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132. Spanish director José Luis Cuerda’s film “La lengua de las mariposas”...
Cuerda? Who is that? When you read about modern cinema from Spain most critics seem to talk of Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura, Pedro Almodóvar, and Alejandro Amenábar. But rarely do you come across the...
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133. Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar’s English film “Agora” (2009): An...
Often good movies should be evaluated both by its subject and by the interesting manner the director and the rest of the production team contributes to or presents the subject as the final product....
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134. US film director Mike Nichols’ debut film “Who is Afraid of Virginia...
It is nearly half a century since Mike Nichols made his first feature film Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Richard Burton, the lead actor, is dead. Elizabeth Taylor, the lead actress, is dead. Its...
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135. Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu’s film “Süt” (Milk) (2008): The...
Semih Kaplanoglu is one of the finest Turkish filmmakers—and one who has a very distinct and intriguing style of film-making. His cinema is slow, introspective and personal. He picks his actors for...
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136. Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s film in English “Life of Pi” (2012):...
Ang Lee needs to be congratulated for making an engaging movie Life of Pi. Few other directors would have dared to even attempt the feat. As a Taiwanese director, the odds were stacked against...
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137. Mexican director Carlos Reygadas’ film “Post Tenebras Lux “ (After...
Carlos Reygadas is one of the few exhilarating filmmakers alive and actively making movies. His films are never easy viewing. His films’ images and his films’ soundtrack stun your senses with their...
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138. Austrian director Michael Haneke’s French film “Amour” (Love) (2012):...
Amour is the best film that this critic viewed in 2012. There are two ways to appreciate this film. One way is to appreciate its subject and the second is to appreciate the artistic manner the contents...
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139. Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s “Dupa dealuri" (Beyond the Hills)...
Romanian cinema produces fascinating movies from time to time. Beyond the Hills is one of them. There are several reasons why this film is remarkable. First, it is amazing to have a film with two...
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140. Uruguayan director Rodrigo Plá’s “La Demora” (The Delay) (2012):...
An evocative poster of the film at the Berlin Film FestivalThe conventional posterUruguay is not a country that one would easily associate with great cinema. Even for Latin American standards, Uruguay...
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141. Italian directors Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s “Cesare deve morire”...
Caesar Must Dieis a movie that revolves around Shakespeare’s tragedy Julius Caesar and yet it is not a film that unfolds the entire play. If a viewer, who has not read the play, went to see this...
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142. British film director Ken Loach’s film “The Angels' Share” (2012): A...
If you get half a dozen viewers of this lovely film together across a table and ask them what the film was all about after they had watched it, you are likely to get up to six different views on the...
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143. Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s film made in USA “This Must Be the...
Paolo Sorrentino is definitely a talented director. His films considerably rely on visual statements. Sorrentino’s This Must Be the Place indirectly urges the film’s viewer to observe the details of...
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144. US director Terrence Malick’s sixth feature film “To the Wonder” (2012):...
Terrence Malick’s films tend to perplex certain audiences. To the Wonder is likely to leave many viewers, used to the typical Hollywood movies with unambiguous narrative tales, totally stone cold. And...
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145. Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru“ (To Live) (1952): A...
“Life is so short, dear maiden,so fall in love while your lips are still redAnd before your passion coolsFor there will be no tomorrow.. . .Tomorrow will not come again.”--The Gondola Song, written in...
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146. Russian maestro Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Zerkalo” (Mirror/The Mirror) (1975):...
Sight and Sound, the officialjournal of the British Film Institute, conducts two polls for 10 best films ever made--one for top film critics and one for major film directors. Andrei Tarkovsky’s Mirror...
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147. US maestro Orson Welles’ last film ”F for Fake” (1973): The most...
“Art is a lie that enables us to realize the truth”—Pablo Picasso“I must believe that art itself is real” Orson Welles in F for FakeWhat is cinema? How real is realism in cinema? These are questions...
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148. Argentine director Juan José Campanella’s “El secreto de sus Ojos” (The...
Viewers of this Oscar-winning Argentinean film are likely to enjoy the experience for varied reasons. It is definitely an engaging thriller with loads of subtle humor. It is therefore not surprising...
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149. Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Dekalog, dwa” (Dekalog 2)...
There are very few examples of movies that make you scurry to the libraries to figure out the full implications of the source material after a screening, with the implicit understanding that one needed...
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150. Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmi’s masterpiece “L'Albero degli zoccoli”...
Ermanno Olmi’s The Tree of Wooden Clogs, a 3-hour long feature film, won the prestigious Golden Palm and the prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978. For those who have been...
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151. Italian maestro Federico Fellini’s “La Strada” (The Road) (1954):...
A half century after La Strada was made and widely accepted as a world classic, the film needs to be evaluated by its content as much as by its often touted “neo-realist” style. Interestingly, Pope...
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