Among its deeper merits is that it proves a movie doesn’t have to be mean to be fresh. Put simply, Trainspotting is one of those films that gets the mixture just right. The dialogue, the music, the performances, the direction, the production values, the humor, the shock-value. Watch it as many time as you can, you will see more and more each time.
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February 2nd all over again creates perhaps one of the greatest comedies ever written and executed on screen. This original masterpiece usually gets its play on TV every year and each time I catch it I can’t bring myself to change the channel or even just put in my own copy. That is the built-in joke about the typical shelf-life of repeated experiences. It’s always intelligent and hilarious, and it sometimes gets irresistibly romantic or delightfully dark and cynical. It’s remarkable how the film balances such different moods without ever taking a wrong turn, Bill Murray’s finest comedy to date in this writer’s opinion.
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When I was watching this movie the other day I had never realized how often I have to pause it from laughing. That’s when you know a movie is good, when you can’t watch it any further until you stop loving it. One of the best, if not the best, film of Billy Crystal’s career. Aging comedian Buddy Young, Jr. attempts a comeback while reminiscing about his show-biz beginnings and his glory days in the 1950s. Full of great one liners and even sad moments, if you are a fan of standup comedy, the way it should have stayed then you will love this movie.
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My favorite of all horror movies. Wes Craven’s intelligent premise, combined with the horrifying Freddy Krueger make for one of the best movies ever. Say what you will about the sequels but the series holds a premise that can’t be matched today. We get horror movies today with quick edits and absurd sound effects that make us jump, but where is the damaging afterthought? Wes Craven claimed to have drawn inspiration for this movie from incidents involving young Cambodians, all of whom died while apparently in the throes of a horrific nightmare. The story goes that first these young, otherwise healthy people would have a horrible nightmare, then refuse to sleep for as long as possible; when they finally fell asleep from sheer exhaustion they awoke with screaming and writhing, then died from a heart attack.
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This is the Coen’s masterpiece. It has a murder mystery, a heist gone wrong, tragedy, comedy, and well flushed out characters that are both simple and complex at the same time. My favorite film of all time is Goodfellas, but I have to admit that I think I have seen Fargo more times. It’s hypnotizing in a way, it’s that good. Fargo delivers an original crime story that could only be matched by themselves (No Country for Old Men – 2007). Frances McDormand plays the best movie heroine in years and we really got our first look at what William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi could do in dark roles. It combines energy of satire, comedy and thriller, and will stand the test of time.
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Thought-provoking and riveting, this is one of the best movies of the 90′s and more so of all time. I just watched it again and there are no words to describe the power of this filmmaking. The editing makes me well up it’s that amazing. It’s Oliver Stone’s passion to expose the deepest, darkest elements at work in America that really makes JFK come alive. This is what he will be remembered for.
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The movie is about the freedom of youth and the quest for adventure. Steven Spielberg remembers his imagination as a child and shares it with us once again. I don’t think I will ever really understand why most critics put down this film, maybe it’s because Spielberg took a chance with something very different. The film score and amazing scenery make for one of his finest movies to date. This is so much fun to watch again, I can’t wait to share it with my own kids someday.
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