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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.

House of Games (1987)

7.3/10
Director: David Mamet
Starring: Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Mike Nussbaum

Playright David Mamet's directorial film debut is this superbly crafted story about an uptight psychiatrist (Lindsay Crouse) who goes thrill-seeking w... Read more

House of Sand and Fog (2003)

7.6/10
Director: Vadim Perelman
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher, Kim Dickens

Devastating adaptation of the Andre Dubus III novel focuses on the property battle between Iranian emigrant Ben Kingsley and recovering addict Jennife... Read more

If.... (1968)

7.7/10
Director: Lindsay Anderson
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Richard Warwick, Christine Noonan

A daringly anarchic vision of British society, set in a boarding school in late-sixties England. Before Kubrick made his mischief iconic in 'A Clockwo... Read more

If.... (Blu-ray) (1968)

7.6/10
Director: Lindsay Anderson
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Richard Warwick, Christine Noonan

A daringly anarchic vision of British society, set in a boarding school in late-sixties England. Before Kubrick made his mischief iconic in 'A Clockwo... Read more

In the Soup (1992)

7.1/10
Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Starring: Jennifer Beals, Steve Buscemi, Seymour Cassel, Will Patton, Carol Kane, Stanley...

A wonderfully bizarre comedy about a naive, ambitious writer (Steve Buscemi) who's penned a 500 page screenplay, and the eccentric flim-flam man (Seym... Read more

Intacto (2001)

6.9/10
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eusebio Poncela, Monica Lopez, Antonio Dechent, Max von Sydo...

Offbeat psychological thriller centers on an enigmatic Holocaust survivor (Max Von Sydow) who uses his ability to control the luck of those around him... Read more

Jean de Florette (1986)

8.1/10
Director: Claude Berri
Starring: Yves Montand, Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil

A marvelous tale of greed and intolerance from the novel by Marcel Pagnol about a city hunchback who inherits a valuable piece of property in rural Fr... Read more

Jesus Of Montreal (1989)

7.5/10
Director: Denys Arcand
Starring: Catherine Wilkening, Lothaire Bluteau

The marvellous, emotional and humourous story of modern day hypocrisy, as experienced by a group of actors who stage a radical interpretation of the l... Read more

Joyeux Noel (2005)

7.8/10
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: Diane Kruger, Benno Furmann, Guillaume Canet, Daniel Bruhl, Gary Lewis

This Oscar-nominated film tells the true story of troops whose lives were changed on Christmas Eve of 1914 as they put down their weapons and celebrat... Read more

Kafka (1992)

6.8/10
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Theresa Russell, Joel Grey

The life and writings of Franz Kafka inspired this fascinating film starring Jeremy Irons as a mild-mannered insurance clerk by day and aspiring write... Read more