Good idea, here's a rough draft list of mine that I may or may not update over the next week...
(This is in no specific order)
City of God -(2002)
One of the movies I watched because I was working in a video store at the time. Some incredibly scenic shots and a very intense and personal story of two people from the same place but with vastly different interests. It really does show the same effect the ghetto can have on people from all across the world, the desire to try and build something new and better for yourself, or just say fuck it and bury yourself further in.
The Departed - (2006)
Really was Scorsese's best film of this decade (Shutter Island just missed the cutoff). With most gangster movies I watch them once and that will usually suffice. The odd one here and there will get more than one view, and in really rare instances, I can watch it as many times as possible. The Departed is definitely in the later category here. Some solid acting from both Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio with Jack Nicholson giving an incredibly good performance. Some interesting song choices that really helped deliver the scenes.
Let The Right One In - (2008)
For many, 2008 marked the year of Twilight, the year when Vampire fiction with erotic undertones finally penetrated (hehe) the religious teenage girl market. Now teenage and pre-teen girls could enjoy the same basic stories that earlier generations of females were loving minus all the hot sex. Let The Right One In was a little Swedish vampire movie set in the 1980's that deals with two 13 year olds who fall in love with each other. Sounds like the perfect recipe for Dateline's "To Catch a Predator", but the emotions emitted from the two leads was more than enough to convince me that it was more than just rampant sexual desire, but a genuine feeling of love and tenderness. The book was quite a read too, one of the few horror books that has actually frightened me a little. Great flick for people who want vampires, but don't want those Twilight fuckheads ruining it.
Children of Men - (2006)
Wow... talk about a depressing movie! Regardless of that, it had some amazing handheld shots and an incredibly believable setting. The acting for some characters was incredible well done, and others it was pretty much what I expected (Clive Owen must've graduated from the Keanu Reeves school of acting). Anyways, I always like movies where the protagonist never fires a gun, it's something I notice so that is definitely one of the main drawing points to this movie for me.
Mystic River - (2003)
One of the movies my dad actually made me sit down and watch with him, as well as lent me the book. It's nice to see Dennis Lehane getting some proper respect amongst the cinematic world (with Scorsese making Shutter Island). Pretty standard plot and setting, but the characterization and the small cast really made everything work for me. Three damaged friends being reunited because one of their daughters died... yeah not quite the story book ending, but what can you do? Some really emotion scenes, and one horrible bitch of a wife really do make an interesting movie.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - (2001)
The first movie has always been my favorite for some reason. It may have something to do with it being my first real experimentation with the series (although I was aware of it through The Hobbit). Saw it in theaters and it was an absolute amazing experience. I saw The Two Towers in theaters as well but I found that one to be the most boring of the three, or at least the one where I wasn't entertained as much. Never did see Return of the King in theaters, but at that point I didn't want the series to end and I knew it would, that made it hard to really see it full way through.
That's all I can think of right now...
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