2010 Fav Flix!

So last year I composed a list of 25 movies I loved and recommended to people just starting to get into the film world. I watched so many many flix in 2010, what was life before Netflix, and therefore felt compelled to make a new list of my top favs. You can always email me for the complete rundown. Here are my top five. Wait, let me just say the first three a brilliant for the score alone. Alright, now look:

1.  Umberto D. (1952) It's a very simple premise, an old Italian pensioner is struggling to pay his rent. There is something about the feel of this movie that makes you fall in love with it. For me it's the score, Carlo Battisti's subtle yet emotive performance, and the gorgeous shots of an Italian town in a state of decay. Oh Umberto, you've got my heart. Here's a clip:



2. A very, very close second is Fellini's I Vitelloni (1953). Watch the trailer. I'd say Scorsese's quote captures the film best.




3. Elevator to the Gallows (1958), is about the coolest suspense movie you will ever see. Miles Davis is the soundtrack which gives this film noir/French New Wave Masterpiece a warm breezy flow.  Peep the trailer and don't even try to tell me it's not some sexy shit!



4. Shoot the Piano Player (1960) - So we'll stay in Paris, because it's wonderful there and the French make brilliant movies. Charlie is a piano player who's swept back into his criminal family's drama without warning. We learn about his professional career, past loves, and regrets in two days of his life. The trailer's a bit funky but the movie is grand!




5. A Prophet (2009) Whoaaaaa, wait 2009? Ms Christiana doesn't only watch old movies? Answer to that, sometimes. And films like this made me realize there is some really good shit out there now that I'm missing out on. Netflix threw this movie my way and honestly, I only watched it because it's French. And let me tell you something friends, it is no joke. Tahar Rahim plays Malik, a young North African new to the French prison system. He is muscled into working for the Corsican gang which places him at odds with the Arab community. That's just a basic synopsis, it goes really deep from there. The directing and cinematography is bold, inventive, and exhilarating. And hey, it's in color!