Funny and scary in exactly the right proportions, the laughs come with a lot of heart, and even the most intense situations make room for moments of gleeful absurdity. ![]() Shaun of the Dead (2004) - The perfect fusion of a spry, British, romantic comedy and a grisly zombie movie. It's a midlife crisis on celluloid and utterly, utterly brilliant. Charlie Kaufman's directing debut plays with meta and relative perspective and other tricks, but his real accomplishment is capturing the despair of mortality and the bitterest parts of life and relationships that sometimes can never be fixed. Synecdoche New York (2008) - It's difficult to think about the end of life, but we'll all have to face it one day. The film makes the argument that it's not just the drugs that doom the characters, but their own tightly-held dreams that created the void to be filled. ![]() So graphic and so visually dizzying it almost made me sick to my stomach at some points, but I've never found its match for emotional intensity. Requiem for a Dream (2000) - Darren Aronofsky's devastating portrait of four lives destroyed by addiction. In the face of the apocalypse, with society in collapse, ordinary social rituals and constructs start to fall apart, revealing that it's not the end of humans that we really should be worried about - it's the end of humanity. Songs From the Second Floor (2000) - A Swedish film about the end of the world, presented in short vignettes that range from tragically funny to profoundly horrific. The escape story and messages of hope are simple, but as directed by Alfonso Cuarón, they resonate with uncommon power. With so many bombastic special-effects extravaganzas in the same genre, it's almost miraculous to find one that is more concerned with the journey of its characters and the scope of its ideas. All the characters are likable and natural and I found I really cared about what happened to them.Ĭhildren of Men (2006) - It's a rare apocalypse film that can be best described as a human drama. Dysfunctional family dramas are a cinema mainstay, but you don't get many that are this honest and genuine. Rachel Getting Married (2008) - It may be Rachel's wedding, but she has to share the screen with Kym, her recovering drug addict sister who is trying to reconnect with the family - and not doing a great job of it. I'm especially fond of Penelope Cruz in the lead, who gives the performance of her career. Though the subject matter is often dark, it never loses its welcoming, lively atmosphere. This rich family drama about three generations of mothers and daughters coming together in tough times is a rare and wonderful thing. Volver (2006) - Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar adores women, and makes films that adore women. And it also makes a good case for the importance of family and why nobody should ever aspire to mediocrity. We get a great satire of comic-book superheroes and old-school action movies that succeeds as a genre picture in its own right. ![]() ![]() The Incredibles (2004) - In addition to gorgeous graphics, wonderful characters, and rousing music, what makes this PIXAR film stand out above the rest is how smartly written it is. In the hands of Michel Gondry, who does visuals like no one else, it's scene after scene of unique, unforgettable images. The story is a strange, non-linear, fractured thing from the mind of Charlie Kaufman, examining a man's memories of a failed relationship as those memories are being systematically erased. Romantic comedies are in a sorry state these days, but this one would be a keeper in any era.Įternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - This is the best movie romance of our times. But put him in the hands of Paul Thomas Anderson, who creates a world to show us why this poor schlub is the way he is - and then lets him transcend it - and it's pure bliss. Punch Drunk Love (2002) - Adam Sandler's rage-prone, man-boy persona never struck me as especially funny in the idiot comedies he's known for.
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