Have you ever thought about the movies you can’t live with out? The ones that rule your inner sweet spot — the ones that you would not think twice about bringing to a deserted island. I asked Daniel Barnz the filmmaker behind Phoebe in Wonderland [Thinkfilm: 03/06/2009] the incredibly arduous task of naming me what his top ten films all time were. Here is that list (in alphabetical order) as of February 2009.
Being There. [Hal Ashby/1979] God, this movie is smart. How often are satires as moving/ beautiful as they are funny? And that final moment on the water – now you have to re-evaluate everything you just saw.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and her Lover. [Peter Greenaway/1989] Wonderfully, sumptuously weird… and those amazing, endless dollies through walls blow me away.
Heavenly Creatures. [Peter Jackson/1994] That intersection of reality and fantasy – so infectious and disturbing. You understand and almost begin to root for those girls to kill the mother.
La Jetee. [Chris Marker/1962] I find it really hypnotic, and that sequence of the woman in the bed when the photographs almost move at film speed is stunningly romantic.
The Lady Eve. [Preston Sturges/1941] Brilliant wit – “The fish was a poem” – I mean, come on!
Ordinary People. [Robert Redford/1980] Maybe the most perfectly acted film ever? Every moment is so searingly painful, but never bleak.
Poison. [Todd Haynes/1991] The intersection of those three radically different yet thematically connected storylines is genius.
The Red Balloon. [Albert Lamorisse/1956] (My first love.)
Searching for Bobby Fischer. [Steven Zaillian/1993] A film that so completely and perfectly captures the child’s perspective. I think about that moment all the time when the boy turns to his father and asks, “Why are you standing so far away from me?”
The Times of Harvey Milk. [Rob Epstein/1984] I’ve never seen a documentary capture a person’s essential “goodness” so well, and each of those interviewees is so mesmerizing.
