WHERE'S THE DRAMA?

The stuff of which dreams are made

21 INT    RECOMMENDED    NIGHT

 

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                                NOTE: THIS LIST IS REGULARLY UPDATED 

A selection of my favorite films, including docos and television series, in no particular order.

To more effectively explore and appreciate the dramatic grammar, view these in conjunction with the THE DRAMA REPORT - Interrogating Your Screenplay, which you can access via this website.

 

FEATURES


The Wrestler
(Darren Aronofsky, Dir)

City Lights  (Charles Chaplin, Dir)

Samson & Delilah   (Warwick Thornton, Dir)

The Rain People  (Francis Ford Coppola, Dir) 

The Plunderers    (Joseph Pevney, Dir)

Divided We Fall     (Jan Hřebejk, Dir - Czech)

Character  (Dutch - Mike van Diem, Dir)

10 Canoes (Rolf de Heer, Dir)

Le Vieue de San Pierre [The Widow of San Pierre]   (Patrice Leconte, Dir) 

Lagaan  (Ashutosh Gowariker, Dir)

 

Contempt  (Jean Luc Goddard, Dir) 

When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?  (Milton Katselas, Dir)

Open Hearts  (Susanne Bier, Dir) 

Runaway Train  (Andrei Konchalovsky, Dir)  

Central Station   (Walter Salles, Dir)

Behind the Sun    (Walter Salles, Dir)

Doubt   (John Patrick Shanley, Dir) 

Show Me Love  (Lukas Moodysson, Dir) 

The War Zone  (Tim Roth, Dir)

Burnt by the Sun   (Nikita Mikhalkov, Dir)

 

Atanarjuat  [The Fast Runner] (Zacharias Kunuk, Dir)

The Song of Sparrows    (Majid Majidi, Dir - Iran)

Blue Eyelids   (Ernesto Contreras, Dir) 

53 Days of Winter   (Judith Colell, Dir)

Once Were Warriors    (Lee Tamahori, Dir)

Aliens   (James Cameron, Dir)

My Father’s Glory   (Yves Robert , Dir)

My Mother’s Castle   (Yves Robert, Dir)

Jean de Florette & Manon des Sources

The Browning Version  (Mike Figgis, Dir)

 

Suddenly Last Summer    (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Dir) 

When A Stranger Calls (1979)

The Castle    (Rob Sitch, Dir) 

Hud  (Martin Ritt, Dir) 

I'm Not Scared   (Gabriele Salvatores, Dir) 

Working Girl  (Mike Nichols, Dir)

The Searchers   (John Ford, Dir)

Stand by Me  (Rob Reiner, Dir)

Il Postino    (Michael Radford, Dir)

Yolngu Boy   (Stephen Johnson, Dir)

 

Deliverance  (John Boorman, Dir) 

Chinatown  (Roman Polanski, Dir)

Seven   (David Fincher, Dir)

Fallen  (Gregory Hoblit, Dir)

Tremors   (Ron Underwood, Dir)

The White Balloon (Jafir Panahi, Dir - Iranian)

Manhunter   (Michael Mann, Dir) 

Gaslight   [w/ Ingrid Bergman]  (George Cukor , Dir)

One-Eyed Jacks (Marlon Brando, Dir)

Jaws  (Steven Speilberg, Dir)

 

Blackboards (Samira Makhmalbaf, Dir. -  Iranian)

Die Hard   (John McTiernan, Dir)

Whale Rider   (Niki Caro, Dir)

Witness   (Peter Weir, Dir)

Goodfellas   (Martin Scorsese, Dir)

In the Name of the Father    (Jim Sheridan , Dir)

Forbidden Games   (Rene Clement, Dir)

Ponette   (Jacques Doillon, Dir)

Nashville  (Robert Altmann, Dir)

Deconstructing Harry (Woody Allen, Dir)

 

The Godfather – Pts 1 and 2  (Francis Ford Coppola, Dir)

Duel  (Steven Spielberg, Dir)

The Conversation  (Francis Ford Coppola, Dir)

The Great Imposter  (Robert Mulligan, Dir) 

Harry, He's Here to Help   (Dominik Moll, Dir)

The Squid and the Whale   (Noah Baumbach, Dir) 

Pathfinder  (Nils Gaup, Dir - Finnish)

Rashoman  (Akira Kurosawa, Dir)

All About Eve  (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Dir) 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest  (Milos Forman, Dir) 

 

Evil  [Ondskan] -  (Mikael Håfström, Dir - Swedish)

Nature of the Beast   (Victor Salva, Dir)

Matewan  (John Sayles, Dir)

Casanegra   (Nour-Eddine Lakhmari, Dir - Morrocan) 

El Norte  (Gregory Nava, Dir)  

Sling Blade   (Billy Bob Thornton, Dir)

À la Place du Coeur    (Robert Guédiguian, Dir)

Paths of Glory   (Stanley Kubrick, Dir) 

Funny Games   (Michael Haneke, Dir)

The Soloist   (Joe Wright, Dir) 

 

Husbands and Wives   (Woody Allen, Dir)

Truly Madly Deeply  (Anthony Minghella, Dir)

Juno   (Jason Reitman, Dir)

Once Upon A Time in the Midlands  (Shane Meadows, Dir)

After the Wedding      (Susanne Bier, Dir)

Letters to Father Jaakob    (Klaus Haro, Dir)

Kadaljos [Cold Light]    (Hilmar Oddsson, Dir - Iceland)

Vengo   (Tony Gatliff, Dir)

Gadjo Dilo    (Tony Gatliff, Dir)

  

SHORT FILMS

Omnibus

Aquarium  (Motoko Shimizu)

One Froggy Evening   (Chuck Jones)

Birthday Boy  (AFTRS)

The Saviour   (AFTRS)

Show Me  (AFTRS)

Sweet Night Good Heart

Neighbours  (Canadian short)

The Nose   (pinboard animation)

Signing Off   (NZ short) by Robert Sarkies

A Jury of Her Peers (Sally Heckel Dir. - Oscar winner) 

Inja   (AFTRS)

 

TELEVISION

Death of a Salesman (w/ Lee J Cobb)

The Larry Sanders Show

Your Show of Shows & The Caesar Hour 

Mark Twain Tonight (Television special)

The Wire

Out   (BBC TV series)

Nowhere Man    (Created by Lawrence Hertzog)

The Man in the Glass Booth    (Arthur Hiller, Dir)

Over There    (Steven Bochco)

Traffic    (BBC mini-series)

A Very British Coup (UK mini-series)

Oz (Seasons 1 & 2)

Queer As Folk (UK TV series)

Requiem for a Heavyweight   (Ralph Nelson, Dir)

Edge of Darkness (BBC mini-series)

Dunera Boys  (Ben Lewin, Dir)

 


DOCUMENTARIES
 

Shoah

Best Boy

The Weather Underground

Grey Gardens

Bus 174

Capturing the Freidmans

The Staircase

Murder on a Sunday Morning

Brother’s Keeper

Sherman’s March

Saint Genet

Promises

One Day in September

Richard : the most interestingest person I’ve ever met

Tarnation

Divorce Iranian Style

The Unknown Chaplin

Titicut Follies

Touching the Void

Mr Death

Thin Blue Line

Dancing Outlaw

The Weather Underground 

The Civil War   (Ken Burns) 

TWO    (a short doco by Maya Newell)

The Choir  (Mike Davie, Dir)

 

DIRECTORS


 

  JOHN CASSAVETES:
  A Woman Under the Influence
  Killing of a Chinese Bookie
  Gloria

   _____________________

 


  INGMAR BERGMAN:
 The Virgin Spring
 Cries and Whispers
 Scenes from a Marriage

 ________________________ 


  EMIR KUSTERICA:
  Time of the Gypsies
  When Father Was Away on Business
  Black Cat White Cat
  Underground

_______________________

SIDNEY LUMET:
Before the Devil Knows Your Dead                                                                                                                      Twelve Angry Men
The Pawnbroker
The Verdict
Network
Dog Day Afternoon


 _____________________________

 

 

 

  AKIRA KUROSAWA:
  Rashoman
  High and Low
  Seven Samurai
 

 

_______________________________

  SATYAJIT RAY:
  Enemy of the People
  Deliverance
  The World of Apu
  Aparajito
  Pather Panjali

 

 

 

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