Back to Basics

I am pleased that this year I have so far resumed my habit of reading books, lost years ago due to computer games and the distraction of... well, a social life. So far I started with the popcorn book, Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay. This was followed by the slightly more "proper" novel - A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, and currently Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Of course, now that I have written this I am certain it would bring bad luck and I will go back to reading the Economist every night.

Top 10 Films of All Time

Everyone likes lists, I suppose it has something to do with the human need for re-assurance through overcoming competition. What you will find missing from this list is testosterone - I don't lack it, I just don't value "macho" films as much. I mean Godfather - brilliant film, extremely legendary. But a mafia film at the end of the day. War films? never!... I like these films but I just would not see them repeatedly and appreciate them the same each time.

Anyway, given below is my personal list of the 10 best films I have ever seen. There are links on imdb as I don't see the point of describing the film again.

1) Amelie - Funny, quirky, romantic in a weird sense. Totally me. Makes me happy everytime I watch it

2) Fight Club - Absolutely brilliant, completely thought-provoking yet entertaining. Legendary

3) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Tender and so personal. Love the ability of the film to touch upon common emotional experiences most people go through - relationships

4) Lost in Translation - Ok fine, I fell in love with Scarlett Johansson so I concentrated on the film only the second time I saw it. So real.

5) Cinema Paradiso - The story draws you in, makes you feel nostalgic about something you never went through. Very powerful, very passionate.

6) Ben Hur - My childhood would be incomplete without the mention of Ben Hur..

7) Star Wars - and Star wars (although in some parts it feels a bit juvenile now)

8) Spirited Away - Special.. I have never seen a film as imaginative or as well made.

9) City of God - brilliantly directed, very well written story.

10) 2046 & In the Mood for Love - Because I am a romantic fool. (sorry I cheated)

(On any other day perhaps Little Miss Sunshine or Pulp Fiction or A Clockwork Orange would have made the top 10)

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Update: Casablanca - I am quite pleased to have seen that film even though it has taken so long. The characters, the dialogue, the story..... Unbelievable! Easily would go to Number 4, displacing Lost in Translation.