Pink Floyd: the Wall

 Number 320 on the top 1000 films of all time is the surrealist, musical part-animated drama 'Pink Floyd: The Wall.'

Pink (Bob Geldof) is a rock star who is becoming paranoid and alienated from society. To protect his increasingly fragile mental state, he builds a figurative wall.

Pink Floyd are one of, if not, my favourite band, so this film was perfect for me. However, if you've never listened to a Pink Floyd song then this film would be lost on you. I am surprised that this film had enough mainstream appeal to appear on this list. Its surrealist nature coupled with its lack of conventional narrative can make it inaccessible to all but the most ardent of Pink Floyd films.

You could argue that this film was an extended music video for Pink Floyd's double album: the Wall. In many ways, that was the intention behind the film - with many of the songs punctuating key moments of the film. All of this accompanied the Terry Jones-esque animation with the overall end result being a fever dream.

The storyline, for what it was, closely mirrored the themes of the album, which again would be lost on non Pink Floyd fans - you have the same themes of isolation, alienation and disconnect from society. There were some scary images too like Pink hallucinating himself as a Fascist dictator at a Neo-Nazi rally - that was populated with real Neo-Nazis singing along to Waiting for the Worms. Another scary scene is the school children marching into the meat grinder and wearing freaky masks. Appropriately, this scene is set to Another Brick in the Wall.

I wasn't entirely convinced by the acting either. Bob Geldof didn't have too much to do other than stare existentially into the middle-distance. Reportedly, he almost didn't take the role, as he didn't like Pink Floyd's music, so that might have contributed to his lacklustre performance.

The Wall also had a troubled production with director Alan Parker and writer and Pink Floyd front man, Roger Waters, often coming to blows. I wonder if that contributed to the disjointed film. But, then again, I think the disjointedness was supposed to be part of the point. The film is all about alienation and disconnection.

I certainly enjoyed the film, but that's more because of the great soundtrack, rather than the film itself. And if you aren't a Pink Floyd fan, you might not like this film at all. Upon its premiere, Steven Spielberg asked "what the fuck was that?" An accurate reaction for sure.

Being John Malkovich review

 Number 500 on the top 1000 films of all time is the surrealist fantasy-comedy 'Being John Malkovich.'

Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a down-and-out puppeteer living in New York City. He is trapped in a loveless marriage with his wife Lotte (Cameron Diaz.) When he finds work as an office-clerk, he stumbles upon a mysterious portal that leads him into the mind of John Malkovich. He discovers that for fifteen minutes a day he can literally be John Malkovich. He and his co-worker Maxine (Catherine Keener) then decide to exploit this by charging people $200 for the experience of 'Being John Malkovich.'

I have watched over 500 films on this list. I have watched comedies, dramas, musicals, romances and horrors. And this has to be one of the weirdest, zaniest, most creative films I have ever seen. It takes a simple concept, which could have easily become tedious, and kept taking it to new levels. The surrealism is what made everything so relatable. In many ways, the film is like a daydream - who hasn't thought about being a celebrity for a day? It's one hell of a vicarious thrill if completely bonkers.

Although could we expect anything less from Spike Jonze? This was the man who went onto the direct the absolutely excellent and similarly creative 'Her.' But what's most impressive is that 'Being John Malkovich' was his directorial debut, as well as the debut of Charlie Kauffman, who penned the script. Kauffman was up for the best Original Screenplay Oscar, but he ultimately lost to Alan Ball and 'American Beauty.' While 'American Beauty' is a good film in its own right, it is pretentious, and not nearly as creative as 'Being John Malkovich.' Kauffman penned a great script that didn't take itself too seriously.

But it only worked because John Malkovich agreed to star in it. Reportedly he only wanted to produce and instead recommended Tom Cruise, but Kauffman was adamant that it had to be Malkovich in the role. When the studio also suggested other actors, Kauffman stuck to his guns. This was a great decision, as the film wouldn't have worked with another actor in the role.

Cameron Diaz also really surprised me. She was virtually unrecognisable as Lotte. I have never rated her much as an actress, but she did the drama well here. And although Craig Schwartz was a slimy toad, John Cusack played the role well. He was intriguing enough to want to keep watching. He was also weak-minded enough to be influenced by the scheming Maxine who was a Lady Macbeth character of sorts. She machinates much of the film's conflict including the scheme to charge people to inhabit John Malkovich's mind.

Being John Malkovich might have been one of the zaniest films ever-made, but it is definitely worth a watch. 

La Dolce Vita review

 Number 212 on the top 1000 films of all time is Federico Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita.'

Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) is a tabloid journalist who is going through a mid-life crisis. To rediscover his passion in life, he spends seven days and nights journeying through Rome.

This is my third Fellini film after 8 1/2 and La Strada and I was really hoping it would be closer to the latter than the former. But alas it was not to be. Just like 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita was slow, boring and surreal. It reminds me of Modernist literature where nothing happens in the real world. Everything plays out in the character's minds. And there's nothing inherently wrong in having films that are effectively character studies, but you need to have interesting and likeable characters. Similarly, to the Great Gatsby, La Dolce Vita is populated by rich people having existential moments. These are people I'm never going to relate to or care about. You can only imagine my horror at realising that I have to watch these characters for three bloody hours.

And that is especially true of the arrogant and unlikeable Marcello who very much has a meltdown at film's conclusion. All of the movie's themes culminate in the surrealist and most vulgar way. Marcello and his friends break into a beach house. Marcello becomes drunk and tries inciting the partygoers into having an orgy. He then has a young woman crawling on her knees and starts to ride her before covering her in alcohol, ripping a pillow and sticking feathers to her. And he only does this out of spite as the partygoers refused to agree to his demands. Yet the young woman is fine with it? And nobody else reacts to this. It's just so weird.

You get surrealism and then you get Fellini. He is on a whole other level. Let me tell you, I did not have a good life while watching this film.