SPOTLIGHT:
My Five Favourite Films
When your whole life revolves around film, you most likely end up watching a whole lot of movies. Some good, some bad, some so straight up awful that every time someone brings said movie up you can’t help but feel a little bile pooling at the back of your throat, and some that stick around in your mind for the rest of your life - but like, in a good way. In this little blog, I’m going to go over some of my lifelong favourite films and talk about why they’re my favourite and how I’m drawing inspiration from them. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet - or else this post might reach “Ulysses”-levels of hard to read.
“MANDY”, 2018
(Dir. Panos Cosmatos)
This film is pure, unfiltered metal. I lost count of how many times I’ve seen it - but it’s probably a good thing, right? “Mandy” takes elements from stylish, neon lit music videos, shoegaze soundtracks and over-the-top acting and cranks it up to the max! The film simply wouldn’t work with a different style – it captures the story and the main character’s slow descent into madness really well. It starts off relatively normal with Nic Cage’s character and his wife living a secluded life away from society, but slowly begins to change when the murderous cult infiltrates their peaceful existence and changes it forever. I love how it’s visually conveyed through the usage of colours and the lighting.
“LIVING IN OBLIVION”, 1995
(Dir. Tom DiCillo)
An indie film shoot where everything that can go wrong goes wrong. Sounds like a documentary more than a drama, right? This is one of the funniest yet hard-hitting movies I’ve ever seen. Tom DiCillo’s movies remain to be discovered by a lot of film fans, but he’s without a doubt one of my favourite directors. His style perfectly mixes comedy with realism and shows just how absurd real life can be. I’ve picked up some very important filmmaking advice from this film. No matter how messy things can (and will) get, just keep pushing - it will eventually work out, one way or another.
“PUNCH DRUNK LOVE”, 2002
(Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
This is very tonally different from all the other films on this list. “Punch Drunk Love” has my favourite depiction of romance in any film, ever. Adam Sandler delivers probably one of the best performances in his whole career - his character Barry is someone I could really relate to. Whether it’s his struggle to relate to other people, or him falling head over heels for Lena, despite being so awkward about her at first. It’s a very human film, a tale of loneliness and love. Jon Brion’s score for the film is simply magical, the movie really wouldn’t hit as hard without it.
“SHAUN OF THE DEAD”, 2004
(Dir. Edgar Wright)
I really struggled to pick just one film from the iconic Cornetto trilogy, but I just had to go with “Shaun”. I love this film, obviously because of the comedy, but also the general tone of it - sure, it is a zombie apocalypse flick, but it doesn’t have, say, epic explosions and dramatic music swelling up as the main characters, rugged action heroes, save the day by killing a bunch of zombies. This film is kind of the antithesis of those tropes. It stars characters that are very much people you know well in everyday life - lazy, overworked, desperately failing while trying to be cool. It’s so easy to empathise with Shaun because haven’t we all felt like him at one point?
“THE BIG LEBOWSKI”, 1998
(Dir. Joel Coen)
Without a doubt, my favourite film of all time. Perhaps that’s why I saved it for last. I don’t think there’s a single person in the world who hasn’t at least heard a quote from it, the film is simply iconic. The comedy is what really drove me towards the film the first time I saw it. Hilarious, beautifully shot (who DOESN’T love a good Roger Deakins movie?), and deeply philosophic, when you think about it. It’s one of those films that gets better with every viewing. I stumbled upon it for the second time during a really rough period of my life, and upon rewatch, the titular Dude’s philosophy really stuck with me. It’s still something that I live with ‘til this very day. As the real life prototype of the Dude once said, Life is short and complicated and nobody knows what to do about it. So don't do anything about it.