Fun Fridays – Director’s Favourite Films – Valentine’s Special
Hello Film Doctor friends.
We happen to be feeling a bit ROMANTIC this Valentine’s Day Friday, and we’re offering 25% OFF our services.
Email us at filmgp@gmail.com to take advantage! (ends midnight today, US Pacific Time)
We start this week’s Fun Friday with a very “Valentine’s”- fitting release, “Her” , enjoying this interview with its Director, Spike Jonze .
“Her” could be listed amongst other “alternative love films” – here is a sample list for your inspiration (originally published in “Glamour” magazine, Timeout London, The Film Review.com and )
- “Blue Valentine” (2010, dir. Derek Cianfrance)
- “True Romance” (1993, dir. Tony Scott)
- “(500) Days Of Summer” (2009, dir. Marc Webb)
- “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” (2004, dir. Michel Gondry)
…and one “computer-human” love story from the 1980-s – with role reversal:
- “Electric Dreams” (1984, dir. Steve Barron)
Another big opening in the UK cinemas this Friday (14 Feb 2014) is “The Monuments Men” , helmed by George Clooney
His top 5 faves are said to be:
- “Network” (1976, dir. Sidney Lumet)
- “All the President’s Men” (1976, dir. Alan J. Pakula)
- “Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
- “Carnal Knowledge” (1971, dir. Mike Nichols)
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- “Harold and Maude” (1971, dir. Hal Ashby)
But Mr. Clooney didn’t stop there – he actually published a list of his “100 Favourite Films Between 1964 and 1976” ! And it’s a very extensive one:
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
- Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974, dir. Martin Scorsese)
- Alphaville (1965, dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
- American Graffiti (1973, dir. George Lucas)
- The Bad News Bears (1976, dir. Michael Ritchie)
- Badlands (1973, dir. Terrence Malick)
- Bang the Drum Slowly (1973, dir. John D. Hancock)
- Blazing Saddles (1974, dir. Mel Brooks)
- Blow Up (1966, dir. Michelangelo Antonioni)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967, dir. Arthur Penn)
- Bound for Glory (1976, dir. Hal Ashby)
- Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969, dir. George Roy Hill)
- Cabaret (1972, dir. Bob Fosse)
- The Candidate (1972, dir. Michael Ritchie)
- Cat Ballou (1965, dir. Elliot Silverstein)
- Catch-22 (1970, dir. Mike Nichols)
- Chinatown (1974, dir. Roman Polanski)
- Clockwork Orange (1971, dir. Stanley Kubrick)
- The Conversation (1974, dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
- Cool Hand Luke (1967, dir. Stuart Rosenberg)
- Deliverance (1972, dir. John Boorman)
- Dog Day Afternoon (1975, dir. Sidney Lumet)
- Don’t Look Back (1967, dir. D.A. Pennebaker)
- Don’t Look Now (1973, dir. Nicolas Roeg)
- Easy Rider (1969, dir. Dennis Hopper)
- The Exorcist (1973, dir. William Friedkin)
- Fail-Safe (1964, dir. Sidney Lumet)
- Five Easy Pieces (1970, dir. Bob Rafelson)
- The French Connection (1971, dir. William Friedkin)
- The Front (1976, dir. Martin Ritt)
- The Godfather (1972, dir. Franics Ford Coppola)
- The Godfather Part II (1974, dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
- The Graduate (1967, dir. Mike Nichols)
- The Great Gatsby (1974, dir. Jack Clayton)
- A Hard Day’s Night (1964, dir. Richard Lester)
- The Heartbreak Kid (1972, dir. Elaine May)
- High Plains Drifter (1973, dir. Clint Eastwood)
- The Hot Rock (1972, dir. Peter Yates)
- I Am Cuba (1964, dir. Mikhail Kalatozov)
- In Cold Blood (1967, dir. Richard Brooks)
- A Man and a Woman (1966, dir. Claude Lelouch)
- Marathon Man (1976, dir. John Schlesinger)
- MASH (1970, dir. Robert Altman)
- McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, dir. Robert Altman)
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- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, dir. Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones)
The full list of all 100 titles can be found here .
Why 1964-1976 ? Clooney has previously shared his affection for this particular period, naming it “the greatest era in filmmaking by far”:
“I’m a product of the ’70s filmmakers. I grew up with that. I believe from, like, 1964 to 1976 was the greatest time in filmmaking by far. That was the era that I was watching movies the most. I gave all my friends for Christmas 100 films between 1964 and ’76. Dr. Strangelove, All the President’s Men, Bonnie and Clyde—movies that were really changing the face of filmmaking.” (G. Clooney for Parade Magazine, 2011)

