A Life in Movies Blogathon

Andy at Fandango Groovers has invited bloggers to participate in the "A Life In Movies" blogathon: a list of favourite films from the year we were born up to 2010, one title for each year. Nearly as hard as the Cinematic Alphabet meme but just as much fun. And compiling this list has reminded me of  several films I'd like to revisit very soon.

1980 - The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick)

It might not have pleased the novel’s author very much, but Stanley Kubrick’s film, departing fairly radically from its source at times, still remains perhaps the most striking and memorable of all Stephen King adaptations.

1981 - Atlantic City (dir. Louis Malle)

Louis Malle and John Guare’s fairly unclassifiable collaboration mixes elements of crime drama, comedy, love story and fairy-tale to create one of the most distinctive  American movies of the period. Great work from Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon.

1982 - Shoot the Moon (dir. Alan Parker)

We talk about break-up albums, but not break-up movies so much. Sharply-observed, funny, raw and disturbing, with memorable performances from Albert Finney and Diane Keaton as the couple falling apart, Shoot the Moon is one of the best.

1983 - Zelig (dir. Woody Allen)

Allen’s brilliant mockumentary charts the history of an “everyman” chameleon whose neurotic insecurity prompts him to take on the ideas, opinions and even physical appearance of whichever group of people he happens to be associating with. Hilarious and insightful, and, like all of Allen’s best films, both deep and feather-light.

1984 - Gremlins (dir. Joe Dante)

An early disappointment for me was not being allowed to go to see the 15-certificate Gremlins at the cinema. Seen on many occasions since; loved every time. “And that’s how I found out there wasn’t a Santa Claus…”

1985 - A Private Function (dir. Malcolm Mowbray)

“Like Volpone set in a cabbage patch” (Pauline Kael). Maggie Smith states: “I’m not having people think we put just rubbish in the bin.”

1986 - Little Shop of Horrors (dir. Frank Oz)

Honestly, no musical makes me happier than Little Shop of Horrors. Magic moment: the Steve Martin/Bill Murray encounter.

1987 - The Princess Bride (dir. Rob Reiner)

"My name is Inigo Montoya .. &etc."

1988 - Distant Voices, Still Lives (dir. Terence Davies)

Or The Naked Gun. Or Women on the Verge ...

1989 - Miss Firecracker (dir. Thomas Schlamme)

Does anyone else like this?

1990 - Home Alone (dir. Chris Columbus)

Vigilantism and family values, Hughes-style. Movie obsession commences right here.

1991 - Paradise (dir. Mary Agnes Donoghue)

Thoughts on Paradise here.

1992 - Strictly Ballroom (dir. Baz Luhrmann)

“Lee-sen to the ree-them!” One of my happiest cinema-going memories.

1993 - Philadelphia (dir. Jonathan Demme)

There are so many great sequences here, from that wonderful opening montage scored to Springsteen to the close-up of Hanks alone on the street,  and the opera scene, of course. But for me the key moment in Philadelphia comes in the exchange between Denzel Washington’s lawyer Miller and Charles Napier’s Judge midway through the movie. “In this courtroom, justice is blind to matters of race, creed, colour, religion and sexual orientation.” “With all due respect, Your Honour, we don’t live in this courtroom, though, do we?”

1994 - Forrest Gump (dir. Robert Zemeckis)

The early 90s = The Hanks Years.

 1995 - To Die For (dir. Gus Van Sant)

Van Sant's satire skewers its moment, and holds up very well.

1996 - The Portrait of a Lady (dir. Jane Campion)

Nicole, mark II. For me, the best Henry James adaptation there has been, or is ever likely to be.

1997 - The Sweet Hereafter (dir. Atom Egoyan)

A movie that retains its enigmatic quality no matter how many times it's seen; Egoyan’s masterful adaptation of Russell Banks’s novel.

1998 - Buffalo 66 (dir. Vincent Gallo)

Gallo's stylish, one-of-a-kind indie romance.

1999 - American Beauty (dir. Sam Mendes)

Or Magnolia. Or Topsy Turvy. Or Limbo. Or The Sixth Sense. Damn good year.

2000 - Under the Sand (dir. François Ozon)

A classic of first-person cinema: Ozon’s chilly, anti-closure masterpiece of mourning and melancholia.

2001 - The Deep End (dir. McGehee and Siegel)

McGehee and Siegel’s contemporary reworking of The Reckless Moment, with a tremendous performance from Tilda Swinton as the under-pressure matriarch.

2002 - Talk to Her (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)

Silent cinema. Telling stories. Dance and desire. Almodóvar's most moving, soulful film.

2003 - Lost In Translation (dir. Sofia Coppola)

Our Brief Encounter. Wonderful atmosphere. Humour and melancholy, alienantion and connection, resignation and hope.

2004 - The Village (dir. M. Night Shyamalan)

I wouldn't try to defend Shyamalan's last couple of films, which have seemed miscalculated in the extreme, but I've always been taken with The Village, for me one of the strangest, most beautiful and most underrated American films of the decade.

2005 - Hidden (dir. Michael Haneke)

Does anyone put our contemporary panics and paranoias on screen more memorably than Mr. Haneke?

2006 - Dans Paris (dir. Christophe Honoré)

Watching  Dans Paris, I discovered that I much preferred New Wave homage to the “real” thing.

2007 - Les Chansons d'amour (dir. Christophe Honoré)

Dans Paris's musical sister.

2008 - 35 Shots of Rum (dir. Claire Denis)

On the Nightshift.

2009 - RAGE (dir. Sally Potter)

Potter’s multi-vocal meditation on the fashion industry, corporatism, celeb culture, and much more besides. Also the only film so far in which you get to see Judi Dench light a joint. Reviewed here.

2010 - Le Refuge (dir. François Ozon)

Thoughts on Le Refuge here.

Desert Island CD Blogathon: 12 Tracks From Soundtracks

I’ve blogged briefly on favourite movie music before but couldn’t resist Castor Troy's invitation to participate in the Desert Island CD Blogathon. The concept: you are stranded on a desert island with only one CD (and a CD player etc...). What are 12 tracks that you would want to have with you? The one requirement is that each track comes from a movie soundtrack... Choosing just 12 favourite songs or instrumental pieces is both a delightful and a daunting task so this list has been compiled, in truth, without too much cogitation: these are simply the tracks that came to mind first. Some songs here are ones that I'd heard before seeing the film in question; others I learned about because of the movie, and are forever associated with it. Click on the titles/artist names to link to the songs.

1. "A Night In" by Tindersticks  - Intimacy (Chereau, 2001)

If one thing’s for sure, it’s that French filmmakers love them some Tindersticks. Claire Denis’s collaborations with the band are the most well known, but since Denis is already represented on this list twice, I’ve opted instead for the band’s stunning “A Night In” as featured over images of the slumbering Mark Rylance in the wonderfully portentous opening credit sequence to Patrice Chereau’s Intimacy.

2. "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen - Philadelphia (Demme, 1993)

Demme’s use of music across his work has been superb, and you could stick a pin in the Philadelphia soundtrack and find a song I love. But I have to go with the movie's most famous track, a mournful plea for brotherhood that's become one of my all-time favourite Springsteen songs. It accompanies another of my all-time favourite credit sequences too.

3. “Cambodia” by Kim Wilde - Dans Paris (Honore, 2006)

A nostalgic encounter with Kim Wilde’s “Cambodia” starts to lure Romain Duris out of the break-up blues. What a great pop song, and few scenes convey our solitary bedroom music moments quite like this one.

4. "Against the Wind" by Bob Seger - Forrest Gump (Zemeckis, 1994)
Seger was never cool but who cares? I’m always, always moved by “Against the Wind.” The trajectory of a life in three verses. Gorgeous and timeless.


5. "Momentum" by Aimee Mann - Magnolia (Anderson, 1999)
Mann's songs are such an integral part of the experience of Magnolia that it's hard to pick favourites, but the awesome "Momentum" just takes it for me.


6. "Ne Me Quitte Pas" by Maysa Mataraso  - Law of Desire (Almodovar, 1986)
"How can I explain why seeing the little girl in Law of Desire singing 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' in playback was for me so heart-rending?" wonders Frederic Strauss. How indeed. The mystery and magic of Almodovar at his best; a classic piece of Brel and a great version by Ms. Mataraso.


7. "Where Is My Mind?" by Pixies  - Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) 
YEAH!!!


8. "Sweetness" by Yes - Buffalo ‘66 (Gallo, 1998)

King Crimson's "Moonchild" in the bowling alley sequence cuts it close but I can never resist this wonderful Yes song, used at Buffalo '66 's redemptive close.   

9. "The Rhythm of the Night" by Corona - Beau Travail (Denis, 1999)

After seeing Beau Travail it’s pretty much impossible to hear "The Rhythm of the Night" without Denis Lavant's amazing display at the end of the movie coming to mind. A while on a desert island should give me time to perfect some of those moves... Also nicely used in Ozon’s Sitcom (1998).

10. "Dan" by Michael Nyman - Wonderland (Winterbottom, 1999)
Each of Wonderland's characters gets a theme of their own. "Dan" is the one that's most indelibly associated with the movie for me.


11. "Siren" by Tori Amos - Great Expectations (Cuaron, 1998)
Because I probably wouldn’t survive for too long on this desert island without the sound of Tori’s voice and piano-playing for inspiration.


12. "Nightshift" by The Commodores - 35 Shots of Rum (Denis, 2008)
Honestly, I'm not sure that I'd ever heard "Nightshift" before seeing 35 Shots of Rum. Now it's a song that I can't imagine doing without.