Top 7- Films with numbers in the title
Yes, I know, it seems like an awful list but Magnificent Seven comes out this week, nothing else is happening and as I started to think about this list, I came up with a few really good films so I'm going ahead with it and hoping something actually happens soon or this blog is really going to go to shit. Anyway, list time, there's some pictures and films whose numbers just come from being a sequel are disqualified because that would make this list even worse, please enjoy.
7. (500) Days of Summer
The rom-com for those who don't like rom-coms, (500) Days of Summer is a film that will make you utterly fall in love with Joseph Gordon Levitt. As the film itself says, it's not so much a love story as it is a story about love but that doesn't mean you're not going to have a wonderful time with it. There's also a wonderful indie soundtrack to enjoy. The numbers in this film refer (as you may have guessed) to the amount of days the two spend together, although interestingly, they're told non-chronologically, which lends a deeper element to the story that is just about love, not a love story.
6. 12 Angry Men
That a classic like 12 Angry Men is only number 6 on this list speaks to how many good films there are with numbers in the title, how pointless a list this is and how awful my taste in films are. Regardless, 12 Angry Men deserves it's title of classic as it is, to use a particularly pretentious phrase, pure cinema. It's just 12 guys (the titular angry ones), sitting in a room, talking. For an hour and a half. If that sounds dull then you've clearly never appreciated how strong a combo a perfectly written script and restrained yet masterful direction can be. The performances are also all flawless and the tension of 12 men being angry at each other in one room is like nothing you can believe, which is why it's highly worth watching.
5. '71
Possibly one of the most gripping films in the last few years, '71 is the story of one soldier in 1971 Belfast who is split up from his group and must spend the night among the very people who oppose him. The number here simply refers to the year the film is set as at the time there was huge conflict in Ireland. It's a film that relies on two things: tension that can often reach unbearable levels and stellar performances. Because of that, it's an underseen but excellent film that is more than worthy of your attention, if for no reason other than to educate yourself about this tumultuous and fascinating time in history.
4. 10 Cloverfield Lane
10 Cloverfield Lane is already one of my favourite films of the year and with good reason. It is possibly one of the most thrilling films of the decade and that's in the same time period where we've had The Hurt Locker and Whiplash. The number of the title refers to, as you may expect, the location where the film is set, although that doesn't matter because it's all underground. It lends a terrific claustrophobia to the film and bolstered by a terrific Mary Elizabeth Winstead and a John Goodman at the top of his game in a performance that was sometimes creepy, sometimes endearing but always keeping you on edge. It's one of the year's best and you must check it out.
3. 22 Jump Street
On paper, I have no reason to like the Jump Street franchise. They're big dumb buddy cop films with the fat one and the hot one doing the gun thing and the quip thing. Only it's way more than that. The first is a smartly written action comedy that parodies remakes while also having great action and great comedy. The second one though, the one on this list, is a pitch perfect parody of sequels and somehow excels that to be a superb comedy and a superb action film. The number here again refers to the location, this time of headquarters and they play the fact that the address barely changes very well. 22 Jump Street is a much smarter film than it would have you believe and one that has been sorely overlooked for that reason.
2. Seven
My love for David Fincher is well documented and vast so it shouldn't be surprising to find this film on the list. It's one of the darkest films I've ever seen but still incredible and worth watching repeatedly. The story is simple. Over SEVEN days, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are detectives hunting down a serial killer killing based on the SEVEN deadly sins. The killings are disgusting and terrifying and the mood is consistently bleak, right down to the unbelievably depressing ending. This isn't a film you're going to enjoy but it's terrifically made and a superb film that many will never ever revisit.
1. Seven Psychopaths
Yeah, bet you didn't see this one coming. Seven Psychopaths was the follow up film from the director of In Bruges and is somehow even less known, despite the excellent cast list and the wonderful performances they turn in. It's about Colin Farrell trying to write a screenplay called Seven Psychopaths and spending a lot of his time drinking with buddy Sam Rockwell, as Woody Harrelson goes around in the background and does mob guy stuff. As you may have guessed by that description, the film is very meta and for me, that's great news. It's silly, emotional and very well directed. If you liked In Bruges even slightly, check this film out. If you've never heard of either film, you have to check it out regardless because this film is totally unlike any other in existence and in the best way, not in The Room kind of way.
7. (500) Days of Summer
The rom-com for those who don't like rom-coms, (500) Days of Summer is a film that will make you utterly fall in love with Joseph Gordon Levitt. As the film itself says, it's not so much a love story as it is a story about love but that doesn't mean you're not going to have a wonderful time with it. There's also a wonderful indie soundtrack to enjoy. The numbers in this film refer (as you may have guessed) to the amount of days the two spend together, although interestingly, they're told non-chronologically, which lends a deeper element to the story that is just about love, not a love story.
6. 12 Angry Men
That a classic like 12 Angry Men is only number 6 on this list speaks to how many good films there are with numbers in the title, how pointless a list this is and how awful my taste in films are. Regardless, 12 Angry Men deserves it's title of classic as it is, to use a particularly pretentious phrase, pure cinema. It's just 12 guys (the titular angry ones), sitting in a room, talking. For an hour and a half. If that sounds dull then you've clearly never appreciated how strong a combo a perfectly written script and restrained yet masterful direction can be. The performances are also all flawless and the tension of 12 men being angry at each other in one room is like nothing you can believe, which is why it's highly worth watching.
5. '71
Possibly one of the most gripping films in the last few years, '71 is the story of one soldier in 1971 Belfast who is split up from his group and must spend the night among the very people who oppose him. The number here simply refers to the year the film is set as at the time there was huge conflict in Ireland. It's a film that relies on two things: tension that can often reach unbearable levels and stellar performances. Because of that, it's an underseen but excellent film that is more than worthy of your attention, if for no reason other than to educate yourself about this tumultuous and fascinating time in history.
4. 10 Cloverfield Lane
10 Cloverfield Lane is already one of my favourite films of the year and with good reason. It is possibly one of the most thrilling films of the decade and that's in the same time period where we've had The Hurt Locker and Whiplash. The number of the title refers to, as you may expect, the location where the film is set, although that doesn't matter because it's all underground. It lends a terrific claustrophobia to the film and bolstered by a terrific Mary Elizabeth Winstead and a John Goodman at the top of his game in a performance that was sometimes creepy, sometimes endearing but always keeping you on edge. It's one of the year's best and you must check it out.
3. 22 Jump Street
On paper, I have no reason to like the Jump Street franchise. They're big dumb buddy cop films with the fat one and the hot one doing the gun thing and the quip thing. Only it's way more than that. The first is a smartly written action comedy that parodies remakes while also having great action and great comedy. The second one though, the one on this list, is a pitch perfect parody of sequels and somehow excels that to be a superb comedy and a superb action film. The number here again refers to the location, this time of headquarters and they play the fact that the address barely changes very well. 22 Jump Street is a much smarter film than it would have you believe and one that has been sorely overlooked for that reason.
2. Seven
My love for David Fincher is well documented and vast so it shouldn't be surprising to find this film on the list. It's one of the darkest films I've ever seen but still incredible and worth watching repeatedly. The story is simple. Over SEVEN days, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are detectives hunting down a serial killer killing based on the SEVEN deadly sins. The killings are disgusting and terrifying and the mood is consistently bleak, right down to the unbelievably depressing ending. This isn't a film you're going to enjoy but it's terrifically made and a superb film that many will never ever revisit.
1. Seven Psychopaths
Yeah, bet you didn't see this one coming. Seven Psychopaths was the follow up film from the director of In Bruges and is somehow even less known, despite the excellent cast list and the wonderful performances they turn in. It's about Colin Farrell trying to write a screenplay called Seven Psychopaths and spending a lot of his time drinking with buddy Sam Rockwell, as Woody Harrelson goes around in the background and does mob guy stuff. As you may have guessed by that description, the film is very meta and for me, that's great news. It's silly, emotional and very well directed. If you liked In Bruges even slightly, check this film out. If you've never heard of either film, you have to check it out regardless because this film is totally unlike any other in existence and in the best way, not in The Room kind of way.
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