Art / Movies
Although there will never be a perfect list with films that everyone will agree on, I do have some favorites that I think are must-see.
THE MAN FROM EARTH (2007)
One of the most unique science fiction movies ever created, although it really feels more like an intellectual drama. The premise is very simple: a departing professor, gathers some friends home and claims to be a caveman, 14,000 years old. What follows in an intellectual drive through most of human history, with many twists along the way.
PRESTIGE (2006)
As with Memento (below), this is a superb piece of work from Christopher Nolan. The story of the two competing magicians unravels piece by piece and only near the very end of the movie do you get to understand the full implications. The script is complicated, nonlinear, and sometimes you may have to go back and forth between scenes to understand everything.
DARK CITY (1998)
This is my favorite science fiction movie. It’s one of those movies that works best if you don’t know anything about it before you watch. It is part detective story, part mind-bending ideas, with an astonishing WTF conclusion. The first time you watch this movie you just get lost into its world. Be careful to watch the more recently released (2008) director’s cut which does not include the introductory narrative which in the original version spoils half of the movie.
MEMENTO (2000)
I’ve watched this movie four times by now, and I am still amazed by its sheer ingenuity and ground-breaking nonlinear storytelling. Every single rewatch is flooded with new information that I didn’t notice there where there in the first place. At the end of the movie, when you sit back and think about the way the whole story was narrated, it is simply amazing. This is Nolan at its best, before he went on to do Hollywood blockbusters.
AMADEUS (1984)
Based on a relatively poor play, the movie unleashes a superbly executed storyline regarding Mozart, his life and his music. The acting blends with the story which blends with the music which blends with history. This is probably the biographic picture around, even after all these years. And the finale, with Mozart’s mass, is truly astounding.
TITANIC (1997)
No matter how much people complain about TItanic, the movie is a unique grand spectacle. The amount of detail that went into the production of this film is stupendous (the DVD/Blu-ray extras are also a must-see). It was filmed in an era where the completely CGI action scenes had just started invading the movie industry (but not completely yet), and as a result the scenes look scarily realistic because most of them were done the old-fashioned way: using real people and real props. That’s why it will never be matched.
THE ROCK (1996)
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Although an average movie by film critic standards, watching The Rock as a teenager was the most exhilarating experience at the time. Superb action scenes, superb acting, and superb music. It still remains to this day my favorite movie soundtrack of all time.
THE MARTIAN (2004)
It amazes me that a Hollywood looked at the ultra-geeky book this movie is based on, and decided that this should be a blockbuster with Matt Damon directed by Ridley Scott. Suprisingly, the science in the movie was kept fairly accurate. It’s peak science Hollywood!
LOST (2004)
Yes, I know! But, although branded as a TV series, Lost is really a 120-hour-long movie. The characters and the storyline are developed in such intricate detail that no movie will ever be able to achieve. Plus, no other show or movie can match Lost’s fanbase and interaction: the show is in fact written and filmed in a way that is fully understood only after you search the details online and discuss the happenings with other people.