griggs's - Favourite 100 Films List
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A battle of gigantic proportions is looming in the neon underground of New York City. The armies of the night number 100,000; they outnumber the police 5 to 1; and tonight they're after the Warriors - a street gang unfairly blamed for a rival gang leader's death. This contemporary action-adventure story takes place at night, underground, in the sub-culture of gang warfare that rages from Coney Island to Manhattan to the Bronx. Members of the Warriors fight for their lives, seek to survive in the urban jungle and learn the meaning of loyalty. - Director:
- Walter Hill
- Cast:
- Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright
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It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare. Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) is returning to a loveless marriage; Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March) is a stranger to a family that's grown up without him; and young sailor Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) is tormented by the loss of his hands. Can these three men find the courage to rebuild their world? Or are the best years of their lives a thing of the past? - Director:
- William Wyler
- Cast:
- Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Fredric March
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An uncompromising, double-Bafta winning portrait of a particular milieu of working-class family life in southeast London, where its writer and director grew up, 'Nil by Mouth' is a powerful, astute, authentically foul-mouthed account of unfettered machismo, booze and drugs, petty crime and domestic abuse. The performances are mesmerising throughout, with Ray Winstone as the volatile and self-pitying Ray, Kathy Burke as his longsuffering wife Val and Charlie Creed-Miles as her junkie brother Billy. Shot and scripted in a deceptively casual realist style reminiscent of John Cassavetes, this profoundly personal and humane film eschews sensationalism and sentimentality to illuminate a vicious circle of abuse and criminality. A dark but dazzling masterwork. - Director:
- Gary Oldman
- Cast:
- Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Charlie Creed-Miles
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Based on the true life best seller 'Wiseguy' by Nicolas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack, critics and filmgoers alike declared 'GoodFellas' great. It was named the best film of the '90s by the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of film critics, and it earned 6 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. - Director:
- Martin Scorsese
- Cast:
- Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
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An Autumn Afternoon / A Hen in the Wind (1962)Sanma no aji / Kaze no naka no mendori
Yasujiro Ozu's elegiac final film, 'An Autumn Afternoon', charts the inevitable eclipse of older generations by irreverent youth. Revisiting the story of his earlier masterpiece Late Spring (1949), Ozu once again casts Chishu Ryu in the role of Hirayama, the concerned father to unmarried Michiko. Harangued on all sides to marry off Michiko, Hirayama reluctantly prepares to bid his old life farewell. A cast of tragi-comic characters weaves seamlessly through this gently satirical portrayal of life's inevitable, endless cycle. - Director:
- Yasujirô Ozu
- Cast:
- Chishû Ryû, Shima Iwashita, Keiji Sada
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Le Samouraï (1967)The Godson / The Samurai
In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts. After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him. An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool by maverick director Jean-Pierre Melville, 'Le Samourai' is a razor-sharp cocktail of 1940's American gangster cinema and 1960's French pop culture - with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology. - Director:
- Jean-Pierre Melville
- Cast:
- Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon
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Rashomon (1950)Rashômon
A woodcutter experiences a horrific series of events - an ambush, rape and murder. In the telling of the tale however, each of the four participants give different views of what actually happened - is any of them telling the truth? Kurosawa's masterful film plays on the subjective nature of truth while unfurling a riveting tale of violence and greed. - Director:
- Akira Kurosawa
- Cast:
- Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori
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In seventeenth-century France, Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) uses his power to protect the city of Loudun from destruction at the hands of the establishment. Soon, he stands accused of the demonic possession of Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), whose erotic obsession with him fuels the hysteria that sweeps through her convent. - Director:
- Ken Russell
- Cast:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton
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Rome, Open City (1945)Roma, città aperta
One of the greatest foreign language films ever made, Roberto Rossellini "Rome, Open City" was filmed in the direct aftermath of World War II on the war-ravaged streets of Italy. Based on real events that took place in the Nazi-occupied Italy in 1944, it examines the choices that people are forced to make in wartime. Centring on the Resistance and its members, this is a tragic and emotional exploration of human spirit and the effects of war. - Director:
- Roberto Rossellini
- Cast:
- Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi, Marcello Pagliero
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Alvin's eyesight is poor, he has little money and he can't stand the thought if being driven anywhere. So when he discovers his estranged brother has suffered a stroke he decides to make the journey by the only means of transport available to him - a John Deere lawnmower. Hundreds of miles, six weeks and several breakdowns later Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) finally pulls up at his destination, where the fate of his brother awaits him. - Director:
- David Lynch
- Cast:
- Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Jane Galloway Heitz
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