Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Movies, A-Z




















I've been tagged by Bubs to make an A-Z list of movies. The meme originated here.

I'll take this one step beyond and list films A-Z that I really like (or love), and I'll heartily exploit international titles, titles in English translation, and documentaries as needed. Each and every one of these flicks is a choice that comes highly recommended. Here goes:

Affliction (1999). Tour de force with Nick Nolte and James Coburn. Director, Paul Schrader.

Blue Collar (1978). Paul Schrader's hard to find first film, set in Detroit. Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto.

Clockwatchers (1997). Director, Jill Sprecher. Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, Alanna Ubach. If you've ever temped, worked for Kelly Services or Manpower . . .

Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie / Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972). Director, Luis Buñuel. Fernando Rey, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Stéphane Audran. This is one I'd watch repeatedly on a desert isle or in Hell, if I could only watch one movie.

Eight Mile (2002). Again, Detroit! Director, Curtis Hanson. Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer.

From Russia With Love (1963). Director, Terence Young. Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Pedro Armendáriz. Let's Just Say Istanbul is a Rough Town.

Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980). Director, William A. Graham. Powers Boothe, Ned Beatty, LeVar Burton, Colleen Dewhurst, Randy Quaid, James Earl Jones. It doesn't get any better than this, or more corndog weird!

Heart of Glass / Herz aus Glas (1976). Director, Werner Herzog. Josef Bierbichler, Stefan Güttler, Clemens Scheitz, Sonja Skiba.

I'm All Right, Jack (1959). Director, John Boulting. Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough, Margaret Rutherford, Terry-Thomas. Compare Office Space (1999), British style.

Jesus Camp (2006). Directors, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing. Nails Ted Haggard, for one.

Kinsey (2004). Director, Bill Condon. Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris O'Donnell, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow.

Last Picture Show (1971). Director, Peter Bogdanovich. Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Randy Quaid, Eileen Brennan, Sam Bottoms, Clu Gulager.

Manhattan (1979). Director, Woody Allen. Woody Allen, Mariel Hemingway, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Meryl Streep.

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979). Director, Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz. Also, F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens / Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) with Max Schreck.

O Lucky Man! (1973). Director, Lindsay Anderson. Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Ralph Richardson, Rachel Roberts, Alan Price.

Play Misty for Me (1971). Director, Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, John Larch. Clint's first as director, this is a great early stalker movie -- compare with Alan J. Pakula's Klute (1971).

Queimada / Burn! (1969). Director, Gillo Pontecorvo. Marlon Brando, Evaristo Márquez, Norman Hill, Renato Salvatori, Thomas Lyons.

Road Scholar (1993). Director, Roger Weisberg. Andrei Codrescu, Allen Ginsberg, Tyree Guyton, Detroit!

Stardust Memories (1980). Director, Woody Allen. Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault, Tony Roberts.

Times of Harvey Milk (1984). Director, Rob Epstein. Harvey Milk, Harvey Fierstein (narrator), George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein. Fantastic documentary and Mark Isham soundtrack. I look forward to seeing Gus Van Sant's Milk (2008) and fully support gay/lesbian marriages and unions. (Separate post on that soon).

UFOria (1985). Director, John Binder. Fred Ward, Cindy Williams, Harry Dean Stanton.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). Director, Woody Allen. Scarlett Johansson,Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina. "Speak English!"

Wonder Boys (2000). Director, Curtis Hanson. Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey, Jr., Katie Holmes, Rip Torn. "I am a writer . . ."

Xiao Wu / The Pickpocket (1997). Director, Jia Zhangke. Wang Hongwei, Hao Hongjian, Zuo Baitao.

Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Director, Peter Weir. Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Murphy, Linda Hunt.

Zentropa / Europa (1991). Director, Lars von Trier. Max von Sydow (narrator), Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Eddie Constantine, Erik Mørk, Henning Jensen. In the morning, the sleeper has found rest on the bottom of the river. The force of the stream has opened the door and is leading you on. Above your body, people are still alive. Follow the river as days go by. Head for the ocean that mirrors the sky. You want to wake up to free yourself of the image of Europa. But it is not possible.

Whew! Now I'm supposed to tag five more people. Please link back to the original meme: http://blogcabins.blogspot.com/2008/11/alphabet-meme.html
It's now your A-Z movie meme mission, should you choose to accept it:

JR
Beth
Rocket Scientist
MacGuffin
Sid


Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.

4 comments:

Joe said...

I really like the personal touch here--not just a list of titles, but a list of movies you love. Interesting that you have more than one Paul Schrader title in there, and of course you don't forget the Motor City either.

I had forgotten about that Jonestown movie until last week, when one of the cable news networks ran a special about Jonestown. Whew. I remember watching that when it was originally on TV and being blown away by Powers Boothe.

Well done!

Charles Gramlich said...

Hum, I've only seen four of these.

Distributorcap said...

now i have 20 more movies to see since i have only seen 6 of them

MacGuffin said...

My list - lazy as it might be - is done.