Films To Watch - Recommendations

Number 20




A Bittersweet Life,one of the finest asian films i have seen,this South Korean gangster thriller is about a hitman for the mob that disobeys his boss's orders and now he is a hunted man,stunning fight and shootout sequences,this is stylish film making at it's best,puts some Hollywood films to shame,writer/director Kim Ji Woon did a much better film than this though

Number 19




GoodFellas,Martin Scorsese's mob masterpiece,the true story of Henry Hill who rose up the ranks of the mafia only to then become informant for the police,i read the book about it called Wiseguy,and that is a good read,but much better to see a film of it,see all the brutal violence,great acting and great soundtrack too,Joe Pesci stands out from all performances,no wonder he won an oscar

Number 18




Heavenly Creatures,Peter Jackson had directed some wacky gory comedy horrors before this,what a change,this is a sort of drama/thriller i guess,it is about 2 girls who are best friends and hang out together and both have wild imaginations,their parents don't like their friendship and break them up and then the 2 girls plan a sinister act,based on a true story apparently,this is a riveting and well acted drama from Mr Jackson and got Kate Winslet noticed and now look how well she is doing,see this one definitely

Number 17




Pulp Fiction,Quentin Tarantino has not made a film that is better than this,i don't think he can top it,some could say Kill Bill is better or Reservoir Dogs,but this is his masterpiece,a black comedy crime thriller with an all star cast,it is 3 stories that connect with each other involving hitmen,a boxer,a robbing couple,a gangster's wife and a briefcase,it moves along nicely with Tarantino's trademark dialogue driven scenes,this film only has a few moments of violence in it and doesn't have as much that is in a film like Kill Bill,this film has many key scenes also,notably the bible quote execution,the dancing contest,Christopher Walken and the gold watch story,so many great scenes and quotes from this cause it is a quality film,you just wonder if Tarantino can ever top it

Number 16




There's Something About Mary,the only Farrelly Brothers film that i like,Ben Stiller is the lovesick fool that hires a private investigator to track down a high school sweetheart 13 years on from when they last saw each other,the investigator finds her and falls for her too,cause there's just something about Mary,something hot cause she is played by Cameron Diaz,lot of great humour here,mostly juvenile gross out stuff but funny anyway,Lee Evans also stars in this and there is a hilarious scene when he is trying to get his keys that he dropped on the floor but a bit difficult cause of his crutches

Number 15




Bubba Ho- Tep,here we have Bruce Campbell playing Elvis Presley,who in this great comedy horror is alive and well and living in a care home,he teams up with a man that claims to be JFK and they need to stop a redneck mummy (a bubba ho- tep) from taking the old folks' souls,very original idea and works well,Campbell is great in this,even shades of his Evil Dead character Ash are present,from start to finish this is very entertaining,the scene with Elvis and JFK in the bathroom looking at the hieroglyphics on the cubicle is hilarious,see this one for it's originality and for great humour and some good action

Number 14




The Wild Bunch,the best western i have seen,directed by Sam Peckinpah who also directed Straw Dogs,this is probably the most violent too,and this was made in 1969,it is about a gang of old outlaws that decide to do one last big train robbery together but they got a former partner hunting them down,epic storytelling and some great shootouts,notably the opening shootout in a small town and the finale with the bunch against the mexican army,still great to watch,it's a shame nobody makes westerns anymore,it's a good genre

Number 13




There Will Be Blood,a story of a man that strikes oil and soon builds an oil well empire and clashes with a young preacher over some land that has oil underneath,doesn't sound the most riveting film but it is very good,Daniel Day Lewis won pretty much every award going and for good reason,he is amazing in this,such a cold hearted character is Daniel Plainview,a really good scene is when Daniel is having a conversation with his deaf adopted son,very well done,recommended,something different from horrors,thrillers and westerns,a good dark drama that has some moments of black humour

Number 12




Braindead,this has to be the goriest film in the world,a man gets his limbs cut off in the opening scene and that sets the pace for the whole film,you will all sorts of horrible disgusting gore in this film,the plot is about a snooty old woman that gets bitten by a rare animal called a rat monkey and she becomes a zombie,and soon more zombies are about,total zombie gore action,the lawnmower scene needs to be seen,probably the bloodiest thing i have ever seen in a film,directed by Peter Jackson,wonder if he will ever go back to his roots and make a film like this,brilliant entertainment,even has a sex scene with 2 zombies

Number 11




The Dark Knight,the only Batman film in my list,this is the second Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale is Batman again speaking gruffer than ever,this focuses on the Joker's crimewave in Gotham City,Heath Ledger plays the Joker in an oscar winning role and it is the best performance of the film,although Aaron Eckhart also very good playing Harvey Dent,great action this film like the opening scene with the Joker and his gang robbing a bank,and a good car/van chase too,i like the other Batman films like Tim Burton's gothic film noir style ones and Joel Schumachar's brightly coloured comic book looking ones,but this one is the top dog,Batman Begins also excellent,but none make the list except this,The Dark Knight Rises out this summer