griggs's - Letterboxd Official Top 250 Narrative Feature Films List

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The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe, this rapturous "ramen western" by Japanese director Juzo Itami is an entertaining, genre bending adventure underpinned by a deft satire of the way social conventions

distort the most natural of human urges - our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and friends to make her cafe a success with the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster and glimpses of food culture both high and low, the sweet, sexy, and surreal 'Tampopo' is a lavishly inclusive paean to the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.

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"Das Boot" is a graphic and gripping tale that follows the daring patrol of U-96, one of the famed German U-Boats known as 'The Grey Wolves'. Prowling the North Atlantic, they challenged the British Navy at every turn.

The crew abroad the U-96 is portrayed in a desperate life-and-death struggle, coping with life beneath the waves quickly gives way to terror when confronting the enemy...

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On a hot Brooklyn afternoon, two optimistic losers set out to rob a bank. Sonny (Al Pacino) is the mastermind, Sal (John Cazale) is the follower, and disaster is the result. Because the cops, crowds, TV cameras and even the pizza man have arrived. The "well-planned" heist is now a circus.

Based on a true incident, this thriller earned six Academy Award nominations.

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A tight-knit family moves from Italy's rural south to metropolitan Milan. The shock of the new is violent and immediate. A mother meddles. A whore beguiles. Brother faces brother. Blood-ties come undone.

We pity beatific Rocco (played by the immortal Alain Delon in a role specially written for him) and Nadia the harlot (Annie Girardot, capricious and scintillating) - the modern condition has shattered their lives.

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How far would you go to protect your family? Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in.

The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones, but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads and pressure mounts, knowing his child's life is at stake the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

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The sky over Wenders' war-scarred Berlin is full of gentle, trenchcoated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them. One, Damiel, (Bruno Ganz) wishes to become mortal after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, Marion (Solveig Dommartin).

Peter Falk, as himself, assists in the transformation by explaining the simple joys of a human experience.

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To celebrate his 60th birthday, family patriarch Helge Klingelfeldt throws a lavish dinner party for all his friends and family.

After years of tense estrangement Helge is particularly anxious that his three children, Christian, Michael and Helene support the party's festive mood by parading an impression of a happy and loving family. However, th eldest son's speech serves only to expose a secret that descends the celebration into a tragic and heartbreaking night that will never be forgotten.

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Jamie Foxx stars as Django, a slave who teams up with bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to seek out the South's most wanted criminals with the promise of Django's freedom.

Honing vital hunting skills, his one goal is to find and rescue the wife (Kerry Washington) he lost to the slave trade long ago. When their search ultimately leads to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the infamous and brutal proprietor of "Candyland", they arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Now their moves are marked and Candie's treacherous organisation closes in on them.

An innocent young man, János (Lars Rudolph), sees violence break out after an isolated village is inflamed by the arrival of a circus and its peculiar attractions: a giant whale and a mysterious man named "The Prince".

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Like a brand, the letter M has made it's mark on film history; it's disturbing theme having lost none of its impact or relevance. Sinister, dark and foreboding, M tells the story of Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) - child molester and murderer. Tension builds - a child late home - another child missing.

Posters reveal the fate of earlier victims, and the Police seem to have few clues as to the perpetrator of the crimes. Gangsters, beggars and petty criminals, incensed by both the crimes and the Police crackdown, track the killer themselves. Cornered, caught and dragged off to face an equally barbaric form of justice, Beckert endures his own personal torment.

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Stanley Kubrick's classic black comedy about a group of war-eager military men who plan a nuclear apocalypse is both funny and frightening - and seems as relevant today as ever. Through a series of military and political accidents, two psychotic generals - U.S. Air Force Commander Jack D.

Ripper (Sterling Hayden) and Joint Chief of Staff "Buck" Turgidson (George C. Scott) - trigger an ingenious, irrevocable scheme to attack Russia's strategic targets with nuclear bombs. The brains behind the scheme belong to Dr Strangelove (Peter Sellers), a wheelchair-bound nuclear scientist who has bizarre ideas about man's future. The President (also Sellers) is helpless to stop the bombers, as is Captain Mandrake (Sellers once again). Dr. Sstrangelove is truly a classic film.

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After a successful shoplifting spree, Osamu (Lily Franky) and his son rescue a little girl in the freezing cold and invite her home with them. Osamu's wife Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) reluctantly agrees to shelter her.

Although the family is poor, they live happily together until an unforeseen incident upsets the delicate balance they have created, revealing long-buried secrets...

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The enigmatic samurai in Yojimbo is played by the great Toshiro Mifune as a scruffy, scratching, itinerant warrior who wanders into a strange town and right into the middle of two warring clans.

Showing his skills with the samurai sword within minutes of his arrival, he soon has the town's rival factions competing for his services.Kurosawa's genius for storytelling combines with thrilling swordplay, a healthy dose of black humour, a soundtrack every bit as atmospheric and amusing as Ennio Morricone's, and a towering performance from Mifune, to make 'Yojimbo' an irresistible widescreen action movie.

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The year is 2027: The world's youngest person has just died at 18, and humankind is facing its own extinction. In a society torn apart by violence and warring sects, children of men follows Theo (Clive Owen) as he becomes an unlikely champion of earth's SURVIVAL.

One women represents the planet's LAST REMAINING HOPE - When her safety is threatened, Theo is forced to protect her from certain peril.

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The acclaimed latest from writer-director Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire), 'Perfect Days' is a luminous reflection on the beauty found in everyday life.

Koji Yakusho (13 Assassins) stars as Hirayama, a contemplative middle-aged man who lives a life of modesty and serenity, spending his days balancing his job as a dutiful caretaker of Tokyo's numerous public toilets with his passion for music, literature and photography. As we join him on his structured daily routine, a series of unexpected encounters gradually begin to reveal a hidden past that lies behind his otherwise content and harmonious life. Featuring an unforgettable soundtrack of classic rock and pop, this is a tender, shimmering and ultimately life-affirming marvel.