10 Essential Movies You Need To Tick Off Your Bucket List
Make time for this must see cinema!
There are movies that fill an evening or an afternoon, that we watch for a bit of noisy fun but soon forget about, and then there are the movies that provide a little more. Proper cinema, complete with themes and meaning and all that nutritious stuff. These are the films, we are told by critics across the land, that we need to see before we die.
That’s not to say the following films are like homework or leafy greens, because that suggests they’re good for us but maybe not the most fun thing to be consuming. The films in this list are, if not necessarily heart warming to watch, certainly gripping, captivating - not the least bit taxing to watch.
But they’re not necessarily the films you’ll see in the multiplex of a weekend. Some have slipped under the radar after failing to find an audience on first release, while others have been passed over in the canon in favour of more mainstream propositions.
They’re all movies that any self respecting film fan ought to indulge in as a matter of principle if they haven’t already. They may not change your life, but without a doubt you’ll enjoy them.
10. The Insider
Michael Mann is better known for some of his more brash, macho films like Heat and Last Of The Mohicans, but his 1999 true life drama is among his best. Telling the real story of tobacco industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, this is a reserved and fascinating tale of undersung heroics and terrifying corporate power run amok.
Mann’s restraint rubs off on his lead actors Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. Both are unusually subtle, and the former especially puts in a performance that ranks among his best as the titular telltale. A year prior to his Gladiator triumph, Crowe is unrecognisable, paunchy and liver spotted. He conveys Wigand’s quiet bravery magnificently, a man at last taking a stand against a poisonous industry from which he has long benefitted.
Like most of Mann’s films it’s a lengthy one, but the director’s extraordinary attention to details means no stone goes unturned in the accurate telling of this vital story. While both leads have far more famous pictures under their belts, The Insider shows the range of the talented stars in gripping fashion.