Important Movies

Sure.

Okay everyone, throw out your picks for 5th movie, and I will post a new year tomorrow morning.

I voted Lost Horizon initially, but I'm not too passionate about that so The Awful Truth would also be a good choice.

1. United 93: It captures the most important moment of the 21st century in a way that is emotional, visceral, and respectable. The way it presents the story as very authentic to the point of almost feeling like a documentary has definitely had an impact going forward, but no film utilizes that technique as good as this one.

2. Borat: Sacha Baron Cohen was known to some degree for his TV work, but Borat brought he and his brand of comedy to the mainstream. It started the trend of these experimental comedies where the fictional character interacts with real people and despite being a very offbeat style of comedy, the film was extremely successful, provoked a lot of discussion, and permeated pop-culture. Everyone had a shitty Borat impression to share after this movie.

3. Children of Men: This film is hailed by a masterpiece by pretty much everyone who sees it. From fanboy types who are mostly interested in comic book movies, to highly regarded critics; no matter who you are, Children of Men impresses. It's one of the most technically impressive films of the decade and its depiction of a world falling apart is haunting, profound, and feels authentic.

4. Letters from Iwo Jima: A very thoughtful meditation on war that really resonates. This is also a bold step for Eastwood as a director. Most of his movies are very limited on a stylistic level, focusing instead on just tight storytelling. Letters has a much more lyrical quality which is almost Mallick esque, while still being accessible to a mainstream audience. Beyond that, it's human depiction of "the enemy" is rare in Hollywood movies, and its important that side be shown.

5. Pan's Labyrinth: I'm not as in love with this as everyone else, but there's no denying the impact Pan's Lanyrinth had on many of the people who saw it. This is a movie that elicits very passionate love from its fans and has some of the most memorable imagery in recent films. The fantasy story is a lot darker than your typical fairy tale, and by placing it within the context of real human tragedy, the whole thing has a greater sense of weight.

Honourable Mentions:

The Departed: I love this movie and I'm glad Scorsese finally got his Oscar, but I mostly love it for craft than for any original ideas or concepts. It's still a great movie, but it just doesn't leave the impact the ones listed do.

Casino Royale: Some will argue this needs to be on because it revived the Bond series, but given how successful Die Another Day was at the box-office, I'm willing to bet the 21st entry would have still been successful regardless. Anyway, while the film did bring Bond back to his roots, it's also clearly riffing on the Bourne series and Batman Begins. I'm also not entirely sure how successful this was as every Craig Bond film has ended on the note, "Now the Bond you know and love is hear."

Babel: I love it, but hyperlink cinema was on the decline even then and this doesn't do much with the formula.

The Lives of Others: The examination of a surveillance state is probably more important now than ever, but the actual film seems to have fallen out of memory, which is a shame.

The Prestige: Well-made, with a compelling story and some solid acting, but it seems minor in Chris Nolan's filmography. I know it has its fans, but I don't see it catching on with the general public any time soon.

Apocalypto: This movie is really well-crafted and a lot of fun to watch, but there's not much to say beyond that.

Children of Men
Pan's Labyrinth
United 93

.......

And Borat, I guess. 

United 93
Children of Men
Pan's Labyrinth
An Inconvenient Truth

I'm on board with these.

Are we considering documentaries?

Fair enough, but there is a lot of non-documentary films to be considered as well. This is like the reverse of 1937.

Well, not much of a discussion like Ian hoped for. The consensus seems to be

Borat
Children of Men
Pan's Labyrinth
United 93

And since Deexan and I chose An Inconvenient Truth, the only other movie with more than one vote, then that should take the 5th spot.

Next year, Ian.

It's influence is undeniable. The whole Anonymous social movement was inspired by the movie and the Guy Fawkes mask has become iconic. If Ian doesn't want documentaries, then V for Vendetta should take the 5th spot. 

I'm not oppsed to the idea of documentaries, but I feel like they need to really matter.  Farenheit 9/11 for example should probably be included if we ever do 2004.  I could see an argument for An Inconvenient Truth... maybe. 


I would count Once as a 2007 film.  In only played in two film festivals in 2006.

There's no need to rush it that much.



V for Vendetta is something I probably would have been more inclined to support in a weaker year.  The mask has certainly been co-opted, but that goes back to the comic book and I don't know how many peopkle actually care about the movie beyond the mask.

I like Letters From Iwo Jima a whole lot, but we've seen the Japanese side of the war before in movies like The Burmese Harp and Fires on the Plain, and it doesn't really seem like it really influenced too many other filmmakers to do the same and it didn't really end up reaching a spectacularly large audience.