Naturally I've given this film blog a lot of serious thought in the last few days. I could - and will - pull up a short list of my favourite directors, ditto a longer list of my favourite films, and I even watched the BAFTAS on Sunday night, but an absolute all time favourite movie, that's going to be a challenge.
 |
| still from Moonrise Kingdom (dir. Wes Anderson) |
Also up there is Paul Thomas Anderson (no relation) with films like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Inherent Vice and Licorice Pizza to his credit. He is also the only director to have won the top prize at all three of the most prestigious international film festivals (Berlin, Cannes and Venice).
Honourable mentions should also go to Woody Allen (What's Up, Tiger Lily?, Annie Hall, Midnight In Paris, Blue Jasmine); Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother, Volver, The Skin I Live In, Parallel Mothers); Clint Eastwood (Play Misty For Me, Dirty Harry, High Plains Drifter, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino); Stephen Frears (Gumshoe, My Beautiful Launderette, High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things, Philomena); Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie, A Very Long Engagement, Micmacs); Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Favourite, Poor Things); Richard Linklater (Dazed And Confused, Before Sunrise, School Of Rock, Before Sunset, Before Midnight); David Lynch (Eraserhead, Dune, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks. The Straight Story, Mulholland Drive); Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, 1917, Empire Of Light); Anthony Minghella (Truly Madly Deeply, The English Patient, The Talented Mr Ripley): Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood); and Guillermo del Toro (The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape Of Water).
 |
| still from The Shape Of Water (dir. Guillermo del Toro) |
01) A Hard Day's Night (1964 dir. Dick Lester) The Beatles as their brilliant selves. Still the best 'pop' movie.
02) Amélie (2001 dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet) Audrey Tautou on the trail of the mysterious photobooth man.
03) Before Midnight (2013 dir. Richard Linklater) Third chapter in the Julie Delpy/Ethan Hawke love story.
04) Being John Malkovich (1999 dir. Spike Jonze) Surreal fantasy comedy with a portal into the mind of JM.
05) Contact (1997 dir. Robert Zemeckis) Every father of a daughter must love this Jodie Foster sci-fi tale.
06) The English Patient (1996 dir. Anthony Minghella) An epic and beautiful wartime love story.
07) Everything Is Illuminated (2005 dir. Liev Schreiber) Ukraine's dark anti-semitic wartime secrets revealed.
08) Fever Pitch (1997 dir. David Evans) Romantic comedy and best film not entirely about football ever.
09) High Fidelity (2000 dir. Stephen Frears) A fab Nick Hornby script. Men behaving badly to great tunes.
10) The Hour Of The Pig (1993 dir. Leslie Megahey) Colin Firth as a French lawyer during the witch trials.
11) The Lives Of Others (2006 dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) A STASI officer with a conscience.
12) Moonrise Kingdom (2012 dir. Wes Anderson) Anderson is a god and creator of universes.
13) Mulholland Drive (2001 dir. David Lynch) I'm still trying to figure this mind-fucker out!
14) Play Misty For Me (1971 dir. Clint Eastwood) DJ Clint battles psychopathic female admirer in thriller.
15) Poor Things (2024 dir. Yorgos Lanthimos) Fabulously conceived and acted take on Alasdair Gray's novel.
16) The Shape Of Water (2017 dir. Guillermo del Toro) Sally Hawkins falls in love with an Aquaman.
17) Starter For 10 (2006 dir. Tom Vaughan) James McAvoy in coming-of-age University Challenge comedy.
18) Summerland (2020 dir. Jessica Swale) Moving WWII evacuee story with an element of pagan magic.
19) Volver (2006 dir. Pedro Almodóvar) Penelope Cruz sizzles in Almodóvar's subtle, spooky best plot.
20) The Wicker Man (1973 dir. Robin Hardy) Best British horror movie. Director's cut recommended.
 |
| still from Summerland (dir. Jessica Swale) |
So we've come to the point in proceedings when I draw breath and name my own favourite film of all time. Mulholland Drive might lay claim to be "the greatest film of the 21st century" (quoting the results of a BBC Culture poll), Citizen Kane topped the critics' lists for decades as the best film of the 20th century, and The Shape Of Water is probably the most dazzlingly wonderful movie I have ever watched - but the brief was 'favourite', not 'greatest'. and so I'm going for the the film I've watched the most times out of my sizeable collection on DVD (and Blu-Ray) and that is... Fever Pitch.
Of course I mean the 1997 version starring Colin Firth and Ruth Gemmell based loosely on Nick Hornby's novel of the same name, not the 2005 American remake with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. I probably watch it at least once a year, if not more. I suppose its appeal lies as much in the subject matter as in the performances, a romantic comedy based around a couple of teachers at a north London comprehensive school, one of whom happens to be obsessive about football and Arsenal FC in particular, and I have been there. I taught English at a north London comprehensive, have had romantic liaisons with fellow teachers, am mad about football - specifically Blackpool, but Arsenal would be my London team of choice - and bought a house to be near my club's stadium. Seriously, what's not to like about Fever Pitch?
Of the spate of clever, witty and stylish pre-Millennial English romantic comedies - Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sliding Doors, Notting Hill et cetera - Fever Pitch is the one that does it for me.
Colin Firth (as Paul Ashworth, the popular, Arsenal-obsessed teacher) and Ruth Gemmell (as Sarah Hughes, the serious, nerdy school mistress) are excellent in the lead roles as oddly-matched lovers, as are Mark Strong and Holly Aird as their respective foils. The school scenes (lessons, staff meetings, football practice, parents' evenings) all shot on location at Fortismere School in Muswell Hill) are brilliantly evocative. Paul and Sarah's romance rises, falls, and nearly comes off the rails when she gets pregnant, all against the backdrop of the 1988-89 football season when Arsenal need to beat Liverpool at Anfield on the final day to win the league title for the first time in nearly twenry years.
The highs and lows of being in love, the crests and troughs of being a football fan are all there in this tightly scripted, frequently moving and often very funny romantic comedy whose soundtrack is also outstanding, from the La's "There She Goes" at the outset to Van Morrison's jubilant "Bright Side Of The Road" at the final whistle. Apparently the film is available in its entirety on YouTube, so you have no excuse.
 |
| still from Fever Pitch (dir. David Evans) |
The internet and streaming services have conspired to make cinemas and cinema-going a fringe entertainment activity nowadays. My local Odeon multiplex switched off its projectors for good two years ago, and the town that once had over twenty cinemas now has just one, showing films that mostly I don't want to see, all superheroes and CGI stunt craft. I prefer to go to the Island Cinema in St Annes, a small independent picture house.
Nowadays people seem content to watch films streamed to their TV sets, computers or phones. They watch them in the bath, in waiting rooms or while travelling, on tiny screens with headphones on. It's such an insular and degraded way to watch a film compared to the immersive and collective social ritual of sitting with hundreds of other people in a darkened picture house watching an epic creation in panavision on a huge screen with an all-embracing sound system. It's a great loss, and it prompted this latest poem about cinemas. It's not my finest effort but it celebrates those fast-disappearing places from a bygone era that furnished the indispensable and essential conditions to properly enjoy great movie-making as a shared experience.
Cine Qua Non
Some are in gowns and furs or 3-piece suits,
others in best frocks, or jackets-and-ties, All
are properly dressed up for a great night out
at their local picture palace or movie house,
ready to be taken out of their lives for a while.
Hats and coats left ticketed in the cloakroom,
they head for the circle or stalls, families out
for a birthday treat, dating couples, husbands
and wives, friends enjoying the weekly ritual
of the latest Ealing or Hollywood blockbuster,
clutching confectionary which they'll munch
in the dark, trying not to make too much noise.
It's a curious convention, these chocolate bars,
tubs of popcorn, hot dogs, all to be consumed
while watching a film - precursor of tv dinner.
They settle comfortably into concentric rows
of plush velvet seats, maybe a thousand in all,
for the auditorium is huge. They're like letters
in the curve of some old-fashioned typewriter,
waiting for its keys to be pressed, their senses
and emotions triggered by a thrilling script in
which screen idols, who earn more in a week
than they do in a year, will play out scenes of
love or war or slapstick comedy to have them
collectively gripped, gasping, laughing, even
crying. Witness the beauty and power of truly
immersive entertainment, a shared experience
they will talk about and relive in coming days
except maybe for those couples busily kissing
in the back row. And it's funny how everyone
will emerge smelling of cigarette smoke, and
not really mind, as they mill on the pavement
outside still under its spell, whatever they saw,
saying their good-byes, and wasn't it brilliant,
knowing that they'll soon be back for more.
Outside, before the doors are locked, a ladder
is propped against the marquee, the old letters
are coming down and next week's attractions
are being slotted into place on the light-box:
Heart of Darkness and The Last Picture Show.
Thanks for reading, S ;-)
31 comments:
An excellent bog and a credit to your 500th contribution. Well done. The poem is exquisite Steve. Keep on trucking' honey.
I'm glad you included Fever Pitch in your top 20, I remember that magic night well. 2 nil at Anfield awesome. As for my favourite film, that is a japanese film called Ran.
I like A Complete Unknown. I grew up with the music of Dylan, have seen him in concerts in Australia, both times l took my kids remember holding my daughter in my arms at an outside concert while Bobby sang Hard Rain and the heavens opened up raining on the crowd below it was just so good. His music was and is cutting edge. Go see this movie and wonder how good he is.
500 blogs. Congratulations! I've been enjoying them for several years, didn't know you'd been writing them for so long. Very interesting to see your lists of directors and films. My own favourite is probably The English Patient. I love the poem.
Pleased to see Amelie and The Shape of Water on your list, two of my favourite ever films, along with Green Card, Lost In Translation and Sliding Doors. At least in London we still have plenty of cinemas, but they are expensive now.
Congratulations on your 500th blog. Hurrah.
Of the films you have mentioned I was so pleased to see Amelie, Fever Pitch, Midnight in Paris and Contact.
Haven't seen all of the top twenty films. I'll look out for Starter for 10.
Totally agree about the watching of wonderful films on phones.
There really should be an arts cinema in Preston/Blackpool area.
Look out for the World Cinema Fest at UCLAN. It's usually in March.
Well done on the poem.
Picnic at Hanging Rock for sure. Well done on your 500.
Enjoyed reading about your favourites. Would be lots of crossovers with my list (if I had one). My fave of all time is possibly Local Hero (for sentimental reasons). I agree with you about Shape of Water being brilliant - and that's a great title for you poem. Fortunately we have some great independent cinemas in and around Norwich.
Oh Clive, you city dwellers are so well provided for :-)
I'm with you about Wes Anderson being a brilliant director with a unique vision. I'm surprised only one of his films made your top 20. My personal favourite Wes movie right now is The Royal Tenenbaums with the late, great Gene Hackman as Royal. I enjoyed your Cine Qua Non, especially the final verse.
We haven't been to the cinema is so long and half the directors you mention are just names that mean nothing to me, not that I ever really took notice of directors. Amelie, the English Patient and the Wicker Man are the only films I recognise. I liked your homage poem, that's the sort of cinema-going I remember.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Cabaret and Blade Runner have got to be in there somewhere.
Pleased to see the Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy 'Before...' trio getting a mention, plus Hour of the Pig and The Wicker Man. But no room for old heroes (Fellini, Hitchcock, Lean etc)? I enjoyed your poem.
I haven't seen most of the films you mention and I don't suppose I ever will, but I enjoyed reading your choices nonetheless. You obviously have a passion for movies and your poem did make me feel nostalgic for the days when we used to go to the cinema. My favourite film ever is probably Braveheart.
It seems that nowadays all the films come out in January and February to get in with a chance of the Oscars.
In the USA The Hour of the Pig is titled The Advocate. I've no idea why the change of title. It's a brilliant movie. Glad you chose it. My favorites from your list: Moonrise Kingdom and of course A Hard Day's Night.
Congrats on your 500th blog and your extensive knowledge of film
Fascinating. You're a real film buff. Up the Arsenal. Since you asked, my favourite film ever is Pulp Fiction.
I have a soft spot for Diane Lane. Check out her movies if you're not familiar, particularly A Walk On The Moon and Unfaithful (with Richard Gere).
A couple of years ago I went to see Empire Of Light on your recommendation. A great film. Olivia Colman Colman was brilliant. I've not been to the cinema since - all Netflix now.
I love the work of Richard Curtis, as a writer of screenplays and/or a director, and he didn't get a single mention in your blog. What about Four Weddings etc, Notting Hill, Love Actually, The Boat That Rocked or About Time (not to mention the Bridget Jones films)?
I love Wes Anderson films too. A creator of universes is a brilliant description. It's hard to choose, but I probably like The Grand Budapest Hotel best of all and I can't wait for the Phoenician Scheme. I loved your poem. ❤️
Congrats on your 500 not out, great innings. Being parochial, gotta shout out for George Miller's Mad Max series of movies. Cine Qua Non, clever title and some great lines.
That's quite a list. I've bookmarked it for reference. I totally agree that A Complete Unknown was excellent and I'm surprised it didn't pick up awards. I've never seen Fever Pitch. Your poem was entertaining, I like the last three stanzas in particular,
Thanks for the list Steve - useful! I’m glad you included Amaldovar. Favourite films? Amelie is such a visually beautiful clever film and full of joy. I do love Bagdad Cafe, forgotten the director but know he’s German- fitting as the story has the flavour of a German folk tale.
St Annes Island Cinema runs the Filde Film Society so we can get to see something different from the usual.
Thanks for the poem.
You have written 500 blogs and you write 500 more 🙂
Liz, I agree about the Island Cinema is St. Annes. It's out=r go-to cinema since the Blackpool Odeon closed down. I must check out its film club.
I love the poem. Going to the cinema used to feel like such an adventure. Do you remember all those adverts for cigarettes and booze? And we drank Kia-Ora orange and rattled boxes of Maltesers. Still after all these years my favourite film is Far From the Madding Crowd, but I agree the English Patient was excellent too. Oh, and 500 blogs, Congratulations. Please don't stop.
I always find these list articles fascinating. I would probably have added the three great Cs to your directors list, Carpenter, Coppola and Cronenberg. As for a favourite movie, maybe FFC's The Conversation with the late, great Gene Hackman. Well done with the homage to cinema poem - and of course your 500th. 👏
Your lists have a very 'arthouse' bias. Give ma a good James Bond movie or gangster movie, something like Baby Driver.
Guilty as charged, Anon. Though I don't think anyone would call Fever Pitch, Contact, Play Misty For Me or High Fidelity arthouse films. I quite like re-watching the early Bond movies (having read the books) and I really enjoyed Baby Driver.
Post a Comment