Elijah Wood

“The Vanishing, George Sluizer. This is an oft-recommended horror film. This premise of someone being taken in broad daylight, whilst pumping gas on a road trip and then ultimately meeting who that killer is, who that psychopath is, in such a chilling way, is just… It’s a masterpiece.”

“Iñárritu’s Amores perros. The thing that I think about when I think about this movie is the Control Machete song, “Si Señor,” it is such a dope moment in the film. It’s such a punk-rock movie. And really the sort of explosive way that his career began. I love this film.”

“David Fincher’s The Game. I feel like no one talks about this movie in the way that they should. This idea of an immersive game that sort of challenges you and you think is… someone’s chasing you or someone’s after you. It’s this very elaborate ruse that Sean Penn’s character gets for his brother in the movie, played by Michael Douglas. It’s awesome and surprising and, yeah, one of my favorite Fincher films.”

“Antonioni’s Blow-Up. Herbie Hancock, the way I came to this movie was actually through its music. There’s a great song on this that is very identifiable from the Deee-Lite song “Groove Is in the Heart.” So that opening bassline… …that comes from a song from Blow-Up. This movie’s great. It’s… was later sort of remade as Blow Out. In this case, this was not about sounds, it’s about footage. It’s about a photographer that accidentally captures a murder, and this sort of world that he descends into in trying to decipher what that was. It’s awesome.”

“Thelonious Monk Straight, No Chaser. I didn’t even realize this was on Criterion, so I’m very stoked about this. This movie’s great. An incredible, intimate portrait of Thelonious Monk. Fly-on-the-wall revealing of one of the great artists in jazz. The footage is gorgeous. And if you want to get into jazz, even if you don’t care about jazz, that’s the beautiful thing about documentaries, is it doesn’t matter if you have a preexisting interest in a subject, you just immediately dive into a world that’s not your own. And you might have come out the other end having learned something, certainly, or be invested in something. In this case, it’s Monk and his incredible piano playing. So good.”

“Jonathan Glazer. I mean, every… How can every movie be such a masterwork? Jonathan Glazer’s… Birth I’m talking about. So, Jonathan Glazer got his start in music videos, as many great filmmakers do. Certainly filmmakers from the ’90s and the early 2000s. And this film is like… It’s sort of got a real Polanski-meets-Kubrick vibe. It’s chilling and haunting, and it keeps you guessing. It’s such a great film. I adore it.”

“Speaking of Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut. It’s one of those films that, if it’s on TV, I have to watch it. There’s an atmosphere to this movie that’s so special. Even the way that characters speak, the way that Tom Cruise speaks in this movie, everything’s a question. Everything gets repeated. It’s rhythmic and fascinating. And, yeah, I’ve seen it innumerable times and I still can’t get enough. It’s really awesome.”

“This is not a happy movie. Todd Solondz’s Happiness. I’ll never forget seeing this in the theater and being really deeply disturbed by it, but also utterly moved and impressed by the skills of the cast. It’s such an extraordinary cast, particularly Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s one of his great performances, and that’s an amazing cover as well.”

“Speaking of disturbing, Haneke’s Funny Games. That is not a party. The opening credits sequence is such a great indication of where you’re at. It’s a family on a drive to their country home, and it gets interjected with super-intense metal, punk rock. And you kind of go, “Right. I’m not safe here.” It is so upsetting and so wonderful, but it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s funny, I don’t get really freaked out by horror movies. Horror doesn’t scare me because it’s often so of the imaginary world. The horror that freaks me out are the things that humans do to other humans, and they don’t necessarily have a reason for why they’re doing them. And this is certainly a representation of that.”

“I mean… Right, just literally… pin the tail on the donkey. Oh! It’s On the Waterfront. I have never seen this, so… I’m letting you into my shameless now. This is a legendary classic. Now I’m motivated to see it. Thank you, Criterion.”

“This Wes Anderson Archive, ten films over 25 years. What a fascinating and amazing career, especially watching someone develop their identity over the course of this many years. And with Bottle Rocket, it hasn’t quite started yet. The Wes Anderson that we’ve come to know is not there, but is there in many ways. That’s still one of my favorite films. I love that movie so much. The relationship that Luke Wilson has with the housekeeper at the motel is the most charming thing that you root for as an audience. It is such a great caper of some real average dudes that don’t know what the fuck they’re doing. And then it’s been just an absolute joy from that moment on. So, The Wes Anderson Archive. This is dope. It’s so cool.”