Ravenous Beauty: A Writer's Workshop

Your current, ever-changing list of favorites will work.

This isn't really an exact order, but:

10. Heat
9. The Fountain
8. Se7en
7. Fight Club
6. Half Nelson
5. L.A. Confidential
4. Contact
3. Zodiac
2. Children of Men
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

a very right now how im feeling list:

1. apocalypse now
2. there will be blood
3. magnolia
4. ran
5. royal tenenbaums
6. all other wes anderson
7. in the mood for love
8. brick
9. the united states of leland
10. sunshine

Doesn't change that much for me. There are many that I consider "greater films" that just don't occupy as warm of spots in my heart, but these tend to straddle that line:

1. Magnolia
2. Fight Club
3. Eternal Sunshine
4. Oldboy
5. Almost Famous
6. Adaptation
7. Fargo
8. The Fabulous Baker Boys
9. Sunshine
10. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Good to see Sunshine getting love elsewhere. Half Nelson is a surprise -- I really liked it, but you're more generous than I. But hey, like I said up top.

Sunshine is one of my favorites too, but I guess the second half makes it not-my-favorite. I don't hate it like other people, I just wish they went all out with inner psyche dilemmas and psychological conflicts rather than an external one. Granted the religious vs science themes were interesting enough.

Like Fargo and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang a lot too.

Half Nelson is entirely because of Ryan Gosling. The guy is just awesome at what he does. I think it's one of those "recently really loved" movies though. I don't think it's in my all-time favorites, but I did buy it. Like his performance a lot, especially at the end... his facial expression at, um, the party. (Without spoiling anything.)

ryan gosling is amazing. i like everything ive ever seen him in. even young hercules way back when. united states of leland is my favorite by him though. half nelson was great as well but i wouldnt consider the movie itself one of my favorites.

id like to add an eleven to mine:
the scream trilogy

I wasn't a big fan of United States of Leland, honestly. It was decent, wasn't horrible, but as a film, anyway, I don't know. It might be that guy, Chris Klein or whoever he is. I don't like that guy.

Ryan Gosling is amazing at what he does. I didn't watch The Notebook, but my girlfriend tried to make me. It wasn't him though, I just don't like Nicholas Sparks' stuff. Gosling was also good in Lars and the Real Girl and The Believer. And Stay. And yeah, everything pretty much.

But Half Nelson is at my top because I think his performance there beats all the others. I like the idea, too, of a teacher struggling to make a difference like that. Not done in a traditional Hollywood fashion, you know. Like it isn't something that would be on Lifetime sponsored by Hallmark or Kleenex.

Gosling's my favorite actor except maybe for Gary Oldman. Agreed on all accounts. He sold me completely in The Believer, and I've seen everything since. I even loved The Notebook (really), and that's grounds for expulsion from the weekly poker game, but I don't care. It's good. Stay was really, really underrated. And I still don't understand how you could have both him and Michael Pitt both be great in Murder by Numbers and yet still end up with a shitty film.

never saw the notebook.
michael pitt is another one of my favorite young cats. hes just, well, great in everything. plus he does a lot of cool roles. and is flawlessly awesome in bully.

id say my favorite actors is probably kevin spacey or maybe johnny depp. those two do just about everything as perfect as perfect can be. maybe tom waits purely because hes fucking tom waits.