The Invisible Man looking suspenseful AF so we centered this week’s Best Ever Challenge around it to honor it’s opening weekend. With this weekend centered around a movie with a villain you can not see, we assembled the top 10 “sight movies.”
Many reading this challenge might not have heard of this Australian classic. Based on a best-selling novel, Looking for Alibrandi is an ultimate coming-of-age story that combines romance, drama and a tinge of comedy. It’s about trying to figure out who you are, while also trying to juggle expectations you’ve had to live up to most of your life. The film follows Josie Alibrandi who, as she’s about to enter her final year as a scholarship student at an exclusive Catholic College, is thrown a few unexpected curveballs in the form of family drama and new romance. It’s a real Australian story, following someone who’s just trying to do their best in the unforgiving society of the middle class. It’s helped define the young adulthood of many an Australian girl and made some international waves as a result. It’s a nice film that makes you emotional and makes you cringe with familiarity. It’s one to watch if you have anyone in your life who might be going through the same thing. Really, it’s just one to watch! (Alice-Ginevra Micheli)
Throughout my 18 years of loving and appreciating film as an artform and discovering filmmakers throughout my life, there is no other filmmaker that I love talking about to death than russian filmmaker Andrei Trakovsky. He has only directed seven feature films and each feel completely new and innovative in their own right. However, I truly feel that Tarkovsky’s magnum opus is his 1979 film Stalker. Stalker feels more than what it is labeled as. At the film’s core, it is a science fiction dystopian road trip movie about a stalker guiding a professor and writer into an inhabited location known as “The Zone”; but along the way, each of them find new meanings into what “The Zone” fully encompasses. Themes of religion, male desire and environmental destruction are a key element to what make this film stand out. The film tests the audience’s patience because of Tarkovsky’s slow camera movements and pacing, so the audience can breathe in the film’s rich and layered atmosphere and haunting score. Stalker redefines how many view the science fiction genre, in an age where the genre is only getting bigger and louder and grander, modern science fiction filmmakers like Denis Villeneuve, Alex Garland, Alfonso Curaon, and Shane Curruth all pay homages to Tarkovsky’s brilliance in storytelling by asking thoughtful and intellectual questions. Andrei Tarkovsky is a master craftsman whose films only invoke philosophical ways of thinking and inspire filmmakers every generation on how they can push the boundaries of modern filmmaking. (John Bizub)
Who was better at representing the macho American spirit than the one and only John Wayne? His was an American institution for decades and represented a patriotic population of this country on and off of the screen. Wayne did not veer far off from the persona that made him famous and led to hundreds of films. Hell, even True Grit is just John Wayne except a little drunker. But when he does step outside his comfort zone, he is able to do something special. That “special” can be seen in full view with John Ford’s classic western The Searchers. Ethan Edwards is a classic fixture of the western genre. A former confederate with a racist streak stands tall because “he never surrendered” finally returns home just in time for his family to be attacked by a tribe of Native Americans. This is the call of action for the film’s “search” to begin. Edwards must get past his own prejudice to travel with his nephew of Native American lineage to find his kidnapped nieces. Wayne brings a performance that is next level displaying emotion that he usually did not show. The incredible visuals and a commanding performance make this one a classic for the ages. What is a more memorable final shot than a lonely and isolated Edwards who sadly holds his arm as the door closes on his era of the west? (Shane Conto)
Long before Clooney and Soderbergh defined “cool” in modern movies with Oceans 11, there was this little gem. A serial bank robber, and a US Marshal determined to bring him in, cross paths, and the result is some serious infatuation! Worst stories have been created that had better plots than this, and yet it just works! Most of the credit for this sizzle has to go to the chemistry between the leads of Clooney and JLo. The fact is Clooney and Lopez put on a master class of how to show chemistry, and they do it with an almost casual ease. An eyebrow raised here, a quirked smile there, a casual glance over the shoulder. I don’t know if one would call it “top of their game” because they were both just starting to make a name for themselves with their acting, but I have rarely seen either of them better. Funny and menacing are hard to pull off at the same time; anyone expecting to see COL Rhodey here will be very surprised. The last time I saw a role of “thug” portrayed this enjoyably was Michael Williams as Omar Little in “The Wire”. Finally, I have to mention the “feel” of this film. Many of the camera scene choices and selections seem like a warm up for Traffic, which would follow several years after this film. The color pallet is not as dramatic as that film, but if you crossed “Traffic” with “Oceans”, you might get something close to “Out of Sight”, and that is about as high praise as I can give. (Donald Skidmore)
I have the money; I have the power. Start at the end. The Lookout was a really easy movie to miss in 2007, despite the fact that Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg, and David Fincher were all at one point considering directing this movie.Due to an accident he caused in high school, our protagonist is left with the grief and guilt of killing two of his best friends, severely injuring his girlfriend, and a very serious head injury. His injury leads him to have memory issues, sequencing issues, anger issues, physical issues, as well as and perhaps most predominantly psychological issues. The Lookout is a really intense story of a small-town bank heist, but it is predominantly a story about the use, abuse, and manipulation of someone with a mental illness. After watching this movie again, this is the movie that Joker wanted to be, but on a much smaller scale. There is a good chance you haven’t seen this movie, so I want to keep most of the details spare for you to experience it yourself, but it is not just a gritty crime drama, it is also very clever, funny (mostly due to Jeff Daniels’ character), and has some real moments of heart. It’s a brisk watch at 99 minutes, but it is one that will stick with you for much longer than that! (Aaron Schweitzer)
What has allowed James Bond to outlast the sands of time? This is a franchise which has dealt with changing times, the fall of the Soviet Union, and a revolving door of lead actors. Hell, that carousel has turned into one of the biggest draws of the whole franchise. Who will be the next James Bond? One of the largest gaps between features was the one leading up to Goldeneye. Timothy Dalton was out but who would be in? This marked the modern-day shift of the films with the introduction of Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan matched the bravado of Connery and the classy wit of Moore. I grew up in the Brosnan era and Goldeneye was the figurehead of my years growing up as a Bond fan. I played the N64 game and blasted the Tina Turner theme. This Bond was unique with its antagonist being a 00 agent as well. Full of fun characters and wonderful dialogue to match the great action sequences. Who can forget Bond straightening his tie and steamrolling through a major Russian metropolis in a huge tank? This unfortunately was the only film that gave Brosnan a lot of quality around his great work as Bond but at least we have this modern classic to appreciate. (Shane Conto)
One of the most enjoyable times at the movies in 2018 came with director Aneesh Chaganty’s techno-thriller, “Searching.” With the movie’s fascinating approach to tell its story through computer and smartphone screens, “Searching” tells the story of a father, David Kim (John Cho), who tries to find his daughter, Margo (Michelle La), by looking through her social media and Internet history, with the hope of finding what could have led to her disappearance. This movie is a brilliant combination of terrific performances, tense direction, and storytelling innovation, with everything coming together to make sure that you are immersed in the films’ mystery. However, what hooks us into the movie is Cho’s heart wrenching performance, which ensures that this film is more than just an interesting innovative presentation. His poignant journey of a father trying to find his daughter, while realizing that he might not have known her as well as he thought, is an excellent character journey to witness. This movie shows unwavering confidence in its eye-popping format, and the fact that this is Chaganty’s feature film directorial debut isn’t anything less than astonishing. His next film, “Run,” is set to be released May 8, and given how Chaganty rendered us breathless during “Searching,” he’s sure to do it once again in a couple of months and show that his future as a director is limitless. (Vincent Abbatecola)
Full disclosure: I claimed this movie on BEC because I had never seen it and wanted an excuse to finally cross it off the “movies I’m ashamed I’ve never seen” list. After seeing it, I can say that while I’m not a fan of this film I can still appreciate the artistic merit of it. Eyes Wide Shut isn’t what I would call an erotic thriller but a statement of male ego, marriage, and the secret side we hide within ourselves that we’re often ashamed of. I probably won’t watch this film again, but for cinephiles I believe this is a must to cross off your bucket list. (Ben Davis)
Documentary, Found Footage and Cinema Verite are usually exclusive to the horror genre nowadays. David Ayer decided to take that particular film style and make it into a crime/Cop Film named End of Watch (2012). The film tells the story of two cops in LA who get in a little over the head with what they have discovered at a crime scene. With an overall intense premise, you would think there would be no light moments throughout the film. In all actuality the film has so many moments packed in with genuine laughs and great dialog. Brian Tailor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) supply some great moments of them just on their beat having various entertaining conversations. The dialog is very natural and the two come off as real good pals. To achieve this level of familiarity it was rumored that the two spent months together hanging out prior to production. There is never a dull moment of the two and having Brian as an inspiring documentarian was a genius way to frame the story. It also helps that the two cops are loosely based off of real LA Cops that gives the film an extra layer of authenticity. Overall, End of Watch balances comedic moments, action as well as tense thriller beats to make a fantastic Cop Film. I can’t recommend this film enough to those who enjoy David Ayer as a director or either of the two primary performers. (Joseph Vargas)
Usually I can’t see a movie once and know how much I loved it, but this is one of those occasions where I instantly knew that the movie I had just seen would classify as one of my favorites of all time. Blindspotting is about two friends in Oakland California played by Daveed Digs as Colin, and Rafael Casal as Miles who work so well together. They both did the screenplay together and the issues that this movie touches on are so very important and mean a lot to them that almost every line of dialogue feels like you’re hearing two people actually speak. The story is about how Colin has three days left on his probation, and after witnessing a cop shoot an unarmed black man after his appointed curfew, he spends the next few days ridden with guilt and PTSD as his friend Miles is almost always getting him in trouble. We almost always had a friend in our life that means well, but is always putting others at risk because of poor decision making and Miles is just one of those friends and it makes us relate even more to these characters. Another thing I forgot to mention is that this movie is absolutely hilarious, even though it has some rough themes that it focuses on. This is one of those movies that even rewatches can’t take away the enjoyment from watching their interactions. Since this movie underperformed at the box office, there’s a high chance that you’re missing out on a movie that has the potential to make a big impact on your mindset. (Alex Henderson)
Honorable Mentions:
Blind Side
The Blind Side is an uplifting story that is based on true events. Michael Oher is a gifted athlete who has begun bouncing from foster home to foster home because his real family is surrounded by drugs and violence. He happens upon the Tuohy’s who begin giving him a place to stay and eventually get him plugged into a school. He quickly starts to excel on the football field and works to get better in the classroom with the Tuohy’s pushing him to get to college. His football highlights circulate the United States until all of the biggest Division 1 football programs begin recruiting him. Eventually, he ends up at Ole Miss and then gets drafted into the NFL. This movie deals with various issues such as racism and privilege while maintaining a pretty family friendly feel. Quinton Aaron gives a solid performance as the quiet and misunderstood Michael Oher, while Kathy Bates has a fantastic supporting turn as his tutor Miss Sue. The star of the show though is Sandra Bullock who puts on an Oscar winning performance as Mrs. Tuohy in one of her best roles to date. She is a force, demanding to be taken seriously on the screen while displaying tough love and fierce kindness throughout. Her performance takes this movie up a notch and allowed it to become one of the most beloved sports and family films. (Kaleb Wolters)
Saw
When this movie came out it blew me away. I’m known a little bit as a “not a horror guy” but when I saw Saw I saw what was easily an instant classic. With that twist ending it took me back to my days as a Boy Scout telling camp fire stories. You know the kind that ends with “and the call was coming from inside the house”. If felt like a out of know where ending that you just wouldn’t see coming. What spawned in the wake of the movie was a series of event horror films that you just wanted to watch so you could know what happened next. Eventually the shine wore off and box office sales would tapper, leading to the eventual “Jigsaw” which as the time I did enjoy. Just like John Kramer when you thought it was over we have a new filming coming out this year starring Chris Rock and Sam L Jackson. Part of me cannot help but think, the magic of the original just will be impossible to replicate. Do not let knowing all these sequels came out after deter you from watching where it all SAWted. (Frank Kemp)
Also See:
Red Eye, The Hills Have Eyes, For Your Eyes Only, Look Who’s Talking, Searching for Bobby Fischer