ALL-TIME FAVOURITES
MCCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971)
Robert Altman’s love of his characters and cynicism towards the country they live in was never more beautifully realised. Achingly sweet and sad.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
Let me use this space to recommend Space Odyssey, Michael Benson’s exhaustive account of the making of the film, which will both deepen and complicate your appreciation of Kubrick.
JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 COMMERCE QUAY, 1080 BRUSSELS (1975)
Chantal Akerman’s greatest film, and one of the most radical uses of time in all of cinema. This film may seem daunting, and it is, but Akerman was after something specific and she nailed it.
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015)
We’re five years out from the declaration that this is an all-timer; a lot has changed in the world since then, but we were right about this one — unless the fact that it just keeps getting better means we underestimated it, in which case I’ll happily say we were half-right as I sit down to watch it yet again.
DO THE RIGHT THING (1989)
This one was ahead of us all. The fact that its declarations have become more vital over the past three decades is sobering, to say the least.
SPIRITED AWAY (2001)
The magic of Hayao Miyazaki’s films offer a momentary escape, but their deep emotional wisdom gives them more permanent currency. I can always count on Spirited Away to soothe me when the world seems like it’s on fire.
THE TREE OF LIFE (2011)
Terrence Malick’s grand statement on everything; rapturous, unwieldy, all-encompassing, and one of the few films in recent history to push the medium of cinema forward.
ANDREI RUBLEV (1966)
I don’t think Andrei Tarkovsky considered himself a master of suspense, but the question of whether or not that damn bell will ring is every bit as nail-biting as anything Hitchcock ever made.
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
This is the Spielberg film I saw first, and it’s the one that means the most to me. It’s so ingrained in pop culture that it’s easy to overlook what a wild swing it was. I mean, just look at E.T. himself and imagine a studio greenlighting this movie. It’s crazy!
THE MASTER (2012)
Amongst its many sterling qualities, Paul Thomas Anderson’s film is the possessor of what I maintain to be the best and finest close-ups in motion-picture history.