WORK IN PROGRESS!

I had an idea one day, to compile a list of films I like from A-Z. Why? No reason. I'll leave a link for each one below it.

A:"An Andalusian Dog" was a film co-written by Salvador Dali, and filmed by Luis Buñuel in 1929. It is a really solid surrealist film, and does an impressive job of harnessing the unpredictability of a dream. Salvador Dalis hand really shows in it, to a level that can really only be understood if you watch the film. In a lot of the film, numerous things are usually happening at once, and since it is structured with the chaos of a dream, it is really hard to explain without orating the film from start to finish. The dream follows a woman (presumably the protagonist), who will frequently encounter an individual crossdressing on a bicycle, and a bad man who forces himself on her quite a lot. One thing to know before watching is that there are some scenes that aren't for the weak of stomach, such as a scene of sexual assault, dead animals, and some very body horror. If you can handle the themes mentioned, then by all means, give it a watch, it's a very intriguing film!

Link:"An Andalusian Dog"

B:"Beneath the Skin" was made in 1981, and was made by Cecelia Condit. This film is about a woman explaining her account with a murderous boyfriend. It's quite an outlier among a lot of my recommendations on this list, as usually I like to focus a lot on films that particularly emphasize the visuals. It's not that the visuals are bad, they're quite the opposite really. The film is very much about the monologue and thoughts of the narrator, and the visuals aid that instead of the other way around. This gives it a really personal feeling, like she is telling the story to you. If this sounds even vaguely interesting to you, it's definitely worth your time.

Link:"Beneath the Skin"

C:"Crabs" was made in Czechslovakia in 1976, and is a unique cutout animation in which a scientist sets up an ecosystem of metal creatures in order to find one most fit for world domination. It's as wacky as it sounds, and it's a very entertaining watch!

Link:"Crabs"

D:"Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" was made in Germany in 1920, and is the poster-boy of the German-Expressionist movement. The sets are beautifully constructed, painted in the very contrasting colours of black and white, which is only exaggerated further by the old colourless capture of the film tape. As ominous as the sets are, their exaggeration is just as easily utilized to be comical in moments such as when the police men sitting in incredibly tall chairs compared to a short desk. Of course, I am losing the forest for the trees when I describe these things, as the film itself follows the experiences of the main character, specifically his encounters with a hypnotist at a carnival, who is able to completely control a young man who has been asleep for his entire life. I can't really tell you any more without spoiling it, but even if the plot doesn't sound interesting to you, it still serves as incredible eye candy, and is worth your time as one of the most important old movies made.

Link:"Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari"

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K:"Koko in 1999" was an old Fleischer Studios cartoon made in 1927. It's a lighthearted cartoon where Koko the Clown finds himself being chased by Father Time, and only manages to outrun him by the year 1999. It's nothing too deep, but it's comedic in terms of comedy, but it's also comedic to see an idea of what the year 1999 could look like. I wasn't there in the 90's, so who am I to say it didn't have a bunch of robots taking over people's everyday jobs?

Link:"Koko in 1999"

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M:"Meshes of the Aftenoon" is an experimental film made in the USA, 1943. Likely my favourite thing about this film the way people move and how things interact. Without context, this may sound nitpicky, however, if you spend any time watching this film, you will surely pick up on this quickly. For example, there is a scene where the person we follow through the story is walking up stairs, and she is tumbling back and forth. In other moments, there is a sense of gliding and skating around, and things sort of mesh together. The film was made silent, and I believe should be watched completely silent as a result. As for a plot, I won't even talk about, because it's fairly subjective, and I don't want to influence the way you percieve it.

Link:"Meshes of the Afternoon"

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P:"Possibly in Michigan" was introduced to me by a friend of mine a few months back, and I simply love it. Made in 1983 by the same person who made "Beneath the Skin", it is an experimental feminist film which follows a womans encounter with a predatory man. It's very blunt from the beginning about where it will go next, however, its as much in code as it is blunt. A lot of the impact of the words in the film, in my opinion, come less from what they are saying, but how they say it, and the visuals accompanying it. Of course, while this should be obvious when you're watching a film that has words, it's more in the way that you wouldn't even have to know what they are saying to find an accurate meaning in the film, which I think is a thing to applaud. It's absurdity is a nice mix of amusing and dramatic, as you'll find in a lot of my recommendations.

Link:"Possibly in Michigan"

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S:"Swing You Sinners" is one of my favourite cartoons ever, created in 1930 by my favourite animation studio, Fleischer Studios. It follows one of their reoccuring characters, a dog named "Bimbo" (just bear with me here), who finds himself stuck in a graveyard after dark, after trying to escape an officer who caught him stealing a chicken. It quickly devolves into chaos, and you can just tell the animators had lots of fun making this one. The song used in it is actually based on a popular song at the time, "Sing You Sinners", which I imagine they renamed to step aside copyright laws. It's just an all around fun cartoon with grim theming, not too uncommon in the Fleischer brothers' cartoons, but they really step it up a notch for this one. Either way, it's absolutely worth a watch. It's worth ten watches even, heck, when I first found it I watched it about every night before bed for a month straight.

Link:"Swing You Sinners!"

T:"The Glass Harmonica" was made in the USSR in 1968, and has a particularly interesting story behind its creation. The soviet censors actually banned this film, because of how closely it mimicked the authoritarian regime that haunted the Soviet Union. Its animation is papercut, and it often takes on the look of a collage. Even though its riddled with pro-communist rhetoric, it's really unique, and stands out among Eastern-European animations I've come across. I have yet to find a Russian cartoon I enjoy more.

Link:"The Glass Harmonica"

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