How I Created My Top 100 Favourite Films

Making "the list" is a hard job. It really is. How in the world out of over 1000 films, is one supposed to pick their 100 favourites?

Truth is, you can't. And even though I'm mostly happy with my Top 100, there are still movies which I wish were in there. Movies that should've been slightly higher in the list. So of course, it isn't a definitive list for me, but it makes me happy. If you were ever wondering about how I make these Top 100 lists, here are the things I take into consideration:

1) The Favourite Film vs. Best Film Ever argument

It is so hard to define what the "Best Film Ever" is. I think it is all based on the superficiality: how good the script is, how good the editing is, how good the cinematography is, all of that stuff. But what's the point in me making a "Best Film Ever" list? I think that's only worthy if you've seen every single film under the sun. Favourite Films are a different story. The thing that keeps film alive is that we all connect to these different films in different ways, and the experiences can be unique to us. Which leads me to my next point...

My 15 Favourite Films Filled with Colour

Down here in NZ, Summer is just around the corner, and there's no better way of getting Summer into my system than by injecting some colour into my life. And you know one way that colour is used better than it is anywhere else? In films. So I decided to compile a list of films that use all of the colours of the rainbow extremely well. There are some films - like Shame or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - that use blue hues well, but there are other films that just go all out. And here they are (in alphabetical order):

(500) Days of Summer (2009), Dir. Marc Webb - Despite its summery title, (500) Days of Summer spends most of its time with warm autumn tones. However, thanks to Zooey Deschanel's beautiful blue eyes, Webb decided to dedicate some of the film's palette to the colour blue - as evident in the dance sequence. Plus, a good bit of the film's colour comes from the awesome clothes that Summer wears.

5 Reasons Why I Love Kate Winslet

This post is part of this month's edition of the LAMB Acting School 101!

It's been a wee while since I've done one of these...I think the last one I did was on Rebecca Hall and that post has continued to be really popular thanks to the fact that if you Google 'Rebecca Hall' the post is on the first page of results. Anyway, why not bring this back for a week since this month's actor on the LAMB is the wonderful Kate Winslet whom we all know and love a lot. I mean, how is Kate Winslet not awesome?

So without further ado, here are five reasons why I absolutely love Kate Winslet.

1. She was my first favourite actress.

Well, if you could call it that. Admittedly, this is a pretty stupid story. A long long time ago Titanic was playing on TV and my mother taped it so she could watch it the next day. While she was watching it I was out riding my horse or something and I only caught the last half-an-hour or so. From that half-and-hour I was like "this is my favourite movie!", "Leonardo DiCaprio is my favourite actor!", "Kate Winslet is my favourite actress!" Lame, I know, but I was only 11 years old. Still, I do love her to this day, and even when I finally saw Titanic from start right through to the finish in 2009 she was still one of my favourite actresses. So yeah, I guess I get a little sentimental about Kate Winslet sometimes.

2. 2008 - The year of The Reader and Revolutionary Road.

By 2008, Kate Winslet with her five Oscar nominations was deemed 'overdue' for an Oscar. Which was fair enough, because she had done so many bloody brilliant performances that despite her young age she deserved an Oscar more than anyone else. But which performance could they possibly pick out of Hanna Schmitz in The Reader or April Wheeler in Revolutionary Road? I always thought that her Oscar campaign in this year was a little bizarre. First, she wins a couple of Golden Globes for Best Actress (Revolutionary Road) and Best Supporting Actress (The Reader). For the SAG award, she won Best Supporting Actress again for The Reader, but lost Best Actress to Meryl Streep. Then she bet herself to a BAFTA for The Reader, which was this time placed in Best Actress. But even after quite a few nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category, for the Oscars her performance in The Reader was bumped up to Best Actress status, and she won that overdue Oscar that she actually really deserved for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Now, I'm on of those people who really believe that her better performance was actually in Revolutionary Road rather than The Reader. Sure, The Reader had her playing her character at various stages of her life, being a Nazi war-criminal and being illiterate...all Oscar favourites, as far as one can be concerned. But she was just so much better in Revolutionary Road. Okay, I just find it sad that her work went largely unnoticed by the Academy in favour of The Reader, which just wasn't as good as Revolutionary Road.

3. Her break-through was in a New Zealand movie. 

Back in 1994, before Kate turned 20, she starred with Melanie Lynskey in a small Peter Jackson film called Heavenly Creatures. The film was about one of New Zealand's most notorious murder cases: a pair of teenage girls decide to murder one of their mother's so they can go away and live together. They try to cover it up, but police see through their lies and they end up getting separated forever. The movie doesn't focus that much on the murder itself, but rather the friendship between the two girls and the imaginary world they had created for themselves. Kate plays Juliet Hulme, the English Rose that Melanie Lynskey's character falls in love with, and she does this role terrifyingly well, especially considering that this was her first feature film. And you know, Peter Jackson directed this film, and look where he is now. This film just did good things for everyone involved. And it was made in New Zealand!

4. She's an absolute darling.

Just watch her winning an Oscar. What a darling.
But really, Kate is such a great role model. She just looks so real, unlike some of the other actresses around, and she acts quite natural. She's impossible not to love. As me and my friend would say, "I would definitely turn lesbian for Kate Winslet."

5. She looks awesome no matter what the hair colour.

I still contest that her performance as Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is her best. Well, it's certainly my favourite, as I, like many film-lovers, love this film to death. If only I could track down the DVD to buy because I really want to watch it again. But still, Kate is amazing. Even with the multiple hair colours that don't suit that many people (not even Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), she still looked amazing. She's a flawless lady, Kate, and that's why I love her.

So, what do you love about Kate Winslet?