clips and good recommendations are of course always worthy of TP's
I'll start...
1. The Wrestler (2008). An absolutely heart wrenching film. It's one of those rare movies that I can only watch once in a blue moon because it leaves me in shambles emotionally for days after. The fact that Sean Penn (Milk) beat out Mickey Rourke for best actor in 2008 is still one of the biggest jokes in the history of The Oscars. Rourkes performance in this rivals any of the great performances in history and completely changed my perception of him as an actor.
2. First Reformed (2018). Ethan Hawke gives perhaps his greatest performance since Training Day. He plays an alcoholic priest who is counseling a troubled couple who are about to bring a child in to the world. This movies is so much more than that and goes in some absolutely insane directions that will blind side you. This is easily the best Paul Shrader movie since Taxi Driver, and a lot of it is reminiscent of the 1976 masterpiece. Think Travis Bickle as an emotionally disturbed alcoholic priest if you can stomach that. It's definitely a slow burn but an all time great in my mind.
3. Boyhood (2014). I had extremely high expectations for this movie when I heard it was a project that Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused) had been working on since 2002. It' lived up to my wildest expectations and then some. As someone who grew up pretty much in the exact same time period as the main character it was really cool seeing him evolve alongside the culture from 2002-2014. Another riveting Ethan Hawke performance.
4. Manchester By The Sea (2016). I put myself through the agony of seeing this 3 times in theater. Those who know how tragic and heart breaking of a film this is will know what I mean. But something just compelled me to watch it over and over. I grew up in the Gloucester-manchester area so it was like I was watching it through the lenses of my own eyes which made it all the more real. The dialogue and story is as real as it gets.
5. Place Beyond The Pines (2013). This movie is essentially broken up in to 3 acts. A lot of people have told me that they do not like the last act of the movie since it deviates so much from the first two, but I personally love how everything comes full circle. Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and Ray Liotta are all fantastic, and the beautiful soundtrack elevates the film even higher. Can't believe this didn't get any Oscar nods.
Honorable mentions...
Shame (2011)
It (2017)
Gran Torino (2008)