50 Best Movies to Watch From Sony Pictures Classics (Page 3)

Good movies usually aren't lengthy movies, unless we're talking about cases like Toni Erdmann. It's a supremely smart German-Austrian comedy that depicts the story of a Father-Daughter tandem in light of life’s weirdest, most inconvenient moments. Deciding to visit his daughter on a whim after his dog dies, Winfried (Peter Simonischek)—a man known for his outrageous pranks and many a disguise—flies to Bucharest. Ines (Sandra Huller), the daughter, buzzing with work to the brim in a very challenging job, to say the least, isn’t impressed. This leads to even more uncomfortable encounters as the estranged father poses as the title character, life coach to the disapproving daughter’s boss. On top of being a shrewdly observed and relevant movie, the brilliant writing by Maren Ade crafts something thoroughly enjoyable and heartfelt here, highlighting the importance of family bond in an oddly sweet way, and criticizing modern-day work ethic and the toll its taking on us. The beginning is a bit slow, but if you're a bit patient you will be surprised how much this movie will reward you.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Alexandru Papadopol, Andrei Mateiu, Bryan Jardine, Cezara Dafinescu, Cosmin Pădureanu, Dana Marineci, Daniel Filipescu, Hadewych Minis, Hans Löw, Hartmut Stanke, Ingrid Bisu, Ingrid Burkhard, Irene Rindje, John Keogh, Julischka Eichel, Jürg Löw, Klara Höfels, Luana Stoica, Lucy Russell, Manu Sabo, Manuela Ciucur, Michael Wittenborn, Miriam Rizea, Nicolas Wackerbarth, Niels Bormann, Ozana Oancea, Peter Simonischek, Radu Bânzaru, Ruth Reinecke, Sandra Hüller, Sava Lolov, Thomas Loibl, Trystan Putter, Ursula Renneke, Valentin Popescu, Victoria Cocias, Victoria Malektorovych, Vlad Ivanov

Director: Maren Ade

Rating: R

As heartbroken as you will be after watching this movie, you will feel nothing but triumph in the main actor's debut role. This movie has very little hope to offer the viewer, except the small amount felt every time the main character, Marina, gets up again to fight another day. This film depicts grief in such a profound and personal way within a character who must remain relatively silent and alone most of the movie. You will quickly know why the film is called "A Fantastic Woman".

Genre: Drama

Actor: Alejandro Goic, Aline Kuppenheim, Amparo Noguera, Antonia Zegers, Bárbara Mundt, Cristián Chaparro, Daniela Vega, Eduardo Paxeco, Erto Pantoja, Fabiola Zamora, Francisco González Hermosilla, Francisco Reyes, José Antonio Raffo, Loreto Leonvendagar, Luis Gnecco, Marcial Tagle, Moisés Angulo, Nestor Cantillana, Nicolas Saavedra, Pablo Cerda, Pablo Greene, Paola Lattus, Paulina Hunt, Roberto Farías, Senén Selim, Sergio Hernández, Trinidad González

Director: Sebastián Lelio

Rating: 15, R

Jim Jarmusch’s latest film is the story of a pair of vampires, Adam and Eve (Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton), married for thousand of years and living thousands of miles apart, subsequently reunited in modern-day Detroit to find Hiddleston in state of disrepair and depression. Their lives are shaken up by the sudden appearance of Swinton’s wayward young vampire sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) that sets their lives into tumult. It's the type of evenly-paced and wryly amusing dramedy that only Jarmusch could craft. I loved the atmosphere and sensibility of this film, not to mention the various literary allusions along with the dark, somber soundtrack. Less of a narrative and more of a modern-day-vampire-slice-of-life, this is one of those films that gets under skin and stays awhile (and not in a bad way).

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Ali Amine, Anton Yelchin, Aurélie Thépaut, Carter Logan, Ego Sensation, Jeffrey Wright, John Hurt, Marc Codsi, Mia Wasikowska, Slimane Dazi, Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Wayne Brinston, Yasmine Hamdan

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Rating: R

This 2009 Palme d'Or winner is filmed beautifully in black and white by Michael Haneke. In equal parts mysterious and disturbing, it is set in a northern German village in between 1913 and 1914 where strange events start to happen seemingly on their own. The people of the village, who feel as if they were punished, try to investigate it as the events start affecting them one by one. As they speculate on who is behind the acts that never stop, the film unfolds its slow but captivating plot. A brilliant and unique movie.

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Actor: Aaron Denkel, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey, Birgit Minichmayr, Branko Samarovski, Burghart Klaußner, Burghart Klaussner, Carmen-Maja Antoni, Christian Friedel, Detlev Buck, Enno Trebs, Ernst Jacobi, Fion Mutert, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Hanuš Polak jr., Janina Fautz, Jonas Jennerjahn, Josef Bierbichler, Kai-Peter Malina, Klaus Manchen, Krzysztof Zarzecki, Leonard Boes, Leonard Proxauf, Leonie Benesch, Levin Henning, Lilli Fichtner, Luzie Ahrens, Malin Steffen, Marcin Tyrol, Maria Dragus, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Marisa Growaldt, Mercedes Jadea Diaz, Michael Kranz, Michael Schenk, Miljan Chatelain, Paraschiva Dragus, Paula Kalinski, Rainer Bock, Roxane Duran, Sebastian Badurek, Sebastian Hülk, Sebastian Łach, Sebastian Pawlak, Simon Pawlowsky, Steffi Kuhnert, Stephanie Amarell, Susanne Lothar, Theo Trebs, Thibault Sérié, Ulrich Tukur, Ursina Lardi, Vincent Krüger

Director: Michael Haneke

Rating: R

With more and more young people moving to the city for jobs, there’s a certain beauty in the countryside that is being missed out. The Road Home is a simple and straightforward love story, one that is mostly composed of Zhang Ziyi as a country girl stealing glances at the handsome city boy who’s come to teach in the village, but there’s a certain magic in the way director Zhang Yimou depicts the rural traditions of the village, the charming and distinct rhythms of life that continues to this day. While the film glosses over the reasons for Luo’s temporary departure, which some reviewers speculate is due to China’s then Anti-Rightist campaign, The Road Home beautifully depicts the way love can bloom despite these troubles, and how this love can shift the lives of an entire town.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Li Bin, Song Yuncheng, Sun Honglei, Yulian Zhao, Zhang Ziyi, Zheng Hao

Director: Zhang Yimou

If there’s one thing to say about House of Flying Daggers, it’s that it’s absolutely, absurdly, downright beautiful. The sets are lavishly designed, the landscapes are gorgeous, the colorful costumes are elaborately embroidered, the fight and dance choreography are breathtaking, every shot is colorful, and even the three leads in the love triangle are some of the most beautiful Chinese actors of the time (maybe, perhaps, of all time). That being said, some viewers might find that the beauty of each scene isn’t enough to carry through the film’s fairly convoluted plot, with everyone lying to each other all the time. There’s a thread here about being ordered into actions that would later be used to condemn you, and the way love intersects with that is fairly romantic stuff, but House of Flying Daggers doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights it could have had with a more streamlined script.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

Actor: Andy Lau, Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Chengyuan Li, Dandan Song, Hao Bojie, Hongfei Zhao, Jiusheng Wang, Jun Guo, Li Qiang, Liu Tengyuan, Shu Zhang, Song Dandan, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Wang Jiusheng, Yang Guang, Yongxin Wang, Zhang Shu, Zhang Ziyi, Zheng Xiao-Dong, Zhengyong Zhang, Ziyi Zhang

Director: Yimou Zhang, Zhang Yimou

Rating: PG-13

Pan’s Labyrinth is often considered director Guillermo Del Toro’s best film, and rightfully so. But if you’re looking for a straight-up ghost story, this is the film that gets the job done. Everything about this film is sad and beautiful and unnerving, from the setting (an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War) to the atmospheric visuals.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

Actor: Adrian Lamana, Berta Ojea, Daniel Esparza, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Francisco Maestre, Inigo Garces, Irene Visedo, Javier Bódalo, Jose Manuel Lorenzo, Juan Carlos Vellido, Junio Valverde, Marisa Paredes, Miguel Ortiz, Víctor Elías

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Rating: R

When you tell your version of your life story, most people would tend to depict themselves in the best light, but even Barney’s Version would have trouble showing its titular character in the best light. For one, the story of his third marriage starts on his second wedding night, and the way the second one ends leads to a preventable fallout with his best friend. But while Barney isn’t exactly the best person you’d like to meet, Paul Giamatti’s sympathetic performance and the way Barney remains honest with himself and his desires all throughout life makes the title character easy to root for, even with all his blunt ways. Barney’s Version does take plenty of familiar tropes, sometimes stereotypical, but it handles this life drama with subtle comedy, excellent performances, and an understanding of how lonely life can be and how we deal with it.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Anna Hopkins, Brittany Drisdelle, Bruce Greenwood, Clé Bennett, David Cronenberg, Dustin Hoffman, Harvey Atkin, Howard Jerome, Jake Hoffman, Larry Day, Marina Eva, Mark Addy, Massimo Wertmüller, Maury Chaykin, Minnie Driver, Paul Giamatti, Paul Gross, Pauline Little, Rachelle Lefevre, Rebecca Croll, Rosamund Pike, Saul Rubinek, Scott Speedman, Ted Kotcheff

Director: Richard J. Lewis

Rating: R

Written, directed and starring the auteur Stephan Chow, Kung Fu Hustle is a distillation of decades of Hong-Kong Cinema's greatest export : the martial arts comedy. Full of numerous allusions and witty nods to other greats in the genre, this film is nonetheless entirely fresh and new. Equal parts hilarious and breathtakingly action-packed, Kung Fu Hustle showcases an enormous amount of raw talent, cinema magic and ass-kicking for any true cinema connoisseur.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Fantasy

Actor: Alex Lam Chi Sin, Bruce Leung, Bruce Leung Siu-Lung, Bruce Siu-Lung Leung, Charlie Yuen Cheung-Yan, Cheung-Yan Yuen, Chi Ling Chiu, Chi-Sing Lam, Chiu Chi-Ling, Danny Chan, Danny Chan Kwok-Kwan, David Hung, Dong Zhi Hua, Dung Chi-Wa, Eva Huang, Fan Tiantian, Feng Xiaogang, Fung Hak-On, Hark-On Fung, He Wenhui, Huang Shengyi, Jazz Lam, Jia Kangxi, Kai Shi Chen, Kang Xi Jia, Kwok Kuen Chan, Lam Chi Chung, Lam Suet, Lam Tze-chung, Leung Siu Lung, Oliver Wong Yui-Man, Qiu Yuen, Shengyi Huang, Siu-Lung Leung, Stephen Chow, Steven Fung Min-Hang, Suet Lam, Tenky Tin Kai-Man, Wah Yuen, Wellson Chin Sing-Wai, Xiaogang Feng, Xiaolong Ding, Xing Yu, Yang Neng, Yuen Cheung-Yan, Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, Zhang Mingming, Zhang Yibai, Zhi Hua Dong, Zhihua Dong, 释彦能

Director: Stephen Chow

Rating: R

When adapting a novel, sometimes the book is too long to fit into a whole feature, so filmmakers would create a multi-part film series, or they would cut down just enough to fit a feature length runtime without sacrificing the main points of the novel. Coming Home is a love story where a devoted couple still commit to their bond despite imprisonment, distance, and even failing memory, and in Zhang Yimou’s hands, the direction, structure, and execution definitely tug at the heartstrings. However, this is only the last part of Geling Yan’s original novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi. Zhang may have only been moved by the devotion Yan’s grandparents held for each other, and, to be fair, this devotion is quite moving. However, curiosity remains for the beginning of Lu’s journey– the whole reason and purpose Lu chose to act in ways that warranted his arrest.

Genre: Drama, Romance

Actor: Chen Daoming, Chen Xiaoyi, Ding Jiali, Gong Li, Guo Tao, Liu Peiqi, Xin Baiqing, Yan Ni, Zhang Huiwen, Zhang Jiayi, Zu Feng

Director: Zhang Yimou

Rating: PG-13