If you’ve read my last blog then you know how important genre is to cinema. I also listed 22 main genre’s which I considered important in defining stories - Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Film Noir, Historical, Horror, Musical, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Superhero, Thriller, War and Western.
I could write an essay worth of my favourite films of each genre, but that would take far too long to read. So instead here’s a quick and easy deconstruction of my favourite films of each genre.
I have emitted animation from the list due to a blog dedicated to my favourite animated films which you can read here.
Action - Heat
Michael Mann knows action. This film inspired so many others to replicate THAT setpiece, and who knew Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro were so good at being cool and intense.
Adventure - Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
A swashbuckling adventure that includes zombies, cursed treasure and a monkey. Makes you wish they made more of these kind of films.
Biopic - The Theory of Everything
Eddie Redmayne was such a good Stephen Hawking. Him and Felicity Jones makes this real human story feel real and connects you to the hardship of a genius.
Comedy - Bruce Almighty
Jim Carrey made his career on comedy movies, and he’s so good at them. This film felt like he was let loose to do whatever he wanted, and it worked!
Crime - The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger’s The Joker proves you don’t have to have an agenda to do bad things. All you need is motivation and a touch of insanity.
Documentary - What We Do in the Shadows
Yes, it’s technically a mockumentary, but come on. It’s about a group of vampires that live in New Zealand and go out clubbing. What’s not to love!
Drama - American Beauty
A beautiful film that transports you to a world of lust, with amazing performances, amazing cinematography and Sam Mendes, a director at the top of his game.
Family - Hugo
Scorsese is great at American gangster flicks, but surprisingly he has a knack for a great family film that is both a loveletter to the family genre and an ode to classic cinema.
Fantasy - Harry Potter Series
It’s too hard to pick a film from this series. After growing up in the age of Harry Potter it was hard not to fall in love with this magical world.
Film Noir - Vertigo
Hitchcock was the master of suspense, but he was also the master of storytelling. He took us down a rabbit hole of twists and turns into a perfect sense of suspense.
Historical - Titanic
They say history has a tendancy to repeat itself, but for the sake of this film I really hope that this time it doesn’t. The period setting transports us while the cast captivates us.
Horror - The Grudge
Japan is full of scary folk stories and creepy ghost tales. This americanised version kept the tone of the original while delivering a sense of eeriness not found in today’s horror films. It gave me nightmares!
Musical - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Let’s be honest, Gene Wilder is a cinematic gem. He brought Willy Wonka to life and took us on a musical journey with a ton of charm and lot of heart.
Mystery - The Prestige
This film is highly underrated. From start to finish, this film messes with your head and asks a very important question. How far are you willing to go for the sake of a mystery?
Romance - 500 Days of Summer
This film really puts love into perspective. Expectation and reality can be easy to get mixed up and this film just proves that point head-on!
Sci-Fi - Star Wars Series
Episode V is the best. However, the quality of the recent films makes it hard to fight that statement. The force is strong with these ones.
Sport - Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
A fun film which made a very simple idea into a very competitive sport film. Plus watching Ben Stiller go against Vince Vaughn is comedy gold.
Superhero - Avengers: Endgame
Epic. Emotional. Everything I wanted and more came true in the form of a film that culminates a decade of superhero storytelling.
Thriller - Skyfall
The longevity of the James Bond franchise starts to show, but in a good way. We finally get a long overdue backstory and a villain that makes it personal.
War - Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan is the master of suspense. This film turns it up a notch with that ticking tock soundtrack, and makes you believe you were there when it happened.
Western - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A man with no name. A desert with no water. A cast with the likes of Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef makes this the best of the best.
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
댓글