Graeme's Top 10 Favorite Movies

Unlike Austin, I cannot say I’m a very big list guy. So when I was asked to come up with a list of my top ten films, I knew right off the bat this was going to be extremely difficult. I’ve probably seen hundreds of movies at this point, from every year and genre imaginable. Still, I have a strong preference for more fantasy-oriented material, as you’ll see in the list below.

This list isn’t an approximation of what I consider the most artistically challenging or technically groundbreaking movies of all time, but instead my own personal favorites. I got into movies when I was very young – I first watched Jurassic Park when I was four years old, and that’s what really opened my imagination to what movies were capable of: escapism. Removing you from the troubles of reality and transporting you to these fantastic, engaging worlds.

The list below is organized by year of release, since it’d be impossible for me to rank them by which ones I liked the most (although Jurassic Park will always be my number one). But hey, this list could be different in a week or so. There’s always new movies coming out, and always an older classic to discover for the first time. So, without further ado:

Graeme's Top 10 Favorite Movies

King Kong (1933)
A classic monster movie that still holds up, even by today’s standards. The stop-motion animation in this film is the basis for a lot of today’s CGI.

The Goonies (1985)
The kind of spirited adventure you’d daydream of having as a kid. It’s a complete nostalgia trip for me.

Jurassic Park (1993)
The movie that got me into movies. 22 years later and the dinosaurs are still completely convincing. Plus, that soundtrack.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Probably the single most inspirational movie I’ve ever seen. And it helped launch 100 Morgan Freeman voiceovers.

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
Because this list needed a shot of pure testosterone. John McClane is the quintessential badass, and Die Hard is for my money the greatest American action series ever. The original is technically the best installment but I prefer how this movie unleashes John McClane on greater New York instead of confining him to a single building. Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson are great in supporting roles.

The Lord of the Rings (2001 – 2003)
This is kind of cheating, but I consider LOTR a single story. Middle-Earth is still the most believable, beautiful fantasy world I’ve ever seen portrayed on film, and I’m a sucker for the archetypal good vs. evil stories. I’d rather visit Gondor than Westeros.

The Departed (2006)
Such an awesome cast. My favorite of Scorsese’s crime pics, and this is the film that introduced me to his work to begin with.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)
There’s no working American director like Tarantino, and this is my favorite Tarantino movie. It’s a clever sendup of history and unleashed Christoph Waltz on the world.

The Social Network (2010)
Fincher’s one of my favorite working directors, and I’d argue this is his best film, or at least his most topical: it captures everything wrong about today’s over-reliance on social media.

The Lego Movie (2014)
The funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time, and I loved its message about creativity. The fact it wasn’t nominated for Best Animated Feature is one of the Academy’s worst snubs. Also, hands down the best cinematic interpretation of Batman.

 

5 Films the Academy Ignored: 2014’s Hidden Gems (Part 5)

Finally, saving the best for last, David Mackenzie’s Starred Up. This film introduces us to Eric Love (Jack O’Connell), a feisty, uncontrollable juvenile who is transferred to an adult prison. Eric’s father, Neville (Ben Mendelsohn), is a hardened and fairly respected inmate, introducing Eric to his connections and way of life. But Eric decides to take the Michael “Charles Bronson” Peterson route, and bullies his way toward the top. Starred Up explores the penal system and asks whether prison is solely meant to punish or to rehabilitate. Furthermore, it spends most of its time developing the relationships a convict may have in prison, and how difficult it can be to trust, even when it’s your own family. 

5 Films the Academy Ignored: 2014’s Hidden Gems (Part 4)

The fourth film is Alex Ross Perry’s Listen Up Philip. Philip (Jason Schwartzman) is an egocentric novelist, thriving on his own debatable greatness, but rarely focusing on the consequences of his narcissistic actions. As his second novel is working its way through the publishing process, Philip grows more and more frustrated with his life in the big city, and his relationship with his girlfriend, Ashley (Elizabeth Moss), an aspiring photographer. Philip’s literary hero, Ike Zimmerman (played wonderfully by the great Jonathan Pryce), offers Philip refuge at his woodland summer home. What transpires is an unflinching examination of the yearning of an artist, and more importantly, the destructive path one’s ego can create when not kept under control.

The film falls into a style associated with the mumblecore movement; a visual method inspired by John Cassavetes, with a Woody Allen/ Noah Baumbach-esque dialogue, delivered by a cast born for their roles. It’s wonderful to see Philip completely unaware of how boorish and inconsiderate he can be, and through other characters we see deeper into his personality. His relationship with Ashley – a character who gets to say the things we want to say to him – exposes his immaturity and self-centered nature. 

Meanwwhile, his time with Ike – who is more of a narcissist than Philip – grants us a window into the future. Philip has two options, learn from his mistakes and be a better person, or continue down his current path and become an unhappy, bitter author, like Ike. Definitely see this movie to find out which option he chooses. Listen Up Philip is available on Amazon Instant Video and iTunes.

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5 Films the Academy Ignored: 2014’s Hidden Gems (Part 3)

With this third film we embark into arguable greatness. It’s a lovely little British romantic comedy – not to be mistaken with traditional “romcoms”, which seem to be a genre of their own these days, and often carry negative connotations … but I digress.

It’s Roger Michell’s Le Week-End. In the vein of ’80s Woody Allen and Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, we follow Nick (Jim Broadbent) and Meg Burrows (Lindsay Duncan) as they return to Paris for their 30th anniversary in order to relive their honeymoon and rekindle the fiery passion that was once there. Within the first few minutes, we see that the fire dwindled long ago.