A Logical Opening

Here is a list of some of my favourite films. It includes some that have stayed with me for reasons that I could not explain, some guilty pleasures and some that I could not live without, knowing the effect that they have had on me. Many have been omitted due to the pitfalls of memory.

2001: A Space Odyssey (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1968, USA / UK)
Adaptation (dir. Spike Jonze, 2002, USA)
Alien (dir. Ridley Scott, 1979, UK / USA)
L'amico di Famiglia (dir. Paolo Sorrentino, 2005, Italy / France)
Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1979, USA)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (dir. Sidney Lumet, 2007, USA / UK)
Being John Malkovich (dir. Spike Jonze, 1999, USA)
Benny's Video (dir. Michael Haneke, 1992, Austria / Switzerland)
Blade Runner (dir. Ridley Scott, 1982, USA / Hong Kong)
Bloodsimple (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1985, USA)
Blue Velvet (dir. David Lynch, 1986, USA)
Boogie Nights (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997, USA)
Cache (dir. Michael Haneke, 2005, France / Austria / Germany / Italy)
Calvaire (dir. Fabrice du Welz, 2004, Belgium / France / Luxemberg)
Carlito's Way (dir. Brian de Palma, 1993, USA)
Casino (dir. Martin Scorcese, 1995, USA / France)
Casualties of War (dir. Brian de Palma, 1989, USA)
Chinatown (dir. Roman Polanski, 1974, USA)
Le Conseguenze Dell'amore (dir. Paolo Sorrentino, 2004, Italy)
Dead Man's Shoes (dir. Shane Meadows, 2004, UK)
El Laberinto del Fauno (dir. Guillermo del Toro, 2006, Mexico / Spain / USA)
El Orfanto (dir. Juan Antonio Bayona, 2007, Mexico / Spain)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dir. Michel Gondry, 2004, USA)
Das Experiment (dir. oliver hirschbiegel, 2001, germany)
Fargo (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 1996, USA)
Fitzcarraldo (dir. Werner Herzog, 1982, Peru / West Germany)
The Fountain (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2006, USA)
Funny Games (dir. Michael Haneke, 1997, Austria)
The Godfather (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1972, USA)
The Godfather part II (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, USA)
Halloween (dir. John Carpenter, 1978, USA)
Haute Tension (dir. Axexandre Aja, 2003, France)
Heat (dir. Michael Mann, 1995, USA)
Hunger (dir. Steve McQueen, 2008, UK / Ireland)
Ils (dir. David Moreau & Xavier Palud, 2006, France / Romania)
Irreversible (dir. Gaspar Noe, 2002, France)
Licence to Kill (dir. John Glen, 1989, UK / USA)
The Limey (dir. Steven Soderbergh, 1999, USA)
The Living Daylights (dir. John Glen, 1987, UK / USA)
Lost Highway (dir. David Lynch, 1997, France / USA)
Magnolia (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999, USA)
Miller's Crossing (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 1990, USA)
Million Dollar Baby (dir. Clint Eastwood, 2004, USA)
The Mist (dir. Frank Darabont, 2007, USA)
Moonraker (dir. Lewis Gilbert, 1979, UK / France)
Mulholland Drive (dir. David Lynch, 2001, USA / France) *
Mystic River (dir. Clint Eastwood, 2003, USA)
The Nines (dir. John August, 2007, USA)
No Country for Old Men (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen, 2007, USA)
Pi (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 1998, USA)
Raging Bull (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1980, USA)
Requiem for a Dream (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2001, USA)
Road to Perdition (dir. Sam Mendes, 2002, USA)
Seven (dir. David Fincher, 1995, USA)
Sexy Beast (dir. Johnathan Glazer, 2000, UK / Spain)
Sheitan (dir. Kim Chapiron, 2006, France)
The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1980, UK / USA)
Sleepers (dir. Barry Levinson, 1996, USA)
Sunshine (dir. Danny Boyle, 2007, UK / USA)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper, 1974, USA)
There Will Be Blood (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007, USA)
The Thin Red Line (dir. Terrence Malick, 1998, USA)
This Is England (dir. Shane Meadows, 2006, UK)
Der Untergang (dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004 , Germany / Italy / Austria)
United 93 (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2006, France / UK / USA)
The Untouchables (dir. Brian de Palma, 1987, USA)
Wild at Heart (dir. David Lynch, 1990, USA)
The Wrestler (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2008, USA / France)

* until I bear witness to a film that can excert upon me the same level of intrigue, and to a lesser extent provoke the same amount of fear, Mulholland Drive will remain my favourite film.