I started this post a few years ago and left it mouldering away until Empire Magazine's 100 Best British films turned up recently, which triggered my memory. I'm not about to claim 'best' but these are certainly my 20 favourite British films, and if any of you haven't seen them, I suggest you give yourself a quick rub down and do something about it.
So here they are from 20 to 1 (and except for the top 2, the order was mecha-difficult)....
20. Welcome to Sarajevo (Michael Winterbottom - 1997)
A real no-frills, even miserable, look at the war in the Balkans and the international journos who covered it. Typically earthy treatment from Winterbottom and Stannis Baratheon himself, Dillane.
19. Oliver! (Carol Reed - 1968)
Not massively into musicals but this is up with the best of them, with great performances from Ron Moody (left) as Fagin and Oliver Reed as Sykes. Top notch sing-alongs too - "In this life, one thing counts. In the bank, large amounts. I'm afraid these don't grow on trees. You've got to pick a pocket or two".
18. The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie - 1980)
"The mafia?! I shit 'em!" Hoskins looking almost as confused as in his other masterpiece performance, Mona Lisa, wondering what the fuck is going on and why. Until that fantastic final shot, where the penny drops.
17. Trainspotting (Danny Boyle - 1996)
Nothing more to be said really. One of the films that defined the 1990s. Hope the forthcoming sequel doesn't plop all over this.
16. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick -1971)
Hard to find a screening back in the day. I remember seeing it at a late show at the Lumiere in the old Perth Entertainment Centre (kids, ask your folks) and was suitably blown away.
15. The Full Monty (Peter Cattaneo - 1997)
The most fun of a set of Thatcher-fucked, northern-England films made in the 90s, which also included Billy Elliot and Brassed Off (also very good).
14. Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle -1994)
A more concise narrative film than Boyle's career-maker to come and, I reckon, a slightly better film.
13. The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston -1975)
Ripping yarn. Connery and Caine didn't work together all that much, certainly not as a pair of leads, and that's one of the great shames of cinema.
12. Local Hero (Bill Forsyth - 1983)
Sweet and unsentimental. You can imagine the kind of potion this would turn into if it were remade today. Like vomiting a cocktail of Red Bull and skittles.
11. The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean -1957)
Mint performances from Guiness and Holden and the pace picks up slowly to the storming finale. Bloody epic.
10. Get Carter (Mike Hodges - 1971)
Hard Caine. Cracking story with some great dialogue and a really grimy 70s feel to it. And one of the best anti-endings on film.
9. Educating Rita (Lewis Gilbert - 1983)
Softer Caine. Perhaps his best performance, though. A lovely double act with Julie Walters.
8. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell - 2006)
The best Bond film with perhaps the best bond. Chuck in Mads Mikkelsen (left) - 'scratching' Bond's netherlands with a massive rope - and the majestic Eva Green. Wipes the floor with Craig's later efforts.
7. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Tomas Alfredson - 2011)
A more subtle spy world than Bond's. Winners all round - Oldman, Firth, Strong, Cumberbatch, Hardy, Jones, Burke - from Le Carre's great writing and a 'foreign' director's eye. Just get a whiff of those walls.
6. Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh -1996)
Brenda Blethyn is irritatingly brilliant in this, my favourite Mike Leigh film. The scene (left) where she meets Marianne Jean-Baptiste's character for the first time is a peach. Timothy Spall nails it as well.
5. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright - 2004)
Can't quite top Spaced for high comic art but this comes extremely close. Pegg and Frost are spot-on.
4. Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer - 2000)
As has been said many times before, from Gandhi to Don Logan!?! Kingsley is frighteningly watchable as an unhinged hard man trying to encourage Winstone to "do the job". Ace.
3. Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg - 1973)
One of the creepiest, saddest films I've had the pleasure of seeing. I think I once found the church Sutherland renovates in Venice. Also creepy.
2. Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson - 1987)
"Come on lads, let's get home, the sky's beginning to bruise. Night must fall and we shall be forced to camp". The way Uncle Monty says 'bruise' is one of about a thousand joys of this film.
1. The Third Man (Carol Reed - 1949)
As near to perfect as film can get. It merged the talents of Graham Greene, Carol Reed, Orson Welles, Robert Krasker and Anton Karas into a rare gem, never to be repeated.
Well, this was fun. I might have a crack at some other countries one day. But not 20. What the hell was I thinking?
So here they are from 20 to 1 (and except for the top 2, the order was mecha-difficult)....
20. Welcome to Sarajevo (Michael Winterbottom - 1997)
A real no-frills, even miserable, look at the war in the Balkans and the international journos who covered it. Typically earthy treatment from Winterbottom and Stannis Baratheon himself, Dillane.
19. Oliver! (Carol Reed - 1968)
Not massively into musicals but this is up with the best of them, with great performances from Ron Moody (left) as Fagin and Oliver Reed as Sykes. Top notch sing-alongs too - "In this life, one thing counts. In the bank, large amounts. I'm afraid these don't grow on trees. You've got to pick a pocket or two".
18. The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie - 1980)
"The mafia?! I shit 'em!" Hoskins looking almost as confused as in his other masterpiece performance, Mona Lisa, wondering what the fuck is going on and why. Until that fantastic final shot, where the penny drops.
17. Trainspotting (Danny Boyle - 1996)
Nothing more to be said really. One of the films that defined the 1990s. Hope the forthcoming sequel doesn't plop all over this.
16. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick -1971)
Hard to find a screening back in the day. I remember seeing it at a late show at the Lumiere in the old Perth Entertainment Centre (kids, ask your folks) and was suitably blown away.
15. The Full Monty (Peter Cattaneo - 1997)
The most fun of a set of Thatcher-fucked, northern-England films made in the 90s, which also included Billy Elliot and Brassed Off (also very good).
14. Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle -1994)
A more concise narrative film than Boyle's career-maker to come and, I reckon, a slightly better film.
13. The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston -1975)
Ripping yarn. Connery and Caine didn't work together all that much, certainly not as a pair of leads, and that's one of the great shames of cinema.
12. Local Hero (Bill Forsyth - 1983)
Sweet and unsentimental. You can imagine the kind of potion this would turn into if it were remade today. Like vomiting a cocktail of Red Bull and skittles.
11. The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean -1957)
Mint performances from Guiness and Holden and the pace picks up slowly to the storming finale. Bloody epic.
10. Get Carter (Mike Hodges - 1971)
Hard Caine. Cracking story with some great dialogue and a really grimy 70s feel to it. And one of the best anti-endings on film.
9. Educating Rita (Lewis Gilbert - 1983)
Softer Caine. Perhaps his best performance, though. A lovely double act with Julie Walters.
8. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell - 2006)
The best Bond film with perhaps the best bond. Chuck in Mads Mikkelsen (left) - 'scratching' Bond's netherlands with a massive rope - and the majestic Eva Green. Wipes the floor with Craig's later efforts.
7. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Tomas Alfredson - 2011)
A more subtle spy world than Bond's. Winners all round - Oldman, Firth, Strong, Cumberbatch, Hardy, Jones, Burke - from Le Carre's great writing and a 'foreign' director's eye. Just get a whiff of those walls.
6. Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh -1996)
Brenda Blethyn is irritatingly brilliant in this, my favourite Mike Leigh film. The scene (left) where she meets Marianne Jean-Baptiste's character for the first time is a peach. Timothy Spall nails it as well.
5. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright - 2004)
Can't quite top Spaced for high comic art but this comes extremely close. Pegg and Frost are spot-on.
4. Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer - 2000)
As has been said many times before, from Gandhi to Don Logan!?! Kingsley is frighteningly watchable as an unhinged hard man trying to encourage Winstone to "do the job". Ace.
3. Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg - 1973)
One of the creepiest, saddest films I've had the pleasure of seeing. I think I once found the church Sutherland renovates in Venice. Also creepy.
2. Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson - 1987)
"Come on lads, let's get home, the sky's beginning to bruise. Night must fall and we shall be forced to camp". The way Uncle Monty says 'bruise' is one of about a thousand joys of this film.
1. The Third Man (Carol Reed - 1949)
As near to perfect as film can get. It merged the talents of Graham Greene, Carol Reed, Orson Welles, Robert Krasker and Anton Karas into a rare gem, never to be repeated.
Well, this was fun. I might have a crack at some other countries one day. But not 20. What the hell was I thinking?
Nice picks. Haven't seen 'em all...shame on me. Saw Clockwork Orange at Lumiere cinema also. (and Eraserhead...not on the same night though - think I was wearing a priests cassock to those late sessions. Creepy)
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Hi Benjamin. Yeah, I suspect you may have come along with me, Shayne and Danny to one of those screenings. I miss that cinema...
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