dreamsun's World of Movies

 

As with Wong Kar Wai for HK-produced movies, the Director which restored my faith in Chinese movies is Zhang Yi Mou. My very first exposure to this talented Director started in late 1996 when my housemate rented a copy of Lifetimes (Huo Zhe, 1994)  I was soaked into Zhang Yi Mou's enriching story which spans 4 decades about the lessons in life of a character played by Ge You, together with his picturesque shot of each scene.

 

With every movie I viewed from China's greatest though controversial director, I understood why some Chinese dislike the man, and why the Government decided to ban some of his movies. Nevertheless, I applaud his dare-to-be-different spirit in making these movies, his originality, his wonderful style & techniques in choosing shots etc. Lately, I detest his decision to make commercial Hollywood-type of movies which sacrifices originality, the worst being the laughable House of Flying Daggers (Shi Mian Mai Fu, 2004)

 

Nonetheless, he is still unreplaceable as the Best Director China has to offer, with so many of his movies being way above average than most other directors in the world. So far, the only other Chinese Director starting to gain some momentum is Feng Xiao Gang, and I had the pleasure in 1999 to discover his earlier, less commercial work in Be There or Be Square (Bu Jian Bu San, 1998)   Similarly, when commercial success overtook originality & artistic values in choosing what movies will get made, his movies has gone downhill since then.

 

 

1) Red Sorghum, The (Hong Gao Liang, 1987) - Zhang Yi Mou

2) Ju Dou (Ju Dou, 1990) - Zhang Yi Mou & Yang Feng Liang

3) Raise the Red Lantern (Da Hong Deng Long Gao Gao Gua, 1991) - Zhang Yi Mou

4) Story of Qiu Ju, The (Qiu Ju Da Guan Si, 1992) - Zhang Yi Mou

5) Lifetimes (Huo Zhe, 1994) - Zhang Yi Mou

6) Shanghai Triad (Yao A Yao, Yao Dao Wai Po Qiao, 1995) - Zhang Yi Mou

7) Be There or Be Square (Bu Jian Bu San, 1998) - Feng Xiao Gang

8) Not One Less (Yi Ge Dou Bu Neng Shao, 1999) - Zhang Yi Mou

9) Road Home, The (Wo De Fu Qing Mu Qing, 1999) - Zhang Yi Mou

10) Cell Phone (Shou Ji, 2003) - Feng Xiao Gang

 

 

 

The Godfather and the Godfather II are listed as No.1 and No.3 in IMDB's Best Movies of All Time as scored by regular voters of IMDB-users perpetually. While not my favorite movies of all time, they are definitely amongst my top in the Gangster genre. Luminaries of gangster movies include directors Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese, Brian de Palma and actors Al Pacino & Robert De Niro.

 

In 1998, Guy Ritchie (Madonna's current husband) invented a new style of cool UK gangster movies, which has been referenced by many other gangster movies after that.

 

HK has been a prolific source for gang-related movies, but many are mundane at best, aside from being a copycat of each other. Johnnie To directed a few interesting and fresh take on this genre.

 

 

Some of the extreme hardships & plights presented in these movies are so difficult that it makes you wanna give up hope and life altogether. Do you have what it takes to survive?

 

1) Flight of the Phoenix (1965) - in the dry Sahara desert

2) Airport '77 (1977) - in a sinking crashed airplane on the sea at the Bermuda Triangle

3) Alive (1993) - in the frozen snow of the Andes Mountain

4) Schindler's List (1993) - in Austria during the Holocaust

5) Titanic (1997) - in a sinking ship in freezing North Atlantic ocean

6) Life Is Beautiful (La Vita de Bella, 1997) - in a Nazi concentration camp

7) Cast Away (2000) - in a tiny deserted island

8) Pianist, The (2002) - in the Jewish Ghetto of Warsaw during World War II

9) Hotel Rwanda (2004) - in the midst of Hutu militia uprising in Rwanda

10) War of the Worlds (2005) - in a synchronized worldwide attack of aliens from Mars

 

 

 

These are the movies on battles and gunfights depicting Modern War associated with our history. I have excluded movies dealing with psychological effects of war and some have been categorized under the Top 10 Best Survival Movies.

 

1) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

2) Patton (1970)

3) Apocalypse Now (1979)

4) Boat, The (Das Boot, 1981)

5) Full Metal Jacket (1987)

6) Saving Private Ryan (1998)

7) U-571 (2000)

8) Thirteenth Days (2001)

9) Pearl Harbour (2001)

10) Enemy at the Gates (2001)

 

 

 

This genre is very hard to define, as many movies has a little bit of thriller in them. IMDB classifies many movies with a combination of genres, hence is not much of a help here.

 

I have defined Thriller into 3 sub-categories as follows, with the basic definition of thriller being an engrossing story which keeps you at the edge of your seat or one with a "twist" you didnt see coming.

 

 

 

1) Psycho (1960)

2) Taxi Driver (1976)

3) Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)

4) Cape Fear (1991)

5) Basic Instinct (1992)

6) Falling Down (1993)

7) Nightwatch (1997)

8) Arlington Road (1999)

9) Memento (2000) 

1) Rosemary's Baby (1968)

2) Omen, The (1976)

3) Damien: Omen II (1978)

4) Final Conflict, The (Omen III) (1981)

5) Prophecy, The (1995)

6) Sixth Sense, The (1999)

7) Final Destination (2000)

8) Others, The (2001)

9) Double Vision (Shuang Tong, 2002)

10) Skeleton Key, The (2005)

 

 

1) Blade Runner (1982)

2) Total Recall (1990)

3) Dark City (1998)

4) Thirteenth Floor, The (1999)

5) eXistenZ (1999)

6) Signs (2002)

7) Impostor (2002)

8) Minority Report (2002)

9) Paycheck (2003)

10) Butterfly Effect (2004)

 

 

 

It's a shame to see the state of disintegration of Hollywood animated movies from its height during Walt Disney days. Pixar Studio at least produces above average animation in all of its releases thus far, with A Bug's Life (1998) and Finding Nemo (2003) worth a mention. Just missing out on the Top 10 is a creative and entertaining Claymation movie, Chicken Run (2000). Nevertheless, another force was building in a faraway corner of the world, in a totally different culture: Japan's Studio Ghibli, founded by the unparalleled Hayao Miyazaki.

 

It is no surprise that if you do a search on IMDB for the Top 50 Best Animations voted by online users, you will see all 9 animated features directed by Miyazaki are listed, where his most critically & commercially successful Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi, 2001) is standing proud at No.1, followed by Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime, 1997) at No.3  Other than this, his credit include another entry written by him, another produced by him, and yet another released by Studio Ghibli making it 12 entries in the Top 50.

 

Compelling characters, breathtaking animations, entertaining plots and good story-telling that reaches into your soul made him the greatest animation director ever.

 

 

1) Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)

2) Bambi (1942)

3) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds (Kaze No Tani No Naushika, 1984)

4) Castle in the Sky (Tenku No Shiro Rapyuta, 1986)

5) My Neighbour Totoro (Tonari No Totoro, 1988)

6) Land Before Time, The (1988)

7) Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo No Takkyubin, 1989)

8) Raccoon War, The (Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pompoko, 1994)

9) Lion King, The (1994)