top 50 films for the half decade; Kalo's list begins! (pg. 45)

[MrPink]

#11: Inception (2010)

written and directed by: Christopher Nolan

 

 

BWAAAAAHMMMMMMM

 

(Seriously, though, for all the mangled exposition and the fundamental drabness of the dream-worlds, this is a really fun movie and the action scenes-within-scenes are fantastic.)

 

 

I am rock hard.

[Kalo]

Yep, you are having a spiritual, long distance relationship with Mr Hardy it seems.

But excuse me, this is none of my business.

No. Tom is mine. I would know if he was cheating. 

[Ozymandias]

#11: Inception (2010)

written and directed by: Christopher Nolan

 

 

BWAAAAAHMMMMMMM

 

(Seriously, though, for all the mangled exposition and the fundamental drabness of the dream-worlds, this is a really fun movie and the action scenes-within-scenes are fantastic.)

 

 

Sometimes I wonder if the Inception horns (BWWAAAAAHHHHMM) from that trailer are more memorable than the movie itself, you still see that in trailers these days.

[Dementeleus]

#8. Her (2013)

written and directed by: Spike Jonze

 

 

One of the things I appreciate about this movie is how it’s unafraid to leap into exploring how AI technology would affect our lives, personally and socially. Most films would stretch the first act of this movie into a feature — basically, just the tagline concept of a man falling in love with his artificial assistant. But HER uses that as a springboard to explore falling into and out of love, how other people would embrace the technology in the same way, how the technology itself grows far past what humans need from it, and so forth. Deft and magical.

 

Edited February 12, 2015 by Tele's Inert Goddess

[Dementeleus]

#7: All is Lost (2013)

written and directed by: J.C. Chandor

 

 

Minimalist, pure cinema at its best. Almost entirely dialogue-free, purely driven by visuals and sound design (and some very sparse music). Casting Redford was a master stroke, not only because he’s a good actor, but because the weight of his screen presence (and screen history) adds texture to the character and gives hints of back story where there’s very little. Beautifully, beautifully done… GRAVITY without all the glitz.

 

[Dementeleus]

#6: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

written and directed by: The Coen Brothers

 

 

A wonderful (and bleak) look at the creative struggle to succeed in an artistic field, and what that struggle may even mean. Anyone who’s ever put serious effort into trying to make a professional career out of an artistic endeavor will recognize all the turmoil Llewyn Davis goes through. Bleak, yet oddly not a downer of a movie.

 

[Avatree]

Hang me, oh hang me...

[4815162342]

Hang me, oh hang me...

If that's how you feel, I'll supply the rope.

[Dementeleus]

#5: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

written by: Terence Winter

directed by: Martin Scorsese

 

 

Raucous, profane, sprawling, yet hilarious, this is a brutal satirical look at Wall Street, capitalism, and the dark side of American exceptionalism. One of the funniest movies in quite awhile… and yet you feel anger, frustration, and (yes) a little envy as well. Scorsese doesn’t let the audience off the hook either… the final shot makes abundantly clear how all our desperate urges for success contribute to this selfish cancer at the core of our society.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz57Eg6VgQE

[Sam]

2013 was a very good year for movies.

[RobinHood26]

So far great list. Only maybe 5 I disagree with. Go Tele, excited for the top 4. 

[Dementeleus]

#4: Leviathan (2014)

written by: Andrey Zvyagintsev, Oleg Negin

directed by: Andrey Zvyagintsev

 

 

Seriously beautiful and seriously, seriously bleak. Zvyagintsev’s story starts small (with a local man determined to fight off efforts by his mayor to buy up his land for a development project), and ends huge (becoming a savage indictment of the hypocrisy and corruption in Putin’s Russia, as well as a dark commentary on human nature). Elegiac, (mostly) subtle, and unexpectedly funny in places, although the humor increasingly becomes darker and darker. A towering achievement.

 

[Avatree]

I only disagree with 8 films so far: Looper, The Raid, The Raid 2, Fast Five, Gone Girl, Gravity, Her, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

[Dementeleus]

#3: The Grey (2012)

written and directed by: Joe Carnahan

 

 

Joe Carnahan is sort of a modern-day low-budget cinema Hemingway, making movies about manly men doing manly things in a manly way. His first no-budget feature was called BLOOD, GUTS, BULLETS, AND OCTANE, and that sums up his filmography pretty well. He does have an underlying poetic streak, though, and when he pulls back and keeps things low-key, he’s capable of great work (NARC, for example). The first thing to understand about THE GREY is that it’s not a Liam Neeson action movie (as it was assumed to be during its original release.) It’s a meditation on what it means to live life, what it means to face death, and how you choose to face death. It’s completely underrated and an masterpiece.

 

[Ethan Hunt]

I didn't see that coming.

Edited February 13, 2015 by 72 tints of green

[4815162342]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[Empire]

The Grey is great and would make my list if I ever do one.

[Avatree]

Wow, I didn't expect that to show up. I thought it was just another boring Liam Neeson action film.

[Dementeleus]

#2: The Social Network

written by: Aaron Sorkin

directed by: David Fincher

 

 

A damn near perfect movie, honed to a fine brilliant sheen. Not a wasted frame. Almost the platonic ideal of what a Hollywood drama should be.

 

[Avatree]

I think we can all agree on that one. TSN is just about the only film that I've never heard someone dislike.