Friday's 5 Favorites

Last week, I mentioned that Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was a movie that was art. It's use of colors, camera angles, costumes, and depth made it a visual stunning movie, no matter what the story line was. I have been giving thought to other movies that I felt are just artistically done. Movies that are vivid and colorful, or maybe not much color but the graphics and filming make it works of art.

Today's 5 Favorites are movies that I can watch on mute. They might not have the greatest storyline, might be riddled with plot holes, or the actors might spew some off the wall lines. But these are movies that are rich in color, costumes, are just filmed so well that it becomes ultimate eye candy. These are movies that I love just because of the way I get sucked in by visuals.

I have thought about many animated movies, but I decided to leave them off the list because I believe that animation is a colorful form of art in its own category. So, movies like Fantasia and Finding Nemo, although beautiful, belong in its own world.

Number Five:

THE WIZARD OF OZ-

Let's face it. This is the birth of amazing, colorful art on film. And to really make us appreciate just how visually stunning the world of OZ is, they start us off in black and white. When Dorothy lands in Munchkin Land, it is just so colorful that you feel like an acid trip went oh so right. I was lucky enough to have seen The Wizard of Oz on the big screen and it was even more amazing. This is a movie they should re-release every few years in the theaters so we can all appreciate the founding father of vividness in movies the way it should be appreciated. The grass is greener, the costumes are brighter, the Yellow Brick Road is yellower and of course the Ruby Slippers just sparkle.

Number Four:

ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT-

Three drag queens travel across the Australian Outback in a fantabulous bus. Need I say more? The costumes are simply amazing, outrageous, and fun, fun, fun. And the scene with Adam Pearce's Felicia atop of the bus with this long silver banner flowing out from behind him is just...well, a work of art. This is truly one of my favorite movies, just for the images alone. But watch it for the story and acting too. A great movie all around.

Number Three-

THE FIFTH ELEMENT:

From Bruce Willis' yellow floating taxi cab to Mila Jovovich's flaming orange hair to that odd plastic thingie on Gary Oldman's head, this futuristic sci-fi movie is on an overload of color and it is all gorgeous. Even Chris Rock's blond hair is jumping off the screen at you. And the most colorful character is the blue skinned, blue blooded opera singer. She's so odd, but the color makes her beautiful. This movie is a far cry from the sci-fi movie of all times-STAR WARS-but just for the costumes and make up alone it is worth watching. This is one of those movies that whenever I stumble across it while channel surfing, I just stop and watch it again and again and again.

Number Two:

SIN CITY-

This movie is dark, gritty and mostly in black and white with color placed here and there. What makes this movie a work of art is that it comes off like a comic book in action. It comes to life and jumps off the screen at you and just engulfs you. It is pure genius. When I first saw it, I knew it was going to be a violent and dark film but I was completely blown away with how it was filmed. Many movies have tried to accomplish what Sin City did (Watchmen, Max Payne) and just failed.

Number One:

VELVET GOLDMINE:

This movie is incredible. It is dark and colorful at the same time. The costumes worn by Jonathan Rhys Meyers with his technicolor hair as the androgynous David Bowiesque Brian Slade are brilliant. It is glamorous but outrageous. It has to be where American Idol contestant Adam Lambert gets his inspiration. Loosely based on David Bowie and Iggy Pop, it just can't be anything else but colorful and vivid. Would you expect anything less?