22 Movies Every Film Geek Must Have Seen, Part 8

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

This movie doesn't contain a single weak moment. Not one. And trust me, I have looked.

This film is pretty unique in that it's one of the only ones men are allowed to cry at without handing in their man cards. The story nor the setting are desperately original, but what it does it does literally to perfection.

If you liked this, may I suggest: Gran Torino, The Green Mile, both for their genuinely affecting and sensitive stories without becoming weak.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

One of the most nail-biting films ever made, this dark tale of crime delivers big time on everything a thriller should have. An exiting and gripping story? Check. A likable protagonist? Check. A creepy villain? Check, and double check for one of the greatest villains ever, Hannibal Lecter.

If you liked this, may I suggest: Se7en, for it's atmosphere, and The Usual Suspects for it's twisted storytelling.

TERMINATOR II: JUDGEMENT DAY

Perhaps the ultimate "Dark Action Movie". Besides a cool setting with awesome locales and one of the baddest asses in the business, Terminator II manages to merge genuine substance with it's enormously over-the-top action, something not many movies pull off.

If you liked this, may I suggest: The Bourne Trilogy is an obvious choice. I feel almost ashamed to include the first Die Hard, because you are officially not entitled to own testicles until you have seen that one.

Shadow of the Colosus

I have just completed playing this game, and let me tell you: everything you have heard about it is true. This game is a WORK OF ART.

So, what's this game about? Well, basically, you are on a quest to revive the girl you love. To do this you have to defeat 16 giant enemies known as Colossi. To kill them, you first have to travel to them on your horse, find them, climb on them (yes, they are that big) and stab certain weak spots on their bodies. Sounds shallow? That's part of what makes this game so incredibly great.

The design is incredibly beautiful in it's simplicity. Because the game has you worry about so little (fuck you, sidequests) you have all the time on horseback traveling to think about the game. Why am I doing this, exactly? The colossi are massive and imposing, of course, but they mostly won't attack you unless you attack them first. And even then, given the scale of things, it's more like they want to swat the fly that is you then actually kill you because they hate you. Killing them is always accompanied by dramatic music, and it is actually rather sad to see these magnificent creatures pummel to the ground. Should you really be doing this?

The gameplay is great as well. The horseback rides can get a little long, but the fights with the Colossi are incredible. Their scale alone makes them genuinely terrifying: I was scared shitless of these beasts more then once. You have to find some way to climb them, and this part of the game is probably it's best. Climbing through the fur of one of these gigantic appearances is something you have NEVER experienced yet, and probably never will. The fight to hold on while one of these beings tries to shake you off is indescribable.

This might sound a little too epic. It's not. Everything about this game is epic: the Colossi themselves, the immense land you have to drive through, the art design, the landscapes... Everything adds to the impression that you're really doing that shall be remembered, and in a style that is completely different from the usual epicness (read long texts about big monsters with silly names while the editor makes sure everything is still as much Lord of the Rings as possible).

I could go on for hours about the beauty and brilliance of this game, but I think I got my point across. If you have a playstation 2 or 3, you owe it to yourself to buy, borrow or STEAL it.



YES, IT IS THAT GOOD.

Keep up the good work, Team Ico.

Alias.


For our usual music flick, I give you: The Antlers!

Citizen Kane and Planet Terror

Video night last Tuesday. It was pretty damn cool, just getting wasted and watching weird movies till 4 in the morning.

We started off with Citizen Kane, which kind of disappointed me. I mean, this is supposed to be the best film ever made, yet the story was kind of bleak if you ask me. The lightning was pretty awesome, though.

As we ran out of beer and had to start with all kinds of leftover wine, I popped in Planet Terror. And let me tell you: it was AWESOME. Yes, that is all-caps bold italic. I wasn't really expecting much of this one since it was released together with the incredibly boring Death Proof, but it BLEW MY MIND. Seriously, I know I tend to get exited over films easily, but for a filmlover this is the most fun you will have with your clothes on in a loooong time. This flick is both completely ridiculous and genuinely badass. Both really really cliched and really really fun to watch. It's also a film that doesn't get worse if you constantly comment on it, which makes it perfect for getting-wasted-and-watching-movies-nights. DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS ONE.


_{Above: Holy Shit}

So, tonight is another videofest. I am thinking about Being John Malkovich and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in that order. Let's see what will happen.

Keep up the good work, Robert.

Alias

P.S. Greatest remark of the night, on Bruce Willis: "Waar een Willis, is een weg".

EDIT: Snap, I completely forgot to include my usual music video. To make up, here is a non-musical video that still kicks monumental amounts of ass.

Butterfly: TED

Okay okay. The last post was pretty damn emo. But I won't apologize. I do sincerely believe in everything I said. But I think that anyone who ever met me will agree that I'm not a very brooding person. How come?

I think this might have to do an awful lot with TED. TED is a conference that is held yearly in America. The name stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and people from these fields gather to tell each other about their work. And it is AMAZING. Trust me: describing TED is the most appropriate use for that word I know, just above the fact that porcupines can piss 2 meters far and use this as a mating ritual.

Every TEDtalk (as they're called) takes about 18 minutes, but never really much more. Famous people like Jane Goodall, Al Gore and Malcolm Gladwell have speeched at TED. But no-one will be able to deny the jaw-dropping brilliance, wit and charm of people like Hans Rosling or Steven Pinker once they've seen them.

These are the people that make me confident that we can make it.

See for yourself:







And these are just three of them, picked more or less at random. This is what keeps me from suicide.

Keep up the amazingly good work, TEDsters.

Alias

Butterfly: Fantastig Toch by Eva de Roovere

Just got back from a wonderful weekend in Paris with my father. I will definitely talk a lot about it in the next few days, but right now I'm going to sleep a lot because I'm pretty tired (my dad snores like a sawmill, which cost me some sleeping hours).

For now, here is simply a very very sweet love song. In Dutch. With a text that doesn't even make sense in Dutch. And here is a dylanfan speaking.

Anyway:


Keep up the good work, Eva.

Alias

Butterfly: I'm Not There

This is my pet movie. I think The Shawshank Redemption might be a better film, but everyone knows that one. This one is fairly obscure, but nevertheless brilliant. For those who have never heard of it: it's about Bob Dylan. Or at least, I think it is. Yes, it is that vague.

I saw this film for the first time in a small theater in Bern, Switzerland, with French and German subtitles. It blew me away. I KNEW Dylan, of course, but after this I really started to develop my current obsession with the man. The film really puts him down like he is: so easy too listen to, so hard to define (injoke). The music, the acting and the camera are all top-notch, and especially the music is used in ways I never thought possible. No, that is not an overstatement.

Not everyone likes it, I know, but if you can appreciate "artsy" movies and are willing to love a film without understanding it, you owe it to your inner intellectual to check it out.

Trailer:


The most beautiful love scene of all time, IMHO:


Keep up the good work, Todd.

Alias

Butterfly: Kurt Halsey

Man, I have been posting some long stories these past days. I would apologize if anyone would actually read them.

Aaaaanyway, I promise to keep this one short. Kurt Halsey is an artists who makes stuff that makes my socks fly off on the one hand and the sweetness sensor in my brain overload on the other.

His art is incredibly sweet and really sad at the same time, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or Belle and Sebastian songs, or Asofterworld.com.

But enough of the references or spoiling of future butterflies, check it out:
http://www.kurthalsey.com/category/work/

Keep up the good work, Kurt.

Alias