By: Keaton Marcus

PREFACE:

I recently realized that besides the mediocre-looking post I did a while ago, I hadn’t touched upon this subject. What films mean the most to me? These aren’t simply my favorites, these are ones that actually impacted my life. Taking various movies from several different genres, I break down why.

MOONLIGHT:

Moonlight, a devastating, bittersweet coming-of-age drama exploring three critical stages of a man’s life is an incredibly intimate, moving, and of course, meaningful experience that excels in practically every respect. The cinematography and shot choices are consistently layered with visual poeticism and melancholic beauty. Not only is it apart of the extremely limited selection of films that made me shed tears, but in terms of performances and direction, it was a revolutionary breakthrough in my love of cinema. The realism, the sadness, the empathy, and the community in each of these characters and how the actors portrayed them simply made me stare in awe while watching.

MIDSOMMAR:

Yeah, yeah. Say whatever you want, call it pretentious garbage, and claim it isn’t disturbing. Done now? Ari Aster’s Midsommar was a pivotal step for me, joining Moonlight in my journey as a cinephile. Call it a basic horror movie with no actual scares, but I’m not solely putting this on the list because it terrified me. Obviously, my legs were absolutely shaking throughout the entire running time, but pure terror and dread certainly affected me deeply. Maybe not in the same manner as the other additions on this post, but the amount of times my jaw dropped is incredible. Florence Pugh’s performance is one of the greatest of all-time, subjectively, the camera work and editing create sufficient atmosphere, and its approach to grief and relationship troubles make it far more breathtaking than the average thriller.

BLADE RUNNER 2049:

I know I’ve let every single soul know on this platform that this is my greatest film of all-time, but how could this not make the cut? For many it’s still completely bereft of emotion or soul, but being honest, this broke me, and I mean it with menace. It figuratively tore me apart, and built me back up into someone utterly new at the end. The journey to discover the distinctively human, to be unique, to be special was incredibly investing and commonly heartbreaking. It’s an experience I will forever cherish and never forget. It’s a film where the music, the colors, and the facial expressions tell the story. It’s the pinnacle of style over substance working out seamlessly. Claiming Denis Villeneuve is the God of filmmaking is too much of an understatement. His ability to make the thinking moviegoer feel is extraordinary.

THE TREE OF LIFE:

As I continue to dive deeper into Terrence Malick’s filmography he is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors of all-time. Specifically, The Tree of Life is the one that has stood out to me the most at the moment. The way it captures family relationships and dynamics, the contrasts of parenting in the ways of nature and grace, or covering an entire human being’s life, and the creation of the universe all in one film in concise, yet sprawling fashion is undeniably impressive. It is less a showcase for dialogue and acting than it is for Emmanuel Lubezki’s otherworldly cinematography and visual storytelling. This isn’t a surface-level beautiful movie. With its many layers of thematic undertones, this is just as deep as it is gorgeous.

JOKER:

Once again, call me a little kid who got to stay up past his bedtime to call this one a masterpiece while I ignore. Joker, although in some visual sense admired Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy’s style, is a grand artistic expression. It’s beautifully-crafted, enacted, directed, acted, and a bold new vision for comic-book movies. Above all, however, it’s a deeply affecting, disturbing, and emotionally layered movie that chronicles a disregarded and mistreated man’s rise against society while at the same time acting as a brilliant subversion of viewer’s expectations. Even the critics of this movie hated it only because it affected them in some way, whether it be in a negative or positive sense. For me, Icouldn’t stop squirming in my seat because of how uncomfortably incredible the experience was.

MELANCHOLIA:

This was something that I finally viewed recently, and wow did it deserve a place on this list. Ranking in my top ten, Lars von Trier’s Melancholia was an extraordinary experience, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime. The emotions that this movie portrayed, primarily depression and grief for almost no apparent reason, affected me in the exact same way it tortured its main characters. Every step of the way I felt what Kirsten Dunst was feeling. It’s a prime example of masterful immersive cinema, a film that chokeholds you to relate with the protagonist…In a good way. Overall, this isn’t for everyone, and although incredibly slow, the tension and overwhelming sadness will envelope the right viewer into the movie.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE:

How could I not add this in? Portrait of a Lady on Fire is something jaw-dropping. Every single aspect of it is literal perfection, and it is one of the few films that I would consider utterly flawless. There isn’t a single crack in the floor when examining this awe-inspiring piece of cinema. If you’re not into slower, more methodic films, it won’t exactly be for you, but, if you are literally anyone that does not fit that description, it’ll creep into your favorites. Exemplary in the mannerisms in which it explores the female gaze and equality between the two lovers in relationship dynamics through framing and cinematography, and breathtaking anywhere else, this is a triumph of the highest order that demands to be seen.

ARRIVAL:

Arrival. What more can I touch upon in another one of Denis Villeneuve’s collection of masterpieces? For one it’s an incredibly moving, touching science fiction movie themes of language and artistic expression. In another interpretation, it’s a heartwarming message of uniting nations across the globe to decipher a possible issue. In the most affecting matter, it is an emotionally traumatizing, deeply depressing movie that tackles collisions of past, present and future. Masterful and investing, I can recommend this to multiple types of moviegoers.