Box Office Bozo
According to flickchart.com, my top 20 films are as follows (after rating 1000+ titles):
The Dark Knight
Lost In Translation
Back to the Future
The Bourne Ultimatum
Fight Club
Pan’s Labyrinth
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Children of Men
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
12 Monkeys
Blade Runner 2049
Raiders of the Lost Ark
District 9
Blade Runner
The Matrix
Brazil
There Will Be Blood
Cast Away
GoodFellas
The Wrestler
Ranking things suck because so many things don’t suck. As with any top-ten/twenty/hundred lists, I tried to find reasons to disagree with the choices. I couldn’t find many with this one; it turns out, I am a sci-fi nerd.
Since you probably know all of these films, lets highlight 6 that did not break the top 20 that - maybe - could have been up there in an adjacent (familiar) reality. I highly recommend all of these, but be sure to have an open mind:
Upgrade - A much better live-action “interpretation” of the anime classic Ghost In The Shell. (PS The two are not officially associated with one another.)
Tokyo Godfathers - An actual anime, a great story about 3 homeless people in Tokyo who figure some shit out as they argue about what’s best for an abandoned baby. You probably already know about this one if you are familiar with Satoshi Kon’s other works, notably Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress.
Moon - Duncan Jones’ first big one, a sci-fi story about physical, mental, and emotional isolation. It’s about a man who is on a resource-harvesting mission on our moon. One of my favorite Sam Rockwell performances here.
Raw - An unsettling character study from France, about cannibalism. It’s wild, weird, and fascinating.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Tom Tykwer’s lesser known drama about a talented perfume-maker, whose methods are questionable. An incredible turn by Ben Whishaw - who I’ve never heard of until this movie - in the way he portrays the emotional isolation of a “mad scientist”.
Memories of Murder - An affecting drama about the investigation of the “first known” serial killer of South Korea. A great window into the state of mind of ‘80s Korea.
Hope you enjoy!