Little Movies I've Loved, part 2

52. Girlfight
53. Dancer in the Dark
54. Best in Show
55. This is Spinal Tap
56. Waiting for Guffman
57. Lovers of the Arctic Circle (The paths of a couple who first meet and fall in love during childhood keep crossing … will they ever live happily ever after?)
58. East is East
59. Hard Eight
60. Broken Hearts Club
61. Felicia’s Journey
62. State and Main
63. Like Water for Chocolate
64. Manchurian Candidate (Original version with Angela Lansbury and Frank Sinatra.)
65. Requiem for a Dream
66. Traffic (OK, not such a little movie …)
67. The Five Senses
68. Bring It On
69. The House of Mirth
70. The Dish (delightful … feel-good … Neil Armstrong lands on the moon, and the people in Parkes, Australia go gaga over their role in this historic event.)
71. The Castle (as in, “A man’s home is his …” – even if it’s a lean-to by the airport …by the same writer/director as The Dish … very funny.)
72. House of Games (Who can you trust? Virtually no one in David Mamet’s world.)
73. With a Friend like Harry
74. The Anniversary Party
75. Sexy Beast
76. Truly Madly Deeply (Like “Ghost,” but so much better, b/c Alan Rickman rocks.)
77. Under the Sand (Charlotte Rampling, crazy with grief, cannot let go of her no-longer-there husband. Did he commit suicide? Did he leave her, without a trace? Was he kidnapped? She remains convinced that he is still very much with her, and shuns her friends and a suitor who want her to forget.)
78. The Deep End (How far would you go to protect your child?)
79. Faithless (Ingmar Bergman script; Directed by Liv Ullman – An old director conjures up a woman from his past ... a woman discovers the horrible repercussions of her infidelity. As hard to watch as a war movie.)
80. The King is Alive (People hopelessly stranded in African desert slowly go mad as they rehearse and perform King Lear.)
81. In the Bedroom
82. Iris
83. Following (first movie by Christopher Nolan, who directed Memento)
84. Monsoon Wedding
85. Panic (William H. Macy wants out of the family business. His father, Donald Sutherland, can’t quite let him do that – because they’re in the murder-for-hire business. Dark, yet funny in places.)
86. Frailty (Bill Paxton directs and stars. Eerie tale with a Sixth Sense-like ending.)
87. Lantana (Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey and an ensemble cast of Australians … about marriage, infidelity, death and its aftermath for survivors. Four plot lines going at the same time, and none seem connected until the death brings all plots and characters together. Easy to follow, unlike some complicated stories. Most everyone is flawed, but not in the way you think. Full of surprises.)
88. Nine Queens (Buenos Aires setting for a Mametesque con game tale.)
89. Late Marriage (Israeli film about a 31-year-old ne’er-do-well who won’t take any of the brides his parents keep finding for him b/c he’s happily having an affair with a 34-year-old divorcee with a child. When his parents find out, they’ll have none of it …)
90. My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding
91. Kissing Jessica Stein (The scene where Jessica’s mother subtly lets her know that her new lifestyle choice is OK is one of my favorites in any movie, ever.)
92. Shallow Grave (Early Ewan McGregor … scary!)
93. Proof (early Russell Crowe … a blind photographer alienates everyone he encounters b/c he insists on proof that people are trustworthy.)
94. The Princess & The Warrior (Tom Tykwer – director of Run, Lola, Run – directs this haunting story about fate and longing. Much of the action takes place inside a mental hospital. Eerie and wonderful, and a great soundtrack, to boot.)
95. Freeway (Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland in a twisted, redneck take on “Little Red Riding Hood.” I still laugh about the “Well, look who got hit by the ugly stick” scene.)
96. The Quiet American
97. The Last Kiss (Italian. Almost 30-something men who don’t want to grow up and the women who put up with them.)
98. In the Mood for Love (Chinese. Gorgeous music, gorgeous lead actress. Perfectly paced, melancholy tale of two people who love each other but can’t be together.)
99. The Grey Zone (Holocaust drama – but the first to show prisoners to be flawed characters.)
100. A Mighty Wind (“Never did no wand’rin’ …” Skewers the folk music movement … by the geniuses who gave the world “Spinal Tap,” “Waiting for Guffman” and “Best in Show.”)