The past week in the office we debated about our top movies of all time. But it is very difficult to pick only one that stands out completely.
You could have a favourite comedy or a favourite animation, but it seems impossible to choose only a single movie as your favourite.
So I asked our team to list their top five movies of all time and here are the results:
Danie Bester
producer
The Big Blue
Director Luc Besson is famous for his imaginative visual techniques and breathtaking action sequences. This film eatures gorgeous underwater photography and spectacular location shooting. But it is the emotional intensity of the film experience and mystical themes of the story that have made it a cult phenomenon.
Blade Runner
Maricia Pieterse
production manager
Trainspotting
Heroin addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends. After cleaning up and moving from away, Mark finds he can’t escape the life he left behind.
Vir die Voëls
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Mulan
Fight Club
This film inspired my passion to make a contribution towards the entertainment industry. I am in love with Chuck Palahniuk’s style of writing and for the first time, I was happy to see a film to its book justice.
Dehan Janse van Rensburg
photographer | videographer| editor
American Beauty
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a gainfully employed suburban husband and father. Fed up with his boring, stagnant existence, he quits his job and decides to reinvent himself as a pot-smoking, responsibility-shirking teenager. What follows is at once cynical, hysterical, and tragically uplifting.
Pulp Fiction
Fight Club
Vir die Voëls
Star Wars
The original trilogy is an easy watching series due to the unconventional approach. The idea of monks is space with their strange religion and beliefs. It’s a classic story of good versus evil that can be applicable in the real life. I have found myself thinking what would Yoda do?
Mary-Ann Brink
marketing manager
My Sister’s Keeper
Conceived as a marrow donor for her gravely ill sister, Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail Breslin) has undergone countless surgeries and medical procedures in her short life. Though their older daughter’s life has no doubt been prolonged, the unorthodox decision of Anna’s parents has cracked the entire family’s foundation. When Anna sues her parents for emancipation, it sets off a court case that threatens to destroy the family for good.
Dancer in the Dark
When a Man loves a woman
Faan se Trein
Dirty Dancing
It is a brilliant love story where the underdog finds happiness. In that era these types of dances were controversial. Keeping this in mind, the love-making scene is so much more powerful. My favourite line in the film will always be “No one puts Baby in a corner”. Even if I hear the songs from the movie now, I still go crazy, turn the volume up and sing like no one is listening.
Simone Landey
coordinator
Vir die Voëls
Irma Humpel (Simoné Nortmann), an independent stubborn tomboy, finds herself in front of the altar next to Sampie de Klerk (Francois Jacobs), an extremely charming rugby player with a heart of gold and soft hands. How did she land here? Is she ready for this kind of devotion? Maybe… but with a condition or two.
Empire Records
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Donnie Darko
American Beauty
The film emphasises the white picket fence, suburban dream facade. People in relatable situations, playing house, hiding behind perfectly manicured gardens and well-practised smiles, all struggling with their own demons and desires behind closed doors. It encourages you to question humanity, body language and social behaviour and expectation. It leaves you with the question: is happiness achieved by ticking the boxes of what society feels is a perfect life?
Larèt van Niekerk
digital marketing manager
AMERICAN SNIPER
U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) takes his sole mission, to protect his family, to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of the enemy. Despite the grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father, Kyle serves four tours in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.
Gone girl
We Need To Talk About Kevin
KILLERS
PAD NA JOU HART
It changed my entire life. Ivan Botha and Donnalee Roberts’ magnetic performance demanded my undivided attention for almost two hours. I walked out of the cinema as a new person. It inspired me to realise my dream and to make a contribution to the South African entertainment industry.
Susan Schutte
[pseudonymn]
production manager
THE NICE GUYS
Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is a private eye in 1977 Los Angeles. Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) is a hired enforcer who hurts people for a living. Fate turns them into unlikely partners after a young woman mysteriously disappears. Their investigation takes them to dark places as anyone else who gets involved in the case seems to wind up dead.
Florence Foster Jenkins
American Ultra
Vir die Voëls
The Best Offer
It is an art house film with a great character in the lead portrayed by Geoffrey Rush. I was drawn to this film by the beautiful cinematography and superb art direction. I am fascinated by the team of creatives that designed every shot of this film to create beauty in every single frame.
I am inclined to overlook the the small issues within the story and script if the shot list, production design and execution of the characters are done well.
Join the conversation by leaving a comment and convince us why we should watch your top five movies …
