Film Buff Ranking: 1
Is Moonlight a future Oscar winner? It is everything an Oscar winner should be: beautifully shot, emotional, powerful. Furthermore it is also what the Oscars have lacked: a great non-biographical black film. This film reminded me of the early chapters of Ta-Nehisi Coate’s Between the World and Me or Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City because it shows the influence of environment on people. We are not always what we portray on the outside.
Why Watch Moonlight?
- Change the way you think about people – did you know that the script writer was taught how to ride a bike by a drug dealer who saw him struggling to learn?
- For beautiful Miami cinematography – sweat glistening in the moonlight
- Could this be an Academy Award winner?
- Is sexuality the biggest taboo in Western society?
The Breakdown
The first things we hear are Boris Gardiner’s ‘Every N****r Is a Star’ playing on a car radio. The driver, Juan, parks his car and walks over to another guy standing on the side of the road. They chat small talk to each other – the drug selling is all good. As Juan walks back to his car a kid runs past him, chased by a group of kids. The kid runs into an abandoned house and hides as the others throw stones through the window. Later, Juan tears down one of the window boards where the young kid is hiding and takes him under his wing.
Split into three chapters portraying another stage of Chiron’s life, Moonlight tracks Chiron’s progression. In each, he is almost unrecognisable physically, as he transforms from little kid to lanky teenager to muscly man. However, his eyes never change – he is always the shy kid found by Juan in chapter one.
In the final chapter you can see that Chiron has tried to bury the person he is. This is emphasised in the music he plays in his car. His music is ‘chopped and screwed’ – aka it is slowed down, scratched up, and cut up. You often can’t recognise music which has been ‘chopped and screwed’. Similarly you can’t recognise Chiron. He has been ‘chopped and screwed’ like the music. The person he was has been distorted so much that we no longer recognise him.
Conclusion
Moonlight is not just a ‘black film’, Moonlight is a universal film that sheds a light on everyone who cannot be who they are. It applies to those who try to repress their sexuality, those who try to fit in by being someone they are not, and those who cannot be who they want. Most people have compromised their self to fit in at some point (at school or beyond).
In a similar way, this film never tries to be something pretentious or important. It has no idols or figures to be revered like the fiction or non-fictional films featured at the Academy Awards before. This is a real story in a sea of films filled with their own self-importance. Go and watch it!
Princess Mononoke is a classic. It is Miyazaki’s return to the more political realms of Nausicaa and Laputa – films which promote awareness of global issues such as discrimination, global warming, and war. Plus, the animation is beautifully created and the storyline is an adventure epic. For more, follow 
Spirited Away is Miyazaki’s most celebrated work, and rightly so. The film follows a young girl who gets lost in a spirit world which she has to navigate to save her parents. I am in awe of how Miyazaki dreamed up everything in this film, it is the one of the most magical films you could watch.
Oh yes! Pom Poko! This entry from Isao Takahata is framed as a sort of documentary. It follows some shape-shifting raccoons who rise up against the growing industrialisation/expansion of Tokyo to protect their habitat. One of the comedic highlights is seeing these raccoons parachute using their scrotum (don’t worry it’s completely PG). Pom Poko promotes awareness of industrialisation with this hilarious comedy.
Yes, Studio Ghibli rounds out my top 5. Howl’s Moving Castle is one of Miyazaki’s most recent films and one of his most imaginative. Moving castles, talking fire, and a jumping scarecrow are three things you’ll find in this movie. Another brilliant example of Miyazaki’s celebrated career, this one also serves as an allegory for war.
Isao Takahata’s animation of the bombing of Japan during World War Two is heart wrenching. There are some pretty sad moments in a number of Pixar films, but nothing on this level. This will hit you on another emotional level. In addition, learn about life in Japan during World War Two and how terrible war is!
You thought Inception was original? Well you obviously didn’t see Paprika when it came out in 2006. Paprika is set in a future where patients can use devices to start lucidly dreaming. The problem is that some people are hacking into other people’s dreams. Not great if these skills fall in the wrong hands…
This is the perfect film to watch for the little ones. My Neighbour Totoro is very peaceful and calm – there are no chases or conflict like some of the other Miyazaki films. However, in true Miyazaki fashion there is his trademark fantasy. And of course, there is Totoro! (a great addition to all the Disney merchandise).
Set in a dystopian future where society is crumbling, Akira is the anime equivalent of The Matrix. Pay attention to the superbly animated setting of ‘Neo-Tokyo,’ a city which resembles a mix of Bladerunner’s Los Angeles and Tron. 
Rounding out the top 10 is another entry from Isao Takahata. The star of this film is the hilarious skits of a family living in Tokyo. The snippets reminded me of things my family would do. The bare-bones animation adds to the simplicity of the film. It’s an ode to the regular family.
Shot beautifully as always with Alfonso Cuaron, this film follows two young privileged students on a road trip. They travel across Mexico unaware of the ‘real’ Mexico they pass by.
One of my personal favourites, El Infierno is a dark comedy about Mexico during the Mexican Drug War. It follows Benny, recently deported from the U.S. who finds his home-town empty and without any jobs. As a result, he pretty much stumbles into drug trafficking. This one points a comic finger at politicians, drug trafficking, and organized corruption.
Directed by the guy behind the True Detective (Cary Fukunaga), Sin Nombre is an action-adventure film that spans Central America. It is an introduction to both the vicious Mara Salvatrucha gang and ‘La Bestia’ the train network that many Central Americans use to try and reach the U.S. It is gripping right until the final minutes and is complemented by some beautiful scenery.
This Spanish/Mexican film is Guillermo del Toro’s most famous and best. It’s fantasy matches the imagination of the Studio Ghibli animated classics. Set in Civil War Spain, this film is filmed along the boundary between reality and mythical. It received a 22 minute standing ovation after it’s screening at Cannes, and would be placed higher on this list if it’s honours were not shared with Spain.
Heli is brutal. It is a shocking examination of the effect of the Mexican drug war on a small town in northern Mexico. Director Amat Escalante won the Best Director award at Cannes for this one – a testament to it’s barren landscapes and bare editing. One word of warning before you watch this one though – it isn’t happy or light-hearted in any way.
Another debut feature from one of Mexico’s most well known directors. Cronos is Guillermo del Toro’s Vampire horror flick that is characterised by his imagination. Eternal life, Ron Perlman, and a cute relationship between a granddaughter and grandfather that make this film great.
Another brutal drug war flick, Miss Bala follows the life of a beauty paegeant queen who gets trapped within the wrath of a drug cartel. Gang leader Lino will haunt you for a while after this one – he is crafty and elusive. The film is gripping, and horribly fatalistic, just like Heli.
At last, a cheesy comedy to lift your spirits. Instructions Not Included follow the feel-good story of a Mexican playboy who travels to the United States to return his American daughter to her mother. The film will have you laughing and crying for a very entertaining 2 hours.
A Mexican-U.S. film about American Labour Leader, Cesar Chavez sees Michael Pena in his best role. The biographical film follows Chavez from his move to Delano, California though many of the non-violent campaigns he led. Alongside McFarland, Cesar Chavez is a timely portrait of migrant families in the San Joaquin Valley.
Film Difficulty Ranking: 2
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