Some of my favourite films (14 titles)

Blade Runner - The Final Cut

I first saw Blade Runner when I was about 8, which I think is an entirely inappropriate age to see such a film, but I'm certainly glad of it. The film stuck with me, but I think even if I hadn't seen it so early the sheer atmosphere and vision of the film would have still made it my favourite. It is one of the few examples of a film that really does transcend into something almost ethereal, with its no-more-than-needed script and note perfect score by Vangelis. Most of all though, it is the visuals - never before have I seen a world so convincing, a world you can't help but feel exists out there somewhere (maybe way off in the future...). It's a dark film, but not a cold one: Batty's final soliloquy is beautiful and (the director's cut) has one of the best endings ever. Will probably always be my favourite film.

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• Blade Runner - The Final Cut
  Starring: Harrison Ford,  Rutger Hauer,  Edward James Olmos
  Director: Ridley Scott
  Certificate:
  Visually spectacular, intensely action-packed and powerfully prophetic since its debut, Blade Runner returns in Ridley Scott's definitive Final Cut, including extended scenes and never-before-seen special effects. In a signature role as 21st-century detective Rick Deckard, Harrison Ford brings his ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 86% from 3,020 members
  Not available for rental

Alien

Sad as it may sound, if I had a time machine I think one of my most pressing actions would probably be to see Alien when it first came out. Before the H.R. Giger's design was a household image, before we'd seen the chestburster scene on every Top 100 Scariest Moments documentary, before we'd heard of Sigourney Weaver. Oh to be ignorant and watch this in a darkened room with complete strangers. But regardless, it's a film I can watch over and over for the sheer thrill of the experience... the editing and music is perfection, making every scene even more worthwhile, counting the beats til the moment you skip a few. It still looks stunning as well, you can always trust Ridley when it comes to production design. Star of the show though is Ian Holm, who proves himself just as scary as any extra-terresterial.

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• Alien on DVD (1979)
  Starring: Sigourney Weaver,  John Hurt,  Tom Skerritt
  Director: Ridley Scott
  Certificate:
  Director Ridley Scott's breakthough film, an immensely successful blend of horror and science fiction, is a classic in both genres and spawned a host of sequels and imitators. Starring Sigourney Weaver as warrant officer Ellen Ripley, ALIEN focuses on the crew of the space cargo ship Nostromo, ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 77% from 49,373 members

Brazil

Gilliam's magnum opus. I'm not sure if a more antithetic movie has ever been made in Hollywood, and it very nearly didn't make it. This is about as close as anyone's got to the derranged mind of the ex-python, and it's beautiful. Gilliam creates an entire world almost outside of time and does so with a miniscule budget. Jonathon Pryce is at his best here as the naive dreamer, before he started hamming it up, and Palin gives a rare but creepy role as a 'bad guy'. Gilliam chucks just about everything in but doesn't forget his unique sense of humour, which keeps the spirits up in what is otherwise a dark, dark tale. Don't let anyone tell you no great films came out of the 80s.

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• Brazil on DVD (1985)
  Starring: Jonathan Pryce,  Robert De Niro,  Katherine Helmond
  Director: Terry Gilliam
  Certificate:
  BRAZIL is Terry Gilliam's masterpiece. The film, cowritten by Gilliam, playwright Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown, is set in a futuristic society laden with red tape and bureaucracy. When a bug (literally) gets in the system, an innocent man is killed, leading mild-mannered Sam Lowry (an ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 68% from 16,082 members

Lord Of The Rings, The: The Fellowship Of The Ring

When it comes to epic fantasy, what else is there? And what can you even imagine ever being as good? The first and best, this was scary, heroic and magical. Plus it has Ian Holm, and what film couldn't benefit from having Ian Holm?

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• Lord Of The Rings, The: The Fellowship O... on DVD (2001)
  Starring: Sean Astin,  Sean Bean,  Cate Blanchett
  Director: Peter Jackson
  Certificate:
  Set in Middle-Earth many many years ago, this is the story of a young Hobbit named Frodo, who has in his possession a ring... This ring is needed by the evil Lord Sauron to destroy civilisation and plunge the world into complete darkness. In order to prevent this, Frodo must find a way to the Mount ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 79% from 72,417 members

Naked Gun

Classic comedy, never fails to bring a smile to my face and several laughs along with it. Airplane started the spoof, this perfected it, and it's been downhill ever since (though the first sequel was pretty good too...). The absolute master of sight gags.

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• Naked Gun on DVD (1988)
  Starring: Leslie Nielsen,  Priscilla Presley,  George Kennedy
  Director: David Zucker
  Certificate:
  In this zany comedy, L.A. cop Lt. Frank Drebin nearly destroys the world several times over (while trying to save it) as he uncovers an insidious plot to assassinate the Queen of England during an L.A. Dodgers game.
  
  Rate this: 68% from 13,406 members

The Big Lebowski

The thing about Coen Brothers films, perhaps obviously, is that only they could make them. You don't always know what the hell is going on in their films, and why, but you know that you're enjoying it and that you trust that everything's the way it is for a reason. And so it is with The Big Lebowski, a film with about 200 uses of the word 'fuck' and you wouldn't want to change a single one of them. A film that you just couldn't imagine any other way. Jeff Bridges and John Goodman are simply perfect. The film is simply perfect. "Yeah, I got a rash man." If you don't love this film the first time round, accept that there's something wrong with you and keep trying. You'll see the light eventually.

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• The Big Lebowski on DVD (1997)
  Starring: Jeff Bridges,  John Goodman,  Julianne Moore
  Director: Joel Coen
  Certificate:
  When unemployed Dude is attacked in his apartment by two thugs who mistakenly think he is millionaire Jeff Lebowski, he decides to pay a visit to his namesake in the hope of receiving compensation.
  
  Rate this: 73% from 42,643 members

This Is Spinal Tap

Its very existence almost renders all other satire null and void. Even the crew members on the film didn't get the joke they were so convinced what they were filming happened all the time. Simultaneously hilarious and deadly accurate, and the songs are actually pretty good.

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• This Is Spinal Tap on DVD (1984)
  Starring: Andrew Divoff,  Rob Reiner,  Billy Crystal
  Director: Rob Reiner
  Certificate:
  A brilliant and hilarious documentary-style satire of a has-been British heavy metal band who never really was on an absurd American comeback tour that never quite gets off the ground, THIS IS SPINAL TAP practically birthed the mockumentary style. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 70% from 22,075 members

Memento

Great example of script and direction working in perfect harmony. Best to watch, enjoy, mull over then forget everything and watch it again. And again. One of the most original films of the last decade.

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• Memento on DVD (2000)
  Starring: Guy Pearce,  Carrie-Anne Moss,  Joe Pantoliano
  Director: Christopher Nolan
  Certificate:
  MEMENTO, the second feature by writer-director Christopher Nolan (FOLLOWING), is an intricately constructed film noir that masterfully inverts time to comment on the foggy relationship between memory and truth. MEMENTO tells the story of Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a former insurance investigator ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 75% from 60,611 members

Terminator 2 - Judgment Day

Only The Dark Knight can give this a run for its money for gravitas in an action movie, but even that doesn't have a liquid metal Robert Patrick. Pretentious - yes, annoying kid - yes, but Arnie's terminator is the only truly human performance he's ever given, and the whole film just feels EPIC in a way few dare to try these days.

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• Terminator 2 - Judgment Day on DVD (1991)
  Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger,  Linda Hamilton,  Robert Patrick
  Director: James Cameron
  Certificate:
  A deadly shape-shifting assassin (Robert Patrick) is sent back in time to succeed where his cyborg predecessor failed--to eliminate Sarah Connor's son (Edward Furlong) before he gets a chance to make history, leading the humans in a war against the machines. The original cyborg (Arnold ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 76% from 53,959 members

L.A. Confidential

One of those films that you just can't fault, and is always good for a watch whenever it's on TV. You never quite pick up the plot long enough to remember it, which is the way it should be, and Russell Crowe hasn't topped this.

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• L.A. Confidential on DVD (1997)
  Starring: Kevin Spacey,  Russell Crowe,  Kim Basinger
  Director: Curtis Hanson
  Certificate:
  Director Curtis Hanson captures the duality of 1950s Los Angeles in this striking film noir adaptation of James Ellroy's novel. The City of Angels might be sunny, inviting, and glamorous to the rest of the world, but it's also filled with corrupt cops, elegant hookers, murder cover-ups, and ..read more »
  
  Rate this: 73% from 51,140 members

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