A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
Watched: 26 May
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Writer: Ana Lily Amirpour
Thoughts: It's dark, it's weird, it's got a great soundtrack. It gave me nostalgia being shot in the California desert and it made me want to wear a cape and take up skateboarding. I try to watch a few foreign films a year and I completely forgot this one was from another country because it felt relatable and current.
Boyhood (2014)
Watched: 11 January
Director: Richard Linklater
Writer: Richard Linklater
Thoughts: Put this on my list of films that made me cry the hardest. In order to fully enjoy this one, I think you have to be one of the main characters. It makes it hit closer to home.
Chef (2014)
Watched: 13 February
Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Jon Favreau
Thoughts: Sometimes you have to love a happy ending. This movie is feel good, the whole way through. Cuban sandwiches, friendship, cross country trips, a booming business? Sounds like fun to me.
Children of Men (2007)
Watched: 26 January
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Writer: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton
Thoughts: Those continuous shots! It's a cinematographer's dream. Never mind the great shots, the story line could be all too real, too soon. What happens when women can no longer produce children? Clive Owen must save the day.
Copenhagen (2014)
Watched: 27 May
Director: Mark Raso
Writer: Mark Raso
Thoughts: Doesn't everyone love to travel to a foreign country and fall in love? It's a classic story but this one is slightly illegal and more romantic. No sex, just bike rides at dusk in Denmark.
Creep (2014)
Watched: 01 August
Director: Patrick Brice
Writer: Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass
Thoughts: A simple psychological thriller involving a wolf mask. Watch at your own discretion.
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Watched: 21 March
Director: Jean Marc-Vallée
Writer: Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack
Thoughts: If you don't get easily sucked into the lives featured in Dallas Buyers Club then you're not watching properly. It's a rough story to get through but it needed to be told.
Death Proof (2007)
Watched: 23 October
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Thoughts: I don't know what came over me but I'm not going to question it. I was - and still sort of am - addicted to Death Proof. It's grungy and got a high contrast 70s charm to it. Not to mention amazing car chases and kick ass ladies.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her and Him (2014)
Watched: Her (18 April), Him (20 May)
Director: Ned Benson
Writer: Ned Benson
Thoughts: When your two favorite actors come together to make a gut wrenchingly beautiful romance you hop, skip, and jump to see it. It's a typical love story but it's oh so unique. Best to watch Her and then Him and not Them. It's so much more delightful when it's told through one pair of eyes.
Dior and I (2015)
Watched: 27 May
Director: Frédéric Tcheng
Thoughts: Raf Simons is an angel - I knew this going in. But I learned that he is as sensitive as I am and that the true heroes of a runway show (especially a couture show) are the seamstresses at the atelier. And I fell in love with that debut Dior show all over again.
Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Watched: 19 July
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: David Nicholls
Thoughts: I'm such a sucker for those British-period-piece-romances. Especially when it involves a fresh faced British rose like Carey Mulligan and a hunk of a man like Matthias Schoenaerts.
Her (2013)
Watched: 26 Febraury
Director: Spike Jonze
Writer: Spike Jonze
Thoughts: This movie is so beautiful. It's so lonely but heartwarming and comforting all wrapped in one. The cinematography is killer. It's so romantic watching someone self destruct through rose tinted lenses.
I Hate The Way You Love (2005)
Watched: 14 August
Director: Morgan Lebus
Thoughts: I know The Kills are a big deal. They're only one of my favorite bands of all time. But what I wasn't full aware of: the incredibly gorgeous, respectful, unique and strictly platonic relationship between Jamie and Alison. I love you guys.
It Might Get Loud (2008)
Watched: 02 April
Director: David Guggenheim
Thoughts: *I love my music and fashion documentaries* The original guitar heroes. It's such a powerful thing watching three beautifully talented people like The Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White all jam together. And it's even more powerful watching them all admire each other. We're all fangirls.
The Longest Week (2014)
Watched: 20 July
Director: Peter Glanz
Writer: Peter Glanz
Thoughts: This movie made it onto the list not because of the fancy directing or the mind blowing story line. It's the colors, the costumes, the interiors, the cinematography (again!)! Olivia Wilde's character in this made me want to transition my wardrobe into a strictly 60s mod themed collection and wear cat eyeliner everyday. It's one of those stylish movies that just hits you in all the right places.
The One I Love (2014)
Watched: 27 April
Director: Charlie McDowell
Writer: Justin Lader
Thoughts: DO NOT READ ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MOVIE BEFORE WATCHING, JUST WATCH. It's stunning, yes, the acting - oh my goodness. But the twist! The story telling! It's what I watch movies for.
Predestination (2014)
Watched: 02 December
Director: The Spierig Brothers
Writer: The Spierig Brothers
Thoughts: Sarah Snook stole my heart in this one. She plays a man and a woman; as a man she sort of looks like Dane DeHaan and Leonardo DiCaprio's love child. Another good twist here, also. It's about time travel and it makes you think but don't let that stop you.
The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
Watched: 01 December
Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Writer: Tim Talbott
Thoughts: What's crazy about this film is that it actually happened. I know a lot of films are "based on true stories" but this one is legit. What's also crazy? That someone (or a lot of someones, rather) let this happen and let it escalate the way it did.
Speed (1994)
Watched: 10 December
Director: Jan de Bont
Writer: Graham Yost
Thoughts: Laugh at me all you want, yes, I put what a lot of people would easily call one of the worst movies of the 90s. It's cheesy and it's cliche. Keanu Reeves kills it though. Dennis Hopper is the ultimate bad guy. And Sandra Bullock saves the day is only the damsel in distress for the latter half of the movie. We need bad movies like we need bad food. Speed is good for the soul.
The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (2009)
Watched: 03 February
Director: Emmett Malloy
Thoughts: The magical, mystifying relationship and dynamic between Meg and Jack White is just as ominous as outer space. But what we do know very well about both is that it works and that it creates beautiful things.