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Movies

There is a difference between a movie star and a character actor, movie star is more aware how to do a look to make the viewer feel like I want to be that person whereas the character actor is there to make us forget we're watching a film - from an OffCamera interview

I like movies with character actors.

We usually go to Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritics, IMDB or do a google search for "Best movies to watch" or "oscar winning movies", "must watch movies", etc.

But the reality is the these websites often give us a "rating" on a scale of 10 (eg. in IMDB) or on two scales of 100 (like in Rotten Tomatoes one for critic and other one for audience), and some critic reviews, they don't tell whether to watch it or not, as its a personal preference, a movie liked by somebody may not like by someone else, but I believe that like minded people will have similar favorites.

I personally don't like to visit IMDB because its ratings are calcuted based only on user reviews. Thought there is 1 thing I like about IMDB is that it gives a brief summary for the awards won/nominated for a movie, which we do not find in MC or RT.

However, this does not answer our actual question the reason for which we are browsing these websites "Should I watch this movies or not?"

  • A movie that has won Palme d'Or at Cannes film festival does not guarantee you will like it.
  • Does a movie with 91/100 (critics rating) with 78/100(audience rating) better to watch?
  • or does a movie with 99/100 (critics rating) with 58/100(audience rating) score good which is also an oscar winner,
  • if it is a winner then why the audience rating is low, should I take that into consideration?

I abide by few below things when reviewing movies, I don't like to judge a movie by its poster and:

  • who is protagonist and antagonist in the movie, the only thing matters is that person needs to be a character actor
  • how many awards/nominations have a movie won, but it does helps to find/choose maybe good movies, as it filters down from a lots of approvals from lots of critics in film festivals.
  • who is the director, but few of the best directors do make consistently good movies.

Its hard to remember all the movies which I have seen in the past, as I was not maintaining a checklist, I have included most of the movies which I remember watching, will keep below list updated ocassionally.

USA

Name Director Reason
Batman Begins, 2005 Christopher Nolan The best of the Batman franchise
The Dark Knight, 2008 Christopher Nolan Heath Ledger as Joker and the best of the Batman franchise
The Dark Knight Rises, 2012 Christopher Nolan Tom Hardy as Bane and the best of the Batman franchise
The Batman, 2022 Matt Reeves New and promising franchise
Top Gun, 1986 Tony Scott Little bit drama, but a good prequel
Top Gun: Maverick, 2022 Joseph Kosinski Makes you wanna ride the fighter jet
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, 2011 Brad Bird Adventures
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, 2015 Christopher McQuarrie Good addition to the series
Mission: Impossible - Fallout, 2018 Christopher McQuarrie Good addition to the series
The Bourne Identity, 2002 Doug Liman Good series
The Bourne Supremacy, 2004 Paul Greengrass Good series
The Bourne Ultimatum, 2007 Paul Greengrass Good series
John Wick, 2014 Chad Stahelski Keanu Reeves at its best
John Wick: Chapter 2, 2017 Chad Stahelski John Wick fulfills a vow
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, 2019 Chad Stahelski John Wick is declared excommunicado
Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2003
Kill Bill: Vol. 2, 2004
Sherlock Holmes, 2009
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011
Enola Holmes, 2020
Good Will Hunting, 1997
Dead Poets Society, 1989
The Godfather, 1972 Classic crime dynasty story
The Irishmen, 2019 Classic and a long crime story
The Pursuit of Happyness, 2006
King Richard, 2021
Kimi, 2022
Free Guy, 2021
Sideways, 2004
The Theory of Everything, 2014
Dune, 2021
CODA, 2021
King Richard, 2021
Avatar, 2009
Raiders Of The Lost Ark, 1981
Casino Royale, 2006
Skyfall, 2012
The Matrix, 1999
The Shawshank Redemption, 1994 Classic prison break movie
Inception, 2010 Cristopher Nolan Dream inside dream inside...
Forrest Gump, 1994 A classic with history, adventure, and innocence of a man
Interstellar, 2014 Cristopher Nolan black hole time concept
Whiplash, 2014 A drummer story
Gladiator, 2000 Roman emporer and his general story
Léon: The Professional, 1994 Young Natalie portman learns assasin techniques
Back to the Future, 1985 classic time travel sci-fi
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood Quentin Tarantino
It's a Wonderful Life, 1946 Classic family movie
Catch Me If You Can, 2002 Steven Spielberg Con artist story
Edge Of Tomorrow, 2014 Doug Liman Adventurous Sci-fi
Troy, 2004 Wolfgang Petersen History and Trojan horse
Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015 George Miller Best action on road

Japan

Name Director Reason
Spirited Away, 2001 Fantasy adventure
Grave of the Fireflies, 1988 Too emotional

Argentina

Name Director Reason
The Secret in Their Eyes, 2009 A good movie involving just a case and rest with the life of protagonist

Canada

Name Director Reason
Incendies, 2010 A good history with generations long story, truth that hurts type of movie

Iran

Name Director Reason
The Salesman, 2016 Asghar Farhadi
A Separation, 2011 Asghar Farhadi
About Elly, 2009 Asghar Farhadi
A Hero, 2021 Asghar Farhadi
The Past, 2013 Asghar Farhadi
Fireworks Wednesday, 2006 Asghar Farhadi

Austria

Name Director Reason
Amour, 2012 Real life of an old couple
Revanche, 2008 This is one of favorites, robbery is just a part of it, the rest deals with aftermath of humans and emotions involved

France

Name Director Reason
Amélie A classic french movie, a story of a girl
Taken, 2008 "I will find you and I will kill you." — Liam Neeson

Italy

Name Director Reason
Life Is Beautiful, 1997 History and a classic family movie

Denmark

Name Director Reason
A Royal Affair, 2012 Based on a true story from the 18th century
Another Round, 2020
The Hunt, 2012 How an innocent little lie can cause too much trouble
In a Better World, 2010

Korea

Name Director Reason
Parasite, 2019 I had watched this movie before it got nominated in the Academy awards, and was sure this movie will make big and it did
Oldboy, 2003
The Handmaiden, 2016
The Man from Nowhere, 2010
A Bittersweet Life, 2005
Mother, 2009

Lebanon

Name Director Reason
Capernaum, 2018

Australia

Name Director Reason
Lion, 2016

India

Name Director Reason
3 Idiots, 2009
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, 2011
Lagaan, 2001
Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1, 2012
Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2, 2012

Animated

Name Director Reason
A Bug's Life, 1998
Coco, 2017
WALL·E, 2008
Toy Story, 1995
Toy Story 2, 1999
Toy Story 3, 2010
Toy story 4, 2019
Ice Age, 2002
Soul, 2020
Big Hero 6, 2014
Penguins of Madagascar, 2014
The Incredibles, 2004
The Incredibles 2, 2018
Despicable Me, 2010
How to Train Your Dragon, 2010
How to Train Your Dragon 2, 2014
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, 2019
Ratatouille, 2007
Finding Nemo, 2003
Inside Out, 2015
Zootopia, 2016
Aladdin, 1992