Inception - Christopher Nolan - 2010

Inception was a film that I knew very little about when I went to see it opening day. It was a film whose marketing campaign was designed to keep you interested visually without revealing anything major about the plot. Personally I remember being a little mad that Christopher Nolan was following The Dark Knight with a new original film. However after seeing Inception the first time in theaters I quickly forgave him.

Inception was both original and somewhat formulaic. It was somewhat formulaic in the structure which was built around the heist man doing one last job, what was original was both it's setting (the mind of a dreamer) and it's execution.

The casting of the film was great and included both household names (Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine) and some talented little known actors (Tom Hardy).

Inception is an entertaining and multilayered action film that is easy to follow thanks to the simple goal of the protagonist (to see his kids again). It is a fun ride with an ending so memorable that you will forget all the small errors in it.

Exit Through The Gift Shop - Banksy - 2010

I have some ground to make up due to a nasty cold that took me out of commission for a few days.

I will start with Exit Through The Gift Shop a documentary that really took me by surprise. Exit Through The Gift Shop is an inside look at the growing world of street art shot from a French outsider who becomes a successful street artist in his own right.

The film feels more amateur than most other major documentaries and I mean that in a good way. The film is shot mostly by the main subject a frenchman named Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash). The footage was meant just to be "home movie" type stuff that is until Banksy got his hands on it.

Exit Through The Gift Shop is a well made and entertaining documentary that really shines a light on the beauty that today's street artists create and will make you look at graffiti in a whole new way.

UHF - Jay Levey - 1989

UHF is by no means a classic example of a masterpiece, but that doesn't mean that the film isn't classic. It is an odd comedy with seemingly no real rhyme or reason for most of what's going on, but that doesn't matter. It is what it is.

UHF follows a man named George Newman (Weird Al Yankovic) who is put in charge of a failing local station. However, the station quickly becomes a hit thanks to the oddball programs that it airs including a show hosted by station janitor Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards).

The film is so off the beaten path that I still find it fresh and enjoyable. Especially the odd programming that is put on the station such as Wheel Of Fish. I personally feel that the film is more relevant today due to the amount of odd game shows that plagued the airwaves for many years.

This is a must see for any Seinfeld fan because you get a look at Michael Richards using physical comedy perfectly in a pre-Seinfeld performance.

Many of you might hate the film as it is in fact pretty stupid. But for those of you able to just sit back and enjoy the film for what it is, you will find it to be a pleasant surprise.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - David Yates - 2011

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a polar opposite to the first film in terms of pacing. It is a high energy film from the get go and never really drops in pace.

With that being said the film has as much heart as the previous Potter films. It is a sad action film with a high body count on both sides of the fight for good and evil.

The film is mostly made up of the final battle but is structured in a way where the plot take preeminence and the characters are able to develop in the middle of all hell breaking loose.

The sequences that I really loved about the film was the calm before the storm moments where the characters are all trying to prepare themselves for the eventual death and destruction that is sure to come. The fact that the characters are children that we have seen grow makes these moments far more profound.

Like Dobby in Part 1, Neville is a big surprise in the film and becomes a total badass by the end of the film.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a rush and is a perfect way to end the series. It manages to be both fun and depressing and is a film (and a series) that should not be missed.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - David Yates - 20010

Today is a double dose since I didn't blog yesterday so to make up for it I will be recommending the final Two films that make up the last Harry Potter book. Personally I loved the whole series and strongly recommend watching the series as a whole. But rather than talk about all 8 films I will discuss the two films that make up the films conclusion (as spoiler free as possible).

The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a departure from the rest of the Potter films. It is a darker and slower paced film than anything else before it. The 3 main characters Harry, Ron, and Hermione are out on their own in an extremely dangerous world with next to no clue as to who to trust.

The film was criticized for being too slow but personally I felt that the film was perfectly paced in that it matched the pace of the first part of the book, which does have some big set pieces including the beginning of the film which helps set up the danger that the three must face.

The relationship between the three leads is the centerpiece of the film and it is a relationship that is tested heavily. They are three teens trying to save the world from it's worst threat that it has ever faced. They are angry, sad, and desperately trying to cling onto whatever feeling of youth and love that they can.

Both films have a character that takes you by surprise in them. In Part 1 that character is Dobby who creates some of the most memorable scenes in the film.

Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a great character drama that has you on edge the whole time. It is a film that sets up the dark nature of this once friendly world and is a perfect setup to the final film.

50/50 - Jonathan Levine - 2011

50/50 was one of my favorite films of 2011. It is a heartfelt and foul mouthed R rated comedy about a young man who finds out he has cancer and only has a 50% chance of survival.

Cancer and comedy aren't really two words that go together normally but for this film it works. That is because it is a film that is about the positive sides of life instead of focusing on the impending situation.

The script is expertly written by Will Reiser who the film is actually based on. The dialogue is snappy and the characters all develop naturally and come together in ways that don't seem forced.

The performances in the film are all quite good, especially the three leads Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogan and Anna Kendrick. They all have a believable chemistry on screen and create characters who are likable.

50/50 is a film I recommend for everyone, even though it has bad words it tugs at the heartstrings in a way that will affect anyone. Personally I saw it with my parents and younger sister and my mother was the one who ended up quoting the naughty language more than anyone.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Seth Gordon - 2007

The King Of Kong was a film that I honestly didn't think I would like at all. I had every expectation that a documentary on men trying to break classic arcade game records could be so fascinating. This is the mark of a great documentarian and a great storyteller.

What Seth Gordon was able to do with the documentary was create "good" little guys and "bad" guys who held a lot of power in the arcade world. This good guy bad guy play really made the film feel at times almost like a finely plotted narrative. The fact that it really happened makes you feel angry which really sucks you into the documentary.

The King Of Kong is a finely made documentary that is both surprisingly heartfelt and entertaining. It is a good into to both the world of documentary filmmaking and the world of video gaming.

The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow - 2008

With today being Memorial Day I think it's appropriate to recommend my favorite war film.

Kathryn Bigelow is a groundbreaking filmmaker and The Hurt Locker is her masterpiece in which she won the best director oscar, which made her the first woman to win best director. Bigelow is a primarily action oriented filmmaker who before The Hurt Locker was best known for the 80's classic Point Break. With that being said The Hurt Locker a completely different action film that Point Break in which Bigelow builds tension and suspense instead of adrenaline.

The film centers around three members of a bomb squad as they try to survive the remaining time of their tour. This proves to be extremely difficult as they don't know who could be a potential threat.

Bigelow does an excellent job creating tension as she sets up the rules and consequences of the world of the film in the very first scene. This knowledge really sinks in and we are constantly on edge for the rest of the film because of it.

Everything about this film works extremely well from the cinematography, the performances and the soundtrack. All of which can be traced back to the choices that Bigelow made, which prove that she is a director with a strong grasp on her craft.

Suicide Kings - Peter O'Fallon - 1997

If you're a fan of Christopher Walken than you will absolutely love Suicide Kings (if you're not a fan of his than you will probably dread this film), as it is a film that features an under-appreciated Walken performance. In fact I'm recommending this film solely on Walken's performance.

With that being said the film does have some other interesting things going for it. Personally I really love the idea behind the film in which a young man and his buddies kidnap a mafia boss and force him to use his connections to find his missing sister.

Walken plays the mob boss and is tied to a chair for about 95% of the film, which is what makes his performance all the more memorable. He is able to play mind games with his young kidnappers are subtle yet effective and his line deliveries always seem to be tiptoeing on the line between maniacal and hillarious.

Burn After Reading - The Coen Brothers - 2008

Burn After Reading is one of the least talked about Coen Brothers films, especially one of the least talked about recent film of theirs. This is unfortunate because personally I feel that Burn After Reading is one of their most entertaining films, no matter how pointless it may seem.

The plot of the film is simple enough to follow yet almost impossible to explain. It centers around some idiots who get their hands on some "spy shit". From there the film becomes a hilariously complex as none of the characters in the film seem to know how to react at all properly and have no reasoning in their thought process.

The script is wonderfully fresh and is a wonderfully acted film. George Clooney, Bradd Pitt, Frances McDormand, and John Malkovitch all give stand out performances as completely irrational and dumb people. Another great (yet small) performance was given by J.K. Simmons who actually provides some of the biggest laughs in the film.

Burn After Reading is not a film for everyone, it is a film that some will turn away from because it seems too stupid, which is true only on the surface. But if you allow yourself to be entertained you will love the film.

The Blair Witch Project - Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez - 1999

The Blair Witch Project wasn't the first film in the "found footage" genre but it was certainly the most important one. It was the first independent film that a lot of today's film students (myself included) had access to and really helped prove that you could create a hit film with very little resources as long as you have creativity.

Like I said earlier, the film is in the "found footage" sub-genre which at the time of it's release was practically unheard of. When this was combined with a fantastic marketing campaign (see above) it made for a huge hit and an important piece of pop culture. Financially speaking what the film was able to make over 245 million dollars worldwide on a 60 thousand dollar budget. What that did was open up the floodgates for a lot of small independent films to get wider releases.

With that being said the film itself really stood up to the hype. It was a chillingly believable tale about three teens getting lost in the Maryland woods while shooting a documentary. They begin to loose their cool, especially when a series of unexplained events test the three young filmmakers.

The film originally had some fan backlash because it wasn't as traditionally as graphic or as lets say loud as most other horror films. But personally I think that the film's realism is what made it so scarier than anything that could have been added to the film to give it more "traditional

scares.

The Blair Witch Project is one of the most important films of the late nineties and is a real treat if you are looking for a different kind of scare.

Warrior - Gavin O'Connor - 2011

Warrior was a film that I thought about for a long time after I saw it. It's a sports film that focusses heavily on what it means to be family and the scars that the past can leave. It hits these notes so well that the actual "sports" moments felt weak in comparison, which was my only real gripe with the film.

The performances of the three main characters is what really drives the film. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play two brothers who must confront their family's dark past when they both enter the same mixed martial arts tournament. With them is their alcoholic father played by Nick Nolte.

Nolte's performance is really something special here and is what you will find yourself thinking about once the film is finished. He is a broken pathetic yet surprisingly sympathetic man who really demands your attention in every scene that he is in.

Warrior is not a perfect film by any means but it has some really interesting things going for it along with deep characters and emotional suspense at the core.

Cape Fear - J. Lee Thompson - 1962

So yesterday I was scrambling around getting ready to shoot a short film and then I was too busy actually shooting to recommend a film so today is another double feature to make up for it.

The first film I am recommending today is the 1962 classic thriller Cape Fear. I feel that this version (the original) is overlooked by many people due to the fact that Scorsese remade the film several years later which is a shame because I feel that the first film is leaps and bounds better than the remake.

The major difference between these films is the subtlety that the director used. Subtlety may not seem that important but in this particular narrative, subtlety is everything. The story follows a lawyer (Gregory Peck) who, along with his family, is being stalked by a man he helped put in jail (Robert Mitchum). What is important in the film is the way that the man stalks the family, in that he does it in ways that on the surface aren't illegal. He simply just starts appearing wherever they are. Robert Mitchum is hauntingly calm in his maniacal plan to torture the family, something that was missing from Robert De Niro's portrayal of the same role.

Something that I also really enjoyed about the film was that we actually got to see the action in it. The camera hardly moves during fight scenes and the cutting isn't too quick to where we can't see anything (something that occurs far too much in today's films). Thompson relied on his character development to create tension so he didn't have to do any "tricks" to make us feel more during these scenes, instead he slowly built to them and allowed us to watch them.

Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock - 1954

I'm starting production on a short film tomorrow so I thought I would recommend a film with a similar setup (A man looking out the window of a house that he cannot leave). Rear Window is one of Hitchcock's most well known films and that is for good reason. It is a thrilling film that is set within the confines of a single room.

The unique setting of the film gives the film a unique feel as well as gives the audience a great opportunity to side with the protagonist as we have to see the outside world through the main character's P.O.V.

The world outside "our" room is just as important as what is going inside the room as each of the windows and characters that we witness help represent the internal thoughts and feelings that our main character is having.

Rear Window is a unique and fun thriller that is both thought provoking and entertaining.

Moon - Duncan Jones - 2009

You will be hard pressed to find another sci-fi film that strikes the same chords as Moon, a film that really presents the loneliness and disappear in an unforgettable highly stylistic way.

The film centers around an astronaut who discovers a secret after having an accident on one of the last days of his 3 year stint on the moon. I won't give the plot away but what impressed be is that the film is structured in a way that is unlike any other film I've seen in that a major twist happens really early in the film.

Sam Rockwell really shines in this film which is essentially a one man show in that the only other character in the film is a robot. Rockwell carries the film without looking like he's trying to carry the film. He beautifully portrays a lonely man with a careful balance of naturalism and paranoia.

Moon is a must see for anyone, especially those who have an interest in the sci-fi genre. It is a depressing breath of fresh air and is a film that will stick with you.

Tombstone - George P. Cosmatos - 1993

Tombstone is one of those films that you can easily pick apart technically. However I still love the film and grew up with a passion for it. I'm not saying that the film is by any means bad and that I just have a soft spot for it. I'm saying that the film does have it's flaws but they should be overlooked as the film is more about style than it is anything else.

The plot centers around the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday as they confront an evil gang known as the cowboys in the town of tombstone. It is a story that has been told many times (Including the other Wyatt Earp film of the same year), but none of the other films tell the story the same as the bloody film Tombstone.

The film features the best performance of Val Kilmer's career as well as a great performance byt Kurt Russell who had to step up and take over some of the directing duties.

Tombstone is a fun violent western with a lot of tension and a lot of fun. It is an entertaining film that is more than worth a watch.

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson - 2009

Wes Anderson has probably the most unique narrative style out there today, meaning that you can tell a film is a Wes Anderson film just by watching about 5 seconds of it. This is even true for his animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox a stop motion animation that feels very Wes Anderson.

The story centers around Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney) an animal who must help his fellow creature when they are threatened by the evil farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean.

The film has all the wit and charm of Anderson's previous work. It has a dry sense of humor that is hardly ever found in most non Anderson films (especially animated ones). The film also features the voices of many Wes Anderson staple actors including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a clever animated film with something to offer for every age and taste.

The Boondock Saints - Troy Duffy - 1995

The Boondock Saints is a high school boys fantasy film. If there were boobs in it no high school boy would watch anything else. It's a quick, fun, violent film with a lot of energy and action. Even though that can be said about a lot of action films The Boondock Saints has something about it that makes it special which is why the film has gained such a huge cult following.

The plot centers around two brothers who decide to become vigilantes and start killing all of the evil power players in Boston, however they soon get in over their heads when both the mob and a crazed FBI agent (Willam Dafoe) begin hunting them down.

The film is really formalistic and ultra stylized. It is presented in a mostly linear way with a lot of flashbacks and non linear moments. We often see the aftermath of a crime scene before seeing what happened. The examination of the crime scenes are some of my favorite moments as FBI agent Paul Smecker (Dafoe) goes through them in some sort of brilliant yet crazed way.

The film has a great humor about itself and never really seems to take itself too seriously. The dialogue is well written and delivered.

The Boondock Saints is a fun introduction to indie action films, a gateway drug to them if you will. It is a film that is by no means a technical masterpiece but it never really strives to be. It's a film that is self aware without feeling self aware. It is a fun way to spend a couple of hours which seems to be the films goal.

Win Win - Thomas McCarthy - 2011

Two Amy Ryan Films in a row!

Win Win was a film that I really enjoyed (something that may sound obvious since I'm recommending it). It is an indie that has a lot to offer as far as mood and tone. It is a film that deals with very serious topics while maintaining a really high level of humor. The film presents wrestling in the most realistic way that I've ever seen, which is something I enjoyed personally because I'm a former wrestler and coach. This is all the result of an expertly written script by McCarthy.

The film's performances are done with expert timing and heart. Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan are a believable and likable couple and they carry the film for the most part. There is also a really great performance by newcomer Alec Shaffer as the troubled yet talented high school wrestler.

Win Win is a rated R family film that is both intelligent and enjoyable.

Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck - 2007

Gone Baby Gone is a film that you are guaranteed to have a discussion about, as you should as there is a lot to discuss both creatively and thematically.

Creatively there are a lot of good things going on in the film. Ben Affleck made an incredibly strong directorial debut in the film proving that he is as talented directing as he is writing. His view of Boston is true to the street as he painted a down and dirty view of the historic city.

Gone Baby Gone also has several standout performances including Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Michelle Monaghan. But the one performance that stood above all else was given by Amy Ryan who plays the grieving scummy mother of a missing girl. Ryan is so convincing in the role that it is almost impossible to recognize her when compared to her normal nice girl routine. She is a character that gets the audience to feel both empathy and rage towards her.

Thematically Gone Baby Gone ventured into areas that most other crime dramas do. There is a focus on morality as the characters seem to be in a thin gray area between right and wrong.

Gone Baby Gone is an expertly crafter crime drama that will leave an impression.

Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais - 1961

Everyone that I have talked to about Last Year at Marienbad either completely love the film or damn near omit in their mouth from hatred, in fact right before watching it in a class my Professor told the class that about 80% of us would hate him for it.

The reason for the strong emotions that this film creates is from the lack of anything for the audience to grasp on. By this I mean that the film has no real discernible plot line or sense of character. In fact the characters are nameless and are only referred to in the scrips as X, A & M.

The film is also on a continuous shift, for example the setting of a scene will change mid scene without notice or reason. Other elements will change including small details of a game that one character is playing.

This lack of clarity leads the audience into their own pursuit of meaning for the film which for me is half the fun of films like this. There have been countless essays and even whole books dedicated to the films purpose and whether or not it was successful.

Last Year at Marienbad is one of those special films that is engaging solely on the fact that it is so challenging. It is a beautiful film that should be seen and studied.

The Long Goodbye - Robert Altman - 1973

I like Robert Altman more and more with every film of his and will be discussing several of his films on this blog. But today I will focus on my favorite Altman film The Long Goodbye.

I love this film for many reasons, but the one aspect of it that I loved the most was the performance of Elliott Gould as detective Marlow a private eye who gets in over his head when he tries to clear his friends name when he is accused of murdering his wife.

Gould's portrayal of Marlow is entertaining to say the least. He is a likable smart-ass with a witty comeback for almost everything.

The film's score is fantastic in its repetition of the title song "The Long Goodbye" a tune which even appears in the form of a doorbell ring. In fact all but one song in the film are just different arrangements of the same song. Repetition doesn't stop with the music as Gould smokes a cigarette in almost every scene that he is in.

The Long Goodbye is an entertaining film that has a lot of interesting things going for it, especially if you look the film up after seeing it. It is reminiscent of The Bog Lebowski as well so any Lebowski fan should check this film out.

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock - 1960

Happy Mother's Day. To celebrate I'm recommending a film that has one of the most interesting Mom characters of all time.

Psycho is one of the best made and most important films of all time. I say most important because the film helped change the way in which we approach going to a theater to watch films. Hitchcock made theaters ban people from arriving late at a film, by literally locking them out if they arrived late (a common occurrence in those days).

As far as the way the film is made is concerned you really can't find a better example of how to make a film. All of the elements work together in harmony in a film that is unlike all others.

Part of what makes Psycho feel so different from other films is the way that the narrative is structured. Without giving it away the film basically switches main characters about halfway through the film in a way that feels very organic.

Psycho in a way was very much an independent film. Hitchcock had a very minimal budget and shot with a very minimal crew in a way that mimics the way that up and coming independent filmmakers are working today.

Psycho is a great film and is one that everyone should see. It is the first film most think about when they hear the name Hitchcock and that is for a very good reason. It is an unforgettable film that was expertly crafted by one of the legends of filmmaking.

Hamlet 2 - Andrew Fleming - 2008

Hamlet 2 is a film that should have been more popular than it was if only for it's use of politically incorrect humor. The film centers around a failing high school drama teacher who was previously a failed actor who tries to do one more play before his dying drama program is finally cancelled. The play that he finally decides to do is a musical sequel of the Shakespeare classic Hamlet. However his subject material (including a sexy Jesus and a time machine) are called into question as word gets out that the film is incredibly offensive.

The writing and performances really stole the show for me as Steve Coogan gives a great performance as the thick drama teacher who seems incapable of success. Coogan creates an odd man who is completely oblivious as to how bad he is at his job. Another noteworthy performance was given by Elisabeth Shue who plays a rough around the edges form of herself.

Hamlet 2 is bazaar, crude, and most of all hilarious and deserves a viewing.

The Cove - Louie Psihoyos - 2009

The Cove is a film that I avoided for a while just because I knew it was going to make me really sad. And when I finally saw it I was right in my prediction but I left the film feeling more angry than sad (but still really sad).

This documentary follows Richard O'Barry a dolphin trainer turned activist who leads a team into a secret cove in Japan in order to uncover the annual dolphin slaughter that had never before ben recorded.

The film is incredibly disturbing and is hard to sit through a lot of it, especially the slaughter which is shown in full. But I'm recommending it because I think that every one should be aware of both the tragedy that is going on and the blind eye that is occurring throughout the animal rights community.

O'Barry is a really interesting subject to follow because he himself feels personally responsible for the popularity of dolphins which has lead to the slaughter as he was an intricate part of the television series Flipper.

The Cove is a sad film that will really strike a chord with anyone who is an animal lover, however it is a chord that needs to be struck in order for change to happen.

Salaam Bombay! - Mira Nair - 1988

Salaam Bombay! is a film that really affected me after I saw it. The film is able to capture a much different side of humanity in a sometimes fun and sometimes depressing way as it is a film that takes you on an emotional ride as you dance between hope and despair.

The film mainly centers around a young boy named Krishna who wants more than anything to return home. The film however expands as Krishna meets more people and we get to see their own stories. Some of which are quite sad especially the story of a young woman forced into prostitution.

Salaam Bombay! was wonderfully balanced in the way that it was able to balance all of these compelling stories in a way where they all felt flushed out without feeling too dominant or overwhelming.

Groundhog Day - Harold Ramis - 1993

Groundhog Day is a perfect example of more is less when it comes to exposition in screenwriting in that we are given no reason why the main plot point happens. That plot point is that smarmy weather reporter Phil (Bill Murray) is stuck in the same exact day for god knows how many years.

As far fetched as that seems we the audience are curious about what force is doing this to Phil but we are perfectly fine with that.

The film is a wonderfully written character piece about Phil's transformation from a borderline despicable human being into some sort of god like entity. He fights the change at first but is eventually beaten into submission by his inability to escape his fate.

Groundhog Day is a funny romantic film with great performances especially Murray who is as good as he has ever been.

High Plains Drifter - Clint Eastwood - 1973

High Plains Drifter is a film that really shows off the directorial skills of Clint Eastwood, especially since is was only his second feature length film. It is a smart dirty unapologetic western with supernatural undertones that demands a second viewing as there are many levels of meaning for almost every shot.

Along with directing Eastwood starred in the film, he plays a man only known as The Stranger, a foul man who rides into a town for seemingly no reason at all. He is a man hated by the town as he rapes a woman and kills the three gunmen protecting the town, however when the town is in danger he is the only person the townspeople can turn to. The main plot is intercut with a past story regarding the dark past of the towns people but that is as much as I will give away.

The film was a critical and commercial success when it was released and there was much speculation as to who the Stranger is which is a topic that is a lot of fun to try to figure out as the film gives many hints but never tells you.

High Plains Drifter is a film that is on par with the best westerns of all time and is far more different than any of the other greats. It is a film that will stand the test of time and is sure to gain more appreciation as time passes.

Audition - Takashi Miike - 1999 - Japan

For a solid year or so I watched almost nothing but Japanese Horror and exploitation films. I was fascinated by the different types of stories that they had. Takashi Miike was my favorite Japanese director (for the time) and Audition is his brutal hard to watch masterpiece.

I won't give away too much of the plot which there isn't too much of to begin with but the film follows a lonely man who is auditioning women to be his future mate and the lucky girl who has won his heart turns out to be a lunatic.

The pacing of this film is like none other, especially in the horror genre. For the first good chunk of the film you wonder where the horror is and how so many people found the film hard to watch. But then the film takes a drastic turn and you wish you could go back to when the film seemed to be just another love story.

Audition is a film that I recommend for anyone who considers themselves unshockable. It is a film that should be seen by all Japanese film buffs, especially Japanese horror fans. It is a film that is impossible to forget.

Restrepo - Tim Hertherington & Sebastian Junger - 2010

Restrepo was a film that took me completely by surprise. I was on Netflix one night and saw it as a recommendation, I watched it without knowing what I was getting into.

The film follows a United States platoon in the Korengal Valley which happens to be the deadliest place in Afghanistan. The soldiers then decide to build a base in the middle of the valley as a middle finger to the men who killed their brother in battle.

I'm not usually a big fan of war films, and I almost never watch wartime documentaries. But Restrepo was a film that I found completely fascinating due to the high tension that it was able to create, tension that mirrored the fantastic war narrative film by Katherine Bigalow The Hurt Locker.

As a viewer I greatly appreciated the risks taken both by our soldiers and by the filmmakers who were right there in the action. What saddens me is that in 2011 director Tim Hertherington was killed while filming the conflict in Libya.

Restrepo is a film that should be seen by all just as a means of appreciation for our troops and for all of the reporters who risk their lives bringing the troops stories to us.

Hot Fuzz - Edgar Wright - 2007

Edgar Wright os one of my favorite directors working today. All three of his features have been extremely entertaining and completely different from one another. Hot Fuzz seems to be the film of his that is most overlooked which is a shame because it is one of the funniest films of the last ten years.

Hott Fuzz follows Nicholas Archer (Simon Pegg) a buy the book detective that is so good at his big city police job that his superiors transfered him away simply because he was making everyone else look bad. However, he finds himself in the middle of a brutal string of murders that look like accidents. At his side is PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) a local cop whose obsession with action films drives him more than anything else.

The great script is performed with a witty timing that is second to none. There is a strong plot that drives the film forward while allowing the characters to develop fully.

If you are a fan of action classics like Point Break or Bad Boys 2 you will really appreciate this hilarious nod to the action genre. Even if you aren't a fan of the genre there is a lot to enjoy as well.