MY FAVORITE FILMS
ANIL MITRA, COPYRIGHT © 2005
CONTENTS
AND OTHER FILMS I HAVE ENJOYED
American History X, Edward Norton
Apocalypse Now, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
Basic, John Travolta, Connie Nielsen, Samuel Jackson
Believer, The, Ryan Gosling
Tight; moving
Bend it Like Beckham, Director Gurminder Chaddha
Beyond Rangoon, Patricia Arquette
Black Robe, Lothaire Bluteau, Aden Young, Director Bruce Beresford
Blade Runner, Harrison Ford, Edward James Olmos, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah
Bourne Identity, The, Matt Damon
Breaker Morant, Bryan Brown
A favorite; no music
Breakin’, Michael Chambers, Ben Lokey
Bridge over the River Kwai, Alec Guiness, William Holden
Bring it On, Eliza Dushku
Chasing Liberty, Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode
Civil Brand, Lisa Raye, N’Bushe Wright, Monica Calhoun, DeBrat, Mos Def, MC Lyte
Cold Mountain, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman
Collateral Damage, Arnold Schwarzeneger
Crying Game, The, Forrest Whittaker, Jaye Davidson
Dancer Upstairs, the, Director
John Malkovich
Set in an unspecified Latin American nation; I enjoyed this a lot despite the
final twist that stretches the imagination
Dances With Wolves, Kevin
Costner, Graham Green, Wes Studi
Wes Studi, is magnificent as the angry Indian; he is also Magwa in Last of the
Mohicans and Geronimo in Geronimo
Das Boot, Dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Destination Vegas, Jennifer Sommerfield
English Patient, The, Juliet Binoche
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslett
Fast Runner, The, Director Zacharias
Kunuk, Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu
Slow moving but wonderful; about ‘traditional’ Inuit life
Fog of War, The, Director
Errol Morris
On Robert S. McNamara, war, rationality and the nature of history
Gandhi, Ben Kingsley
Geronimo, Wes Studi, Jason
Patrick, Matt Damon, Gene Hackman
Perhaps my favorite movie of the South West
Gladiator, Russell Crowe
Godfather, The, Marlon Brando
Gross Anatomy, Matthew Modine, Daphne Zuniga, Christine Lahti
Helen of Troy, Brad Pitt
Hero, Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi
Hidalgo, Viggo Mortensen
Himalaya, Director Eric Valle, Thilem Lhondup, Written,
Nathalie Azoulai, Olivier Dazat
Beautiful; about traditional life in the Himalay; and about ‘human nature’
Honey, Jessica Alba
House of Sand and Fog, Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly
Hulk, Director Ang Lee, Jennifer Connelly
Hunt for Red October, The, Sean Connery
Hunted, Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio del Torro
I Dreamt of Africa, Kim Basinger
I enjoyed Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves but find Black Robe more true
I’ll be There, in Wales, Craig Ferguson
I’m Not Scared, Director Gabriele Salvatores
In America, Samantha Morton, Djimon Hounshou
In Hell, Jean Claude van Damme
Into the Void, Dir. Kevin McDonald
Jail Breakers, Antonio Sabatu, Shannen Doherty
Japanese Story, Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima
Jesus of Montreal, Lothaire Bluteau
Killing Fields, The, John Malkovich
Last of the Mohicans, The,
Daniel Day Lewis, Wes Studi
Has one of my favorite romantic scenes – Hawkeye and his girl under the stars
on the night before battle
Last Samurai, The, Tom Cruise
Lawrence of Arabia, Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guiness
Local Boys, Director Ron Moler, Eric Christian Olsen, Jeremy Sumpter
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Viggo Mortensen
Lost in Tranlation, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson
Magdalene Sisters, Dir. Robert Altman
Man on Fire, Denzel Washington
Maria Full of Grace, Catalina Sandino Moreno
Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World, Russell Crowe
Mission, The, Robert deNiro
Monster, Charlize Theron
Mount Kailash: Return to Tibet, Director Tom Vendetti
My House in Umbria, Director Richard Loncraine
Mystic River, Sean Penn
No Way Out, Kevin Costner
Nowhere in Africa, Director Caroline Link
On the Waterfront, Marlon Brando
Definitely a favorite male actor
Open Range, Director Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner
Remarkable
Out of Time, Denzel Washington
Paris is Burning, Pepper LaBeija, Willi Ninja
Passion of Christ, The, Dir. Mel Gibson
Passion of Christ, The, Director Mel Gibson
Patriot, The, Mel Gibson
Point Break, Keanu Reeves,
Gary Busy
A favorite surfer film; I have tended to love films about surfing
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford
Razor’s Edge, The, Bill Murray
Read My Lips, Fr. Eng. Sub, Emmanuelle Devos
Romper Stomper, Russell Crowe, 1992
Runaway Jury, John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Rachel Weisz
Saltmen of Tibet, The, Director Ulrike Koch
Salvador, James Woods, Jim Belushi
Seven Years in Tibet, Brad Pitt
Shawshank Redemption, The, Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins
Singer Upstairs, The, Director John Malkovich
Skins, Graham Green, Eric Schweig
Sleeping Dictionary, The, Hugh Dancey, Jessica Alba, Emily Mortimer
Soldier’s Girl, Troy Garity,
Lee Pace
Violence to minorities is not always bigoted and may be a disturbed acting out of
jealousy and social conflict
Star Wars, Dir. George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Stateside, Rachel Leigh Cook
Stigmata, Patricia Arquette
Sure Thing, The, Director Rob Reiner, John Cusack
Under Fire, Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman
Under the Tuscan Sun, Diane Lane, Sandre Oh, Vincent Riota
Universal Soldier: The Return, Jean Claude van Damme, Heidi Schanz
Urban Cowboy, John Travolta, Debra Winger
Veronica Guerin, Cate Blanchett
View From the Top, Gwynneth Paltrow
Viva Zapata, Marlon Brando
At one time this was my favorite film
Water’s Edge, Chandra West, Emanuelle Vaugier
We Were Soldiers, Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stow, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliot
Whale Rider, Keisha Castle-Hughes
Willi does a remarkable imitation of an insect in his dance – this is intended as praise
Winchester 73, James Stewart, Shelley Winters
Y tu Mama Tambien, Diego Luna
You Got Served, Marquez Houston, Omari Grandberry, Jennifer Freeman
There’s a certain kind of high – the vision of the world, as a place of endless blue, of exquisite potential. It is the ‘inner film’ as much as what’s on screen; the meaning and passion of the viewer is more important, by far, than the critical reviews and fashion. I rather dislike genres as genres – but here and there this or that film appeals to me for some or other reason. I don’t care for some genres: horror, film noire, oldies, movies like Pulp Fiction – I liked Resevoir Dogs, most things related to Mike Myers and Leonardo DiCaprio… I often like chick and adolescent flicks, anything with good dancing in it…
Are We There Yet, Ice Cube, Aleisha Allen
Citizen Kane, Dir. Orson Welles
Constantine, Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz
Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Kimberly Elise, Shemar Moore
Meet the Fockers, Robert de Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand
Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank
Revolution Will Not be Televisedk,
The, By Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Brien
The last seven months of charismatic Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Scarface, Al Pacino
Statement, The, Michael Caine