Jessica Yu
2004

So interesting.
It's about this hermit janitor who, it turns out, had written and illustrated this massive fantasy novel. About little girls. With penises. (This is a fairly minor thing, but one that everyone really jumped on it.) They're slaves and there's a whole war and obvious Christian overtones.
It's fascinating and unsettling. And bizarre.
Also, the Dakota Fanning narration? Fascinating and unsettling. And bizarre.

Geoffrey Wright
2000

I didn't write about this when I watched it; I'm not sure why.
SO BAD.
It's about a serial killer who murders virgins. Which of course drives hysterical high school students to try and get laid. Except that there's no actual nudity or sexiness at all. Unless you count the part where Brittney Murphy kicks her boyfriend in the head because he's not biting her toe hard enough.

Norman Jewison
1973

It's shot kind of like an art film, with the stark desert settings and the anachronstic costumes, not to mention the self-conscious thing with the bus, but then it'll have cheeseball double-exposed Mary Magdalene singing over Jesus' resting brow.

Still, awesome.
Judas is one of the best characters ever written ever.

Ingmar Bergman
1968

Awesome.
It's just as subtle and ambiguous as Persona, but about 10X more fun to watch.

A lady takes her face off. Seriously.

Olivier Assayas
2004

Wow.

So good.

That scene? With the car, and the flare.

Spike Lee
1989

I really liked it; he didn't really make anyone the hero. Except Turturro is totally the villain.
And Ossie Davis is pretty freaking noble.
It was kind of frustrating unwilling to take a stand. Oh, Spike.

Pedro Almodóvar
1999

This was really really good. It was weird because it's about women and it's all "Mothers are so great and motherly," but it didn't do a total madonna-whore thing.
And it was all gorgeous.

Chris Marker
1983

So great. I always want to see it again.

Mathieu Kassovitz
1995

Wow.
This is a really hard hard movie about inner-city kids in Paris. It's like, the anti-400 Blows.
I can't believe Nino Quincampoix directed it.

Pedro Almodóvar
2004

I loved the crap out of this movie. It was self-referential. And it had a movie within a movie.
It was gorgeous. And vibrant. And convincingly 80s.
And it had a little Spanish boy singing "Moon River" to a lustful priest.*
And Gael Garcia Bernal.

*Man, I can just imagine the google results for that one.