life always has an unhappy ending, but you can have a lot of fun along the way, and everything doesn't have to be dripping in deep significance

    This is the first of several (seven?) posts that springs from an article, essentially listing "the most [x] book I've read." Having worked through the list in book form (e.g. here), I've decided to do the same with movies.   

 

The most beautiful movie I saw: The Water Diviner (2014)

    Directed by and starring Russell Crowe, filmed on location in Turkey and Australia, this is a gorgeous, luminous movie whose visuals have stuck in my mind since I first saw it (reviewed here).

 

The most dangerous movie I saw: The Man from Nowhere (2010)

   I like martial arts and action movies that involve some emotional payoff, some sort of connection to be made or preserved. This is one of the best. It is also intensely violent, sometimes a necessity where such a connection is threatened.

    (reviewed here)

 

The most exotic movie I saw: Monsoon Wedding (2001) 

    This is a world unlike anything I've ever experienced. There is very little red and almost no orange in my world—and this film is filled with it. 

    (reviewed here).

 

The most familiar movie I saw: Mystic Pizza (1988) 

    This is the hardest prompt of the whole list, I think, because there are so many good options. Some of the others include Manhunter (1986), Beautiful Girls (1996), Caddyshack (1980), and Young Frankenstein (1974). I chose this film, though, both because it's one I've seen dozens of times and because it feels like part of who I am and what I love about movies.

    (reviewed here)

 

The most luminous movie I saw: Sunset Boulevard (1950)

    Known as the best movie ever made about making movies, this is the sort of film that knocks the viewer upside the head and opens their eyes. I was spellbound—especially by the beautiful lighting and innovative camera angles. It is outstanding.

    (reviewed here)

 

 [based on this post; the title quotation is from Roger Ebert]