Must see all over...

So. I don't like to sort things... But I do love to list them! To be fair, though, this page is just an elaborate scheme to speak about movies I like.

Besides, what can I say? I've been watching movies my whole life. As I was born in '95, my first memories of them are Disney's and Pixar's films and... maybe Star Wars, actually. Even so, my first real blow was definitely Spirited Away. I don't remember how old I was when my uncle showed it to me but it was... damn, it was just exceptional.

Then, I really started to dig into movies when I was a nerdy-teenager. At the time, I had a long everyday commute to school, an iPod touch and access to a BitTorrent client... I let you do the maths. I discovered a shit-ton of '80s-'90s productions back then: Aliens, Terminator and all that. Eventually, I saw The French Connection and it was kind of a revelation to me. I kept thinking: "how did they make this?". Even though it's not my all-time favourite — it'd be one by Kubrick —, I like to think that William Friedkin made me want to work in cinema.

Finally, I watched a crazy amount of other things from all over the world. I fell in love with the French New Wave and with the American New Hollywood. I spent countless hours watching HBO shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under...

Right now, I feel a bit stuck though. I still love to watch films but I don't discover a lot of them anymore. I keep rewatching some of my favourites over and over again. I suppose it's just a phase!

🌱 Coming-of-age

I don't know, maybe it's the genre I like the most. It can really move me. It'd be a dream to be the cinematographer on such a film, one day! The list also contains what we could consider as teen-movies.

• Running on Empty by Sidney Lumet: if I were to keep only one. It's a masterpiece, so lean and right in every possible way. A true emotional roller coaster. This film makes me laugh, cry and shows one of the greatest endings in the history of cinema.
• Freaks and Geeks by Paul Feig (TV series): The finest show ever made, simply. Astonishing script, astonishing characters, astonishing music. I can only speak about it with superlatives. It moves me so much...
• Dazed and Confused by Richard Linklater: I love this one and I watch it on a regular basis. It just has the perfect formula. Evidently, I really fancy Linklater's work. Close behind, Boyhood is magnificent and I also like Everybody Wants Some!!.
• Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe: A real knockout. Extremely moving, with perfect music and relatable characters. I love the sequence in the bus, when they all sing Tiny Dancer. Inevitably makes me cry inevitably...
• The 400 Blows by François Truffaut: I can't make a list about youth-related movies without this one. A New Wave masterpiece, one of the greatest French movies ever made.
• Adventureland by Greg Mottola: An outsider, in my opinion. I do love it, though. Kinda basic but really touching. It's just an interlude during a teenage summer and it's beautiful. Likewise, I like The Way, Way Back by Jim Rash and Nat Faxon.
• Election by Alexander Payne: On one side, a typical teen-movie. On the other, It's a total anti-John Hughes movie, with Matthew Broderick in a role against type and fairly modern theme.
• The Breakfast Club by John Hughes: Don't put words in my mouth, I do love this director! Breakfast Club is beautiful and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 16 Candles are also fantastic.
• Mean Girls by Mark Waters: Behind its early-2000s US teen facade, like Easy A — which is a freaking terrible movie — well... I find Mean Girls kinda deep. At least, it's well made, funny and pretty smart.
• Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola: I could have said The Virgin Suicides, it's terrific. But I do like Marie Antoinette: it's something else. A mix of joy and loneliness. A vibrant movie and still pretty dark. It was a real surprise!
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: It's not a reinvention of the genre. Though... To be fair, I cry all the way through this movie, every freaking time. It's enough to make the list, I guess!

Obviously, there are a lot of others... I could have mentioned Alan Ball and Six Feet Under but it's already further down... And we can't forget that he's also the writer of the great American Beauty by Sam Mendes. I also like The Rules of Attraction by Roger Avary. Darker but effective. I could cite Welcome to the Dollhouse by Todd Solondz, But I'm a Cheerleader by Jamie Babbit, Ghost World by Terry Zwigoff... Recently, I discovered The Edge of Seventeen by Kelly Fremon Craig. It's a classic iteration but well executed. Same goes for Eighth Grade by Bo Burnham.

I admit that it's a fairly US-centred list. In France, I've a fond memory of Mes Petites Amoureuses by Jean Eustache. And I kinda like L'effrontée by Claude Miller. On the Italian front, I remember being hit by an emotional wave while watching Incompreso by Luigi Comencini. I can also think about a hidden Australian gem, Walkabout by Nicolas Roeg.

📺 The pantheon of the best series

Only the best of the best. Since I'm such an "original" guy, I'm gonna write about HBO classics and other well-known stuff!

⛪️ The Holy Trinity of HBO

To each their own ranking... For me, it'd be this one, with an honourable mention for Oz.

• The Sopranos by David Chase: A masterpiece from start to finish. I mean, it's so well written, interesting and engaging... Without overusing cliffhangers. The pinacle of the mob-genre. One of the best endings ever shown — the link isn't a spoiler.
• The Wire by David Simon: I could say the same. To this day, I still can't believe that someone could write something that huge. I don't know what to say, It's nearly flawless.
• Six Feet Under by Alan Ball: I've rarely been that moved by a story. Also, I discovered this show during a crucial time and it was really helpful. I watch it every five years, and I finished my third journey not long ago.

Well, it goes without saying: HBO aired a lot of major series. Succession is truly impressive. I have to admit that the first season of True Detective is great — I just saw this one and the last one with Jodie Foster, which was pretty nice in its The Thing-ish way. Boardwalk Empire is excellent, but I only have a fuzzy memory of it. A decade ago, I used to watch Girls but I never finished it for some reason. Generation Kill by David Simon is another masterpiece. In this war-genre, Band of Brothers and The Pacific are pretty terrific too. I can also recommend Big Little Lies, Euphoria — season 1 and 2 at least —, Mildred Pierce, The Night Of...

Well a lot of wonderful things. I "lost" quite a lot of time in all of that!

🦉 Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks by David Lynch and Mark Frost. It's difficult to use words to describe my tremendous appreciation of Twin Peaks. I just love this show so freaking much. So, so, so freaking much. And Dale Cooper is my model in life.

Well, I won't extend much. It's just impossible to put this show in a list.

🎭 Comedies

• Malcolm in the Middle by Linwood Boomer
• Silicon Valley by Mike Judge
• Community by Dan Harmon
• The Office (US) by Ricky Gervais et Stephen Merchant
• Ted Lasso by J. Sudeikis, B. Lawrence, B. Hunt, and J. Kelly
• My Name Is Earl by Greg Garcia

And yes, Fleabag, Parks and Recreation, The Big Bang Theory, Scrubs, New Girl are funny too. And obviously South Park, The Simpsons, American Dad!...

Honestly, I wonder where I found the time to watch all that. And several times for a lot of these shows...

🙈 Other great TV series

• Freaks and Geeks by Paul Feig: Yes, it was already above. I know. It's just that everyone should watch this show. Like, right now.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation by Gene Roddenberry
• Orange is the New Black by Jenji Kohan
• Battlestar Galactica by Ronald D. Moore
• The Pitt by R. Scott Gemmill
• 24 by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran