drama films of recent years.
Director - Wes Ball
Disappointing sequel to the enjoyable first Maze Runner film. Picking up where that film left off the surviving kids find themselves chased from location to location trying to find figure out who can be trusted along the way. Whereas the first film had momentum this one just plods, the savvy plot twists of the original are sadly absent too. So what we end up with is a road movie that goes nowhere. Missed opportunity.
Director - Quentin Lawrence
Peter Cushing stars as a bank manager duped into helping a villain rob his bank. Worth watching just to see Cushing sweating his way through the brief running time (80 minutes). Very good.
Director - Benjamin Statler
The Kurt Cobain documentary that no one is talking about but really should be. Centred around private investigator Tom Grant’s time working for Courtney Love and all the weird shit that went down during his time in her employ. You would wave a hand in the air and mutter ‘bullshit’ to yourself at the facts that emerge in this doc, if it weren’t for the fact that Grant taped all of his conversations with the key players. It’s a bit of a jaw-dropping OMG doc, and a real must see. You’ll be shocked by the time it finishes. In the hands of a better director this would have been even better. Which just goes to show how the fascinating the story actually is.
Director - Val Guest
Hammer always churned out more than just horror films and this twisty psychodrama is one of their better '60s efforts. Famous racing driver has a road accent and needs to unlock what happened with the help of a weird French psychoanalyst. Overlong, but worth sticking with as the last half hour is the business.
Directed - Robert J. Flaherty
Hailed as the first real documentary then later booed for being scripted and faked. Flaherty’s most famous film is this documentary about a family of Eskimos. Made long before there were rules for documentaries this deserves applause for Flaherty having the balls to take his camera out of the studio and onto the tundra. If you don’t like seeing animals killed on screen (which I don’t) then this might not be your cup of tea.
Director - Edward Dmytryk
One of a group of soldiers has committed a murder, but which one of them is it? Great post WWII American noir about bigotry. In typical ‘40s style the message is heavy handed, but a couple of great acting turns from Robert’s Mitchum (laid-back to the point of almost nodding off) and Ryan (at his most horrid) make this a bit of a must see.
