In the mood for something different? Allow me to share some of my favorite films.

[Bomby]

This is something that I often do at school with my college friends. If only it were plausible for myself to invite all of you to my apartment to watch films (and listen to music... and eat XXX Hot Habanero Salsa from Desert Pepper Trading Co...), I would gladly do so.

Instead, what I have to offer is a list of films that I find under appreciated (outside of critical circles). This is not necessarily a list of my absolute favorite films, though I do love them all very much. If any of you are so curious as to check any of these out, most of them should be available through the public library system, though please be aware that a few of these films are definitely not for everyone. Feel free to add a few recommendations of your own, if you wish.


Chungking Express
Directed by Wong Kar-Wai

Hong Kong films from the 80's and 90's are more known for their high energy and mastery of action sequences than they are for sensitive character studies, but the films of Wong Kar-Wai are an exception. While almost all of his films are excellent, it's this 1994 quickie that serves as the best introduction to his work. Written, shot, and edited in only a few months, Chungking Express is divided into two stories of police officers on the rebound after breaking up with their girlfriends. While there is indeed a sense of melancholy throughout the film, it is balanced out with an oddball sense of humor, much of it stemming from what is perhaps one of the most endearing film performances ever courtesy of first-time actress Faye Wong. This film has been my de facto "favorite film" since I first saw it two years ago.


Early Summer
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

Yasujiro Ozu is really an odd director. Throughout his life, he made 53 films, all shot within a very strict set of self-imposed rules. His narratives are for the most part all very similar, focusing around marriage and family (doubly odd since he was never married). He left out all major events in his films, with only conversations between characters to clue us in to what happened. Because his films are all so similar (and uniformly excellent), it is difficult to choose a favorite of his. While Tokyo Story has become the flagship film of his career, I instead choose Early Summer, its predecessor in the "Noriko" trilogy. The reason? I think I may have enjoyed it ever so slightly more than his other films.


Ugetsu Monogatari
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi

Along with the aforementioned Ozu and Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi is considered to be one of the three masters of Japanese film. For reasons unknown, he seems to be less well known than his aforementioned contemporaries. This is a shame, really, since Mizoguchi may be the best of the three, not to mention one of cinema's first feminists. Ugetsu is his most well known and revered film, though the films he made toward the end of his life are all excellent and noteworthy in their own rights. The story deals with two couples in a village making a living off of pottery. When their village is under attack from Shibata Katsuie's army, they head into town and end up splitting into various adventures of their own. Composed of beautiful long takes courtesy of the great cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa, Ugetsu is my highest recommendation. Period.


George Washington
Directed by David Gordon Green

No, it's not about the first president of the United States. No, it's not a biopic. George Washington is a film about youth, adults, adults who are mentally still in their youth, and youth who are very adult. A lot happens in this quiet, poetic gem. In many other films, certain elements would be played for melodrama, but director Green handles them with great subtlety, making the film even more powerful. I was in shock years later when I found his name attached to a Judd Apatow comedy. I was not in shock that it turned out to be my favorite Judd Apatow comedy.


Bande à part
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard

So one day, Godard woke up and said to himself, "You know what? **** it. I'm going to do whatever I want." What resulted was perhaps the most fun and accessible work of the most revolutionary directors of all time. I feel like there was some sort of plot in this movie. Maybe it involved a heist? That sounds right. I don't really much care about the heist. I care about the dancing sequence in the bar. I care about the race through the Louvre. I care about the random scene with the lion. Bande à part, more than anything, is about the love of cinema.


Linda Linda Linda
Directed by Nobuhiro Yama****a

A high school girl band has only a few days until their gig at the autumn festival. Right at the last moment, the guitarist injures herself and the band is broken apart by inner turmoil. Despite this, three of the members decide to find a new singer and go ahead with the show. Sounds an ABC Family made-for-TV special, doesn't it? There's a reason why I don't watch films based on plot description alone, and when I see a film as rewarding as Linda Linda Linda, I feel glad of that fact. As much as I love watching the film, it's worth noting that the style in which this film was made is eerily similar to the style of film that I hope to make someday. I think someone's been hacking into my brain.

Yes, I am aware that this is the third Japanese film on this list thus far. I do particularly love Japanese cinematography, and all three of the films are excellent examples of the nation's idiosyncratic visual style.


Me and You and Everyone We Know
Directed by Miranda July

A quirky little ensemble indie film by a performance artist. The sense of humor sometimes verges on vulgar, but there is still much to like. I find myself short of words about this film for some reason, but I would definitely recommend it to the fans of the indie comedies that have been creeping their way into the mainstream over the past few years.


Europa
Directed by Lars von Trier

It's really a shame that Lars von Trier's ego tends to overshadow the excellent films he has made that have built that ego up so high. Europa is essentially a film noir, due to its look and dreamlike narrative, though one without a detective. Instead we have Kessler, an American living in Germany in the 1940's, working for a railroad company named Zentropa. There's definitely a few allegories for World War II in here, but that's boring, high school level academics. What's interesting about Europa is the unique visuals, painstakingly plotted for over full two years before the film was shot, and completed by often layering many shots over each other, mixing black-and-white with color in the most strange and creative way ever seen on film.

[Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds]

Amélie (or "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain"). I think this movie could change a lot of people. Maybe that's just me being optimitistic, though.

[ZeldaGirl]

^I love that movie!