griggs's - Favourite Films of the 21st Century (So Far) List
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From director Christopher Nolan, a unique and intriguing thriller that begins with the ultimate act of revenge and backtracks through time to reveal the shocking and provocative reasons behind it. Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) remembers everything up to the night his wife was brutally raped and murdered. But since that tragedy, he has suffered from short-term memory loss and cannot recall any event, the places he has just visited or anyone he has met just minutes before. Determined to find out why his wife was killed, the only way he can store evidence is on scraps of paper, by taking Polaroid photos and tattooing vital clues on his body. Throughout his investigation, he appears to have the help of both bartender Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), who may have her own secret agenda and police officer Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) whose friendship is always suspect. As Shelby's fractured memory tries to piece together a chilling jigsaw of deceit and betrayal in reverse, breathtaking twists and surprising turns rapidly occur in the most challenging, original and critically acclaimed thriller in years. - Director:
- Christopher Nolan
- Cast:
- Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
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Casino Royale (2006)James Bond: Casino Royale
Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond (Daniel Craig) is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one. - Director:
- Martin Campbell
- Cast:
- Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench
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This jolt of pure cinematic adrenaline affirmed directors Josh and Benny Safdie as heirs to the gritty, heightened realism of Martin Scorsese and John Cassavetes. Adam Sandler delivers an almost maniacally embodied performance as Howard Ratner, a fast-talking New York jeweler and gambler in relentless pursuit of the next big score. When he comes into possession of a rare opal, it seems Howard's ship has finally come in - as long as he can stay one step ahead of a wife (Idina Menzel) who hates him, a mistress (Julia Fox) who can't quit him, and a frenzy of loan sharks and hit men closing in on him. Wrapping a vivid look at the old-school Jewish world of Manhattan's Diamond District within a kinetic thriller, 'Uncut Gems' gives us one of the great characters in modern cinema: a tragic hero of competing compulsions on a shoot-the-moon quest to transcend his destiny. - Director:
- Ben Safdie
- Cast:
- Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett
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Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece. Based on a true story from the acclaimed Bafta and Academy Award winning director Roman Polanski. They were degraded, they were hoarded up and they were sent to die. A brave few fought back, but one man would not be beaten, would not be taken and would stay and hide. Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody), a brilliant Polish pianist, a Jew, escapes deportation. Forced to live in the heart of the Warsaw ghetto, he shares the suffering, the humiliation and the struggles, and manages to escape and hide in the ruins of the capital. - Director:
- Roman Polanski
- Cast:
- Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay
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"Inglourious Basterds" begins in German-occupied France, Shoshanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand the Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Shoshanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as "The Basterds", Raine's squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shoshanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own... - Director:
- Quentin Tarantino
- Cast:
- Brad Pitt, Christian Brückner, Hélène Cardona
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Dogtooth (2009)Kynodontas
A darkly comic, discomfiting and deliberately provocative work that draws parallels with recent contemporary events. Dogtooth is shocking, compelling and perversely erotic. In a house on the edge of the city live a self-contained family. The only person allowed to leave is the father. The mother remains enclosed, 'protecting' her son and two daughters from the evils of the outside world. However, when the son reaches an age where it is deemed that his sexual needs should be met, this insular and radical environment is threatened by the arrival of a female security guard. Capturing incidents that range from the weird to the repulsive, Dogtooth presents a sharp and frequently startling look at modern life. Particularly evocative of the work of Michael Haneke this is cinema at its most bold and brilliant. - Director:
- Yorgos Lanthimos
- Cast:
- Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Angeliki Papoulia
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After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Elizabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. 'Us' pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves. - Director:
- Jordan Peele
- Cast:
- Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss
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10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)The Cellar
After a catastrophic car crash, a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up in a survivalist's (John Goodman) underground bunker. He claims to have saved her from an apocalyptic attack that has left the outside world uninhabitable. But, as his increasingly suspicious actions lead her to question his motives, she'll have to escape in order to discover the truth. - Director:
- Dan Trachtenberg
- Cast:
- Bradley Cooper, John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
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A newly arranged marriage sees an oddball couple shoved together in a small Mumbai shack with paper-thin walls. They are alone, awkward and together. Cranky Uma (Radhika Apte) does her best to cope with the heat, her complete lack of domestic skills, nosy neighbors and her bumbling spouse until one night she discovers strange new feral cravings. - Director:
- Karan Kandhari
- Cast:
- Radhika Apte, Masashi Fujimoto, Daemian Greaves
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Enid (Niamh Algar / Beau Gadsdon) is a film censor during Britain's infamous 'video nasty' era of the 80s. After her latest viewing has a disturbingly familiar storyline, she attempts to solve the past mystery of her sister's disappearance and embarks on a quest that dissolves the line between fiction and reality. - Director:
- Prano Bailey-Bond
- Cast:
- Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley, Nicholas Burns
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