My 150 Favorite Films - #9

Mulholland Drive (2001)

As fascinating as it is frustrating, Mulholland Drive ostensibly tells the story of  the illusion and disillusion of  Hollywood, and how corrupting an influence it can be. The film is enigmatic, to say the least, and open to wildly different interpretations. It can best be categorized as a psychological thriller, with the central mystery never being entirely explained. Naomi Watts hit the big leagues in her role as a young Hollywood hopeful and cult film director David Lynch was nominated for an Academy Award. The film itself has been named to many "Best" lists, including "Best Picture of the Decade" by Cahiers du Cinema and Best Picture of the 21st Century by  a BBC poll.

My 150 Favorite Films - #10

8 1/2 (1963)


Regularly showing up on every Top 10 Best List that there is, this loosely autobiographical film, written and directed by famed Italian film director Federico Fellini, concerns an existential crisis as experienced by a famed Italian film director. The director is played by actor Marcello Mastroianni, who has often been considered to be a stand-in for the director in those movies of Fellini in which he has appeared. A fair number of muses appear in the film, including those played by actresses Anouk Aimee, and Claudia Cardinale. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, 8 1/2 has gone on to influence many other films and was even made into a Broadway show, titled Nine, starring Raul Julia, which itself was later turned into a film of the same name, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.