Paul's Favourites
The 7th Arts's highest level of achievement can be judged alongside great literature, great music, and great painting, with many filmmakers creating enduring masterpieces.
The list of film titles below may not all be enduring masterpieces, but I have however, fond lingering memories of all of them. They all fit the criteria of what I feel films can or should do, to not only be well crafted, but also to entertain, inform, enlighten and more often than not, take the viewer down roads less travelled...
Can only hope you also will discover or rediscover some viewing pleasures among my all-time favourites' listed below.
The Silent Partner (1978)
7.5/10
Director: Daryl Duke
Starring: Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, John Candy
Elliot Gould, Christopher Plummer and Suzannah York star in this terrifying thriller that pits a mild-mannered bank clerk against an evil and sadistic... Read more
The Straight Story (1999)
8/10
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Everett McGill, Harry Dean Stanton
In a gentle, G-rated change of pace that still features his trademark fascination with rural American quirkiness, director David Lynch recounts the tr... Read more
The Stunt Man (1979)
7.2/10
Director: Richard Rush
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey
A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set where he accidentally causes death of their ace stunt man. The director offers to hide him from the police - if h... Read more
The Tenant (1976)
7.7/10
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Shelley Winters
Polanski's most autobiographical film is, like "Repulsion", a journey through the distorted realm of the human mind. Polanski himself plays Trelkovsky... Read more
The Usual Suspects (1995)
8.6/10
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Suzy Amis, Stephen Baldwin, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacey, Kevin Pollak, Gian...
Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak and Kevin Spacey star in this inventive, engrossing crime story as a bunch of guys brou... Read more
The Vikings (1958)
7.1/10
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh, Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis
Sweeping adventure saga of the Vikings' invasion of England centers on a Viking warrior prince (Kirk Douglas) and a former slave (Tony Curtis), bitter... Read more
The War on Democracy (2006)
8.3/10
Director: Chris Martin
Starring: John Pilger
Social activist John Pilger helms this muck-raking documentary - an unflinching dissection (and evisceration) of U.S. policies in Latin America during... Read more
The Weeping Camel ( aka The Story of the Weeping Camel ) (2003)
7.5/10
Director: Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni
Starring: Janchiv Ayurzana, Chimed Ohin, Amgaabazar Gonson, Zeveljamz Nyam
This moving documentary chronicles a family of nomadic shepherds' desperate attempts to save the life of a baby camel. Born snow white, the young colt... Read more
The Wicker Man (1973)
7.6/10
Director: Robin Hardy
Starring: Britt Ekland, Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt
A British police officer goes to a small island off Scotland to find a missing girl, only to discover that the islanders practice a Celtic religion wh... Read more
The Wicker Man (Blu-ray) (1973)
7.5/10
Director: Robin Hardy
Starring: Britt Ekland, Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt
A British police officer goes to a small island off Scotland to find a missing girl, only to discover that the islanders practice a Celtic religion wh... Read more