* articol preluat din Lodown Magazine , iunie 2009.
Autori: Forty, Andibar, Thomas Klein & Sir David Michael
Viral marketing hadn't been invented, people didn't understand the narrative, the topic was too hot to handle, or they were punished with the same release date as Star Wars, Pulp Fiction and the Dark Knight combined. Some movies didn't make it to your local cinema or outside of the festival circuit, your DVD slot, or your attention in general. Most of them should remain buried in oblivion, others, however, are worth digging for - in the realm of your video store, on the internet or in your nerd-buddies VHS/Beta collection. You're probably bored to death of what Youtube or Uporn has to offer and so now, you're in need of some hints on how you can accumulate your cinematic inventories. Therefore Lodown has proudly compiled a biased list of movies gems that haven't received the acknowledgement they should have.
50. Soldier Blue (Ralph Nelson, 1970)
That’s a strange Western. Tagged as the most savage film in history, Soldier Blue depicts the Sand Creek Massacre where cavalry troops slaughtered hundreds of Indians as an act of vengeance. Cruelty on both sides and never seen before graphic violence make you contemplate on US American founding myths. Before its horrifying schlachtfest Ralph Nelson takes a detour, showing an Adam and Eve story featuring Candice Bergen and Peter Strauss – and a dull Western score that sounds almost ironic.
49.
Models (Ulrich Seidl, 1999)Mixing up complete amateurs/real life peeps with actors for the first time in his career, Austria’s enfant terrible Seidl delivers a self-absorbed and generally hateful portrait of the beauty craze and its shallow protagonists. The portrayed Eurotrash models are slutty, drug-addicted and insecure about their physical 'imperfections' while essentially struggling with their existential longings for love and meaning. Not surprisingly it's as unpleasant to watch as Animal Love, Import/Export and his masterpiece Dog Days.
48.
The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)
While Orson Welles’ mantle has been built on the worship of Touch of Evil, The Third Man and Citizen Kane, his spell binding adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Trial is often criminally overlooked. With its surreal and disorientating edges and at times remarkable cinematography, a viewing is like discovering where David Lynch learnt all his tricks from. In the film, Anthony Perkins betters his Psycho performance, as the man caught up in the mysterious legal web, where beautiful women (Romy Schneider, Jeanne Moreau and Elsa Martinelli) that you just can’t trust, lurk around every corner.
47.
The Tit And The Moon (Bigas Luna, 1994)Imagine Spanish cinema with childhood problems, emerging sexuality and colourful pictures. Here you are, it’s the Tit And The Moon from one of Europe's most entertaining enfant terrbiles. All you can ask for when a kid needs to cope with his new stepbrother and intensely wishes to suck on his mom’s breast again. Weird and fascinating pictures from the Iberian country where filmmaking still is a proper work of imagination. Maybe it’s the tapas.
46.
Dark Water (Walter Salles, 2005)
Some might be surprised to find this film listed here, but actually it's quite simple: 1. It's probably the best American remake of a Japanese movie since The Magnificent Seven. 2. No other actress suffers as adorably as Jennifer Connelly. 3. New York's Roosevelt Island never looked that creepy. 4. The supporting cast (Tim Roth, John C. Reilly, Pete Postlethwaite) is just excellent. 5. Mr. Salles isn't too interested in Hideo Nakata's obvious horror-fantasies and plays his version more like Repulsion with a ghostly twist. 6. Did we already mention that no other actress suffers as adorably as Jennifer Conelly ?
45. Terror 2000 - Intensivstation Deutschland (Christoph Schlingensief, 1992)
Christoph Schlingensief’s only task is to fight Germany’s boring and indifferent art and media scene. Terror 2000 was his way to show the mental state of Germany right after the unification. And the patient is sick, terminally sick, diagnosed with racism, sexism and imbecility. Brutal satire about common genetically illnesses Germans tend to suffer from. Funny as hell – it’s springtime for Hitler … again?
44.
Testament (Lynne Littmann, 1983)
This came out at the height of the nuclear war scare, but unlike the better-known, flashier TV production The Day After this is all about melancholy and understatement. The film follows a mother from northern California. What she and her neighbours first hope to be a „limited“ nuclear engagement turns out to be the much-feared Big One – there’s no one coming to help them because there might not be anyone left. Slowly, but steadily society starts to crumble and the dying begins. Seeing Mom stretching supplies and trying to give some comfort to her kids and others is a touching, depressing sight, showing her burying her children one after the other is one of the most saddening sights ever. A great, almost forgotten film about an almost forgotten time: If you want to know what living in the 80’s was like, this should be part of your education.
43.
Ich War Neunzehn (Konrad Wolff, 1968)
Terrific, autobiographical film about the end of WW2 in Germany based on director Wolff’s diary. Young German-born Red Army translator Gregor Hecker (an excellent, very young Jaecki Schwarz) returns home in early 1945, the final days of the Nazi regime. He sees the horrors of war, the fear and desperation of the civilians, hard-drinking Russians and stubborn German officers. An unflinching, honest account of the „other“ Germans and the difficulty of working both against as well as for your fellow countrymen. Look for a hint of Russian soldiers engaging in raping and pillaging in one scene – unpleasantness that almost had the GDR higher-ups pull the plug on this incredible film.
42.
The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo, 2003)Being unfairly reduced to that infamous blowjob scene and Roger Ebert's statement that Gallo's second directorial effort is the worst movie ever shown at Cannes, The Brown Bunny actually is a much much better picture than the negative hype suggested. Prince Vince plays professional motorcycle racer Bud Clay, a troubled and delicately emotional man on a melancholic mission to California. A stylish, redundant and almost hypnotic vision of a man's inability to accept responsibility for his own misfortune.
41.
Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, 1973)A fascinating road-movie about two drifters, head-strong ex-con Max (Gene Hackman) and naive sailor „Lion“ (Al Pacino) who travel across early 70’s US searching for their dream(s). For Max that’s opening a car wash (?) in Pittsburgh (??), for the meek, friendly Lion it’s getting back to his woman and the kid he’s never seen. Slowish, touching and offbeat, the movie is filled with weird, funny, disturbing bits. Of course, old-time buddies Pacino and Hackman spent a couple of weeks doing research, drifting about and hanging with have-beens and outsiders, method-style.
40.
Illtown (Nick Gomez, 1996)Nick Gomez is by all means one of his generation’s most gifted directors. Unfortunately, he is one of the most underrated storytellers as well, so he now earns his money directing episodes of TV shows like The Shield, Sleeper Cell or Dexter. His third opus Illtown is a sinister tale about friends involved in a prosperous drug business. Unfortunately one of the sellers dies and mistrust and disloyalty enters the game. With Michael Rapaport, Adam Trese and Lili Talyor.
39.
Southern Comfort (Walter Hill, 1981)A group of National Guardsmen head deep into the marshes of Louisiana on a routine training mission and suddenly find themselves in the middle of Cajun Swampbilly hell. Slowly paced but intense, pessimistic but not crestfallen, this backwood thriller turned Vietnam allegory is Hill's forgotten masterpiece, no doubt about it. The actual filming was way over schedule thanks to the director's sense of perfectionism: filmed on location, almost everybody in front and behind the camera came down with a nasty flu.
38.
Fear X (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2003)
Having left Copenhagen's mean streets for a trip into small town America, Refn tells a compelling and heavily stylised murder mystery. The always-reliable John Turturro plays an emotional unstable, troubled security guard trying to make sense of the killing of his wife. Soon the protagonist as well as the audience completely loses touch about which scenes are subjective recollections of events and which aren't. Scripted by Hubert Selby Jr., Fear X is an overlooked exercise in enigmatic atmospherics.
37.
The Boy Who Cried Bitch (Juan José Campanella, 1991)Director Campanella stated back then, that he wanted to explore what "Charles Manson, the Hillside Strangler, and John Hinkley were like as children", and boy, did he do a convincing job. Golden boy Harley Cross delivers a scarily explosive performance as a troubled kid, whose sociopathic behaviour lands him in a mental institution where he falls in love with a neurotic girl. Unfortunately, his downhill spiral continues and he soon finds himself in a depressing finale back home with his overstrained mother and a loaded gun.
36.
Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff, 2003)It’s a simple plan: Put on the Santa suit, take your short buddy with you as an elf, work for department stores as rent-a-Kris Kringle, rob the place and kick back for another ten months. That’s what Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox have been doing quite successfully for years, but Santa can’t really do it anymore. When the barely functioning drunk who has some major issues ends up playing surrogate dad for a chubby kid, he starts seeing the appeal of a less sleazy lifestyle. Sort of. Like The Ref, an excellent antidote against the sugar-shock that is Christmas, this will have you laugh, smirk and nod your head a lot. Funny as hell, quirky stuff.
35.
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (Nicolas Gessner, 1976)
Overshadowed by her intriguing performance in Taxi Driver, this mystery/drama/thriller made even Jody Foster feel uncomfortable. It’s about a young girl living in a house, allegedly with her father, and a secretive past, none of the neighbours are familiar with. Macabre and disturbing movie. That was what Jodie Foster also sensed as she was asked to show some more skin, being 14 years old.
34.
Amateur (Hal Hartley, 1994)Hartley’s movies you either love or hate, there’s no middle ground here, his stylised conversations, offbeat characters and WTF?-dramatic techniques are too specific for the mainstream. This wild ride showcases Hartley’s ideas in a very accessible, Coen-like way, though. „How can you be a nymphomaniac and never have sex?“ nun-turned-pornographer Isabelle Huppert is asked. „I’m choosy,“ comes the reply. Can friendly amnesiac (Martin Donovan) discovering what he did and who he was, turn his life around and start over? Will Elina Löwensohn (cute and mysterious as ever) be any help – or is she looking for some well-deserved payback? Life IS weird, Hartley seems to say, and, yes, you can go home again.
33.
The Medusa Touch (Jack Gold, 1978)
Para-psychological thriller that could only have been made in the 70s. Richard Burton stopped re-marrying Liz Taylor to appear as a telekinetic writer who causes death and catastrophes by solely thinking about it, even as he is hooked to a life support system in a hospital after being almost beaten to death. Lino Ventura investigates... An amazing thriller that is surprisingly located somewhere in a niche between The Manchurian Candidate, Carrie and The Parallax View.
32.
Bubble Boy (Blair Hayes, 2001)Fronted as an anarchic screwball comedy about a boy with no immune system that is forced by his parents to live inside a plastic bubble, Bubble Boy must stand as the most un-Disney, Disney film ever. As the film transpires into a road movie across America with Bubble Boy encountering a freak circus, Jesus army, female mud-wrestlers, and an Indian ice cream man , the film manages to take the piss out of the disabled, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Asians, midgets – basically everybody. With some international Buena Vista (Disney) offices refusing to release the film, Jake Gyllenhaal’s career should have been over before it started, especially when Donnie Darko was banished from screens, when it was considered bad taste after the event of 9/11.
31.
Something Wild (Jonathan Demme, 1986)Ray Liotta’s a psychopath (no, really!) in Demme’s superior variation on After Hours, while Melanie Griffith brings considerable hotness (would I lie to you?) to her role of a free-thinking, grungy vamp in desperate need of a „nice guy“ to take to her small-town class reunion. Jeff Daniels is the good, boring citizen she chooses or rather: kidnaps to play the part. All would have worked out nicely if her ex wouldn’t have shown up as well, looking for some payback. Excellent, surprisingly violent film that offers lots of twists and could have, should have, catapulted Demme to the top of US directors. It didn’t.
30.
The War Zone (Tim Roth, 1999)Utterly fucked up family life illustrated in Roth’s depressing but quite gripping directorial debut. Leaving the hustle and bustle of London behind, a family moves into a cottage in the countryside near Devon. The sky is grey, the teenage kids are bored – till 15-year-old Tom (Freddie Cunliffe) starts suspecting there’s something weird going on between his 18-year-old sis (Lara Belmont) and his jolly dad (Ray Winstone). An emotional car crash in extreme slo-mo, a film about incest that will leave a very, very bitter taste in your mouth and quite disturbing images in your head. In other words, a dark, awesome experience.
29.
Jesus' Son (Allison Mclean, 1999)
Portrait of a young man as a junkie: Billy Crudup stars as FH (yup, „Fuckhead“) who drifts through the early seventies, substance abuse and unexpected relationships. Drugs are neither glamorised nor demonised but instead portrayed as a catalyst of the time – FH hooks up with a hippie girl (Samantha Morton) and a down on his luck bum (Denis Leary), later works at a hospital with Jack Black, where he also meets burned-out Dennis Hopper. Edgy, bittersweet, darkly funny and very inventive.
28.
Come And See (Elem Klimov, 1985)It's an expressionistic nightmare about war that follows an innocent kid from Belarussia on his way into insanity. This overlooked Russian masterpiece almost works as an equivalent to Coppola's Apocalypse Now, even though these movies are worlds apart in terms of the cinematic pallette they're using. Klimov's images are haunting, surreal and downright dirty, the sound he's using is borderline cacophonic. Rumors are that he even used hypnosis on his young lead to influence his performance.
27.
Thumbsucker (Mike Mills, 2005)Being different isn't necessarily bad, that's at least what artist/filmmaker Mills is (convincingly) telling us in his feature film debut that got strangely overlooked outside the festival circuit. The coming-of-age story centres around an insecure 17 year old who has to realise - with a little help from his New Age dentist and a shady TV actor - that seeking self-improvement with rigid commitment doesn't automatically lead to acceptance and happiness. It's a charming, honest and in terms quirky movie with highly charismatic teen performances from Lou Pucci and Kelli Garner.
26.
To Live And Die In L.A. (William Friedkin, 1985)
This might very well be one of the best films of the Eighties, a hard-hitting, inventive crime drama filled to the brim with cynicism, anxieties, garish colours and a Wang Chung score. Macho Secret Service Agent Chance (William Petersen) desperately tries to nail master counterfeiter Eric Masters (Willem Dafoe) who killed Chance’s partner. This goes horribly wrong: Bending, if not breaking the law to get his man, Chance proves no match for Masters. An excellent companion piece to Michael Mann’s L.A. crime stories Thief or Heat, the film not only sports a nice, early performance by John Turturro (as Master’s sleaze ball underling) but also a car chase sequence that puts both Bullitt as well as Friedkin’s own French Connection to shame.
25.
Beautiful Girls (Ted Demme, 1996)One of the best writers Hollywood has to offer came along with this little story about a musician coming back to his hometown meeting up with his buddies and falling almost in love with teenager Natalie Portman (no, not Léon). Scott Rosenberg penned this post-slacker romedy years before he used the setting again for the show October Road, dealing with love, trust, friendship and that little beast called expectation. In 2002 director Ted Demme deceased, whereupon The Afghan Wigs, also starring in Beautiful Girls, dedicated an album to him.
24.
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (Asia Argento, 2004)The best hoax in literature since the Bible. Maybe. At least it was cleverly executed. JT Leroy, drug addicted, HIV positive, and a former rent boy, became a writer, journalist and interviewer for I.D. and The Face. Followed by this compelling adaptation of his biographical book by Asia Argento, real life daughter of horror-meister Dario Argento. Somewhere in between, the scheme was uncovered. JT Leroy and his life was only fiction. Too bad. But who cares? This edgy film about a fucked-up mother and her little kid is still a perfect downer, even without this hoax story.
23.
Niagara, Niagara (Bob Gosse, 1997)
Tour de Tourette. Fuck! A road-movie to Canada turns into a challenging trip about love and its boundaries for an underrated Robin Tunney and the guy who was seduced by Drew Barrymore in ET. Cunt! Bob Gosse tells an emphatic story of affection and tolerance without getting trapped in a voyeuristic mental disability show like Rain Man. Fuck! Fuck! Thanks to Miss Tunney’s outstanding performance as a fascinating woman plagued with Tourette's Syndrome.
22.
Straight Time (Ulu Grosbard, 1978)
Originally meant to be Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut. Based on career-criminal Edward Bunker’s incredible book No Beast So Fierce the film follows small-time crook Max Dembo (Hoffman) who just got out of jail and tries to start over. For a change it is not (or not only) the „system“ that gets him back into a life of crime but rather his own weakness, a vicious cycle of false friends, easy money and a somewhat sheltered life behind bars. Great film with an excellent cast – Harry Dean Stanton and Gary Busey play supposedly reformed ex-con buddies of Dembo, M. Emmet Walsh his unpleasant parole officer and a very young (and very cute) Theresa Russell his girlfriend. Never left the mark it should have. Too bad.
21.
Cure (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1997)
It's a high-concept detective story turned serial killer movie turned hallucinatory apocalypse. It's about a seemingly senseless epidemic of interconnected murders and loneliness and hypnosis. It's slow-paced, elliptical, and highly exceptional. And most importantly, it's an ambitious example of pleasingly abstract, psychological, eerie and atmospheric filmmaking by the Japanese master of offbeat horror. Just don't expect any kind of conventional resolution to this cinematic enigma.
20.
The Blackout (Abel Ferrara, 1997)A downward spiral of excess and guilt, a motif commonly used by maverick filmmaker Abel Ferrara. The Blackout is the result of a fierce, drug induced “rock out with the cock out”-night in Miami where Hollywood actor Matthew Modine met a girl. Something happened, most probably. Months later, now living with Claudia Schiffer and joining AA, Modine is still haunted by blurry memories. What happens in Miami, won’t stay in Miami. Dark and bitter, Ferrara going Korsakoff. On the set, Ferrara left his actors alone without any directing orders. Only to cater for his own recreational drug needs.
19.
Man On The Moon (Milos Forman, 1999)
Directed by Milos Forman? Andy Kaufman? 'Not another movie about a crazy Teutonic musician', you might have thought. But this here is a hilarious bio picture about comedy genius Andy Kaufman from TV’s Taxi who later turned into an inter-gender wrestling champion. It’s also about Tony Clifton, Kaufman’s alter ego and nemesis. Question remaining: How could Kaufman fake his own fake death? And believe it or not, Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman is simply stunning.
18.
The Pope Of Greenwich Village (Stuart Rosenberg, 1984)
The story of two small-time hustlers getting caught up with the mafia and corrupt NYPD on the streets of New York is every bit as good as Mean Streets (if not better). Generally overlooked by audiences and critics alike, the film’s lack of recognition proved to be the final straw for Mickey Rourke, who quickly became disillusioned with the film industry, leading him to squander his once great promise and eventually ditch acting to take up boxing. Similarly fellow acting maverick co-star Eric Roberts soon hit the skids after drugs and a volatile personal life led to a deciding drop in quality of his work and choices.
17.
Rounders (John Dahl, 1998)“You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt”, with Rounders they played aggressively fast. Too fast to cash in on the current Poker hype. So this gambler piece was not a box office success despite its excellent cast (Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich and Famke Janssen) and its superb directing and writing. Unfortunately a sleeper – but the best movie about gambling since Cincinatti Kid or Pokerhontas.
16.
Pixote (Hector Babenco, 1981)
This savage, harrowing and unfairly forgotten critique of social indifferences and Third World poverty could easily be considered an antecedent of the still highly popular City Of God. Being a million miles away from the glossiness of aforesaid picture, Pixote prefers a documentary-like, grim and plain look that's close to Italy's Neorealists. Structured in two parts (life in a juvenile reformatory and on the streets of Sao Paolo), the film's biggest success lies in the pitch-perfect casting of real life street kids, with leading man Fernando Da Silva being tragically killed by police bullets in 1988.
15.
Love Liza (Todd Louiso, 2002)
Without a doubt, Philip Seymour Hoffman is the best actor of his or any other generation at this very moment. Love Liza offers you the chance to participate in his way down, as he mourns his wife’s suicide unable to accept help from his mother-in-law, his friend or workmate. Inhaling gasoline fumes he only seeks temporary relief. Stunning character study by heavyweight actor Hoffman.
14.
El Milagro de P. Tinto (Javier Fesser, 1998)An old and slightly confused (as in 'weird as fuck') couple first adopts two Martian midgets with a soft spot for soda, then a tall, escaped mental patient while trying to save their communion wafer business in rural Spain. Losing itself in subplots about time-travelling, religion, musical interludes, b-movie horror and an undercover E.T. hunter working as a racist handyman, P. Tinto is an alarmingly imaginative, surreal, sweet and downright strange, big celebration of absurd ideas by former commercial maverick Fesser.
13.
River's Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986)
Forced to work in television since the early 90s, Hunter's uncompromising study of teen ambivalence is a powerful, ugly, disturbing and ridiculously under-seen film. It's a pre-Kids manifest of troubled teenagers victimised by bad parenting and an utter lack of angst, with over the top histrionic performances by Crispin Glover and Dennis Hopper as well as early career steps from Keanu Reeves and Ione Skye. Not surprisingly, this movie feels even more relevant today than it did 20 years ago.
12.
Lone Star (John Sayles, 1996)
So you love Tommy Lee Jones’ Three Burials and own No Country For Old Men on disc but haven’t seen this? Go and watch this awesome tale from the US-Mexican Frontera, like, NOW. Well-observed social drama as well as contemporary western, this is all about the sins of the father (well, and mom’s, too): Small town sheriff Deeds (Chris Cooper) starts investigating a crime that happened decades ago, that nobody seems to care about and which may have been committed by his late dad, a local hero. Searching for answers he not only discovers the lies that this border community are built on, but also starts to understand his own life. With a terrific performance by Kris Kristofferson as long-gone racist and corrupt Sheriff Wade who got what he had coming.
11.
The Swimmer (Frank Perry, 1968)Neddy Merrill appears out of nowhere cladded just in trunks, willing to make his way home by swimming through all the pools in his wealthy neighborhood.
What seems to be light entertainment in the beginning turns out to be a psychic mindtrip. Merrill´s conversations over drinks with his neighbors are revealing that he´s obviously suffering from suburban amnesia, denying that his former life vanished into thin air. Physically almost naked he´s getting psychically undressed bit by bit with every pool he crawls and every drink he pours.
10.
Love & A 45 (C.M. Talkington, 1994)In the end there are only two things that matter: Renée Zellweger and C.M. Talkington. The debut director only came up with two other feature films, while his star… well, you probably heard of her career moves. Before Botox and box office madness Renée Zellweger was considered to be Arnie’s Austrian niece. She plays the über-cute love interest of gangster hubby Gil Bellows, hunted by the police and a psychotic Rory Cochrane. Drugs, cameos, violence and funny lines, it’s an archetype of a 90ies independent movie madness. It's like True Romance, only better.
09.
El Topo (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1970)Admittedly, this midnight movie beauty here has a strong cult following already, thanks to John Lennon's recommendation and Allen Klein's business sense, still it's a shame that El Topo is reduced to this Mexican magical mystery tour for stoners only. In fact, it's an artsy, gory, metaphorical, metaphysical, fairly deranged and highly entertaining, psychedelic Spaghetti Western magical mystery tour that has to be seen to be believed. Or as Jodorowsky himself put it: "If you're enlightened, El Topo is a great picture. If you don't understand it, you're a limited asshole."
08.
Tian Mi Mi - Comrades (Peter Chan, 1996)Tell your best buddy that the film he's about to see deals with themes of relationship, sexuality, gender and morality and you'll see him running before he can even scream 'chick flick!' at you. Well, Comrades has all these ingredients and further adds subplots about cultural identity loss, fate, materialism, cult of personality and even H.I.V., but thanks to Chinese indie-director Chan and his stunning leads Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai, this isn't an exercise in heavy melodrama but one of the most memorable romances ever captured on celluloid.
07.
Toto Le Héros (Jaco Van Dormael, 1991)Fate is a cruel bastard, especially if you're consumed by hate and jealousy for someone who you're convinced has stolen your life from you: parents, childhood, opportunity, love, education, and most importantly happiness. Van Dormael's debut plays out like a dream-like fantasy about life and what we make of it. A compelling tale that combines drama, mystery and pitch-black comedy. It's tragic and funny, nihilistic but not cynical. And even though it's about death as well, it offers all the reasons to stay alive.
06.
Etat De Siege (Costa-Gavras, 1972)
Brilliant political thriller by Costa-Gavras, his trademark actually. Uruguay in the early 70s, the left-wing Tupamaro guerrilla kidnaps an official of the US Agency for International Development. While the search for the kidnapped man causes police brutality, the interrogation of the official reveals the involvement of the US government aka the CIA. Splendid agitation and revolutionary education, far from being neutral like a Swiss cheese.
05.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
Jesse James was arguably the best film of 2007, unfortunately it tanked terribly at the box office, regardless of its star power (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell). Maybe a 160 minute long, dark, poetic, epic Anti-Western that turns into an intense and ambiguous intimate play in its final act but lacks clear descriptions of heroes and villains wasn't everybody's cup of moonshine whiskey. Still, it proved that every once in a blue moon major studios are still able to produce a piece of art so awe-inspiring, it's almost painful to watch.
04.
Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1992)
The screen-adaptation of David Mamet’s Pulitzer-winning play is one big firework of verbal assault, malice, manliness, and capitalism at its worst. A champion’s league all-star cast, with a scene-stealing Alec Baldwin as an economic hit man and a late Jack Lemmon, whose out-of-luck character clearly delivered the blueprint to The Simpson's Gil Gunderson, hangs out in a run-down real estate office over a 24 hour period. What could've been a dull update on Willy Loman-land actually is an exercise in high-powered dialogue and scarily precise acting.
03.
Your Friends & Neighbours (Neil La Bute, 1998)No violence and no skin but Neil La Bute’s tale of immorality was almost given a NC-17 rating, close to a XXX verdict, only because of its drastic dialogues and resentful depiction of modern relationships and the possibilities of conflicts and variations within three couples. Think of the bathroom scene in Eastern Promises, see here the extension without any physical violence, only a little speech. Killer cast: Catherine Keener, Nastassja Kinski, Aaron Eckhardt, Jason Patric and Ben Stiller.
02.
Day Of The Locust (John Schlesinger, 1975)While Mr. Schlesinger will always be remembered for Midnight Cowboy and Sunday Bloody Sunday by the very majority of cinophiles, it is this rather vicious and slightly surreal Depression-era Dream Factory drama that still feels fresh, vivid and utterly unique. Locust follows a handful of weird and surprisingly unsympathetic characters getting lost in the soul-sucking excess of 30s Hollywood on their quest for stardom. Unforgettable for its hallucinatory finale, Donald Sutherland as Homer Simpson (!) and the most obnoxious kid that ever walked the earth.
01.
Keane (Lodge H. Kerrigan, 2004)Owner of a broken heart. And mind. And soul. The most underrated director/writer of our times delivers another in your face, yet highly intimate portrait of a lost individual whose life is a hurricane of delusions. Brilliantly played by Band Of Brothers' Damian Lewis, Keane is a reductive analysis of a borderline psychotic young man stuck in the morass of modern anxieties, but still struggling to become socially presentable. It's a raw, intense and heartbreakingly sad movie. It's nothing less than a modern masterpiece.
