Spoiler warning – minor spoilers for Scream

Baby Driver

The opening scene of Baby Driver has been decades in the making, with Edgar Wright using the idea of a waiting getaway driver listening to music in a music video for Mint Royale in 2003. In the film Baby is waiting while his criminal comrades rob a bank, whilst waiting he listens to Bellbottoms by the Jon Spencer Blues explosion, dancing as best a person can while sitting in a car. As soon as his accomplices get in the car Baby is away and what follows is, in my opinion, the greatest car chase ever filmed. It contains jaw-dropping scenes of the car dodging all manner of traps and pursuers as well as edited to match up with the song that is still playing.

Death of Stalin

One of the best comedies of recent years is Armando Ianucci’s Death of Stalin. Not immediately a film that suggests hilarity as it deals with the death of one of the most despicable humans who ever lived but it is is very, very funny. The opening scene is in a concert hall where a performance of classical music is being broadcast live on the radio. In the studio a call comes through from telling the director to call this number back to speak to Stalin himself. Stalin wants a recording of the performance but it was not recorded. The unbelievable panic that takes control of everyone is terrifying as they are all convinced they’re going to die. It doesn’t matter that’s a fairly trivial request, it doesn’t matter that really Stalin should have asked for a recording before the performance. The mix of sheer terror and absolute absurdity is the hallmark of the film.

A Clockwork Orange

There are a number of Kubrick films that were options, the creepy flying shot from The Shining following the winding road, the introduction to the insane drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket but I chose A Clockwork Orange. Even the title cards are involved in this – alternating between bright red and bright blue completely filling the screen, and then the close up of Alex’s face, who, costume and makeup aside, is terrifying as he stares down the camera. The camera pulls back revealing the bizarre milk bar and with Alex quickly starting a voiceover using the “nadsat” slang language which further makes the characters something alien. Like many costumes in films the droogs could potentially look silly – they do not, they are exceptionally sinister-looking.

Scream

I’m not actually a big fan of the Scream franchise but this opening scene is undeniably great and sets up the rest of the film perfectly. The first great aspect to it is that while Drew Barrymore is in it, she is also killed in this first scene, and she was the most famous person in the entire film (with the possible exception of the legendary Henry Winkler as the principal who also dies) so after that it felt like anyone and everyone could die. The scene also contains the entire premise of the movie – a serial killer with a love of and encyclopedic knowledge of horror films and will use these tropes to kill their victims. Also as a pedantic film fan I appreciate they correct Barrymore’s character when she got film trivia wrong.

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight has a great opening scene – the Joker robbing a bank while his accomplices kill each other, but The Dark Knight Rises has a great one too that is talked about a lot less. On an isolated airstrip somewhere in Europe the CIA take into their protection a renowned scientist with some dangerous knowledge and also take into their custody a number of hooded individuals – soldiers for the “masked man”. Once in the air it is revealed one of them is the masked man himself, Bane. It’s hard to describe what happens next but Bane basically uses a bigger plane to “steal” the plane they’re on, all to kidnap the scientist with dangerous knowledge. Bane’s ferocity, strength and devotion to his cause is evident from the very beginning and it is clear this is a very bad guy. Also I’ve never seen someone steal a plane in a film before.

Tarantino

When I was compiling a long list of potential films there was a lot of Tarantino – the argument about tipping in Reservoir Dogs, the diner conversation about robbery in Pulp Fiction, the introduction of the wedding massacre in Kill Bill, the unforgettable entrances of Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. They all feature Tarantino’s trademark witty dialogue and usually mixed with violence (of the scenes I’ve mentioned only Reservoir Dogs contains no violence and it certainly makes up for that later).

Also Read: What Makes A Tarantino Film?

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#1 Strawberry – Shaun of the Dead

In the early 2000s, I remember reading that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, co-writer and director of the brilliant sitcom Spaced, were working on a film and I thought “that’ll probably be good”. I was wrong – it was a great film. I would go so far as to call it a perfect film, there is not a single part of it I would change. A film that was billed as a zombie spoof became far more than that (although even as a zombie spoof it works fantastically well), one of the best comedies ever made with more emotional depth than Oscar-winning dramas. Simon Pegg made a fantastic everyman hero, Bill Nighy excelled as unloved stepdad Philip and even Dylan Moran stretched himself to play a character who wasn’t a version of Dylan Moran. You can see the film as a zombie story, a tale of Shaun getting his girlfriend back or a film about Shaun sorting his life out. Jokes range from relationships to zombie horror with tangents into orangutan impressions. This a film that completely obliterated my expectations and remains one of my all-time favourite films.

#2 Chocolate – Hot Fuzz

As with Shaun of the Dead what could have been a cheap parody became one of the best, if not the best, example of the genre. In a sensational example of misdirection, we are lead to believe a rampage of murder and destruction is all about supermarkets going out of business but is actually a terrifying tale of people trying to make the perfect village. The film easily going from cop action film to claustrophobic British horror (everyone who has visited a small town has heard the “he’s not even from around here” statement). Even more so than with Shaun of the Dead the cast is packed with amazing talent; there are two Oscar winners in the cast (Olivia Colman and Jim Broadbent), small roles are filled by people like Alice Lowe and Rory McCann. I firmly believe that Simon Pegg as Nicholas Angel is the best portrayal of any police officer ever seen on film or television – hugely effective yet understands the importance of rules for the police, understands the letter and the spirit of the law, works with the community and doesn’t like guns.

#3 Mint – The World’s End

The final part of the so-called Cornetto Trilogy that is not really a trilogy. There are themes than run through them all like friendship and growing up, but there is no common story. The World’s End changes things up a little with Simon Pegg playing the irresponsible character and Nick Frost being the more stable person. Pegg’s Gary King is still stuck in his teenage mindset, immature, irresponsible and at times downright idiotic but convinced of his own brilliance. He corrals his old friends to finish a pub crawl they started in their youth only to discover that the town has been taken over by robot duplicates. The World’s End deals with genuinely weighty and emotional topics- addiction, suicide and feelings of failure whilst still being very funny and still a first-rate sci-fi film.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

I saw this not knowing the source material at all. I loved Wright’s films and I knew Michael Cera from Arrested Development but I had decided I liked it even before any actors appeared. The Universal logo was rendered in 1980s 8bit graphics and I was already on board. What followed was nearly two hours of nerdy awesomeness as Scott battles his prospective girlfriend’s seven evil exes. Scott himself is not a terribly likeable character but grows on you through the film, especially as exes are uniformly bad people ending with supremely smug Gideon Graves. Another fantastic castlist including Superman, Captain America, Johnny Storm and Huntress. Chris Evans stealing the show with insufferable skateboarder/blockbuster movie star Lucas Lee who has his stunt doubles join the fight. Again Wright throws a curve ball when what saves the day is not Scott’s love for Ramona but in finding self-respect and dealing with the bad things he’s done.

Baby Driver

Edgar Wright has perhaps made the best zombie, the best police action film and best graphic-novel-adaptation-set-in-Toronto film and he has probably made the best car chase film. Or at least the best chase; which you can watch in entirety as well as the charming several minutes of Ansel Elgort singing along and sort-of-dancing to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on youtube. This scene was based on a music video Edgar Wright directed a long time ago, with Noel Fielding playing the driver and presumably it was his previous obligation to the Great British Bake Off that stopped him reprising the role. There is a slightly loose plot and villain of the film switches between Kevin Spacey, Jamie Fox and Jon Hamm but the film is still stunning. There are amazing car chase scenes but there is also the music. Music has always been important in Wright’s films but some people have said this film should be viewed as a musical. Using the device of Baby constantly listening to music to drown out his tinnitus there is seemingly music always playing. Many people have commented that the film often feels like a musical, not just because of the music but the way scenes are filmed – colour matching laundrettes and gunshots synchronised to the music.

Never Less Than Great

This surely has to be one of the most impressive resumes in film history, beloved cult classics, endlessly quotable, with some of the funniest moments in any film ever. Wright has at least two of all my time favourite shots. Some filmmakers are praised for “never making a bad film” whereas Edgar Wright should be celebrated for only ever making great ones.

Also Read: The Unique Style of Wes Anderson

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