My Favourites

This is how you do a mafia movie. Every one of the film's elements, from direction to cinematography, from casting to the score, is absolutely top-drawer. There is not a duff part of The Godfather in my opinion, this film represents filmmaking excellence.

It's a classic, and there's a reason for that: you're in safe hands with it. It's cleverly and hilariously written, well directed and superbly cast. You can't go wrong.

Visually innovative, cynical, wonderfully darkly comic satire. It gets inside your head and takes up residence. Its powerful imagery and statements stay with you, and it asks you questions, to which some of the answers aren't nice to think about.

Beautiful. Beautifully crafted, beautifully shot, beautifully acted. It's just brilliant.

A subtle, nuanced and heartfelt film that is hauntingly beautiful. Quietly, but deftly directed and wonderfully acted, this poetic love story is, for me, the best work of Ang Lee and his two leads, Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. It shows just what can be achieved when everyone working on a film is at the top of their games. Stunning.

If screens and what's put on them are chewing gum for the eyes, then Pan's Labyrinth is an everlasting gobstopper for them. It truly is visually stunning, but there's a lot more going on here than that, I think.
The beautiful and sometimes disturbing grown-up fairytale serves as a way to process the harrowing real-world events.

This isn't your hell-for-leather, explosions, gadgets and girls type of film; it's far cleverer than that. The portrayal of these spies seems far more realistic and grounded. Consequently, the film is able to cultivate a sense of mounting unease, where anyone can be the 'bad guy', and where even the 'good guys' are shady.