Gareth’s Picks

After Life (1998)

The first film by HIrokazu Kore-eda that I saw, but definitely not the last.  It is a transformational film of heartbreaking beauty.  It asks a simple question.  If you could take only one memory of your life to the afterlife, what would it be?  Kore-eda posits that there is a film crew ready to film it for you.

Available to stream on Kanopy

Sherlock Jr (1924)

Buster Keaton’s 1924 classic, one of the funniest silent films and one of the first self-reflexive movies.  The Great Stone Face is at his very best in this delightful 45 minute masterpiece.

Remastered version available to stream on Kanopy

Craig’s Picks

Looker (1981)

Written and directed by Micheal Crichton (he wrote Jurassic Park, the original Westworld and well…everything). This curious misfire of an sci-fi thriller is oddly prophetic as a cautionary tale about AI taking over human acting jobs. It stars Albert Finney and Susan Dey…yeah…Daddy Warbucks and Laurie Partridge (just Letterboxd them…).

Anyway it was the first film to use a “CGI” human (i mean not really but it’s credited). It’s amazing how much Crichton got right, although I did think we would have dinosaurs by now.

Available to rent on Apple and Amazon

Anomalisa (2015)

Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson. This is a story of adult loneliness and love about a traveling inspirational speaker that meets a woman and they are briefly in love. 

Oh and it’s all beautiful stop animation. Because it’s Charlie Kaufman. You will want to take walk and pet a dog or something to take your mind off of this after you watch it. Again, it’s an adult stop motion animation film. 

Available to rent on Apple and Amazon