10 films that you won’t forget

In a class that I took in graduate school at the University of Oregon, I was asked to compile a list of my favorite 10 films. After laboring over for a full evening, I turned in a list of my favorite – at the time – 16 filmmakers, with up to three films following each name.

So paring things down to a Top 10 is pretty difficult. So following on the list of summer reads that I offer below, I thought I offer the following 10 movies that I find particularly intriguing.

I call it Just When You Thought You’d Seen Everything …

“A Clockwork Orange” (1971) – Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ novel brings a bit of the old ultraviolence to the big screen in a way that, for maybe the first time, made violence seem … well, cool. Hum along now, “I’m singin’ in the rain …”

“Irreversible” (2002) – Gaspar Noﾎ, no favorite of critics, takes a look at a single evening, told mostly backward, revolving around the brutal rape of a woman and the even more violent aftermath. Look beyond the most graphic images and you’ll spot a poignant, if fatalistic, message. Can you say sword of Damocles?

“Boogie Nights” (1997) – This is the movie that introduced us to the genius that is Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s an epic look at the human struggle, told through characters who work – irony alert – in the porn industry. And was that really Mark Wahlberg letting it all hang out?

“Raging Bull” (1980) – Only Martin Scorsese (or maybe P.T. Anderson) would tell a story about an irredeemably violent man, the boxer Jake LaMotta, and his tendency to let his more brutal instincts leak out over everyone in his life. And it’s in gorgeous black and white.

“Oldboy” (2003) – Korean filmmaker Chan-Wook Park channels Franz Kafka in telling the story of a man, imprisoned in a cheap hotel room for 15 years without explanation, who gets released only to encounter a deeper horror. This is one twisted cinematic trip into the void.

“Dogville” (2003) – One of the more interesting/confounding/irritating/maddening/blazingly talented filmmakers of his generation, Danish-born Lars von Trier films a stage play about a woman, seeking refuse, who is wronged by everyone and everything. And then the worm turns.

“Celebration” (1998) – Another Dogma director (the school of Lars von Trier), Thomas Vinterberg tells the story of a family reunion that is about as festive as a zombie stomp. Think “Home for the Holidays” meets “Running with Scissors” but with an even more perverted sense of humor.

“Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) – Arthur Penn’s ballad of the 1930s-era bank robbers introduced America to the kind of big-screen violence that has since become commonplace. It’s always good to see where things originated. Make sure to watch all the way through the machine-gun, uh, climax.

“Memento” (2000) – Leonard has short-term memory loss. His wife was murdered, and he wants to find out who did it. He tattoos information on his body that he hopes will … uh, what was I saying? This note on my wrist says, “Leonard has short-term memory …”

“The Vanishing” (1988) – A man, investigating his girlfriend’s disappearance, finds out more than he ever wanted to know. In adapting Tim Krabbﾎ’s novel, George Sluizer came up with one of the most uncompromising, horrific endings ever. Note: Do not rent Sluizer’s 1993 American remake, which is the biggest sell-out in cinematic history.

And that’s it. I’ll come up with other lists as I think of them.

Below: Robert DeNiro stars as Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese’s 1980 masterpiece “Raging Bull.”

Associated Press photo