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I like films to move me on a subconscious level. Whether they're profound, thought provoking or emotionally stirring. dark/stylish/intense/existential/poetic/hypnotic
I only rate the unique movies I see that deserve a score between 7-10. This is a scale of essential viewing for art film lovers, not necessarily my favorite or most re-watchable.
9 or 10 = Essential viewing. Must be watched ASAP and probably more than once to get the full impact.
7 or 8 = Important films. Must be watched after the essential viewings. I didn't have the transcendence experience as much with these, but still works of art.
An ever expanding list of beautifully dark and poetic cinema.
I only rate the unique movies I see that deserve a score between 7-10. This is a scale of essential viewing for art film lovers, not necessarily my favorite or most re-watchable.
9 or 10 = Essential viewing. Must be watched ASAP and probably more than once to get the full impact.
7 or 8 = Important films. Must be watched after the essential viewings. I didn't have the transcendence experience as much with these, but still works of art.
An ever expanding list of beautifully dark and poetic cinema.
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- DirectorMaya DerenAlexander HammidStarsMaya DerenAlexander HammidA woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.10/10
- DirectorMaya DerenStarsJohn CageMaya DerenAlexander HammidSilently, a woman wakes on a beach as the tides go in reverse. Her dreamscape unfolds as she tries to locate a chess piece traveling from the beach to a party to a country road and then back.10/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMaj-Britt NilssonBirger MalmstenAlf KjellinA lonely woman recalls her first love thirteen years prior during a brief summer vacation.8.5/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonLars EkborgDagmar EbbesenA pair of teenagers meet one summer day, start a reckless affair and abandon their families to be with one another.8.5/10
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.8.5/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsÅke GrönbergHarriet AnderssonHasse EkmanThe complicated relationships between a circus ringmaster, his estranged wife and his lover.8/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsUlla JacobssonEva DahlbeckHarriet AnderssonIn Sweden at the turn of the century, members of the upper class and their servants find themselves in a romantic tangle that they try to work out amidst jealousy and heartbreak.8/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.9/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.8.5/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowIngrid ThulinGunnar BjörnstrandA traveling magician and his assistants are persecuted by authorities in Sweden of the 19th century. Their capture, however, didn't bring victory to those in power.8/10
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.9/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowBirgitta ValbergGunnel LindblomIn 14th-century Sweden, an innocent yet pampered teenage girl and her family's pregnant and jealous servant set out from their farm to deliver candles to church, but only one returns from events that transpire in the woods along the way.10/10
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsGabriele FerzettiMonica VittiLea MassariA woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.8/10
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJeanne MoreauMarcello MastroianniMonica VittiA day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.8/10
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDelphine SeyrigGiorgio AlbertazziSacha PitoëffIn a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.10/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonGunnar BjörnstrandMax von SydowRecently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.10/10
- DirectorGeorges FranjuStarsPierre BrasseurAlida ValliJuliette MaynielA surgeon causes an accident which leaves his daughter disfigured and goes to extreme lengths to give her a new face.8/10
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsMonica VittiAlain DelonFrancisco RabalA young woman meets a vital young man, but their love affair is doomed because of the man's materialistic nature.8/10
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsRod TaylorTippi HedrenJessica TandyA wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.9/10
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnna KarinaSady RebbotAndré S. LabartheTwelve episodic tales in the life of a Parisian woman and her slow descent into prostitution.8/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsIngrid ThulinGunnel LindblomBirger MalmstenTwo estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a hotel in a small town called Timoka.10/10
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsMonica VittiRichard HarrisCarlo ChionettiIn an industrial area, unstable Giuliana attempts to cope with life by starting an affair with a co-worker at the plant her husband manages.9/10
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsCatherine DeneuveIan HendryJohn FraserA sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.10/10
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsDavid HemmingsVanessa RedgraveSarah MilesA fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.8.5/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBibi AnderssonLiv UllmannMargaretha KrookA nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.10/10
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.10/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowLiv UllmannGertrud FridhWhile vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.8.5/10
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.10/10
- DirectorJaromil JiresStarsJaroslava SchallerováHelena AnýzováPetr KoprivaSurreal tale in which love, fear, sex, and religion merge into one fantastic world. Based on a classical Czech novel of the same title.9/10
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.10/10
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.10/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonLiv UllmannKari SylwanWhen a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.9/10
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekWarren OatesAn impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.9/10
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.10/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsLiv UllmannErland JosephsonAino TaubeTwo psychiatrists have their marriage tested when one suffers a mental breakdown.10/10
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsDavid HemmingsDaria NicolodiGabriele LaviaA jazz pianist and a wisecracking journalist are pulled into a complex web of mystery after the former witnesses the brutal murder of a psychic.8/10
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsRoman PolanskiIsabelle AdjaniMelvyn DouglasA bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.10/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.10/10
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.9/10
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsRichard GereBrooke AdamsSam ShepardA hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.9/10
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.10/10
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBertil GuvePernilla AllwinKristina AdolphsonTwo young Swedish children in the 1900s experience the many comedies and tragedies of their lively and affectionate theatrical family, the Ekdahls.10/10
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn GetzFrances McDormandDan HedayaThe owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies, and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.9/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsIsabella RosselliniKyle MacLachlanDennis HopperThe discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.10/10
- CreatorMark FrostDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanMichael OntkeanMädchen AmickAn idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.9/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNicolas CageLaura DernWillem DafoeYoung lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.9/10
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroRay LiottaJoe PesciThe story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.10/10
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGabriel ByrneAlbert FinneyJohn TurturroTom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.8/10
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsCristina MarsillachIan CharlesonUrbano BarberiniA young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.7/10
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.8/10
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn TurturroJohn GoodmanJudy DavisA renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.10/10
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsHarvey KeitelTim RothMichael MadsenWhen a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.10/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsSheryl LeeRay WiseMädchen AmickLaura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.9/10
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.10/10
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMorgan FreemanBrad PittKevin SpaceyTwo detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.7.5/10
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroSharon StoneJoe PesciIn Las Vegas, two best friends - a casino executive and a mafia enforcer - compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.10/10
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.9/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.9/10
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMichael DouglasDeborah Kara UngerSean PennAfter a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.7.5/10
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsSean GulletteMark MargolisBen ShenkmanA paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature.10/10
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJohnny DeppBenicio Del ToroTobey MaguireAn oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.9/10
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsPhilippe NahonBlandine LenoirFrankie PainA horse butcher's life and mind begin to break down as he lashes out against various factions of society while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter.8/10
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsJim CaviezelSean PennNick NolteAdaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.9/10
- CreatorDavid ChaseStarsJames GandolfiniLorraine BraccoEdie FalcoNew Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.10/10
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsJeremy TheobaldAlex HawLucy RussellA young writer who follows strangers for material meets a thief who takes him under his wing.10/10
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsTom CruiseNicole KidmanTodd FieldA Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.10/10
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.10/10
- DirectorMary HarronStarsChristian BaleJustin TherouxJosh LucasA wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.10/10
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsEllen BurstynJared LetoJennifer ConnellyThe drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..10/10
- CreatorLarry DavidStarsLarry DavidCheryl HinesJeff GarlinLarry David stars as an over-the-top version of himself in this comedy series that shows how seemingly trivial details of day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events.10/10
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.10/10
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeTrevor Jack BrooksLorelei LinklaterA man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.8.5/10
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsAnthony HopkinsJulianne MooreGary OldmanLiving in exile, Dr. Hannibal Lecter tries to reconnect with now disgraced F.B.I. Agent Clarice Starling, and finds himself a target for revenge from a powerful victim.8/10
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.8/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.10/10
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyBrad PittJulia RobertsDanny Ocean and his ten accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.8/10
- DirectorJulio MedemStarsPaz VegaTristán UlloaNajwa NimriVarious lives converge on an isolated island, all connected by an author whose novel has become inextricably entwined with his own life.7/10
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCameron DiazDaniel Day-LewisIn 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.10/10
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLeonardo DiCaprioTom HanksChristopher WalkenBarely 17 yet, Frank is a skilled forger who has passed as a doctor, lawyer and pilot. FBI agent Carl becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.8/10
- DirectorLaetitia ColombaniStarsAudrey TautouSamuel Le BihanIsabelle CarréA young woman who is in love with a married doctor becomes dangerous when her attempts to persuade him to leave his wife are unsuccessful. However, when things are seen from his point of view, the real situation becomes clear.8/10
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsNicole KidmanPaul BettanyLauren BacallA woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.9/10
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsIsabelle HuppertAnaïs DemoustierBéatrice DalleWhen Anna and her family arrive at their holiday home, they find it occupied by strangers. This confrontation is just the beginning of a painful learning process.8/10
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineDaryl HannahAfter awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.9/10
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.8/10
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsUma ThurmanDavid CarradineMichael MadsenThe Bride continues her quest of vengeance against her former boss and lover Bill, the reclusive bouncer Budd, and the treacherous, one-eyed Elle.9/10
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyBrad PittJulia RobertsDaniel Ocean recruits one more team member so he can pull off three major European heists in this sequel to Ocean's Eleven (2001).8/10
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCate BlanchettKate BeckinsaleA biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.10/10
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.8/10
- DirectorFrank MillerQuentin TarantinoRobert RodriguezStarsMickey RourkeClive OwenBruce WillisAn exploration of the dark and miserable Basin City and three of its residents, all of whom are caught up in violent corruption.8/10
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsDaniel AuteuilJuliette BinocheMaurice BénichouA married couple is terrorized by a series of surveillance videotapes left on their front porch.9/10
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsBryce Dallas HowardIsaach De BankoléDanny GloverA story of slavery, set in the southern U.S. in the 1930s.8/10
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.8/10
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioMatt DamonJack NicholsonAn undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.10/10
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsHugh JackmanRachel WeiszSean Patrick ThomasAs a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.10/10
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsKarolina GruszkaKrzysztof MajchrzakGrace ZabriskieAs an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.10/10
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.9/10
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyBrad PittMatt DamonDanny Ocean rounds up the boys for a third heist after casino owner Willy Bank double-crosses one of the original eleven, Reuben Tishkoff.8/10
- DirectorTony GilroyStarsGeorge ClooneyTilda SwintonTom WilkinsonA law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.8/10
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsDaniel Day-LewisPaul DanoCiarán HindsA story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.9/10
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTommy Lee JonesJavier BardemJosh BrolinViolence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.10/10