New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

So am I with the BOP? Have I been brainwashed and converted? Am I ready to prophesy the truth and end up in Guantanamo Bay?

Of the films I was tasked with watching, there seemed to be one for every mood. The majority of them deserved a little more recognition upon release, though some have found their audience on DVD.

There were some I had never even heard of (Better Luck Tomorrow, You Can Count On Me). A few dumb comedies had their moments (Big Trouble, Super Troopers), though I was wondering if maybe such films were snuck in just to see if I was going to kiss ass.

Some felt simply average (The Good Thief, Waking the Dead), with good central performances, but little else for me to recommend them. I feel that sometimes you have to sit through mediocrity, if only to whet the appetite a little, so that when something great does comes along you can fully appreciate it. And thankfully most of the films were generally very good.

Being lovers of films, I’m sure you readers can understand what it is like to want a regular fix… of a good film. To be entertained is satisfactory enough, though having watched so many it’s often become second nature to guess outcomes, and like with The Limey and Singles, to see a story progress as expected.

Sometimes I will watch something that will completely surprise me. Very rarely, I’ll come across a film that may even go so far as to change the way I think, and one such film became one of the favourites of the many that were viewed.

If I had to narrow it down to a top three, then it would be the following:

Before Sunset – A sequel completely unlike the original, with THAT scene in the car killing all romantic clichés, showcasing painful regret, while firing up the belief in second chances.

The Station Agent – Proof that an interesting film can be made about a trio of lonely people who you would never expect to be drawn together, which is also happens to be funnier than most comedies.

The Virgin Suicides – It successfully draws you into a family, mainly a group of sisters, and causes you to raise questions, leaving you wanting to know more about the characters.



They’re great films, but they all share strong central characters, and I felt I could engage with them and their stories on an emotional level. Also, in triple guessing, these films were unpredictable in where I would have imagined them to go.

When we see a film we like, we talk about it, and tell others to go see it. It’s what we do, and coincidentally it wasn’t just the BOP recommending films that they consider to be classics. During the writing of this column, I even had work colleagues talking to me about Frailty and Requiem For a Dream before I’d seen them. The BOP’s choices I was with them on have since been recommended to others who haven’t viewed them. It seems only right to pass the good stuff on.

So in answer to the above questions, I guess it all points to yes.