NEW 2013 EDITION!

Good news everyone, the newest edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, are finally released. The big difference this year is that the book has been redone, a new layout and everything. The new list does not only contains movies from 2012, but also movies from as long back as 1924. It's a total of 49 new films.

The United States have 23 films, United Kingdom 7, France 4, Italy 2, Afganistan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Senegal and Sweden have one filme each.

Afganistan is making its debut.
 

Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)

Amour (2012)

Argo (2012)

Bowling for Columbine (2003)

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si e fermato a Eboli) (1979)

The Consequences of Love (Le conseguenze dell'amore) (2004)

Dead Ringers (1988)

The Devils (1971)

Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

Diva (1981)

Django Unchained (2012)

The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

The Eagle (1925)

Elephant (2003)

The Exiles (1961)

The Exterminating Angel (El angel exterminidor) (1962)

F for Fake (Verites et mensonges) (1973)

Field of Dreams (1989)

Fireworks (Hana-Bi) (1997)

The Goddess (Shen nu) (1934)

The Great White Silence (1924)

The Hired Hand (1971)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Les Miserables (2012)

Life of Pi (2012)

Limite (1931)

Lincoln (2012)

Local Hero (1983)

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

Mary Poppins (1964)

Moolaade (2004)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Oklahoma! (1955)

Osama (2003)

Peter Ibbetson (1935)

RoboCop (1987)

Skyfall (2012)

Sleeping Dogs (1977)

Some Came Running (1958)

Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika) (1953)

A Throw of Dice (Prapancha Pash) (1929)

The Towering Inferno (1974)

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Wake in Fright (1971)

Wall Street (1987)  

Read More

"The French Foreign Odyssey"

BEAU TRAVAIL

Year: 1999
Country: France
Language: French, Italian, Russian
Number: 946
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, Richard Courcet
Berlin: Berliner Zeitung 

Claire Denis' Beau Travail is actually loosely based upon Herman Melville's Billy Budd. But instead of a british naval vessel in the 18th century, Beau Travail is set in modern day Djibouti where we follow the French Foreign Region. It's the story about the former sergeant Galoup (Denis Lavant) who reminisce about his days in Djibouti and his fellow soldiers and his despite for lieutenant Bruno Forestier. It is a tough army life. As Galoup says "Your life is the region".

Beau Travail is a great film, a truly poetic one, with plenty of male erotism, with all the soldiers being photographed like greek gods, the same poetics structure as in Jean-Luc Goddard's Le Mépris. It's like Denis is doing the same thing as every other male director have done with women. She does a great job in portraying men as beautiful and vulnerable, with the same platonic friendship as females.

The film features some marvelous performances, specially Denis Lavant's misanthropic performance as the former sergeant who knows how to dance, exquisitely shown in one of the greatest dancing scenes ever. The cinematography are also breathtaking and extraordinary. There's no yellow sand, it's either grey or white. It's like walking on the moon, an unknown territory that makes all the characters and the time weightless. A wonderful poetic weightless motion picture. Thumbs up.

Grade: A-

You can read all my reviews on:
http://letterboxd.com/jentak19/

Read More

"A Journey Through Italy"

THE BEST OF YOUTH



Original title: La meglio gioventù
Year: 2003
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Number: 1019
Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Starring: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Jasmine Trinca, Sonia Bergamasco
Cannes: Un Certain Regard Award

Marco Tullio Giordana's The Best of Youth is a six hour long epic about two brothers named Nicola and Matteo, two baby boomers whom we follow in course of five decades from 1966-2003. In the summer of '66 they both planned to take a trip to Norway, but before that they both tried to save a young girl named Giorgia from an abusive sanitarium that didn't gave her the right treatment. They tried to convince her father to take her back, but he refused, and the two boys decided to keep her, but they lost her, and they saw no other choices then to continue their journey. But Matteo have change his mind and Nicola must travel alone, while Matteo enlist in the army. From then on the two brothers have gone their separate ways and both experience two quite different lives.

The Best of Youth is an extraordinary film that follows two individuals and how they both are effected by Italy's resent history, like the rebellious sixties and the uncertain seventies. But the two brothers have their own different way of dealing with history, and it's much because of Giorgia. Nicola, the youngest one tries to change history by fighting for all the disabled people's rights to a decent life instead of being locked up in a dark cellar. While Matteo have a more resigned world view, and decided to be a part of the system itself, and he once even worked as a policeman beating up demonstrators in a demonstration in which Nicola participated.

Besides from their careers, they both have a tough private life. Nicola falls for the left-wing activist Giulia, whom he have a child with. But Giulia is more committed to her fight against capitalism then her own daughter. Matteo have commitment issues and is basically just committed to his work as a policemen. But there's some episodes in which he can't hide his anger towards society, and we know that this was not the life he intended.

But that's how real life is. It's unpredictable, like the first hour alone isn't enough to show us how it will end, like many other movies do. And some of the events are shocking and most important unexpected. Relationships come and goes, so do other people's life. And yes we can always ask us self "What if" when it comes to the outcome, but we don't question the motivations behind their actions, because of the political system they are living in.

The late Roger Ebert always used to say "No good movie is too long, just as no bad movie is short enough". I could have watched this movie for six more hours, because of its epic scale and a whole bunch of interesting characters I would have been more than happy to follow all the way to their graves. But the movie had to stop sometimes, just like life itself have to stop sometimes, and I must say they picked the right ending. It's indeed one of this centuries best movies, with a superb cast and a masterminded epic story that shows us real people living real unpredictable life. Thumbs up.

Rating: A+

You can read all my reviews on:
http://letterboxd.com/jentak19/

Read More

"Melancholic Beauty"

THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS

Original title: Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini
Year: 1970
Country: Italy/West Germany
Language: Italian
Number: 522
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Starring: Lino Capolicchio, Dominique Sanda, Helmut Berger, Fabio Testi

Oscar wins: Best Foreign Language Film
Oscar nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay
Berlin: Golden Bear, Interfilm Award

Vittorio De Sica's The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is based on the historical novel by Giorgio Bassani that are partially based on his own experiences of being a Jew in the town of Ferrara in the thirties and forties, during Mussolini's fascist dictatorship, where the Jews was counted as third class citizen and was later deported to the concentration camps. This film follows a group of teenage friends, both Jewish and Non-Jewish, and how the political situation is effecting their lives.

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is a good and melancholic history drama, pretty similar to Bertolucci's The Conformist. It's also as beautifully photographed, with all it's naturalistic colors and the leafs on the trees blowing in the wind, which symbolizes death. I also love all the different personalities and how they act under pressure, and some even don't see the point of living a joyful life, because of the political situation. A great war drama. Thumbs up.

Grade: A-

You can read all my reviews on:
http://letterboxd.com/jentak19/

Read More

"Constructed Realities"

REAL LIFE

Year: 1979
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 643
Director: Albert Brooks
Starring: Albert Brooks, Charles Grodin, Frances Lee McCain, J.A. Preston

In 1971 PBS decided to make a television documentary called 'An American Family'. a documentary about a real ordinary american family. They followed them around every day for many months, but what they got was the real turbulence and scandals that unfortunately happens in every families. Albert Brooks' comedy 'Real Life' is spoofing 'An American Family' where Brooks is playing a fictional version of himself trying to direct a similar TV show, where the chosen Family, the Yeagers would have been better off without cameras following them around every single day.

Real Life is a good comedy that some what displays what would actually have happened in a satirical way. Because most of their worries are what everyone else will think about them, and how Brooks is trying his best to make the things better for the Yeagers, while the psychiatrists urge him not to interfere in any way. Brooks might be a bit too crazy sometimes, but he's the unfunny clown that we feel sorry for. But it's Charles Grodin and Frances Lee McCain as Mr. and Mrs. Yeager who are able to pull it off with two realistic performances. Overall, It's an alright good dark comedy with some over-the-top moments and with a good story. Thumbs up.

Grade: B-

You can read all my reviews on:
http://letterboxd.com/jentak19/

Read More

"A Family of Surfers"

SURFWISE

Year: 2007
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 1059
Director: Doug Pray
Starring: Dorian Paskowitz, Juliette Paskowitz, David Paskowitz, Navah Paskowitz

Surfwise is a documentary about a former physician named Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, who in the late fifties gave up every material goods to dedicate his entire life to surfing, travelling from different places in his caravan along with his wife and his nine children, eight boys and one girl, who all knows how to surf. They later start a surfing school. This documentary follows all the Paskowitz' and each tells their stories about how their upbringing was, the advantages and the disadvantages of not living the conventional life. None of the children went to school, which made it impossible for some of them to follow their actual dreams.

Surfwise is a good documentary that gives you most of the important aspects of a non-material life and how difficult it is, and what price you have to pay. The film doesn't argue about which way of life is the best, but it's a clear lecture of what a free life is. There's also the psychological aspects, like Doc being hot tempered and violent, and the lack of school which makes it impossible for most of his children to follow their dreams. But what brings the whole family together is their religious passion for surfing, and some of the kids have followed in their father's footstep and even became world champions. But all of them agree's that they wouldn't have had it any other way, and that's probably the case for the rest of us, no matter how dark our life is. A wonderful documentary about life itself. Thumbs up.

Grade: A-

You can read all my reviews on:
http://letterboxd.com/jentak19/

Read More

"Everything is Lost"

BUFFALO '66

Year: 1998
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 934
Director: Vincent Gallo
Starring: Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara, Anjelica Huston

The multi-talented artist Vincent Gallo is known for his flexibility between different art forms such as music and films, both when it comes to composing, writing and performing. But he will always be best remembered for his indie classic Buffalo 66' which he directed, wrote and starred in. And it's also set in his own home town, Buffalo, New York.

Buffalo '66 is the story about Billy Brown (Gallo) who returns to his home town, Buffalo, after five years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. All that time he has lied to his parents (Anjelica Huston and Ben Gazzara) that he worked for the government and was married. But Billy kidnaps the first and best girl, a dancer named Layla (Christina Ricci) who must pretend to be his wife. But when we finally meet his parents it's certainly a shock to see how little they care about anything but football. They hardly remember anything about their son.

Buffalo '66 is a good melancholic indie film, with its small town post Reagan America. Gallo give us a great performance and a great character, a realistic haunted irritated individual. Christina Ricci's character, Layla is more interesting because while we know so much about Billy, we don't know anything about Layla. And it's also the fact that Billy often treats her like dirt, but no matter how cruel he is, Layla sticks with him, she probably got a tough life of her own.

The most surreal thing about this film is Billy's parents and how apathetic they are towards anything but football, specially his mother, who gave birth to Billy the day the local football team Buffalo Bill lost the Super Bowl of 1966. And she often says that it was Billy's fault for being born that day. He once decided to bet ten grand on the Buffalos winning the Super Bowl, but looses and he thinks he's forever doomed. Overall, Buffalo '66 is a good little film about the apathetic small town american with a surreal world view. Thumbs up.

Grade: B+

You can read all my reviews on:
http://letterboxd.com/jentak19/

Read More