no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,767
- 9,613
- 113
The Top 5 List Thread
- Thread starter zabu of nΩd
- Start date
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Top 5 favourites from July:
- Imperial Triumphant - Spirit of Ecstasy
- Garden of Worm - Endless Garden
- Defect Designer - Neanderthal
- Northless - A Path Beyond Grief
- Chat Pile - God's Country
TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
Had a wholesome family movie marathon....
1. Saw III - 3.75/5
2. Saw V - 3.5
3. Saw - 3.25
4. Saw VI - 3
5. Saw IV - 2.5
6. Saw II - 2.5
7. Saw 3D - 2.0
1. Saw III - 3.75/5
2. Saw V - 3.5
3. Saw - 3.25
4. Saw VI - 3
5. Saw IV - 2.5
6. Saw II - 2.5
7. Saw 3D - 2.0
Bloopy
Active Member
5 artists whose best song isn't from a main studio album:
Fav songs from bands who never released any full-length albums/compilations, and less than 10 tracks in total (as far as I know):
Top 5 cases where my fav song by a band is track 1 on their debut full-length:
- Alice in Chains - Get Born Again
- Nancy Sinatra - Drummer Man
- NOFX - Drugs Are Good
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - Soul to Squeeze
- Wanda Jackson - Funnel of Love
Fav songs from bands who never released any full-length albums/compilations, and less than 10 tracks in total (as far as I know):
- Marauder - Woman of the Night
- Panza Division - The Day Delta 4 Played Mars
- Suburban Reptiles - Megaton
- Fescennine Newborne - Fire in the Hole
- Babinski - Dynamic Variation
Top 5 cases where my fav song by a band is track 1 on their debut full-length:
- April March - Chick Habit
- Joan Jett and The Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n Roll
- Rock Goddess - Heartache
- The B-52's - Planet Claire
- fIREHOSE - Brave Captain
Last edited:
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Top 5 favourites from August:
- The Chats - Get Fucked
- Ritualization - Hema ignis necros
- Ancient Death - Sacred Vessel
- Madsher - Taken by the Vil Tormentor
- Horrified - Crematorium Mist
no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,767
- 9,613
- 113
Seventies Cinema
1970
1. Husbands (dir. John Cassavetes)
exhibit A of how high a god tier cast can elevate a movie.
2. Deep End (dir. Jerzy Skolimowski)
coming of age = coming of class. recommended to fans of Can.
3. Trash (dir. Paul Morrissey)
andy warhol garbage about an impotent junkie and a transvestite trying to get on welfare or whatever.
4. The Honeymoon Killers (dir. Leonard Kastle)
never thought i'd be happy scorsese got fired from a production, but idk if he could pull off a serial killer movie as simultaneously camp and twisted as this, with a main character who looks like the above.
5. Five Easy Pieces (dir. Bob Rafelson)
not the best new hollywood movie or even close, but maybe the definitive one? not the definitive jack performance or even close, but maybe the best one?
1971
1. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (dir. Robert Altman)
among the best looking american films of the past 50+ years, and the definitive post-western.
2. They Might Be Giants (dir. Anthony Harvey)
best sherlock holmes-related media ever.
3. Minnie and Moskowitz (dir. John Cassavetes)
the forgotten '70s cassavetes, for no good reason. it's his most romantic, in its own grimy fucked up way.
4. The Last Picture Show (dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
the most elegiac of small-town dramas; it begins as the whole world and ends as a graveyard.
5. The Hired Hand (dir. Peter Fonda)
an ambient western, tough and weary and tender. contains maybe my favourite female character in the whole genre.
1972
1. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (dir. Werner Herzog)
^me listening to arg's pick in the mixtape game.
2. The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
^me trying to think of something new to say about The Godfather.
3. Fat City (dir. John Huston)
always had a fascination with journeymen boxers; this is their movie, and it's brutal and sad as shit. top 3 huston.
4. Solaris (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
Vertigo in space. using the gimmicky gif 'cause it unsettles me lol.
5. The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
power dynamics in the bedroom. ice cold and savage.
1970
1. Husbands (dir. John Cassavetes)
exhibit A of how high a god tier cast can elevate a movie.
2. Deep End (dir. Jerzy Skolimowski)
coming of age = coming of class. recommended to fans of Can.
3. Trash (dir. Paul Morrissey)
andy warhol garbage about an impotent junkie and a transvestite trying to get on welfare or whatever.
4. The Honeymoon Killers (dir. Leonard Kastle)
never thought i'd be happy scorsese got fired from a production, but idk if he could pull off a serial killer movie as simultaneously camp and twisted as this, with a main character who looks like the above.
5. Five Easy Pieces (dir. Bob Rafelson)
not the best new hollywood movie or even close, but maybe the definitive one? not the definitive jack performance or even close, but maybe the best one?
1971
1. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (dir. Robert Altman)
among the best looking american films of the past 50+ years, and the definitive post-western.
2. They Might Be Giants (dir. Anthony Harvey)
best sherlock holmes-related media ever.
3. Minnie and Moskowitz (dir. John Cassavetes)
the forgotten '70s cassavetes, for no good reason. it's his most romantic, in its own grimy fucked up way.
4. The Last Picture Show (dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
the most elegiac of small-town dramas; it begins as the whole world and ends as a graveyard.
5. The Hired Hand (dir. Peter Fonda)
an ambient western, tough and weary and tender. contains maybe my favourite female character in the whole genre.
1972
1. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (dir. Werner Herzog)
^me listening to arg's pick in the mixtape game.
2. The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
^me trying to think of something new to say about The Godfather.
3. Fat City (dir. John Huston)
always had a fascination with journeymen boxers; this is their movie, and it's brutal and sad as shit. top 3 huston.
4. Solaris (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
Vertigo in space. using the gimmicky gif 'cause it unsettles me lol.
5. The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
power dynamics in the bedroom. ice cold and savage.
no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,767
- 9,613
- 113
1973
1. Badlands (dir. Terrence Malick)
back when malick was actually funny and hadn't disappeared up his own ass.
2. Mean Streets (dir. Martin Scorsese)
been a long journey with this one, but i completely love it now.
3. Turkish Delight (dir. Paul Verhoeven)
may be verhoeven's most beautifully shot and edited. helps that rutger hauer is a god amongst men.
4. Emperor of the North (dir. Robert Aldrich)
aldrich stomps out into the middle of new hollywood and bangs out a depression-era train-hopping battle-of-wits that plays like a 1930s adaptation of a violent manga.
5. The Wicker Man (dir. Robin Hardy)
oops sorry, wrong wicker man.
1974
1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper)
probably the greatest year in cinema history, and this is still an easy choice. most nightmarish film ever made.
2. Little Malcolm (dir. Stuart Cooper)
i'm no big beatles fan but george harrison deserved his MBE just for financing this black unruly gem. proto-Naked with an incredible john hurt performance.
3. A Woman Under the Influence (dir. John Cassavetes)
for all the greatness of coppola, altman, fassbinder, tarkovsky, herzog etc, cassavetes will always be the king of the seventies in my book.
4. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (dir. Sam Peckinpah)
peckinpah's best (pending a rewatch of The Wild Bunch anyway). starts from a similar place of weariness as The Hired Hand but ends up being perhaps the most unhinged western ever filmed.
5. Claudine (dir. John Berry)
trying a little tenderness amidst the fatigue of enduring poverty in a racist system. basically it's african american borzage, ram that shit up my veins.
1975
1. Barry Lyndon (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
occurred to me on my latest viewing that this would pair well with The Irishman.
2. Dog Day Afternoon (dir. Sidney Lumet)
my favourite of the so-called major lumets; a work of great empathy, comic spontaneity and, finally, darkness. pacino forever.
3. Night Moves (dir. Arthur Penn)
despite its flaws it may be my favourite of the revisionist noirs even over Chinatown and The Long Goodbye. hackman forever.
4. Rancho Deluxe (dir. Frank Perry)
yeah, that's jeff bridges and harry dean stanton having a tense conversation over a game of pong. what more could you want from a western?
5. Fox and His Friends (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
a masterful rags to riches to rags story, fassbinder style. so much here in the faces and gestures and postures and spatial relationships that it makes me feel like a cinevirgin.
1. Badlands (dir. Terrence Malick)
back when malick was actually funny and hadn't disappeared up his own ass.
2. Mean Streets (dir. Martin Scorsese)
been a long journey with this one, but i completely love it now.
3. Turkish Delight (dir. Paul Verhoeven)
may be verhoeven's most beautifully shot and edited. helps that rutger hauer is a god amongst men.
4. Emperor of the North (dir. Robert Aldrich)
aldrich stomps out into the middle of new hollywood and bangs out a depression-era train-hopping battle-of-wits that plays like a 1930s adaptation of a violent manga.
5. The Wicker Man (dir. Robin Hardy)
oops sorry, wrong wicker man.
1974
1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper)
probably the greatest year in cinema history, and this is still an easy choice. most nightmarish film ever made.
2. Little Malcolm (dir. Stuart Cooper)
i'm no big beatles fan but george harrison deserved his MBE just for financing this black unruly gem. proto-Naked with an incredible john hurt performance.
3. A Woman Under the Influence (dir. John Cassavetes)
for all the greatness of coppola, altman, fassbinder, tarkovsky, herzog etc, cassavetes will always be the king of the seventies in my book.
4. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (dir. Sam Peckinpah)
peckinpah's best (pending a rewatch of The Wild Bunch anyway). starts from a similar place of weariness as The Hired Hand but ends up being perhaps the most unhinged western ever filmed.
5. Claudine (dir. John Berry)
trying a little tenderness amidst the fatigue of enduring poverty in a racist system. basically it's african american borzage, ram that shit up my veins.
1975
1. Barry Lyndon (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
occurred to me on my latest viewing that this would pair well with The Irishman.
2. Dog Day Afternoon (dir. Sidney Lumet)
my favourite of the so-called major lumets; a work of great empathy, comic spontaneity and, finally, darkness. pacino forever.
3. Night Moves (dir. Arthur Penn)
despite its flaws it may be my favourite of the revisionist noirs even over Chinatown and The Long Goodbye. hackman forever.
4. Rancho Deluxe (dir. Frank Perry)
yeah, that's jeff bridges and harry dean stanton having a tense conversation over a game of pong. what more could you want from a western?
5. Fox and His Friends (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
a masterful rags to riches to rags story, fassbinder style. so much here in the faces and gestures and postures and spatial relationships that it makes me feel like a cinevirgin.
no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,767
- 9,613
- 113
1976
1. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (dir. John Cassavetes)
a lot of people consider this cassavetes watered down by genre, but for this lover of both genre films and cassavetes it's a match made in heaven. long version is essential though.
2. Mikey and Nicky (dir. Elaine May)
i would actually recommend this as the perfect starting place for cassavetes even though he didn't direct it. may is a goddess in her own right of course.
3. Carrie (dir. Brian De Palma)
still my favourite stephen king adaptation.
4. Mr. Klein (dir. Joseph Losey)
still my favourite holocaust movie.
5. Je t'aime moi non plus (dir. Serge Gainsbourg)
i was gonna put Taxi Driver here but it just doesn't have enough painful anal sex.
1977
1. Eraserhead (dir. David Lynch)
the other most nightmarish film ever made.
2. Close Encounters of a Third Kind (dir. Steven Spielberg)
my second favourite spielberg. aliens and god and cinema, all that good stuff.
3. September 30, 1955 (dir. James Bridges)
a Carrie-esque warped teen melodrama about a pair of obsessed kids grieving the death of james dean. as weird and sad as the subject demands.
4. Suspiria (dir. Dario Argento)
drags a bit in places, but at its best it's probably the most hallucinatory film i know.
5. 3 Women (dir. Robert Altman)
my second favourite altman, and probably my favourite performances from both duvall and spacek.
1978
1. Days of Heaven (dir. Terrence Malick)
i think The New World is malick's greatest film these days, but this may be the most perfect. linda danz forever, RIP.
2. In A Year of 13 Moons (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
easily fassy's best and definitive film IMO, made in grief after his lover committed suicide. such a unique, emotionally violent, despairing movie.
3. Blue Collar (dir. Paul Schrader)
my favourite film schrader directed pre-First Reformed. has the scariest murder scene of the '70s, which is saying something.
4. Who'll Stop the Rain (dir. Karel Reisz)
nick nolte comes home from the war to help his squad buddy smuggle heroin, ends up on the run with said buddy's junkie wife. my kind of action movie, all melancholy machismo; would double bill well with Rolling Thunder.
5. Straight Time (dir. Ulu Grosbard)
crime drama ghostwritten by michael mann, and his fingerprints are there if you're looking. didn't know dustin hoffman had a performance like this in him, he's a dead ringer for that manc prick from The Terror. supporting cast includes gary busey, pre-wenders harry dean stanton, pre-roeg theresa russell, young kathy bates.
1979
1. Saint Jack (dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
maybe my favourite performance of the decade, and one of only four new discoveries i've given full stars to in 2022 (the others being Times Square, Sweet Bunch and They Might Be Giants for the record). the above clip is pretty representative. has to be good to top this incredible year.
2. All That Jazz (dir. Bob Fosse)
the defining film of the seventies, from birth to death. 20th century cinema's closest thing to Synecdoche New York, and also my The Wall, my Birdman.
3. Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
coppola should really have four films listed but 1974 was so goddamn stacked i couldn't do it. the run he went on in the mid-'70s is unbelievable.
4. Stalker (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
still my favourite from the great sculptor in time. idealism's last stand in an eden strewn with the clutter of ungranted wishes.
5. Alien (dir. Ridley Scott)
seriously, what a year.
1. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (dir. John Cassavetes)
a lot of people consider this cassavetes watered down by genre, but for this lover of both genre films and cassavetes it's a match made in heaven. long version is essential though.
2. Mikey and Nicky (dir. Elaine May)
i would actually recommend this as the perfect starting place for cassavetes even though he didn't direct it. may is a goddess in her own right of course.
3. Carrie (dir. Brian De Palma)
still my favourite stephen king adaptation.
4. Mr. Klein (dir. Joseph Losey)
still my favourite holocaust movie.
5. Je t'aime moi non plus (dir. Serge Gainsbourg)
i was gonna put Taxi Driver here but it just doesn't have enough painful anal sex.
1977
1. Eraserhead (dir. David Lynch)
the other most nightmarish film ever made.
2. Close Encounters of a Third Kind (dir. Steven Spielberg)
my second favourite spielberg. aliens and god and cinema, all that good stuff.
3. September 30, 1955 (dir. James Bridges)
a Carrie-esque warped teen melodrama about a pair of obsessed kids grieving the death of james dean. as weird and sad as the subject demands.
4. Suspiria (dir. Dario Argento)
drags a bit in places, but at its best it's probably the most hallucinatory film i know.
5. 3 Women (dir. Robert Altman)
my second favourite altman, and probably my favourite performances from both duvall and spacek.
1978
1. Days of Heaven (dir. Terrence Malick)
i think The New World is malick's greatest film these days, but this may be the most perfect. linda danz forever, RIP.
2. In A Year of 13 Moons (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
easily fassy's best and definitive film IMO, made in grief after his lover committed suicide. such a unique, emotionally violent, despairing movie.
3. Blue Collar (dir. Paul Schrader)
my favourite film schrader directed pre-First Reformed. has the scariest murder scene of the '70s, which is saying something.
4. Who'll Stop the Rain (dir. Karel Reisz)
nick nolte comes home from the war to help his squad buddy smuggle heroin, ends up on the run with said buddy's junkie wife. my kind of action movie, all melancholy machismo; would double bill well with Rolling Thunder.
5. Straight Time (dir. Ulu Grosbard)
crime drama ghostwritten by michael mann, and his fingerprints are there if you're looking. didn't know dustin hoffman had a performance like this in him, he's a dead ringer for that manc prick from The Terror. supporting cast includes gary busey, pre-wenders harry dean stanton, pre-roeg theresa russell, young kathy bates.
1979
1. Saint Jack (dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
maybe my favourite performance of the decade, and one of only four new discoveries i've given full stars to in 2022 (the others being Times Square, Sweet Bunch and They Might Be Giants for the record). the above clip is pretty representative. has to be good to top this incredible year.
2. All That Jazz (dir. Bob Fosse)
the defining film of the seventies, from birth to death. 20th century cinema's closest thing to Synecdoche New York, and also my The Wall, my Birdman.
3. Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
coppola should really have four films listed but 1974 was so goddamn stacked i couldn't do it. the run he went on in the mid-'70s is unbelievable.
4. Stalker (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
still my favourite from the great sculptor in time. idealism's last stand in an eden strewn with the clutter of ungranted wishes.
5. Alien (dir. Ridley Scott)
seriously, what a year.
no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,767
- 9,613
- 113
i'm done trying to get the spoiler tags to work properly lol, always a nightmare. hopefully they're fine for the first two at least.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Oh look a bunch of stuff I can wishlist because I have no life.
Cassavetes is God.
Cassavetes is God.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Time to see what has changed between 2017 and now. Also fucking hell those were autistic times.
Top 5 Sylvester Stallone films:
Top 5 Charles Bronson films:
Top 5 Jean-Claude Van Damme films:
Top 5 Jackie Chan films:
Top 5 Steven Seagal films:
Top 5 Kurt Russell films:
Top 5 Clint Eastwood films (lead actor):
Top 5 Wesley Snipes films:
Top 5 Woody Harrelson films:
Top 5 Dolph Lundgren films:
Top 5 Rutger Hauer films (lead actor):
Top 5 Jet Li films:
Top 5 Donnie Yen films:
Top 5 Johnny Depp films:
Top 5 Al Pacino films:
Top 5 Robert De Niro films:
Top 5 Quentin Tarantino directed films:
Top 5 slasher films:
Top 5 Christian Bale films:
Top 5 Richard Gere films:
Top 5 Kevin Costner films:
Top 5 Ridley Scott films:
Top 5 Arnold Schwarzenegger films:
- The Terminator
- Terminator 2
- Conan the Barbarian
- Predator
- Commando
Top 5 Sylvester Stallone films:
- First Blood
- Rambo
- Cobra
- Tango & Cash
- Rocky
Top 5 Charles Bronson films:
- Once Upon a Time in the West
- Death Wish 3
- Mr. Majestyk
- The Mechanic
- Hard Times
Top 5 Jean-Claude Van Damme films:
- Universal Soldier: Regeneration
- Cyborg
- Hard Target
- Bloodsport
- Death Warrant
Top 5 Jackie Chan films:
- Police Story
- Rush Hour
- Rumble in the Bronx
- Police Story 2
- Crime Story
Top 5 Steven Seagal films:
- Above the Law
- Out for Justice
- The Glimmer Man
- Under Siege
- Hard to Kill
Top 5 Kurt Russell films:
- Escape From New York
- The Thing
- Tango & Cash
- Bone Tomahawk
- Soldier
Top 5 Clint Eastwood films (lead actor):
- Unforgiven
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- Magnum Force
- Dirty Harry
- Pale Rider
Top 5 Wesley Snipes films:
- Blade
- Brooklyn's Finest
- U.S. Marshals
- White Men Can't Jump
- Passenger 57
Top 5 Woody Harrelson films:
- Natural Born Killers
- Rampart
- The Duel
- The Messenger
- White Men Can't Jump
Top 5 Dolph Lundgren films:
- The Punisher
- Showdown in Little Tokyo
- Dark Angel
- Universal Soldier
- The Expendables 2
Top 5 Rutger Hauer films (lead actor):
- Blade Runner
- The Salute of the Jugger
- Hobo With a Shotgun
- Nighthawks
- The Hitcher
Top 5 Jet Li films:
- Fist of Legend
- Black Mask
- Danny the Dog (aka Unleashed)
- Romeo Must Die
- Hero
Top 5 Donnie Yen films:
- In the Line of Duty 4
- SPL: Sha Po Lang
- Iron Monkey
- Ip Man
- 14 Blades
Top 5 Johnny Depp films:
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Dead Man
- Donnie Brasco
- Public Enemies
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Top 5 Al Pacino films:
- The Godfather: Part II
- The Godfather
- Scarface
- Heat
- The Panic in Needle Park
Top 5 Robert De Niro films:
- Taxi Driver
- The Godfather: Part II
- Casino
- The Deer Hunter
- GoodFellas
Top 5 Quentin Tarantino directed films:
- Pulp Fiction
- Jackie Brown
- Reservoir Dogs
- Kill Bill: Vol. 2
- Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Top 5 slasher films:
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- X
- Halloween
- Friday the 13th
- Maniac Cop
Top 5 Christian Bale films:
- Harsh Times
- American Psycho
- Hostiles
- The Dark Knight
- Equilibrium
Top 5 Richard Gere films:
- Days of Heaven
- Brooklyn's Finest
- American Gigolo
- The Cotton Club
- Time Out of Mind
Top 5 Kevin Costner films:
- Open Range
- The Untouchables
- Waterworld
- Dances With Wolves
- Wyatt Earp
Top 5 Ridley Scott films:
- Alien
- Blade Runner
- Gladiator
- The Last Duel
- Kingdom of Heaven
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
- Road to Perdition
- Saving Private Ryan
- The 'Burbs
- Forrest Gump
- The Money Pit
RadicalThrasher
Active Member
Top 5 albums of 2022.......so far ( no particular order)
Miscreance - Convergence
Big time Atheist and Death vibes/worship. Fucking awesome, love it!
Razor - Cycle of Contempt
See this is getting trashed in reviews, but i got this in like 2 days and am still spinning the shit out of it......love it! Sounds like early 90's Razor (Shotgun Justice and Open Hostility), not sure what these loser reviewers were expecting? Razor have never experimented with their sound.
Molder - Engrossed in Decay
Phobophilic - Enveloping Absurdity
Suppression - The Sorrow of Soul Through Flesh
EDIT: Suppression bumped Cosmic Putrefaction for a spot.
Miscreance - Convergence
Big time Atheist and Death vibes/worship. Fucking awesome, love it!
Razor - Cycle of Contempt
See this is getting trashed in reviews, but i got this in like 2 days and am still spinning the shit out of it......love it! Sounds like early 90's Razor (Shotgun Justice and Open Hostility), not sure what these loser reviewers were expecting? Razor have never experimented with their sound.
Molder - Engrossed in Decay
Phobophilic - Enveloping Absurdity
Suppression - The Sorrow of Soul Through Flesh
EDIT: Suppression bumped Cosmic Putrefaction for a spot.
Last edited:
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Top 5 favourites from September:
- Autopsy - Morbidity Triumphant
- L.O.T.I.O.N. Multinational Corporation - W.A.R. in the Digital Realm
- Miscreance - Convergence
- Tottal Tømming - Om hundre år er allting brennt!!!
- Spiritus Mortis - The Great Seal
RadicalThrasher
Active Member
no country for old wainds
Active Member
- Nov 23, 2002
- 26,767
- 9,613
- 113
'80s time! a couple of years tonight and more soon.
1980
1. Times Square (dir. Allan Moyle)
my favourite rebellious young punks movie, despite the studio's semi-successful attempt to make it more accessible. fleeting bursts of self-expression for the abandoned, the disenfranchised and the doomed. Robin Johnson was the greatest.
2. Out of the Blue (dir. Dennis Hopper)
my second favourite rebellious young punk movie. one of the most apocalyptic of all films; our children will set the world on fire to save it from us. Linda Manz was the greatest.
3. Airplane! (dir. ZAZ)
really starts to make sense once you've seen the inside of a Turkish prison. so many of the gags here have better punchlines than the one you might expect, you can really tell they applied the ol' chess adage: if you've found a good move, look for a better one.
4. The Fog (dir. John Carpenter)
probably the Carpenter to age most gracefully relative to first impressions. it's the story of a seaside town--its people, its ghosts, its guilt--and rarely has a place felt so much like the star of the film; i visit it often and so should you.
5. The Last Witness (dir. Doo Yong-Lee)
thought about going for Friedkin's Cruising here but decided to highlight the lesser known animal. proto-Memories of Murder, lacking the tonal frictions which complicate that film, but engaged more directly and confrontationally with Korean history.
1981
1. Blow Out (dir. Brian De Palma)
The Conversation meets Blow-Up; De Palma's most politically engaged, his most sincere and resonant. it's the film where his love of artifice is folded most seamlessly back into the narrative, understanding that film is the ultimate tool for encapsulating the history of American politics and culture as a series of painful, slimy truths hidden within a comforting and enthralling web of fakery, whereas lesser filmmakers will choose one or the other and lose a crucial part of the picture.
2. Time for Revenge (dir. Adolfo Aristarain)
the highest rated crime film of the '80s on Letterboxd (mostly by native argentines); a taut, tense unionist revenge movie that somehow got made and released during a dictatorship. again, it reminds a little of The Conversation but by way of Schrader's Blue Collar. absolutely ferocious, ballsy piece of filmmaking, a snarled fuck you to the powers that be.
3. Cutter's Way (dir. Ivan Passer)
may be my favourite disenfranchised world-weary alcoholic deadbeat neo-noir. the Coens obviously had it in mind when casting Bridges in the Big Lebowski, although this one's too burdened by rage, terror and loss to become any kind of comedy, and John Heard is obviously the beating heart. one of those performances that goes so hard and deep it moves beyond all notions of good or bad.
4. Possession (dir. Andrej Zulawski)
if any film collapses the divide between genius and madness it's this deranged treasure, equally awe-inspiring whether taken as a serious philosophical work or a mentally ill curio that makes Vampire's Kiss look like When Harry Met Sally. one of the few truly one-of-a-kind films ever to exist.
5. Modern Romance (dir. Albert Brooks)
an absolutely savage puncturing of romcom tropes that's partially responsible for everything from Michael Bluth to Louis C.K., this at times it feels like the closest Hollywood has got to Hong Sang-Soo, while also having maybe the second best ludes sequence ever. it's genius and i'd take it over any Woody i've ever seen.
1980
1. Times Square (dir. Allan Moyle)
my favourite rebellious young punks movie, despite the studio's semi-successful attempt to make it more accessible. fleeting bursts of self-expression for the abandoned, the disenfranchised and the doomed. Robin Johnson was the greatest.
2. Out of the Blue (dir. Dennis Hopper)
my second favourite rebellious young punk movie. one of the most apocalyptic of all films; our children will set the world on fire to save it from us. Linda Manz was the greatest.
3. Airplane! (dir. ZAZ)
really starts to make sense once you've seen the inside of a Turkish prison. so many of the gags here have better punchlines than the one you might expect, you can really tell they applied the ol' chess adage: if you've found a good move, look for a better one.
4. The Fog (dir. John Carpenter)
probably the Carpenter to age most gracefully relative to first impressions. it's the story of a seaside town--its people, its ghosts, its guilt--and rarely has a place felt so much like the star of the film; i visit it often and so should you.
5. The Last Witness (dir. Doo Yong-Lee)
thought about going for Friedkin's Cruising here but decided to highlight the lesser known animal. proto-Memories of Murder, lacking the tonal frictions which complicate that film, but engaged more directly and confrontationally with Korean history.
1981
1. Blow Out (dir. Brian De Palma)
The Conversation meets Blow-Up; De Palma's most politically engaged, his most sincere and resonant. it's the film where his love of artifice is folded most seamlessly back into the narrative, understanding that film is the ultimate tool for encapsulating the history of American politics and culture as a series of painful, slimy truths hidden within a comforting and enthralling web of fakery, whereas lesser filmmakers will choose one or the other and lose a crucial part of the picture.
2. Time for Revenge (dir. Adolfo Aristarain)
the highest rated crime film of the '80s on Letterboxd (mostly by native argentines); a taut, tense unionist revenge movie that somehow got made and released during a dictatorship. again, it reminds a little of The Conversation but by way of Schrader's Blue Collar. absolutely ferocious, ballsy piece of filmmaking, a snarled fuck you to the powers that be.
3. Cutter's Way (dir. Ivan Passer)
may be my favourite disenfranchised world-weary alcoholic deadbeat neo-noir. the Coens obviously had it in mind when casting Bridges in the Big Lebowski, although this one's too burdened by rage, terror and loss to become any kind of comedy, and John Heard is obviously the beating heart. one of those performances that goes so hard and deep it moves beyond all notions of good or bad.
4. Possession (dir. Andrej Zulawski)
if any film collapses the divide between genius and madness it's this deranged treasure, equally awe-inspiring whether taken as a serious philosophical work or a mentally ill curio that makes Vampire's Kiss look like When Harry Met Sally. one of the few truly one-of-a-kind films ever to exist.
5. Modern Romance (dir. Albert Brooks)
an absolutely savage puncturing of romcom tropes that's partially responsible for everything from Michael Bluth to Louis C.K., this at times it feels like the closest Hollywood has got to Hong Sang-Soo, while also having maybe the second best ludes sequence ever. it's genius and i'd take it over any Woody i've ever seen.
