My Favourite Films: #20-16

Since I want this blog to be about more than just reviews, I felt it would be a good idea to share with you my favourite films, in order to give you some sense of what sorts of movies I enjoy. Luckily, when I was 14 I joined a website called Flickchart, which provides you with two films at a time, and if you've seen them you rank which one is better. Slowly, overtime you build up a pretty comprehensive list of all the films you've seen, and the order you would put them in. It takes time, but as a socially awkward 14 year-old, I had loads of spare time.

Since then, I've built up a ranking of every film I've ever seen (I'm sure there are some films I've seen that aren't in there but there's certainly not many), which has changed constantly over the years. I'd love to be able to see the ranking of 14 year old Harvey, compared to now, because I know my taste has changed. For example, in the current top twenty, there are only two films I would call pure comedies, where I'm sure there would have been a few more back then.

You can use this list as a list of my top recommendations if you like, though there are probably films outside of this list that I'd recommend equally. I'll probably do some more in-depth posts on higher up films in the list, but for now we'll do number 20 to number 16:

20 - Adaptation (2002. Dir/Spike Jonze. Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman)

So I've probably made the mistake here of starting with an incredibly difficult film to even describe. I've included the screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, in the above credit, because this is really his film. I love Spike Jonze ('Her' in particular is a beautiful film), but without Charlie Kaufman's weird and wonderful brain, none of this would exist.

To put this as simply as possible, the film is an adaptation of the novel 'The Orchid Thief'. Oh... hold on, what's the Nicholas Cage on the right reading in that picture. Oh Christ. OK, so it's not strictly an adaptation of that book, instead it follows Charlie Kaufman himself, played by Nicholas Cage, attempting to adapt the film into a book and inadvertently making this film instead. Keeping up so far? No? Me neither. Plus Meryl Streep plays the author of the Orchid Thief, and Nicholas Cage plays Charlie Kaufman's twin brother, even though the real Charlie Kaufman doesn't have a brother.

Look, I know most people won't have seen this film and you might think it sounds insane... and it literally is. This whole film is just an experience more than anything. As with most of Charlie Kaufman's work, this is just such a strange and wild ride, but personally I think it's really incredible to behold. I would love to do a whole article on Charlie Kaufman sometime in the future so I won't say much more here, but if you are passionate about film and you haven't seen this, you need to get to this one straight away.

19 - Inception (2010. Dir/ Christopher Nolan)

And now for a film that's complex and crazy in a completely different way. For those who haven't seen it, the film follows a team of people who invade others' dreams in an attempt to implant an idea into their head, without them even realising. This easily ends up being one of the most brilliant, and mind-bending, heist films of all time.

I recently revisited this film and gained an entirely new appreciation for how brilliant it is. The film is unapologetic in it's complexity, never treating the audience like their too stupid to understand, instead relying on you to keep up. This definitely isn't one where you can sit on your phone and watch in the background, but I see no reason you'd ever want to anyway. Once you start to get into different layers of dreams and delve deeper into the human dreamscape, the film never lets up, and frankly the second half of this film is incredible throughout.

Christopher Nolan is such an incredible director and I can honestly say I at least enjoy all of his films, even though I do like some less than others. This won't be the last Nolan film to appear on this list, so feel free to try and figure out which one I enjoy more than this.

18 - Django Unchained (2012. Dir/ Quentin Tarantino)

Looking at this list so far, it is becoming apparent to me that many of these entries may start with me praising the auteur behind the film, as one of the best in their field. Where Charlie Kaufman has a monopoly on mainstream surrealist cinema, and Christopher Nolan has the epic modern drama covered, Quentin Tarantino is just the king of cool.

Django Unchained was my first encounter with Tarantino. I had obviously heard of his other films. I think I'd seen bits of some of them (The opening scene from Inglorious Basterds still stands as one of the best scenes in film history in my opinion), but this was the first film I'd watched in full, and despite it's runtime, I was fully engaged from start to finish. I would hope that everyone can remember their first time watching a Tarantino film, because to me it is such a memorable experience.

The film pays homage to cinema in all forms, as much of Tarantino's work does, but in particular the Western and the Spaghetti Western. I should also say I'm not a huge fan of westerns. I've seen some like the man with no name trilogy, which I love, but other than that I can't say I've seen many of the classics. But this film is so much more than its genre. It has the trademark Tarantino dialogue which is poetic and captivating and terrifying (although much less reliant on modern pop culture as some of his previous work). If you haven't watched this film, or any of Tarantino's other films, do yourself a favour and get on it pronto.

17 - Back to the Future Part II (1989. Dir/ Robert Zemeckis)

Possibly a controversial choice here. I absolutely adore the Back to the Future trilogy. I've probably seen them all about ten times at least. Many people stand by the original as the best, and don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely fantastic film, but for me Part II was always my favourite. This film just has it all. A cool and fun interpretation of what the future looked like in the 80's. The classic parallel timeline where everything is backwards and broken. And boy am I a sucker for any film that has characters trying not to bump into their past selves.

Obviously the characters and the story are exactly as fun and wacky as you'd hope, and these films completely and un-apologetically lean into that. The last act of this film is so much fun, and the twists and turns don't let up. Every time I visit these films I discover some new detail I'd never noticed before, which just shows the level of care and precision put into these films. The special effects somehow still hold up incredibly well, and this film pioneered many approaches to modern visual effects.

Often a middle film in a trilogy ends up feeling incomplete, serving largely as set up for the third film, and whilst this does lead nicely into the last film, it also tells a very satisfying and complete story. Most impressively, despite these films' hidden complexity, there are very few moments which don't make sense or plot holes which a lot of time travel films fall into (except maybe that George and Elaine should 100% recognise that the kid from school with the weird name who got them together, happens to look exactly like their own son?)

16 - Baby Driver (2017. Dir/ Edgar Wright)

Edgar Wright is probably one of the most creative directors of any that will show up on this list. Shaun of the Dead balances comedy and horror perfectly, Hot Fuzz brought an explosive action-comedy to an idyllic British village. And The World's End is a film too.

But for me, what puts Baby Driver higher on this list, is that it's just so easy to watch. The plot follows Baby, a criminal getaway driver, with tinnitus (A constant ringing in the ears). To cover this noise, he uses headphones to listen to music, which is used as the soundtrack for the film.

The standout feature of the film is the music, which is used to incredible effect, with scenes naturally flowing with each beat and note. The soundtrack is perfect, and Wright manages to do so much with it. Every action scene is brilliant, but the foot chase is for me, one of the most exciting, particularly thanks to the choice of songs.