John Cox

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www.indiewire.com

Bong Joon Ho’s Favorite Movies: 47 Films the Director Wants You to See

This article is a comprehensive guide to Bong Joon Ho's favorite films spanning from 1936 to 2021, compiled from interviews, awards ballots, and public statements the director has made throughout his career. The selections reveal Bong's cinematic influences and aesthetic priorities, ranging from canonical works by Hitchcock, Welles, and Bergman to contemporary pieces by emerging filmmakers, with particular emphasis on Asian cinema and socially conscious storytelling. The piece demonstrates how Bong uses film curation as a form of criticism and cultural advocacy, repeatedly championing underrepresented directors and highlighting how specific films inspired his own directorial choices and thematic preoccupations.

Permalink filmrecommendationscinemadirectors

www.the-independent.com

Best movie twists: The 31 most mind-blowing moments in film history, explained

This piece catalogs 31 films celebrated for their plot twists, explaining each film's setup and the surprise revelation that distinguishes it. The selections span multiple genres and decades, from classics like *Psycho* and *Planet of the Apes* to contemporary films like *Get Out*, demonstrating how effective twists can fundamentally recontextualize everything that came before them. The article serves as both a reference guide for twist enthusiasts and a spoiler-filled exploration of what makes certain narrative reversals so memorable and impactful.

Permalink culturefilmmoviescinema

www.bbc.com

Did American History X foreshadow the resurgence of white nationalism in the US?

Released in 1998, *American History X* dramatized white nationalist recruitment and violence by centering the story on a white family where racist ideology takes root through economic anxiety, parental influence, and the search for belonging—a bold choice that shifted focus from pathologizing black families to examining how white families incubate extremism. The film's portrayal of how charismatic demagogues exploit alienated young men, leverage internet connectivity, and weaponize racial grievances proved prescient for the rise of the alt-right and movements like the Proud Boys, though experts note it failed to anticipate how these fringe ideologies would eventually enter mainstream Republican politics. While the film's unflinching critique of white supremacy was ahead of its time in the 1990s, critics argue it ultimately reproduced racist stereotypes about black people and centered white redemption rather than addressing the systemic nature of racial inequality.

Permalink historyfilmunited statespolitics

collider.com

10 Movies From 1966 That Are Now Considered Classics

This is a Collider ranking of the ten best films from 1966, a year the piece frames as a hinge point between fading Old Hollywood and the more experimental, globally adventurous cinema that followed. It runs through titles like Django, Tokyo Drifter, Cul-de-Sac, Fahrenheit 451, The Battle of Algiers, Andrei Rublev, Blow-Up, A Man for All Seasons, and Persona, before crowning The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as the year's most influential film. Worth keeping as a quick reference list of underrated and canonical 1966 releases with brief context on why each still matters.

Permalink westernfilm1960sclassics

movieweb.com

The 20 Most Underrated Movies of the 1980s

A ranked rundown of 1980s films the writer thinks deserve more love than they got, spanning ten entries from Weir's "The Mosquito Coast" through De Palma's "Body Double" and Parker's "Angel Heart," each judged against its box-office haul, critical reception, and star power (Ford, Cruise, Rourke, De Niro, Bigelow's directing debut era, etc.). The throughline is that quality filmmaking and strong casts often didn't translate into ticket sales or contemporary acclaim, leaving these titles as cult favorites rather than recognized classics. Worth keeping as a watchlist of genre-spanning deep cuts—horror-Western, neo-noir, sci-fi, gangster drama—from a stacked decade.

Permalink underratedfilmdrama1980s