Recommendations – Matei Norbert Balan

PRESSA JULESPESIAL DEL 2. Yes, Christmas themed movies are great, and heartwarming, and perfect for watching alongside the whole family. But have you ever tried real movies? That aren’t especially conceived for consuming around the Holidays? Here’s a list of five odd and thought-provoking choices for your Christmas morning.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) – dir. Stanley Kubrick

“I should not have watched this with my mom.” reads a three-star Rotten Tomatoes review for this Kubrick masterpiece, and it should serve as a pretty fair trigger warning. This movie has it all: a broken marriage where both the husband and the wife have their private fantasies, sexual abuse, substance abuse, a great score, and, yeah, an orgy – but a stylish one that is impeccably choreographed. Actually, this is pretty much the tone for the whole movie. It excels when it comes to the way it makes you feel, but don’t expect any real substance. It will definitely not ruin your Christmas morning.

Copyright: The Weinstein Company / Photo: IMDb

I’m Not There (2007) – dir. Todd Haynes

Bob Dylan has been many things and people across his career: perhaps the most significant voice and spirit of the American folk movement, political activist, rock star, and, most recently, a literature Nobel laureate. Or, as this odd Todd Haynes biopic puts it: poet, prophet, outlaw, fake and star of electricity. This is, by all means, one of the best movies to ever capture the true spirit of the real-life character they are trying to immortalize. It will intrigue you and leave you wondering as to what fame really is and how well you know the artists you admire. It’s not the right movie to watch on a Christmas morning. It is the perfect one.

Copyright: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Virtual Studios LLC / Photo: IMDb

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) – dir. Andrew Dominik

Here’s something to test your patience. A movie that doesn’t boil down to a surprising finale. There’s no great plot twists or reveals. The title is pretty self-explanatory. This movie is about the death of the outlaw Jesse James. But Andrew Dominik achieves so much more with this one. So here’s a movie for you that sucks the romance out of the western genre and the outlaws at the center of its mythos, all the while being narrated in a breathtaking way, and shot to look like a feverish winter dream. Also: Brad Pitt gives the best performance of his career (in an art-house movie, YUP!).

Only God Forgives (2013) – dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

If you know Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive, but not for Only God Forgives, then that’s just plain wrong, and you should take this Christmas to change that. But be careful. It’s a bloody one, to put it mildly. Just like another one from this list, this beautifully colored and scored masterpiece is a terrific mood setter. Substance? You’ll be the judge of that. It has American gangsters who believe they can do whatever they want in Bangkok, body horror, a cop with his mind set on cleaning the scum off the streets, some uncomfortable allusions to incest, and, last but not least, Ryan Gosling.

Copyright: CiBy 2000, Asymmetrical Productions and Lost Highway Productions LLC / Photo: IMDb

Lost Highway (1997) – dir. David Lynch

By this point, David Lynch is just one of those directors who could shoot a kitchen sink with the tap running for five hours, and all of us, Lynch-fiends, would revere it. That’s because Lynch is at the top of his game precisely when he doesn’t make much sense. The puzzles he creates are mesmerizing, and Lost Highway is undoubtedly one of them. Follow Fred Madison, a jazz saxophonist who gets framed for the murder of his wife, finds a strange VHS tape with footage from inside his house, morphs into a mechanic, and meets a peculiar man. Not necessarily in this order.

Have you seen any of these movies? What do you think? Tell us in a comment below!

NY UKE, NY BINGE - #51