Five Movies

So, there's this meme out there, about "five movies you loved". Paula nominated me [1] to do this thing, so here it goes... Notice that this isn't the "best five movies ever" or "the five movies I recommend you to see" or "my favourite five movies". I didn't really think hard about this, so this is more "the five great movies I remembered of that I recommend you to see"...

Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927)

A great movie to introduce you to the works of Fritz Lang, and that I'm not going to talk about here, since I already did it in the past [2].

If you already saw and liked it, than I recommend Fritz Lang's "M" as a way to keep knowing his work. I already talked about "M" here [3].

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick (1964)

This Kubrick's movie is one of those comedies that really have a message within: in this case a satire about power, politics, and the paranoia that usually comes with it. I could write extensively about the movie, but instead I'll link to a pretty small review [4], since, despite being small, it quite sums up what is this movie about.

The Wicker Man - Robin Hardy (1973)

Notice really well: this is the movie directed by Robin Hardy, not the stupid remake with Nicholas Cage. The Wicker Man is a cult movie (and awsome soundtrack, BTW), and was considered in Cinefantastique as "The Citizen Kane of Horror Movies", at Total Film as "the sixth greatest British film of all time" and won the 1978 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.

So, if you're thinking about stopping now, 'cause you don't like horror movies or something, think twice. This is an horror movie even for those who don't like the genre. From Wikipedia [5], "the idea of an idealistic confrontation between a modern Christian and a remote, pagan community continued to intrigue Shaffer, who performed painstaking research on the topic. Brainstorming with director Robin Hardy, the film was conceived as presenting the pagan elements objectively and accurately, accompanied by authentic music and a believable, contemporary setting."

Take into consideration that there are several versions of this movie, and the most complete version of it is the one from Canal+ [6]. The soundtrack is a piece of work worth being analyzed for itself [7], since the movie is sometimes even considered a musical. To have an idea of its impact, just take into account that there's even an anual music festival called The Wickerman Festival [8], that happens where the movie was shooted.

Baraka - Ron Fricke (1992)

96 minutes that show you everything about the world and humanity. Baraka is an ancient Sufi word, which can be translated as "a blessing, or as the breath, or essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds." The movie has no words, actors or plot. It's a ride that will make you smile and cry, a touching experience if you let it be. This website tells you everything [9].

If you liked it, know that a sequel is going to be released named Samsara [10].

Lost Highway - David Lynch (1997)

Lost Highway is probably my favourite David Lynch movie. If you dislike David Lynch forget it: it's heavilly Lynchian. According to the official website,

"A 21st Century Noir Horror Film.
A graphic investigation into parallel indentity crises.
A world where time is dangerously out of control.
A terrifying ride down the lost highway."

It's website is full of info [11], so visit it if you want to know more about it.

If you liked it, be sure to check Detour [12] (since the movie is in public domain, I'm linking to where you can download it), the biggest "Lost Highway" influence.

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The meme followup? http://remixtures.com/, Susana from http://blog.felisberto.net/, http://joaomartins.entropiadesign.org/ and http://blog.centopeia.com/.

[1] - http://paulasimoes.org/blog/?p=18
[2] - http://mindboosternoori.blogspot.com/2006/11/metropolis.html
[3] - http://mindboosternoori.blogspot.com/2007/08/2007-so-far-movies.html
[4] - http://www.opendemocracy.org/arts/strangelove_4001.jsp
[5] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man
[6] - http://steve-p.org/wm/
[7] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_soundtrack
[8] - http://www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk
[9] - http://www.spiritofbaraka.com/samsara.aspx
[11] - http://www.lynchnet.com/lh/
[12] - http://www.archive.org/details/detour_ipod