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 Music of Chance (1993)
7.2/10
Director: Philip Haas
Starring: Mandy Patinkin, James Spader, M Emmet Walsh, Charles Durning, Joel Grey, Samanth...
The feature debut of documentary filmmaker Philip Haas (Money Man) is an adaptation of Paul Auster's allegorical novel. Mandy Patinkin plays a drifter... Read more
Fishing with John (1992)
8.2/10
Director: John Lurie
Starring: John Lurie, Tom Waits, Matt Dillon, Dennis Hopper, Jim Jarmusch, Willem Dafoe
John Lurie knows absolutely nothing about fishing, but that doesn't stop him from undertaking the adventure of a lifetime on "Fishing With John". Trav... 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
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
Stalingrad (1992)
7.5/10
Director: Joseph Vilsmaier
Starring: Dominique Horwitz, Thomas Kretschmann
One of the most realistic depictions of war ever filmed, this stunning epic chronicles the six-month siege of the Russian city by German forces in Wor... Read more
Europa ( aka Zentropa ) (1992)
7.7/10
Director: Lars von Trier
Starring: Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Udo Kier, Ernst Hugo
This penetrating and mesmeric trip into the dark soul of Europe follows a young American pacifist of German descent who sojourns to post-WWII Deutschl... Read more
Homicide (1991)
7.1/10
Director: David Mamet
Starring: Joe Mantegna, William H Macy, Natalija Nogulich
Award winning playwright David Mamet's third outing as director is a gritty crime drama about a cop taken off the biggest case of his life into a seem... Read more
Black Robe (1991)
7.1/10
Director: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Lothaire Bluteau, August Schellenberg
In the turbulent 17th century, Jesuit priest Father Laforgue travels to Quebec to convert the Indian tribes. Cultures clash, romances flourish and the... Read more
The Rapture (1991)
6.4/10
Director: Michael Tolkin
Starring: Mimi Rogers, Patrick Bauchau, David Duchovny
A thought-provoking film where virtually no others have dared to tread, about a young woman in a brain-dead job who becomes involved with a fundamenta... Read more
December Bride (1990)
6.5/10
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Starring: Saskia Reeves, Donal McCann, Ciaran Hinds
Set at the close of the nineteenth century on Ireland's north-east coast this brooding drama charts the fortunes of three single-minded individuals wh... Read more