20 Favourite Films of the 20th Century #11

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Network

(Directed by Sidney Lumet; Written by Paddy Chayefsky; Starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden. Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, and Beatrice Straight; 1976)
The line I most associate with this film: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

I was so surprised by how incredibly modern this classic from the 70's is when I first watched this film. It's about a news anchor who revolts against a news system that cares more about profit than the truth and has a meltdown in a live broadcast. Ironically, the system against which he revolts finds a way to exploit him for its own profit (because that's how powerful that system is). This film was made and is set during the 70's, but it might as well have been made and set today. It's incredible to watch this masterpiece and see how nothing has really changed in forty years, or that perhaps it has even gotten worse! This is one of the most incredible and unforgettable films I have ever watched, brilliantly directed by Sidney Lumet, one of the most underrated filmmakers in the history of cinema in my opinion, and with absolutely amazing performances from Faye Dunaway (in her best performance) and Peter Finch (in one of the most passionately angry performances in history). In a world so dominated by fake news and clickbait, this visionary masterpiece is probably more important today than when it was made and, therefore, should be experienced by everyone on this planet. 

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Films watched this year

  • 1917 (2019) directed by Sam Mendes
  • 9 to 5 (1980) directed by Colin Higgins
  • A Place in the Sun (1951) directed by George Stevens
  • Adults in the Room (2019) directed by COsta~Gavras
  • Bacurau (2019) directed by Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
  • Bait (2019) directed by Mark Jenkin
  • Bombshell (2019) directed by Jay Roach
  • By the Grace of God (2019) directed by François Ozon
  • Female Trouble (1974) directed by John Waters
  • Flames of Passion (1989) directed by Richard Kwietniowski
  • For Sama (2019) directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts
  • Ford v Ferrari (2019) directed by James Mangold
  • From Here to Eternity (1953) directed by Fred Zinnemann
  • GUO4 (2019) directed by Peter Strickland
  • I Confess (1953) directed by Alfred Hitchcock
  • Invisible Life (2019) directed by Karim Aïnouz
  • Jojo Rabbit (2019) directed by Taika Waititi
  • Jubilee (1978) directed by Derek Jarman
  • Little Women (1933) directed by George Cukor
  • Little Women (1949) directed by Mervyn LeRoy
  • Little Women (1994) directed by Gillian Armstrong
  • Little Women (2019) directed by Greta Gerwig
  • Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018) directed by Bi Gan
  • Looking for Langston (1989) directed by Isaac Julien
  • Monos (2019) directed by Alejandro Landes
  • Mosquito (2020) directed by João Nuno Pinto
  • Network (1976) directed by Sidney Lumet
  • O Fantasma (2000) directed by João Pedro Rodrigues
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) directed by Céline Sciamma
  • Red River (1948) directed by Howard Hawks
  • Richard Jewell (2019) directed by Clint Eastwood
  • Shadow (2018) Zhang Yimou
  • The Farewell (2019) directed by Lulu Wang
  • The Hunger (1983) directed by Tony Scott
  • The Leopard (1963) directed by Luchino Visconti
  • The Lighthouse (2019) directed by Robert Eggers
  • The Nightingale (2018) directed by Jennifer Kent
  • The Souvenir (2019) directed by Joanna Hogg
  • The Wild Goose Lake (2019) directed by Diao Yi'nan
  • Thelma & Louise (1991) directed by Ridley Scott
  • Un Chant D'Amour (1950) directed by Jean Genet
  • Uncut Gems (2019) directed by Benny and Josh Safdie