1. AFFLICTION: - I keep telling
people to see this one. Paul Schrader's directorial debut, starring a volatile
Nick Nolte and a transcendent Oscar-winning James Coburn. This film is very
much the spiritual sequel to TAXI DRIVER.
2. HIGH FIDELITY: - John Cusack's loving tribute to music snobbery and real-world romantic relationships. A magnificent, musical journey into the heart of love.
3. GHOST TOWN: - A comedic take on the premise of THE SIXTH SENSE, but far far from a banal spoof, this romcom starring Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear, is one of the best comedies I have ever seen.
4. YOU KILL ME: - A sardonic black comedy starring Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson, Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina, about a drunk hitman who goes to Alcoholics Anonymous to fix his drinking problem, so that he can go back to killing people.
5. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS: - A powerful, howlarious film from Wes Anderson starring a magnificent cast including Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, the Wilson brothers, Bill Murray and Gwyneth Paltrow, about the strength (and weaknesses) of family and how childhood scars often shape the adults we grow up to be.
6. ALFIE (1966): - Michael Caine provided the basis for countless films to follow which made use of his breaking-the-fourth-wall and involving the audience in the discussion technique, from FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF to HIGH FIDELITY.
7. CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WOMEN: - A blisteringly good, visually and aurally exquisite romcom starring a pre-fame Aaron "Two-Face" Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter; a majestic treatment of love, loss, regret and second chances.
8. DOUBT: - A volatile, deeply involving, gripping drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, about a pastor suspected of molesting the first black student of a Catholic school in the early 1960s.
9. LARS AND THE REAL GIRL: - An incredibly sweet, funny, touching romcom starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer, about a shy man who buys a sex doll online and begins to believe that the doll is his girlfriend.
10. DEAD MAN'S SHOES: - A brutal, savage film from Shane Meadows starring the superlative Paddy Considine, about a discharged soldier, who comes back to his hometown to terrorize the bullies who hurt his mentally retarded brother.
Honorable Mention: -
MARY AND MAX: - A wonderful animated film, starring Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman, about two penfriends-- an Australian elementary schooler and a fat depressed man in New York, and their wonderful friendship over several years.
2. HIGH FIDELITY: - John Cusack's loving tribute to music snobbery and real-world romantic relationships. A magnificent, musical journey into the heart of love.
3. GHOST TOWN: - A comedic take on the premise of THE SIXTH SENSE, but far far from a banal spoof, this romcom starring Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear, is one of the best comedies I have ever seen.
4. YOU KILL ME: - A sardonic black comedy starring Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson, Philip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina, about a drunk hitman who goes to Alcoholics Anonymous to fix his drinking problem, so that he can go back to killing people.
5. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS: - A powerful, howlarious film from Wes Anderson starring a magnificent cast including Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, the Wilson brothers, Bill Murray and Gwyneth Paltrow, about the strength (and weaknesses) of family and how childhood scars often shape the adults we grow up to be.
6. ALFIE (1966): - Michael Caine provided the basis for countless films to follow which made use of his breaking-the-fourth-wall and involving the audience in the discussion technique, from FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF to HIGH FIDELITY.
7. CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WOMEN: - A blisteringly good, visually and aurally exquisite romcom starring a pre-fame Aaron "Two-Face" Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter; a majestic treatment of love, loss, regret and second chances.
8. DOUBT: - A volatile, deeply involving, gripping drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, about a pastor suspected of molesting the first black student of a Catholic school in the early 1960s.
9. LARS AND THE REAL GIRL: - An incredibly sweet, funny, touching romcom starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer, about a shy man who buys a sex doll online and begins to believe that the doll is his girlfriend.
10. DEAD MAN'S SHOES: - A brutal, savage film from Shane Meadows starring the superlative Paddy Considine, about a discharged soldier, who comes back to his hometown to terrorize the bullies who hurt his mentally retarded brother.
Honorable Mention: -
MARY AND MAX: - A wonderful animated film, starring Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman, about two penfriends-- an Australian elementary schooler and a fat depressed man in New York, and their wonderful friendship over several years.
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