21 WEEKS TO YOUR MOST CREATIVE SELF

This is the 6th Installment in this series

Some of us may be sick of candy by now, now that we have just gotten through Hallowen. So, let’s look at another kind of candy. Kick back, but your feet up, and feast your eyes on some of the most visually stunning movies ever made.

Now, this list is somewhat subjective. I included only movies I have seen, so I know there are many that are missing.  Feel free to add your own movie!

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL – 2014.  directed by Wes Anderson.  There are many reasons I included this movie.  For one thing, you could watch it several times and still not see everything! For instance, currency was specifically designed for this movie, based on old French Francs. Each bill was handmade and hand-colored. The luggage you see was actually designed by Prada. The building is stunning, which was actually an empty department store in Germany. Much of the movie is based on two paintings, Boy with Apple and Two Lesbians Masturbating. Both paintings are fictional and were commissioned for the movie (Michael Taylor and Rich Pelligrino respectively). However, if you look closely, you will see several paintings on the wall. I counted 3 Klimts and one Egon Schiele  – I am sure I missed more!!!!

Actually, most anything Wes Anderson has directed could be included on this list. Among them Moonrise Kingdom and The Royal Tenenbaums. Oh, in case you were wondering, Rosemary’s Baby and A Clockwork Orange are favorite movies of Wes Anderson’s.

BIG FISH – 2003 directed by Tim Burton:  Surprisingly, Steven Spielburg was originally attached to this movie and he considered Jack Nicholson for the role of Edward Bloom. The movie was shot in Alabama in the Southern gothic style.  Tim Burton wanted to keep the digital effects to a minimum, so the Siamese Twins, Ping and Jing, were played by identifical twins that had specially designed dresses to make them appear conjoined. Mathew McGrory who played Karl the Giant was actually 7′ 6″ tall, not the 12 feet he appears in the movie.

Billy Redden plays the banjo on a porch – you first saw him at age 16 playing the banjo in Deliverance.

if you look real hard, you will see a childhood friend of Edward Blooms, Ruthie.  She is played by Destiny Cyrus, who later changed her name to Miley (this was her first role at age 8).

HUGO  (2011) directed by Martin Scorcese.  Interestingly, the opening shot of Paris that ends at the train station was the first shot designed and it took a year to complete – requiring 1000 computers to capture each frame! This was the first film Scorcese directed in 12 years without Leonardo DiCaprio – and it was his first PG rated film in 18 years.

Other movies I include are:

Amarcord (1973) by Federico Fellini

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) directed by Michel Gondry

Fantasia (1940) directed by Walt Disney

Brazil (1985) directed by Terry Gilliam

Days of Heaven (1978) directed by Terrence Malick

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) directed by Ang Lee

Barry Lyndon (1975)  directed by Stanley Kubrick (tough choice between this and 2001:  A Space Odyssey

Lord of the Rings series (2001-2003) directed by Peter Jackson

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) directed by  David Lean

The Story of Pi (2012) directed by Ang Lee

The Three Colors Trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski

and of course, Citizen Kane (1941) directed by Orson Welles.

There are so many many more, and so many I haven’t seen.