FAVOURITE MOVIES


TOP 10  (in no particular order)

★ The Year My Voice Broke (directed by John Duigan, 1988). Coming of age story set in rural Australia, circa 1962. Infused with bittersweet nostalgia. It kills me everytime. The sequel, Flirting, is also brilliant.

★ Grand Illusion (directed by Jean Renoir, 1937). Beautiful performances in this classic anti-war film.

★ Ghost World (directed by Terry Zwigoff, 2001). Went to see this because of a favourable five line review but its utter greatness still caught me off guard.



★ Monsieur Lazhar (directed by Philippe Falardeau, 2011). If you love character driven films as much as I do, don't miss this French Canadian offering. The kids' performances were stunning in both their depth and restraint. There's not one false note in this emotionally compelling drama.

★ The Awful Truth (directed by Leo McCarey, 1937). My all-time favourite screwball comedy. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are magic together. Check them out in My Favourite Wife and Penny Serenade too.

★ Children of Men (directed by Alfonso Cuarón, 2006). Set in the near future (2027) during a time of global infertility which has rendered the world hopeless, Children of Men documents decline, chaos, despair—and hope. One of the most potent films I've ever seen.

Mohamed Fellag and Sophie Nélisse in Monsieur Lazhar, directed by Philippe Falardeau

★ Jesus of Montreal (directed by Denys Arcand, 1990). A film Holden Caulfield would love.

★ Almost Famous (directed by Cameron Crowe, 2000). I grinned all the way through this at the theatre. Great Cameron Crowe commentary on the DVD.

★ Dunkirk (directed by Christopher Nolan, 2017). A staggering, mesmerizing depiction of the 1940 evacuation of over 300,000 endangered Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France. Christopher Nolan no doubt has decades of films ahead of him, but this is the achievement of a lifetime.

★ Withnail and I (directed by Bruce Robinson, 1987). Two unemployed British actors suffer through a country vacation. Hilarious and bleak in equal proportions.

Parminder Nagra and Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Bend it like Beckham

AND MORE..

2001: A Space Odyssey | 28 Days Later | A Star is Born (2018) | About a Boy | The Abyss | Adventureland | After Hours |   A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Alfie (1966) | An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) | Arrival (2016, director Denis Villeneuve) | Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything | Beautiful Girls | Before Sunrise | Before Sunset |  Begin Again | Bend it like Beckham | Biloxi Blues | Blade Runner | Blow-Up | Bowling for Columbine | Boyhood | Bridget Jones's Diary | Bringing Up Baby | Chilly Scenes of Winter | Cloud Atlas | The Commitments | The Conjuring 2 | Crimson Peak | Dawn of the Dead (1978) | Desperately Seeking Susan | Die Hard | Do the Right Thing | Dominick and Eugene | Doubt | Earth (1998, director Deepa Mehta) | The Empire Strikes Back | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Eve's Bayou | The Exorcist | Falling Down | The Family Stone | The Florida Project | Gattaca | Girl, Interrupted | Grand Canyon | Gravity | Groundhog Day | Half Nelson | A Hard Day's Night | Help | Hereafter | High Fidelity | Holiday (1938, director George Cukor) | The Holiday (2006, director Nancy Meyers) | The Hours | In America | Interstellar | Into the West | It's A Wonderful Life | Jacob's Ladder (1990, director Adrian Lyne) | La Jetée |  Last Chance Harvey | Life is Beautiful | Logan's Run | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Lost in Translation | Manchester by the Sea | Manhattan | Manhattan Murder Mystery | Manhunter | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Miller's Crossing | Minority Report | Miracle Mile | The Mothman Prophecies | Mustang | My Brilliant Career | The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey | Notting Hill | Once | On the Beach | One True Thing | Only Angels Have Wings | Only Lovers Left Alive | Open City | The Philadelphia Story | Planet of the Apes (1968) | Platoon | Pride and Prejudice (2005) | Proof (1991, director Jocelyn Moorhouse) | Rec (2007, directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza) | Return of the Jedi | Rogue One | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead | Safety Not Guaranteed | Silver Linings Playbook | Sing Street | Snowpiercer | Stardust | Star Wars | Summer (French title Le Rayon Vert, 1986) | Swimming to Cambodia | The Terminator | That'll Be The Day | The Empire Strikes Back | This Is Spinal Tap | To Have and Have Not | Truly, Madly, Deeply | The Way We Were | When Harry Met Sally | Wonder Boys | X-Men: Days of Future Past | The World According to Garp | The Year of Living Dangerously

Halle Berry & Keith David in Cloud Atlas.