15 FOR THE AGES I was challenged by Larry Kuechlin to name my 15 most influential films. 1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) David Leans epic account of British army officer, T.E. Lawrence and his conflicted loyalties during his World War One service in the Middle East. 2. Babettes Feast (1987) A French housekeeper brings quiet revolution in the form of an exquisite meal to a group of starkly pious Danish villagers. 3. Never Cry Wolf (1983) Director Carroll Ballards moving account of a government biologist sent into the Alaskan wilderness to study the Caribou population whose decline is believed to be caused by wolves. 4. Swimming to Cambodia (1987) Spalding Grays filmed monologue which centers on his trip to Thailand to play the U.S. Ambassadors aide in The Killing Fields. 5. Harvey (1950) Sweet-natured Elwood P. Dowds high society aunt attempts to institutionalize him due to his insistence that he has an invisible, six-foot three-and-a-half-inch tall rabbit for a best friend. 7. Ran (1985) Akira Kurosawas superb retelling of Shakespeares King Lear set in feudal Japan. 8. Whats Up, Doc? (1972) Peter Bogdanovichs homage to screwball comedies in which a mix up over four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly insane situations. 9. North by Northwest (1959) Alfred Hitchcocks colorful thriller involving an advertising exec who falls into a web of espionage, murder, romance and of course… suspense! 10. Pulp Fiction (1994) Quentin Tarantinos jolting and comical look into the lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangsters wife and a pair of diner bandits that intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. 11. The Straight Story (1999) David Lynch directed this Disney film about an elderly Iowans journey on a rider lawnmower to see his ailing brother in Wisconsin. 12. Now, Voyager (1942) Bettie Davis is a put-upon spinster who blossoms under a psychiatrists care and finds in an unexpected romance that life has not passed her by. 13. Brazil (1985) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty meets Orwells 1984 in this mind-bending nightmare/fantasy directed by Terry Gilliam. 14. 8½ (1963) Federico Fellinis most personal work, involving a pampered film director examining his past while both his life and the production hes involved with teeter on the brink of collapse. 15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Stanley Kubricks spectacular cinematic treatise on human evolution, Space Age technology, artificial intelligence and contact with life beyond Earth, based on the writings of Arthur C. Clarke.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 21:28:22 +0000
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