Three Films You Absolutely Must See Before You Die

During my lifetime I have had the pleasure of seeing thousands of films. Some have been truly awful like Orca The Killer Whale with Richard Harris. Others have been ok, some very good, right up to excellent, and one or two where the producers hit the ball right out of the park.

I love the Godfather, one and two, Goodfellas too, And No country for old men, which is awesome simply because I love Tommy Lee Jones. But I have no burning desire to see them again.

In fact the list of films I would put myself out to go and see again is very short indeed. Now I am not judging these films as would the say the film critics or over studious film buffs. Those kind of people always put Citizen Kane at the top of the list anyway.

And whilst I am sure that Citizen Kane is a very deserving case for holding top spot, for whatever reason, it doesn’t float my boat. However, I am judging films not by their importance to the development of cinematographic grammar, but more by how they resonated with me at a very deep, personal level.

The three films I have chosen are very well known and where very successful in their own time. And I am convinced that if they were to be re-released they would do great at the box office all over again. What films are they?

In no particular order we have 2001 Space Odyssey. I absolutely adore this film for the manner of it’s production which was a great collaboration between Arthur C.Clarke and Stanley Kubrick. Arthur C.Clarke was in part, the Elon Musk of his time.

Indeed it was Arthur C.Clarke who invented satellites before they were ever invented, if you know what I mean.

The cinematography of 2001 Space Odyssey was truly outstanding, as was the way the opening scenes of the orbiting spacecraft were set against the soundtrack of Strauss music.It was, not to too fine a point on it, cosmic. I also loved the minimal dialogue, which was intentionally done to allow the viewer to think their way through the film.

And I adored the storyline, a commentary on the human condition and the road it was taking with technology, which is as relevant today as it was all the way back the

One flew over the cuckoo’s nest is next up and for very good reasons everybody fell in love with this film. It swept the board at the Oscars and deservedly so.

The storyline was engaging and the acting was flawless. And not just Jack Nicholson. Louise Fletcher as Nurse Rached (Rachit as a mechanism that winds things up to breaking point, and rat shit, as a lousy, overbearing, over oppressive authoritarian figure that rules with an iron will over her vulnerable charges). However, it was the performance that was to launch Jack Nicholson as one of the greatest 'A List Actors' of his time, and then some.

Danny DeVito was awesome, as was Christopher Loyd (Doc Brown in the Back To The Future franchise). The list just goes on and on, the whole ensemble were on their top game.

And finally, the film of Stephen King’s novel Carrie. I have some very personal reasons for connecting with this film.

This was the film of my very own early life which left me feeling traumatised for a good many years. I related to Carrie because I too suffered at the hands of my peers. My mother was amazing, however my peers left a lot to be desired. This film resonated so deeply within me I cannot even begin to tell you. And Sissy Spacek nailed the part right from the get go.

I cannot tell you how many times, like Carrie, I just wanted to blow the whole rotten lot up. Of course in time I got over it, which is more than I can say for Carrie. Poor old Carrie just lost the plot completely. The film captured her personal, psychological, emotional and physical meltdown exquisitely.

So there you have it, three of the best films ever made, in my humble opinion. I would be interested to hear from my fellow film buff and writer Akos Peterbencze about his top three to see how far apart we might be.