1. Drive (2011)
Drive, is award winning director Nicolas Winding Refns take on noir/crime drama dressed with a lush aesthetic. The laconic Driver, a man with no name, is a Hollywood stuntman by day, and getaway driver by night. He stumbles onto the dream of a normal life when he helps Irene and her young son Benicio, after their car breaks down. The dream is then shattered by the introduction of Irenes boyfriend Standard, who owes a favor to some gangsters. Despite, or more interestingly, because of his attempt to help, the Driver, becomes involved in a botched heist. His involvement in the heist being the very thing that puts Irene and Benicio in further danger. The Driver slowly realizes that although hed like to be a part of a normal life his intrinsic violent-criminal side is what keeps him from it. He is the scorpion riding the frog, and across the river is the normal life hes doomed to live without. Why It's A Gem: This is a arthouse action movie, if there is such a thing. The cinematography and shot composition are gorgeous. The soundtrack is mesmerizing. Ryan Goslings ability to speak volumes within the movies extremely well paced silences, contrasts the outbursts of violence, making them unbearably real. The film is an artful update to the cliché chase films that inspired it.
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