6. Fallen Angels (1995)
If Wong Kar-wai has lost the juice, it’s only because the guy hasn’t made a film in over a decade. But frankly, no one was doing it quite like him at the turn of the century. In fact, a list of stylish cinema could include just about any of his films including “Chungking Express”, “Happy Together”, “In the Mood for Love”, and “2046”.
Ultimately, we landed on “Fallen Angels”, which, for all intents and purposes, encapsulates everything we love about his work — eye-popping visuals, top-tier camerawork, tightly-curated pop needle-drops, poetic voiceovers, and a cast of melancholic 20-somethings and drifting oddballs all searching for fleeting moments of connection under the flickering neon lights of pre-handover Hong Kong.
This is one of those rare movies where the plot takes a backseat and the series of seemingly disjointed narrative threads hardly ever intersect, but it has ear and eye candy to spare. DoP Christopher Doyle pulls an entire arsenal of visual tricks up his sleeve — fish-eye close-ups, slow shutter shots, step-printing, you name it. Plus, the vibes are so immaculate throughout that by the time the screen fades to black, not only will The Flying Pickets’ Only You cover be looping round and round in your inner ear, but before you know it, you’ll be booking a flight to Hong Kong just to light up a cigarette and soak in the fuzzy city lights on a midnight motorbike ride.
7. Out of Sight (1998)
While reflecting on the decline of bankable movie stars who can headline any kind of film in today’s IP-driven studio landscape, Quentin Tarantino questioned whether George Clooney truly belongs in that category, even throwing some shade at his post-2000s resumé. Even if you don’t feel that strongly about *checks notes* “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, “Ocean’s Eleven”, “Michael Clayton”, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Burn After Reading”, whoever claims the former E.R. heartthrob hadn’t already shot to movie superstardom at the turn of the century should fire up Steven Soderbergh’s slick postmodern crime caper to refresh their memory.
Elmer Leonard’s dialogue is as snappy as you’d expect, the supporting cast is absolutely stacked (Luis Guzmán! Ving Rhames! Albert Brooks!), and there are enough twists, turns, and double-crosses to make your head spin. But “Out of Sight” lives and dies with its megawatt star pairing of Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. Their off-the-charts chemistry bleeds through the screen until it practically bursts at the seams, elevating the material from diet Tarantino into essential cable-viewing fodder. He plays bank robber Jack Foley, who breaks out of a Florida prison and brings along a federal marshal (Lopez) as hostage. Inevitably, sparks fly, tension builds, and they fall hard for each other. Before you know it, so do you.
8. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Ever since he hit the ground running with “Stranger than Paradise” and “Down by Law”, Jim Jarmusch has always been one of the coolest guys on the block. But the indie director’s lo-fi, postmodern character studies of the 1980s did little to suggest he had it in him to make this absolute badass multi-cultural cinematic cocktail, expertly lensed by Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller and anchored by a never-better Forest Whitaker in the lead role.
In telling the story of a Zen-like Black hitman who lives by the Japanese warrior code and is employed and eventually double-crossed by the New York City Italian mafia, Jarmusch borrows tidbits from a whole host of touchstones including Eastern philosophy, ’90s hip-hop, heroic bloodshed, Blaxploitation, Samurai period epics, and American mob films. Though knowingly self-aware and hip, “Ghost Dog” feels consistently fresh and unpredictable as opposed to merely derivative pastiche.
If the thought of watching Whitaker dual-wielding pistols and blastin’ mob henchmen left and right while dropping nuggets of wisdom straight from the book of Hagakure doesn’t instantly get your adrenaline juices pumping, it might help to know that Wu-Tang Clan’s finest RZA adds even more firepower to the proceedings with a crackerjack soundtrack.
9. Hero (2002)
One has to imagine that the pitch meeting for this opulent Warring States-era wuxia was a brief one: Let’s round up three of the most charismatic and drop-dead gorgeous leads of the past 40 years (Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Zhang Ziyi), pair them with two of the most talented martial artists to ever do it (Donnie Yen and Jet Li), bring in the GOAT cinematographer Christopher Doyle, step back and let the finest Fifth Generation director Zhang Yimou cook.
Unsurprisingly, the result is pure cinematic bliss: A sweeping dramatization of the assassination attempt on the king of Qin who unified China under his reign that frantically bounces through time and space and boasts breathtaking production design and jaw-dropping fight choreography. It’s a masterclass in implementing color and natural exterior environments to evoke emotion and delineate each of the movie’s segments, whether it’s a quiet frame of a forest bathed in the golden hues of falling autumn leaves, a crimson-lit calligraphy house where passion rekindles between former lovers, or two flying assassins defying the laws and gravity and crossing swords atop a still lake.
10. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
It was never a question of whether Wes Anderson would show up in this list, but rather how many movies of his would inevitably make the cut. For the sake of variety, we reluctantly made the tough call to limit ourselves to one film per director, which meant impossible choices had to be made. And in the spirit of shaking things up a little, we’re making a bid for a movie that most Anderson devotees shrug off as low-tier minor work. But we can’t get enough of Willem Dafoe rocking a mean red beanie, a roll-neck sweater, short pants, and white high-tops, and that about seals the deal for us.
There’s plenty of fun to be found in the margins too, starting with one of the all-time grouchiest and self-absorbed Bill Murray performances as the titular grieving oceanographer, who sets sail on an expedition with his ragtag crew aboard the famed Belafonte to avenge the death of his old partner-in-crime, who was tragically killed by a jaguar shark attack.
This is a Wes Anderson film, after all, so symmetrical framing, tableau-style compositions, opulent production design, pastel colors, deadpan dialogue, throwaway gags, stop-motion animation, and an expertly curated soundtrack are all par for the course. Last but not least, every bit part is played by a veritable who’s who of Hollywood’s finest character actors, including longtime Anderson regulars like Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Eric Chase Anderson, Jeff Goldblum (all sporting the same, cyan-colored Team Zissou shirt, by the way).