10. Dead Ringers
One of legendary horror director David Cronenberg’s most iconic films, Dead Ringers is an uncomfortable and unforgiving deep-dive into the filmmaker’s career-long obsessions, from extreme co-dependency and paranoia to his trademark body horror. Exploring the complex and dysfunctional relationship between twin gynaecologists, Cronenberg’s film allows actor Jeremy Irons to delve into a challenging dual role, playing the twins as effective opposites to each other. The twins take advantage of their gynecological practice, seducing their patients and passing the women between each other with little remorse.
The film walks tricky lines between consent and bodily autonomy with unsettling paranoia and terror. Imagery of medical equipment become menacing, the steel tools for torture and bodily violation, especially when placed next to the film’s iconic imagery of Irons draped in an all-encompassing red robe. Dead Ringers marked a major leap forward in the career of Cronenberg, a next step into even more unsettling territory for the controversial filmmaker behind films like The Brood, Videodrome, and The Fly. Today, the film is a precise psychological thriller, a still discomfiting character study of two men using their power to victimize the women they supposedly serve. – – – Cameron Wolff
9. Beetlejuice
So much more than three repeated words, Beetlejuice represented a movement for anyone feeling like they don’t fit in. Stuffed with wonderful actors who bring a crazy world alive, from Winona Ryder to Catherine O’Hara and Geena Davis, Tim Burton’s film let them sharpen their comedy chops. The film’s undeniable star, Michael Keaton, lights up the screen as cinema’s scummiest poltergeist. Burton turned an original screenplay into a hilarious comedy of very adult sensibility.
The plot is barmy. Happily married hotties Barbara and Adam have a huge second home. After a driving accident they suffer strange memory loss, until they find the Handbook for the Recently Deceased in their attic and realise they’re dead, ghosts trapped in the house. Which is sold to snooty Charles and Delia, who drag along their gothically-dressed daughter, Lydia. Then Beetlegeuse, self-proclaimed bio-exorcist, shows up with a monochrome suit and super uncomfortable manner, showing Barbara and Adam that the afterlife is a bureaucratic hellhole. Yet Lydia can see the ghosts and they become friends.
Betelgeuse cannot be trusted, Barbara and Adam are nearly exorcised, and Lydia almost marries Betelgeuse until a well-timed sandworm saves the day. Everyone agrees to cohabit and Betelgeuse gets stuck in the worst version of hell – a never-ending waiting room queue. Beetlegeuse is a problematic anti-hero whose crassness would now be seen as downright perversion. Yet his inappropriate humour blended with Lydia’s desire to be different and still deserve love, prove that, besides inspiring a thousand Halloween costumes, everyone deserves to feel valued. – – – Sarah Louise Dean
8. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Robert Zemeckis’s masterpiece (yeah, I said it) is that rare beast of a movie: a technological marvel that gives just as much weight to storytelling and characterizations as it does to its ground-breaking special effects. I could name a few Zemeckis films where this isn’t the case, but here, working with animation legend Richard Williams and a script by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman (from a book by Gary K. Wolf), Zemeckis is able to revel in the madcap comedy that defined his earlier movies as well as the eye-popping innovations that dominated his later ones.
It’s a special thrill watching pros like Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd mingle seamlessly with Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, just as it’s a thrill watching Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse mingle with each other (that EP Steven Spielberg was able to wrangle characters from Disney, Warner Bros, Fleischer Studios, and King Features Syndicate INTO THE SAME FRAME is nothing short of a miracle), all in service of a murder-mystery plot that would make Dashiell Hammett proud. – – – D.W. Lundberg
7. Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios / Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Imbued with ecstatic color and bold style, Pedro Almodovar perfects his early farcical style of filmmaking with the international hit Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. A steady accumulation of fast-paced comedic incidents, the film follows Pepa (a never-better Carmen Maura) as she tracks down the ex-lover who abandoned her with no explanation, charting the increasingly absurd events of her heartbroken search for answers.
Featuring staples of Almodovar’s career, the film is a perfect marriage between the filmmaker’s early comedies and his later dramatic films, finding him deftly employing comedy with the eye of a skilled filmmaker. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown catapulted Almodovar to international film stardom, and signaled a major step forward for Spanish cinema’s recognition in the international film community. Still extremely popular, the film continues to inspire other works, including a Broadway musical adaptation. Without the success of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Almodovar would never have stepped into the cinematic limelight he currently occupies in the eyes of cinephiles the world over. – – – Cameron Wolff
6. The Last Temptation of Christ
In exploring the humanity of Jesus, Martin Scorsese (and, by extension, author Nikos Kazastzakis in his novel) give us a Lord and Savior who is filled with uncertainty about his purpose in life – it’s no wonder Christians were up in arms over the film. By exploring this self-doubt, however, Scorsese gives us the most identifiable interpretation of Jesus cinema has ever delivered. The most audacious thing Scorsese does in this film isn’t showing Jesus having sex with Mary Magdalene, but to show His divinity as a process to be gone through rather than a given from the first moment we see him on screen.
It’s something he would come back to with the Dalai Lama in Kundun, and the Jesuit priests in Silence – religious leaders whom must first be certain of their own faith and conviction in the face of adversity in order to best lead their flock in finding theirs. With Michael Ballhaus’s cinematography and Peter Gabriel’s score, you would not imagine that this film cost far less than Scorsese’s later epics; the authenticity of Scorsese’s vision feels fully realized, and continues to make this spiritual journey feel alive, and something inspiring if one is willing to take the leap of faith with his film. – – – Brian Skutle
5. Akira
A blend of dystopian science fiction, cyberpunk, and body horror, Akira has stood the test of time as one of Japan’s most influential animes. Based off the titular manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira tells the tale of Tetsuo and Kaneda, gang members who navigate the world of Neo-Tokyo’s corrupt government, terriorists, and rival gangs. What starts as crime story quickly gives way to an intricately detailed science fiction world filled with people who possess psychic abilities and the shady organization that attempts to control them.
Ultimately a tale of loneliness, neglect, control, and societal outcasts finding a measure of solace in each other’s presence, Akria‘s impact has held sway over pop culture for decades, from the oft-homaged bike slide to Kanye West’s rip off of a scene in his “Stronger” music video. Slick animation, smartly directed by Otomo, with a bonkers off-the-rails third act that leans full into dysmorphia and transcendence have ensured that Akira will continue to be a factor that shapes and influences Japanese culture for years to come. – – – Darryl Mansel
4. Hotaru no Haka / Grave of the Fireflies
Already inevitably doomed for financial failure upon its initial double bill release adjacent to Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, Isao Takahata’s devastating anti-war film Grave of the Fireflies is commendable not only for its mature subject matter, but rather for its integral thematics on survival and the pursuit for independence amidst a time of financial and sociological ruin. Utilizing the animation form as a meta-textual tool to create a pastiche that quite literally destroys the overactive drawn-to-life childhood imagination featured in other Ghibli productions, Takahata’s animated saga of war-torn adolescence is depressingly simple in practice, and overwhelming in execution.
Not only is Grave of the Fireflies one of the most emotional films ever made, but it’s also one of the most empathetic. Through the form and subversion of the animation medium, Takahata has created a uniquely integral piece towards the pantheon of timely animated features. Treating the original text not as some sort of needless hand-drawn fable, but rather as an integral and urgent tool to tell a timely story of lost childhood and post-mortem harmony. – – – David Cuevas
3. Nuovo Cinema Paradiso / Cinema Paradiso
Written and directed with romantic, wide-eyed childhood memories, Giuseppe Tornatore crafted the classic Italian film Cinema Paradiso saluting so much of what we all desire. The love for cinema, those feelings of human companionship and unforgettable guardianship all take centre stage. The small village of Giancaldo in Sicily is the place where dreams are (kind of) made, for the young boy Salvatore at least, as he befriends what will be a lifelong impression with the local cinema’s projectionist, Alfredo.
Whether the 1950s or the 1980s, Cinema Paradiso weathers the storms of political, religious or familial obstacles, finding a kind of universal truth at its adoring core. The score by Ennio Morricone is as timeless as ever, of course. And the mischievous, nostalgic way in which Tornatore executes his tale clearly comes from a place of love. Sentimental, sure, but Cinema Paradiso has spilling handfuls of what we cherish about film and the beauty in the lives we live. – – – Robin Write
2. Die Hard
Is it a Christmas movie? Who cares. The one thing we can all agree on is the fact that Die Hard is one of the quintessential templates for action movies. At a time where shiny muscles and little character development was king atop the hill, Die Hard gave audiences a different sort of hero: John McClane, a regular everyman fighting to save both the hostages of Nakatomi Plaza and his marriage.
Directed by John McTiernan, Die Hard became the blueprint for action movies set in one location (see: Executive Decision, Under Seige, etc) featuring a lone maverick systematically working his way through the bad guys. What Die Hard accomplished that the others lacked is the time spent on developing McClane not just as an action hero but as a relatable man of the people, not without his own demons that he works through while dispatching random henchmen. His bond with police deputy Al Powell (Reginal Vel Johnson’s greatest role) is the heart of the film, while the cat-and-mouse game played between McClane and villain Hans Gruber is a combination of masterful writing, acting, and directing.
Alan Rickman’s Gruber is still solidly terrifying, a template in its own right of European sophistication, while Bruce Willis’ McClane exudes terror and helplessness in stark contrast to the stoic nature of the heroes of other franchises. What results is a delicious stew of plot, pacing, and performance, giving us one of the best action movies of all time. – – – Darryl Mansel
1. Tonari no Totoro / My Neighbor Totoro
At its most basic level, My Neighbour Totoro is a story about family, discovery, and the joys of nature. Yet, beyond its painterly style lies a far richer and complex examination of childhood comprehension, rounded out with Shintoism and magic realism.
Sisters Satsuki and Mei help father Tatsuo move to a new house nestled in a Camphor Forest, to be nearer their mother Yasuko, who’s in hospital suffering from an unknown ailment. While exploring the garden, toddler Mei spies a small unknown, translucent creature with a taste for acorns. The creature leads her to Totoro, a huge furry woodland spirit who delights in the trees and Mother Nature’s power. The two innocents form a bond, but Satsuki – sceptical, as Mei’s de facto carer – has never seen Totoro, and begins to doubt their existence. Slowly Totoro and Mei’s worlds merge: the sisters take the bus to school, Totoro prefers to travel by Catbus, the girls dance around planted seedbeds, Totoro shows them the view from the treetops. When Yasuko doesn’t return from hospital as expected, Mei is upset and confused, and runs away.
Luckily, Totoro is there to reassure both sisters that everything will be okay. There has never been a film that better distils the wonder of youth, all via hand-painted cells lovingly rendered by director Hayao Miyasaki and team. My Neigbour Totoro spins a unique tale capturing purity and emotion that transcends form and genre. Within its deceptive simplicity lies one of the greatest movies ever made. – – – Sarah Louise Dean
