As a continuation of my original list, here is another short list of great films that make the most of their meagre sub-90 minute runtime.
84 mins
After the success of This is Spinal Tap (see part 1 of this list) Christopher Guest (who played Nigel) began writing and directing his own hilarious mockumentaries, often with some of the same offensively talented cast members from Tap. Most of them focus on a small group of amateurs from a particular field of entertainment, be it dog shows, folk music or film actors. Waiting for Guffman disects the amateur dramatics world, during the run of a show which has received attention from a prominent critic, whipping the performers and community into a frenzy of expectation. The trademark awkward comedy, (the Chinese restaurant scene is a particular highlight for me) character interviews and razor sharp wit and perceptiveness are all here, in perhaps the greatest of Guest's wonderful directing career.
89 mins
A far too little known gem of a film from writer/director Paddy Considine. This is one that i try and show as many people as I can, it is criminally underappreciated in my book. Hannah's (Olivia Colman) and Joseph's (Peter Mullan) lives are intertwined and enriched by eachother's in an unforgiving world. There are moments of real shock and extreme violence, although not graphically shown, and the performance from Colman is as good as any of her others, which is quite a thing. This is a short film that feels like a long one, not because it drags, but it is so efficiently packed and performed, it's wonderful that it can be so effective over such a short time.
89 mins
I am fairly new to the Ealing Comedies, to which this belongs, but I know this is often cited as one of the greatest comedies of all time, so I had high hopes, which were not let down. This is not about outright laughs, more about the farcical drama of a band of thugs renting a room from a sweet old lady to plan their next heist, and eventually using, before trying to silence her, but they have wholly underestimated her. The Great Alec Guinness features, as he did in many others from the studio, including the Lavender Hill mob and my personal favourite Kind Hearts and Coronets - if it weren't over the 90 mon mark, it would be included here for sure.
89 mins
When I first sat down to this one, I had not heard of it before. I was so taken with it that it didn't leave my mind for a good week. It is such an accessible story with universal themes; a wealthy scriptwriter believes his talents for drama are going to waste in cheap comedies, but he comes to realise after living off only his wits for a while that making people laugh is as important as anything else. The scene towards the end when the church let the prisoners in to watch cartoons, singing let my people go as they enter, is one of quiet but immense power, and went straight on my list of all time great scenes. The story has a bit of everything it seems, they don't make them like this anymore.
85 mins
An underrated masterpiece from the greatest director of all time, Stanley Kubrick. The story follows a group staging an introcate robbery at a racetrack. It requires very detailed planning, a large crew and to the T execution, most of which is realised successfully. The structure shows events take place more than once, from different perspectives so we can build up the entire picture, and theorise on how things will go. There are great performances, not least from Elisha Cook Jr., an all time character actor. The final scene where all proves to have been for nothing is altogether unpredictable, inexcusable and gutsy - it will stick with me forever.
78 mins
This is an exceedingly hard film to summarise in a paragraph, the plot deals with non-linear time travel among other scientific phenomena. It was made by first time filmmaker Shane Carruth for $7,000 and made $840,000. The extremely low budget lends it a true to life feel which adds to the impact, which is considerable. If you see it, it is best to go in cold. It is about impossible to truly follow the first time, and may take many viewings before the 'timeline' becomes anything like clear. Suffice to say, you will have questions once it finishes, but that is the point.
80 mins
A wonderful 'silent', hand-drawn animation from French animator Sylvan Chomet, whose 'The Illusionist' very nearly made this list. There is some singing, but no spoken dialigue, we rely entirely on the visual storytelling for the plot, which revolves around a semi-pro cyclist named Champion, who is kidnapped by the mob during a bike race, and whose trainer/grandmother has to follow across country to rescue. A film of almost unmatchable personality, the visuals may be the star of the show, but the utter joy of the entire production makes it an entirely memorable experience.
81 mins
A film that I imagine most human beings in the civilised world are aware of and, for me, still Pixar's finest product. I still believe there is no other film that gets closer to perfect than this does. With an utterly ingenious premise, wonderful, revolutionary visuals and superb voice casting, there truly is something for people of all ages here. Humour, introspection, life lessons, all delivered in a hugely enjoyable (and quotable) way. This deservedly made Pixar a household name overnight and helped take animation 'to infinity and beyond'.
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