(Read part 1 here and part 3 here.)
6. The Sixth Sense
This movie is best seen when you haven't been spoiled which wasn't the case with me because I somehow found out the secret. Because of that, I thought I wouldn't enjoy The Sixth Sense anymore, or at least not as much. Yet somehow, I did. Many people who saw the movie were scared enough by it not to want to go to the toilet alone at night for a while LOL but I'm not normally spooked by ghost movies (it jolts me while I am watching it obviously but I don't go to bed wanting to keep the lights on). Instead, I found this movie emotionally stirring and moving. My absolute favorite scene in this movie is the penultimate one, when Haley Joel Osment's character finally shares his secret with his mother played by Toni Collette. The acting in that scene is superb. In fact, both were nominated for supporting actor Oscars. This film was also nominated for four other Oscars, including Best Picture.
7. The Bridges of Madison County
This isn't the best movie I've seen but it left a mark because of Meryl Streep's scintillating performance. She puts in a powerfully effective and emotionally charged portrayal of Francesca, an Italian woman who marries an American, moves with him to the US, and realizes too late that the life she had taken on was not the one she wanted for herself. Meryl is subtle and nuanced and she expresses a full range of emotion not only on her face but with her entire body. Possibly the most powerful scene in the film is when she is faced with the decision of whether to run away with Robert, the man she ends up having an affair with, or to stay with her husband. That scene closes with a shot of only Meryl's hand letting go of the car door handle, and even without seeing her face, you could feel her total anguish. She makes Francesca understandable, believable, relatable, and human. While the book has been criticized by some for almost glamorizing a woman's short-term unfaithfulness, there was very little of that negative criticism for the movie, and that is largely due to how intelligently Meryl attacks the role. I am often the first to dislike a movie that depicts a great love found through infidelity but I somehow didn't feel that watching this film, and that's why it has become quite memorable. The Bridges of Madison County for me features one of Meryl Streep's best and most underrated performances and I truly believe she should have won the Best Actress Oscar for this.
8. Heneral Luna
I usually prefer my historical dramas to be a bit more serious, but with Heneral Luna catering to the millennial crowd, they had to make it a lot more interesting, with a lot of comic relief thrown in every so often, even in scenes that should be heavy. Maybe that's why it has become one of the most important Filipino films in recent times (or maybe even in history): because it managed to reach out to an audience that has traditionally shied away from these types of movies. While my preference for a more consistently serious tone in a historical biopic means that Heneral Luna isn't necessarily my favorite Filipino movie, it makes my list because it further strengthened my desire to know and understand Philippine history and culture a lot more. As soon as I watched the film, I read online articles about Luna, Aguinaldo, Mabini, and Bonifacio and I am now planning trips to visit the Emilio Jacinto Shrine in Magdalena and the Apolinario Mabini museum in Tanauan. It is definitely worth watching as I have written in the past and while it is no longer in theaters here in Manila, I am happy to see that it is now being shown in select cinemas in the US.
9. A Few Good Men
What I love about A Few Good Men is that it puts forward many different perspectives and sides of an argument amidst themes of integrity and honor. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), Lt. Cdr Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore), and Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollack) defend Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Louden Downey whose actions led to the death of Private William Santiago in Gauntanamo Bay. Even if both Galloway and Weinberg are defending Dawson and Downey, they are actually on opposite sides of the fence, with Weinberg believing they "beat up on a weaker kid" and Galloway believing that are being scapegoated and that they deserve the best defense because "they stand on a wall and they say nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch." The scintillating courtroom scene where Col. Nathan Jessup goes on an intensely fiery monologue ("You can't handle the truth!") shows us just how easy it is for outsiders to condemn hazing in the military when they don't understand the importance of a different level of discipline and order in the military to help them save lives. The performances are all solid but Jack Nicholson steals every scene he's in and I thought he should have won Best Supporting Actor that year (he was nominated but didn't win).
10. The Joy Luck Club
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While many great movies are based on books, The Joy Luck Club is only one to make both my list of 15 movies and 10 books. I've written before about how I absolutely love the novel written by Amy Tan. When I learned they were turning it into a movie, my initial thought was, how the heck is that going to work? There was so much internal dialogue going on in the book and so many intertwining and interlocking stories from the many characters in it that I didn't know how they could tell the same story properly in movie form. When I finally saw it, it was impressed. The film changed up a few things (including the sequencing of how the vignettes were laid out in the novel) but having author Amy Tan co-write the screenplay ensured that it stayed true to the essence and substance of the book.
6. The Sixth Sense
photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
This movie is best seen when you haven't been spoiled which wasn't the case with me because I somehow found out the secret. Because of that, I thought I wouldn't enjoy The Sixth Sense anymore, or at least not as much. Yet somehow, I did. Many people who saw the movie were scared enough by it not to want to go to the toilet alone at night for a while LOL but I'm not normally spooked by ghost movies (it jolts me while I am watching it obviously but I don't go to bed wanting to keep the lights on). Instead, I found this movie emotionally stirring and moving. My absolute favorite scene in this movie is the penultimate one, when Haley Joel Osment's character finally shares his secret with his mother played by Toni Collette. The acting in that scene is superb. In fact, both were nominated for supporting actor Oscars. This film was also nominated for four other Oscars, including Best Picture.
7. The Bridges of Madison County
photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
This isn't the best movie I've seen but it left a mark because of Meryl Streep's scintillating performance. She puts in a powerfully effective and emotionally charged portrayal of Francesca, an Italian woman who marries an American, moves with him to the US, and realizes too late that the life she had taken on was not the one she wanted for herself. Meryl is subtle and nuanced and she expresses a full range of emotion not only on her face but with her entire body. Possibly the most powerful scene in the film is when she is faced with the decision of whether to run away with Robert, the man she ends up having an affair with, or to stay with her husband. That scene closes with a shot of only Meryl's hand letting go of the car door handle, and even without seeing her face, you could feel her total anguish. She makes Francesca understandable, believable, relatable, and human. While the book has been criticized by some for almost glamorizing a woman's short-term unfaithfulness, there was very little of that negative criticism for the movie, and that is largely due to how intelligently Meryl attacks the role. I am often the first to dislike a movie that depicts a great love found through infidelity but I somehow didn't feel that watching this film, and that's why it has become quite memorable. The Bridges of Madison County for me features one of Meryl Streep's best and most underrated performances and I truly believe she should have won the Best Actress Oscar for this.
8. Heneral Luna
photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
I usually prefer my historical dramas to be a bit more serious, but with Heneral Luna catering to the millennial crowd, they had to make it a lot more interesting, with a lot of comic relief thrown in every so often, even in scenes that should be heavy. Maybe that's why it has become one of the most important Filipino films in recent times (or maybe even in history): because it managed to reach out to an audience that has traditionally shied away from these types of movies. While my preference for a more consistently serious tone in a historical biopic means that Heneral Luna isn't necessarily my favorite Filipino movie, it makes my list because it further strengthened my desire to know and understand Philippine history and culture a lot more. As soon as I watched the film, I read online articles about Luna, Aguinaldo, Mabini, and Bonifacio and I am now planning trips to visit the Emilio Jacinto Shrine in Magdalena and the Apolinario Mabini museum in Tanauan. It is definitely worth watching as I have written in the past and while it is no longer in theaters here in Manila, I am happy to see that it is now being shown in select cinemas in the US.
9. A Few Good Men
photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
What I love about A Few Good Men is that it puts forward many different perspectives and sides of an argument amidst themes of integrity and honor. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), Lt. Cdr Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore), and Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollack) defend Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Louden Downey whose actions led to the death of Private William Santiago in Gauntanamo Bay. Even if both Galloway and Weinberg are defending Dawson and Downey, they are actually on opposite sides of the fence, with Weinberg believing they "beat up on a weaker kid" and Galloway believing that are being scapegoated and that they deserve the best defense because "they stand on a wall and they say nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch." The scintillating courtroom scene where Col. Nathan Jessup goes on an intensely fiery monologue ("You can't handle the truth!") shows us just how easy it is for outsiders to condemn hazing in the military when they don't understand the importance of a different level of discipline and order in the military to help them save lives. The performances are all solid but Jack Nicholson steals every scene he's in and I thought he should have won Best Supporting Actor that year (he was nominated but didn't win).
10. The Joy Luck Club
photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
While many great movies are based on books, The Joy Luck Club is only one to make both my list of 15 movies and 10 books. I've written before about how I absolutely love the novel written by Amy Tan. When I learned they were turning it into a movie, my initial thought was, how the heck is that going to work? There was so much internal dialogue going on in the book and so many intertwining and interlocking stories from the many characters in it that I didn't know how they could tell the same story properly in movie form. When I finally saw it, it was impressed. The film changed up a few things (including the sequencing of how the vignettes were laid out in the novel) but having author Amy Tan co-write the screenplay ensured that it stayed true to the essence and substance of the book.
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