Black Rain (1989)

Directed by Ridley Scott, this has something of that director's classic Blade Runner about it – in terms of the visuals, at least. But whereas that was a hugely imaginative sci-fi crime masterpiece, this is merely a reasonably OK thriller.

Michael Douglas plays a New York cop assigned to escort a Japanese assassin back to Japan. When that ruthless killer outwits him, he’s plunged into the criminal underworld.

Andy Garcia has a certain charm as his colleague, and he should have been featured more prominently. Douglas himself looks unwell and it’s unclear whether he’s just being “method” about the character or whether the actor himself is going through a difficult patch. The charisma is unchanged, however – Douglas always has a certain presence, whatever the film. 

The film is arguably quite racist, peddling quite a few clichés about Japanese culture.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Mind-bending sci-fi masterpiece produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, with a screenplay written by Kubrick with Arthur C. Clarke. 

The “plot”, what there is of one, concerns the presence of an enigmatic monolith found on Earth in early human times, on the Moon and near Jupiter in the present day – presumably an artefact of extraterrestrial life. And a manned mission to Jupiter becomes increasingly precarious as the onboard computer, HAL (voiced by Douglas Rain), increasingly takes control of life-and-death decisions involving Bowman (Keir Dullea) and the rest of the crew. 

The film becomes increasingly abstract as it progresses. It’s impossible to say how it ends or “what happens”. It insists on you interpreting what you see.

Visually, it’s ridiculously ahead of its time. It still looks stunning now. Musically, it’s also awe-inspiring, with the classic “Also Sprach Zarathustra” being the perfect choice to express the epic, visionary quality of the film. The same goes for every piece of music chosen. It couldn’t be better matched to the visuals and the narrative. 

I also love the audacious slowness of 2001. Unlike so many films made now, it has the complete confidence and assurance to unfold at a glacial pace – often very quietly. And yet it’s never less than captivating. Let’s hope no one is ever silly enough to remake it.