The Matador
Pierce Brosnan plays an assassin going through a mid-life crisis as
he approached retirement. He’s like 007 on a spree of existential
questioning. Very funny.
The Good, The Bad, And the Weird
Two comical outlaws and a bounty hunter fight for a treasure map in
1940s Manchuria while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese
bandits. This movie puts a crazy asian spin on the classic western
theme. Extremely entertaining.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
A group of college students go camping for the weekend and, through a
series of unlucky events, begin thinking that the harmless Tucker &
Dale (pictured above) are trying to kill them. Tucker and Dale in turn
think the kids are carrying out a group suicide pact. Hilarity ensues.
Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang
KKBB is a murder-comedy (?) with the epic cast of Val Kilmer as a
private-eye and Robert Downey Jr. as thief pretending to be an actor to
seduce the beautiful Michelle Monaghan, who is actually an actress.
Big Trouble
Big Trouble is one of those movies where all of these different
people end up intertwined at the end of the movie. It’s has Tim Allen,
‘Puddy’ from Seinfeld, and it’s freaking funny. Enough said.
Once Upon A Time In The West
This is the most EPIC western film of all time. Even if westerns
aren’t your cup of tea, give this one a chance. A master gunslinger
returns to town to take revenge on a foe from his past. He makes Chuck
Norris look like a total pussy.
Persepolis
A fascinating and truly unique animated film about a girl growing up
in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The story follows the girl as she
grows up and struggles with her identity as a woman and an Iranian in a
modern world.
13 Assassins
Where
Once Upon A Time in the West defined ‘epic’ in the western category,
13 Assassins defines
it in the martial arts category. As you could have guessed, 13 elite
assassins ban together to take out an evil war lord. The final scene is a
massive fight within a city the assassins have rigged with booby traps.
Can I say epic again?
El Secreto De Sus Ojos
An aging detective takes on an old murder case that was never solved.
The Terminal
Tom Hanks stars as a foreigner from a war-torn country who is forced
to live in a U.S. airport terminal until he is granted a green card.
Having no money, Hanks comes up with a number of interesting ways to
stay fed and comfortable during his stay.
Attack the Block
Aliens are attacking the UK. It’s up to a team of teenage hooligans
to fend them off while angry drug dealers and police fail to see the
invasion coming. This movie is very similar to ‘Sean of the Dead’ with
it’s unique combo of comedy and gore.
Dr. Strangelove (Or How I Stopped Worrying And Learned to Love the Bomb)
The great Stanley Kubrick directs a story about a crazed American
general who launches a nuclear missile at Russia during the Cold War and
told the bomb squadron to ignore any commands to turn back. Meanwhile
the American government races to find a way to fix the situation and
prevent global nuclear war.
Downfall
Downfall chronicles the last few weeks of Hitler’s reign before the
end of WWII. His highest ranking officers struggle between blind
allegiance and fear as Hitler remains in denial of the impending defeat.
Extremely interesting.
Tropic Thunder
A troupe of movie actors are dropped into a war zone that they think
is all planned for the movie they’re shooting. Best two parts of the
film: Robert Downey Jr. is a method-actor taking on the part of a black
man & Tom Cruise shows up unexpectedly. I won’t say anymore…
The Fall
A hospitalized man unfolds a story to a young girl, battling his own demons within the story as he goes. Think
Princess Bride, but a whole lot more colorful.
The Invention of Lying
Ricky Gervais lives in a world where no one lies, or even considers
lying possible. One day he suddenly realized that he can. Everyone else
believes literally
everything he says, including that a woman
must sleep with him immediately or the world will end. His fibbing is
slippery slope that leads Ricky to be the only man on earth who knows
what happens when you die
Drive
Ryan Gosling is a badass getaway driver (think
Transporter)
who finds himself falling in love with the married girl next store. He
finds himself in trouble when he tries to help her out by driving her
husband to a robbery. Amazing soundtrack with a very unique feel
overall.
There Will Be Blood
Based on Upton Sinclair’s
Oil!, There Will Be Blood tells
the story of a small oil tycoon (Daniel Day-Lewis) fights his way to the
top of the industry in gold rush era California. The soundtrack,
cinematography & dialogue are flat-out AMAZING. I almost didn’t
include this one because it’s a well-known academy award winner (Best
Actor & Best Cinematography), but it’s too good to not mention.
Brick
Joseph Gordon-Levitt pushes his way through the underbelly of his
high school to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend. All
of the classic elements of a noir are cleverly translated to the
high-school movie format. Is Levitt
ever in a bad movie? Think about it…
Man On The Moon
Jim Carrey gives his most transformative and most-overlooked
performance as the ‘eccentric avant-garde comedian’, Andy Kaufman. He
may look like Ace Ventura in this picture, but I assure you Carrey makes
this movie a must-see without any of his usual immature humor.
City Island
A dysfunctional family comes together when they take a troubled youth
into their home who disturbs their delicate web of inter-familial lies,
including a son with a fetish for watching large women eat and a father
with the secret dream of playing a gangster on-screen.
Romeo + Juliet
Check out this artsy, modern adaptation of the classic love story.
The lines are still in Old English but this film does a wonderful job of
visually translating Shakespeare’s cryptic diction while keeping you
entertained.
