Films
Alexandra (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2007)
Okay, so this isn’t exactly an edge-of-the-seat adrenalin ride, but there’s a kind of pure, ethereal otherness to Sokurov’s film that needs to be experienced.
Gone Baby Gone (Ben Affleck, 2007)
Hands up everybody who expected loathsome chin-actor Ben Affleck to reinvent himself as a sensitive and astute director with his debut film? Yeah, thought not.
Taxi to the Darkside (Alex Gibney, 2007)
So there you are, driving your cab in Afghanistan, when a squad of local militiamen hand you over to the Americans on trumped-up charges, and five days later you’ve been beaten to death in your cell.
Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett, 1977)
Not exactly your average popcorn flick, Charles Burnett’s 1977 neorealist-inspired tale of a black slaughterhouse worker drifting through his own ‘private hell’ represents the birth of socially conscious black filmmaking in America.
The Edge of Love (John Maybury, 2008)
Don’t think of this as a Keira Knightley film. Because it’s not. Or a Sienna Miller film. Because it’s not that either.
The Visitor (Thomas McCarthy, 2007)
If ever there was an unsung hero of American filmmaking, Tom McCarthy is it.
Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 2007)
Michael Haneke puts a bullet in the head of mainstream cinema with this audacious remake of his own German-language original. Audacious? A remake?
Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud, 2007)
Traditional animation has been put through the ringer in recent years.
