The Disaster Artist



The Room has gone through several transformations in the 14 years since its unfortunate release in 2003. From flat out rejection due to its sheer incompetence, the film quickly found a second life on the midnight circuit as a cult curio, which attracted more and more fans into its bizarre world. Fans delighted in its awful script, dreadful acting, and inept filmmaking. The story of Tommy, Mark and Lisa stuck in a clichéd love triangle really connects with fans because of how unintentionally funny it is. Fans revel in the bizarre choices, such as the framing pictures of spoons for back ground decoration, the plot inconsistencies and the truly awful delivery of the strange script. But it's also a window in the strange pschye of one man - Tommy Wiseau.

Stories began to leak out about the disastrous production, with Wiseau often at the centre of it all. With broken English and a seemingly endless supply of money, Wiseau tried to make a film to match the passion of Tennesse Williams (or so the posters claimed). It wasn't long before other actors came forward with their "confessionals" of the making the film, the most famous of which is Mark actor Greg Sestro's memoirs The Disaster Artist. The novel is a very funny and engaging read. It reveals how Sestro and Wiseau were good friends, trying to make it together in Hollywood. However, Wiseau's incredibly eccentric personality (and that's putting it mildly) and focus to make his passion project The Room invariably drove the two apart. The story had, ironically, the makings of a Hollywood film ... which has, at long last, arrived

Greg (Dave Franco) is a struggling 19-year old actor living in San Francisco. He suffers from crippling shyness which is getting in the way of his acting ambitions. Everything changes though when he meets the bizarre Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) in an acting class. Tommy is incredibly eccentric, confident and something of a dark enigma. The two begin to form a strange friendship based on a mutual interest in each other - Greg wants to try and tap into Tommy's unbound confidence, while Tommy is jealous of Greg's youthful looks. More and more questions begin to pile up as Greg gets to know Tommy more. Where does his seemingly endless supply of money come from? In fact, where does he even come from? And just how old is he? The duo decide to move to L.A. to try and make it big, however after several failures and Tommy's increasingly strange behaviour, things don't seem to be moving fast for the two friends. Until, Tommy has the 'brilliant' idea to just write, produce and direct their own film for them to star in. Fairly quickly, Greg finds himself on the set of what is destined to be one of the most beloved so-bad-it's-good films of all time...

The Disaster Artist re-creates in loving detail the process of making The Room

At the centre of this whirl-wind of madness is James Franco as Tommy Wiseau, clearly the highlight of the film. Most of the time, I'm not fan of Franco but here the role is just perfectly suited to his biggest strengths. You get the impression that Franco basically wanted to make this film so he could play Tommy. Everything from the Eastern European accent to the greasy long black hair to the vacant expression are all here and accounted for. I do think Franco manages to move the role past from being a straight caricature into a real character. Ultimately, Tommy's lack of self-awareness becomes his greatest curse. He is fearless when performing in the middle of a crowded diner but doesn't know how to interact with a Hollywood producer, in a particularly awkward scene in a fancy restaurant. His increasingly agitated diva persona blows up on the set of The Room, leading to one very awkward scene in which he struts around naked on set whilst filming the already very awkward sex scene. I wish the same attention to detail could have extended to Dave Franco's performance as Greg Sestro. He's likeable enough in the role but he is a far cry from the voice readers enjoyed in the novel. While I was sold on James as Tommy, Dave never quite did the same with Greg, at least not for me. The book communicates that the pair shared a complex relationship which the film boils down to more simplistic terms. I don't find it completely distracting but the book really builds up well to the two falling out - in the film it just kind of happens...

Tommy and Greg form a friendship based on mutual interests

Like Wiseau, Franco also directs. The style of the film goes for a faux-documentary style, which is serviceable for the material. To its credit though, the film is not mean spirited - Franco has a clear love for the source material. I think it's fair to draw comparisons between The Disaster Artist and Tim Burton's masterpiece, Ed Wood - a biopic about the life and times of a similarly terrible filmmaker. I actually re-watched Ed Wood recently and found it utterly absorbing. Ed Wood succeeds because of how romanticised the whole thing is and the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography helps to back up this conceit. The Disaster Artist lacks any kind of real style, which I think is harmful to the film overall. Maybe, like Wiseau, Franco was just too absorbed in his performance ..

The real treat of the film though are the recreations of the filming of The Room, which is the meat of the running time This is also the film at its funniest. Every actor cast to fill the roles of Lisa, Denny, Claudette and Peter are pitch perfect. As Tommy squanders millions of dollars on his passion project, the actors and crew become increasingly angry at the he treats everyone, his un-professional approach to filmmaking and complete lack of experience of working a set. Every scene you know and love is here, as pretty much everyone questions the logical behind the script and Wiseau's awful directing decisions. As a side-character, Seth Rogan is great as the hapless script supervisor, who basically ends up directing the film and acts as the voice of reason. I love the increasing realisation that Greg has been drawn into a nightmare as he has to defend more and more of Tommy's eccentric behaviour, almost like a cheerleader. However, Tommy is just stuck into making his "all-American movie".

Now, as a fan of The Room this is exactly what I want to see. However, I do wonder how The Disaster Artist would play to someone who has not seen The Room. Unlike Ed Wood, which could be enjoyed with no knowledge of the director, I do think some prior knowledge is required with The Room. Otherwise, it's hard to know exactly what things are building up to and lacks the catalyst that Ed Wood had.

Despite some gripes, The Disaster Artist is a very entertaining watch that pretty much meets the expectations of all fans of The Room. I would have liked to seen more of the morally grey material from the novel but, as a cinematic representation of how The Room was made, The Disaster Artist ticks nearly all the boxes. James Franco is great in the lead, putting his often mis-spent creative energy into a role that perfectly suits him. While there are certain details that are either missed or could have been expanded on, The Disaster Artist still weaves a feel-good spell that will not doubt make more people aware of the continuing saga of Tommy Wiseau.

Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective, Part Nine - Ocean Waves

I think the early 90s were an odd time for Studio Ghibli. With Miyazaki in semi-hiatus, while he prepared his magnum opus, and Takahata pursuing a project that was maybe slightly below him (which explored in the next article), it was time to start thinking legacy. At this point, the producers knew they had a very special film company with some of the greatest filmmakers of all time making stunning works that were rich and subtle yet with enough broad appeal to reach a wide audience. So the question became what was going to happen when these filmmakers either moved on, retired or .. passed away? Arguably, this was and still is Studio Ghibli's biggest problem - how do you replace Miyazaki and Takahata? And this isn't a question that has been hovering in recent years - this goes right back to the early 90s. This question has never really been answered and is why the studio is now all but closed (save on final Miyazaki film). There were two concerted elements in the early 1990s that actually share some common themes - Whisper of the Heart and Ocean Waves. Both films were from new directors to the studio, so both projects were big risks, and wanted to tell contemporary stories. One turned out to be a minor masterpiece and the other remained an under-welcoming oddity for years...we're looking at the latter...

On my epic binge of Studio Ghibli's back catalogue, I wasn't too enthused about re-watching Ocean Waves. There's certainly worse Ghibli films (not many though) but this one is arguably the studio at its most ... middle of the road (well maybe except for the next one). In all honesty, it's hard to get too angry at the film since it came from a genuinely sincere place. The young staff of Ghibli were given a chance to make their own film and wanted to make something contemporary- something that spoke to them. From the perspective of the heads of the studio, this was a challenge given to the young staff to produce a film quickly, cheaply and efficintly whilst maintaining a high standard of quality. This, ironically, led the film to go over budget and over schedule. Ghibli hired young filmmaker Tomomi Mochizuki to helm the project. This would be the first time Ghibli film not directed by Miyazaki or Takahata, so I imagine the pressure was on for young Mochizuki. The film was based on a novel by Saeko Himuro, which was serialized in the Ghibli-affiliated magazine Animage. The serial was complete with illustrations by Katsuya Kondo, who also served as the film's characters designer and animation director. This was also going to Ghibli's first, and currently only, feature-length TV film - the film never screened in cinemas which might explain its obscurity in the West.

Our two protagonists (l:r) Taku and Rikako

The film is set in the small town of Kochi on the Japanese island of Shikoku (off the main island of Honshu). The film follows two friends, Taku and Yutaka, in high school, who seem to have an unbreakable bond. That is until a mysterious transfer student named Rikako enters their lives. Rikako is hot-headed, rude, stand-offish, intelligent, beautiful and attracts the eyes of all the boys in school, much to the ire of the girls. And of course Taku and Yutaka fall for her which ends up splitting them apart. Whilst on a school trip to Hawaii, Rikako asks to borrow some money from Taku as she "lost her own". As it turns out, she's actually saving up for a trip to fly back out to Tokyo to see her estranged father (Rikako's parents have split up and she lives with her mother in their new home in Kochi). Taku, through a series of circumstances, eventually gets pulled into Rikako's mad trip to Tokyo, as he begins to learn to grow up into an adult. 

Ocean Waves, for me, is a little bit of a dud. This is definitely the work of a group of young filmmakers, so it's kind of hard to completely hate on it, but it suffers from an unfocused script, under-written characters and a slightly sexist under-layer. The animation is great for a TV special, though maybe slightly under the quality of a standard Ghibli film (understandable though). The background art though is gorgeous. Ghibli had not rendered never rendered modern-day Japan before and in such realistic detail. The animator's experiences of growing up the country and moving to a metropolitan city really shines through. Miyazaki himself said truly great animation can only be achieved by drawing upon experience, which is evident in the design of Ocean Waves. However, outside of the technical elements, I can't really find much to recommend about Ocean Waves. Slice-of-life stories are fine, of course, but Ocean Waves' biggest problem is its unfocused script which veers from sentimental to kind of mean. It passes by 70 minutes but the pace is fairly slow and the construction of the scenes are uninteresting. This makes it feel like a much longer film than it actually is. There's plenty of scenes that could have worked with a better structure - all the students coming back to Kochi as adults and going out for drinks as part of their school reunion is a cute sequence. The problem is that all of a sudden they are transplanted with newly found personalities and secret crushes that don't even come up in the first part of the film. As a protagonist, Taku is also fairly flat. There could have been a charming personality in there - a young man in way over his head - but there's just not a lot there to latch onto. Things start out promisingly enough, with the film exploring the friendship between Taku and Yutaka. We learn how they both protested to the school cancelling the trip but go about it in different ways - a clever way of indicating that these two are very similar but quite different to each other. However, the film seems to forget about these earlier scenes and shifts focus to Taku and Rikako hanging out together; then we're dealing with Rikako's family problems before skipping forward a few years to the old friends reconciling with each other again. There's little rhythm to get to know these people as characters and it severely hurts the film. 

There is some gorgeous art design in the film but the script is unfocused

Mostly because I don't have a lot to say about the film at a whole, I want to use this opportunity to explore some feminist critique of character tropes that cropped up while I was watching the film. I think my big issue with the film is the way the central character of Rikako is written. She is moody and angry towards the world, shunning all those around and changing her emotions on a whim but this is all really just a mask to hide her inner pain. However, I think there is something vaguely insidious to this that reinforces incredibly negative stereotypes of women that the film tries to sweep under the rug at the end. The plot of the film is essentially Taku, the dominant male character, trying to untangle the central mystery of who this complex girl is and failing - only to get her as prize at the end anyway.

TV Tropes files Rikako under the Alpha Bitch type - a category shared by characters such as Pacifica Northwest from Gravity Falls, Regina from Mean Girls and Cordelia Chase from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. While these are great examples of characters where the writers undermine the trope, they start out as representative of the Alpha Bitch trope. She is usually at the centre of attention at high school, leader of her clique, generally a rich Daddy's girl (where the family usually have some kind of massive influence), probably a cheerleader and generally acts awful to everyone around her, complete with a group of mindless friends who follow her around everywhere. Rikako certainly displays elements of this trope but it doesn't quite fill the whole picture. In fact, elements of this trope are arguably combined with another in the film - the Broken Bird. These character usually have some kind of "cynicism catalyst' i.e. something bad that happened in her past that destroyed her faith in just about everything. Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe and Jessica Jones from her self-titled series are both examples of this trope done right - both suffer from a form of PTSD and are slowly beginning to overcome it in their own way. This trope is massively popular in anime and manga (the list is endless on the TV Topes site). Every major series you can think of has a female character that displays this trope - Evangelion, One Piece, Naruto, the list goes on. TV Tropes defines this archetype further as seemingly being emotionally experienced and her detachment gives the impression of competency but she often can't live up to this hype - which is an important aspect of Rikako's character. She's great at sport, is book smart, beautiful and stands out but struggles emotionally to connect. Basically, the film is trying to say that Rikako is "different from other girls".

Whilst Ghibli has a great reputation for writing great females characters, something when seriously wrong in the fleshing out of Rikako - a character who ends up drawing upon several tropes that are utilised to create a shallow and ultimately unengaging character 



Rikako has a mixture of both the tropes I have discussed in the way she is written. Certainly, Rikako displays elements of the Alpha Bitch - the entitlement, the disdain for everyone around here, seemingly being good at everything and all the boys wanting her however she's not exactly popular with other girls, which is crucial to the Alpha Bitch type. Truly memorable characters who fall into this trope work to overcome their issues as part of their character development. Cordelia and Pacifica break the mould of the Alpha Bitch type to become active members of their respective groups. They overcome how the world sees them to reveal intelligent and independent women, making up for her past "bitchiness" whilst not undermining who they are (until Angel ruined it all for Cordelia ... but that's another discussion for another time). Rikako in no way redeems herself from her actions in the film. She essentially steals money from two people, lies to a friend about the trip they are going on and essentially kidnaps her (Rikako convinces a friend to go away together for a couple of days though this is just a pretense to go on a last minute trip to Tokyo to see her dad) and intentionally antagonises all those around her. Then, after a particularly heated argument with Taku, she slips away and reappears right at the end of the world as a mature adult - not terribly inspiring. Then there's the Broken Bird side. She has a cynicism catalyst in that her parent's have split up and she's had to move from Tokyo. She is angry towards the world and stand-offish with everyone but is using it as a front to hide her inner turmoil. Lapis suffers from a traumatic past that helped to shape her outlook on the world and the universe however, after nearly flooding Earth, she is working on improving herself, but doesn't always succeed. Jessica Jones turns surviving her metaphorical rape into a crusade to ensure no woman suffers again at the hands of Kilgrave. What I want to make clear is that these characters start off in a certain depressed place that shape their world view but go on an arc to get work through the problem in their past. Rikako doesn't go on any kind of arc. She starts the film in one place, storms out of the characters' lives and re-appears years later as a mature woman - leaving her development up to the mind of the viewer. By robbing her of a character arc, the film ends up drawing upon two tropes that require some kind of development but just leaves the character as shallow and unengaging. Ultimately, Rikako is puzzle that the male character Taku must unravel, robbing her of any agency in what is essentially her own story and reinforces negative stereotypes about women being unreasonable, manipulative and difficult to deal with.

So there you have it - Ocean Waves. It's an interesting experiment that tried to show off what the young staff could do. Normally, I would be an apologist for this kind of creative springboard. It's great that the studio gave a chance to show the old guard what youthful talent could do and this really could the staff's time to shine. Instead, Ocean Waves aims low and doesn't sustain the landing. If you have to see every Ghibli film, Ocean Waves is certainly not terrible or anything. It's just very middle of the road with loads of untapped potential that passes by an inoffensive 70 minutes (unless you're a feminist, like me). However, then you stop and think that this is Studio Ghibli. Not all their films need to be like Miyazaki's, of course, but there needs to be something. A spark of creativity. There's no shame in producing a smaller scale story. Heck, in comparison to the works of Miyazaki and Takahata, a delicate, well-crafted coming of age tale set in modern-day Japan with a cute romance at the centre could have made for a unique, smart, subtle, moving and charming film that represented a change of pace for the studio... oh, wait...they made that one ... it's called Whisper of the Heart. That one is a couple of articles away though - basically, it's Ocean Waves done right ... Anyway - final thoughts on Ocean Waves. If you have to see it, then it's fine but there's a dozen or so better Ghibli films you could be watching instead. 

With Ghibli's new mission to find a way to continue the legacy of Miyazaki and Takahata seemingly limping out of the gate, it would be a case of returning back to the tried-and-tested formula of the old masters. Takahata's new project was finally on the horizon and hopes were high it could match the immense quality of Only Yesterday and Grave of the Fireflies...more on that next time...

No comments on an English dub this time since one is not available in the UK.

Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective, Part Eight - Porco Rosso

Here's an odd one. Often viewed as the black sheep (or pig, in this case) of Hayao Miyazaki's venerable filmography, Porco Rosso is, to some degree, the purest realisation of several of director's key thematic concerns. While it is easy to write the film off as the outcast of Miyazaki's filmography, Porco Rosso actually contains some of his purest statement of intents than any of his other projects. It also offers a rare glimpse of politics being directly explored in the narrative (i.e. not through metaphor) of his films. 

Porco Rosso, aka the Crimson Pig, is a bounty hunter working in the Adriatic Sea at the end of the 1920s. As something of a local legend, Porco enjoys nothing more than hunting down seaplane pirates, earning some money, kicking back at his favourite bar owned an old flame, Gina, and drinking wine. In short, he's a bit of a slob. And also happens to be an anthpomeric pig. See, he was a former World War One fighter pilot by the name of Marco Pagot who became disillusioned after the war and was cursed to be a pig. The reason why and how are left ambiguous. In any case, Porco is a very negative kind of guy and pushes away anyone who comes close to him. The only friend he has left from the "old days" is Gina. The two clearly share a complex relationship. Porco's world is thrown into slight chaos when the seaplane pirates, sick of Porco constantly thwarting their plans, hire hot-shot American pilot Curtis to take him down. After successfully shooting the pig down, Porco must make a trip to Milan to have his plane repaired in the hopes of fighting Curtis again and regaining his 'honour'.

Porco Rosso is an excellent character study backed by fantastical world that is also socio-historical literate 

The project had a peculiar genesis. One of Miyazaki's more under-appreciated side projects are his manga series. His Nausicaa manga is, of course, a masterpiece but there are several others he produced over the years. One in particular was a short three chapter series named Hikōtei Jidai or The Age of the Flying Boat. I'm not sure if I've mentioned yet, as it's a pretty well known fact and now seems as good a time as any to discuss this, but Miyazaki has a real love for flying, planes and pretty much any form of aviation.  Every single one of his films has at least one flying sequence (except Princess Mononoke) and two of them are fairly full-on explorations of this passion - The Wind Rises (which we'll get to a long way down the track) and Porco Rosso. The preceding manga version of the story is a lot simpler and lighter in tone - many of the characters are not in it, Porco is a much more light-hearted guy and the political nature of the story is toned back. The manga is an absolute work of art. Making use of a watercolour scheme and highly detailed and exaggerated takes on early 20th century planes, this was a clear labour of love for Miyazaki. Naturally, Miyazaki imagined the potential of this story in animation. He even admitted at the time of the final chapter being published that he could only push the dog-fight finale so far in comic book form and wanted to better communicate the motions of the planes through animation. A film offer though came from a very odd place. Japan Airlines wanted Miyazaki to produce a short film based on the series to be shown as part of their in-flight entertainment. Miyazaki began in earnest developing the story but it soon grew into a feature length film. Japan Airlines remained a major investor and still showed the film long before its theatrical release on is long haul flights. For those wondering why the film opens with a text scroll in a dozen or so different languages briefly summarising the story - this was a requirement for Japan Airlines to show it on its international flights!

The manga is a gorgeous work of art in its own right, showing off Miyazaki's richly detailed plane designs, vibrant colour scheme and unrivalled sense of motion

I think what makes Porco Rosso odder than any other Ghibli film is that the setting is clearly defined, both geographically and historically. In terms of locations, Porco visits Milan to have his plane repaired, hangs out at various islands in the Adriatic Sea and has his hidden island, which he calls home, off the coast of the Croatian coastline. The historical context is also made clear. Porco was once an Italian fighter pilot hero in World War One. He also looks at the rise of fascism in Italy in the 1930s with utter disgust. "I'd rather be a pig than a facist", he snidely exclaims to a former colleague turned tool for the Facist Italian government (though he still helps Porco out from time to time under cover). Outside of this, the film is very much in the realms of fantasy. Despite its historical overtones, I would still class the film on part of the artistic concept we have discussed previously of "France of our dreams", which I want to extend even further to "Europe of our dreams', which reaches its natural conclusion with Howl's Moving Castle. 

The opening of the film deftly sets an exciting and upbeat tone with Porco rescuing a gaggle of school children from a group of seaplane pirates called the Mamma Auito gang. The opening is actually something of a misnomer for the rest of the film. It's gag-riddled and has a high energy that makes for an incredibly absorbing opening 10 minutes. The film is very efficient - there's no filler and tries to communicate its points neatly and effectively. The opening shows this and it's not long before we are pulled into Porco hanging out of Gina's bar, where the two share an intimate conversation. Gina imparts that her pilot husband has died in a plane crash. She has actually had a couple of other husbands before him, including one of Porco's old war buddies, and has become emotionally withdrawn. Gina is probably my favourite character in the film outside of Porco. She fells like a character who has stepped out of Casablanca - sophisticated, quick to take action, secretly undermining the ruling authority and deeply romantic. Her introduction to the film couldn't be more classic Hollywood, as she sings the beautiful Le temps des Cerises in the bar. 

The opening 10 minutes is action packed and gag riddled

Gina's introduction in the film

Porco's world is thrown into chaos when the hot-shot American pilot Curtis, hired by the seaplane pirates, shoots down his plane. Curtis is a fun character. Hoping to make it big and make the American dream, Curtis one day wants to conquer Hollywood. My favourite scene of his is where he tries to explain to Gina his dreams of becoming an actor, in all his goofy naivety. Gina just bursts out laughing and basically explains that life is more complex than a Hollywood film. Following Porco's defeat, the pig must make his way to Milan in Italy to consult with his old friend Piccolo to assist in the repairing of his plane. This isn't going to come cheap and, much to Porco's surprise, the chief designer will be Piccolo's grand-daughter - the young and very enthusiastic Fio. Fio is an absolute delight of a character and an archetypal Miyazaki heroine. Part of Fio's journey in the film is overcoming the inherent sexism in society and Porco's own narrow-minded views. This whole sequence is excellent - from the initial design phase of Porco's new plane, his surprise that an all female crew will be building it, to his eventual escape from Milan when the fascist police discover he is hiding out in the town. This whole sequence shows off the incredible attention to detail in regards to the plane designs. The motion as well is stunning. This is probably some of the best animated flying sequences I have ever seen in a film mostly because it so effectively communicates the sense of weight and speed that only a true lover of planes can present (while also graced with unmatched animation skill).

Curtis is a loveable antagonist (in the loosest sense of the term) 

Fio is a spirited, well-rounded character trying to overcome the inherent sexism of the early 20th century

I think now is an important time to discuss the socio-historical context this film was made in. Yes, we're going there. The film went into production during the outbreak of the Yugoslavia War of the 1990s, an incredibly violent and chaotic period for the region. Miyazaki originally intended the film to be set in the film in the former Yugoslavia, more specially the area now known as Croatia. However, he decided to re-adjust the plot following the outbreak of war and genocide. With the Baltic nations in disarray, Porco Rosso looked back to a simpler time for the coastal regions of these countries that formed the Adriatic Sea. The film itself shies away from the complex history of the genesis of the Yugoslavian conflict (which can be traced back to the 1920s) and rather looks to Italy and the rise of Mussolini to back Porco's exploits against. Italy's wide spread economic and social problems are brought up several times. Jobs are scarce, so all the men in Piccolo's village have left, leaving the women to repair Porco's plane (much to his surprise). Fio can't believe how much fuel is due to the sky-high inflation rate. Money is simply not worth the paper it is printed on. There is this sense of a pervading twilight to the story as well; that worst things are on the horizon. While it is largely a high-energy action comedy, there is this inescapable sense of sadness surrounding it. Whilst re-fuelling his plane, Porco learns from a patron that the Italian government is now hiring seaplane pirates for their own use, essentially putting bounty hunters such as Porco out of business. His battle with Curtis suddenly has this end of an era vibe. 

Porco Rosso deals in part with the rise of facism in Italy during the late 1920s and has very vague echoes of the (then) contemporary conflict in the former Yugoslavia

The heart of the film really begins to come out when the focus shifts to Porco and Fio's growing friendship. See, she insists on coming along to help ensure that her masterpiece is kept in safe hands with Porco and also probably for a bit of adventure and excitement. The pair eventually make it back to Porco's island but find it surrounded by the seaplane pirates. After they agree a date for the pig to have a final encounter with Curtis, Porco and Fio spend the evening preparing. Porco tells Fio a chilling story about an encounter he had during World War One (back when he was a man). Following a dog fight and the deaths of several of his friends, Porco essentially blacks out and wakes up transcending into the sky in his plane. Up above him are hundreds of other planes, flying to the very upper echelons of the sky, symbolic of them passing into the next life. These pilots are making their final flight. Porco also sees one of his friends rising up and calls out to him, only to go unheard. It's a hauntingly beautiful moment and is probably the highlight of the film. This little aside actually bares strong resemblance to the Roald Dahl short story They Shall Not Grow Old. Miyazaki is a note fan of Dahl's adult fiction, so it makes sense he draws influence from the author's tales as a pilot in World War Two. 

Pilots ascend into the sky to make their final journey in the film's best scene

So in this vein and keeping the above points in mind, I'm going to discuss the most common question brought up with this film - why is Porco a pig? All we are told is that some kind of curse was placed upon him. I know some people have issues that the exact how's and why's are never explained but for me the ambiguity works. It's quite easy to draw your own conclusions on why. Miyazaki has explained in a bit more detail in subsequent interviews about the film why he is a pig but I think all this can be drawn from the film. The only thing we can't draw is the how though Miyazaki says the curse is self-inflicted. Following World War One and losing several of his friends, Porco became withdrawn and bitter towards the world. He shuns anyone who gets close to him and generally acts slobbish. The only photo that remains of him as a human is in Gina's bar though his face is scribbled out. I would even describe his actions, and subsequent challenge to Curtis, as a form of toxic masculinity. He wants to regain his honour by proving he is the toughest and the best pilot of the Adriatic. Thus, his appearance as a pig. Miyazaki once said that all middle-aged men are pigs, which I think is a line used in the dub (might be misremembering) which, while a harsh view point, goes someway to explaining that his appearance as a pig is related to his current emotional place in the world. Only through his encounters with Fio is he able to break through his emotional barrier and form a meaningful relationship. Fio is literally able to see him as a man, as in the evening camping scene she captures a brief glimpse of Porco in human form. 

All this builds to an exciting conclusion in which Porco and Curtis finally battle it out both on air and land. It's a brilliant sequence and a return to the high energy seen in the opening of the film. In the end it turns into a literally punchout, complete with comically over-the-top bruises and swelling.  So at the end of the film, Porco does win his match with Curtis but it isn't this that ultimately breaks his curse. As Fio leaves, ahead of the Italian army coming to put a stop to the now illegal meet-up of bounty hunters and seaplane pirates, she plants an innocent kiss on Porco's cheek. Curtis and Porco look on as the Italian army arrive but not before the hot-headed American turns around in shock, demanding to see Porco's face. The conclusion reached here is fairly obvious. Restoring his honour and pride doesn't turn him back into a human - it's the formation of a true meaningful human relationship. So while the film is a high energy action-comedy film, there is something to be said about the emotional arc Porco embarks on and I think it runs deeper on re-watches.

Porco Rosso offers a genuinely affecting tale of a man rediscovering his humanity

The past and how it informs us is a huge aspect of Porco Rosso's subtext



So, overall, I'm very fond of Porco Rosso. It's not one of my favourite Miyazaki films but it does has this strange power that draws you in. At 90 minutes, it's also one of his shortest films but because of that its very efficient in its story telling. I think the main character of Porco is one of Miyazaki's most interesting and flawed protagonists. In fact, the main cast of four characters (Porco, Fio, Gina and Curtis) are all highly memorable and go on their own arcs. From a socio-historical stand point, I think Porco Rosso is a fascinating piece - an abstract portrayal of the rise of fascism in the early 20th century which, while not historically accurate, succeeds in communicating the paranoia, bruised feelings and shifting political stand points of the era. It's light on plot, which I think is its ultimate detriment, but the characters that form this world are big personalities that make up for this. It's a simple story but filled with a huge amount of heart and imagination that makes Porco Rosso an incredibly entertaining watch and offers a genuinely moving main character arc that sits in the viewer's residual memory long after the viewing.

...and this might be one of the rare occasions where I actually prefer the English dub to the original. This has only become apparent while watching it in Japanese this time round. Michael Keaton lends his versatile vocal cords to Porco, managing to play up the conflict inside of the character - he's ultimately a good guy but he's rubbish at communicating this. I think what makes it for me though is Cary Elwes, who provides an over-the-top performance as Curtis - complete a Southern drawl! Elwes really gets the essence of the character - a larger than life figure disguising the fact he is still, emotionally, a child. It's a really fun performance that elevates the character above the original Japanese voice actor. I'm also very fond of Susan Egan as Gina, who is probably more famous now amongst animation fans as the voice of Rose Quartz from Steven Universe and Meg from Hercules. She has a real gift for bringing characters to life who are masking a hidden sadness, so she is perfect as Gina. Her talk with Porco in the bar about her dead husbands suddenly has this new weight which is lacking in the Japanese dub. Rounding off the main cast is Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who brings a real sense of energy and spirit to Fio - probably about on par with the Japanese actor.

Miyazaki would go on a brief hiatus whilst prepping his next film, leaving the studio in a slight pickle. For the first time, Ghibli really began to try and make plans for its future. It would turn to its eager young staff for inspiration....

Thor: Ragnarok

I think for most people the Thor films represent the worst tendencies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bland plots, forgettable villains, CGI heavy action scenes and not quite the wit one would expect from these films. Which is frustrating because Thor has the potential to be the craziest, most out-there property Marvel has. So as news about Thor: Ragnarok began to break out, I slowly became more and more interested. It was going to be partly based on the bat-shit crazy storyline Planet Hulk, it boasted a lively early trailer featuring Led Zep's The Immigrant Song and they had hired quirky New Zealand director Taika Waititi to helm the project. Waititi, of course, directed the wonderful vampire comedy film What We Do In The Shadows a couple of years ago. So what can this creative director inject into the very tired Thor series? Fun. Loads and loads of fun.

So right off the bat, Ragnarok jettisons all the very worst elements of the previous films. There's no Natalie Portman, no Earth setting, no excruciatingly unfunny Kat Dennings performance. And Stellan Skarsgård doesn't get naked at any point. Gotta count our blessings. The biggest shift though is the injection of new personality into Thor himself. I think most people agree that Thor is the wettest of the Avengers and the hardest sell for a feature length film. There are times when the character comes to life in the previous films but he definitely didn't leave the same mark as Tony Stark or Captain America. Call it weak direction but the previous Thor films always struggled to tease out some much needed personality from the Norse God. Whatever Waititi did has worked absolute wonders. Chris Hemsworth is largely excellent in the film - heroic and larger than life but ultimately a big of a goofball. This new found centre for Thor allows Hemsworth to really run riot with the comedy and make up for lost character time. The guy actually has really great comic timing.

With a new look and wittier personality, Chris Hemsworth really manages to sell this slightly re-imagined Thor, with a penchant for great comedy timing

We open with this newly lightened up Thor in the middle of a jam - he has been imprisoned by a giant fiery demon who is threatening to end all life on Asgard - Ragnarok, if you will. Thor glibly shrugs this off, defeats the villain and makes his escape attempt. He eventually finds himself back on Asgard and discovers that his cheeky brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), previously thought to be dead, has been impersonating their father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins). The kingdom is disary as Loki has been glibly ruling the kingdom. It's easy to forget why audiences love Loki so much but Ragnarok features plenty of great moments for Hiddleston to shine, which ultimately remind us why we became infatuated with this character in the first place. This is probably Loki at his most playful yet and these plenty go great back-and-forth between him and Thor.

Any loose ends left at the end of Thor: The Dark World are tied up pretty quickly (it's not long before the mystery surrounding Odin's disappearance is resolved) before the plot proper kicks in. With of announcement of the God of Death Hela's (Cate Blanchett) return, the prophesied Ragnarok (a 'real' piece of Norse mythology) begins to unfolded as she starts to stake her claim to the throne of Asgard. Hela is ... what you'd expect for a Marvel villain. Sufficient enough motivation without being particularly interesting. At least Hela boasts an exaggerated art design and a massively over-the-top performance from Cate Blanchett. It feels almost perfunctory to have a big villain to fight in one of these movies and while I wish the film concentrated on the more interesting elements (more on that later) Hela at least makes an impression unlike some of the other villains in this series. I've heard some draw colonist comparisons with Hela's backstory and motivation...if that was the intention then these elements are not really concentrated on to make a big statement...

Hela is a fairly standard Marvel villain (you know all the problems that come with this) but Cate Blanchett gives a suitably hammy performance

Following a massive defeat by the villain, Thor is exiled from Asgard and winds up trapped on a planet at the centre of many different inter-dimensional portals. The planet is literally home to rubbish from all over the universe and is ruled over by the Grandmaster, played by the master of ham himself Jeff Goldblum. It's fair to say that filmmakers just put some silly make-up on the actor and told him to "Jeff Goldblum" as much as he wanted to.  He might not be for everyone but the awkward line reads and strange timing really works for this clearly insane villain. He elevates what could have been a pretty flat Big Bad.

There's nothing quite like an unleashed Jeff Goldblum performance

This middle third of the film is easily the highlight. It's a lively world built on a hierarchy of gladiatorial combat, overseen by the Grandmaster. Thor must rise up through the ranks and try to find a way off the planet to confront Hela, now casting her dominion over Asgard (with the help of a buff and bald Karl Urban). This is where Waititi's humour really shines through, as manifested by a rock creature played by himself and gets some of the biggest laughs. It's not long before the rock creature gives Thor some quick advice and warning before facing up against his first opponent, who turns out to be non other than the exiled Hulk, last seen flying away in Age of Ultron. From here it's a crazy array of bright battles, funny one-liners, clever call backs to previous films (Loki's reaction to seeing the Hulk again is particularly great) and a laid-back yet oddly fast pace. Throw in some variety with Tessa Thompson's alcoholic Valkeryie and its a massively motley world with a population of bright characters to fill it. I actually wish this could have made up more of the film. Get rid of the villain of the week plot and make it entirely about Thor trying to get off this planet. Anytime the film cuts back to the action happening on Asgard (there are some returning faces from the previous Thor films) it is a bit of a chore compared to this main sequence, even if some unsavoury truths are revealed about the foundation of the kingdom.

The Hulk and Bruce Banner are an absolute treat in this

What really helps to sell Ragnarok though is the relationship between Thor and Hulk. After the pair get over their epic arena fight over with, their banter evolves into what can almost be described as a buddy cop comedy. Mark Ruffalo is a great returning cast member and his presence has been missed from the previous films. This time though, Hulk actually gets a speaking role, with Ruffalo providing the motion capture. The actor shines though as the long-suffering Bruce Banner, having woken up from his longest-stint as the Hulk yet. There are some genuinely tender moments between the two characters but it isn't long before Waititi gets back to the zaniness of the plot. Ruffalo is absolutely still the definitive on-screen Bruce Banner/Hulk for me and Ragnarok offers no reasons for me to think otherwise.

While Thor: Ragnarok does nothing particularly ground-breaking with the genre, it is above and away the funniest film Marvel has ever produced. With a new found sense of life and colour, Waititi manages to bring out the weird and wonderful elements that should have always been in the Thor series. I do find it a bit of a shame that the film felt the need to include a standard villain-of-the-week plot, even if Cate Blanchett's over-the-top performance somewhat makes up for it. Ragnarok, from a plot perspective, is basically like the previous two films but with the addition of a comedic, playful and light tone. While it does have the standard third-act-big-battle issues we have come to expect from modern blockbusters, that middle section is just so infectious that it more than makes up for the more standard elements of the film. It just shows what a creative talent can do to add meat to some pretty well-worn bones. All that said, I walked out of the cinema with a broad smile on my face.

Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective, Part Seven - Only Yesterday

I think Only Yesterday will always stand as the unappreciated gem of the Ghibli back-catalogue. It had a positive reception upon release in Japan in 1993 and was a financial hit. Yet for years it was rarely seen outside of Japan. UK viewers were lucky enough to get a subtitled version released several years ago through an Optimum Film distribution loop-hole. The U.S., on the other hand, only got a cinemas and home video release in 2016, where it finally received its first-English language dub. Despite its relative obscurity, it has gained a reputation as being the 'boring' Ghibli film - the melodramatic one, the more adult orientated art-house indie one. I admit that it might not be for all audiences and it may indeed bore younger children or those more prone to the faster paced anime. Whilst understandable, Only Yesterday is actually, in my opinion, one of the most subtle and quietly ground-breaking in the whole Ghibli canon. It's also probably Takahata's second best film (or third, depending on how I feel upon re-watching Kaguya) after the mighty Grave of the Fireflies. It's certainly more watchable!

Set in 1982, Only Yesterday follows 27 year old Taeko, an office worker living in Tokyo. Something of a misfit in the big city, she is receiving increasing pressure from her family to settle down. Taeko decides to get it away from it all by spending her vacation time visiting a family in the country and helping them on their farm by harvesting safflower. On the sleeper train out, she starts to reminiscence about her at 10-years old and remembers her desire to go on holiday, which ends up sparking a whole flurry of emotions and memories. The film intercuts between Taeko at 27, working on the farm and forming a relationship with a farmhand named Toshio, and her at age 10 growing up in 1966.

Taeko, stuck in an office job in the middle of modern Tokyo, decides to break away from it all and holiday by helping out on a farm in the middle of the Japanese countryside

Takahata's reportedly had a difficult time cracking the script and structure on this film. Only Yesterday is actually based on a manga series, which is very episodic in structure and only concentrates on the 1960s sections. While Takahata would return to make a more 'episodic-style' film a few years later with My Neighbours The Yamadas, his solution with Only Yesterday is fairly inspired. The framing device of Taeko looking back at her childhood whilst working on a farm is actually an invention of the film. At key and appropriate times in the framing narrative, we cut to a scene of her as a child, reliving whatever recollection she is having. Sometimes it can be something as simple as a phrase or a person or a smell that sparks her memories. They're only very small things that set her off remembering and, yeah, this really is the way we recall memories, even things we have previously forgotten about. 

The production choices of Only Yesterday are fascinating. In a radical move for anime production, the actors for the adult sections were recorded first before animation was completed. The animators in turn would base their work on the actor's actual performances. The vast majority of the time with anime, the animation is completed first, with the actors coming in later to complete the vocal tracks. The animators paid close attention to the way the actors spoke their dialogue. This had a massive influence on giving the adult sections of the film a very distinctive style. The subtle facial features and expressions give way to a more realistic style. I think this is the only anime film I can think of where the cheek bones of the characters are visible! 

Is Taeko the only anime character in history with distinctive cheek bones?

There is something of a question mark hanging around whether this needs to be presented in animation. I think it works as the two storylines work in conjunction with each other. Contrast the 'adult' scenes with the childhood sections, which are definitely more traditionally 'anime' in style. These sections were animated in a more traditional way, with exaggerated expressions, a brighter colour scheme for the characters and washed out, almost watercolored, backgrounds. Plus all the animation was competed before the voice actors recorded their lines. This gives a great sense of nostalgia, as if evoking a memory. Combine this with the interspersed fantasy sequences, the film evokes the strong emotions one feels as a child. There are simply loads to pick from as examples. Taeko's extremely red face when she is suffering from a cold. Or the visual embarrassment she feels when the girls in the school learn about puberty and periods. The most over-the-top is her first romantic encounter with a boy. See, some graffiti has been scrolled on the side of the school, which essentially translates to "Taeko likes so-and-so" (think of it as the Japanese equivalent of craving a couple's initials on a tree in the centre of a love heart). Taeko and the boy have an awkward encounter to fumble their way through their emotions but end on a good note.  Taeko turns around and literally starts to walk on air, high on successfully navigating her first romantic encounter. All the scenes dealing with her childhood are an absolute treat and help us to understand the woman Taeko has grown up to become. So on the one hand, you have a realistically animated section that deals with real 'grown-up' issues and another part that is more bright and exaggerated. This helps to emphasise the difference the past and the present. 

Note the incredibly washed out, water-colour style backgrounds to evoke a distant memory

An example of the exaggerated anime style to convey strong emotions, as Taeko dreams of becoming an actor

Taeko high on navigating her way through her first romantic encounter

All that said, I do love how the film shows childhood is not as necessarily ideallic or 'film-like' as one remembers. It's part of why I don't like A Christmas Story (sorry to my American readers, I know this is a holiday classic - I just can't stand it) - childhood is played out like a rosy Clinton's card in that film where only the broadest moments are remembered. I think it's too easy to paint childhood with rose tinted glasses. Only Yesterday does to some degree but only does it where appropriate. If it's a fond memory, then everything does feel exaggerated. However, Only Yesterday does show that this relatively brief period of time is a bit more complex than just "happy memories'. A great example of this is where her father buys a pineapple, a very rare fruit in 1960s Japan. It's a fairly mundane scene - the family is trying a food they have never tasted before but it succeeds because these are the kind of memories you oddly hold onto and can be triggered by a taste or a smell. So, everyone gathers round excitedly to try it for the first time. Taeko is especially excited. However, they have a problem. No one knows how to cut it properly. So it sits on the shelf for a week, Taeko completely deflated of her excitement. However, one of her sister's friends explains how one cuts up a pineapple. The whole family sit down to enjoy the prized fruit but everyone is put off by its rich, acidic taste after one bite. Yet, despite clearly not enjoying it, Taeko keeps forcing it down her - after all, she has waited a week to try this and she is going to convince herself she likes it! So right there you have excitement, boredom and disappointment. It's a not ground shattering character moment - just a cute little anecdote about trying pineapple for the first time that perfectly shows the film's approach to engaging with childhood moments. 

Add captionFrom pie-making to pineapple tasting, Ghibli really knows how to turn mundane scenes in something far more

For a film made by a man, Only Yesterday is actually fairly open, honest and tender about female puberty ... I imagine Takahata had to get some fairly informed sources on this!

Only Yesterday also grapples with the many negative emotions being a child. My favourite scene in the whole film just sums up what it's like being a kid. Taeko and her family are going out for a meal. Her older sister has a fancy new bag and Taeko clearly wants a new one as well. However, she gets stuck with one of her sister's hand me downs. She makes it perfectly clear she doesn't want the bag and by extension won't go to the meal unless she gets a new bag. And her parents are like "fine, stay home then". But now she definitely won't get the new bag and is being left out of the family meal! So she ends up getting very emotional and starts to cry. Young kid doesn't get his or her way - kid gets upset. Despite this being a common truth about children, it's rarely represented on film and with such attention to detail. The scene highlights what a master Takahata is when it comes to animating body language. This scene is just one of the examples where I think the film greatly succeeds at conveying the full range of emotions of being a child; sometimes they're not always positive emotions. Films rarely portray children in this way. 

It's also great at hinting at the family's wider issues. Again, as a child you're never 100% aware of problems that might be occurring, as you're in your own little world. Only Yesterday perfectly conveys this. She has a fairly depressive, patriarchal father, who has a heavy influence over the whole family. In one fell swoop, he actively stops her from taking part in a university-produced play, despite her clear enthusiasm. Add to this, he has a domineering presence over the other women in the house hold. It's clear who wears the shoes in the house. At one point, he takes things too far and actually hits Taeko. My reasoning for the father being so cold and detached is that he grew up World War Two - in fact he was probably Grave of the Fireflies' Seita's age at the height of it all. His cold, traditional, firm look on the world likely comes from growing up in this traumatic time. This may well have been part of Taeko deciding, as an adult, to break out and do something she wants to do after living a repressive household. This is just hinted at though and I may well be reading into it too much but it makes sense. I think in part, the film's deeper layer is a desire to understand and compartmentalise the past, both the good and the bad - however this is impossible, as it's not just our experiences but it's all people's experiences that help to form who we are. Add in the layer of how Japan's complex past directly influenced Taeko's childhood leading into adulthood, you have formed a running theme of how collective experience of how powers out of your control directly influence your life and its course. Taeko's father presumably became traumatised and withdrawn after the war, became emotionally stunted but wanted to run a traditional family household. In turn, Taeko's father didn't encourage her to go into acting (a seemingly silly past time, from his point of view), which may well have been a stepping stone to something else. Instead, she grows up to live in the expected way for a responsible adult, which just adds to her wanting to escape it all. It's just our past that influences who we are - it's everyone's. 

He's not in it much but Taeko's father exerts a massive influence over her life and its course

Despite all my gushing about the wonderful childhood scenes, it would be easy to write off the adult scenes as simply the framing device - something to hang all the anecdotes on. However, this is simply not the case with Only Yesterday. While the childhood scenes are certainly the highlight of the earlier portion of the film, a lot of time is spent in the second half exploring where Taeko is at. In fact, a lot of her remembering past events gets stripped away, so we are just focusing on who she is now and where she is going. We see her grow closer to Toshio, as the two share some fairly cute conversations, and a younger girl, who she begins to grow an almost sisterly bond with. There is a clear love and affection for the Japanese countryside. A truly beautiful scene is where the farmers and Taeko are working before day break to harvest the safflower and the sun slowly begins to rise over the valley. Toshio also explains to her that they only grow organic produce, a crazy concept back in the early 90s! I love Taeko's dated reaction to the process of growing 'organic' food. Now common place as part of mass-marketing, back in the early nineties it was only real farmers who wanted to follow this crazy, much harder, method of growing their crops. "Well, I grew organic food before it was cool" is basically Toshio's sentiment, I imagine.

It's hard work but Taeko gets something out of doing a hard's day graft on the farm

Things seem great until the eve of Taeko leaving, where the elderly Grandma asks if she likes Toshio and if she will marry him! It's intended to be loving and simple - she can clearly tell that Taeko loves living in the country and she enjoys spending time with Toshio. Why not get together! But Taeko is completely taken aback by this. Everything she tried to escape from comes into her ideallic holiday in the country. She even begins questioning her motivations for coming in the first place. So she takes a short drive to clear her mind and ends up bumping into Toshio. This leads into an incredibly effective scene where she is talking to Toshio about a boy in her class who she didn't treat right. He was scruffy, dirty and came from a poor background and Taeko always struggled to communicate with him. In an odd move that breaks the formula of the film (in a good way), Taeko relays the story to Toshio verbally. We don't have a flashback scene to illustrate this. The deep regret on her face on how she handled the situation is probably more powerful than any kind of flashback scene could arguably communicate. It's almost as if it's something she'd rather forget, a memory she has long repressed. The only visual we have is of Taeko seeing 'spirit' of him as she is running away from the farm in the pouring rain.

Taeko with her adoptive country family

Taeko comes to the end of her time on farm and must return to her life in Tokyo. She has seemingly not made her decision on how she feels about Toshio. I love her stunted goodbye as she gets on the train. With only a few moments left before the train leaves, she begins to offer loving words to the girl she has formed an almost sisterly relationship with and begins a goodbye to Toshio. However, a very late old man interrupts them and forces his way past them. By the time they have gotten over this interruption, the train starts pulling away. It almost feels like unfinished business for Taeko. Then the credit begin to roll! What? But ... but ... what happens to Taeko? Fortunately, the credits begin to play over fully animated scenes that continues to follow Taeko. With no dialogue and the bittersweet song The Rose playing, we visually see Taeko mulling things over in her head. Suddenly, her younger self is literally beside her, beckoning her to go back, as if her memories have become flesh and are informing her decisions today. Then the rest of the children from her class appear and help her to change trains at the next station, so she can go back to  the village. It's a crazy, beautiful and metaphorical moment, where Taeko decides to seize the day for really the first time in her life. She has made a choice to better herself and was helped literally by her 10-year old self. Reunited with Toshio, the two walking together lovingly, as the children re-create the graffiti on the wall earlier in the film. And ... yeah, I got a bit emotional on this viewing. The ending helps to reinforce the film's ultimate theme. Taeko's past literally enters her life to help reinforce her choices in the present. On a visual level, this is the first time the film has fused the more realistic animation style with the more exaggerated anime character models. Our past experiences help to inform who we are in the present.

Taeko literally changes the course of her life in the ending

I can't find a picture on the internet of the original graffiti on the wall ... but, drawing upon an example I used earlier, this is like if you visually recreated of a wood craved love heart with people's initials in it, only the actual people replace the initials...

Overall, Only Yesterday is an incredibly sweet and effective coming of age story with a very unique structure. The film is a perfect example of what distinguishes Takahata from Miyazaki, with an emphasis on animating subtle body language and a deeper metaphorical layer of dealing with Japan's complex past. I don't think this is for everyone. I can't really see children getting a lot out of it and if you prefer the more fantasy side of Ghibli, then Only Yesterday is probably not for you. However, if you're willing to engage with a slower paced, more introspective anime film, then Only Yesterday casts a great spell.

So, I have not seen the relatively new English dub of Only Yesterday. I might be wrong but I don't think the English dub is available in the UK. We got the Japanese subtitled version through Optimum several years ago and that seems to be our lot. Daisy Ridley plays adult Taeko and Dev Patel plays Toshio. The consensus seems to be that Ridley is great in the role, while Patel .. is not so much. I have heard that to get across the 'countryside' accent, Patel speaks in a broad London accent, which is just bizarre sounding to me. Admittedly, it would be hard to accurately represent that Taeko speaks with a Tokyo accent and that Toshio speaks with a more Japanese countryside accent in an English dub, but surely there must have been a smarter, more organic way?

Top 50 Favourite Films

Well .. here it is. A list a lifetime in the making that I'll no doubt want to re-tweak the minute I've posted it. I've seen a lot of movies in my time and distilling all that down to pick my favourites has been tough. The problem I have found is ... well, I love film a bit too much and I've seen too many movies! So when I decided to embark on a top 20 list... which then became 30 ... then 50 ... I found I still had a lot of films left out that I still wanted to mention. Not wanting to go to 100 (!), I just thought I'd have an honourable mentions sections, which I'll list in brief...

Honourable Mentions

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, It's A Wonderful Life, Anchorman, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Breakfast Club, Sympathy For Mr Vengeance, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, A Serious Man, The Good The Bad & The Ugly, Raging Bull, Gremlins, Toy Story Trilogy, Back To The Future Part II, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jurassic Park, High Noon, No Country For Old Men, The Man Who Wasn't There, Bad Santa, Seven Samurai, Ikiru, E.T., The Master, Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Blade Runner

I want to dedicate a section of 'Honourable Mentions' to Blade Runner. There was a time when Blade Runner would have been a lot higher on the list but as I've got older ... I've cooled off towards it and found that there is no perfect version of this film. For the most part, I favour The Final Cut - omitting the awful voice over was a great start but I have mixed feelings about the addition of the "is Dec a Replicant?". This was something added long after the film was finished and at the behest of at least three of the creative voices involved in making the film. It adds a great layer of ambiguity to the film but robs it somewhat of the heart of the story. It adds an existential edge to it, sure ... but the film in part was already about what it means to live...so I don't know. Plus, the script is a bit of a mess - certain elements are not given enough time to develop and leaves the overall arc ... unsatisfying. All that said though, the pros of Blade Runner, of which there are many, easily outweigh the issues. The plot is intriguing and the world it creates is fascinating, rich and hugely influential. I know it sounds like I have more problems with the film that positives but I think it's greater than the sum of its spare parts. It's a very absorbing film, where you can just get lost in the setting. Nothing beats that finale either. Time to die ...

Dishonourable Mentions

Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I love "so-bad-they're good movies" and I'd be remiss if I didn't include at least a couple on the list. So these all the time classic Dungeons & Dragons and The Room. D&D is a terrible, terrible film that's trying to be this epic fantasy epic whilst being "cool and hip" - it's horrible and glorious! Then there's The Room, which can lay claim to one of the best cinema experiences I have ever had. And it only gets funnier and funnier, especially if you've read Greg Sestro (one of the actors)'s memoirs as published in the wonderful book The Disaster Artist.

? Mentions

Is Pink Flamingos a good film or a bad film? I really don't know but I have to give a shout out to the weird master himself John Waters and Pink Flamingos is simply his masterpiece. It's an unreal film and a testament to the classic adage "be yourself" ... ...

With all that out of the way ... let's get started!

50. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

This is one where I don't know if it's a good film or a bad film but I sure love the hell out of it. I went from being completely confused by it the first time round to completely falling in love with it on repeated viewings. It's such a bizarre and campy concept that I just can't help digging the hell out of it. It has issues for sure, the middle sags a little bit, but the music and staging is just phemonal. A brilliant send up and dedication to B movies and old Hollywood, the film is anchored by Tim Curry's incredible performance as Dr. Frankenfurter. When Rocky Horror works, it really really works. The final 20 minutes delve into some of the oddest, yet strangely beautiful moments, I have ever seen in a musical. The I'm Going Home section is just spine-tinglingly good. As Frankenfurter suggests, or more implores, "give yourself over absolute pleasure". Rocky Horror is just the film to do that.

49. Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade

Raider is better made. Temple of Doom is weirder. But I'd be lying to myself if I picked any other Indiana Jones film as my favourite of the series. Last Crusade is pitch perfect from start to finish, with a great central McGuffin and brilliantly staged set-pieces. The master stroke though was hiring Sean Connery as Indy's dad. Connery and Ford are wonderful together and their back and forth, which goes from hostile to loving, is just the highlight of the film. I think that's the key really - this is the only Indiana Jones film with heart.

48. The Vvitch

A recent one but one that has really stuck with me. I put it low on the list since I've only seen it once but I imagine on repeats it will grow on me even more. In an age of jump scare horror, The Vvitch dares to slow things down and adopts a Kubrick approach to the filmmaking. It's creepy, unnerving and you feel like you've been transported back in time to the pioneering days of the founding of America. Plus the film birthed a new horror icon, Black Philip!

47. The Thing

Hands down for me, John Carpenter's best film. It was either this or Halloween but The Thing just represents Carpenter at the peak of his creativity. It's tense as hell, has an amazing atmosphere with superb gory practical effects and an experimental soundtrack from Ennio Moriconne. Kurt Russell anchors the film with a quiet confidence masking his hidden fear and confusion. Awesome in the supreme sense and unforgettable.

46. Star Wars

There has never been a time for me before Star Wars that I can remember. Along with The Simpsons and Steven Spielberg, this film (and the original trilogy) is a cornerstone of the media of my childhood. It's a bit hokey in places, sure, and the direction isn't the best but there's this energy and enthusiasm to the edit, acting and music that make it one of the classics. My love has been somewhat dampened by the prequels, spin-offs and various other Star Wars overload in recent years but going back to that original film is reminder of why I fell in love with Star Wars, and film, in the first place.

45. The Big Lebowski

I think there's better made and better written Coen Brothers films (which oddly haven't cracked into my list, even though I think they are probably our greatest living filmmakers) but The Big Lebowski is my favourite. The script, the Dude, the crazy plot, Donnie, the bowling, "Nobody fucks with Jesus", John Goodman ... it's all so wonderful. Yet amongst all the craziness, there is a very thoughtful and intelligent film in there about the state of traditional masculinity at the turn of the century. The Dude abides indeed.

44. Dawn of the Dead

George A. Romero, god rest his soul, was the master of combining social commentary with horror and Dawn of the Dead was a brilliant fusion of themes of rampant 70s consumerism with a zombie film. The special effects are still great and is pretty much the archetypal zombie film. But what makes Dawn special is the social commentary. My favourite scenes actually don't involve the zombies - the characters, temporarily secure, go on a "shopping" spree and find that the items don't fill that hole in their lives ... and with only a horde of zombies and every material item they ever wanted, life becomes miserable ...

43. Cloud Atlas

A controversial choice? Maybe. Is it perfect? No. But the overall effect this film builds up is just overwhelmingly brilliant. Purely from a technique point of view, every aspect of this film is to be marvelled at. How the filmmakers were able to intercut six stories, with severely dissent tones, whilst maintaining structural and thematic links across them all is a staggering feat. Then the fact that it's exciting, full of life and engrossing is even more wonderful. The individual stories that build up the grand whole are all uniquely fascinating in their own way, each with their own distinctive style. Cloud Atlas reveals news layers of intrigue with each viewing and just keeps growing in my estimations. A severely underrated gem.

42. Perfect Blue

The late, great Satoshi Kon is easily one of the most underrated filmmakers of all time - the Stanley Kubrick of anime. Paprika is an avant garde, pop art masterpiece that fully explores the concept of entering people's dreams far greater than Inception. Tokyo Godfathers is starting to be viewed as a new Christmas classic. The TV series Paranoia Agent is a post-modern masterpiece of existential dread. But the classic that started it all Perfect Blue is still my favourite film of his. The film follows retiring pop idol Mima who soon finds herself stalked by an obsessive fan and her own psychosis. As her concepts of reality and fiction begin to break down, Mima begins to learn disturbing truths about herself. Perfect Blue is uncomfortable, challenging and utterly mesmerising. 

41. Beauty & The Beast / The Lion King

I had the hardest time choosing which Disney film to include in this slot. It ultimately came down to The Lion King and Beauty & The Beast. I love films both for different reasons. The Lion King is epic and hugely emotional. Beauty & The Beast is also emotional but in a subtle, more tender way. So it honestly depends on what mood I'm in. Cheating ... probably .... justifiable? Just about. I think Beauty & The Beast is the better written of the two but The Lion King offers some genuinely spine-tingling moments. Both have amazing songs, though The Lion King's soundtrack (i.e. the non songs) is probably better. Sorry, last case of cheating on the list.

40. Mad Max: Fury Road

The best action film of the last 10, maybe 20, years? Most certainly. George Miller came out of retirement to helm one of the most ambitious actions films in years. Better yet, Miller used the form to its max, making use of minimal dialogue and simply let the visuals and action scenes tell and propel the story. It's the simplicity of the story that works and unending pace. Yet also, there are great characters arcs in here and the creation of a new all time classic sci-fi character, Furiosa. In my opinion, the greatest crime the Academy ever committed was not giving Best Director to Miller...

39. The Innocents

One of the most underrated films of all time? Quite possibly. The Innocents is a perfect and incredibly classy horror film that keeps the chills coming with a slow pace and haunting atmosphere. With a slightly creepy undercurrent, The Innocents is a gothic masterpiece and a testament to horror that truly gets under your skin.

38. The Godfather

One of the greatest films of all time at only 38 on my list? While there is no doubting The Godfather's pedigree, I simply have films that I like more. Though I still love this one. When I finally saw it, it was like tasting the forbidden fruit. When I was a younger and budding film fan, I was not allowed to watch it. That was until a new DVD collection was re-rated to 15 and I could successfully convince my parents to buy it for me. And that first one did not disappoint. It's the intricacies I love - you become totally absorbed into this family's world. Plus, it's a great self-contained story that almost didn't need a sequel! Part Two is great, of course, but I feel the story was pretty much told in the original. It's the story of Michael Corleone's rise and fall. "I never talk about my work" is the perfect finale to Michael's character arc. And Pacino is beyond excellent in this. Marlon Brando as Don Corleone is not in at much as people remember but he leaves an unforgettable mark. It's an epic, beautifully told story, with some of the most gorgeous cinematography ever committed to film, that is an all-time classic.

37. Ichi The Killer

From the brilliant mind of Takashi Miike (aka the director who literally never stops working - his filmography is well over a 100) comes Ichi the Killer, a strange film which plays like an anime in real-life. It's actually a fairly articulate exploration of onscreen violence. The violence towards men is cartoony, over-the-top and silly while the violence towards women is brutal and realistic, which is by design. The film questions how an audience reacts to this and screen violence in general. It's an intense film that is brilliantly told and never ever lets up the pace. And it goes into some weird territories.

36. My Neighbour Totoro / Kiki's Delivery Service

My first case of cheating on the list and the first lot comes from one of my favourite filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki. To be honest, I consider both films to be part of a mini "growing up" series (which I'll discuss more in the Kiki article as part of the Studio Ghibli Retrospective series) so I feel kind of justified doing this. Plus it's my list, so I can do what I want! Both are great films but offer something a little different. Totoro is a beautiful look at childhood and the power of imagination, while Kiki gives way to a story about children growing up. Both are early examples of what a mature and brilliant filmmaker Miyazaki was becoming. Either one you pick will offer you a great time. I lean towards Kiki as the best all-rounder but I'd be remiss if I didn't include Totoro!

35. Barry Lyndon

It took me years to build up to watching Barry Lyndon. I'd heard it was slowest and most detached of Kubrick's works and the things I read about it simply did not light my interest. However, when I finally got round to it, I found it to be one of Kubrick's most engrossing films from a story perspective, as we follow the misadventures of a slightly dim young man becoming an aristocrat, with some of the best filmmaking I have ever seen. Kubrick chose to take the costume drama back in time by only using natural lighting. This, in combination with the incredible costume design, gave a realistic look that has never before or since replicated on screen. It's a beautiful film and highly underrated, and is possibly the most human of Kubrick's body of work.

34. Mary Poppins

The best film Walt Disney made in his lifetime. Bring it. No other film in the history of family entertainment quite hits the many, many highs of Mary Poppins. Unforgettable songs. Check. Brilliant performances. Check (yes, even with Dick Van Dyke's terrible Cockney accent, he's still great). Unbridled creativity. Check. Phenomenal technical accomplishments. Check. All wrapped in a moving little story about a father reconnecting with his kids. Complete with singing nannies, dancing penguins, tea parties on the ceiling and a roster of classic songs for the ages. The film just moves from iconic scene to iconic scene flawlessly. Watch it again after years away from it. You'll see again why people love this film so much.

33. The Iron Giant

The go-to underrated animated family film? While this film has appeared on numerous of these kind of lists, The Iron Giant is, for some reason, still not a widely talked about film. And this is truly baffling to me as I think it's nearly perfect. Using the classic premise of a kid and his pet (if the pet was a huge robot from outer space) The Iron Giant actually becomes this huge meditative look at life,  death and how to use our time on this Earth wisely. Seriously. But aside from heady themes, it's the film's huge heart that always swells on a re-watch. With a great central lead (a thoroughly likeable yet bratty little boy called Hogarth), loads of great laughs along with plenty of cry worthy moments, The Iron Giant deserves a place in all family's collections. Superman ...

32. Ed Wood

Ed Wood is the best biopic of all time. Many have tried to be accurate to the real person in question. Others have gone off into the realms of fiction. Between though stands Ed Wood a film that strikes the perfect balance with its heightened sense of a dream-like narrative. Events didn't quite play out like in the film but Ed Wood is still a perfect film about following the creative dream. Featuring an actor and director in their prime (before the ... troubles of recent years), Ed Wood is a masterpiece of design and performance, quite wisely centring the film on the relationship between the troubled filmmaker and equally troubled actor Bela Legosi (in a brilliant turn from the late great Martin Landau). Tim Burton's best film.

31. Blue Velvet

There is no better opening sequence that Blue Velvet. As the now iconic song sweeps across the opening montage of an idealised suburbia (with a slightly off feel) a resident watering his plants collapses to the ground. The camera follows him and ventures underground to reveal the disgusting underbelly underneath as worms and other insects wriggle underneath? A bit obvious, sure but it's unforgettable. Kyle MacClachlan plays a young, out of touch teenager who stumbles across a severed ear, which ignites a mystery. He soon finds way more than he bargained for ... David Lynch toned down of the more surreal aspects of his earlier works to create an unnerving mystery film that sticks with the viewer long after the credits have rolled. 

30. The Terminator

This one left a huge impact on me with its economical filmmaking and tight story-telling. This is how you make a film on a shoe-string budget. The film itself is still brilliant. More of a horror film than the later sequels, The Terminator boasts an incredibly inventive script (with its time travel shenanigans) and the start of future onscreen icon, Sarah Conner. Arnie is also great as the Terminator. With a relentless pace, The Terminator is a classic of the genre from when James Cameron was one of the most exciting filmmakers working in the sci-fi and action genre. 

29. Super

What's your favourite superhero film? Well, it's not based on a comic and it didn't do too well ... it's got Rainn Wilson in it...you know, that guy from the American Office ... and he plays a religious nut who wants to become a superhero....oh Ellen Page is in it! And she plays a complete psychopath and tries to rape Rainn Wilson in one very awkward scene...Urm, the films really funny, though it's got a dark sense of humour that might put mainstream audiences off ... I mean the central idea of the film is that, to be a superhero, you'd have to be a complete lunatic...ok yes, it does sound like Kick-Ass, yes, but Kick-Ass only pushed that concept a little bit before reverting to a silly action filled final act (awesome but fairly cliched)....Super has a scene where Rainn Wilson kills a guy with a wrench for cutting in line outside a cinema....ok, enough of that. Before James Gunn made Guardians of the Galaxy he made another, altogether different kind of superhero film. Super isn't for everyone but if you have a dark sense of humour and want a real subversion of the superhero genre, Super is hilarious and wonderfully awkward...not for everyone though!

28. In Bruges

In Bruges is one of them pitch perfect film- bleakly funny, surprisingly rich, littered with excellent performances and lines and offers plenty of re-watchablity. It's also a great example of a location becoming as important as the characters themselves. Colin Farrell gives a surprisingly down-beat performance as a hitman laying low in the historic town following a terrible incident. With unforgettable performances from Brenda Glesson and Ralph Fiennes, In Bruges is an absolute treat.

27. Apocalypse Now

It shouldn't work. The messy production, years of editing and the on-screen break down of two of its stars should make for a cinematic disaster. However, because of all of this and more, Apocalypse Now retains a hypnotic power that makes it an all time classic. Michael Sheen is brilliant as Willard, a disillusioned soldier brought back to 'Nam to hunt down the mysterious Captain Kurtz, a mysterious figure who has built a cult around him in the middle of the jungle. Based on Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now is an unforgettable experience. 

26. This Is Spinal Tap

Those of you who know me well know what a music fan I am ... I boast nearly 18,000 songs in my iTunes library. I love the stories behind the bands but nothing interests me more than learning about the excesses of classic 1970s-80s rock bands. So along comes This Is Spinal Tap, one of the funniest films of all time that lovingly satirises the world of rock. But it's a bit more than just a straight parody of this world. It's really about three, very dim friends who are torn apart by their ambitions and life-style. And the quotes. My god, the quotes. This is one of them films where I find myself dropping quotes in normal conversation and not realise what I'm doing.

25. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Overall, I prefer Star Trek as a franchise to Star Wars. It's silly even comparing the two, as they are vastly different and just happen to be sci-fi properties with star in the title. Star Trek is science fiction, while Star Wars is more science fantasy. Both excel at what they do but I prefer the more ethical, science heavy world of Trek. Plus Trek has never screwed fans over as hard as Star Wars. So, while The Wrath of Khan is not the best example of 'pure' Trek, it is easily the best told and written of the long running movie franchise. Serving as a sequel to the episode Space Seed (though you don't need to watch it to enjoy it), Khan is an exciting tale of vengeance as the film pits the titular villain against a now ageing Captain Kirk. Every element of this film is perfect - it's rich and literate. The true star is Ricardo Montablan as Khan, who provides a Shakespearean, ever so slightly over-the-top, performance. And nothing matches that emotional finale."At hell's heart, I stab at thee".

24. Aliens

Speaking of sequels, James Cameron can lay claim to have made two of the very best. Repositioning the original haunted-house-in-space premise as a balls-to-the-wall action film sounds disrespectful on paper but the results are nothing short of thrilling. Plus, this is the one where Ripley was absolutely nailed as a character. The ensemble cast is great as well, in particular the unforgettable Vasquez. After a slow 40 minute build-up, Aliens is the literal example of film as a rollarcoaster. While I hate that term mostly (mostly), Aliens is structured to bring the audience on the ride but remembers to add substance.

23. Alien

... now all that said, the original Alien is still my favourite of the two. Very tough choice but the original Alien left a huge impression on me. It was the film I wanted to see more than any other. My parents had slightly strict rules on the films I could see and finally being able to see Alien was like tasting from the forbidden chalice. Outside of the spectacle of seeing the alien in full force and the gory kills, I also got a great film that emphasised Hitchcockian elements to create a terrifying experience. The sheer amount of dread behind every corner is palatable, with Ridley Scott creating a constantly stomach turning mood. 

22. Robocop

Film as satire is hard. You run the risk that the audience might not get it and take the over-the-top elements that make up the film's satirical ethos as either silly or confusing. In this vein, Robocop is easily one of the most over-the-top and satirical sic-fi action film I can think of. First and foremost, Robocop is a comedy. It knows it's silly and has fun poking at the lengths that big corporations go in influencing the lives of millions of people. The films follows police officer Alex Murphy (Paul Weller) who is violently gunned down by a criminal gang but is revived by corporation OCP as 'Robocop', their answer to the police organisation's failure to tackle crime in dystopian Detroit. The film touches upon concepts of gentrification, greed, privatisation and several other huge themes that make it relevant to this day. 

21. Pan's Labyrinth

Oh, Guillermo. Will you ever catch a break? With his new film finally on the horizon, it's important to remember that the 2010s have not been so kind to him. His projects have just not got off the ground - see 1) his exit from The Hobbit film series, 2) the cancellation of his video game collaboration with video game auteur Hideo Kojima Silent Hills, 3) the cancellation of the long-awaited Hellboy III (seriously...with so many superhero sequels, Hellboy is the only series that actually required another film), 4) the disappearance of his interesting premise for a film adaptation of Justice League Dark and 5) the baffling flat out rejection of his proposed adaptation of Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness. All these events show that the creative process can easily be stopped by men and women in suits at any time. This is why Pan's Labyrinth becomes more and more special with the passage of time.  A pure uncompromised vision from the director that contrasts a disturbing and bloody fantasy world with a disturbing and bloody vision of the Spanish Civil War. It's glum, rarely has any levity but finds an aching beauty in the sadness. With easily some of the best practical creature effects ever committed to film, Pan's Labyrinth is a masterpiece of fantasy filmmaking. 

20. Day of the Dead

The bleakest and most depressing of Romero's zombie films. Here, all hope has been lost and the characters have pretty much given in the inevitability of their fates. In a time "Reagonomics", this was a pretty damning portrayal of America. As scientist race to find a solution to the zombie problem, they attempt experiments to communicate with the undead. Stuck in a bunker underground, the characters soon start to lose it and being to turn on each other. It's a slow burner but it becomes the richest and most rewarding films in the Dead trilogy. One of the greatest character kills ever in film, as well. 

19. Donnie Darko

Looking back over this list, it's become clear to me that I really respond to single character studies. I also seem to respond to films that blur the lines between fiction and reality. Throw in a killer soundtrack and multiple genres and you've got a film tailored made to me! Donnie Darko is almost all my personal tastes manifested in a single film. It's a crazy sci-fi story involving time travel. It's also a disturbing horror film, where the main character has reoccurring nightmares about a strange bunny creature. It's an intense character study of a disturbed teenager, trying to find his place in the world. It's also a throw back to John Hughes style, 80s high school setting. It's a vehement take down of conservative culture that also doesn't offer any real answers as an alternative. Sometimes, weird shit happens and there will always be loners and outsiders to the world. I've slowly grown to love this film, divorced of all the hype. It's strange and often hard to grasp but it's a near perfect piece of post-modern filmmaking. It's a mad world...

18. Eraserhead

One of the most abstract films of all time? Probably not, but Eraserhead has certainly earned a reputation as a difficult piece. And yes, it is an intense experience but there is a through line. It's essentially about a couple who have a child they don't want. The film taps into all sorts of primordial fears about pregnancy, babies and responsibility, all told in a beautifully abstract way in gorgeous black and white cinematography. The sound design is a work of genius as well. For me, this is still the purest statement of intent by David Lynch - combining recognisable elements with a gruesome underbelly that feels like a dream and a nightmare. 

17. The Royal Tenenbaums

Wes Andersen is a great filmmaker but his twee style is a bit much for some. However, with The Royal Tenenbaums he found the perfect balance. There's no "comedy" quite like Tenenbaums, which manages to balance funny scenes and twee moments yet also be depressingly tragic without it feeling forced. The whole cast is excellent, especially Gene Hackman, who would retire soon after making the film. The plot is pitch perfect - Hackman's elderly Royal pretends to have cancer to try and bring his distant family back together. And things just become more awkward from there. Every character is fleshed out in loving detail as they play out their small tragic tale in what is a essentially a doll's house of a set. This is the film equivalent of laughing something off after you've cried about it - your eyes are still red and sore and the pain is still there but a loved one is helping you to feel better. 

16. Rear Window

A cornerstone of any Film Studies course, Rear Window manages to transcend its use as a tool for teaching the art of film to students. The film still entices and hook its audience and is Hitchcock at his purest. James Stewart is phenomenal in the central role, displaying his nervous energy even when bound to a wheel-chair. It's a slow burner but draws the audience in with an intruiging premise and excellent filmmaker. The perfect example of pure cinema.

15. Hot Fuzz

I adore the kinetic filmmaking of Edgar Wright. The whole Cornetto Trilogy can be used as an example of how to bring the comedic timing of cartoons to live-action. And Hot Fuzz is easily the crown jewel of the trilogy. Taking influence from dozens of action films and funnelling it through a British sensibility makes for some genius comedy. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have never been so loveable together. The film just throws gag after gag, interspersed with tender moments and over the top gore. It's an absolute treat every time. Plus, I love how culturally specific the humour is. Only a British person can fully appreciate how funny a Hollywood style gun fight set in a Spar supermarket is.

14. The Empire Strikes Back

...so, yes, while I prefer Star Trek overall, there's one Star Wars films I prize above them all. You've heard it before but Empire is the best Star Wars film. And the one Lucas had the least creative involvement with. This was back when the series was willing to take a big risk by producing a darker, more character-centric film. However, Empire isn't great because it's 'dark'. It's the commitment of the filmmakers to go all out to produce the true next chapter of the story. Every moment is etched into my brain and it's become the template for any film sequel. Empire is Star Wars at its richest and purest.

13. Howl's Moving Castle

This film gets a lot of hate, which I'll be exploring in its respective Studio Ghibli retrospective write up, but .... I'm sorry, I just love it. Is logical thrown out of the window? Sure but it makes sense in the context of the mad and magical world the film creates. Now, Ponyo that is a better example of logic thrown completely out of the window. No, Howl succeeds because of its massive heart and little sense of modern cynicism. The story of a young hat maker, Sophie, who is cursed to be an old woman only to rediscover her youth through this change feels like a classic fairy tale. Throw in an excellent cast of side-characters, wonderful art-style and scenes that can only be described as magic, Howl is a modern masterpiece. There. I said it. It's also one of the few times where I actually prefer the English dub to the Japanese one ... go figure!

12. There Will Be Blood

You want an epic story, told across the course of a decade about a huge character trying to achieve massive goals, whilst also serving as a metaphor for the foundation of the biggest and most influential countries in the world (and the corruption and greed it was built on)? You'd struggle to find a film an conceptually huge as There Will Be Blood. This is definition of epic filmmaking. Powered by Daniel Day Lewis' brilliant central performance, There Will Be Blood is an intense character study of Daniel Plainview, who strikes it big when he discovers oil. The film becomes an odyssey on how his business and choices influences his life and those around him. Please, Paul Thomas Anderson. Make films like this (and its almost as brilliant follow up The Master) again...

11. The Shining

This is just about as iconic as a horror film can get. Famously despised by its author, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining is a brilliant example of horror in its purest form. Everyone knows why this film is brilliant - the sweeping steady cam shots, the creepy and unnerving performances, Jack Nicholson unleashed and the sense that you're not getting the whole picture. Kubrick revels in the ambiguities of the story as this only adds to the horror. It's a another slow burner horror (which I prefer) but it leaves an indelible that only grows in stature with each viewing.

10. Vertigo

Vertigo may well be the definitive "you need to see this twice" film. Hands down, this is Hitchcock's masterpiece. The maze that makes up the story is an unforgettable puzzle that demands to be solved. James Stewart gives a career best performance. And Hitch is simply at the top of his game manipulating the audience. It gets better and better every time. In fact, I'm leaving this entry here. If you haven't seen it, I can't recommend it enough.

9. Back to the Future

The best and tightest script in the history of blockbuster filmmaking? Quite possibly. Every single line, action taken by a character or setting change has a clear purpose in the grander narrative. Plus, it's just stupidly fun to watch. I have a lot of affection for the sequels (half of Part II is almost as good as the original) but the first film is still hands down the best of the lot. Michael J. Fox is instantly loveable as cool kid Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd is just stellar as mad scientist Doc Brown. Everyone knows the story - kid goes back to time in the 1950s, kid accidentally ruins how his parents meet as teenagers, teenage mum begins to fall for the kid (still creepy), kid must get his parents back together, somehow find a way to get back to the 1980s, all against a ticking time clock. You want a film that builds up suspense, like the text book example - Back To The Future.

8. Oldboy

Oldboy. Oldboy. Oldboy. A kinetic action film masterpiece about displacement and identity crisis that is both elegant and bone-crunchingly violent. The filmmaking technique is beyond phenomenal and the story takes several twists and turns to it's bloody finale. Like Vertigo, I'm going to leave this entry brief as it's best experienced as cold as possible. I'll just say this though. This is the only film where I left the screening shaking. That's how good it is.

7. Ratatouille

I could gush for hours about how good Ratatouille is. The gorgeous setting. The intricately detailed world. The lovingly crafted and small scale story. The great characters. That scene where the critic actually eats ratatouille. It's all wrapped up in an intimate and warm bow that teaches to always dream big. It was a close call between either this or Wall-E but something about Ratatouille's little world just hits it home for me. It almost hurts how much I love this film. 

6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

The definitive intelligent sci-fi action film. Possibly. Plus, it's hard to think of any sequel as good as Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The low-fi technique of the original is replaced with a much higher budget that never forgets the heart of the series. The plot is just as crazy as ever, with Arnie sent back in time to protect young John Connor from the new T-1000, a terminator that has the properties of liquid metal. Everything from the story to the themes to the characters are taken up several notches. But when I think of this film, I think of Sarah Connor - deranged, mad, unhinged and kind of sad. The optimistic girl at the start of the original film is now withdrawn from pretty much the whole world, including her son (who, ironically, she saw to protect above all others). The character dynamics are wonderful and the pace is just perfect. Along with some very intelligent speculative writing on the rise of machines and several truly jaw-dropping action scenes and special effects make Terminator 2 one of the best sci-fi films of all time.

5. Lady Vengeance

Park Chan-Wook is one of the greatest living filmmakers and Lady Vengeance is his masterpiece. Oldboy is more popular but I prefer Lady Vengeance just a little bit more - it is the perfect cap to his epic thematic trilogy of revenge films. Everything about the film is intricately designed for maximum effect. Park Chan Wook makes big films with big characters but Lady Vengeance is first and foremost a character study of a deeply complex woman. Everything gives way to one of the greatest third acts of all time. It's not as shocking as Oldboy but it sticks with you longer and I won't dare ruin it. I don't want to give too much away about the film as it just needs to be experienced. 

4. Spirited Away

Spirited Away is just ... terrific. Really terrific. But I feel that everyone knows that. Taking the classic down-the-rabbit-hole trope (which is part of why it connected as much as it did in the West, I feel), the film follows young Chihiro, who is forced to work in a bath house for spirits and creatures, ran by the terrifying Yubaba. See Chihiro's parents took a detour, ate a bunch of food and got turned into pigs and as recompense, Chihiro must work for Yubaba. Yeah, it's weird film. Every scene is just packed with creativity and invention but it doesn't forget to find time for the more soulful, character driven moment. Chihiro's character growth is handled incredibly subtlety and let's the adventure and experience dictate this. And no scene in any film ever matches the melancholic beauty of the train-ride journey Chihiro takes with strange character No-Face. It's a dialogue-less and simply lets the visuals and music tell us what is happening. Enchanting. 

3. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Cliched choice go! But I just can't help it. I love these films. I saw them at the perfect age. I saw Fellowship of the Ring in the cinema when I was about 10 and saw the others each year consecutively. They just opened up my imagination to the possibilities of film and longer form story-telling. Every line of dialogue, every scene and every beat is etched into my mind. Just as important as the films themselves were the Extended Editions. They added more scenes back into the films to give a richer experience. They also offered extensive documentaries on how the films were made. And this is what got me interested in filmmaking and what a fascinating and difficult process it is. Everyone knows the merits of the films at this point, so I don't need to go into them. These are brilliant films that inspired a whole generation of film geeks. I probably wouldn't have written this list if not for them.

This isn't a cheat in my opinion, as all three films were shot at once! If push came to shove, I would pick the original theatrical version of The Two Towers as my favourite, as this captured me at the height of my Lord of the Rings obsession. 

2. A Clockwork Orange

This was a life changer. I had never seen anything quite like A Clockwork Orange. The script and the unique way the characters talked. The incredible way it was shot and the long takes. The use of an unreliable narrator that asked us, the audience, to sympathise with a murderer and rapist. Then there's the way the film deftly explores concepts of freewill, state control, social conditioning and police brutality. All wrapped up in a performance by a very fresh-faced Malcolm McDowell. This is, for me, Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece. It has this reputation linked to it that is deserved and was something of a curse to its director. And it still has the power to shock and enthral. "Oh bliss! It was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh".

It's also probably my favourite book as well, by-the-by. 

1. Princess Mononoke

Here it is, number one. Princess Mononoke. Miyazaki's masterpiece. I've talked before how my love for this film developed along with my growing understanding of the medium but .. it just keeps getting better with each viewing. I'll talk more about it in my article as part of the Ghibli retrospective, so I'll keep it brief here. It's an amazing film that offers brilliant animation, well-drawn and morally ambiguous characters, with breath-taking set-pieces that ultimately is about how broken people come together to make the world they live in a better place. I love this film and everything that's in it.