Mini reviews of the 100 greatest films (according to Robert the List)

I feel a bit dirty about this.

But here come the 90s...

What's the problem? The 90s were fantastic for movies.

Haha, no it's not that. It's because of the countdown.

I feel a bit like I'm opening my Christmas presents on Christmas Eve while nobody's looking, and everyone else has to wait until tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm casting my conscience aside. Here goes...

82. Days of Being Wild 1990 Hong Kong Wong Kar-Wai

Another gorgeous looking film (see the trailer). A really unique look. A soundtrack that works well with the film, and very precise sound effects as well. Set in 60s Hong Kong, it’s been described as a gangster film, although this really only comes out at the end (in the scenes in the Philippines). There’s nothing special about the plot, and no great message, it’s about visuals, and sounds, and pacing and atmosphere above anything else.

Wikipedia:
“Days of Being Wild is a 1990 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Starring some of the best-known actors and actresses in Hong Kong, including…Maggie Cheung… the film marks the first collaboration between Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle, with whom he has since made six more films.
It forms the first part of an informal trilogy, together with In the Mood for Love (2000) and 2046 (2004).
Plot
The movie begins in 1960 Hong Kong.
Yuddy, a smooth-talking playboy seduces Li-zhen but is uninterested in pursuing a serious relationship with her. Li-zhen, who wants to marry him, is heartbroken and decides to leave. Yuddy moves on to a new relationship with vivacious cabaret dancer Mimi. His friend Zeb is also attracted to her but she doesn't reciprocate his feelings.
Yuddy has a tense relationship with his adoptive mother Rebecca, a former prostitute, after she reveals that he is adopted. He also doesn't approve of her choice of lovers much younger than her who he thinks are taking advantage of her wealth. She initially refuses to reveal who his birth mother is but eventually relents and tells him that she lives in the Philippines.
…
Meanwhile, Yuddy decides to find his birth mother and leaves for the Philippines, giving his car to Zeb and without informing Mimi. Mimi is distraught and resolves to follow him…”

Run time 1 hour 34 minutes

83. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (doc) 1991 USA George Hickenlooper

For anyone interested in films, this is a must documentary, telling the story of the making of one of the greatest films ever made, and one of the most challenging to make.

Wikipedia
“Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse is a 1991 American documentary film about the production of Apocalypse Now, a 1979 Vietnam War epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Synopsis and production
Hearts of Darkness chronicles how production problems—among them bad weather, actors' poor health, and other issues—delayed the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of its director, Francis Ford Coppola.
The documentary was begun by Coppola's wife, Eleanor Coppola, who narrated behind-the-scenes footage. In 1990, Coppola turned her material over to two young filmmakers, George Hickenlooper and Fax Bahr (co-creator of MADtv), who subsequently shot new interviews with the original cast and crew, and intercut them with Eleanor Coppola's material. After a year of editing, Hickenlooper, Bahr, and Coppola debuted their film at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.
The title is derived from the Joseph Conrad 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, the source material for Apocalypse Now.”

Running time 1 hour 36 minutes
Trailer:

84. Rebels of the Neon God 1992 Taiwan Tsai Ming-liang

One thing is it’s the first film chronologically where I notice nobody has a phone. The film follow 2 mates in Taiwan, young lads university age, and a girl they meet, and then some weird guy who they encounter a couple of times, and whose parents think he is this Taiwanese folk figure The Neon God. But as much as it’s about them, it’s about Tsia Ming-laing in his debut feature film. Where Altman made Shortcuts, Tsai could be said to make quiet cuts. The film is observational, almost voyeuristic. And it’s often quiet. It doesn’t rely heavily on dialogue, and there’s no dialogue for the sake of it. Often we have a short scene where we are just watching a character doing something. No dialogue. Then it cuts to him doing something else, no dialogue. But all the time things are going on. We see 90s Taipei, motorbikes, arcade machines, a skating rink, and we watch and listen to what’s going on, and gradually the story plays out. It’s just a cool directing style, a film, and a pleasure to look at.

Wikipedia:
“Rebels of the Neon God…is a 1992 Taiwanese drama film written and directed by Tsai Ming-liang in his feature film directorial debut.
…Title
The film's Chinese title refers to Nezha (Nuozha in Taiwanese pronunciation), a powerful child god in Chinese classical mythology who was born into a human family. Nezha is impulsive and disobedient. He tries to kill his father, but is brought under control when a Taoist immortal (Nezha's spiritual mentor) gives the father a miniature pagoda that enables him to control his rebellious son. This resonates in the film a number of ways: Hsiao Kang's mother believes he is Nezha reincarnated, and Tze and Ping try to pawn off some stolen goods to an arcade proprietor named Nezha. Before the pawning of the stolen goods, Hsiao Kang vandalizes Tze's motorcycle and writes "Nezha was here" on the adjacent sidewalk.
Reception
…In a retrospective review for The New York Times, A. O. Scott compared the film with Tsai's later work and wrote: "The camera movements are minimal and precise, turning what might seem like ordinary shots into sly jokes. There is water everywhere—torrential downpours sweeping the streets and a mysterious flood in a main character’s apartment. … Above all, there are performers who would become fixtures of this director's imaginative universe. Chief among them is Lee Kang-sheng, a slender, nearly silent man with a Keatonesque deadpan who has appeared in all 10 of Mr. Tsai's features so far."

Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes
Trailer:

85. The Player 1992 USA Robert Altman

It’s got a great pace, particularly the final parts of the film. It’s engaging, and it’s funny. The editing just keeps things ticking along. Good ideas, good dialogue, good performances. I wasn’t a Goldberg fan back in the day but I like her in this (see clip posted below c1.30 on). One of those where you couldn’t imagine anyone else (Robbins) playing the lead. Impressive really that the same director could make this and also McCabe & Mrs Miller! Such different films.

Wikipedia:
“The Player is a 1992 American satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Michael Tolkin, based on his 1988 novel. The film stars Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Brion James and Cynthia Stevenson, and is the story of a Hollywood film studio executive who kills an aspiring screenwriter he believes is sending him death threats.
The Player has many film references and Hollywood in-jokes, with 65 celebrities making cameo appearances in the film. Altman once stated that the film "is a very mild satire," offending no one..
Plot
Griffin Mill is a Hollywood studio executive dating story editor Bonnie Sherow. He hears story pitches from screenwriters and decides which have the potential to be made into films, green-lighting only twelve out of 50,000 submissions every year. His job is threatened when up-and-coming exec Larry Levy begins working at the studio. Mill has also been receiving death threat postcards, assumed to be from a screenwriter whose pitch he rejected.
Mill surmises that the disgruntled writer is David Kahane, and Kahane's girlfriend June Gudmundsdottir tells him that Kahane is at the Rialto Theater in South Pasadena, at a screening of The Bicycle Thief. Mill pretends to recognize Kahane in the lobby and offers him a scriptwriting deal, hoping this will stop the threats. The two go to a nearby bar where Kahane gets intoxicated and rebuffs Mill's offer, calling him a liar and continuing to goad him about his job security at the studio. In the bar's parking lot, the two men fight. Mill goes too far and drowns Kahane in a shallow pool of water while screaming, "Keep it to yourself!" Mill then stages the crime to make it look like a botched robbery.
The next day, after Mill is late for and distracted at a meeting, studio security chief Walter Stuckel confronts him about the murder and says that the police know that he was the last one to see Kahane alive. At the end of their conversation Mill receives a fax from his stalker. Thus, Mill has killed the wrong man, and the stalker apparently knows this. Mill attends Kahane's funeral and gets into conversation with Gudmundsdottir. Detectives Avery and DeLongpre suspect Mill is guilty of murder….

Cast
Tim Robbins as Griffin Mill
Greta Scacchi as June Gudmundsdottir
Fred Ward as Walter Stuckel
Whoopi Goldberg as Detective Susan Avery
Peter Gallagher as Larry Levy
…Cher as Herself…Jeff Goldblum as Himself…Andie MacDowell as Herself…Bruce Willis as Himself…Julia Roberts as Herself…John Cusack as Himself…Burt Reynolds as Himself…Susan Sarandon as Herself…Rod Steiger as Himself…Elliott Gould as Himself…Nick Nolte as Himself…Peter Falk as Himself…Harry Belafonte as Himself…Anjelica Huston as Herself…Robert Wagner as Himself

Production
…Principal photography for the film commenced in mid-June 1991 in Los Angeles, California, with an eight-week schedule. Before production, meticulous planning went into crafting the film's opening scene, an eight-minute unbroken tracking shot. Models were utilized to map out the shot, and the studio lot location was resurfaced to ensure smooth movement for the dolly and crane. The day before filming, the actors and crew rehearsed the scene. Altman filmed ten takes. Notably, Altman instructed actor Fred Ward, portraying a studio security chief, to incorporate references to other films renowned for their tracking shots into his dialogue to add irony to the scene.
Altman also successfully persuaded a plethora of A-list actors to make cameo appearances in the film based on his esteemed reputation in the industry. These stars agreed to participate without reviewing the script and contributed their union-scale salaries for one day of filming to the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, a retirement community for industry professionals. Despite the large ensemble, the film was completed within a budget ranging from approximately $8 to $10 million…Chevy Chase was interested in playing the role of Griffin Mill, but Warner Bros. didn't want Chase to star in the film….
…Despite the difficulties of funding, the film's distribution rights were highly sought-after by nearly every major Hollywood studio. Eventually, Fine Line Features, a division of New Line Cinema, secured the rights…Release dates were strategically planned to coincide with the 64th Academy Awards in March 1992, aiming to capitalize on the ceremony's publicity and generate word-of-mouth buzz. Preview screenings were positive. The filmmakers hoped audiences would be drawn to the film's story rather than its celebrity cameos; therefore, Altman insisted on not featuring the actors' names in advertisements….

Reception
…Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "Robert Altman has not really been away. Yet his new Hollywood satire titled The Player is so entertaining, so flip and so genially irreverent that it seems to announce the return of the great gregarious film maker…".
Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote: "Mercilessly satiric yet good-natured, this enormously entertaining slam dunk represents a remarkable American come-back for eternal maverick Robert Altman."
Terrence Rafferty of The New Yorker called it "a brilliant dark comedy about the death of American filmmaking," adding: "In this picture Altman is doing one of his specialties: exploring an odd American subculture—revealing its distinctive textures and explicating the peculiar principles of social intercourse which keep it functioning. But when his idiosyncratic style of anthropological realism is applied to the tight community of Hollywood 'players' it has an almost hallucinatory effect."
Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Altman has made a movie that's supremely deft and pleasurable. As if to taunt his detractors, he even 'tells a story' this time, and he does a better job of it than the hacks who have been getting work when he couldn't."[13]
The Player was Altman's comeback to making films in Hollywood.[14] Altman was praised for the sex scene in which Robbins and Scacchi were filmed from the neck up. Scacchi later claimed that Altman had wanted a nude scene, but that it was her refusal which led to the final form. The editing of The Player by Geraldine Peroni was honored by a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.”

Running time: 2 hours 4 minutes
Trailer:
Clip:

86. Vive L'Amour 1994 Taiwan Tsai Ming-liang ESSENTIAL

I’ve loved this film since I first found it. I’d never seen anything like it. In the first 45 minutes, there is no dialogue other than us hearing one side of the conversation on 2 phone calls (in which very little is said in both cases). It’s a very clever telling of a very simple and minimal plot. Chiefly I find it funny, in part because of the humorous situations which Tsai creates, but also partly because he has the nerve to make a film like this and to be so different. There is also some dramatic/emotional element to the film, but mainly we are just simple voyeurs, trying to make sure we don’t laugh out loud in case they hear us.

Wikipedia:
“Vive l'amour (…lit. 'long live love') is a 1994 Taiwanese New Wave film directed by Tsai Ming-liang….
While the film was celebrated by most film critics when it was first released, its vague storyline and cinematic techniques resulted in an average box office turnout.
…Cast
Yang Kuei-mei (楊貴媚) as May Lin – a real estate agent and a heavy smoker, who uses the empty apartment for sexual affairs. She brings Ah-hung to one of the properties she has been trying to sell and has sex with him.
Lee Kang-sheng (李康生) as Hsiao-kang – a salesman for commercial ossuaries (納骨塔), who discovers an apartment key and secretly moves into the apartment.
Chen Chao-jung (陳昭榮) as Ah-jung – a street vendor, who steals the key to the apartment May Lin brings him to and later moves into the apartment. Sharing the absurd life situations together, he forms a friendship with Hsiao-kang after having a quarrel with him at the apartment where they both secretly live in.
…Themes
Continuing Tsai Ming-liang's attentive observation of urban life, Vive l'amour unfolds the theme of urban alienation through three young urbanites' search for romance and their disbelief in traditional family values in the 1990s Taipei. Tsai Ming-liang takes a bold move with plot lines that are stylistically designed to focus on only a trio of main characters, who unknowingly share an apartment in Taipei. The cinematic language of Vive l'amour is kept to an extreme minimum. Tsai Ming-liang's austere composition of dialogues with a total of less than a hundred lines throughout the film, paired with a minimalist use of background music and soundtrack, reflects the emotional loneliness and spiritual emptiness experienced by the three urbanites of Taipei.
With its daring long takes piercing through the deep hearts of the depressed characters, Vive l'amour introduces the unique "Tsai Ming-liang style", which is later embraced by international audiences and critics, and attracts European and American audiences to enter the lonely world Tsai Ming-liang's cinematic language portrays on screen.
Reception
…On AllMovie, reviewer Jonathan Crow praised the film, writing that "[director Tsai Ming-liang] presents Taipei as a soulless, ultra-modern labyrinth where individuals cannot communicate other than in one-night stands or business transactions. The film's style is masterful in both economy and emotional power. With very long takes, little narrative tension, and almost no dialogue, the style reinforces the cold, alienating world in which the characters live."[
…following Vive l'amour's 2K restoration, Washington Square News Arts Editor Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer described Vive l'amour as "not a mere three-fold character study, but a blown-up portrait of a soul draped in sorrow that Ming-liang generously decided to make into a movie."
Legacy
On New Year's Eve in 2023—as inspired by a viral Facebook post—a flash mob gathered at Daan Forest Park at midnight to re-enact the closing scene of Vive l'amour. The gathering was seen as being symbolic of the emotions felt by revellers on New Year's Eve (who were seen dancing, crying, and socializing with others); an attendee told CNN that the event was reflective of the belief that "there isn't a uniform way of living and expressing emotions".[11] The following year, the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute organised the gathering as a formal event to mark the 30th anniversary of Vive l'amour and the park's opening; the event featured a screening of the film before midnight, and special guest appearances by Tsai Ming-liang, Yang Kuei-mei and Lee Kang-sheng. The event was attended by around 2,500 people.”

Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes
Trailer:

I must say I'm not personally a massive 90s fan when it comes to movies (I think it's a great decade for music) but that's looking pretty solid so far. 4 more to come to wrap up the century...

Vive L’Amour is going to be very high on my ballot once I cast it.
Such a great film!

87. Trainspotting 1996 UK Danny Boyle

This is a film I had overlooked for a long time. I thought it was just some crap film that I enjoyed in the 90s when it was a passing fad. In fact I'm not even sure if I enjoyed it then. But it’s much more than that anyway. Yes, the sets are naff, and so is the photography; it’s just generally a cheap look, perhaps the sort of thing you might expect from a 6th form college project. But that initial impression is misleading, because there’s much more to it than that. The dialogue for the most part is unexceptional, but then what can you expect from a film about people with unexceptional lives?
And there have to be caveats to the statement that the dialogue is weak. Renton’s narration is often far from that, not least his celebrated “choose life” monologue, but also some of his on screen dialogue, including the speech about the English being wankers and the Scottish worse because they are effectively ruled by wankers. These parts are carefully and skilfully written, and demonstrate that the largely inane exchanges between the characters are not representative of a paucity of skills in the scriptwriters.
And if much of the dialogue seems unexceptional, the characters themselves, in spite of being from unexceptional backgrounds, and arguably having unexceptional lives, are not. In fact they are highly memorable. I won't forget Begby as long as I live. Or Spud for that matter. Or Renton.
And the production has strengths too. The film is snappily edited. It flows nicely. It tells a proper story. Like 90 minutes of someone telling you the exciting events of their life, but illustrated with the pictures to prove it.
There are iconic scenes, such as the walk in the Highlands, and there are moments of real emotion for example Spud singing Two Little Boys at Tommy’s funeral, where you can sense the emotion, and the feeling of respect from the cast even though the song is being sung about a fictional character. Perhaps because they know that this is more than a film about fictional characters, it’s a film about an era, about their own lives as much as their characters’. Moments of elation too, not least because it is a film afterall largely focusing on drug use and depicting amongst other things the associated highs and lows.
There’s something that I haven’t mentioned. Yes, it’s that soundtrack. Something else about this film is that it is an iconic representation of the period. I don’t know about the rest of the world as I hadn’t travelled in 1996, but the 90s in the UK, is just as you experience it in Trainspotting. Part of that’s reflected in some of the filming, including some documentary type shots of London, and also images of nurses and similar which I suspect were played by non actors and somehow just give a real sense of 90s people. But the main part of that representation of the period, is in the music, and in particular the uplifting dance tracks. It’s more than a soundtrack though and more even than a score; the songs become part of the grammar of the film; part of the dialogue, and part of the mix or editing, the transition between scenes. They are the real life of the film.
Trainspotting will be something for us old farts to cling on to, to reminisce on, as we slip towards the ether. At the time, the 90s felt like it didn’t have an identity. But it did, even if a lot of it might have been crap. It was still our time, whether we made best use of it or not. And there’s probably no piece of creative work which captures it better than Trainspotting.

Wikipedia:
“Trainspotting is a…British black comedy drama film directed by Danny Boyle, and starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle and Kelly Macdonald in her film debut. Based on the 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 23 February 1996.
The film follows a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life. Beyond drug addiction, other themes in the film include an exploration of the urban poverty and squalor in Edinburgh…
……The film title is a reference to a scene in the book where Begbie and Renton meet "an auld drunkard" who turns out to be Begbie's estranged father, in the disused Leith Central railway station, which they are using as a toilet. He asks them if they are "trainspottin'". This scene is later included as a flashback in (2017 sequel) T2 Trainspotting…
Plot
Mark Renton, a 26-year-old unemployed heroin addict living with his parents in Leith, regularly takes drugs with his "friends": treacherous, womanising James Bond fanatic Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson; docile and bumbling Daniel "Spud" Murphy; and Swanney—"Mother Superior"—their dealer. Renton's other friends include aggressive alcoholic psychopath Francis "Franco" Begbie, and honest footballer Tommy Mackenzie, who both abstain from drug use, warning him about his dangerous drug habit.
Tiring of his reckless lifestyle, Renton attempts to wean himself off heroin with a bare room, foodstuffs, and opium suppositories from dodgy dealer Mikey Forrester….
Style and themes
Music has great importance in Danny Boyle's films, as evident by the best-selling soundtracks for Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, both of which feature many pop and punk rock artists. In Boyle's view, songs can be "amazing things to use because they obviously bring a lot of baggage with them. They may have painful associations, and so they inter-breathe with the material you're using".
…the shooting style of the film…features "wildly imaginative" and "downright hallucinatory" visual imagery, achieved through a mix of "a handheld, hurtling camera", jump cuts, zoom shots, freeze frames and wide angles. This vigorous style contributed to the "breathless" pace that Boyle's films have been associated with…
Production
Development
Producer Andrew Macdonald read Irvine Welsh's book on a plane in December 1993, and felt that it could be made into a film…Boyle was excited by its potential to be the "most energetic film you've ever seen…"….Macdonald secured financing from Channel 4, a British television station known for funding independent films.
Casting
….For the role of Begbie, Boyle considered casting Christopher Eccleston for his resemblance to how he imagined the character in the novel, but asked Robert Carlyle instead. Carlyle was initially hesitant, believing he was too short to play the character, but Boyle convinced him by telling him, "No, small psychos are better." Carlyle said, "I've met loads of Begbies in my time. Wander round Glasgow on Saturday night and you've a good chance of running into Begbie."
For the role of Diane, Boyle wanted an unknown actress so audiences would not realise that a 19-year-old was playing a 15-year-old. The filmmakers sent flyers to nightclubs and boutiques and approached people on the street, eventually hiring Kelly Macdonald….
Pre-production
McGregor read books about crack and heroin to prepare for the role. He also went to Glasgow and met people from the Calton Athletic Recovery Group, an organisation of recovering heroin addicts, who play the opposing football team in the opening credits. He was taught how to cook up heroin with a spoon using glucose powder. McGregor considered injecting heroin to better understand the character, but eventually decided against it. Many of the book's stories and characters were dropped to create a cohesive script of adequate length….
The main cast of the film attended Calton Athletic Recovery Group's self-help meetings to prepare for their roles in the film….
Principal photography
Trainspotting was shot in mid-1995 over seven weeks on a budget of £1.5 million with the cast and crew working out of an abandoned cigarette factory in Glasgow. Due to time constraints and a tight budget, most scenes were done in one take, which contributed to the grungy look of the film….
Soundtracks
…The soundtrack for Trainspotting has gone on to become a pop culture phenomenon. Nearly all of the score is pre-recorded music from existing artists. This score is divided into three distinct groups, all representing a different eras and styles: The first being pop music from the 1970s, by artists such as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop; who are all musicians closely associated with drug use and are referred to throughout the original novel. The second group is the music from the Britpop era in the 1990s, with bands Blur and Pulp. Finally, there is the techno-dance music from the 1990s, including Underworld, Bedrock and Ice MC. Danny Boyle approached Oasis about contributing a song to the soundtrack but Noel Gallagher turned down the opportunity due to him mistakenly believing it would be a film about actual trainspotters….
…the Trainspotting soundtrack aimed to champion the alternative music legacy of 1996 Britain with a focus on presenting electronic music on equal footing with rock music in a way that had never been done before. (author’s note: really??? There was a massive dance culture?)
Release
Marketing and theatrical release
…Prior to its release in the United States, Miramax, the film's US distributor, requested that some of the dialogue be dubbed so the film would be easier to understand for American viewers unfamiliar with Scottish slang and British slang in general
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, the company responsible for the distribution of the film, launched a publicity campaign of half as much as the film's production costs (£850,000) in the UK alone, making the film stand out more as a Hollywood blockbuster rather than a smaller European production.
…Reception
Trainspotting was screened at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival but was shown out of competition, according to the filmmakers, due to its subject. It went on to become the festival's one unqualified critical and popular hit…
Critical reception
…Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "Like Scorsese and Tarantino, Boyle uses pop songs as rhapsodic mood enhancers, though in his own ravey-hypnotic style. Whether he's staging a fumbly sex montage to Sleeper's version of "Atomic" or having Renton go cold turkey to the ominous slow build of Underworld's "Dark and Long" ... Trainspotting keeps us wired to the pulse of its characters' passions".
…Rolling Stone's Peter Travers wrote, "the film's flash can't disguise the emptiness of these blasted lives. Trainspotting is 90 minutes of raw power that Boyle and a bang-on cast inject right into the vein".
…The film's release sparked controversy in some countries, including Britain, Australia and the United States, as to whether or not it promoted and romanticised drug use. U.S. Senator Bob Dole accused it of moral depravity and glorifying drug use during the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, although he later admitted that he had not seen the film. Producer of the film Andrew Macdonald responded to these claims in a BBC interview stating "we were determined to show why people took drugs ... you had to show that it was fun and that it was awful"…

Runtime: 1 hour 33 manuts.
Clip:
Another clip:
Song:

88. Flowers of Shanghai 1998 Taiwan Hou Hsiao-hsien

We saw Hou as lead actor in Taipei story, and here he is in his more renowned capacity as director.It took me a few goes, but eventually I became at peace with Flowers of Shanghai’s pace and atmosphere and I settled into it.
Not much happens. But it is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Every shot is meticulously presented. No director has taken this much care for decades. And although I can’t say I develop any particular feelings for any of the characters or what comes of them, it is also an interesting, and I probably well researched and studied, insight into the life of a 19th century ‘high class’ Chinese brothel. But it’s the beauty of it.

Wikipedia:
“Flowers of Shanghai is a 1998 Taiwanese drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It is based on the novel The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai (1892) by Han Bangqing, which was originally written in the Wu language (吳語) and translated into Mandarin Chinese by Eileen Chang. The film stars Tony Leung as a wealthy patron and (various actresses including Carina Lau as) “flower girls" in four high-end Shanghai brothels.
…Plot
The film is set in the elegant brothels of Shanghai, called Changsan Shuyu (長三書寓; "Flower Houses"), in 1884. The story is about the prostitutes in these houses, known as "shi sen" or "flower girls,"…depicting in great detail their relationships with the wealthy patrons, which are semi-monogamous and often last for a long period of time, and the daily activities in the houses.
The main prostitutes in the film are Crimson, Jasmin, Jade, Pearl and Emerald. Crimson belongs to the Huifang Enclave (薈芳里), while Jasmin works at the East Hexing Enclave (東合興里). Jade and her friend Pearl work in the Gongyang Enclave (公陽里), and Emerald resides in the Shangren Enclave (尚仁里). The film explores the relationships between the wealthy patrons and the prostitutes.
…
Regarding the English title of the film, the meaning of "sing-song girls" does not refer to singing girls who sing for a living. Eileen Chang's commentary on the Mandarin text makes it clear: "Xiansheng" or "Xi sang" in Wu is pronounced as "sing song"….
Production
According to the screenwriter Chu Tʽien-wen, Flowers of Shanghai was originated with Hou Hsiao-Hsien's intention to create a collection of art production resources for Taiwan cinema…
Hou Hsiao-Hsien originally intended to shoot Flowers of Shanghai in China, but the application was not approved by the Chinese government. The production was forced to be completed in Taiwan, which is why the film has no outdoor scenes. Without proper locations that could be the background for the period, the film was all shot in the studio.
Hou Hsiao-hsien's long shots are used to their fullest potential in this film. The nearly two-hour film consists of only less than forty shots. The long takes are edited by using fade-ins and fade-outs imitating the rhythm of breathing, which also allow the viewers to have enough time to fully appreciate the recreation of old Shanghai on screen.
Ah Cheng (Zhong Acheng, 鍾阿城) was responsible for sourcing and ordering most of the costumes and props for the film from China. He proposed to Hou that the film should not use electric bulbs but be lit with candles to give the room a warm and nostalgic atmosphere.
Critical reception
…Film critic J. Hoberman, like Jonathan Rosenbaum, called Hou Hsiao-hsien the best director of the '90s, and hailed Flowers of Shanghai as one of Hou's three masterpieces from that decade.
Jeffrey Anderson finds the film incredibly beautiful, despite the need for "multiple viewings and incredible patience." ”

Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes
Trailer:

89. Saving Private Ryan 1998 USA Steven Spielberg

Just an incredible experience, and insight into some of the horrors of war. Also an incredibly emotional film. An icon and a masterpiece.

Wikipedia:
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), on a mission to locate Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) and bring him home safely after his three brothers have been killed in action. The cast also includes Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg and Jeremy Davies.
…Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Saving Private Ryan's battle-scene filming techniques impacted many subsequent war, action, and superhero films, and numerous directors have cited Saving Private Ryan as an influence on them. The picture is credited with having helped to renew interest in WWII at the turn of the century, inspiring other films, television shows, and video games set during the war. …

Production
Concept
…Rodat…was inspired by a gift from his wife, the historical book D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II (1994), by Stephen E. Ambrose, recounting the events of the Normandy landings. Rodat visited a monument in Keene, New Hampshire dedicated to American soldiers killed in combat; he noticed the losses included brothers… The Ryan family was based on the four Niland brothers detailed in Ambrose's book, who were deployed during WWII; two were killed and a third presumed dead; per the Sole Survivor Policy, the fourth was returned from the war……the story was further influenced by other substantial family war losses, including the five Sullivan brothers killed during WWII, and the Bixby brothers during the American Civil War; the resulting letter by Abraham Lincoln is quoted in the film….

Development
To develop Saving Private Ryan, (producer) Gordon founded the independent film studio Mutual Film Company, alongside producer Gary Levinsohn. Gordon brought Rodat's draft to Paramount Pictures executives; they responded positively and hired Rodat who wrote the script over the following 12 months….a junior agent representing Tom Hanks at the Creative Artists Agency, gave the script to Hanks, who was immediately interested and met with Gordon and Levinsohn. Hanks shared the script with Steven Spielberg who agreed to direct because the pair had wanted to work together for some time….
…With Spielberg on board, DreamWorks Pictures, which he co-founded, became involved as a financier, with his company Amblin Entertainment as a production company. Spielberg's clout effectively removed Gordon and Levinsohn from the production, having no creative input, equity, or rights, but receiving a producer's credit and one-off payment. Levinsohn said, "You just know going in what the score is ... I guess it's unspoken that when you hire Steven Spielberg you're not going to be on the set making decisions".
…Spielberg described existing WWII films as "sanitized" and sentimentalized, focused on depicting honor and the glory of service in a manner that was "very safe and wholly untrue". He wanted to present the courage of the soldiers in the face of "palpable terror, almost blind terror"…“I remember one of the [veterans] telling me the entire charge up the beach was a blur—not a blur to his memory because he still remembered every single grain of sand when he had his face buried in it from that fusillade raining down on them from above. But he described how everything was not in focus for him. He described the sounds, and he described the vibrations of every concussion of every 88 shell that hit the beach, which gave some of them bloody noses, rattled their ears. The ground would come up and slam into their faces from the concussions.".…
At Hanks's and Dye's suggestion, Spielberg had the principal cast take part in a six-day boot camp, wanting them to experience cold, wet, and exhaustive conditions, like those of WWII soldiers. Overseen by Dye and retired U.S. marines, the actors remained in character while simulating attacks, performing 5-mile (8 km) runs with full backpacks, weapons training, military exercises, and push-ups after making mistakes, on three hours of sleep per night in cold and rainy conditions. The men wanted to quit, but Hanks convinced them otherwise, saying they would regret not following through and the experience would help them understand their characters and motivations. Diesel said, "at that moment we got this huge respect for him in real life, we were all exhausted, we all wanted to leave and here was this guy who was a superstar, who doesn't have to be here, voting to stay"…Spielberg kept Damon out of the boot camp because he wanted the other actors to resent him and his character.

Pre-production
…Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński spent several weeks performing camera tests to define the film's visual aesthetic…A variety of camera techniques were used to emulate the experience of being on a battlefield: Kamiński removed the protective coating on some lenses, creating a "flatter", degraded image akin to WWII-era cameras, and mismatched lenses when using multiple cameras for an inconsistent result; alternating shutter angles and speeds; and desynchronizing the camera shutter which created a "streaking" effect. Kamiński considered this a risky option because if it failed there was no way to fix the image in post-production. A Clairmont Camera Image Shaker vibrated the camera to emulate the effects of a nearby explosion or rolling tank. Spielberg chose to film in 1.85:1 aspect ratio because he believed it was more lifelike and closer to "the way the human eye really sees," and found widescreen formats to be artificial. (source: "Five Star General". American Cinematographer.)
Three months were spent scouting for a location to portray the Normandy coast. The real location was too developed for their needs, and many other French beaches were restricted by military or wildlife use; Spielberg believed officials were difficult because they did not want him filming there. Beaches researched in England and Scotland lacked either the aesthetics or amenities required, such as housing for the crew, and the filmmakers needed a specific depth for the cast to leap from the landing crafts into the water. Associate producer, Kevin De La Noy's earlier work on Braveheart (1995) in Ireland had developed contacts with the Irish Army and knowledge of local beaches. One such location, the 11 km (6.8 miles) long Curracloe Beach, near Curracloe, County Wexford, offered the desired golden sands and sheer cliffs and nearby amenities. Spielberg selected a 1 km (0.62 miles) segment of the beach, known as Ballinesker. He said, "I was a bit disappointed that the beach we used wasn't as broad as the real Omaha Beach ... I tried to use certain wide-angle lenses to extend the length of the flats on the sandy beach before the soldiers reach the shingle. I used wider lenses for geography and tighter lenses for the compression of action." A segment adjacent to Blackwater, also in Wexford, was considered, but the local nuns could not make the land available in time….
…
Principal photography began on June 27, 1997. Filming completed up to 50 shots per day. Spielberg wanted the actors to get little rest, "A war is fought fast, and I really wanted to keep all of the actors off-balance. I didn't want them to be able to read 75 pages of a novel ... I wanted to work fast enough so that they always felt as if they were in combat ... I had to keep them on the set, which meant shooting the film even faster than I normally do. War doesn't give you a break."
Saving Private Ryan was shot almost entirely in continuity order, although some of the crew found this "a mentally demoralizing experience" because the cast started together and left as their characters died.
The Omaha Beach battle was filmed over three to four weeks, for $12 million. The scene involved about 1,500 people including 400 crew, 1,000 volunteer reserve and Irish army soldiers, and dozens of extras and about 30 amputees and paraplegics fitted with prosthetic limbs to portray disfigured soldiers. Their numbers were supplemented with over one thousand detailed mannequins. The extras were divided into platoons with a designated leader, allowing Dye to control their action via four different radios with aid from three non-commissioned officers. Costume designer Joanna Johnston contracted an American company responsible for making boots for soldiers during WWII to create about 2,000 pairs, using the last batch of dye from that period. Soldiers in the ocean wore wet suits beneath their uniforms to minimize hypothermia.
….A crane shot moving from beneath the ocean surface to above the battlefield was achieved by placing the crane on a flatbed trailer and reversing it into the sea.
…Spielberg had the camera stay close to the ground to appear as if it was the view of a soldier avoiding getting shot or a combat cameraman. He intended for the audience to feel like they were a part of the battle rather than watching. Most of Saving Private Ryan was filmed with handheld cameras. This was physically demanding on camera operator Mitch Dubin and Steadicam operator Chris Haarhoff due to both proximity to the ground and movement through exploding scenery. The camera was close enough that fake blood, water, and sand would stick to the camera lens, but the filmmakers believed this made the footage more authentic….
…halfway through filming, (Spielberg) decided to depict the remainder of the film from Upham's perspective, believing he represented the audience's inexperience of war….
…Filming concluded ahead of schedule on September 13, 1997, after 12 weeks, with the French church interior scenes. The estimated total budget was $65–$70 million….

Music
A long-time Spielberg collaborator, composer John Williams, produced the score. Spielberg chose little music accompaniment, wanting the sounds of battle and death to be prominent….Williams recorded the 55-minute score over three days at Symphony Hall in Boston, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and vocals by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus…The recording cost about $100,000 per hour. Spielberg chose the Orchestra: "This is a movie about a company of soldiers, and it seemed appropriate to use an experienced company of musicians who are all virtuosos. Also we really wanted the sound of this room, Symphony Hall. On a soundstage you can get acoustically correct sound, but you don't hear the air. Here you get a rich, warm sound off the walls and ceiling, and you do hear the air; Symphony Hall is an instrument too."

Release…
Box office
The film premiered on July 21, 1998….Saving Private Ryan was seen as the biggest success of the theatrical summer….Re-releases of Saving Private Ryan have raised the box office to $482.3 million…
Reception…Saving Private Ryan received critical acclaim, and audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Critics generally agreed that Saving Private Ryan presented the grim and brutal reality of the "Good War" in a way previously unseen on film….
…Rosenbaum found that, outside of the combat, the script was effective but uninspired and derivative of war films by other directors…Others criticized "manipulative" oversentimentality, particularly in the modern day framing device featuring the elderly Ryan.
…Kamiya wrote that Damon's performance was "jarring", believing both his more cinematic aesthetic and speech about his brothers to be artificial. The review concluded that Ryan was not very compelling, which made it difficult to care about the mission to save him.

Accolades
….Saving Private Ryan's unexpected loss of Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love is seen as one of the biggest upsets in the awards history and led to DreamWorks executives accusing its producers, Miramax, of "overly aggressive campaigning". A 2015 poll of Academy voters suggested that, given another opportunity, they would have voted Saving Private Ryan as Best Picture….

Post-release
Historical accuracy and veteran responses…Several publications highlighted the accuracy of the Omaha Beach assault, down to the sound of gunfire, although some errors were noted, such as bullets killing soldiers underwater, the absence of British coxswains steering the boats, and the battle's truncated duration.
…Many World War II veterans described the opening of Saving Private Ryan as depicting the most realistic representation of combat. Another veteran, interviewed by Time, said "I remember when I walked out into the lobby of the moviehouse, not a single person coming out of that showing said one word ... everybody was stunned by it ... It just brought back so many memories.”
…The rest of the film is less historically accurate. Fictitious elements include the nonexistent town of Ramelle, the battle associated with it, certain military tactical errors…Total Film and some non U.S. veterans were critical of the lack of other Allied forces throughout the film. British broadcaster Channel 4 said that these critics had missed the point of the film, in that it was "unashamedly an American story"….

Thematic analysis
Patriotism
...Leading into the early 21st century, there was renewed focus in America on glorifying the generation that had fought in WWII, depicted in films such as Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line, the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), books such as The Greatest Generation (1998), and construction of a World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Many publications believed this resurgence of interest in the war to be a response to decades of American cynicism toward the nation's failure in the Vietnam War (1955–1975), and anticlimactic victories in the Cold and Gulf Wars that resulted in little diplomatic success or celebration.
Many films about the Vietnam War depicted its American combatants as self-hating, "deeply troubled, or even psychotic," offered little respect, and portrayed the conflict itself as one mired in dread, anxiety, and general negativity.
Literature professor Marzena Sokołowska-Paryż said the worship of WWII as "the last Good War" and its veterans as "the greatest generation" represented a "therapeutic [form of] patriotism" designed to rehabilitate the modern image of combatants as the enduring legacy of WWII soldiers and the core American national identity while forgetting any lingering guilt over the Vietnam War.
….Turan and Biguenet said Saving Private Ryan "feels like an official act of atonement" for modern generations failing to acknowledge the "courage and sacrifice" of WWII soldiers.
…History professor John Bodnar described the image of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial as depicting a national unity with row after row of white grave markers, serving as a permanent reminder "to other nations of the sacrifices made by the United States".
Morality and humanity
Unlike some older WWII films that portrayed the soldiers as infallible heroes, Saving Private Ryan presents battles fought by brave but frightened civilians, the majority of whom at Omaha Beach were not combat veterans. Ebert believed much of the audience, including himself, would identify with Upham, someone completely unprepared for the realities of war but who must fight regardless. Miller is the opposite: an experienced soldier who is scared and anxious because he knows exactly what to expect and is haunted by his responsibility for the lives of his men. Although 94 men have died under his command, Miller rationalizes that he can prioritize his mission over his men because each sacrifice was responsible for saving many more lives. However, his mission to rescue Ryan demands he risk the lives of several men to save just one.
…Spielberg said the mission to rescue Ryan cannot be morally or patriotically justified, risking eight lives to save one. This theme is reinforced when they encounter the sole survivor of a glider crash caused by heavy steel shielding added to protect a single general on board, resulting in 22 deaths.

…Cultural influence
Saving Private Ryan was credited with renewing interest in World War II leading into the 21st century. NBC News wrote that in presenting audiences with its "stomach-churning violence and soul-shaking intensity of that pivotal chapter in the war", the film had reshaped the United States' "cultural memory"….
The film is considered to have had a lasting influence on filmmaking, particularly its opening battle scenes. Vanity Fair wrote, "no films about combat made since would look the way they do without the de-saturated, handheld, blood-splatters-and-all horror of cinema that is this extended sequence ... it's a terrifying scene, either honorable or exploitative in its all vérité, depending on whom you ask. Regardless of any moral assessment, it's easily one of the most aped and referenced scenes of the late 20th century."

Runtime: 2 hours 50 minutes
Trailer:
Excerpt:

That is a draft wrap on the 20th century.

We have (following my subsequent edits) the following entries from the various decades:
20s 5
30s 6
40s 12
50s 11
60s 25
70s 13
80s 10
90s 8

There will be a least some minor change however as I am 1 film short, and also the numbering is 1 out after film 16 (I had anticipated having to delete one, but in fact I now have to add one).

I have also marked the following 14 films as provisional entries in the list:
1*. The Great White Silence (doc) 1924 UK Herbery Ponting (silent) b/w (provisional)
2*. Seven Chances 1925 USA Buster Keaton (silent) b/w (provisional)
16*. My Darling Clementine 1946 USA John Ford b/w (provisional
26*. La Pointe Courte 1955 France Agnes Varda b/w (provisional)
27*. Pather Panchali 1955 India Satyijat Ray b/w (provisional)
28*. The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 UK David Lean (provisional)
31*. Rio Bravo 1959 USA Howard Hawks (provisional)
33*. North by Northwest 1959 USA Alfred Hitchcock (provisional)
39*. L'Eclisse 1962 Italy Michelangelo Antonioni b/w (provisional)
41*. Le Mepris / Contempt 1963 France Jean Luc Godard (provisional)
58*. A Touch of Zen 1971 Taiwan King Hu (provisional)
73*. Taipei Story 1985 Taiwan Edward Yang (provisional)
74*. Withnail & I 1987 UK Bruce Robinson (provisional)
77*. When Harry Met Sally 1989 USA Rob Reiner (provisional)

and the following 12 as remaining as live contenders:
Pandora's Box 1929 Germany G.W. Pabst
On the Waterfront 1954 USA Elia Kazan
Cleo from 5 to 7 1961 France Agnes Varda
Godfather 1972 USA Francis Ford Coppola
The Day of the Jackal 1973 ?
Godfather2 1974 USA Francis Ford Coppola
Chinatown 1974 USA Roman Polanski
The Passenger 1975 Spain Michelangelo Antonioni
Jaws 1975 USA Steven Spielberg
Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 USA Steven Spielberg
Coup De Foudre/At First Sight 1983 France
The Terminator 1984 USA James Cameron

There is a firm presumption that the provisional entries will become firmed up, however it's possible that a small number of them might be replaced with live contenders. At least one live contender will be added anyway, on account of me having one less film at this point than I had expected.

I will assess this situation before moving on to the 21st century entries.

I am keeping my fingers crossed, that any changes can be slotted in chronologically, by editing general comments that I have made throughout the thread. Will have to keep my fingers crossed on that.

As I am going to have much less time available after Saturday, it might take me a while to complete the list, but I hope to at least firm up the 20th century entries before next week.

Thank you for ongoing interest.

So having reviewed the live contenders, I have concluded that I would like to include the following films:

Port of Shadows 1938
On the Waterfront 1954
Godfather 1972 (& Godfather2 1974)
Chinatown 1974
The Passenger 1975
(and possibly Jaws 1975, tbc)

Godfather is the banker which will be the missing film from the existing list. I can include Godfather 2 in the same entry or just not mention G2, I don't mind either way, although G2 will not be a stand alone entry.

That means I am looking for 4 (or 5 if I'm looking to include Jaws) spaces which I do not have.

Most of them I could physically fit in to the thread in chronological order, however I can not fit in Port of Shadows, so would have to add it to an existing entry such that it and another entry share a single post.

I'm going for a run, and will then assess how I can try to find space in the 100 for some of these 5 extra films.

It's also conceivable that I might replace The Wizard of Oz with The Adventures of Robin Hood (which was technicolor 1 year earlier), although this is unlikely.

I hope to be able to finalise these changes, and renumber the entries today, although it's unlikely I will complete the Godfather writeup as well, let alone any other new entries from the short list above.

So I reduced that list earlier down to the following:
-On the Waterfront
-The Godfather
-Chinatown
-The Passenger

however I have also now had 2 drop out from the 21st century.

I was already 1 'short' before those 2 dropped out, so that now leaves me with only 101 (3 short + 4 extra), so there's just 1 to take out of my provisionals list.

Hopefully shouldn't take too long to identify the unlucky one....

EDIT:
The one which dropped out was When Harry Met Sally.
However I also replaced Rio Bravo with Lola.
I also added Closely Watched Trains.
Which means I am on target for having 101 films, in which case sobeit.

I'm very tired and will make the changes to the thread accordingly in the morning.
I will then need to write up profiles for the 6 new films.

By the way, I only have 1 film in my 100 which has mobile phones*.

*excludes Larry Levy's car phone.

That's the renumbering completed.
New entries are included for the new additions. Videos are included below the title, although I still need to write the descriptions.

Unfortunately I had to make the difficult decision to drop Godard's Le Mepris, although he still has 2 entries.
I also dropped Rio Bravo (because John Wayne, and also the fool character were getting on my ****) and unfortunately When Harry Met Sally. I also dropped 2 films from the 21st century which I had been planning to include.

Added are:
On the Waterfront
Lola
Closely Watched Trains
The Godfather
Chinatown
The Passenger

I'm going back to sleep now probably, but later I will do the write ups for the 6 new films, and then either now or at a later date will add the 11 films from the 21st century.

Edit: everything is now written up except for The Godfather, which I'll probably leave to do another time.

I think that when the critics and the industry powers-that-be really reflect on my list, they will likely observe that the bulk of the 20th century content is conventional, but that I reject the consensus in 2 periods, namely:
*prior to WW2, where my chosen silent films are not the typically accepted standard-bearers and where I disregard the early talkies which are generally regarded as classics, and again
* in between Blade Runner and Saving Private Ryan, where Hollywood has largely been passed over.


Edit: that was a joke.
Although I do believe that my list is a work of art in itself.

Below I compare my films to the MoFo top 100 lists. Where no number is stated, my film did not make the MoFo countdown.


PRE 30s (50 only)
- The Great White Silence (doc)
- Seven Chances
- Strike
26. The Adventures of Prince Achmed
12. Man With a Movie Camera (doc)

30s
- Salt for Svanetia
- Limite
24. Vampyr
45. Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
10. Mr Smith Goes to Washington
1. The Wizard of Oz

40s
27. Day of Wrath
69. Meshes of the Afternoon
- La Belle et La Bete
- Panique
15. Notorious
- My Darling Clementine
32. Out of the Past
9. Bicycle Thieves
- Kind Hearts and Coronets
64. Stray Dog
25. Late Spring
2. The Third Man

50s
- Little Fugitive
- Journey to Italy
2. Rear Window
15. On the Waerfront
- La Pointe Courte
40. Pather Panchali
7. Bridge On The River Kwai
- Elevator to the Gallows
- The Music Room
- Anatomy of a Murder
5. North by Northwest

60s
- The Naked Island
2. Psycho
- La Notte
45. Last Year at Marienbad
- Lola
80. La Jetee
- L'Eclisse
7. Lawrence of Arabia
23. High and Low
36. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
62. Onibaba
- Le Bonheur
22. For a Few Dollars More
- Alphaville
41. Pierrot Le Fou
37. The Sound of Music
- Closely Watched Trains
- Au Hasard Balthazar
86. Blow-up
45. Bonnie and Clyde
6. The Graduate
- Stolen Kisses
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Kes
- The Color of Pomegranates

70s
- A Touch of Zen
22. McCabe and Mrs Miller
- Cabaret
1. The Godfather
- Le Cousin Jules (doc)
72. Don't Look Now
58. Badlands
6. Chinatown
- The Passenger
16. Barry Lyndon
45. The Mirror
9. Apocalypse Now
5. Alien

80s
37. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
6. Blade Runner (Director's Cut)
29. The King of Comedy
39. Paris, Texas
95. Stranger Than Paradise
- Taipei Story
- Withnail & I
- Landscape in the Mist
- A Short Film About Killing

90s
- Days of Being Wild
- The Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
- Rebels of the Neon God
84. The Player
- Vive L'Amour
33. Trainspotting
- Flowers of Shanghai
18. Saving Private Ryan